Smiler's Fair: Book I of The Hollow Gods Page 5

  ‘You’re late,’ Edgar said to him. ‘Are you drunk?’

  ‘Stone cold sober,’ Dae Hyo said.

  The other man didn’t look convinced. ‘You’re shaking.’

  Dae Hyo shrugged. ‘And you’re hideous, but you don’t see me complaining.’

  Both twins glared at him and Edmund snarled and tightened his grip on his sword, but Dae Hyo had his axes in his hands and besides, they knew it would be reckless to fight each other now. There were dangers enough here already.

  Thirty paces in and the sunlight was beginning to fail. Ahead of them, the miners lit lanterns, but the guards would carry none. They needed their hands for their weapons. Besides, that flickering yellow light would provide no safety; the worm men didn’t fear it.

  As they went deeper, the tunnel grew narrow and Dae Hyo felt all the weight of the rock above them. They were walking into a grave, and it could be their own. To their right the wall was smooth, to their left ragged, scored by the marks of many picks prising out the iron ore that would make the whole expedition worthwhile.

  Dae Hyo tried to figure how much his share might be. If they found the same as last time, he’d only have enough to make one blade and pay for the forging of it. But if they got lucky … His best haul ever had made him ten axes and a score of knives. He’d added them to his hoard, hidden in a small cave a mile from the village. He now had enough to outfit a war band stronger than any on the plains, but he could always use more. The murdering Chun could send a thousand warriors against him, even if most would be armed with flint. But he was sober and working hard. Maybe another year, and he could return to his home and his long-awaited revenge.

  They were deep inside the mine now. Edmund and Edgar were wound as tight as a harp’s string and the miners, who’d been humming to cheer themselves, fell silent. Twenty paces ahead stood the workface. The moment they began would be the moment of gravest danger, they all knew it. The worm men were vicious but they were no dumb beasts. They understood what the miners came for and often waited in ambush. The boy preacher had said the moon god would tame them when he came, but the moon god wasn’t here yet and Dae Hyo would take no chances.

  The miners’ feet dragged the last few steps, stirring up the rock dust beneath their boots. Sound was amplified here and their footsteps echoed down the tunnels that branched off to either side. The drawn weapons glinted in the lamplight and the air was thick with dust and the smell of fear. The miners took two paces, three – and then they were at the workface. Nothing had happened. The vein of iron ore gleamed temptingly in the lamplight.

  After a moment, the biggest of the miners, a broad-shouldered man with a face like a mouldy potato, shrugged and hefted his pick. The first blow rang out and the others followed. The guards grinned at each other and moved back from the miners to leave them room to swing.

  Dae Hyo watched until it grew boring to idle as others laboured. The purple sorghum had left him pleasantly relaxed and he sighed and slid to his arse, setting his axes beside him.

  ‘Get up, you lazy bastard,’ Edgar said. ‘You’re not paid to sit.’

  ‘I’m paid to fight. Do you see anything here worth fighting? No? Then piss off.’

  The ringing of the picks was almost musical, he thought. A rhythm a man could dance to. A hazy memory floated forward, softened by time: himself in a ring of his brothers, dancing the Spring Dance with the horse masks on their faces and the meat of a sacrificed deer in their guts. Dae Sun had kissed him that night. He closed his eyes and tried to remember the flavour of her lips.

  He’d fallen asleep when the attack came. It was the scream that woke him. He opened his eyes to see the glint of swinging steel and one miner’s face contorted in agony as a grey hand pulled him through a crack in the rock.

  Dae Hyo jerked to his feet, stumbled, then realised he’d left his axes on the ground and stooped to pick them up. He could see five more worm men surrounding their crew while the sixth dragged the unfortunate miner away.

  The crack in the rock was too narrow to take a good swing, so he worked his axe blade in and sawed it against the bony fingers of the creature where they’d clawed into the miner’s arm. The miner babbled, begging for help, perhaps too terrified to grasp that Dae Hyo was providing it.

  The axe was sharp; it was the work of only a moment before two of the worm man’s fingers fell free. They landed with a splatter – in a puddle of the miner’s blood, he realised. The worm man had nearly torn the miner in half trying to force him through the crack. It was a waste of time trying to help him, then; there was no way the miner would survive. Dae Hyo spun round to look for another target. The trapped miner whined pitifully and Dae Hyo spared him a last glance before leaping across the tunnel to Edgar and the two worm men who’d cornered him.

  The bastards were always tougher than they looked. Their bodies were almost skeletally thin and the dead colour of ash. They carried no swords or axes; their claws were weapon enough. Dae Hyo could see a jagged cut that ran from Edgar’s forehead to the corner of his mouth: another scar to add to his collection, if he lived long enough for it to heal. Edgar was fighting back, of course, swinging his sword in short, choppy arcs. But the worm men were lethally fast. One dodged out of the way as another leapt forward, claws slashing. A gash opened in Edgar’s side, and Dae Hyo could see gore and worse, glistening in the flickering lamplight.

  Dae Hyo let out a cry of fury and panic and charged into the fight. The axe in his right hand caught one of the worm men in the spine and smashed through the creature, its guts slithering to the floor like greasy snakes. His left-hand axe swung at the head of the second, but it moved, lightning quick, and the weapon took only a sliver off its pointed ear before embedding, haft deep, in Edgar’s neck. The other man’s shocked expression met his for a moment before Edgar’s head tipped halfway off his shoulders and his body toppled to the floor.

  ‘Fuck,’ Dae Hyo said as he yanked the axe from Edgar’s body. He heard a roar behind him and turned just in time to raise the axe and block the sword blow from the dead man’s brother. Edmund’s face was red with rage and his eyes were half mad.

  ‘It was an accident!’ Dae Hyo yelled, but the other man didn’t hear or didn’t care.

  Edmund was an expert swordsman. His first stroke forced Dae Hyo’s axe back and his second opened a long gash across Dae Hyo’s chest. Around them, the miners were fighting and falling, their picks no match for the swarming worm men. There were more than six of them now. A dozen maybe. Twenty. The other guards were somewhere in the melee, but if they were still alive they wouldn’t be for long.

  Edmund swung at Dae Hyo again, catching him across the cheek this time. ‘You rat-fucking moron!’ Dae Hyo shouted. ‘You’ll get us both killed.’ But the other man didn’t seem to care about that, either.

  Dae Hyo had Edmund’s rhythm now. Slash, slash, stab. Very predictable. There was an opening there, right inside his defences. Dae Hyo almost took it, but the worm men were all around and he didn’t want to face them alone.

  ‘I tell you what,’ he yelled, ‘why don’t you stop fighting me and start fighting them?’ He blocked a stroke to his kidneys and aimed one at Edmund’s head, forcing the other man to duck and retreat.

  Edmund’s sweat trickled down his pockmarked cheeks. ‘You killed my brother,’ he gasped.

  ‘I’ll pay his blood price when we’re out of here,’ Dae Hyo said. ‘Behind you!’

  There was a flicker of distrust on the other man’s face, a hesitation, and the worm man was nearly on him, its long, dirty claws stabbing towards his back.

  Dae Hyo shouted ‘Duck!’ and flung his axe, not really caring if the other man listened to him. It would be one enemy less either way.

  But Edmund threw himself down and the axe flew over his head to split the worm man’s, showering the area with blood and brains. Behind that, another of the monsters finished with a miner, ripping out his throat with its sharp teeth. It followed the man to the ground, teeth still latched to his ne
ck and chewing, eating through it until the head detached and rolled to lie beside Edgar. The worm man didn’t notice. It turned its attention to the torso, hungry mouth at work on the soft flesh of the miner’s belly. It must have bitten through his gut – the smell of shit wafted around them – but it just kept on eating, shit and flesh and bone all the same to it.

  Other worm men had finished their meals and there were more all the time, oozing out of the rock and turning their glittering black-and-silver eyes on their prey. Only two men left now: Dae Hyo and Edmund.

  ‘Run!’ Dae Hyo shouted, turning toward the mine’s entrance, and this time Edmund didn’t hesitate. There were three worm men blocking the way out. Dae Hyo drew his sword from his back and held it out in front of him like a spear. One of the creatures reached for it with its bony hands. Its nails skittered against the metal as the blade plunged through its flesh and, for a moment, it was face to face with Dae Hyo. Its breath, strangely sweet, filled his nose. Then he yanked his blade from it and it fell before him. Dae Hyo sprinted over it, feet crushing the corpse beneath him.

  The other two worm men grasped at him, slashing their claws across his scalp and flank. He kicked one but it unbalanced him and he fell against the other. It grinned wickedly at him, its teeth red with blood. Well, he wouldn’t be its next meal. He pulled a knife from his boot and plunged it through the creature’s eye. It twitched and jerked, falling away from him, and Dae Hyo let the knife go. Three weapons lost in this fight, and no metal to show for it.

  It wasn’t any way for a warrior to go, trapped in a mine. But he could hear Edmund’s fleeing footsteps ahead of him, and he decided that if he was going to die, he’d at least die last. He tucked his head down and sprinted.

  His legs burned and his wounds throbbed, but he pumped his arms and flexed his thighs and within twenty paces he’d overtaken Edmund. And then he realised that he recognised a rock formation, the one that looked like a tree. It was near the entrance, he was sure of it. He grinned and pushed harder, running to the frantic beat of his heart.

  He heard the sound of metal hitting meat behind him and guessed Edmund must be engaging the creatures. Let the crazed fucker buy Dae Hyo time. He didn’t look back. Arms reached for him from the walls and he used his last knife to hack at them as he passed, a rain of black blood spraying his face and splattering into his open mouth as he gasped for breath. And then there was light ahead, and though he thought his heart might burst from his chest he forced it to give him just a few beats more and threw himself out of the mine and into the sun.

  A crowd waited outside. They always did when an expedition had gone down, ready to treat the injured for a share of their spoils. Dae Hyo barrelled into the first two men, knocking them to the ground, then fell to his knees beside them. Behind him, he heard more footsteps and guessed that Edmund must have made it out, too. There was a gabble of voices around him, but it took too much effort to attend to them and he didn’t bother.

  When he’d got his breath back, he pushed himself to his feet and through the people surrounding him, then staggered down the road. He wanted a drink. He wanted it so badly he could taste it, feel the fire as it burned a trail down his throat to his belly, but he was a changed man. He’d find a place to sleep and hope his dreams and a little more purple sorghum would soften the horrible memories of the morning instead.

  He was woken by a kick to the gut. It hurt, but not as badly as the pounding in his head. His eyes were glued shut and he had to wipe them clean before he could open them. When he did he saw that he was surrounded by a ring of men. All had weapons drawn and one of them kicked him again. It was Edmund.

  ‘What?’ he croaked. ‘Can’t you see I’m sleeping?’

  Edmund kicked him a third time, leaving him doubled up and retching. ‘Get up,’ the Moon Forest man said. ‘And get out. You’re not welcome here any more.’

  That sounded serious. Dae Hyo pushed himself into a crouch and glanced around. Ten men and all of them angry. He’d been asleep for the gods knew how many hours, so how could he have done anything to annoy them? Then he saw the bundles all of them were holding – the oilskin bundles he’d sewn shut and buried with his own hands.

  ‘You thieving bastards!’ he yelled, leaping to his feet. The next instant, a ring of blades surrounded him. ‘Those are my weapons,’ he said more quietly. ‘My spoils. They’re mine.’

  ‘Not any more,’ Edmund said. ‘You promised me blood price for my brother, remember?’

  Dae Hyo’s temper snapped. ‘Yes – but a fair price! For Edgar that would be one rusty blade and a hairpin. Now give me back my weapons, curse you! I earned them.’ He glared at the men surrounding him. He recognised all of them: a few miners, more guards, most of them men he’d fought beside on many occasions. Treacherous scum.

  ‘Blood price for all the other men you’ve gotten killed, too,’ Sarv said. ‘Edmund told us you were asleep when the attack came, drunk out of your mind.’

  ‘I wasn’t drunk! I’ve stopped drinking!’ The unfairness of the accusation was like a sword through his chest but the gathered men just shook their heads.

  ‘Even if you weren’t drunk this morning, you’ve been drunk on a hundred expeditions before. We’ve had enough of it,’ Sarv said. ‘Enough of you. Take your things and get out.’

  He threw a sack at Dae Hyo. It landed with a soft thud: clothes, not weapons.

  ‘You can’t do this to me!’ Dae Hyo roared.

  ‘Watch us.’ Edmund reached into the sack he was carrying and pulled out a pair of axes, then tossed them to Dae Hyo. They arrived blade-first and he had to dance out of the way. ‘There you go. You can’t say we left you defenceless. And there’s money enough in your purse to buy a whole crate of vodka. Why don’t you go somewhere far away from here and drink yourself to death?’

  None of them laughed. They didn’t move, either, and their swords were steady as they pointed towards his chest. After a moment, Dae Hyo stooped to pick up the axes and slid them into his belt. Then he slung the bag over his shoulder and turned his back on them. Fuck them. Fuck them all. He’d find more weapons somewhere, and when he did, he’d pay a quick visit to this mine, these men – before he finally returned to the plains to serve justice on those who’d murdered his people.

  4

  Eric lit the final candle, then licked his fingers and snuffed out the taper. The room was filled with a warm glow and the smell of pears. The scented wax had cost him half of what he’d earn this evening, but it was worth it.

  He turned to look at the man lounging on his bed. Lahiru had stripped off his trousers already and the candlelight was kind to his smooth brown skin and duellist’s muscles. The other man waved a negligent hand around the room. ‘Very nice, Eric – very atmospheric.’

  Eric grinned. ‘I done it up for you special. Kenric lent me them drapes. He says they come all the way from the Eternal Empire, though he says a lot of things that ain’t precisely true.’

  ‘Very nice,’ Lahiru said again, but the words were absent and his eyes were tracing the pale skin of Eric’s chest, visible through the V of his shirt-collar. He crooked a finger and Eric knew it was time to earn his keep. That was just fine. His cock had been hard in his breeches ever since he’d seen the other man laid out like that, just begging for a tongue to taste the exposed flesh of him.

  Eric moved to take his shirt the rest of the way off, but Lahiru tutted at him. ‘Now now, my lovely boy – let me do that. I’ve paid enough for the privilege.’ He reached out and stroked the bone buttons before slipping them free one by one.

  ‘And do I get to do the same for you?’ Eric asked.

  Lahiru smiled, exposing even white teeth. ‘I don’t know. Have you been a good boy?’

  ‘I ain’t never good. That’s what the gentlemen like about me.’

  After that, it wasn’t time for talking any longer. Eric laid himself across the other man’s bigger body and enjoyed his mouth for a while. But the kisses quickly grew impatient and so he move
d down and used his own mouth where it would do more good, enjoying the musky taste of Lahiru and the way he grew so very hard, like Eric was the best thing he’d ever felt. When Lahiru was good and ready, Eric took him between his thighs, the way he knew he liked, and brought him to the end.

  Lahiru sprawled a moment, spent, then reached a hand round and with quick, rough movements gave Eric his satisfaction too.

  After, they lay side by side on their backs, breathing hard. Then they turned to face one another and Lahiru twirled a lock of Eric’s hair between his fingers. ‘Like spun gold,’ he said wonderingly. He said it every time, but Eric didn’t mind. He knew his pale hair and paler skin were what had caught Lahiru’s eye, and the thought that the other man found him beautiful tightened his chest and brought a warm glow to his cheeks. He reached out in turn to finger the brown curl that always dipped over Lahiru’s eyes.

  ‘You know,’ he said, ‘you could go inside if you wanted, the next time. I don’t mind.’

  ‘Next time, is it?’ Lahiru’s eyes narrowed. ‘You’re very certain I’ll be returning.’

  The glow faded as fast as it had come and Eric drew away, but Lahiru laughed and grabbed his hand to pull him closer. ‘I will return, have no fear. Where else could I find such a beautiful boy to please me? Not in my home, that’s for certain.’ His expression sank into a frown.

  ‘Your wife ain’t a sharp one, though. She can’t be. Where did you tell her you was today? Not out enjoying a grind with a young sellcock like myself, I’d lay ten gold wheels on it.’

  ‘No indeed. She believes I’m out hunting, and so I am: hunting the finest boy flesh to be had for many miles.’

  ‘Better than any what you got here in Ashanesland. You was just lucky Smiler’s Fair was passing through. Normally we go round by the Five Stars, but the Merry Cooks had a bit of a falling out with old Lord Nalin Nine Eggs, and so this time we come the long way round.’