Free Drenai Saga 02 - The King Beyond the Gate by David Gemmell Page B

the swordmaster, and I beat you in a tourney once.”
    “I remember. The half-moon riposte! You would have ripped out my throat. As it was, I had a ghastly bruise.”
    “My brother is as good a man as I. We want to serve.”
    “There is nothing to serve, my friend. I plan to kill Ceska. That is the work of an assassin, not an army.”
    “Then we will stick by until the deed is done! I was sick with fever when the call came and the Dragon re-formed. I have been sick with sorrow since. A lot of fine men were lured into that trap. It does not seem right.”
    “How did you find us?”
    “I followed the blind man. Strange, don’t you think?”
    Tenaka moved to the fire and sat down opposite the seeker.
    The mystic’s head lifted. “I seek the Torchbearer,” he said, his voice a dry whisper.
    “Who is he?” asked Tenaka.
    “The dark spirit is over the land like a great shadow,” whispered the man. “I seek the Torchbearer, from whom all shadows flee.”
    “Who is this man you seek?” persisted Tenaka.
    “I don’t know. Is it you?”
    “I doubt it,” answered Tenaka. “Will you eat with us?”
    “My dreams told me the Torchbearer would bring me food. Is it you?”
    “No.”
    “There are three,” said the man. “Of gold, and ice, and shadow. One is the Torchbearer. But which one? I have a message.”
    Scaler moved forward to crouch at the man’s side.
    “I seek the truth,” he said.
    “I have the truth,” replied the mystic, extending his hand. Scaler dropped a small silver coin into his palm.
    “Of bronze you sprang, haunted and hunted, drawn on your father’s path. Kin to shadow, never resting, never silent. Dark spears hover, black wings to devour. You will stand when others flee. It is in the red you carry.”
    “What does it mean?” asked Tenaka. Scaler shrugged and moved away.
    “Death calls me. I must answer,” whispered the mystic. “And yet the Torchbearer is not here.”
    “Give me the message, old man. I will pass it on, I promise you.”
    “Dark Templars ride against the Prince of Shadows. He cannot hide, for the torch is bright against the night. But thought is faster than arrows, and truth is sharper than blades. The beasts can fall, but only the King beyond the Gate can bring them down.”
    “Is that all?” asked Tenaka.
    “You are the Torchbearer,” said the man. “Now I see you clearly. You are chosen by the Source.”
    “I am the Prince of Shadows,” said Tenaka. “But I do not follow the Source or any god. I believe in none of them.”
    “The Source believes in you,” said the old man. “I must go now. My rest is near.”
    As Tenaka watched him hobble from the camp, his bare feet blue against the snow, Scaler joined him.
    “What did he say to you?”
    “I did not understand it.”
    “Tell me the words,” said Scaler, and Tenaka repeated them. Scaler nodded. “Some of it is easy to decipher. The Dark Templars, for example. Have you heard of the Thirty?”
    “Yes. Warrior-priests who spend their lives becoming pure in the heart before riding off to die in a distant war. The order died out years ago.”
    “The Dark Templars are an obscene parody of the Thirty. They worship the chaos spirit, and their powers are dark yet deadly. Every form of vileness is pleasure to them, and they are formidable warriors.”
    “And Ceska has sent them against me?”
    “It would seem so. They are led by a man named Padaxes. There are sixty-six warriors in each temple, and ten temples. They have powers beyond those of normal men.”
    “They will need them,” said Tenaka grimly. “What of the rest of his words?”
    “Thought is faster than arrows? That you must outthink your enemies. The King beyond the Gate is a mystery. But you should know.”
    “Why?”
    “Because the message was for you. You must be part of it.”
    “And what of your message?”
    “What about it?”
    “What did it mean?”
    “It meant I must travel with you, though I do not desire it.”
    “I