Soulvine 03 A Bright and Terrible Sword Read Online Free PDF Page B

believe that. I will put down the gun as soon as you assure me that you won’t harm me. Nor will your dog.’
    My dog found another interesting flea on his backside.
    I said, ‘How do you know my name?’
    ‘That is part of what I will tell you as soon as you tell me that you won’t harm me.’ The gun had started to wobble slightly, from either heaviness or fear.
    ‘What is your name?’
    ‘Leo Tollers. You see how frank I am with you.’
    ‘It could be a made-up name.’
    ‘It is not.’
    ‘Then Leo—’
    ‘Answer me! Have I your assurance or not?’
    ‘After one more question. If I give you my assurance that I will not harm you, why would you believe it?’
    ‘Because I know a great deal about you, Roger Kilbourne. And I have information you would like to hear.’
    ‘But if I—’
    His tone became sharper. ‘You are trying to wear me out! No, don’t get to your feet, don’t try to rush me, I tell you I will shoot!’
    If it hadn’t been for those eyes, I might have tested him. A single leap would gain me the gun , which now wobbled even more in his unsteady grip. But his eyes stopped me. They held utter desperation. The desperate, I have learned, often stop at nothing.
    Slowly I eased back to the ground until I sat cross-legged. Hunter, finally aware that something was happening, raised his face to me questioningly. I did not know what ‘information’ Leo Tollers had for me, butI did not trust him. And I did not want anyone in The Queendom tracking me. I was going home to Maggie, and I must not lead anyone to her and my unborn son. Of all the things Mother Chilton had told me, that was the one I believed most.
    There was only one way to escape Leo Tollers. And although Mother Chilton had told me not to do it, my father – curse his faithless bones – had told me it could do no harm. There was no longer any danger to me in the Country of the Dead. My mad sister was gone. I would rather do anything at all than either endanger Maggie or give up going to her.
    With Leo’s gun pointed at me, I bit my tongue hard, willed my mind, and I crossed over.
    Darkness—
    Cold—
    Dirt choking my mouth—
    Worms in my eyes—
    Earth imprisoning my fleshless arms and legs—
    And then I stood on the far side of the grave. I had not been here in months, not since the onset of last winter, but the Country of the Dead had not changed. Here was the sunless grey sky, the motionless trees, the hillside I had just left. Here, too, was one of the circles of the Dead.
    They sat motionless, fourteen of them, facing the centre of the circle, dressed in whatever clothing they had died in. Around each of their heads was a thick, dark grey fog, completely hiding their faces. If I touched that fog I knew I would feel it vibrating like a hive of bees. In the centre of the circle was another patch of the grey fog, humming and spinning. As yet this patch spun slowly, the humming barely audible. But I knew what that patch of fog really was, and what it would eventually do. These were watchers from Soulvine Moor, preparing to destroying theseDead for ever and to take unto themselves the power that the Dead slowly accumulated in their long wait for eternity. That was how war was being fought between Soulvine Moor and those struggling to preserve the barrier between life and death. It was only because of that war – and my past actions – that the barrier had eroded as much as it had.
    But this was no longer my war. My need was simpler. As part of that erosion, I stood here now in body as well as soul. Only a hisaf could do so. I planned to walk towards Tanwell on this side of the grave, for perhaps half a day, then cross back over. There would be no way for Leo Tollers to track me. Even now he must be standing, bewildered and terrified, staring at the spot where a moment before I had sat cross-legged on the ground. Would he fire his gun at the place I had been? I hoped he would not hit Hunter.
    I started to climb the little hillside,