Lady of Poison_ The Priests - Bruce R. Cordell [70]
But Ash's name galvanized him. Maybe he was nothing but a sham of a person, hiding a monstrous heart and a terrible ability, but that person could still try to do good.
"Get up," repeated Ususi, impatient then. "You're not even hurt as badly as me."
That was more like the woman he remembered. Marrec pulled himself to his feet. He said, "I intend to find Ash, but I want to tell you something first. Back there, I thought Anammelech had ended you. I thought hope was lost for me, too. In desperation, I had to break a promise I'd made long ago… I called up something in myself that is monstrous."
Ususi narrowed her eyes, looking a question at Marrec.
Marrec couldn't bring himself to say more.
Ususi said, "I don't know what you're talking about, and perhaps I do not want to know. We all have secrets, you know, but listen. You are the man your actions make you, nothing more, nothing less, and I don't see a monster standing before me."
***
When Henri appeared, sans Ash, Marrec feared the worst, but Elowen noted that there were still supplies in Henri's saddlebags. The horse yet wore the bridle given it by the Nentyarch. The elf hunter figured the horse had escaped, nothing more.
Gunggari soon confirmed her hypothesis when he backtracked the horse to the lane's end. A hole gaped in the base of a weed-infested mound. The Oslander indicated clear signs that two people, one a child, had entered the mound, taking steep stairs downward.
"How much time?" asked Marrec.
"Not more than an hour. We have a real chance to catch them."
Ususi said, "It appears we have reached the dark ways the Nentyarch described."
Marrec asked, "Where is the map the Nentyarch gave us? Does it show this entrance?"
Elowen retrieved the map scroll from her pack and unrolled it across the face of a large boulder. The group gathered round.
"Unfortunately, no," said Elowen after a few seconds of study.
Marrec identified the Rawlinswood and the Arches of Xenosi. The map recorded where the Arches petered out, apparently where they stood. According to the map, the entrance identified by the Nentyarch was further back, located midway along the lane made by the
Arches and about half a mile to the east of the lane.
Ususi said, "This mound isn't even noted on the map. It's a waste."
Elowen replied, the slightest flush tinting her face, "Don't be rash. If Fallon is heading for the center, no doubt he shall wander onto or across the route marked by the Nentyarch."
Marrec pointed to a tag on the map, asking, "What's the 'Lurker in the Middle' and why should we 'beware' it?"
Elowen said, "Some Nar demon bound below the earth, probably, but maybe not completely bound."
Gunggari asked, "I would like to know more about these Nar. Such knowledge may aid us if we venture into their realm of old."
Elowen nodded, rolling up the map. She said, "I can tell you something of ancient Narfell. This is what my mentor taught me when I was a child.
"More than a thousand years ago the sorcerous land of Narfell grew mighty on the strength of its unholy mages and cruel priest-lords. It was Narfell's trafficking with demons that contributed to its eventual downfall, though I do not know specifically the event that brought them down. Secrets of the old Nar lore draw unscrupulous spellcasters who attempt to plunder buried vaults in search of knowledge and power. Rawlinswood is thick with these vaults. It's sort of like one extended vault, I suppose."
Ususi commented, "One can't be a practicing mage in these parts without hearing about Nar rituals, Nar obscenities, and trinkets of supposed Narfell vintage. I've found that most are fakes, sold by fakir wizards to the credulous."
Marrec realized that Ususi was admitting to being fooled herself on at least one occasion.
"Demons and foul magic, then," said Gunggari. "Can demons be any worse than the blightlords and their pets we've