Kagen the Damned--A Novel by Jonathan Maberry

Author:Jonathan Maberry
Language: eng
Format: epub
Publisher: St. Martin's Publishing Group

CHAPTER SEVENTY-SIX

Kagen and Tuke walked together along a country lane. The sky was a mix of hard blue and soft white, and the persistent flock of nightbirds were leapfrogging from tree to tree to stay ahead of them.

Tuke kept glancing at the birds and finally stopped beneath an old pine whose branches were heavy with them.

“Okay,” he said. “You do see them, right?”

Kagen walked a pace or two farther, then stopped. He glanced upward and shrugged.

“Of course I see them.”

“They’re following us.”

“I think they’re following me,” said Kagen.

Tuke cut him a look. “What?”

“They’ve been following me since Argentium.” And he explained how they first appeared in that field when the Harvest Gods turned their backs on him. “Ever since then, I see them all the time.”

“You’re serious?”

Kagen just gestured to them. “You tell me.”

“Why?” asked Tuke.

“I have no fucking idea.”

The big Therian scratched his chin thoughtfully. “I wonder if they’re psychopomps.”

“What in the fiery hells is that?”

“Guides to the underworld,” said Tuke. “Birds are like that sometimes, at least in old stories. Pre–Silver Empire campfire tales. Horses, dogs, and cats can be psychopomps, too. They appear to certain people, and if you follow, they take you down below to where your soul will rest forever.”

“Damn,” breathed Kagen as he looked from one set of beady black eyes to the other. Then he shook his head. “No. I don’t think that’s what they are.”

“Then what? It’s not exactly normal, you have to accept that,” said Tuke.

“I’m not dead,” said Kagen, “and have no plans about dying anytime soon.”

“You’re planning on assassinating the Witch-king of the Hakkian Empire, my friend. Win or lose, we both know how that will end.”

In the trees, the birds rustled their wings.

“Yeah, maybe,” said Kagen. “But I still think the birds have another purpose.”

“Like what?”

Kagen began walking again, and Tuke hurried to catch up.

“Don’t laugh.”

“I promise,” said Tuke.

“I think they’re witnesses,” said Kagen.

He and Tuke looked at each other for a few moments, then they kept walking in silence.

Their destination was a deserted tower a few miles from town that was of about the same height as the Tower of Sarsis in Arras, and where according to Tuke the Chest of Algion was believed to be. Over the past few days, they’d come out here to train. The tower was the last substantial part of an otherwise ruined fortress. Tuke had a lot of challenging games for them, things that were intended to help Kagen learn the thief’s craft. A complex game of hide-and-seek. Unlocking rusted doors. Running obstacle courses through the debris fields left from the destruction of that fort. Games of stillness and silence, intended to make Kagen fade into the background and draw no suspicious eye. Pickpocketing and more.

Kagen hadn’t liked it at first, but each day he found himself enjoying the demands of the training. It reminded him of some of the devious drills his mother had devised for her sons and daughters, and his existing skills surprised and pleased the Therian thief.

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