They crossed the river on a rough bridge of logs, and entered the trees two thousand paces beyond, into the welcome shade that blocked the relentless summer sun. Gradually the light dimmed as they moved deeper into the forest; now the sunlight came only in dappled flecks where the leaves gave enough opening for it to reach the floor of the woods. Here the heat was less, and a welcome breeze strummed the leaves.
"It's quiet," said Rotiger when they had followed the narrow road for some distance. "Just the wind." He was in his linen gunna over Persian leggings but he was still warm.
"The loggers are driving the game away," said Ragoczy Germainus, "and the hunters follow the game." He was alert as he listened to the sounds in the woods, paying attention to every shift and change that came through the branches. His clothing was lightweight: a gonel of black, loose-weave wool with deep-pleated sleeves over Frankish tibialia, with thick-soled brodequins of soft black leather laced to the knees.
"The road isn't much," Rotiger observed. "Hardly wide enough for deer."
"It is still the only road to Usca in this part of the mountains," said Ragoczy Germainus. "The Moors want travelers to go toward the coast, to Terrago, and Valenzia, not west to Usca; they have no inclination to maintain this road. The western Goths still hold much of that northwestern territory: why would the Moors keep this access route in good repair?" He raised his arm to push aside a low-growing branch. "Watch out. It will snap back when I release it," he warned Rotiger.
"I'm prepared," said Rotiger, holding back his horse and the mules he led as the branch thrashed toward him. "Not bad for a trap," he remarked as he held the branch as he went by, seeing it whip back behind him. "It could knock a man out of the saddle if he were inattentive."
"I was thinking much the same thing," Ragoczy Germainus said, turning in his saddle to be sure Rotiger was unharmed.
"Do you think anyone would try such a trick?" Rotiger wondered aloud.
"If you mean Chimenae and her tribe, I think it may be possible," said Ragoczy Germainus, looking around with care.
"Then you think they have expanded into this area," said Rotiger. "We are well beyond Mont Calcius."
"They have not remained in the open; I suspect they have followed the forests, back into the mountains, where they are hard to find." He made a gesture, taking in the tangled undergrowth and the narrow path they followed. "This is safer for them, particularly if Olutiz was right, and there have been more added to their numbers."
Rotiger said nothing more for a good stretch of their travels until they came to one of the old shrines. "Cups," he said, pointing to the offerings in the ancient niches.
"Filled with blood; some of it has not fully coagulated yet," Ragoczy Germainus remarked. "There have been men here not half a day ago."
"And vampires?" Rotiger asked, sitting more upright in his saddle.
"If these offerings are fresh, the vampires cannot be far away." He studied the shrine, counting the cups and making note of the empty niches. "Most of the blood comes from goats, but one of the cups has horse's blood in it."
"Chimenae would like that," said Rotiger ironically.
"No doubt the reason they left it," said Ragoczy Germainus somberly, his dark eyes fixed on the middle distance. "I must suppose she still believes in the magical powers of horses' blood." He glanced around the old shrine one last time. "It would be ill for us if we are discovered here."
"By men or vampires?" Rotiger inquired, not quite amused.
"Either. Or both." Ragoczy Germainus tapped his grey with his heels and they moved on along the road, into the deepest part of the forest.
That evening they found a glen with a spring making one end marshy, and grassy enough to give their animals a chance to graze. They made camp at the dry end, in the widest part of the meadow so that they had a little distance between themselves and the cover of the trees. Ragoczy Germainus made a point of building up enough of a fire to keep them in its glare all night. "I do not want to have any uninvited visitors to contend with unless we are ready for them."
"But you see well in the dark," Rotiger reminded him.
"And so do they," Ragoczy Germainus declared as he laid another branch on the blaze. "I will not sleep, so that they will have no opportunity to stalk us without detection."
"Are you expecting them to do that?" Rotiger asked as he set their tack up for the night.
"Not particularly, but I am not going to assume they will not. If they can get nothing from you and me, they can drain our horses and mules, and I must suppose they will try." He rubbed his face. "When we reach Usca, I will need you to trim my beard again. And probably my hair as well."
"Of course. I could tend to that now," Rotiger offered, wanting something to do other than wait for an attack that might never come.
Ragoczy Germainus considered it. "Why not?" he said at last. "It is not as if you need a mirror, and I-" He stopped with a one-sided smile.
"It will not take long. My shears and razor are in the pack with our weapons. I can get them out now," said Rotiger as he pulled the leather case from the stack of chests and sacks and packs. "I know where they are," he announced as he unbuckled the good Padovan leather and took out a small case. "Here. Sit on that chest and I'll have this done quickly."
"You have combs as well, or must we borrow from the horses?" Ragoczy Germainus asked, half in jest. "I know; I know. You always have combs and a Greek brush with your shears."
"True enough," said Rotiger as he pulled out the ivory comb and set to work, pleased to have this work to do. He went about the task quickly and expertly, combing and shearing with the fluidity of long practice.
"When I was newly come to this life," Ragoczy Germainus remarked when Rotiger was half-done with cutting his hair, "I used to try to see myself. There were few mirrors then, and most of them were polished metal, although still water was always preferred. It infuriated me that I could not see myself: that was a long time ago."
"But you miss having a reflection," said Rotiger, knowing it was so, although Ragoczy Germainus rarely spoke of it; that he did now told Rotiger that his master was uneasy.
"Of course. But it is one of the many things I have become accustomed to, over time." He held still while Rotiger began to trim his beard-already short and sharply defined-cutting it close before using the razor to neaten the line of it.
"There," said Rotiger, standing back. "That should do for another three months at least." He began to put away his tools.
"Should I not return the favor?" Ragoczy Germainus asked.
"Perhaps, in a week or two," said Rotiger. "I can tend to my beard myself."
"Because you can see yourself," Ragoczy Germainus said. "From time to time I envy you that."
This admission gave Rotiger pause, for in his seven centuries with Ragoczy Germainus, he had been told this only twice before-once on the road to Baghdad and once in the mountains of northern Greece; on both occasions it had signaled trouble. "Why?" he managed to say with a modicum of composure. "My face has not changed since you restored me from death."
"But you can see that it has not changed," said Ragoczy Germainus, and then he reached for his short sword, responding to a crackle in the bushes.
"What is it?" Rotiger asked, his voice dropping to a whisper.
"I cannot make it out yet," said Ragoczy Germainus in an undervoice; he spoke in Byzantine Greek.
"What do you think it is?" Rotiger said in the same tongue as he tried to squint to see beyond the shine of firelight.
"I have a fair notion; I sense no pulse." He was concentrating now, focused on what moved under the trees beyond the firelight.
"Chimenae, do you think?" Rotiger carefully put his case down and reached for his dagger.
"It is possible, but I doubt it." He pulled one of the long, sharpened branches from the pack. "Still, I want to be ready."
Rotiger nodded, poised to fight off any attack.
"Keep an eye on the animals. I think they may try to circle behind us. The mules and horses are a very tempting target."
"How many do you think there are?" Rotiger was alarmed at the implications of what Ragoczy Germainus said.
"Half a dozen, perhaps more," was the tranquil answer. "Yes; a few are moving toward the far end of the glade. Drive the animals into the water. That will afford them some protection."
"Will you be able to manage alone?" Rotiger asked, preparing to obey.
"I would hope so," said Ragoczy Germainus. "Make a torch and take it with you. The fire will be more helpful than swords and daggers."
Rotiger seized one of the sharpened branches Ragoczy Germainus proffered him, thrust the blunt end into the fire, held it there while it caught, then hurried off toward their animals. He had almost reached the nearest mule when a strangely dressed man wielding a small axe burst out of the trees, yelling and waving his arms in an effort to panic the animals; had the five not been hobbled the attack might have worked, but as it was, the horses, unable to flee, or to rear, began to kick instead, neighing in distress. A moment later, the mules did the same.
The man with the axe was caught on the hip and tossed half-way across the clearing where he found himself looking up at Ragoczy Germainus, who stood over him with his sword at the ready.
"Well, well," he said cordially, although the point of his sword did not move. "Blaga. Still using an axe." He saw shock in Blaga's face, and went on, "Why should you be astonished to see me? You are still alive: why should I not be?" He carefully stepped so that his hand was on the supine man's wrist, just above his weapon. "It would be reckless to try to attack me," he went on without any loss of good-will. "I am your equal in strength and I have my sword."
"So you say," Blaga responded in fury as another man came hurtling out of the forest, holding two short swords, and running straight at Ragoczy Germainus.
Quickly Ragoczy Germainus stepped back, but only to kick Blaga's axe away as he turned to face the second vampire; he saw by the copper-colored hair it was Ennati, and that Rotiger had come up behind him and set his clothes afire with his torch.
Ennati screamed and flung himself backward, rolling to put out the flames, his shrieks making the horses and mules whinny in distress, and mill at the edges of the marshy stream, churning up mud and occasionally striking out with their teeth.
Blaga reached out to grab Ragoczy Germainus' leg, but cursed as the older man eluded him.
"That ploy is too old. I have learned to avoid it," said Ragoczy Germainus. "If you do not wish to be hurt, stay where you are."
"I am not afraid of you," Blaga stated, unwilling to look at Ennati, who had finally put out the fire on his clothes and was trying to sit up.
"Then you are a fool," said Ragoczy Germainus, looking about him. "Where are the rest of your comrades? I can sense them, as you can sense me."
"They are waiting to attack," said Blaga with more bravado than certainty.
"And do you think they will? You have lost the element of surprise and they will have seen that we know how to manage you." He motioned to Blaga to sit up. "You will not be able to harm either Rotiger or me, though you may try."
Blaga rose, his demeanor sullen and resentful. "We will kill you yet, and we will make sure you do not rise."
"If that is your plan, it has not succeeded; I am grateful for the warning." He glanced toward Rotiger, who was keeping a wary eye on Ennati. "What do you think, old friend?"
"I think this must be settled, and quickly." He pointed to Ennati. "They will not all be so reckless as this one."
"No, they will not," agreed Ragoczy Germainus. "They are watching us still. Four or five of your tribe." He rounded on Blaga. "Did Chimenae send you to do this?"
"She does not send us. We go where we wish to." Blaga folded his arms and stared beyond the firelight.
"Then you have broken with her?" Ragoczy Germainus asked, thinking of what Olutiz had told him.
"No. We do not let ourselves be ruled by her as many do. We will provide our help in need, but we will not be her chattel." He laughed. "Some of the others are still under her spell. They would have killed you at once."
Ragoczy Germainus regarded him steadily. "Do you think so."
Blaga retreated into silence while Rotiger brought Ennati over to the edge of the campfire.
"The animals are all right; they are frightened and restive, but they are all right," Rotiger told Ragoczy Germainus.
"Thank all the forgotten gods for that," said Ragoczy Germainus. He turned to face the two they had captured. "I think it is time I called upon Chimenae."
"She says Chimena now," Blaga corrected him smugly, as if he were certain that this would embarrass Ragoczy Germainus.
"Does she so. I will keep that in mind." He listened to the sounds of the forest. "Your comrades are departing."
Blaga tossed his head. "They will find you again, and you will not be ready for them."
But Ennati was not so cocksure. "They will have to tell Chimena," he said to Ragoczy Germainus. "We have not wholly gone from her. We have our own ways, but we are not like Olutiz is: we know our obligation."
"Then she will be expecting me," said Ragoczy Germainus. "We did not part well, thirty years ago."
"No one parts well from her," said Ennati. "She dislikes to have anyone leave her, even for the True Death." He was pale from his ordeal, and his manner remained subdued.
"Merez was gone for a time, and when he came back, she punished him for more than a year." Blaga looked about him in agitation. "She will be angry that we have been caught. Better we are killed than captured."
"She will understand that I made your attack untenable," said Ragoczy Germainus.
"No, she will not," said Ennati, mumbling a little as if anticipating a rebuke for his remark. "She never understands failure."
"Then she is being foolish," said Rotiger before Ragoczy Germainus could say anything. He had gone to get two lengths of rope and now used them to tie Ennati's and Blaga's hands behind them, saying as he did, "If you test these bonds, you will notice they have wire through them. You may be able to break them but they will cut your wrists in the process, and even vampires suffer when they bleed."
Ennati nodded dumbly; Blaga cursed.
"Is Chimena still at the stone house on the ridge?" Ragoczy Germainus asked, his manner conversational.
"She is not. She has gone to the next crag; the Moors have been logging on the slope below the stone house, and she could not risk discovery. She has found a safer place, near an ancient altar." Blaga sounded proud of this even as he winced while Rotiger secured his hands behind him.
"And do the villagers still bring her cups of blood?" Ragoczy Germainus asked.
"They have brought the cups to old shrines, but only a few climb to her new dwelling, and then only on special days," said Ennati.
"Do you think she will be there tomorrow night?" Ragoczy Germainus did not sound as if this made much difference to him, but he listened intently to the reply.
"I think she will be waiting for you," said Blaga. "Merez will warn her."
"So you said," Ragoczy Germainus conceded, then went on more briskly. "Well, you may as well make yourselves as comfortable as you can. We will travel in the morning-"
"There will be sun," exclaimed Blaga in shock. "You cannot-We will not live, nor will you."
"We will carry you with the packs on the mules; you will be wrapped in heavy hides, so you will not burn." Ragoczy Germainus nodded to Rotiger. "Take the bears' hides from the wooden chest. Those will serve our purposes."
"But they are gifts to the Dux of Asturica," Rotiger reminded him.
"This will not harm them," said Ragoczy Germainus.
Blaga looked panicked; he took an unsteady step in Ragoczy Germainus' direction. "You cannot do this. What will become of us?"
"You will have to rely on us to keep you safe," Ragoczy Germainus said, his voice tinged with irony.
"Keep us safe." There was a long pause while Blaga considered this. "You must surely think we are gullible-keep us safe!"
"You have my Word that we will," said Ragoczy Germainus in a tone that was beyond question. "Come. Find yourselves a place near the fire. There are more than vampires to be held at bay tonight."
"If you mean wolves, they have gone farther into the mountains," said Ennati. "So have the cats and bears."
"Because the Moors are cutting down the forests," said Ragoczy Germainus. "That much is obvious. But if any wolves or cats or bears remain here, they must be hungry, and they have a taste for horses and mules, as you do."
"You have the fire for them?" Blaga said in disbelief.
"Certainly. They are as much under my protection as you are." Ragoczy Germainus began to pace. "How many more of you are there since I was here?"
Ennati and Blaga exchanged glances. "Perhaps twenty," Ennati said.
"Far too many," said Ragoczy Germainus, shaking his head in worry. He thought back to what Olutiz had told him, and he felt cold growing in him, in spite of the fire and the summer night. "The wolves and cats are not the only ones who will feel the loss of the forest," he said to Blaga and Ennati.
"This is nothing to us," Blaga insisted, although Ennati looked thoughtful.
Ragoczy Germainus shook his head. "You are not thinking of what may come in time. You tell me that Chimena has had to move higher up the mountains, and yet you do not think the logging has deprived you of hunting ground and game?"
"We do not hunt game, except when there is no choice," said Blaga arrogantly. "And the loggers are men."
"For which we are pleased," added Ennati, but less forcefully than Blaga had spoken. "We hunt them as they rest from their labors."
"And some of you are apprehended and killed," said Ragoczy Germainus for them. "You need not deny it."
"Very well," Blaga allowed. "Some have been killed."
"And more recently than in the past," Ragoczy Germainus persisted.
"Yes," Ennati said slowly as Blaga glared at him. "That is true."
"I feared so," said Ragoczy Germainus as much to himself as to Ennati and Blaga.
"Why should you fear?" Blaga challenged him. "You have deserted Chimena and all that is hers."
"I was unwelcome, and I have learned it is unwise to remain in one place too long." He stopped his pacing and faced Rotiger, and once again spoke to him in Byzantine Greek. "What do you think, old friend? Do we plan for a trap along the way?"
"It would be prudent," said Rotiger. "You may have much to deal with when we reach this crag they speak of."
"You are probably right," Ragoczy Germainus agreed. "Well, let us plan to depart shortly before dawn."
"How will we find this place? The villagers cannot be asked without rousing suspicion, and the Moors would not aid us at all. If we must find our way without any directions, we may become completely lost, and be unable to reach Chimena's place or the road to Usca." He seemed unworried but there was an edge in his voice that revealed his misgiving.
"I think that one of these two will tell us," said Ragoczy Germainus, once again speaking in the language of the region.
"Tell you what?" Blaga demanded.
"The way to find Chimena, of course," said Ragoczy Germainus blandly.
"Never. If you want to carry us to her in disgrace, you must find your way on your own." His face set in hard lines and his brow lowered obdurately.
"Then you will ride, wrapped in bearskins over the backs of our chests and packs, until we are trapped or we reach a road or village. We may have to leave you then," said Ragoczy Germainus, and smiled wryly. "The villagers know what to do with you, do they not?"
"You would not!" Blaga yelled. "How can you leave your own kind to be killed at the hands of men!"
"So now I am your kind after all," Ragoczy Germainus marveled.
Ennati looked up. "I will tell you how to find her crag."
"You will not!" Blaga shouted. "You will not betray her, or us!"
Ennati shrugged. "He is right. If we leave him to wander, then sooner or later we will fall into unfriendly hands. All of us." He nodded. "You will have to reach her before the end of the day, or you will be attacked again, and by many more than the seven of us who came here tonight."
"Is it possible to do that?" Ragoczy Germainus asked, his demeanor serious and attentive.
"If you keep a good pace, it should be. The worst of it is that there is only one trail leading to the crag and it is carefully guarded at night." Ennati ignored Blaga's furious gaze. "The mountains are rugged, and you may find that it is more difficult to climb them in the heat of the day. The Moors and their slaves rest through the worst of it."
"Do you think the animals can endure the heat?" Ragoczy Germainus was not at ease about the effort that would be demanded of them, but he concealed his concern behind a composed mien.
"They are your stock," said Ennati indifferently. "How have they fared thus far?"
"They have done well enough," said Ragoczy Germainus as he thought of the jenny's swollen hock.
"Then you must decide if you can risk it," said Ennati. "The last part of the path is the steepest-and it is narrow." He looked gratified at this, as if the severity of the climb made his revelations less a betrayal than they would have been if the road were an easy one. "The canyon is deep and not even you could survive a fall into it."
"Very likely not," Ragoczy Germainus said. "So we will have to be diligent. It would not do to lose you and our mules on such a climb."
Blaga spat out an obscenity and glared at Ennati. "You will answer for this."
"He may well do so," said Ragoczy Germainus, "but only if we all arrive at our destination without mishap."
Sighing, Ennati said, "I will tell you what I know. You must decide if you are willing to risk the journey." He squatted down, making himself as comfortable as possible. "You must go to Canthiz and take the track that leads to Querzus Scopuluz. Do you recall where that was?"
"Above that old monastery?" Ragoczy Germainus asked. "Is there anyone living there anymore?"
"Owls and badgers," said Ennati. "The monks left long ago-before the Moors came." He coughed as if embarrassed by what he had said.
"So we take the trail up the mountain to Querzus Scopuluz. What then?" Ragoczy Germainus was doing his best to recall that part of the mountains, and wondered how much he might discover in that region if he had time to explore; he suspected he would learn more about the extent of the changes in the forest in that area than he might in many another.
Ennati avoided looking at Blaga as he continued. "You go to the old shrine on the flank of the mountain there, and proceed along the side of the cliff to the fork in the way near the waterfalls: there are three of them, one beneath the other. There you cross on the rope bridge and keep on until you reach the old tombs built into the caves." He went silent, his face without expression. "That is where you will find what you seek."
Blaga muttered under his breath, the words inaudible to Ragoczy Germainus; Ennati winced.
"That must be sixteen thousand paces at least," said Rotiger. "A hard day's journey in such territory as this."
"Yes," said Ragoczy Germainus. "But one we must make." He looked past the fire to the enormous shadows of the forest.
"Is it really so necessary?" Rotiger asked. "This will take us far from the road to Usca."
"If we do not face this now, we will not be safe from it," said Ragoczy Germainus. "It will follow us everywhere."
"But why should it? Do you not want to be away from here?" Rotiger persisted. "You said you did not want to come this way, yet we came. You said you did not want to deal with Chimena's tribe, yet here we are."
"Yes; and since we are here, and so are they, I cannot dismiss my part in this." Ragoczy Germainus shook his head slowly.
"Because you feel responsible for what Chimena has done, do you not?" Rotiger said, his expression keen.
"If I do nothing, many living and undead will pay the price," he answered gently and indirectly.
"You will not change Chimena," said Blaga, all but boasting.
"Perhaps not," Ragoczy Germainus agreed, "but I must make the attempt to persuade her."
"You are not answerable for what she does," Rotiger insisted as he tightened the braided thongs holding Blaga's wrists.
"No; but I am responsible for making her what she is," said Ragoczy Germainus in a voice of finality.
"You will not succeed," Blaga said with certainty.
"I may not," said Ragoczy Germainus, his smile as bleak as it was fleeting; he put another branch on the fire and watched with enigmatic eyes as it began to burn.
Text of a letter from Ursino Baroz in Asturica to Comites Egnacius in Toulosa, carried by pilgrim monks and delivered four months after being entrusted to the monks' care.
To the most excellent Comites Egnacius of Toulosa who is rightly entitled to the recognition and dignity of that position, and who has been a most gracious patron to the clerk Ursino Baroz, his greetings and expressions of regard from the beleaguered city of Asturica.
Surely you have heard of the campaigns being waged against the Christian north of Hispania by the godless forces of the Caliph, and you know how desperate the position of the soldiers of Christ has become, so you will not be astonished to learn that the Dux Manrigo has gone to join other Christian knights for the purpose of mounting a proper counter-attack on the Caliph's men. This place is filled with men-at-arms and belted knights who seek the favor of God and the Dux, and who are sworn to accompany him on his campaign. It is said all the cheese for ten thousand paces around the city has been seized by the Dux's growing army, and that wine barrels have been brought by the wagon-load to fill the tankards of the men going off to fight.
You pledged your support, and vowed to send aid to this place, but no such aid has arrived, and it is feared that some terrible fate has befallen the men you have sent here. We know the Roncesvalles Pass has been closed, but it is now open enough for men on horseback to venture through it. Yet there has been no report of any such men coming here on your order. We pray that they were not caught in the avalanche that blocked Roncesvalles and that they will come soon, so that they may join with the others in this drive to reclaim this land for the good of Christ and His people. So long as there is no report, we must hope that they will arrive.
It is known that you have men here in this court who report to you; from them you will learn that I describe the situation here truthfully. You will have no reason to doubt me, or them, in regard to the plans of the Dux. You are in a good position to help us, and Manrigo will see that your aid is lauded everywhere Christians fight the hoards of the Caliph. You will be forgiven many sins for your assistance in this time, and should the Caliph's men breach the Pyrenees and strike into Frankish lands, the Dux would be obligated to show you the same reinforcement that you provide him now; should you fail him in this time of greatest need, you may not be confident of his participation in your defense, or in his willingness to send his own troops to fight your battles.
In the name of the Savior and of all Christian Kings, I tell you the Dux must have every man you can send him, and I ask you in his name to respond in haste. The armies of the Caliph are massing to drive us north and into the sea. Those men you have dispatched are urgently needed, and any more you can send to us will be needed in the efforts of the knights and men-at-arms. You will be glad of the honor you will bring to your House, and you will enjoy the gratitude of Dux Manrigo and all his sons and their sons for your devotion to this highest cause.
I am bidden to express the thanks of the Dux, in anticipation of your donation to his war.
In the name of Manrigo, Dux of Asturica and of Christ our Savior
Ursino Baroz
Clerk to Dux Manrigo
at Asturica on the 20th day of June in the 752nd year of Salvation, by the calendar of Sant' Iago
