“It’s a gift I have, apparently.”
“It does not seem to trouble you all that much. Is your life worth so little to you?”
“I have a job to do here, girl, and I intend to see it done.”
“A job that involves killing some pox-raddled old whore? How can that be important enough to throw your life away?”
“The woman Ana is dead. She has been possessed by a demon.” Nuala looked at him again. Her eyes narrowed. She tilted her head to one side. She looked as if she were trying to judge whether he was sane or not.
“A demon is loose in our city? Which of the sorcerers unleashed it? Mandragora? Khane? And why? They are not normally so careless. They know the Warlords would have their head.”
“None of them. I have followed this demon all the long leagues from Belaria. It flees before me, sometimes, turns at bay at others. Somehow I feel we are reaching the end of the road here, one way or the other.”
“You certainly will, if you offend the likes of Scar.”
“If it is so dangerous, why are you still here?”
“Because you still owe me money.” She smiled as she said it. It lit her face, made her pretty in a way Kormak had not noticed before. He found himself smiling back.
“That is a matter soon settled. It might be best for you if you left me.”
“It might, but I can see that you might need some help soon and you look like a man who can pay well for it.”
“What sort of help can you give me in my task?”
“You might be surprised.”
“I am serious. This is not a game, girl. You could get killed. Or worse.”
“Worse than being killed? I am not one of those women who believe in fates worse than death.”
“Razhak could devour your soul, and steal your flesh.”
“How do you know this?”
“I belong to the Order of the Dawn.”
“I thought they were a legend. I had heard they were all dead.”
“Not all of us. Not yet.”
“And that is why you hunt this demon across the world?”
“I swore an oath. And I keep my promises. For good or ill.”
She tilted her head to one side. Her look was wary and watchful. It reminded him of a nervous bird considering taking flight. “Either you are the most convincing maniac I have ever met or you are serious.”
“I am not a madman.” He did not know why he was bothering to try and convince her of it. He had work to do and Razhak was getting no easier to find, and yet somehow, he found inertia creeping over him. It has been a long time since he had talked at length with anyone, let alone a pretty woman.
“Tell me about this demon.”
“Why? Are you a sorcerer?”
“No but I know one. He might be able to help you.”
“Wizards are rarely friendly to my order.”
“This one will be friendly to anyone if they have enough cash.”
“What good can he do me?”
“How do you propose to find this demon now? Will you go hunting through the city while Scar and his men hunt you?”
“If need be.”
“That’s your plan? It’s not a very good one.”
“Alas, I find my options are limited.”
“Then what harm will it do to consult my friend? He is a diviner. He may be able to help.”
“And this will of course cost me…”
“Well, I should be paid for the matter of the introduction and he will need money. As I said, he is fond of gold.”
Kormak looked up. The watchmen he had encountered earlier had entered the courtyard. They were looking around and he did not doubt they were looking for him. He put his head down and kept his hand on his sword.
“What is it?” Nuala asked.
“The watch,” he said. “They are looking for me. I gave them those bruises earlier.”
She rose and he thought she was about to take flight. He would not have blamed her. Instead she moved around to where he sat and wriggled onto his knee. Looking over her shoulder he could see the watchmen coming ever closer. In a few heartbeats they would be close enough to recognise him for sure and he could not fight them with the weight of a woman on his lap.
She leaned forward and said, “Be still. This won’t hurt,” then kissed him full on the lips. He was momentarily startled and then he realised what was happening. His face was obscured from view. They looked just like any other street girl and customer in the place. The watchmen certainly would not be expecting this of a Guardian hunting a demon. It was not what he expected himself. He found himself kissing her back and the embrace lasted longer than was strictly necessary for cover.
Once the watchmen had passed, she stood up, looking at their receding backs, then stretched out her hand to him. She pulled him from the seat towards the shadows, the very picture of a street girl leading a client to a private place to fulfill an assignation. Kormak wondered if perhaps that was what was really going on here, then he shook his head as his habitual wariness re-asserted itself. It would not do to trust this woman, even a little, he decided.
She laughed as they made their way through the alleys. “Scared for your virtue, noble knight?” she asked.
“I was just wondering how much you were going to charge me for the kiss.” She paused for a moment. Her face suddenly looked hard then she laughed. “I did that for fun. I have no love of the watch and you are a handsome man.”
“I am not that handsome.”
“Then let us say you have the type of ugliness that does not repel me.”
“I am flattered.”
“No, you are not. This sort of thing happens to your sort all the time. The enigmatic stranger, passing through on his way to somewhere else.”
“You sound like you have had experience.”
“So do you.” What could he say? She was right.
Silence fell as she led him through the maze of alleys. He was starting to suspect it was true. If Vandemar was not the most populous city in the world it must be pretty close. He had never been in slums so extensive or so tightly packed. It seemed like a lot of people were packed within these walls. He shuddered to think what Razhak could do in such a crowded place.
“What are you grunting about?” Nuala asked.
“I was thinking I don’t think I have ever seen a city so densely populated.”
“A lot of people have crowded in from the countryside over the past few years. They think they can avoid the wars of the Warlords that way, the pillaging armies. They think that they can make their fortune in the great merchant city, that the streets are paved with gold.”
The bitter way she said the words made him wonder if she was one of those people who had fled from the countryside. He was not familiar enough with the local accents to tell whether she was local or not. “How did you get on the trail of this demon anyway?”
Was there fear in her voice? Perhaps what he had said earlier was starting to sink in.
“It killed a man called Nial in the caravansary at Lemal back along the Holy Road from Belaria. It took his body and left a stinking corpse. Before that it stole the form of a girl called Petra. I knew her somewhat.”
“A friend?”
“In a way.”
“How can you be so certain you are on the right track?”
“It follows the Holy Road. It is heading for Tanyth out beyond Sunhaven in the Sacred Lands. I had hoped to catch it before it made it so far. I was unlucky. So far it has always managed to elude me.”
She laughed. “I have never met a man who thought it unlucky not to meet a demon.”
“If I find it, I can kill it. There are few of its kind I cannot, if I am lucky.”
“A man of your talents could make a good living in this part of the world, providing you did not upset the wrong people, of course. Given your personality you would probably have a very short career.”
“I never expected my life to be a long one.”
“Then why do it?”
“I told you: I swore an oath.”
“Somehow I doubt it is that simple.”