Tivi's Dagger by Alex Douglas Page B

knocked a few times then went inside,
only to reappear with a frown. “The food on the table is sprouting
maggots and the fire is dead in the grate. I’d say he hasn’t been
here this two or three days.” He looked around. “And yet his horse
is tethered yonder.”
    The wind felt suddenly chilly as I glanced
at Brin, wondering what he would do. The forest was strangely
silent, apart from the gentle rustling of the trees around us.
    “ What does the message
say?”
    Kari pulled it from his pocket and unraveled
the scrap of parchment. “It is forbidden to read it, but under the
circumstances…” His lips formed the words as he read, then his face
paled. “The King asks all Keepers to be alert for Night Walkers and
to remain indoors until guards are sent. Agents of the Blood Red
have been spotted, it doesn’t say where. I’d speculate that the
warriors we’ve just seen are on their way to deal with them. Let’s
hope they do so, and soon.”
    Brin’s lips formed a thin line. “Let’s go
looking for the man before nightfall, then. I’ll bet he’s fallen
foul of one of these spiders you speak of, or some other banal
thing.”
    “ I hope so.”
    “ I’ll come with you, Brindar.” Lana
had fixed her belt so her daggers swung at her sides within easy
reach.
    Kel and I looked at each other. Neither of
us was adept at the sword, nor particularly brave. “Kel, you stay
here and clean up this hut,” Brin said, as if reading our minds.
“Throw out that rotten food and get a fire going. It will be a cold
night. Ned, with me.”
    “ Yes, brother.” I rubbed my hands
together, trying to get some warmth into my fingers which were
suddenly freezing cold. What on earth did Brin think I could do
were we to be faced with some walking abomination? One year of
fencing at school and the occasional drunken duel over the dubious
honor of a merchant’s wife had not prepared me for the dangers that
lurked in the wilds. I had a little magic too, inherited from my
maternal grandmother but, forbidden to use it for so long, I was
not sure if any trace remained. In any case, I had forgotten how to
direct it. Brin believed the magic — like all my other flaws —
could simply be prayed away. Perhaps, in this, he had been
successful.
    As we stepped outside I reminded myself that
it was not yet dark; that all we were doing was searching for the
Keeper who had, more likely than not, simply ensnared himself in
one of the animal traps I’d noticed upon entering the forest.
    Keeping the cabin in sight, we scouted
around the area for a while until it was clear that dusk was
gathering and we could hardly see under the thick canopy of leaves
above us. Just as we were about to give up, Lana grabbed Brin’s
arm.
    “ What’s that?”
    We peered through the tree trunks and my
heart missed a beat.
    There was a body on the forest floor.
    “ The Keeper,” Kari said, and we went
over to get a closer look.
    In life the Keeper had been a robust,
muscular man with wind-scalded cheeks and thick black hair. But now
his milky eyes stared blindly at the sky and his mouth gaped open,
tongue dark with flies. His clothes had been ripped down the front
and entrails spilled out of the stomach cavity, stinking like
rotten meat. The stench of the body and the buzzing of the flies
made my guts lurch. “By the Gods,” I said, shaking my head. “Some
scavengers have feasted upon this poor wretch’s corpse.”
    Brin looked grim. “It was no scavenger. This
was the manner of his death. Look how the blood is spattered about
the place, on those tree trunks, on the forest floor. His guts were
ripped from his body.”
    Lana knelt beside the body and lifted the
torn edge of the man’s shirt. “Kind of scooped out, maybe by claws?
It’s quite a clean wound, no teeth marks, no organs eaten or even
chewed, as far as I can see. And look,” she wiggled the
bone-handled dagger, still sheathed at the man’s belt. “He had no
time to even draw his weapon, when