Forest Kingdom Trilogy 3 - Down Among the Dead Men

the lowering summer sky, but no horses stood at the hitching rails, and the surrounding doors and windows were dark and empty, like so many blank, unseeing eyes. The Dancer drew his sword, and MacNeil followed suit. There is a sound the sword makes as it clears the scabbard, a grim rasping whisper that promises blood and horror and sudden death. The sound seemed to echo on and on in the empty courtyard, as though reluctant to die away. MacNeil looked at the Dancer’s sword, and not for the first time his hackles stirred uneasily. The Dancer’s sword was long and broad and double-edged. There was no grace or beauty about the weapon; it was simply a brutal killing tool, and that was how the Dancer used it. MacNeil carried a long, slender sword that allowed him to work with the point as well as the edge. There was more to swordsmanship than butchery—at least, as far as he was concerned.
    He looked around him, taking in the fort’s courtyard. The wide-open space was deserted, but the feeling of being watched was stronger than ever. MacNeil scowled. There was something about the place that put his teeth on edge. Where the hell was everybody? The doors had been locked and bolted from the inside; there had to be someone here … somewhere… . MacNeil shivered suddenly.
A ghost just walked over my grave
, he thought wryly, and yet somehow he knew it was more than that. On a level so deep within him he was hardly aware of its presence, an old and secret fear cast a shadow across his thoughts. He looked around him at the darkened windows and felt a tremor in his soul, a stark and basic horror he hadn’t felt for many years. Not since he faced the demon horde in the depths of the long night, and knew he couldn’t stand against them… .
    MacNeil shook his head quickly. He’d think about that later. He had work to do. He steered his horse over to the nearest hitching rail, and the memory faded from his mind, as it had so many times before. He dismounted and wrapped the reins around the low wooden rail. The others moved in beside him to see to their horses, and MacNeil looked quickly around at the various doorways, getting his bearings. One fort is much like any other, and it didn’t take him long to work out which was the main entrance. The door was opposite the courtyard doors and stood slightly ajar. Beyond it was nothing but an impenetrable gloom. MacNeil started toward the door, and then stopped and looked back suddenly. For a moment he’d thought he heard something… . He stood listening, but the only sound was the soft murmur of the rising wind outside the fort. MacNeil frowned as he realized that many of the windows looking out onto the courtyard were hidden behind closed shutters, despite the heat of the day.
That’s crazy
, he thought confusedly,
it must be like an oven in there
. His mind seized on the word
crazy
, and it repeated over and over in his thoughts like an echo. To get away from it, he concentrated on what he was looking at. The stables were to his right, the barracks to his left. In both cases, the doors stood slightly ajar. He became aware that Constance was standing beside him, her eyes darting nervously around the courtyard, as though searching for something safe to settle on.
    “You said this was a new fort,” she said suddenly, not looking at MacNeil. “Do you know why it was built here? Is there anything about this location I ought to know?”
    “You already know most of it,” said MacNeil. “The border between the Forest Kingdom and Hillsdown runs right through the middle of this clearing. The fort is here to stabilize this stretch of the frontier, nothing more. It worked quite well … until just recently.”
    Constance frowned. “Hillsdown doesn’t have much in the way of sorcerers or magicians, not that I’ve ever heard of. Taking out a fort this size would require sorcery far beyond Hillsdown’s means.”
    MacNeil looked at her thoughtfully. “Can you sense anything here? Anything magical, or immediately dangerous?”
    Constance closed her eyes and gave herself to the Sight. Her mind’s eye opened, and scenes and feelings came to her. The fort was cold and empty, like an abandoned coffin, but still there was something … something awful, not far away. She concentrated, trying for more detail, but her Sight remained obstinately vague. There was definitely something dangerous close at hand; there was a feeling of power about it, and a stronger feeling of
wrongness
. A