His own footsteps were still clearly visible on the slope, but he chose to go another way. A path he hadn't seen during his ascent led southward, and it was a gentler descent. It could turn out to be the longer way, but he was going south so it seemed appropriate to start his journey going in that direction instead of back in the direction he had come from. There was only one other place to go in what little he knew of the world outside Lordstown, and he knew he had to go there.
The Lord of Greed had been right, things had become stale. He was still unsure whether his god's betrayal of his own Herald was his solution to that riddle, or if the stalemate itself was a sham, a fabrication of both King and Lord in which he had played a crucial but equally predictable part. Now, he even wondered if that too was a trick of the Forever King in which his Lord had fallen into and been an unwitting pawn. Not my lord, he thought, not anymore. I have a new one. He shook that thought away. But he had a hard time believing the Lord of Greed could be fooled, no matter how unstable he had seemed when he had seen him last. Greed can be as blinding as lack of hope. One is the other's opposite. The greedy man will take a sack of dirt instead of grain. And his... the Lord of Greed was blinded when he smelled something he craved. The proverb seemed true, only Senn couldn't be sure where he had heard it. Or if he had heard it at all. He was even more certain now that killing the sleeping giant had been right. He didn't want any more thoughts being put into his head if he couldn't at least see someone moving his lips in front of him.
He didn't know yet what his endgame would be, but he knew the Hub was the key. Even after all this time, there were so many things he didn't understand. He had been little more than a child when he had fled, and it had taken him years to even realize the power that the Chainkeepers wielded and that their King had to be a God to be able to grant them that power. But strength itself wasn't the answer to the question he was just now starting to assemble. Strength hadn't kept the Leashed meek and unwilling to rebel. There was fear, that was true, but how did they neuter them so completely that Senn had been the first one in years to even attempt to resist?
Only in the stories of times past did they hear of rebels, and now he was almost sure those had been creations of the sleeping god, meant to somehow inspire one such as Senn. The Chainkeepers hadn't stifled the tongues that repeated those stories, because the tales always ended in failure and punishment, but they had to be unaware of their source. And out of all the boys that learned those stories, only Senn had dared believe they could turn out differently. If there were more who thought like him and attempted to rebel, they would have been disposed of publicly to discourage similar thoughts. They wouldn't hide them, they would use that as a teaching opportunity. Senn was sure of that. But why him, out of all of them... he had no answer to that burning question, and he had buried it for years under a pretense and his inflated notion of being chosen by his Lord. But the god wouldn't have chosen just anyone. There had to be something about him, and he wouldn't find that answer anywhere else.
His heart started beating faster. He had been back to the outskirts of the Hub before, to plunder or free more of his people. But he had been surrounded by his men and his god. Now he was alone, with a new god that he had a weaker connection to, with a power that could leave him just as his speed had left him, with no way to know how he could use the power he had just discovered to his advantage.
"I don't think you'd care to come and explain how to do this Herald thing for you?"
Only the wind replied with a gust, and it didn't help Senn at all.
"I should have been more courteous. Trying to kill a god is unbecoming. Though it seems I can't help trying," he chuckled. "Well, I guess I'll meet you somewhere along the way. I just wished you showed up. Walking alone is boring."
The Hunter didn't seem to want to entertain him, so Senn shrugged in case his new god was somehow watching over him and went on his way.
* * *
He couldn't find more than a lizard to eat for two whole days of going up and down the mountains. He kept to the rim that circled the Midlands, not daring to venture further in either direction. The mountains to the east grew at the same time whiter and darker, and grey clouds hung overhead without seeming to move. At least that would be a respite before heading back to the plains. There were a few ponds where rainwater accrued, and small currents of water that disappeared beneath the rocks just as easily as they appeared, surely feeding larger underground currents that ended up on the rivers that surrounded the Hub and its flooded lands. He saw a few goats in the distance, but it would have taken him a full day to reach them, so he stuck to trying to catch rock lizards and chewing what roots he could find. On the fifth night, a wild canid called out to his partner in vain. He had almost forgotten there were wild ones out there, since he had only ever seen them as captured beasts, but they had to come from somewhere and the mountains seemed a more natural place to hold those predators than the scorching plains. How many kinds of life could be out there that he hadn't even imagined, even in dreams? There could be worse things out there than canids, and he wasn't sure he could outrun or kill even one of those. He only had the bone arrowheads, and he didn't care to try out his newfound power under duress.
Mirai would say you had problems trusting others, he reminded himself. Then again, Mirai had betrayed him, along with most of his men. If he had trust issues before, it would be worse now. He couldn't be sure this new God of his was real. I always said that we had to have faith in our God, but that was easy when he was just a shadow. Once he got himself a body, faith turned out harder to raise.
He suddenly remembered something he had told Mirai long ago when he was just about to become Sparked. Son, he had said, you don't have to believe blindly. I hope he's always right, but I'm not sure. All a man can trust is his own head to tell him what to do, and his own hands to do it. Trust in that, and I don't think you'll need to worry about our God. He needs us to lead as much as we need his power.
Then the boy had said: I trust you, Senn.
He had to turn his eyes and his thoughts to the stars above the plains to avoid the memories. The night was cold, but he didn't dare go into any cave or crevasse. The wild canid could be using one of those as a home, and out on the slope he would be able to hear the gravel slide if any beast approached. Just then, as he turned his eyes south, he saw a fire in the distance. It was hard to judge without the outlines of the mountains to guide him, but it had to be below the second peak he had seen during the day, a full day's march ahead. Possibilities started to dart around his mind. Were they King's men, out in the mountains for some reason? He had never found out where the King's Fortress was, but he had always thought it would be a large place, with many more lights. If not that, then what? What could they be doing? The only other thing he could think of was them being escapees from the Hub, but that was even more implausible. They would never have made it that far. Don't be so arrogant. Haven't you had enough lessons lately? You may be just the first, but not the last to escape, and maybe they found another way easier than venturing into the plains.
The troubling thing was the fire was more or less in his way. If it was a guard camp of some sort, he would have to go around it, and he could be found easily by daylight. He would have to do it by night. And if the guards moved from that place and went north, their paths would cross unless he ventured further into the mountainscape. He made his decision. He could light no fire that night and he had nothing to eat, so he might as well use that time to approach the camp under cover of darkness. He got up and walked by starlight down the mountain, carefully so as not to slip and fall. He didn't want to test his invulnerability by rolling down a mountain. As it turns out, going down was harder than going up the next slope, and he managed to get over the ridge directly above the firelit camp. He could now see it was a big fire, not just a torch. One man alone wouldn't bother to gather that much wood, so there had to be at least three or four, and probably not more than that, or they would have lit a second fire. So it was a matter of facing men who outnumbered him or waiting in the cold and the darkness for a wild canid to come and eat him. Senn's feet moved faster with that realization.
It took him nearly all night to go down his mountain and reach the top of the next one. From there, and looking down, he could see the fire much better, even with the sky lightening and approaching a pale blue instead of the pitch black of night. It was a small fire, and he could see shapes around it. He decided to rest then and there. In a while, the sun would be out in full and he couldn't risk walking exposed like that. He would wait to see if they moved. If they were going south like him, maybe he could approach slowly and overtake them at some point. If they came his way, he'd just have to find a good hiding spot. He curled in a place between two rocks, protected from the wind and not too damp. He would give his left arm for a good cloak with a hood, or a hand for a warm jacket. At the pace he was moving, and without any of those things and little food and water, it would be likely he'd lose that or more anyway.
A new thought popped into his head. Maybe he could kill those men and steal their clothes and supplies. He only needed to place his trust entirely in Hunter's Grace. For that, he needed to test himself. He pulled out one of his crafted arrowheads and concentrated. It was the same as when he had the gift of the Lord of Greed's speed. He could feel the same unexplainable tug in his stomach, like a muscle he could pull there and push him in a new direction. He held onto it and exerted his will. Then he slashed his forearm with the arrowhead in a quick move. He missed, weirdly, and tried it again. Then he realized he hadn't missed the first time. It had just slid off his hand as if it were a well-polished rock. It was working. But could he rely on it in the heat of battle? He needed to test it further. He closed his knuckles and concentrated again. He hit the rock in front of him with his fist with all the strength he could muster. He flinched a bit at the last second and hit it with less force than expected. Still, he didn't feel anything beyond something impeding his move. No broken bones, no jolt up his arm. Just a sudden stop and little feedback from his nerves. What are you so afraid of?
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He hit the rock again, without flinching this time, and then another time. He smiled. He could control it. He tried the same thing with his leg, slashing his calf and kicking the rocks. He wasn't sure if it would be the same if he suffered multiple attacks at the same time. Would he be protected if he didn't see the blow coming? He couldn't be sure until he was in true danger. He got up from his spot, and the earth moved underneath him. He fell over the stones. A quake? They were unusual but he had been through a couple when he lived in the Hub. He opened his eyes. He had been holding them shut unknowingly. The mountain still moved a little, but he was now sure it was all in his head. He felt light-headed. It had to be exhaustion and malnourishment, coupled with using a power he didn't understand. He needed rest. But first, he wanted to see the campsite again. He pushed himself away from the rock that had been supporting him and walked closer to the edge of the mountain. The fire was out, so it was harder to find it, but after scanning the area he finally found the telltale sign of a recently extinguished fire: a thin wisp of smoke. And around it there were guards. They too were easy to spot as such by the clothes they wore and the chains around their necks. Even from that distance, they were visible and confirmed Senn's suspicions. They were Chainkeepers, and by their calm stances, he knew they weren't chasing anyone. They had to be scouts of some sort, though not very bright ones. If he had been tasked with the same job, he would have found a higher place, like the one he now stood on. But he felt better about one thing. There had been much debate at one point a long time ago, after they escaped from the Hub, about the best way to get back to it to free more people. He had debated hotly against taking his men into the mountains and attacking from there, and he had barely defended his position against Izal's convincing arguments. Now the other man was dead, and time proved Senn right. It was a good thing he had never taken his army around the Hub by the mountains, or they would have been exposed and easily caught between walls of stone by a superior force.
He watched the Chainkeepers for a while, but they didn't make any moves that indicated they were about to depart. It had to be a somewhat permanent outpost then, though he couldn't see any structures around it. Maybe a training assignment for new Chainkeepers? He sighed. He could spend all day speculating on the Forever King's subjects' customs, but he didn't know them enough. Having lived under their yoke wasn't enough to make him privy to their thoughts, just as they couldn't read his mind. He cursed himself for not doing a better effort to learn about his enemies. He had thought himself so powerful and far away from his enemies that he thought when the time came and his force was big enough, he would just crush them. But it would have been suicide, as the battle under the duststorm had shown. He hadn't known they had Sparked of their own until that time, and he hadn't guessed they could be so bold as to venture into the open plains, leaving the Hub undermanned. Unless it was protected just fine, in some way he hadn't considered, or their numbers were greater than they seemed. He hadn't been completely stupid, as in, he had sent scouts to observe at night from as close as they could get to the Hub, trying to determine where the fires of the Chainkeepers were lit, and if there was a path to be found to the Forever King's Fortress. But not much could be done at night, and few were the men who dared to risk capture. The memories of their enslavement were vivid, and Senn couldn't fault them or send a man in daylight to be found and leashed again. But he knew now he should have found another way. Not having done so meant that it was his task now, no matter how long he had delayed it. Maybe, just maybe, learning more about his enemies could be a way to get back to Lordstown without seeming a beggar. He couldn't conceive of going back there and facing his treasonous god, but neither could he conceive of life in any other place. Coming back to the Hub was just intelligence-gathering. And something else he had put off for a long time.
He started to make his way down the mountain as soon as the sun's glare disappeared behind the last ridge to the east. There were no clouds, so the starlight was sufficient to stop him from rolling down the mountain most of the time. He fell and rolled on his back a few times, but he managed to reach instinctively for his power, and he felt no pain. He could have rolled down the entire mountain without breaking his bones, but he feared exhausting himself or his fledgling power.
By the time he reached the base of the mountain, he had strayed west of the Chainkeepers' camp. It was all right since now he could control his approach better. He turned around an outcropping at the base of the mountain and examined the situation from that vantage position. There were two men around the newly-lit fire. The other two weren't visible by the light of the fire. That worried Senn. He hadn't seen them come his way, so if they weren't in the immediate vicinity, they had to have gone the other way. He risked a closer view by climbing a large rock. He could still see the campfire and the two men sitting by it, but also their supplies lined up against a line of bushes that seemed to have been cropped that way to accommodate them. The camp itself had been set up between the rock wall and the line of bushes, to protect them from the worst of the wind and rain. And beyond the fire, away from Senn, there was something built from reeds and something like chains. It reminded Senn of something he couldn't quite place. He was twisting his mind around it when he heard the barking of a canid, and then all the pieces fell into place. The howls he had heard the previous nights hadn't come from wild canids but from tamed ones. He hadn't seen the cages from the top of the mountain because they were obscured in the shade, and the two missing men had to be leading the canids that were quickly encroaching upon him, as he could tell by the barks at his back.
Burn me, he thought, his mind unable to find a weapon or a way out. I've not only fallen into a trap. I built it myself.
The first canid turned the corner behind him and lifted his red eyes at him. The other canid appeared rapidly at his side, and they both started growling at the same time, pausing just for a heartbeat before launching themselves toward Senn. They wore no leashes, as there had been no chance of them running away, but they were mid-sized ones, probably reaching Senn's chest on all fours and able to slash his throat on two legs without even jumping. It had been blind luck that he had climbed on the rock, and it saved him from the first onslaught: the canids crashed against the rock. He had just a few moments before the two men by the fire came running, and probably even less until the men leading the beasts showed up too. And he wouldn't have even half of that before the canids managed to jump from rock to rock to where he stood and cut him down. He could only escape forward.
He jumped up and turned into a ball in midair, falling on the nearest canid with all his weight, at the same time using his power to make him impervious. He fell on its back and wrestled it to the ground, crushing the animal's skull even as the other canid chomped at his back. He had tensed his muscles expecting the claws and the teeth that would drive into them, but it was as if he was covered in oil: the thing's jaws kept sliding on his back with no place to hang onto. He rose and hit the beast with a backhand stroke that barely pushed him aside. He had to remember being invulnerable didn't make him strong, and worse than that, he was weak from the lack of food and excessive effort. The beast didn't care either way and jumped toward his neck. He barely avoided the worst of it, but the jaws closed around a part of his neck anyway. He would have had his throat torn if not for his power. But it was hard to concentrate while fending off the beast. He punched it in the balls and the animal whimpered but didn't let go. Shouts were coming closer, and the Chainkeepers would be upon him in a few heartbeats. He grabbed the animal's balls until he yelped and opened its jaws, just in time to grab it by the throat and send it hurtling toward the men coming from the campfire. The beast fell on one of the Chainkeepers and mauled his face. It didn't care whom it was hurting. The animals had no attachment, and neither did the men. The other Chainkeeper made a noose with his chain and put it around the canid's head. With just one push, he broke its neck, but the man at his feet was already painted red with blood that would spurt for a while before stopping forever. The Chainkeeper who still stood lifted his head toward Senn, at the same time the other two Chainkeepers, the ones who had been following the dogs, came into view. Three against one, thought Senn. You've faced worse.
Truth was, he hadn't faced worse odds for a long time, and that had been with his speed-power. This was a different kind of power, and if he was swarmed, he wouldn't be able to hold his concentration. He could be trapped and buried in the earth, and no invulnerability would avail him then. He had to rush them.
He ran ahead in what seemed to him as a painfully slow movement. But he didn't have to be fast, he just had to keep moving. One of the Chainkeepers uncurled the chain around his stomach and threw an end toward Senn with blinding speed. It wasn't truly speed, but rather force, like those he had seen in the battle of the duststorm. The end of the chain hit him square in the chest, and he saw the sharp, conical head fail to sink into his chest. It bounced away, but Senn grabbed the chain and turned toward the next Chainkeeper, who was rushing him and hadn't taken out his chains. Senn caught him in the flailing chain before the first man could untangle it from his stomach, and Senn ran around them both, entangling them and jumping over the third man's chain, who was now joining the fray. The second man tried to push him away, but he wasn't a Sparked, and Senn's momentum pushed him closer to the first Chainkeeper. That one was powerful and while Senn approached in an encroaching circle, he broke the chain tied around him. But Senn was already too close, and he held the conical end of the chain. He drove it into the Chainkeepers' eye and pulled it out and drove it into the second man's throat. He gurgled and fell to the ground. But before Senn could turn around, a pair of arms were locked around his throat. He didn't feel pain, but his flesh gave way a little, impeding his breathing. The man was strong, very strong. He couldn't break out of that grip. The black of night crawled around his vision, and then there was nothing.