Path of the Specialist Read online

“Are we in the cave?”

  “No, we’re on the ledge. We pulled you up with some ropes Sigrid had ready here in case of an emergency.”

  Lasgol looked around and saw Ingrid, Viggo and Molak beside Astrid.

  “The others...?”

  “They went back. They’re waiting until you can get down.”

  “What a fright you gave us,” Ingrid said.

  “The weirdo up to his tricks, as usual,” Viggo said with a smile. He put his hand on Lasgol’s shoulder. “I’m really glad you didn’t split your head in two.”

  “It was an accident,” Molak said. “It’s not your fault.”

  Lasgol reached for his wound, which hurt horribly. He closed his eyes, trying to make the pain go away, but it was in vain. He felt as if a spike had been driven into his mind. He could not even think, what with the pain and the dizziness.

  “Don’t move,” said Astrid. “The ledge is only two paces wide, and you could fall off.”

  Lasgol nodded dizzily. Suddenly an image came to his mind amid the pain: the image of two rocks falling toward his head. The pain of the blow which he felt an instant later tortured him, as if with the reawakening of the image the suffering had returned. And he remembered something else, something he had not noticed when it had happened. He saw Isgord’s right hand open at the level of his head, and an evil smile on his face. He could not see his eyes, only his hand and mouth, but he knew without any trace of doubt that this had not been an accident.

  “Isgord... it was him...” he muttered.

  Ingrid clenched her fists. “Isgord? I’m going to kill him!”

  “Bloody cretin!” Viggo spat out.

  “Are you sure?” Molak asked. “That’s a very serious accusation.”

  “I... am...”

  Molak shook his head. “I think he’d be capable of many things, but something like this... it’s too much, even for him...”

  “If Lasgol says it was Isgord, then it was Isgord,” Astrid said fiercely. She was on her knees beside Lasgol, and the look she gave Molak made him raise his hands in the air.

  “If you believe it...”

  “It’s... not the first... time he’s... tried...” Lasgol mumbled. He was feeling sick.

  Astrid held his forehead and Lasgol threw up to one side.

  “I’m going to give him the beating of his life!” Ingrid said. “I’m going to break open his head and tear out his twisted mind!”

  “That worm deserves to be killed,” Viggo said. “If you let me, I’ll deal with it. It’ll be done in a flash.”

  “That would end these attempts of his,” Ingrid said. She was almost convinced, seeing Lasgol so ill.

  “I can make it look like an accident, if you prefer,” Viggo suggested.

  “Nobody’s going to kill anybody,” Molak said very seriously.

  “He tried to kill Lasgol,” Ingrid pointed out. “An eye for an eye.”

  “That just leads to more bloodshed. It’s a mistake,” Molak said. “Come on, Ingrid, you’re more sensible than that.”

  She waved at Lasgol on the ground. “Look at him,” she said. Astrid was helping and encouraging him. Lasgol was throwing up violently, with blood pouring from his wound down his cheek. “Tell me he doesn’t deserve to die.”

  “He deserves to be punished, but killing him is excessive.”

  “And what if the next time he tries, he succeeds?” Astrid said. The expression on her face showed fury about what had happened as well as worry about Lasgol.

  “Let’s talk to the Mother Specialist,” Molak said. “Taking justice into our own hands will only bring shame on us. We could end up being expelled, or hanged. You’re talking about killing a Norghanian, a Ranger, and they’ll hang us.”

  “Not if I take care of it,” Viggo said. “They won’t be able to blame us.”

  “Ingrid, make them see reason,” Molak begged her. “We can’t do that.”

  The warlike blonde thought about it. For a long moment she stared at Lasgol, then at the others.

  “You’re right. However much I’d love to kill that miserable wretch, it would mean expulsion or the noose for all of us. That’s not the way.”

  Molak sighed with relief. “I’ll talk to Sigrid.”

  Ingrid nodded, then looked at Astrid. The brunette stared back at her, weighing up her decision, and finally agreed. “Okay, but they’d better do something.”

  Viggo shrugged. “As you like, but my method would have been much more definitive. And more fun.”

  “How are you now?” Astrid asked Lasgol, who had finally stopped vomiting.

  “I think... a bit better...”

  “We’ll have to wait till he gets over it, and if not, lower him down with the ropes,” Molak said. “Between the three of us we could do it.”

  “I’ll be all right… give me a little time...”

  But Lasgol did not get over it. The group decided to lower him down tied with ropes; he needed the wound looked at as soon as possible. Molak, Viggo and Ingrid held the ropes, with Astrid, half her body out of the ledge, guiding them. Lasgol went down like a dead weight. He had fainted again, so that he was not aware of what was going on. They had to lower him carefully, because as he swung, he bumped against the rock wall.

  “Stop!” Astrid ordered.

  The other three held the rope firmly and stopped his descent.

  “He’s swinging too much, he’s going to hit the wall... Oh, there he goes.”

  “Head?” Ingrid asked.

  “No, his back, thank goodness. Wait a moment till he stops swinging.”

  “I don’t want to be a spoilsport,” Viggo put in, “but we’ve been at it for some time now and my arms are beginning to hurt like hell.”

  “Bear up, like a true Norghanian!” Ingrid said.

  “I’m a low life-Norghanian, we can’t bear up so well.”

  “You’re half a man.”

  “Quite a compliment, coming from a half-woman.”

  “What do you mean, half-woman?”

  “Half-woman – half-Norghanian.”

  “What do you mean by that?”

  “That my arms hurt!”

  “There isn’t far to go now,” Molak said, trying to keep the peace. “Concentrate.”

  “Now!” Astrid said.

  In unison, they lowered the rope a step further.

  “Go on, it’s going well.”

  It took them some time longer to lower him all the way. When he reached the ground, the Mother Specialist put Lasgol on her steed and set off for the Shelter at a gallop. Ingrid, Molak and Viggo came down once they had rested to recover from their effort.

  Luca and Erika were waiting for them below. “Where’s that swine?” Ingrid asked them.

  “Who are you looking for?” Luca asked her in surprise.

  “Isgord!”

  “He went with the others after the Mother Specialist,” Erika said. “We stayed here to wait for you.”

  “Hell!” Ingrid said, and punched the air.

  “What’s the matter?” Erika asked, rather taken aback, and Astrid told them what had happened.

  “I can’t believe he’s gone that far,” Luca said. “We all know how much he hates him, but doing something like that is vile and unforgivable.”

  Erika was shaking her head. “I can’t believe it. He’s a Ranger, a colleague...”

  “You don’t know how much he hates Lasgol,” Astrid said.

  “That bad?”

  Viggo nodded. “And worse.”

  “Let’s all calm down and be on our way,” Molak said.

  They went back to the Shelter as fast as they could. It took them a long time because they could not force the pace too much. They were too tired to hurry, although Astrid, under the pressure of her worries, was driving them at a harder pace than they could keep up. They had to do the last stretch of the way with their tongues lolling out like dogs, near collapse.

  When they arrived at the Shelter they found the Elders Engla and Ivar waitin
g for them in the Cave of Runes.

  “Everyone okay?” Ivar asked them.

  “Everybody... fine...” Ingrid said breathlessly.

  “How is he?” Astrid asked anxiously.

  “He’s all right,” Engla assured her. “The wound’s not so serious. He needed some stitches on the head injury. Now he’s resting in his bed. Annika’s looking after him.”

  “Thanks be to the Ice Gods!” Astrid cried, and ran to see him. The others greeted the Elders and followed Astrid to the Cave of Spring. Lasgol was asleep in his bunk, and she hurried to his side.

  “Is he all right?” she asked Annika.

  The Elder smiled at her gently. “He’ll survive. He has a very hard head.”

  “That’s very true,” said Viggo, who was watching Lasgol from the head of the bunk.

  “He’s had other accidents before and survived them,” Ingrid said confidently. “He’ll do it again.”

  Astrid stroked Lasgol’s cheek and put her hand on his forehead.

  “He has no fever,” Annika told her. “I’ve given him several healing potions of my own making. They’re powerful, and they’ll help his body recover from the injury. He shouldn’t have a fever, and they’ll help reduce the pain when he wakes up. The wound itself wasn’t as bad as it looked. He was lucky. That rock could have split his head in two. With a few days’ rest, and making sure the wound doesn’t get infected, he’ll recover.”

  Astrid took Annika’s hand in her own. “Thank you so much, Ma’am,” she said with sincere gratitude.

  “No need to thank me. It’s my duty, my responsibility. The stitches will hold – I did them myself. There’s an ointment underneath the bandage against infections, and also so that he doesn’t develop a fever.”

  Astrid nodded. She did not take her eyes from Lasgol’s face, which seemed to be sunk in a nightmare, judging by the stress visible on it.

  “Will there be any after-effects?” she asked. Her face showed how troubled she was.

  Annika shook her head. “I don’t think so. Head-wounds are always dangerous and might have consequences... sometimes terrible ones... but I don’t think so in this case. The wound isn’t deep enough, in my opinion. He was lucky. A little deeper and there would definitely have been after-effects.”

  “Or, maybe something would get fixed in the process,” Viggo said jokingly, trying to lower the tension, “because he’s not exactly all there as he is, the little weirdo.”

  Astrid smiled at him, grateful for his attempt to calm her.

  “This time I’m going to agree with you,” Ingrid said, also keen to lighten the concern they were all feeling.

  “I’ll come back later to see how he’s doing,” Annika said. “Don’t wake him up. Let him rest. He’ll need complete peace. If he wakes up and his head hurts a lot, call me. I’ll prepare another healing brew for him.”

  “Thank you, Ma’am,” Astrid said, her eyes moist, barely able to hold back her tears.

  When Annika had left the Cave the group was silent, watching Lasgol. He was groaning in his dreams, which did not seem to be at all pleasant.

  “There’s that treacherous rat!” Ingrid shouted suddenly.

  They all turned to see Isgord coming down the stairs into the cave, nonchalantly, as if nothing had happened. With him was Bjorn.

  Before anyone could stop her, Ingrid threw herself on him. “I’m going to tear you to pieces!” she yelled furiously.

  At the foot of the stairs, Isgord waited for her attack. Bjorn, who had no idea what was going on, was staring at her as if she were out of her mind. Nor was he the only one. Frida, Elina, Gonars and Sugesen, who were chatting nearby, turned when they heard Ingrid’s shouts and saw the attack, not knowing what it was about or why.

  Molak ran after her. “Ingrid, don’t!”

  Astrid and Viggo ran after him. Erika and Luca glanced at each other for a moment and ran after their friends.

  Isgord was waiting for Ingrid in a defensive stance, with a look of superiority on his face. She launched a right-hand punch straight to his jaw with all her might. But Isgord, who was already expecting it, moved sideways, and she missed.

  “Ingrid, what the hell are you doing?” Bjorn asked, completely taken aback.

  Isgord smiled his most arrogant smile.

  “You swine!” cried Ingrid. She launched a cross-punch at Isgord’s face.

  Isgord blocked the punch with his left forearm and kicked her in the stomach.

  “Ingrid, stop!” Molak shouted at her. “That’s not the way!”

  But Ingrid was not listening to anybody. She recovered from the kick, lunged at Isgord and threw him to the floor. They both fought like panthers, punching and struggling furiously. Ingrid got on top of Isgord and split his lip with a punch. Isgord launched a blow at her right side, followed by another to the left, sharp and hard. Ingrid was about to hit him again when Bjorn grabbed her by the armpits and yanked her back forcefully.

  “Leave me alone! Don’t interfere!” Isgord yelled at him

  “Hold her, Bjorn!” Molak shouted as he came to help him. Between the two they managed to hold Ingrid for a moment.

  Isgord got to his feet. “She attacked me for no reason! You’re all witnesses!” As he said this, he was looking at Frida, Elina, Gonars and Sugesen, who were watching the scene in disbelief.

  Astrid meanwhile was coming up to him with her eyes narrowed and her hands behind her back. “For no reason, did you say?” she asked grimly.

  “I’m going to kill him,” Ingrid said as she struggled to free herself from Molak and Bjorn. Luca had to come and help them, because the two of them were not enough to hold her. Their fellow Rangers crowded around them to see what was going on.

  “You tried to kill Lasgol,” Astrid accused him. Her voice was icy and lethal.

  “I did no such thing.”

  “You bloody liar!” Ingrid shouted, struggling to get free and go for him.

  “You’re such a coward that you deny what you’ve done?” Astrid challenged him.

  Isgord stared at her. “I’m no coward, and I didn’t do anything.”

  “You’re a mean bastard and you’re going to get what you deserve,” Astrid said, and took a step toward him.

  Isgord raised his chin. “I’ve done nothing, and you have no evidence. And you’ll pay for attacking me.”

  Astrid took one last step. She was holding a knife behind her back. As she made to attack, strong hands stopped her.

  “He deserves to have his throat cut,” Viggo whispered in her ear. “But not here. Not like this.”

  Astrid looked over her shoulder. Viggo was behind her, holding her hands tightly.

  “Let me do it...” she whispered.

  “No. You’d end up being hanged for murder, and Lasgol would never forgive himself. I want to kill him too, but not like this, in public. You’re condemning yourself, and you don’t want Lasgol to have to bear your loss. He’s my friend. I don’t want him to go through that.” He gripped her hands even tighter.

  “What’s going on here?” came Engla’s voice from the entrance to the cave.

  “I was attacked!” Isgord said, looking outraged.

  “Isgord tried to kill Lasgol!” Ingrid shot back.

  “That’s a very serious accusation. Stop it, all of you. Isgord and Ingrid, come with me. You others, go back to your duties.”

  “He tried to kill Lasgol,” Astrid repeated fiercely.

  “That’s a lie! I didn’t do anything!”

  “Silence, all of you!” said Engla. “You have your orders.”

  Isgord climbed up the stairs and came to Engla’s side.

  “Calm down,” said Molak to Ingrid. “Let the Elders deal with this.”

  She took a deep breath and let the air out with a huge gasp, nodded at Molak and went up the stairs.

  “Now you’re coming with me to see the Mother Specialist.”

  Chapter 7

  The Leader of the Shelter was walking with her hands behind he
r back in the middle of the Cave of Runes. Her expression was one of great anger, and her eyes shone with flashes of contained fury. Behind her were the Four Elder Specialists, their faces somber, their eyes troubled as they stared at Ingrid and Isgord, who were in the middle of the cave, one knee on the ground and looking straight ahead.

  “What’s happened is totally unacceptable,” Sigrid said at last. “There can’t be fighting in the Shelter, of any kind. I don’t care about the reason. We’re not outlaws who resort to fists and knives when there’s an argument, or just because we feel like solving a dispute or a difference of opinion with violence.”

  “I didn’t do anything,” Isgord said. He pointed at Ingrid. “She attacked me as I was coming into the Cave of Spring to rest, without provocation.”

  Ingrid went red with rage. “He tried to kill Lasgol during the climb!”

  Sigrid stopped and turned to Ingrid. “Are you sure of this? It’s a very serious accusation.”

  “I am. He dropped the rocks on Lasgol’s head and injured him. We almost lost him.”

  “That’s not true,” Isgord protested, sounding outraged. “You’re insulting my honor.”

  “Lasgol saw you do it.”

  “The rocks came loose when I leaned on them and I almost fell. I’m lucky I didn’t. That’s what happened.”

  “You’re lying!”

  “I’m not lying. It was an accident, I went to grab the edge and two rocks came loose and fell. It wasn’t my fault they hit Lasgol on the head.”

  “Liar! You didn’t even warn him so he could dodge them.”

  “I didn’t have time. It all happened just like that,” Isgord protested. He spread his hands as if there was nothing he could have done, even if he had wanted to.

  Sigrid raised her arms. “Silence. I’ll ask the questions. Ingrid, you’re accusing Isgord of trying to kill Lasgol during the climb. Is this your accusation?”

  “Yes, Mother Specialist.”

  “Isgord: you claim it was an accident, that the rocks came loose without any intention on your part.”

  “That’s right, Mother Specialist.”

  She turned to Ingrid. “Why would Isgord do a thing like that?”

  “Isgord hates Lasgol with all his being. He blames Lasgol’s father for the death of his own father, and Lasgol for being a traitor because of whose son he is.”