Rigante Series 02 - Midnight Falcon by David Gemmell Read Free Book Online Page B

very young, and the death of his father blinded him with hate.'
    'You think too much,' Bane told him. 'You always have. He was a brute, and he died because he was a brute.
    End of story, my friend. What he might have been is irrelevant. He's dead and gone.'
    'Perhaps he isn't gone,' said Banouin. He told Bane of the ghostly battle, and the arrival of the Morrigu. His friend listened in silence.
    'Are you sure you didn't dream this?' he asked, as Banouin concluded his tale.
    'I am sure.'
    'And Valanus thought you were the ghost?'
    'Yes.'
    'So why did the Old Woman appear to you? What did she want?'
    'I don't know, Bane. But the whole scene was so irredeemably sad. To spend eternity endlessly reliving scenes of carnage and death. Valanus still believes he can win the battle.'
    'Well, there is nothing you can do about it. So let's concentrate on more important matters. I am hungry, and I need a woman.' With that Bane swung his horse and rode off towards the highest hill, to scan the countryside for signs of a settlement or village. Banouin watched him go, and wondered if his friend truly had no feelings for the tormented spirits of Cogden Field.
    An hour later Bane rejoined him.
    'There is a large, stockaded town around five miles to the southwest. Maybe two hundred dwellings, with two long halls.' Banouin nodded, but did not reply. Bane leaned across and thumped his friend on the shoulder. 'You are a strange one,' he said. 'When will you learn?'
    'There is much for me to learn,' agreed Banouin, 'but what exactly do you think I need to learn the most?'
    'To live! To understand what it means.' Bane halted his horse. 'Look around you, at the hills and the trees. See the way the sunlight dapples the oaks. Feel the breeze upon your face. This is life, Banouin. Last night, and the ghost army, is but a memory now. Tomorrow is yet to be born. Life is now! This very moment. But you never live in the now. You are always thinking back over some past tragedy, or looking ahead to some distant dream.
    Is Forvar still haunting the hillside? Will the ghosts of Cogden ever find peace? Will the city of Stone fulfil all my dreams? Why is the sun hot? Why is water wet? It is no way to spend one's life.'
    Banouin shook his head, and felt his anger rise. 'Better that than to ride around the countryside looking for earth maidens to rut with, to get drunk and fight with strangers; to be a windblown leaf skittering across the countryside.'
    'You think so?' asked Bane, with a smile. His expression grew suddenly more serious. 'We are all leaves, my friend. Against the mountains and the sea we are as fleeting as heartbeats. Nothing we build lasts. To the north of Old Oaks there is a buried city. I have been there. A farmer unearthed the remains of a great wall. There are blocks of stone weighing fifty, sixty tons, all laid one atop the other. Further on, in a sheltered valley, they found the head of a colossal statue. The nose alone was longer than a broadsword. What great man must this have been? A king perhaps. No-one knows his name, nor the name of his city. Perhaps he still walks the hills. Perhaps he and Forvar have become great friends.' Bane sighed. 'Ah, Banouin, you are a sweet and gentle soul. But, in an hour or two, while you are sitting somewhere pondering all the unfairness of life, I shall be naked with a soft and yielding woman.'
    With that Bane heeled his horse forward. Banouin rode after him. 'Tell me about the statue they found,' he said.
    Bane sighed. 'You didn't really hear a word I said, did you?'
    'Of course. But tell me about the buried city.'
    'Connavar ordered the wall excavated, but it was too large and too long. They think it extends for miles.
    According to Brother Solstice the men still working at the site are seeking treasure now. The Demon King needs gold to purchase weapons for his armies, and he hopes burial mounds will supply it.'
    'I wonder how they raised blocks of such size? And why?' said Banouin.
    That does it!' said