The Swords of Night and Day by David Gemmell Read Free Book Online

know.”
    “It is why you were wandering in the Void for all those centuries. You could not pass on to the green fields.”
    “That is
not
why. None of the legends of my life you have here tell of the evils I committed.”
    “You are speaking of the massacre at Perapolis.”
    Skilgannon was surprised. “How is it that you know of it?”
    “I know many things I have not yet shared with Landis. You and I spoke in the Void. You were reluctant to return at first. There was a great part of your soul that desired the punishment the Void offered. Yet when the demons attacked, you fought them. You would not willingly let your soul be extinguished.”
    “I have no memories of this.”
    “Some will come back. You are now a creature of the flesh once more. Memories of the flesh return far more swiftly than the recollections of the spirit.”
    “Why am I here, Gamal? What does Landis think I can do?”
    The old man shrugged. “He does not truly know. I do not know. Perhaps you can do nothing. It seems to me that even were you to take up the swords again, you would not be able to turn back Jiamad armies. It is a mystery, Skilgannon. Life is full of mysteries.” Holding tightly to the blanket around his shoulders, the old man rose to his feet and tottered out to the balcony. Skilgannon followed him. Gamal settled himself into a wicker chair, a thick cushion against his lower back. “Beautiful, is it not?” he said, waving a thin hand toward the distant mountains.
    “Yes,” Skilgannon agreed.
    “I can still see them in my mind, though if I need to I can float my spirit free. I did so earlier, and observed your meeting with some of our Jiamads. You are not a man who scares easily.”
    “Whom did they kill?”
    “I think you know the answer to that. Longbear killed the one you downed. Tore out his throat.” Gamal sighed. “Once—a long time ago—Longbear was a friend of mine. A good man.”
    “Yet you turned him into a beast.”
    “Yes, we did. Needs must when the wolves gather.” Gamal gave a weak laugh. “I gave him the name
Longbear.
He was a man who admired bears. The admiration he felt for them was what killed him. He used to observe them. Full of confidence, he would walk the high country, learning all he could about their habits. He wrote many of them down. One day he was watching a female leading her cubs to one of the upper waterfalls. She suddenly turned on him. Have you ever seen a bear attack?”
    “Yes. For creatures so large their speed is terrifying.”
    “As he discovered. He was mauled by it. A group of hunters found him. They brought him back, but there was nothing we could do. Not only were the wounds hideous, but they became infected. When he was dying he offered himself for the joining. We melded him with a young bear.”
    “Does he remember who he was?” asked Skilgannon.
    Gamal shook his head. “Some Jiamads do. They do not last long. They are driven mad. Mostly a new personality emerges. Some things remain, though we do not understand why. A loyal man will become a loyal beast. A sly man will remain untrustworthy. Yet another mystery.”
    “Are all your Joinings volunteers?”
    “No. Most are criminals—outlaws, thieves, rapists, killers. They are condemned to die by the judges, and, upon their deaths, they are melded.”
    “It does not seem wise,” said Skilgannon, “to make a killer even more powerful.”
    “No, it does not,” agreed Gamal, “and that is where the jewels come in. You saw that they had stones embedded into their skulls?”
    “Yes.”
    “Through them we control the Jiamads. We can administer pleasure or pain, keep them alive or kill them. They know this. It keeps them subservient. The Eternal’s Jiamads have no such stones. But then she cares nothing if they go on a rampage and slay peasants.”
    A light breeze whispered over the balcony wall. Gamal shivered and returned to his room. There was a fire lit. The old man went to it and knelt before the dying flames.