The Quest

by Wilbur Smith

  ‘Death will be preferable to a lifetime of slavery,’ said That, with his customary gravity. ‘So, you are determined to return to the Cloud Gardens?’

  ‘Yes. I must go back into the witch’s den.’

  ‘How will you achieve it?’

  ‘By order of the Supreme Council. I believe that Eos will command them to send me to her. She hungers for my soul.’

  They descended the last slopes of the mountain they saw a larger group of horsemen coming towards them. When the two parties .were separated by less than a few hundred paces one of the strange riders spurred forward at a canter. As he drew closer, Meren exclaimed, ‘It is Onka.’

  ‘Your new eye serves you as well as the old one,’ Taita remarked, and he looked upon the approaching horseman with the Inner Eye. Onka’s aura was aflame, seething like the cauldron of an active volcano.

  ‘The captain is angry,’ said Taita.

  ‘I have given him good reason,’ admitted That. ‘You and I will be unable to speak to each other in private again. However, if you need to send a message to me, you can do so through Bilto, the magistrate of Mutangi. He is one of us. But now we have the company of Captain Onka.’

  Onka reined in just ahead of them, forcing them to a halt. ‘Colonel That, I am grateful to you for taking over my duties.’ He did not salute his superior, and his sarcasm came close to insubordination.

  ‘I see you are fully recovered from your indisposition,’ That replied.

  ‘The Supreme Council are less grateful to you than I am. You exceeded your orders in taking over the escort of the magus.’

  ‘I shall be happy to answer to Lord Aquer.’

  ‘You may be required to do so. In the meantime he has ordered you to place the Magus, Taita of Gallala, in my charge. You are also to hand Dr. Hannah’s report to me. I shall take it to him. You are then further ordered to guide these other travellers to the Cloud Gardens without delay.’ He indicated the group following him. ‘Once you have delivered them to Dr. Hannah you are to return at once.’ That took the papyrus scroll of Hannah’s report from his pouch and gave it to Onka. They saluted each other stiffly. That nodded a chilly farewell to Taita and Meren, then rode off down the path to take his place at the head of the second column and retrace his tracks up the mountain.

  At last Onka turned to Taita. ‘Greetings, revered Magus. Hail, Colonel Cambyses. I see that the operation on your eye was successful. My felicitations. I have been ordered to take you to your quarters at Mutangi. You are to wait there until sent for by the Supreme Council. Their summons should not be more than a few days in coming.’ Onka’s aura was still blazing with anger. He kicked his horse into trot and they rode on down the mountain.) Neither That nor Onka acknowledged each other as the two parties passed, one ascending, the other descending the mountain. Taita, too, ignored Colonel That but looked instead at the members of the party he was leading up to the Cloud Gardens. There were six troopers in full uniform, three in the van and the other three in the rear. Between them rode five young women, all comely and all with child. They smiled at Meren and Taita as they passed, but none spoke.

  They were still half a league from Mutangi when a small figure on a large grey colt burst out of the woods and tore across the green fields towards them, her long blonde hair streaming out behind her like a banner in the wind.

  ‘Here comes trouble, and as usual she is in good voice,’ laughed Meren.

  Even at this distance they could hear Fenn squealing with excitement.

  ‘That is a sight to warm the heart,’ Taita said, his gaze fond and tender.

  Fenn reined in beside him and launched herself across the gap. ‘Catch me!’ she cried breathlessly.

  Taita was almost taken unawares by the onslaught, but he recovered his balance and she locked both arms round his neck, pressing her cheek to his.

  ‘You are getting too big for those tricks. You could have injured us both,’ Taita protested, but held her as tightly as she was hugging him.

  ‘I thought you would never come back. I have been so bored.’

  ‘You have had all the village children for company,’ Taita pointed out mildly.

  ‘They are children and therefore childish.’ Still clinging to Taita, she looked across at Meren. ‘I missed you too, good Meren. You will be amazed at how Hilto has taught me to shoot. We shall have an archery contest, you and I, for an enormous prize—’ She broke off and stared at him with astonishment. ‘Your eye!’ she cried. ‘They have mended your eye! You look so handsome again.’

  ‘And you are bigger and even more beautiful than you were when last I saw you,’ Meren replied.

  ‘Oh, silly Meren!’ She laughed, and once more Taita felt the twinge of jealousy.

  When they reached the village, Hilto, Nakonto and Imbali were just as happy to welcome them back. As a home-coming gift Bilto had sent five large jugs of excellent wine and a fat sheep. Hilto and Nakonto slaughtered it, while Imbali and Fenn prepared dhurra and vegetables.

  Later, they feasted round the fire for half the night, celebrating their reunion. It was all so homely and familiar after the weird otherworld of the Cloud Gardens that, for the moment, the menace of Eos seemed remote and insubstantial.

  At last they left the fire and retired to their sleeping chambers. Taita and Fenn were alone for the first time since he and Meren had left her.

  ‘Oh, Taita, I was so worried. I expected you to cast for me and I could hardly sleep for fear that I might miss you if you did.’

  ‘I am sorry I caused you distress, little one. I have been to a strange place where strange things happen. You know the good reasons why I was silent.’

  ‘Good reasons are just as hard to bear as bad ones,’ she said, with precocious feminine logic. He chuckled and watched as she pulled off her tunic and washed herself, then rinsed her mouth with water from the large earthenware jug. She was maturing with such extraordinary rapidity that he felt another pang.

  Fenn stood up, dried herself on the tunic, then threw it over the lintel to air. She came to lie beside him on the mat, slipped an arm around his chest and snuggled close. ‘It’s so cold and lonely when you are gone,’ she murmured.

  This time I may not be forced to give her up to another, he thought. Perhaps there is a chance that Hannah can transform me into a full man. Perhaps one day Fenn and I may become man and woman who know and love each other, not only in spirit but also in body. He imagined her in her magnificent womanhood and himself as youthful and virile, as he had appeared in the image that the imp had shown him in the pool. If the gods are kind and we both attain that happy state, what a wondrous couple we would make. He stroked her hair and said aloud, ‘Now I must tell you all that I have discovered. Are you listening or are you half asleep already?’

  She sat up and looked at him sternly. ‘Of course I am listening. How cruel you are! I always listen when you talk.’

  ‘Well, lie down again and keep listening.’ He paused. When he went on, his tone was no longer light. ‘I have found the witch’s lair.’

  ‘Tell me about it - all of it. Keep nothing from me.’

  So he told her about the Cloud Gardens and the magical grotto. He described the sanatorium and the work Hannah was doing there. He told her the details of the operation on Meren’s eye. Then he hesitated, but at last he summoned the courage to tell her of the operation Hannah planned for him.

  Fenn was quiet for such a long time that he thought she had fallen asleep, but then she sat up again and stared at him solemnly. ‘You mean she will give you a dangling thing, like the one Imbali told me about, the thing that can change shape and size?’

  ‘Yes.’ He could not help but smile at the description, and for a moment she looked bemused. Then she smiled like an angel, but the outer corners of her green eyes slanted upwards wickedly. ‘I would love us to have one of those. It sounds like such rich sport, much better than a puppy.’

  Taita laughed at the way she had claimed joint ownership, but his guilt was as keen
as a razor’s edge. The imp of the grotto had put the devils into his mind, but Taita found himself imagining things that were best kept locked away and never spoken of. In the time Fenn had been with him she had developed much faster than a normal child would. But she was not a normal child: she was the reincarnation of a great queen, not governed by the natural order of this world. As swiftly as her body was altering, their relationship was also changing. His love for her was strengthening by the day, but it was no longer solely the love of a father for a daughter. When she looked at him in that new way, her green eyes slanted like those of a Persian cat, she was no longer a girl: the woman lay just below the innocent surface, a butterfly in its chrysalis. The first cracks were appearing in the shell and soon it would burst open for the butterfly to fly free. For the first time since they had been together, the witch in her Cloud Gardens was out of both their minds, and they were occupied with each other to the exclusion of all else.

  Over the ensuing days, while they waited for the summons from the Supreme Council, they fell back into their old ways. Taita and Fenn studied from early morning until after the midday meal. In the afternoons they exercised at archery or rode out with Meren and the others to hunt the giant forest hogs that abounded in the surrounding woods. Nakonto and Imbali acted as hounds and went on foot into the densest thickets, armed only with spear and axe to flush the animals into the open. Hilto took them with the lance and Meren sharpened his new eye with the bow, then finished off the wounded beasts with the sword. They sought out the huge old boars, which were ferocious, fearless and could rip a man to shreds with their tusks. The sows, even though they were smaller, had sharper tusks and were just as aggressive as the boars - they were also better eating. Taita kept Fenn with him, holding her in check when she wanted to race forward on Whirlwind and try her little bow on one of the great boars. They were short-necked and barrel-chested, their hides so thick and tough that they stopped or turned all but the heaviest arrows. Their humped backs, bristling with black manes, were level with Whirlwind’s stirrup. With a toss of the head they could lay a man’s thigh open to the bone, and sever the femoral artery.

  Nevertheless, when a fat sow came grunting and snorting out of the thickets, Hilto and Meren drew back and shouted, ‘This one is for you, Fenn!’

  With a quick appraisal of the quarry, Taita decided to let her ride. He had shown her how to come in at an angle from behind the animal, leaning out from the saddle to draw her short recurved cavalry bow until the string touched her lips. ‘The first arrow is the one that counts,’ he had said. ‘Go in close and send it to the heart.’

  As the sow felt the strike she turned in a single stride and lowered her head for the charge, sharp white tusks protruding from the sides of her jaws. Fenn pivoted Whirlwind neatly and led the sow’s charge, drawing her out so that the arrowhead could work deeper into her chest, its cutting edges slicing through arteries, lungs and heart. Taita and the others cheered her lustily.

  ‘Now the Persian shot!’ Taita shouted. He had learnt it from the horsemen of the great plains of Ecbatana, and taught it to her. Adroitly, she reversed her grip on the bow stock, holding it in her right hand, and drew with her forward hand so that the arrow was aimed back over her shoulder. Then, with her knees, she controlled Whirlwind, slowing him to let the sow close in to a certain range. Without turning in the saddle she sent arrow after arrow thumping into the sow’s chest and throat. The beast never gave up, but kept fighting until it collapsed in full stride and died. Fenn wheeled Whirlwind and, flushed and laughing with excitement, rode back to claim the tail and ears as trophies.

  The sun was not far above the horizon when Taita called, ‘Enough for one day! The horses are tired and so should the rest of you be. Back to Mutangi.’ They were more than two leagues from the village and the path wound through thick forest. The shadows of the trees fell across it and the light was sombre. They were strung out in single file, Taita and Fenn in the fore, Nakonto and Imbali bringing up the rear, leading the pack horses, with the carcasses of the five hogs they had killed strapped over their backs.; Suddenly they were all startled by a series of terrified screams from’ the forest on the right of the path. They reined in the horses and hefted their weapons. A girl ran into the path just ahead. Her tunic was muddy and torn, her knees were grazed and her feet bare and bleeding from the thorns and rocks. Her hair was thick and black, tangled with twigs and leaves, and her eyes were huge, dark and lit with terror. Even in her present state she was beautiful. Her skin was moon pale, and her body lithe and shapely. She saw the horses and turned, like a swallow in flight, towards them, ‘Help me!’ she screamed. ‘Don’t let them get me!’ Meren spurred forward to meet her.

  ‘Beware!’ the girl shrieked. ‘They are close behind me!’

  At that moment two huge shaggy shapes burst out of the forest, running on all fours. Briefly Meren thought they were wild boar, then realized they were propelling themselves on long arms, knuckling the ground with each bounding stride. They were overhauling the girl.

  ‘Apes!’ Meren yelled, as he nocked an arrow and urged the bay to the top of its speed, racing to intercept the leader before it could catch the girl.

  He drew the bow to full stretch and let fly. The arrow caught the animal high in the chest. It roared and reached up to snap the shaft as though it were a straw, hurling the butt away in the same movement. It barely broke stride and bounded forward again only yards behind her. Meren shot another arrow and hit the beast close to where the stump of the first arrow protruded from its hairy torso.

  Now Hilto was galloping forward to help. He shot and hit the leading creature again. It was so close behind the girl that when it bellowed her legs buckled under her. It reached out to grab her, but Meren drove the bay between them and leant out to seize her round the waist and swing her up in front of his saddle. Then he spurred the bay away. The ape bounded after him, shrieking with the pain of its wounds, and fury at having been deprived of its prey. The second ape was close behind its mate, gaining ground swiftly.

  Hilto couched his long lance and galloped to head it off. The ape saw him coming and turned to meet him. As they closed, Hilto lowered the lance head and the ape sprang at him, launching itself high in the air.

  Hilto caught it on the lance, sending the bronze head through the centre of its chest, right up to the cruciform guard on the shaft, which prevented it penetrating deeper than a cubit. The ape squealed as Hilto used his weight and the momentum of the charge to pin it to the earth.

  The first ape, although mortally wounded, was using the last of its strength to chase down Meren and the girl. Meren was holding her, so he was unable to nock an arrow, and the animal was gaining on them.

  Before Taita realized what she was about, Fenn turned Whirlwind and raced off to help.

  ‘Come back! Be careful!’ Taita yelled after her, in vain. With the stumps of the broken arrows in its chest and blood splattering from the wounds, the ape sprang high and landed on the rump of Meren’s horse.

  Its jaws were wide open, its head thrust forward to sink its long yellow fangs into the back of Meren’s neck. He turned to meet the attack. Still holding the girl in the crook of his left arm, he used his right hand to thrust the stock of his bow into the ape’s open mouth and force its head backwards. The ape locked its jaws on the wood, chewing splinters out of it.

  ‘Be careful!’ Taita yelled again, as Fenn rode in beside Meren with her little bow at full draw. ‘Don’t hit Meren!’ She gave no sign of having heard him, and as soon as she had the right angle, she let fly. The range was less than two arm’s span. The arrow hit the ape in the side of its neck, severing both of the great carotid arteries, half of its length emerging on the other side of its neck. It was a perfect shot.

  The ape released Meren’s bow and tumbled backwards over the bay’s rump. It rolled in the forest mulch, squealing with rage and plucking at the arrow with both hands. Imbali darted in, lifted her axe high and swung down, splitting the thick bone of the s
kull as though it were eggshell. Nakonto left the pack horses, which took to their heels, and rushed past her to where Hilto was still holding down the other on the end of his lance. He stabbed down with his short assegai, twice through the throat, and the ape uttered one last roar before it died.

  Fenn was still keeping pace with Meren’s bay, but now they slowed.

  Meren was holding the girl tenderly to his chest. Her face was buried in his neck and she was sobbing wildly. He patted her back, murmuring reassurance. ‘It’s all over, my beauty. No need to weep, sweetling. You are safe now. I will take care of you.’ His attempts to express concern and sympathy were spoiled somewhat by his self-satisfied grin.

  Fenn wheeled back on one side of him, and Taita rode up on the other. ‘Young lady, I am not sure which is the greater danger to you, the wild ape or the man who rescued you from it,’ he remarked. With one last sob, the girl looked up, but she kept her arm round Meren’s neck and he made no effort to dislodge her. Her nose was running and her eyes were streaming. They all studied her with interest.

  Tears notwithstanding, Taita decided, she is a beauty. Then he asked her, in a kindly tone. ‘What were you doing alone in the forest when you were set upon by those beasts?‘I ‘I escaped and the trogs came after me.’ The girl hiccuped.

  ‘Trogs?’ Meren asked.

  Her dark eyes went back to his face. ‘That is what they are called. They are horrible things. We are all terrified of them.’

  ‘Your reply has flushed out a flock of questions. But let us find an answer to the first one. Where were you going?’ Taita intervened. The girl tore her eyes from Meren and looked at Taita. ‘I was coming to find you, Magus. I need your help. You are the only one who can save me.’

  ‘That raises another flock of questions. Shall we begin with a simple one? What is your name, child?’

  ‘I am called Sidudu, Magus,’ she said, and shivered violently.