The Angel's Command

by Brian Jacques

  Ben and Dominic cupped their hands, making stirrups for her feet, then lifted. Her head rose into the hole above. She called back to them. “Right, one, two, three. Hup!” Their heads banged the ice wall as they jerked her upwards.

  Karay fell out and forward at the same time, enlarging the hole; then she disappeared. A moment later, her head appeared in the hole. “Ned can come next! Pass him up. Here, boy, give me your paws, good dog, come on!”

  The Labrador rose into the sunlight, dispensing cheery thoughts. “Hey, hup! This is good fun!”

  Ben did not exactly return the sentiment. “Huh, it should be, you’re sitting on my head, you great broad-beamed hound!”

  Soon all four were standing out in the fresh, sunlit mountain morning air. Dominic swelled out his chest and thumped it cheerfully with both fists. “Well friends, onward and upwards, eh?”

  A strange voice answered him. “Aye, lad, that’s the way we’re goin’ too. Let’s all go together!”

  Ligran Razan and five of his followers strolled out from behind the rock that the friends had been trapped against.

  Ben was stunned. He shot Ned a swift thought. “Don’t move, mate, they’re too well armed. Don’t try anything!”

  The black Labrador speedily replied, “Watch out for me, Ben, I’ll be around!” He streaked off down the mountain.

  One of Ligran’s men unslung a rifle and grabbed a powder flask from his belt.

  Ligran stuck out a foot and tripped him. “D’you want to start another avalanche, idiot? Let the dog go, it ain’t important. Well, now, what’ve we got here? Two handsome boys an’ a pretty girl.” He drew his sword and placed the point against Ben’s chest. “What are ye doin’ this high up in our mountains, lad?”

  Ben tried to look simple and friendly at the same time. “We’re travellers, crossing over into Spain, sir.”

  Ligran’s sword flashed in the sunlight. Ben felt the sharp sting as the flat of the blade slapped him across the cheek.

  The Razan leader snarled viciously at him. “Liar! Travellers go through the pass, south of here in Andorra. Now tell me the truth or I’ll slice the nose off you!”

  Karay stepped boldly in front of Ben. She faced Ligran. “He told you, we’re going to Spain. Now I’m telling you. Go on, cut my nose off, you coward. I’m not armed like you!”

  Ligran raised the sword and struck. It sheared off a dark ringlet of the girl’s hair. Karay did not flinch. Ligran let his sword fall and laughed. “I like a maid who has spirit. We’ll see how much you have left when Maguda’s finished questioning you. You’ve heard of Maguda Razan—she’s my sister.”

  Karay laughed in Ligran’s face. “If all her brothers are as ugly as you, I feel sorry for her!”

  The blade quivered a moment in Ligran’s grip; his eyes narrowed savagely. Then he turned away and rapped out orders. “Take their rope an’ tie them together, hands an’ necks! If we hurry we’ll arrive back just after the two I sent ahead with the bear. Use your clubs an’ beat them if they try to lag behind!”

  Tied together with Arnela’s rope looping their hands to their necks, the three friends shuffled forward. Ben spoke out of the side of his mouth to Dominic, who was behind him. “Well, at least we won’t get lost on our way to the Razan hideout.”

  A cudgel cracked sharply against his shin. A lanky, scar-faced villain waggled the weapon in Ben’s face. “Shut your mouth, boy, or I’ll break your leg. That goes for you other two. You’re prisoners now, so march!”

  23

  HUDDLED FORLORNLY ON THE FLOOR of the big cave, the bear uttered a piteous moan. Razan men and women formed a circle around the animal, watching it curiously. The two who had been sent ahead with it held the neck chains slackly, averting their eyes when Maguda spoke. The matriarch of all the Razan leaned forward slightly. Her huge hypnotic eyes pinpointing on the wretched animal, she croaked venomously, “Ye’ll dance before I’m through with ye. Guards, take this thing out of my sight. Away to the dungeons with it!”

  Men hauled on the chains, forcing the bear into an upright position. It made a mournful noise as the spikes inside its iron collar dug into its neck fur. They were dragging the bear away, when Rawth, the eldest of Maguda’s brothers, entered the cavern and approached his sister.

  The hypnotic eyes swivelled in his direction. “Thou hast come to tell me that our brother Ligran approaches, this I already know.”

  Rawth shrugged uneasily. “He brings captives, two boys and a girl, but no black dog is with them.”

  Maguda hissed like an angry snake. “Ssssstupid men! Would that I had the strength in my limbs that mine eyes possess. It is I who would have captured all four. Bad omens portend misfortune if the dog is not in my grasp. Bring the prisoners straight here to me when they arrive. Go now, help thy brother!”

  Ben stumbled in deep snow, and a guard poked him in the back with the butt of Arnela’s ice axe. The boy straightened and struggled on uphill, his mind worried by lack of communication with Ned.

  Dominic whispered furtively, as if privileged to his friend’s thoughts. “Wonder where Ned is. Not like him to run off.”

  Karay overheard him and replied shortly, “If I was as fast as a dog, I’d have made a run for it, too. What was he supposed to do—wait around to be captured, or shot?”

  One of the guards pushed the girl roughly. “Shut your mouth!”

  Ben spoke aloud to distract the robber’s attention from her. “Ned’s more use to us running free. He’ll help us—mark my word, he’s no ordinary dog.”

  Ligran Razan turned and pointed his sword at Ben. “One more word from you, lad, an’ I’ll chop your tongue off!”

  Ben decided it was wiser to keep silent from then on. The Razan leader looked like a villain who would take delight in carrying out his threats. Cruelty and a volatile temper were stamped all over Ligran’s coarse features. So Ben held his silence, even as the mouth of the cave came in view. He wanted to shout out to his companions about the red and black figures he could see, scrawled in primitive fashion on the wall outside the cave entrance: men hunting boar, just as Edouard had seen before passing out after his accident. Edouard had said that he would know where the Razan stronghold was if he could find the place where the men were hunting wild boar. Ben was puzzled, but he noted the position of the ancient artwork as he was shoved into the passages branching into the caves.

  Lanterns guttered feebly in the dank rock tunnels, which seemed to twist and turn endlessly. Sometimes they would pass side chambers—Razan clan members stared out at them across fires that had blackened and sooted the walls of these miserable hovels where they lived like animals. Water seeped down the rocks of the passages, and a foul odour of communal living, damp, and leftover garbage hung on the still air. Karay noted that nowhere was there sight or presence of children. Then they were in a longer passage, more straight and broad than the ones they had travelled. It even had rush mats and animal skins laid on its smooth floor.

  Without warning they were thrust into the lair of Maguda Razan. The friends were startled by the horrific sight: a vast natural cavern with a ceiling so high that it was lost amidst the thick clouds of noxious smoke that snaked upwards in spiralling columns of all hues, from sulphurous yellow and oily green to muddy crimson and acrid blue, mingling in a turgid browny-black mass overall. The smoke columns issued from fires at the bases of monolithic figures, some freestanding but most carved into the living rock of the cavern walls—strange monsters and forgotten deities frightening to look upon, some animal, some human; many half animal and half human with extra limbs. Monstrous forms with horns, fangs and evil leering faces. And there, seated on her throne at the top of a circular-stepped rostrum, was the spider at the centre of this web of unholiness. Maguda Razan!

  Her eyes swept over them briefly, then settled on Ligran. Ben saw his throat bob nervously as he swallowed.

  Maguda spat out a single word at him. “Fool!”

  Ligran stared at his feet, not daring to look her in th
e eyes. He tried to sound commanding yet respectful. “A harsh word, sister. I lost four good men taking these prisoners for you. The dog was just an ordinary dog that ran off like a frightened rabbit. We couldn’t risk a shot at it, for fear of starting an avalanche, so we just . . . brought these three . . .” His voice trailed off into silence.

  Maguda snarled at him, “I wanted that dog—the omens told me it was a bad thing for us to let it live. Thou art a fool, brother Ligran. Look at me!”

  Ligran reluctantly let his gaze rise. His legs were trembling. A long, curved and blackened fingernail pointed at him.

  Maguda spoke. “Thou art a fool. Say it!”

  Ligran’s lips moved automatically as he repeated the words: “I am a fool.”

  Maguda sat back, and her hand waved at Ligran dismissively. “Count thyself lucky thou art my brother. Begone to thy cave.” Ligran slunk away wordlessly.

  Ben felt Karay, who was standing close to him, give an involuntary shudder. Maguda was pointing at her. “Pretty girl, what were ye doing up in my mountains?”

  Ben whispered fiercely, “Don’t look at her eyes, Karay!” “Silence!” Maguda shouted. “Rawth, I do not want yonder boy looking at me, attend to him!”

  The eldest brother moved swiftly, dealing the boy a blow that laid him senseless upon the floor. Dominic and Karay were overpowered by Maguda’s guards as they leapt forward to help Ben.

  An evil chuckle came from the throne. “I’m told thou art a sweet singer. Sing for me, girl.”

  Karay’s voice dripped loathing as she struggled between two burly Razan robbers. “I’d never dream of singing for a wicked old hag like you. Never!”

  Maguda Razan’s smile was a hideous thing to see. “Sooner or later thou wilt sing for me, just like a little bird. Aye, a songbird. I’ll have a cage made for thee. ’Twill hang in this cave—ye shall wear a gown of feathers and sing for me each day. A song of why ye came here. Ah, do not think I don’t know. Ye came on a wasted journey, though, for the one ye seek is no longer here. Oh, don’t look shocked, child, Maguda Razan knows and sees all.”

  Dominic could contain himself no longer. Straining against the guards who held him, he shouted out, “You lie! Deceit and evil are in your eyes! Truth and honesty are strangers to you. Your world is built on wickedness and lies!”

  Maguda turned her baleful glare on him. “Facemaker of Sabada, I know thee. Look at me! For one so young, thou hast a lot to say.”

  Dominic’s gaze was unwavering. He stared straight at Maguda. “I’m not weak and ignorant, you cannot frighten me. My eyes see the truth—your spells and trickeries have no power over me!”

  It was like a struggle of wills, one will trying to overpower the other. Maguda’s pupils shrank to pinpoints, and her head trembled as she intensified her gaze on the boy in front of her. Dominic’s gaze was calm and steady.

  Karay had only looked into Maguda’s eyes for a few seconds before the power of them made her feel dizzy, and she turned her attention to the floor. Now she watched Dominic, amazed that he could look into the Razan woman’s eyes for so long. Ben moved slightly and groaned. Karay edged over to his side and placed her hand on his brow. The contest of wills continued until, much to Karay’s surprise, Maguda’s withered hand rose to shield her gaze.

  Dominic still stood staring. His face did not register the horrors he had envisioned, though he had to control his voice to keep it level. “Death and decay are all I see in your soul, old one. You cannot hypnotise me—I have gifts of my own!”

  Maguda Razan’s answer sent a chill through Karay’s heart. “There are other ways of bringing ye under my power, ways that bold young fools such as ye do not realise. This pretty girl, and the boy from the sea, they are thy friends, I believe . . .”

  From between her clawlike fingernails Maguda cast a sly glance at Ben and Karay. Dominic tried to leap forward, but another Razan man tugged him back by the rope looped about his neck, and two more jumped in to assist the pair already hanging on to his arms.

  Dominic felt helpless as the realisation of Maguda’s words swept over him. “Witch! Rotten hag! Leave my friends alone!”

  Maguda’s triumphant cackling echoed around the vast vault. She pulled a grotesque face at Dominic. “Not so confident now, little boy, eh? Take them away, lock them in the deep dungeons. Let them ponder on what delights I have in store for insolent trespassers!”

  After the three friends had been marched off, Maguda beckoned to a dark figure who had been crouching in a shadowy corner close to the cave walls.

  “Thy senses did not fail thee, eh, Gizal? Thou wert the first to note the presence of those three young ones.”

  Maguda’s staff tapped upon the floor as Gizal shuffled to the throne. “Have I ever failed thee, mistress? Touch, scent an’ hearing serve me better than the eyes of most folk!”

  Maguda drew Gizal forward until she could whisper in the blind one’s ear. “What think ye of my prisoners?”

  Gizal thought carefully before she answered. “The girl is nought, she can be bent to thy will in time. But the one they call the facemaker, he sounds like a problem to me. He is gifted. Thine eyes have no power over him. As to the other boy, the one whom Rawth laid senseless, I cannot say, I have no knowledge of him.”

  Maguda stared at the ragged cloth that bound her aide’s eyes, as if trying to penetrate it. “But the dog, you sensed a dog. It remains uncaptured!”

  Gizal sniggered. “What does it matter, mistress? Who cares about a stupid dumb animal?”

  Maguda was silent for a moment, then she laughed. “Aye, thou are right, the beast is likely still running. Why fret about a dog? Gizal, ye did a fine job with our other beast, the bear. Little chance of that one running again. Here, my good friend, take this as a reward, and this also.”

  The blind woman felt the five gold coins Maguda pressed into her hand. She also felt the little glass phial.

  “My thanks to thee, mistress. Gold is respected by all, no matter whose hand it comes from. But what is this bottle?”

  Maguda whispered confidentially. “I require thy services. I need thee to act as warden to the captives. They need to know the meaning of fear. Use the potion sparingly.”

  Gizal cocked her head quizzically. “Even on the boy thy brother struck down?”

  Maguda’s eyes widened. “Especially on him!”

  Gizal nodded knowingly. “Ye fear him, mistress?”

  Maguda’s nails sank into the blind crone’s arm as she hissed. “I fear no living thing! Cease thy foolish talk! As queen of the Razan, I have to be cautious. The omens have warned me against yon lad. But even he cannot resist my potions. Now go!”

  The dungeons were little more than side caves deep down in the mountain’s lower tunnels, each one with an iron barred door fitted across its entrance. Karay and Dominic assisted Ben as the guards shoved them inside and locked the door. They lay on the floor until the sound of their captors’ footsteps faded. Dominic helped Ben to his feet, watching anxiously as his friend massaged the back of his neck. “Ben, are you alright?”

  Smiling ruefully, Ben continued rubbing. “Oh, I think I’ll live, mate. That ruffian had a very heavy hand, though.”

  Karay stood gripping the bars, peering back along the way they had been brought. “Did you see the poor old bear? I caught a glimpse of him as they marched us along here. They’ve got him locked up a couple of cells back, three I think.”

  Dominic placed a sympathetic hand on the girl’s shoulder. “I’m sorry for the bear, too, but wouldn’t it be wiser to look at our own situation first? We’re hardly in a position to help ourselves at the moment.”

  Karay sat down on the floor and sighed. “You’re right, Dom. So, what do we do now?”

  Ben found himself a dark corner and snuggled down into his cloak. “Right now all I want is a bit of sleep. That was a cold, hard march up the mountain.”

  Within a few minutes the other two had joined him, both of them wrapped tightly in their own cloaks and hud
dling together for warmth in the dank underground cave.

  Ben immediately shut his eyes and concentrated on making contact with Ned. No matter how hard he tried, however, there was not a single trace of the black Labrador’s thoughts drifting anywhere in his mind. Ben hid his disappointment by reassuring himself that the dog would reach him when the moment was right. He drifted into a dreamless sleep.

  Arnela watched the black Labrador as he wandered into her cave, limping and looking weary. Surrounded by her goats, the big woman had been dozing by the fire. At first she thought it was a dream, until one of the nanny goats bleated at the sight of the dog. Arnela came fully awake then. She began pushing goats out of her way. “Ned, is that you? What’s happened?”

  The dog replied mentally, knowing she could not hear him. “I wish I could tell you, my dear lady, but first I must get this paw seen to. Look!”

  Whining softly, Ned offered Arnela the sore paw. She inspected it gently. “You’ve sliced that on some sharp rock, poor boy—there’s a flap of skin hanging from the pad. Let me fix it.”

  Ned bumped a big goat aside. “It’s my paw she’s fixing, not yours. Anyhow, you’ve got little hooves, bet they never get cut on the rocks. Listen, mate, if I give you a message, could you communicate it to Arnela?”

  The goat’s jaws were working furiously around a mouthful of dried grass. It bleated dumbly at the dog: “Maaaahahaaa!”

  Ned sniffed disdainfully. “If that’s the best you can do, then don’t bother. Oh, and mind your manners, keep your mouth closed when you’re eating, disgusting beast!”

  Arnela cleaned grit out of the wound with warm water, talking in a comforting voice to Ned as she worked. “Don’t worry, boy, I won’t hurt ye. Stand still now. There, it’s nice and clean now. I’ll put some balm on it. This is good stuff for healing wounds. I make it myself with herbs and white ashes from the pinewood I’ve burned. Feels good and soothing, doesn’t it?”

  The goatherd did not expect an answer, though Ned replied thoughtfully, “It feels wonderful, you kind, clever lady!”