by Eve Forward
Very convenient indeed. Dim, with a splotch in a corner dark enough to pass through... and even better, two shadow-figures he recognized as Kaylana and Valerie.
Very tidy, he’d be able to take those two out, then find the others and dispatch them at his leisure. He stepped into the darkest corner and leaped forward, Shadowslipping.
Valerie shouted a command as the shadows of the corner suddenly seemed to swirl and thicken, visible only to her Nathauan sight. Light flashed from the now-unshuttered lanterns held by the others, hurting her eyes, but it was not her choked-off gasp of agony that sounded in the room. A dagger shot into the room and made a metallic noise as it slid under one of the plates of Blackmail’s armor. The knight, lying cramped in the bunk so that his shadow was confused with that of bed and bulkhead, took no notice. Another blade bounced off the far wall and hit Kaylana in the leg. The Druid winced, but the pain was minor compared to the shock of what she saw before her.
At the now brightly lit wall was a gruesome sight. Sam, or rather half of him, protruded from it. His arms flailed and struggled as he pushed at the unyielding surface, eyes shut with the agony of light and the solid wall around his waist. He was silent-all assassins were trained to be absolutely silent even in the throes of agony-but his tortured face showed more pain than any scream. He thrashed like a grotesque puppet of a hunter’s trophy, dying, dying, torn in two between two worlds...
“O caverns,” swore Valerie, eyes wide in horror. “Too soon.”
“Sam!” gurgled Arcie, from his concealed position on another bunk. His blue eyes stared in shock at the macabre sight.
Valerie lunged forward as a black and gold object flashed out of Sam’s tunic. She caught the amulet in her hand, felt its power, the power that was the only thing keeping Sam alive right now. The chain was weak, she could easily snap it from his neck and let his lifeless torso fall bloody and twitching to the floor ... But instead she drew upon the Darkportal’s power, and spoke words of magic as the others stood frozen in shock ... except for one. Blackmail got to his feet, sensing what the sorceress was doing, and came forward. As she shouted the final word of the spell-he grabbed the assassin’s shoulders and yanked him through the wall with incredible strength.
Sam fell full length on the floor and lay there gasping.
His scarf had fallen off, revealing his ink-black hair and dark gray eyes that seemed to be whirling. He choked and grabbed at his neck, gripping the amulet. He looked around, panting, saw Arcie frozen in fear and shock, Valerie shivering from the effort of the spell, Blackmail standing silently, ready in case of another attack, and Kaylana, watching him with deep green eyes as blood ran down her leg, over her sandal, and pooled slowly on the floor.
Sam yanked. The chain snapped, and the amulet was free in his hand. He tossed it to Valerie without a word, and collapsed. * * * “We figured you might come after us eventually,” explained Arcie, “especially after Valerie guessed what you might be doing. She’d heard about the shadow-travel ... it was something some of her people used to be able to do.”
“We were going to confront you in a lighted room so you couldn’t escape and take the amulet from you, by force if need be,” added Valerie with a sigh. The Darkportal amulet, secure once more on its gold chain, hung from her neck like a black hole against pale skin. “That’s why we were all there ... except for the minstrel, who wouldn’t have fit in the room and likely wouldn’t have been any use anyway.”
“That’s for certain sure,” laughed Arcie. Now that the scare was over, they had moved into that state of near hysterical relief that makes the smallest things seem humorous.
“One look at you and he would have fell over like a poleaxed hippogryph.” Arcie grinned. “Especially with your hair like that.”
Sam smiled. He was lying on a cot, eating some soup Kaylana had brought him. “Oh, I don’t know ... is it really that bad?” he asked. He was feeling much better now. The lamplight felt warm and gentle on his face.
“Worse,” Kaylana said sternly. “I shall make you a soapwort salve to get it off with, if you will do that as a favor to me.”
“Of course,” said Sam with a smile. His eyes were a soft hazel once more. “The least I can do after hurting you.”
“Believe me, I think you hurt yourself more than you hurt me,” she replied solemnly.
“True ... if Valerie hadn’t saved me I’d have been cut in half ... and half of an assassin is just an ass.” Sam smiled.
Robin, outside on deck, trying to think of a rhyme for “Orthamotch” was suddenly startled to hear an odd sound, like a group of friends laughing together. Robin looked up at the brilliant stars and wondered.
VII
They completed the crossing without further incident, and docked in Natodik with the morning tide. As they disembarked, yawning and blinking in the bright new sun, they were swept up into the brilliant dance of the land of magic.
Here at the main seaport, anything and everything could be traded. Stalls and shops everywhere overflowed out into the streets with rich merchandise: silks and spices, glassware and jewelry. In addition, Natodik, being a thaumocracy, did not simply tolerate magic, but actively encouraged it. Stores sold windservant bottles and wonderful magic potions promising everything from instant love to eternal youth; young magicians practiced their art, weaving beautiful illusions for the entertainment of passers-by. In secure stores, magic weapons could be found for the discriminating collector; no one would dream of being violent in the new Lightness of the world, and especially not here, in Natodik ... where the soft ocher of weathered walls was the same golden sandstone that built the high sweeping walls of Thaulara itself!
Although that fair city was far inland, its ruler was rumored to be able to see everything that happened in his domain. The eyes of Mizzamir, it was said, kept watch over all the people of Natodik ... and even, some said, the rest of the world.
Every citizen here wore the fashionable item of clothing associated with its patron Hero; even more rigidly than other lands did, since they were the only one among the Six whose patron was still alive. The standard garment here, from toddlers to matriarchs, was the traditional mage’s working robe-coat, with the full sleeves and cords for fastening tight around the waist; but only true mages were allowed to wear their robes closed. Symbolically, each and every citizen of Natodik shared in the
power of magic generated by their patron, but only those who learned and practiced it would buckle their robes to symbolize their control over and containment of magic.
In addition, the robes of wizards had another, more subtle difference; they were usually one solid color, with perhaps some trim at the collar, cuffs, and hem. Sam spotted numerous young wizards, male and female, garbed in red, some others in orange or yellow, and even a few in green, as Fenwick’s companion wizard had worn. The robes were marks of rank and power among the wizards themselves, increasing in the order of the spectrum; red for novices to blue or violet for the high wizards. Most of the higher orders were too busy or important to come down and mingle in the common streets; they sent their lesser-hued assistants and apprentices to run down and pick up a half-pound of dried toad spawn, or what have you. As Valerie explained the ranking system quietly to them, Sam shook his head in realization of Mizzamir’s power: He’s so mighty he’s right off the scale.
White robes...
The robes of the normal citizens swirled past in all colors-embroidered and embellished for the wealthy; worn and homespun, with big, roomy pockets, for the commoners.
Men wore their robes over a suit of clothing, while women wore them over gowns, and small children often wore little else.
Kaylana’s dun robes, while lacking the fullness and fineness of cut favored by most of the citizens, could pass fairly well for common peasant dress. The other renegades and Robin, however, were plainly marked as tourists.
At the first opportunity Arcie motioned the others aside into a small alley, and called a conference.
“We
’ll be wantin’ to get shent of town as soon as we might,” he explained, “and set ourselfs going toward yon next doodad we’re meaning to snag. Where’ll we be looking?”
Valerie sighed and leaned back against a wall, taking out her scroll case with its hastily scribbled notes. “Well, by process of elimination and a few fairly obvious deductions, the verse referring to Natodik must be the one that reads: ‘Diamond spire spears the sky/Focus of the wizard’s eye/Lead, light and sand the Test define/When washed in ancient magic’s brine.’ That seems to refer to magic and wizards enough to make me think that’s the one relevant to Natodik.”
“Diamond spire... the Castle of Diamond Magic...,” muttered Robin to himself. Sam snapped his fingers, and Blackmail nodded.
“That must be it,” Kaylana agreed. “After all, most of the past Tests have been located in places of significance ...”
“Aye, grand head-work, centaur,” Arcie chirped up.
“Spiffywell!”
Robin, startled at his unwitting contribution to the villains, stammered unintelligible disclaimers that went unheeded.
“Maybe we should buy horses while we’re here,” mused Valerie, looking around. “I’m not looking forward to walking to the end of the world.”
“Och! Buy horseflesh? In Natodik?” Arcie scoffed.
“Natodik’s known for having the worst horses at the highest price of any of these Six Lands. Here’s Troisian imports way too muckle expensive and rare, and yon local beasts are peely-wally and so high-strung ye could be having them for Robin’s harp strings.”
“Well, I guess that’s out then,” grumbled Valerie.
“The only thing I hate worse than walking is riding an insane horse.”
“We’d best get on our way,” said Sam. “I don’t think it would be a good idea to hang around here, looking the way we do ... we’d better get out of town now, even if it is daylight, and put as much distance as we can between cities. Kaylana,” he turned to the Druid, “can you tell how much time we have before ...”
“The end?” Kaylana shook her head. “Not precisely. It seems to fluctuate ... but I would estimate less than another phase of the moon.”
“Ee! Nowt but a month?” exclaimed Arcie in dismay. “But lassie, things dinna seem as they’re sublimating so fast!”
“It is subtle now, Barigan ... the long days, the bright sun, the overabundance of life, the strength of light magic-these are the curls of smoke and heat that arise before the sudden flame. When the light has increased enough, that flame will sweep up in all its purifying brightness...”
“Och, I see your idea,” Arcie interrupted. “We’ll leave, then. If my wits still serves me, Thaulara be north of here ... there ought to be a major road wending yonder.”
“No major roads,” insisted Valerie. Blackmail shook his head in agreement, and the sorceress continued, “We’re deep in the enemy’s territory now, small fool... We don’t want to be seen any more than we have to. And with all this Light magic about, I don’t know how well my spells will hold up. I had placed a sort of camouflaging spell on our group to get us through the city fairly unnoticed, but I can’t be sure of its strength or duration.”
“Well, we’ll head out the north gates, at least,” replied Sam, “and then angle around the north road ... Kaylana, can you keep us from getting lost?”
“I should think so,” came the calm reply.
“Then let’s go.”
They left that city of magic and commerce and headed out along the main road, then left its broad path and began a wide sweep northward. When Kaylana judged they were far enough away, a halt was called and they rested for the remainder of the daylight hours, then moved on by night, brilliantly lit by moonshine and high cold stars. The occasional glimmer of a small town could be seen, but once again they avoided these, skulking through the night, keeping to the darkness, like rats, like superstitions, like villains.
At least the terrain was pleasant. Natodik was primarily flatlands with some low hills and plateaus. It had once been a far harsher place; a land of burning desert sands and hard stone, with wars constantly scarring its surface.
But then Mizzamir had taken it under his wing, and, after winning the trust of the local wizards, he had gone to work on the land. Spells and science had combined to irrigate the desert and plant grass and crops; the hot climate was ideally suited for citrus and other tropical fruits imported from Shadrezar and Monguna. Now, a century and a half later, the desert was blooming wildly, flowers that only opened in moonlight stretching their milky petals up to the dew. The terrain was fairly gentle, the highest raised area on the continent was a series of gentle hills crowned by the city of Thaulara. Small scattered tropical oases could be found around the occasional unnaturally clean streams and rivers, and they went through these when possible. Occasionally Valerie would send Nightshade aloft, to spy out what lay ahead. Wildflowers and sweet grasses were everywhere, and Robin ate some of these as he walked, ripping up handfuls, breaking the dirt off, and chewing on them. Arcie made a few jesting comments on his grazing, but he was secretly glad that the centaur could find some way to appease his hunger without resorting to their communal stores of food. Blackmail led the way, with Kaylana’s direction occasionally using his huge sword to clear a way through vines or tall grass. Sleeping butterflies exploded up around him as he walked.
The land was full of mystery and magic. Several times they saw ancient stone rings, of arches and monoliths arranged in symmetrical patterns now worn and disarrayed.
Once they were treated to a meteor shower shortly after midnight, watching the tiny lights streak across the heavens and die. And, as they came out of a cluster of wild lemon trees into a moonlit glade, they viewed a sight that few had ever seen.
A splashing of water had its source in a magical spring that shot straight up from a tumble of white rocks, thickly covered with hundreds of tiny, sweet-scented flowers and herbs. Drinking here, its wispy beard sparkling with drops, was a unicorn.
A wild stallion unicorn, in all its glory: coat of purest white, mane and tail silver as the moonlight, cloven hooves of gold, and a long, spiraled, magical horn of ivory. Its huge eyes held beautiful wisdom. No frail and dainty unicorn, this animal powerfully muscled as a lion, strength rippling like waves under its perfect coat, hooves like cymbals of thunder. It lifted its majestic head even as their eyes fell upon it, and its glorious nostrils flared.
“Arg, bugger,” muttered Arcie. The unicorn bugled a cry of ancient anger, and spoke in tones like a golden bell of war.
“What! What Ho! My Keen Senses Espy The Presence of Evil!” The great fringed hooves stomped, the horn flashing down like a star. The company stirred uneasily, gripping weapons. Sam found himself far preferring the hideous company of Orthamotch to this beautiful creature of Light.
“Aroint Thee, Foul Beings!” bugled the unicorn and charged like a wave of silver, before which the company parted like grass.
The unicorn charged past, its horn aiming for Valerie.
She shouted a Word, and threw something at its feet that exploded. It leaped away, unharmed.
“Blast,” snarled Valerie. She called to the party. “I can’t help you! It’s resistant to my magic!” The unicorn snorted. It suddenly whipped its head around, the magnificent horn easily deflecting a dagger thrown from the shadows.
“Thou Workest Dark Magic! I Shall Smite thee!” It spied Arcie trying to sneak up on it with his morning star and lunged at him.
“Wups!” cried Arcie, and dodged. As the Barigan rolled away to safety, the unicorn spun and aimed a kick at Blackmail. The knight raised his shield, and the blow rebounded with such force the unicorn flipped over completely, landing with nimble grace on its feet. It threw its head back in anger, as a dark flashing dagger passed beneath its chin. The knight’s shield suddenly jerked up again as the dagger whizzed past the unicorn. -It bounced off the shield with a spang, and went flashing back like a mad pinwheel, bouncing off the branches of the trees
.
“Spawn of Darkness, I Shall Slay Thee!” it roared, and charged again at Valerie. Blackmail stepped into its path.
The knight raised his shield again, and swung his great sword as the unicorn came at him. Giving a casual toss of his proud head, the unicorn parried the blow with his long horn, the shock of the blow breaking the knight’s grip. The sword went flying. Valerie saw Robin hovering near.
“Robin, do something!” she yelled, as the unicorn spun on its heels and kicked at the weaponless knight, who got his shield up just in time. The unicorn, seeing Arcie moving behind the centaur, charged Robin.
Kaylana whapped it over the withers with her staff as it went past, but it didn’t even slow down.
Robin lashed out at the silver-white glory with his hooves, gingerly, as though he was chasing rabbits. Arcie dived under a pile of kiwifruit vines as the unicorn galloped over where he’d been, and rolled his eyes.
“Use yer fool sword, minstrel!” he yelled in annoyance.
Robin gaped uncomprehendingly. Arcie peered about the glade. Why wasn’t it attacking Kaylana? And where was Sam?
“Kaylana! Duck!” yelled Sam’s voice. The Druid did so, as the dagger whizzed over her head. It went spang off the fountain and soared through the air again, abruptly landing with a thunk into the meaty white hindquarters of the unicorn as the huge beast turned.
The unicorn bugled in pain and pure rage, the ringing noise making the party clap their hands to their ears. The unicorn reared in fury, its flaming eyes burning into the shadows ... and then it saw! Saw a villain all in black, holding another dagger and looking insolent! It leaped into a charge. Sam watched the thundering hooves, saw the horn pointing straight at his chest. He forced himself to stay still, wait, wait... now!
Sam leaped straight up, grabbing at the branches of the ancient lemon tree as it shook with sudden, tremendous impact. Lemons thundered around him as the tree shook, and there came an equine bugle of fury. The assassin swung down, landing on his feet, and heard Kaylana mutter a spell. The tree creaked with sudden growth.