by Shannah Jay
Evren came to join him. 'What can I do to help?'
'Walk beside the second wagon. Give them a hand if the wheels get stuck. It's not like a trader's wagon, not heavy enough to drag over anything, and nerids don't have the deleff's strength. We don't want it falling behind.'
'I wanted to help in the fighting,' Evren protested.
'You're not strong enough yet,' Benjan said bluntly. 'The poison has left you weak.' He saw Evren open his mouth. 'Do as I bade you, lad. The other sort of help is needed, too.'
Evren's shoulders sagged with disappointment, then he nodded. 'But I shan't always stay out of the fighting, Benjan.'
'No. I'm sure of that. But learn the trade first and get your strength back.'
Evren's voice was bitter. 'My father made very sure I gained no expertise with weapons.'
Benjan clapped him on the back. 'I shall more than remedy that lack when we get to our destination, lad. I promise you that.'
By the time the first moon started to slide down towards the horizon, they were deep in the wildwoods again, but the tracks the wagons were leaving behind pointed out their trail all too clearly to any pursuers. And people following on foot would get over the ground more easily, too, than the unwieldy wagons. Benjan knew it was just a matter of time before they had to make another stand and fight off their pursuers.
Suddenly there was a shout from up ahead and Benjan ran forward to see what was happening. The wagon pulled by deleff had driven into a black pool and the villagers were hesitating on the edge of the pool, their draught nerids whimpering in distress and jerking backwards, away from the water's edge.
'Make them go forward into the water, my friends,' Benjan encouraged. 'There's a magic portal in the centre of the pool which will take us far away from this place.' How else than by calling it 'magic' could you explain a portal? he wondered.
'Is it safe?' one of the women asked. She cradled the unborn child in her rounded belly protectively as she spoke.
'It's safer than staying behind,' he said. 'We've been through these portals before. The water will boil up and you'll have to move forward through it. You'll come out at the other side and find yourself somewhere else. And you'll feel muzzy-headed for a while, but that will pass. As I said, it's like magic.'
He looked at the people on foot and frowned. 'You should all hold on to the sides of the wagons once you're in the pool. The water force is very strong. You don't want to be knocked off your feet. Put the children and oldsters into the wagons - into our wagon, too.'
The villagers had to slap the nerids' hindquarters to make them move forward. As they entered the water, apprehension creased all their faces, and they moved hesitantly. A shout from the rear made Benjan go back to help there. He yelled to Carryn and Evren to hurry people up. He had sensed for a while that someone was following them.
When he got to the end of the small straggling procession, Trenfor pointed down the track. 'Those of the Serpent.'
'How can you tell?' asked Benjan. Even he could see nothing yet.
'I can sense them. The evil goes before them.' Even as Trenfor spoke an arrow flew through the air, narrowly missing him.
'Stand beside me, then, friend,' said Benjan, drawing his sword. 'The path is narrow and the undergrowth too dense for them to pass through easily and flank us. We need to give your people time to get into the water.' Trenfor nodded and braced himself.
Then the pursuers were upon them, rushing forward and brandishing their weapons. The fighting was furious, and Those of the Serpent seemed possessed of more energy than they should have had, their eyes were glittering wildly and their breath panting in their throats as they slashed at the defenders. Benjan moved to and fro across the wedge of men, encouraging, slashing and cutting. He kept glancing behind and when he saw that the wagons were all in the water, he began to draw his rearguard slowly backwards towards the pool.
But that seemed to enrage their attackers and spur them on to a more furious assault. One defender fell, yelling in agony at a deep gash on his shoulder. 'Crawl back to the pool,' Benjan told him, pausing for a moment to defend him from a wild-eyes Verderer. He was beginning to doubt that those of the rearguard would escape, for more attackers were approaching along the far end of the track. It seemed bitter that he should find his love only to lose her, but if he had to give his life to save her, then he would.
Two of the villagers died under the swords of the black-clad attackers and most of them were carrying wounds of some sort or other. More would have died if the track hadn’t been so narrow, the vegetation so thick. But they were failing, Benjan knew it, just as he knew that his own sword arm was tiring.
Then there was a cry. 'Back! Back!' Suddenly the attackers were not pressing forward. Benjan blinked the sweat from his eyes and started to move backwards. 'Quick!' he hissed at Trenfor. Then he saw that Trenfor was tugging at a companion's arm. But the companion wasn’t moving. Glassy-eyed, he was staring at Those of the Serpent. It was as if someone had stilled them.
From behind the black-clad group strode a short man, stocky, with a brutal face. He carried a whip in his hand and he cracked it now. Those who were mesmerised, jerked and moved forward a pace. Benjan tried to hold one of them back, but she shook him off. He exchanged agonised glances with Trenfor and Elina. Were they to be stopped so close to safety?
Then the ground rumbled underneath their feet.
At first Benjan thought it was the sound of the Serpent and watched for the loathsome darkness to start rising from the ground. But the rumbling came again and the man with the whip hesitated as he was thrown to and fro on the pathway. A fissure opened up in front of him and he had to leap backwards to avoid falling into it. One of the dark-robed men did fall inside and vanished with a choked-off scream.
Benjan didn’t wait to see what was causing this. He grabbed the nearest man and shook him, to drive off the effects of whatever had caused him to stop fighting. Between them, he and Trenfor shook all those affected into full consciousness while Elina pushed them backwards towards the pool.
The ground shook again beneath their feet, and Those of the Serpent edged backwards. To be trapped on a narrow rocky pathway during an earthquake was enough to make anyone fear for their life. Benjan and Trenfor moved in the direction of the pool, watching for a last-minute attack.
The man with the whip was shoving his companions and gesticulating towards Benjan, but as the ground shook and more fissures appeared, they moved backwards. No one was willing to move forward. 'You can't escape!' the leader of the attackers yelled across at Benjan. 'I'll find you soon enough.'
Benjan paused to yell back, 'I'll be waiting, scumface.' He grinned at the fury this epithet caused. It was a Hashite trick to make your opponents angry if you could. Then he waved a mocking farewell and ran for the pool, helping the last of the injured men to limp into the churning waters.
When the man was safely on the crowded wagon with Carryn, Benjan took a hold on the rope that threaded through the lower edge of the canopy. 'Take us through!' he yelled. 'Deleff, take us through your portal.' And the deleff moved forward, trumpeting loudly.
Carryn knelt inside the wagon as near as she could to where Benjan was holding the rope. 'What was that?
What made the earth shake?'
'Quequere, I should think. It's not likely to be a chance earthquake, is it? Not just at that very moment when those devils looked to be winning.'
She shuddered. 'I couldn't have borne to lose you now.'
'You can bear what you have to in our cause,' he declared, then grinned up at her, his face wet with spray.
'But I'm glad I survived, too.' A flare of joy leaped between them, a joy that was almost visible.
Another earth-shaking rumble was heard even through the hissing surging noise of the water, then fountains erupted all across the pool, drowning out all sound and hiding them from their pursuers.
All the pursuers save one. A black-clad man ran into the water at the last minute, yelling, 'Serpe
nt, save your servant!' in a shrill hysterical voice. He flung himself through the portal after the fugitives.
As they came out on the other side, the man was still following, terror warring with determination on his face. 'Where are we?' he screamed, standing waist-deep in the water. 'Dread lord, come and find me! Serpent, save your servant.' And as a low noise shuddered through the air, a shadow seemed to hover at the edges of people's vision.
The two deleff left the wagon and turned as one to splash back into the water, trumpeting so loudly it was a pain to hear them. Folk clutched their ears and staggered away from the pool. Waterspouts erupted round the great creatures and the man screamed and tried to retreat as they splashed towards him. The water rose higher, cascading down and casting a fine spray over everything nearby, then the blurred group vanished.
'What now?' asked Carryn in a hushed voice.
The ground shook beneath their feet. 'DANGER!' It was definitely Quequere's voice. 'DANGER!
THOSE OF THE SERPENT HAVE FOUND THE PATH THROUGH THE VOID. THEY WILL
FOLLOW IT AGAIN, BRINGING DANGER.'
'We shall make ready for them, then.' Benjan put his arm round Carryn and turned to gather the fugitives round him and start to make plans.
But before they could say or do anything, a voice called out to them, a voice that rang with joy and happiness. Carryn jerked round. 'Oh! Oh, it's Katia!' She ran across the rocky ground to throw herself into Katia's arms. 'You're safe! Katia, you're safe!'
CHAPTER 23 CHERAL'S HONOUR
The wagon rumbled across the Plains of Garshlian, heading north-west and avoiding the large towns and villages fringing the Greater Garsh river. These settlements, which thrived on the busy river commerce, would no doubt contain shrines. The larger settlements always did.
It was always a wonder to Cheral how the deleff seemed to know without being told the direction which would best suit their passengers, but Jonner seemed to find nothing unusual in that.
'Just leave it to them,' he said as they jolted along. He wasn’t looking at the track ahead, but was busy shredding the leaves of a rare herb he had pounced on that morning, from which he intended to make a very sellable infusion for fevers. 'Must get some more bottles next time we stop,' he murmured, not really paying attention to what Cheral was saying.
She tutted under her breath, but left him to it. He knew his own trade better than she did, and if they were to appear to be traders, they must have something to trade. But it was irritating how slowly time passed as they wound their way across the plain.
Four days after they left Marrinak, the deleff turned from the narrow track they’d been following all morning and headed due north into the wildwoods. The passengers exchanged glances.
'What now?' asked Cheral. 'This isn’t our direction, surely?'
Jonner jumped down and pushed his way through the leafy fronds and undergrowth to walk next to the deleff. One of them snorted at him and both the great creatures stopped, so he laid his hands on the sides of the nearest deleff's head. A look of surprise came over his face, and he frowned as he let his hands fall and waited for the wagon to draw next to him, so that he could swing up into his seat again.
'What did they say?' demanded Cheral. When he didn't reply immediately, she poked him. 'Come on, Jonner. Don't just sit there like a fool on feast day! Tell us what the deleff said.'
'Well, they said they were taking us to a portal - at least, I think that's what they meant.'
'A portal!' Even Cheral fell silent at that. After a moment, she asked, 'Do you think they're trying to take us back to Dsheresh?'
'I tried to ask them that, and they said no - well, I thought they said no, but who can tell with deleff?'
'Well, I think we'll have to trust them now. They seem to be working with us,' she said slowly.
All day Jonner, Cheral and Narla sat in the wagon as it rocked along concealed tracks that passed through tunnels of greenery. The going grew rougher and rougher, and it was amazing that the deleff could find a way through for the wagon, but as they had done on the flight from Tenebrak, the great creatures moved steadily on, pausing only to tug up any new shrubs and young trees that had started growing in the middle of their hidden track. The year was growing cooler, so the humans weren’t surrounded by the clammy warmth that sometimes lingered in the wildwoods, but still there was a closeness to the air and a claustrophobic feeling to the green walls that shut them in, after the wide spaces and far horizons of the plains.
'If it's not one thing, it's another,' Jonner grumbled to Narla, who had come to sit in the rear of the wagon with him. 'Where do you think they're taking us?'
She shrugged. 'Who can tell?' She touched his hand. 'We're in our Brother's hands, Jonner. Can you not trust him?'
He shrugged and captured her hand to hold it in both his for a while. 'I try to. But I'm not chosen for our Brother's service like you are, Narla. Besides, I prefer to rely on myself. And I don't like travelling through the wildwoods till you don't know where you are.' He jerked upright as the wagon came to a halt. 'What have they stopped for?' He scrabbled forward to look through the gap in the front of the awning, then groaned. 'Oh, no!
Not another pool!'
Narla joined him. 'What do you mean, another pool?'
He pointed to the stretch of still dark water that lay in front of them. 'It's just like the Vespertine Pool. You weren't with us then.'
Cheral didn’t look pleased, either. 'I do hope we're not going to get soaked again. It was most unpleasant last time.'
'You're not going to let them take us through a portal, Cheral, surely?' Jonner's voice was distinctly shrill.
'I'm not going back to Dsheresh. I'm not!'
Even as the three of them watched, a blue light formed and grew in brilliance beside the pool, sending sparks whirling outwards like water scattered from a fountain.
'It's the SS'Habi! They've come to take us back. I know it!' Jonner clutched Narla's hand again.
Cheral clicked her tongue in exasperation and jumped down from the wagon. 'You know no such thing, Jonner! Kindly be quiet and let me speak to them.' She walked forward across the ground which, around the pool, was bare of vegetation, and stopped a short distance from the light.
As the travelling grid flickered into view in the centre of the brightness, she raised one hand in greeting.
'I don't care what anyone says, they always look like giant spiders to me,' Jonner whispered to Narla. 'And I don't trust them a bit, not after what they did to us.'
'Shhh!' Narla's fingers fluttered over his lips, but her other hand was still clutching his.
'Iss good to see you, Ssisster Cheral,' said the single SS'Habi who rode the grid, stepping down from it. 'Iss good that you are sstill ssafe.'
'I greet you in our Brother's name, Elder SS'Habi,' said Cheral, suddenly all majestic grace. 'Why have we been brought here?'
'Musst go through portal.'
'We're not going back to Dsheresh,' she said sharply.
'No. Not to Dsheresh. Not thiss time. Your tassk iss here now, in the Twelve Claims.'
'Then why take us through a portal?'
'Thiss portal will take you to Beldrian. Ssave you many days of travel. Ssave you many dangers.' It stretched out one of its ten rope-like legs. 'Ssee.'
Cheral stretched out a hand and allowed the tentacle to slide up her arm and settle across her forehead, a form of communication she had experienced before. Behind her, on the wagon, Jonner shuddered, but kept his mouth shut.
Silence settled on the clearing, absolute silence. The two deleff stood rock still, no insects hummed here, no birds darted from branch to branch, and there was no wind to rustle the foliage. The pool lay before them, still and black, with not a ripple disturbing its glassy surface. It looked menacing and the whole clearing felt uncomfortable.
Cheral opened her eyes and nodded once. 'So be it. We shall trust ourselves to you.'
'Iss good.' The SS'Habi hissed in satisfaction. 'All are working togeth
er now. All are fighting Disscord.
Musst. Cannot allow thiss evil. It disturbs the alignments. Iss bad, very bad for all.'
Cheral walked back to the wagon and climbed on board. The blue light under the grid began to flash again, and in a flare of brilliance that hurt the eyes, the whole apparatus vanished from sight. The deleff immediately started moving the wagon forward.
'I hope Cheral knows what she's doing,' Jonner muttered to himself. 'I don't trust those SS'Habi, not after the way they sent us into the Great Desert.'
'We shall continue to trust in our Brother, though,' said Cheral, whose ears were as sharp as her words.
'And I sensed no antagonism in the Elder SS'Habi. Her thoughts are all of peace and how best to achieve it for the world we share.'
'Well, we'd all like peace again, wouldn't we?' muttered Jonner, but not loudly enough to be heard by Cheral this time. 'I mean, there's no profit to be made in times like these.'
The wagon wheels rolled forward into the pool with a sucking splashing sound.
Narla clutched Jonner. 'What's going to happen now?'
'If it's anything like last time, the water will start to bubble up. See! It's happening already. We shall get soaked to the skin, absolutely soaked. And it's not warm here, like it was last time. We'll probably catch a congestion of the lungs. I shouldn't be in the least surprised at that.'
'Jonner, just be quiet for once,' said Cheral wearily.
He scowled at her but said nothing more.
As the water began to rise and bubble round the wagon, Jonner covered himself and Narla with a blanket and resigned himself to a soaking. But although the air became damp and water did spray in at them through the gaps in the awning, the transition was a more gentle process than the previous time, and the water didn’t pound in on them like flails.
Cheral remained at the front of the wagon, half covered by a blanket, oblivious to the water cascading on and around her. All her attention was focused on the way ahead. She didn’t think the Elder SS'Habi had lied to her, or would ever lie to her, but she must be ready to face anything. On her lay the responsibility for this group and for an important part of the quest. An honour and a burden both. One she’d never sought, but if her Brother considered her worthy, then she’d do her best not to let him down.