He let go of Quentin's hands and gripped him by his shoulders. "I'm sorry about Tamis and Ard Patrinell, truly sorry. I expect they fought hard to stay alive, Highlander. Rut so did you. I think you owe it to them and to yourself to make that count for something "
Quentin looked into the Dwarf's brown eyes, coming back to himself as he did so, able to form a measure of fresh resolve. He remembered
Tamis' face at the end, the fierce way she had faced her own death. Panax was right. To fall apart now, to give in to his sadness, would be a betrayal of everything she had fought to accomplish.
He took a deep breath. "All right."
Panax nodded and stepped back. "Good. We need you to be strong, Quentin Leah. The Rindge have been out exploring since early this morning, before dawn. They went into the ruins. Castledown is littered with creepers, none of them functioning. The fire threads are down. Antrax, it seems, is dead "
Quentin stared at him, not comprehending.
"Well and good, you might say, but look over there." The Dwarf pointed east to a steadily advancing cloudbank, a huge wall of darkness that stretched across the entire horizon. "What's coming is a change in the world, according to the Rindge. They have a legend about it. If Antrax is destroyed, the world will revert to what it once was. Remember how the Rindge insisted that Antrax controlled the weather? Well before that time, this land was all ice and snow, bitter cold and barely habitable. It only turned to something warm and green after Antrax changed it cons ago. Now it's changing back. Feel the nip in the air?"
Quentin hadn't noticed it before, but Panax was right. The air was growing steadily colder, even as the sun rose. There was a brittle snap to it that whispered of winter.
"Obat and his people are going over the mountains and into Farkasia's interior," the Dwarf continued. "Better weather over there. Safer country. If we don't find another way out of here pretty quick, I think we'd better go with them."
Suddenly Quentin remembered the airship. "1 just saw the Jerle Shannara, Panax," he said quickly, directing the other's attention toward the front. "It was visible for a moment, right over there. I saw it while I was standing where you found me, and then I lost it in those clouds."
They stared into the darkness together for a several moments without seeing anything. Then Panax cleared his throat. "Not that I doubt you on this, but are you sure it wasn't Black Moclips?"
The possibility hadn't occurred to Quentin. He was so eager for it to be the Jerle Shannara, he supposed, that he had never stopped to consider that it might be the enemy airship. He had forgotten about their nemesis.
He shook his head slowly. "No, I guess I'm not sure at all."
The Dwarf nodded. "No harm done. But we have to be careful. The witch and her Mwellrets are still out there."
"What about Bek and the others?"
Panax looked uncomfortable. "Still no sign I don't know if we can find them, Highlander. Obat's people still won't go into the ruins. They say it's a place of death even with Antrax gone and the creepers and fire threads down. They say it's cursed. Nothing has changed. I tried to get them to come with me this morning, but after they saw what had happened, they went right back up into the hills to wait." He shook his head. "1 guess I don't blame them, but it doesn't help us much."
Quentin faced him. "I'm not leaving Bek, Panax. I'm all done with running away, with watching people die and not doing anything about it."
The Dwarf nodded. "We'll keep looking, Highlander. For as long as we can, we'll keep searching. But don't get your hopes up."
"He's alive," Quentin insisted.
The Dwarf did not reply, his weathered, bluff face masking his thoughts. His gaze shifted skyward to the north, and Quentin turned to look, as well. A line of black specks had appeared on the horizon, coming down parallel to the storm front, strung out across the morning sky.
"Airships," Panax announced softly, a new edge to his rough voice.
They watched the specks grow larger and begin to take shape. Quentin could not understand where so many airships had come from, seemingly out of nowhere, all at once. Whose were they? He glanced at Panax, but the Dwarf seemed as confused as he did.
"Look," Panax said, pointing.
The airship Quentin had seen earlier had reappeared out of the darkness, moving swiftly across the sky east toward the mountains. There was no mistaking it this time,- it was Black Moclips. A cry for help died on the Highlander's lips, and he froze in place as it passed overhead and receded into the distance. They could sec now that it was attempting to cut off another ship, one further ahead. The distinctive rake of the three masts marked it instantly as the Jerle Shannara. The witch and her Mwellrets were in pursuit of the Rovers, and these new airships were chasing both.
"What's going on?" Quentin asked, as much of himself as of Panax.
A moment later, the pursuing fleet split into two groups, one going after Black Moclips and the Jerle Shannara, the other breaking off toward the ruins of Castledown. This second group was the smaller of the two, but was commanded by the largest of the airships. In a line, the vessels swung over the ruins, where they prepared to set down.
"I don't think we should stand out in the open like this," Panax offered after a moment.
Quickly, they moved into the cover of the trees, then retreated back up into the hills until they found a vantage point from which they could look down on what was taking place. It didn't take them long to decide that they had made the right decision. Rope ladders had been lowered from the airships, which hovered a dozen feel off the ground, and knots of Mwellrets were climbing down and spreading out. On board the airships, the crews kept their stations.
But there was something odd about their stance. They stood frozen in place like statues, not moving about, not even talking with one another. Quentin stared at them for a long time, waiting for any sort of reaction at all. There was none.
"I don't think they're friends/' Panax declared softly. He paused "Look at that."
Something new had been added to the mix—a handful of creatures that lacked any recognizable identity. They were being placed in slings and lowered by winches from the largest airship, one after the other. They looked a little like humans grown all out of proportion, with massive shoulders and arms, thick legs, and hairy torsos. They hunched forward as they walked, using all four limbs like the apes of the Old World. But their heads had a wolfish look to them, with narrow, sharp snouts, pointed ears, and gimlet eyes. Even at a distance, their features were unmistakable.
"What are those?" Quentin breathed.
The search parties fanned out through the ruins, dozens of Mwellrets in each, armed and armored, a decidedly hostile invader. Secured on lengths of chain and ordered to track, the odd hunched creatures were being used like dogs. Noses to the ground, they began making their way through the rubble in different directions, the Mwellrets trailing. Within the ruins, there was no response from Antrax. No creepers appeared and no fire threads lanced forth. It appeared the Rindge were right about what had happened. But it only made Quentin wonder all the more about Bek.
Burly, dark-skinned Kian appeared suddenly out the trees, moving over to join them. He nodded a greeting to Quentin as he came up, but didn't speak.
"We've got a problem, Highlander," Panax said without looking at him.
Quentin nodded. "They're searching for us. Eventually, they'll find us."
"All too quickly, I expect." The Dwarf straightened. "We can't stay. We have to get away "
Quentin Leah stared down at the searchers as they trickled into the city, tiny figures still, like toys. Quentin understood what Panax was saying, but he didn't want to speak the words aloud. Panax was saying that they had to give up the search for Bek. They had to put as much distance as possible between themselves and whoever was down there hunting them,
He felt something shrivel up and die inside at the prospect of abandoning Bek yet again, hut he knew that if he stayed, he would be found. That would accomplish nothing useful and might result i
n his death. He tried to think it through. Maybe Bek stood a better chance than Quentin thought. Bek had the use of magic, Tamis had told them so. She had seen him use it, a power that could shred creepers. His cousin wasn't entirely helpless. In truth, he might be better off than they were. Maybe he had even found Walker, so that the two of them were together. They might have already fled the ruins and gone into the mountains themselves.
He stopped himself angrily He was rationalizing. He was trying to make himself feel better about abandoning Bek, about breaking his promise once more. But he didn't really believe what he was telling himself. His heart wouldn't let him.
"What do we do?" he asked finally, resigned to doing the one thing he had sworn he wouldn't.
Panax rubbed his bearded chin. "We go into the Aleuthra Ark— those mountains behind us—with Obat and his people. We go deeper into Parkasia. The airships were flying that way. Maybe we can catch up to one of them. Maybe we can signal it." He shrugged wearily. "Maybe we can manage to stay alive."
To his credit, he didn't say anything about coming back for Bek and the others, or resuming the search somewhere further down the line. He understood that such a thing might not happen, that they might never return to the ruins. He was not about to make a promise he knew he could not keep.
None of this helped Quentin with his feelings of betrayal, but it was better to be honest about the possibilities than to cling to false hopes.
I'm sorry, Bek, he said to himself.
"They're coming this way," Kian said suddenly.
One of the search parties had emerged at the edge of the ruins below and found the bodies of the Rindge that the Patrinell wronk had killed two days earlier. Already, the hunched creatures were sniffing the ground for tracks. A wolfish head lifted and looked toward where they crouched in the trees, as if aware of them, as if able to spy them out.
Without another word, the Dwarf, the Elf, and the Highlander melted into the trees and were gone.
It took them the better part of an hour to reach the clearing where Obat and his Rindge were assembled. They were high up on the slopes of the hills fronting the Aleuthra Ark, which ran down the interior of Parkasia from northwest to southeast like a jagged spine. The Rindge were a ragged and dispirited-looking group, although not disorganized or unprepared. Sentries had been posted and met the three outlanders long before they reached the main body of Rindge. Weapons had been recovered, so that all the men were armed. But the larger portion of survivors was made up of women and children, some of the latter only babies. There were at least a hundred Rindge and probably closer to two hundred. They had their belongings piled about them, tied up in bundles or stuffed into cloth sacks. Most sat quietly in the shadows, talking among themselves, waiting. In the dappled forest light, they looked like hollow-eyed and uncertain ghosts.
Obat came up to Panax and began talking to him immediately. Panax listened, then replied, using the ancient Dwarf tongue he had employed successfully when they had first met. Obat listened and shook his head no. Panax tried again, pointing back in the direction from which they had come. It was clear to Quentin that he was telling Obat about the intruders from the airships. But Obat didn't like what he was hearing. Exasperation written all over his face, Panax turned to the Highlander.
"I told him we have to move quickly, that the belongings must be left behind. As it is, it will take everything we have to move this bunch to safety without having to deal with all this stuff. But Obat says this is all his people have left. They won't leave it."
He turned to Kian "Go back up the trail with a couple of the Rindge and keep watch."
The Elven Hunter turned without a word, beckoned a couple of the Rindge to come with him, and disappeared into the trees at a quick trot.
Panax turned back to Obat and tried again. This time he made unmistakable gestures indicating what would happen if the Rindge were too slow in the attempt to escape. His broad face was flushed and angry, and his voice was raised Obat stared at him, impassive.
We're wasting time, Quentin thought suddenly. Time we don't have.
"Panax," he said. The Dwarf turned. "Tell them to pick up their things and start walking. We can't take time to argue about this any longer Let them find out for themselves whether or not it's worth it to haul their possessions. Set a pace the women and children can follow and go. Leave me a dozen Rindge. I'll see what I can do to slow our pursuers down."
The Dwarf gave him a hard look and then nodded. "All right, Highlander. But I'm staying, as well. Don't argue the matter. As you say, we don't have time for it."
He spoke quickly to Obat, who turned to his people and began shouting orders. The Rindge assembled at once, belongings in place. Led by a handful of armed men, they set out along a narrow forest path into the hills, moving silently and purposefully. Quentin was surprised at how swiftly they got going. There was no hesitation, no confusion. Everyone seemed to know what to do. Perhaps they had done it before. Perhaps they were better prepared for the move than Panax thought.
In seconds, the clearing was empty of everyone but Quentin, Panax, and a dozen or so Rindge warriors. Obat had chosen to stay, as well. Quentin wasn't sure this was a good idea, since Obat was clearly the leader of the tribe and losing him might prove disastrous.
But it wasn't his decision to make, so he left it alone.
He turned to look off in the direction of the ruins, wondering how much time they had before the Mwellrets and those hunched creatures discovered them. Perhaps it wouldn't happen as quickly as he feared. There would be other tracks to distract them, other trails to follow. They might choose one that would lead them in another direction entirely. But he didn't believe that for a minute.
He thought about his failures on his journey from the Highlands of Leah, of his missed opportunities and questionable choices. He had set out with such high hopes. He had thought himself capable of dictating the direction of his life. He had been wrong. In the end, it had been all he could do to stay afloat in the sea of confusion that surrounded him. He could not even determine whom he would use the magic of his vaunted sword to protect. He could use it to help only those whom fate placed within his reach, and maybe not even those.
The Rindge were among them. He could leave them and go on, because in the end they didn't really have anything to do with him, his reasons for coming to Parkasia, or his promise to Bek. If anything, they were a hindrance. If he was to have any chance at all of catching up to one of the airships and finding a way out of this land, speed might make the difference. But in the wake of his failure to save Tamis or Ard Patrinell or to find Bek, he felt a compelling need to succeed in helping someone. The Rindge were giving him that opportunity.
He could not make himself walk away from it. He could not let anyone else be hurt because of him.
He would do what he could for those he was in a position to help. If helping the Rindge was what fate had given him the chance to do, that would have to be enough.
Panax walked up beside him. "What happens now, Quentin Leah? How do we stop those things back there from catching up to Obat's people?"
The Highlander only wished he knew.
IX
When Ahren Elessedil regained consciousness, he found himself lying on his side in Castledown's rubble looking at the boots of his captors. His hands were tied behind his back, and his head ached from the blow he had received. Even without having witnessed the particulars, he knew at once what had happened and was awash in despair and frustration. He had stumbled into a Mwellret trap, one set for him as he tried to move through the ruins with Ryer Ord Star. How could he have been so stupid? After what he had gone through to retrieve the Elfstones and escape Castledown, how could he have allowed himself to be caught so completely unawares?
There wasn't any answer for such questions, of course. Asking them only invited self-recrimination, and there was nothing to be gained from that.
He blinked against the dryness in his eyes and tried to sit up, but a heavy boot pushed
him back again and settled on his chest.
"Little Elvess sstayss where they are," a voice hissed.
He glanced up at the big Mwellret standing over him and nodded. The boot and the Mwellret moved away a few steps, but the watchful eyes stayed fixed on him. He could see rets standing all about him, maybe a dozen or so, heavy reptilian bodies cloaked against the dawn light, heads bent between heavy shoulders, voices low and sibilant as they conversed among themselves. None of them seemed to be in a hurry to go anywhere or to get anything done. They seemed to be waiting for something. He tried to imagine what it might be. The Isle Witch, perhaps. She must have gone further into the ruins. Perhaps she had gone underground in search of Walker.
He thought suddenly of Ryer Ord Star, and from his prone position he scanned as much of the area as he could in an effort to find her He spotted her finally, seated in an open space, alone and ignored. He stared at her for a long time, waiting to be noticed, but she never looked his way. She kept her gaze lowered, her face shadowed by her long silver hair. She might have had her eyes closed,-he couldn't tell. She was unfettered, and no Mwellrets stood over her as they did over him. They seemed unconcerned that she might try to escape.
Something about her situation bothered him. She didn't seem to be a prisoner at all.
He glanced around further, searching for any other members of the company who might have encountered the same misfortune. But no one else was in evidence, only the two of them. He shifted surreptitiously in an effort to see what else he might have missed from where he lay, but he saw only Mwellrets in the area.
Then he glanced skyward and saw the airships.
His throat tightened. There were six of them—no, wait, there were eight—hanging in the air, not far off the ground at the edge of the ruins, silhouetted against the morning sky. They were close enough that he could see crew members standing about, Mwellrets climbing down rope ladders, and hoists lowering animals that twisted and writhed and grunted loudly. He caught only glimpses of them against the bright sunrise as they slipped over the sides of the airships and disappeared down into the ruins, and he couldn't make out what they were.
Jerle Shannara 03 - Morgaw Page 9