by Джеффри Лорд
(«Master! Moyla dangerous!»)
Blade couldn't see how a creature even smaller and weaker than Cheeky could possibly be dangerous, but he was too well trained to ignore any warning. He remembered what one of his combat instructors said: React first, evaluate afterward, and you just may live to die in bed.
Blade leaped high and to one side as Moyla came at him. She could turn practically on a dust mote, though, and changed course to match Blade's movements. He had time to see she was holding something in her hand, long and thin with a glistening black tip.
Then Cheeky darted between Blade's legs and ran against Moyla so hard that she bounced off him like a billiard ball. The black-tipped object flew out of her paw and landed on the floor. Cheeky jumped on top of it, arms outstretched to fend Moyla off without hurting her. His crest was laid back, though, and his mouth was open to show all his teeth.
Moyla ignored Cheeky's obvious distaste for a fight to the death. She came at him again and grappled, trying to get him away from her weapon. Cheeky refused to be budged. The feather-monkey and his ex-girlfriend rolled over and over, screeching and clawing at each other until fur and feathers flew.
By this time the two humans were also alert. The Wise One's techniques of mental control got her ready to fight faster. Blade saw her leap to her feet, a knife in her hand. She would be fast and probably dangerous with it, even more dangerous if she had time to use her telepathic weapons.
The blunders of her ally and lover kept her from using either. River Over Stones lurched to his feet, holding a spear and shouting obscene curses at Eye of Crystal. Any fool could have seen that he was in no shape to fight, and Eye of Crystal was the first to take action. She brushed past Blade, closed with River, and kicked him smartly between the legs.
River's scream froze everyone in the hut except Blade and Cheeky. Blade snatched up River's spear as the young man doubled up. He was tempted to return it at once to its owner, point first, but he remembered in time that River Over Stones owed his people an explanation and ought to be kept alive long enough to give it. So he reversed the spear and slammed the butt down on River's skull. The man crumpled and flopped to the floor almost at Blade's feet, twitching and writhing as the agony in his groin penetrated even his half-numb brain.
Meanwhile, Cheeky got on top of Moyla and pounded her head against the hard earth of the hut floor until she went limp. For a moment he knelt beside her, making little noises that might have meant anything. He wasn't sending any telepathic messages, and Blade certainly wasn't going to intrude on his mind at this time anyway. If he'd had any doubts about the sincerity of Cheeky's return and loyalty, they were now forever laid to rest.
After a moment he bent down, patted Cheeky gently on the head, and picked up Moyla's weapon. It was a long thin dagger, almost a needle, with its point covered for several inches with something black and glistening like tar. Blade didn't try to examine it closely or wipe it off; he merely wedged the dagger into a chink in the logs where it couldn't be stepped on or grabbed by an enemy.
Two of the three enemies were in no shape to grab anything. A sudden wail from Cheeky told Blade that Moyla was dead, while River Over Stones had passed out from pain. While Blade kept an eye on the Wise One, Eye of Crystal dragged River to the door, tore up her loinguard, and tied him hand and foot with the strips. Blade stopped worrying about the girl's handling herself in action.
While all this was happening, the Wise One was standing by the tangled furs and skins on the floor. Except for the rise and fall of her breasts and the sweat on her thighs, she might have been a statue. Blade was careful to avoid meeting her eyes. He wasn't sure what telepathic weapons she might have, but he wasn't going to give any of them a chance.
Then the footsteps of what sounded like half the village thudded outside, and the doorway was suddenly filled with people. Blade wasn't surprised, since River Over Stones had made enough noise to be heard for miles. Eye of Crystal was nearly knocked down, and Cheeky had to jump onto Blade's shoulder to keep from being trampled.
«This is no true hiba-gan, «said Blade. «This is the Wise One of the Rutari. She came here disguised as a hiba-gan to kill me for fleeing from the unlawful ways of the Rutari. Not far from here her friend Ellspa waits to help her.»
«She could still have taken a hiba-gan's vows,» said someone outside.
«She has not,» said Crystal. «When we entered, she and River Over Stones were as man and woman. Hiba-gans are celibate.»
A long sigh issued from the crowd. Then Winter Owl's voice rose above it. «Make way for the Guardian!»
The warrior and the shaman marched into the hut side by side, and Blade stepped clear to give them room to face the Wise One. For the first time, the woman seemed uneasy. She'd been prepared for death or torture, but to see her one equal among all the telepaths of Latan facing her was another matter, particularly without Moyla. She licked her lips.
«I have heard everything,» said the Guardian, «and your life is mine to take as I will. You know this is true. You came here to do murder, without an oath protecting you, and disguised as a Holy Wanderer. Three times over, your life is mine to take.»
«That is so,» said the Wise One. It was the first sound she made.
«But I will not give you to Winter Owl or to Blade of England to kill slowly,» the Guardian went on. «Instead, I give Challenge. Meet my Challenge, here and now, without calling your friend Ellspa, and if you win, you may go free. «
The Wise One's eyes widened in surprise. «You swear this by the Wisdom?»
«Father-!» began Eye of Crystal, but Winter Owl gripped her arm.
«Do not shame him,» he whispered, so low that he probably thought no one heard him, and indeed no one except Blade did.
«Better dead than shamed?» Crystal replied in the same tone.
«Yes.»
She muttered something that sounded like a curse on all men in general, but then fell silent.
«I swear by the Wisdom that this shall be the Fourth Challenge,» said the Guardian.
«Then I shall meet you as Wise Ones and Guardians have met thrice before, and Ellspa shall not know of this.» She knelt and spread her hands on the ground. The Guardian knelt and spread his hands on top of hers. The Wise One was so graceful that Blade's mind flashed back to how he'd held that slim brown body locked to his.
After that there was nothing for everyone except the two shamans to do except leave the hut and let the Challenge proceed. Winter Owl led Eye of Crystal out, keeping a watchful eye on her, as if he was afraid she would speak out of turn again. Blade suspected that he might agree with Eye of Crystal if he knew more about this Challenge. He also knew that he couldn't say or do anything about it. The Guardian was going to do things his way and that was all there was to it.
The villagers who'd been inside the hut formed a ring around it, keeping the other villagers back at a safe distance. Two went and brought the Sweet Wisdom, in case either shaman's telepathy needed help. One of these was Winter Owl, and with him gone, Blade had a chance to talk to Crystal. He put down Moyla's body near Cheeky and led Crystal aside.
«What is this Challenge? A duel with the Voice?»
«Yes. They go together into the Sphere of Wisdom and fight with every weapon that may be used there.»
Blade frowned. Even if he hadn't experienced Latan telepathy, he would have known this could be dangerous. There were too many Home Dimension tales of paranormal powers being used to kill; not all of them could be dismissed as nonsense.
«He did not have to do it,» she said. She was as close to bursting into tears as Blade had ever seen her. «The Wise Bitch's life was his to take! But he knew the glory that came from the Challenge, and wanted it more than anything else!»
«It must be great glory, to make him want it so badly. «
«It is. His name will live forever. But Blade, in the last three Challenges, all six of the Guardians and Wise Ones died.»
«Damn,» said Blade softly. It was inadequat
e, but then he himself felt just a little inadequate in the face of a man blithely going to his death so that his name would live forever. Perhaps the Guardian was not showing the highest degree of wisdom, but he was certainly showing a kind of courage Blade wondered if he had himself.
He put an arm around Eye of Crystal's shoulders, and a minute later Cheeky joined them.
(«Is this Mistress a friend to the Master Blade?»)
(«Yes. «)
(«Then I want to be a friend to her. «) Cheeky put one arm around Crystal's leg, barely reaching her knee. It might have looked silly, but Blade felt no urge to laugh. Cheeky was bearing up remarkably well after killing Moyla with his own hands. He shouldn't have had to learn about this dirty side of the spy business-the betrayal of friends-so soon.
Chapter 20
After all the furious preliminaries, the actual Challenge seemed almost tame, at least to Blade. After Winter Owl left the Sweet Wisdom in the hut and shut the door, the two Challengers might have gone to sleep for all anybody outside could tell.
«This is as it must be,» said Crystal, seeing Blade's annoyance. «They go so far into the Sphere of Wisdom that anyone with a weak Voice could go mad in there with them. «
«If they go so far and their Voices are so strong, isn't there danger of their Voices-leaking out?»
After a moment Crystal understood the image. «There is danger, that is all we know. Much danger. During the first of all Challenges, it is said that forty other people died or went mad. So this is not the time for you to learn more of the Voice. Would you put your hand into a fire to learn how hot it was?»
Blade shook his head. At least there was one consolation. No one in the village was allowed to use telepathy while the Challenge was being fought out. That eliminated the danger of some undiscovered enemy agent sending a warning to Ellspa. Such an agent might still be able to leave the village and warn her in person, but from Cheeky's account her hiding place was quite secluded. It would probably be daylight before they could find her. By then the warriors of the village would be scouring the countryside.
Blade also didn't mind not having anyone overhearing his thoughts, not even Cheeky. He was feeling more than a little angry with the world, Latan, and all the people in it, especially telepathic shamans with more courage than sense. Between them the Guardian and the Wise One probably knew the answers to every question about telepathy, including some he didn't know enough to ask. Now they were about to carry all their knowledge to the grave.
Blade knew that the two shamans had no obligation to him. He told himself that over and over again. It didn't help. He still wanted to pick up both shamans by the scruffs of their necks and bang their heads together until he'd pounded some sense into them.
In this mood, it was probably just as well he had no communication with Eye of Crystal. He doubted it would be very pleasant for her to learn what he was thinking about her father.
At least Winter Owl seemed to be having second thoughts about the Challenge. Perhaps he'd realized, now that it was too late, that the Guardian's glorious death was a very poor trade for the shaman's leadership in the war against the Rutari. The warrior paced up and down like a caged tiger, and when he thought no one was looking at him his face was twisted into a grim mask.
At last Winter Owl's pacing brought him close to Blade. «You took your life in your hands when you entered the hiba-gan's hut, I must tell you.»
You can't show you've got nerves like the rest of us, thought Blade.
«That was not wisdom,» Winter Owl went on. «Indeed, there may be some who doubt if you have wisdom. That is not a good thought, especially about a man with a Voice as strong as yours.»
That is not a thought at all. It's just you fussing like an old woman.
«I had thought to take you among the warriors so that you might fight the Rutari beside us. Now, I do not know if that can be. Your slaying the shpuga and your skill at nor may not be the wisdom needed by a warrior of the Uchendi. «
Blade swore under his breath. He'd been kept locked up among the Rutari because he was too valuable. Now he was likely to suffer the same fate among the Uchendi because he wouldn't kowtow to their bloody taboos!
«That must be as you wish, Winter Owl,» Blade began, more calmly than he wanted to. But Eye of Crystal had overheard the conversation, her patience was gone, and now she had to confront her uncle.
«Mother's brother, you have already been as big a fool tonight as you should be. For the love of all who may think you better than a shpuga, do not try to be a bigger fool. You say that Blade has no wisdom and that you will keep him from the battles against the Rutari. Yet he had the wisdom to see what lay under the hiba-gan's cloak and defeat the Wise One. He might not have been her only victim, either. Would your Spirits call it well done if you and my father had both joined Blade in dying because he gave too much thought to laws made by fools and children?»
«Sister's daughter, you will be-«
«I will be nothing at your command, and never silent again!» She looked angry enough to strike her uncle. Blade moved so that he could step between them if the quarrel got that far out of hand.
«And you whine of keeping him out of the war, when he has made an English weapon that can slay shpugas! A weapon that can give us a sure victory over the Rutari! A weapon he will teach us to use, if you are not such a fool as to forbid him.
«You have nearly taken away our hopes of victory by letting my father do what he is doing. Blade can give us back our victory if you let him! If you do not, then I think the Spirits have forsaken you or perhaps the Rutari bought your-«
Winter Owl's hand went up and back, for a blow that would surely have knocked Crystal sprawling to the ground. Blade moved faster. His left hand shot out and clamped down on Winter Owl's wrist. His right hand dropped to the hilt of his knife. It took all his self-control not to break Winter Owl's arm or at least sink his free hand up to the wrist in the man's stomach.
Winter Owl was too surprised at Blade's intervention to resist or even shout. That gave Blade time to control his temper. When he finally spoke, only someone who knew him very well could have told he was in a rage.
«I will not judge your wisdom as you have judged mine, Winter Owl. I simply say that Eye of Crystal is telling the truth about the new weapon. I did not tell you about it because I wished to be sure that I could teach it to others.
«Now I know that I can. I will teach it to the warriors of the Uchendi, so they may kill the shpugas of the Rutari. I will teach it to all who will learn, whether you wish me to or not. The only way you can keep me from doing this is to kill me, and I will not lie down and be easy for you to kill.
«Now let us hold our tongues about this matter until the Challenge is over, or someone is sure to hear us and take up the quarrel. Both you and I are grown men and proven warriors. We do not need others telling us what to do.»
The threat of an open challenge to his authority and the reminder about other people listening seemed to calm Winter Owl. «Very well,» he said in a level voice. «We shall be at peace with each other until the Challenge is past. Then you shall show me this weapon before you show it to anyone else.»
«That is good enough.» Winter Owl hadn't asked for any oaths and Blade hadn't given any. As long as that was so, Blade could go ahead and show archery to anyone he wanted to afterward, whatever Winter Owl said.
And some people said life among primitive peoples was simple and free! Blade's experience led him to believe that taboo and custom and oath could snarl things up just as thoroughly as the most sophisticated civilized bureaucracy!
Blade released Winter Owl, and the warrior turned back to his niece with a look in his eyes Blade didn't like. If Winter Owl was going to work off his frustrations on Crystal, the whole bloody fight might have to be done over again! But whatever Winter Owl was going to say or do, he never got around to it. Suddenly a scream broke the silence and filled the darkness. It was a woman's scream, and there was both mental and phy
sical agony in it-more agony than any one human being could ever stand.
The scream came again, then Blade heard faint moans and the sound of retching for a couple of minutes. At last silence returned, more complete than before, as everyone wondered what the screams meant but didn't dare to ask.
Blade cuddled Cheeky in the crook of one arm and put the other around Crystal. He would have embraced Winter Owl as well, if he'd thought the man needed that human comfort in the presence of the unknown.
After what seemed like hours but could only have been a few minutes, they heard the Guardian's voice calling from within the hut. It sounded almost frighteningly normal, but Blade noticed that Winter Owl drew his knife as he moved toward the door. Blade did the same, gave Cheeky to Eye of Crystal, and kept her behind him as they went in.
The Guardian was sitting slumped in a corner of the hut, a thin trickle of blood at one corner of his mouth. His eyes were open but seemed unfocused and wandering.
In the center of the hut lay the Wise One. Blade had never seen anyone who was more obviously dead, and few more gruesome corpses. The Wise One's face was contorted with awful pain, and in her last moment she'd emptied her bladder, bowels, and stomach. She'd even managed to dislocate some of her joints with the violence of her dying convulsions. The air was so thick with foul stenches that Blade felt even his iron stomach give one or two uncertain twitches, and Winter Owl clearly felt no better.
Crystal turned green and dashed for the fresh air. She stayed out only long enough to vomit herself empty, then returned with half a dozen reluctant warriors and women. By the time they'd carried out the Wise One's corpse and started scraping the floor of the hut, the Guardian was able to speak again.
«Daughter, wife's brother, B-Blade,» he said. «The Wise One is dead. She fought hard in the Challenge, and honorably. Let her courage be remembered…» His voice trailed off.
«For myself, I swear it,» said Blade.
«I thought-English were honorable,» said the Guardian. Then with a tremendous effort he focused his eyes and took in enough breath to speak steadily. «There is one more thing I must do tonight. I must read the poison on the dagger of the Wise One's First Friend. I took from her mind the picture of its being deadly, but not what it is. If we are to face it, we must know how to heal it.»