The Far Kingdoms

by Allan Cole

  Janos was so angry I thought he was going to draw his knife. I quickly broke in. "Hold on, Janos. And you too, Cassini, if you please. There's no need for hard words between us. Just as there is no need for a quick decision. Why don't we consider for a few days... when our condition will be clearer."

  "I have no need for further clarity," Cassini said, refusing to let it drop.

  "Oh, you don't do you?" Janos retorted. "Well, let me ask you this. How do you propose we feed ourselves for three months?"

  Cassini began: "The Shore People-"

  "Manage quite well, thank you," Janos interrupted. "And they have a little extra to spare, besides." He indicated the remains of the roasted crab. "But these are fisherfolk. Actually, not even that. They live on what they can pluck from the rocks, or dive for beneath the surf. They plant a little grain here and there and harvest a bit of fruit and nuts. But that is not near enough to feed us all for three months or more."

  "We have our supplies," Cassini protested.

  Janos snorted. "Dried goods. And a few treats from home. But that was just to stretch things. We were going to live off the land, remember? And don't say we can do the same here, because we can't. With all of us added to their numbers, the shore's bounty will soon become scanty. And you will notice the fruit and nuts don't grow in orchards, but are scattered thinly about the forest - which is the way of all life in these climes. Plus hunting will make scarce return as well after a month or so. The Shore People will soon find us poor guests. The presence of the seamen might be borne, because they can help with the fishing. But the three of us, and the soldiers are hardly famous hunters who can provide more than we would consume. Mark my words, they'll kill us rather than face famine."

  "How can you know all this?" Cassini sputtered. "We have only been here a few hours. It is not possible to make such an assessment."

  I leaped in before the quarrel could continue. "I asked you both to let a few days pass," I said, making sure I spoke with force. "This is still my Finding. Financed by my father. And I insist on that time to contemplate."

  "I won't-" Cassini began, but I cut him off with an impatient wave of my hand. "I trust you enough to know you will do what is best at the time," I said. "So leave it be."

  Both men remained quiet after that. Cassini drew into a corner of the tent to brood, while Janos went outside to count the stars, perhaps. Or consult with Maeen. I stayed by the fire with L'ur, realizing now was not a good time to reason further with my friend. L'ur fell quickly asleep after the argument, and there was a smile pasted on the sleeping face. He mumbled things, like "board feet." And "mind the mast." A happy craftsman, contemplating the work ahead. Ah, well, at least he had a goal: to build a ship in three months. L'ur was the only happy man that night.

  After a time my own thoughts drove me out. I found Janos hunched on a rock, listening to the lonely surf pound the shore. I made no greeting, but sat beside him, haunted by my own thoughts. "Thank you... for the delayed decision," Janos finally said, with effort. I made no answer, because the reprieve was false. When the time came there would be few choices for the picking. Then he asked: "I wonder what your father would say, if he were here?"

  "Go back, I expect. My father usually takes the long view."

  "Not always," Janos said. "He still regrets listening to his own father, and not seeking the Far Kingdoms himself, long ago."

  "He had no choice but to obey," I answered.

  Janos sighed. "Your father is a much better man than I will ever be. He said it would make him happy if he went to his grave knowing his own son achieved what had been denied him. For me, that would be no satisfaction at all." He gave me a grim smile. "I would curse him because I was not first."

  "What will you do," I asked, "if... our worse fears come true?"

  Janos hesitated, then: "I'd rather not think on it just now," he said. "But I must warn you. I will not give up easily. Give me half a chance and I'll carry this expedition on my own back if I have to."

  "Be careful with Cassini," I warned. "He can do us much harm."

  Janos patted his knife. "Not as much as I can do him," he said. His words chilled me. This was not meaningless angry talk, to be forgotten on the morrow.

  "You won't hear an Antero defend an Evocator," I said. "But you should know that Cassini is only trying to put a happy mask on our failure. He needs a victory. He's practicing what he'll say in Orissa. Remember, his own career is at stake here."

  "Careers be damned," Janos snarled. But he seemed to instantly regret the outburst and fell silent for a moment. Then he asked: "What about you, Amalric? What of your own career?"

  "I feel much as you do," I said. "Yes, there are riches here. And, yes, I could put a happy mask on as well and boast of this success before all Orissa. But..." My voice trailed off.

  A bark of harsh laughter from Janos. "You've been bitten as well, haven't you, my friend? Afflicted with the Far Kingdom disease. Before long, you'll be sorry we ever met." The moon broke from behind a cloud, bathing Janos in an unholy glow. "There is no cure for this malady," he said. His finger stabbed out. "Except one." I didn't need to look. He was pointing east to the Far Kingdoms.

  Black Shark came to us the next day. He wore no armor, but instead was dressed as a common man in a plain, brown tunic of bark cloth. The only mark of office was a shaman's eye daubed on his forehead. He was nervous, humble, almost, if such a fierce man could ever be humble.

  There was no preamble: "I have come to ask a great boon for my people," he said. "We have no right to ask it. For our trouble is of our own doing. An unpardonable sin committed by us long ago."

  I could not imagine what sin might trouble cannibal folk, but I made appropriate noises about the great service they had performed for us, and promised we would do what we could. Black Shark turned to Janos. "You have shown much skill with ghosts," he said. Cassini coughed at this, but Black Shark didn't appear to notice. "We thought that skill might help us."

  "Please, go on," Janos said. "Although I must beg your understanding that it was his..." he motioned at Cassini "... enchanted net I threw. However, as outsiders we might have a clearer view of the causes of your misfortune."

  Black Shark was pleased by Janos's modesty. He called for pillows of sea grass and shells brimming with some heady liquid for our refreshment. We settled down to hear his tale. "It was in my grandmother's time," Black Shark began. "She was a young woman and had not yet delivered her first child. We were a happy people then, and the Sea blessed us with its bounty, and the forests delivered much fruit as well, so there was always plenty for the Shore Folk to eat and drink their fill. The world was a kindlier place in that time, and our enemies were few. Then one day the Shaman, who was her father, called the people together in this very place... " Black Shark's hand indicated the spot where we sat "... and warned them there were ill omens bubbling in the village cooking pot. The odor was not right, he said, and when he poked into the pot with a stick, a two-headed seal pup came to the top.

  "How it got there, no one could say. But they all agreed it could not have been placed in the pot by one of us, because who would wish such a thing on their own folk? People were afraid and cried out for the Shaman to tell them what they must guard against. He could not say, for the bad magick in that foul pot had confounded his powers of vision. People fell to guessing what manner of ill to expect. Some said it would be a fierce storm that would leap upon us. Others said we should see to our weapons, for it could only mean an attack from our enemies - the Dalree - who dwell not many leagues from here."

  Black Shark gave us a look of deep sincerity. "You should know you are most fortunate to have come to our shores," he said. "The Dalree are evil folk who care nothing for a stranger's life. They are fierce men and will not even honor those they have killed by eating their flesh."

  Cassini coughed again. It might have been a laugh. I refilled Black Shark's shell, so he wouldn't notice any rudeness.

  "But it wasn't the Dalree we had to fear
, although my grandmother said precautions were taken and offerings made. The tide returned and departed many times over until even the Shaman had nearly forgotten the omen. One morning, just before the sun drove the fog spirits from the beach, the village heard a loud thundering. It was the storm, they thought, come at last. Not the Dalree. Everyone rushed out to shriek, wail, and whirl about as the Shaman had instructed. This way, he said, the storm would believe its brother was attacking us, and would seek out others to make miserable. Such as the Dalree."

  Out of the corner of my eye, I saw Cassini nod in appreciation. Rare approval from an Evocator of Orissa. "But there was not a cloud in sight and my people soon realized the thunder was not the drumming of a storm. And the sound didn't come from the sea, but from the land at our backs."

  Black Shark gestured and we all turned to look at the high bluffs beyond a stand of trees. "To the east," he said, "just past those bluffs, there is a canyon. An abyss with no known bottom. And behind that canyon, there is a cliff so steep, that not even a devil could climb it. From thence, my lords, came the sound.

  "The Shaman ordered the warriors to gird for a fight and he sent a party of our bravest men to learn the nature of the threat. When they came to the abyss, they saw no one about, and the thunder had ceased. Everyone marveled at the mystery and made ready to return. Before they could, alas, the drumming started up again. They saw nothing at first, then one of them gave a shout and pointed to the cliff. They saw metal flashing from atop that cliff. The cliff, as I said, no man could climb. But there were men there just the same - as that flash of metal will witness. Men, and horses as well."

  Janos leaned forward, brow furrowed in concentration, and I suddenly remembered the tale he had told of his own childhood encounter with ghostly horsemen. Black Shark noticed. "You know of men like this?"

  "I am not certain," Janos said. "Were they armored?"

  "Yes, they were armored. Both the men and the horses they sat astride. The helms were oddly shaped, the witnesses said. Like this..." With a finger, Black Shark traced a high-roached helm in the air. Exactly like the helms Janos had described.

  "What happened?" I asked.

  "Nothing at first," Black Shark said. "They seemed to be just watching, or at least that is the way it was reported later. Most of the men had sense to know sorcerers when they saw them, so they flung themselves on the ground and made abasement. Then they fled before their presence could anger those mighty horsemen. But, alas, one man was not so wise. My grandmother said he was one of the older warriors, who was jealous of the success of the younger men. Instead of abasing himself and fleeing - as would have been proper - he shouted a challenge. One of the warriors looked at him, and he took insult and flung his spear."

  Black Shark moaned at the folly. "The cliff was too high for this to be a threat," he said, "but this was no obstacle to the gods who hate the Shore Folk. The man's horse took fright and reared and the sorcerer fell into the abyss, which was too deep for his companions to retrieve the corpse. They rode off without giving him proper burial. And his bones lie there to this day, a curse on all our lives."

  Moved by his own tale, Black Shark sniffled, then drained his cup. "Our luck fled that day," he continued. "All trade ceased, and only pirates, or Lycanthian thieves came to these shores. And do you know... " he leaned closer, voice lowered for a heart-felt admission, "... terrible lies have been told about us. And there are many who fear us because of those demon-whispered lies."

  "You don't say?" Janos answered, betraying not one sign of mockery. "Such gentle-natured folk as yourselves?"

  Black Shark nodded sadly, eyes red from drink. "It isn't right, but what can we do? We have no luck."

  "What if we retrieved the remains of that warrior?" Janos asked. "You could build a shrine and bury his remains beneath that shrine to put the wizard's ghost to rest."

  Black Shark's eyes welled with tears. He was almost too moved to speak, but his nod was pitifully eloquent. "That is what... we hoped..." he choked.

  Janos looked at me and then Cassini. "What do you say, my friends? How can we deny these good people?"

  The moon hid its face that night as they led us through the forest. It was unnaturally quiet. We heard no buzz of flesh biters nor even the cough of a hunting direcat. It was as if all the forest creatures had learned of our quest and were in hiding. Black Shark and his men took us as far as the bluffs. Then he begged our forgiveness and drew a whip of sea grass from a pouch. He lashed us lightly with the whip, one by one, so any offense we committed would not be blamed on the Shore People. They slipped away into the night. Cassini looked after them, an odd gleam in his eye. "The whipping will do no good," he said, voice low, "if those wizards are powerful as he says." He opened the pack he brought with him and drew out the things we had spent all day preparing.

  "Then you give credence to his tale of the curse?' I asked.

  "I would be a fool if I didn't," was his only answer. Janos grunted. I knew he believed. The description of the Watchers on horseback was too close to what he had witnessed as a child. We stripped to the skin and blackened ourselves with charcoal dust so as to avoid any evil eye that might fall upon us. Cassini whispered a spell to further trick any ghosts. We slung the bundles of grass rope over our shoulders and climbed up the steep slope of the bluff. I was proud of my comrades that night. Janos moved ahead, silent as a panther, marking the way. Cassini followed, brave as you please, a gold disc held ready to turn back any spell hurled our way. His long bout with sea sickness and his general hatefulness had made me forget in our days at the gymnasium, Cassini had a well-earned reputation as a brave man. As for me, I won't say I was brave, but merely too young and stupid to know fear.

  Atop the bluff was a broad, rocky plain. But instead of a jumble of boulders and sharp stones to test our feet, the ground under us seemed as smooth as wizard-cast glass. The way became easy, and we moved at a faster pace. We could barely see a hand before our face, but we could sense that great cliff Black Shark had described bulking near. The gods must have smiled, for the moon suddenly brightened behind its cloudy veil and we came to a jerky stop with the Abyss yawning at our very feet.

  "We must be insane," I whispered, "to attempt this at night."

  "Enter darkness from darkness," Cassini whispered back. "That is the rule."

  "At any rate," Janos said in a normal voice, that made us jump. "we'll soon settle the argument over whether a ghost can or cannot see at night."

  "Shush," Cassini hissed. "He might hear."

  "I'd almost rather he did," Janos said, "If we creep up on him, he's sure to think we're his enemy." But this came as a whisper just the same. Cassini motioned for the bulky pack I carried. I upended it, and a thick bunch of dry weed tumbled out. Cassini uncorked a flask he carried on a string tied about his naked hips and slowly poured a foul smelling liquid on the weed. He whispered an enchantment, and I saw something glow deep inside the mass of weed. A flame flickered, and as it burst into a roaring flame, Cassini quickly kicked the whole mass over the side.

  We watched it fall, but instead of diminishing from our view, the fire grew larger and larger until it seemed to fill the rift from side to side. Then it bounced, exploded into black, greasy smoke and came to rest. Apparently the abyss was not so bottomless after all. I peered down. My stomach gave a lurch, for bottomless or not, it was still a great distance. Janos uncoiled his rope. "I'll go first," he said, to my relief.

  "What if this isn't the right spot?" I asked. Janos merely pointed. Beyond the fire I saw my answer in a flash of metal. It must be the warrior.

  Going second was small consolation. We had to tie all three ropes together, and it was still short by at least the height of three men. But before I could comment, Janos looped our life line about a boulder and swung over the side. He quickly slid down, reached the end, kicked away from the side and dropped. I heard him whisper a chant, and saw the glow of light beads. I followed, my hands slipping on the sweat Janos's grip had left. It sho
uld have been easy. I was skilled at such things, as I mentioned before, but I was no more than a third of the way down when hopelessness struck me. I looked down and suddenly the light on the canyon floor seemed immeasurably far. The gap of three men's height suddenly became twenty, then a hundred. The surface of the rope turned to slime and I plunged down at a great speed. I kicked out to slow my fall, but the rock my feet shattered into pebbles and dust.

  Janos shouted, and his shout gave my fingers strength until they bit through the slime, and I came to a jolting stop. My hands burned with the heat of the fall and my body felt like it had been gripped by a great weight. Then I realized my eyes were closed and opened them. First I saw Cassini's face peering down, pale in the moonlight, eyes wide. Oddly, his face did not seem that far away. Then I looked down. I was the same distance from the bottom as I had been before the fall.

  "It's only in your mind," Janos called, anxiously. "A spell left by the warrior's friends."

  I wanted to cry out: What do I do? I am no sorcerer. Cassini emptied a pouch over the side, and I saw the glitter of magick dust floating towards me. Soon I will be safe, I thought, but as the dust descended I knew it would not reach me until it was too late. The feeling of hopelessness caught at my gut again, and I felt my fingers slipping. I heard a voice, just at my ear: "Amalric," it whispered. "Do not fear."

  "Halab?" I cried, for I thought it was my brother.

  "Light as the air," the voice said. "Quick as a falcon, on the hunt."

  The helplessness fled, my fingers found their grip, and then the dust was falling across my shoulders. I broke out of the spell like a drowning man kicking his way to air. I swung down the rope as easily as a tree-dweller. At its bitter end I dropped the rest of the way and came lightly to my feet. Janos put a hand on my shoulder. "Are you all right, Amalric?" He asked. For a moment I thought his voice was the one which had whispered in my ear. "Take a care," Janos said. "Cassini's coming down." And now there seemed to be no similarity at all. I stepped aside as Cassini dropped beside us. Now it didn't matter whose voice it was, for the spell was broken and we were all safe on the floor of the bottomless abyss. There was no time for self congratulation, for the silence was broken by the splash of falling liquid. A long moment later we heard another splash, then another The sound came from where the ancient warrior had fallen. No sooner had we puzzled this out, then a most wondrous odor arose, sweeter than any flower, richer than any courtesan's perfume. We walked tentatively toward the sound and scent.