by Allan Cole
"Enough!," Janos roared. "Drop the swords, both of you!" Steel clattered to stone. "Lifting arms against a brother! How dare you? You know the penalty. Banishment if there is no harm, death if there is an injury! This is--"
A calm voice interrupted: "--This is sorcery, Captain." We turned. It was Cassini.
"We are cursed," he said, in his customarily abrupt way, and he did not pay attention to the reaction to his statement. "Small curses," he went on, "have been dogging us for some days. The sneezing... those mites that appear at the least convenient times... how all of us have been too quick to anger without provocation."
"Who cursed us," came the growl from a soldier, in spite of Maeen's glower. "Th' damned Shore People?" And scowls were turned against our small companions.
"I think not," Cassini said. "But there must be a casting, and a counterspell. Now, this night. Each of these curses are small, such as an Evocator can cast from a distance, and easily maintain without a drain on his strengths."
"But they can kill," Janos said quietly. "'Lione, if that first sword-slash had landed, we might well be saying the words for Cherfas as well."
Now it was my turn. I felt a slight flicker of pride as the orders came easily: "Well spoken, Evocator. Again, we have realized how lucky we are that you chose to accompany us and be our shield against evil." My compliment was not truly felt, of course. But I knew the men would need maximum trust in Cassini for a ceremony to work smoothly. "Captain Greycloak," I went on, formally. "Send a man... two men... to the river and fetch back our fisherman. We shall not chance anyone outside the camp this night. Also, post sentries in the correct manner. Evocator Cassini, all of our resources are yours to cast this counterspell."
Cassini preened just long enough to put my teeth on edge, then began ordering people here and there as he made his preparations. An hour later, as night fell, the surprisingly simple ceremony was performed. Cassini had two soldiers bring a cloakful of clay from the riverbank. We were formed in line, and each of us was commanded to take a handful of the clay and, while Cassini prayed in an unknown tongue, to shape the clay into a figurine. After that he told us to cut a bit from a garment or trapping and work it into the figurine. He cautioned us to not use spittle, fingernails or anything that was a true part of our bodies.
He led us out of the barracks into the brush, where a low fire of greenwood had been prepared. He drew a circle around the fire, and told us to put our dolls inside that circle. We then formed a second ring, with the orders to focus all of our attention on our doll, and to try not to think of anything but the figurine and how it looked exactly like us. Perhaps one or another of the soldiers might have jested about the less-than-artistic sculptures we laid down; but all of us were frightened - both of these spells and magick itself.
I fancied I could feel forces of the night curl around us as Cassini lit the fire and began chanting as the smoke rose:
"Smoke shall build
Smoke shall climb
Choke the eyes
Choke the mind...
He softly cautioned us not to break our concentration until... until he clapped his hands three times, and as ordered, we spun, turning our backs on the dolls and the fire.
Without looking back, we then walked back toward our campsite. I heard Cassini continuing his chant from behind us:
"Now we sleep
Now we stay
Now you seek
Now you find.
Circle shall hold
Circle shall reach
Circle shall gather
Circle shall hold..."
An hour later he rejoined us and told us that we should eat, and then sleep. It would do no harm to go out in the bushes for natural calls, but none of us should go down to where the remnants of the fire smoked. We should make as little noise as possible, but we should relax, and not worry. The counterspell was cast, and all of those annoying spells should be drawn toward those figurines.
The soldiers and the Shore People seemed relieved, and they, having put their trust in Cassini and his sorcery, felt these problems were over. I took Cassini aside, and Janos joined us. I promised the Evocator a bonus for this night's actions when we returned to Orissa. I asked him if these curses were indeed tied to those dolls out in the night. He said he was sure - since none of them were particularly cast to be lethal, none required much of a counterspell to fool. It was better, he felt, to divert the spells and allow them to run on rather than to break them completely. "This will, I hope, keep our enemies happy believing that we are still plagued by their spells, and not require more stringent attention."
"Our enemies," Janos asked. "From where?"
Cassini looked unsure of himself. "At first, I thought these incantations came from Lycanth, we know we have enemies, from the Symeon clan to... to others.
"Indeed, I did feel emanations from this direction. But I also felt something else. Something... neither of you are Evocators, so I cannot use the terms of my craft... something like a great rolling wave, a flood perhaps. Coming from the East."
Janos and I were jolted. "But... none of us have been beyond this point, that I am aware of," I said. "Except perhaps one or another of the Shore People."
"It makes little sense," Cassini agreed. "And what I found more puzzling was... this flood, this presence, perhaps, I did not feel to be evil. At least, I felt no especially threat to any of us. It was..." and he fumbled for words, "... as if there were some great, invisible force above us, a force that... that... ah, I do not have the words," he said. "Think of a great fish in a lake, knowing of the tiny perch around him. He is not hungry at present, but he sees those little fish. And perhaps, in an hour or a week, when he is hungry, he might look at them more closely." Cassini shook his head. "That is the best comparison my mind allows."
We agreed to set a careful watch that night, less concerned with intruders than one of our men might become curious, investigate the scene of Cassini's casting, and shatter all of the work. Janos, myself, Cassini and Sergeant Maeen would be the guardians. Cassini took first watch, which started at once. Janos told me later he chose the Evocator because everyone would still be awake, and Janos would not have to worry about the sorcerer's competency. Maeen followed, then I was to stand guard, and then Janos would take the final watch in the always-hazardous pre-dawn hours.
I was sleeping soundly when Maeen tapped me awake for my watch. I took my weapons and found a station just inside the barracks door where I could look out into the starlit night without being seen. Periodically I left the building and walked around it, to ensure no one was creeping up on us. It was very peaceful, and very still. The sound of the river was soothing. I felt refreshed by my sleep, and as if a weight had been lifted by Cassini's art. I realized I had been as nibbled by those minor sorceries as any of my men. I looked back at the pass, perhaps a sixth of a league behind us. My eye was drawn to a rock formation on the hillcrest. Then the rock moved, and became two men. Two men on horseback.
I should not have been able to see that distance with the degree of clarity my mind told me I was. But I swear now I could see they were both wearing plate armor, strange for such a poverty-crushed land, and helmets with high crests. My mind heard Janos' hushed description from that sunny afternoon under an Orissan wineshop's arbor: "Even their mounts seemed protected, since I saw another moonflash from one steed's head. The position they took was exactly the one I would order now, if I were leading a patrol into unfriendly territory, overlooking the pass..."
I started to shout the alarm, then stopped myself. The day had ended with enchantments and everyone was freighted. I had heard stories from old soldiers who were friends of my father about young sentries who swore a bush became an attacking enemy and then changed back to a bush when the watch commander was alerted or a spear was thrown. Then I noticed there was nothing on the hilltop; the horsemen were gone; obviously it had been an illusion of the night. Still, when I woke Janos for the last guard, I waited until he was fully alert, and told him
about my mirage.
Janos tugged thoughtfully at his beard. "So," he said after awhile, "Cassini's great fish may have several senses. We could, if we wished, go to the hilltop after the sun rises. The best that could happen is we would find actual horse droppings and hoof prints, to prove someone human is watching us in this country. But if we do not find such signs... well, either you imagined it, or..." Janos snorted. "I think we should say nothing, or do anything at all, my friend. If there were Watchers atop that bluff... are we even sure they are aware of us? Assume yes. Are they necessarily our enemies? No one in Kostroma ever reported these ghostly guardsmen to do them physical harm. And... even if they are aware of us, and assume they know all from their leaders' great wizardry, is it not unlikely they intend us no evil? We did, after all, provide last rites as best we could for one of their fellows. Soldiers of any race... or even ones who were never birthed by human loins must certainly appreciate honors such as that. Even considering that we did remove that talisman."
I found a smile at that one. "Friend Janos, you are now starting to sound like one of a pair of dullards playing odds and even. If I had one stone in my fist last time, should I have the same number this time, and should I say I have one, two or none. Perhaps I should do the same thing, but no, my friend will know I did the same, and three casts ago, that was my plan, so this time I should..." I let my voice trail off. Janos was chuckling.
"Thank you. I was making myself as confused as a room of scholars wondering whether the mirror is the reflection or reality. Whether these Watchers mean us good or evil, or if they are as little concerned about our existence as that satiated great fish will no doubt make itself clear in time."
"Should we consult Cassini?"
"I... propose we do not. Let us see how the situation develops." I thought that Janos Greycloak was more worried about this new unknown than he let on; but then, he was the one who had seen them once before as a boy.
Two nights later, higher up the river as it began to shallow and narrow into tributaries leading off into the hills, the Watchers were seen again. This time by three men - Sergeant Maeen, a soldier and one of the Shore People. Again, they did nothing but sit their horses, and then vanish. Cassini insisted on casting an interrogatory spell, trying to find out who these Watchers were, and whether their presence presaged good or evil for us.
"Cast a spell in their direction," Janos muttered. "How intelligent. If they were not aware of us before, they certainly are now."
Cassini's spell produced nothing. From his wizardry, these Watchers could be nothing else but a natural illusion - an unusual sort of mirage. Janos also had a thought on this - that the Watchers might well have armor beyond what could be seen with the eye. Cassini followed this bit of possible imprudence with something I knew to be dangerously arrogant. The next day, he found the highest hilltop in sight, and, carrying a flaming torch to its top, "claimed" the land for Orissa. By this I do not mean he professed physical rights to the land for himself or for our city - even in those days none of us, not even an Evocator, possessed such insolence. The ceremony, which consisted of prayers and then the planting of seeds brought from our city, was intended to tell the beings physical and invisible of Orissa and its people. The ceremony went on to request, although I thought it sounded more like a demand, that just as all beings from and of this land were entitled to respect and honor and protection under the real and Evocatorial laws of Orissa, so our party "requested" equal justice and consideration.
I did not think such a ceremony wise at any time, and am grateful I have succeeded today in banning it from use when Orissans travel abroad. I certainly did not think it apt in this strange country, with its sorcerous "waves," its unknown people and customs, and most of all those spectral Watchers. But neither Janos nor I could say anything. If I ordered Cassini not perform the ceremony here or elsewhere, he would unquestionably report me to the Council of Evocators when we returned. And they would, without a doubt, put the most selfish and even treasonous interpretation on what an Antero meant by such a command. Since this was yet another problem I could not solve, I tried to put it from my mind.
Cassini's conceit, in spite of his performance with the counterspell, was annoying everyone. He seemed to think he was in charge of the expedition, and that it was the duty of all members to make certain their Evocator was comfortably fed, clothed and kept safe. As our journey grew wearisome I found myself thinking how much I would be willing to take my chances without the purported benefits of an Evocator's cloak on my Finding; and how cheery I might become if something incapacitating happened to Cassini.
The river shallowed, then became spotty pools and marshland. We found ourselves standing around a rather picturesque pool from which a spring bubbled.
"This is the first time I have ever followed a river from its outlet to the headwaters," Janos observed. "Does this, O Evocator, entitle me to some special blessing?" Cassini smiled thinly, but said nothing. If the other members of the party were not getting along with Cassini, he and Janos were almost to the point of verbal enmity. Fortunately neither of them were foolish enough to spark a feud on this foreign shore, although I feared there would be some confrontation when we returned.
We camped at the spring that night. Janos and I spent some time discussing how we would navigate from this point - the Watcher's relict showed little detail of what we surmised were the long, barren leagues ahead. We used two landmarks behind us that also appeared on the Watcher's "map," and set a compass direction from there that we felt would lead us most directly to the next landmark. I had discovered a hidden talent: I understood maps, and liked drawing them. I had been keeping careful track of the terrain thus far, and even if we were forced to double back I was sure we could quickly return to this spot, and not repeat our previous wanderings that sometimes had led us into marshes or up blind or torturous canyons.
After dinner the man who spoke for our drivers sought me out. He said this was as far as the Shore People had contracted to go; and tomorrow they and their mounts would turn back toward the coast. I started to lose my temper, and was proud that I caught myself in time. I told the man he and his brothers had contracted for our entire journey, which had barely begun. That was not true, he said. They agreed they would travel with us to the end of the world. This spring - this place where the river stopped - was the end. So I asked, pointing into the distance: what then, is beyond the spring? Or, that grove of trees near the rise? The man shrugged: the answer was obvious. He said that must be another world, for it is known to all this one ends at the spring; and that world most certainly belongs to some other tribe. He smiled and said he was sure that tribe would look with favor upon such good men as ourselves. You will meet new friends, he said, and perhaps you can acquire new beasts of burden from them.
The argument began and I quickly backed away from moral issues and concentrated on rewards. There had been some sort of misunderstanding - my fault or theirs did not matter. Now I offered them a chance not only for glory among their own people - glory that would travel back with me to my own homeland - but riches. I had already promised gold, and now I doubled the amount of that offer. I told them when we returned to the Pepper Coast they could have their choice of any of our weapons or clothes, save only the most personal. That interested the man; but it would be very difficult, he said sadly. Very, very difficult. I increased my offer: we would have L'ur and his skilled sailor/shipwrights build new and superior huts for them before we left. And, since I would swiftly return from Orissa to begin developing this new trading area, they would be rewarded with costly gifts from Orissa when I came back. He still shook his head: very, very difficult. Spices that would make their fish soar in flavor. Ah? A glimmer of interest, then: sorry, but it remains very, very difficult. I took gold from the chest and gave each man two pieces as evidence of my intent. We are very grateful. But... I must think... Perhaps... if we did agree to continue... but, no, that would be very, very difficult. New nets and even boats for their fish
ing. Nice, but still, very difficult. Imagine what your wives, your concubines, your daughters will have for clothing, colors and silks of the finest. Ah?
It was after midnight when I finished. The man, who'd been joined by the other Shore People, sat thinking. Then he said, "You have honored me... you have honored us greatly. Black Shark was very wise in deciding you are a valued friend."
"Then you will continue with us?"
"The journey... it will be very, very difficult." He smiled then, and tapped me on the shoulder, a sign of respect for an equal. "But what is life without the very, very difficult..."
Exhausted, I went to bed, the campfire guttering into ashes; but I was elated, and perhaps the honeyed, diplomatic tongue of Paphos Karima Antero had also been granted to his increasingly-respectful son. I slept, feeling proud. But I woke feeling a fool. Sometime before dawn the Shore People had vanished. Their tracks led west, back toward the coast and their homeland. At first I was angry. They had agreed, hadn't they? Janos was trying to keep from laughing as he explained that there were certain peoples who could not say no; and they would use any evasion... to avoid it.
"... such as very, very difficult," I said bitterly...
"... such as very, very difficult to prevent having to reject someone bluntly and make them into an enemy," Janos replied.
So much, I said, for my honeyed tongue; and so much for the gold pieces I'd given them. "Actually," Janos said, "you did quite well. I guess you did not notice, but they left the asses - and their harness. Perhaps the gold paid for that. Or perhaps it was your, ahem, honeyed tongue."
We could waste no more time on my embarrassment. We laboriously loaded the asses, a task the Shore People had made appear simple, but took us nearly half a day; we continued on, learning how to be drivers as we went. For some time afterward it was common for someone, just within my hearing, to look solemnly at a friend and announce things are "very, very difficult..." I pretended not to hear.