The ground was thick with the fallen. Here and there among the gnoles was an Invincible, felled by a quarrel or axe. Marad's men rode single file down the ramp, with the companions just ahead.
The 'strelli slept where they had alighted. Reefs of them, their leathery wings furled about them like cloaks, covered the rocky walls of the crater.
The procession descended to the crater floor. In the midst of the dead, 'strelli and gnoles alike, lay Ubrith Zelka. His wounds were grievous, but it was obvious that no single being had struck the mighty general down. Just as an ant can bring down an oak, so had a hundred 'strelli finally broken the strength of Zelka. His reign of terror was done.
Jadira turned north for Elperath's village. Along the way, they found many signs of flight. Carts and wagons overturned and smashed. Livestock running free. Arms and booty from half the lands north of the Shammat were scattered on the trail of the fleeing gnoles.
Something moved in the morning shadows ahead. Marix drew his sword. Jadira stayed his hand; the moving figure was Elperex.
He was walking. Slowly, painfully, but walking. His wing-arms were closed around a heavy bundle of some kind. Jadira caught up with him and tapped him on the back.
Elperex turned. His face was etched with sorrow. "My walking friends," he said, "the night was ours."
"What is it, Elperex? What's wrong?"
He unfolded his wings to reveal the lifeless form of Elperath. "My mated one is gone," he said. "She sought out the leader of the rapa and smote him time and again. He caught her and, with his bare hands, broke her back."
Jadira signaled to Marix and Uramettu. "May we help you, Elperex?" she said. She knew it was terribly difficult for 'strelli to walk any distance. He said nothing, but conveyed Elperath gently into Marix's open arms. The chiefs body was remarkably light.
"I thank you," said Elperex. He spread his wings as wide as they would go. "My wings and eyes for the life of my mated one back!" he cried. His hopeless wish echoed down the crater wails unanswered.
The village of flues loomed above them. Jadira called a halt.
"Wait here," she said to Marad. "I'll get the captain."
He dismounted. "I shall go with you." She shrugged.
Fu'ad was still chained to the base of the slim flue. He was asleep. Jadira kicked his feet, and he started.
"Marad!" he said. "Well done, my brother! You've taken the she-demon alive."
"No one's taken anyone," Jadira snapped. "The son of Raflk and I have a truce."
"Truce? You can't be serious! Clap her in irons, Marad!"
"Patience, my brother. Much has happened since you were captured. Many things need to be discussed."
The rest of the humans straggled in. Fu'ad counted his men: ten, thirteen, eighteen, twenty-one. Less than half of the Invincibles remained!
"What is the meaning of this?" he demanded.
"Just this, Faziri," said Jadira. "Your men and my friends have survived a murderous battle with a thousand fierce gnoles. Having fought alongside each other, we agreed to talk as comrades in arms, not captives to captors."
"The battle is over and won, sir," said Marad. "The beast-men have been vanquished, and the arms of the Invincibles carried in glory."
"Very good. Now release me," Fu'ad said.
"Not yet," said Jadira.
"This is nonsense! Marad, muster the men and seize the criminals!"
Marad looked at his feet and didn't move. Fu'ad stared at his lieutenant in amazement. "I gave you an order!" he shouted.
"Look around you, Captain," said Jadira. Angrily, he complied. Everywhere he turned, he saw sleeping 'strelli. Most of them still wore their ankle knives.
"Thousands of 'strelli," she said. "Thousands of blades. They cut the gnoles to pieces, Captain, and these same 'strelli are our friends. Marad knows that; that's why he won't act. There's no reason to die needlessly."
Fu'ad pondered this awhile. He said, in a more measured tone, "Will you unchain me?"
Nabul came forward and tossed the key to Fu'ad. The captain unlocked his bonds and rubbed the chafed places on his wrists.
"You have us in a very neat basket," he said. "What do you intend for us? Death?"
Marix, Uramettu, Tamakh, and Nabul all looked at Jadira. Hers was the final word. What would she say?
"No, not death. I am sick of blood and death," she said. "I leave you to face the sultan with your failure. We're going on, my companions and I, and you are returning to Fazir."
"And if I choose not to go?"
"The choice is not yours. Elperex?" The grief-stricken 'strelli appeared, "our people must escort Captain Fu'ad and his men back through the mountains east. If ihey deviate from that course, slay them."
"If you wish it, jadira," he answered listlessly. He roused some sleeping 'strelli warriors and relayed Jadira's request to them.
Fu'ad was provided with a horse. He mounted and joined ranks with his men. "It is not over yet, woman," he said. "As long as I live, I'll hunt you."
"No doubt, Faziri. That is the way of a jackal," she retorted.
Fu'ad waved his men around him, and they all rode off. A canopy of 'strelli followed close overhead, their wings beating slowly in rhythm with the horses' hooves.
The funeral of Elperath was simple. She was carried aloft on a cloth litter to the blazing Joj Xarar. Four 'strelli, each holding a corner of the litter, held Elperath's remains in the flames of the sacred flue. In very little time, her little body was consumed.
Elperex, by custom, was now a non-person. For a specified period of mourning, none of his fellow creatures would acknowledge him, speak to him, or even look at him. He retreated to the caves in the western walls of the crater to grieve, and await the time when a new chief would grant him leave to return to the tribe.
A Companion Gained
Marix pounded the loose joint with a keshj wood mallet. The seam closed. He tested it with a hard tug. The pegs held.
"It's done," he said. Nabul and Uramettu lined up beside him, and together they pushed the two-wheeled cart upright. From wreckage in the gnole camp, they had taken a pair of carts and repaired them. With an ox to draw each one, plus their original complement of donkeys, the companions would not want for carriage.
Marix worried. Oxen were notoriously slow beasts, and High Summer's Day was rushing toward them. Could they still make it to Tantuffa in time?
"Once we leave the crater of the 'strelli, we'll not stop again until we find the seal and deliver it to your Lord Hurgold," Jadira promised. "That's why we need the oxen. They will walk day and night, and we can ride and sleep."
Tamakh developed a fever from his wound. His gentle face whitened and sweat ran off him in streams. Jadira stayed with him, blotting his burning brow with cool
cloths and feeding him clear broth. He passed in and out of delirium. Often he mumbled in Zimoran, a language Jadira did not know. Once, when she was changing the bandage on his side, he seized Jadira's arm in a surprisingly hard grip.
"Tamakh, what is it? Did I hurt you?" she asked.
"Why must you leave?" he said.
"I'm not leaving," Jadira replied. "I'm staying right here."
"My life will be over when you are gone." Tears streaked the corners of his clenched eyes.
Marix ducked under the tarp. "How's the holy man?" he asked.
"Is there nothing left for me?" Tamakh exclaimed.
"He's under a delusion," Jadira said. "He thinks I'm someone else." She carefully, but firmly, removed her arm from his grasp.
"Laviya," said the priest, choking. "Laviya."
"Who is that, I wonder?" whispered Marix.
"Someone who hurt him. A lover perhaps. Even priests have lives before their vows." Jadira folded Tamakh's hands across his stomach. His sobbing faded, and he rested silently.
"Nabul's—" began Marix, but Tamakh interrupted him.
"Jadira?" said the holy man.
"Yes, Tamakh?"
"And Marix? Are you there, my bo
y?"
"I am here, Holy One."
"I have been to the Land of the Dead," he said. "Been there and returned."
"You're going to live, then," Marix declared.
"I shall," said Tamakh. "For many, many years." Jadira could not decide whether he was pleased by the prospect.
*****
Nabul's left eye never regained its sight. For some days, he kept to himself, silent and morose, until Uramettu cornered him in the 'strelli garden.
"Are you going to hide from us forever?" she said.
Nabul spat a cherry pit over his shoulder. "I've lost an eye," he said flatly. "Do you expect me to dance and sing?"
"Are you less a man with one eye?"
He glared. "By the Thirty, no!"
"Then prove it to the rest of us. Come back and try our patience as you used to do." Uramettu held out a hand, fingers closed into a fist.
"What's that?" asked Nabul. She opened her hand, and an oval of bright metal dangled from her fingers.
"It's an eyepatch," she said. "Try it on."
Nabul took it uncertainly. He slipped the thong around his head and positioned the patch over his ruined eye. "What is this made of? Brass?"
"Gold," Uramettu replied. "I hammered out a coin from the purse of Ubrith Zelka."
He touched the patch lightly. "Gold, eh?" Nabul grimaced. "It's cold!"
She slapped him on the back. "What a man you are!" *****
The 'strelli set about choosing their new chief. By custom, this was done in secrecy by a small assembly of senior females. On the second morning after the battle, a delegation of 'strelli came to the humans' camp. The new chief introduced herself through an interpreter. Her name was Ectoreth.
"For the great service you have rendered to us," she said gravely, "the pip'strelii wish to honor you with a gift. Is there anything of ours we might give you?"
Nabul gave a sharp, sarcastic snort. Marix poked him in the ribs and glared him into silence. "There is, generous Ectoreth," he said.
"What would this be?"
"In the walls of the crater, west of your village, there is a cave. In this cave are many pretty things."
"Yes, tucca nyth," said Ectoreth. Marix quizzed the interpreter for an exact translation. The nut-brown male 'strelli struggled for a moment, then said: "Rubbish."
"Rubbish?" asked Marix,
"Rubbish!" said Nabul.
" Tucca nyth are the shiny rocks and bits of metal brought in by children after their flight of adulthood," Ectoreth explained. "When our young reach a certain age, they go on a long flight alone. It is a test of endurance, courage, and tracking ability. To prove they have indeed gone far away, the tested 'strelli bring back tucca nyth, rubbish from distant lands."
"It has no value to you?" asked Marix carefully.
"Only by what it proves," said the 'strelli chief.
"May we take away some of the tucca nyth?"
"As much as you like. It is nothing."
So, later that day, Marix, Nabul, and Uramettu rode one of the ox-carts out to the cave. Nabul nearly fainted when he saw the "rubbish." The shock passed, and he threw himself into the sprawling pool of wealth, rolling and flinging it in all directions.
"We'll be rich as kings! For all this I would gladly lose an eye!" he cried. "Richer! O, you gods, I knew it was right that I come back to aid my friends!"
"Please," said Uramettu. "You're making a fool of yourself."
"l am a fool! A rich fool!"
"Not yet, you're not," Marix put in. "Come on, come on; iet's fill the cart." He dug deep into the pile with a brass bowl.
With a gnole's helmet, Nabul began scooping up coins and jewels. He and Marix hobbled on their knees to the mouth of the cave. There they flung the treasure into the cart where Uramettu stood. Nabul chortled with every ringing piastre that bounced on the stout wooden planking.
"Would it not be better to fill bags or small boxes?" said Uramettu.
"Why?" said Nabul. "We can carry more this way."
"We have a fair distance to go. It seems rather conspicuous to carry gold and gems loose in a cart like so much winnowed wheat."
"I disagree," said Marix, emptying his helmet for the fourth time. "If we fill the bottom of the cart, we can cover over the treasure with ordinary baggage. Who would ever suspect what lay beneath?"
"Well said, brother!" Nabul added. He grinned at Marix like a drunkard and dumped another bowl full of riches into the cart.
There was a rustle of dry wings. A shadow flickered overhead. Uramettu shaded her eyes and looked up. "Elperex," she said. "I'm sorry. Did we disturb you?"
"No, walking friend. I am pleased at seeing you," he said.
A shower of jingling coins splashed out of the cave. Elperex said, "Why are you taking this trash?"
"Trash to you, my winged friend, but treasure to us," said Marix.
"Treasure? Bits of metal and rock?"
"Just so. Have you ever heard of money?"
"That is something humans use. To us it means nothing. You cannot eat money. It does not make flowers bloom or fruit ripen. It cannot bring back the life of one's mate."
Marix paused in his frantic shoveling. He suddenly felt ashamed. Nabul carried on until Uramettu told him to stop.
"But there's so much left!" he complained.
"The cart is groaning now. Would you have us break the axle?" she said. Nabul searched through the mix of treasure one last time. He came up with a fat, uncut emerald in one hand and an ingot of silver in the other. The ingot went in the cart, but the emerald he stuffed in his robe.
Uramettu brought the ox's head around. The cart wheels squeaked violently as it turned. Marix and Nabul jumped down and dusted off their hands.
"Where will you go now?" asked Elperex.
"Beyond the mountains to the sea," said Marix. "Only seven days remain before the conclave in Tantuf-fa."
"I don't know how many days I shall remain here," said Elperex. "If they choose, the tribe may never call me back."
"Why would they do that?"
"It is hard for a walking one to understand, but pip-'strelli, once proven by flight, must be mated to be a member of the tribe. Mating is for always. If the chosen mate dies, the living one can only return at the choice of the chief."
"You have a new chief," said Uramettu. "She is called
Ectoreth."
Elperex seemed to shrivel at the news. "There was no love between Elperath and Ectoreth. I fear I am doomed to stay in these caves until I die."
Marix said, "Why don't you come with us?"
"Come with you?"
"Certainly. We're an odd band, but you would find us good company."
"Leave the crater?" The poor 'strelli was overwhelmed by the notion.
Nabul came close and tapped a finger on Elperex's chest. "It's a wide, grand world out there, my friend. You'll see great wonders: cities, temples, deserts, seas—"
"Leave the crater!" Elperex repeated.
"You would be welcome," said Uramettu.
Elperex stared into space for a long time. Nabul waved a hand before the 'strelli's eyes and got no response. He shrugged and climbed into the cart driver's seat. "We're off," he said. Marix and Uramettu mounted the sides, and Nabul tapped the ox's broad back with a cane switch. The beast lurched forward.
The laden cart's wheels dug deep furrows in the volcanic dust. The ox plodded on with a loud creaking of traces. When they were a hundred paces from the treasure cave, the three humans heard a sharp whistle.
Elperex fluttered into the back of the cart. His dark, globular eyes were almost pinched shut in the daylight, but he looked at each human in turn.
"I go with you," he said. "Out of the crater!"
"Splendid," said Marix, clapping the little creature on the back.
"One boon would I ask of you," said Elperex.
"What's that?" "May I have the use of your cloak?"
With a look of puzzlement, Marix handed Elperex his Faziri wrap. "Are you chilled
?"
The 'strelli hung the cloak like a tent around his high pointed ears. "Hard to see in this brightness," he said.
They trundled slowly to their camp, enriched with both money and a new companion.
"Careful! Careful!"
Tamakh's admonition wavered even as his body was lifted on a stretcher to the rear of the cart. Marix and Uramettu held one end high as Nabul and Jadira struggled to get the other into the boxed-in sides.
"Now, lower together," Jadira said. "Ready! Steady! Go!" Tamakh bumped onto the pile of baggage.
"I always seem to be carrying you, Holy One," said Marix, wiping sweat from his face. Jadira hissed and swatted him lightly on the cheek. "Well, it's true!"
"I regret being such a burden," the priest said.
"Be silent, you two," said Uramettu. "You'll be walking again in a day or so, Holy One."
"And if it would ease your conscience, later you can carry me piggyback to Tantuffa," said Marix. He ducked another buffet from Jadira.
Nabul jumped down from the cart and went to fetch Elperex. They had had to keep the 'strelli under wraps from his fellows, as by custom he was not allowed near the village without the chiefs permission. So he stayed cloaked under Jadira's tent until it was time to depart. Nabul picked him up. The sleeping 'strelli was inert, lifeless, and as light as cork. Nabul carried him easily on one arm.
"Is everyone ready?" asked Jadira.
Nabul and Uramettu waved from the second cart, where they sat atop the hidden treasure. Elperex sat nestled behind them. Tamakh, lying behind Marix, waved his readiness.
Marix put one foot on the step and swung onto the bench beside Jadira. " Are the donkeys tied on?" she said.
"Of course."
"And the food and water are—"
"Yes, yes. Let's go," Marix said.
Jadira whacked the ox's rusty brown hide. Ahead lay the highest pass of the Shammat. Beyond that were the plains of Kaipur, the coast, and Tantuffa. There were six and a half days left till the conclave.
PART III:
THE NARSIAN SEAL
The High Pass
The trail led steadily upward, winding and twisting across the face of Mount Bakesh. The oxen proved their worth in the climb, for they never faltered, no matter how steep the angle became. Clouds closed in during the night, with chilling dampness wrapping around them like shrouds.
D & D - Red Sands Page 21