The ferret pursed his lips and shook his head sadly. “You poor, simple, unwilling immigrant, do you think I’m so easily beaten? I know a hundred powerful conjurations to throw at you, remember a thousand curses. But you are correct. I know that your music could counter them.” Something was wrong, Jon-Tom thought. Zancresta ought to have been begging for mercy. Instead, he sounded as confident as ever.
“Your music is strong, spellsinger, but you are feeble here.” He tapped his head. “You see, as I said, I came prepared to deal with anything.” He looked to his right.
“Charrok, I need you now.”
From behind a partly vacant shelf, a new shape appeared. Jon-Tom braced himself for anything, his fingers ready on the duar, his mind full of countering songs. The figure that emerged did not inspire any fear in him, however. In fact, it was singularly unimpressive.
The mockingbird stood barely three feet tall, shorter even than Corroboc. He wore an unusually plain kilt of black on beige and yellow, a single matching yellow vest devoid of adornment, and a single yellow cap.
Zancresta gestured at Jon-Tom. “That’s the one I told you about. Do what I paid you to do!”
The mockingbird carefully shook out his wings, then the rest of his feathers, put flexible wingtips on his hips and cocked his head sideways to eye Jon-Tom.
“I hear tell from Zancresta here that you’re the best.”
“The best what?”
The mockingbird reached back over a shoulder. Roseroar and Mudge tensed, but the bird produced not an arrow or spear but a thin wooden box overlaid with three sets of strings.
“A syreed,” murmured Roseroar.
Charrok nestled the peculiar instrument under one wing and flexed the strong feathers of the other. “Now we’re going to learn who’s really the best.”
“Bugger me for a mayor’s mother!” Mudge gasped. “The bloody bastard’s a spellsinger ’imself!”
XVI
“THAT,” SAID THE MOCKINGBIRD with obvious pride, “is just what I am.”
“Now, look,” said Jon-Tom even as he made sure the duar was resting comfortably against his ribs, “I don’t know you and I’ve no reason to fight you. If you’ve been listening to what’s been going on you know who’s on the side of right here and who on the side of evil.”
“Evil-schmieval,” said the mockingbird. “I’m just a country spellsinger. I don’t go around making moral judgments. I just make music. The other I leave to solicitors and judges.” Feathers dipped toward multiple strings. “Let’s get to it, man.”
The voice that emerged from that feathered throat was as sweet and sugary as Jon-Tom’s was harsh and uneven, and it covered a range of octaves no human could hope to match.
Well then, Jon-Tom decided grimly as he saw the smile that had appeared on the ferret’s face, it was up to him to respond with musical inventiveness, sharper lyrics, and better playing. If nothing else, he could at least match the mockingbird in enthusiasm and sheer volume.
The mountain rattled and the shelving shook. The floor quivered underfoot and stone powder fell from the ceiling as the two spellsingers threw incisive phrases and devastating rhymes at each other. Charrok sang of acid tongues and broken hearts, of mental anguish and crumbling self-esteem. Jon-Tom countered with appropriate verses by Queen and the Stones, by Pat Benatar and Fleetwood Mac. Charrok’s clashing chords smashed violently against Jon-Tom’s chords by the Clash. The mockingbird even resorted to calling up the defeated warriors of the Plated Folk, and Jon-Tom had to think fast to fight back with the pounding, sensual New Wave of Adam Ant.
As the two singers did battle, Mudge struggled to get a clear shot at Zancresta. The wizard had witnessed several demonstrations of the otter’s prowess with the longbow, however, and was careful not to provide him with a decent target.
Jon-Tom was finally forced to pause, no matter the consequences. He was panting hard and his fingers were numb and bloody from nonstop strumming. Worse, his throat stung like cracked suede and he feared creeping hoarseness.
But the arduous duel had taken its toll on his opponent as well. Charrok no longer fluffed out his feathers proudly between songs, nor did he appear quite as confident as he had when the battle had begun.
At which point Jon-Tom thought to try another line of attack entirely.
“That last tune, the one about the drunken elephant with the knife? That was pretty sharp. You got some good riffs in there. I couldn’t do that.”
“Sometimes,” Charrok croaked, “it’s harder with fingers than with feathers.” He held up his right wing and wiggled the flexible tips for emphasis. “You’re not doing too badly yourself, though. What was that bit about dirty deeds done dirt cheap?”
“AC/DC,” Jon-Tom replied tiredly. “I thought it might conjure me up a few berserk assassins. No such luck.”
“Good try, though,” Charrok complimented him. “I could almost feel the knife at my throat.”
Zancresta stepped forward, careful to keep the body of his hired instrument between himself and Mudge.
“What is this? I am not paying you to indulge in casual conversation with this man. I am paying you to kill him!”
Charrok turned. His gaze narrowed as he stared up at the sorceror. “You hold on a minute there, Mr. Zancresta, sir. You hired my spellsinging, not my soul.”
“Don’t get existential with me, you warbling bumpkin! You’ll do as you’re told!”
Charrok was unperturbed by the sorcerer’s outburst. “That’s what I’ve been doing.” He nodded toward Jon-Tom. “This fella’s mighty damn good. He might, just might, be better than me.”
“I don’t know who’s best and I don’t care,” Jon-Tom said hastily, “but you sing like a storm and you play like a fiend. I’d appreciate it a lot if you could show me that last song.” He strummed an empty chord on the duar. “Maybe I’ve only got five fingers here, but I’d damn sure like to give it a try.”
“I don’t know … a duar only has two sets of strings and my syreed three. Still, if you dropped a note here and there… .” He started to walk over. “Let’s have a looksee.”
“No fraternizing with the enemy,” Zancresta snapped, putting a restraining paw on the mockingbird’s shoulder. Charrok shook it off.
“Maybe he ain’t my enemy.”
“Of course I’m not,” said Jon-Tom encouragingly, moving forward himself. “A gig’s a gig, but that shouldn’t come between a couple of professionals.” When Charrok was near enough, Jon-Tom put a comradely arm around the bird’s shoulders, having to bend over to do so. “This isn’t your fight, singer. Two musician-magicians of our caliber shouldn’t be trying to destroy each other. We should be collaborating. Imagine the wizardry we could work! This shouldn’t be a duel, it should be a jam session.”
“I’d like that,” said Charrok. He searched the aisle beyond. “Where are the berries?”
“Not that kind of jam. I mean we should play together, make music and magic together.”
A hand reached out and clutched in frustration at the mockingbird’s vest. “I won’t have this!” The ferret was jumping up and down on short legs. “I tell you, I won’t have it! I’ve paid you well to serve me in this matter. We have a contract! There is too much at stake here.”
“Yea, including my reputation,” Charrok told him frostily. “But,” he glanced up at Jon-Tom, “that can always be settled between friends. As for your money, you can have it back. I’ve decided I don’t want …”
“Look out, mate!” Mudge yelled. The otter threw himself forward, hit Zancresta just in time to make the subtle knife thrust the ferret had been aiming at Jon-Tom beneath Charrok’s wing miss. The two went rolling over together on the floor.
“Hold him, suh!” Roseroar thundered as she advanced, ready to remove Zancresta’s head from his neck as easily as she would a stopper from a bottle.
But the ferret was scrambling to his feet, leaving a bleeding Mudge lying on the floor. Displaying incredible agility, the sorcerer dodged
under Roseroar’s wild rush and started climbing up the nearest shelf. Boxes and cartons came flying down at the tigress, who batted the missiles aside impatiently as she tried to locate her quarry. Then she was climbing after him, slowly but relentlessly.
Jon-Tom was bending over Mudge, whose paws were clasped over the knife wound. The otter’s eyes were half-closed as he stared up at his companion.
“This is it, guv’nor. I’m on me way out. I’m dyin’. I knew it would come someday, but I never thought it’d be like this, wot? Not in some bloody store ’alfway across the world. I was meant to die in bed, I was.” The limpid brown eyes were full of sadness and regret. “We ’ad some good times, though. A few laughs ’ere, narrow escape there. Cor, ’twere much to be sung of.” The eyes closed, reopened weakly.
“Sorry it ’ad to end like this, mate. If you ’ave a song left in you to sing you might sing one for old Mudge. Sing me a song o’ gold, spellsinger. If I can’t die in bed maybe I can die under a pile o’ gold. Bury me in the damn stuff and I’ll slip away ’appily.”
Jon-Tom knelt alongside the limp otter, holding his head up with one hand. “Mudge,” he said quietly, “that knife didn’t go in more than half an inch, and you’re not bleeding that bad. If you want to get gold out of me you’re going to have to do better than that.”
The otter fixed him with pleading eyes. “Gold? Why, I wouldn’t try to trick you into conjurin’ up me some gold at a time like this, mate. Would I?” Jon-Tom didn’t reply.
Mudge moved his hands, and his eyes went wide with surprise. “Crikey, would you ’ave a look at this! It’s ’ealin’ right over, it ’tis! Thanks be to your magic, mate. I’ll never forget this, guv, never!”
“I’ll bet you won’t,” said the disgusted Jon-Tom. He stood, and Mudge’s head bounced off the floor.
“Ow! Damnit, you bloody smart-arsed, know-it-all, over-sized, shallow-voiced son of a … !”
Jon-Tom didn’t hear the rest. He’d turned to look down the aisle. It was full of smoke from conjured lightning and dust fallen from the ceiling. There was no sign of Zancresta or the vengeful Roseroar. The fight had moved to another aisle, another row of shelving. Snooth had also vanished, which was understandable. The proprietress had retreated to a place of safety to await the outcome of the fight, exactly as Jon-Tom would have done had their positions been reversed.
“Get up, Mudge,” Jon-Tom said impatiently. “We’ve got to help Roseroar.”
The otter rose, still holding a paw over the light wound. “That she-massif doesn’t need any ’elp, mate. I’ll ’elp you look for ’er, but odds’ll get you she finds that bastard Zancresta first.” He winced, inspected his knife cut. “Ruined a good vest, ’e did.”
“Wait.” Jon-Tom squinted into the haze that filled the aisle. “I think she’s coming.”
But it wasn’t Roseroar. It moved on four legs and its golden coat glowed even in the weak light. Clinging to the broad back was the naked form of a young woman toasted pink as a boiled lobster.
Drom trotted to a halt beside them. He was foaming at the mouth and soaked with lather.
“Hot,” he told them unnecessarily. “Excruciatingly hot.” Folly slid off the unicorn’s back into Jon-Tom’s arms, barely conscious. “She was walking blindly toward an open lava pit. I got there just in time.”
“Jon-Tom.” He held her carefully, acutely conscious of the first-degree burn that covered her whole body. “I … I didn’t know what was happening, what I was doing. Jalwar … he made me feel so strange. I couldn’t think my own thoughts anymore.” She leaned against him.
“That morning when he woke me and made me follow him out of our camp, I wanted to cry out, to warn you, but I couldn’t. He made me go with him, and he made me fetch and cook and carry for him, but it wasn’t me, it wasn’t me! It was like I was a prisoner in my own body and I couldn’t get out.” She was sobbing now, the tears wet against his chest. She leaned back and looked up at him in astonishment.
“I’m crying. I didn’t think I could cry anymore.”
“You were hypnotized,” Jon-Tom told her. When she continued staring at him in puzzlement he explained further. “A kind of magic. You couldn’t help yourself.” He hugged her to him and when she moaned in pain he was quick to release her. “We’ll have to do something about your burn. Maybe Snooth has something. We can buy medicine for you, too. I still have the three gold pieces that Mudge didn’t lose in Snarken.”
“It’s all right,” she whispered. “I’m all right now.” She turned to Drom. “I wouldn’t have been if he hadn’t shown up. I didn’t know what to think when he came galloping down the corridor after me. Then he told me who he was and that he was a friend of yours and you were all here inside the mountain with him. That you were fighting Jalwar-Zancresta.” She ran to the unicorn and, putting her arms around his neck, hugged him gratefully.
Drom tolerated the attention briefly before stepping back and pulling free. “I am glad to have been of assistance, madame, but leave us not get carried away with our emotions.”
“But I thought …” Folly looked hurt and Jon-Tom hastened to reassure her.
“Drom’s not being unfriendly, Folly. He’s just being himself. I’ll explain later.” He looked at the unicorn. “It was a fine bit of rescue work, Drom.”
“I try.” The unicorn searched the aisle. “Where is the evil one? And the great feline? Did you defeat him during my absence?”
“No.” Jon-Tom smiled at the mockingbird. “This is Charrok. When Zancresta discovered that he couldn’t defeat me with his own magic, he tried to do it with another spellsinger. Charrok and I conjured up quite a musical storm before we came to the conclusion that harmony is better than dissonance. As for Roseroar, she’s gone after Zancresta.”
“I should pity the ferret, then.”
“That’s the truth, mate,” said Mudge. “That’s some broad. If she were only a fourth ’er size.”
“You have to learn to think big, Mudge.” Jon-Tom became serious. “Zancresta’s as fast on his feet as he is with his mind. He might give her the slip in here.”
“’E can’t get out, though, mate,” Mudge commented. “Unless there’s another way in, and I’d bet me tool there’s only the one. I’d say the best we can do now is find that oversized she-rat who runs the place. She ’ad the medicine when the fight started, and I’d wager she’s kept it with ’er.”
It was a long hike back to the entryway, and Jon-Tom’s appraisal of the ferret as being fleet of foot turned out to be accurate, for when they turned up the last aisle Zancresta was already there.
“Ah just missed him in a side aisle,” Roseroar rumbled angrily, having rejoined them only moments earlier. “He won’t get away this time.”
Zancresta’s clothes were shredded, and he looked very unwizardly as he stood panting heavily before the exit. A glance down the side aisle showed his tormentors approaching rapidly. There was nothing, however, to prevent his escaping to plot against them from the outside. Nothing except an old female kangaroo.
“Get out of my way, hag! My time is precious and I have none to waste in argument.”
“I’m not here to argue with you.” Snooth spoke calmly, the pipe dangling from her lips. Her right hand was extended, palm upward. “You owe me payment.”
“Payment? Payment for what?” Zancresta snarled impatiently. His enemies were hurrying now, the ferocious tigress in the lead. He did not have much time.
“For damage done to stock and fixtures.”
“I was trying to escape from that insane female who even now approaches. You can’t hold me responsible for that.”
“I hold you responsible for everything,” she replied darkly. “You initiated conflict. You interrupted a sale. I forgive you all that, but you must pay for the damage you’ve caused. I’m not running a philanthropic organization here. This is a business.” She gestured with the palm. “Pay up.”
“Fool! I said I’ve no time to argue with you. This little store you
have here is a very clever piece of work, I’ll admit that. But I am Zancresta of Malderpot and I am not impressed. I give you one chance to get out of my way.”
Snooth did not move. The wizard’s paw dipped into an intact pocket and he flung something small and round at her as the kangaroo’s hands went to her belly. There was a crump! as the small round thing exploded, filling the portal with angry red smoke. Jon-Tom had tried to shout a warning. It came too late.
“Now I will leave over you, hag!”
But there was something else in the doorway now, something besides the uninjured and glowering Snooth. It rose from her pouch, the pouch where Jon-Tom thought he had detected hints of movement before. It rose and grew and it was immediately clear it was no joey, no infant kangaroo. It was far larger, and it expanded as Jon-Tom and his companions slowed to a halt.
Zancresta backed slowly away from the apparition. It enlarged until it reached the roof forty feet overhead, and still it grew, until it could only fit in the cavern by bending low against the rock ceiling.
It had the shape of a red kangaroo, but its face was not the face of a gentle vegetarian like Snooth. The ears were immense, sharply pointed, and hung with thick gold rings. The long snout was full of scimitarlike teeth, and sulfurous eyes centered on tiny black pupils glared downward. Gray smoke encircled and obscured the behemoth’s waist, rising lazily from Snooth’s pouch. Gorillalike arms hung to the floor, where backturned knuckles rested on the smooth stone.
A bright crimson band encircled the huge forehead. It was inscribed with glowing symbols drawn from an ancient place and time. A thin silken vest flapped in an unfelt wind against the mountainous chest.
And there was the voice. Not gentle and matronly like Snooth’s, but awesome in its depth and richness. The apparition spoke, and the earth trembled.
“BEHOLD, ODIOUS IMP, TOILER IN OBSCURITY, MEDDLER IN INEFFECTUALITY: I AM HARUN AL-ROOJINN, MASTER OF ALL THE SPIRITS OF TIME PAST AND TIME FUTURE WHERE MARSUPIALS RULE AND ALL OTHERS ARE BUT TINY SCURRYING THINGS THAT HIDE IN ROCKS AND FEED ON WORMS! BEHOLD, AND BE AFRAID!” A hand big enough to sail the Glittergeist if fitted out with sails and rigging reached for Zancresta.
The Spellsinger Adventures Volume One: Spellsinger, the Hour of the Gate, and the Day of the Dissonance Page 86