by Will Elliott
‘Yes, I was a Strategist,’ said Blain. ‘But our world is changed now. Dwell in the past if you must. But know this: I was first to leave the castle, first to abandon Avridis to his doom. Betrayal can be a virtuous act. The soup-blesser disagrees, hence our quarrel, some days ago. It’s good we meet, Mayor. I had hoped you would come. You are wise to return here. The tower has become a nest for the new folk! The new people, who call themselves haiyens. They build strange contraptions about it, and maybe elsewhere through the land too. Do you know anything of the haiyens?’
The mayor and Blain exchanged carefully worded stories, both omitting more than they told. Blain turned his attention to Far Gaze. ‘Must he remain bound up? A more sincere enemy of Avridis you shan’t find. Has your city Aligned to the castle?’
‘Valour bade we tie him,’ said Vade.
‘Pff,’ said Far Gaze.
‘You cannot bind him, he is a dragon fighter!’ said Blain, and snorted. ‘Did he tell you that tale too? I don’t believe it. That same dragon bit my best Hunter in two.’
‘Of that, he spoke truly,’ said Tauk uneasily. ‘Valour heard the claim too, and did not dispute it.’
Blain’s ensuing bark of laughter stunned the mayor and his men to silence. ‘Do Spirits never lie, make mistakes? But forget that. Perhaps we’ve a future, eh? An empire to build. We’ll see. Keep the Spirit’s gifts. Ignore his words and actions! You heard me, ignore them. I know a thing or two of Spirits. They are not men. They don’t move, think or speak as we do. A Spirit’s truth is several truths at once, some which make lies of the others! And a man – even a great man, Mayor – becomes someone else if brought into a Spirit’s service. I studied many cases. We had to know Spirits well, for we meant to create one. Fallible as men? More so. More profound beings make more profound mistakes. Don’t be angry! You need me. My knowledge is far more useful than your sword. Better than an army of dimwits willing to die at your word.’
‘I do not see my soldiers that way,’ said Tauk, barely containing his fury.
Blain hardly noticed. ‘We shall have alliance. I offer it, here and now. If the Spirit returns, we’ll see. Until then, be Tauk the Strong once more, strong as your own will ever has been. Ah, yes! I have been an enemy to you. I and the other Strategists: your enemies. But you alone of the mayors we respected, Tauk. We knew you for a renegade among that stupid bunch. It was no game for you. War with your city was something we feared.’
‘There is a tongue to cut out,’ said Far Gaze. ‘I cast upon you when I was attacked, but never stooped so low as flattery.’ One of the men kicked him.
‘None of that, you fool,’ said Blain. ‘His speech can’t hurt you. Restrict him, yes, till he shows willingness to work with us. Do not strike him! Our resources are few. Mayor, we five are alone. Six, if the mage will join us. Ah, but empires have started with less than what we have between us, and from beginnings less auspicious than these. The game’s not done yet.’
‘Has Vous made the change?’ said Far Gaze.
‘By now, he must have,’ Blain grunted. ‘Who knows what he’s become? To guess … beauty, vanity, something of the sort. It was his preoccupation, when human. Gazing at himself in mirrors. Collecting pretty things, and pretty people. Some of them he froze alive in ice or resin, kept in a hall like museum pieces. Destroyed anything that displeased his taste, with fury Inferno could never have matched. Ah, he was indeed a vile man to know!’ Blain sighed, fondly reminiscing.
‘As It wills,’ one of Tauk’s men ventured. The other offered Blain and Kiown some meat. Both refused it.
Blain laughed. ‘As It wills? So, they still use that empty phrase. The giant slumbering thing has naught to do with anything. It wills nothing! Not till the Pendulum swings high indeed, and let’s hope that’s far from now. Tales speak grimly of times when it prowls the land, changing its world. As for Valour, you say he wished to ride across the boundary and fight? Then I’ll wager another Spirit pulled him away before he could. That’s why he fled north. The young Spirits are new to such times as this, you see. They were never here without the Wall. Nervous and skittish, all of them, I’ll warrant. My guess? An old Spirit sensed Valour’s intention, drew him away before he could cross. Perhaps Mountain. And away they’ll keep him, if they can. Don’t anger, Mayor. It’s just a guess. The old gods have seen times like this before. They’re older, wiser. They keep the young Spirits in check.’
‘He went to fight a dragon,’ said Vade. The look in his eye demanded Blain agree.
‘As you like,’ said Blain, shrugging. ‘Guessing the purpose of Spirits is an old and futile sport. I’ve played it longer than you know.’
‘Where is Siel?’ said Far Gaze.
‘Yes, where’s the girl?’ said Tauk.
‘What girl?’ said Blain.
‘She was healed by the haiyens,’ said Tauk, a part of the tale he’d not told Blain. ‘We know not what traps or trickery went with their healing.’
Kiown had been twirling the charm on his finger, admiring the stone. ‘Siel did not come here,’ he said.
‘Did you slay her?’ said Far Gaze.
‘If I had, you’d do what?’ said Kiown.
‘Shut your mouth, sapling!’ Blain roared, his robe pulsing crimson. ‘Respect! Fighting you was like squashing a wet turd, only far less pleasant. This soup-blesser showed more fight than you by far. Now, Mayor, never mind the Spirits. What of us? I have troubled to find those who know opportunity. Want your city back? I’ll give it. And more! Vanquish all your foes. Eh? It’s likely the other Strategists will be among your new foes. I know em all, better than they think. I’ll outwit the lot of em. If you reject my allegiance, you’ll be no enemy of mine, just a lone wanderer in dark times. Magic armour and sword or not. Ever waiting for the return of the Spirit who barely noticed you in the first place. Who has now forgotten you. Bah! Whether it angers you or not, it’s the truth. If you wish no alliance with me, say so now and I’ll search for wiser men.’
‘I choose between my options, wizard,’ said Tauk.
‘Bravo,’ said Blain.
‘You say the new people are still nearby? The haiyens, as you call them.’
Blain pointed back at the tower. ‘Domudess is with them. Colluding. He speaks their tongue.’
‘Then we capture him. And them. And we take what knowledge they have, by force if they do not give it freely. What you say of Valour may be true. We care not. We were given his gifts and blessing and we know honour. We will do what duty he has given us: protect this land from these unwelcome visitors.’
Blain tugged his beard thoughtfully. ‘Attack the haiyens? You have good faith in Valour’s gifts, Mayor. I respect that wizard Domudess! He bested me once already. It cost me a Hunter, a good one. Are you sure this is a fight you wish to have?’
‘The haiyens beat these same men once already, with ease,’ said Far Gaze, yawning. ‘They did not tell you that part of the tale.’
‘We lost a man, they lost one of theirs,’ said Tauk, his voice edged. ‘But we are now refreshed and healed. Whatever you say of Valour, Blain, his blessing is upon us. We are not afraid to fight those beings again. Stay here if you are afraid, and mind the wolf-mage doesn’t shift form.’
‘Pah! Let him shift.’
‘No! Strategist, I want no alliance. This is my offer: to employ you as an advisor. Get me my city back. I know not how or why, but these haiyens are key to that task, else Valour would not have blessed us and tasked us to guard against them. I need no “empire”, just my beloved city. You will have a place of privilege there, though it shall not be known who you are and where you come from. But you advise, you do not lead. I decide, you advise. Agreed? My offer to you is generous. I have not forgotten history.’
Kiown scoffed.
‘Manners, sapling!’ Blain screamed, aiming a swat at him with his walking stick, which missed. ‘Fine, fine. Terms accepted. I’ll serve you well, O Tauk the Strong.’ Blain’s bow – made with uncharacteristic physical gra
ce – was somehow sarcastic and sincere at once. He hawked, spat and said, ‘Now. Let’s devise a plan, and capture our prey.’
27
CONTACT
The men crouched and murmured around a diagram of the tower Blain scratched into the ground. When something moved in the long grass of the paddock directly across from Far Gaze, he knew at once it was Siel. ‘Where do you go?’ Fithlim demanded when he stood.
‘The grass,’ said Far Gaze. ‘If that does not displease our new Friend and Lord.’
‘Mind your cheek,’ said Tauk distractedly. ‘Go watch him shit, Fithlim, if it eases your mind.’
Far Gaze crouched alone in the grass, facing away from the men.
‘I can put arrows in three of them before they see me,’ Siel whispered from nearby.
‘Don’t. They wear armour given by Valour. Anything could happen.’
‘Just the traitor, then.’
‘Kiown? Leave him. The group forms a new alliance. Why remove a traitor from their group? It would be a service to them. Blain thinks he may earn my loyalty with kind deeds and words. They speak of forming an empire. With Tauk it’s not impossible and Blain knows it. They’re best watched – I’ll watch them. And pretend to join their cause, perhaps.’
‘What is the charm Kiown has? He won’t stop staring at it.’
‘Dragon-make. Powerful.’
‘Another!’
‘They come, Siel. It can’t be long now. They involve themselves more and more openly and their Parent does not seem to stir. Sooner or later a Spirit will cross the boundary. Probably Valour. He is roused. The other Spirits may hold him back awhile, but not forever. Then something big will come here. The worlds themselves are at war, whether we befriend the new people or not.’
‘The haiyens want no war.’
‘They must teach us of Levaal South’s gods. Ask them to do this. And to teach us of its dragons, if dragons are there.’
‘What do these men plan to do now?’
Far Gaze scoffed. ‘To attack the haiyens, of course. When all you possess is a hammer, everything seems a nail. All these men know are swords and spilled blood and comparing their cocks in taverns. Are you among the new people?’
‘Yes. But I’ve not spoken to them. They’re very nervous of us.’
‘Why?’
‘Because they see how we treat each other. I think they watched me in secret, to judge my character. Domudess kept me on the tower’s middle floor. The haiyens are on the upper level. I don’t know if they’re the same ones who healed me. Four remain up there. Others go about the land, doing work. Lots of them move about the lands in secret.’
‘What work?’
‘Making things which purify the airs. Cleaning away foreign magic which spilled into ours. They don’t use that kind of magic, the kind mages see in the air. They know other arts. They would teach us, if we could be trusted.’ She laughed quietly and bitterly. ‘Domudess tells me little of them. But the haiyens are not here for war, he says.’
‘Does the wizard know this group is here?’
‘Yes. Blain and Kiown have been here for days. Domudess sent me to learn what they intend.’
One of Tauk’s men called over: ‘Hurry, soup-blesser.’
‘I broke that one’s ribs,’ said Far Gaze. ‘Valour healed him. See Tauk’s arm? Healed. It doesn’t mean the Spirit is on their side. The men think so. The haiyens had best be cautious. Go, tell them. I hope the water boils when these men cross it. The mayor reneged on his debt to me. I’ll eat his soul. I’ll slay his offspring, and their offspring. I mean it. All of them, if it takes all my remaining days.’ He stood, adjusted his pants and went back to the men. He was careful not to look, but he heard the whisper of grass moving and knew she’d gone back to the tower.
Some minutes later, she returned, this time walking in plain sight. Beside her was Domudess, oddly tall, his poised gait like that of a lord. Blain wheezed in shock to see him, glanced about like a cornered animal. Several paces behind the tall wizard, four of the haiyens came.
‘We have learned you wish to fight,’ said Domudess as he neared the fire. Indeed the men had drawn their swords and stood. ‘We came to speak, so there need be no bloodshed. You are not permitted in the tower. The balance of energies there is presently delicate. You would upset it.’
‘Be seated then,’ said Blain.
Tauk snapped, ‘Quiet, advisor. Don’t forget your place. Hail, wizard. We wished not to fight, but to talk. We prepared for a fight in case one was needed. Do your companions speak our tongue?’
‘Of course they do,’ said Domudess. ‘But I shall speak for them. They wish to cause no accidental offence with clumsy words. Swords come so easily to hand in this place. They have taught me some of their arts, and revealed some of the events soon to happen. Challenge or disbelieve their claims as you like; it hardly matters. They have done us much service already.’
The haiyens stood motionless behind the wizard, careful it seemed not to look at anyone directly. All were of slender build, all the same height but for a taller one, who had a coin-sized hole or indentation like a smudge of shadow between his eyes. They wore cloaks of dusty brown. Domudess turned to them. ‘Before you, before the mayor. Are not the words I’ll now speak sufficient to be your own words?’
‘They are,’ said one. Its voice was like a loud breath.
‘Have I learned enough of your ways and history to speak on your behalf, in these past months? Have I proven my intent is the same as yours?’
‘Yes,’ said the same haiyen.
‘Are you content with this?’ said Domudess to the mayor.
Tauk looked suspiciously around the abandoned village as if for ambushers. ‘Are they too busy, or perhaps too regal, to speak with a mere mayor of these northern lands?’ he said.
‘Too busy,’ said Domudess. ‘They must depart. The existence of both our peoples depends on their work. There is much to be done.’
‘What is wrong with their voices? They sound weak and sick.’
‘They long ago ceased using verbal speech among their own kind. They speak with their thoughts. They sound as they do because they are unused to speech.’
One of the haiyens uncurled his long two-fingered hand, pointed at Far Gaze. A shiver went down his spine to be acknowledged directly. ‘Shall you come to learn of the way dragons may be slain?’ said the haiyen. ‘Your friend has accepted the invitation. You will return and tell this realm’s lords what you have learned. To inform their course, for choices they must soon make.’
‘What choices?’ Tauk demanded.
‘Not all haiyens are of the same purpose,’ it said, still addressing Far Gaze. ‘Our history is long and complex, like yours. Our history may be longer, for now haiyens are divided in only two ways, while your divisions are many, and harder to understand. Those of us who have come to visit your realm are all of one purpose. But the lost haiyens have other designs. Your survival does not interest them. They are far to the south in our realm – none of them shall come here. They have scattered us far and wide, and we hide from them. They shall make your lords promises pertaining to the dragons who shall soon be here, among you. They shall offer to slay them. This they can do. But they will reveal only part of what else they intend. Will you come with us? Your friend will come.’
‘Do you mean Siel?’ said Far Gaze.
Domudess nodded. ‘I learned much of you both, when you stayed in my home. I recommended you both to the haiyens.’
Far Gaze stood, his heart beating fast. He felt an intense sense of honour, as if he’d at last been thanked for a lifetime of difficult service. He shook the feeling off, in case it was the effect of some enchantment. He doubted it was. He said, ‘I’ll go with you,’ and bowed low. The haiyen who’d spoken mirrored the bow slowly, as if he feared the slightest mistake in the gesture would cause the swordsmen to charge at them.
‘One of them stays here,’ Tauk said. ‘I wish to hear whatever is said from your own mouths, for
eigners, not from a wizard’s. I represent not just my city, but now my people.’
The haiyens stared at him without answering. Their silence was confused rather than angry, Far Gaze judged. But he felt a flare of anger at the mayor, made worse when Tauk unsheathed his sword. ‘One of you will stay and speak with me or I will deem it the act of an enemy. And deem your presence here an invasion.’
One of the haiyens said, ‘Think of raindrops sliding across a slab of stone. The drops merge, join a stream. A few drops sit alone until the stone is dry again, and then they are gone. Some drops are flung in the dust beyond the stone floor, and immediately lost.’ Awkwardly the haiyen bowed.
Tauk and his men looked at each other, baffled.
Domudess said, ‘What you just heard was an agreement: one of them will remain here, although this saddens them. Do you see now why it is better that I speak for them in this business? They do not know you, Mayor. So their words are extremely cautious. Already you have reached for your weapon after mere speech.’
‘We encountered these people before,’ said Vade testily. ‘We have seen how easily they can kill. One of them produced “mere” sounds, and one of our friends fell dead as stone.’
‘It would take but your arm and blade moving sideways through the air for the same result,’ said Domudess.
‘Are these before us the men of their kind?’ said Fithlim.
‘They have neither men nor women.’
The men were taken aback. ‘Elementals adopt the form of male or female, but they are neither,’ Tauk ventured as if offering a fig leaf of understanding. ‘I thank this – has he a name? – I thank him – I say him for convenience – I thank him for staying.’
Domudess nodded. ‘It is well that you thank him. Being here makes them ill. There is something about our time which is harmful to them. Harmful to us too, but we are accustomed to it. They come to do us a great service, Tauk. The bad airs are going to be cleansed. And we will learn much.’