‘I need to find Maruman,’ I said, and rose and went off in the direction he had gone when we had first joined the others.
22
Maruman was nowhere to be found by looking and my mind was not fit to farseek him. Besides, if he slept, he would be unreachable. I noticed a long lush strip of grass meandering across a clearing and when I came closer I saw there was a stream running through it. Reasoning that if the lake was clean, then the stream that ran into it must also be clean, I went and drank, then I stripped off my clothes and climbed into the water. It was deeper than it looked, coming up to my thighs, and very cold. I sank into it, gasping, and then I took a deep breath and ducked my head under, massaging the dust from it before standing up and shaking like a dog. I pinched some lemonleaf growing on the bank and used it for a thorough wash before drying myself with my sweaty shirt, pulling on my trews and jacket and buttoning it up. I twisted my hair into a knot and washed my shirt and underthings. I was shivering despite the sunlight now falling into the clearing, for there was little warmth to it, and the thought of the fire and some more hot soup was enticing, despite the fact that I would have to face Ahmedri again.
I set off back towards the lake but I had not gone far when I spotted Gahltha and Sendari grazing with Faraf and the tribesman’s mare, Falada. I went through the trees to them, and their heads lifted as they scented my approach. Gahltha gave a soft neigh and came over to me.
I put down my wet clothes and laid both cold hands and my cheek against his warm neck. The contact and the fact that he had entered my mind meant I need exert no energy to beastspeak them all.
‘I am sorry I did not beastspeak you a proper greeting earlier, but my mind is weary/weak,’ I told the others, who had trotted over as well. ‘I want to thank all of you for carrying those who came to help me.’
‘Greetings ElspethInnle,’ Sendari sent. ‘I am honoured to serve your quest to free beasts from their bondage to the funaga.’
I misliked his words, for the humans had been told the truth of my quest, if not the whole of it, but to ensure their aid, Atthis had been spreading a tale among beasts for years that I was a mythical Seeker from beastlegend, destined to free them from the tyranny of humans. Why they could not be simply told the truth of my quest, I did not know. It had been one of the things I had meant to ask Atthis, but now I would never have an answer. The only thing that kept me from exposing the lie to the horses now was the knowledge that it might cause them to turn from me, though my real quest was as important to beasts as to humans.
So now I merely said, ‘I am afraid I have another task first, and one that is like to prove long and difficult and dangerous.’
‘It does not matter,’ Sendari sent. ‘I/we have sworn to serve Innle in all ways until the beasts are free.’
‘Did the oldOnes bid you go with Swallow?’ I asked.
‘The funaga-ha who rides me is lecuna-Innle.’
‘That means one-who-serves-the-Seeker,’ the black horse offered and I stroked his neck, noting the shine to his mane, and wondered idly who had brushed it.
‘There were many horses that would have been glad to carry a lecuna-Innle, some younger and more fleet, but he chose me / Sendari, for I am strong / steadfast and my mind does not bolt or shy easily,’ the grey announced.
‘I, too, am honoured to serve you / Elspethlnnle,’ Falada said.
‘We all serve my quest,’ I said gently. ‘But I am glad to see you again.’
I realised my irritation with her rider had faded, for it had partly been born of frustration, and yet I had spoken honestly to the tribesman. If his pigheadedness and pride made him follow me, then that was his choice. It was not as if he had been a burden. On the contrary, from what Dameon said, he had been of real use and he could forage as well as track. It might even be that Atthis had foreseen his presence, and woven it into her schemes.
I had thought for one moment that Atthis’s successor had taken power when Analivia talked of dreaming about Sentinel since coming to the valley, but it had been a past-dream she meant. Yet that was remarkable enough, given who her dreams had been about.
Faraf nuzzled at my cheek to interrupt my musings, saying shyly that she was glad to see me again too, and to be carrying a lecuna-Innle whom she had come to love as a brother, but most of all she was glad to be able to repay me for saving her life in Sador, when I had yielded to the traitorous rebel leader Malik in the Battlegames.
‘There was no debt, for I put you in danger by miscalculating my opponent’s ruthlessness,’ I said. ‘But he is dead and we live.’
‘How did he die?’ she asked curiously.
‘He died because his allies did not trust him,’ I said. Then I asked all of them if they had seen anything of Maruman.
‘He sleeps in a tree nearby,’ Gahltha sent. ‘Shall I show you where he is?’
‘Let him sleep,’ I said. ‘I would be glad of a few hours’ sleep myself if I was not chilled to the bone from my bathe.’
‘I would be glad to give you my warmth,’ Faraf offered.
Knowing it would please the little mare to be of use, and preferring to stay away from the others and their questions for the time being, I was glad to accept her offer. Faraf found a soft patch of sunlit grass and settled herself as I hung my wet clothes over a bush to dry a little, and then I asked Sendari to let Swallow know that I would return later. Finally I lay down gratefully against Faraf’s warm soft flank. Her sweet scent rose around me, and when Gahltha settled on the other side of me, their combined warmth drove out the last bit of chill from my bones and I relaxed.
Dozing on the edge of sleep, I listened to their conversation for a time, fascinated by the formality of equine beastspeech when no human was involved, but eventually my eyes drooped and I slept. It was a deep, warm, peaceful sleep without dreams, and I woke much refreshed to see that the sun was on the verge of setting. Dismayed that I had slept the whole day away, I roused the horses and gathered my clothes. They were all but dry and my hair had come out of its knot and dried in stiff spikes full of grass seeds and horse hair.
Only when I was about to make my way back to the camp did I realise all of the horses were gazing eastward, ears pricked. I turned and my heart leapt into my throat at the sight of dozens of wolves pouring from what must be a narrow opening partway up the wall of the canyon. Urgently I bade Gahltha lead the horses around the western side of the lake and remain there until I summoned them, then I turned and sprinted back to the campsite. I had been certain that Rheagor would agree to accompany me, until I saw the wolves pouring into the valley. Now it occurred to me that finding so many hated humans where they had expected to find one might provoke the wolves to think they had been tricked, and to attack.
There was no sign of Rasial or Gavyn when I reached the camp, but the others were waiting, standing about a fire built up to a hot brightness that drew the eye even from a distance, for I had farsent to Swallow to say that the wolves were coming. I hurried to join them, praying that the boy and his dog would not suddenly arrive, and that Maruman would go on sleeping. The latter had provoked the wolves already, and while no harm had come of it, we might not be so lucky a second time.
‘What of the fire?’ Analivia asked when I reached her side. ‘Should we extinguish it?’
I shook my head. ‘Sit close to it, all of you, and make no threatening moves nor any move at all unless I command it, and say nothing. I believe the wolves will agree to go with us, as I told you, but they are wild beasts and there are some among them whose hatred of humans edges on madness. It is possible that seeing so many humans will provoke them, but it is important that you do nothing.’
I knew the wolf musk would paralyse them, but there was no time to explain, and if they were trying to be still, they might not notice.
‘What of the horses?’ Ahmedri asked.
‘I have sent them to the other side of the lake,’ I told him. ‘Once the wolves have agreed to go with us, I will summon them.’
&n
bsp; ‘I will stand with you,’ Swallow said firmly.
‘No,’ I said. ‘If you would go with me, then you must be ready to obey me as the leader of this expedition, all of you.’ I looked at Ahmedri, remembering how the last meeting with the wolves had gone and suddenly wondering how I had been so calmly anticipating this one.
Ahmedri hesitated before going to sit by the fire with the others. I bade Darga go and sit with them, too, and then I studied the picture they made, noting that Swallow had his staff beside him. Analivia sat with her hand on the hilt of her knife and Ahmedri had laid his bow over his knees.
The sun had gone behind the mountains in the west, but the sky was red and gave out a disquietingly bloody shade of light as the first of the wolves appeared between the fire and the lake. I was startled to see that it was the older female, Descantra, who led them. Immediately behind her came the older male, her brother, Gobor One Ear. The other wolves arrayed themselves behind these two, and as they drew near, I felt their wolf musk freezing my limbs.
‘Where is Rheagor / pack leader?’ I asked, trying to inject calm authority into my mental voice. But their minds were not open to me. Fear jabbed at me and I had to force down panic.
‘Tha do stink of fear, dinrai-li,’ snarled Gobor triumphantly.
Descantra immediately rounded on the older male, snapping furiously at him, and when I heard her curses I understood that, in jeering at me, Gobor had once again opened a way to the wolves’ minds for me. It might have been a small triumph, but at once I felt their rage and murderous intent, and too late it occurred to me that maybe in saying the wolves would have to hear me, Atthis had meant more than the simplest and most obvious meaning of that word. Perhaps she had meant that I needed to get through to the wolves, and whether or not I had got through to Rheagor, it was clear that I had failed to reach the rest of his pack.
‘Where is Rheagor?’ I demanded again, speaking my thought directly to Descantra and knowing the others would hear it because of the link they shared.
‘Speak not the name of the pack leader,’ she snarled.
‘What am I to call him if not his name?’ I asked.
‘Tha might as well call that one dead,’ Gobor said.
‘Dead to the world,’ Descantra added bitterly. ‘That one went seliga and has not returned. Such paths do lead near to the longsleep and those that do walk them be half in love with death.’
I felt sick knowing that Maruman had wandered long and far when he had gone seliga, and it might be days or sevendays before the wolf woke. But I said, ‘That one said he would return to give me my answer and I believed him.’
‘Nor is that one liar or oathbreaker,’ Descantra growled. ‘But all who do walk seliga do risk losing themselves.’
‘He has walked seliga only three nights,’ I said. ‘The feline that was with me in your valley has walked longer by far and returned to tell the tale.’
‘The pack leader did walk seliga only once before and that did near kill him. You made him go where he had sworn he would never venture again and that one will not return any more than will this one’s brothers, slain by tha brethren, dinrai,’ Descantra answered. The intensity of her focus on me was so great that her muscles were tensed to attack. I longed to step back and put the fire between us, but even if I could have broken the power of her musk, it would have spurred her to attack, not to mention drawing the wolves to notice the others. So far it was as if they saw only me.
‘The funaga who trapped and tortured you is no brethren to me, but a deadly enemy,’ I sent, then something prompted me to add, ‘As to your brothers that perished at his hands, how is it that you left them to die?’
I felt her outrage. ‘The she-pup that did free this one and Gobor was mortally wounded before that one could free the others,’ Descantra sent, and for a moment memories floated in her eyes. Then her gaze sharpened and she drew back her lips and snarled at me. ‘Tha do lure me with tha words, dinrai. For the sake of all other wolves, tha should die, and this one will do the killing.’
‘You are a fool,’ I snapped. ‘You care nothing for other wolves. You care only for revenge. Eat it then, and see the pack die and the world as well.’
My anger had surprised her, and I pressed home my advantage, praying I could make her listen to me. ‘You heard what I told Rheagor. He was wise enough to put aside his loathing of the funaga to find out if I spoke true. What are you that would betray him while he strives, but a coward?’
All of the wolves snarled and tensed at this, but I saw from the flash of red in Descantra’s cold eyes that my words had struck a blow. ‘Rheagor will not return,’ she sent.
‘And if he does?’ I demanded.
‘Tha do listen to a dinrai!’ Gobor growled at her, and I sensed his madness boiling up. ‘Th’art as much a fool as Sharna! I will tear out this one’s throat and that do be the end of the dinrai’s lies.’
The name shocked me for how could Gobor know Sharna’s name? He had not been born when his mother had freed them. And why would they call him a fool because he had come back to live at Obernewtyn? These thoughts rattled wildly through my mind as Gobor padded closer, snarling all the while.
I do not know what Descantra would have done, but without warning Maruman catapulted into the clearing, spitting and snarling, and then he leapt up onto my shoulder, sinking in his claws and warbling a warning to the wolf. I would have thrown the old cat away from me to save him from the wolf’s fury if I had been able to break the numbing power of the wolf musk. How Maruman had managed it I had no idea.
Before Gobor could strike, however, a deep growling filled the air. Gobor and Descantra sprang around to face Rheagor, who was bearing down on them, hackles raised and lips drawn back to reveal his sharp white teeth. The sight was made more terrifying by the red flicker in his pale eyes.
Descantra sank to her belly and rolled over to bare her throat in a show of submission. I felt the submission of the other wolves, who had also dropped to their bellies, but Gobor’s mind was a red snare of anguish and rage. He snarled savagely at Rheagor and then turned and fled.
Rheagor did not pursue him. Instead he opened his maw and bent his head slowly to close his teeth on the throat of the old she-wolf, but he did not bite down, and when he lifted his head, there was no blood, though Descantra lay still as death.
Rheagor turned to me and Maruman hissed at him.
The wolf spoke directly to him, saying, ‘Nah nah, tha brave little yelloweye. Tha do be courageous but not wise. Save tha courage for tha will need all of it in the graag.’
‘Tha will guide the dinrai to the graag?’ One of the other wolves demanded, his tone incredulous.
‘This one did see us go with Innle and her pack to the graag,’ Rheagor answered.
‘What is the graag?’ I asked.
‘It be the way across the plain of shining poison,’ Rheagor said.
I remembered the recurring nightmares I had experienced in recent years of walking over the Blacklands, my legs streaked with deadly poisons, and a chill went through me. ‘What did you see seliga?’ I whispered.
‘This one did see much seliga. The Brildane will travel with Innle and her pack to the graag. Many Brildane will die on this journey, Innle, nor will all of tha own pack stand with tha at the end,’ the wolf sent. ‘Death will stalk all who make this journey and it be well fed. But at the end be the place where beasts will walk free of the funaga, if the Brildane hold true. But if the Brildane do not go with the Innle, all will come to darkness and destruction at the hands of the dinrai that tha do call Ariel and tha enemy. Thus for life and hope and vengeance, we do agree to that which tha did ask.’
His words sent a little shock through me. ‘You … you saw Ariel? Where was he?’
‘This one did see much that was as leaves glimpsed in a storm,’ he answered.
‘All right, then what is beyond the graag?’
‘There be the funaga city on a bone-white plain where my ancestor did be held captive for a
time, before he escaped to cross the graag and found the Brildane. The city do be guarded by the efari.’
‘What are the efari?’ I asked.
‘Those that do guard the funaga city,’ Rheagor sent.
I tried to think how to put my question so as to get a better answer, until it occurred to me that Rheagor’s answer was limited because that was all he knew. But his description of the city beyond the graag was too close to Jacob’s dream city not to be the same place, so I had been right in one thing: the wolves would lead us to Cassandra’s key. ‘Did you see anything about Cassandra’s key when you were seliga?’
‘I did hear tha speak the words,’ the wolf answered.
‘Where do we go after we leave the city?’ I asked.
‘Beyond it all did be darkness,’ said the wolf flatly, and then he turned his head and gave a huffing bark that brought all of the pack to its feet, save Descantra. ‘The pack do go to hunt now. Be tha ready to leave when the moon do rise. The Brildane do have little tolerance for bright light so tha must travel at night and rest by day.’
‘I thank you, both for this and for coming when you did,’ I sent courteously, then I added, ‘There are horses by the lake, as well as a boy and a dog who …’
‘I have seen tha pack, seliga, and they do be safe from this one’s pack until our ways do part,’ he sent. Then he withdrew his mind from mine and turned to look down at Descantra. She rose slowly and they regarded one another. After a long moment, she dropped her eyes and he loped away. The wolves streamed after him, the she-wolf following alone, tail low.
Maruman leapt down and I realised I was free to move again.
I turned to the others.
‘I couldn’t move a muscle,’ Analivia said. She was very pale, as was Dameon, and I realised it must have been terrifying for the blind man, given that he would have felt all of our emotions without having any idea of what was going on, for of course none of them had been able to hear my exchange with the wolves.
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