by Shannah Jay
them?'
'Not much to watch, if you ask me,' said another man. 'They must save the real filth for inside those hel -pits of theirs.'
Once free of the pain, Katia took her place in the circle, while Benjan, at a nod from Herra, went over to the prisoners. He thought it a sheer waste of time to help such as these, but if the Lady Herra wished it, then he’d do as she asked. A part of the fence warding the prisoners shimmered and he stepped through to pick up the man with the deep slash in his thigh. The other men muttered, but none dared move against the witch's henchman - not with the example of their paralysed leader before them.
As he laid the injured man down in front of Herra, Benjan realised how terrified the fellow was. 'Peace, friend! If we were going to kill you, we'd have done it by now, word of a Hashite.' He grinned at the expression of relief on the man's face.
Herra snapped her fingers and Benjan resumed his place in the circle. She knelt beside the man and laid her hands on his thigh. 'He's telling you the truth, you know. We do not kill.'
'Who knows what sorcery you'll lay upon me!' the man said, his voice hoarse with fear. 'I'd rather keep the wound.
Truly I would. It's nothing. It'll heal in a few weeks.'
'Tel me that after it's healed today. Hush now. Lie quiet. Think only of your leg. Think of it whole . . . '
Sweat broke out on the man's brow as a crawling feeling in his leg was followed by the edges of the wound knitting together of their own accord. A furious itching heralded the formation of new pink flesh. The pain went and stillness reigned for a few minutes over the dusty patch of track.
'You've been fed with lies about the Sisterhood, you know,' Herra told the man, speaking softly, for his ears alone. 'I don't ask you to believe me now, only to watch what happens around you when you go back to Tenebrak. Think of what you're doing, how you're hurting people. Are you married?'
'What business . . . ' he began, then caught Benjan's eye and muttered, 'Yes.'
'Does your wife enjoy being whipped?'
'She does her duty.'
'Then why must she be whipped? Has she been a bad wife to you?'
'It's her duty, and mine, to do as the Servants tell us. She's only a woman. The pain is the proof we offer of our devotion. It gives strength to the Serpent.'
'Do you enjoy watching them whip and humiliate her? Does that make you both happy?'
A vision of Jannel's terrified face each time he took her to the shrine made him swallow hard, so he threw at her,
'What's that got to do with you? Why don't you just kill me and be done with it? Stop filling me with your lies!'
'Certainly, friend. But think about the questions I've asked you, won't you? Think of them every time Jannel weeps in fear or whimpers in pain. And remember that we killed no one today, and healed your wound. Now, stand up and walk back to your fellows.'
He did as she asked, too terrified to ask how she knew his wife's name. When he sat down under the setheresh tree, his companions shrank away from him.
'You should've stopped them healing you, Maren!' snapped one of the Servants of the Shrine.
'Oh, yes?' he replied fiercely, as afraid of the ideas Herra had planted as of what had happened. 'You try to stop them, then! They're coming for you now. Show us how to stop them healing you.'
'Like this.' The Servant plucked a concealed dagger from his belt and in one swift movement plunged it into his chest, where it stood vibrating as his nerveless fingers loosened their grip. But only a thin trickle of blood ran down the blade, and he continued to breathe, as the knife was ejected from his body.
'No!' he screamed. 'No! Foul sorcery! I'm dead! I'm dead!'
QUEST Shannah Jay 171
He started to scream, as hoarsely as a li-bird mating, on and on and on until his voice broke. Nothing Herra could do would stop him. Though she stood over him and willed him to stay sane, his mind broke into shreds and shards which his screams threw out until there was only a yawning emptiness left in his skull. With tears running down her face, Herra touched his forehead gently and the dreadful cries ceased. 'Why will you reject life, poor soul? Why will you choose oblivion?'
She let the body roll back on to the ground and turned to the rest of the prisoners. 'Who is next?' And though her cheeks were still wet with tears, her voice was implacable. 'I shall not bewitch you, or harm you in any way, but the God within me will not let me leave behind pain that I have caused without attempting to heal it.' She scanned the prisoners and was thankful to find no darkness in any of their souls like that which had lain within the dead man. 'If it wil make you feel more secure, we shall heal you two at a time. Thus you may watch over each other carefully for witchcraft.
You! And you!'
With the Servant's body lying before them, they dared not refuse. One minor fracture. A strained tendon. The cut on Davred's arm. Two cases of concussion, thanks to Benjan's strong right arm. One lacerated arm and cheek. One sprained ankle. One black eye and grazed forehead. Nothing escaped Herra's sharp eyes; nothing was too small. One man, who had had headaches for years, she worked on for longer than the others. Another, who was older and whose back was getting stiff, she admonished about lifting things carelessly and sent away with the aching gone.
Davred, his newly-healed arm still throbbing slightly, glanced anxiously up the track once or twice. Jonner was visibly itching to leave and had to be removed from the circle because he was distracting the others. Even Benjan was rumbling with unease, but Herra insisted on healing every injury, even the slightest bruise, and the other three women obeyed her without question.
At last, however, it was al finished. Sh'ellen began to stamp his feet and whistle through his nostrils the minute they stopped, and the other deleff rattled their harness.
'You'd think they knew,' muttered Jonner.
'Those of the Serpent will send more men against us. How shall we avoid them, Elder Sister?' asked Davred as the wagons began to roll down the track.
'I think we must turn from the track and travel through the wildwoods.'
'With these wagons?'
'If we can. If not, we shall have to leave the wagons behind.'
'Do you know of a turning?'
'No. But our Brother is watching over us,' she said serenely.
Two kloms along the track, with no signal from Jonner, the deleffal moved smoothly into the undergrowth and the other wagon followed. Jonner started to pull on the reins and shout at Sh'ellen to stop, but Herra laughed aloud. 'Stop shouting, Jonner. We need to get off the track, don't we?'
'But not to get bogged down in the wildwoods.'
'We shall not get bogged down.'
The wagon tilted and rol ed about as it moved over the rougher ground, but it didn’t get stuck. Katia slipped down from the second wagon. 'I'll go back and cover our tracks.'
Davred made as if to join her, but she shook her head. 'You’d make more tracks than you obliterated, my Davred.
Leave it to me.'
It was agony to him to acknowledge that she was right. In the wildwoods they must all follow her instructions, even Herra.
Katia rejoined them a while later, as they continued to creak through the undergrowth. She waved at Herra. 'No one can now see where we left the road, and I set minor wards over the beginning of the track. I haven't the ability to set major wards yet, unfortunately, but they won't want to look in the direction we took.'
QUEST Shannah Jay 172
Herra looked at her quizzically. 'Since when have you been able to set any wards at all, child?'
Katia looked stunned. 'I - never have before. I just - did it. It was necessary to guard our tracks. I’d done the preliminary exercises for that Discipline before we left Tenebrak, though.'
Herra bowed her head for a moment. 'Brother, you move swiftly,' she whispered, and only Sh'el en's sensitive ears caught her words. 'Well done, Katia! I must give you some more tuition when we have time.' She grinned at Jonner. 'So, Jonner, are you happier now? Who can tell where
these faithful creatures are taking us, or how they knew we needed to turn off the track?' She raised her voice and called, 'Thank you, my friends!'
Sh'ellen flicked an ear and blew through his nostrils, then bent his head into the arduous labour of pulling a great trading wagon through the wildwoods. Although the vegetation looked too dense to allow them passage, the leaves and branches were pushed easily aside and sprang back just as easily after the second wagon had passed. Yet no one would have known from a casual glance that there was any way through the woods.
Jonner hunched his shoulders, fiddled with his favourite stiletto and continued to scan the vegetation around them as if he expected an ambush at every turn. It was no use talking to Sisters, especially the Lady Herra. They were so trusting, it was a wonder no one had cut their throats in the cradle.
Not that he didn’t believe in the God's powers, he added, with a mental apology to the deity. It was just - well, it stood to reason that a God would have a lot of things on his mind, so it was better to help him by watching out for oneself wherever possible.
#####
Chapter 28: DEEP IN THE WILDWOODS
They spent the next three hours rolling slowly forward through the undergrowth. Twice it was necessary to clear fallen trees from the route. Sh'ellen and the other deleff simply moved out of their harness to do that.
'It's not likely this easy passage is here by chance,' Katia observed. She was walking next to the leading wagon and studying the undergrowth. 'Elder Sister, I just cannot understand why larger trees and bushes haven't grown in earth so rich. Or why the plants seem to be only of the sort that can easily be pushed aside.'
'Then we must be grateful that someone has kept the way clear,' said Herra.
Jonner gaped at them. 'Are you saying we're on a track that's been made on purpose?'
Katia nodded. 'It must be. Though it's not a track exactly, or not at first sight, anyway. I've been watching the deleff.
At first I thought they were feeding, but they're not. They pull up certain plants as they pass - the young trees and larger shrubs. I think - I really do think - that's how the track stays clear enough for a wagon to pass.'
Jonner swallowed hard. 'Then it's true! I thought - everyone thought - it was just a tale, the sort you tell over a camp fire to entertain the children.'
Herra stared at him. 'Are you saying that you know something about this track and the deleff? If so, Jonner, you had better tell us immediately. And if, in future, you think of something else, do not keep it to yourself!'
He wriggled uncomfortably. 'Well, it's just that we say, we traders, I mean, that the deleff live in the Lands of Nowhere. We begin children's stories with "Far beyond the wildwoods, in the Lands of Nowhere, where the deleff dream their dreams . . . " It doesn't mean anything. At least, I thought it didn't mean anything. But maybe, just maybe, this track leads to the land of the deleff. '
'The Lands of Nowhere, ' murmured Herra.
Sh'ellen lifted his head and bugled loudly. Jonner nearly fell off the seat of the wagon. 'He knows.'
QUEST Shannah Jay 173
'Who knows what?'
'The deleffal - Sh'ellen. He knows what we're talking about.'
Herra's eyes narrowed and she looked at the huge greyish back before her, a back covered with tiny iridescent scales that made the deleff looked blurred in some lights. 'We are not yet talking about anything pertinent. Tell us what you know, Jonner, and without any further circumlocution!'
'It's said among us Traders,' began Jonner, 'that they have secret tracks - the deleff, I mean. They sometimes walk away from their owners, you know, and they rarely get found again. So where do they go? They can't just vanish! And they don't breed in captivity - not ever - or die in captivity. There's no such thing as a dead deleff. So where they go is a mystery, and that’s why say the Lands of Nowhere.'
Katia was listening intently, but at the same time watching the track ahead. 'One moment, Elder Sister,' she said suddenly, and ran forward. She slowed her pace to match that of the deleff and watched as Sh'ellen pulled up a small tree that was in his way, not eating it, but tossing it aside to die. The deleffal several times turned his head to look at Katia. After a minute or two he slowed down and came to a halt, shaking his head and whistling through his nostrils at her.
She reached out her hand to him, and as she laid it on his head, he raised the ruff of scales around his neck and stared into her eyes. Gently, she laid her other hand along the far side of his head.
Herra signalled for silence.
Katia stood like one mesmerised, staring into the deleffal's eyes and breathing very slowly. The rest of the group waited anxiously, not knowing what was happening. Long minutes passed. Jonner started to fidget, until Herra laid a hand on his arm. Carryn whimpered in her drugged sleep. A bird cal ed. Insects buzzed around them.
At last, Katia spoke. 'It is - hard. I am - unskilled. Your pardon, deleffal, but I can speak no more now.' She took her hands away and bowed her head slightly to the great creature before returning to the side of the wagon like one in a trance.
Davred jumped down from the second wagon. Cheral moved forward to stand behind its driving seat, where Fiana and Benjan were sitting.
'I was communicating with Sh'ellen,' Katia said slowly, seeming to have trouble speaking. 'He told me thisa track known only to the deleff. Sh'ellen is taking us to his - his land, his soul-haven. There we can meet the High Deleffal, who is also called the Giver of Words. She is very old and very - peaceful. It's hard to put it into words - Sh'el en used images - anyway, it will take us several days to get there. '
She frowned. 'We have to go through a kind of - a portal. I couldn't understand what he meant exactly by that. But Those of the Serpent can't follow us through it. We must hurry, not stop again.' She turned and again bowed slightly to Sh'ellen. 'Do I speak your thoughts correctly, deleffal?'
Sh'el en blew softly through his nostrils and twitched his left ear, then pawed the ground, signal ing his desire to leave.
As they started to move along the track again, Jonner whispered to Herra. 'The Lands of Nowhere. Who'd have thought it of a bunch of animals?'
Sh'ellen tossed his head and snorted.
'Speak with more courtesy to one who is helping us, Jonner!' Herra rebuked. 'Your pardon, deleffal! My friend meant you no offence.'
'No offence at all!' said Jonner hastily. 'I was just - er - just surprised.'
The ruff rose and fell, but the deleffal did not stop moving forward.
'Tell us all you know about our friends the deleff, Jonner.'
Jonner wiped his brow on his sleeve and wished he’d kept quiet, but Herra was looking at him expectantly, so he thought it best to continue. 'It's said that the deleff have their own land - west of the wildwoods, wherever that may be -
QUEST Shannah Jay 174
and that they return there to mate and breed their young when they tire of sharing our travels. Great ones for travelling, the deleff. They seem to like new experiences. We're taught always to explain to them what we're doing, always to talk to them.'
He kept an anxious eye on the two creatures, but they showed no signs of taking offence. 'Older traders - those who've worked al their lives with deleff - say the deleff were here in the world before we were - and that they've found the way of peace. But you should be very careful about making them angry, and especially careful if you see their wings.
And we did see them today, didn't we? That fellow who walked into them screamed and dropped down unconscious.'
Herra didn’t break the silence that fell after he’d finished speaking. She reviewed Jonner's halting explanation, mentally testing its truth. Yes, it had the feel of truth.
The shadows were getting longer now, and the warmth of the day was past. They moved between light and shade at the fastest pace the deleff could manage over the rough ground. None of the group spoke. Birds sang in the trees around them, and insects danced along low, slanting sunbeams. The only other sound was
the crunching of leaves and twigs beneath the feet of the deleff, or the occasional snapping of a branch.
Then Herra sat bolt upright. Something was flickering at the edge of her consciousness. 'Quiet! Sh'el en, stop moving, please!'
Both wagons immediately came to a halt and everyone, people and deleff alike, waited for Herra to speak.
'We're being followed.'
'By whom?'
'By Those of the Serpent.'
Katia sighed. 'I've let you down, then, Elder Sister.'
'In what way?'
'The wards I set weren't strong enough.'
Herra laughed bitterly. 'Child, I know of no way to set wards along the whole length of a track not yet followed.
Should you have known more than I did?'
Everyone was listening intently.
'Shal I stay here and buy you more time, lady?' asked Benjan, hefting his sword.
'Certainly not! It would be a useless sacrifice. But Katia, could you scout behind us, see how many are pursuing us -
and perhaps set more wards to delay them?'
'I'll try.'
'Take no risks, child. I wouldn't send you had we anyone else skil ed in woodcraft.'
'I'll take the time first to change into men's clothing, if you don't mind, Herra. A long skirt is impractical for this, impractical for any travelling in the wildwoods, really.'
'I've got some spare clothes that should fit you,' volunteered Fiana. 'I've done most of my travelling dressed as a man.'
Davred helped Katia to change into Fiana's clothes, kissed her briefly and watched her vanish among the trees. How useless he was on Sunrise! He looked at Herra, but the Elder Sister's face was expressionless. In the end he went to walk behind the second wagon and practise a heartbeat and pulse control Discipline, anything to keep his mind occupied. At least here he was best placed to help Katia if she came back closely pursued and he had to do any fighting.
An hour later they were still travelling. Dusk was closing in on them rapidly and Katia hadn’t returned. Jonner kept twitching his head from side to side, peering into the undergrowth and muttering to himself about the dangers of ambushes. Benjan had taken up a position at the rear with Davred. Herra's expression had grown grim and her head was bent to one side most of the time, as if she were listening.