“Where is Khemi?” said Benoni.
“Much farther away than your desert, my friend. Ten times as far in a straight line. And measuring the path I’ve followed, forty times as far. Like a drunken crow. Speaking of which, would you honor me by allowing me to buy you a drink?”
“I don’t drink,” said Benoni, ready to take offense if the man laughed.
“Ah, it rejoices my heart to meet a camel so far from the banks of my native river. But I drink. My religion forbids the consumption of alcoholic beverages, which is why I consume all I can get. Come, I will buy a cup of the disgusting concoction they call coffee.”
“I thank you. But I have an appointment which cannot be broken.”
“Too bad. Perhaps, some other time. Though, in view of the recent events, it is better not to plan on anything stable in the future. Our meeting place might be destroyed or one or both of us might be dead or fleeing for his life. Too bad. However, tell me, would it be terribly dangerous to journey to your distant land? I say that laughingly, of course, for I have never made anything but perilous voyages. Ah, to be home again, to see the pyramids and the stone womanlion and the cool waters of the river beside which I first saw the light of Eastern day.”
Benoni, though apprehensive about getting to the palace on time for his conference with the Pwez, was overwhelmed with curiosity. This new planet had just swum into his ken, and now it might depart forever, leaving nothing but the ripples of strange names and unsettling reference to distances and lands he had never dreamed of.
“You talk as if you have been even further east than Jinya,” he said. “How could that be? Isn’t the edge of the world beyond that?”
“I will not laugh at your touchingly innocent remark, friend. I have heard too many like it since I came to this land. And seen too many flushed faces and clenched fists when I expressed surprise at such ignorance. Yes, I’ve been further east. And no, the edge of the world is not close to Jinya. You see in me, Aflatu ib Adbu, a man who knows. For I am in the process of walking around the world, learning all I can, in order to make a report and, perhaps, to write a book. I was commissioned by the Council of Africa to do so.
“And so, I crossed a sea larger than all your Northern Seas put together, and walked northwards through many countries until I reached the bitter climate of the Skanava, the seafaring terrors of my world. Although they are not as terrible as the Yagi of Asia. And I took passage aboard a Skanava ship and crossed a sea that is the largest in the world—although I have heard there is one much larger to the west. And I came down a river to the Northern Seas and lived in Skego for a while.
“Then, down the Siy river, a mighty river indeed, to Senglwi just after the Kaywo leveled it. And then to this nation.
“I can speak forty languages fluently, know three dead ones quite well, and any number of dialects. And I may say, though it hurts me to do so because I might appear to boast, that I know more of the world than any man living.”
“Around the world?” Benoni dazedly. “I know that some say the world is round; some, flat; some, a cube; others, that it has no beginning or end but merges into the sky, beyond which is heaven. I’m not surprised that it is round but that it is as big as you say. But I must be going.”
“Wisdom and truth attempt to detain a man, and he flees,” said Aflatu sadly. “Well, never mind.”
“Just one thing,” said Benoni. “You have seen Skego. Do you think that Skego or Kaywo will win?”
Aflatu quit fingering his beads to throw his hands up in the air.
“Who knows? Only Awwah knows! I will say, from a purely statistical viewpoint, Skego seems to be in the better position. But Skego has its own problems. All history, which I surmise you like all in this land and most in mine, know little of—history, I say shows that a young nation may be in worse trouble than Kaywo, yet survive to become the ruler of the known world. Think of Room. You have never heard of Room? I thought not! Well, you will not stay to listen.
“But I will give you on this continent a word, my friend. Forget your wars against each other, band together. For some day, a menace more terrible than you have ever dreamed will sweep across the Lantuk Ocean. The Yagi, who re-discovered the long lost secret of the ancients. Explosives. They threatened the Empire of Africa when I left. They, the Yagi, I mean, were cutting our armies to pieces. For all I know, Khemi may no longer exist when I round the corner of the world and return. I hope not, but it is as Awwa decrees. Or so say those who should know, but often don’t.”
“If you go west,” said Benoni, “look for . . .” And he told him of the strange needle-shaped silvery metal house of the great plains.
At that, Aflatu became excited, and he cried, “The Hairy Men from the Stars!”
Benoni wanted to ask him what he meant, for this was the second time he had heard that phrase. But he knew that he might be late, and the Pwez did not tolerate tardiness.
“I will see you later,” he said as he walked away.
“Come back, friend!” shouted the veiled man. “You cannot excite my curiosity so and then leave me! It is against nature, man, and the will of God!”
Benoni hurried to the chamber in which he had first seen the Pwez. Here, he was greeted by Lezpet and the new Usspika, her cousin, the general of the First Army.
“Because of your obvious loyalty to me and the way in which you have fought for me,” she said, “I am making you members of my personal bodyguard, the Red Wolves. My beloved cousin will swear you in.”
Lezpet Mohso placed a sword on the table and then asked the three to put their right hands on the blade. “Do you three swear by your god or gods and by this sword to obey the Pwez of Kaywo and to give up your life for hers if necessary? Do you swear by your god or gods and this sword to protect her from all harm until you are released from this vow?”
Benoni hesitated, for he wondered why the three should become members of her personal bodyguard only a few weeks before they were due to leave for their native lands. Then, he saw why. She was doing this to make sure that they would not betray her, that they would argue for Kaywo’s behalf during the treaty negotiations. And that they would not lead expeditions by their people against her.
Lezpet looked at him strangely. “Why do you not swear?” she said. “Your companions did not think twice.”
“I do not give my oath lightly,” he said. “Once given, always given.”
Surprisingly, she smiled. “That is good,” she said. “And have you considered?”
“Yes. I will swear that I will do my best to keep you from harm. As long as I am a member of the Red Wolves. And as long as you are the friend of my people.”
Her face became expressionless, and she said, in a cold voice, “The Pwez is not accustomed to bargain with wild-men. But, since this is a special case, and since we could not reasonably expect you to swear to anything that might endanger your little city-state, we agree. However, we will amend the oath. You will swear to protect me as long as I am not the enemy of your people.”
Benoni was a little puzzled by the difference implied in being a friend or a not-friend, but he saw no harm in it. So, he swore.
The woman relaxed somewhat and ordered wine for all of them.
“We will drink a toast to the success of your missions,” she said.
Benoni thought for a moment of refusing, but decided that it would be all right to drink. After all, wine and liquor were permissible during religious ceremonies, and this was at least semi-religious.
After they had gulped their wine, the Pwez said, “Perhaps you two Fiiniks wondered why one of you was not judged and executed the day after we had decided to determine who was lying. I will tell you why. My departed uncle told me that he knew which was guilty. He would not tell me how he knew, because he said that I must some day be without his guidance. I would have to find out by myself, although he would give me some clues. He often did this as part of my training as ruler of Kaywo.
“I must confess that I did not know
what he knew. I had planned to do some thinking about it early in the morning. But, you know what happened that night. And he was killed.
Luckily for you two. However, I have concluded that it does not matter which of you left the other for dead in that faraway desert. Both have shown your loyalty to me. And I cannot blame you for lying to hurt your enemy. Our god has said that it is good to do so.
“Of course, if I had sworn you in as a Red Wolf and then put the question to you, and you had lied, you would be a traitor. But I am not going to do that now. So, consider yourself lucky.”
Benoni was shocked. He had been taught from the day he understood the meaning of a lie that a liar should be condemned under any circumstances. Admittedly, the Eyzonhu did not always realize their ideal in practice, as witness Joel Vahndert. But, at least, his people had that idea, while the Kaywo had just the opposite.
Could the Eyzonuh trust the word of the Kaywo?
During the next two weeks, he did not have much time to think about that. His education proceeded at a rapid pace. And then, one morning, a messenger from the Pwez interrupted a session with a Kaywo historian. He was to leave in two days, at dawn. He and Joel would be accompanied by a hundred cavalrymen and two ambassadors.
“I am to leave that same morning,” said Zhem, mournfully.
“Blood-brother, I have a very bad feeling about this. I feel that we are soon to part forever.”
“Let us hope not,” said Benoni. “But, if it is so, it will be the will of Jehovah.”
The night before they were to leave, he and Zhem stayed up late, talking of what had happened and of what might happen. Zhem, near to tears, said “Why don’t we leave the city tonight? Go to the east? They say the Iykwa will adopt any runaways into their nation. The Iykwa have a fine life. They live in the forest and the mountains and spend most of their time hunting and fishing. We could each marry one of their red-skinned women and let them till the soil and raise our children while we enjoyed life.”
“That sounds fine,” said Benoni. “But we have given our word to the Pwez. And the fate of my people depends on my mission. Moreover, I love Debra Awvrez. It is her face that haunts my dreams.”
“You have told me that the face of the Pwez sometimes haunts your dreams, too,” said Zhem. “What do you make of that?”
“A man is not responsible for his dreams,” said Benoni. “And I would be a fool to even think of marrying the Pwez. She thinks of me as a wild-man.”
“Yes, you would be a fool. But wild-men can be fools, too.”
Zhem drank down half a bottle of wine and soon was asleep. Benoni stayed awake for some time, wondering if he were doing the right thing. Then, deciding that only time would determine that, he, too, fell asleep.
It seemed to him that he had just closed his eyes when he opened them again. A Red Wolf, clad in full armor, was shaking his shoulder and bellowing at him to wake up.
Benoni sat up and said, “It is not even dawn yet.”
“Out of your bed and into battle dress!” said the soldier. “You have fifteen minutes to fall in line in front of the palace!”
The soldier hurried out of the room, and Zhem and Benoni hastened to obey the order. When they had put on their armor and fastened their field packs to their backs, the slaves had saddled their horses for them. After inspecting the horses to make sure that their gear was in good shape, they mounted and rode to the Circle of the First, before the palace.
Here, they took their place in the ranks of the Red Wolf Feykhunt.
Presently, the Pwez appeared on her white horse. She, too, was clad in armor, and she was accompanied by her cousin, the Usspika and the general of the First Army cavalry.
Trumpets sounded; drums beat. Lezpet reined in her horse.
“Soldiers of Kaywo!” she said in a loud voice that carried through the ranks. “We must ride at once for the north! Into the forests by the river of L’wan! We have just received a message by carrier pigeon from our agents! I will not tell you now, because every second is important, what the message is. But you will be informed at our first camp. Just trust in me to lead you for a good cause and to promise you hard riding and hard fighting after we get to our destination! The fate of your country depends upon your horse and your sword!”
She wheeled her white stallion and began riding at a gallop down the Avenue of Victory, northwards. Her staff rode after her at the same mad pace. A few seconds later, the Red Wolves followed.
The rest of the night and all that day they rode. Occasionally, they stopped to rest the horses; sometimes, they dismounted and walked at a fast pace while leading the horses. The crack cavalry of the First Army rode behind the Red Wolves. These were composed mainly of the young aristocrats of Kaywo, the best riders in the land who were fanatically devoted to the Pwez.
“They say that the foot-soldiers of the First Army have been given horses and that they are following us as fast as possible,” said Zhem. “Did you see the supply wagons? Very light vehicles and drawn by teams of six horses. The wagons hold nothing but food, water, blankets and weapons. Only the essentials. No tents.”
“I wonder what the emergency can be?” said Benoni. “It must really be something grave for us to be called along too.”
That night, they camped outside a large valley. They had to build their own fires and cook their own meals, for this expedition was not to be slowed down by servants or slaves. Each man was given two extra horses, requisitioned from the villages, towns, and farms they had passed on the road. The riders would get little rest, but it was essential that the horses take turns carrying the men.
After eating, the men collected around a big l ire in the center of camp. A platform of logs had been built so that the Pwez could address her troops from a height.
She saw Zhem, Benoni, and Joel in the front ranks of the Red Wolves, and her eyes widened. She called them before the platform and said, in a low voice, “What are you doing here?”
“We were ordered,” said Benoni.
Lezpet bit her lips and said, “In the hurry, it never occurred to me that you might come along. After all, you are members of my bodyguard. And I gave orders that all such should assemble immediately. I had thought you three were on your way now with your escort.”
“They are riding with us,” said Joel. “I saw the officer who was supposed to command our escort.”
“It can’t be helped,” said Lezpet. “Now, it may not matter. If our mission is a success, we won’t be in any hurry for you to carry out your command. And, if we fail, which, of course, we won’t, then it won’t matter.”
She sent them back to the ranks. And she said, “Soldiers of Kaywo! Our spies in the forests of L’wan sent a carrier pigeon to the palace with a very urgent message. It said that the people of Pwawwaw, an independent village of wild-men living by the side of the L’wan river, were digging to establish a foundation for new walls around their village. While digging, the Pwawwaw came upon a strange object. This was a great needleshaped building made of a hard silvery metal. It must have been buried under the earth for a thousand years. It must be a fallen ship of the Hairy Men from the Stars!”
There was a murmur from the assembled men. The Pwez held up her hand for silence and continued. “Who knows what that ship may contain? It may hold nothing, for it may have been stripped of everything and have been buried and empty for a millennium. Such a ship was seen recently by one of our Red Wolves, a wild-man from Eyzonuh. He saw it on the great plains. A tribe of wild-men were living in it because it had not been buried by the dust.
“But the ship uncovered by the Pwawwaw may be a different case. It is possible that it made a great hole when it fell and was quickly covered. Or it fell after devastating the area and was soon buried beneath dust blown by the wind. In any event, if it was not stripped, it undoubtedly contains many of the magical devices of the Hairy Men from the Stars! And he who gets his hands on these will control the powers of demons!”
Another murmur arose, and, here and
there, shouts. The Pwez again raised her hand, and she said, “The Skego undoubtedly have their spies, and these will have sent reports. So, you may safely bet your pay for the next ten years that the Skego will send soldiers, that they are riding even now to Pwawwaw!
“We must get there first! We must demand that the ship be turned over to Kaywo! If the Pwawwaw refuse, then we take it from them! And, if the Skego arrive, we must defeat them, too!”
The soldiers cheered. Their swords flashed in the firelight as they swore to take the ship or die to the last man while trying. Then, dismissed, they went back to their blankets.
Lezpet motioned to the three wild-men to come to her fire.
“Now,” she said to Benoni, “do you understand why my uncle was so excited when he heard you describe that silvery structure on the plains?”
“Yes. Your Hairy Men from the Stars must be the same beings that we Eyzonuh call demons. Our preachers say that, a thousand years ago, they came out of the earth and warred against man. Man drove them back into the bowels of the earth. Sometimes, Seytuh struggles to get free, and that is why the earth quakes and mountains belch fire.”
Lezpet laughed, and she said, “We have our stories, too, very integral parts of our religion, as I suppose yours are of your religion. I will tell you ours.
“Once, the people of Earth were a very wise and powerful people. They covered the earth with their millions then and were not just a handful here and there, as we now are. They were very happy, too, for they could control the weather, grow as much food as they wanted, and had such mastery they even subjected the sun god and the demons of the earth. But the sun god and the demons, who were enemies, chafed at being enslaved and were angered at man’s arrogance. So, despite their enemity, they banded together. The demons went to the faraway stars on a vehicle provided by the sun god. And the demons made a treaty with their brothers who lived on a star or stars. These demons were half-devil, half-human.
“One day, the half-demons, who looked like hairy men with pointed furry ears, appeared over earth in their ships. They told the people of Earth a lie. They said their world was burning up and they had no place to live. The sun god was angry at them and was destroying their world. Would Earth give them living space?
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