Western Shore ac-3

by Juliet E. McKenna

  The magewoman's convulsions ceased as suddenly as they had begun. She lay limp on the dusty ground, sweat beading her forehead and soaking through her cotton tunic.

  Risala used the edge of her sleeve to clean the dirty foam from around Velindre's mouth. 'Kheda, water.'

  Kheda uncapped the brass flask and knelt to trickle a little of the precious fluid between Velindre's lips. The magewoman's perspiration smelled rank, as if she had spent days in a fever. 'Naldeth, what's wrong with her?' he demanded.

  'I don't know.' The young wizard's voice quavered.

  Velindre startled them all with a groan.

  'Help me.' Kheda nodded to Risala and between them they rolled the magewoman onto her back, lifting up her head to rest against Risala's thigh.

  'Drink, just a sip.' Kheda held the neck of the brass flask to the magewoman's blood-caked lips.

  Velindre squinted up at him, her breathing fast and ragged. 'Did we win?' she whispered faintly.

  'T did.' Concern twisted Naldeth's face as he looked down at her. 'You were right. He could use his air against my fire affinity but when I bound the fire to stone, the antipathy of earth to his own element defeated him.'

  'You can thank Dev for that tip.' Velindre's grin was ghastly.

  Kheda tried to see if she'd suffered any injury beyond scrapes and bruises. 'What happened to you?'

  'The dragon.' She tried to sit more upright, clinging to Risala. 'It won.'

  'It's coming back?' Dread gripping his gut, Kheda scanned the skies for the bright-blue beast.

  'Not his dragon.' Velindre reached for the water flask with trembling hands and took another sip. She peered past Naldeth towards the blackened corpse of the skull wearer, still smouldering and staining the clear air with vile-smelling greasy smoke.

  'I don't understand.' Naldeth was confused.

  'Neither do I,' Velindre admitted sardonically, 'but the simulacrum defeated the true dragon.'

  'Your false dragon defeated the fire dragon that was laying waste to Chazen.' Kheda looked at her uncertainly. 'Then it began dying as the magic unravelled. You said that's what would happen. You weren't affected like this when we slew it.'

  When I was leading the men of Chazen to slaughter a dragon that was nothing more than a lie that would have dissolved into mist within a few days regardless. So they could reassure themselves as to their bravery. So their trust in the Tightness of my rule might be made absolute by such a powerful omen.

  Velindre drew a deep breath and pressed her palms to her face for a long moment. 'The simulacrum defeated the sky dragon,' she said finally. 'Then it ripped it open and ate its sapphire heart. You recall why a wizard-summoned dragon is condemned to die before it's barely tasted life?' She looked from Kheda to Naldeth.

  'Because there's a void at its centre,' Kheda said slowly.

  'A true dragon's heart is elemental gemstone.' Naldeth nodded. 'Which is why they seek out jewels to form into their eggs.'

  'The dragon I made won't die now.' Defiant delight kindled in Velindre's hazel eyes. 'It will live out its days like any other of its kind.'

  'Here?' Risala demanded, looking upwards. 'Will it be looking to you to feed it with prisoners and slaves?'

  Velindre shook her head cautiously. 'Not as far as I can tell. It's tasted the winds coming up from the southern ocean and flown to find their source.' She blinked away joyful tears. 'It had no expectation—'

  Kheda gasped, startled, as wiry fingers clutched at his elbow. As he turned, his hand already on his sword hilt,

  he realised it was the old woman. She was looking past the remains of the dead wizard towards the belt of twisted nut trees. She pointed urgently and Kheda saw shapes moving in the shadows once again.

  'Only wizards kill wizards,' he said grimly, 'but I'll wager the rest of them will do their best to kill us, if they can catch us.' He stooped, lifting one of Velindre's slack arms up over his shoulder. 'Can you walk?'

  The old woman clucked, shaking her head and smiling broadly. Turning to Naldeth, she bowed low. Straightening up, she pointed to the lurking figures and bowed once again, withered arm held out straight. As if this were some signal, a few bold savages moved out from beneath the nut trees into the open. They flung themselves prostrate on the ground, hands outstretched in supplication.

  Understanding dawning, Kheda saw that none of the wild men now carried weapons. 'When we saw their wizards killing each other in Chazen, a defeated mage's warriors — and his prisoners and his loot - they were all claimed by the victor. They're surrendering.'

  'To Naldeth,' Risala agreed, relief warring with apprehension in her voice.

  'To me?' The young wizard's words cracked on his astonishment. 'I thought we wanted to do away with magical tyranny.' He looked to Velindre for her agreement.

  'I don't think it's going to be that simple.' She glanced up at Kheda as he helped her to her feet. 'As I believe our warlord was about to point out earlier.'

  'What do we do now?' Kheda scowled at the old woman, who was tugging at his arm again.

  She glared back at him, unrepentant. She pointed first to Naldeth and then to the waiting wild men before looking expectantly at Kheda.

  'Can you walk?' Kheda looked closely at Velindre. 'Can you do any magic?'

  'I can probably walk.' But as the magewoman tried to step away from his supporting arm her knees buckled and she would have fallen if Risala hadn't caught her. 'But no, I don't think I can work any wizardry just at present.' She heaved a shuddering sigh.

  'Naldeth?' Kheda turned to the younger mage and saw an unhealthy pallor beneath his ruddy tan.

  'I just need to catch my breath,' he said unconvincingly.

  'How far away are we from the Zaise?' Kheda looked around to get his bearings.

  'It's that way.' Risala pointed unerringly to the dark canopies of taller trees away to the west. 'That's the line of the dry stream where those tree dwellers live. We need to bear to the south, down to the grasslands, so we can cut across the mouth of their valley.'

  'Where their mage and his dragon can't have missed either of these duels and we've no magic of our own to call on if they come looking to see what's happened.' Kheda took stock of the two mages; Velindre was still almost faint with exhaustion, Naldeth visibly weighed down with fatigue. 'I don't think we can risk making for the ship, not just yet. They'll never manage that climb up to the cliff top.'

  'We certainly won't slip past that dry valley unnoticed, not with all these savages following us.' Risala surveyed the wild men still lying prone beneath the nut trees. A few were lifting cautious heads to see what was happening by the cave. 'So what are we going to do?'

  'That skull-faced mage must have had some kind of lair.' Kheda looked for the feather-crowned women and frowned when he realised they were nowhere to be seen. 'Which presumably now belongs to you, Naldeth. That would be some sanctuary, just till you two recover your strength. Once we've had some food and some time for reflection, we can consider how best to get back to the Zaise?

  'What about the wild men?' Risala looked warily at the prostrate savages. 'Will they let us go?'

  'I can't see them stopping us.' Kheda sighed reluctantly. 'And in the meantime, they'll be bodies to stand between us and anyone else's spears until we're rested.'

  'Kheda—' Naldeth roused himself to protest incoherently.

  'Do you have some better idea?' the warlord challenged. 'And what would you wager on your chances of persuading these people to let the four of us go off alone into hostile territory? Do you feel fit enough to take on that mage in the beaded cloak and his black dragon besides?'

  'No.' Velindre was adamant.

  'We may end up doing that anyway if we don't move soon.' Risala indicated the closest wild men, who were now getting to their feet.

  Then everyone froze as a faint tremor ran through the earth underneath them and a low sound on the very edge of hearing seemed to surround them.

  'What was that?' Kheda looked at Naldeth.

&n
bsp; 'I don't know.' The young mage moved to Velindre's other side, draping her arm around his neck. 'But let's get out of here.'

  Unnerved by the earth tremor and the strange noise, the wild men who had been following the skull-faced mage hurried forward to throng around the four of them. With their stained loincloths and mud-matted hair, they smelled sour with fear and filth.

  Naldeth backed away, trying to avoid the worst of the odour. 'How do we tell them what we want to do?'

  'Just head for the river,' Kheda suggested, but the crowd was pressing around them so thickly that they had no hope of forcing a way through.

  The old woman appeared at Kheda's side and seized his elbow yet again, shoving him forward. She said something

  and the wild men instantly sank to their knees and prostrated themselves once more, chests to die ground, their hands outstretched towards Naldeth.

  'I have no intention of setting myself up to be some magical tyrant like that villain,' Naldeth said angrily.

  'Then start considering how you might show them that,' snapped Velindre.

  As the savages began slowly getting up again, their faces wretched with apprehension, a resonant cry echoed through the twisted trees. Another answered it, followed by a hollow clattering sound. All the savages turned towards Naldeth, fearfully hopeful and expectant.

  'It's those birds.' Kheda drew both sword and hacking blade as a new realisation made his stomach churn. 'Those savages you blinded will be easy prey for them, Naldeth.' The horror of that prospect drove him a few paces towards the nut trees where the bespelled unfortunates still cowered.

  'It was only supposed to be temporary,' the wizard protested, nevertheless following Kheda towards the belt of twisted trees.

  'I don't imagine those birds will care.' Kheda glanced over his shoulder to see Risala drawing her own hacking blade, grim resolve on her face. 'Can you summon up enough fire to roast them, Naldeth?'

  Risala drew level with Kheda's shoulder. 'Can't you just undo the spell?'

  'I can try,' the wizard offered uncertainly.

  As they moved, Naldeth still supporting Velindre as best he could, the wild men scrambled to their feet and pressed close around the four of them. As they reached the twisted trees, the savages snatched up the spears they had discarded in the dirt. Those at the forefront spread out to flank Kheda and Risala, their weapons levelled, expressions hard.

  Somewhat to Kheda's surprise, the trees proved to be empty of the vicious birds. As a few of the unblinded wild men began calling to those savages Naldeth had bespelled earlier and gathering them together, the warlord looked across the grassy plain towards the dubious safety of the river. He saw a flash of an emerald crest as one of the vicious birds lifted its head above the swaying grasses.

  'I see it.' Naldeth raised a hand and crimson fire flickered around his fingers.

  'Can you scare those birds off with your magic and still have enough strength to raise a walkway across the river?' Risala asked suddenly. 'There were lizards as long as the Zaise in the water last night.'

  'I don't know,' Naldeth admitted, uncertain.

  'Then don't risk it.' Kheda gripped his sword hilt. 'Steel will kill these things as surely as sorcery.' He strode forward into the vicious grasses, giving everyone else no choice but to follow.

  A great squawking bird burst through the tussocks, murderous black beak gaping. More of the flock flapped their ineffective wings ferociously behind it. Those savages escorting the blinded men raised a despairing wail. Kheda side-stepped the creature's vicious lunge and swept his sword up and around. The bird's lifeless head fell to the ground as its body collapsed with a thud and a flurry of feathers. Kheda heard a second screech behind him cut short, the sound of the bird's fall drowned out by the shouts of the wild men on either side, astounded, encouraging and reassuring the urgent questions of those who still could not see.

  Another bird took a lanky stride forward, whether to attack or to try eating its dead fellow Kheda couldn't tell. He dismissed the irrelevance and parried its hooked beak with his hacking blade before slicing through its neck with

  his sword. The rest of the birds screeched uncertainly, milling around rather than attacking, disconcerted by the scent of their own kind's blood. Emboldened, several of the spearmen lunged forward, yelling. The birds turned tail and vanished into the grasses, rattling their beaks with alarm.

  Kheda looked over his shoulder to see Risala smile thinly back at him. Her hacking blade was smeared with blood and three of the blue-feathered birds lay dead at her feet. She took a pace back and he did the same as wild men clustered around the dead birds, eager to claim this unexpected bounty.

  Kheda watched for a moment as the wild men produced crude knives of black stone from the folds of their loincloths. The fluted blades proved surprisingly efficient as the hunters deftly gutted the dead birds.

  'Come on.' He beckoned to Naldeth and Velindre as the savages rapidly dismembered the fowl, skewering the legs and carcasses on spears for easier carrying.

  Naldeth tried for an optimistic tone. 'I suppose this is one way to learn more about these people.'

  'Just be sure to keep your wits about you,' Kheda said shortly.

  'And keep thinking about how we're going to get back to the Zaise? Risala looked at the soiled savages as she tried to scour the blood from her blade with a twist of dead grass. 'We're caught between a wall and a sword here, aren't we?'

  'I hope not.' Kheda tried to sound convincing. 'Wherever these savages live, we know there won't be a wizard, or a dragon. If they're all in awe of Naldeth, we should be safe enough from them. So we can take some time to eat and rest and then find a way to slip back to the Zaise unnoticed.'

  Risala drew closer to him, surveying the waving grasses with mistrust. 'You don't think those women with the feathers might dispute Naldeth's claim?'

  'Let's hope they've had the sense to flee before he can kill them too.' Kheda spoke quietly enough that neither wizard heard him.

  Risala fell silent as they hurried on through the grasses. As they reached the crumbling bank, Naldeth pushed past the warlord, leaving Velindre swaying but at least standing unsupported on her own two feet. The young mage drew a shining ridge of mud up out of the water to give them all a safe path to the far side. The wild men's murmurs grew loud with approval.

  'I'd say they've got a better deal in a wizard after this morning's work,' Velindre commented. 'And I think they realise it.'

  Cries of relief and astonishment drowned out her words. Those who had been blinded by Naldeth's earlier spell were crying out and weeping. Some stood staring at their hands, others blinking wildly or knuckling their eyes as they found they could see once more.

  'You undid your spell,' Risala murmured.

  Naldeth's smile was brief and crooked. 'It just unravelled when I drew up the walkway. The elements here are so unpredictable.'

  The spearmen closest to him threw themselves down in obeisance again.

  'It should secure us more goodwill, regardless.' Kheda watched those savages unencumbered by spears laden with fowl meat or busy with reassuring their comrades scramble down onto the mud. More deftly than he had expected, the wild men scooped up fish left flapping on the surface of the walkway and dug nameless wriggling things out of the silt before they could burrow to safety. They turned, smiles broad on their dirty faces, bowing and nodding their gratitude to Naldeth.

  'You've sealed their fealty by feeding them,' Risala said with sudden realisation.

  Kheda nodded slowly. 'Any slave in the Archipelago knows he's safe as long as his master gives him sailer and salt.'

  Is this going to make it harder or more easy to leave when we judge the time is right? Are these people going to want to lose this new wizard who saves them and feeds them so readily?

  CHAPTER SIXTEEN

  As soon as Kheda stepped up onto the far bank, he had his sword and hacking blade ready.

  What horrors are lurking on this side of the river?

&n
bsp; 'Where are we going?' Risala scrambled up to stand close beside him.

  Kheda saw that all the savages were looking at Naldeth, who was negotiating the awkward climb up the crumbling bank. 'It looks as if we're all waiting on your convenience, Master Mage.'

  'All right,' the wizard said uncertainly.

  'Just start walking,' Kheda said curtly. 'Let's hope they show you where to go.'

  To his relief, he was proved right. As Naldeth took a few hesitant steps, three eager savages who weren't burdened with fish or fowl flesh hurried ahead, half-turning to draw the wizard onward with beckoning hands and anxiously ingratiating smiles.

  Kheda saw they were following the path he had cut through the vicious grasses the night before.

  Was it only last night? It seems like an age ago.

  He glanced at Risala and saw her face tight with tension. 'I think it'll be all right,' he said softly.

  'Do you?' She stared at him. 'I'd feel better if we'd seen some sign that suggested as much.'

  'I think we can trust the way these people are behaving towards us,' Kheda retorted.

  I'll trust that and my own instincts before I rely on

  some omen of the sky or earthly compass. Can't you accept that?

  Risala didn't answer. As Kheda walked on, he concentrated on scouring the clumps of grass for any sign of danger. Clouds of tiny black flies were drawn to the fish and bird meat but nothing bigger had shown itself by the time they reached the steep barren slope leading up to the plateau where the bulbous barrel-like trees stood.

  The fissures Naldeth and Velindre had opened up in the ground still gaped, the sandy earth deep within still dark where the dew's dampness lurked beyond the increasing strength of the sun. Several of the trees leaned drunkenly askew, their roots flailing impotently in the empty air. One had toppled over completely, an ugly gash in the sustaining earth cutting its feet from under it. Those mighty trees that had burned had been reduced to ragged black shells, the soil all around them grey and lifeless.

  Naldeth clicked his tongue in exasperation and waved a hand at the ruined expanse. Sand began flowing like water to fill up the crevices. The wild men picking their way cautiously across the broken ground halted, their murmurs half-appreciative, half-apprehensive. Naldeth turned his attention to the fallen tree. Its exposed roots writhed and the stunted branches thrashed as it strove to stand upright again. Those savages closest to it sprang away with cries of alarm. The rest halted, some kneeling and others cringing as they all turned to the mage.