The Third God sdotc-3

by Ricardo Pinto

  Poppy found them a cave: a wedge of cool shade that tapered into darkness. Here they laid Fern out on a slab, setting his puckered burns against the cold limestone. Soaking their ubas in a little stream-fed pool they applied them as poultices upon his angry, red skin.

  Carnelian left Poppy and Krow nursing Fern, telling them he intended to beg help for him from the Lepers. Then he went in search of Morunasa.

  The Marula inhabited all kinds of hollows, like nesting birds. The handful of sartlar had dug a hole in the earth to hide in. Morunasa and the other Oracles had taken up residence in a series of slots that lay up the slope of a vast, lichen-streaked slab. Two kneeling warriors were lighting a fire around which the Oracles were seated in a half-circle. All save Morunasa gave Carnelian a nod as he climbed up to them. Morunasa indicated a space for Carnelian to sit. He betrayed no reaction when Carnelian announced his intention to get aid from the Lepers, but first spoke to his people in their tongue, then fixed Carnelian with an enquiring look. ‘To what end, Master?’

  ‘We need to find another way to the land above. The Lepers are likely to know many.’

  Morunasa gazed out over the watercourse. The black limbs and bodies of the Marula looked dismembered among the limestone boulders. Without looking at Carnelian he spoke. ‘We have little belief left that getting there we’ll achieve anything.’

  Carnelian found it hard to push his claim further. He could see as well as Morunasa how bony were the arms of the men working on the fire. It was obvious to all how weakened the Marula had become, how dispirited. ‘We all need time to heal our bodies and spirits.’

  Morunasa gave a nod to this.

  ‘We need options,’ Carnelian said.

  Morunasa regarded him.

  Carnelian explained that he wanted to send as many of the able men as they could to seek out Leper groups to negotiate for medicines, for food, for information.

  ‘Why don’t we all go east?’ Morunasa asked.

  Carnelian opened his hands. They were as empty as his strategy. ‘There’re many too wounded, too weary, to make a long march through the swamps.’

  ‘The Ochre worst of all.’

  Carnelian examined Morunasa’s face. Was this mockery – or maybe even sympathy? He was sick of lying, but he dared not be frank. ‘A camp so close to the Pass will more likely be safe from Leper marauders.’

  ‘Who do you have in mind to head this expedition?’ asked Morunasa.

  ‘You?’

  Morunasa shook his head. ‘I’ll remain here with the Master.’

  Carnelian nodded. ‘I’ll have to remain here with Fern.’

  ‘I alone among my people speak Vulgate.’

  The fire between them began teasing up smoke. Flames crackled in the central nest of twigs. As the two warriors rose, Carnelian saw one of them was Sthax. The warriors bowed to the Oracles and padded off down the slab.

  Carnelian feared drawing any attention to Sthax and so continued with what he had been going to say. ‘Then we should send Krow and Poppy.’

  ‘The girl?’

  ‘As I’ve reason to know, the Lepers are frightened. Having a child speak for us will make us seem less threatening.’

  In the morning, Carnelian stood with Morunasa watching Poppy and Krow ride away. Behind them rode most of the unwounded Marula warriors. Carnelian remained there until they disappeared. He feared he had lost them for ever.

  Within a crevice, in shadow, Osidian lay like a corpse. Carnelian knelt beside him. It was hard to see in his face the boy from the Yden. The marble round the eyes had hairline cracks and not from laughing. The corners of the mouth drew down into the chin. The lips had thinned. It was a face that betrayed suffering. He regarded it, fighting sadness. Not just for the loss of what they had had, but also for what Osidian himself had lost and suffered.

  Osidian’s eyes opened and found Carnelian’s face. For a moment he looked confused, vulnerable, but then his face set into its familiar, wilful mask. That mask drove compassion from Carnelian. The man lying there was the murderer of the Ochre. He focused on what he had come to say. ‘Our greatest peril now is Morunasa.’

  When Osidian said nothing Carnelian felt cheated and realized he had been hoping for one of Osidian’s dismissive remarks. He continued. ‘I find it hard to believe he does not suspect what we are up to. If we are to survive until Aurum comes for us you must strive to allay his fears.’

  Osidian pursed his lips, shook his head. ‘I can do nothing.’

  ‘Cannot or will not?’

  Osidian’s eyebrows rose together. ‘My god no longer speaks to me. I search for him in my dreams, but he is not there. He is gone so completely that I begin to doubt I ever heard his voice at all.’ His gaze sharpened. ‘Do you really believe that if I speak to Morunasa he would not see this?’ He seemed to sink away as if his flesh were draining into the earth. ‘You would be wise to keep him away from me.’ His eyes closed and he seemed not even to be breathing.

  Carnelian felt fury rising in him. He wanted to shout at him that he could not simply hide from the situation, but he sensed Osidian immovable and went to cool his anger by soaking cloths in the stream and then laying them on Fern’s arm and shoulder to soothe the burns.

  Old woman’s face running with blood. Voice rustling leaves. Carnelian knows she is Poppy. Iron streams in her wrinkles pour down to the sea. Ravens kiting, scribing circles in the wind. Is that a body at the focus of their funnelling? No. Fresh uncurling ferns, green foam on the waves. The tide is coming in. The tide is coming in .

  Carnelian woke suddenly. Uneasy wisps of the dream unravelled, fading. He sat up and saw Fern lying near him, his burns fiercely red against the brown-green of the fronds upon which he lay. Outside their cave the sky was bright and vast and clear.

  As the days passed, Carnelian grew used to the routes between the rocks, to the murmur of the stream. He spent time losing himself in the limitless sky or gazing at the white cliff of the Guarded Land, imagining a return to his father, to Ebeny, to his brothers in Osrakum. Much of every day he spent sitting on a high rock gazing east across the valleys, searching for Poppy’s return. While the sun was up, it was possible to keep fear and worry at bay. At night nightmares lay in wait for him.

  As for Morunasa and the Oracles, they rarely descended from their lair among the rocks. The fear Carnelian had of them abated. They seemed to have become no more menacing than a flock of crows.

  Though Carnelian had been watching them for a while, it took some time for him to be certain that the distant figures were the returning Marula warriors. They had been gone for more than four days. Straining his eyes, he could still not see Poppy or Krow among them. Neither was there any sign they had brought any Lepers with them.

  He became aware of movement nearby. It was Morunasa and the Oracles descending their slab. He cursed. Morunasa called up to him and he clambered down to meet them. Together they watched the riders winding towards them through the boulder field. Carnelian knew that as soon as Morunasa and the Oracles were reunited with their people the rest of them would be once more within their power. He was relieved to discern Poppy and Krow riding at the head of the returning Marula. She waved and Carnelian waved back. As she came closer he unwound his uba so that she would be reassured by his smile. Though she returned it he could see the worry in her eyes. He stepped forward as her aquar sank to the ground and he helped her out of her saddle-chair. The Oracles clustered round them.

  Carnelian saw how the returning warriors were making straight for the stream and turned enquiringly to Poppy. ‘Are you thirsty?’

  She looked at him, unsure what answer he wanted.

  ‘There’ll be time enough to drink,’ said Morunasa. ‘Tell us everything, child.’

  Uneasily she looked round the circle of the ashen faces, her gaze coming finally back to Carnelian. He gave her a nod. It seemed futile to attempt to keep anything from Morunasa.

  ‘For the first couple of days we saw hardly anyone. Those we did ran off an
d we couldn’t catch up with them. On the third day, we left the Marula in camp and Krow and I went off on our own.’

  Carnelian glanced at Krow, who had come to stand protectively behind Poppy, then returned his attention to her. She looked at him intensely. ‘We found several who talked to us. We begged them for help.’ She pointed at her saddle-chair. ‘They gave us some salve that is good for wounds, but said they could do nothing more for us.’

  Carnelian tried to hide his disappointment behind a smile. ‘You did well.’

  Morunasa turned a jaundiced gaze on Carnelian. ‘Did she?’

  Carnelian was sure he could hear an edge of menace in the man’s voice. Confrontation could no longer be avoided. ‘Shall we meet in council?’

  Morunasa gave a solemn nod without taking his eyes off Carnelian. He spoke to the other Oracles in their own tongue. They too looked at Carnelian as they gave their assent. He could see they were waiting for him, but he needed time to think. ‘Let’s meet at nightfall.’

  Morunasa gazed out over their encampment, now full of Marula warriors. ‘You’ll bring the Master?’

  When Carnelian agreed, Morunasa began addressing the other Oracles. Carnelian slipped his arms around Poppy and Krow and led them towards their cave. Behind them the Oracles began moving off in pairs across the camp, to speak to their warriors.

  Hunched together, they gazed down at Fern. Poppy knelt and pulled a jar from her bag. ‘Let’s put some of this stuff on his wounds.’

  As she pulled the cloth cap back from the jar it exhaled an odour that overcame Carnelian with a memory. He asked her for it and Poppy put it in his hand. He raised the jar to his nose and inhaled. He recalled the sartlar woman applying her burning ointment to the wounds the slaver ropes had cut into his neck and ankles. It was the same smell.

  Poppy looked alarmed. ‘What’s the matter?’

  ‘Nothing,’ he said. He returned the jar. ‘It has a very characteristic smell.’

  ‘And it burns in your wounds,’ Krow said. ‘But, soon after, it leaves them soothed.’

  Carnelian nodded and Poppy, kneeling, began to apply it to Fern’s arm. Carnelian knelt beside her and, taking some of the salve on his finger, bent to anoint Fern’s shoulder. ‘So they refused to help us?’

  Poppy looked at him. ‘They threatened us at first, but we could see they were terrified of Sthax.’

  ‘Sthax?’

  She nodded. ‘I lied to Morunasa when I said we went alone. Sthax asked to go with us. I didn’t mention it because I didn’t want to get him in any trouble.’

  ‘He asked?’

  ‘Sort of. We made conditions.’

  ‘He understood you?’ he said, incredulous.

  Poppy shrugged. ‘Well enough.’

  Carnelian frowned. ‘You were right to lie about him.’ Poppy was gazing at him, curious about his reaction. ‘Please continue with your story.’

  Poppy let it go. ‘The Lepers became friendly enough when Krow showed them his burns. It was only then they believed we’d suffered from the dragons.’

  Krow nodded. ‘They said we could return with them to some cave, that they would hide us, even share their food with us.’

  ‘Did they?’ Carnelian sat back, thinking.

  Poppy knew him well enough to be able to read something of his thoughts in his face. ‘You want to leave us here with them, don’t you?’

  Carnelian grimaced. ‘There’s nowhere else.’

  He looked to Krow for support. The youth put his hand on Poppy’s shoulder and began to speak, but she jerked her shoulder free. ‘What about you?’

  Carnelian grew annoyed. ‘Look, didn’t you see the way Morunasa and the others behaved with me? We’re in their power. Even if we manage to survive, I intend to leave with the Master.’

  ‘Leave?’ asked Krow, frowning.

  Poppy half turned to him. ‘Back to the Mountain with Hookfork.’

  ‘Hookfork?’ exclaimed Krow.

  Poppy ignored him. ‘And what about us?’

  Carnelian shook his head. ‘You two could still slip away, and take Fern with you.’ He watched as their gaze shifted to their injured hearthmate. ‘Please try to understand. You must know that the last thing I want is to leave you behind, but it’s simply madness to imagine I could get you safely to the Mountain. Hookfork’s a monster. He already hates me and would gladly use you against me. Eventually, he would make sure you both died, horribly.’

  He waited, wanting it to sink in. ‘Even if that wasn’t a factor, we can’t trust the Master. He’s lost what heart he had. All that’s left in him is bitterness and a reflex instinct for revenge.’

  Poppy was still staring at Fern, battling tears. Carnelian leaned forward to kiss her head. ‘You three will find yourselves a new life here among the Lepers. The one I met was not so different from a woman of your people.’

  Poppy was shaking her head. He reached down to catch her chin and brought her eyes up to look into his. ‘Poppy, this is the only hope for any happiness I have left.’

  As she gazed at him the fierceness leached away. She ducked the slightest of nods into his hand. He let her go.

  ‘What about the Marula?’ asked Krow.

  Carnelian raised his hand to his brow. ‘I don’t know.’

  Carnelian was setting off to talk to Osidian in preparation for the meeting with Morunasa when a commotion broke out. From all across the camp Marula were converging on its eastern edge. Anxious, Carnelian was drawn to find out the cause. As he pushed through the crowding Marula he heard Morunasa’s voice rise in anger. He broke through to find him confronting some shrouded figures. His heart leapt. Lepers.

  Seeing Carnelian they surged towards him. The Marula drew back like crabs from a rising tide. Keeping his distance from the Lepers, Morunasa too approached him. ‘They say they’ve come with a warning, but that they’ll speak only to the Master.’

  Carnelian did not flinch when one of the Lepers stepped forward. Their sudden appearance seemed a gift from the gods. He tried desperately to think of how he might best use this good fortune to save his loved ones.

  ‘We came to warn you, Master.’

  ‘Of what?’

  ‘The Master who is your enemy and ours intends to fall on you with a numerous host.’

  ‘Aurum?’

  The Leper nodded and raised a bandaged arm to point towards the Pass. ‘Even now he approaches.’

  Carnelian was stunned. If this was true everything was suddenly overturned.

  ‘You’ve little time if you’re to escape.’

  ‘What’s this?’

  Everyone turned to look at Osidian. While Morunasa explained, Carnelian tried to find a way out of the trap they were now in. Though he had achieved the contact with the Lepers he had been working for, their announcement of Aurum’s imminent arrival had ruined everything. Morunasa was hardly going to let Poppy and the others go off to safety with the Lepers while he and his warriors remained behind to be destroyed.

  The Lepers drew back as Osidian advanced on them. ‘How could you possibly know that a force is coming down the Pass?’

  ‘Information’s come down to us from the Landabove.’

  ‘Impossible. The Ringwall’s closed.’

  ‘It came by a route the Masters don’t control. A route we could show you. A route that could bring you, Master, and these Marula up to the Landabove unseen.’

  ‘Unseen?’

  ‘It’s a secret way, unprotected.’

  Osidian stared at the Leper.

  ‘We’ll show you this secret way, but at a price.’

  Carnelian had a feeling there was something going on he should understand. ‘A price?’

  Another Leper stepped forward. ‘Au-rum. You must give the Master Au-rum to us.’

  Carnelian’s heart stopped as he recognized Lily’s husky voice and her peculiar pronunciation of the Quyan name.

  Osidian laughed. ‘Madness, sheer madness.’ His face became as forbidding as the cliff of the Guarded Land. �
�Do you really imagine I would hand over one of my own kind to you?’ His lips curled with disgust. ‘To a rabble of filthy lepers?’

  Carnelian addressed himself to the Leper he now was certain was Lily. ‘Even if we were to agree to this how do you think we could bring such a thing about?’

  ‘What if we brought you up into a city of the Landabove, within its walls, unseen? Would this make any difference?’ she said.

  ‘Even so such a city would be well defended by its legion.’

  ‘What if the city of which I speak had been stripped of its auxiliaries?’

  Carnelian turned his head enough to see Osidian’s eyes. As he expected, they were brightening with greed. Such a city would be vulnerable. What the Lepers were offering was a chance to acquire a legion of dragons.

  Morunasa leaned forward, glaring. ‘You were rash, Leper, to put yourselves in our power. We can take from you what you know.’

  Lily moved to confront the Oracle. ‘You could certainly force from us the knowledge of where it lies, Maruli, but it’s far away and you can only hope to reach it with the help of many of my kind – you won’t get that unless you promise to pay our price.’

  This show of defiance to their Oracle was making the Marula bristle and growl. It was a most unexpected sound that silenced them: Osidian laughing. Morunasa looked at him in surprise. Fire had returned to Osidian’s eyes. ‘You’re a fool, Morunasa. Can’t you see that these lepers have been sent to me by the Darkness-under-the-Trees?’

  As the sun was westering the Lepers led them up into the mouth of the Pass, so that it seemed they were riding towards the very thing they were trying to escape. Then the Lepers turned east towards the cliff of the Guarded Land. The ground began rising, becoming encumbered with boulders, earth turning to chalk that floated in veils around their march. Though they seemed to be riding towards the cliff they were not following a direct route. The Lepers led them up winding watercourses that followed narrow and tortuous tributaries. The aquar were finding it hard going. As Carnelian watched the shadows lengthen, he wondered how he might find a way to talk to Lily alone.