by Julian May
“I’m sorry,” Tolivar whispered miserably. “The dream seemed so very real.”
Kadiya kissed his forehead. “It’s gone now. Try to sleep again.”
He turned away, facing the cabin wall. “I will try.”
She gave him a final pat of reassurance and then went back to her own pallet. The Prince lay very still until he was certain that she slept. Then he let one hand drop down from the bunk, feeling for the locked iron strongbox shoved beneath it. It was there, with his treasures still safe within.
Eyes wide open, Prince Tolivar waited for the dawn.
14
After bidding Tolivar and Ralabun farewell, Kadiya put on her hoodcloak and came out onto the deck of the flatboat into the early morning air.
It was cold and very quiet. Thick fog enveloped the water and the land, but at least the rain held off. Lummomu-Ko and Wikit-Aa were near the gangplank, assisting the five Oathed Companions to don packboards that bore sacks containing spare weapons, clothing, a few necessities, and food. Jagun had already gone ashore to confer with the Wyvilo scouting party.
“We are nearly ready, Lady Kadiya,” said Sir Bafrik. “The skipper says we must keep a keen lookout for man-eating goblet-trees and poisonous suni-bugs on the way to the viaduct.”
Sir Edinar spoke up with morbid zest. “And because of the fog, there is a special danger from ravening namps, horrible creatures native only to these parts. They lurk at the bottom of cleverly concealed pits, waiting for unsuspecting prey to tumble in.”
“I have heard of these namps, Edi. They are formidable, but no match for a well-armed champion such as yourself.” She addressed Wikit-Aa. “How does the trail look? Do your scouts think we will be able to reach the cascades and the viaduct by midday tomorrow?”
“The way is partially inundated here in the lowlands,” the flat-boat captain reported. “My men have marked a short alternate route. As the land rises to the west, the original trail will soon become clear. Barring misadventure, you should easily traverse the distance in a day and a half. But I am still worried about the possible presence of cannibal Glismak.”
Kadiya touched the heraldic Eyed Trillium device emblazoned upon her milingal-scale cuirass. “Even here in the southern wilderness of Var, the Forest Folk will have heard of the Lady of the Eyes.”
“I fear,” said Wikit-Aa with portentous softness, “that they will also have heard of the thousand crowns offered by the Star Men for your capture.”
Kadiya only laughed. “I shall claim from those villains a reward of my own choosing once we have successfully passed through the viaduct.”
“We will wait the five days,” the skipper promised. “Lady, farewell.”
She nodded to him, gave a brief embrace to Lummomu, then turned to the knights, who were waiting with ill-concealed restlessness. They wore steel helmets and full coats of mail beneath their leathern raincloaks. “Companions,” she said. “It is time for us to disembark.”
As they filed down the gangplank, Jagun handed out freshly cut walking-staves to everyone. He led the way into the misty jungle thicket with the men close behind. Kadiya brought up the rear, giving a final wave to Prince Tolivar, who watched from an open window of the boat’s sternhouse. In a few moments the party was lost to sight.
“Cousin, I like this not.” Lummomu followed Wikit-Aa as the skipper made a tour of inspection, personally checking the bindings that held the massive log raft together. It had begun to drizzle. “My nose has itched fiercely ever since we left the Mutar and entered this tributary stream. I should have insisted on accompanying the expedition—at least as far as the Double Cascade. I cannot escape the feeling that some great calamity impends. But whether it will strike us or the Lady of the Eyes I cannot say.”
Wikit-Aa shrugged, rolling his large eyes. “Cousin, my nose itches also, but I can think of only one misfortune that threatens us at the moment, and that is losing our mooring. This left bank is too low-lying for comfort. Soon the rain will begin again, and as the Oda rises this shore will flood. Unless we want to risk being swept back downstream into the Great Mutar, we are going to have to move the boat across the river into yonder cove and tie her up to stouter trees. If you truly desire to fend off disaster, go up to the bow and get ready to wield a bargepole.”
It took over three hours of hard labor to get the awkward craft into a more secure position. When the job was done, Lummomu-Ko joined the skipper and the rest of the crew in the forward deckhouse, where the cook served an enormous meal. After that, with the drizzle turned to a steady downpour, all of the Wyvilo settled down for a welcome nap. The Speaker had forgotten his earlier apprehensions.
He woke late in the afternoon with his nose itching worse than ever. Something prompted him to investigate the sternhouse, where Prince Tolivar and Ralabun had remained in seclusion since the departure of Kadiya’s party. To his horror, Lummomu discovered that the boy and his Nyssomu crony had both disappeared, leaving behind an open and empty iron strongbox beneath the Prince’s bunk.
“I must go after them!” the dismayed Speaker of Let said to the skipper, who had followed him aft. Both Wyvilo stood on deck in the pouring rain, staring across the channel. The expanse of swift-flowing brown water was at least fifty ells wide. “We must move the boat back to the opposite shore at once!”
But Wikit-Aa was more practical. “Cousin, the crew is exhausted. We could not manage it before nightfall. And once we put you ashore, we would have no choice but to let the current carry us down to the Great Mutar, for there is no safe moorage over there now that the river has risen.”
“I promised to guard Tolivar with my life! If you will not carry me across, I will swim!”
Wikit-Aa laid restraining hands on the Speaker’s shoulders. “Cousin, only stop and think! The Prince and Ralabun must have managed to slip off the boat before we cast off from the left bank. This means that they left us over six hours ago, not long after the Lady of the Eyes herself departed. In my opinion, the boy impulsively decided to accompany his aunt. It was a rash thing to do, certainly, but when the Lady’s party halts for the night the Prince will certainly catch up. You could not reach him yourself before then.”
Lummomu smote his scaly brow in a fury of frustration. “Damn the boy’s foolishness! Damn that Ralabun for conniving with him instead of acting sensibly! Ah, if only I were able to bespeak Jagun and alert him!” But the Wyvilo, unlike the small Folk of the Mazy Mire, were unable to use the speech without words across any appreciable distance.
“It is futile for you to follow after,” Wikit-Aa insisted.
“My honor demands that I go!”
“Logic demands that you stay.”
Lummomu-Ko lifted his taloned hands to heaven and gave a great roar of fury and humiliation. But the skipper only folded his arms, shook his head, and waited for his cousin’s usual good sense to prevail. When that finally happened, the two aborigines went together into the deckhouse and helped themselves to mugs of salka from the big wicker-covered jug Turmalai Yonz had provided. The crew had long since determined that it was not poisoned.
Kadiya’s troop halted at midday beneath a huge sheltering bruddock for a brief lunch of cheese and journey-bread, finding seats on rocks that were dry once their shroud of krip-moss was peeled away. Jagun attempted to make a fire for tea, but the air was so laden with moisture that even his skill failed to kindle a flame. They made do with cold water. A measure of good cheer was restored when the little Nyssomu spied a bush with pendant clusters of white berries.
“These are sifani,” Jagun said with enthusiasm. “They are delicious and thirst-quenching and will be a fine dessert, even if the rest of our rations are modest.”
“I like dessert best,” said Sir Edinar. The boyish knight began devouring the succulent fruit with no more ado, and broke off bunches to toss to the others.
The rain had abated a little but visibility was still very poor. They had passed out of the densely vegetated bottomlands into a more elevated re
gion where the going was somewhat easier, if more steep. In a few places landslides had obliterated the trail, but detours were readily accomplished and they had kept up a good pace. They noticed stands of deadly goblet-trees from time to time—deceptively handsome things having fleshy trunks and a cup-shaped crown of colored leaves that concealed tentacles capable of hauling a man to his doom—but the party had encountered no venomous snakes or large predatory animals.
“I reckon that we have come nearly eight leagues,” Jagun said, munching bread. “We can safely continue for another three or four hours, but then we must find a safe stopping place well off the trail, where night-prowling Glismak will not easily find us. The big rocks down along the riverside may provide shelter from the rain. Unfortunately, we dare not light a fire after dark.”
“A pity,” sighed Melpotis. He and Kalepo, brothers of the murdered Lord Zondain, were long-faced men having yellow beards and snapping dark eyes. “Fire would help keep wild beasts at bay.”
“Our main concern must be the Glismak,” Kadiya said, “and possibly marauding Star Men venturing through the viaduct. My trillium-amber will give warning if my life is in danger, so we must stay close together after dark and keep our weapons handy.”
“Do you think,” said Sir Bafrik uneasily, “that we will find the Double Cascade viaduct guarded by a troop of sorcerers?”
Kadiya said, “The villain Turmalai Yonz stated that the reward for me would be payable at dawn. It seems likely that the Star Men would appear only at that time each day to see whether my precious carcass was on offer. If we arrive at the viaduct site around noon, as I have planned, we may very well find it deserted. Certainly we will do a careful reconnoiter before approaching.”
“Surely, said Bafrik, “we would be wise to wait until dark before actually entering the viaduct.”
“If the passage leads straight into the den of Orogastus,” said big Sainlat dourly, “it will not matter whether we pass through in daylight or night. We will be forced to fight for our lives.”
“I’m ready for anything!” young Edinar declared, wiping sifani juice from his mouth. Kalepo and Melpotis also expressed their eagerness for combat.
But Kadiya said, “I must dash your bloodthirsty hopes, Companions, at least for the short term. When we reach the viaduct, I will go through first, and alone.”
Immediately the men began to exclaim, “Nay!” But she forged on.
“My amber amulet will conceal me from hostile eyes. If all is well on the other side of the magical gate and it affords a safe way into the sorcerer’s domain, I will immediately return to fetch the rest of you.”
Jagun made protest. “And what if you emerge from the viaduct into some deadly locale, Farseer?”
“My trillium-amber has saved my life many times, as you know very well. It will not fail me in the present instance.”
The five knights sat without speaking for some minutes, each one mulling over Kadiya’s words, having grave misgivings about her plan but being unwilling to speak against it and be thought disloyal.
At last Jagun said, “And what shall we do, Farseer, if you enter the viaduct and do not return?”
“Then you will bespeak news of my fate to the White Lady,” she told him, “and follow her commands.”
“Would it not be more prudent to consult her beforehand?”
“No,” Kadiya said firmly.
Jagun bowed his head in silent reproach.
Kadiya rose and picked up her backpack. “We have tarried here long enough. Let us be on our way.”
The Oda tribe of Glismak had only a single settlement of less than forty souls, lying three days’ journey above the Double Cascade. Most of their race eked out an austere living by simple hunting and gathering. Those who dwelt farther north, near Wyvilo territory, occasionally did rough manual labor for their aboriginal kinfolk or even for humanity. The Oda tribe, luckier than most, had been taught by factor Turmalai Yonz to trap, skin, and cure the fur of the coveted blue diksu. Thus introduced to commerce, they were more ambitious than other members of their kind, having become accustomed to certain luxuries such as strong drink, pearl ornaments from Zinora, and steel knives. Factor Turmalai purchased their furs at the start of each Wet Time, and the Glismak had seen him very recently. A fur bale as tall as the Oda village headman’s hut, which had taken the tribe nearly half a year to accumulate, had brought them a single golden Varonian crown.
The Folk of the Oda had been astounded when Turmalai Yonz told them about the fabulous reward offered by the Star Men for the capture of the Lady of the Eyes. The sum of a thousand platinum crowns was far beyond Glismak comprehension. (Having only three digits on each hand, they had never learned to count higher than six; still, they knew that a thousand must be considerably more than that.) Mendaciously promising to share the reward with Turmalai if they found the Lady, the Oda Glismak returned to their wilderness traplines.
As they worked, they kept their big red eyes peeled for the valuable human prey. Yesterday, they had found her.
The Wyvilo flatboat had come into the lower reaches of the Oda just before dusk. It had been misty, but lurkers on shore had clearly seen a smallish human female with braided russet hair standing at the rail as the boat tied up for the night. The Glismak had not dared to attack then. The Wyvilo boatmen, their close racial kin, were too formidable a foe to mess with. The watchers could only wait and yearn, beseeching their three-headed god to cause the Lady of the Eyes to come ashore without her aboriginal companions.
In time, their prayers were answered.
The Glismak of the Oda River were a primitive race of Folk, but they were by no means stupid. They decided to wait until the prey and the armed men accompanying her had reached the Magic Door before attacking, so that they would not have to carry her dead body very far.
On the next morning the weather was much better. The rain and fog had disappeared completely, and by the time Kadiya and her party returned to the trail from their bivouac by the river the sun was out. They hiked for four hours, seeing nothing unusual and hearing only the noise of the river tumbling over boulders, a rare trill of birdsong, and the occasional cry of some distant beast.
“The Double Cascade cannot be far now,” Jagun said, when the sun was nearly overhead.
“A good thing,” Sir Sainlat replied, “for I am well nigh worn out climbing this rocky trail. I would sell my soul for a saddled fronial.”
The others laughed and began to tease him, but in truth they were all very tired, not being used to going afoot armored while carrying heavy loads on their backs.
Kadiya, still bringing up the rear as she had done throughout most of their march, paused and looked back the way that they had come. The valley of the Oda had narrowed and the character of the forest had changed. They had passed out of the humid Tassaleyo lowlands and into the foothills of the southern Ohogan Range. Something scarlet high in the tree canopy above the trail caught her eye. It was a huge gauze-wing, wider than her two hands, fluttering in search of nectar. Kadiya smiled at the sight of the lovely creature, then turned to resume her march. The others had already gained the top of the steep ridge that she now ascended.
She saw Jagun beckoning to her and froze, her hand automatically going to her sword hilt. But he did not seem to be alarmed, and so she made haste climbing and in a moment stood beside him and the others. Ahead was their goal—two narrow streams of water glistening as they fell for nearly eighty ells down the face of the mountainside. At the base of the Double Cascade was a pool, foaming white where the cataracts impacted and limpid blue-green in its outer reaches. The glade round about it seemed completely deserted.
They made a stealthy approach, encountering no one, and at length stood at the foot of the twin waterfalls in a dense grove of peculiar trees. These had trunks with vertical openings over an ell high that constantly opened and closed, revealing a maw lined with shiny green spikes like enormous fangs. Here and there a tree had its “mouth” closed, and blood and ot
her nameless fluids seeped from its wooden lips.
“These trees are called lopa by the Wyvilo,” Kadiya remarked to the Companions, who had gathered around one specimen and were staring at it with apprehension. “They appear repulsive, but they are not dangerous to human beings unless one is so foolish as to reach into the toothed opening. When my sister Anigel undertook her original quest for her talisman, the Three-Headed Monster, she found the coronet concealed within a gigantic lopa tree and only retrieved it by dint of great courage and ingenuity.”
Jagun had left the group in order to explore the area near the pool. He now called out, “Farseer! I think I have found the site of the viaduct.”
The others ran to him. There, between two exceptionally large lopas growing at the water’s edge, was a flat slab of rock oddly free of moss or other forest growth. A perfectly straight groove was incised in it, and spiked to one of the adjacent tree trunks was a board with a many-pointed star painted upon it.
“We will soon see if you are right,” Kadiya said to Jagun. Cautioning the others to stand back, she commanded, “Viaduct system activate!”
A tall black disk seeming to have no thickness sprang into being to the sound of a deep bell-chime, whereupon the knights gave cries of amazement. Kadiya nodded in satisfaction and cast off the straps of her pack. Before any of the others could say a word, she drew forth from her jerkin the shining amber droplet that hung on a cord around her neck and held it tightly in her left hand. Her right rested upon the hilt of her sword.
“Black Trillium,” she said, “I pray you shield me from the sight of hostile persons and keep me otherwise safe from harm.” She stepped into the viaduct’s ominous dark surface and disappeared.
There followed an instant of utter silence. Then came a heart-stopping bellow of frustrated rage from many throats.
Jagun and the knights whirled about. Over a score of huge aboriginal warriors, tusks bared and eyes flaming, came bounding down the wooded rocky slope with steel-tipped spears held at the ready.