Part 40 (1/2)

'Its species roamed the earth millions of years ago,' the Styric replied. 'Before mankind or even the Trolls emerged. Our opponent appears to be very gifted in resurrecting the ancient dead.'

'Was that him inside that ball of fire?' Kalten asked.

'I can't be positive about that, Sir Kalten. It seems that we have many layers of enemies out there. If the one in the orb wasn't our main enemy, though, he was probably very high up in the opposing councils. He was most skilled.'

'Let's see to the wounded,' Vanion said crisply. Despite his protestations that Sparhawk was now in charge of the Pandions, the habit of command still ran deep in Vanion's blood.

'We might want to barricade that gap as well,' Ulath suggested, 'just to keep the surviving Trolls from paying us any unannounced visits during the night.'

'I'll go advise the ladies that the worst of this is over,' Sparhawk told them. He turned Faran and rode back to the cave. He was a bit surprised and more than a bit exasperated to find Ehlana and the rest of the party from the cavern standing out in the open. 'I told you to stay in the cave,' he reprimanded his wife sharply.

'You didn't really expect me to do it, did you?'

'Yes, as a matter of fact, I did.'

'Life's just filled with these little disappointments, isn't it?' Her tone was challenging.

'That will do, children,' Sephrenia said wearily. 'Domestic squabbles shouldn't be aired in public. Do your fighting in private.'

'We weren't fighting, were we, Sparhawk?' Ehlana said.

'We were just about to start.'

'I'm sorry, dear,' she apologised contritely. 'I couldn't bear to stay inside while you were in such terrible danger.' Then she made a wry face. 'Right now I'm going to have to choke down my royal pride and eat a large dish of crow. I've wronged Zalasta dreadfully. He saved the day for us, didn't he?'

'He certainly didn't hurt us,' Talen agreed.

'He was stupendous!' the queen exclaimed.

'He's very, very skilled,' Sephrenia said proudly. Perhaps unconsciously, she was holding Danae in her arms. Their centuries of sisterhood had made the small Styric woman's responses instinctive.

'What was that awful face at the edge of the woods?' Sir Berit asked with a shudder.

'Ulath says it was Ghworg, the Troll-G.o.d of Kill,' Sparhawk replied. 'I sort of remember him from the Temple of Azash back in Zemoch. I didn't really look at him that closely then, though. I was a little preoccupied at the time.' He made a face.

'Well, little mother,' he said to Sephrenia, 'it looks as if we might have been right. I'd say that Ghwerig's spell wasn't quite as iron-clad as we originally thought. The Troll-G.o.ds are loose-at least Ghworg is. But what baffles me is why they didn't escape earlier. If they could get out at any time, why didn't they break free when I threatened to smash Bh.e.l.liom in the temple?'

'Maybe they needed help,' she shrugged. 'It's altogether possible that our enemy was able to enlist their aid by offering to help them escape their imprisonment. We'll ask Zalasta. He might know.'

More of the knights had been injured during the fight with the Trolls than Sparhawk had originally thought, and some fifteen of their number had been killed. As evening settled into the canyon, Engessa came to Sparhawk, his eyes hard.

'I'll leave now, Sparhawk-Knight,' he said abruptly. Sparhawk looked at him, startled. 'I must go have words with the clan of this region. Their failure to be at the boundary was inexcusable.'

'There was probably a reason for it, Atan Engessa.'

'No reason that I'll accept. I'll be back in the morning with enough warriors to protect Ehlana-Queen.'

'There are Trolls out there in the forest, you know.'

'They will not greatly inconvenience me, Sparhawk-Knight.'

'Just be careful, Atan Engessa. I'm getting very tired of burying friends.'

Engessa suddenly grinned at him. 'That's one of the good things about fighting Trolls, Sparhawk-Knight. You don't have to bury dead friends. The Trolls eat them.' Sparhawk shuddered.

Zalasta was clearly the hero of the day. All of the Peloi and most of the Church Knights were obviously in awe of him. The vision of his explosive duel with the hooded figure in the blazing purple orb and the spectacular demise of the vast reptile was vividly etched on the minds of the entire party. He bore himself modestly, however, shrugging off his stunning accomplishments as if they were of no moment. He did, however, seem very pleased that Ehlana's animosity had dissolved and that she was now whole-heartedly cordial toward him. His somewhat stiff manner softened-Ehlana had that effect on people-and he became somehow less reserved and more human.

Engessa arrived the next morning with a thousand Atan clansmen. The faces of their officers clearly showed that Engessa had spoken firmly with them about their failure to be at the clan-border at the appointed time. The wounded knights were placed on litters borne by Atan warriors, and the much enlarged party moved slowly on back to the road and continued eastward toward Lebas in Tamul proper. Hindered as they were by the wounded, they did not make good time-or so it seemed. After what had apparently been two full days of travel, Sparhawk spoke very briefly with his daughter, advising her that he needed to talk with her at some point while the minds of the others were asleep. When the blank faces of his companions indicated that Aphrael was compressing time again, he rode back to the carriage.

'Please get right to the point, Sparhawk,' the little G.o.ddess told him. 'It's very difficult this time.'

'Is it different somehow?'

'Of course it is. I'm extending the pain of the wounded, and that's very distasteful. I'm making them sleep as much as possible, but there are limits, you know.'

'All right then, how much of what happened back there was real?'

'How could I possibly know that?'

'You mean you can't tell.'

'Well, of course I can't, Sparhawk. When we create an illusion, n.o.body can tell. It wouldn't be much of an illusion if someone could detect it, would it?'

'You said 'we'. If it was an illusion, there was a G.o.d behind it then?'

'Yes-either directly or indirectly. If it was indirectly, though, someone has a great deal of influence with whatever G.o.d was involved. We don't surrender that much power very often-or very willingly. Don't beat around the bush, Sparhawk. What's bothering you?'

'I don't really know, Aphrael,' he confessed. 'Something about it didn't seem quite right.'

'Specifics, Sparhawk. I need something specific to work with.'

'It just seemed to me that it was overdone, that's all. I got a distinct feeling that someone was just showing off. It was adolescent.'

She considered that, her bow-like little mouth pouting. 'Maybe we are adolescent, Sparhawk. It's one of the dangers of our situation. There's nothing powerful enough to make us grow up, so we're at liberty to indulge ourselves. I've even noticed that in my own character.'

'You?'

'Be nice, father.' She said it almost absently, her small black brows knitted in concentration. 'It's certainly consistent,' she added. 'Back in Astel, that Sabre fellow showed a rather profound lack of maturity, and he was being rather tightly controlled. You may just have hit upon one of our weaknesses, Sparhawk. I'd rather you didn't apply the notion to me directly, but keep the idea that we're all just a bit immature sort of in the front of your mind. I won't be able to see it myself, I'm afraid. If it is one of our failings, I'm just as infected with it as the others. We all love to impress each other, and it's polite to be impressed when someone else is showing off.'

She made a little face. 'It's automatic, I'm afraid. Keep a firm hold on your scepticism, Sparhawk. Your cold-eyed lack of gullibility might be very useful. Now please go back to sleep. I'm very busy right now.'

They crossed the summit of the mountains of Atan and moved on down the eastern slopes toward the border. The demarcation between Atan and Tamul was abrupt and clearly evident. Atan was a wilderness of trees and rugged peaks, Tamul was a carefully-tended park. The fields were excruciatingly neat, and even the hills seemed to have been artfully sculpted to provide pleasing prospects and vistas. The peasantry seemed industrious, and they did not have that expression of hopeless misery so common on the faces of the peasants and serfs of the Elene Kingdoms.

'Organisation, my dear Emban,' Oscagne was telling the fat little churchman. 'The key to our success lies in organisation. All power in Tamul descends from the emperor, and all decisions are made in Matherion. We even tell our peasants when to plant and when to harvest. I'll admit that central planning has its drawbacks, but the Tamul nature seems to require it.'

'Elenes, unfortunately, are much less disciplined, Emban replied. 'The Church would be happier with a more docile congregation, but we have to make do with what G.o.d gave us to work with.' He smiled. 'Oh, well, it keeps life interesting.'

They reached Lebas late one afternoon. It was a small, neat city with a distinctly alien-looking architecture that leaned strongly in the direction of artistic embellishment. The houses were low and broad, with graceful roofs that curved upward at the ends of their ridge-lines as if the architects felt that abrupt straight lines were somehow incomplete. The cobbled streets were broad and straight, and they were filled with citizens dressed in brightly coloured silks. The entrance of the westerners created quite a stir, since the Tamuls had never seen Elene knights before. It was the Queen of Elenia, however, who astonished them the most. The Tamuls were a golden-skinned, dark-haired people, and the pale, blonde queen filled them with awe as her carriage moved almost ceremonially through the streets.

Their first concern, of course, was the wounded. Oscagne a.s.sured them that Tamul physicians were among the finest in the world. It appeared, moreover, that the amba.s.sador held a fairly exalted rank in the empire. A house was immediately provided for the injured knights, and a medical staff seemed to materialise at his command. Additional houses were provided for the rest of their company, and those houses were fully staffed with servants who could not understand a single word of the Elenic language.