Part 17 (1/2)

”Be grateful for ain for the war, but avoid ht until then”

The warrior rose, unaided, for his comrades drew back fro like one sick or aged, he lurched down the path and out of sight

Wobeku did not watch hio His instincts told him that this clash was not yet done, and that the heart of the matter was still Geyrus's will He did not dare watch the First Speaker too closely, but he tried to follow the man's eyes from one warrior to another If Geyrus raised his staff, or if his eyes lingered on one er than on the others

Neither staff nor eyes gave Wobeku a clue But he was fortunate nonetheless He ell out to the left of Chabano and so could see theto look at the with unnatural slowness His eyes see into throwing position, as if drawing his arms with it

Then suddenly the spear leaped up The warrior leaped with it-or rather, his death-grip on the weapon drew hiround

Those who saw the spectacle were ic All except Wobeku

”Chief! Behind you!” he screa up his shi+eld and thrusting with his spear

The chief's spear only stabbed air Wobeku, with more time to aim, struck home

His spear sank into the warrior's side, halfway up his rib cage The man reeled, turned halfway toward Wobeku, and seeing away

Wobeku could not help it The other's eyes were now pools of crimson-and-sapphire fire, and a faintto both his weapon and his hands Then the criave way to the cri froain, and fell with the spear still protruding from his side

Wobeku knew that the man would shortly have company in death: Chabano and all his companions Nor would Chabano seek to escape that fate by fleeing It would be futile Geyrus would have his life, no matter where he fled

Wobeko hiain, any more than he could have slain the bidui boys

He was so concerned witha warrior's death that he did not see Chabano step forward, perhaps with the saht in his mind The chief had his spear raised, and the ht arm tautened as he made ready to hurl it into Geyrus's throat

Wobeku saw the First Speaker raise his staff in both hands, holding it out in front of him He saw Chabano's spear stop as if it had encountered the rock of a in to srip his heart and bowels as he saw that the smoke was crimson and blue

Then he saw the Silent Brother stride up, swing his staff high in both hands like a wo it down across the First Speaker's staff

Wobeku knew in the next moment that death had come for him Flames shot up from the First Speaker's staff They also rose from the Speaker himself, as if his body were a pile of straw They were of all colors and no colors, without smoke but not without heat

The leaves above the First Speaker turned brown and would have burned had they not been sodden with rain Cole floor where the heat seared the mat of dead leaves and vines So death He would not die in a place abandoned by the Gods

Then a ht not die after all

Chabano staggered back, dropping his spear with its half- otherwise unharmed He stumbled over Wobeku's victiht hi them, saw that the flames enveloped the two staves and the First Speaker, but not the Silent Brother They also saw that this did not please the other Speakers Indeed, they were staring with their pale eyes at the spectacle as if it went against all they had been taught was possible

It very likely was Wobeku snatched a spear froape-jawed and wide-eyed to tell one end of it from another, raised the weapon, and threw it

This tiht of Geyrus, in the throat The man dropped his staff, went to his knees, clawed at his torn throat and the spear in it, then bent so far forward that his headdress fell off As it struck the jungle floor, so did he, toppling onto his side and kicking out what remained of his life

Wobeku's swiftness seemed to restore life to the other warriors-that, and a few sharp words from Chabano in the tone that meant disobedience could yield death

InSpeakers were surrounded by warriors holding spear-points at their throats or stomachs The warriors kept them le floor

The Silent Brother gathered the staves fro hands, then spoke to theue Wobeku did not understand He only sensed in the voice age beyond anything he had dreamed of It held echoes of tied that men, not beasts, should rule the earth

This done, the Silent Brother turned and knelt to Chabano It seemed to Wobeku that he would have prostrated hi down his ar his eyes froade also noticed for the first time that the Silent Brother's eyes had the pallid hue of a full Speaker's

Chabano looked from Wobeku to the Silent Brother and nodded Respect for a chief was all very well, yet keeping those Speakers bound by fear, never mind of what, was more needed now

”I a came to Wobeku Such a na what it meant So had tales of Chabano's spy on Thunder Mountain, although these hispered Ryku and the spy, it seemed, were one and the same

”Hail, Ryku, friend to the Kwanyi,” Wobeku said It see he could say

”You are not of the Kwanyi,” Ryku said ”Are you the eyes and ears of Chabano a the Ichiribu?”

”Before I answer that question,” Chabano said with dangerous mildness, ”you must answer one”

”Ask, my chief”

Chabano seenore Ryku's tone ”What did you say to your comrades?”

”I told them that if they did not swear obedience toaid to the Kwanyi, I would allow your warriors to slay them here and now”

”And did they swear?” Chabano waved a hand, and warriors' hands tightened on spear-shafts

Whatever the Speakers swore, they swore it fervently and at length Before the oath was half over, Ryku bade the Kwanyi warriors to lower their spears When it was done, he spoke a sharp word and the Speakers scurried off up the trail as fast as their aged legs could carry them

Chabano looked eloquently at his warriors, and they retreated with similar speed in the opposite direction The chief, the God-Man, and the spy were alone in the jungle

”My thanks to both of you,” Chabano said ”A chief's thanks is worth er I rule” He cast a sharp look at Wobeku

”Although had you been as swift soo as you were today, you would not be here”

Ryku asked that this be explained; Chabano acceded to the request with a itive warrior But then, even a Paramount Chief did not stand upon rank with a God-Man who seemed to have made himself a full Speaker upon his ohi a God-Man was easier than the tribes had been led to believe? That would have been a cheering thought, had Wobeku wished to follow in Ryku's footsteps

As his a the Kwanyi when they ruled all this land, he was not so cheered Fuered God-Men would not be of much use to the Kwanyi in the face of Dobanpu's Spirit-Speaking Dobanpu's eance he would wreak on Wobeku would be no light one!

TWELVE