Part 11 (1/2)
”He may be our only one!” Bora almost shouted. The wine on a nearly empty stomach was making him light-headed. ”Besides the G.o.ds, of course,” he added hastily, as he remembered that he was guest to a priest of Mitra.
”The G.o.ds will not thank us for sitting like stones upon the hillside and waiting for them to rescue us,” Ivram said. ”Yakoub seems a better man than those who seek only rebels when they should seek wizardry.
Perhaps he will not be good enough, but-”
”Ivram! Quickly! To the south! The demon fire burns!”
Maryam's voice was half a scream and wholly filled with terror. She stood in the outer doorway, staring into the night. Bora took his place beside her, seeing that her dark-rose face was now pale as goat's milk.
Emerald fire climbed the slopes of the Lord of the Winds. The whole mighty peak might have been sinking in a lake of that fire. At any moment Bora expected to see the snowcap melt and waft away into the night as green-hued steam.
Ivram embraced Maryam and murmured to her. At last she rested her head on his shoulder in silence. He looked beyond her, to the demon light.
To Bora he seemed to be looking even farther, into another world.
When he spoke, his voice had the ring of prophecy. In spite of his wine-given courage, Bora shuddered at the priest's words.
”That is the light of our doom. Bora, I will join my words to yours. We must prepare ourselves, for what is about to come upon us.”
”I cannot lead the villages!”
”Cannot, or will not?”
”I would if they listened to me. But I am a boy!”
”You are more of a man than those who will not hear you: Remember that, speak as you have spoken to me tonight, and the wise will listen.”
A witling's thought pa.s.sed through Bora's mind. Did Ivram mean that he should stay drunk until the demons had pa.s.sed? The idea tempted him, but he doubted that there was so much wine in all the villages!
Eremius flung his arms toward the night sky, as if seeking to conjure the stars down from the heavens. No stars were to be seen from the valley, not through the emerald mist around the Lord of the Winds.
Again and again his arms leaped high. Again and again he felt the power of the Jewel pour from them like flames. Ah, if he could unleash such power with one Jewel, what might he do with both?
Tonight he would take a step toward possessing both. A long step, for tonight the Transformed would pour out of the mountains to strike far and wide.
Thunder rolled down the sky and echoed from the valley walls. The ground shuddered beneath Eremius's feet.
He took a deep breath and with the utmost reluctance reined in the power he had conjured. With his senses enhanced by the Jewel, he had seen the flaws and faults in the walls of the valley. One day he would cast it all down in rubble and ruin to show the world his power, but not tonight.
”Master! Master! Hear me!” It was the captain of the sentries.
”Silence!” A peremptory gesture held menace.
”Master! You put the men in fear! If they are to follow the Transformed-”
”Fear? Fear? I will show you fear!” Another gesture. Eremius's staff leaped into his hand. He raised it, to smite the captain to the ground in a pile of ashes.
Again he took a deep breath. Again he reined in the power he would have gloried in unleas.h.i.+ng. Near witless as they were, his human fighters had their part in everything he did until he regained the second Jewel.
The Transformed could be unleashed only when Eremius was. awake to command them. When he slept, so did they. Then the spellbound humans must do the work of guarding and foraging, however badly.
With both Jewels, one like Eremius could command the loyalty of the finest soldiers while leaving their wits intact. With only one, he could command only those he had made near-kin to simpletons.