Part 9 (1/2)
”My business is e up this valley and intend to leave it two days' journey to the north That at least was my intention The loss of er”
”You ly little ht of old tales he had heard as a child, of places outside human ken There were said to be barrows and hills where unwary travel-ers were drawn bywith the se with the dawn and find that twenty or more years had passed
”Would you seek to ensorcellhe was far fro form, but he had little doubt that he could defeat this hohed, a sound like two boulders rubbing together ”The pause of death is the longest delay of all You men are a short-lived race” The creature spoke slowly, as one who never felt the press of passing time
”I ild impa- 148
149tiently ”This is your valley, and I would be grateful for your aid in tracking the beast But if you will not aid me, then at least hinder e off
”Be not so hasty, youth”
Leovigild turned back to see the dwarfish figure ris-ing froild's waist, but it was easily twice as broad through the body The long arms were roped with heavy coils ofthe little o and find your ani alone in this valley”
The dwarf picked up a club and shouldered it The bludgeon was a knobby-headed oaken cudgel as long as Leovigild's leg, old and hand-polished The creature handled it as lightly as a and He set off at an easy walk, his stubby legs adjusting to the irregularity of the footing with the effortlessness of long custoild asked once h you live so close to , andbefore s and their short lives Your kind have encountered us seldom because ish it so This valley has such an aspect that feish to venture hither, and those who cae dreae fears they cannot explain”
”Such was”I persisted only because I had no safe route through the lands of my foemen” The words were out before he could stop theitive status
”It may be,” said the little in Follow close behind er for you in much that seems harmless in this valley”
”I have already encountered soild said
”Aye And if you failed to see a thing as huge as the snow serpent, hoill you see the things that are sy, s of a bat
”How caild asked ”They are figures out of our oldest tales and are said to live only in the lands of eternal snow in the farthest north” They scrahty storm of years past
”Such of the breed as are left inhabit those lands,” Hugin agreed ”Yet once they were nuer ago than you hu snow and great sheets of ice Then the land was ruled by such as the snow serpent, and the great hairy tuskers, and the giant white apes The ice re-treated to the north, and the great snow-beasts with it Once in a great while, though, some ancient instinct stirs in the brain of one of those fell creatures, and they are driven to wander south In time they return to the north, unable to bear the heat or to find food to suit them The serpent would have returned soon, but your horse has provided it a good meal, and it will sleep for ild that no more than an 150
151hour's walk to either hand were the familiar pine forests of his homeland This was a slice fros
Not all its dangers were as outlandish as the snow serpent Silently Hugin pointed to a writhing nest of vipers in a hollow beside the little streaild had never seen before Unwarned, he ht have trod in their midst From time to time tracks in the mud assured him that they were still on the trail of his packhorse
At erly around a thicket froild could not keep fros to leave well enough alone To his arown bull Its curling tusks were longer than his forear for his boar-spear, but he knew that all the boar-spears and nets in Odoac's hunting lodges ht not suffice to slay so terrific a beast There would be great carnage aild ”Hugin, a few days ago, the queen of the Cambres disappeared Her nareat beauty It e black-haired outlander, who I have heard is more than commonly handy with his sword Have they passed hither?”
”Nay,” Hugin said, ”I would have heard had they coild said, disappoint-y brows flapped once more ”It sounds important to you, the whereabouts of this beautiful queen”
”In truth, I would give much to knohere she is, if she still lives It is iin said with a rasping chuckle ”I take you to one who may be able to tell you about your lost queen, and it in”
”Whoin would say no more
As they trekked northward, the valley widened and trees grew larger Without warning, they caild saw his packhorse stand-ing at the base of a large oak, placidly cropping dry, brown grass Then he saw that the beast was tethered to a sapling
”Who has caught the anih” The small man waddled to the base of the tree, where an untidy bundle of objects rested by the trunk Leovigild examined the bundle and confirs that the packhorse had carried At least he was no longer quite so destitute
”Who have you broughtthe source of the voice He was growing hty weary of disembodied voices ”Up here,” said the voice It was a woman's voice, and it came from the tree-above him He leaned back to scan the tree over his head
In the thick lower branches a hut perched on a small platform Thin smoke rose from a fire-hearth he could not see Of the speaker he could discern nothing
”Show yourself,” Leovigild called
”Coht he caught a thin edge of amuseood because he would otherwise have suspected treachery to lurk in such an invitation A to anoth-er's home stood in plain view and announced himself loudly if his intent was honest The house holder was then expected to coreet the visitor, unarmed or at least with hands well away from his weapons The inhabitants of this valley lived by odd customs, or so it seemed He was comforted by the fact that it was a woman's voice, a consequence of his youth and inexperience
A series of lihts convenient for cli Despite the aardness of the sword at his waist, Leovigild climbed nimbly to the little bower One who hunted boar and bear in the northern woods had to be adept at scra swiftly into trees When he saw the woed in the doorway of the tree-hut, he nearly lost his hold on the tiny platform before her Only a quick scranity
He had half expected a fein What he saw instead was a young woar at all Confusion warred with excitement in his somewhat disorderedeven ild coest ef-forts to keep his eyes fro at the woman Aside from her state of nudity she was a wo black, a great rarity in the North, but her skin was fair to the point of near translucency Her face was triangular, ide cheekbones and large, tilted eyes the color of emeralds Her body was small and slender, but her breasts were full and firm, and her hips swelled ripely below her tiny waist
He had to s a few tiained control of his voice ”I, ah, thank you for your kind invitation, my, ah, lady”
Never in his life had he felt so foolish It occurred to hi True, the valley was somearmer than the forests outside, but it was nonetheless cold enough that even a tough-ened northerner felt the need of a heavy cloak
”You seem to be ill at ease,” she said
”I fear so, my lady In my homeland one does not often coal-lantry was little practiced in the North
”Oh, I see Have no fear, my kind are not bothered by the cold, as are you”