Part 3 (1/2)
”I have begun gathering an army,” the king said with a frown. ”By the end of the year I hope to put at least fifty thousand men in the field against the Nameless One. Some will have to be left on the borders with Zagraba and Miranueh. And there is also the militia, but that is merely a gesture of despair. We need to announce a levy, but I am afraid that there will be a panic, the prices of goods will shoot sky-high, and we shall have refugees. Thank the G.o.ds we have the dark elves on our side, as well as the gnomes and their cannon.”
”I beg your pardon, Your Majesty, I ... I have no doubts concerning the gnomes-dump a sackful of gold pieces in front of them, and they'll make war on their own grandmother-but the elves ... Are you sure about them?”
”We have no need to lie,” said the woman, throwing back her veil. ”I myself have seen the army of the Nameless One preparing for war beyond the Needles of Ice.”
My jaw dropped. The person gazing at me was an elfess. A genuine dark elfess.
The bewitching charm of the elves. It was invented by the same storyteller who thought up the goblins' thirst for blood. It is only in fairy tales that elves are beautiful, only in fairy tales that they are immortal, only in fairy tales do they have golden hair, green eyes, melodic voices, and a light, floating step. And only in fairy tales are elves wise, truthful, just, and chivalrous. In real life ...
In real life anyone who knew no better could take an elf from the forests of Zagraba and I'alyala for an orc. Because the fairy-tale beauty of the elves lauded to the heavens by drunken storytellers in the taverns simply doesn't exist.
Well of course, there are some attractive faces even among this race, but they're certainly no paragon of beauty. Elves look like people, except for their swarthy skin, yellow eyes, black lips, and ash-gray hair. And those protruding fangs put a real scare into the unsophisticated philistine and the lover of old wives' tales.
Don't believe in the kindheartedness of the elves. One day, if you are unlucky, you may be present at an elfin torture session, when they apply the Green Leaf to their closest relatives, the orcs.
That's right. Orcs and elves appeared in Siala in the very same year. But the orcs arrived here just a little before the elves, for which the ashen-haired ones can never forgive them. And, apart from the ogres, the elves and the orcs were the first to be brought to Siala by the G.o.ds. The race of orcs was granted pride and fury, and the elves cunning and guile. But both of them received yet another gift-hatred. To this day they still make war, slaying each other in large numbers in the thousands upon thousands of b.l.o.o.d.y battles that take place in the boundless Forests of Zagraba.
The gnomes and the dwarves, Doralissians and men, centaurs and giants, and the mult.i.tude of other races that inhabit Siala only appeared later. But the first arrivals were the unsuccessful children-the orcs and elves. Afterward the elves divided into dark and light, although the only difference between them is that the dark elves employ shamanism, and the light elves use wizardry.
The dark and light elves are not hostile to each other; they simply regard each other with a considerable degree of contempt. Even now the dark elves cannot understand why their relatives use an alien magic, not original to their race. About two thousand years ago they found themselves unable to live together, and so they separated. The dark elves remained in the Forests of Zagraba, while the light elves moved away to the Forests of I'alyala, which lie beside the Crest of the World.
”Allow me to introduce you, Harold,” said the king, indicating the elfess. ”This is Lady Miralissa from the House of the Black Moon.”
I bowed with restraint. A name with the ending ssa ssa indicated that the elfess was from the Supreme Family of the house. In simple worlds, a personage of the royal blood. Well now, this was beginning to add up. Harold has a sharp eye. indicated that the elfess was from the Supreme Family of the house. In simple worlds, a personage of the royal blood. Well now, this was beginning to add up. Harold has a sharp eye.
”Pleased to make your acquaintance, milady.”
”Likewise.”
”The pleasantries can wait,” the king declared. ”We have very little time and you, Harold, will have to help us.”
”To stop the Nameless One?” I asked skeptically.
If that's it, then the king or his advisers really have lost their grip.
”Yes,” said the archmagician.
Then everybody in this room is definitely deranged!
Alistan was observing me closely, trying to discover any sign of mockery of his king. I refrained. It was hard, certainly, but I refrained. The jester didn't, though. The goblin burst into laughter and fell on the carpet, clutching at his stomach.
”The life of the kingdom is in the hands of a thief! Watch out that he doesn't filch it!”
I personally didn't find that at all funny.
”Quiet, Kli-Kli,” Alistan said sternly, keeping his eyes fixed intently on me.
”All right, I hold my tongue, I repent, I die.” The goblin flung his arms out in a tragic gesture.
”Of course, I am flattered by such an honor,” I began cautiously, trying not to provoke the lunatics. ”But does it not seem to you that I have rather less power and experience than the Order and the Wild Hearts, and it will be rather difficult to stop this wizard single-handedly?”
The goblin t.i.ttered and collapsed onto the carpet again. ”Oh, Harold!” said the jester, wiping away genuine tears. ”Not only are you clever and bold, you are c.o.c.ksure, too.”
”Then what does my task consist of, Your Majesty?” I carried on playing the fool, waiting for the moment when they might let me go.
And then I'll run for it. I don't give a d.a.m.n where, anywhere will do, even the Sultanate, just as long as it's as far away as possible. To lands where there are no insane kings, crazy jesters, and senile geriatric wizards.
”We need the Rainbow Horn,” the elfess said. ”It is the only thing that can halt the Nameless One. I fear that even the army will not be able to stand against the full battle host of the Desolate Lands.”
”The Rainbow Horn?” I echoed stupidly. ”What has it got to do with this?”
”I have already explained,” Artsivus said with a frown of annoyance. ”Is your fear beginning to affect your hearing?”
”Understand this, Harold. The magic of the ogres is not ideal and in many ways it is crude, even though it is very powerful, but the law of equilibrium ...” The elfess pursed her black lips ironically, exposing her fangs even more. And still she possessed an exotic beauty. ”As time pa.s.ses, the Horn loses its magical properties. It has to be ...”
”Reactivated,” the archmagician prompted, staring into the flames that were merrily consuming the wood in the hearth.
”Yes, magically charged after a certain period of time. Otherwise nothing will remain of its special properties. The Horn is weakening at this moment, that is why the Nameless One has begun to stir beyond the Needles of Ice. We need you to get the artifact for the Order.”
”You mean you don't have it?” I asked, astounded.
”That is precisely the point. We don't,” the Rat exclaimed furiously. ”And all thanks to the stupidity of the Order.”
”The Order acted out of the very best of motives!” the archmagician retorted sharply.
”Well, we're certainly paying for them now!”
”Your job, milord Alistan, is to protect the king's life and brandish that piece of ironmongery you carry, not to interfere in the business of the Order!” The old man was simply seething with indignation and his beard wagged in a way that reminded me of a Doralissian whose favorite horse has been stolen.
”That's enough!” the king roared furiously. He didn't seem anything like a good-natured innkeeper now. ”Explain the thief's task to him.”
”About three hundred years ago,” Artsivus began, speaking in a dull voice and casting a hostile glance at the captain of the guard from under his thick gray eyebrows, ”the Council of the Order decided to use the Horn to annihilate the Kronk-a-Mor that binds the Nameless One to this world. We ... we did not quite manage it. ...”
Alistan snorted loudly.
”We ought to send Your Magics.h.i.+p to Miranueh as a diplomat! Perhaps we would get the disputed lands then? Not quite Not quite ...” The jester giggled, savoring those two words, but then his eyes met the magician's stern gaze, and he shut up. ...” The jester giggled, savoring those two words, but then his eyes met the magician's stern gaze, and he shut up.
”Yes ... Nothing came of our attempt. We tried to control the magic of the ogres, about which we knew absolutely nothing. A power flow was shorted out at the wrong point or an operon was s.h.i.+fted several degrees off the fifth astral position. ... Mmm, yes ...” Artsivus realized that he had wandered into tangled thickets that were absolutely impenetrable to anyone but himself. ”It was all out of control, and the sudden surge of magic struck Avendoom. Or rather, part of it. The part that is now known as the Secret Territory.”
”So that's how it appeared ... ,” I drawled.
”Do you realize how grateful the inhabitants of the glorious capital of Valiostr would be if they only knew who was responsible for putting the Stain on the map?” The goblin opened his eyes wide, transforming them into two small blue lakes.
The archmagician sighed heavily-evidently I was not the only one already weary of the jester-and continued: ”The Order decided to put the Horn as far out of harm's way as possible. They charged it, then took it to Grok's sepulchre and left it there. And that, in effect, is the entire story.”
”And you want me to get the Horn out of the grave?” I asked in amazement. ”But what do you need me for? Any gravedigger with a spade could manage a simple little job like that! And by the way, where is Grok buried?”
A tense, oppressive silence filled the little room. The elfess and Artsivus exchanged astonished glances. The Count of the Rat gave a crooked smile and looked at me disdainfully. I will pa.s.s over the jester and his drooping jaw in polite silence. The king was the only one who carried on as before, twirling my knife in his hands, sometimes glancing at me and trying to figure out if I was deliberately playing the fool.
”Hm-hmm. Young man, do you know any history at all?” the magician asked cautiously.