Part 27 (1/2)

Groaning in disappointment and cursing the entire world, I turned over onto my back and stared up at the ceiling. Cowardly sleep had fled from me like a healthy man fleeing from a leper. At first I thought I'd been woken by another one of the goblin's tricks. But I couldn't see the little jester anywhere around. I hoped very much that he was sleeping like a log somewhere as far away from me as possible, after exhausting himself during the day. After all, it must have taken a serious effort for him to give Harold a lesson in how to control a horse and then go on to wear me down with all his whining about the chain mail I hadn't chosen, so that eventually I had to give way and go with him to select an iron s.h.i.+rt from the king's armory. The delighted jester had taken himself off to his bed with a smile of triumph.

But if Kli-Kli wasn't to blame, then what was it that had woken me up? There it was again! That was it, definitely. Those shouts. They had woken me up. And that clash of weapons.

It sounded as if there was a full-scale battle taking place in the corridors of the palace. But then who was fighting whom, and what about?

I tried to think on my feet as I searched for my trousers in the darkness and at the same time groped for the crossbow and the bag with my bolts that I had left on a chair. Outside, bugles sounded to rouse the guard. First one, then another, and after a short while the alarm signal was ringing throughout the palace grounds.

I grabbed my crossbow and dashed to the window. There was no question of lighting a candle. It would have taken too long to find one. I would have to load the crossbow by the light of the stars. Yes, I can load it in complete darkness, but it would have been annoying to confuse an ordinary bolt with one of the magical ones, then roast myself as well as my target when I fired.

”Alarm! Alarm!” The bugles rang out, echoing each other.

Outside, people were das.h.i.+ng about with lighted torches-for some reason, not one of the magical lanterns the Order had installed in the grounds of the palace was lit. Several guardsmen ran past right below my window, two of them carrying a wounded man. A little farther off there was a unit of soldiers heading in the opposite direction with the points of their spears glinting menacingly in the flickering light.

Two human shadows darted out of the palace and ran off into the depths of the garden. One of the guards in the first detachment spotted the fugitives and most of the soldiers ran off in pursuit, leaving their two comrades with the wounded man.

One of the men they were chasing stopped and threw his arms up. Then he started spinning round and swaying from side to side. The guards slowed from a run to a walk, approaching the strangers cautiously, not really sure what this madman was doing. They realized the answer to the riddle too late. The man stopped his crazy spinning and flung one hand out toward the soldiers, and the guards were simply tossed in all directions like children's straw toys.

Darkness! He was a genuine shaman!

In immediate response to the shaman's magic, a silver streak of lightning struck from somewhere in the upper stories of the palace. I ducked down in surprise, trying to get rid of the multicolored carousel that was spinning in front of my eyes, and when I could see normally again, the fugitives no longer existed. On the spot where they had been standing there was a huge round circle of scorched earth, with the gra.s.s still burning around its edge. Some magician of the Order had really put everything into his blow against the enemy. There was nothing left of the intruders.

The bugles began calling again, sounding the alarm and calling men to arms. The din outside my door was unbelievable. There was already fighting at the end of the corridor where my bedroom was. Which meant there must be a lot more of the attackers, otherwise why couldn't I hear cries of victory from all those guardsmen?

”The king! Stalkon! Valiostr!” The royal guard roared out their battle cry.

”The Nameless One! Vengeance!” was the reply.

So it was the supporters of the Nameless One who had resolved on this bold move!

Those rotten skunks were everywhere now. Sometimes it seemed like it would be wise to suspect your own frail old granddad of sympathy for the Nameless One, even if he wouldn't normally harm a fly. And the stronger the rebel magician became, the more supporters he acquired among humankind.

Someone pounded hard on my door and I trained the crossbow on it just in case.

”Harold, it's Kli-Kli! Open up, quick!”

The voice certainly sounded like the one that belonged to the king's jester.

The battle was moving quite rapidly in my direction and if the little goblin really was outside my door, he could be in big trouble pretty soon.

I hastily opened the lock.

”I'm not alone, don't shoot!” shouted Kli-Kli, darting past me into the bedroom like a little green mouse, with two shadows following straight behind him. They were a little bit bigger than the goblin, but a lot smaller than me.

”Close the door,” said the goblin. It was a good idea. ”Deler, let's have some light.”

I did as I had been told and turned the key, wondering if we ought to barricade the door with furniture.

A small flame flared up, and then a torch, illuminating the faces of my visitors. The jester was without his cap with the bells and his expression was unusually serious and intent. There was a dark, shallow scratch on Kli-Kli's cheek and he was clutching an ax in both hands. Standing beside the jester was Deler, holding the torch in one hand and a double-edged poleax in the other. It had a vicious-looking half-moon blade. Unlike the goblin, the dwarf didn't look disheveled. Even the hat with the narrow brim sat on the short fellow's head as if it were a part of him.

The third visitor was Hallas. The gnome paid no attention to me, as if he were simply visiting his home in the Steel Mines, and ran across to the window and looked outside. He casually leaned his battle-mattock against the wall.

”This is Master Harold,” said Kli-Kli, introducing me to the warriors.

Deler politely doffed his hat; the gnome simply nodded.

”What's happened, Kli-Kli?”

”An attack! They were trying to get through to the king, but the guards suspected something was wrong and the sparks started flying!”

”And the rotten skunks have really got cheeky!” Deler boomed. ”They're dressed up in guards' uniforms.”

”But who are they?”

”Crayfish,” the gnome said, and spat, without turning away from the window. ”Creatures of the Crayfish Dukedom. And probably other supporters of the Nameless One from among your townsfolk!”

He pulled a face that suggested he cared no more for the townsfolk of Avendoom than he did for gkhols.

”Anyway, listen, Harold,” the jester started gabbling. ”One of those units is moving down the corridor toward us. Alistan's lads are holding it up, but still falling back, the numbers are too uneven. We have to help them.”

A din as loud as the one in the corridor suddenly broke out below the window.

”Those lads are done fighting.” Hallas chuckled and slammed his fist down on the windowsill in an excess of enthusiasm. ”The guards have threaded the lot of them on their spears.”

”Come away from the window, you bearded fool!” the dwarf shouted excitedly. ”We have to give the others a hand now!”

”Fool yourself!” the gnome retorted to his partner, but he came over to us, picking up his mattock on the way.

”How can we help them, Kli-Kli?” I asked, pulling on my s.h.i.+rt and ignoring the argument between the two Wild Hearts.

Four of us against that number of men? And not forgetting that two of us didn't even know how to hold a weapon properly. Or were the dwarf and the gnome so good that they didn't need me and the goblin?

”The guards are falling back and those skunks are following them. As soon as the killers are past our door, their backs will be exposed. And that's when we'll strike.”

”They're getting close already,” said the gnome, listening to the battle with his ear pressed against the door.

My face must have betrayed too skeptical an opinion of the goblin's crazy plan, because Kli-Kli added: ”Harold, use your brains! You've got bolts loaded with fire magic and ice! If we blast them from the rear, it will really make a difference!”

”How do you know what I've got?” I asked, already unloading the crossbow, removing the ordinary bolts.

After a moment's hesitation, I flung the bag with the rest of the charges over my shoulder.

”I had a rummage in the things your dwarf tradesman brought with Stalkon's ring,” Kli-Kli replied, not embarra.s.sed in the least.

”Just a little farther!” Deler had joined Hallas and was frozen beside the door, holding up the torch and his poleax at the ready.

”Gentlemen, don't get in the way,” I warned the Wild Hearts. ”Or you'll catch it from my bolts, too.”

”Magic!” said the gnome, pulling a disdainful face.

”Don't you be so clever,” Deler told him. ”Whatever you say, Master Harold. And if this wiseacre tries anything, I'll rip his beard off.”