Looks
clean,” Swan said. Murgen and Thai Dei grunted agreement. I
nodded to the Nyueng Bao. What he had to say meant something here.
His eyes were still as sharp as those of a lad of fifteen. I was
damned near blind in one and could not see out the other.
“Doj? What do you think? Did they run away? Or did they
sneak back just in case we sneaked back?” Element of surprise
no longer my ally, I did not want to run into the Voroshk again.
Especially not those old men. They would be bitter and in a mood to
drag me down to hell with them.
“They went away. They went back to prepare for the
onslaught. They know horror and despair are headed their way but
they also know they’re strong enough to weather it if they
remain calm and work hard.”
I suspect I gaped. “How do you figure all that?”
“It’s just a matter of mental exercise. Take what we
know about them, about sorcerers as a whole, and about human beings
in general, and the rest follows. They’ve been through this
before, in a smaller way. They’ll have worked out what to do
if it happened again. All this empty country, from here to the
other side of their Dandha Presh, will serve the same function as
the cleared ground surrounding a fortress expecting to be
besieged.”
“You’ve convinced me. Let’s just hope
they’re not so ready that they figure out how to come looking
for us after they wrap up their pest problem.” As badly as
the shadowgate and nearby barrier had been damaged I doubted the
Voroshk would have much energy to spare for generations.
Swan said, “He had me for a minute, too, but here comes
the argument that proves what I always knew: Uncle Doj is full of
shit.”
A half dozen billowing black forms had emerged from the
vegetation down the slope. They were walking very slowly, two by
two, hands extended away from their sides, their flying posts
tagging along behind at waist height.
I said, “I don’t know what the fuck is going on but
I want Goblin and Doj ready for anything. Murgen, you and Thai Dei
spread out so we can hit them from in front and both sides with
fireballs.” Me and my pals had three live poles, literally
all our band had left. Lady said there were just six usable
fireballs between the three. She hoped.
One for each of the Voroshk.
Swan said, “You sure we really need to round up those
spooks? Life would be a lot
easier . . . ”
“Right here. Right now. But what happens back home when
we’ve got Soulcatcher coming at us and we yell for Tobo to
let loose the Black Hounds and there ain’t no Black Hounds?
And the rest of the Unknown Shadows say, ‘Fuck that shit! I
ain’t getting skragged for these guys who wouldn’t even
try to bring the Hounds out of Khatovar.’ ”
Swan growled. Goblin sneered, “A little passion, Captain?
I thought you’d lost it all.”
“When I want shit out of you, runt, I’ll kick it
out. What did he just say?” The Voroshk had stopped coming
toward us. One had spoken. And, O wonder, his words sounded like
something I ought to understand. “Say that again,
buddy.”
The sorcerer got the idea. He repeated himself, loudly and
slowly, the way you do with the hard of hearing, the dim of wit and
foreigners.
“What is that noise?” I asked. “I know there
were words in there that I should recognize.”
“Remember Juniper?” Goblin said. “It sounds
like he’s trying to speak what they spoke there.”
“Makes sense. Bowalk came from Juniper. So listen
close.” Goblin had served in Juniper, too. A long time ago. I
have a knack for languages. Could I get enough of this one back
fast enough to do us any good? We did not have many hours of
daylight left.
Something began to get past the fact that the Voroshk had a
horrible accent and his grammar was atrocious. He butchered tenses
and inverted his verbs and subjects.
Goblin and I compared notes as we proceeded. The little wizard
had never spoken the language well but he had had no trouble
understanding it.
“What’s going on?” Swan demanded. He was
holding one of the bamboo poles. It was getting heavy.
“Sounds like they want us to take them with us. That they
think the end of the world is coming and they don’t want to
participate.”
Goblin nodded, agreeing. He added a caveat, “But I
wouldn’t trust them for a second. I’d always assume
they were sent to spy on us.”
“Yes,” I said. “I’d do that with just
about anybody.”
Goblin ignored the jibe. “Make them strip. Bone naked. Doj
I and I can go over their clothes like we’re looking for
nits.”
“All right. Only I’m taking Doj with me to help
collect my snail shells.” I began telling the Voroshk what
they had to do if they really wanted to go with us. They were not
pleased. They wanted to argue. I did not argue even though I hoped
to get my hands on a flying post or two so Lady and Tobo could
study them. Damn, having a few of those sure would be handy.
I told the Voroshk, “If I don’t see naked bodies
I’d better see the backs of people getting away. Anybody who
isn’t doing one or the other by a count of fifty will die
where he’s standing on his dignity.” The language came
back to me quite well, though I did not really make my statement
that clearly. The two Voroshk who were probably the brightest began
disrobing almost immediately. They proved to be as pale and blond
as the girls we had seen already, though red with embarrassment and
shaking with fury. I watched carefully, not with much interest in
their flesh. How much determination they put into something
humiliating would give me a hint or two about their sincerity.
It was too much for one young woman. She got just far enough for
her true sex to become evident before she found that she could not
finish.
“Better run, girl,” I said. And she did. She hopped
aboard her flying log and scooted.
Her desertion had a definite impact on one of the young men. He
changed his mind even though he was already naked. I did not hurry
him as he dressed.
That left four, three boys and a girl, all in their early to
middle-teens.
I waved uphill, confident that by now Lady would be watching and
could guess what I needed. She is clever that way. And shortly a
couple of guys were headed downhill lugging bundles of odds and
ends with which to dress our prisoners.
They did not yet quite understand their new status. I brought
them through the shadowgate one at a time, watching carefully. I
did not expect them to try anything but I am alive at my age
because I make a habit of being ready for trouble when it seems
most unlikely. I asked, “Anybody got any reason to think
whoever goes out the gate is going to get into trouble?” To
their further humiliation the Voroshk kids found themselves with
their hands bound behind them as soon as they were dressed.
The fellow with the feeble command of Juniper’s lingo
protested the indignity. “It’s only temporary,” I
assured him. “Just while us few are on the outside.” I
shifted to Taglian. “Murgen, Swan, Thai Dei, you keep these
guys on a short leash.”
Bamboo poles lashed the air. Despite age and its attendant
cynicism, those guys could put on a show of enthusiasm. Mainly
faked. Swan promised me, “Anything happens to you, there
won’t be anything left of them but grease stains and
toenails.”
“You’re a good man, Swan. Doj, you go through
first.” The elderly Nyueng Bao drew the sword Ash Wand and
stepped through the damaged shadowgate into Khatovar. He positioned
himself. I said, “Your turn, Goblin.” By hand sign I
told Murgen not to be shy about flinging a fireball at surprise
targets outside.
What followed was anticlimactic. I took a sack around to all the
places I remembered seeding earlier and collected snail shells.
Those in which something had hidden itself had a distinct feel.
My ravens returned while I was involved in the harvest. They
reported the Voroshk feverishly preparing for nightfall. They
believed our defectors were genuine. Terror and panic were
spreading across the world as fast as Voroshk messengers could
fly.
The birds made the recovery of our shadow companions much
easier. They let me know which shells were a waste of time and
where to find the ones I had forgotten. We were all back through
the shadowgate an hour before sunset.
Goblin was still examining the clothing removed from the Voroshk
kids. The little wizard piped. “This is some truly amazing
material, Croaker. I think it might be sensitive to the thoughts of
whoever is wearing it.”
“Is it safe?”
“I think it’s completely inert as long as it
isn’t in contact with whoever is keyed to wear it.”
“A little something more for Tobo to play with during all
the spare time he’s going to have in the middle of a war.
Bundle it up. Put it on a mule at the front of the column. We need
to get going.” I shifted languages, told the unhappy
youngsters, “I’m releasing you now. I’m going to
bring you back out here, one at a time, so you can get your posts.
You won’t be allowed to ride them. You’ll travel at the
rear of our column.” I went on to tell them about the dangers
of the plain while they were following instructions. Their fear of
the shadows gave me a good chance to retain their attention. I
tried to impress them that a screw-up on the plain would kill not
just the fuck-up but the whole crew, so they should not expect my
people to be gentle if their behavior was unacceptable.
I was the last of the Company to leave Khatovar’s soil.
Before I departed I indulged in a little personal ceremony of
farewell, or perhaps of exorcism.
The youngster capable of some communication wanted to know,
“What is the meaning of what you just did?”
I tried to explain. He did not get it. In time I determined that
he had never heard of the Free Companies of Khatovar. That he knew
almost nothing of the history of his world before his ancestors had
taken power. That, furthermore, he did not care.
He seemed a shallow young man, overall. No doubt his companions
were much the same.
The Company was going to be a revelation for them.
Lady and I stayed at the end of the road, waiting to make sure
we had sealed it successfully against shadow incursions. The sun
set. The sense of presence that comes when a large number of killer
shadows are gathering grew powerful as darkness came. A rising
excitement informed that presence, as though the Host of the
Unforgiven Dead knew that some change had taken place even though
they could not come out and scout around in the daytime.
The skies remained clear over Khatovar. The moon rose just
before sunset, so there was ample silvery light to reveal the
opening stage of the shadow invasion. A trickle of small explorers
gradually slithered through the shattered boundary. The scream of a
dying pig reached us. More shadows descended the slope. Though they
did not appear to be communicating with one another, somehow more
and more and bigger and bigger shadows became aware of the
opportunity.
“Look there,” Lady said. A line of Voroshk flyers
had begun passing near the moon. Before long little balls of light
were bubbling into existence within the dense vegetation down the
slope. “Maybe something like our fireballs.”
The fireballs had been created, originally, to destroy the
floods of darkness the Shadowmasters insisted on throwing against
us.
“They’re going to put up a fight, anyway. Will you
look at that?” That being the Nef.
“The dreamwalkers are going out? I wonder why.”
“Too bad we couldn’t let the shadows all get out,
then slam the gate shut behind them.”
Even Shivetya would agree, I supposed. He was not pleased with
some of the improvements made on his plain during recent
millennia.
Lady said, “We should get moving. And you might want to
put some thought into what to do with our new children once we get
to the other end and they become tempted to run away.”
Yes. I should. We did not need any more psychotic sorcerers
getting under foot.
Looks
clean,” Swan said. Murgen and Thai Dei grunted agreement. I
nodded to the Nyueng Bao. What he had to say meant something here.
His eyes were still as sharp as those of a lad of fifteen. I was
damned near blind in one and could not see out the other.
“Doj? What do you think? Did they run away? Or did they
sneak back just in case we sneaked back?” Element of surprise
no longer my ally, I did not want to run into the Voroshk again.
Especially not those old men. They would be bitter and in a mood to
drag me down to hell with them.
“They went away. They went back to prepare for the
onslaught. They know horror and despair are headed their way but
they also know they’re strong enough to weather it if they
remain calm and work hard.”
I suspect I gaped. “How do you figure all that?”
“It’s just a matter of mental exercise. Take what we
know about them, about sorcerers as a whole, and about human beings
in general, and the rest follows. They’ve been through this
before, in a smaller way. They’ll have worked out what to do
if it happened again. All this empty country, from here to the
other side of their Dandha Presh, will serve the same function as
the cleared ground surrounding a fortress expecting to be
besieged.”
“You’ve convinced me. Let’s just hope
they’re not so ready that they figure out how to come looking
for us after they wrap up their pest problem.” As badly as
the shadowgate and nearby barrier had been damaged I doubted the
Voroshk would have much energy to spare for generations.
Swan said, “He had me for a minute, too, but here comes
the argument that proves what I always knew: Uncle Doj is full of
shit.”
A half dozen billowing black forms had emerged from the
vegetation down the slope. They were walking very slowly, two by
two, hands extended away from their sides, their flying posts
tagging along behind at waist height.
I said, “I don’t know what the fuck is going on but
I want Goblin and Doj ready for anything. Murgen, you and Thai Dei
spread out so we can hit them from in front and both sides with
fireballs.” Me and my pals had three live poles, literally
all our band had left. Lady said there were just six usable
fireballs between the three. She hoped.
One for each of the Voroshk.
Swan said, “You sure we really need to round up those
spooks? Life would be a lot
easier . . . ”
“Right here. Right now. But what happens back home when
we’ve got Soulcatcher coming at us and we yell for Tobo to
let loose the Black Hounds and there ain’t no Black Hounds?
And the rest of the Unknown Shadows say, ‘Fuck that shit! I
ain’t getting skragged for these guys who wouldn’t even
try to bring the Hounds out of Khatovar.’ ”
Swan growled. Goblin sneered, “A little passion, Captain?
I thought you’d lost it all.”
“When I want shit out of you, runt, I’ll kick it
out. What did he just say?” The Voroshk had stopped coming
toward us. One had spoken. And, O wonder, his words sounded like
something I ought to understand. “Say that again,
buddy.”
The sorcerer got the idea. He repeated himself, loudly and
slowly, the way you do with the hard of hearing, the dim of wit and
foreigners.
“What is that noise?” I asked. “I know there
were words in there that I should recognize.”
“Remember Juniper?” Goblin said. “It sounds
like he’s trying to speak what they spoke there.”
“Makes sense. Bowalk came from Juniper. So listen
close.” Goblin had served in Juniper, too. A long time ago. I
have a knack for languages. Could I get enough of this one back
fast enough to do us any good? We did not have many hours of
daylight left.
Something began to get past the fact that the Voroshk had a
horrible accent and his grammar was atrocious. He butchered tenses
and inverted his verbs and subjects.
Goblin and I compared notes as we proceeded. The little wizard
had never spoken the language well but he had had no trouble
understanding it.
“What’s going on?” Swan demanded. He was
holding one of the bamboo poles. It was getting heavy.
“Sounds like they want us to take them with us. That they
think the end of the world is coming and they don’t want to
participate.”
Goblin nodded, agreeing. He added a caveat, “But I
wouldn’t trust them for a second. I’d always assume
they were sent to spy on us.”
“Yes,” I said. “I’d do that with just
about anybody.”
Goblin ignored the jibe. “Make them strip. Bone naked. Doj
I and I can go over their clothes like we’re looking for
nits.”
“All right. Only I’m taking Doj with me to help
collect my snail shells.” I began telling the Voroshk what
they had to do if they really wanted to go with us. They were not
pleased. They wanted to argue. I did not argue even though I hoped
to get my hands on a flying post or two so Lady and Tobo could
study them. Damn, having a few of those sure would be handy.
I told the Voroshk, “If I don’t see naked bodies
I’d better see the backs of people getting away. Anybody who
isn’t doing one or the other by a count of fifty will die
where he’s standing on his dignity.” The language came
back to me quite well, though I did not really make my statement
that clearly. The two Voroshk who were probably the brightest began
disrobing almost immediately. They proved to be as pale and blond
as the girls we had seen already, though red with embarrassment and
shaking with fury. I watched carefully, not with much interest in
their flesh. How much determination they put into something
humiliating would give me a hint or two about their sincerity.
It was too much for one young woman. She got just far enough for
her true sex to become evident before she found that she could not
finish.
“Better run, girl,” I said. And she did. She hopped
aboard her flying log and scooted.
Her desertion had a definite impact on one of the young men. He
changed his mind even though he was already naked. I did not hurry
him as he dressed.
That left four, three boys and a girl, all in their early to
middle-teens.
I waved uphill, confident that by now Lady would be watching and
could guess what I needed. She is clever that way. And shortly a
couple of guys were headed downhill lugging bundles of odds and
ends with which to dress our prisoners.
They did not yet quite understand their new status. I brought
them through the shadowgate one at a time, watching carefully. I
did not expect them to try anything but I am alive at my age
because I make a habit of being ready for trouble when it seems
most unlikely. I asked, “Anybody got any reason to think
whoever goes out the gate is going to get into trouble?” To
their further humiliation the Voroshk kids found themselves with
their hands bound behind them as soon as they were dressed.
The fellow with the feeble command of Juniper’s lingo
protested the indignity. “It’s only temporary,” I
assured him. “Just while us few are on the outside.” I
shifted to Taglian. “Murgen, Swan, Thai Dei, you keep these
guys on a short leash.”
Bamboo poles lashed the air. Despite age and its attendant
cynicism, those guys could put on a show of enthusiasm. Mainly
faked. Swan promised me, “Anything happens to you, there
won’t be anything left of them but grease stains and
toenails.”
“You’re a good man, Swan. Doj, you go through
first.” The elderly Nyueng Bao drew the sword Ash Wand and
stepped through the damaged shadowgate into Khatovar. He positioned
himself. I said, “Your turn, Goblin.” By hand sign I
told Murgen not to be shy about flinging a fireball at surprise
targets outside.
What followed was anticlimactic. I took a sack around to all the
places I remembered seeding earlier and collected snail shells.
Those in which something had hidden itself had a distinct feel.
My ravens returned while I was involved in the harvest. They
reported the Voroshk feverishly preparing for nightfall. They
believed our defectors were genuine. Terror and panic were
spreading across the world as fast as Voroshk messengers could
fly.
The birds made the recovery of our shadow companions much
easier. They let me know which shells were a waste of time and
where to find the ones I had forgotten. We were all back through
the shadowgate an hour before sunset.
Goblin was still examining the clothing removed from the Voroshk
kids. The little wizard piped. “This is some truly amazing
material, Croaker. I think it might be sensitive to the thoughts of
whoever is wearing it.”
“Is it safe?”
“I think it’s completely inert as long as it
isn’t in contact with whoever is keyed to wear it.”
“A little something more for Tobo to play with during all
the spare time he’s going to have in the middle of a war.
Bundle it up. Put it on a mule at the front of the column. We need
to get going.” I shifted languages, told the unhappy
youngsters, “I’m releasing you now. I’m going to
bring you back out here, one at a time, so you can get your posts.
You won’t be allowed to ride them. You’ll travel at the
rear of our column.” I went on to tell them about the dangers
of the plain while they were following instructions. Their fear of
the shadows gave me a good chance to retain their attention. I
tried to impress them that a screw-up on the plain would kill not
just the fuck-up but the whole crew, so they should not expect my
people to be gentle if their behavior was unacceptable.
I was the last of the Company to leave Khatovar’s soil.
Before I departed I indulged in a little personal ceremony of
farewell, or perhaps of exorcism.
The youngster capable of some communication wanted to know,
“What is the meaning of what you just did?”
I tried to explain. He did not get it. In time I determined that
he had never heard of the Free Companies of Khatovar. That he knew
almost nothing of the history of his world before his ancestors had
taken power. That, furthermore, he did not care.
He seemed a shallow young man, overall. No doubt his companions
were much the same.
The Company was going to be a revelation for them.
Lady and I stayed at the end of the road, waiting to make sure
we had sealed it successfully against shadow incursions. The sun
set. The sense of presence that comes when a large number of killer
shadows are gathering grew powerful as darkness came. A rising
excitement informed that presence, as though the Host of the
Unforgiven Dead knew that some change had taken place even though
they could not come out and scout around in the daytime.
The skies remained clear over Khatovar. The moon rose just
before sunset, so there was ample silvery light to reveal the
opening stage of the shadow invasion. A trickle of small explorers
gradually slithered through the shattered boundary. The scream of a
dying pig reached us. More shadows descended the slope. Though they
did not appear to be communicating with one another, somehow more
and more and bigger and bigger shadows became aware of the
opportunity.
“Look there,” Lady said. A line of Voroshk flyers
had begun passing near the moon. Before long little balls of light
were bubbling into existence within the dense vegetation down the
slope. “Maybe something like our fireballs.”
The fireballs had been created, originally, to destroy the
floods of darkness the Shadowmasters insisted on throwing against
us.
“They’re going to put up a fight, anyway. Will you
look at that?” That being the Nef.
“The dreamwalkers are going out? I wonder why.”
“Too bad we couldn’t let the shadows all get out,
then slam the gate shut behind them.”
Even Shivetya would agree, I supposed. He was not pleased with
some of the improvements made on his plain during recent
millennia.
Lady said, “We should get moving. And you might want to
put some thought into what to do with our new children once we get
to the other end and they become tempted to run away.”
Yes. I should. We did not need any more psychotic sorcerers
getting under foot.