Our flight ended
where the rest of the band was camped at the last circle before the
southwest road reached our destination shadowgate. Flying
definitely offered the advantage of speed. We outflew the white
crow, arriving less than two hours after our toes departed solid
stone. That Shivetya fellow was a handy friend to have.
I tried to see what lay beyond the edge of the plain but it was
just too dark. There might have been one or two small points of
light out there. It was hard to tell.
We descended feetfirst, evidently immune to shadows. I had
sensed several of those pacing us but they had shown no inclination
to get too close. Which left me admiring Shivetya’s power
even more, for those things were little more than bundles of hatred
and hunger to kill.
We passed through the top of the shielding protecting our
brethren without compromising it. The whole band watched our
arrival in disbelief. Tobo managed to direct himself toward his
mother and accomplished a somersault before he touched down. I did
not exactly get down and hug the stone surface but I was glad the
ordeal was over. The Singh brothers rushed around looking for
family. So did Doj, who ignored Sahra and went directly to Gota.
Gota was not in good spirits and possibly was in ill health. I
could not tell much more about anyone in the feeble light available
from a changeable moon. Gota did not offer any complaint or
criticism. Swan stuck with me.
As soon as he convinced himself that it was safe to open his
eyes, Riverwalker began bustling around being a busybody, devoutly
determined to make sure everyone and everything conformed to
whatever rules he happened to recall at the moment. I frowned,
shook my head, but did not interfere. We all need our rituals to
help us get by.
“Sahra,” I asked, “how are they?” I
meant those we had brought out of the caverns, because I had a
suspicion that Gota’s state meant nothing good and I did not
want to hear what I feared it did mean.
Sahra could not feel friendly. She blamed me because she had
discovered her baby strolling through the sky. Never mind that he
had come down safely and could not stop raving about the
experience.
What a fall from a great height might do to a body never
occurred to him. But it certainly did to Sahra.
“No change in the Captured. One-Eye went into a funk when
he heard about Goblin and hasn’t spoken since. Mother
isn’t sure if it’s emotional withdrawal or he had
another stroke. What worries her is the possibility that he
doesn’t want to live anymore.”
“Who would he fight with?” I did not mean to
belittle, though it came out sounding that way.
Sahra showed me an instant of pique but did not reveal her
thoughts. “Mother can be a handful.”
“Probably what got them together in the first
place.” I made no mention of the fact that I feared Gota
would not be with us much longer. The Troll had to be around
eighty. “I’ll go talk to him.”
“He’s asleep. It can wait.”
“In the morning, then. Are we still in touch with
Murgen?”
The light was good enough to reveal Sahra’s anger. Perhaps
she was right. I had not had my feet on the ground two minutes and
already I wanted to use her husband. But she managed the emotion.
We had worked together for a long time now, early on with her
usually being the stronger one, only occasionally with me taking
the lead role. We always managed without sharp words. We always
managed because we knew we had somewhere to go and we had to
collaborate to get there. These days I took charge most of the time
but she could do so when it was appropriate.
Only she was just about where she wanted to get to now, was she
not? She had Murgen out of the ground. She would not need to go on
with her role once he was up and around. Unless he was not the man
she wanted him to be. In which case she would have to contrive a
new Sahra all over again.
I am sure that had her on edge more than ever. Neither she nor
Murgen were the people they had been. None of us were. There were
going to be some difficulties adjusting, possibly some major
difficulties.
I anticipated big problems with Lady and the Captain.
Sahra said, “I’ve done my best to keep the mist
projector working but I haven’t been able to make contact
since we left that fortress. He doesn’t seem to be willing to
leave his body anymore. And I can’t get that to wake up more
than it already is.” So she was also afraid that the rescue
might have been a mistake, that we might have hurt Murgen instead
of saving him. Upbeat, hopefully, she said, “Maybe Tobo can
help.”
I wondered what had become of the tough, focused, dedicated
Sahra who had been Minh Subredil. I tried to reassure this Sahra.
“Murgen will be fine.” Shivetya had given me the
knowledge we needed to reanimate the Captured. “But we have
to get him off the plain before we can wake him all the way up.
Same for the others.”
Riverwalker returned from his tour. “The demon food is
going fast here, Sleepy. There’s enough to get us off the
plain and have a couple meals more but then we’re on our own.
We either eat the dog and the horses or we scrounge up something
locally fast.”
“Ah, well. We knew that going in. We’re better off
than we expected to be. Did anybody think to steal anything
valuable while we were there?”
That comment got me blank looks. Then I realized that it was
possible no one else had noticed the treasures I had discovered
while chasing Tobo into the deeps of the earth. The boy would have
said something if he had seen anything. He could not shut up.
Swan told me, “It’ll be harvest time when we get
there.”
“What?”
He shrugged. “I just know.”
So he might. “Everybody listen up. Get all the rest you
can tonight. I want to get up and move out early tomorrow. And
nobody knows what we’ll run into at the end of the
road.”
Somebody grumbled something about if I wanted him to sleep, why
did I not shut up and let him get to work?
I could not keep my eyes open myself, although it had not been
that long since I had wakened by Shivetya’s throne. In fact,
my mind seemed to be shutting down. I said, “Forget
everything else. I’m going to take my own advice.
Where’s a place I can wrap my blanket around me and lie down
before I collapse?”
The only open space was back at the tail end of the Company. All
my flying companions except Tobo had to migrate back there. I had
planned to eat before I slept but exhaustion overwhelmed me before
I swallowed my third bite of demon’s food. My final
reflection concerned whether God could overlook one of the Faithful
accepting a gift from one of the Damned.
An interesting exercise. God knows all. Therefore, God knew what
Shivetya was doing and allowed him to do it. Therefore, it must be
God’s will that we benefit from the demon’s generosity.
It would be a sin to defy God’s will.
Our flight ended
where the rest of the band was camped at the last circle before the
southwest road reached our destination shadowgate. Flying
definitely offered the advantage of speed. We outflew the white
crow, arriving less than two hours after our toes departed solid
stone. That Shivetya fellow was a handy friend to have.
I tried to see what lay beyond the edge of the plain but it was
just too dark. There might have been one or two small points of
light out there. It was hard to tell.
We descended feetfirst, evidently immune to shadows. I had
sensed several of those pacing us but they had shown no inclination
to get too close. Which left me admiring Shivetya’s power
even more, for those things were little more than bundles of hatred
and hunger to kill.
We passed through the top of the shielding protecting our
brethren without compromising it. The whole band watched our
arrival in disbelief. Tobo managed to direct himself toward his
mother and accomplished a somersault before he touched down. I did
not exactly get down and hug the stone surface but I was glad the
ordeal was over. The Singh brothers rushed around looking for
family. So did Doj, who ignored Sahra and went directly to Gota.
Gota was not in good spirits and possibly was in ill health. I
could not tell much more about anyone in the feeble light available
from a changeable moon. Gota did not offer any complaint or
criticism. Swan stuck with me.
As soon as he convinced himself that it was safe to open his
eyes, Riverwalker began bustling around being a busybody, devoutly
determined to make sure everyone and everything conformed to
whatever rules he happened to recall at the moment. I frowned,
shook my head, but did not interfere. We all need our rituals to
help us get by.
“Sahra,” I asked, “how are they?” I
meant those we had brought out of the caverns, because I had a
suspicion that Gota’s state meant nothing good and I did not
want to hear what I feared it did mean.
Sahra could not feel friendly. She blamed me because she had
discovered her baby strolling through the sky. Never mind that he
had come down safely and could not stop raving about the
experience.
What a fall from a great height might do to a body never
occurred to him. But it certainly did to Sahra.
“No change in the Captured. One-Eye went into a funk when
he heard about Goblin and hasn’t spoken since. Mother
isn’t sure if it’s emotional withdrawal or he had
another stroke. What worries her is the possibility that he
doesn’t want to live anymore.”
“Who would he fight with?” I did not mean to
belittle, though it came out sounding that way.
Sahra showed me an instant of pique but did not reveal her
thoughts. “Mother can be a handful.”
“Probably what got them together in the first
place.” I made no mention of the fact that I feared Gota
would not be with us much longer. The Troll had to be around
eighty. “I’ll go talk to him.”
“He’s asleep. It can wait.”
“In the morning, then. Are we still in touch with
Murgen?”
The light was good enough to reveal Sahra’s anger. Perhaps
she was right. I had not had my feet on the ground two minutes and
already I wanted to use her husband. But she managed the emotion.
We had worked together for a long time now, early on with her
usually being the stronger one, only occasionally with me taking
the lead role. We always managed without sharp words. We always
managed because we knew we had somewhere to go and we had to
collaborate to get there. These days I took charge most of the time
but she could do so when it was appropriate.
Only she was just about where she wanted to get to now, was she
not? She had Murgen out of the ground. She would not need to go on
with her role once he was up and around. Unless he was not the man
she wanted him to be. In which case she would have to contrive a
new Sahra all over again.
I am sure that had her on edge more than ever. Neither she nor
Murgen were the people they had been. None of us were. There were
going to be some difficulties adjusting, possibly some major
difficulties.
I anticipated big problems with Lady and the Captain.
Sahra said, “I’ve done my best to keep the mist
projector working but I haven’t been able to make contact
since we left that fortress. He doesn’t seem to be willing to
leave his body anymore. And I can’t get that to wake up more
than it already is.” So she was also afraid that the rescue
might have been a mistake, that we might have hurt Murgen instead
of saving him. Upbeat, hopefully, she said, “Maybe Tobo can
help.”
I wondered what had become of the tough, focused, dedicated
Sahra who had been Minh Subredil. I tried to reassure this Sahra.
“Murgen will be fine.” Shivetya had given me the
knowledge we needed to reanimate the Captured. “But we have
to get him off the plain before we can wake him all the way up.
Same for the others.”
Riverwalker returned from his tour. “The demon food is
going fast here, Sleepy. There’s enough to get us off the
plain and have a couple meals more but then we’re on our own.
We either eat the dog and the horses or we scrounge up something
locally fast.”
“Ah, well. We knew that going in. We’re better off
than we expected to be. Did anybody think to steal anything
valuable while we were there?”
That comment got me blank looks. Then I realized that it was
possible no one else had noticed the treasures I had discovered
while chasing Tobo into the deeps of the earth. The boy would have
said something if he had seen anything. He could not shut up.
Swan told me, “It’ll be harvest time when we get
there.”
“What?”
He shrugged. “I just know.”
So he might. “Everybody listen up. Get all the rest you
can tonight. I want to get up and move out early tomorrow. And
nobody knows what we’ll run into at the end of the
road.”
Somebody grumbled something about if I wanted him to sleep, why
did I not shut up and let him get to work?
I could not keep my eyes open myself, although it had not been
that long since I had wakened by Shivetya’s throne. In fact,
my mind seemed to be shutting down. I said, “Forget
everything else. I’m going to take my own advice.
Where’s a place I can wrap my blanket around me and lie down
before I collapse?”
The only open space was back at the tail end of the Company. All
my flying companions except Tobo had to migrate back there. I had
planned to eat before I slept but exhaustion overwhelmed me before
I swallowed my third bite of demon’s food. My final
reflection concerned whether God could overlook one of the Faithful
accepting a gift from one of the Damned.
An interesting exercise. God knows all. Therefore, God knew what
Shivetya was doing and allowed him to do it. Therefore, it must be
God’s will that we benefit from the demon’s generosity.
It would be a sin to defy God’s will.