Pal Do Shuptarp told Kickaha everything he knew. He was a baronet who was in command of the castle garrison of King von liirbat of Eggesheim. He had stayed behind while the invasion of Talanac was taking place. Suddenly, von Turbat and von Swindebarn had reappeared. They came from somewhere inside the castle. They ordered the garrison and a number of other troops to follow them into a “magic” room in the castle. Von Turbat had explained that their archenemy Kickaha was now on the moon and that it was necessary to go by sorcery—white magic, of course—to track him down. Von Turbat did not say anything of what had happened to the soldiers in Talanac.
“They’re all dead,” Kickaha said. “But how did von Turbat talk to you?”
“Through a priest, as he has done for some time,” Do Shuptarp said.
“And you didn’t think that was peculiar?”
Do Shuptarp shrugged and said, “So many peculiar things were happening all of a sudden that
208
A PRIVATE COSMOS
this was just one more. Besides, von Turbat claimed to have received a divine revelation from the Lord. He said he had been given the gift of being able to speak the holy tongue. And he was forbidden to speak anything else because the Lord wanted everyone to know that von TUrbat was favored of the Lord.”
“A pretty good rationalization and excuse,” Kickaha said.
“A magical flying machine appeared above the castle,” Do Shuptarp said. “It landed, and we helped take it apart and carried the pieces into the room where we were to be transported magically to the moon.”
It was a terrifying experience to be transported instantaneously to the moon and to see the planet they had been on just a moment before now hanging in the sky, threatening to fall down on the moon and crush them all.
But a man could get used to almost anything.
The cave in the hillside had been discovered by the searchers when they came across the carcass of an eagle minus her feet and head. The cave held two dead adult apes, and another dead eagle. There were five loose crescents on the floor. Kickaha, hearing this, knew that Podarge had escaped via a gate.
Von lurbat had selected ten of his best knights to use the gates, two to a circle. He hoped that some would find and kill Kickaha.
“Two of you?”
“Karl voyn Rothadler came with me,” Do Shuptarp said. “He’s dead. He did not step into the noose, although he stormed into that room so fast he almost got caught in it. A great one for charging in, swinging a sword, and to hell with
A PRIVATE COSMOS
209
finding out first what’s going on. He ran in and so that divan and chair moved away swiftly. I don’t now how you bewitched them, but you must be a powerful magician. They pulled the kingpin loose and the chandelier fell on his head.”
“So the trap worked, though not exactly as planned,” Kickaha said. “How did you get through the room filled with water?”
“After Karl was killed, I tried to go back the way I’d come. The door wouldn’t open. So I went on. When I came to the door to the water-filled room, I had to push with all my strength to open it. Water sprayed out of the opening. I quit pushing. But I couldn’t go back; I had to go ahead. I pushed the door open again. The pressure of the water was very strong. I couldn’t get the door open all the way, and the water spurting out almost knocked me down. But I managed to get through—I am very strong. The anteroom was almost full of water by the time I did get through, and the door closed as soon as I was inside the big room.
“The water was clear and the light was bright. Otherwise, I might have drowned before I found the other door. I swam to the ceiling, hoping there would be a space there with air, but there wasn’t any. So I swam to the other end of the room. The water pressure had opened the door there and let some water into the next anteroom. But the door had closed itself again. In fact, it must have been doing this for some time. The anteroom was more than half full when I got into it.