Ulath replied tensely, ‘the Troll-God of Kill. ‘ The immortal beast howled
yet again, and then it vanished.
CHAPTER 23
All semblance of co-operation among the Trolls vanished with the
disappearance of Ghworg. They were not, as Ulath had so frequently pointed
out, creatures which normally ran in packs, and without the presence of the
God to coerce them into semi-unity, they reverted to their customary
antagonism toward each other. Their charge faltered as a number of very
nasty fights broke out in their ranks. These fights quickly spread, and
within moments there was a general brawl in progress out beyond the mouth
of the canyon. ‘Well?’ Kalten asked Ulath. ‘It’s over,’ the Genidian Knight
shrugged, ‘- at least our part of it is. The riot among the Trolls
themselves might go on for quite a while’ , though.’ Kring, it appeared,
had reached the same conclusion, and his Peloi moved purposefully on the
heaps of Trollish casualties, their sabres and lances at the ready. ‘Khalad
was still standing behind his roughly constructed engine, his face blank
and his eyes unseeing. then he seemed to awaken. ‘What happened?’ he asked,
looking around with some confusion. ‘You killed that big reptile, my young
friend,’ Tynian told him. ‘It was a spectacular shot.’
‘I did? I don’t remember even shooting at it. I thought it was out of
range.’ Zalasta had come down from the sloping side of the canyon with a
look of satisfaction on his beetle-browed face. ‘i’m afraid I had to
override your thoughts for a few moments there, young sir,’ he explained to
Sparhawk’s Squire. ‘I needed your engine to deal with the thunder beast. I
hope you’ll forgive me, but there wasn’t time to consult with you about
it.’
‘That’s quite all right, learned one. I just wish I’d been able to see the
shot. What kind of beast was it?’
‘its species roamed the earth millions of years ago,’ the Styric replied.
‘Before mankind or even the Trolls emerged. Our opponent appears to be very
gifted in resurrecting the ancient dead.’
‘Was that him inside that ball of fire?’ Kalten asked. ‘I can’t be
positive about that, Sir Kalten. It seems that we have many layers of
enemies out there. If the one in the orb wasn’t our main enemy, though, he
was probably very high up in the opposing councils. He was most skilled.’
‘Let’s see to the wounded,’ Vanion said crisply. Despite his protestations
that Sparhawk was now in charge of the Pandions, the habit of command still
ran deep in Vanion’s blood. ‘We might want to barricade that gap as well,’
Ulath suggested, ‘just to keep the surviving Trolls from paying us any
unannounced visits during the night.’
‘I’ll go advise the ladies that the worst of this is over,’ Sparhawk told
them. He turned Faran and rode back to the cave. He was a bit surprised and
more than a bit exasperated to find Ehlana and the rest of the party from
the cavern standing out in the open. ‘I told you to stay in the cave,’ he
reprimanded his wife sharply. ‘You didn’t really expect me to do it, did
you?’
‘Yes, as a matter of fact, I did.’
‘Life’s just filled with these little disappointments, isn’t it?’ Her tone
was challenging. ‘That will do, children,’ Sephrenia said wearily.
‘Domestic squabbles shouldn’t be aired in public. Do your fighting in
private.’
‘We weren’t fighting, were we, Sparhawk?’ Ehlana said. ‘We were just about
to start.’
‘i’m sorry, dear,’ she apologised contritely. ‘I couldn’t bear to stay
inside while you were in such terrible danger.’ Then she made a wry face.
‘Right now I’m going to have to choke down my royal pride and eat a large
dish of crow. I’ve wronged Zalasta dreadfully. He saved the day for us,
didn’t he?’
‘He certainly didn’t hurt us,’ Talen agreed. ‘He was stupendous!’ the
queen exclaimed. ‘He’s very, very skilled,’ Sephrenia said proudly. Perhaps
unconsciously, she was holding Danae in her arms. Their centuries of
sisterhood had made the small Styric woman’s responses instinctive. ‘what
was that awful face at the edge of the woods?’ Sir Berit asked with a
shudder. ‘Ulath says it was Ghworg, the Troll-God of Kill,’ Sparhawk
replied. ‘I sort of remember him from the Temple of Azash back in Zemoch. I
didn’t really look at him that closely then, though. I was a little
preoccupied at the time.’ He made a face. ‘Well, little mother,’ he said to
Sephrenia, ‘it looks as if we might have been right. I’d say that Ghwerig’s
spell wasn’t quite as iron-clad as we originally thought. The Troll-Gods
are loose – at least Ghworg is. But what baffles me is why they didn’t
escape earlier. If they could get out at any time, why didn’t they break
free when I threatened to smash Bhelliom in the temple?’ maybe they needed
help,’ she shrugged. ‘It’s altogether possible that our enemy was able to
enlist their aid by offering to help them escape their imprisonment. We’ll
ask Zalasta. He might know.’ More of the knights had been injured during
the fight with the Trolls than Sparhawk had originally thought, and some
fifteen of there number had been killed. As evening settled into the
canyon, Engessa came to Sparhawk, his eyes hard. ‘I’ll leave now,
SparhawkKnight,’ he said abruptly. Sparhawk looked at him, startled. ‘I
must go have words with the clan of this region. Their failure to be at the
boundary was inexcusable.’
‘There was probably a reason for it, Atan Engessa.’
‘No reason that I’ll accept. I’ll be back in the morning with enough
warriors to protect Ehlana-Queen.’
‘There are Trolls out there in the forest, you know.’
‘They will not greatly inconvenience me, SparhawkKnight.’
‘Just be careful, Atan Engessa. I’m getting very tired of burying
friends.’ Engessa suddenly grinned at him. ‘That’s one of the good things
about fighting Trolls, Sparhawk-Knight. You don’t have to bury dead
friends. The Trolls eat them.’ Sparhawk shuddered. Zalasta was clearly the
hero of the day. All of the Peloi and most oF the Church Knights were
obviously in awe of him. The vision of his explosive duel with the hooded
figure in the blazing purple orb and the spectacular demise of the vast
reptile was vividly etched on the minds of the entire party. He bore
himself modestly, however, shrugging off his stunning accomplishments as if
they were of no moment. He did, however, seem very pleased that Ehlana’s
animosity had dissolved and that she was now whole-heartedly cordial toward
him. His somewhat stiff manner softened – Ehlana had that effect on people
– and he became somehow less reserved and more human.
Engessa arrived the next morning with a thousand Atan clansmen. The faces
of their officers clearly showed that Engessa had spoken firmly with them
about their failure to be at the clan-border at the appointed time. The
wounded knights were placed on litters borne by Atan warriors, and the much
enlarged party moved slowly on back to the road and continued eastward
toward Lebas in Tamul proper. Hindered as they were by the wounded, they
did not make good time – or so it seemed. After what had apparently been
two full days of travel, Sparhawk spoke very briefly with his daughter,
advising her that he needed to talk with her at some point while the minds
of the others were asleep. When the blank faces of his companions indicated
that Aphrael was compressing time again, he rode back to the ‘carriage.
‘Please get right to the point, Sparhawk,’ the little Goddess told him.
‘It’s very difficult this time.’
‘is it different somehow?’
‘Of course it is. I’m extending the pain of the wounded, and that’s very
distasteful. I’m making them sleep as much as possible, but there are
limits, you know.’
‘All right then, how much of what happened back ‘ their was real?’
‘How could I possibly know that?’
‘you mean you can’t tell’
‘well, of course I can’t, Sparhawk. When we create an illusion, nobody can
tell. It wouldn’t be much of an illusion if someone could detect it, would
it?’ you said ‘we’. If it was an illusion, there was a God behind it then?’
‘yes – either directly or indirectly. If it was indirectly, though, someone
has a great deal of influence with whatever God was involved. We don’t
surrender that much power very often – or very willingly. Don’t beat around
the bush, Sparhawk. What’s bothering you?’) ‘
‘i don’t really know, Aphrael,’ he confessed. ‘Something about it didn’t
seem quite right.’
‘Specifics, Sparhawk. I need something specific to work with.’
‘It just seemed to me that it was overdone, that’s all. I got a distinct
feeling that someone was just showing off. It was adolescent.’ She
considered that, her bow-like little mouth pouting. ‘Maybe we are
adolescent, Sparhawk. It’s one of the dangers of our situation. There’s
nothing powerful enough to make us grow up, so we’re at liberty to indulge
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