Domes of Fire by David Eddings

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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