past the Well of Vigay and trek northwesterly into the desert.
Thy destination shall be the Forbidden Mountains where none
may go without Cyrgon’s leave except at their peril. When thou
dost reach those black, forbidding heights, seek ye the Pillars of
Cyrgon, for without them to guide thee, Cyrga will remain forever
hidden.’
‘Please, Master.’ Valash was helplessly wringing his hands as
he stared in chagrin at the raving old lunatic.
‘I have commanded thy silence, knave. Speak once more and
thou shalt surely die.’ He turned back to fix Stragen with his
single wild eye. ‘Be not dismayed, traveler, by the Plains of Salt
which nomads fear to cross. Ride, boldly ride across the dead
whiteness, empty of life save only where miscreants labor in the
quarries to mine the precious salt.
‘From the verge of the Plains of Salt wilt thou behold low
on the horizon before thee the dark shapes of the Forbidden
Mountains, and, if it please Cyrgon, his fiery white pillars will
guide thee to his Hidden City. ‘
Let not the Plain of Bones disquiet thee. The bones are those
of the nameless slaves who toil until death for Cyrgon’s chosen,
and, having served their purpose, are then given to the desert.
‘Beyond the Plain of Bones wilt thou come to the Gates of
illusion behind which lies concealed the Hidden City of Cyrga.
The eye of mortal man cannot perceive those gates. Stark they
stand as a fractured wall at the verge of the Forbidden Mountains
to bar thy way. Bend thine eye, however, upon Cyrgon’s two
white pilars and direct thy steps toward the emptiness which
doth lie between them. Trust not the evidence which thine eye
doth present unto thee, for the solid-seeming wall is as mist and
will not bar thy way. Pass through it and proceed along the
dark coridor to the Glen of Heroes where lie the unnumbered
regiments of Cyrgon in restless sleep, awaiting the trumpet call
of his mighty voice summoning them forth once more to smite
his enemies.’
Valash stepped back a pace and urgently beckoned to Talen
to follow him.
Curious, Talen followed the Dacite. ‘Don’t pay any attention
to Master Ogerajin, boy,’ Valash said urgently. ‘He hasn’t been
well lately, and he has these spells quite often.’
‘i’d already guessed that, Master Valash. Shouldn’t you get
him to a physician? He’s really raving, you know.’
“there’s nothing a physician could do for him,’ Valash
shrugged. ‘Just make sure that Vymer understands that the old
man doesn’t know what he’s talking about.’ Valash seemed
unusually concerned about Ogerajin’s ravings.
‘He already knows, Master Valash. Any time somebody starts
throwing the “thee”s’ and “thou”s’ around, you can be fairly
sure that his saddle’s starting to slip.’
The diseased Styric was still raving in that hollow, declamatory
voice. ‘Beyond the Glen of Heroes wilt thou see the Well
of Cyrgon, sparkling in the sun and sustaining the Hidden City.
close by the well in fields laced with channels thou wilt see
black Cyrga rising like a mountain within its walls of night. Go
boldly there and into the city of the Blessed Cyrgai. Mount the
steep streets to the summit of that enclosed peak, and there at
the Crown of the known world thou wilt find amid that blackness
the white, where columns of chalk bear the lintels and roof
of the Holy of Holies wherein Cyrgon burns eternal upon the sacred altar.
‘Fall upon thy face in that awful presence, crying “Vnnet, tyek
Yalz Cyrgon!” and, should it please him, he will hear thee.
And should it please him not, he will destroy thee.
Thus, traveler, is the way to the Hidden City which lieth at
the heart of Mighty Cyrgon, King and God of all that was, all
that is, and all that shall ever be.’
Then the crazed Styric’s face contorted into a grotesque mask
%of eer and he began to cackle in a shrill, meaningless giggle.
CHAPTER 14
‘All right, Sparhawk, you can turn round now.’
‘Are you dressed?’
She sighed. ‘Just a minute.’ There was a satiny rustle. ‘Will
this do?’ she asked tartly.
He turned. The Goddess was wrapped in a shimmering white
robe. ‘That’s a little better,’ he told her.
‘Prude. Give me your hand.’
He took her slender hand in his and they drifted upward,
rising out of the forested hills just east of Dirgis. ‘Sarna’s somewhat
to the west of due south,’ he told her.
‘I know where it is.’ Her tone was crisp.
‘I was just trying to be helpful.’
The ground beneath them began to flow back as they sped
southwesterly.
‘Can people see us from the ground?’ he asked curiously.
‘Of course not. Why?’
“Just wondering. It occurred to me that if they can it might
explain a lot of the wild stories that crop up in folklore.’
‘You humans are very creative. You can invent wild stories
without any help from us.’
‘You’re in a disagreeable frame of mind today. How long is it
going to take us to get there?’
“Just a few minutes.’
‘It’s an interesting way to travel.’
‘It’s overrated.’
They drifted on in silence for a while. ‘That’s Sama just
ahead,’ Aphrael said.
‘Do you think Vanion’s reached here by now?’
‘I doubt it. Later today probably. We’re going down.’ They
settled gently to earth in a clearing a mile or so from the northern
edge of the city, and Aphrael returned to the more familiar form
of Flute. ‘Carry me,’ she said, reaching up to him.
‘You know how to walk.’
‘I just carried you all the way from Dirgis. Fair is fair,
Sparhawk.’
He smiled. ‘Only teasing, Aphrael.’ He lifted her into his arms
and started through the forest toward town. ‘Where to?’ he
asked her.
‘The Atan barracks. Vanion says that Itagne’s there.’ She
frowned. ‘Oh, that’s really impossible!’ she burst out.
‘What’s wrong?’
‘Sir Anosian’s hopelessly inept. I can’t make any sense out of
what he’s saying.’
‘Where is he?’
‘At Samar. He’s trying to tell me about something Kring and
Tikume just discovered, but I’m only getting about every third
word. Why won’t the man concentrate on his studies?’
‘Anosian’s sort of – ah -‘
‘The word you’re looking for is “lazy”, Sparhawk.’
‘He likes to conserve his energy,’ Sparhawk defended his fellow
Pandion.
‘Of course he does.’ She frowned. ‘Stop a minute,’ she said.
‘What’s the matter?’
‘I just thought of something.’
‘What now?’
‘It just occurred to me that Tynian may have been a little
unselective when he was gathering those knights he brought
back from Chyrellos.’
‘He brought the best men he could lay his hands on.’
‘I think that’s the problem. I’ve been wondering why I haven’t
been getting any reports from Komier. I don’t think Tynian left
him a single Pandion who has any more skill than Anosian does.
There aren’t all that many of you who can reach out more than
a few leagues, and Tynian seems to have inadvertently commandeered
them all.’
‘Could you make any sense at all about what Anosian was
trying to tell you?’
‘It’s something about breathing. Somebody’s having problems
with it. I’ll run on down there after we talk with Itagne. Maybe
Anosian can be coherent if I’m in the same room with him.’
‘Be nice.’
They passed through the city gates and entered Sama. Sparhawk
carried the Child Goddess through the narrow streets to
the bleak stone fortress that housed the local Atan garrison.
They found the red-mantled Itagne in a large conference room
examining the map that covered one entire wall. ‘Ah, Itagne,’
Sparhawk said, ‘there you are.’ He set Flute down on her
feet. ‘i’m afraid you have the advantage of me, Sir -?’
‘It’s me, Itagne – Sparhawk.’
‘i’ll never get used to that,’ Itagne said. ‘I thought you were
in Beresa.’
‘I was – until yesterday.’
‘How did you get here so fast?’
Sparhawk laid his hand on Flute’s little shoulder. ‘Need you
ask?’
‘Oh. What brings you to Sama?’
‘Vanion ran into trouble out in the desert. He’s coming back.
He and Betuana are bringing Engessa in on a litter.’
‘Do you mean there’s somebody in this world big enough to
hurt Engessa?’
‘Perhaps not in this world, Itagne,’ Aphrael told him. ‘klael’s
brought in an army from someplace else. They’re very strange.
Vanion and Betuana should get here this afternoon. Then Betuana
has to go to Atan. How far is that?’
Itagne looked at the map. ‘Fifteen leagues.’
‘Good. It shouldn’t take her long, then. She has to get her
God’s permission for me to take Engessa to the island. The side
of his head’s been bashed in, and I can’t fix that here.’
‘Good God!’ Itagne exclaimed.
‘How nice of you to notice.’
He smiled faintly. ‘What else is going on?’ he asked
“Quite a bit,’ Sparhawk told him. ‘Zalasta tried to kill
Sephrenia. ‘
‘You’re not serious!’
‘i’m afraid so. We had to use Bhelliom to save her life.’