said crisply. ‘A great deal has happened since the last time we
were all together like this.’
‘And all of it bad,’ Itagne added in a gloomy voiCe.
‘Not entirely,’ she said. ‘The worst of it is that Klael ambushed
the Church Knights in the mountains of Zemoch. He had those
strange soldiers with him, and our friends lost almost half their
number in killed and wounded.’
‘Good God.’ Itagne groaned.
Since Sparhawk already knew the details of recent events, he
decided to clear up the mystery of klael’s soldiers once and for
all. He touched his fingertips to the bulge under his tunic. ‘Blue
Rose,’ he said in the silence of his mind.
‘I hear thee, Anakha.’
‘Our friends have encountered klael again. He hath brought
warriors here from some other place.’
‘It was not unexpected. Klael is unsuited to direct engagement
with humans by reason of his size.’
‘We are like mice in his eyes?’ Sparhawk surmised.
‘Thou dost wrong thyself, Anakha.’
‘Perhaps. These soldiers are not of this world, methinks. TheiR
blood is yellow and their faces are much like klael’s face.’
‘Ah,’ the voice said. ‘Thou wilt recall that I once told thee that
it is customary for Klael and me to contest with each other for
possession of the various worlds I have caused to be?’
‘Yes.’
‘It pains me to admit this, Anakha, but I have not always
prevailed in these contests. klael hath wrested some of my
worlds from me. It is from one of those worlds – Arcera would
be my surmise – that he hath brought these creatures which
thou and thy companions have met.’
‘They are fearsome, Blue Rose, but not invincible. We have
noted some evidence of distress in them during prolonged
sojourns here.’
‘I would be surprised hadst thou not. The air of Arcera would
sear thy lungs shouldst thou take but one breath of it. The air
of this world is so sweet and wholesome that it may be most
simply assimilated by thy kind and other creatures here. The
creatures of Arcera are not so fortunate. Their means of assimilating
the noxious miasmas of their home are far more complex
than thy simple means of suspiration. Moreover, that which
would be lethal to thee hath become necessary for them. I am
certain that they find thine air thin and unsatisfying by comparison.’
‘And deadly?’ Sparhawk pressed.
‘In time, most certainly.’
‘Wouldst thou venture a surmise as to how much time it might
take our air to kill them?’
‘Thou art savage, Anakha.’
‘I am outnumbered, Blue Rose. The warriors of klael put our
cause in direst peril. We Must know how long they can survive
here. ‘
‘That will vary from warrior to warrior. No more than a day,
certainly, and exertion will hasten the process.
‘I thank thee, Blue Rose. My companions and I will devise
tactics to use this information to best advantage.’
‘Pay attention, Sparhawk,’ Aphrael told him.
‘Sorry,’ he apologized. ‘I was conferring with our friend.’ He
patted the bulge at his front. He looked at Vanion. ‘I picked up
some more information about the weakness of Klael’s soldiers,’
he said. ‘You and I need to work out some tactics.’
Vanion nodded.
‘Are you sure Berit and Khalad are all right?’ Sephrenia asked
the little girl.
Aphrael nodded. ‘Zalasta doesn’t want us to know that he’s
found out that we were deceiving him. He’s given orders to
everyone to behave as if nothing’s happened.’ She thought a
moment. ‘I guess that’s about all,’ she said. ‘Bergsten’s coming
across the steppes, Kalten, Bevier, and Caalador are already in
Natayos, and Ulath, Tynian and their pet Troll will be there
before long. ‘
‘Can you get word to the Emperor?’ Itagne asked her. ‘He
should know that the King of Arjuna’s in league with Scarpa.’
‘i’ll take care of it,’ she promised. Then she frowned slightly
‘Sephrenia,’ she said, ‘have you been giving Stragen instruction
in the secrets?’
‘No, why?’
‘He cast the spell of the secret summoning. He didn’t do it
very well, but he got my attention.’
‘How in God’s name did he learn that?’ Vanion exclaimed,
still holding Sephrenia in his arms.
‘Probably from watching the rest of you. Stragen’s very quick,
and he does speak Styric. Stealing secrets is almost the same as
picking pockets, I guess. Anyway, it was Stragen who told me
about Scarpa’s other forts. He and Talen are planting false stories
with that Dacite in order to confuse the other side.’
‘Methinks it is time for me to go to Natayos,’ Xanetia said.
‘We must verify the presence there of Anakha’s Queen and make
preparations for her rescue.’
‘Before Zalasta tries to move her,’ Sparhawk added. ‘i’d better
go along as well. The others are there already, and Kalten might
need a firm hand to keep him from doing anything rash. Besides,
if Ehlana and Alcan are there, we might just as well pull them
out of danger. Then I’ll disperse Scarpa’s army and we’ll go have
a talk with Cyrgon.’
‘And Zalasta,’ Vanion added bleaklly.
‘Oh, by the way,’ Aphrael said, ‘is anybody keeping a list of
the people we want to do things about? If you are, you can
scratch off Baron Parok’s name.’
‘Did Ulath kill him?’ Sparhawk guessed.
‘He isn’t dead, Sparhawk. As a matter of fact, he’s going to
live forever. You’ll never find him, though. Khwaj was getting
impatient, and he started pushing Ulath and Tynian for infornation
about the people who’d abducted Ehlana. They gave him
Parok.’
‘What happened?’ Itagne asked.
‘Ghnomb froze time.’ She shrugged. ‘Then Khwaj set fire to
Parok. He’s completely engulfed in flame. He’s still running,
and he’ll run – and burn – in that empty, unmoving instant for
all eternity.’
‘Dear God!’ Itagne choked in horror.
‘i’ll pass that on to Khwaj, Itagne,’ the Child Goddess
promised. ‘i’m sure he’ll be pleased that you approve.’
it was cool and dry and the sky was peculiarly grey. Tynian
and ulath rode out of Arjun in frozen time with Bhlokw shambling
between their horses. ‘How long would you say it’s
going to take us to reach Natayos?’ Tynian asked.
‘I don’t know – couple of seconds,
Ulath replied,
“very funny.’
‘I rather liked it.’ Ulath looked up at the flock of birds hanging
in mid-air overhead. ‘I wonder if a man ages at all when he’s
walking around in this No-Time.’
I don’t know. You could go ask Baron Parok, I suppose.’
‘I doubt that he’d be very coherent.’ Ulath scratched at one
bearded cheek. ‘i’m definitely going to shave this thing off, and
ifGerda doesn’t like it, that’s just too bad.’ Then he thought of
something he had been meaning to ask their shaggy friend.
‘Bhlokw,’ he said.
“yes, U-lat?’
‘It makes us sad that our hunt takes us to the lands of the sun
where the heat causes hurt to you. ‘
‘It causes no hurt to me, U-lat. There is no heat or cold in
NoTime. ‘
Ulath stared at him. ‘You are sure?’ he asked incredulously.
‘Do you feel heat?’ Bhlokw asked simply.
‘No,’ Ulath admitted, ‘I do not. It had been my thought -‘ He
broke off, frowning and trying to frame his next question in
coherent Trollish. ‘We were far to the north when you and your
pack-mates ate the children of Cyrgon who were both dead and
not dead.’
“yes..It was north from where we are now.’
Then Ghnomb took you and your pack-mates into No-Time.’
“yes.’
Then Ghworg led you to the landq of the sun.’
“yes.’
There was no hurt caused to you when he did this?’
‘No. The hurt was caused by the things that were not how
should be.’
Which things were not how they should be?’
‘All of the Trolls were one pack. This is not how it should be.
‘troll-packs do not have so many. It is not a good way to hunt.’
Bloque rubbed at his shaggy fare with one massive paw. ‘We
did not hunt this way when we were in the Troll-range where
we are supposed to be. My thought was that Ghworg’s mind
was sick when he came to us and told us to cross the ice-whichnever
-melts to come to this place. It was not Ghworg who did
this. It was Cyrgon. Cyrgon had made himself to look like
Ghworg and spoke in Ghworg’s voice. It was my mind which
was sick. My thought should have told me that it was not
Ghworg.’
‘Does it cause hurt to you that the Trolls are all one pack?’
‘Much hurt, U-lat. I do not like it when things are not how
they should be. I have known Grek for many snows. His pack
hunts near my pack in the Troll-range. I do not like Grek. It has
been in my thought for the past two snows to kill him. Ghworg
will not let me kill him. This causes hurt to me.’