‘It will not be this way always, Bhlokw,’ Ulath said consolingly.
‘after we have killed all of Cyrgon’s children, the Gods
Will take the Trolls back to the Troll-range. Then things will be
how they should be again.’
‘It will make me glad when they are. I would really like to kill
Grek.’ Bhlokw shambled away mournfully.
‘What was that all about?’ Tynian asked.
‘i’m not sure,’ Ulath admitted. ‘i’m groping around the edges
of something here. I know it’s right in front of me, but I can’t
put my finger on it.’
‘For the moment, let’s just hope that the Troll-Gods can control
the homicidal impulses of their children,’ Tynian said fervently.
‘Trollicidal,’ Ulath corrected.
‘What?’
‘You said “homicidal”. Bhlokw wants to kill Grek. Grek’s a
Troll. The right word would be “Trollicidal”.’
‘That’s petty quibbling, Ulath.’
‘Right is right, Tynian,’ Ulath replied in a faintly injured
tone.
It was still quite early the next morning when Aphrael returned
from Sama. The sky to the east was lit With the pale approach
of day, even though the moon still held sway above the western
horizon.
Sparhawk and Xanetia had been waiting for no more than half
an hour when they heard the familiar trill of Flute’s pipes coming
from back in the dark forest.
‘That was quick,’ Sparhawk said as the Child Goddess joined
them.
‘It’s not as if Sama were on the other side of the continent,
Sparhawk,’ she replied. ‘I got them all settled in.’ She smiled.
‘Vanion’s being a pest. He was trying to make Sephrenia go to
bed when I left.’
‘She has been very ill, Aphrael,’ he reminded her.
‘But she isn’t now. She needs to be up and moving about
Turn your backs.’
Xanetia looked puzzled.
‘It’s one of her quirks,’ Sparhawk explained. ‘She doesn’t want
people watching while she changes.’ He looked at the Child
Goddess. ‘Don’t forget the clothes this time, Aphrael,’ he told
her. ‘Let’s not offend the Anarae.’
‘You’re so tiresome about that, Sparhawk. Now please turn
around. ‘
It only took a few moments. ‘All right,’ Aphrael said. They
turned. Sparhawk noted the Goddess was once again garbed in
that satiny white robe.
‘Thou art fair beyond description, Divine One,’ Xanetia said
Aphrael shrugged. ‘I cheat a lot. Do you trust me, Anarae?’
‘With my life, Divine Aphrael.’
‘I hope you’re taking notes, Sparhawk.’
‘Have you arranged for some noise to hide what you’re doing
from Zalasta?’
‘I don’t have to. Xanetia’s coming along, and her presence
will conceal everything.’
‘I suppose I hadn’t thought of that,’ he admitted.
‘Now then, Anarae,’ Aphrael explained, ‘we’re all going to
hold ‘hands. Then we’ll rise up into the air. It’s really better if
you don’t look down. As soon as we get above the tops of these
mountains, we’ll start moving. You won’t feel any wind or sense
of movement. just hold onto my hand and try to think of something
else. It won’t take very long.’ She squinted toward the
eastern horizon. ‘We’d better get started. I’d like to get us to
Natayos and into a good hiding place before Scarpa’s soldiers
start stirring around.’ She held out her hands, and Sparhawk
and Xanetia took them.
Sparhawk steeled himself and watched the ground rapidly
receding as they rose swiftly toward the dawn sky.
You’re squeezing, Sparhawk,’ Aphrael told him.
He looked at Xanetia.
‘Sorry. I’m still not entirely used to this.”
The Anarae, all aglow, was a picture of absolute serenity as they
rose higher and higher.
‘The world is fair,’ she said softly with a note of wonder in
her voice. ‘if you get high so that you can’t see the ugliness.’ Aphrael
smiled. ‘I come up here to think now and then. It’s one place
where I can be fairly sure I won’t be interrupted.’ She took a
bearing on the newly risen sun, which had seemed almost to
rush up into the sky as they rose, set her face resolutely toward
the southeast and gave a peculiar little nod.
The earth beneath began to flow smoothly, rushing toward
them from the front and receding just as rapidly behind.
‘It seemeth me a merry way to travel,’ Xanetia observed.
‘i’ve always rather liked it,’ Aphrael agreed. ‘It’s certainly faster
than plodding along on horseback.’
They fled southeasterly with an eerie kind of silence around
them. ‘The Sea of Arjun,’ Sparhawk said, pointing toward a large
body of water off to the right.
‘So small?’ Xanetia said. ‘I had thought it larger.’
‘We’re up’ quite a ways,’ Aphrael explained. ‘Everything looks
small from a distance.’
They sped on and were soon over the dense green jungle that
covered the southeastern coast of the continent.
‘We’ll go down a bit now,’ Aphrael warned. ‘i’ll take a bearing
on Delo, and then we’ll swerve toward the southwest to reach
Natayos.’
‘Will we not be seen from the ground?’ Xanetia asked.
‘No – although it’s an interesting idea. Your light would definitely
startle people. Whole new religions could be born if people
on the ground started seeing angels flying over their heads.
There’s Delo. ‘
The port city looked like a child’s toy carelessly left on the
shore of the deep blue Tamul Sea. They veered to the southwest,
following the coastline and gradually descending.
Aphrael was peering intently down at the jungle rushing back
beneath them. ‘There,’ she said triumphantly.
The ruin might have been more difficult to find had not the
northern quarter been cleared of the brush and trees which
covered the rest of the ancient city. The tumbled grey stones of
the half-fallen buildings stood out sharply in the light of the
sunrise, and the newly cleared road stretching toward the north
was a yellow scar cut deeply into the face of the dark green of
the jungle.
They settled gently to earth on the road about a quarter of a
mile north of the ruins, and Sparhawk immediately led them
back a hundred paces into the thick undergrowth. He was tense
with excitement. If Kalten was right, he was less than a mile
from the place where Ehlana was being held captive.
‘Go ahead, Xanetia,’ Aphrael suggested. ‘I want to look you
over before you go into the city. This is important, but I don’t
want to put you in any danger. Let’s be sure nobody can see
you. ‘
‘Thou art overly concerned, Divine One. Over the centurieS,
we of the Delphae have perfected this particular subterfuge.’
She straightened, and her face assumed an expression of almost
unnatural calm. Her form seemed to shimmer, and little rainbow
flickers of light seethed beneath her plain homespun robe. She
blurred and wavered, her form becoming indistinct.
Then she was only an outline, and Sparhawk could clearly
see the trunk of the tree behind her.
‘How do you make the things on the other side of you visible?’
Aphrael asked curiously.
‘We bend the light, Divine One. That is at the core of this
deception. The light flows around us like a swift-moving stream,
carrying with it the images of such objects as our bodies would
normally obscure.’
‘Very interesting,’ Aphrael mused. ‘I hadn’t even thought of
that possibility.’
‘We must be wary, however,’ Xanetia told the Goddess. ‘Our
shadows, like telltale ghosts, can betray us.’
‘That’s simple. Stay out of the sunlight.’
Sparhawk concealed a faint smile. Even a Goddess could give
blatantly obvious instructions sometimes.
‘I shall most carefully adhere to thine advice, Divine One,’
Xanetia replied with an absolutely straight face.
‘You’re making fun of me, aren’t you, Xanetia?’
‘Of course not, Divine Aphrael.’ Even the outline was gone
now, and Xanetia’s voice seemed to come out of nowhere. ‘To
work, withal,’ she said, her sourceless voice receding in the
direction of the road. ‘I shall return anon.’
‘i’ll have to compliment Edaemus,’ Aphrael said. ‘That’s a
very clever means of concealment. Turn around, Sparhawk. I’m
going to change back.’
After the Child Goddess had resumed the familiar form of
Flute, she and Sparhawk made themselves comfortable and
waited as the sun gradually rose. The jungle steamed, and the
air was alive with the chattering of birds and the buzzing of
insects. The moments seemed to drag. They were so close to
Ehlana that Sparhawk almost imagined that he could smell her
familiar fragrance. ‘Are Ulath and Tynian here yet?’ he asked,
more to get his mind away from his anxious concern than out
of any real curiosity.
‘Probably,’ Flute replied. ‘They set out from Arjun yesterday
morning. It might have seemed like three weeks to them, but it
was no more than a heartbeat for everybody else.
‘I wonder if they stayed in No-Time or just merged into
Scarpa’s army.’
‘It’s hard to say. Maybe I should have checked before Xanetia
left.’ Then they heard several men talking on the road. Sparhawk
crept closer, with Aphrael just behind him.
‘Because I don’t trust these soldiers, Col,’ a rough-looking
fellow was saying to a blond Elene.