None of the three Skraelings spoke, and Isaiah continued.
“Ah, well, then, perhaps we can cover that later. The One has an uncertain location at the moment . . . you don’t wish to disclose this . . . no? Perhaps you don’t actually know? Well, never mind, we can leave that for later, as well. Now, to my purpose in meeting with you. I propose an alliance between you,” a wave of the hand indicated all the Skraelings, “and I, against the Lealfast and against the One.”
Ozll sniggered and a low wave of laughter twittered through the ranks of the Skraelings. Axis thought it sounded like an axe being grated slowly over a flagstoned floor.
Isaiah smiled slowly. “You ask yourselves why . . . well, may I relate to you something I have learned over the past day?”
“We are hungry,” Ozll said. “It has been a long time since our last eating. I hope you make this story a short one.”
The threat was clear, but Isaiah ignored it. “I shall make this story an entertaining one,” he said, “and revealing. Indeed, eventually I shall reveal to you how you came by your mystery names and what purpose they serve.”
“Speak no more of our mystery names!” Mallx said. “You have no —”
“I have every right,” Isaiah said, and now the threat had moved to his voice. Then he softened his tone. “And I am going to talk about water — a great deal. This also is my right. But first .
“Inardle here, whom you know, was injured recently. I had cause to examine her wounds. She had been attacked by her fellow Lealfast . . . well, not quite fellows, as they — as you — had been altered by their association with the One. Inardle’s attackers had tipped their arrows with poison, so that even if the strike did not kill her, the poison surely would within the day.
“At first, when I came to examine her, I thought I could do little for Inardle. But then . . . then . . . tell me, Ozll, you do know who I am . . . yes?”
Ozll stared at him. “You’re a god. Was . . . until the One stripped you of your powers.”
“Am a god,” Isaiah said, holding Ozll’s gaze, “for even the One could not strip me of my power permanently.”
Ozll’s thin strip of a mouth — as those of his companions — began to lift in a sneer, but Isaiah moved his hand over the ground between them.
It changed into a small pool of green water.
Ozll, Mallx and Pannh all leaped to their feet, stumbling backward, their faces contorted in horror, and the entire mass of Skraelings hissed and shifted.
Isaiah waved his hand again and the water vanished.
“I am water,” he said. “I am the essence of this element. Call me a god if you wish. But whatever you call me, I must be everything you hate and fear most.”
“Be rid of him!” someone hissed from the surrounding mass of Skraelings, and the cry was taken up among the multitude.
Be rid of him! Be rid of him!
Axis tensed, glancing at Inardle, and wondering if they would survive long if they made a run for it. Damn Isaiah! What was he doing!
“Raise one finger against me or my two companions,” Isaiah said quietly, “and I swear to the very heavens I will turn the ground beneath you into water.”
The Skraelings quietened, although they still moved restlessly.
And I would do it, Isaiah said to Axis, keeping the thought closed to all others, and if I did you would be astounded at what would happen, Axis.
Isaiah —
Trust me, Axis. When we leave here —
If we leave here.
— I will explain all. Just wait.
“Sit,” Isaiah said to the three leading Skraelings, and, very warily, they once again sat before Isaiah, Axis and Inardle.
“I was talking about Inardle,” Isaiah said. “I need to explain this to you, so please be patient. The sooner I can say what I need to, the sooner I can go home and eat. So . . . I was examining Inardle, thinking I could do nothing for her, when I realised that Inardle was quite special. She has much water within her. Not physical water as such, but the spiritual manifestation of water. Water has somehow been at the very essence of her creation — far, far back in time, through many tens of thousands of generations. So, as Water itself, I was able to heal her. I used the essence of water deep within Inardle to remove the poison from her body.
“Inardle is a very special woman. Very mystical, very magical. Axis, tell our assembled friends just how special.”
Axis wasted a moment gaping at Isaiah, then collected himself enough to speak.
“Isaiah is right,” he said, carefully not looking at Inardle. “Inardle is very special. She . . . she flows”
To one side Isaiah gave a small smile, and nodded.
“Inardle, like all Lealfast, can flow through the air,” Axis continued. “Almost become one with it. Vaporous. She frosts,” now he did glance at Inardle, “when she is in pain or when she is, ah, excited. Water coats her flesh in ice crystals. She has magic that I cannot understand. It does not come from the Icarii.”
“No,” said Isaiah. “What makes Inardle so very, very special does not come from her Icarii heritage, but from her Skraeling heritage. From you.”
Now the Skraelings stared at Isaiah, puzzled, their malformed faces creased by lines of doubt. They could not fathom that Isaiah might be about to make some positive statement about them.
No one ever did that.
“It is why you have mystery names,” Isaiah said, “from your mystery past. Tell me, my friends, from where did the Skraelings originate?”
“From the frozen northern wastes,” Pannh said.
“But from whom?” Isaiah said. “Who were the ancestors of the Skraelings? The Icarii boast a sparrow,” Isaiah threw a smile at Axis, “and the Lealfast can say that they resulted from a mating between an Icarii and a Skraeling, but from whom did you spring?”
“I am certain you must think it was something hateful,” Mallx said.
Then Isaiah spoke, and it was in a language that Axis had never heard before. It was the most beautiful sound he’d ever heard issue from someone’s mouth — liquid, lilting phrases that were almost, but not quite, the sound of woodland songbirds at dawn.
It absolutely captivated every last single Skraeling. The entire mass froze solid in surprise, or perhaps yearning.
Axis glanced at Inardle, to share his wonder with her, and was stunned to see the same astonishment, almost hunger, on her face as on the Skraelings’.
“Did you know what I just said?” Isaiah said.
Every Skraeling, as well as Inardle, shook their heads slowly. Axis had no idea what was happening, but he had never, in all his time, seen Skraelings so still and so captivated as he did now. He thought that if he had known whatever it was that Isaiah had just said, and spake it to the Skraeling hordes who had invaded and destroyed so much of Tencendor, then he could have stilled an entire army of them in an instant.
“Isaiah?” Inardle said, and there was deep hunger in her voice.
“I said, ‘Welcome home, my friends.’ I spoke in one of the most ancient languages of our world. Water.”
“What do you want?” Ozll almost growled. “Why do you taunt us?”
“I do not taunt you,” said Isaiah. “I am currently sitting here feeling the weight of aeons of guilt piling about my shoulders, because once I did you a great wrong, and it was simply that I forgot about you. I am going to right that wrong today, if you will allow me.”
“You owe us something?” Ozll said, more puzzled than ever.
“Yes,” Isaiah said. “I owe you something. Now, do not be afraid, for I am going to cast over everyone here a mild enchantment which will enable you to see back into the distant past. Do not fear. I do not mean to entrap you. Any of you can leave the enchantment at any time, by simply uttering a word. Any word, but it will still be enough to break the enchantment. Would you like to proceed?”
“It will not harm us?” Ozll said, and Isaiah shook his head, making his braids ripple in light and sound.
Axis thought the Skraeling would ask for more reassurance, but Ozll merely nodded.
“Go ahead,” he said.
“Imagine,” Isaiah said, “a time before there were any men or any Icarii or any Skraelings.”
His voice was soft, reassuring, though commanding, and Axis found himself looking into a landscape so foreign it appeared to be of a different world. Every Skraeling had vanished, and instead he saw a land of gently rolling low hills stretching into the horizon. The hills were carpeted in deep green moss, broken here and there with huddles of tiny cream and pink flowers. Breaking up this verdant landscape were myriad streams and rivers, glinting silver in the soft light.