Across the Face of the World (17 page)

Then the big man stood, pushing back his chair with a flourish to make room for his frame, and raised his arms over the five gath¬ered at his table like a giant bird of prey unfurling its wings. Suddenly Stella was reminded of the childish stories, and for a moment she could almost see lightning flashing from under those dark brows. The Sorcerer of Magic Mountain.

Her breath caught in sudden fright.

'Heed my words as I declare the wisdom of a Watcher of the seventh rank. You are simple villagers living at the edge of the world. You don't know what the real world is like. Don't make the mistake of thinkin' that your world is the real world. If I could show you just three of the real world's wonders, you would call me a trickster to my face. You are ignorant.

Unwise. Raw. Blind. Mark me! As soon as you think you know every thin', your doom is sealed. Put on humbleness like a ridin' cloak, put it on every morning, and be ready t' learn.'

Stella bristled as this oafish man lectured her and her friends, and glanced over at Kurr, waiting for the explosion of anger from the old farmer. Yet Kurr's eyes were attentive, and his manner, if not exactly humble, was at least charitable to Kroptur. Her own eyes widened a little in wonder.

The tall man with the stooped frame - he really did look like the Sorcerer of Magic Mountain

- kept his upraised hands hovering over the five travellers, and continued to speak. 'As you leave this little valley, you'll be leavin' the realm you know, the realm of your own eyes and ears, of your own doings, the realm of the flesh, and you'll be drawn into the Realm of Fire.

The Realm of Fire is where th' most important things happen, things you maybe can't see and hear, things you won't understand with your fleshly Loulea minds. I'm not rebukin' you! It's just that farming 'n' courtin' by the lake isn't the best trainin' for a journey into the Realm of Fire. A life in Loulea Vale teaches you t' read the signs in the sky, in the soil, in your stock, and to figure out what's going to happen to your crops. But it doesn't teach you how to read the signs in the Fiery Realm. Miracles there are in the Realm of Fire, and illu¬sion, and dreams, and prophecy to bind and to loose, and dark magic. Beware of magic, and the binding of the dark, but look for the miracles of the Most High.

'Yet, despite my best warnin', you travellers will disbelieve in the Realm of Fire. You are too long in the flesh. Whatever realm you believe in, that realm is the most real t' you.

Nonetheless, I foresee that the Most High will be trainin' you in the ways of the Fiery Realm.

Don't yet be stubborn. Weigh the evidence if y' must, but don't forget your humble cloak.'

All the while during this speech the Haufuth had sat with a puzzled expression on his face, which now stretched towards chagrin. 'What are you talking about?' he interrupted. 'Flesh and fire realms? I thought we were chasing a group of Bhrudwan warriors, trying to rescue Leith and Hal's mother and father. What about giving us some of your wisdom about that?' Kurr spluttered in the background. 'And while you're at it, how about telling us how to win over the Council of Faltha! We haven't got time to listen to lectures on magical kingdoms.' His voice finished on a slightly petulant note, but he kept his eyes raised, staring into those of the stooped man. You're braver than I, Stella thought wryly. But those are the words 1 would have said.

'So it's plain-spoken advice you want, is it? You want wisdom cut up and served on a plate?'

Kroptur growled, and Stella shiv¬ered at the steel that rang through the words. The broad country accent seemed to melt away as he spoke, leaving a sharpness that cut like knives; an almost visible menace seemed to hang about his shoulders like a cloak as he leaned towards the village headman. 'I've heard your name, and know you to be a newly raised Haufuth, younger than most, a man of logic and sense, but the full extent of your foolishness has been hidden from me. Listen to me, you fool man, and listen to me plain. Two thousand years the Destroyer has had, two thousand years and more, t' search out the dark secrets of the Realm of Fire and bend them to his use. Generation after generation is born and dies, and their know¬ledge and experience is lost, and mistakes have t' be made again and again. But not the Destroyer. Not the Undying Man. Cursed of the Most High is he! For the blessing of death has been taken from him, and he must live in the world forever, troubling the lives of men and women, findin' neither rest nor reward, never to be taken t' be with the Most High. Yet he has turned this curse into strength, and has harnessed the Realm of Fire to be his servant. Illusions he can weave to empty your bowels, words he can twist like knives in your belly, and the dark magic serves him like a slave! You fat fool! He could appear before you clothed in the disguise of a Watcher like me, and with his power he could force you to your knees, and you would beg to worship him!' The voice of the Watcher roared, and the Haufuth slipped from his chair, as though he was indeed about to fall to his knees. To Stella the man suddenly seemed the Sorcerer incarnate, ten feet tall with dark clouds wreathed about his beetling brows and light¬ning at his fingertips. She waited for the killing blow that would surely come, as the great Sorcerer destroyed the foolish one who dared to question him. Yet the tall, stooped man just laughed, and the spell broke.

'I forget that ye are indeed children, even thou, Kurr my valiant friend. Do you not see? 1 am just an old man, not the Sorcerer of Magic Mountain. Oh yes,' he laughed again, 'I know what they all say. Yet if the merest amount of illusion serves t' cow you, how will you defend yourselves against the dark servants of the Destroyer, who are equipped more mightily than I?

Do you not see? This journey is a requirement of your training. Why have Mahnum and Indrett been taken? How else can the Most High draw you out of your ignorance and set your feet on His ordained path? And how can you learn what you need to know unless first you are told the class is in session? So why do you not listen?'

'I -1...' the Haufuth stuttered. 'How did you do that? I thought for a moment...'

'You are a very suggestible man, despite your logic and your sense,' said Kroptur, with a wry smile on his face. 'The legend of the Sorcerer who lives up Magic Mountain is known throughout the North March. I should know: the Watchers of Watch Hill have cultivated it like a box hedge for generations. It helps t' keep nosy people away. So all I had to do was put on a certain expres-sion, stand in a particular way, and change my voice a little. All of a sudden, it was the Sorcerer who stood before you. You all saw it?'

Five heads nodded.

'Is that all there was to it?' the Haufuth said faintly, licking his lips.

'Well, perhaps not, but I am old and experienced and ye are young and suggestible.'

'Is that how all the scary stories start?' Leith asked. 'Just clever suggestion and people's imaginations running away with them?'

Kroptur turned and stared at him, and Leith thought he saw something odd in the man's eyes for a moment, something ... he could not say what it was. 'No. Illusion is only one of th'

flames of the Realm of Fire, and it is the least of them. There are three flames of Fire: Illusion, Word and Power. Which is enough for you to know, though before this is all finished I'm thinkin' you'll know more than Kroptur the Watcher, and more than you care to know.

'Now, of course I'm goin' to help you get Mahnum and Indrett back. And I will do what little I can to help you with the council behind the Iron Door, though what I can do beyond prattlin'

on, giving advice -' here he turned his sharp dark eyes on the Haufuth - 'I do not know, because I've heard nothin' from the Watchers of Instruere for years now, nigh on a decade.

Still, I can send messages, and pray that the people I send them to are still alive, and still have their wits about 'em.'

The tall man turned back to Leith and Hal. 'As for your parents, I have already acted. While you slept last night, I 'quipped and sent a rider along the road, a Watcher of the third rank, a man under my command, a man who can be trusted with secrets. He knows somethin' of the Realm of Fire, and will not be caught in th' first snare laid across his path. As soon as he receives news of the Bhrudwans he will return down the Westway. When you meet him, he will tell you his news. May he travel swiftly!'

Kroptur turned his face towards the door. 'It is time for you to leave. I have given you horses, the best I have. Kurr will teach you how to look after them. In the saddlebags you'll find food for your journey, and extra clothes for the Fells, on the evil chance that the chase should take you there. While you have been break -fastin', my servants have placed ridin' gear in your rooms. The horsemen are at least three days ahead of you, and you'll find it difficult to gain on them. Expect to be in the saddle many days an' you'll not be disappointed. Go now, and prepare for your journey. You do not have much time.'

* * *

Preparations for their departure took a little longer than expected. Kroptur's servants had laid out a set of clothes each for them, grey clothes of an old style, which he assured them would provide better protection against the winter winds than anything else they might have. He reminded them that the journey was to take them inland, through country far colder than anywhere on the coast. Then, when they had packed these clothes, they had some trouble organ¬ising their horses. The Haufuth, of course, required a mount of his own, while initially Kurr was to share a horse with Hal, and Leith with Stella, while the fourth horse was to be a pack animal. Embarrassed, Leith had asked to ride with his brother, but would provide no reason when pressed. The others had given in to his wishes, a little puzzled, but only Hal guessed the reason for Leith's reluctance.

A few minutes before the Travellers were to leave, the Watcher of Watch Hill drew Leith and Hal aside. 'My heart tells me that you two are goin' t' face hard times ahead,' he said. His voice was not stern or commanding, yet Leith felt unable to draw his atten¬tion away from the words. 'This is not a foretelling, just a feelin'. Still, somedays I'm not assured of the difference.'

'Tell us more of this Realm of Fire,' Leith said. 'Can it help us get my parents back?'

'Well, now, son, the Realm of Fire isn't like that. Ye mustn't reach out and twist the Fire to suit yourself. That's the way of the dark. All ye can do is be in the place where the Fire of the Most High strikes the earth, and see how it might aid ye. Leastwise, that's how I think of it.

Other people have different ways of expressin' it, perhaps.

'Now, I know this sounds mystical, which perhaps isn't all that surprisin', considerin' who's doin' the telling. It's just a way of thinkin' about things, useful if you see it, useless if ye don't.

Listen as I speak plain. The Realm of Fire has many aspects, some of which are hidden from the world of men. But three of them we Watchers know well, and you will encounter them on your road, should ye have eyes to see. The first is Illusion. One skilled in the shaping of Illusions can make suggestions to the gullible minds of others, causin' them to see what is not there, or hidin' what is. The strength of an illusion depends on the belief of those who see it, and on the subtlety of the one weavin' the web. The walkers in both the dark and the light can make use of it, though it needs a canny and creative mind, attributes not usually cultivated by dark-dwellers.

'The second aspect is the Word. Usin' the Word requires strength of purpose and an iron will.

There are some who can weave the real meanin' of their mind into their ordinary speech, sayin' one thing and communicatin' another. This is not really my area, you might be surprised t' learn,' and he grinned at them. 'This enchantment is called the "wordweave", and is most amenable to the corruption of the dark, bein' mostwise based on deception. Another manifestation of the Word is Prophecy, where fancy words are used to cloak messages about the future in mystery. Now there's a good reason why we do this. Were we always t' speak plain, the hearers might understand the message too soon, and change their actions thereby.

'The third and highest aspect of the Realm of Fire is Power, but it goes by two names. To the unholy it is magic, and is wrapped in darkness, the stuff that fills our folk tales. It is the dark part of the realm, and only followers of the shadowed path use it. Now here's why. Magic is the binding of others through the will of the user, takin' flames from the Fire and using 'em like ropes. That's the nearest I c'n get to it. It's not like Illusion, because it actually changes things. But unbeknown to the servants of the dark, the power of magic is mostwise drawn from the souls of those who practise it. And they wonder why magicians die young, many from a wasting disease, which eats 'em out from the inside. Fools! Scars they get, I've seem

'em, gruesome they are, on their face and hands, the mark of a magician. The high priests of the dark, the Lords of Fear, they know about it. I don't want to talk about it. The Most High forbids the use of magic, even for good.

'The second name of this aspect is Miracle. Now listen to me plain: this is the sole preserve of the light. Darkness cannot touch it. Ye take a step of faith, a risk, and trigger the power of the Most High. His power, not yours. But there is one rule. Miracles only happen when y' have done all ye can, not before. Ye can ask for them, but ye might not get. But sometimes ye do.

Sometimes they come without askin'. Oftentimes they can be explained by natural happenings, which perhaps they are, though timed just right. Above all, they are rare. Now, mark me! There's one name for the man who claims to do miracles regularly, and that name is liar. Run from such a man.

'All three aspects ye will encounter on your journeys, this I foretell,' said Kroptur, staring at them intently all the while. 'Illusion, Word and Power. But will ye really see them? More to the purpose, will you be ready to do what is necessary? On their own, these powers cannot rescue your parents. But you can, and maybe you will need to use them. 1 think you will need to use them.

'Oh, yes,' said the Sorcerer of Watch Hill, seemingly as an after¬thought. His gaze seemed to narrow to two bright points of light. 'One thing more. Answer me this question. Do ye two boys love each other?'