Across the Face of the World (60 page)

'Similar murmurs spread out across the meeting. "Perhaps Qali sends these hard winters for our protection!" said one. "If I have to choose between Qali and humans, I choose Qali," said another. "They dam us and drain us," said a third. "They tunnel us and level us," growled a fourth. "They hunt us and kill us," still another said, "and then they discard our bodies without making use of them. Death to the humans!"

'"Death to,the humans!" rang out the cry.

'Seeing how the land lay, the representative of the humans tried to escape, but rough hands held him fast. Eyes filled with terror, he struggled against his captors.

'"Hunt him! Trap him! Tunnel him! Drain him!" cried the fren¬zied crowd. Qali was completely forgotten as the crowd descended on the unfortunate human and tore him limb from limb, scattering his bones across the valley.

'"Very good, very good!" came a deep voice from behind them, cutting across their celebrations. The inhabitants turned to see where the voice came from.

'It was Styggesbreen himself, the vast glacier of the Grossbergen, who had crept quietly down the valley to listen and to observe the meeting of those plotting against Qali, his master. "Very good, very good!" he repeated, his deep voice rumbling across the open space, loosening a few rocks and sending some of the more nervous animals skittering away. "Qali will be pleased to hear about this demonstration of loyalty. His hatred of humans exceeds even yours!

Perhaps he might relent a little when he is told about the love his subjects have for him!"

'The members of the meeting were encouraged by this news, and went their separate ways filled with hope. Styggesbreen watched them go, satisfied with his work. He knew that Qali would never relent, and Styggesbreen himself, who fed on snow and ice, wanted his god to make the winters even harsher.

'That night Qali came to talk with his trusted servant, and Styggesbreen told him what had transpired. The wrath of Qali was kindled when he heard about the purpose of the meeting, and was not assuaged by news of its outcome. The two conspirators talked together far into the night, their cold breath mixing and sending a dense fog rolling down to the wide coastal plain.

'The humans awaited in vain the return of their ambassador. "What has happened?" they asked themselves. Finally they decided to send a spy to learn of his fate.

'Up through the thick fog he went, unobserved by the inhab¬itants of the land. Finally he arrived at the Valley of Meeting, but he could find no sign of his friend. As he was about to leave, a deep, cold voice spoke, saying: "Do you search for the human who attended the meeting here? Then search no longer; he is dead. See, here are his bones."

'The man knelt down by the bones of his friend and wept. "Who did this thing?" he asked the great ice tongue.

'"It was the inhabitants of the land," came the reply. "Their hatred of humans knows no bounds, and they seek to rid even the southern lands of your kind. Why, I heard them plotting an attack on you. They want to drive you into the sea." Styggesbreen smiled as he watched his lies take effect.

'The man thanked the glacier for the information, then scur¬ried back to the others under cover of darkness. That night Styggesbreen reported to Qali on the success of their ruse.

"With any luck the humans will do battle with the inhabitants of the land, and we will be rid of both," the ice tongue said. Qali laughed in reply.

'Indeed, the very next day, a vast army came up from the south. Rank upon rank, they marched across the treeless plains, seeking those who would plot their destruction. News of the army reached the inhabitants of the land, who sent forth spies. "They stretch from east to west, from the mountains to the sea," the spies reported. "No one can stand against them."

'The inhabitants of the land fled in fear, crying out to their god as they ran. Qali was driven to rage as he realised his plan had failed, and the land was about to be occupied by humans.

'So the great snow god summoned the north wind, laced him with shards from the vast ice plateau of the north, and sent him south with specific instructions. And so it was that the north wind came cruelly against the vast army, and they met in the midst of the treeless plains. The men of the south resisted valiantly, but they were no match for the merciless north wind, and were frozen solid where they stood.

'Then the great god Qali appeared amongst his subjects and cried: "Behold the forest of the north!" and his laughter echoed around the valleys and hills for a day and a half, until the inhab¬itants of the land had to stop their ears for fear of being deafened. When the laughter had ceased they looked upon the vast army, and behold! there was indeed a huge forest where once had lain open land, each human having sprouted roots and branches. Then the inhabitants of the land rejoiced, for it seemed to them their enemy had been destroyed.

'But the power of their god, though great, was limited, and he had not succeeded in entrapping all of the human army. Many of the southernmost ranks escaped the freezing blast of the north wind, and returned to the south with their sorrowful news. A new determination was made to conquer the lands of the north, in spite of the hardships. "After all, our brothers offer us shelter from the blasts of Qali, and wood for home and hearth." So it was agreed that the next invasion would be stealthier, so as not to stir up the full wrath of the northern god.

'The inhabitants of the land explored the new forest. They found that the trees offered them shelter, and they began to multiply under the protection of the frozen army. When he heard about this, Qali was enraged beyond measure and sent his fiercest wintry blast against the forest. But the forest protected its new inhabitants, animal and human alike, and Qali could not touch them. Moreover, the warm forest breath began to loosen Qali's grip on the land. The north wind retreated, the vast ice plateau began to melt at the edges, and a great thaw set in.

'Qali raged up and down his domain looking for weapons to hurl against the new forest, but his hand found none. Then, his rage tempered with fear at the power of the humans, he retreated to his fastness at Myrvidda, which even humans had not yet succeeded in penetrating. As he retreated, the great snow god with¬drew his power from the Grossbergen, seeking to punish Styggesbreen for his part in the failed plan. From that day on, the great ice tongue has been melting, shrinking up the valley towards its source in the mountains.'

That evening the Company gave voice to a number of campfire songs, and Perdu and Parlevaag essayed a few Fenni dances around the blazing fire. When the hilarity had died down along with the flames, the members of the Company settled down to a good night's sleep, the nagging fear that had been their portion since the begin¬ning of their adventure eased a little by the story Parlevaag had told them.

The low cloud cleared and the stars came out, chased across the sky by a waxing moon. The others were all asleep, but that particular avenue of escape into forgetfulness continued to elude Indrett, so she rose and, wrapping her now-dry cloak around her, went for a walk to clear her head of ominous thoughts.

The others mourn over loved ones lost or separated, and their grief will surely pass, she thought bitterly. But my grief is just beginning. Leith is lost, taken by a nameless enemy, and my husband is gone in pursuit of him. 1 wish he had stayed with me! Or that he had taken me with him! Now 1 have lost two of the three keepers of my heart. Oh, why, why, why do such things happen? Where have the happy times gone? And she sat down on a rock some distance from the fallen tree and the fire, and shed bitter tears for the loss in her life.

When Indrett came to herself again, she noticed a deep red glow all about her. Standing, she saw in the northern sky her familiar friend the Kleitaf Northr, the Northern Lights, spread across the horizon, a shimmering, pulsating curtain of light.

'Are you my answer?' she asked the lights aloud. There came no reply, of course, but the glow deepened further and suffused the landscape with a cheering light. 'Thank you for coming to comfort me,' she said, as the lights reached their zenith and then began to fade. 'Thank you.

You've never let me down.'

She thought of the time in her own childhood when her mother had died and left her in the care of her father. On many nights during that dark and wretched period of her life she had climbed up to the roof, partly to escape his attentions, partly to watch her friend the Northern Lights dance for her and warm her frightened little heart. Then her father had sent her to the Court of the Firanese King and she had not seen the lights for a long time, while her own star had risen in the Court. A thing of beauty she was then, radiating a light of her own, a brilliant but cold light that no man could be warmed by. Until a northern Trader had happened by and warmed her with his own gentle light, given freely and without fear. She had gone with him to the obscurity of a northern village, escaping the memories of her childhood in Rammr, and drawing closer to her friend the Northern Lights.

But in those years of happiness she ceased to look for the lights, content instead to gain all her light from her husband and latterly her children. For a long while this contented her, but after many years had passed she found herself looking to the mountainous northern and eastern horizons, as though expecting something. A great longing had reawakened within her and she had realised that no matter how excellent a husband she had found, he did not satisfy all her needs. For a while, she had buried her dissatisfac¬tion under the cares of life and the demands of the moment, but her heart would not be deceived. And eventually Mahnum had noticed her discontent.

They had discussed it one day, but she had not found words sufficient to convey her need, and she was not yet able to tell him of those bleak years of her childhood. So he had been unable to help her, returning instead to the demands of his own calling. And then had come the fateful day when he was called away on the King's business, taking the light with him.

As she watched the last of Kleitaf Northr fade away, Indrett realised that it was not Mahnum she wanted, not really. Yes, she loved him with a comfortable familiarity, but that was not the reason she had fallen for him all those years ago. With a sick feeling that seemed to root itself within her, she admitted the truth to herself. She had seen Mahnum as a way of escape. A way to put behind her the gossip and the pity and the memory of that face and the powerlessness and the nights that would never end.

Her life had been defined by what had been done to her, she knew that. From the time she had been old enough to feel shame, Indrett had vowed never to use another person as she had been used. But the vow had not been enough; she had used the man she married merely as a way to make a fresh start. And now, as her husband sought to rescue their son, all she felt was shameful and selfish. Child of her father.

Yet the fading remnants of the Northern Lights did not judge her. She still felt their warmth.

'My friends,' she whispered, as the lights vanished, 'my true friends, goodbye. I will not forget you again.'

Pale pre-dawn fingers stretched westwards across the diamond-studded carpet of night as Indrett finally took leave of the rock where she had sat for so long. Above her, star after star was absorbed into the vast light of day, and the message was not lost on her. She rose and stretched aching muscles, rubbing away the pain from her right elbow where the Bhrudwans had struck her. It's funny how the pain they inflicted never went below the surface, she reflected.

There was movement back at the campsite. Indrett frowned; it was early even for Hal to get up, but someone moved quietly amongst their packs. Not Hal, there was no limp. Puzzled, she pressed forward. She was perhaps fifty yards from the campsite when the figure stood, something - a sword - in its hand. The head was turned away, but the cowling was unmistakable.

Indrett gave herself no time to become frightened. For the merest of moments she considered shouting a warning, but she held her tongue at the thought of what the alerted Bhrudwan might do to the defenceless Company as they struggled to waken. Instead, she immediately ducked out of his line of sight, thankful that the chattering sounds of running water masked her scrabbling around in the trees, looking for anything that might pass for a weapon. Rocks, branches, there were plenty of both. She grabbed a hefty stick and a particularly wicked looking rock, and looked for cover.

Ahead the grey shape continued to rummage amongst the possessions of the Company. Indrett wondered how much more time she had before the Acolyte decided to use the sword. She flitted frantically from tree to tree, trying to keep in the shadowy gloom as the forest brightened in the dawn. Now she was within ten yards of the menacing figure.

One of the prone forms stirred in its sleep, then groaned as it awakened on the hard ground.

The Acolyte whipped around, a bag filled with provisions in one hand, sword in the other.

Too late, Indrett darted forward from behind a tree. As she ran, she saw with horror the Acolyte raise his sword arm, then cut down¬wards with shocking force at the stirring shape on the ground, the sword making contact with a thud. The Bhrudwan withdrew his weapon, then turned and made to escape. A moment later Indrett burst into the camp, stick in one hand, rock in the other.

The Acolyte swung around to face her, his cowl swept back, arrogantly confident, not a single betrayal of surprise marring his hard features. With a fluid motion, he sprang forward and struck at Indrett. She twisted away and the blade struck her a sharp but glancing blow across her forearm. The frightened woman dropped the rock with a cry of pain.

Again the sword bit through the air, but this time the cry came from the Bhrudwan, a cry of anger as Indrett parried his blow with her stick. He made to strike again, but with the stirring in the camp he decided to abandon his attack. Without taking his eyes from Indrett, he stepped backwards and picked up the provisions he had let fall. Then he spun around to make his escape, but turned directly into the rock Indrett had dropped, held in the waiting hand of Farr.