D & D - Red Sands (30 page)

"Is there nothing left for me?" Tamakh exclaimed.

"He's under a delusion," Jadira said. "He thinks I'm someone else." She carefully, but firmly, removed her arm from his grasp.

"Laviya," said the priest, choking. "Laviya."

"Who is that, I wonder?" whispered Marix.

"Someone who hurt him. A lover perhaps. Even priests have lives before their vows." Jadira folded Tamakh's hands across his stomach. His sobbing faded, and he rested silently.

"Nabul's—" began Marix, but Tamakh interrupted him.

"Jadira?" said the holy man.

"Yes, Tamakh?"

"And Marix? Are you there, my boy?"

"I am here, Holy One."

"I have been to the Land of the Dead," he said. "Been there and returned."

"You're going to live, then," Marix declared.

"I shall," said Tamakh. "For many, many years." Jadira could not decide whether he was pleased by the prospect.

*****

Nabul's left eye never regained its sight. For some days, he kept to himself, silent and morose, until Uramettu cornered him in the 'strelli garden.

"Are you going to hide from us forever?" she said.

Nabul spat a cherry pit over his shoulder. "I've lost an eye," he said flatly. "Do you expect me to dance and sing?"

"Are you less a man with one eye?"

He glared. "By the Thirty, no!"

"Then prove it to the rest of us. Come back and try our patience as you used to do." Uramettu held out a hand, fingers closed into a fist.

"What's that?" asked Nabul. She opened her hand, and an oval of bright metal dangled from her fingers.

"It's an eyepatch," she said. "Try it on."

Nabul took it uncertainly. He slipped the thong around his head and positioned the patch over his ruined eye. "What is this made of? Brass?"

"Gold," Uramettu replied. "I hammered out a coin from the purse of Ubrith Zelka."

He touched the patch lightly. "Gold, eh?" Nabul grimaced. "It's cold!"

She slapped him on the back. "What a man you are!" *****

The 'strelli set about choosing their new chief. By custom, this was done in secrecy by a small assembly of senior females. On the second morning after the battle, a delegation of 'strelli came to the humans' camp. The new chief introduced herself through an interpreter. Her name was Ectoreth.

"For the great service you have rendered to us," she said gravely, "the pip'strelii wish to honor you with a gift. Is there anything of ours we might give you?"

Nabul gave a sharp, sarcastic snort. Marix poked him in the ribs and glared him into silence. "There is, generous Ectoreth," he said.

"What would this be?"

"In the walls of the crater, west of your village, there is a cave. In this cave are many pretty things."

"Yes, tucca
nyth
," said Ectoreth. Marix quizzed the interpreter for an exact translation. The nut-brown male 'strelli struggled for a moment, then said: "Rubbish."

"Rubbish?" asked Marix,

"Rubbish!" said Nabul.

" Tucca
nyth
are the shiny rocks and bits of metal brought in by children after their flight of adulthood," Ectoreth explained. "When our young reach a certain age, they go on a long flight alone. It is a test of endurance, courage, and tracking ability. To prove they have indeed gone far away, the tested 'strelli bring back
tucca nyth,
rubbish from distant lands."

"It has no value to you?" asked Marix carefully.

"Only by what it proves," said the 'strelli chief.

"May we take away some of the
tucca nyth?"

"As much as you like. It is nothing."

So, later that day, Marix, Nabul, and Uramettu rode one of the ox-carts out to the cave. Nabul nearly fainted when he saw the "rubbish." The shock passed, and he threw himself into the sprawling pool of wealth, rolling and flinging it in all directions.

"We'll be rich as kings! For all this I would gladly lose an eye!" he cried. "Richer! O, you gods, I knew it was right that I come back to aid my friends!"

"Please," said Uramettu. "You're making a fool of yourself."

"l am a fool! A
rich
fool!"

"Not yet, you're not," Marix put in. "Come on, come on; iet's fill the cart." He dug deep into the pile with a brass bowl.

With a gnole's helmet, Nabul began scooping up coins and jewels. He and Marix hobbled on their knees to the mouth of the cave. There they flung the treasure into the cart where Uramettu stood. Nabul chortled with every ringing piastre that bounced on the stout wooden planking.

"Would it not be better to fill bags or small boxes?" said Uramettu.

"Why?" said Nabul. "We can carry more this way."

"We have a fair distance to go. It seems rather conspicuous to carry gold and gems loose in a cart like so much winnowed wheat."

"I disagree," said Marix, emptying his helmet for the fourth time. "If we fill the bottom of the cart, we can cover over the treasure with ordinary baggage. Who would ever suspect what lay beneath?"

"Well said, brother!" Nabul added. He grinned at Marix like a drunkard and dumped another bowl full of riches into the cart.

There was a rustle of dry wings. A shadow flickered overhead. Uramettu shaded her eyes and looked up. "Elperex," she said. "I'm sorry. Did we disturb you?"

"No, walking friend. I am pleased at seeing you," he said.

A shower of jingling coins splashed out of the cave. Elperex said, "Why are you taking this trash?"

"Trash to you, my winged friend, but treasure to us," said Marix.

"Treasure? Bits of metal and rock?"

"Just so. Have you ever heard of money?"

"That is something humans use. To us it means nothing. You cannot eat money. It does not make flowers bloom or fruit ripen. It cannot bring back the life of one's mate."

Marix paused in his frantic shoveling. He suddenly felt ashamed. Nabul carried on until Uramettu told him to stop.

"But there's so much left!" he complained.

"The cart is groaning now. Would you have us break the axle?" she said. Nabul searched through the mix of treasure one last time. He came up with a fat, uncut emerald in one hand and an ingot of silver in the other. The ingot went in the cart, but the emerald he stuffed in his robe.

Uramettu brought the ox's head around. The cart wheels squeaked violently as it turned. Marix and Nabul jumped down and dusted off their hands.

"Where will you go now?" asked Elperex.

"Beyond the mountains to the sea," said Marix. "Only seven days remain before the conclave in Tantuf-fa."

"I don't know how many days I shall remain here," said Elperex. "If they choose, the tribe may never call me back."

"Why would they do that?"

"It is hard for a walking one to understand, but pip-'strelli, once proven by flight, must be mated to be a member of the tribe. Mating is for always. If the chosen mate dies, the living one can only return at the choice of the chief."

"You have a new chief," said Uramettu. "She is called

Ectoreth."

Elperex seemed to shrivel at the news. "There was no love between Elperath and Ectoreth. I fear I am doomed to stay in these caves until I die."

Marix said, "Why don't you come with us?"

"Come with you?"

"Certainly. We're an odd band, but you would find us good company."

"Leave the crater?" The poor 'strelli was overwhelmed by the notion.

Nabul came close and tapped a finger on Elperex's chest. "It's a wide, grand world out there, my friend. You'll see great wonders: cities, temples, deserts, seas—"

"Leave the crater!" Elperex repeated.

"You would be welcome," said Uramettu.

Elperex stared into space for a long time. Nabul waved a hand before the 'strelli's eyes and got no response. He shrugged and climbed into the cart driver's seat. "We're off," he said. Marix and Uramettu mounted the sides, and Nabul tapped the ox's broad back with a cane switch. The beast lurched forward.

The laden cart's wheels dug deep furrows in the volcanic dust. The ox plodded on with a loud creaking of traces. When they were a hundred paces from the treasure cave, the three humans heard a sharp whistle.

Elperex fluttered into the back of the cart. His dark, globular eyes were almost pinched shut in the daylight, but he looked at each human in turn.

"I go with you," he said.
"Out of the crater!"

"Splendid," said Marix, clapping the little creature on the back.

"One boon would I ask of you," said Elperex.

"What's that?" "May I have the use of your cloak?"

With a look of puzzlement, Marix handed Elperex his Faziri wrap. "Are you chilled?"

The 'strelli hung the cloak like a tent around his high pointed ears. "Hard to see in this brightness," he said.

They trundled slowly to their camp, enriched with both money and a new companion.

"Careful! Careful!"

Tamakh's admonition wavered even as his body was lifted on a stretcher to the rear of the cart. Marix and Uramettu held one end high as Nabul and Jadira struggled to get the other into the boxed-in sides.

"Now, lower together," Jadira said. "Ready! Steady! Go!" Tamakh bumped onto the pile of baggage.

"I always seem to be carrying you, Holy One," said Marix, wiping sweat from his face. Jadira hissed and swatted him lightly on the cheek. "Well, it's true!"

"I regret being such a burden," the priest said.

"Be silent, you two," said Uramettu. "You'll be walking again in a day or so, Holy One."

"And if it would ease your conscience, later you can carry me piggyback to Tantuffa," said Marix. He ducked another buffet from Jadira.

Nabul jumped down from the cart and went to fetch Elperex. They had had to keep the 'strelli under wraps from his fellows, as by custom he was not allowed near the village without the chiefs permission. So he stayed cloaked under Jadira's tent until it was time to depart. Nabul picked him up. The sleeping 'strelli was inert, lifeless, and as light as cork. Nabul carried him easily on one arm.

"Is everyone ready?" asked Jadira.

Nabul and Uramettu waved from the second cart, where they sat atop the hidden treasure. Elperex sat nestled behind them. Tamakh, lying behind Marix, waved his readiness.

Marix put one foot on the step and swung onto the bench beside Jadira. " Are the donkeys tied on?" she said.

"Of course."

"And the food and water are—"

"Yes, yes. Let's go," Marix said.

Jadira whacked the ox's rusty brown hide. Ahead lay the highest pass of the Shammat. Beyond that were the plains of Kaipur, the coast, and Tantuffa. There were six and a half days left till the conclave.

Part III:

THE NARSIAN SEAL

The High Pass

The trail led steadily upward, winding and twisting across the face of Mount Bakesh. The oxen proved their worth in the climb, for they never faltered, no matter how steep the angle became. Clouds closed in during the night, with chilling dampness wrapping around them like shrouds.

Elperex contributed his part by going ahead of the carts, using his keen night vision to keep the oxen on the proper track. He learned to ride the lead ox, perching on its neck with a goad. As he peered into the cold murk, he would tap one or the other of the beast's shoulders, guiding the stolid animal away from precipices and rock-falls.

During the second night, snow began to fall. Jadira was dozing against Marix's shoulder when the first cold flakes settled on her face. She stirred.

"Stop it," she murmured.

"Stop what?" Marix replied.

She sat up. Snow drifted through the air in gentle swirls. Jadira held out her hands to catch the white crys-

tals. The delicate tracery of ice vanished as soon as it came to rest on her warm skin.

"What is this?" she said. "Magic?"

He laughed. "No, it's snow. You remember, I mentioned snow to you before."

Jadira lifted her face into the falling flakes. A veil of white clung to her long eyelashes. "This is wonderful," she said. "Do you have snow in your country all the time?"

"Only in winter, maybe four or five months of the year," said Marix. "And you wouldn't find it so wonderful when it's chest-deep to the well."

Jadira wasn't discouraged. She watched flakes accumulate on the dark cloth of the blanket across her lap. With one puff of breath, all of them evaporated without a trace.

Elperex rejoiced in the flurries, too. His blood, like a bird's, was hot and quick. He capered across the ox's back. "I am so happy to be with you," he said. "I feared my life was over!"

"There's so much left to do," said Marix. He threw back his head. "Isn't that right, Nabul?"