The River of Dancing Gods (16 page)

It was too easy. He could run that before twenty-four hours had passed and the chase began. But then, how would they know he'd seen and interpreted the maps? They knew he couldn't read them, but one didn't have to read the words or the legend if one was told that the black block was where one was— Terindell—and what the two rivers were. He decided to make his way first to the river, with the idea that its current flow would either confirm or deny his idea as to where he was.

Running the four miles was easy for him, and he found his natural state no real problem at all. At least, as long as there were only birds and animals around, he couldn't care less. It was kind of fun, as in the old days. He remembered from somewhere that the early Olympics, back in Greece or wherever it was, were run in the buff. All he needed was a torch.

Pacing himself and enjoying it, he took about half an hour to reach the trees lining the riverbank—and he felt only slightly winded. After Gorodo, a free run at his own pace was easy as pie.

The river, indeed, ran to the south—actually, southeast— as it should. He stopped and looked at it for a few minutes, relaxing after his run. It was a muddy river with a fast current, but nothing spectacular at this point—certainly no more than a quarter of a mile across. An easy swim. He considered the idea. Across there was Hypboreya, a different country that wouldn't march to Ruddy gore's tune. Not friendly to him, certainly, but not friendly to Gorodo or, particularly, to Poquah, either, the Imir being a somewhat official servant of the sorcerer and the government. If there were any jokers in the pack— and surely there must be—and Joe didn't make it before the chase began, he would swim to the other side. He decided that quickly, as something of an equalizer.

It occurred to him that if he did make that swim, he would also no longer be under anybody's thumb. With a few clothes and some honest work in that country he'd be truly free. That might be the ultimate joke on all of them—to have their prize 92 THE RIVER OF DANCING GODS pigeon not make for Terindell at all. He wondered if they had considered that.

He put the idea aside for now, but left it as another option.

A large bird flew down, skimming the surface of the water, and as it did, suddenly the water erupted and a thin, slimy, black, whiplike tentacle shot up and caught the bird, dragging it quickly under. It was all so sudden he was totally shocked Page 78 Chalker, Jack L - The River of the Dancing Gods and stunned, but it was a reminder of an alien world. This wasn't the Mississippi, nor his old Earth, and things existed, deadly things, that could kill in a flash. If he'd decided to swim the river at that point...

He needed a few things as quickly as possible, he knew.

He needed clothing of some sort, so he wouldn't have to skulk, and he definitely needed some kind of weapon.

He searched around in the thin forest that hugged the river, looking at deadwood, and finally found a nice, long stick that was more or less straight, looked pretty strong, and, even better, had a rough point at one end and a pretty solid other end.

Pointed weapon or club. It would do until something better came along.

He glanced around. Fifty miles. Not much. But, considering that thing in the river, he didn't really want to spend a night out here.

Suddenly, above and behind him came the sound of laughter, as if from some very small children. He whirled, but nobody was there. He stood silently, trying to catch whoever or whatever it was. As he was beginning to feel it had just been his imagination, the laughter came again—and again, above and behind him. He whirled once more, seeing nothing, then stood there gaping for a moment. On impulse, he whirled around again, waiting for the sound—and saw them.

They were about the size of four- or five-month-old babies and looked very chubbily babyish, but their eyes were large and old, and they hovered there, a few feet above his head, on tiny, rapidly beating, white wings.

"Oooo—look! He's naked!" one of them squealed in a playful child's voice.

He relaxed and felt a little rush of anger. "So are you," he retorted.

"Yeah, but it don't bother us none," the small creature said.

"It kinda bothers you, though, don't it?.

93 JACK L. CHALKER "Not for the likes of you" he shot back, then paused a moment. "Uh, just who and what are you, anyway?.

"Gosh, ain't you never heard of cherubs before?" one of them asked, sounding genuinely surprised.

He thought a moment. "Little angels or something, if I remember. You two look like Cupid..

They both giggled. "That's sorta right. I dunno 'bout the angel part, though. Cupids, though, we been called before..

A sudden fright seized him. "You're not gonna shoot me with love arrows, are you?.

They both giggled again. "Love arrows? That's rich. That's a good one! We don't need no arrows to play with you mortals..

Page 79 Chalker, Jack L - The River of the Dancing Gods The speaking cherub paused, thought a moment, then said, a playful smile on his lips, "You're such a big, strong guy. Bet you ain't scared of nothin'f.

He frowned. As a matter of fact, he did feel a sudden wrongness, a sudden, nameless fear. Trusting his instincts, he looked around, the feeling getting stronger and stronger. He felt suddenly trapped between the river and... what? The trees! The trees were something else! Something plotting to snare him! He had to get out fast.

Without a second thought, propelled only by the rising, unreasoning fear, he bolted through the thin line of trees back onto the open plain. Once in the clear, away from those menacing trees, he collapsed on the ground, sweating hard and shaking slightly.

The two cherubs flew out from the trees, laughing uproariously, and approached him. He needed only the smallest glance at them and at their expressions to know he'd been had.

"You did that to me!" he accused.

"Awwww... Big, bad barbarian scared of a couple of trees,.

one of the sprites jeered mockingly.

He leaped angrily to his feet, wishing he had some kind of weapon. A stone, anything. Common sense told him that these two, flitting around like hummingbirds, would just play with him if he tried to nab them bare-handed.

Suddenly he remembered his big stick, and was almost surprised to see that he was still carrying it. Taking aim, trying to get control of himself and not telegraph his intent, he looked at the two.

"Wow!" one of the cherubs exclaimed. "You're real brave, 94 THE RIVER OF DANCING GODS mister, if you keep holding onto that thing there. It will eat your arm off in a minute!.

Abruptly the unreasoning fear filled him once again, and with a yell he flung away the stick, which was, indeed, still a stick. They had outguessed him.

Frustration overcame anger. Less than an hour into the contest, he was already defeated by two sorcerous sprites. "What are you going to do? Torture me all day?.

"Gosh, no," one of them replied. "It's just kinda, well, you know, irresistible..

A sudden suspicion hit him. "Did somebody from Terindell send you?.

They both giggled. "Naw. Nobody sends us no place. But Page 80 Chalker, Jack L - The River of the Dancing Gods we did kinda get the word that you'd be around..

He sighed- "I should have known. I suppose everybody between here and there will be on the lookout for me. I knew it was too easy..

"Probably, if we got the word," one of the sprites agreed.

They looked identical, and it was impossible to tell one from the other. "So you're in a lotta deep mud, huh?.

He thought about it. "Could be. But if you'll let me go, at least I'll have a crack at it..

"Let you go?" One giggled, then flexed a tiny arm. "How are we gonna stop you?.

"You know how," he grumbled. "Don't rub it in. I'm a match for any other man, I think, but I can't fight magic..

"Hey! Well, then, maybe we should go along with you for a while," one said. "Maybe help you out on that score..

"Um. Thanks—but no, thanks. Nothing personal, you understand, but you might just get it into your little heads to play some more with me, too..

"Hmph! Just for that we will come along. How're you gonna stop us?.

"Yeah," the other one agreed. "We could make you want us, but it's more fun this way..

He sighed. "All right, all right. Maybe you can help at that.

That is the River of Dancing Gods over there?.

"Oh, yeah. That's what all the mortals call it, anyway," a cherub told him.

"So Terindell is about fifty miles downstream, then, as I figured," he said, thinking out loud. "All right. Let's get going..

95 JACK L. CHALKER He hesitated a moment. "I can't keep calling you 'hey, you' if you're tagging along. You have names?.

"Oh, yeah. I'm Ba'el. He's Lo'al..

Joe gave the trees a nervous glance, then started back for them, not going in but walking along on the plains side. "Okay, Ba'el. You called me a mortal. Does that mean you're immortal?.

Page 81 Chalker, Jack L - The River of the Dancing Gods "Sorta," Ba'el admitted, sounding uncomfortable. "If you mean growin' old and croaking, nope. But if we're not careful, we can get zapped by somethin' hungry or by sorcery..

"You're both males?.

They giggled. "That don't mean nothin' to us. We got no sex. That's probably why we find it so much fun to watch you folks..

Joe stopped a moment. "If that's true, how do you reproduce?.

"We don't," Lo'al told him. "Gee, you're awful ignorant.

Everybody knows we come from the egg of the tardris flower.

Where you from, anyway, barbarian?.

He sighed. "Another world," he replied. "Another time..

Once they decided to tag along, he was almost glad of them, although a bit wary. They seemed intellectually adult but emotionally infantile and easily distracted. He worried mostly about their getting bored enough to start playing tricks with his emotions again. Still, it made sense, particularly when he got out of them that a tardris laid just one egg and then sheltered the cherub at night. A new cherub was born only to replace one that did not return in the evening, thus keeping the population stable. The plant itself was almost immortal, it seemed, and it was well known that anyone cutting or harming one would die as it did, so the plants were tolerated where they grew, along lakes and rivers.

The cherubs' tie to their parent flower also heartened him a bit. He wasn't sure of their range, but he was pretty sure they wouldn't go that far from their home, particularly when Lo'al let slip that they ate only inside the flower, fed by a fluid it manufactured. They were far too chubby to go long between meals.

The day grew warmer as the sun rose in the sky; within a couple of hours, it was really hot. So far he'd seen or heard no other intelligent beings save his two cherubs, although oc- 96 THE RIVER OF DANCING GODS casionally in the distance, either from the river or from across the plains, he could hear the sounds of humans calling or yelling or doing something or other.

It occurred to him, though, that going right along the river was exactly what they'd expect him to do. The cherubs were merely a small nuisance, but they'd already shown how impotent he was against such as they. Certainly Terindell's nasty little minds had more challenges ahead, particularly if he kept to the course he was now taking.

Still, if he was to leave the river, he'd need something as a guide. Remembering the map, he recalled that the main road that led from the provincial capital of Machang to Terdiera and Terindell ran down the middle of the little "neck" ofValisandra.

The road, he decided, would be much safer until he was closer Page 82 Chalker, Jack L - The River of the Dancing Gods to the castle.

The cherubs were unhappy at his decision, but didn't put up as much of a fuss as he'd anticipated. He got the distinct feeling that they were already bored with him.

He headed southeast across the plain, glad to be rid of the threat his two companions had posed, and began an easy run.

He knew it might be a long distance before he sighted the road, maybe fifteen or twenty miles, but the detour would be worth it. Still, he hoped that he would find some place where he could beg, borrow, or steal at least something to use for a loincloth and some food. It had been a long time since he'd eaten. He also found himself wondering how perfect Eden could have been if Adam had to go to the bathroom the same way as he did. He felt grubby, hungry, and thirsty, and he was ready to do about anything to solve those problems.

About a half hour inland, he came upon a small lake with some bushes but no tree cover. There were a few birds about, but no animals that he could see, save a couple of long-homed cows drinking by the far side.

He looked at the water suspiciously, but there didn't seem to be much of a film and it looked pretty clear. Certainly it looked worth risking a drink and, perhaps, a cleansing swim.

He knelt down by the side of the pond, noting that things were so perfect he was almost looking directly into a mirror.

He studied his reflection for a moment, still unable to get used to it, then leaned down to sip. The water tasted fresh and clear, amazingly so for such a small pond in such an isolated plain.