The River of Dancing Gods (24 page)

They will cut through rock, metal—you name it— amazingly easily. And they have something of a life of thenown.

No one, save the owner, so long as he lives, will be able to wield the blade—and the sword itself will pick its next owner; so it can not be stolen. It may have other powers that will manifest themselves—it's hard to say..

Joe looked at it hungrily. "It's great. Just what I needed. I didn't have enough to buy a sword at the market." He frowned.

"But it's stuck in this plastic or whatever..

"The amber prevents anyone from using it but the right one,.

the sorcerer told him. "There! Take the hilt. Raise it high. Let's see if it will accept you..

Page 120 Chalker, Jack L - The River of the Dancing Gods Joe reached out and took the sword in his hand. It felt extremely heavy, but he managed to lift it, even raise it over his head.

There was a strange humming sound, and a moment passed before they all realized it was coming from the sword itself.

The humming grew louder and louder as he held it—and finally the vibration from the sword cracked, then shattered the amber casing, which fell to the floor as so much dust.

"Hey! It's suddenly real light! Almost like a fencing foil!.

Joe exclaimed.

"To you," Ruddygore told him. "Only to you, Joe. Nobody else will even be able to pick it up. It accepts you. It is yours— one with you. Use it well. Its relative strength is unknown— but it is very possible that it could even kill the Dark Baron himself if you gave it a chance..

That thought pleased Joe. "Wouldn't that be somethin'!.

He lowered the sword, which seemed to have taken on a glow, and placed it in the scabbard on his newly purchased sword belt. The glow subsided and was gone when he let go of the hilt.

"You must name it, Joe," the sorcerer told him. "It is a virgin sword. You will name it for all times..

"Uh—name it?.

140 JACK L. CHALKER THE RIVER OF DANCING GODS 141 The sorcerer nodded. "Just take it out once again, hold it in front of you, and give it a name with real meaning. You should be honored—few have the opportunity, and this may be the last unnamed magic sword anywhere..

Joe did as instructed. The sword glowed and hummed softly in front of him. He thought for a moment, then seemed to brighten. "Okay. Uh, let me know if I'm doing this wrong. I name this sword, my sword—Irving..

"WHAT!" It was Marge who screamed. "Irving? That's ridiculous! Joe—haven'tyou ever read anything? Magic swords are named things like Stormbringer or Excalibur. Fancy, exotic names..

Joe looked puzzled. "But I like the name Irving. That's the name I gave my son. I never could have him, but at least I got somethin' here named in his honor so I don't forget him..

Marge looked frantically at Ruddygore, who shrugged. "The sword has accepted the name," the wizard noted. "Irving it is.

Somehow it is fining that a barbarian named Joe has a sword named Irving. I don't know why, but it is..

Page 121 Chalker, Jack L - The River of the Dancing Gods Marge shook her head, started mumbling to herself, and went over and sat down in a chair, still shaking her head and saying all sorts of unintelligible things.

"I kinda like the name," Grogha said, trying to be cheerful.

"I mean, it's different..

"It sure is," Ruddygore muttered, but Joe beamed at the comment and sheathed the sword once more.

"Now, then," the sorcerer continued, "let me show you a couple of tricks. Joe, remove the sword again and place it back on the table there. Go ahead—do it..

Joe looked uncertain, but did as instructed.

"Now move back—over by that chair. Ten feet or so, I'd say..

Again the trucker turned barbarian complied.

"Grogha, pick up the sword and bring it to Joe..

The portly man went over, took hold, and tried. He tried very hard, until sweat rolled off his brow. Finally he gave up and turned to Ruddygore. "Man! That is a heavy blade!.

"Anybody else?" the sorcerer invited.

Each in turn, except for the unconsolable Marge, also gave it a try—and failed. "That thing's nailed there," Macore grumbled.

"All right—now, everybody over by Marge, out of the way of Joe," the sorcerer instructed. "Ah. That's fine. Remember, Joe, try this only when nobody you like is in the way. Call the sword. Put out your hand..

Joe put his hand forward.

"No. Not like that. As if you were going to catch the hilt..

Joe looked puzzled, but did as instructed.

"All right. Now call it. By name..

"Uh—heeere, Irving!.

"It's a sword, Joe! Not a dog!.

Joe cleared his throat. "Irving! To me!" he shouted. In an instant the sword flew threw the air and right into his raised hand. The movement was so sudden and startling that he almost fell over from the shock and surprise—but he didn't drop the sword. Recovering, he looked down at it. "I'll be damned!.

He turned to Ruddygore. "How far is that effective?.

"If it can hear you, it will come—no matter what's in the way. Farther than that, if you have a clear line of sight from it to you..

"Wow! That's really neat!.

Page 122 Chalker, Jack L - The River of the Dancing Gods Marge looked up at him sourly. "Really neat. I don't believe you..

He looked back at her, frowning again. "But it is..

She sighed. "If you say so. Jesus! Irving!.

"And now, my friends, you should all get some sleep,.

Ruddygore told them. 'Tomorrow you begin—and very early.

Macore, you remain. Since you've been in Pothique, I'll give you the terrain and trail maps. Before you leave tomorrow, Poquah will brief you on the basic route, although he's already briefed Dacaro and Posti. The rest of you will have more conventional horses, but Dacaro will have power over them.

Oh, by the way. Rather than my original idea, I think I'll let Marge have Dacaro, and you, Joe, will ride Posti. It makes more sense to have the magic application and the magic knowledge together..

"Whatever you say," Joe told him. "Hell, I'm ready to go now. If I'm stuck here with all this, I guess I'd better get into the spirit..

Marge sighed. "Think of it, Joe," she prompted. "Don't you remember Ruddygore once saying that the fantasies of our 142 THE RIVER OF DANCING GODS world are the truths of this one? This could be the start of an epic! The Chronicles of Marge and Joe [ Think about that}.

He thought about it. "Not bad. The Chronicles of Joe and Marge. It has a ring to it, I guess. I doubt if I'd ever read it, though..

"You make light of that possibility, yet you may regret labeling your adventures an epic in times to come," Ruddygore warned them.

"Huh? Why?.

"Oh, we'll cross that bridge when we come to it. For now, don't dream too much of immortality in legend. First you have to earn it. And I might as well tell you, the odds of any of you surviving this mission are beyond those any bookmaker would give or take..

CHAPTER 10 OF TROLL-BRIDGES AND FAIRYBOATS Unlike all other/arms of energy, magical energy may be created and destroyed by applications of positive and/or negative spells.

—II, 139, 68.2(a) JOE, MOUNTED ON POSTI, LOOKED AROUND AT THE REST OF the Company and found the group somewhat imposing. Marge seemed almost dwarfed on the sleek black Dacaro, but the Page 123 Chalker, Jack L - The River of the Dancing Gods other three looked well matched to their more normal steeds.

Ruddygore had said that seven was the proper number for a Company, according to the Rules, but this Company included five humans and two transformed ones upon whom he and Marge rode. He had to trust it to Ruddygore that the number worked out.

Macore rode up beside him and pulled out the map of the region. "We'll have to cross the Rossignol east of Terdiera,.

he pointed out. "That's the only bridge for a hundred miles, and it wouldn't do to backtrack any more than we have to..

Joe shrugged. "So? What's the problem?.

"Trolls," the little thief replied, a sense of distaste in his 143 JACK L. CHALKER tone. "Damn them. Only really decent bridge builders in Husaquahr..

Joe gave another shrug, and they started off, enjoying the early morning air. As they rode through a not-yet-open Terdiera, Joe looked around for familiar places and faces and saw more of the former than the latter. Early risers stopped to gape at the five riding through the town center, and particularly at their leader, who thought he looked pretty good in his loincloth and trucker's hat.

On the other side of town they departed from the main road, down a narrow side street that quickly became a dirt track when it left the town behind, going down to the river. It was a fairly well traveled path, to judge from the deep ruts and gouges in the road, but there was nobody on it this early in the day.

The bridge was nothing fancy, but still was impressive engineering forAe technology ofHusaquahr. A wooden structure supported by thick pylons made from the trunks of hardwood trees, it stretched the thousand yards or more from shore to shore and even curved up in the center to allow barges to pass under. The channel was not wide but was fairly deep. The bridge, also, wasn't very wide—they would have to pass single file to feel safe, since there were no guardrails or other safety devices or guides.

"Whew! I'd hate to have to drive a wagon and team across that thing," Grogha noted. "I'm not too sure I feel thrilled riding it now..

"The bridge is perfectly safe if you don't panic but just go straight," Macore assured them. "However, this is no free ride.

See!" He pointed and they all looked.

The sign contained a series of pictographs and accompanying very formal-looking text, the former for the mostly illiterate locals, the latter for the unwary traveler who, being most likely a trade or political figure, would be able to read and needed a more detailed explanation. The sign's pictures fascinated them: Page 124 Chalker, Jack L - The River of the Dancing Gods JACK L. CHALKER 145 THE RIVER OF DANCING GODS Joe frowned. "Now what the hell does that mean?.

"Dacaro is reading the sign to me now," Marge told him, but it was Macore who spoke up first.

"That's standard picture writing," he explained. "It says, 'STOP! PAY TROLL! Pedestrians one chicken each, horse and rider one pig, wagons and drivers one pig per axle or one cow for the whole load.' What did you expect? It is a trollbridge, after all..

Joe looked quizzically at Marge, who nodded. "That's what the writing says, according to Dacaro, except that the text adds, 'Or equivalent.'.

"Pretty steep," Grogha noted.

Joe looked at Macore. "So what do we do? We don't exactly have a barnyard handy..

"I'm not sure I like that live pig business," Grogha added nervously.

"Oh, you're not a pig any more," Houma scolded. "You'd probably be worth a whole wagon as you are..

Macore looked back at Marge. "You're the keeper of the treasury. You have those silver coins Ruddy gore gave us?.

She nodded, reached down on her saddle pack, and removed a heavy sack. "How much will we need?.

"Well, if a pig's the fare, we need five pigs. That'd be about eleven of those coins at today's prices, I think—but I'm a little out of touch. May as well go down and find out." He turned to Joe. "Now don't panic or start swingin' that sword when the troll comes up," he warned. "They're liars and crooks and really nasty, but even if we took the one or two on this side, they'd have us on the bridge. Better to pay..

Joe just shook his head sadly. "Yeah, I know. I'm used to these things..

They went down to the bridge itself. There was no structure or sign of life or authority anywhere around, which puzzled Joe. "What's the matter? They not up yet?.

At that moment there was a great roaring sound from beneath the bridge, and the water erupted. A gigantic blue creature climbed out, covered in woolly hair, with two enormous eyes and a teeth-filled mouth that went the two-foot width of the Page 125 Chalker, Jack L - The River of the Dancing Gods eerie, vicious face.

The creature looked at the Company hungrily for a moment, THE RIVER OF DANCING GODS 146 then said, in a voice much like an angry bear's, "You wanna cross?.

"Why else would we be here at this ungodly hour?" Macore shot back, sounding totally unintimidated. "Five horses and riders. How much in coin?.

The creature looked over the people waiting and licked its lips with a huge purple tongue. "I'll take two of the horses and you can all go," it suggested.

"Uh-uh. No horses. We have a long way to go. Coin. How much?.

"Twenty-five for the lot..

Macore sounded shocked and hurt. "Twenty-five! That's robbery! We'll go back up to the village and buy five pigs when the markets open and save a bundle..

"Yeah, but that's three hours from now." The creature smirked. "You want special service, you pay the extra freight..

Macore sighed. "C'mon. We can kill three hours." He made as if to turn.

"Wait!" the creature called to him. "All right. Special.