The River of Dancing Gods (34 page)

"Yes. More of a brute-force one, I would suspect. They won't have any easier time with the Xota than we, if that's any comfort. And they may not know about this trail—although they'll draw some conclusions when we fail to show up down there. We will have to take things as they come. The enemy may even be at the cave already..

She didn't like to think of that. Not after all this. She did, however, tell Dacaro about the Old Man of the Mountains and his comments on her.

"I don't know who—or what—he is," the equine adept told her, "but he is certainly correct in that halflings and changelings are not made. Not by Huspeth, anyway. It is something that, considering your unique origins, I did not take into account before. But, yes, Ruddygore himself must have cast you like this—and let Huspeth take the heat for it..

"But why?.

"Only a guess. He saw that you had an aptitude for the art, but also understood that you had not the time, nor the ability, perhaps, to leam the complexities of the spells. And certainly your lack of reading ability as an adult is also limiting. So he took the path of best advantage—for him. As one of the fairy folk, you would have natural, instinctive uses of magic and total sensitivity to it..

"Algongua said I would be a—nymph, I think he called it.

Page 176 Chalker, Jack L - The River of the Dancing Gods 202 JACK L. CHALKER THE RIVER OF DANCING GODS 203 I know what the old legends are on nymphs, but not what that .means here. Can you tell me?.

"Well—yes and no. Basically, a nymph is a race of faerie, all members of whom are female. They are closest to human in size and general form and are quite often extremely oversexed in all senses of the word. A nymph has the ability to mate with any male of any species, whether fairy, human, or animal — you name it. Her progeny, then, are always halflings themselves, generally human in form, but if they become involved with fairies or in the an, as you are, then they will change into their fairy form. The results can be quite bizarre. Satyrs. Centaurs. The small winged ones. Strange amphibians. Depends on who—and what—the father was. Whole new races of faerie have been created in that way. Of course, if the child is female, it has a fifty-fifty chance of being another nymph, so the race doesn't die out. As to kind,.

there are wood nymphs who live in and are linked to trees, field nymphs, water nymphs, all sorts. You name it. But I still sense the potential for wings in you, so you may be an aerial of some sort. We will see, won't we? It should be interesting to discover what happens if the transformation is completed..

Sl; "Huh? What do you mean?.

"As primarily human, your powers gain with celibacy. As those of a full nymph, your powers will gain with the opposite type of conduct..

"What! You mean....

"Precisely. Since the magic of faerie is innate—the potential is there and develops automatically under certain circumstances rather than having to be learned—the more times you do it with anybody, the stronger you will become..

She was silent for a while. Finally she said, "You're amused by that, aren't you?.

"I'm sorry, but I must admit I am. Don't be too angry.

Would you rather have your problem or mine?.

There really wasn't much of a comeback to that.

They camped out early in the evening, at the first area they came upon, with enough room, not wanting to chance being on this trail after dark with no place to turn into. It was damned cold, but a small waterfall provided water, and there were some scrub bushes for the horses. It was still a cramped evening and a nervous one that high up and in the cold.

The next day dawned cloudy, but they were anxious to get going. During the morning they made good time. Early in the Page 177 Chalker, Jack L - The River of the Dancing Gods afternoon the clouds descended to the trail level, and travel became something of a nightmare. With so little tolerance, they soon were chilled, wet, and unable to see the tail of the horse ahead of them. It was sheer luck that they came upon another wide place—narrower and even less comfortable than the previous night's, but enough—and found themselves having to stay the afternoon and through the night. Quarters were really close then, and they had to be careful simply not to step in and slip on the horse droppings, but they had to stick it out and remain through the second night.

The third day showed not much improvement, and they feared that they would be stuck yet another full day in that cramped space. But after a couple of hours, the sun broke through and bumed off the fog. Not all the way—still, the cloud level was a hundred feet or more below the low points of the trail. While there was no guarantee of safety, they were all willing to chance it. Dacaro, with his bulk, was particularly uncomfortable and offered a fog dispeller spell if need be rather than remain there any longer. He didn't normally want to risk any spells until he had to—the enemy below might be sensitized to such things.

On the fourth day, about midmoming, the trail started down in a series of hairy switchbacks that left no margin for error.

They almost lost Grogha when his horse came close to losing its footing, but he was able to keep control in the nick of time.

Macore and Joe consulted AIgongua's map and decided that they were coming down to join the main trail—which was rising to meet them. The Starmount Gateway, then, would be only a few miles ahead of them—and where, again, they would be on their own. Still, it was supposedly only eight or nine miles from the Gateway—actually a natural pass that opened onto the great Starmount Plateau—to the cave they sought.

That brought another sobering realization—the Xota could be anywhere, starting now. As fliers, they could leap down from hiding places above, or swoop in in aerial attacks. The Company was suddenly acutely aware of how exposed it was on the high trail.

The junction was certainly not far, perhaps just around the next bend, from the looks of it, when Macore put up his hand, halting them, and turned and put a finger to his lips.

204 JACK L. CHALKER 205 THE RIVER OF DANCING GODS Joe, just behind him, frowned and whispered, "What's the matter?.

"They're ahead of us. Probably laying for us," the little thief whispered back. "I can almost smell 'em. But I heard a horse snort and shuffle..

Page 178 Chalker, Jack L - The River of the Dancing Gods As quietly as possible, Joe relayed the message back.

"Horses!" Marge exclaimed to Dacaro. "Then this won't be the Xota..

"No. These are the ones we have feared. Obviously they got here ahead of us and set ambushes at this end of both trails..

Macore slipped off his horse, aware that he had very little room on the trail. He drew his sword and made his way forward, in front of his horse. Slowly, with a thief's skill and practice, he crept ahead and soon more or less oozed around the bend in the trail.

They all drew their own weapons, but aside from Joe's getting in front to hold Macore's horse, there was little he could do. They waited anxiously, fearful that the little man had been taken.

Finally, though, Macore slipped back around as quietly as he'd gone. "There are six of them," he whispered softly to Joe.

"They picked a nice position, too. We would have been exposed at least three hundred yards on the trail. They may have been there for some time. They're all dismounted and seem to be mostly sitting around looking bored. That will change the moment we appear, though..

Joe thought about it. "No way to sneak up on them?.

"Not unless you can fly," the thief told him. "Three hundred yards to a broad, flat rocky area with some trees and bushes where we Join the main road. It ain't much when you just gotta walk it, but it's ten miles when you're fighting. And this drop is all the way to the junction, almost. There's a mighty big hole until the trails join..

Joe nodded and looked down. He could see the other trail, only forty yards or so away on the other side, but in between was about a four-hundred-foot-deep gap. He thought furiously.

"All downhill?.

"You said it. Real grade, too..

"I wonder—considering none of us can fly, and we'd be suckers for crossbows....

"So? So?.

"How about a charge? You sure they don't know we're here?.

"Pretty sure. Did you say a charge?.

"Uh-huh. As soon as we round the bend, go for a gallop.

Full charge, yelling and screaming, weapons brandished and ready..

"Are you crazy? The horses will probably lose their footing and fall into the ravine!.

Page 179 Chalker, Jack L - The River of the Dancing Gods "Yeah—but if they don't, it will sure surprise the hell out of those men, won't it? They'll have to pick up and aim their weapons; maybe some of 'em will have to mount up. Three hundred straight downhill yards... I figure maybe twenty, thirty seconds at full gallop at the worst. Maybe even ten..

Macore shook his head wonderingly. "It's impossible..

Joe grinned. "That's what they think, sure. You go tell the others." He looked back and sighed. "I wish Posti was in front, but you'll have to do as the leader," he said to Macore's brown horse.

Macore went back, talked to the others, then made his way forward again. "They all think you're nuts, top..

"Anybody got another idea? We can't back up—not enough room. We can't fly over that ravine. We don't have any way of climbing down, even if we were willing to desert Posti and Dacaro. And the longer we stay here, the more likely it is that one of us or one of the horses is going to give us away..

Macore nodded glumly. "I know, I know. But if we must commit suicide, why do you have to be so logical about it?.

He looked at his horse. "Who leads?.

"You take Posti—and brief him. He'll come through. I'll take yours..

"That I won't argue about," Macore responded honestly and made his way back once more.

"When I raise my sword, be ready to follow," Joe called after him. "When I drop it, we start..

They all drew their weapons and waited tensely, eyes on Joe. Both Marge and Houma had small crossbows with a supply of bolts conveniently in front of them; the other three held swords at the ready. It wasn't much of an attack force, but would have to do.

206 JACK L. CHALKER THE RIVER OF DANCING GODS 207 Macore glanced nervously around. "I hope he's as good a rider as he thinks he is," he muttered aloud.

"I hope we're all better fighters than I think we are," Grogha responded worriedly.

Joe raised his great sword, positioned himself, and was ready to begin when he heard Marge say, "Wait!" in a loud whisper. As tense as he was, it was almost enough to start him off, anyway, but instead they all turned and looked questioningly back at her.

Page 180 Chalker, Jack L - The River of the Dancing Gods "I can call a friend," she told them. "One who will cause one hell of a ruckus. That will give us the diversion we need to go in..

"A friend?" Macore repeated, frowning. "Here?.

"A unicorn," she told them. "My—protector." 7 hope, she added silently to herself. "I don't know why I didn't think of him earlier..

Joe was skeptical. "How the hell can a unicorn get here in time?.

"I don't know, but it all just came back to me. What have we got to lose?.

He thought it over and knew the answer was "Not much..

He nodded and said, "Okay, give out the call. The rest of the plan stays the same, though. If this unicorn comes thundering by, it's the ball game, so as soon as we're sure they've seen or heard it, in we go. Got it?.

They nodded, but none, not even Marge, really believed in any sort of unicorn savior.

"Stay away from the unicorn no matter what," Marge warned.

"He's friendly only to me." With that she sat back, tried to concentrate, and said, more mentally than physically, "Konku —come! I am in great danger and need your help!.

For a moment nothing happened, and Joe relaxed, turned, and raised his great sword once more. Then abruptly there was a roll like thunder and the sound of hooves, and they saw the great magical white beast coming toward them, riding the air above the ravine, level with their road. Marge smiled, then gestured for the creature to move to the opposite, main road and continue. The signal was taken and heeded.

Around the bend, there were sudden shouts as the men in the ambush both heard and saw the creature charging in upon them. At that moment Joe dropped his sword and kicked his horse in the ribs. The time for thinking was done, The others quickly followed, yelling, as was Joe, to add to the confusion.

Posti kept Macore almost in the rear end of Joe's mount, showing the guts he had displayed so long ago at the Circean's farm. Next came Marge and then Houma, who released their initial crossbow bolts as soon as they could see the men in the wooded clump. Grogha brought up the rear, his horse pretty much taking him along, and tried mightily not to fall off.

The sight of the great unicorn bearing down on them was a complete shock to the defenders, who had been very lax up to now. They looked up and saw the charging white, singlehomed apparition and were frozen for a moment; then they moved as one to counter it, toward the main road and away from the high path.

At that moment, the riders came around the bend with their yells, and the defenders were caught, divided in their attention Page 181 Chalker, Jack L - The River of the Dancing Gods and ducking the first bolts sent their way, even though those were far short of any mark.