The River of Dancing Gods (39 page)

He turned to the three men now excitedly talking to one another, oblivious of the little drama that had just taken place, bowed his head, and concentrated for a moment. Grogha, who was just getting to his feet, slumped down again, and Joe and Houma fell into a heap on top of him, unconscious. The adept then turned back to Macore, pointed to the ground, and snapped his fingers, and Macore, too, collapsed.

Feeling satisfied, he walked over to the two remaining horses, the gray spotted Posti and the black stallion that was Dacaro, but who now looked at him with frightened and puzzled eyes.

He carefully saddled Dacaro, then placed the Lamp in the saddlebag, got up on the horse, and turned to Posti, who stared back at him.

"Don't look so shocked, Posti, old friend. You can explain it all to them when they come to, which won't be very long from now. But tell them not to look for me. Warn them. I wish none of them harm, for they are good people, but I will do whatever I have to to protect myself—and I am now very powerful..

"Who are you?" the gray horse challenged. "And who's now inside Dacaro?.

The man sighed. "You never were too bright, were you.

Page 204 Chalker, Jack L - The River of the Dancing Gods While in the mind of Marge to heal Macore, I was able to cast spells—and I cast one on Macore, certain that the opportunistic little thief wouldn't rest until he'd gotten his hands on the Lamp.

I triggered it, and dictated his wish, from my own mind. I'm your old friend Dacaro, Posti, and I have no intention of letting that bastard Ruddygore keep me a horse." With that he reined around, then urged the horse forward, riding off on the upper trail.

Posti was still confused, and tried to sort it out in his mind.

For a moment he considered chase, but realized that, alone, the way he was, he had little chance of it. He remembered that upper trail, though. There was no way off until almost to Kidim.

Dacaro might think he was smart, but he was trapped.

Joe, Grogha, and Houma came out of it rather quickly, as did Macore. Of them all, only Macore realized what had been done, and he was none too anxious to tell anybody about it.

Doc Algongua had brought them around when he returned and found them out. He was no slouch on practical magic, either, it seemed. Sorting it out, even with Posti's help, wasn't quite so easy.

"So Dacaro planned all along to steal the Lamp," Joe said, shaking his head. "Ruddygore never did trust him. But Marge did—more and more. We needed his knowledge. And all he did was lead us on until he had what he wanted. But—where will he go now?.

Algongua thought a moment. "Not back to Ruddygore, that's for sure. You remember he added that bit about transferring geasesT' They all nodded.

"That means he's freed from any obligation to get that Lamp back to Ruddygore. Sugasto—the real one—now has the geas, much to his discomfort, probably, but he's totally subject to Dacaro's orders. I would say that Dacaro has no intention of using his wish any time soon, and he's got enough power and self-control not to waste it. That means he's got some greater game in mind..

Joe thought a minute. "Marge said the whole thing between 234 THE RIVER OF DANCING GODS JACK L. CHALKER 235 him and Ruddygore was over his trying to smuggle a gun into this world." Briefly he explained what a gun was, and Algongua seemed to get the general idea. "That means either he's going to use his wish to open up the route between my old world and this one to him, or he's going to the Dark Baron..

"Probably both," Doc replied. "He can't ally himself with Ruddygore or with anybody who's a friend of Ruddygore's.

Any member of the Council he might turn to would demand Page 205 Chalker, Jack L - The River of the Dancing Gods the Lamp and would then have him. That leaves the Baron.

He's got a lot to offer. His own considerable powers, the Lamp, and the way to the other world, a world he knows and has been to..

"Poor Marge," Joe sighed. "Trapped in that Lamp as a genie.

Slave to his wishes." As Sugasto had predicted, memory had returned with the dragon's arrival.

"Well, she can't help us—or herself," Doc noted. "Looks as if I'm going to be involved more than I figured. Vercertorix and I will go the length of the upper trail and see if we can pick them up. His powers will be few against a true dragon..

They all brightened. "Yeah! He wouldn't have figured on the dragon! He thinks he's left us here with one horse!.

"Well, he's got several surprises," Algongua told them.

"First of all, you ought to be able to pick up a soldier's horse or two or three not too far down from here. We finished them, but a number of horses escaped unharmed." He sighed. "I'm afraid I may have made another mistake about Vercertorix.

Now that he's had two battles, he wants more. It's like eating peanuts—he just doesn't want to stop. I'm afraid he wants to get into the war itself now..

They searched what they believed to be every inch of the upper trail, and the lower one, too, but found no trace of the elusive Dacaro. He was incredibly powerful in the magical arts, that was clear—so much so that Ruddygore had not trusted him with the human form to operate his skills. Now he was joined with an adept of additional great powers subject to his command—Sugasto, in the body of the horse, whose skills and knowledge could be called upon when needed, as Marge had used Dacaro.

About the only solace Joe took from any of it was that Sugasto had thought he'd been freed and now he was captive and slave once more. He certainly deserved it, as much as Dacaro did, but there was little real comfort in that knowledge.

Marge was still captive, and Dacaro had all the high cards in his favor.

After getting Vercertorix to scare a few of the runaway horses toward them, Joe bade Algongua fly to Terindell with the news, taking Macore with him. What was left of the Company would return by trail and, hopefully, pick up Dacaro's tracks somewhere.

For Dacaro's part, the spells of concealment and invisibility had been simplicity itself. He was confident that, while they might follow him, even chase him, he was more than a match for the lot of them. His only fear was that Ruddygore would get personally involved.

The first night, he rubbed the Lamp and brought forth Marge, mostly to have conversation with somebody other than the seething Sugasto. He saw, somewhat to his surprise, that she had changed more physically. She was somehow less humanlooking, more exotic than ever; her complexion was becoming a light brown, and the webbing between her fingers and toes Page 206 Chalker, Jack L - The River of the Dancing Gods was nearly complete. Her nails, too, were becoming harder, thicker, more animallike, and sharp. All of which meant nothing as long as she was in spirit form, unable physically to manipulate any material thing in the real world, but it fascinated him nonetheless that the process continued even in this state.

She was, of course, by no means very happy with him, and he finally got tired of her cracks and ordered her to speak only when spoken to. Ever obedient as required, she shut up, but couldn't disguise her contempt for him regardless.

"Sugasto tells me that those of the Lamp don't live inside it, but rather on a different plane," he said. "Is that true?.

"It is," she told him. "The land of the djinn. It is fascinating..

"Tell me about it. Describe it..

"What you ask is not possible. There aren't any words for it. The frame of reference is different. It's like trying to describe our three-dimensional universe to a one-dimensional being. It took me a while just to be able to perceive it myself. Even now, I'm not sure what it is or what I'm perceiving, and I certainly have no way of describing it. There is no way to relate it to anything we know or experience..

236 THE RIVER OF DANCING GODS "So even the command of the master of the Lamp has limits,.

he muttered. "You can't tell about what you have no frame of reference to relate to. Still, there is intelligence there—and knowledge?.

She nodded. "Vast knowledge. Since the realm has no physical existence at all, as we know it, it is a realm of pure magic.

But the Lords of the Djinn impart little they don't wish to impart..

"The Lords of the Djinn..." he repeated thoughtfully. "I wonder. I have heard of their realm and of them, but I had no idea that the Lamp was a gateway to it. In the end, the entire Council studied there before becoming the most powerful. Yet I find Sugasto's added knowledge from that realm to be mostly petty or useless. Is it so with you?.

"It's not much," she admitted. "They are mostly concerned with my triple nature—from another universe and a changeling.

Still, I find my mind much clearer on magical principles and procedures, and my understanding of spells and incantations is far greater, even for the short time I've been there. It's like learning a foreign language, I think. The best way to leam one is total immersion—going into an environment in which only that language you wish to leam is spoken. Substitute magic for language and you get the idea. When magic is everything, learning is easier—and you leam or you go nuts..

Page 207 Chalker, Jack L - The River of the Dancing Gods He nodded. "Do they have a sense of what is going on here?" he asked her. "The battle between the Dark Baron and the rest?.

"They know of the battles between the greater forces. Heaven and Hell, and that's all that concerns them. They take no sides because they feel no threat from either side. Nor will they deliberately help, hurt, or in any way interfere with events here. That's in the laws of magic they obey..

He shook his head in satisfaction. "That's good enough for me. I would like to go there sometime and see and learn for myself. But, as of now, I know of only one way to do that— and I am not willing to make that kind of sacrifice. There is another way later. Perhaps the Baron will complete my training to the point where I can go on my own..

He ordered her back into the Lamp and got some sleep.

Even a man with Dacaro's considerable powers was still a physical and mortal being. As such, he required the same three JACK L. CHALKER 237 days back that he'd needed getting to the Gateway, and he also required food, shelter, and rest. He risked Kidim because he had to, but used a spell to alter his features subtly so that they might not betray him to later inquisitors.

Kidim, however, was more crowded than usual, he found.

More of the black-liveried soldiers were about, mostly relaxing as they waited for the rest of their parties to return from Starmount, still ignorant that those parties would never return.

After a day or so in the town, he had a good idea of who was who among the Baron's forces, and had overheard a hundred conversations. He was satisfied and confident enough to approach an officer of the rear guard.

"I'm an adept, formerly with Ruddygore," he told the man, a Captain Thymir. "We have had a falling-out. In the meantime, I have acquired something that your master wishes very much..

The captain was distrustful. "How do we know you're not a spy or double agent?.

Dacaro chuckled and, in the privacy of his room, showed the captain the Lamp and brought forth its increasingly exotic and beautiful genie. The captain was convinced and very impressed, but discovered quickly that Dacaro was no pushover.

If the Lamp were to be taken from the adept, it would have to be by one far more powerful in sorcery than Dacaro himself.

"All right," the captain said, after being forced within a hairbreadth of spitting himself on his own sword, "what is it you wish?.

"Safe and rapid passage from here to your lines," Dacaro told him. "After that, as soon as practical, an audience with the Baron himself..

Page 208 Chalker, Jack L - The River of the Dancing Gods The captain thought a moment. "All right. I think it can be arranged. We'll take one of the boats downriver tomorrow. All I can promise, though, is to get you to somebody higher up.

I've never even seen the Baron myself, so I haven't the slightest idea of how to go any further..

Dacaro nodded. "That is satisfactory. But I remind you of my own powers. Any attempt on me will bring a most unpleasant slow death. Do you understand me?.

The captain looked at his sword, on which he was so recently almost impaled against his will, and shivered. "Don't worry.

As much as we want that Lamp—who wouldn't?—I'm not 238 JACK L. CHALKER THE RIVER OF DANCING GODS 239 about to go after it. But I'd suggest you keep it hidden. I'll tell no one else until I report to my superiors, understand?.

"Agreed," Dacaro said. "Oh—my horse must go along.

Can you manage that?.

"If you speak the truth about our men, I can," the captain responded. "The way you tell it, we won't have nearly so many goin' back..

A day before Joe and the remaining Company reached Kidim by the lower road, Vercertorix returned—but the rider was not Algongua.

"Poquah!" Joe shouted. "Are we glad to see youF The impassive Imir looked his usual grim self. "Had we time, it should have been and would have been the Master himself. But there is a great battle shaping up, perhaps only days away, possibly only hours. If he were here tracking down the traitor, he would get satisfaction, and probably the Lamp, but it might cost the war..

"You'll do," Joe told him. "Where do we start?.