The River of Dancing Gods (6 page)

It is the Nile, the Mississippi, the Ganges, the Yellow, the Volga—and more, all rolled up into one. And, in a sense, it's what the war is about..

"Yes, we're back to the war..

He nodded. "The enemy force includes every destructive element in Husaquahr and from elsewhere besides. Evil, greedy, petty—you name it. It is a frightening force, commanded by a charismatic general known only as the Dark Baron. Who or what he actually is, is unknown, but he is, for certain, a great sorcerer who takes some pains to escape being identified. That makes me believe that he is the worst of all enemies, a fellow sorcerer on the Council that oversees the magic of the entire world. One of my brothers. Or, perhaps, sisters. The Dark Baron is so totally cloaked that it might be either..

"But if the sorcerer is one of your own—doesn't that narrow the field?" she asked. "I mean, it should be simple to discover which of only twelve others he or she might be..

"You'd think so," Ruddygore agreed, "but it's not that simple.

Our skills may differ, but our powers are equal—and we are bound by our own rules and laws. No sorcerer may enter the lands or castle of another without the permission of the owner. Distances are great. Magical power being equal, there is no way to tell who is doing what. I assure you that it is quite possible to appear to be in two or even a dozen places at once.

Spies within a fellow sorcerer's lairs are impossible—we smell each other too easily. And, of course, even if we knew, it would require incontrovertible proof before any action could be taken. Most of my brothers and sisters on the Council refuse to believe that one of their own could turn this way, and the Page 26 Chalker, Jack L - The River of the Dancing Gods Council would have to act in concert to defeat and destroy this enemy once and for all. So they sit idly by while the Dark Baron's armies march on Husaquahr, and unless those are defeated in battle, there's nothing that can be done. The Council will not stop something as petty as a war. They are almost traditional..

"But you're meddling," she pointed out.

He nodded. "Someone has to, I fear, and since I suspect that I am at least one primary object of the war, it is in my own self-interest to do so..

"You? They want to kill you?.

"No. I believe that the Dark Baron, with some of his great and powerful allies, could kill me if he wished. Kill me—but 32 THE RIVER OF DANCING GODS not capture me. You see, he has most certainly allied himself with the forces of Beyond—you might call it Hell itself—and that tips the scale in his favor. Oh, he's very clever about it— if I could prove that alliance, it would be the evidence needed to force the Council into action—but / know..

"This is starting to get complicated," she noted. "Who or what are these forces of Beyond?.

"Well, you know the story basically, I'm sure. Some of the angels of the Creator rebelled against Him and were cast out.

Since that time those forces have been trying to get back, working through the actions of evil ones in your world and mine. Well, now they have their most powerful ally, and the assault's on my world, not yours, and thus more likely not to worry the Creator. They've been terribly frustrated that your own world hasn't yet blown itself into atoms despite their agents' best efforts. But now they have a chance—by getting back into Husaquahr and then, they hope, by forcing an accommodation with me—literally to invade your world, using my powers as a bridge..

She looked shocked. "You mean you'd do it?.

He shrugged. "They're not terribly interested in my world, because it's not a primary creation of the Creator. It's yours they want. But it's my world, after all. If they can seize and dominate it, they might force a swap, a trade. If they can gain control of the River of Dancing Gods, they will have Husaquahr by the throat, and that's exactly what they're trying to do. It's a slow, brutal conquest—but they are winning..

She sat back, a little dazed, and considered what he had said. The forces of Hell were after Earth—her native Earth— and were willing to conquer and destroy a whole different world to do this. She could appreciate Ruddygore's position, too. He alone knew the way across the Sea of Dreams. He alone could ferry them safely through the very mind of the Creator Himself.

And since he controlled the pathway, he could be rid of them— by sending them one-way into Earth.

Page 27 Chalker, Jack L - The River of the Dancing Gods "Why don't you just send them all over and be done with it, then?" she asked him. "Wouldn't that solve your problem?.

He looked at her strangely and was silent a moment. Finally he muttered, "Yes, your world has treated you most unkindly, I see." He cleared his throat, and his voice grew loud and firm once more. "You seem to forget that your world is the primary 33 JACK L. CHALKER object of creation. What you suggest is that I precipitate Armageddon.

Disregarding the billions of souls I would have on my conscience for a moment, let me remind you that Armageddon would engulf everything, involve the Creator directly.

My world would no more survive it than yours, and with less promise of rebuilding thereafter. There will be no Armageddon laid against my soul's account! I do not intend that—even if it means the total destruction of Husaquahr. But they will never believe that. Or they may believe, but not believe that they can not somehow get the secret, anyway. But I have a different plot in mind.

"I intend to beat them at their own game. Send them back into the abyss from which they crawled, they and'all their ilk..

CHAPTER 3 "A PROPER HERO AND HEROINE.

Barbarians must be tall, dark, and handsome, exotic in race but of no known nationality.

—XL, 227, 301(a) SHE SLEPT THEN, THE DEEPEST, SOUNDEST, MOST PEACEFUL sleep she'd had in recent memory, and so hard was it that she barely stirred when shaken the first time. Finally she became aware that somebody was trying to wake her, but she resisted.

It was so very peaceful and felt so very good, and it had been such a long time ...

At last she muttered, "All right, all right," to the mysterious shaker and, in a moment more, managed to open her eyes. She gave a little gasp and rubbed her eyes, a slow smile creeping over her lips. What she saw was the impossibly named and improbably dressed Throckmorton P. Ruddy gore. "So it was real," she breathed.

He grinned. "Oh, yes. Come. Time to get up, get something into you, and get ready to begin. We're almost there now..

She yawned, stretched, got up, and looked casually out the 34 THE RIVER OF DANCING GODS windows of the lounge. It was still dark right around them, but off in the distance day seemed to be slowly breaking.

Joe was already up and he nodded to her as she went back Page 28 Chalker, Jack L - The River of the Dancing Gods to the food table. It had changed somehow during the night and was now filled with pastries, cheese, crackers, brown bread, and condiments that made up a solid European-style breakfast.

The pitchers and flagons, she found, were filled with various kinds of fruit juices—and there was a large pot of coffee.

Suddenly conscious of her hunger, she started in.

"No eggs or sausage or nothin'," Joe grumped. "A man's got to have something solid in him to start a day..

Ruddygore laughed. "I'm afraid you'll have to get used to this sort of thing, both of you. Everything's a bit more primitive in Husaquahr, and without refrigeration your American-style breakfasts just aren't practical. I wouldn't complain too much, though. There are times when you'll wish you had a breakfast like this..

"I don't mind at all," Marge assured him. "I never was much for the breakfast stuff, anyway..

Ruddygore looked at her with a satisfied expression. "You seem a lot more chipper today," he noted.

She nodded and sipped at the coffee, which was strong and bitter, but still what she needed to complete the waking-up process. "I woke up and you're both still here. That's enough..

Joe wandered over to the windows and looked forward.

"Funny, I can see the dawn over there, but it's still dark as pitch right overhead..

"That's because it's never dawn on the Sea," the sorcerer told him. "What you're seeing is not dawn but the edge of the Sea of Dreams. You'll know we're out of it when we come into full light, although I've arranged for a bit of a fog. It wouldn't do to be seen putting in, you know..

Marge went over and looked out at the approaching sky.

"How long?.

"An hour, maybe less," the sorcerer replied. "It's actually quite close, but particularly in this area we're going against the current..

Joe scratched and stretched. "I could use a shower..

"Me, too," Marge seconded, feeling just how grubby she'd let herself become. It was the first time in a long time that she cared about it one way or the other.

35 JACK L. CHALKER "Sorry. No facilities on the boat," Ruddygore told them.

"You've seen the pitiful little Johns—and they're more modem than you'll likely see again. There's little for showering at the castle, either, I fear, but I'm sure I could arrange for a bath.

Just hold on until we get there..

Marge looked back out at the approaching division in the sky, then turned toward the sorcerer. "How long from when we land until we get to this castle of yours?" she asked him.

Page 29 Chalker, Jack L - The River of the Dancing Gods "I seem to remember last night you said it was way up near the source of this big river..

"Indeed it is," Ruddygore told her, "but that won't bother us. The Sea of Dreams contacts all points in all universes. We will land within walking distance of the castle, I assure you.

I could arrange even now for us to be met, but I think the walk will do us all good—and you'll get a look at the land." He turned and gestured toward the food table. "In the meantime, let us eat, drink, and be merry..

"Yeah, 'cause tomorrow we die," Joe responded grumpily.

Clearly he was very much out of his element and most uncomfortable about it.

"We've broken through!" Marge called to them, and both men came to join her at the window. The darkness was gone— totally gone, with no sign fore or aft that it had ever been.

They were now in a dense, white fog that obscured everything.

Somewhere up there, though, was a bright point of light that had to be a sun, and that cheered both of the newcomers.

They heard the beat slow, heard oars being shipped, and realized now that they were drifting with a far different kind of current from that of the Sea of Dreams. There was no mistaking the feeling that the boat was coming in to dock.

They went outside on deck, and Marge in particular was cheered to find it comfortably warm, although the dense fog threatened to soak them through. She walked forward, around the pilothouse, and the two men followed. Neither Joe nor Marge could resist looking in the pilothouse, but there was nothing to be seen. Whoever or whatever the captain of this ghostly ferry was, he, she, or it was definitely not visible in the daylight, although the large wooden wheel moved with a deliberateness that said that something, someone, was there.

"The captain and deck crew are nice folks," Ruddygore told 36 JACK L. CHALKER THE RIVER OF DANCING GODS 37 them, "but rather sensitive about being seen. Among other things, unlike the rowing crew, they can and occasionally do go ashore, and what the passengers don't know about them can't someday be betrayed to an enemy..

Marge took a last look back at the apparently empty wheelhouse and shivered slightly despite the damp warmth. She wondered idly if Ruddygore was being completely honest and straightforward with them. Not that it made any difference right now. They were totally in his hands and at his mercy.

Somewhere aft, a loud bell clanged four times, and again some of the oars came down as the boat performed a steering maneuver. There was a sudden lurch, then a great bump that went the length of the boat, and abruptly the oars shipped again and the boat came to a complete stop.

Page 30 Chalker, Jack L - The River of the Dancing Gods "Well, we're home!" Ruddygore announced cheerfully.

"Follow me." With that he made his way down one of the side stairways.

Joe looked out at the all-encompassing fog and shook his head. "Some home," he muttered to himself, but followed the other two.

They walked across the ribbed metal car deck and saw that there was a smooth area beyond the boat. Ruddygore stepped off onto it unhesitatingly, and after a moment. Marge and Joe did likewise.

The fog began to fade only a few paces from the boat, and before they'd gone fifty yards it had completely vanished, revealing an unexpectedly beautiful scene.

They were in a small wooded area beside a large river, the woods following and hugging the river itself, which seemed to be a thousand yards or more wide and whose other shore was apparently dense forest.

But ahead was cleared land, gently rolling and lushly green with tall, unmowed grasses. Everywhere, too, were wildflowers by the thousands, of countless colors and shapes and varieties, sticking up through the deep green grass. Insects, many very familiar-looking, buzzed and twitted to and fro; here and there small birds circled, dipped, or landed and hopped around in the grass.

Beyond was a hill, not very high, really. Beyond it was a bluff dominating the scene, and on top of the bluff was a castle of the kind both newcomers had seen only in picture books.