That night Alistan posted sentries for the first time. The first to go on watch were Arnkh and Eel. In three hours' time, they were due to be relieved by Uncle and Honeycomb, and during the early morning the next four would take their shifts.
_______ I couldn't sleep. Sleep had abandoned me and I simply lay there with my hands under my head, looking up at the starry sky that was like a bottomless lake. The warm night breeze ran its soft hand across the tall wild grass and the sleeping flowers, gently bowing the plants down toward Mother Earth. The grass pretended to be angry and rustled, but as soon as the wind was distracted, it playfully raised its head again, calling the wind back.
The skinny old crescent moon floated above the world and its light fell into the grass like silvery dust, making it look like precious jewelry that had escaped the control of some talented master craftsman's hand. There was the smell of damp earth, wildflowers, summer freshness, and boundless space. After the constant stony stench of the overheated city, the scents of nature were intoxicating.
Somewhere far off in the fields there was the melancholy call of a solitary bird. I was not the only one who did not feel like sleeping that night.
For an instant a black silhouette blotted out the stars as it flitted over my head and silently dissolved into the night, only to return an instant later. The shadow turned in a circle above the camp and, realizing that it would not find any interesting prey beside the campfire, lazily flapped its wings and moved away, with its body almost touching the grass, disappearing into the silvery moonlit fields.
An eagle owl out hunting. Watch out, all you mice. Just as long as it doesn't take our Invincible. Although it's not so very simple to eat a ling. Just try grabbing a creature with teeth like that, and you'll soon find yourself with no beak or feathers! I could still hear the little beast rustling in the cooking pot, finishing off the remains of supper.
The campfire was dying down and the coals it had created were quietly twinkling back at their distant sisters, the stars, to see who could glow brightest. I felt I ought to throw on a few sticks of firewood, but I was too lazy to get up-the soldiers were sleeping lightly and I was certain to wake someone up. Loudmouth was lying beside me, stretched out on his back with his mouth open. If Kli-Kli had not been asleep at the time, he would have been sure to exploit the soldier's incautious pose and slip a dandelion or some small bug into his open mouth as a jolly joke-you could expect any kind of rotten trick from the green goblin at absolutely any moment.
I still hadn't managed to understand the goblin's character: Either he was simply playing the part of the royal buffoon, acting crazily all over the place, or this really was the normal condition of his little green soul. Before I met Kli-Kli, I hadn't really had any serious contact with his race-there were so few of them-and so my general impression of goblins had only begun to take shape quite recently.
But this time Loudmouth was in no danger-the jester was too tired and he was snuffling softly with one hand under his cheek, as sound asleep as everyone else. Close by, Lamplighter was sleeping with his arms round his beloved bidenhander. Deler was over closer to the fire. Hallas was stretched with his precious sack on the boundary of light and darkness.
The others were lying on the other side of the fading fire. They merged into the darkness, transformed into mere dark silhouettes, and it was impossible to make out who was sleeping where. Eel walked by several times, keeping watch. But then, convinced that all was quiet, he sat down not far away.
Eel was probably the only one of my human companions about whom I had not yet formed a definite opinion. Always taciturn and as erect as a pikestaff, the dark-complexioned Garrakan rarely got involved in conversation. Sometimes he threw in a few sparse words, but only in cases when he thought it was worth sharing his opinion with the others.
He was well respected in the unit, that was clear straightaway, but I couldn't see that Eel had any friends among the Wild Hearts. To him we were all campaign comrades, the companions who would fight beside him, if necessary, against the common enemy, but not at all the kind of friends with whom he could enjoy drinking a glass of beer on some fine spring day. He kept his distance; he didn't poke his nose into the others' business and didn't let them into his confidence. None of the soldiers took offense and they accepted the Garrakan's character at face value. Once I asked Lamplighter how a man like that had come to be with them.
"I don't know, he's not much inclined to talk about his past life," Mumr said with a shrug. "And we don't try to force him. The past is every man's personal business. Take Ash, now-he's the commander of the Thorns at the Giant-he used to be a petty thief. He wound up in the Wild Hearts when he was still a boy. And now we'd follow him to the Needles of Ice and beyond if need be. And I couldn't give a damn what he used to do before-thieving, killing, or kidnapping old women. It's the same thing with Eel. He doesn't want to talk about anything before he joined up-and that's his right. I've known him for almost ten years, and none of our lads have ever had any reason to doubt his courage. I heard a rumor once that he came from some noble family in Garrak. And I don't think myself that he's any kind of simple lad. Just look at the way he handles those swords, like he was born with them. In a word, a nobleman."
The night bird called again. The brief sound lingered and rippled across the fields, making Eel turn his head sharply in that direction. But the very creature that had made those howls seemed to have taken fright at its own voice.
Sleep still would not come. I was too worried by the fact that Tomcat and Egrassa had been away for so long. The goblin was right when he said something nasty was on the way. What could detain two warriors on a seemingly safe and peaceful road?
Hmm ...
Was it really that safe? Really that peaceful? It might be only just over a week to Avendoom on horseback, but that didn't mean everything was peaceful and quiet on the highway. Anything at all could happen. What had Tomcat been so dour and upset about? A whole day before I was introduced to the key, he was already quite obviously concerned, frequently glancing round behind him without any need, staring down the empty road, stroking his cat's whiskers far too nervously, and muttering strangely to himself under his breath.
What had he seen? What had he sensed? All the others, including Miralissa and Egrassa, who were skilled shamans, had been quite unperturbed.
But then, who could understand a tracker? In their profession, those lads were obliged to see what others failed to notice.
The stars gradually blurred and the world sank into a deep sleep.
I opened my eyes without knowing what had woken me. The crescent moon had sauntered quite a distance across the sky while I was asleep and now it was clutched in the embraces of the Arrow of the Sun, an immense constellation spread out at the very line of the horizon.
Eel was dozing beside Loudmouth, whose mouth was still wide open. More than three hours had passed since I fell asleep and now Uncle and Honeycomb were on watch, having taken over from the Garrakan and Arnkh, who had gone to their beds.
Someone had taken care to prolong the life of the campfire and its small scarlet flower was slowly consuming the sticks of firewood. Miralissa was sitting beside the fire, occasionally dipping a stick into the flames. The fire hissed in annoyance and shot out sparks that went streaking up into the night sky.
I stood up and went toward the elfess, trying not to wake anyone, but I almost stepped on Deler on the way. I sat down cautiously beside her and started watching the fire lick the bark off the stick.
"You cannot sleep either?" she asked after a long silence.
"No."
I looked at her imperturbable face, at her hair gleaming with scarlet highlights in the light of the campfire.
"It is a good night." She sighed.
"Bearing in mind that I haven't spent the night in the fields very often in my life, yes it is. A good night."
"You have no idea what a lucky man you are," the elfess said suddenly, her fangs glinting.
I still hadn't managed to get used to those protruding teeth the elves had. No doubt men are subconsciously afraid of anything different from themselves, especially if the unknown has fangs like that in its mouth.
"Yes, if finding yourself in a situation that leaves you no option but to take a trip to Hrad Spein is good luck," I replied rather gloomily.
"I won't try to console you there. You chose a rather risky profession and you knew what you were doing. It's dangerous to be a thief. But that wasn't what I meant. How often have you been outside the walls of Avendoom?"
"Three times," I said after a moment's thought. "And not farther than five leagues."
"There, you see. A lucky man. Always close to home."
"It doesn't feel all that much like home."
I had no sentimental yearnings at all for the walls of Avendoom.
"But it still is your home. Do you know what my most cherished wish is?" she suddenly asked.
I looked into the yellow eyes and shook my head very slightly.
"I want finally to go home. To see my native forest, my family, my palace, my daughter. Why do you smile? Do you think this is too much like a woman?"
"No, milady. I don't think that. Everybody wants to go home at some time. Especially if their child is there."
"I have not been in Zagraba for two years. I have traveled all over Siala with my unit. The last time we went as far as S'u-dar. Ell, Egrassa, and I were the only ones who returned. The rest remained behind in the snow."
"My condolences-"
"Don't," she interrupted me gently. "We have a different attitude to death. We are not people, after all. Elves regard it more lightly and accept it more easily. All depart this life at some time. Sooner or later it happens. Running away from it is foolish-and closing your eyes to it is even more so."
Silence fell again, with only an occasional hiss from something between the coals and the wind fluttering the hairs that had come loose from the elfess's braid.
"I've been wanting to ask," I began. "Why did you get involved in this adventure? After all, this is our misfortune. This is a human problem."
"The dark elves concluded an alliance with Valiostr."
I said nothing. Alliances are made and they are broken. That is a matter of high politics, and an alliance, even if it has held for several hundred years, is no reason for sticking your head into a hungry ogre's mouth.
Miralissa understood my unspoken thought.
"Harold, are you always in such a gloomy mood?"
"It all depends on the circumstances."
"You must understand that if we do not help you now, then we shall pay for it later. The orcs have nominally acknowledged the authority of the Nameless One, even though he is a man. But they have only acknowledged him because it is in their interest to do so. Since the Spring War they have not managed to make any progress across the continent, not even once. They were finally driven back into Zagraba."
"I understand."
"If the Nameless One crushes Valiostr, then the Border Kingdom, the ancient land of the orcs, will be left without protection. The Bordermen will not be able to hold out against the full forces of the Firstborn. If the Nameless One is satisfied with vengeance and his armies halt in Valiostr, that will not be the end. The orcs will gather strength and take Isilia and in time they will undermine Miranueh, and then they will think of some reason to turn against the Nameless One. They are proud and inclined to think that they can defeat a man with their yataghans, even if he has the power of a thousand magicians. Or perhaps they will leave Valiostr in peace; there are plenty of other lands to the south."
"The south is strong. It is Garrakh, the Empires, the Lowlands, Filand, and the light elves if it comes to that."
"When a landslide gathers speed, the lower it gets, the more dangerous it becomes. They will be hard to stop. In their obsession with the greatness of their race, they will exterminate all. The orcs are the gods' Firstborn, after all. Siala was granted to them, the ogres retreated into the shadows, and all the other worms-other races-appeared here through some misunderstanding. Only the orcs are worthy to live, the others should be dispatched into the darkness. Sooner or later the elves' turn will come. And without the support of men, the war will be hopeless. We will drown in blood, Harold. That is why the elves are helping Valiostr. We want you to hold fast in the present, or we shall perish in the future. We shall fall. We shall lose everything. The Nameless One is only the beginning. Merely the snowball that will set in motion the avalanche of a new division of the world. We will all have to work as a team ... you and I must work together."
I nodded, flattered. The orcs really had been building up their forces for a long time, and the only reason they weren't already testing the sharpness of their yataghans was that the combined forces of Valiostr, the Border Kingdom, and the dark elves were still just about able to restrain them. But if just one of those three were to disappear, the Firstborn would have a lot more breathing space. There would be a little gap in the dam, and a little trickle would flow through it. And everyone knows that water wears away stone. After a while the dam would burst.
"I shall lead the group tomorrow," Miralissa suddenly announced. "Milord Alistan and Eel will go back. We have to know what has happened to Tomcat and Egrassa."
"Won't they disappear, too?"
Markauz and Eel were excellent warriors, and in case of need their assistance would be far from superfluous.
"Let us hope that my cousin and Tomcat have forestalled any unforeseen circumstances."
"What happened, anyway? Why did they leave the party so suddenly?"
"Tomcat saw something."
"Tomcat saw something?" I echoed in amazement. "But you don't send men off somewhere or other just because someone has seen something. Anyone could imagine that he saw something."
"Tomcat sees things that others do not," Miralissa said in a quiet voice, and put her charred stick down on the ground. "Do you know that before he joined the Wild Hearts he was an apprentice with the Order?"
"I don't believe it." Somehow I couldn't imagine this short fat man with a mustache as a magician's apprentice.
"But nonetheless, it is true. I don't know why he left the magicians, but he still has his knowledge. Tomcat notices interesting things, although sometimes he himself cannot explain his instinctive feelings. Wake up any of the Wild Hearts and ask them what they would trust most, what they would choose in a moment of danger-reason and facts, or Tomcat's shadowy feelings? I am quite sure, Harold, that they would all choose the latter. This ordinary-looking man has proved right and guided their unit away from danger too often."
I made the effort to put a few more branches in the flames.
"That evening when you saw the key, Tomcat came to me. He said that he sensed danger. Not even danger, but its phantom. Something was being prepared behind our backs, and something else was following right behind us, about a hundred yards away. He could sense someone watching us, but no matter how hard he looked, he couldn't find anything."
"Did you believe him?"
"Why not? What sense would it make for him to lie? Since we judged it impossible to turn the expedition back and go dashing off with no particular destination in mind, Alistan and I decided to carry on, but to turn off the busy highway onto this road. We are not so easy to spot here, and if anything happens, others will not suffer. Tomcat and Egrassa, the junior prince of the house and a knowledgeable shaman, were to go back and see what was happening."
"And stop it ..."
"If possible, but that was not the main goal. Tomcat said that it was not far, only three leagues away at the most. By any calculations, they should already have caught up with us."
"There's a hostile shaman somewhere nearby?" I guessed.
"Yes, you're right. But even I didn't sense anything." She reached up and gently picked a small leaf from my shoulder. "If not for Tomcat's caution, we would already have been attacked from behind."
"And how long are we going to run like this?"
"Certainly as far as Ranneng. You must agree that joining battle with someone unknown is too dangerous; we might lose the advantage that we have at present. And there are magicians of the Order in the city, so our enemies will not venture into it."
"Pardon me, milady. But I do not agree with you there," I said, and shook my head. "If they could get into the king's palace, they will certainly get into Ranneng."
"Do you suggest that we should not enter Ranneng at all?"
"It could be that they are trying to lure us there."
"Why?" she asked, looking at me curiously.
"Let's just call it a premonition."
"Like Tomcat's?"
"No-unlike Tomcat, I am sometimes wrong."
Miralissa's black lips smiled sadly.
"Perhaps you are right. But we cannot do without the city. There is no way we can avoid it. Otherwise, once past the Iselina, it will be too hard without fresh horses and supplies. In any case, attacking us there is not the same as attacking us here when there is not a soul around. We shall be in Ranneng in three days. There are still two hours left until dawn, go and sleep."
"I won't fall asleep now."
"I have to compile a few spells. Just in case. I sense there may be trouble ahead."
"Then I will not disturb you. Good night."
A slight bow of the head and she had already picked up her stick from the ground and was drawing signs in the ashes.
I went back to my place and straightened out my crumpled blanket. As morning approached it had turned cooler and the first, topaz-like drops of dew had appeared on the stalks of the grass.
"Why aren't you asleep?" Uncle asked me peevishly as he made his round of the camp. "Even the horses are sleeping like logs, and here you are making a racket. Ah, you're as green as they come. In your place I'd be glad of every free minute I could get."
He walked away, muttering quietly.
Well, what the Wild Heart had said made sense. I lay down on my improvised bed, and immediately leapt back up, trying not to shout out. Some swine had put a briar in my blanket! I cast an angry glance at the jester, but he was sleeping calmly. Or at least pretending with consummate skill.
No point expecting a leopard to change his spots. I stopped worrying, threw the briar as far away as possible, and lay down. And at that very moment I almost choked on my own laughter. Someone had come off even worse than me, only he didn't realize it yet. Loudmouth was still sleeping with his mouth wide open, and there was a dandelion stalk sticking out of it.
The last thing I saw before I fell asleep again was Miralissa, a solitary figure sitting beside the fire, drawing incomprehensible signs on the ground. I wanted to go to her, but knew I could never follow this road where it might lead ... even if she let me. She is what she is-an elfess and a royal one, no less, and a magic user. Harold is what he is-wolf-single, thank you, and planning to stay in that happy state. We were comrades, no more. That was fine with me.
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