Yes. If ever I find him again, Im going to eat him. Munch crunch gobble gone.
A fine sentiment, but Im afraid you cant really eat him. He doesnt have a real body, not one made out of meat, I mean, like you and me.
Just like him! The final cheat of all!
A spiteful beast, isnt she?
The voice came out of the dark beyond the fire. His dagger in hand, Rhodry scrambled to his feet as a figure strolled toward them. A silver glow like moonlight hung in the air round him so that they could see him clearly, a tall fellow, slender, dressed in a long green tunic and buckskin trousers. His hair was the bright yellow of daffodils, his lips were the red of sour cherries, and his eyes were an unnatural turquoise blue, bright as gemstones. Yet the strangest things of all were his ears, long and delicately pointed, furled tight like a fern in spring.
Evandar! Rhodry hissed.
The dragon slapped her tail upon the ground with a dull boom like an avalanche. He could hear her scuffling to her feet behind him.
The very one. Evandar made a bow, then raised one hand to point a long and slender finger at the dragon. Arzosah Sothy Lorezohaz! Remember that I know your name.
She snarled, opening her mouth wide, but she held her place. Enj crouched by the fire and stared at their visitor.
What brings you here? With a nod Enjs way to include him, Rhodry spoke in the Deverrian patois.
A warning for you, Evandar said in the same. Are you heading south?
We are. Cengarns under siege. Did you know that?
Of course. I know everything thats worth knowing about this war, Rhodry Maelwaedd.
Oh, do you now? Then wheres the relieving army? Well be looking to join up with it.
Go to Lin Serr first. Garin and his troop of axemen havent left yet.
What? Id have thought them long gone.
Theres an obstacle in their way. Evandar flashed him a grin. A small armys tramping round the countryside. Horsekin.
Enj winced and swore.
The filthy bastards! Rhodry said, half-laughing. I want a chance at killing me a few.
Youll get it, Evandar said. But stay on guard while youre flying south, because theres some peculiar birds who soar between worlds, and I think me one of them means you harm.
Shapechangers!
Evandar smiled, briefly.
Its the raven Id watch out for. A bird of ill omen, always, but particularly ill-omened is the raven I have in mind. Youre wearing some sort of talisman of hiding, arent you?
I am.
I thought so. No doubt your enemies are having a fair bit of trouble scrying you out, and so theyll have to come look for you in the flesh. Be careful, very careful. The raven womans as dangerous as they come.
Well keep alert, then, and my thanks. Answer me somewhat, will you?
Probably not, but you can ask. I only set riddles. I dont answer them for naught.
The dragon swung her head his way and growled. Oho! Rhodry thought.
All right, then, Rhodry said aloud. Why would you come to warn me? I dont recall ever doing anything for you, and yet youve helped me a good many times now.
I dont know. Its a riddle Ive set for myself, I suppose a riddle as new and shiny as a gold coin, and here I never meant to do such a thing. Evandar tilted his head a little to one side, suddenly solemn, and yet it seemed that he was acting the role of a man thinking rather than truly thinking something through. I suppose theres only one thing the answer could be.
And that is?
Evandar laid a hand along the side of Rhodrys face, then kissed him full on the mouth. His hand felt oddly cool, more like silk than flesh, but the kiss was warm enough. Rhodry could neither move nor think till Evandar released him.
That could be it, indeed. Evandar took one step back and vanished, suddenly and utterly gone, without so much as the flicker of a shadow.
Rhodry raised his hand and touched the dagger to his mouth, stood there narrow-eyed and speechless while Enj goggled and Arzosah made the long rumbling noise that did her for a laugh. Rhodry turned on her with a snarl.
Oh stop your cackling, Wyrm! Why didnt you tell me you could speak the language of men?
You never asked, Dragonmaster. She stopped rumbling, but he suspected her of doing whatever it was dragons did when they smirked. So. Evandar isnt real flesh and blood, is he? I never would have guessed it.
I said hold your tongue! Rhodry flung his hand up to make the ring flash. She whined and crouched like a kicked dog. Oh, my apologies. I shouldnt be taking it out on you.
A harsh man, but a just one. She relaxed with a toss of her massive head. I could be enslaved by worse.
There remained Enj. It took Rhodry a long moment to make himself look his friend in the face.
That wretched wyrm, Enj said. Pretending she couldnt understand a word I said, making you babble back and forth like an ambassador!
Rhodry let out his breath in a sigh. The matter, he knew, would stay closed between them from now on. He sat down again and leaned back against his bedroll.
And what or who is this Evandar fellow? Enj said.
Im not truly sure. He has the ears and eyes of a full-blooded elf, but Ive been told by sorcerers that hes naught of the sort. Riddles, indeed! Rhodry spat into the fire. They say hes some kind of spirit whos never been born, and that he lives in some kind of magical country that lies beyond the world, not that its floating in the air or suchlike just beyond, they say. None of it makes a bit of sense to me, curse them all! But Evandars got dweomer, all right, the way other men have blood running in their veins.
The dragon clacked her fangs in a sound that, he suspected, did duty as a snicker.
Indeed? Enj considered for a long while. Do you think hed know where Haen Marns gone off to?
Ive no idea, but I suspect that if anyone does, itd be him. Maybe Ill get a chance to ask him. Rhodry shot the dragon a murderous glance. And no smart remarks from you.
Arzosah curled her paw and contemplated her claws, but he could have sworn she was smiling.
After a few hours troubled sleep they woke at dawn. Arzosah clambered to her feet and stretched her wings, throwing huge shadows over the entire campsite, then folded them back and waddled down to the river to drink, which took a while because she lapped water like a cat rather than sucking like a cow. The men sat by the ash of their dead fire and shared stale flatbread and a strip of venison jerky.
How long till we reach Lin Serr? Enj said.
On her back? No more than three days, more likely a pair.
Theres some food left, but not much. If we could wait a day, I could catch us more.
Truly, Ive never seen a man as good as you at foraging in the wild country. But times short.
Enj nodded, glancing away upriver, where once the magical lake and island of Haen Marn had sat upon the countryside like a bowl on a table. By its dweomer it had vanished, taking itself away from marauders and the dangers of war how or where, they didnt know. With it, though, had gone Enjs kin and clan, his home and his entire life, leaving behind only a long stretch of empty grass, green in the bright sun.
I was just thinking, Enj said in a shaking voice. That it may be that the isle will return, with the danger gone off south.
Think it likely?
Enj shrugged. His eyes were brimming tears.
Tell me somewhat, Rhodry went on. Have you ever marched to war?
Enj shook his head no.
I thought as much. Here, why dont you let me take what food we have, and you stay here to hunt and wait. Ive seen you in wild country, and I know that you can live here for years if you have to. If the war ends soon, Ill come back. If Haen Marn returns, you come south and find me.
Will you think me a coward if I stay, Rori?
Never, my friend. Never that.
Enj started to speak, then wept, covering his face with his hands. Rhodry got up and strolled down to the river to join Arzosah.
The small creatures snivelling again, she remarked.
Hes no warrior. Let him weep. If my soul werent dead, Id weep too.
Your soul is dead? She swung her massive head round fast to look at him. Water drops gleamed among the scales on her chin.
Just a way of speaking.
Never ever say such a horrid thing again! It curdles my blood, just hearing the words. Dont you realize that such can happen to men, and that its the most unclean thing of all under the sky? She shuddered with a swishing of wings. Horrible!
Well, my apologies. I feel like my hearts died, then, if that suits you better.
It does. A dead heart is sad, but not horrible. Rather common, actually. Males do kill their own hearts over losing the females they love. She sighed in a long rustle of wings. Was this Angmar the only woman youve ever loved?
Do you care?
I do. We females like knowing these things.
Well, then, no, she wasnt the only one. I loved someone named Jill when I was very young, but she left me.
And thats sad, too. Was it for another man?
It wasnt, but for the dweomer.
Ah! Naught to be done about that! When it calls, you follow.
So she told me.
You sound bitter still.
Rhodry shrugged and watched the river flow. He could see the rippling reflection of her massive head, watching him.
Ive lost a mate, she said at last. My heart didnt die, me being female and all, but his loss wounds me still. For your Angmars sake as well as his, Ill eat the first Horsekin we slay.
It was, Rhodry supposed, an honour of sorts.
Then I thank you. Ah well, I shouldnt be surprised that Ive lost her Angmar, I mean. Its better shes gone, for her sake.
Well, if the wretched Horsekin had found Haen Mam
Just so. No doubt my one true love sent them. Shes the jealous sort, truly, which is why Ive lost every woman Ive ever loved. If Id dared to go on spurning her, she would have sent Angmar to the Otherlands. Shes a great queen, you know, and she could have done it easily. Ive been marked for her love from the beginning of my life, no doubt about that, and Ive lost all her rivals.
And just what are you talking about? The dragon swung her head round to glare at him. What great queen?
The one woman Ive ever loved whos truly loved me in return. Rhodry flung one hand in the air in salute. My lady. Death. Oh, weve had a long fine affair of it, Death and I, and always have I served her well, sending her many a pretty gift from battle. Someday shell take pity on me, like she takes pity on all men, and let me sleep in her cold cold arms. I tell you, Wyrm, I begin to long for her more and more.
Arzosah stared at him, her huge and alien eyes unreadable. At length he laughed, but it was just a normal sort of chuckle.
If youve drunk enough, he said, its time to fly south.
I suppose youre going to put those nasty ropes round me again.
I am. But not as many this time, because Enj will be staying here.
Well, thats one thing to the good, then. Hed get so beastly sick, and I was always afraid he was going to soil my scales with one of his ends or the other. Are you sure I cant just eat him and put him out of his misery?
Very sure. Now, come along.
As Rhodry started to walk back to the camp, dweomer touched him as tangibly as a cold hand, then let go and vanished. He suddenly felt as if someone were watching or trying to watch him before this disembodied gaze swept on and disappeared. He swore aloud.
What is it? Arzosah snapped. Youve turned white.
Lets get out of here. Someones looking for us, just like Evandar said, and I dont much like it.
I dont suppose any creature in its right mind would. Here! I just thought of somewhat. Youve got that lovely talisman round your neck, so how did Evandar find us? Unless, of course She paused for a clack of fangs. Unless love guided him.
Hold your black and ugly tongue, Wyrm, or Ill order you into that river!
Rhodry turned on his heel and strode back to camp, with Arzosah padding after in a rumble of laughter.
Every morning at dawn Jill would leave her chamber in the broch of the gwerbrets dun. Shed trudge up the five floors worth of circling staircase and climb through the trap door onto the flat roof of the main tower, which had become an arsenal of sorts. All round the edge stood little pyramids of stones, ready for a last desperate defence, and bound sheaves of arrows wrapped in oiled hides to keep off the rain. While she caught her breath, she would look out and consider their situation. Like an island from a shallow sea, the three hills of the city of Cengarn rose from its besiegers, who spread out on all sides and camped just beyond bowshot from the town walls.
Cengarn lay in a beautiful situation for defence. To the north, across a narrow valley, lay broken ground lower than the city itself, and beyond that strip rose hills that would have taken two armies to secure against a counter-force. Even though the invaders had to place men on the north ground to complete their line, those troops were exposed and vulnerable. To the east, the broken ground became a long ridge, where white tents decked out with red banners stood. Jill suspected that the important leaders of the Horsekin sheltered there.
To the south and west the land fell away, leaving the city perched on the top of cliffs. At the western edge of town, where the dun itself stood, any climb up would require ropes and stakes, while to the south the road ran steep and narrow. Below the cliffs in those directions stretched a wide plain, where the bulk of the army camped, comfortable but vulnerable to attack when the relieving army finally arrived. To protect their men on the plain, the Horsekin were digging ditches and piling up earthworks, or rather, their human slaves were doing the digging and piling. Since they depended on their heavy cavalry and needed to ensure free movement for their own horsemen, they would never be able to make a solid ring all the way round the camp. Rather, theyd placed earthworks as baffles more than walls to protect vulnerable points.
Inside the city walls seethed potential chaos. Crammed into every valley among the three hills, lining every street, crowding every open space, townsfolk and refugees from the farms roundabout huddled amidst cattle and sheep, dray horses and chickens. Theyd been living that way for weeks now, and the gwerbrets town marshals had recruited some of the men from their lords warband to help keep order. Fights were breaking out, over food and water, though for now at least the town ran no danger of starving, and over space, a scarcity indeed. Filth, human and animal, was piling up, swept or carried down to line the inside of the walls. In a pinch, it could become another weapon, hurled by basket or catapult. Even up at the dun, which stood behind its own walls on the highest hill the stench rose thick. From long practice Jill could ignore it, but the threat of plague was another knife at the citys throat.