Jahdo giggled.
Just so. Meer nodded firmly. But for some years now these false prophets have been coming round, preaching these new gods to anyone stupid enough to listen. These so-called seers come from the wild tribes of the far north, where the demons have been appearing and working marvels, or so they say. Alshandras the name they mention most, a powerful goddess of war, or so they call her.
Your people, theyd be liking her, then.
Just so. But most of these prophets are gone now. Some got themselves caught and strangled in the public square by the authorities, and the rest havent been seen for some while. Theyve turned sensible, if you take my meaning, but a few fools have listened to them. And my brother, my own blood kin, little Svar as Ill always think of him, hes one of them, claiming allegiance to this Alshandra creature. It broke my mothers heart.
Ill wager it did. That be too bad, Meer, really tis so. Jahdo was trying to imagine what the mother of a man such as Meer would be like even more formidable than his own mother, he supposed. I guess she could talk no sense into him, huh?
No one could make him listen to reason, no one, not our mother, not our aunts, not our uncles. But anyway, some weeks ago Thavrae led his men out east.
Why?
Well, partly to spare our city outright war between his warband and that of his rivals. He did listen to our mother about that, when she begged him to take his men away before citizen slaughtered citizen in the streets. The authorities wanted to strangle him for blasphemy, you see, but you dont just arrest a razkan when hes got his warband round him.
Then he does have some honour left.
Some, truly, though a poor comfort to our mother it is.
Wait a moment. You said these demons live in the north, right? Why did Thavrae head east?
Im coming to that part. Hush. Apparently hed received an omen from the gods, sending him to fetch a particular thing from the lands of the Slavers.
What was it?
How would I know? But I was sent to find him and beg him to come home.
Sent by your mother?
Just so.
Do you think you I mean we can find him?
I dont know. Meer sighed, running both hands through his tangled mane of hair. By now he and his men should have found whatever this mysterious object is and be returning. I hope well meet them on the road back.
What road? We dont even know where were going.
True.
Then how do you think well ever find him?
If I can get within a reasonable distance, the brother bond will guide us.
The what?
The brother bond. Meer hesitated for a long time. Now, thats one thing I can never explain to you, Jahdo, even if you were to walk away again and leave me here to starve. Its a magick, and some magicks are Gel daThae. They cannot be shared. In the temple we swear holy vows.
Well, all right, then. My mam does always say that if you swear a thing, its needful for you to do it. But I still dont see how were going to find him. What if he goes north and we go south or somewhat like that?
It might happen, truly. But a mothers charge is a sacred charge, and I must travel and try.
Jahdo hesitated, considering.
Be you sure this is all youre doing? I did hear you talking to Verrarc back home, Councilman Verrarc I mean, and you were talking about your mother and stuff, but I did get this strange feeling. You werent telling him everything, were you?
Meer laughed.
I figured I was choosing the cleverest lad in town, and I was right. But actually, I wasnt lying. I was merely editing. I didnt want to go into detail. There is somewhat about Councilman Verrarc that creeps my flesh. I hear things in his voice, somehow.
Things?
Overtones, odd hesitations, a peculiar timbre. He sounds enraged, but at the same time, he reeks of fear. Meer paused, considering. I can barely put it into words, its such a subtle thing. But hes an ominous man, in his way, an ominous man.
Jahdo shuddered. Yet once again the buried memory tried to rise, bringing with it a cold shudder. He caught his breath with a little gasp. Meer turned an inquiring ear his way.
Geese walking on my grave, Jahdo said. O ych, I wish I hadnt said that.
More likely the evening breeze, lad. I wouldnt take it as an omen.
Later, as Jahdo was falling asleep, he remembered that Meer had found him clever. In spite of the trouble this opinion had got him into, he was pleased.
It took three more days of their slow journeying before they left settled country behind. The road climbed steadily, and the last few farms they passed nestled in hills where sheep, not cows, grazed the sparse pasturage between huge grey boulders. What trees there were, scrubby pine and second growth alders and suchlike, hugged the narrow valleys, leaving the hill tops to grass and the wind. As the road diminished to a rocky path, Meer began to worry about the horse and mule, stopping often to run a huge hand down their legs to check for swellings and strains. He told Jahdo how to pick up their hooves and look for tiny stones or thorns that might have got stuck in the soft frogs. Although Jahdo was afraid of getting a kick for his trouble, as long as Meer was holding their halters or even simply touching them, the horse and mule stood still and docile.
If either of these creatures comes up lame, lad, were in for a miserable time of it.
I do see that, truly. Well, Ill be real careful and take good care of them.
The next day early they left the Rhiddaer behind, not that there was a formal boundary or cairn to mark the border. It was just that Jahdo happened to glance back from the top of a hill and realize that he could see nothing familiar not a farmhouse, not a shepherd, not a cultivated field nor a coppiced wood nothing to mark the presence of human being or Gel daThae, either. For a long moment he stood looking back west and down across the low hills to catch a glimpse of the valley, all misty in the blue distance, where hed spent his entire life. He felt torn in half between missing his family and a completely new sensation, a wondering what lay ahead, not behind, a sudden eagerness to see the new view that would lie east of these hills.
Jahdo? Meer called. Somewhat wrong?
Naught, truly. Just looking behind us. Meer, youd better let me lead the way now. This be a road no longer, just sort of a trail. I dont think your staff will be enough of a guide.
Well and good, then. Lead on. And please remember, lad, that youre my eyes. Youve got to tell me everything you see.
I will then.
Remembering to keep up a running commentary for the blind bard turned out to be difficult. At first Jahdo had no idea what information would be useful to him, and he tended to describe distant vistas rather than the footing just ahead. Thanks to Meers constant and sarcastic comments, he did learn fast that a lovely view of trees in a valley wasnt half so valuable as news of a rock blocking the path.
The path, such as it was, wound along the sides of hills and ran, basically, from one grassy spot to the next, which confirmed Jahdos guess that it was a deer trail. It was a good thing they were heading directly east; without the suns direction to guide them, they could easily have circled round and round the broken hillsides and steep valleys. Water, at least, ran clean and abundant in a multitude of little streams and springs. Here and there they came to a deeper stream, roaring with white water at the bottom of shallow but steep ravines. It was one of those, in fact, that nearly proved fatal.
The path, such as it was, wound along the sides of hills and ran, basically, from one grassy spot to the next, which confirmed Jahdos guess that it was a deer trail. It was a good thing they were heading directly east; without the suns direction to guide them, they could easily have circled round and round the broken hillsides and steep valleys. Water, at least, ran clean and abundant in a multitude of little streams and springs. Here and there they came to a deeper stream, roaring with white water at the bottom of shallow but steep ravines. It was one of those, in fact, that nearly proved fatal.
Late in the afternoon, as they skirted the edge of a fast-moving stream, Jahdo was so intent on telling Meer where to walk that he lost track of his own feet and stepped too close to the ravine edge. The moment his foot hit he felt the damp soil crumble under his weight. He tossed the mules lead-rope back toward the animal just in time to avoid pulling Gidro after him.
Meer! he shrieked. Im falling!
The sky spun blue and bright, and the roar of the water far below seemed to fill the world as he went over, twisting, flailing, grabbing out at empty air. With a smack he hit a wall of pain and lay gasping for breath on a little ledge. Above, what seemed like miles and miles above, he heard the frightened mule braying and Meer yelling his name, but though he fought sobbing for air he could not speak or call out. My ribs be broken, he thought. Ill never be able to walk. Ill have to die here.
All at once he realized that the sounds from above had stopped. His first panicked thought was that Meer had left him behind, but he realized almost immediately that the Gel daThae needed him too badly for that. His second panicked thought was that Meer was going to fall over the edge himself.
Meer! he managed to force sound from his burning lungs at last. Careful! The edge be soft!
Jahdo! Youre alive! Thank every god! Lie still, lad, lie still and get your breath.
Jahdo did as he was told, letting the pain subside as he listened to odd scrapings of sound above him. Suddenly Meers face appeared at the cliff edge. Jahdo realized that the bard was lying on his stomach and feeling for the edge with one hand. In the other he held a rope.
Make noise, Meer called out.
You be right above me.
Hah! Thought I heard you panting down there.
If Meer had heard him breathing, no matter how noisily, over the sound of the white water below, then, Jahdo decided, his hearing must have been amazingly keen. When Meer tossed the rope, the end spiralled down and fell across his chest. Jahdo grabbed it with one hand and carefully felt round him with the other. He had just the room to sit up, and as he did so, he realized that while he ached from bruising, nothing was broken.
I be whole enough, Meer! he called out. And I do have the rope.
Splendid, splendid. Tie that end round your waist, lad, not too tight, now. Youll need to ride her up like a sling. Ive got the other end on Gidros pack saddle.
With the mule pulling and Jahdo walking up the steep side of the ravine, he got to the top easily enough, but scrambling over with the rim so soggy and soft was something of an ordeal, because his back and shoulders ached like fire. At last he was crawling on solid ground. By grabbing Gidros pack saddle he could haul himself up to his feet. Meer inched back from the edge and sat up into a crouch.
My thanks, Jahdo said. You did save my life.
And my own as well, eh? Meer felt the front of his shirt and began brushing off mud and grass clots.
I do thank you anyway. You could have fallen and broken your neck, trying to save me.
I feared your mothers curse worse than I did dying. A mothers curse follows a man into the Deathworld, it does. And I thought wed lost you for sure, lad. What happened?
I did step too close to the edge, thats all. This soft dirt, it be a jeopard, Meer. Its needful that you do test every step with that staff you carry.
And so I shall from now on. Here, do you see a good place to camp? How late is it? I feel a powerful need to rest, I do.
Well, the trail runs downhill from here, and I see some trees and grass down over to our left.
Downhill, does it? Huh, I wonder if theres mountains ahead. Can you see any, off on the horizon?
I havent yet, not even from the top of a hill. I did never hear any stories about mountains between us and the Slavers. I think thats why the ancestors could escape. They never would have survived in mountains.
True. Huh. Another thing I wonder. This city, where Thavrae was heading, I mean, is it northeast or southeast?
You dont know? Jahdo heard his voice rise to a wail.
Im afraid I dont. The lores a bit sketchy when it comes to details like that. Well, were in the hands of the gods. In them lie our true hope and our true safety. Let us pray for guidance.
Although he never would have dared to voice such a thought, Jahdo decided that hed rather put his trust in a man whod travelled there and back again. Yet, much to his surprise, not long after they did indeed receive a sign from the gods or so Meer interpreted it.
For the next few days they travelled slowly, stopping often to let Jahdo rest his sore back. Although he soon realized that out of sheer luck hed broken nothing, he hurt worse than hed ever hurt in his young life. Sleeping on the ground did nothing to ease his bruises, either. At times, thinking of his warm mattress at home would make him weep. At others, he would simply wish that he had died, there in the fall, and put himself out of his misery. Yet, of course, he had no choice but to keep travelling. Going back would have hurt as much as going forward, after all, and he learned that, much to his surprise, he could endure a great deal and still cope with the work of tending animals and making camps, to say nothing of a hard walk through broken country.
On the fourth day it rained, a heavy summer storm that boiled up from the south. Although they were soaked within a few moments, they took shelter from the wind in one of the wooded valleys. Meer insisted that they unload the stock for a rest while they waited out the rain in this imperfect shelter.
They might as well be comfortable, anyway, Jahdo said. Even if we cant. I hate being wet. I do feel all cold and slimy, and my bruises from that fall, they do ache in this damp. My boots be wet inside, even. This be miserable, baint?
I take it, lad, that youve not spent much time in wild country.
Why would I?
No reason, truly. Youre not Gel daThae. Our souls belong to the wild places of the world, you see, and deep in our souls, all of us yearn for the northern plains, the homeland, the heartland of our tribes.
But I thought you did live in towns, like we do.
Of course, so that we may better serve the gods here in the latter days of the world. But in our souls, ah, we yearn for the days when we rode free in the heartland. Our warriors make their kills to glorify its memory, and singers like me make our music in its honour.
Well, if you do miss it so much, why dont you go back?
We cant. Jahdo, listen. This is very important. When the Slavers attacked the homeland, we fled. We deserted our north country and fled south, stinking in our shame, cowards and slave-hearted, every one of us. For what is one of the thirteen worst things but to desert ones homeland in its hour of need? And in our rage and shame we fought and burned and pillaged our way through the cities of the south. Oh, woe to the Gel daThae! That we should desert the homeland and then destroy the cities that the gods themselves had built for their children! Woe and twice woe, that we raised our hands against those children themselves and did slay and smite them! And for that shame and that sin, we can never return. The long meadows of the north, the fire mountains of the ancestors and the warm rivers that forbid winter their banks all, all are lost forever. Do you understand?