A knotty finger rose before Ahren’s right eye and a black line shot from it and off to the west from where Ahren was standing where it faded away into the distance.
‘This strength line could have led you there with the help of those two. Then he would have strangled himself with every draught he had taken of the young man. Instead of which he has free reign and the connection between the two is getting stronger by the heartbeat.’
Ahren found the goblin’s presentation hard enough to take, but the embarrassed looks on Jelninolan’s and Uldini’s faces made matters worse, as did the gleeful undertone in the fay-creature’s voice.
‘Is there any way you can lock HIM out, somehow?’ asked the elf urgently but the goblin shook his head. ‘The connection remains. If I separate them now, the young lad will explode and you’ll have a shower of Paladin ragout.’
Ahren went pale and he really wished the goblin would stop talking.
Uldini cleared his throat and folded his arms impatiently.
‘All well and good, but this isn’t helping us. If you fays had helped us that time, then the Great Spell would have been more successful, but that didn’t happen. We have to live with what we’ve got. Am I right in assuming that the lines will dissolve as soon as we’ve named Ahren?’
Ahren held his breath and fixed his eyes on the dwarf, who cast a fleeting glance at the apprentice’s aura. Then the goblin nodded and Ahren felt a wave of relief.
‘Certainly, but you need to name him urgently before the winter solstice or the cord will become too thick. After that day he would have to share the Blessings of the gods with HIM, WHO FORCES and that would really spoil the fays’ days. And the rest of Jorath’s too.’
For the first time Ahren could hear real fear in the voice of the magical creature as he spoke on.
‘Not only would HE awaken more quickly, but he would achieve direct access to the power of the gods, and nobody wants that to happen.’
A horrified silence descended on the group. Jelninolan was the first to recover from the shock.
‘Then we’re agreed. I’ll repeat my question: where can we carry out the Naming?’ she asked in a voice that brooked no dissent.
The goblin turned around to her in surprise.
‘I thought you knew that already. You have to go back to where the magic started which connects your precious aspirant to HIM. You have to go to the Borderlands.’
Ahren sat on the ground and tried to control his breathing by inhaling and exhaling slowly. The goblin had released him from his state of rigidity at last, having finished reading his aura. Now the goblin was reluctantly discussing things with Uldini and Jelninolan. Falk, Trogadon and Culhen were kneeling down beside the young man, and each in their own way was trying to console him, while Khara observed him with an enigmatic look on her face.
The apprentice wasn’t really taking in what the others were doing. He was trapped in his own little world, and the name of the place they would have to search out was echoing endlessly in his head.
The Borderlands could be reached by marching for two months if conditions were good. But if they didn’t get there within three weeks, then he would become a danger for the whole of Jorath because the Adversary would be able to use the blessings of the gods, which Ahren now possessed, against creation.
Before he had the chance to sink into total despair, Uldini came floating over to them.
‘We’ve found a solution. It’s not without its dangers, but we’ve no other choice’, he began.
Ahren was hanging on to his every word in desperation.
‘Tlik will open the Wild Paths. They follow the Strength Lines of this world, and other laws apply on this journey. If we go quickly, we’ll get to the Borderlands in barely two weeks.’
Ahren threw himself forward and embraced the childlike figure of the Ancient with a cry of joy.
Uldini was totally taken aback and awkwardly patted the apprentice on the back.
‘Don’t worry about it, son. We Ancients made a right dog’s dinner of it, so we’ll help you get out of it.’
He gently released himself from the young man’s embrace.
‘It’s best if we had off straight away. Jelninolan and I will figure out what safety measures we need to put in place. The Wild Paths are not designed for mortal ones, but I’ve one or two ideas.’ He winked encouragingly at Ahren.
The apprentice got back up to his feet and decided to put all his faith into the two Ancients’ ability to find a solution. But in his heart, he also reached another decision. If they didn’t manage to get there in time, he would prevent his blessing being used against the free peoples. His hand reached down to the hunting knife which only two days before had been on the point of boring into his heart. If they didn’t manage it, Ahren would point it at his chest again, but his time it would be of his own free will.
While he was thinking this, he noticed the goblin looking strangely into his eyes for a heartbeat and Ahren was sure he saw the fay-creature give a barely perceptible nod before returning to his conversation with the two conjurers.
Chapter 23
16 days to the winter solstice
Ahren looked anxiously at the mysteriously shimmering pool of powerful energy that lay before them.
Tlik had measured out an area three paces in diameter and was circling it again and again. The icy surface had lain there unchanging at first, but every time he circled it the surface of snow became glassier and somehow more translucent. Eventually a bluish-white smooth fog began to arise from the pool.
The morning sun was just rising and when the goblin had finally stopped walking, Uldini and Jelninolan returned, after having left the cave in the early hours.
‘We can’t do anything before dawn’, Uldini had said the previous evening. ‘First Jelninolan and I will have to rest. And even Tlik will need time to create a sturdy opening without drawing attention to us. Other creatures travel the Wild Paths too, and we certainly don’t want to meet them.’
Ahren had intended remaining awake, but the events and revelations of the day had caught up with him. His decision to offer himself up if necessary had given him a feeling of melancholy peace, and his sleep had been deep and unusually calm.
He had woken up under the weight of Culhen, who had rolled in on top of him during the night, and as he carefully sat up the next morning, he saw Trogadon’s cheerful face.
‘You have a true friend there who has locked you in his heart’, the dwarf had said, pointing at the sleeping wolf. ‘Be careful that you don’t hurt him’.’
Then the squat figure had stood up and marched out into the snow. The apprentice sat there stunned, until it dawned on him that the dwarf had sensed the apprentice’s dark intention of the previous day.
Now they were all standing around the entrance to the Wild Paths, ready to depart. Everybody had their belongings securely fixed to their backs and under Uldini’s instructions they had all dressed warmly.
‘The Wild Paths are different to all others that you know of’, explained Uldini in his schoolteacher’s voice. ‘We want to proceed quickly and silently, and so Jelninolan and I have decided to lay magic upon you, which will help us. It will be a little uncomfortable for you but it’s the best solution.’
He gave them all a blindfold as he floated past.
‘Please tie them over your eyes and nose. They contain smells, sounds and pictures which will help conserve you. We’ve created earplugs out of candle wax for you as well.’
Falk was about to protest but Jelninolan cut in.
‘It’s for your own protection. Uldini and I have to hide you, and the less you move the better. You’ll understand as soon as we’re over there. Also, we’ll be coming out into the middle of the Borderlands, and Uldini and I are going to be exhausted. You, on the other hand, will have to be as rested as possible when we arrive, so you can handle everything that will be awaiting us over there.’
Tlik nodded enthusiastically in support of the elf’s words. Si
nce the decision had been reached to travel along the Wild Paths, the goblin had become unusually amenable, and Ahren smelled a rat. But Uldini and especially Jelninolan trusted him, and so Ahren decided he had to do the same. He saw the others looking doubtfully too, but they too remained silent and resigned to their fates.
Jelninolan pulled a rope out of her bag and tied it around Trogadon, who looked at her in astonishment. She knotted it securely and then took a pace back to Falk and tied the next section of rope to the old Forest Guardian. Then she repeated the pattern along all the travelling party so that in the end they were all bound together, one behind the next at a distance of one pace each time.
Uldini pressed the wax earplugs into their hands and issued his final instructions.
‘First the ears and then the blindfold. Hold on to the rope leading to the person in front, then you will know if you need to stop or walk on. Under no circumstances are you to loosen the rope. If you get lost in the Wild Paths nobody will know whether or how you will ever escape.’
Jelninolan gave everyone an encouraging smile.
‘Trust Uldini and me, then everything will be fine. We’ll bring you safely to the other side.’
Ahren looked doubtfully over at Selsena and Culhen, who were both standing there, quite free and untied. The wolf was sitting in his usual pose, on his back legs, his tongue hanging out of his mouth as though he were laughing at Ahren.
‘What about those two?’ he asked uneasily. The more he heard about the Wild Paths, the more nervous he felt.
‘Don’t worry about them’, answered Jelninolan. ‘Animals read the place in a different way. They’ll follow us quite safely.’ She said this with such certainty that Ahren didn’t pursue the matter.
Then it became serious and the travellers who had been strapped in began covering their senses. Ahren put the wax in his ears and tied the blindfold firmly over his nose and eyes. The material was thick and heavy and Ahren could recognise and smell nothing more than the slightly musty aroma of the blindfold.
He breathed deeply through his mouth and he hoped he would soon get used to the feeling of being blind and half-deaf as he snatched for breath.
Now that he was devoid of the two senses, he gripped firmly to the rough rope that connected him to Falk. He became ever more concerned about Culhen and was on the point of pulling off the blindfold when suddenly Tanentan’s song took hold of his reason.
Jelninolan was playing her murmuring and calming melody on the artefact, and the music was flattering his understanding and leading him into a dusky half-sleep. His thoughts were becoming heavy and indolent. And nothing could reach him anymore except for the song from the soundless lute.
He trotted forward as if sleepwalking, once he felt the rope tightening around his stomach and along with the others he walked carefree and docile into the shimmering light that was pushing through the material on his blindfold. The feeling of cold and heat that overcame him simultaneously, pushed for a heartbeat through his befogged spirit but then it was over, and they were standing on the Wild Paths.
It was day and it was night. He felt snow and he felt sun on his skin. He heard colours and tasted every step he took. All of his senses were in a tangle and of course that should have disturbed him, but he didn’t even know where he was, and anyway there was this song in his head that held him safe and warm, like a loving mother. It murmured and it tugged at his heartstrings: ‘come, oh come, step after step – come to your destiny’, it seemed to cry, and he would obey.
He was vaguely aware of standing still from time to time when the rope became loose in front of him.
Sometimes he felt a woman’s hands pressing him to the ground, where he would curl into a ball as his senses were in their tangle, and he tasted enormous creatures moving past him with smells that made his skin tingle. Forwards and forwards he went, carried by Tanentan’s song, an endless succession of steps, carrying him through this strangest of countries, to a place whose name he had forgotten, as indeed he had forgotten his own name.
When their journey along the Wild Paths finally came to an end, the crossover was uncomfortable and abrupt. He had just felt heat and cold on his skin again when the magical song stopped playing in his head and he came around.
He sank to the ground whimpering, his legs were so weak that he could hardly move. He quickly pulled the blindfold off and the earplugs out of his ears. The noonday sun blinded him and Ahren quickly closed his eyes again and massaged his aching knees. In front and behind he could hear quiet groans of pain and so he thought the others had to be feeling the same way.
‘I told you, we were travelling too quickly’, he heard Jelninolan scolding quietly.
‘We arrived on time and that’s the only thing that counts’, snarled Uldini’s complaining voice in reply. ‘When it gets dark, I’ll be able to tell by the stars how much time we still have. Even I find it hard to keep track of the days in there.’
Then he heard Tlik’s voice butting in, with its tone of self-satisfaction.
‘I can tell you if you like. There are still three days until the winter solstice.’
Uldini breathed a sigh of relief while Ahren gasped in shock. They had been in this trance for almost two weeks? No wonder he felt so exhausted.
‘Then it was worth taking the risk’, blurted Uldini excitedly. ‘How far is it still to the Place of Ritual?’ he added more quietly.
The croaking voice of the goblin sounded again.
‘Maybe another nineteen miles northward and then we’re there. There was a Dream Snatcher on the Wild Paths. I thought you’d better avoid that and so I led you out a little earlier than I’d planned. You’ll be able to manage the rest of the way yourselves, surely.’
Ahren still couldn’t open his eyes without being blinded by the sun and so he couldn’t see the face of the fay-creature, but his sarcastic tone was more than evident. Tlik, it seemed, was enjoying the prospect of making their final part of the journey more difficult.
Ahren forced himself to open his lids, even if only a little bit, so that he could recognise something, but the pain was too great. With a sigh he put his hand over his face and lay down on his back.
‘You should all keep your eyes closed until evening time’ Jelninolan called out in a firm voice. ‘They were out of action for too long in the darkness and you’ll only damage yourselves if you try too hard.’
‘Where are we? Is it safe here?’ Falk asked in a husky voice.
‘We’re in the middle of the Borderlands, so no. I wouldn’t say any place within a one hundred and twenty-five mile radius is safe’, answered Uldini irritably. ‘But Jelninolan and I have taken precautions. You lie there and stay quiet and nothing should be able to discover us.’
‘All the laws of nature are turned on their head in the Wild Paths. Your bodies need to readjust quickly to normality and then the pains in your legs will disappear’, said Jelninolan comfortingly to the group. ‘You should be fully recovered by early tomorrow if you use the right herbs from Ahren’s bag.’
‘Well, I’m fine anyway’. That was Trogadon’s voice and there was no trace of pain or hoarseness in it.
The apprentice heard the dwarf getting up and cheerfully speaking.
‘I want to thank you for the delightful song. Without that melody it would have been deadly boring’.’Then he began humming snatches of the melody Ahren had heard in his head the previous days.
‘I should have known that Tanentan wasn’t going to keep you quiet, Trogadon’, said Jelninolan contritely. I hope your experiences on the Wild Paths weren’t too traumatic.’
‘Don’t worry about that for a second. I did stick my eyes out from under the cloth the first day but the sight of all those…things that looked so different to how they should have, well that was enough for me. I prefer to stand upright on the ground, and hands that grow out of plants do nothing for me. So I covered my eyes again and marched on dutifully,’
Ahren shivered at the creatures the dwarf had so c
asually described. Suddenly he was grateful that he had been in that enforced twilight state and he made a mental note that he had to thank the elf as soon as he could see again.
‘If you’ve recovered so well, then you might as well keep watch’, Uldini urged. ‘These are the Borderlands after all, and I really don’t want to be only dependent on our magic. And it’s high time you were all quiet’, he hissed in an irritated voice.
The dwarf gave a satisfied grunt of agreement, and following the Arch Wizard’s warning concerning the dangers that surrounded them, an uneasy silence fell over the party. Nobody wanted to risk alerting anything or anybody to their presence as long as half of them were lying on the floor, quite vulnerable to attack.
The afternoon crawled by. Ahren flinched at every sound and soon he was dripping in sweat. His legs were still aching but he knew he couldn’t talk to the others about it for fear of endangering them all, and this only increased his anxiety.
At one point Jelninolan came over to him and placed a calming hand on his chest. Ahren had to stop himself from holding on to her for dear life. Instead, he gave a thankful nod and presented a brave front.
‘It’s not much longer until dusk. If it’s alright by you, I can take some of your herbs and prepare you three an invigorating brew. Then you can drink something as soon as the sun has gone down and you can take off your blindfolds’, she whispered in his ear.
Ahren nodded again, and again he broke out in a sweat. The elf being so close to him, not a finger’s width from his face, made him incredibly nervous. And when she began tugging at the bag of herbs which was hanging on his belt, his pulse began to race.
‘I’ll do that’, Ahren said quickly, and hurriedly untied the bag of herbs and handed it to her. She took the bag before leaving, and the apprentice gave a sigh of relief.
The Naming Page 37
