Lioness of Kell

by Paul E. Horsman

  They sat in silence that night, as an open steamcart returned them to Harbor’s Peacock inn. Basil sat back in the smelly leather upholstering, holding Yarwan’s hand and resting his head on the captain’s shoulder. He thought of Vanhaar. Home. Spellstor–the name pulled at him, but he didn’t know why, he knew it from the old books only. Spellstor, where they studied portals. Funny; Father never mentioned the place before—he never spoke of the war.

  ‘So that’s Argyr,’ Jurgis said after a while. ‘He looks more like you, brother. Nervy.’

  Basil blinked. He had been nodding and Jurgis’ remark took him by surprise. ‘Am I nervy?’

  ‘Yes. Many times you’re sizzling like a grenade about to explode.’

  The Spellwarden stared without seeing at the mountain road winding down to Harbor. ‘I often feel like that. I want to do so many things. Go after that shamanic spellbook, try to fly a broom, hunt that little singer, hunt Kelwarg, go to Vanhaar. I ...’

  A loud noise much like the popping of a giant cork shocked him upright. On the box the driver cursed in desperation and wrestled with the wheel to prevent the steamcart driving off the cliff. With screaming brakes and the loud wailing of its siren he brought the vehicle to a halt, swerving around a massive creature in the middle of the road.

  ‘What the hells ...’ Basil lifted his staff and stared at the monster barring their way. It looked like a misshapen human, a head taller than Maud, and covered in a thick grayish coat of hair. In spite of its size it moved lightning-quick. Before Basil could gather a spell, the monster banged with its two massive fists on the front of the steamcart and ruptured the water tank. Unfazed by the heat, it broke off the stack and started beating it on the engine housing. As steam escaped from the dying vehicle, the monster lifted its snout to the sky and uttered a deafening howl.

  Basil crawled from under Yarwan’s motionless body. He raised his arms and lightning formed over his head. The monster yapped in anger and kicked the cart, making it rock. Basil lost his balance and fell, hitting his head against the seats. Maud vaulted over the side into the road. Her sword appeared in her hands and the battle cry of the Kell made the monster hesitate for a second. Then it roared its defiance. Without effort, it tore a young tree from the side of the road, and took a swipe at the lioness.

  Maud jumped back, momentarily blinded as a hail of sand and stones from the tree’s roots pelted her face and upper body.

  Basil stared at the lioness and the enormous monster and with a groan, he sat up. The monster kicked the cart again. It rocked, and Basil tumbled out of the back. Groggily, he felt hands dragging him away from the wreckage.

  ‘Can you stand?’ Jurgis said urgently.

  Basil nodded and came to his feet. ‘Yarwan?’

  ‘He’s all right.’

  ‘Good.’ Then, from a ledge halfway up the white promontory, a peal of mocking laughter brought hot color to his face

  ‘Don’t look,’ Jurgis said through clenched teeth. ‘It’s Saul. Do something about the monster, brother, before it kills Maud.’

  Rage filled the Spellwarden. ‘The child wants to play?’ he snapped. ‘I’m game.’ With a magical word he snatched a breath of wind and gave it strength. Under his will, the puff became a small gale that tore at the monster. The fringes of its violence had Maud lose her footing and with a cry, she fell backward against the cart. The hairy monster roared. Its massive claws reached for Maud’s throat, but the winds fastened on its body, and lifted it up in the air. Using a surge of anger, the Spellwarden placed the monster on the ridge, next to the capering singer. Saul’s taunts turned into a frightened cry as the monster turned on him, and he jumped into emptiness. Basil gasped, but the singer’s carpet appeared in time to catch him and he fled away over the sea.

  ‘Begone!’ Basil pointed at the monster on the ledge, and blackness sped upward to meet it. The beast tottered, milling its arms, and with a pitiful yelp, tumbled down the mountainside to lie bleeding and still in the road.

  ‘Yarwan?’ Basil said, turning around. He sounded as anguished as the dead monster had.

  ‘I’m here, love.’

  They embraced, and in Yarwan’s arms Basil felt both anger and fear drain away from him. ‘You’re all right?’

  ‘I hit my head, nothing to worry about,’ Yarwan said stoutly. ‘That was a magnificent trick you played on the little coward, love. You shocked him witless.’

  ‘Whatever was that monster?’ Maud said. She looked uncommonly grim, with gray spots of dusty sweat on her skin.

  Basil shrugged. ‘No idea. I’ve never heard of anything like it.’ He looked at the cart and the driver on his knees beside his dead engine.

  ‘It’s ruined,’ the man said, still in shock. ‘My livelihood is ruined. What should I do?’

  ‘You shall report this whole thing to the Overcaptain,’ Basil said over Yarwan’s shoulder. ‘You have your logbook?’

  ‘Of course.’ The man produced a grimy notebook that contained every trip he’d made.

  Basil stepped out of Yarwan’s arms. ‘Give it to me.’ He wrote a few lines and then affixed his glowing seal to it. ‘Here you are. Don’t worry; you will be compensated.’

  Gingerly, the driver took his notebook back. He mumbled something and backed off, suddenly afraid of this strange youth.

  Basil, his mind elsewhere, didn’t even notice the man’s fear. ‘Why?’ he said aloud. ‘What did the little creep hope to gain with this nonsense?’

  ‘Gain?’ Jurgis stared at his brother. ‘He wanted to kill us.’

  Basil shook his head. ‘No.’ He looked up and saw Maud’s arrested look.

  ‘No?’ she said. ‘Why do you think so?’

  He smiled. ‘Had Saul wanted to kill us, he’d have materialized the monster in the cart, to rip us apart. He would have dropped it from the top of the promontory onto our heads. Blow the whole steamcart with us in it over the edge into the sea. Or he would’ve done something else. We’d be dead. But this wasn’t serious.’

  ‘Not serious!’ Jurgis exclaimed. ‘The steamcart ruined? Maud nearly killed?’

  ‘The cart can be replaced and she wasn’t killed. No, dear, he knew I would stop the beast. He wasn’t planning to kill anyone; he wanted something else. But what?’

  At that moment, two harbor guards on patrol came running and Maud went to intercept them. Basil wasn’t interested in the furious guards and he crouched down by the dead monster.

  ‘It’s a female,’ he said after a while. ‘But of what species? It’s not a bear, or an ape, and it certainly isn’t human.’

  ‘Perhaps it’s a troll,’ Jurgis said, smiling broadly.

  Basil looked up. ‘You could be right.’

  His brother’s face fell. ‘I was joking. No one has ever seen a troll.’

  ‘No?’ Basil rose and strode over to where Maud was in a heated discussion with the law. ‘You, guardsman,’ he said with unconscious peremptoriness. ‘Take this monster’s body to the Overcaptain’s mansion. My father is staying there. Request him to have a look at the body and let me know if he recognizes it. I’ll be at the Drunken Peacock when you return with the answer. That will be all.’

  Maud bared her teeth at the outraged guardsmen. ‘His father is the Prince-warlock of Winsproke, who is on an unofficial visit to the Overcaptain. I suggest you execute the Spellwarden’s wishes with alacrity.’

  Basil returned to his contemplation of the dead monster, oblivious to the harbor guard running down the road to get transport for the carcass, while his colleague took up post guarding the body.

  ‘Are you finished here?’ Maud sounded on the edge of exploding.

  Basil stood and dusted his hands. ‘Yes. How do we get to the inn?’

  ‘We walk,’ the lioness snapped. ‘Chalk it up to your chum Saul.’

  ‘It’s two miles, and steep going,’ Yarwan said worriedly. ‘Can you make it, love?’

  ‘If I must, I will make it.’ Basil gripped his staff. ‘Blast it, I want a flying carpet.�
�

  Maud glanced at the posting harbor guard and grumbled something vitriolic.

  Jurgis put an arm around her waist and squeezed. ‘What’s bothering you, my love?’

  ‘Those boneheaded idiots,’ the lioness said. ‘Witless imbeciles. “Why did you bring a monkey into Towne? Why didn’t you use a cage, so it couldn’t break loose? Flying carpets don’t exist, woman.” The lackwit was close to a broken nose when he said that.’

  The others roared with laughter.

  ‘Those guards have their limitations,’ Yarwan said. ‘I know them well. They’re stout defenders of the peace, but they have neither imagination nor sense of humor.’ Then he took Basil’s arm. ‘Come on, m’dear; lean on me and we’ll get to the inn.’

  It cost them the better part of two hours to reach the Peacock. Basil was near to tears from the pain as he limped into the taproom, but he made it.

  ‘I need that book,’ he said, before he collapsed into a chair. ‘I need that bloody spellbook.’

  They had just finished a light supper when the harbor guard Basil had sent to his father entered the Peacock’s dining room. He marched up to their table, and saluted.

  ‘Pardon me for interrupting you, Spellwarden, sir. I bear a letter from His Highness the Prince-warlock.’

  ‘Thank you,’ Basil said solemnly, accepting the sealed envelope. ‘You have done admirably well. My regards for your service, harbor guard. I’ll mention it to the Overcaptain.’

  If the guard had hoped for a more tangible reward, he didn’t show it. Instead, he gave a brisk salute and marched from the room.

  ‘Now let’s see.’ Basil ripped open the cover and took out a letter.

  ‘To the Spellwarden. Dear Sir,

  Interesting gift you sent me this afternoon, for which I thank you. It opened memories I though closed forever.

  To answer your question: The being is an ongyr, a denizen of the Temperiol Ridges in lost Vanhaar. They were in our days reclusive creatures, low in number thanks to their unpredictable but traditionally destructive behavior.

  For a magic-user to bring such a creature here hints at recklessness. I must compliment you on disposing of it so promptly.

  Regards, Argyr.’

  ‘A very affectionate letter,’ Jurgis said sourly.

  ‘What? Oh, certainly.’ Basil looked at his brother. ‘For a warlock this is a highly personal message.’

  Jurgis sat back in his chair. ‘It is?’ He sighed. ‘Sometimes I don’t understand you people.’

  ‘It points to Vanhaar again,’ Maud said. She sat up and stared at Basil. ‘Those carpets ... Any idea what their range is?’

  Basil thought for a moment. ‘Not very far. A hundred miles; no more.’

  ‘So our little friend Saul won’t fly back to the continent.’

  ‘That’s impossible.’ Basil’s face changed. ‘I see what you mean. He must have a place to stay that’s not too far off.’

  Jurgis put his hand to his chin. ‘In what direction did he flee from the Magonaut? Does it compare with today’s flight?’

  ‘Let’s see,’ Yarwan said as he picked up the discarded envelope. He produced a stylus from a pocket and sketched the harbor. ‘It happened here. The road to Fastness runs more or less thus. I remember seeing the lighttower at the end of the main jetty. That would mean Saul flew that way. Did anyone see him changing course?’

  ‘Not while he was in sight,’ Jurgis said. ‘I watched him till he disappeared in the clouds. That didn’t take long; the carpet must have been fast.’

  ‘Right,’ Yarwan said, flipping the envelope over. ‘Now Jamril Bay. The Magonaut lay with her bow pointing this way. Saul took off from the quarterdeck, in line with the masts. When he cleared the treetops, he turned left and flew away over land.’ He sketched and the others nodded.

  Yarwan stared at the two drawings. ‘I need a chart to make sure, but from memory I’d say both courses end up at a small group of islands some distance north of the archipelago.’

  Jurgis stared at his empty wineglass, but when Maud gestured to refill it, he shook his head. ‘Is there anything of interest?’

  ‘Dimdras.’

  The others looked at Yarwan.

  ‘Another fort?’ Jurgis said, but the captain shook his head.

  ‘Not really.’ He hesitated. ‘They’re the remains of an ancient settlement. Even our lore keepers don’t know who lived there. For its age the buildings are supposed to be in very good condition. Nobody goes there, though; it has a reputation of permeating badness that rots the soul and makes you less than human.’

  Jurgis shifted in his chair. ‘Sounds like a perfect place for our little singer. We should look the place over. I would feel safer if we had the bastard under lock and key.’

  ‘We’ll have to use the Daisee then,’ Yarwan said. ‘Magonaut’s repairs will take a week at least.’

  ‘Blast,’ Maud said. ‘The cutter is slow. Let’s hope the little bastard won’t slip away.’

  ‘Why would he? The guy doesn’t know we know he’s there. If he is there, you know,’ Jurgis added slyly.

  ‘You!’ Maud said with disgust. ‘One of these days I’ll make you eat that clever tongue of yours.’

  CHAPTER 19 - A NEW SURPRISE

  The sea was smooth, the wind favorable, and the Daisee made good speed, sailing all the way around the archipelago toward Dimdras Island. For the last day, several large fish swam with the ship, jumping and diving, and chattering in queer voices.

  ‘What are those animals?’ Jurgis said, leaning over the railing. ‘They look quite happy.’

  ‘They’re dolphins.’ Old Hamui stopped to watch the frolicking beasts. ‘They’re smart fish, people say.’

  ‘With all respect, honorable Mate, they are not fish.’ The Jentakan who accompanied the mate on his rounds smiled apologetically. ‘They are sea people. They guide us to the best fishing grounds and warn us when the white shark is near. No Jentakan would dream of catching one; it would be murder.’

  ‘I bow to your knowledge,’ Hamui said politely. ‘I’m a Harbor man; I only fish with a rod and that rarely.’

  ‘It’s just as if they’re talking.’ Jurgis stared at the gray bodies playing.

  ‘They are.’ The sailor looked wistful. ‘In Maiwar is a woman who can speak with them. She used to be a diver, checking the lobsterpots. She often joined the sea people in their play and learned some of their words.’

  It was clear the dolphins had fun following the ship. One moment they were playing some distance away, the next they seemed to be racing the Daisee. The little cutter was no match for them, and when they were ahead, they waited for the ship to catch up, laughing as if it was all one big joke.

  Jurgis followed their antics with some envy. ‘They don’t care about warlocks and their whims.’

  ‘For the moment, neither do I.’ Maud sat cross-legged on deck, basking in the sun. ‘It’s all out of my hands. Come here and have some lemonade; this heat sucks the life from your lovely body.’

  Jurgis dropped down beside her and accepted a glass. He nestled himself in Maud’s arms and forgot everything.

  Halfway into the afternoon, the voice of the lookout shocked them all into action.

  ‘Wyrm!’

  ‘Another?’ Jurgis jumped up. ‘They’re thick as flies these days.’ Then he fell silent as a large shadow darkened the deck and the wind from two enormous wings caused the sails to flutter. ‘Gods! It’s a big one!’ The boy walked back, staring up at the wyrm. It was easily three times as large as the one Basil had killed near the Tower Aware. It looked older, with graying skin covered in green patches. Foul-smelling steam spread a stink like month-old eggs, and Jurgis gagged.

  ‘Drop the sails and get below,’ Basil shouted, like he had done with that other attack.

  Yarwan nodded and relayed the order. This time, however, they were less lucky. A mighty bellow of hot steam shriveled the sailcloth; the lines snapped, and the yards crashed down. In seconds, the disciplined s
hip had turned into a steaming hulk.

  Again, the beast passed low overhead, and its roar deafened Jurgis. The gale of wind under its wings buffeted him and instinctively he closed his eyes against the hot breeze. The Daisee rocked and overhead, the masts creaked alarmingly. With one arm over his face, Jurgis sought a handhold. Reaching the ladder to belowdecks was impossible. His other arm touched something hard and scaly, with a pointy protrusion at least two hands long, and instinctively, he gripped it. It all happened in half a heartbeat. Before he realized what it was he was clinging to, a mighty pull nearly tore his arms from his body. He screamed as the wyrm sped upward and carried him away from the ship, dangling from a large horn on the beast’s shoulder.

  Too scared to yell, Jurgis clung to his precarious hold, while hot pain tore at his muscles. The wyrm dove, and its speed somersaulted Jurgis onto its back. Without thought, the boy scrambled to find a seat, gripping the monster’s central horn. The sea and the ship below turned swiftly and for a moment he felt excitement tightening his chest. The speed and the feel of the powerful body moving beneath him gave an unaccustomed thrill.

  From the deck, Basil sent a thin thread of green at the wyrm. With a slap of its wings, the reptile twisted out of the way and the beam sizzled harmlessly past Jurgis’ head.

  The boy looked down at the ship. It turned around and around beneath him till he felt his stomach heave. He thought he heard Maud’s anguished voice from below. ‘Jump into the sea!’

  For a moment, Jurgis closed his eyes. Jump? Those mighty wings would kill me. Again, the wyrm dove down toward the Daisee, breathing steam. Another shot from Basil caught the beast in the belly, rupturing several vital organs. In its death throes, it reared till it almost stood on its tail in the air.

  Without thought, Jurgis let go of the horns, pulled up his legs and leaned as far back as he could. He started to slide and then, screaming, plunged head over heels into the sea.

  The splash was a numbing shock, and he went down, down into a sunny green world. He thrashed his arms, unable to think. A dark shadow slid past him. Shark! Then, something halted his descent and pushed him up toward the light.