The Far Kingdoms

by Allan Cole

  The place was a whirl of scents and odd noises: A mixture of perfumes and sulphur; jangling chimes and tap tap tapping of hollow wood on stone. As we moved from room to room the air grew cold, then warm, then suddenly cold again. There were constant whispers, dark sibilants hissing from every corner. There came a whoosh of dry air as a large door opened and we entered a room that smelled of shed lizard skin. A tug on my sleeve halted me.

  "You may remove the cloths, gentle sirs," came a harsh voice. It was not the clerk's. I untied the blindfold and entered a world of gray stone and dirty yellow light. A robed figure stood before us. It was the Evocator Janos and I had encountered in the streets some time before.

  "I bid you welcome, gentle sirs," he said. "My name is Jeneander. I am to be your guide on this reckoning day." I stood mute for a moment, then felt Janos's elbow in my ribs. "Praise the gods you are to be our light," I intoned and quickly took a purse from my robe and pressed it into Jeneander's eager hands. It disappeared as quickly as a sea lizard plucks a gull from the air.

  Jeneander leaned closer and whispered: "I will leave for a few moments. Refresh yourselves with this in my absence." He passed us a small oilcloth-wrapped bundle. "I am pleased to announce one of our most promising young Evocators has found favor with your proposed expedition," he said loudly. "He will be here presently to join in the Casting. You may know of him. His name is Cassini."

  I buried a groan. "Good fortune continues to smile on us," I managed to reply. We exchanged bows with Jeneander and he slipped away to prepare for the ceremony. I hastily unwrapped the bundle and found several large hunks of black bread drenched in wine. "But what of our fast?" I whispered to Janos. "I thought all food was forbidden?"

  Janos chuckled and snagged a chunk of bread. "I have learned, my dear Amalric, there are as many shadings to that word as there are coins in a rich man's strong room." He wolfed down the bread. "Eat up. I believe our new friend was more worried about our food-starved wits than a minor bit of blasphemy." I ate - gobbling down the bread with gusto. Immediately my mood shifted and I began to see things in a clearer light.

  "Who is this Cassini?" Janos asked. "I thought we had a choice of the Evocator the Council will require to accompany our expedition."

  "Sometimes," I said. "Sometimes not."

  Janos eyed me. "From your expression - artfully guarded, I hasten to add - I got the impression you know of this Cassini."

  "Dear me," came a voice. "It's only midday and already I hear my name being bandied about." We both turned to greet the speaker. He was a tall man - about my age - with not much flesh on his bones and a soft, spoiled mouth. The Evocator's robes he wore were richly embroidered for one so young, indicating his family's wealth.

  "Ah, there you are, Cassini," I replied. "I was just about to describe your charming personage to my companion... Captain Janos Greycloak."

  At my introduction, they bowed to one another. "Cassini and I were once comrades of the athletic field and tavern," I explained to Janos. "There were many who mourned the day he got the Calling and left us to our childish pursuits." Janos understood from the wag of a guarded finger I was not among those who'd mourned. "We did not know each other that well, which was my misfortune and his good luck."

  Cassini stepped forward, a prissy smile on those soft lips. "Then you are not disappointed that I have chosen to join your Finding? Please be truthful, my friend, if I can call you that."

  "Oh, absolutely not," I lied. "Curse my seed if I should ever entertain such a thought."

  I turned to Janos. "Our journey has been blessed from the start," I said. "For in Cassini you will find a studious and pious Evocator and a most amiable companion."

  "Not so overly pious that I object to those morsels in your hands," Cassini said with an artificial laugh, pointing at the remains of the crust and wine feast. We had the good sense to blush and quickly rid ourselves of the evidence.

  "Welcome to our ranks, good sir." Janos said. "I feel almost as if the Casting had been performed and we were already on our way, with a good omen lighting our path. May I ask what in particular allowed you to find favor with our efforts?"

  "Why, the goal, of course," Cassini said.

  "Then you are not among those who question the existence of the Far Kingdoms?"

  "I wouldn't go that far," Cassini answered. "There is not yet enough evidence to make up my mind to the matter. However, the effort itself is certainly worthy. No matter what the truth turns out to be, I would be honored to carry the news back to my elders."

  Janos nodded, showing he understood. From the gleam in his eye, I saw he understood more deeply than Cassini intended. For Cassini was a young man of favored birth, but with little talent. I doubt, in fact, if he had a tenth of the talent of my brother. Wealth and family connections had won him membership into the Evocators. But now his career was stalled - perhaps permanently.

  He badly needed a great success to shake off the torpor. In the Far Kingdoms, he saw his chance. Janos realized Cassini was acting out of private desperation, for there was an edge to the Evocator's tone, a forced calmness to his manner, betrayed by shifting feet and fidgeting hands.

  "You were right in thinking there is much to be gained from this expedition," Janos said. "But I would be doing you a disservice if I did not point out there is grave danger as well. No one has gone where we intend to go... and returned to tell about."

  "I am but an empty vessel for the gods to fill, or break," Cassini said. "Knowledge of their design is its own reward." The usual uncomfortable silence followed this sticky, false modesty, broken by Jeneander's return. He greeted Cassini with a smile. "Now the third adventurer has joined us." He motioned. "Come. The Council awaits."

  We followed through heavy curtains down a long passageway lit by fire beads dangling from the heads of old gods and the fanged beasts who were once their favorites. They cast eerie shadows on the walls: Horns and long teeth and sharp talons. The passageway spilled into an immense dark cavern of a room. Jeneander led us to a stone platform, raised several feet off the floor. It was ringed by great torches that guttered, smoked and sparked. We stood there blinking for long moments, trying to get our bearings. I cannot speak for Janos, but my own heart was full of dread. It gave a hard jolt as a great voice rang out: "Who are these mortals who stand before us?"

  "Seekers of the way of Orissa, my lords," Jeneander answered.

  "And who attests to their piety and worth?"

  "I do, my lords. I... Jeneander bring them before you."

  "Who shall speak for them?"

  Silence. Then I felt Janos's toe jab my heel. My wits returned to some manner of order. "I speak for them, my lords," I answered. "I, Amalric, son of thy daughter, Emilie; son of thy son, Paphos Karima Antero."

  I could see more clearly now. Just in front of the platform was bare stone floor. It was graven with sorcerous squares, triangles and mysterious numbers and symbols. The whole was enclosed in an enormous circle, outlined in pure gold leaf. The Council of Evocators sat on the other side of the circle in all its black-robed and gold-sashed glory. There were ten of them, and they sat on thrones of carved emerald. The wall above was a swirl of color and smoke and writhing shadow forms. The speaker sat in the center throne. He had a wrinkled, hawk-like visage, as if someone had carved that bird of prey from an apple and then let it shrink and dry. His hair and beard were gleaming white and spilled down as if they had not been cut for years. His eyes were smoldering yellow and seemed to pierce my soul. It was Gamelan, the eldest of the Evocators.

  "And what is the nature of your quest, Amalric, son of Emilie, son of Paphos Karima Antero?" Gamelan asked.

  "We seek the Far Kingdoms, my lords. For the greater good of Orissa and the glory of her gods."

  There was a pause as the Evocators whispered among themselves. I did not know if this was the usual practice, but saw from Cassini's worried look it was not. Finally Gamelan spoke: "There is one among you who is a stranger, but who was born from the womb of a d
aughter of Orissa."

  "I am that man, my lords," Janos answered. "Janos, son of Kether; son of Prince Greycloak of Kostroma."

  "We have heard you have some interest in the Evocator's art."

  Fear seized my heart. What was the purpose of this question? Who was spreading tales about my friend? There seemed to be no safe answer. Seers are all knowing, so if Janos denied it, he was impugning their power. But if he admitted it, Halab's way might lie ahead. "It is true," Janos answered swiftly, "I have a small talent, but none of it comes from wizardry or witchcraft, I assure you. As a soldier amongst the barbarian Lycanthians I was forced to rely on my own Orissan-blessed wits. I have had some success with the boils and foot rot that afflicted my men. And I once cured an arse wound inflicted on my sergeant."

  I thought I heard stifled laughter amongst the Evocators. But it must have been my nervous imagination, for was not laughter unseemly amongst such an exalted group? "Once I kissed Orissa's gates," Janos continued, "I quickly threw away what little I had learned. I believe that even the curing of boils is foolhardy without professional counsel. And when I learned just moments ago that one of the most skillful young Evocators in all the realm was to accompany us on our journey, I immediately promised a fat lamb for the god who chose to smile on us."

  I could almost feel Cassini preen, his ego spreading like a peacock in its mating dance. From the nods amongst the Evocators I could see Janos's answer had found favor. "Very well, then," Gamelan said when the whispering had ceased. "The time has come to cast the bones. Are you ready, Amalric Emilie Antero?"

  "I am ready, my lords," I answered.

  Jeneander stepped up to me and opened an ornate box. It was divided into two compartments. On one side were two thick chunks of what appeared to be the thigh of some creature. On the other were the fragments of a human skull. But which to choose first? My hand hesitated, then some power seized it and drew it to the left.

  I took the thigh bones from the box. I clutched them in my right fist and with my left struck my breast five times as I intoned: "Oh, great Lord Te-Date - god and protector of all wayfarers - I summon thy vision for our holy quest to the Far Kingdoms." I tossed the bones into the golden circle. Then I drew out the skull fragments, struck my breast thrice more and completed the incantation: "Bless us great lord Te-Date with thy wisdom. And in these bones reveal our fates." The fragments gave up a dry rattle as I cast them beside the others.

  A silence followed that knows no equal in the world of men. A cold darkness crept in until only the glowing circle could be seen, but my scalp prickled and burned as if I were near a great heat. My tongue grew as dry as lizard scales and my eyes became hot, tearless holes. The thigh bones moved. They rose from the floor, and the sound of their scraping against the stone injured my ears with unnatural loudness. They hovered for a moment, then moved slowly together until they touched. At the click of their touching, red smoke and sulphur clouds erupted. An unreasoning terror gripped me and I wanted to flee, but a great force held me.

  The cloud swirled and sparked and took form. A great beast emerged from the cloud, snarling and roaring and rattling its talons. It towered over us on two massive legs, lashing its sharp-spined tail. The beast was horned, with fiery red eyes and blood-dripping teeth the size of my forearm. Its scales were the green of a corpse from the river. The demon turned this way and that, looking for its enemy. It spied me. As I looked in those eyes I thought I had never seen such evil.

  It shrieked and leaped forward and I heard a long gasp in the chamber as it bounded over the barrier of the gold circle. Once again I tried to bolt, but I was as pinioned as a victim staked for sacrifice. The demon's jaws gaped and I was nearly overcome by a hot breath that smelled of all the dead and foul things of this world and others beyond. The beast leaned forward to take me with those massive teeth. Suddenly there came a heavy drumming BOOM that thundered through the Evocators' cavern. The demon stopped. I was inches from death. The BOOM sounded again, jarring my bones.

  The beast turned, its horned head arcing back toward the golden circle. I saw the head jolt as the beast spotted something. It gave a shriek that turned the air white hot. It leaped forward, taloned paws coming up to do battle, and I could finally see its enemy. A naked, unarmed man stood where I had cast the skull fragments. But he was like no manner of man I had seen before - or since.

  He was not tall, but thick and powerfully built, with stubbed columns for legs and arms. His chest and back were densely pelted and his face was a jut of heavy beard. His jaw was slung forward and dark holes for eyes glared from under a sloping brow, armored with bone. The man roared at the demon and stamped a foot upon the stone. BOOM. The chamber shuddered. He slammed down the other foot. BOOM. Again and again came the challenge. BOOM. BOOM. BOOM. All three of us knew our hopes rested upon that naked, weaponless man.

  He leaped to meet the demon's charge and gave it a blow with his fist that rocked the room. The beast staggered backward and the man bared yellow fangs and braced to jump for its throat. A groan burst from my lips as the demon spewed fire and smoke from its mouth, blinding our champion. The man stumbled and the demon was on him, teeth crunching bone. The beast gripped the man between its jaws, shook his body in a shower of gore, then hurled the corpse to the stone. The demon lifted its horned head and trumpeted conquest. As my ears rang with the sound of its awful joy, I knew our dreams of the Far Kingdom had been dashed.

  My heart surged into my throat as I saw the corpse of our champion come to life. The naked man rolled to his feet. There was not a sign of a wound upon his flesh. He stamped once, and the BOOM rocked us again. The demon jolted, fanged jaw gaping in surprise. Then it recovered and lashed out with its sharp-spined tail. But our champion hurdled the blow, and struck the demon in the chest. There was a loud, dry crack of bone collapsing, and the demon howled in agony. The man bounded upward and gripped the beast by the neck. He wrapped those columned arms about the demon and gave a mighty wrench. There was a scream and snap, and the man leaped away as the demon tumbled to the floor. Our champion turned to us. Raised his hands high in victory and gave out a great bellow. There came a rush of white, sweet-smelling smoke... and he was gone.

  The smoke parted and became a window to a distant place. The image took my breath away. I saw green forest, silver streams and a rugged plain the color of mustard in bloom. Beyond that, hunched upon the horizon, was a mountain range. It sat upon the land like a big-knuckled fist. There were four squat peaks in the range, with a curved fifth that made the clenched thumb. The peaks were of black volcanic rock, dusted with snow. Snow drifts picked out each digit of the fist. The valley between the thumb and forefinger rose smoothly upward - passage through that black range.

  A passage to... my thought was completed by Janos's whisper of awe... "... the Far Kingdoms." I was uplifted by that truth. I was light as a kite and yearned to fly to that distant land and see for myself. A land no one in the known world had walked before.

  A shriek rent the image and it was gone. I gaped as I saw the demon rise, unblemished and strong as before. Across from it stood the naked man. He stamped his booming challenge, the demon roared its return and they charged across the circle at one another. But before the combatants could meet, they vanished. The golden circle was empty.

  I blinked as the black gloom was swept away. I turned to look at Janos. His face was bloodless above the beard, but his eyes were alive with inner fire. He looked at me as if to speak, then shook his head. Cassini stirred beside me. I turned and our eyes met. His were as alive as Janos's, but it was greed and ambition that fired them. I'm not sure I realized that then. Perhaps I am coloring my memory. I do remember I felt joy... and uneasiness.

  "Praise be Te-Date," Gamelan said, from across the chamber, "protector of the weary traveler."

  "Praise be Te-Date," we all murmured in return.

  "The omen is clear," Gamelan said. "Your expedition has equal chance of success or failure."

  "But at least we know the g
oal is worthy, holy one," Cassini said. It was his right as our Evocator to reply. "The omen portended the Far Kingdoms lie just beyond the black mountains that look like a fist."

  "Do not let your wishes cloud your reasoning powers, young brother," Gamelan admonished. "The vision was of mountains - not of what lies beyond." Cassini hesitated and I feared in that pause our chance might be lost. The omen said neither yea, or nay. The final decision still rested with the Council of Evocators.

  "May I speak, lords?" Janos asked. Gamelan nodded, given him permission. "You say there is grave danger ahead, with the outcome of the expedition in doubt?"

  "So speaks the omen," Gamelan agreed.

  "But was there any danger for Orissa? Will anyone be threatened, or suffer if we fail?"

  "Only your families," Gamelan said. "For failure will mean certain death. In that, the omen was plain."

  "Every man here is willing to risk it, my lords," I broke in. "In our hearts we all know great glory can come of this. Glory for our dear, Orissa - flower of all the civilized world."

  The Evocators considered lengthily, then exchanged a few whispers. Finally, Gamelan turned to us. "Permission is granted," he said. "All praise, Te-Date."

  "All praise Te-Date." Our reply was a shout.

  In my mind the image rose of the fisted mountains and the snowy passage that led through them. And for a moment I thought I saw a glimmer. Just a flash of golden light where the thumb and forefinger met.

  A flash where the Far Kingdoms awaited.

  * * *

  CHAPTER SIX

  LYCANTH

  The gods should have set the scene more carefully: the day was sunny; the cloudless sky a soft blue; and a gentle breeze, tangy with salt, blew off the sea below us. Against this gentle backdrop rose Lycanth, a most inappropriate city to see on such a day. The weather should have been dark, with storm clouds scudding across the sky. An icy wind should have keened like lost souls; and the sea should have been a gray and white maelstrom. This was the nightmare panoply that Lycanth deserved.