The next morning, the big black horse was still upright but no better. That day they traveled again in spurts and were still among the tangled green hills when the sun went down. Toward evening, however, Thaniel seemed to improve enough to once again find his way down to the stream and drink. But then he stood trembling and the other horses again held him up through the night.
Thaniel was better, though only just, on the third day since the battle. He drank more often but still refused to eat and he did not speak. But they made enough time that day that, by evening, they were at last on the top of the ridge and could see across the twin rivers into Aram’s valley.
They camped in a copse of trees just below the ridge top where there was a spring. The night was the coldest so far and Aram, who felt better than he had since the battle, stayed awake most of the night, feeding the fire so that Thaniel would stay warm.
It took three more days, with Thaniel limping painfully along, for them to descend the ridge, cross the rivers and go the five miles up the valley to Aram’s city. When they had got Thaniel ensconced in the orchard near a stream, with Jared for support, Florm asked Aram to accompany him up into the foothills south of the city.
“I want to find something,” he told Aram. “A remedy that I learned of long ago from one of your forbears.”
With Aram walking next to him, the lord of horses went up along the broad slopes of the foothills where brush mingled with rock at the base of the mountain.
“Look for a small bush with gray-blue leaves and a twisted, woody stalk that smells of smoke.” Florm instructed Aram. “It has always grown here among the taller brush.”
In less than an hour, Aram located a patch of the pungent plant and, following Florm’s instructions, gathered several of the leafy stalks.
“Build a small, hot fire.” Florm told Aram. “And when it is blazing, feed the brush onto it a bit at a time.”
Aram complied and in a few minutes, thick gray-blue smoke rose up in a cloud. Florm had Thaniel stand with his nose into the smoke, breathing deeply of the pungent mist.
“What is this stuff?” Aram inquired.
“It’s called bloodbane. It clears fluids, especially blood, from the lungs. I believe that my son has been injured internally and may be drowning, as it were, in his own blood. This smoke will help him to cough it up. You should breathe the smoke as well, Aram. You have also suffered damage.” The great horse was thoughtful a moment. “It’s fortunate for both of you that you were able to get over the rise and below the level of the ground before Manon was able to detonate his fellring. It would have certainly slain you otherwise.”
Aram watched Thaniel for a minute. The horse was breathing deep breaths of the smoke and exhaling it in great clouds. His eyes were closed and his head was low but he no longer trembled. Aram turned back to Florm, who was also closely watching his son.
“Perhaps you’ll tell me now, my lord. What was that thing?”
Florm glanced at him then continued to watch his son as he spoke. “It was a piece—a very small piece—of Manon himself. It is one of the dark arts he is believed to have learned from Aberanezegoth. Manon learned long ago, in the great wars, that he could send a piece of himself—project it—to great distances across the world, as long as it was properly protected. In this way he could seem to be involved in many battles at once.
“But then he learned that if he destroyed that piece of himself, if he separated the bit of spirit from the bit of flesh, the resulting explosion wrought great damage, killing everything within a certain perimeter. This is what he intended for you, my friend.
“He was not sure where you were, or who you were, only that you were alive in this part of the world because of that which occurred with the wolves. He may not yet know that you dwell in this valley, but he will discover it. By attacking Derosa—where, in fact, he may think you live—he hoped to draw you into close combat and eliminate you before your influence gets out of hand. All in all, it was a close thing.”
Aram stared into the fire and inhaled the smoke thoughtfully. It had a sharp, bitter tang to it that burned his lungs but seemed to improve his breathing. “Did I understand you, my lord? Did you say that it was but a small piece of Manon’s power that we witnessed?”
“Yes, a very small piece. Even now, he cannot afford to sacrifice much of his being. It shows just how dangerous he thinks it is that a man is once again allied with horses that he did it at all. He hoped to kill you both.”
Aram scowled at him. “If that was just a very small piece of his power, how will we ever confront Manon himself? Who on earth can stand against such strength? How can we ever expect to win this war against power like his?”
The horse made no answer.
Aram stared into the fire a moment. “Lord Florm, tell me. What is to prevent Manon from coming into this part of the world in power and destroying all of us with impunity?”
“Theoretically, nothing.” Florm answered quietly. “In actuality, many things.”
“Things? What things?” Aram asked in exasperation. “Certainly not me. He nearly killed me with what you describe as a tiny bit of his power.”
“That is so, my friend. But he did not kill you. And you are not the only threat on his horizon. There are many. Although, you are by far the most dangerous—but he may not know this yet. As to his coming personally to this part of the world, well, this is only a part of the world and he wishes to subdue it all. There are still many cities and peoples not under his sway and though some of them will fall by deceit and negotiation, many will have to be subdued by the sword. And he can only stretch his armies so thin. He will not come here until he understands the scope of the threat that you represent to his plans. Even then, he may prefer to try and draw you to him.”
Florm went around the fire and stood next to Thaniel, listening to his son breathe. Thaniel stood quite still with his eyes closed but after a few moments, Florm seemed satisfied. He looked across the flame at Aram.
“You must understand that Manon cannot do what he did six days ago very often. He may be a god, but producing and destroying a fellring is still a dangerous proposition for him. And it is the only way he can produce such power. Not but that he is powerful enough, anyway. He is. But he has vulnerabilities all the same.”
Florm gazed out into the gathering darkness of the valley. “Manon is very cunning. His plan is to rule the world and, eventually, the stars. Any threat to his plans will be dealt with accordingly.”
He looked at Aram solemnly. “You are something new—something unexpected. I don’t believe he ever intended to destroy Derosa. They are much more valuable working their farms for his benefit. When you appeared on his horizons, it troubled him, but he decided to solve two problems at once—by drawing you into battle and killing you—then he would subdue Derosa once and for all. They would be placed back on their farms out on the plains with his servants to oversee them. You know what that is like.”
Aram nodded, but the frown stayed upon his face. “I still don’t see how we are to defeat such power as we saw six days ago. At least, not with swords and lances.”
Florm sighed. “Nor I, my friend. But does that mean that we do not wage this war?” He looked up at the dark walls of the city. “You are in a very secluded place here and my people inhabit the high and remote plains. It is no doubt tempting to think that we could remain out of this struggle for the remainder of our lives. But we cannot even if we wished it. Manon has seen you and he has seen Thaniel. Most importantly, he has seen you together.”
Aram looked at him sharply. “My lord, I am not tempted by such thoughts. I, for one, am in this fight to one end or the other. I just believe that we must find a more powerful means of combating our enemy. But what do you mean when you say that Manon has seen us?”
“Before the fellring detonated, it looked at you with its eyes.” Florm answered. “They were the eyes of Manon. He heard me warn you of the danger and saw you turn away from him at the last moment. He kno
ws now that he has a powerful enemy in this part of the world and that his enemy probably survived the meeting.”
Aram folded his arms and stared out into the night. “Good enough; let him send his armies. If necessary, I will kill all of his servants one at a time—men and lashers. But then, what? How do I defeat Manon himself?”
Florm sighed again. “I don’t know. It was precisely this problem that defeated Joktan. Finally, in his frustration, he challenged Manon to single combat. He was destroyed. You, my friend, must be wiser than that.”
Aram shook his head. “I don’t see how, my lord.”
They were both silent then and the night deepened. Finally, weary and tired, Aram threw the last of the bloodbane on the fire, rolled up in his blanket and slept for the first time in days. Florm and Jared settled in on either side of Thaniel. Borlus, hearing the angry voices subside, came out of the darkness and curled up beside Aram.
For three days more, Aram gathered bloodbane and fed the fire. He brought apples to the horses and finally, on the third day, Thaniel showed interest, taking a couple of bites.
By the time another week had passed, and the nights had grown bitter, Thaniel was walking with his head up and his lungs were clear. Florm watched his son grow stronger with joy but at the same time, glanced always up at the pass with trepidation. Any day now, snow would fall in great enough amounts to close the way over the mountain. Florm, while not wanting to rush Thaniel’s recuperation, nonetheless was anxious to get across the mountains and south to his winter quarters. If not, they would be forced to spend the winter in Aram’s valley, leaving their people to wonder at their absence.
After Thaniel began moving about the area before the city, his health improved rapidly. Aram was overjoyed to see his friend cantering along the avenue, testing his lungs. It was now clear that, not only would Thaniel live, but also that he would recover completely.
Finally, one morning when the sky was gray and the wind blew cold, Florm decided that they should get across the mountain pass and onto the high plains. Thaniel was moving well by this time, his head was up and his eyes clear. Aram and Borlus stood on the avenue and wished them goodbye. Aram bowed to Florm.
“Thank you, my lord, for coming to my aid in defending my friends.”
Florm looked at him sharply. “Are they then your friends?”
“They will be.” Aram answered somewhat sheepishly; and secretly he thought of the woman. “In the spring I will go and get to know them better.”
“That is good.” The horse answered. “It is not good for you to be alone so much. And they will need your leadership in the difficult days to come. For difficult days will come.”
“Being alone doesn’t bother me, my lord.” But as he spoke, Aram could see with the eyes of his mind the slender woman standing proud and beautiful upon the plain and knew that it wasn’t as true as it once had been. He turned to Thaniel and put a hand on the horse’s broad chest. “My brother, I am overjoyed to see you well again.”
Thaniel looked at him a moment with his large dark eyes. “My lord Aram, I am well, thank you. And I am also proud. Going into battle with you has made me a warrior. Know this, my lord—I will bear you into as many battles as you wish. When you go to war, I will go with you ever.”
Aram stared at him, stunned. He had almost expected rancor for his part in getting the horse injured. Instead the great black horse made a declaration of fealty. He did not know how to answer. Then Florm interjected.
“Lord Aram, our two peoples are once again allied. You and lord Thaniel have won a great victory, like those of old. But there is a greater war coming. I do not think that even Manon knows this. There will be a need for this alliance. You must rally your people and I will prepare mine. Dark and desperate years will come upon us all as we seek to frustrate the will of Manon.”
“I do not intend to simply frustrate his will, my lord,” Aram answered sharply. “If possible, I mean to discover a way to destroy him.”
Florm stared out across the valley as if seeing these things unfolding before his eyes. Then he turned to Aram and his ancient voice shook with intensity. “You have come into the world, my friend, just as Kelven foresaw. I do not know how you will succeed where Joktan did not, but somehow you will. I believe this. Somehow, you must. And my people—all my people—will aid you. As they did in ancient times, my people will bear yours into the very teeth of battle and into the jaws of war.”
Jared trembled with excitement at this speech. “Yes, my lord, we will all do our part. There are many of us who wish to be as Thaniel.”
Aram turned to him, sobered. “You have already done much, Jared, and I thank you as well. Lord Florm is right; there are dark times before us. There will be more than enough war for us all before it is finished.”
As he spoke, a single snowflake drifted to earth. All of them looked skyward.
“It is time to go,” Florm said. “If we do not get across the mountain before this sky opens up, we will be your guests for the winter.”
“That would suit me,” Aram answered.
Florm laughed. “But not me—there is someone I do not wish to be apart from for that length of time.”
Aram said nothing but it was the first time he’d heard Florm mention a special person. And he did not wish to intrude into the horse’s private matters. He bowed.
“Go well, my lords. May the Maker bless your path.”
The horses lowered their heads. “Winter well, lord Aram. We will see you in the spring.”
Aram watched them canter out the great avenue, past the distant pyramids and over the slope toward the river. Then he sat on the bottom step and studied the sky. With the absence of the horses, Borlus came up and laid his head in Aram’s lap. Aram absentmindedly rubbed the hair behind the bear’s ears. After a while he looked down.
“Are you well, Borlus? You seem tired.”
“Only sleepy, master.” Borlus did not raise his head. “It is time for Borlus to go into the cave for the long sleep. I wanted to see if you—if there was a need of doing anything before I go.”
Aram frowned at him. “Is this normal—this long sleep?”
“Oh yes. My people have done it every winter, as long as there has been time. I will awake in the spring.”
“Then—is there anything I can do for you, my friend, before you sleep?”
Borlus rolled his shaggy head groggily. “No, master. Thank you. Borlus will go now.”
Aram watched the bear wander off to the cave beneath the steps and then he was truly alone. The sky lowered and grew heavy although it still produced only scattered flakes of snow. There were no birds in the sky or small animals moving in the thickets. The world was still and he was alone in it. And, for the first time in his life, he felt it.
XVIII
It did not snow that day or the next, but the sky grew increasingly heavy. Aram took stock of all his provisions, checked his stores of food, and made certain of his winter’s supply of firewood. By the end of the second day, the sky had lowered to the point where the tops of the mountains to the east were hidden as well as those north of the valley, and the great mountain behind the city was lost in the heavy gray overcast.
Then, three days after the horses left him; the sky opened up and covered the world with snow. It stormed for five days. At the end of it, when the clouds had divested themselves of their burden and shredded and had gone, and the sun rose over the world, the snow was more than three feet deep out on the great porch. Aram was effectively shut inside the city.
As the winter deepened, and it snowed again and again, Aram pondered the events of the year. When he considered it, he was astounded. Barely seven months ago, he had been utterly alone and friendless in the world. Then, over the course of a summer and a fall, he’d met and befriended the horses, Florm, Thaniel, Jared and others, reached a truce with Durlrang and the wolves, and met Willet, Cree, and Borlus. Then he’d fought with allies and defeated an army of the lord of the world, slaying four la
shers in the course of it.
His life of quiet, lonesome self-sufficiency that had persisted for more than half a decade in the valley was irrevocably altered. And Florm was right—Manon had seen him and would no doubt move against him, and Derosa, again. In the spring, he must go to Derosa and get to know its people and somehow find a way to turn farmers into warriors.
There would be no trouble with arming them. Aram had enough munitions in his armory to equip thousands. The problem would be with organizing them and convincing them that they must do more than fight a defensive, delaying war here on the edge of Manon’s realm. Would they follow him, as Florm believed? Aram didn’t know.
But these thoughts galvanized him and he passed the bleak days of the worst winter he’d ever seen in making hundreds of spears, lances, and arrows and bows, using up his entire stock of military wood. As the winter persisted, he also did something he’d intended since finding a particularly fine piece of yew. He made the longest, strongest bow yet for himself.
Shooting down the length of the great hall into his ranks of firewood, he was able to sink arrows so deep into the stacks of oak and hickory that he had to sacrifice the shafts in order to retrieve the steel tips. It was a powerful bow. He was certain that it would pierce the tough leather armor of the lashers.
He counted his swords and daggers, and found that the swords had been manufactured to serve men of various sizes. He possessed more than fourteen thousand swords and almost two hundred daggers. After his stocks of wood were used up, he still had uncounted tens of thousands of spear points and arrow tips.
And still winter gripped the valley. With nothing further to do, he decided to fully explore the city; a task he’d never completed. He knew the grand lower parts well enough but in the city’s upper reaches there were many passageways he’d never gone far into, mostly because they went into darkness and he’d always suspected they were for storage.
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