The Warrior's Tale

by Allan Cole, Chris Bunch

  The mercenary was sombre when I entered his cabin, but after I'd assured him Orissa would bear the cost of replacing his lost ships, his mood lightened greatly. When I offered condolences for his own dead, he shrugged it off. 'Don't let them trouble your sleep, Captain,' he said. 'They certainly won't trouble mine. They knew the odds when they signed the papers. Besides, they're nothing but kelp scum, and easily replaced when we return to friendlier seas, and our own share of the spoils will be greater.'

  Polillo growled at such disrespect. She'd despised them all, and had even broken the head of one man who'd ogled her too openly. Still, by Polillo's code, they were fellow warriors just the same, and deserved more from their master. My own thoughts ran along similar lines, so I did not admonish her.

  I was also vaguely uneasy because I felt Cholla Yi had reacted with barely hidden displeasure when I first boarded his galley. It was as if he were surprised that I'd survived the battle. I reminded myself not to be foolish and let my dislike for the man read emotions onto his scarred face. Of course, Cholla Yi would have held a banquet if I fell and broke my neck when we were safely back in Orissa, but on these strange seas every sword counted as ten, and he was no more likely to indulge his petty hatreds than I.

  Corais filled the gap: 'You talk of our return as if it were as easy as polishing new steel.' She pointed at the chart unrolled on the table. 'We don't even know where we are. We've sailed off the great chart, and even that rough map Gamelan had, in case you haven't noticed.'

  'It's not so difficult as all that,' he replied, giving Phocas a wink at the foolish question. 'We'll sort it out once we're back on the other side of the reef.'

  Corais smiled back, but it was a thin smile and I saw a glint in her eye hard enough to sharpen a dirk.

  I looked through Cholla Yi's big stern window at the black reefs studded with growling volcanoes. From the deck, they'd seemed to stretch for ever both to our north and south.

  'I suppose they must end at some point,' I said. 'The question is, which direction will get us there the quickest?'

  'Too bad the wizard's not with us,' Phocas said. 'We could get him to cast the bones.'

  I wished Gamelan was at our side for more reasons than that. When I'd seen him lying on the deck, blood streaming down his still face, I'd suffered a deep hurt, almost as if I'd lost one of my own. He'd become a good friend in a very brief time, and I knew I'd miss his company, even if he had nagged me about my supposed magical birthright. The sailors responsible for gathering the dead for burial had refused to touch his body. They feared the wizard even in death. I'd ordered him placed in his littie cabin until we had time to prepare his corpse for proper purification and funeral ceremonies worthy of the greatest of Orissa's Evocators.

  His death-rites should've lasted for weeks, with an entire city in mourning and the Palace of the Evocators darkened, and the skies themselves cast with a magical darkness. Whomever the Evocators' Guild would've named as his replacement, after long and solemn conclave, would've officiated at the ceremonies, and eulogies would be given by all the Magistrates and leading citizens. A square or a boulevard would've been given his name and herds of cattle and perhaps even a human soul or two, possibly a grief-stricken volunteer, would've been sacrificed. But out here, many unknown leagues from Orissa, we would do the best we could, when there was time. I planned to slip him over the side myself.

  Cholla Yi's scoffing reply broke through: 'We don't need a wizard to choose,' he said. 'Either will do. What's a few days, one way or the other?'

  He fished a gold coin out of his pocket. It was from Irayas, with the head of King Domas engraved on one side, and the serpent-and-sun symbol on the other. I wondered how the thief came by such a rare coin.

  'Let's let the tavern gods decide,' he said. 'If it falls kings, we go north. Snakes is south.'

  I merely nodded. But as he tossed the coin and it spun upward, King Domas's image leaped into my mind. North. We should strike north. The coin rang against the table and I looked to see the serpent side lying face up.

  'South it is then,' Cholla Yi said.

  I almost told him - No! We must strike north. I prickled all over with the need for the telling.

  Then the prickling vanished, leaving me feeling confused and foolish.

  'Very well,' I said.

  With that, I sealed our fate.

  So we sailed south. The chain of reefs was unrelenting, mile after mile of jagged rock ridged with endless volcanoes. Many of them were active, spewing smoke and lava that poured down the sides and set the seas to boiling. At one place, dead fish by the thousand floated bellyup. Swarms of birds circled and cried out in delight at the fresh meat. The wind shifted, carrying with it a dense cloud of smoke from one of the volcanoes. As the birds passed through it, I was shocked to see them plummet from the sky. Then the acrid fumes washed over us. The stench was so poisonous many of us fell retching to the deck. Gasped orders sent us pulling away, but I tell you, Scribe, the rowers were so overcome that we barely moved. And if the wind hadn't shifted at that moment, I doubt I'd be here at this moment boring you with my adventures.

  When we reached what we thought to be a safe distance, we hove to, so we could recover. My skull was pounding, and every bone in my body felt as if I had been wrung by a giant. I gulped sweet, tangy air until my head spun; but it soon did its job and I felt cleansed.

  As I turned to see how the others fared, I heard a voice cry out: 'Get away from me, you fool!' It was Gamelan! But wasn't he dead? 'By Te-Date, I swear I'll turn you into a frog! And your mother and father will be frogs as well!'

  I rushed below in time to see a wizened little fellow with a scar the size of my palm dash out of Gamelan's quarters. I ignored him, and ran inside.

  Gamelan was sitting up, ripping at the white cotton cloth that had been wound about him. He looked up when he heard me enter. 'Another thief,' he cried. 'Good. I'll make you a heron and you can eat that other man and his kin. Then I'll conjure a demon to strip your feathers for arrows and flay your skin for his quiver.'

  'You're alive!' I cried.

  'Of course I'm alive,' the wizard grumbled, tugging at the burial cloth. 'Now, if you'll be so good as to light a lamp so I can see whom I'm cursing, I'll reward you by putting you out of your misery as quickly as possible.'

  I didn't answer. I could only stare at those great wide eyes. Instead of fiery yellow, they were washed-out and vacant. He turned his head this way and that, but his eyes would not focus on anything. I knelt by his side.

  Gamelan sniffed the air. 'Rali?' He'd smelled my perfume. He reached out a hand, quite tentative, and it touched my breast. I did not push it away.

  'Yes, my friend,' I said. 'It's Rali.'

  He blushed, realizing where his hand had fallen, and snatched it away. 'I'm sorry,' he said. 'But it's so dark in here. Get them to light a few lamps, will you, Rali? There's a good woman.' 'It's midday,' I said, as softly as I could.

  Gamelan grew still. A wrinkled hand lifted slowly to his brow. He shuddered. I gripped his bony shoulder. His face grew stony. Then he smiled and patted my hand.

  'I'm blind,' he said, matter-of-factly.

  'Yes,' I said.

  'Then I'm no good for you,' he said. 'I've only known one blind wizard, and he was stricken quite young. And he had his whole life to learn to cast spells without sight to aid him.'

  'It won't take so long,' I said. 'You're a master wizard, after all.'

  The silence was very long this time. I could sense Gamelan pulling himself together, reaching deep for strength. When he finally spoke, his tone was almost normal, as if he'd accepted his terrible mutilation, both of body, soul and Talent as matter-of-factly as the bravest soldier. He sighed. 'No, I'm just an ordinary old man now. And please don't think I'm wading in self-pity. I know my limitations. I pushed them as far as I could many years ago.'

  'We'll be home soon,' I said. 'You'll have acolytes by the score to assist you.'

  The wizard shifted his head this w
ay and that. His tongue flickered out - surprisingly youthful and pink - and tasted the air. 'We're lost,' he said.

  'Nothing to fear,' I said. 'We've only to get around that confounded reef. We'll find our way in no time.'

  Gamelan shook his head. 'I may be blind,' he said, 'but my wits are keen enough to know it won't be so easy.'

  'The gods only make things easy,' I said, 'when they are preparing the way for your fall.'

  Gamelan laughed. It was good to hear. It almost made him seem whole again. He said: 'Then we'll take my misfortune - and the misfortune of all the others - as a good omen.'

  He yawned. Gently, I pushed him back into his bed. He did not resist. I found a cover for him and tucked it around him, and under his chin.

  'Don't let me sleep too long,' he said. 'We have much to talk about.' 'I won't,' I promised, dreading the prospect of what I knew he was going to ask of me.

  As I was about to go out, he said: 'Rali?' 'Yes?'

  Gamelan turned his blind face towards me. He said: 'You must have made your father proud. I didn't know how to answer, so I just shut the door.

  That night I dreamed of Tries. It was the same dream as before. We made love, but this time my passion was hot spiced with fear of what I knew the dream demon would bring next. The Archon came again. My nakedness was mocked. I awoke to dream within the dream and found Tries ready to betray me once more. We struggled. I felt the pin-prick of her silver dirk. Then I found myself trembling in my hammock, eyes shut against new dreams, praying the nightmare was done.

  There came a hammering. I heard Polillo curse, and the creak of ropes as Corais rolled out of her hammock and went to see what was happening. Still I did not open my eyes, because I did not trust what they might find. I felt the burn of scored flesh where Tries's dirk had entered. I heard a tumble of confusion and then Gamelan's voice.

  'Rali!' he shouted. 'Rali!'

  I opened my eyes. The wizard stood over me. His flesh was scratched and bleeding from finding his way across the deck from his cabin.

  I swung up from the hammock.

  'Yes, my friend? What is it?'

  'It's the Archon!' Gamelan said. 'He's still with us!'

  'I know,' I said.

  I felt cold, empty.

  'Do you hear me, Rali?' Gamelan cried. 'It's not over yet!'

  'I hear you, wizard,' I answered. 'I hear you.'

  Far out in the night, I heard a young sea lizard bellow for its mother.

  Book Two

  On Strange Seas

  Nine

  The Tattooed Chieftain

  WE LIMPED SOUTH for days, our supplies dwindling, our water brackish, but the reefs were unrelenting, never offering a channel towards home. Gamelan's health improved, although there was no sign his blindness was anything but permanent. We spoke rarely, and certainly did not bring up our conversation about the Archon. I think both of us believed it an aberration caused by exhaustion. My practical nature reasserted itself: the Archon was dead, by Te-Date! I'd seen him die myself, and even if he had cursed me with his last breath, I'd much rather be cursed by a dead man, than a live one who might actually be able to do something about it.

  My women's attitude was we had won a great victory, and sooner or later we'd find our way around the reef and return home to many honours. Cholla Yi's men, however, muttered and cast dark looks whenever I was about. Neither Stryker, the sailing master Klisura, nor the rowing master Duban made any attempt to stop the muttering, or to cheer the men up. Instead, anything anyone said that was in any way positive, or hopeful, drew an immediate and quite negative response.

  I was beginning to wonder how to deal with this, when we awoke one morning to air rich with the moist smell of fertile soil, strange blossoms, and the familiar tang of hearthsmoke. A hazy blue shape on the horizon hinted an island was ahead. We saw a tree floating in our path and hauled it aboard. Its leaves were trumpet-shaped, its buds purple and cream knots growing close on the limbs and its branches covered with fleshy, rose-coloured gourds, filled with a thick, sweet-tasting fluid that put sparkle to the eye and a lightness to the feet.

  'There must be people about,' Polillo said. 'Nothing so good could exist without people to eat it.'

  Corais laughed at her reasoning. 'You always think with your stomach, my friend.'

  Polillo blushed, but her shy smile showed she'd taken no offence. She didn't answer, but pierced another gourd and held it out to me, her wrist curved like a serving maid's.

  Despite her size and manner, there was something so feminine about Polillo - sometimes even dainty, if you can imagine daintiness in a near giant - that it has become the trait I remember most about her. I should tell you Polillo and I were nearly lovers when we were girls. We sighed and mooned over one another for nearly a week. It would have gone farther, but before our tender feelings were consummated we met at the bitts with our practice swords and after I'd disarmed her twice, she called it quits with some embarrassment. Later that night we agreed we should be friends for always, and not lovers, although that word was never mentioned. It was I who broached the subject, knowing Polillo would have difficulty being in the arms of a woman who was her superior in any feat of arms. Polillo agreed in obvious relief. But as the years passed, in rare moments we would look at one another with a tinge of regret. It would have been lust, pure and simple - not love - had we ever come together. But it would have made a stormy night.

  I took the gourd from my girlhood crush, gave her a wink to let her know / remembered as well, and drank. The heady liquid lit hope in my belly. Perhaps Polillo was right Perhaps there was a hint of human life in the elixir's taste.

  Gamelan hobbled up beside me. I'd detailed two Guardswomen to take care of him, and ignored his grumbles about being treated as if he were a cripple. Even blind, he was too valuable to us to chance losing through any accident.

  I offered him the gourd, and he, too, drank deeply. 'Why is it,' he wondered as he passed it back, 'fruit this sweet never seems to grow in our own gardens, but always on the far side of strange seas and is guarded by demons?'

  I was about to say so far we hadn't seen any particularly interesting monsters when the lookout in the bows shouted we were closing on land, and the sea was shallowing.

  I noted a green isthmus extending out from one side of the island, almost like an arm reaching to embrace us. We entered a small, marshy bay and I saw the smoke columns of cooking fires. The blossom smell grew stronger, as well as the smells - both pleasant and foul - that said the island was inhabited. Marsh birds swept up from thick rushes along the peninsula, and we heard heavy drums. That brought me back, and I shouted to Stryker to halt the ship, and signal Cholla Yi's flagship for a conference.

  Canoes skimmed out of the reeds. They were long and low to the water, with reeds painted on their sides, which had camouflaged their presence until they were on us. I shouted the alert, and in less than a long breath Ismet sounded the Guard to battle positions. My women leaped to their predetermined places, swords bared, spears at the ready, bows drawn. The rowers backed water and we quickly came to a stop. I heard the signal echoed from other ships' trumpeters as the fleet sprang to readiness.

  The canoes drew into a long line and halted. One of the canoes sped out towards us. I've called them canoes, and so they were, but far unlike what a swain paddles his lover across a calm lake on. This craft, like its sisters, bore at least a hundred warriors, and I could make out, first the glint of their weapons, then the wild-coloured smears that striped their bodies, naked except for a pouch containing their sexual parts. A tall man stood in the bows. He carried a long, thick staff - decorated with red and green plumes of some forest bird and shaped like an engorged penis. His flesh was decorated with such glorious, swirling colour it was impossible to imagine anyone other than a man of high rank with many slaves at his beck and call, could have worn them.

  The war canoe sped to our side and stopped. The tall man shouted up in a language none of us understood. His tone was imperiou
s, his words, although indecipherable, were unmistakably a command. I chanced an answer in trader's cant, but although he turned to me, surprise on his face for being addressed by a woman, he shook his head to show he did not grasp my meaning. He grew angry, shouting at me and shaking his staff.

  I felt a nudge. It was Gamelan. 'Do as I say,' he said. 'Quickly.'

  Praying to Maranonia our wizard had his magic back despite his blindness, I said: 'What would you have me do?'

  'Is there any more of that odd fruit about?' he asked. 'The gourdlike fruit, with the sweet-tasting milk?'

  I still held the one Polillo gave me in my hand. I nodded, forgetting Gamelan was blind.

  'Answer me,' he snapped. 'I cannot read your motions.'

  'Yes,' I said, too worried about the angry chieftain to be embarrassed. 'I have one right here.' 'Drink it,' he said. 'But how—'

  'Just drink it. Then repeat the words I give you.'

  'Gladly,' I said. I drank deeply, then lowered the gourd. 'I've done it,' I said. 'Now, what shall I say?'

  Gamelan gripped my arm. I was surprised at the strength in his wizened fist. 'You're going to have to do this yourself, Rali,' he hissed. 'I don't have my magic back, if that's what you're thinking. The Spell of the Tongues must be performed by you?

  I was taken aback. 'But I told you I have no talent.'

  'Then we're all lost, Rali,' he said. 'For there is no one else in this fleet who can do it.'

  I wanted to argue. I wanted to tell this wizard to begone! Instead, I said: 'Very well.'

  Gamelan abrupdy began: Words beget wisdom,' he intoned ... Words beget wisdom,' I echoed ... Words beget fools..."

  Although it was all nonsense to me, I repeated all he said. Then he commanded: 'Drink again, Rali. But this time, look inside and ... See...'

  I drank again. But I didn't have the slightest notion what he wanted me to see that wasn't plainly in view.