The Wanderers of the Water-Realm

by Alan Lawton

  After twenty darkenings of comfortable voyaging, ‘Floodrider’ had finally reached dry land with the jagged hills marking the home territory of the Kev tribesmen visible on the far horizon. Whiteflower’s village, however, was only reached after an overland march of some ten day’s duration, along the furthest extremity of the old trade route; and the travellers had thankfully sighted the high stockade protecting the main settlement of the Kev from attack and which the caravan was now rapidly approaching.

  A deep ditch filled with sharp stakes fronted the stockade and the only route into the settlement appeared to be across a wooden bridge spanning the ditch and giving access to a heavy gate situated in the middle of the high timber stockade.

  The caravan was almost a hundred paces from the gate when a flight of darterbolts hissed from loopholes in the stockade and thudded into the ground a few feet a head of the leading transport narr. The warning was obvious and Whiteflower ordered the caravan to halt before advancing alone to the edge of the ditch.

  “Iram, Chief of the Sword Clan of the Kev,” she called in a loud voice. “Do you not recognize Whiteflower, your eldest daughter? I have returned from the river-lands with a cargo of the finest medicinal herbs to cure our people of their many ills. I also beg you to extend the friendship and hospitality of the Kev to the comrades who travel with me.”

  The door in the middle of the stockade was immediately thrown open and a powerfully built man with a completely shaven head strode over the bridge and embraced the young tribeswoman.

  “Welcome home, my daughter.” He said, with deep emotion in his voice. “The day’s have been many and long since you quit the land of the Kev, in search of adventure, you are welcome and I insist upon the honour of having your friends as my personal guests within my own house. The door to the village of the Kev is open and we beg you all to enter!”

  The caravan moved forward across the bridge and passed under the doorway before entering the main village of the Kev tribesmen. The travellers immediately found themselves in the midst of a large settlement that appeared to be comprised of at least two hundred well built stone cottages together with numerous workshops and storehouses. The entire village was constructed around a wide public square flagged with slabs of the same rough hewn local stone that appeared to serve the Kev as a general building material.

  The village itself, the travellers quickly noticed, lay in the throat of a deep canyon and dark cliffs of smooth rock, towered above them for a good five hundred feet and completely dominated the entire floor of the valley in which the settlement lay.

  Whiteflower laughed as the newcomers viewed the massive product of nature with some considerable awe.

  “My friends, this canyon is the impregnable refuge of the Kev and the door through which you passed is the only possible point of entry. Any foe who attempts to cross this smooth and treacherous range of crags, in order to penetrate our stronghold is sure to fail and plunge to his death. Within this canyon we keep herds of meat narr and we also raise food crops in a great number of sheltered gardens.” She laughed. “We even tend a sizeable grove of Thoa trees and are able to bake cakes made from our own Thoa-nut flour, we are in no danger of being starved into submission by a numerically superior enemy.”

  “Does this settlement ever come under attack from the Hix?” George asked, “For we must be very close to their borders.”

  Whiteflower shook her head.

  “Long ago, they tried to storm this stronghold and failed with great loss, but they have recently begun to raid our outlying hamlets and most of our tribesmen have withdrawn into this stronghold, bringing with them their wives and families and all their possessions. Here they are safe!”

  The caravan halted before the spacious house of the clan chief and Whiteflower’s father ordered some of his followers to attend to the transport narr. He then invited the travellers into his house and begged his new guests to take refreshments and recover from the fatigue of their journey. The women of the household swiftly served the newcomers with roasted narrs-flesh and hunks of freshly baked bread. After they had eaten their fill, the little group was conducted to the chieftain’s personal meeting hall where Iram regaled them with foaming tankards of Thoa-nut beer.

  The boatmaster then quietly took the chieftain into his confidence and disclosed the fact that the true objective of the expedition was to make contact with the Hix and attempt to negotiate an end to the bitter warfare threatening to destroy all civilized life in the Water-Realm. Iram was amazed and stated his firm opinion that any attempt to treat with the Hix must end in the certain death of the would-be negotiator. However, he offered the services of six of his most experienced warriors. These men, he stated, would guide the three chosen ambassadors through a deep pass in the hills of the Kev and deliver them to the borderlands of the terrible Hix. He also agreed to take Paris into his own household and protect him until the expedition returned in safety, which he though very unlikely to occur. In addition, Iram offered to exchange the caravan’s cargo of herbs for a shipment of the rare metallic ores extracted from the surrounding hills; a commodity the transport narr would carry during the return trek to the river-lands, if the pretence of being simple merchant traders was to be maintained. Iram however, re-stated his belief that the three white-skinned ambassadors would never return from the wastelands of the Hix and would not require a cargo of rare metals, or indeed any other substance.

  Darryl expressed his wish that the expedition should set out for the lands of the Hix on the following day, but Iram shook his head vigorously and said that two of his most competent scouts were absent from the village and three day’s must elapse before all necessary preparations for their departure could be completed.

  Furthermore, he suggested that the boatmaster should bridle his impatience and make the best of this unexpected period of rest and relaxation, for the route through the mountains of the Kev was both hard and dangerous.

  The chief’s residence was spacious and well appointed, and the travellers were provided with individual sleeping chambers, each one being furnished with a comfortable bed and plenty of soft sleeping fabrics. A sweat-house was also situated at the rear of the building and the travellers were able to indulge in the luxury of a steam bath before retiring for the night.

  Darryl was the first of the chieftain’s guests to seek the comfort of his bed and he was fast asleep whilst the other travellers where still sipping Thoa-nut beer and gossiping with their host and his family. However, the boatmaster’s slumbers were eventually disturbed by a slight movement in the pitch darkness of his sleeping chamber. Within a split second, Darryl was wide awake and groping for the fighting knife that he always kept within easy reach of his right hand, but another strong hand grasped his wrist.

  “Gently master,” Whiteflower whispered, “Surely you would not slay the woman who is your sworn slave!”

  The bed fabrics rustled and moments later, the young tribes-woman’s naked body was pressing tightly against boatmaster’s muscular frame.

  “In Heaven’s name!” Darryl gasped. “Your father must be sleeping in a room only a short distance from here. What would he do if he found me in bed with his daughter, whilst I was a guest under his own roof?”

  “He would probably laugh and compare us to a pair of rutting narr.” The girl chuckled. “We woman of the Kev give ourselves freely to the men we desire, unless we have been bonded for life by the tribal mating ceremony.”

  Whiteflower giggled.

  “Do you remember my younger sister, the tall girl with the long hair who helped to serve your food? She is now in your giant friend’s bed and fulfilling his every desire.”

  The girl pressed her small but firm breasts against Darryl’s chest and then allowed her fingertips to glide gently down his abdomen until they brushed against his rapidly engorging member. Despite his best intentions, sheer lust began dominating the boatmaster’s mind.

  “Lass, Lass.” He groaned, and he drew away slightly. “Do you wish to
make love to me when you know, full well, that I may disappear into the wastelands of the Hix and never return?”

  The girl said nothing, but answered the boatmaster’s question by plunging her head beneath the bed fabrics in order to slip his fully erect member into her mouth. Darryl tried to protest, but he was only able to utter a single groan as Whiteflower’s tongue began to gently lave his throbbing organ, and, with a sigh of pleasure, he allowed himself to sink into a veritable sea of sensual ecstasy, which he knew would last until the coming of the Water-Realm dawn.

  Darryl took a piece of rag from his pouch and wiped the sweat from his brow and he bitterly cursed the heat radiating from the five suns and beating mercilessly down upon him.

  Two days ago, the three newcomers and their escort of half a dozen heavily armed Kev warriors had entered ‘Skeleton Gorge, the almost impassable route leading through the jagged hills of the Kev and giving access to the wastelands of the non-human Hix.

  The going was extremely hard, for nothing resembling a road or even a rough track existed to help the travellers negotiate the gorge. Indeed, the nine members of the expedition, together with their two laden transport narr, often experienced great difficulty in crossing the deep ravines and the loose scree slopes that frequently impeded their progress.

  The travellers were often forced to rest in the shadow of the great boulders that littered the floor of the gorge and the boatmaster was given ample time to reflect upon the three pleasurable days he had so recently spent as a guest in Iram’s hospitable household, and upon the exquisitely delightful nights when he had lain in the arms of ‘Whiteflower’his friend and lover.

  The boatmaster vividly recalled the scene, when, four mornings ago, the expedition had departed from the stockaded village of the Kev and he remembered the tearful face of the young tribeswoman as she bade him a safe journey and a swift return. Myra and Paris had also parted company; however, neither of the telepaths showed any outward sign of emotion as the caravan drew away from the village. Any feelings of regret that might have passed between the couple, were conveyed exclusively by the medium of their interlocking minds and were thus quite beyond the ken of the tribes-folk who had gathered to watch the expedition departing upon it perilous mission.

  George, by contrast, had hardly spared his long-haired bed friend a passing glance as the march began, but Darryl had sorely missed Whiteflower’s company as the expedition skirted the lower slopes of the Kev hills and the boatmaster felt strangely ill at ease, knowing that the ever dependable tribes-girl, who had guided them through so many perils, was no longer leading them at the head of the column. However, matters of sentiment had quickly begun to pale into insignificance, as the expedition entered ‘Skeleton Gorge’ and its members were forced to concentrate wholly upon the task of traversing the fearfully dangerous terrain.

  A little after midday, the column began crossing a particularly difficult and extensive scree slope and the marchers were forced to pick their way with extreme caution, due to the instability of the material underfoot. Darryl had also begun to worry about the effects of the fierce heat upon the two transport narr and the strain which this portion of the march must be putting upon the creatures fragile hip joints, for the laden pack animals where constantly slipping as they picked their way across the loose scree.

  It was obvious that their escort of Kev warriors was becoming ever more nervous with every passing hour. However, by midafternoon, the column had succeeded in drawing clear of the murderous scree slope and entered a delightful tree lined dell that was watered by a small spring that gushed from a cleft in the towering cliff face.

  The wiry old tribesman, who was acting as the expedition’s chief scout, ordered the other five members of the escort to take up defensive positions then joined the three travellers who were watering the pair of transport narr and ministering to their numerous minor cuts and abrasions.

  Myra placed her hand upon the swollen hip-joint of one of the creatures.

  “I don’t think this poor animal can go any further.” She said. “I can administer a pain relieving draught and lay a strengthening spell upon the beast, but it will only delay its final collapse for a little while longer.”

  The chief scout nodded.

  “Our purpose will be well enough served if yonder narr keeps going for a few hours longer, for beyond the next rise is ‘The Mine of the Two Fools,’ a place where we can shelter for the night. There we can kill this crippled animal and use its body for food. The remaining beast will carry all that you need, until you finally quit this gorge and enter the ‘Wastelands of the Hix,’ a journey that will take you a further two days of marching over slightly easier terrain.”

  The chief scout looked uneasy and rubbed his chin.

  “Neither I nor any of my men are prepared to venture further than ‘The Mine of the Two Fools.’ We will take you there and guard you throughout the coming hours of darkness. In the morning, we will begin the return march to our village, whilst you three white-skinned adventurers will doubtless continue to the land of the Hix in order to seek out your destiny.”

  He turned towards the young witch and bowed his head.

  “We beg you, do not lay a curse upon us for not accompanying you to the borders of the Hixian’lands, for we have wives and children to consider and only madmen would be willing to guide you further!”

  Myra smiled and touched the old man lightly upon the cheek.

  “You are all brave men and have done your duty. Tomorrow, when you depart, you will go with a wisewoman’s blessing to speed you on your way.”

  The witch eased the lame narr to its feet.

  “The hours of daylight are passing swiftly,” she said “So let us depart without further delay!”

  Smoke from the remains of the cooking fire hung beneath the stony roof of ‘The Mine of the Two Fools’ before finding its way out into the open air. The fumes presented no inconvenience to the travellers sitting with theirbacks to the wall of the mineand were hardly noticed by the two Kev warriors who stood guard at the entrance to the tunnel with their darters at the ready.

  The Earth-born travellers and their escort were replete with food, for the injured narr had been killed and the choicest portions of its body had been roasted and eaten by the members of the expedition who were now resting within the mouth of the mine.

  Darryl turned to the old scout who was seated nearby and who was occupied in picking his teeth with a shard of narrbone.

  “Tell me if you will, why this place is called ‘The Mine of the Two Fools?’

  The scout laughed grimly.

  “It’s a tale of oft repeated greed!” He said. “Two friends once ventured deep into Skeleton Gorge in search of rare metals and they discovered a rich vein of copper in the midst of these very rocks where we now take our rest. The partners mined out as much of the ore as could be transported on the backs of the dozen or so strong narr, which the pair owned and they bore it back to the home village of the Kev. In those days, the merchant’s from the river-lands still traded regularly with the folk who dwell in the Kev hills and the partners were able to exchange the ore for a chief’s ransom in medicinal herbs and other imported goods; most men would have been satisfied with this stroke of good fortune and would never have ventured so close to Hix territory again during the remainder of their lives.”

  The old man paused and uttered a deep sigh.

  “Yet greed is a terrible master and the two fools chanced their luck, once again. They and their transport narr were never seen again and that is how this mine gained its name!”

  The old scout moved uncomfortably.

  “We are the first humans to visit this place for many a long cycle, so you can understand why my men wish to depart from here as soon as possible!”

  Darryl thanked the old man for the information and then sought out the comfort of his sleeping robes.

  He could not have slept long before he was awakened by an irresistible sense of dread and he instinctively quit
his makeshift bed and knelt beside his twin-sister who was resting only a few feet away. The girl was moaning and twisting violently in her sleeping robes and the young man had to shake her for fully half a minute before she regained consciousness and opened her eyes.

  The young witch gathered her wits and struggled upright until she was in a sitting position.

  “I had a terrible dream.” She said. “I saw colours. Flashing lights and rippling bands of colour and shapes that I could not properly make out, let alone understand. This was no ordinary dream, for my inner-eye tells me the visions originated somewhere outside my own being. Brother, I am frightened, for I believe the Hix are close and are attempting to penetrate my mind. I recall a verse that I translated from the grimoire of Rose Littlewood.”

  When thy mind knows mortal fear

  Amidst the hills of sharpest stone

  Then know the monstrous Hix are near

  And wandering in your memory