The Walrus and the Warwolf

by Hugh Cook

  'It's no secret,' said Miphon. 'We had a whole army in it once, so the bottle and its nature is known through gossip to every dog in Lorford.'

  'Then let's wait,' said Drake. 'Man, there's an outgoing tide at dawn. We'll leave on that tide, with the first hint of light.'

  And a long, cold watch they had of it, waiting for the dawn, with the wind steadily strengthening and the rocking of the anchored boat increasing.

  When there was barely light enough to see by, Drake had sail hoisted. Then they cut the anchor rope and began to tack toward the harbour mouth against the incoming wind. Two boats gave pursuit.

  'Only two!' said Blackwood. 'That's good!'

  But, as they approached the harbour mouth, they saw three boats coming in. Drake guessed what had happened. Three of Yot's boats had got out to sea in the night before realizing their quest was hopeless; they had then played safe, keeping clear from shore until there was light enough for a safe return.

  Two boats between them and Brennan.

  And three boats guarding the Seagate to the open ocean.

  'Sod it,' said Drake.

  'What are you going to do?' said Blackwood.

  'Man,' said Drake. 'We'll need bows, we'll need arrows, we'll need soldiers. Listen . . .

  As they neared the harbour mouth, one of Yot's boats set itself on a collision course with Drake's. And Drake let it get close, very close.

  'Now!' he said.

  And Blackwood turned a ring on his finger, and went into the red bottle. Moments later, a stream of vapours emerged from the bottle, and consolidated itself into Blackwood and eight soldiers, all armed with bows and with arrows. Steadying themselves as best they could on the fishing boat, they fired a volley.

  The volley missed.

  But the helmsman of the oncoming boat, unnerved by the archers shooting at him, dived for cover. And Drake's boat scraped past, the archers giving the enemy another volley as they made for freedom.

  'Man, that was gutless!' said Drake. 'If they'd been pirates they'd have rammed us proper, aye, and boarded.'

  Shortly, to Drake's delight, they were clear of the harbour mouth. He laughed.

  'Why are you laughing?' said Blackwood. 'This is serious! We've five boats in pursuit of us!'

  'Aye, man,' said Drake. 'But the world's young, and we're all alive. So why not be happy?'

  He was laughing because they were on their way to Ling, whether Blackwood knew it or not.

  65

  Drake's navigation of the fishing boat Mackerel: by the discipline of the stars; by the arc of the sun; by the tendency of the long, even swells of summer to march from the west toward the shores of Argan; by guesswork, hope and prayer.

  At dawn on the fourth day of the sea chase, they saw cliffs ahead which were, in all probability, those of Anvil, the most northerly of the Greater Teeth. Grey cliffs. Tall. Grim. Surf-strewn. A sailor's nightmare.

  But Drake welcomed the sight. He grinned. Cliffs of the Greaters! Cliffs of home! He determined to put ashore as soon as possible, even if it meant wrecking the boat. He would rather have landed further south, on Knock, but if they sailed past Anvil he might not get the opportunity.

  Drake turned, blinked away flecks of flying spray, and scanned the horizon. The pursuit was far behind. The sails of the five enemy boats were scarcely more than scratches against the distant azure of the northern horizon, lost for half the time amidst the jumbling waves.

  It was not Drake's seamanship which was making the difference so much as the red bottle. There, Drake's crew could shelter from the weather, get a decent sleep, prepare proper food and forget the sea. Thus they were able to work long and hard to meet the demands of sea and weather.

  Yot's men were not so lucky, and were suffering. Drake was suffering himself, for he was still not prepared to

  chance himself inside the red bottle. He had dared the venture once - at Lorford's western gatehouse, when he had been left with no other choice - and had vowed he would never run such a risk again.

  'Not far to go,' muttered Drake to Drake.

  The wizard Miphon was on deck, but was oblivious to all around. He had settled himself to the Meditations. This business of Meditation was, as far as Drake could gather, something like a waking dream, accompanied by a lot of incomprehensible low-voiced garbling.

  Three soldiers were also on deck - Brild, Lurghen and Supping. Good men, true, but all they knew of the sea was that it was wet and that boats could float on it.

  'Easy,' said Drake to Drake.

  And he eased the tiller over so the sails almost lost the wind. Nobody noticed. Drake closed his eyes. He was very tired. He began to sleep, a snatch at a time - dreaming, between waves, of a fragment of a voice or a vision. Each time he woke he flicked his eyes open, ajusted the tiller, then was asleep as fast as he had woken.

  By the time Miphon had finished his Meditations, the enemy boats were much closer. So was the north-east tip of Anvil: granite battlements shattering the sundering seas.

  'The wind's getting up,' said Miphon, steadying himself on the lurching deck.

  Drake altered the angle of the tiller so the wind filled the sails properly, for if he continued playing his games then the wizard might notice what the soldiers had not.

  'It's not the wind we have to be worrying about,' said Drake. 'It's the pursuit.'

  'Grief,' said Miphon, peering north, 'they're close. How did they catch up so?'

  'It's been one of those days,' said Drake. 'The wind's been giving different chances to every patch of the sea. They've had the luck.'

  Miphon glanced at the sails, the sea, the pursuit boats, the cliffs they were closing with.

  'And we've had no luck?' he said.

  'Aye,' said Drake, grimly. 'We've had none. So things look ill for us. How about using your precious death-stone?'

  'What, and turn our boat to rock? No, you'd better do something, and fast.'

  Drake gazed at the shatter-cliffs of Anvil where white water exploded against gash-toothed rocks. Veils of mist rose high to the heavens, as if the very sea was boiling. A flash of white gleamed amidst spray as a sea-mew slipped through the air at the base of the cliffs. Look up! Yes, it was there, as he remembered it - a small tower standing against the sky.

  'See the tower?' said Drake. 'At the top of the cliffs?'

  'I see it,' said Miphon. 'Who lives there?'

  'Nobody, man,' said Drake. 'There's nothing within but old feathers and dried-up pigeon shit. But we'll be there ourselves before nightfall.'

  'How so?' said Miphon.

  'We'll fly, man. Aye, yes. My grandmother told me a special recipe for flight. We have to chop up the heart of a wizard then mix it with clippings from his toenails. So bare your chest, man, so we can start the cutting.'

  'Enough of your nonsense,' said Miphon. 'What's your plan?'

  'You're not much fun today,' said Drake. 'Ah well. . . the plan, that's simple. There's a cove at the base of the cliffs, aye, below the tower. I've been there, yes.'

  True. There was a cove, which Drake had visited on a fishing expedition when he was resident in the Greaters.

  'There's lots of rocks,' said Miphon, doubtfully.

  'Courage, man!' said Drake. T can steer us in safe. The enemy will never dare to follow.'

  This was also true, as far as it went. Drake could have steered them in safe.

  'Take us in, then,' said Miphon.

  'Your wish,' said Drake, 'is my command.'

  He guided the boat toward the cove. And, shortly, made just the smallest mistake necessary. Rocks ripped open the good ship Mackerel. All floundered ashore through the cold sundering surf, and gained the beach of rocks and shingle at the base of the cliffs. Dripping wet. Shocked. Shivering.

  'We're done for!' wailed a soldier.

  'Enough of that woman's talk!' said Drake. 'There's a path. See?'

  Indeed, a steep path led upwards from the beach. They took that path, arriving at length at the ruinous pharos, the clifftop towe
r they had seen from the sea. Meanwhile, the enemy boats stayed well clear of the shore.

  'They'll not chance to wreck themselves here,' said Drake. 'They'd never make it up the path if they did. We could hurl down stones and hold off an army forever.'

  'But once we leave,' said Miphon, 'they can chance the cove just as we did.'

  'The wind's still rising,' said Drake. 'Soon enough, the wind will wreck all chance of a landing. We'll not leave till it does. Gather wood, boys! Aye, and rocks. Heap rocks here by the cliff, in case they're fool enough to invade.'

  Men hacked with weapons at the clifftop vegetation, which was mostly isolated clumps of gorse, and soon had a fire burning inside the pharos. Some sheltered in the red bottle, but others stayed without to keep watch, alternately warming themselves by the fire or huddling outside in the wind at a place where they had a clear view of the cove.

  For a long time they watched from the clifftop as the enemy boats tacked and tacked again, often passing very close to each other. Then those boats split up. Two sailed west, following the sun; the other three went withershins.

  'Where go they?' said the soldier Scouse.

  'They search a landing,' said Drake. 'But they'll find none such. Or, rather - any place they find will be in the possession of pirates.'

  'If they find anything,' said Blackwood, 'it'll be a wrecking. This is a perilous coast.'

  'In truth,' said the soldier Lurghen. 'As likely as not they'll be wrecked. Or carried south beyond all hope. Everything to south is in the possession of the Swarms.'

  He was wrong. Stokos, while it had been attacked several times by the Swarms, was still free. And Drake was sure that Yot, if he could not force a landing on Anvil, would make for Stokos. Well. So be it. They would have a settling of accounts on Stokos.

  'Never mind about Sully Yot and his mob of professional fish-rapists,' said Drake. 'Let's mind about us. We're stuck on a pirate island. Aye, Anvil by name. Some right weird people live here, believe you me. Wealth will tempt them, aye, while honesty will drive them near insane with anger. So let's not come to them wealthy, or honest.'

  'Then how?' said Blackwood.

  'Okay,' said Drake, 'this is our story. We were a bandit gang living sweet in Estar, until we got driven out, aye, by the terrible Morgan Hearst, the ruthless Blackwood, and the evil wizard Miphon.'

  'Why is this wizard Miphon always evil?' said Miphon.

  'Man, because magic isn't natural,' said Drake. 'Now, mind nobody says nothing about death-stones, or magic bottles, for pirates will kill for such in less than a tricing. Everyone got that straight? Right then. Let's march.'

  Drake guessed it was about thirty leagues from the pharos to Chastity Bay, site of the largest pirate settlement on Anvil. At Chastity, dozens of sea-caves pierced the cliffs, many big enough to hold ships. Drake thought they would need three days for the thirty-league march. He was not far wrong. At mid-morning on the fourth day they reached a landmark he recognized: a gibbet standing beside a big nose-shaped rock.

  'Let's go careful now,' said Drake, 'for we're but a league from Chastity Bay.'

  They made a final disposition of their forces. Those who would venture to Chastity were Drake, Blackwood, Miphon, and the soldiers Scouse and Lurghen. Everyone else, including Zanya, would be hidden in the red bottle, which would be swaddled in rags, in case some pirate knew what it was. Miphon would wear the ring which commanded that bottle; he would knot the ring to a cord then wear the cord around his neck.

  'Goodbye, dearest treasure snake,' said Zanya.

  'Goodbye, most glorious princess of the thousand bearskins,' said Drake.

  The lovers kissed. Then parted. Miphon took all those who were to remain in hiding into the red bottle. Then rematerialized. And the small band of heroes advanced upon Chastity Bay.

  After half a league, Drake said:

  'Look! See where that toweris?That'sTunnel Mouth, or was. There, steps descend to caves below. Big caves, aye, some half sea, half air. Ships entire shelter within some of those caves. But that tower - that worries me. There was none such when I was here last.'

  'Were you last here before the Swarms?' said Blackwood.

  'Oh, long before,' said Drake.

  'Then that explains the tower,' said Blackwood. 'Those living here have been forced to fortify their door against the Swarms. The Neversh can fly to the Greater Teeth from the mainland, surely, with little trouble.'

  'Then we've been walking in danger for more than three days!' said Drake.

  'Whatever danger we've lived through,' said Miphon, 'we've survived. So let's worry no more about it, but advance.'

  And so they did.

  They were met short of the tunnel by a dog. Now the dog is the favourite animal of pirates, for it will tear the throats of human beings, and will fight its own kind to win bets for brutal masters, and will roll in dung, and will eat its own vomit, and has other habits equally amusing. Drake loved dogs. But this one attacked him, thereby losing his favour.

  After the dog had been put down, the five ventured to the tower. It was made of enormous stones, as if it had been built to last ten thousand years.

  'Where did pirates find the skill to build such as this?' said Blackwood.

  'Slaves manage such,' said Drake, vaguely.

  He had never had anything much to do with the slaves of the Greater Teeth, but knew they handled most of the skilled work which was done in the Greaters.

  'Hoy! You farts there!' roared a big black pirate, stepping from the door of the tower.

  'Run?' said Miphon.

  'Go on,' said Drake, though his heart was hammering. T know the man. It's Bucks Cat. He's okay.' 'Ahoy there!' yelled Drake. 'Ahoy yourself,' shouted Cat.

  Then said nothing further as Drake and his companions closed the distance. When they were almost at the door to the tower, a lean, pale man stepped forth to join Bucks Cat. It was Ish Ulpin!

  Drake's heart beat the faster.

  'Why, hello darling,' said Ish Ulpin. 'How came you here? And who are your friends?'

  'Stout men with good steel,' said Drake. 'There'll be no trouble here, I trust. We're old shipmates, aren't we?'

  'Perhaps we are,' said Bucks Cat, grinning.

  He whistled. Forth from the shadows stepped Ika Thole and Simp Fiche. Then another man: a rough-bearded brute with a scarred bald patch the size of a man's palm on the top of his head.

  'Andranovory!' cried Drake in astonishment.

  'The same,' said Atsimo Andranovory. 'Alive and kicking. No thanks to you! You betrayed me in Selzirk. I was seized from Jone, held within dungeons, beaten, tortured, questioned for month upon month. I was lucky to escape with my life.'

  'Man,' said Drake, T never betrayed you. In Selzirk I came face to face with a wizard who read minds, aye. He picked your whereabouts from my brain. Precious little I could do about that! Anyway, here you are as large as life. So what matter past sufferings?'

  Miphon and Blackwood, at the sight of Andranovory, had sunk back as best they could behind the soldiers Scouse and Lurghen. But Andranovory had recognized them at first glance, and now he named them:

  'Look, boys, at those two skulking there! You know who they are? They're Miphon and Blackwood, aye. Companions of the questing hero, Morgan Hearst. They've lately ruled in Estar as kings. They'll buy a rich ransom, I'll warrant.'

  'Peace!' said Drake, hastily, as hands dropped to sword-hilts. 'Let's have no fighting before a hearing.'

  'I've no time for listening to lies,' said Ish Ulpin. And drew his blade. But nobody drew with him. For, after all, the odds were even - five versus five. 'All right then,' said Ish Ulpin, seeing how things stood. 'Tell your story. But get it over with quick.'

  'It's simple enough,' said Drake. 'Things came to war between Morgan Hearst and the good lords Blackwood and Miphon. Hearst won for the moment, for he has the Rovac with him. Hence we fled. Me and these other two, we're mercenaries sworn to the service of Blackwood here. Our hope now is to venture to Ling to g
ain a pearl-fortune to finance an army to win back Estar from Hearst.'

  'And where will you find such an army for sale?' said Ish Ulpin.

  'Why, on Stokos, of course,' said Drake.

  'Doubt it!' said Ika Thole. 'All men in arms under the rule of Watashi are kept busy in battles against the Swarms.'

  'Watashi?' said Drake.

  'Watashi, ruler of Stokos,' said Thole. 'You've not heard of Watashi? He's son of Farfalla of the Harvest Plains.'

  'He's heard of Watashi!' said Andranovory. 'Why, he's had open disputes with the man. I heard of such while rotting in the dungeons of Selzirk. Seems Drake thieved a bard from the prince - a thing frightful precious, whatever it be.'

  T never stole it!' said Drake. 'That was my bard from the start! I found it in a tower near Ling, aye, won its magic at great cost to myself. And Watashi stole it from me!'

  'No need to plead innocent!' said Ish Ulpin. 'We're no court of law, not us. All we care for is value. You've value to Watashi by way of revenge. If we can't get ransom for this Miphon and Blackwood, we'll win payment for you from Watashi.'

  Drake heard distant singing from someone coming up the stairs to the tower. Miphon and Blackwood heard the singing as well, as did the soldiers Scouse and Lurghen.

  'Let's run for it,' said Blackwood.

  'No,' said Drake.

  They could not escape Anvil without help from the pirates. If they ran, they would be hunted down and caught. Then one of the soldiers would surely seek to win favour from the pirates by giving up the secret of the red bottle and the death-stone. Then there would be no hope for Zanya.

  'Boys,' said Drake, 'let's do a heal. We five can run, aye, and you'd be days hunting us. Or you can swear yourselves to a bargain. I'll surrender myself to be handed over to this Watashi. In turn, you'll let my comrades have liberty. They'll swear themselves to continue our quest south to Ling, and you'll help them gather together such pirates as wish to sail with them on the venture.'

  Drake looked from face to face. Sweating. Would anyone swear to the bargain? Surely all would.