by John White
"I thought I saw Uncle John," Wes said. "I mean Uncle John as a boy, like old pictures we've seen of him."
Lisa covered her face with her hands as a particularly terrible memory flashed into her mind. "I saw Gaal being murdered! It was horrible! I wanted to help him, but I couldn't!"
Andron shouted an interruption. "Gaal murdered! How can this be? Those are only stories told by the old ones. You fell asleep in a cave and dreamed of the old stories of Anthropos."
The Friesens turned on the soldier with fierce defiance. In a jumble of three voices they burst out, "They aren't just old stories!" "Our Uncle John and Aunt Eleanor were there at the altar when Gaal was killed! Well, she wasn't our Aunt Eleanor then." "It was back when they were about our age." "And Gaal didn't stay dead! They saw him come back to life!" "He got gored by an enormous bull. Even as he was dying, he tore the horns off the bull. It turned into a giant, winged serpent, and he killed that!"
The two soldiers shook their heads-Dominicus in pity, Andron in amusement. "Foolish stories!" Andron scoffed. "I would think you had outgrown them. They are told to children to frighten them and make them be good." At this the Friesens were amazed into silence. Philo nudged Lisa with his big nose, but she pushed him away.
"It happened," Wes said firmly. "It happened on the stone altar in the city of Bamah. Gaal died and came back to life. After that Kardia became king and married Suneidesis. They became Tiqvah's parents ..."
"Of course we know of Kardia and Suneidesis," said Dominicus impatiently.
"I'm not finished. Kardia and his army pulled down the stone circle that surrounded the altar and burned the sorcerer's temple. We stood with Gaal and watched the evil city sink into the earth and become a lake-the lake you call Lake Bamah."
"And I commanded it to fill with water!" Kurt added.
Dominicus and Andron roared with laughter. Kurt kicked at a tree root in fury. He knew it sounded ridiculous, but didn't they know it was true? Lisa said, "Never mind if it was Kurt or not. What matters is that Gaal defeated his enemies. He trampled all over the forces of Lord Lunacy."
Dominicus and Andron turned serious. Andron picked up his pack and swung it onto his back. Dominicus did the same with his pack. He had to shove away Philo, who was after the grain he knew was there. "Let us be going," said Dominicus quietly.
For several hours they marched along in single file. Though the sun did not penetrate deeply through the trees, the air was warm and motionless. The hot, tense crew drank greedily from their water bottles. Lisa squirted some water from her bottle into Philo's mouth and spilled a lot in the process. Wes scolded her sharply for the foolish waste. Kurt said that since they hadn't found water, that proved they shouldn't have made the trip at all. Weariness, hunger, thirst and darkness would soon force them to stop and camp.
Wes, in the lead, first caught the sound of a stream rushing over rocks. "Water up ahead!" he called. In fifty yards the trail dropped down a gentle slope to a stream that emerged from the higher woods. It cut the trail in two and bubbled onward to disappear into trees and brush. On the other side of the stream was a level grassy area, clear of trees except for a small one near the center.
The company stumbled down the slope, heaved off their packs and dropped to their hands and knees by the water. A blanket of cool air over the streambed refreshed them even before they drank. Philo nearly stepped on several of them in his rush to drink, while the human members of the party shoved each other for space. The stream bed was rocky, and the water was clear and cold.
Wes straightened to a kneeling position, wiped his mouth and pointed across the stream. "We'll camp over there," he said. They complained only a little about wet cold feet as they waded across the stream. Dominicus unfastened Philo's pack and slipped it off him. Immediately the horse's knees buckled and he rolled in the grass. Lisa heard him mutter something about his itchy back.
The children were almost too tired to pitch their tents. They kicked a few stones out of the way and argued about how to set their tents up. Wes suggested a fire. The others only moaned. They had no food that needed to be cooked, and they hardly needed the heat.
By the time they consumed a meal of bread, cheese and dried fruits, it was nearly dark. They all took candles and flints and crawled into their small tents. Dominicus and Andron were in one tent, Kurt and Wes were in another, and Lisa was in a tent by herself. She wished she could manage to steal the swords of both soldiers, but she knew it was impossible.
Night sounds of tree frogs and insects merged with the bubble of the stream and the deep breaths of five sleepers. A white horse stood as a sentinel-when he didn't doze off himself.
Kurt was surprised at how well he had slept. He awoke feeling quite rested. It was still dark out. He rolled over. He rolled over the other way. No use-he was wide-awake and couldn't get back to sleep. He wondered if the others were awake. If they were, they all might as well get up and get an early start. They'd make better time if they hiked in the cool. He whispered, "Wes! Are you awake?"
Wes's voice was tight: "Yeah. Wide-awake. I've been awake for ages. What time is it?"
"I don't know. We must have slept really well. We did turn in early."
Kurt heard Wes sit up. "No, Kurt. It's more than that. It's something odd. Get me the flint and candle."
Kurt felt around. He couldn't remember where he had put them. He couldn't remember if he had put them anywhere. "You must have them over by you, Wes."
"No, I don't! You had them! Now where are they?"
"Kurt! Wes! What's wrong?" Lisa's voice penetrated the darkness and the wall of the boys' tent.
"You awake?" Wes asked her.
"No, I'm talking in my sleep. Of course I'm awake. Wide-awake. What's going on? What time is it?"
"Found them!" Kurt exulted. Now he faced the task of lighting the candle in total darkness. And it was total darkness. Usually when you camp in an open spot, at least a faint glimmer of light filters through your tent. There was none.
A spark flashed in the dark and vanished. Kurt tried again. Wes snapped at him to hand over the flint and candle, but Kurt kept at it. After several attempts he got the candle lit. The boys held their breaths and waited for the flame to blossom. The light of one candle would fill the tent and cast impressive shadows on the walls.
What happened was very different from what they expected. The candle burned, or at least a flame-shaped light appeared at the end of it, but it gave only a weak and sickly light. There was a sort of glow around the flame and little beyond that. Wes and Kurt could barely see each other. "This is the darkest dark I've ever seen," Kurt said. "Or the weakest light. You know what this candle makes me think of? That light in the dungeon. It didn't light up anything around it. Do you think somebody sabotaged our candle? Made it so it doesn't work right?"
Wes studied the candle flame. "I don't think the problem is the candle. I think it's the darkness itself. It's a quality of dark I've never seen before. Unearthly. As though it's a-"
"A spell?" Kurt whispered.
"Looks like it."
"But a spell by who?"
"By whoever sent us that ogre."
Kurt's heart started to race. "We'll never get to Lake Nachash if we can't see! We won't get ten feet down the trail! We won't he able to find the trail! I told you we shouldn't have come! I told you-"
"Not so loud! Remember we can't trust. . ." Wes gestured toward the soldiers' tent, but of course Kurt could not see the gesture in the thick darkness. Wes reached beneath his bedroll, clutched the Sword of Geburah and strapped it on by feel. Whatever new enemy they faced, they would be better off if he wore the sword.
In her own tent Lisa managed to light her candle, but she experienced the same oppressive darkness. She was more frightened than the boys because she was alone. She groped her way to the door of her tent and somehow crawled outside without putting out the candle. Outdoors she expected to find a little illumination from the night sky. The darkness outside the tent was as thick as in
side. The unseen stream burbled happily close by. She walked carefully toward the sound but could not locate the stream until she stepped barefoot into cold water. Fear colder than the water gripped her. Was something terribly wrong with her eyes?
Philo nickered nearby. Lisa turned toward the friendly sound but saw nothing. "A big white horse should be visible even at night!" she said.
"And so should a young girl with a candle." The voice was Philo's. She moved toward his voice and walked right into his side. He snorted, "Careful with that flame! My mane!"
"Philo, what's happening? Am I going blind?"
"If you are, Lady Lisa, then so am I. I do not like this."
Lisa leaned against the warm body of the horse and felt a little safer. "Did you sleep all right?" she asked him. "Are you tired from carrying that load all day?"
"I slept in spurts, on my feet, in the manner of horses. The rest of the time I grazed. Grazing at night is quite pleasurable. Nice fresh dew on the grass. I hope I did not chew too loudly and wake you."
"No, no, I didn't hear a thing. How can it still be the middle of the night?"
"I prefer to answer your questions in the order asked. As for my being tired, those panniers are lighter than the weight of the king. I believe I have become stronger of late. Each time I carry the king, his weight seems less and less."
"You silly horse, don't you know the king is seriously ill? He is getting lighter by the day. That's why we have to fetch him the honey. It's to save his life-or at least make him live as long as possible."
"The king ... seriously ill? No, I did not know this. No one tells me anything. The stable hands must not know. I wonder if Eliza beth knows. This is distressing news."
"But what about this awful darkness? If this keeps up, we won't get to the island, and we won't get the honey anyway. This is terrible!"
"Lisa! Who are you talking to?" Wes's voice was very near, yet Lisa saw only a weak candle flame and a couple of shadowy forms.
"Wes! Kurt! What's happening?"
Kurt asked, "Where are Dominicus and Andron? Still asleep?"
The darkness that had stolen their sight made them more aware of sound. The stream still chattered its way across the stones, but something was missing. The normal night voices of insects and frogs were stilled, as though for them it was daytime. One sound came very clearly: a blend of two people snoring.
"So much for our protectors!" Wes said with scorn. "I guess I'd better go wake them up."
He gripped the candle and tried not to trip over tent ropes on his way to the soldiers' tent. He did stumble once and spilled hot wax on the back of his hand. Heavy snores guided him. When he reached the soldiers' tent, he scratched his fingernails on the canvas. Muffled sounds of surprise greeted him. He called, "Andron! Dominicus! Get yourselves out here! Something's gone wrong!"
The children listened to the soldiers go through the familiar ritual: astonishment, confusion, the lighting of the candle (they did know where to find their candle and flint), more astonishment and confusion. It would have been funny if the situation hadn't been so frightening. Finally a dim candle flame and two indistinct forms emerged from the tent.
Dominicus said, "Truly the Forest of Blackness has become exactly that-not in name only. This can be nothing but a spell of wickedness." His voice shook. For the first time he sounded genuinely afraid. "Children who claim to be from other worlds, you must act now to save us!"
"Act now? Us? To do what?" Kurt asked.
"You must use your powers to overcome this darkness."
"Our powers!" sputtered Wes. "What powers?"
"Do not mock us!" replied Andron. "We know well that you possess the magic of allergic. " (The children groaned, especially Lisa.) "Today you killed an ogre that should easily have overpowered you. I call on you-Lord Wesley, Lord Kurt, Lady Lisa-now summon your strong powers and release us from this darkness!"
At first the Friesens were speechless. Bad enough to be trapped in mysterious dark without being expected to banish spells!
Wes burst out in fury at the soldiers. "We can't do that! What do you think we are? Magicians? Miracle workers? We don't know where this darkness came from or how it works. How do you expect us to get rid of it?" He wished he could glare right into the soldiers' eyes and tell them off. It was unsettling to shout at shadowy forms he could barely see.
Lisa was fed up at Wes's tirade. "Wait a minute, Wes! Wait just a minute! You've got no right to yell when this is your fault!"
Wes's candle flame swung in an arc toward Lisa's voice. "My fault? How?"
"You insisted on this campsite. You said we had to camp right here by the stream in our tents. That isn't how we do things in Anthropos. We should have looked for a Gaal tree! If we'd spent the night in a Gaal tree, this would never have happened!"
"I didn't see you looking around for any Gaal tree! Or you, " he added in what he hoped was Kurt's direction.
Kurt answered from a direction opposite what Wes expected. "You didn't give us a chance! You just said, `We're camping here!'"
Dominicus ordered, "Stop this foolishness! In the name of the queen I order you to use your powers to dispel the darkness!"
"We have no powers!" Wes shouted. He thought he was too old to cry and was alarmed to find himself near tears of frustration. To his relief a familiar croaking broke through the thick darkness. A branch cracked and crashed down close to camp. Philo snorted. A harsh voice rasped away at its complaints. "How do they expect me to ... no decent branches ... a bird can't see where to land in this accursed ..."
"Vulcanus!" Andron shouted. "What is this darkness? How far does it reach?"
"Can't tell a dead branch from a living one ... no place to rest my talons. . ."
"You foul bird, how far does this darkness go?"
"How am Ito tell? I know where I entered it. I do not know how far I flew before I found you by your obnoxious clamor. This is a wicked matter. I collided with trees. I have never collided with a tree in a lifetime of flight."
"You're no help," Kurt griped.
"Can you not fly above the darkness and look down upon it?" Dominicus asked. "Perhaps we can determine its nature and how far it extends."
"Of course. Of course. I am barely settled in a tree, at great risk to my life and wings, when you ask me to take off and risk myself again."
"Please, Vulcanus," Lisa begged. "You're the only one who can fly so high. You're the only one who can fly at all. "
For a time the bird was silent. They were sure he sat and preened his feathers by feel. Finally he spoke. "Very well. I will attempt to fly above it. Fortunately I have been given the gift of extremely high flight. I am glad someone appreciates ..."
Andron roared, `Just go!" From overhead came a ferocious flap of wings, crash of branches and croak of irritation, then only the sound of the stream.
The soldiers sat on their backpacks near their own tent. The Friesens stood huddled between the little tree and Philo's warm body. The boys put their candle on the ground. Lisa hung onto hers. They strained their eyes for some evidence of sunrise, though they had no idea which way was east. They stayed quiet, as though they could listen for the dawn as well as watch for it.
After a while Dominicus's voice came out of the dark. "How long do you think it will take the eagle to determine the extent of this darkness?" The Friesens thought he must be talking to Andron. Louder this time, he asked again, "How long do you think it will take the eagle to determine the extent of this darkness?"
"No telling," Wes answered shortly.
Again rather loudly, Dominicus said, "I do not like to work with these eagles. They are vain and stupid birds. They think only of their feathers. They have excellent sight, but they are blind to their own ugliness."
Wes responded only, "Uh-huh." He could have made some neg ative comments about Vulcanus. On the other hand, he was grateful to the vulture for bringing back the Sword of Geburah. Wes felt for the sword's handle. Its sure leather grip quieted some of his anxiety.
"Wes, you could at least stick up for Vulcanus," Lisa said. "He flew all the way across Lake Bamah and back to bring you the sword." Close by her, Philo's hooves moved restlessly on the forest floor.
"I was sticking up for him in my mind," Wes replied. "Don't you think I'm glad to have the sword?"
"I sure was today," said Kurt. "Did you see how I took care of that ogre?" He did not feel as brave as he sounded. His hand reached out and found the trunk of the small tree. He gripped it tightly. Its rough bark comforted him.
"You only finished off the ogre after I did most of the work," Wes grumbled.
"Tell us, where did you learn such skill at sword fighting?" Doininicus called out.
"Right here in Anthropos," Kurt said, "in the service of Gaal."
"He means me, not you," Wes snapped.
Lisa wanted to cover her ears. She also wanted to keep hold of her candle. She said, "Oh, why don't both of you be quiet?" Again Philo shifted himself around. He gave a low uneasy whicker.
Dominicus's voice came once more from the soldiers' tent. "You three have had many adventures of which Andron and I know little. Please be good enough to tell us about them. Come, we have no other way to pass the time while we wait for that accursed eagle." Wes had never heard Dominicus talk so much. Perhaps the soldier's nervousness found release in words.
"I don't feel like telling stories," Lisa said. "Andron, you don't want to listen to us, do you?"
Dominicus answered immediately. "Of course he does, Lady Lisa."
"Why doesn't he speak for himself then," Kurt asked. He felt uneasy in a new way, not because of the dark. Something brushed against his arm. A large strong hand clamped over his mouth and snapped his head backward. Kurt jabbed his elbow high and back and pivoted as hard as he could. His elbow hit somebody in the gut, but his momentum spun him around, and he landed sprawled on the ground.
Wes and Lisa cried out in surprise. Philo whinnied in alarm. Kurt heard only the grunts and curses of his attacker. Lisa blew out her candle, and Wes gave his a kick that put it out. The dark was now absolute. Something above Kurt went swoosh. Again the sound came. Swoosh. Kurt didn't need light to know it was Andron swinging his sword in sweeping arcs above him.
