Pal Galmain frowned as if deeply offended. ’That decision is not yours to make, Fra Villion. I repeat my challenge. According to the terms of the ancient code, you must either accept or refuse. If you refuse, you are branded a coward and no longer fit to serve among the black knights.’
‘You intend to press this ridiculous challenge?’ said Villion.
’The choice of weapons is yours to make.’
Villion shifted his gaze. It was clear that he was seeking some avenue of escape but none was presented to him. He sighed. ’The traditional weapons, then. Whipswords. But I am indeed sorry. Once you were a great and noble vemplar, Pal Galmain. Now…’
‘We will meet at dawn, Fra Villion.’
With that, moving stiffly, Pal Galmain stepped away. The assembled knights shifted aside to allow him to pass. Tedric went after him. He knew that Villion was undoubtedly correct - Galmain would never survive a duel to the death, not in his present condition - but he deeply admired the old knight for his valiant if futile gesture.
Pal Galmain reached the door at the rear of the cavern and passed through it. Tedric followed. Outside, at the foot of a stone staircase, two knights were already waiting to escort them. Pal Galtnain brushed swiftly past them. The vemplars waited a moment and then followed at a discreet distance.
Halfway up the stairs, Pal Galmain suddenly faltered and the whole of his weight fell against Tedric. The vemplar‘s face was pale and his skin covered in sweat. ‘You’ll have to help me,’ he said in a weak voice. ’Take me to your room. Can you find it? Don’t let them see me like this.’
‘I can find it,’ said Tedric. He let Pal Galmain hold his arm as they continued to ascend the stairs. It seemed a long, long way to the top.
Chapter 15
The Adversary
By the time the two of them reached the room Tedric had been assigned in the upper reaches of the castle Sanctuary, Pal Galmain seemed on the verge of total collapse. Tedric assisted the old knight through the door and guided him to the bed, where Galmain lay down with a heavy groan. Turning, Tedric started to go in search of help when Pal Galmain, suddenly alert again, called him back.
‘I want to make them help you,’ Tedric said.
‘No - don’t. Close the door and stay here.’ Galmain’s face was even paler than before, and deeply engrained lines and wrinkles showed in his neck and brow. For the first time since Tedric had known him, Galmain actually looked like what he was: an old, sick man.
‘You need medical attention,’ Tedric said. ’They must have a physician here somewhere.’ But he shut the door and then came back to the bed.
Galmain nodded and relaxed. His eyes fell shut; his breathing was soft. ‘You don’t understand. There’s no point…no need.’ Struggling suddenly, he clasped Tedric’s sleeve and tugged at the fabric. ‘If they - Villion - if he knows I’m ill, it’ll provide him the excuse he wants to avoid the duel.’
‘You can’t hope to fight him in your present condition. It would be suicide.’
‘No. I’ll be better. A litde rest. That’s all I need. A few hours sleep,’
Tedric shook his head. He didn’t want to tell Galmain the truth, that he didn’t stand a chance against Villion. Tedric had once engaged Villion with whipswords and he knew the depth of the vemplar‘s skill. Tedric had emerged from that fight with at least a stand-off, but he was young and strong and Pal Gaimain was neither. ‘We can delay the duel,’ he suggested, ’until- you’re recovered. It doesn’t have to be fought tomorrow.’
‘No!’ Galmain’s voice was desperate. ‘You don’t understand. Yes, I’m sick. Yes, I’m going to die. That’s the reason it’s necessary to hurry. I know a way - a weakness. I can beat Villion. He was once my pupil, you remember. I taught him the art of combat. When he was only a child, a boy, we danced for hours in the courtyard below, and even when night fell and neither of us could see the other, we continued. I taught Fra Villion everything I knew until he had surpassed me in every respect but one. That one thing will allow me to destroy him.’
‘I see,’ said Tedric, who did not know whether to believe the old knight’s assertion. Gaimain was undoubtedly ill. His mind might not be right. Perhaps he was dreaming things that no longer existed and perhaps never had.
Gaimain, sensing Tedric’s hesitation, struggled to smile. ‘Here, lean close,’ he said, ‘and I’ll tell you what I mean. Once you know, you’ll have to believe me.’
Tedric bent close to the bed, feeling Galmain’s breath against his ear. The old knight whispered gently. Tedric listened intently. When Gaimain finished, he stood upright and pondered for a long moment. A voice from behind interrupted his thoughts.
‘What have they done to him?’
Tedric turned. Juvi, Yod, and Wilson stood just inside the door. It was Juvi who had spoken.
‘He’s sick,’ she said.
Tedric related what had occurred in the basement cavern. ‘Pal Gaimain has challenged Villion to a whipsword duel to be fought tomorrow at dawn,’ he finished.
Juvi looked shocked. ’That’s pure madness. Can’t they see how sick he is? I’m going to get help for him.’
‘No,’ Gaimain said, but his voice was much weaker now. He opened an eye and looked imploringly at Tedric. ’Tell her she shouldn’t.’
But Juvi was determined and Tedric did not try to stop her. She swept out of the room and he could hear her angry voice in the hallway as she apparently argued with some of the vemplar guards. Galmain had again fallen back on the bed. His face was slack. Tedric turned to Yod and Wilson. ‘Well, what’s been happening with you?’
‘We’ve got rooms further down the corridor,’ Wilson said. He looked worriedly at Galmain as he spoke. The vemplar was apparently asleep now. ’They don’t mind if we roam around up here, but try and go below and they stop you.’ ‘What about Ky-shan?’
‘He’s got a room, too. Juvi heard your voice, so we came down here. What you said about that trial was pretty bad news. It looks as though we’ve wasted our time and effort coming here.’
‘I don’t think it’s totally hopeless yet,’ said Tedric, though he feared he was only being stubbornly optimistic. ‘What about Matthew Carey? Has his condition improved?’
Wilson shrugged. ’That’s hard to say. He’s awake and talking, but…’ He tapped the side of his head meaningfully. ‘I think whatever Villion did - taking over his mind - it’s left poor Carey scrambled. He doesn’t seem to have any idea what’s going on.’
‘He’s not faking?’
Wilson shook his head. ‘No. It’s real, I’m afraid.’
Tedric knew what that meant. Yet another possibility had vanished. He had hoped to convince Carey to speak the truth to the assembled knights. He, more than anyone, knew the factual details concerning Villion’s relationship with the darker forces, but now, if Wilson was correct, even that slim hope had been erased.
Tedric let his gaze return to the bed. Gaimain was’ definitely unconscious, his breathing shallow. All at once, Tedric was certain that the old knight would never awaken. It had taken all the will he possessed to come this far, and when that great effort had proved in vain - when his former comrades had treated him as a liar - he had lost the strength to continue fighting. The challenge to Villion was a final desperate attempt to assert his will, but it had been too little, too late.
The sound of stumbling footsteps made Tedric turn. Matthew Carey stood in the doorway. As soon as Tedric saw him, he knew that Wilson had spoken the truth. Carey’s eyes were as round and white as saucers. His lips moved but no sound emerged. The muscles in one cheek twitched crazily.
Tedric went over and placed a hand on Carey’s shoulder. ‘Come, Matthew, there’s nothing for you here.’
‘Who…who’s that?’ Carey pointed at the bed.
‘Just a friend.’
His head jerked on his shoulders. ‘Who are you?’
’Tedric.’
’Tedric?’ Carey said the word musingly, as if trying to determine its mean
ing from the sound alone. He shrugged. ‘No, I’m afraid I don’t know any Tedric.’
‘Come along, Matthew. You need to rest.’
Tedric led Carey gently through the door. Carey seemed quite willing to go wherever Tedric chose to take him. In the corridor, Tedric looked around for any sign of Juvi, but she had apparently gone below. Two vemplars stood at the head of the staircase, but Tedric didn’t bother trying to approach them now. ‘Which room is yours?’ he asked Carey.
‘Room?’ He shook his head rapidly. ‘I have no room. They won’t…they can’t…’
His voice faded into an indecipherable murmur. Tedric led him to the first open door and took him through. Ky-shan was there, standing alone in the middle of the room.
‘Ky-shan, can you watch Matthew? He doesn’t seem well.’
Carey was staring at the giant blue alien as though he’d never seen such a sight in his life. ‘What a horrible looking monster!’ he exclaimed.
‘Ky-shan is a friend, too,’ Tedric reassured him.
‘If you say so.’ Carey seemed less than convinced. He approached the bed cautiously, tiptoeing past Ky-shan, then dropped down suddenly on the soft mattress. His movements were jerky and exaggerated, like a puppet on strings. He threw pack his head, kicked both legs, and lay prone. In a moment, he seemed fast asleep.
That man is deeply disturbed mentally, Lord Tedric,’ Ky-shan said.
‘I know. It’s Villion’s doing, like so much else. I don’t believe Carey’s dangerous, though. Keep him here and watch over him. If you need help, the rest of us are in a room farther up the corridor. Pal Galmain is ill. I’m afraid he may be dying.’
’Then it went poorly with the knights, Lord Tedric?’
‘It did indeed, Ky-shan. The vemplars refused to believe anything we told them. It appears that Fra Villion’s position here is unassailable.’
’Then we will have to fight our way out?’
‘I don’t know about that either. Frankly, if we fail here, there may be nothing left to fight our way back to.’
Tedric went into the corridor. He heard Juvi’s voice from the room ahead and assumed she’d returned with medical help for Galmain. It was clear now that the duel to the death between the two vemplars would never take place. That was a disappointment too, Tedric thought. What Galmain had revealed to him about Villion’s supposed weakness had had a definite ring of truth to it.
Tedric was about to step into the room when a sharp hissing sound caught his attention. Glancing across the corridor, he discovered a beautiful blonde woman dressed like a vemplar huddled in the opposite doorway. It took him a moment to recognise Lola Dass, whom he had seen only briefly in the past.
’Tedric,’ she said, in a soft whisper, ‘come closer. I have things to tell you.’
Tedric glanced down the corridor. The two vemplars he had noticed before were no longer in sight, though he did not doubt that they remained nearby. He darted across the corridor and stood close beside the woman. ‘What do you want with me?’
‘
‘It’s not what I want of you, Tedric. It’s what you need from me. I can help you and no (me else can.’
Tedric was fully aware of Lola’s intimate involvement with Fra Villion and had no reason to believe that the nature of their relationship had altered. If she was here on Tavera, that was a firm indication that it had not.
’You’re Villion’s friend,’ he said. ‘I don’t think it’s likely you can help me now.’
She smiled at the stiffness of his tone and touched his arm gently. ‘You’re too harsh with me, Tedric. I despise Villion as much as you or anyone. I’ve lived on this planet for months. I know how horrible it can be. I want to get out of here. So do you. That gives us something in common.’
‘I’m not sure if it does or not. Our reasons for wishing to leave Tavera are too different.’
‘Villion deceived me, tricked me. Do you think I came here of my own free will? You saw what he did to Carey. Well, it was the same with me. Villion took control of my mind and forced me to do his bidding.’
Tedric didn’t believe a word she was saying. He had seen Lola at Villion’s side aboard the Iron Sphere. No one had controlled her mind then. Still, he saw no reason to reject her advances outright. ‘What exactly is it that you propose to do?’
’There’s only one thing that matters - getting off this planet and getting home to Earth where we belong.’
Tedric shook his head. ‘Right now, the Earth is no good place to be either.’
‘If you’re talking about the red cloud that drives people insane, I know about it.’ She bit her lip and for the first time looked genuinely anxious.
‘How do you know about it?’ he asked.
‘In ways that neither you nor Villion could guess,’ she said smugly. Leaning past Tedric, she glanced up the corridor. It was deserted and she seemed to make a decision. ‘Come with me and I’ll show you what I mean.’
He hesitated, not trusting her. ‘Come where?’
’To Fra Villion’s secret hideaway. He has a friend there with him. When we arrive, you’ll see what I mean.’
Tedric allowed Lola to lead him down the corridor. She kept close to the wall and glanced frequently behind, but the hallway remained vacant until they reached its end, a solid stone wall. Lola paused and reached out quickly. With the knuckles of one hand, she rapped hard twice against one section. The wall gave a sudden, loud groan and swung slowly back on a set of invisible hinges. Lola laughed sofdy in delight and slipped into the darkness beyond. Tedric, after a moment’s hesitation, followed. As soon as he had, the wall automatically swung shut behind him. They were surrounded by thick, impenetrable blackness.
Her lingers closed around his hand. ‘Stay close to me. I know the way. Villion brought me here first, but I’ve done some exploring on my own since.’
The floor slanted downward. Tedric moved with caution, letting Lola guide him. She seemed to possess eyes that could see in the dark, like certain breeds of subwoman. The passageway moved downward in a series of descending circles. Tedric received the impression that there were other passageways branching off from this one.
‘It’s an entire secret system,’ she said, confirming his judgment. ‘It goes all the way through the castle. If you want, you can go almost anywhere. I watched that trial in the basement. It was laughable. No matter how much Villion lies, those fools believe him.’
‘Does anyone know about this besides you and Villion?’
‘I doubt it. Villion’s no fool. He loves to spy on others, but he wouldn’t care for. it if they spied on him.’
‘But you are.’
She laughed. ‘He trusted me once.’
Tedric intended to make it a point not to repeat Villion’s error. He had no idea how far they’d come when Lola moved onto one of the side passageways. The floor no longer slanted. ‘It’s right down here,’ she said, whispering now. ‘We’U have to be very quiet. I hope Villion’s still there. When I left to get you, he was still waiting for his friend.’
A short distance farther on, she halted and he heard her fingers moving against the wall. Suddenly, there was a burst of gentle light and he could see again. There was a dimly lit room in front of him. Except for a solitary figure standing in the middle of the floor, the room was empty.
That figure was Fra Villion.
Tedric jumped back in surprise, but Lola gripped his arm and squeezed reassuringly. Then he understood. The wall had not vanished. What he was seeing was only a picture on a screen. They were watching Villion but he could not see them.
Lola’s hand fumbled at the wall again. A voice rose around them. It was Fra Villion. His words grew slowly in volume. Tedric peered at the screen more closely. Villion was talking, yes, but to whom? As far as Tedric could tell, the knight was unquestionably alone in the room.
Tedric listened to what Villion was saying. His voice was querulous, as though engaged in an argument. T tell you there’s nothing more to fear. Old Galma
in is dying. I sent my own physician to see him and he assured me there’s absolutely no hope. If Galmain dies now, it couldn’t be better. That ridiculous duel might have wounded my position in the eyes of the others.’
Tedric still didn’t know who or what Villion was addressing. He turned to ask Lola, but her fearful touch convinced him to remain silent. If Villion discovered them here, it would be she who would suffer the most.
A voice answered Villion. It did not speak aloud. Tedric heard the voice only in his mind, not in his ears. It said: The fate of Pal Galmain is of no concern to us. He is your enemy, not ours. We want Tedric destroyed and only Tedric. If you kill others, that is your private affair.
Villion still sounded angry. ‘I’ve already explained how I intend to deal With Tedric. He and the others with him are simple intruders. They will be dealt with as such and executed.’
Tedric wasn’t especially surprised to hear this. He had long since expected something of the sort. It was the other voice, the silent one, that continued to disturb him. Who could it be? As far as he knew, only the Scientists possessed the ability to communicate through their minds alone, and he was certain this creature was not one of them.
Laughter sounded in his head. Villion, don’t you learn? Again, you are underestimating our friend Tedric. His death will not come as easily as you think. He is a strong and powerful force. Only a fool would fail to regard him as such.
Tedric now realised whose voice this was. The realisation came as no great surprise, as if he had been anticipating this confrontation all along. What he was hearing was the disembodied voice of a member of the darker forces - of an adversary.
Tedric felt his lips twist into a smile. In the years he had spent in this universe in conflict with these mysterious creatures, he had never been so close to one before. From the familiar way in which it spoke, the adversary plainly knew Tedric well. Now was his chance to even the score.
’Tedric is no more powerful than any human being,’ Villion said. ‘He’s physically strong, a fine warrior, I grant you that, but. only a barbarian, a savage even among the denizens of the Empire. To come here to Tavera as Tedric did can only be regarded as an act of foolishness.’
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