Deltora Quest #2: The Lake of Tears (5 page)

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s quickly as he could, with Barda leaning on his shoulder, Lief hurried after Jasmine. When finally they reached her, she was standing beside the rock at the edge of the quicksand. Now Lief could see what had made the green slime look mottled in this spot. In the middle of the moat floated a cluster of pale green leaves marked with red — the leaves of some swamp plant, perhaps.

The edges of the leaves were straight, so that where they touched they fitted together like a puzzle. Where there were gaps between them, the bright green of the quicksand slime showed ominously.

Lief looked more closely and realized that the red markings on the leaves were even stranger than they had first appeared. They were numbers, letters, and symbols.

He clutched Jasmine’s arm.

“There is a pathway hidden here, I am sure of it!” he whispered in excitement. “There are stepping stones under some of those leaves.”

“But which ones?” muttered Jasmine. “We would have to be very sure. The cluster is in the middle of the quicksand. We have nothing long enough to test which leaves are solid and which are not. We would have to leap, and trust that there is no mistake.”

“The topaz, Lief,” Barda urged. “Perhaps it will help you —”

There was a muffled roar of rage from the house. They spun around just in time to see the back door burst open and crash against the wall. Someone hurtled out
and began pounding across the grass towards them. Lief cried out in astonishment as he saw who it was.

It was the Ralad man!

“He is not drowned!” shouted Jasmine. “They saved him after all!” The relief in her voice made it clear that, however uncaring she had seemed, she had in fact cared, very much, about the little prisoner’s fate. Already she was drawing her dagger and rushing to help him.

For now he needed help more than ever. Jin and Jod were after him, bursting through the door, screaming with rage. Jin had caught up an axe, and Jod was holding the long pole out in front of him, savagely swinging it from side to side as he ran. With every swing, the hook at the end, still dripping with slime from its dunking in the quicksand, missed the fleeing Ralad man by a hair. Any moment it might reach its mark.

Lief drew his sword and ran forward, leaving Barda standing, swaying, by the rock. He did not spare a thought for his own danger. The Ralad man’s danger was too clear and urgent for that.

Jasmine’s darting attacks were not slowing Jin and Jod down at all. The point of her dagger seemed to bounce off their leathery skin, and they were barely glancing at her. They were spitting with fury, and plainly far more interested in killing the Ralad man than in fighting anyone else.

It was as if the very sight of him filled them with rage. As if they knew him.

The little man was closer now. Panting in terror, he was desperately waving Lief back, pointing towards the leaves on the quicksand by the big rock and then to his own legs.

Lief realized that they had been wrong in thinking that he had fallen into the quicksand. Mud and slime coated his legs to the knees, but above that he was perfectly dry and clean. Somehow he had crossed the moat — perhaps at this exact spot.

He knows this place, Lief thought. He has been here before.

Two clear pictures flew into his mind. The cruel collar around the Ralad man’s neck. The bed of moldy straw and the frayed rope in the monsters’ kitchen.

And suddenly he was sure that the Ralad man had once slept on that straw, and that the collar he wore was once attached to that rope. Not long ago, he had been a prisoner of Jin and Jod. He was too small to be worth eating, so they had made him their slave. But at last he had escaped, only to be caught by the Grey Guards.

Lief, Jasmine, and Barda had left him asleep among the sweetplum bushes. He must have awoken, found himself alone, and guessed what had happened. Or perhaps he had even been roused by the shouting, and watched their capture from the bushes.

He rang the bell and threw a heavy rock into the quicksand, to lure Jin and Jod away from the house. Then he ran around to the other side of the house and
crossed the moat. He returned to this terrible place, when he could have run away to safety. Why?

There could be no reason except to try to save the friends who had saved him.

Lief was only a few steps away from the running figures now. He sprang to one side, signalling to Jasmine to do the same. His mind was racing. His plan was to wait his chance, then leap between the monsters and their victim. He doubted that he and Jasmine could do more than wound them — but that, at least, would give the little man a chance to escape.

For that was the most important thing now. Not just for the Ralad man, but for them all. The small, running man with the muddy feet was the only one who could save them. Only he could tell them the way across the quicksand. Only he could tell them which of the floating leaves were safe to tread upon, and which were not.

Lief thought of the leaves as he had seen them, their strange red markings showing clearly against the shining, pale green background. Then, suddenly, he gasped.

“But he has already told us!” he exclaimed aloud.

Startled, the Ralad man glanced in his direction and stumbled. The great curved hook caught him around the waist, stopping him short and driving all the breath from his body. Jod screamed in triumph and began to pull him in.

But at the same moment Lief’s sword came crashing down on the pole, cutting it through. Off balance and taken by surprise, Jod fell backwards, crashing into Jin. They went down in a tangle of lumpy, heaving flesh.

Jasmine sprang for them, her dagger raised.

“No, Jasmine!” shouted Lief, snatching the Ralad man from the ground and heaving him over his shoulder. “Leave them!”

He knew that now that he had discovered the secret of the stepping stones, speed would be far more likely to save them than fighting would.

Jin and Jod were clumsy, but very strong. If either Lief or Jasmine were wounded, it would be disastrous. The Ralad man was helpless, and Barda nearly so. They would both need help if they were to survive.

He began running back towards the rock, where Barda was anxiously waiting. After a moment’s hesitation, Jasmine followed, shouting after him. He ignored her until they had reached Barda’s side. Then he turned to her, panting.

“You are mad, Lief!” she cried angrily. “Now we are trapped with our backs to the quicksand! It is the worst possible place to stand and fight!”

“We are not going to stand and fight,” gasped Lief, pulling the Ralad man more firmly onto his shoulder. “We are going to cross to the other side.”

“But which leaves are we to trust?” Barda demanded. “Which mark the path?”

“None of them,” panted Lief. “The spaces between them are the path.”

He peered over Jasmine’s head and his heart thumped as he saw that Jin and Jod were already scrambling to their feet. “Jasmine, you go first!” he urged. “Then you can help Barda. I will follow with the Ralad man. Make haste! They will be upon us at any moment!”

But Barda and Jasmine just gaped at him.

“The spaces between the leaves are quicksand!” Jasmine shrilled. “You can see it. If we leap upon it we will sink and die!”

“You will not die!” Lief panted desperately. “You will die if you leap anywhere else! Do as I say! Trust me!”

“But how do you know it is safe?” mumbled Barda, rubbing his hand over his brow as he tried to clear his head.

“The Ralad man told me.”

“He has not said a word!” Jasmine protested.

“He pointed to this spot and then to his legs,” shouted Lief. “His legs are muddy to the knees. But the leaves have not been trodden down into the mud in the last hour. They are quite clean and dry.”

Still Barda and Jasmine hesitated.

Jin and Jod were coming. Jin’s green-white, bristled face was so swollen with rage that her tiny eyes had almost disappeared. Yellow tusks jutted from her open, shrieking mouth. She was rushing towards them, the axe raised high, ready to strike.

Lief knew there was only one thing he could do. He took a breath and, holding the Ralad man tightly, jumped straight for the first gap between the leaves.

He plunged straight through the green slime. With a stab of panic he wondered if he had been wrong. He heard Jasmine and Barda crying out in horror. But then, at last, his feet touched flat rock. He had sunk only to his ankles.

With an effort he wrenched his right foot free and stepped to the next gap. Again he sank to his ankles. But again he touched firm ground.

“Come on!” he shouted over his shoulder, and with relief heard Barda and Jasmine leaping after him.

Jin and Jod squealed in fury. Lief did not turn to look. The muscles of his legs strained as he wrenched each foot free of the sucking quicksand to move on. Another step. Another …

And finally there was only the opposite bank ahead of him. Grass. Trees towering above. With a final, huge effort, he jumped. His feet hit solid earth and, sobbing with relief, he fell forward, feeling the weight of the Ralad man rolling from his shoulder.

He crawled to his hands and knees and turned to look. Barda was close behind him. He was about to make the jump for the shore.

But Jasmine had stopped just behind him. She was crouching, slashing at something with her dagger. Had her foot become caught in a plant root? What was she doing?

The monster had not yet reached the edge of the moat, but Jin had raised the axe over her head. In terror, Lief realized that she was going to throw it.

“Jasmine!” he screamed.

Jasmine looked around and saw her danger. Like lightning, she stood, twisted, and jumped for the next stepping stone. The axe hurtled, spinning, towards her. It caught her on the shoulder just as she landed. With a cry she fell to her knees, slipping off the stone hidden under the green slime, toppling into the quicksand beyond. Greedily, it began to suck her down.

B
arda turned, swaying. He bent and caught Jasmine’s arm, trying to haul her up beside him. But he was too weak to do more than stop her sinking further.

Howling in triumph, Jin and Jod lumbered forward. Any moment they would reach the big rock. And then …

“Leave me!” Lief heard Jasmine scream to Barda. “Take Filli — and leave me.”

But Barda shook his head, and Filli clung grimly to her shoulder, refusing to move.

Desperately, Lief looked around for something he could hold out to them, to pull them in.

A tree branch, a vine … but there were no vines, and the branches of the trees here were thick and grew high off the ground. Never could he cut one in time. If only they had not lost their rope in the Forests of Silence!
They had lost everything there. All they had were the clothes they wore …

Their clothes!

With a gasp of anger at his own slow wits, Lief tore off his cloak. He ran to the edge of the quicksand, twisting and knotting the soft fabric so that it made a thick cord.

“Barda!” he shouted.

Barda turned a white, strained face to look at him. Holding tightly to one end of the twisted cloak, Lief threw the other. Barda caught it.

“Give it to Jasmine!” shouted Lief. “I will pull her in!”

Even as he spoke, he knew the task was almost hopeless. Jin and Jod had reached the big rock. They were jeering, gathering themselves to spring. In moments they would be on the stepping stones, reaching for Jasmine, pulling her back towards them, tearing the cloak from Lief’s hands. He would not be able to resist them.

Then, suddenly, like a miracle, a shrieking black shape plunged from the sky, straight for the monsters’ heads.

Kree!

Jin and Jod shouted in shock as the black bird attacked them, its sharp beak snapping viciously. It wheeled away from their flailing arms and dived again.

Lief heaved on the cloak with all his might. He felt Jasmine’s body move slowly towards him through the
quicksand. Too slowly. Kree’s attack was continuing, but Jod was hitting at him with the broken pole now. Surely the bird could not survive for long.

Desperately, Lief pulled again, and then felt two hands close over his own. Barda had reached the bank and was adding his strength to the task. Together they heaved on the cloak, digging their heels into the soft ground. And as they heaved, Jasmine’s body moved, coming closer and closer to the bank.

She was beyond the last of the pale leaves and almost within reach of the bank when Kree shrieked. The lashing pole had caught him on the wing. He was fluttering crazily in the air, losing height.

Howling like beasts, free from the bird’s attacks at last, Jin and Jod leaped together onto the first stepping stone. Lief caught a glimpse of Jod’s metal teeth, gnashing in furious triumph.

Soon they will have Jasmine, he thought in despair. They will have her, and they will have us, too. They know we could not leave her. They know we will come after her, if they drag her away …

But Jasmine had twisted her head to look over her shoulder. It seemed she was thinking only of Kree. “Kree!” she called. “Get to the other side! Make haste!”

The bird was dazed and in pain, but he obeyed the call. He fluttered across the moat, one wing barely moving, his feet almost touching the green slime. He reached the bank and fell to the ground.

Lief and Barda hauled on the cloak, their arms straining. One more pull and Jasmine would be near enough for them to reach her. One more pull …

But Jin and Jod were charging across the moat towards them. The bright patches of green slime between the pale leaves marked their path clearly. They did not hesitate. Already they were almost in the center.

As Lief watched in horror they lunged forward once more, roaring savagely, their clawed hands reaching for their prey.

And then their faces changed, and they shrieked. Their feet had plunged through the green slime — but found no safe ground beneath. Bellowing in shock and terror, they sank like stones, their arms thrashing frantically as their great weight drove them down.

And in seconds it was all over. The horrible screams were smothered. They were gone.

Dazed and trembling, Lief reached out and grasped Jasmine’s wrist. Barda took the other, and together they dragged her up onto the bank. Her injured shoulder must have given her great pain, for she was white to the lips, but she did not murmur.

“What happened?” Barda gasped. “How did they sink? There were stepping stones there — we trod on them ourselves! How could they vanish?”

Jasmine managed a grim smile. “The stepping stones did not vanish,” she muttered. “They are under
the leaves I cut and moved. The monsters trod in the wrong places — the places where the leaves were floating before. I knew they would be too stupid, and too angry, to notice that the pattern had changed. They just went from one bright green patch to the next, as they always had.”

Lief stared at the moat. He had not noticed the change to the leaf pattern, either. Even now he could not quite remember exactly how it had been.

Wincing with pain, Jasmine pulled out the tiny jar that she wore attached to a chain around her neck. Lief knew what the jar held: a little of the Nectar of Life that had cured Barda when he was injured in the Forests of Silence.

He thought that Jasmine was going to use it on her gashed shoulder, but instead she crawled to where Kree lay. The black bird struggled feebly on a patch of bare, sandy earth, his beak gaping and his eyes closed. One wing was spread out uselessly.

“You did not go home, wicked Kree,” Jasmine crooned. “You followed me. Did I not tell you there would be danger? Now your poor wing is hurt. But do not fear. Soon you will be well.”

She unscrewed the lid of the jar and shook one drop of the golden liquid onto the broken wing.

Kree made a harsh, croaking sound and blinked his eyes. He moved a little. Then, all at once, he stood up on his feet, fluffed his feathers, and spread both
wings wide, flapping them vigorously and squawking loudly.

Lief and Barda laughed with pleasure at the sight. It was so good to see Kree well and strong again — and just as good to see Jasmine’s radiant face.

There was a muffled sound behind them and they turned to see the Ralad man sitting up, blinking in confusion. His patch of red hair stood up like a crest. His eyes stared wildly around him.

“Do not fear, my friend!” cried Barda. “They are gone. Gone forever!”

Lief left them and went to Jasmine. She was sitting on the grass beside the sandy patch of earth, with Filli chattering in her ear. They were both watching Kree soaring and diving above them, testing his wings.

“Let me use the nectar on your shoulder, Jasmine,” Lief said, sitting down beside her.

The girl shook her head. “We must save the nectar for important things,” she said briefly. She dug in her pocket and brought out the jar of cream with which she had treated the Ralad man’s wrists and ankles. “This will do for me,” she said. “The wound is not serious.”

Lief wanted to argue with her, but decided he would not. He was beginning to learn that it was best to allow Jasmine to do things her own way.

The shoulder was badly bruised. Now it was swollen and angry red. Soon it would be deep purple. The
wound in the center of the bruise was small, but deep. The corner of the axe blade must have struck there.

As gently as he could, Lief smeared the wound with the strong-smelling green cream. Jasmine sat very still and did not utter a sound, though the pain must have been great.

Barda came up to them with the Ralad man, who nodded and smiled at them, then put the palms of his hands together and bowed.

“His name is Manus. He wishes to thank you for saving him from the Guards, and from Jin and Jod,” Barda said. “He says he owes us a great debt.”

“You owe us nothing, Manus,” said Lief, smiling back at the little man. “You risked your life for us, too.”

Manus bent and, with his long, thin finger, rapidly made a row of marks in the sand beside him.

“‘You saved me twice from death,’” Barda translated slowly. “‘My life is yours.’”

Manus nodded vigorously, and it was only then that Lief realized that he was unable to speak.

Barda saw his surprise. “None of the Ralads have voices, Lief,” he said gruffly. “Thaegan saw to that, long
ago. It was when, out of spite and jealousy, she created the Lake of Tears from the beauty of D’Or. The Ralads of that time raised their voices against her. She — put a stop to it. Not just for them, but for all who came after them. There have been no words spoken in Raladin for a hundred years.”

Lief felt a chill. What sort of mad, evil being was this sorceress? Then he thought of something else, and glanced at the silent quicksand. Somewhere in those depths lay Jin and Jod, their wickedness stifled forever.

How long would it be before Thaegan found out? A month? A week? A day? An hour? Or was she flying towards them, filled with rage, at this very moment?

Thaegan had stolen the voices of a whole people because they had dared to speak against her. What sort of horrible revenge would she take on Barda, Jasmine, and Lief, who had caused the deaths of two of her children?

Run!
whispered a small, shuddering voice in his head.
Run home, crawl into your bed and pull the covers over your head. Hide. Be safe.

He felt a hand touch his arm, and looked up to see Manus beckoning to him urgently.

“Manus is anxious to be well away from here before the sun goes down,” Barda said. “He fears that Thaegan may come. We all need rest, but I have agreed
that we will walk as far as we can before making camp. Are you ready?”

Lief took a deep breath, banished the whispering voice from his mind, and nodded. “Yes,” he said. “I am ready.”