Exodus of the Xandim (GOLLANCZ S.F.) (28 page)

Dael swallowed against a lump in his throat, but as well as sadness, there was also fear in his heart. For a little while he’d had a place to shelter him, and a beloved guardian who loved
him, and protected him from the usual fate of his kind. To find this haven of comfort and happiness, only to have it snatched away from him, seemed too cruel to bear.

‘Why don’t you just destroy the tower?’ he had asked, desperate to take his mind from his plight. ‘What’s the point of taking it out of time if neither of us can
return?’

‘Good question.’ Athina nodded her approval. ‘Let me see if I can explain in simple terms. If I were to destroy or obliterate the building, then this location would revert to
what it was: an ordinary island on a lake. But if the tower is, in effect, still in place but simply displaced in time, a resonance will remain; a residual field of magic: the potentiality of a
tower, if you will. Iriana or Corisand, or even their descendants, will be able to draw on that power, that potentiality – if they ever work out how to utilise it.’ She sighed.
‘Call it a parting gift from me to them, and to their world. Besides—’ Suddenly she looked up at him and for an instant her eyes regained their defiant old fire. ‘I may be
forbidden to return here, but why burn all my bridges? You never know what may happen in the future, Dael. You never know.’

Which is all very well, Dael thought, as he returned to the lonely present of that bleak, chill dawn, and the continued ache of the Cailleach’s absence. But unless Athina can return in my
lifetime, it won’t make a single bit of difference to me.

He looked around at the sound of voices to see Iriana and Corisand coming out of the tower carrying the last of their belongings, with Melik perched, as usual, on the Wizard’s shoulder to
act as her eyes. Neither of them looked cheerful. They’d only had a little time in which to recover from their last ordeal in the Elsewhere, and there was a wan fragility, almost a hint of
transparency, about both of them that Dael did not like.

Dael didn’t know a lot about magic, but even he could sense the power of the Stone, a strange pressure, like walking into a tingling gale. Now that Corisand had joined her own magic with
that of the Fialan in order to help her to change form, and perform the flying spell, it seemed as if a kind of merging had taken place between them, and he could see that Corisand was having
difficulty containing all the energy. A pulsing aureole of emerald light surrounded her, shining through and around her form, and her struggle to keep it damped and under control was written
clearly in the lines of her face. He wondered how long she could continue to bear such a burden. Knowing her strength of will, he would wager on it being long enough – especially as she had
himself and Iriana to help her. She had certainly lost no time in learning to use the Stone. The first time she’d used it to take to the skies, the feat had stolen his breath away, though he
didn’t like to think about the implications.

Yesterday, following her triumphant flight, the Windeye had rested for a while before repeating the spell, this time extending it to the roan mare Rosina, the only other Xandim horse that was
still with them. Following the success of this second venture, she had come to her companions with a new plan. Together they would fly to the place where they had arranged to meet Aelwen and Taine;
Iriana riding Corisand, and Dael on Rosina. It would save them days of dangerous travel through the forest, and give them an unexpected and welcome edge when rescuing the Xandim. Furthermore, they
would no longer have to depend on Tiolani to perform the flying magic to assist Corisand’s people in their escape. Though she had given her word, they all had doubts that Hellorin’s
daughter could be trusted. Though it was certainly the best plan, Dael had his own misgivings. Apart from a few quick lessons with Corisand and Iriana over the last couple of days, when they had
been able to spare the time, he had never ridden a horse before. On the ground was one thing – he thought he might be able to manage, with a bit of luck – but flying all the way up in
the air was an entirely different matter. He only hoped that he would be able to stay on.

The Wizard and the Windeye greeted him, their voices hushed. ‘It’s almost sunrise,’ Iriana said. Melik, draped around her shoulders as usual, turned his head so that she could
look at the tower. ‘This place is so big and solid. It’s still hard to believe it can just vanish.’

‘It’s not vanishing exactly. Athina said she was removing it a step beyond our normal flow of time, so it would be there, but it wouldn’t.’ Dael tried his best to
explain, but he wasn’t sure if he really understood it himself. Suddenly he resented them being there. This place was
his
home. If he had to lose it, had to see it disappear, then he
wanted to be alone to grieve for all that he had lost. He turned away from Corisand and Iriana abruptly. ‘I’ll go and fetch the other horses.’

Corisand gave him a look filled with sympathy and understanding. ‘Just remove the tethers from the Wizard mounts, and let them roam free. I’ve told them to stay here, in this
clearing by the lake. They have plenty of water and grazing, and the trees will shelter them. Athina assured me that enough of her influence would linger in this place to protect them from thieves
and predators – including those accursed ferals, with their taste for horseflesh.’

‘I hope she was right,’ Iriana said with a frown. ‘I hate to leave them, but we can’t take them with us when the flying spell will only work on the Xandim.’

‘We’ll come back for them,’ Corisand assured her. ‘Never fear.’

Their voices faded away to silence as Dael walked towards the trees. The sun was already rising, hidden by the leafy canopy that surrounded the clearing. When he had reached the forest’s
edge, he turned back and waited, his eyes fixed on the elegant tower that soared above its island on the lake. All at once, a finger of sunlight streaked down through the trees and fell upon the
tower. For an instant the whole building glowed as bright as molten gold – then it shimmered, wavered as if it had been its own rippled reflection in the lake, and diffused into a cloud of
golden mist. The haze obscured the entire isle for a moment, then drifted away to leave – nothing. No garden. No tower. Just a bare, rocky island dotted with a handful of bushes and stunted
trees.

Dael hid his face in his hands, but just as sorrow rose up like a dark tide to overwhelm him, he had a sudden vision of Athina, seen in his mind’s eye, yet as clear and vivid as if she was
really standing there before him. Though she said nothing, the warm glow of her love reached out to envelop him, he felt the gentle touch of her hand upon his face, and he
knew
, knew for
certain, that one day they would be together again. Though the vision vanished, that phantom caress remained with him, like a benison, like a promise, and he felt comforted and whole as he had not
been since she left. It would be all right.

He had no idea how she’d done it, but with the tower’s passing Athina had left a farewell for him, and an inestimable gift. Dael had stopped being afraid. He no longer saw himself as
a victim, helpless in the hands of fate and those beings more powerful than he. He was not an inferior, but someone with an important part to play in the events to come. He would forge ahead, do
his duty, and help the Wizard and the Windeye achieve their aims. Then, if they succeeded at last, they might think of a way to help him to find his own heart’s desire.

There was no point in standing there looking at the dreadful vacancy where the tower had been. It was time to let it go into the past and the treasure chest of happy memories, and look to the
future. Dael turned away from the lake, went to find the horses. He set the Wizards’ mounts free with a farewell pat, and saddled the Xandim mare. She was reluctant to leave her new
companions, but he took a firm hold of her bridle and led her out of the woodland and across to where the Wizard and the Windeye waited. When he came within earshot, he realised that he had not
been the only one who had been reminded of their losses when the tower vanished.

‘It’s as if another link with him had been broken,’ Iriana was saying, ‘but I refuse to believe that Avithan has gone for good.’

‘Athina did say that she’d do everything in her power to get him back to you – and she has a lot of power at her disposal.’ Corisand laid a hand on her friend’s arm
in a gesture that Dael found essentially female. It was hard, seeing her now, to remember that she had spent most of her life as a horse.

‘There’s one thing: Avithan won’t let her stop trying. Not for a single instant. When he really wants something, he just refuses to be shaken. He grits his teeth and digs his
heels in, until finally the opposition – whether it be flesh and blood or merely adverse circumstances – crumbles away in the face of his stubbornness.’ Iriana’s fond smile
included Dael as he came up to them. ‘Neither Avithan nor Athina are the sort to give up – and neither are the three of us. One step at a time, we’ll all get where we’re
going.’

‘Then let’s take that first step,’ said Corisand decisively. ‘Dael, we’ll get you settled on Rosina first, before I make the change.’

They tied blankets for all three of them, rolled together in a single bundle, behind Rosina’s saddle, and packed her saddlebags with provisions, balancing her load carefully. When all was
ready, Corisand took herself off a little way apart from the others and stood very still for a moment, a frown of rapt concentration on her face. Around her neck pulsed the emerald radiance of the
Stone of Fate, so vivid and bright that it penetrated the small leather bag that held it, as though the hide had suddenly become transparent, revealing the beauty and power of the gem within.

But Dael had seen the Fialan before. What was happening to Corisand was far more interesting. Wide-eyed, he watched as her outline began to shift, to blur, to grow. Her limbs thickened and
elongated as she dropped to all fours, on fingers that had suddenly fused into hooves. The clothes she wore, linen, wool and leather, became smooth grey dappled hide. As for her neck and head . . .
Dael swallowed hard. He could take what was happening to her body in his stride, but so much of her character, her individuality,
herself
was concentrated in her face that his stomach
churned to see her features alter, her head elongate and her human expression vanish. Her ears, black-tipped and elegantly tapered, moved up to the top of her head, and her eyes, now large, round
and lustrous, shifted round to the sides. Finally, the unsettling transformation was over and, where a small, wiry, dark-haired human had stood, there was now a large grey horse with clean, strong
limbs, a powerful arched neck and a long black, flowing mane and tail.

Dael shivered. At some point in the transition, he had unconsciously taken Iriana’s hand, or she had taken his, he had no idea which. Now he looked across at her and saw the same
disturbing thought that was in his mind reflected on her face.

It was as though the human Corisand had never existed at all.

Then the great grey horse trotted over, poked Iriana with its nose, and broke the spell. The Wizard laughed. ‘Corisand says that while she was shifting we were gaping like a pair of baby
birds. She wants to know whether we plan to stand here all day, and suggests we finish loading her and get on our way, before we all die of old age.’

Dael grinned and bowed to the Windeye. ‘I beg your pardon for staring, Corisand. In both your human and horse forms you’re extremely beautiful – but the bit in between?
I’m not so sure.’

Corisand regarded him solemnly for a moment – then put out a long, wet tongue and swiped it up and over his face from chin to eyebrows.

‘Ugh!’ Dael spluttered and hastily wiped his face on his sleeve. Corisand let out a long, low whinny that sounded like a snicker, and Iriana sat down on the grass beside Melik and
simply rocked with laughter.

After a short time they collected themselves, and completed their preparations. Though she had did not have a saddle, Corisand had a bag of rations and spare warm clothing to carry as well as a
rider, and even Melik had not been forgotten in the preparations. Though he rode quite happily, perched in front of Iriana while they were riding normally, with their feet on the ground, he
didn’t have far to jump if he lost his balance. She was worried about him falling off when they were in midair, however. If there should be some sort of mishap, the results would be
unthinkable. Iriana had put him into Seyka’s old carrying basket with the lid fastened firmly in place with a leather strap, and hung it on one side of Corisand’s withers, balancing it
with the food bag on the other side.

Finally they were ready; there were no more preparations to make. Iriana, sharing Corisand’s vision now that Melik was safely shut in his basket, gave Dael a leg-up into Rosina’s
saddle and helped him to get settled. He did his best to relax, sitting and holding the reins as he had been taught. He could only hope to deceive the horse into thinking that he was competent, for
he certainly wasn’t fooling himself.

Corisand positioned herself by a large rock on the lake shore, so that Iriana could clamber up and mount that way. As they returned to stand beside Rosina, the Wizard called out to Dael.
‘Corisand says there’ll be a lurch as you leave the ground, so hang on tightly to the saddle. Falling off is definitely not a good option after that point.’

‘What about you, Iriana?’ he replied. ‘You don’t even have a saddle.’

The Wizard grimaced. ‘Don’t remind me. I have the strap that’s holding the baggage in place, I’ll have to make do with that – and of course Corisand’s solemn
promise that she won’t let me fall.’ She took a deep breath. ‘She says she’s ready to start the spell now, so here we go.’

Dael felt the power blazing from Corisand as she cast the magic around herself and Iriana, like a radiant starfall which swirled and spiralled outwards to include Rosina. Dael gritted his teeth
and knotted his fingers in the reins, fighting the urge to shrink away, or even run, as the spell engulfed him, pulsing in time with his heartbeat and setting a vibrant tingling throughout his
body. All at once he felt lighter, almost as though he could float out of the saddle and take to the air of his own accord – an alarming sensation that made him snatch nervously at the front
of the saddle and hold on tight.