Fall of Light (66 page)

Mael frowned. ‘I didn’t make this. Or, rather, I didn’t deliberately put it in your way. Indeed, I assumed that you came here to speak to me. Are you saying that you didn’t?’

‘No,’ K’rul answered. ‘We didn’t.’

They were all silent for a moment, and then Mael grunted. ‘Oh. Well, right then. I suppose we’re done here.’

Skillen Droe said,
‘I apologize, Mael. It did not occur to me that you laid claim to everything beneath the waves, even submerged mountains.’

‘It wasn’t the mountain as such, Droe, it was you breaking it, and then lifting it into the damned sky. You left a damned hole, you fool, a raw wound in the seabed, and now fires burn down in the depths, and strange creatures gather round the edges, living and dying with every flare. If that’s not enough, I almost scalded myself when I went to look.’

‘It did not occur to me to think—’

‘Yes,’ cut in Mael, ‘and you need not add anything to that confession.’

K’rul glanced at Skillen Droe. ‘What mountain? Lifted, where, precisely?’

‘Into the sky, as Mael explained, K’rul. Hollowed out, a city resides within. I made use of K’Chain Che’Malle technology, testing its limits, as it were. As it is, it has proved a noble residence.’

‘Residence?’ K’rul asked. ‘Who dwells within it?’

‘Well, no one yet. The matter is rather confused at the moment, since I have lost track of it.’

Mael snorted. ‘You lost your floating mountain?’

‘Momentarily. I am sure it will turn up somewhere. Now, Mael, if you permit, I will carry K’rul across your sea, and we shall endeavour to make no disturbance.’

Turning back to the sea, Mael dismissively waved a hand.

They watched him walk back beneath the surface. Then Skillen pointed, and they saw a small sailing ship plying the shallows of the bay, a tiny craft no longer than K’rul’s foot.

‘Oh, really, now.’

  *   *   *

The repast of lunch was now done. Tathenal set hands on hips and considered for a time, even as his fellow husbands stamped out the embers of the cookfire, and then he shrugged. ‘Sordid demands upon our lives. We must abandon our well-earned rest, bowing once more to our hasty pursuit of grief, joy and subtle vengeance. In my mind I do indeed see her, and at her shoulder, face stricken, young Hanako, Lord of Betrayals. He but deserves the meanest glance, for now she strides forth in red outrage.
“You made me think you were all dead!”
she cries and all at once we are the accused, cringing to her timorous tirade, and before a single breath’s passed, hear us blubber our wet-lipped apologies, words tumbling in haste.’ He shook his head. ‘No, my dreams were in error. No vessel of wood and dreams shall save us from this maelstrom of malaise.’

‘Your wallowing ways are a chore to us all, Tathenal,’ said Garelko.

‘And yet each dusk, old man, I shall still gather driftwood, lest the nightmares of my unsettled sleep awaken truthfully to a night of terrible flood.’

‘In the meantime,’ ventured Ravast as he shouldered his pack, ‘she draws another step distant, our beloved, grieving widow. Do neither of you find it odd that she marches to the death we presumably have already found? Perhaps indeed a certain new purpose has enlivened her stride—’

‘Aye, anticipation of the forthcoming night in which her cave stretches to swollen meat,’ muttered Garelko, though he smiled. ‘The Lord of Cuckolding has taken her hand, so sweetly to match the pup’s incorrigible youth, too smug for any other man to stomach—’

‘No, you doddering fool,’ Ravast retorted. ‘Think on it! She journeys in search of us! Into that hoary realm of spiders and webs, the cold sand upon which serpents lie curled in slumber as they await the night. The cramped confines, Garelko, of the rock-pile!’

As Garelko paused to scratch his jaw, Tathenal joined him and peered curiously at Ravast. ‘Garelko, you old goat, listen to the boy. He may have a point. In all misapprehension, our widow now rushes to her fierce battle with death itself! Not, alas, with amused mien, but with terrible purpose! She wishes us back!’

‘Then it behoves us,’ Garelko said in a musing tone, ‘to reach her before she takes that fatal step.’

‘The chasm crossed,’ Tathenal added with a nod. ‘The river forded, the pit leapt into, the veil parted, the chalice sipped, the—’

‘Oh, enough, Tathenal!’ Ravast snapped, turning from them both, and then wheeling back round. ‘Your slow wit will ever stumble in the dust of my wake, and that goes for you too, Garelko. No, the time has come for me to take to the fore, to ascend to predominance. It was,’ he added, ‘long in coming.’

He watched as the two older men exchanged a glance, and then Garelko smiled at Ravast. ‘Why, of course, by all means to the fore, young wolf. Do lead us doddering discards. We shall grip hard the gilded hem of your trailing genius, and consider ourselves blessed.’

Tathenal cleared his throat. ‘I see the way ahead, bold Ravast, a descent from these mountains. Be assured we shall follow your hasty plunge, and leave to you that first leap into her delighted embrace, and should Hanako’s smooth expression darken, why, we are reunited with our weapons, are we not? We shall lay out his cold body in a pool of hot blood! Hoary as Thelomen we shall cleave in half his skull to make the greenest cup for her bedside!’

Sighing, Ravast turned away. ‘Follow then, and never doubt for a moment: this throne has a new master.’

‘But I’ve yet to make toilet!’ cried Garelko in sudden dismay.

Ravast scowled. ‘Best make it a deferential one, old goat. Then catch us up in the instant past the shudder.’

Tathenal hissed in sympathy. ‘Oh, how I hate that shudder.’

Setting out, Ravast led the way, skirting the lake, and it was not long before Garelko caught up. The trail angled away from the shoreline and began its wending descent. The verdant canopy below was dark, yet lit gold here and there when the sunlight broke through the gathering clouds.

A storm was coming, blighting the day, and this lent zeal to their haste. Revelling in his youth, Ravast smiled at hearing the panting breaths of the two men behind him. While Garelko could set a matching pace for the morning, at last the creaky ancient was failing. This was a worthy pace, proof that this day had seen the world change, utterly and irrevocably. The chest could swell to such largesse, and he counselled upon himself a few moments of sober introspection. Myriad were the responsibilities of leading the pack, and it would be well to exercise some humility in his newfound power.

But there was too much pleasure, for now, to contemplate tendering mercy unto his older comrades, with their wobbly legs and watery eyes. He quickened his pace.

‘The tyrant unleashed!’ gasped Garelko somewhere behind him.

‘A storm draws upon us,’ Ravast called out over a shoulder. ‘The air is edged. Know you well this stillness. We must soon find shelter—’

‘Rain!’ shouted Tathenal. ‘Rain and flood! Rain and flood and mudslides! Rain and flood and mudslides and—’

‘Cease wailing!’ Ravast hissed. ‘Your caterwaul is a summons to the Lady of Thunder!’

‘I but remind her of our mortal selves, pup!’

‘I am pup no longer!’

‘Hear him snarl,’ Garelko said. ‘Woof woof!’

Ravast spun round. Seeing their open grins, fury filled him with sudden, searing realization. ‘You but mocked me!’

‘You’re all tuft and paws,’ Garelko said with a sneer. ‘Thought to knock the pair of us, did you? But who will guard you in the night? Perch there indeed, upon that lonely throne! I see your eyes shot through, hands trembling, limbs leaping, starting at every shadow!’

‘He ages before us,’ Tathenal added. ‘Beneath the burden of universal spite and, before long, disdain. Palpitating shell of a man, once young, once so bold! Wisdom cannot be wrested, pup!’

Ravast made fists and raised them threateningly. ‘Shall I break you both in half? Did I not defend the entire village against a Thelomen raiding party?’

‘Oh dear,’ laughed Garelko. ‘Not that again!’

Shaking his head, Tathenal said, ‘He’ll crawl to us soon enough, belly to the dust, a whimper and curled tail—’

Ravast turned on him. ‘You but await your ascent, Tathenal? Is that how it is? What have you promised Garelko here? A new mattress? What vows have you two exchanged, to keep me under your heels?’

‘It will be a fine mattress,’ Garelko said, and Tathenal nodded.

‘Now, pup,’ Garelko continued, ‘I see a clearing below and to the right, if my useless eyes are not so useless, and is that not a glimpse of slated roof, pitched just so? A beckoning abode, a serendipitous shelter, but perhaps already occupied? Must we roust some hapless denizen? Three Thel Akai need plenty of room, after all.’

‘This mockery will not be forgotten,’ Ravast promised. ‘But still, out with the weapons, in case indeed we need to shoo away some other. Garelko, take up that oafish mace and lead us on, as befits your claim of continued rule.’

Teeth bared, Garelko unslung the weapon and edged past Ravast. ‘Ah, pup, take note and see how it’s done.’

‘Just don’t bash down the door,’ Tathenal advised.

Garelko frowned. ‘Why not?’

‘We must keep out the weather, of course. This is the purpose of doors and walls and so on.’

The eldest husband paused. ‘You have a point. Suggestions?’

‘You could knock,’ said Tathenal.

‘Knuckles to wood, aye, sound notion.’ He shouldered his mace and glanced at Ravast. ‘See, pup? A wise leader must learn the art of assuaging his underlings. Of course, such recourse had already occurred to me, being eldest and so on. Yet I remained silent, to give Tathenal leave to feel clever. This is the art of command.’

Tathenal stepped close to Garelko and grabbed the man’s left ear. ‘This is big – does it come off?’

‘Aaii! That hurts!’

Releasing him, Tathenal gave Garelko a hard push. ‘Get on with you, goat. I already hear the wind riding the treetops.’

Grumbling, Garelko set off down the trail. After a moment, Ravast and Tathenal followed.

There was a flavour, to be sure, that came with such a longstanding companionship, and although Ravast was the youngest and newest to the cause – that cause being the mutual loyalty necessary to survive marriage to Lasa Rook – he had little choice in acknowledging its value. This, of course, did not obviate the pleasures of one-upmanship. For the moment he had been bested, but in the very next instant Garelko had failed in pressing his newfound alliance with Tathenal, and this was pleasing.

He crept, now, alongside Tathenal, in the wake of bold Garelko.
Bold? The codger has never been bold in his overlong life! No, he is shamed to the fore, by none other than me! This is something to savour indeed, petty as it is! Oh, Lasa, do return with us and yield a lifetime of the inconsequential, I beg you!

They reached the edge of the small clearing in time to see Garelko arrive at the door. Using the butt of his mace he hammered on the frame, as even a light tap from the Thel Akai was likely to punch a hole through the door’s flimsy planks. After a moment, Garelko turned. ‘No one home—’

The door swung open and stepping into the gap was a Jaghut.

Rare was the Jaghut face that betrayed emotion, much less frustration, and yet even in the gathering gloom this man made his frustration woefully evident. ‘Why,’ he said in a half-snarl, ‘a lone cabin in the deep forest, high upon a wild mountain, well off the trail – now in there lives a denizen inviting company! Worse yet, more Thel Akai! A night in which I anticipated sober study now lies in ruin, as I must weather the grunts, sighs and farts of three oversized guests, not to mention their likely appetites!’ Then he stepped back and swept an arm in invitation. ‘But do come in, you and your two huddled shadows in the thicket beyond. Welcome to the last refuge of Raest, and heed well in your manners the misery your arrival brings.’

Garelko glanced back and waved Ravast and Tathenal forward. He then sheathed his mace once more, ducked, and made his way into the cabin.

Tathenal made a faint snickering sound and Ravast jabbed the man in the ribs. ‘None of that!’ he hissed.

‘Jaghut!’ muttered Tathenal, still grinning. ‘We shall pluck his strings the whole night, and leave such discord as to confound the man for years to come!’ He clutched at Ravast’s arm and pulled him close. ‘This is just what we require!’ he whispered. ‘A sorry victim upon whom to gang up, and so further consolidate our solidarity! Pity this fool, Ravast, pity him!’

‘I have pity for everyone in your company, Tathenal. Indeed, upon this journey I have cried myself to sleep every night.’

They continued on, reaching the doorway and then jostling a moment before Ravast stepped back to give his fellow husband leave to enter first.

The low rafters forced them all to the solid but narrow chairs Raest now pulled up around a modest table upon which the leavings of a meal still remained. The air was slightly sour with woodsmoke as the chimney was not drawing well, and there was the faint tang of something acrid, reminding Ravast of snake piss.

‘A sup or two remains in the cauldron,’ Raest said wearily. ‘Sit, lest you bring down the roof and worse with your solid skulls wagging this way and that.’

‘Kind sir,’ Garelko said with a nod as he eased himself down in the chair. ‘Ah, a perch for a single ham, better than none!’

‘A body part that grows larger in the telling,’ Raest said, moving over to a softer chair set up near the hearth. ‘Come the night you three will have to cosy up here on the floor. It’s dirt but at least it’s dry.’

Tathenal rummaged in his pack, pulling out three tin bowls, and then, bent over, made his way to the cauldron, nodding to Raest as he drew near. ‘Most generous, Raest of the Jaghut. The foulness of the weather and all that.’

His host did little more than grunt, reaching for a steaming tankard on the flagstone at his side.

‘Do forgive us,’ Tathenal continued as he ladled stew into the cups, ‘for ruining your sober study. Still, I have heard you Jaghut are known to indulge in such things, perhaps, to excess? Consider this night, then, a moment of relief in your otherwise unleavened existence.’