Riding the Serpent's Back (64 page)

He looked at the water, but there was no indication of its depth.

He swallowed, then started to run again, splashing loudly through the swamp. Mostly, the water and mud were little more than ankle-deep, although occasionally he plunged deeper and staggered, convinced he was trapped.

But he kept going, his body working automatically. If he turned back now he would certainly be caught: the only way was forward.

He reached the far side and they were there already, approaching from the left at a daunting pace. Sensing the kill.

He swerved, ran as fast as he could.

Suddenly he sensed that his body was starting to shift form. His run became an easy lope, each long, sinuous stride carrying him far faster than before. The smells of the jungle rose up dizzyingly, each a discreet unit, a language of scent he had never imagined. Sounds, too, became more distinct, identifiable. Now he was intensely aware of the sheer mass of life all around him, hidden when he had relied on sight alone.

Soon, he found that he was carrying himself lower and lower. Finally, he dropped and ran on all fours.

When he glanced down he saw that his jaguar paint had become fur, his hands were great paws. Just like his pursuers, Leeth had become a part of the jungle: his body had shifted into the form of a jaguar.

He paused, tipped his head back, and emitted an anguished cry, half man, half cat. And then he ran on through the jungle, believing for the first time that he might escape.

As they dropped down from the western mountains into the Rift, the party of Monahl and Herold entered a troubled region. Every town and city seemed to have turned inwards, sealing itself off from the rest of the world with fortified guard-posts and army encampments on every road.

Captain Chaballoh’s experience proved invaluable. He knew every settlement along their route: he knew the places they could stay in safety and those where the passage of twelve soldiers from Divine would attract unwelcome attention.

About a hundred leaps west of the Hamadryad, he led them on a route north, passing through a town called Hazlet, before looping south again. Monahl was fearful of heading so deeply into what she considered enemy territory, but Captain Chaballoh was proven right: his route took them only through neutral or rebel territory. “Anywhere near the junction of the Hamadryad and the New Cut is heavily defended,” he insisted. “The Tullans know the regions to defend and those where claims to neutrality can safely be humoured.”

Monahl should have known to trust him.

It was nine days before they reached first Brierley and then Seelwood, two ramshackle little settlements nestled in the northern fringe of the Zochi jungle about halfway between the two Hamadryad rivers. These towns were at the heart of the territory occupied by Chi’s forces, each surrounded by sprawling army encampments that merged together into a near-continuous military settlement.

Monahl found Sawnie and Petro in Seelwood and introduced them to Herold.

The mage was at his unctuous best, yet still Monahl’s two half-siblings treated him with caution. In turn Monahl, too, regarded them both in a different light. She remembered Petro’s ability to cast illusions on the grandest of scales. She remembered Sawnie’s intense military intuition. She knew little about either, except for the stories they had told of their home principality of Phelestra and their experiences of Chi.

Either or both could be Chi’s betrayers, she realised.

“I have to find Chi,” she told them that night. “It’s urgent.” They were gathered in a small farmhouse on the edge of Seelwood, where Sawnie had made her base.

Sawnie looked at her with sudden interest, her head swivelling on her near non-existent neck in a manner that was almost reptilian. “And why is that?” she asked sharply.

Monahl shrugged. “I just have to see him,” she said. She couldn’t risk saying any more.

Herold interrupted, then. “My great granddaughter is naturally cautious,” he said. “She means no offence.” And by stating it so bluntly, he ensured offence was taken.

Sawnie looked at the mage. “I think Chi trusts me with any information relating to our plans,” she said, frostily.

Monahl didn’t know where to look. “It doesn’t relate to the plans,” she said, not entirely truthfully. “But I have to see him.”

Sawnie didn’t believe her, quite clearly. She turned away and spat into the fireplace of the small room where they had just eaten. “I’ll take you there in the morning, then,” she said.

Monahl nodded her acceptance. She wanted to go this evening – she wanted to go
now
– but she didn’t dare push too hard.

~

In the morning Herold instructed Captain Chaballoh to return to Divine with his troops.

“What will you tell Principal Marna?” Monahl asked him before he set out.

Chaballoh had spoken to Sawnie long into the night. “She will support Chichéne Pas,” he said. “We saw from all the cowering cities and towns of the Panesh and the Allaha that neutrality is a trap Lachlan closes at will. And your half-sister has convinced me Chichéne does not fight a lost cause.” He tapped the pack fixed to his saddle. “I carry a message from Herold to convince the city.”

Monahl watched him lead his group of soldiers back westward along Two Rivers Road.

A short time later one of Sawnie’s officers escorted Monahl and Herold out to where Chi had made his base. They rode for over an hour, passing through a succession of dusty settlements that hid behind barricades and ditches.

When the road started to meander in and out of the forest she was surprised at how abrupt was the transition between the cork oak scrub and the barren edge of the central plains: she had not fully realised how far north the forest extended, right up into the Heartlands.

As they rode, she noticed that Herold kept looking away to the left. Eventually, he said, “Can you feel it, child?”

She wasn’t sure what he meant.

“The energy,” he said. “The tune of the earth.” He pointed off to the north, across the dry hills. “Samhab,” he said. “The First City.”

Monahl nodded, and they rode on in an uncomfortable silence.

~

Chi had set up camp around a small village called Porphyr. It was lodged on the side of a dome-like hill, where a spring bubbled up from the rocks and fed a low pool at the southern foot of the slope. Tents had been raised wherever there was open space in the thorny scrub and trees. An entire village of itinerant suppliers had sprung up here, with their goats and their hens and their heavily-laden moke wagons.

Monahl took it all in as they rode towards the hill. There must be thousands of troops in this encampment alone. She had known Chi had many allies and could easily win over many more, but the scale of his challenge to the Embodied Governments of the north hadn’t really sunk in until now. An entire army. There was going to be a war.

They were greeted by a succession of people. She recognised many of Chi’s officers from Edge City, then she saw Joel’s man, the legless Echtal, strapped into a saddle so that he could ride out to meet them.

“Monahl of Camptore!” he said as his small black horse skipped about before them. He nodded at Herold. “And you must be the mage of Zigané, although I understand you were not in Zigané when Monahl set out to find you, for if you were then it would have been so much more straightforward. Come with me, come with me. We’ll find Joel. He’ll be so pleased to see you! A tonic for him, you’ll be.”

Herold glanced across at Monahl, then bowed his head to Echtal. “I am indeed Herold,” he said. “Principal of the City of the Divine Wall.”

“I have to see Chi,” said Monahl quickly. “Where is he?”

Echtal looked from one to the other, his mouth half-open, ready to speak again. Then he thought better of it and tugged at his mount’s reins.

They followed him along a track that wound up the hill, passing through the heart of the encampment. After a few minutes, she saw a child running away through the crowds. She tensed, but it was only one of Chi’s band of ragged messenger-children.

Eventually, they came to a cluster of tents close to where the spring bubbled up out of the hillside. Echtal nodded towards them. “I’d take you all the way to him, but you see, once I’m up here I find it almost as difficult to dismount as my master Joel does.” He pointed towards the group of tents. “You’ll find him in there, if you’re lucky. He’s just back from a tour of the eastern garrisons before he heads west to Seelwood to see his other sister, Sawnie Lo. He’s very busy, you see: hardly stops, he does, so if you just—”

“Thank you,” said Monahl, cutting off his flow. “You’ve been most helpful.” She swung down from her horse and waited as Herold did likewise, then they headed towards the tents, stopping and dodging as people rushed all about.

Although there were about a dozen tents where Echtal had indicated, it was obvious where Chi was. There was a crowd of about ten men and women outside one of the tents, each with an intense look of concentration on their face as they listened to a stream of instructions issuing from within.

Monahl headed for the group.

Suddenly, a small figure pushed through them, pulling a shirt over his head. Monahl stared at the tiny, hairy chest, and then at the bearded face emerging from the shirt’s folds.

He glanced at her, but didn’t stop talking. The group fell in behind him as he marched across the clearing and into another tent.

Then, suddenly, his head poked around a flap of canvas and he stared back at Monahl. A smile spread across his features and then dissipated.

“Monahl?” he said.

She nodded. She opened her arms, and then he ran to her.

She caught him and held him tight as he hugged her. Up until this point, she had needed to get to him, to warn him, because he was their leader, but now...She hugged her brother in her arms, a boy who was not a boy.

“Monahl!” he cried. “Monahl. I never dared hope you would be back so soon!”

She squeezed her eyes shut and hugged him hard. Only a child, yet his bearded face ground into her neck, his musky, unwashed male smell filled her lungs.

She eased her grip, then swung Chi down to the ground again.

He was so excited, so...well...so like a little boy. “Have you seen it all?” he cried. “But what am I saying? Of
course
you’ve seen it all: you must have ridden through leap after leap of my encampments. I never dared dream we’d build up such a powerful force so rapidly.”

“But are you using it well?” said Herold, stepping forward. “Numbers matter little if they are crudely applied.”

Chi saw the mage for the first time. “You came,” he said. He bowed his head. “I am honoured that you have chosen to join us. You must tell us what we can do to assist you.”

Herold smiled. “Your half-sister is most persuasive,” he said. “And it is you who must tell me what is to be done. For what it is worth, my Talents are at your disposal.” He backed away, then, and said, “But for now I will take a look around. I think Monahl would like to talk with you.”

When Herold had gone, Chi took Monahl’s hand and led her back into the tent where he proceeded to rummage through blankets and bags until he found a pair of boots. As he pulled them on, he said, “It’s going better than I could ever have hoped. We’ve paralysed their railway system. We’re raiding their camps and disrupting their supplies. When reinforcements arrive from Berend we will be in a position to besiege Samhab: everything is in our favour.”

Monahl crouched before him, so that she was on his level. “But Chi,” she said. “You’re at risk. Can’t you see that you are the one person responsible for all this? Without you there would be nothing to bind this coalition together.”

He was grinning broadly at her. “I know,” he said. “I should have done this years ago – I could so easily have left it too late.”

Monahl shook her head. He didn’t understand. “I had a vision,” she said. “I ignored what you said and went through the Morani lands to get to Divine. I nearly died on the soda-plains. While I lay there, on the brink of death, you came to me, walking with the god Huipo. You told me that you would be betrayed twice by those you trust: once inadvertently and once deliberately. Someone close to you is going to try to kill you, Chi: you have to be careful.”

He looked at her angrily. “I know what I’m doing,” he said. He spread his arms wide. “I put all this together: I can handle the grown-up world. You don’t need to treat me like a child.”

“But you don’t see,” said Monahl. “You’re in danger. You mustn’t trust anyone.”

He stood and stamped his boots on the ground, then pulled a jacket on. He smiled then, a cruel smile that hurt her deeply. “In that case,” he said, “what makes you think I should trust
you?
”

He turned and walked out, leaving her alone in the tent.

~

She found Herold perched on a craggy outcrop at the top of the hill. He was sitting cross-legged and staring into the distance, his chin cradled in both hands.

As she approached him, without turning he said, “He’ll only hurt you again. He’s unbalanced. Confused. Even if he was in his own body he would be a fiery brew, but in a body that was not grown to house his mind he will always be dangerous – the body chemicals are not in tune with the animus, a fact of which he is aware. Sitting on the apex of such disorder and imbalance is always a dangerous thing to do: he could so easily tip over.”

Monahl scrambled up over the rocks to sit beside the mage. She knew what it was like to be on the brink of chaos: it was a battle she had fought in her own mind all her life. “I’ll cope,” she said. “I know he’s vastly changed. I know he needs careful handling.”

“He didn’t take your warning seriously?”

She looked at him, his sharp, unyielding profile dark against the harsh white sky. She shook her head. “You knew he wouldn’t,” she said.

He nodded briefly. “It’s against his perverse demon’s brew of a nature to take threats against his person seriously,” he said. “In his own mind he is invincible. He has died once already, remember. He is so egotistical he even resents your success in bringing me here: he thinks he should be able to do it all himself.” After a slight pause, he added, “You had to try to warn him, of course. For the balance of your own mind.”