The Dark Lord's Demise (35 page)

"Which way do we go?" Kurt asked as the pigeon reached the
fork in the trail. Wes inwardly cheered that Kurt hadn't announced
which way they should go. They stopped and kept their eyes on the
small bird. With no hesitation, it ignored the trampled route and
continued straight on down the stone pathway.

"That settles that," Lisa said. "Looks like we go to the northern
shore of the lake after all. But where did they go? Do you think they
made a wrong turn?"

Wes thought about her question. "No, I don't think so. I think
they're going where we were going. Around the western end of the
lake, to the royal lodge. But why?"

"Tiqvah might be meeting them there," Kurt guessed. "I still
think he's a true follower of Gaal in his heart. One thing you can
bet-Queen Hisschi won't be there!"

"Uh-oh, I just thought of something else," Lisa said. "The company of soldiers that searched for us in the clearing. Vulcanus
tricked them into going on. Which way did they go?"

Suddenly the way ahead looked darker and less certain. Still the
pigeon continued its hopping, fluttering guidance. They stood and
watched it, unsure. The bird turned back, cocked its head at them
and waited.

"It's not going to tell us which way the soldiers went. It'll only tell
us which way we should go. And we already know the answer to
that," Wes said.

The children and the horse continued on down the straight
stone pathway.

It took Lord Lunacy only a few long strides to catch up with Queen
Hisschi. In a low voice he asked, "Did you laugh, spirit?"

"Laugh? When, your majesty?"

"When I warned Betty Riggs not to covet my authority and
power. You know the warning was for you."

"I did not laugh, my lord. I sniffled. Perhaps I have caught a
cold. Do you suggest a spoonful of weaver bee honey?"

Lunacy's laughter echoed in the courtyard of the island fortress.
"I commend you for that scheme, spirit. There may be hope for
you after all. Poison in the king's doses of honey. The medicine
causes the illness! Tell me again how the idea came to you."

"Old books of sorcery were here in the fortress ruins. I believe
your sorcerer Shagah used the tower for many years. Others took
refuge here when the foul Kardia banished sorcery from the land.
I discovered the formula."

"So the poison in small doses weakens but does not kill. It also
makes the subject crave more?"

"Better than that, my lord." She thought, He does not know everything. More and more I see his ignorance. "This particular poison
deceives. It gives strength briefly. Then the effect reverses. It steals
far more strength than it gave."

"And the sufferer discerns only the first effect. He believes it
helps him and so consumes more. And in the case of the king, you
disguise the poison in one of his favorite foods-honey. He thinks
it is the honey itself that strengthens him."

The queen cringed as several weaver bees dived at her. "Truly
the eagles told the truth. The bees have taken up residence here in
great numbers. I wish we had Ildreth and Shamith here to control
them."

"I shall bring them here by enchantment in time for the final
battle," Lord Lunacy replied. "We shall need their skills in order to
spring our trap."

"Ali, yes. The trap. How goes my lord's strategy? You have told
me little."

"I have told you almost nothing. It is my strategy, not yours. To
answer your question, all goes well. Throughout Anthropos the
false visions of the Enemy have already appeared to many of his
followers. Even now the priest Hazilon leads a company from
Nephesh. The deluded followers of the Enemy will assemble to
await his great coming. Then we will send our most vicious swarms
of weaver bees to threaten them with death. Whether that succeeds
or not is trivial. What counts is that the Hated One must come to
their rescue. My forces will be in readiness. His forces will be confused-and unarmed. The false images have instructed them not to
take weapons."

"My lord has thought of everything. Or so it seems."

Lunacy's eyes flashed a cold pale anger. "You doubt my readiness? You doubt my plan?"

"I doubt your ability to control the weaver bees. How will you
insure that they attack only the Hated One's followers and not
your own forces?"

"Have I not told you that my power rests on them? Shall I
remove my hand from a dozen or so and let them attack you?"

Again the queen cringed. "No, my lord. I believe you." But within herself she doubted that Lunacy had all the power or
knowledge he claimed.

Though for hours the children watched for Lake Nachash
through the trees, the large body of water surprised them when
they came upon it. A sudden drop in temperature, the roar of
strong wind in a stand of pines, and they were out of the woods
and on top of a long, grassy slope dotted with pink and yellow wildflowers. Below them stretched blue water where sunlight sparkled
and whitecaps streaked along. Lisa breathed, "I'd forgotten how
beautiful it is."

"We haven't had many chances to stand around and admire it,"
Wes reminded his sister. "We've usually been sailing across it on
some urgent mission. Speaking of which, I don't see any boats."

It was tnie. The ancient stone pathway had brought them out at
a spot where there was no sign of a dock or watercraft of any
kind-sailboat, rowboat or canoe. They looked out across the lake.
Far offshore was a solid form that they knew well. It was a small,
rock island topped with a straight-sided structure. At one end of the
structure rose a pointed tower-the tower they had seen on one of
the TV screens in the attic.

"The fortress is there, all right-and the tower has been rebuilt,"
Wes said. He then frowned. He thought of the top room of the
tower and the wharf in the cave below it. "Gaal said that it's in the
Garden Room where we'll see what we are to do."

"But how are we going to get there Kurt asked.

For the first time since they arrived at the lake, Philo spoke. "My
friends, I have served you faithfully on land. My time of usefulness
to you will soon end. Allow me to do you one last service. I suggest
that you look down by the lakeshore."

"What do you mean," Lisa asked.

They stared but saw nothing. Philo heaved a great horsy sigh
and trotted down the slope. As he went through the long grass, a
few weaver bees buzzed up from wildflowers, flew in circles but
made no threat. Near the bottom of the slope Philo slowed to a
walk and whinnied. At a stand of cattails by the lake's edge, just vis ible through the stalks, they saw a log raft that was halfway on
shore.

"Uh-oh, that looks like Ildreth and Shamith's raft," Wes said
after a quick glance. "The one they used to transport us as criminals."

"It is similar," said Lisa. "This one needs some repair on its rope
lashings. But there are two paddles and another at the stern to use
as a rudder. Still, I wish we had a sailboat. It would be so much
faster and easier."

"A sail would be too visible," Wes said. "It would show up in
moonlight or even starlight."

Then Kurt said, "Hey, you two are missing what's most important! Look inside this." He was opening a basket that was also on
the raft. "It's lunch! A regular picnic." He started to pull out all
their favorites. Huge ham and biscuit sandwiches with all sorts of
extras hanging out the sides. They sat on the ground around the
rock.

"This has got to be from Gaal," Lisa said as she ate. "It's as good
as what we had in the Gaal tree."

Philo, who had been busy grazing, mumbled a complaint about
his itchy back and took a long, luxurious roll.

When Kurt had finished eating, he stood up and gazed out at
the Island of Geburah. The fortress made a dramatic sight, with its
straight walls and high-pointed tower rising from jagged rock. "It
looks so strong and-I don't know-noble. It's hard to believe it's
the headquarters of evil."

"Everything in Anthropos is like that now," Wes said. "It all looks
so good. Everything works smoothly; everybody seems well offuntil you look beneath the surface. That's when you see the falsely
accused prisoners and the street kids who are going to ... oh, gosh,
I'd forgotten about them!" Wes squinted across the lake in a vain
attempt to see all the way across it to the royal lodge. "It's a terrible
lie that they go to the lodge. We need to get started repairing the
raft." And the three of them began the task.

Hazilon the priest sighed with relief as he stepped from the woods into a weedy field. He lowered the heavy banner with its
embroidered Tower of Geburah. For miles he had carried it
upright before him. His feet and legs ached. He had not hiked this
far in years. And to have to keep up an energetic pace for the mob
of fools behind him-it was almost too much!

He called out, "Friends! Good servants of Gaal! We have arrived
at the royal lodge in obedience to our Shepherd!" Then he got out
of the way. A long line of eager figures stampeded out of the
woods. They ran out across the field, shouted, pointed, laughed
and generally acted like children on the last day of school.

Hazilon sat down on a rock. "These stupid followers of the
Despised One," he muttered. "They adore him as a dog adores its
master. All along this miserable journey they talked of nothing
but their desire to see him. I would gladly have lost them in a
swamp." He raised his voice a bit too much. An elderly man
limped past and looked at him sharply. Hazilon pasted on a
smile. Well, so what if the old man heard him? It would all be
over soon anyway.

The sun slid toward the western horizon. The priest was hungry
and knew the others must be also. Good thing lie didn't have to
find some way to feed them all. These simpletons did not even
know that they had already eaten their last meal.

He sat and watched the crowd. Some peered through the broken windows of a rustic cottage. The building still showed decorative touches, but its roof had a jagged hole where a tree limb had
crashed through it. Others in the group inspected the rest of the
buildings: stables, servants' quarters, kitchen, springhouse. The
priest heard them exclaim over the poor condition of the lodge.
"Like nobody's used it in years!" A few poorly dressed children
wandered in circles and looked puzzled. Most of the children ran
and dodged among scattered saplings in the unused grassy field.
Beyond the field, a high cliff overlooked the sunny blue waters of
Lake Nachash.