Luthien turned his gaze instead to their loyal mounts, and Oliver promptly apologized.
Then Luthien looked back to the great whale, turning now, as he had expected. The cyclopians kept up their frenzy, disturbing the water, inadvertently calling the whale to them.
When the behemoth"s course seemed determined, Luthien went back to the crank and began easing the ferry ahead slowly, so as not to attract the deadly whale"s attention.
With typical cyclopian loyalty, the cyclopians chose one from their own ranks and threw the poor brute into the water ahead of the approaching whale, hoping that the behemoth would take the sacrifice and leave the rest of them alone.
They didn"t understand the greedy nature of dorsal whales.
The black-and-white behemoth slammed the side of the cyclopians" ferry, then, with a flick of its powerful tail, heaved itself right across the flat deck, driving half of the pitifully small craft under water. Cyclopians flew everywhere, flailing and screaming. The dorsal slipped back under the water, but reappeared on the ferry"s other side. The whale"s head came right out of the water, a cyclopian in its great maw up to the waist, screaming and slapping futilely at the sea monster.
The whale bit down and slid back under, and the severed top half of the one-eye bobbed in the reddening water.
Half a cyclopian would not satisfy a dorsal whale, though. The beast"s great tail slapped the water, launching two cyclopians thirty feet into the air. They splashed back in and one was sent flying again; the other was bitten in half.
The frenzy went on for agonizing minutes, and then, suddenly, the dorsal fin appeared again, cutting a fast wake to the north.
"Luthien," Oliver called ominously.
Several hundred yards away, the whale breached, slamming back down into the water, using the jump to pivot about.
"Luthien," Oliver called again, and the young Bedwyr didn"t have to look north to know that the whale had found another target.
Luthien realized at once that he could not make the mainland dock, fully fifty yards away. He jumped up from the crank and ran about, thinking, searching.
"Luthien," Oliver said again, frozen in place by the approaching specter of doom.
Luthien ran to the stern of the ferry and called across the water to the shouting people of the Diamondgate dock: "Cut the rope!"
At first, they didn"t seem to hear him, or at least, they seemed not to understand, but then Luthien called it again and pointed above himself at the guide rope. Immediately the captain signaled to his crewman, and the agile man put a large knife between his teeth and scrambled up the pole.
Luthien went to stand beside Oliver, watching the whale"s approach.
A hundred yards away. Eighty.
Fifty yards away. Luthien heard Oliver muttering under his breath-praying, the young man realized.
Suddenly, the ferry lurched to the side and began a hard swing. Luthien pulled Oliver over to their mounts. Both Riverdancer and Threadbare were standing nervously, nickering and stamping their hooves as if they understood their peril. Luthien quickly tied off the end of the loose rope so that the ferry could not slip down along its length.
The dorsal fin angled accordingly, keeping the pursuit, closing.
Thirty yards away. Oliver could see the whale"s black eye.
The ferry was speeding along quite well by then, caught in the deceivingly swift currents, but the whale was faster still.
Twenty yards away. Oliver was praying loudly.
The ferry jolted, skidding off a rock, and when Oliver and Luthien managed to tear their stares from the whale, they realized that they were very near the rock coastline. They looked back just in time to see the dorsal fin veer away, stymied by the shallows.
The companions" relief was short-lived, though, for they were moving at a wild clip, much faster than when they had been cut free near to Diamondgate, and were coming up on a sheer cliff of jagged rock.
Chapter 8.
A ROAD WELL TAKEN.
"Get on your horse! Get on your horse!" Oliver cried as he mounted Threadbare, holding the reins hard to keep the nervous beast from stumbling.
Luthien followed the command, not really knowing what Oliver had in mind, but with no better plan of his own. As soon as he was astride Riverdancer, he saw Oliver lining up the pony exactly opposite from where the ferry would likely hit, and then the young man began to catch on.
"You must time the jump well!" the halfling called. The ferry lurched suddenly as it grazed across more rocks; the plank furthest aft broke apart and was left drifting in the speeding craft"s wake.
"Jump?" Luthien cried back. The approaching wall of stone was only a few feet high, and Luthien held no doubts that Riverdancer could make the leap if they were on solid ground. But the bouncing raft could not be considered solid ground, and even worse, Luthien was not sure of what was on the other side of that wall. He knew what would happen if he did not make the jump, though, and so when Oliver kicked Threadbare into a short run across the ferry, Luthien and Riverdancer followed.
Luthien buried his head in the horse"s s.h.a.ggy mane, not daring to look as he lifted away, propelled by the momentum of the ferry. He heard the explosion of wood on the rocks behind him, knew an instant later that he had cleared the wall.
He looked up as Riverdancer touched down in a short trot on a gra.s.sy knoll. Threadbare stood to the side, riderless and with a small cut on her foreleg. For a moment, Luthien feared that Oliver had toppled in the middle of the jump and had been slammed against the stones. Then he spotted the halfling lying in the wet gra.s.s and laughing wildly.
Oliver hopped to his feet and scooped up his fallen hat. He looked back to Diamondgate and waved frantically, wanting those who had helped him to know that he and Luthien had survived.
Luthien walked Riverdancer to the edge of the knoll and looked down at the smashed ferry. Twenty yards out, the fierce dorsal whale reappeared, circling the flotsam.
"That was not so bad," Oliver remarked.
Luthien didn"t know whether to jump down and punch the halfling, or to throw him into the air in victory. His blood was coursing mightily through his veins, his heart pumping strongly. He felt more alive than ever before, more sheer elation than any victory in the arena could ever have afforded him.
But if Oliver spoke the truth, then what else might the young Bedwyr face beside the halfling? What worse?
Despite his primal joy, a shudder ran along Luthien"s spine.
"They are coming to congratulate our quick thinking," Oliver said, drawing Luthien"s attention and leading his gaze north along the knoll, back toward the ferry docks on this side of the channel. Two dozen men were running at them, calling out and waving tools.
"To congratulate?" Luthien asked.
Oliver looked down to the smashed ferry. "You think they might want us to pay for that?"
Luthien"s shrug sent the halfling running to his mount.
He swung up into his saddle and bowed from a sitting position, sweeping his great hat low along the pony"s side. "I do so appreciate your applause," he called to the approaching mob. "But now, I fear, the curtain is closed!"
And off they ran, side by side, the foppish halfling swashbuckler on his ugly yellow pony and the son of Bedwyr on his glistening white stallion.
The next few days proved quite uneventful for the weary companions. They traveled easily south through the Eriadoran farmlands, taking food and lodging where they found it. This was not too difficult, for the farmers of northern Eriador were a friendly folk, and more than willing to share a meal and a place in their barns in exchange for news of the outside world.
Oliver always dominated the conversations on such occasions, telling Luthien and the farmers grand tales of his times in Gascony, telling of adventures far beyond the scope of the "minor inconveniences" he and Luthien had been through since the fight with the merchant wagon.
Luthien listened to all the tales without reply, though he knew that Oliver was three parts bl.u.s.ter and one part truth (and allowing him that formula, Luthien figured, was being generous). The young man saw no harm in the halfling"s outrageous claims, and Oliver seemed to entertain the farmers well enough, though none of the farmers were able to provide any information about Ethan. Every morning, when Luthien and Oliver left a farm, they were seen off by an entire family, and sometimes neighbors as well, smiling and waving and calling out for their good fortunes.
Luthien had too much on his mind to worry about any lies or exaggerations the halfling might spout. The young man still could not sort through all of his confusing thoughts and events of the last week, but he knew that he was comfortable with all that he had done. Even when he thought of the cyclopian in his father"s house, or the one atop the merchant"s wagon, or those in the overturned boat, Luthien held no remorse and took heart that if the identical situation were to come upon him again, he would react in the very same way.
He took heart, too, in his companion. Every day that pa.s.sed, Luthien found that he liked Oliver"s company more and more. This halfling, admittedly a thief, was not an evil person. Far from it. From his actions and the tales of his past (those parts that Luthien decided might have a ring of truth), Luthien could see that Oliver held himself up to some very high principles. The halfling would only steal from merchants and n.o.bles, for example, and despite his suggestions when they had the merchant and his wife helpless on the road, from what Luthien could discern, Oliver was reluctant to kill anything except cyclopians.
And so Luthien, with no idea of how to locate his brother, decided to simply ride along the course beside the highwayhalfling, wherever it might lead, and let the fates guide him.
They moved south for several days, then veered to the east, crossing fields of tall, blowing wheat and high stone walls. "We will go between the mountains," Oliver explained one afternoon, pointing to a wide gap between the main bulk of the Iron Cross and a northern string of peaks. "My boat left me off on the road to Montfort and I have not been this way."
"Bruce MacDonald"s Swath," Luthien replied, offering the name given to that particular gap.
Oliver slowed Threadbare and spent a moment in thought. "And will this Bruce MacDonald expect from us a toll?" he asked, putting a protective hand on his jingling pouch.
"Only if he comes from the grave," Luthien replied with a laugh. He went on to explain the legend of Bruce MacDonald, Eriador"s greatest hero of old, who drove the attacking cyclopians back into their mountain holes. According to the tales, Bruce MacDonald cut the swath through the mountains, thus crossing more easily and gaining a surprise on the main cyclopian force, who did not expect his army before the spring cleared the mountain pa.s.ses.
"And now the one-eyes are your friends?" Oliver asked. "We have no cyclopians in Gascony," he bragged. "At the least, we have none who dare to stick their ugly noses out of their dirty mountain holes!" The halfling went on, taking the tale from Luthien, and explained how Gascons dealt with the one-eyed brutes, telling of great battles-far greater, of course, than any Bruce MacDonald might have fought.
Luthien let the halfling ramble and, in fact, faded out of the conversation altogether, considering instead his own retelling of the MacDonald tale and how his blood stirred whenever he spoke of the legendary hero. Suddenly, the young Bedwyr was beginning to understand his own actions and feelings. He knew then why he was not so badly bothered by killing in his father"s house. He thought of his feelings for the first cyclopian who had been tossed overboard on the ferry. Luthien had not gone to his aid, but he had rushed to help the man who had similarly been thrown.
Luthien had never realized before how deeply his hatred of cyclopians ran. In realizing the truth, he came to understand Ethan better. He knew then why his brother had quit the arena as soon as the cyclopian guards had been given to Gahris by the duke of Montfort, several years before. A rush of other memories came over the young man as he explored these new emotions: childhood tales he had been told by his father and others detailing the atrocities of the cyclopians before Bruce MacDonald had put them down. Other vicious raids had occurred even more recently, usually against helpless farm families.
Luthien was still deep in his contemplations when Oliver stopped Threadbare and looked all about. The young Bedwyr and his horse continued on, oblivious to the halfling, and would have kept going had not Oliver whistled.
Luthien turned around, eyeing the halfling curiously. Seeing the sincere concern on Oliver"s face, he waited until he had walked Riverdancer back beside the yellow pony before he quietly asked, "What is it?"
"You have to learn to smell these things," Oliver whispered in reply.
As if on cue, an arrow cut through the air, well above the companions" heads.
"Cyclopians," Oliver muttered, noting the terrible shot.
Again, as if on cue, the wheat to either side of the road behind them began to shake and whip about and cyclopians crashed out onto the road, riding fierce ponypigs, ugly but muscular beasts that looked like a cross between a s.h.a.ggy horse and a wild boar.
Luthien and Oliver swung about and kicked their mounts ahead, but out of the wheat came two more cyclopians, one appearing right next to Oliver, and one further down the road.
Oliver reared Threadbare and turned the pony to the side as the cyclopian mount bore down upon him. The intelligent yellow pony kicked out with its forelegs, smacking the cyclopian"s arms and sword. Threadbare did no real damage, but did distract the brute, and Oliver, lying low in the saddle, slipped his rapier in under the pony"s kicking feet.
The engaged cyclopian never saw the blade coming. It squealed and tried to move away, but the rapier had already done its business. The ponypig continued past Oliver and Threadbare, and Oliver, just to make sure, caught the cyclopian"s sword with his main gauche and tossed it away.
The cyclopian was oblivious to that move, though, slumping forward in its saddle, darkness filling its eye.
Further down the road, Luthien angled Riverdancer for a close pa.s.s at the charging ponypig. Luthien lifted his sword; the cyclopian leveled a spear.
The one-eye seemed to have the advantage with its longer weapon, and thought it would score a solid hit as the two began their pa.s.s.
But Luthien"s sword came down, around and inside the tip of the spear. The rolling motion brought the spear out wide, and then high, leaving Luthien"s sword across the neck of the snorting ponypig. The young warrior reversed his grip suddenly, turning the blade in line, and its fine edge gashed the cyclopian"s forearms and forced the brute to fall back as the two pa.s.sed.
Luthien kept the pressure firm, forcing the cyclopian right over backward, to land heavily on the dirt road. The brute looked up just in time to see Oliver bearing down on it, and it dropped its face and covered its head with its wounded arms, expecting to be trampled.
Oliver had no time to finish the job, though. With a score of cyclopians bearing down from behind, the halfling could not risk getting tangled in this one"s breaking limbs. With a bit of urging, Threadbare cleared the p.r.o.ne cyclopian and thundered on down the road in Riverdancer"s wake.
The chase was on, with arrows flying everywhere, and though Oliver"s claims about a cyclopian"s ability to judge distance were certainly true, the simple rules of chance told both the halfling and Luthien that they were in trouble.
Luthien felt Riverdancer stumble for just a moment and knew that the horse had taken an arrow in the rump. Another bolt came dangerously close, nicking the young man"s shoulder.
"Off the road?" Luthien cried out, wondering if he and Oliver should take to the high wheat stalks for cover. Oliver shook his head, though. Horses, even a pony such as Threadbare, could outrun ponypigs on clear ground, but the grunting cyclopian mounts could plow through brush faster than any creature. Besides, the halfling pointed out to Luthien, wheat stalks on both sides of the road were already whipping violently as more cyclopians joined in the chase.
"This merchant-type," Oliver called out, "he really cannot take a joke!"
Luthien had no time to respond, seeing a cyclopian coming out of the tall wheat ahead on his side of the road. He ducked low along Riverdancer"s muscled neck and urged the horse forward. Riverdancer lowered his head, too, and gave a short burst of speed. Luthien felt the wind of a waving sword, but he was by the cyclopian too fast for the brute to score a hit.
Then the young man let up a bit and allowed Oliver to catch up beside him. They were in this together, Luthien decided, but he didn"t see how either one of them was going to get out of it. More cyclopians were coming out onto the road ahead, and any delay at all would allow those behind the companions to overtake them.
Luthien looked over at Oliver-and nearly laughed aloud, seeing an arrow sticking through the halfling"s great hat.
"Farewell!" the young Bedwyr cried, to which Oliver only smiled.
But both of them gawked when they looked ahead once again, for a translucent field of shimmering blue light had appeared on the road before them. Both the halfling and Luthien cried out in surprise and terror, thinking this some sort of devilish cyclopian magic, and tried to turn their mounts aside. Oliver plucked his great hat from his head and held it over his face.
They were too close, their momentum too great, and Riverdancer, and then Threadbare, plunged into the light.
All the world changed.
They were in a corridor of light now, everything appearing dreamlike to Luthien, as though he and Oliver were moving in slow motion. But when the young man looked at the world around or the ground below, he saw that he was moving at tremendous speed-every one of Riverdancer"s slow-moving strides took him across great distances.
The corridor of light veered off the road, turning south across the wheat fields, though the pa.s.sing of the two mounts did not disturb the grain. It was as if they were running in the air, or on a cushion of light, not touching the ground at all, and their mounts" hooves made not a sound. They came upon a wide river and moved across it, above it, without a splash. In a few seconds, the mountains loomed much closer, and then they were speeding up the slopes, crossing ravines as though the great valleys were but cracks in a stone.
A sheer cliff loomed ahead of them suddenly, and Luthien cried out again, though his words were lost behind him as they left his mouth. Straight up the cliff Riverdancer and Threadbare ran, cresting its top a thousand feet up and running across the broken boulder-strewn ground, through a copse of small trees too tightly packed for any horse to pa.s.s. Yet they did pa.s.s-without shaking a twig or leaf.
Soon Luthien saw another cliff face looming before them, and the light tunnel seemed to end there, with swirling patterns of blue and green dancing on the cliff wall. Before Luthien could even react, Riverdancer crossed into the stone.
Luthien felt the pressure building all about him: an uncomfortable, suffocating feeling. He could not cry out, could not even draw breath in that supremely enclosed place, and he thought he would surely perish.
But then, suddenly and without warning, Riverdancer came through the other side of the rock wall, stepping lightly into a torchlit cave, the horse"s hooves clacking loudly on the hard stone.
Threadbare came out right behind, slowed and stopped beside the white horse, and Oliver, after a moment, dared to lower his great hat from his face and look around. He looked behind, too, staring incredulously at the stone wall as the swirling glow dissipated. The halfling turned to Luthien, who seemed as if he was about to speak.
"I do not even want to know," Oliver a.s.sured the young man.
Chapter 9.