Palimak ignored this last exchange. The Favorites had been his lifelong companions. And although they could be nasty, quarrelsome little things, in their thousand years of existence he was the only friend they"d ever had. Besides, their loyalties were bound to whoever possessed the stone turtle that was their home.
He wiped perspiration from his eyes and looked around the cabin, trying to figure out what to do. Magic was out. The intense heat, he realized, was the by-product of a spell meant to smother his abilities.
And it was doing a good job of it, too! Even the idea of sorcery made him feel weary.
A direct physical attack would also be doomed. Whatever the thing was, it was huge and most certainly prepared to deal with Palimak on a one-on-one basis.
"Why doesn"t he just break down the door and kill me himself?" Palimak asked. "Why does he need you?"
"Because you can still use us to make magic and fight him," Gundara said.
This surprised Palimak. "Aren"t you two affected by his spell?"
"Little Master"s being stupid again," Gundaree said.
"He certainly is," Gundara said.
"Stop it!" Palimak hissed. The heat and tension were making him impatient. "Just answer my question."Gundara gave a long sigh, like a child pressed by an adult to explain the painfully obvious.
"Magic is what we"re made of, Little Master," he said. "Don"t you know that?"
"Oh," Palimak said, feeling very stupid indeed.
The Favorites were spirit folk, composed entirely of magical particles. Safar had explained this to him years ago. He"d used the a.n.a.logy of a clay jar filled with water. A human or demon wizard was a jar containing a certain amount of sorcerous "liquid." Whereas spirit folk were the jar itself, plus all it contained.
"If his spell could take away our magic," Gundaree continued for his brother, "then we wouldn"t be here.
We"d be dead."
"Sorry," Palimak said. "I didn"t mean to get angry."
"That"s all right, Little Master," Gundara allowed in a rather grand manner. "We know you can"t always be perfect like us."
There was another thump at the door. Then a cracking sound as something heavy leaned against it. He could see the planks bending inward under the weight.
"He"s getting mad, Little Master," Gundaree said. "He wants our answer now, or he"s going to come in anyway."
"Stall him some more," Palimak said.
The twins resumed their odd communication with the creature, filling the air with whispering and clicking noises.
Whatever lies they told seemed to work, because soon the planks groaned as the weight was removed and they resumed their original shape.
Even with the help of the Favorites, Palimak knew he didn"t have enough sorcerous strength to live through an encounter with the creature. Which meant the only avenue open was escape.
He glanced at the open porthole--the only exit from the cabin, other than the door. Steam from the overheated room was wisping out into the night like a fog.
For a moment, he considered climbing out and dropping into the sea. Then he dismissed that idea. The ship was under full sail and Palimak would swiftly be left behind to drown.
It was starting to come down to a choice between a watery grave or being eaten alive.
As if on cue, Gundara whispered, "I"m hungry!"
"Me too!" Gundaree said.
Absently, Palimak fished a biscuit from his pocket and broke it in half. A wriggling worm fell to the floor.
Palimak looked at the worm, then at the two biscuit halves, then at the door. A hazy idea started to take form.
"What kind of a creature is he?" Palimak asked the twins.
"Oh, he"s sort of like a tree," Gundara said. "Except he doesn"t have any leaves.""And he"s sort of like an animal," Gundaree said. "Except he doesn"t have any skin or bones."
"But he"s got ever so many teeth," Gundara said.
"They"re all over his branches," Gundaree added. "Lots and lots of teeth in lots and lots of little mouths, all with long, sharp tongues."
"I"m sorry we can"t be more helpful, Little Master," Gundaree said. "But it"s hard to describe something that"s both an animal and a tree."
"And we really wouldn"t help him kill you," Gundara said.
"Never!" Gundaree agreed.
A slight pause, then: "Now can we eat?" Gundara asked plaintively.
"I want the worm!" Gundaree said, smacking his lips.
"Not this time," Palimak said. "I need that worm."
He squatted, took out his dagger and cut the worm in half.
"Poor thing," Gundara observed.
Gundaree sneered at his twin. "What"s wrong with you?" he asked. "It"s only a stupid worm."
Gundara wiped away a solitary tear. "But she seemed so happy in that biscuit," he said. "And now look at her. One part"s a head without a tail. And the other"s a tail without a head."
"I"ll soon fix that," Palimak said, placing a wriggling piece on each side of the door.
Then he crept silently to his bedside and fetched a pitcher of water back to the door. He crumbled up the biscuit halves, mixed them with the water and made two lumps of dough. From these he formed two credible dough men, complete with legs, arms, heads and faces with simple features.
"I get it," Gundara said. "They"re sort of like the cheese monster!"
He was referring to one of Palimak"s boyhood experiments that had worked well enough to get them all into trouble with Safar.
"Something like that," Palimak agreed.
Then he indicated the still-moving worm halves. "Get in," he ordered the twins.
"Yuk!" Gundara said.
"Yum!" said Gundaree.
Palimak pointed at Gundara. "Just do as you"re told."
Pouting and muttering under his breath, Gundara stomped over to his worm half, held his nose, then vanished inside.
"You next," Palimak said to the lip-smacking Gundaree. "But don"t you dare eat it!"
The Favorite"s smile was replaced by a look of outrage. He kicked at the floor, grumbling, "I never get tohave any fun!"
But he did as he was told and vanished into the piece reserved for him. Palimak pressed a worm half into each doughman and set them on either side of the door.
Then, very slowly and quietly he slipped the latch.
Heart hammering so hard he was sure the creature could hear it, he tiptoed to his bunk, stripped off the blanket and tied one end to a stool.
He placed the stool under the porthole and grasped the free end of the blanket.
Then he said to the twins: "All right. Tell him to come in!"
CHAPTER TWENTY-EIGHT.
ATTACK ON THE NEPENTHE.
Safar was surrounded by four enormous wolves with glowing eyes and slavering jaws. They were reared back on their hind legs, towering nearly two feet over him. Their front legs ended in long, sharp, demon-like claws.
He was pinned by powerful magic and couldn"t move as they stalked in for the kill. His mind gibbered, How can this be? I destroyed them, dammit! I destroyed them all!
From somewhere nearby he heard beasts ravaging flesh and breaking bones between strong jaws. He could smell the stench of blood and offal from their victim. And then a shiver of helpless agony shook him to the core as he heard the victim scream: "Help me, father! Help me!"
It was Palimak. Crying and flailing as the beasts ate him alive.
The wolves were so close now that Safar could smell the carrion on their breath. If only he could break free. If only he could fling himself at them. Or sear them with a spell. The battle would be brief and would end in his death. But that was far more preferable than living and hearing Palimak"s tormented cries.
The king wolf--the largest of the four--rasped laughter at Safar"s predicament. And then he spoke with Iraj"s voice.
He said, "Here we are, together again, old friend."
The wolf that was Iraj gestured and a goblet appeared in his claws. It was a fragile thing with such beautiful designs carved into its surface that Safar shuddered to see such artistry despoiled. It was like being forced to watch some piece of filth ravish your sister.
The king wolf raised the goblet in a mocking toast. "To my blood brother, Safar Timura," he said. "Long may he die!"
Then he drank the contents down and hurled the goblet away to shatter on the ground. The other wolves growled in satisfaction.
And Palimak screamed, "Help me, father!"
The king wolf chuckled, then mimicked the cry, "Help me, father!"His head snaked down until his eyes were at Safar"s level. Huge and afire with hate. "What"s wrong, Safar?" he asked. "Why don"t you help him?"
He gestured back into the darkness. "There"s still some of him left. If you act quickly, you might be able to save an arm or a leg."
Safar tried to speak, but no words would come.
The king wolf tilted his head. "What"s that?" he asked. "I can"t hear you."
Safar gathered all his strength and, gasping with effort, he croaked, "Stop!"
The king wolf acted surprised. He said, "Is that all you can say after all these years? Stop? Why should I? You"re the one who started this. Why don"t you stop? Then perhaps we can be friends again."
And Safar croaked, "Please!"
Instantly, the wolf started to transform. There was an awful popping of joints as his limbs moved violently in their sockets. His snout retreated, his eyes and ears shifted position, his gray fur dissolved.
And Safar found himself staring into the handsome human face of Iraj Protarus.
"You see, Safar?" Iraj said, hands sweeping down to indicate his transformed body. "You see what I"m willing to endure for you? And a simple *please" was all it took."
He turned to the other wolves. "Am I a reasonable king, or am I not?" he asked.
The other wolves growled agreement that His Majesty was the soul of gentility and kindness.
Iraj grinned at Safar, dark eyes flashing with amus.e.m.e.nt. Golden hair and shapely beard beaming in a sudden shaft of sunlight.
"Do you really want to save Palimak, brother?" he asked. "What would you do to spare him?"
And Safar groaned, "Anything!"
Iraj nodded, sharp. "Good," he said. "Now that we"ve agreed on a price, shall we start again?"
And he waved a hand and suddenly Safar found himself standing above a snowy pa.s.s. He was back in Esmir, high in the mountains called the G.o.ds" Divide. He could hear caravan bells jingling and could see a wagon train--Coralean"s wagon train--winding toward the white peaks known as the Bride and Six Maids.
Iraj was beside him and he was young again, a boy of seventeen. And Safar was young too, with supple limbs and a heart like a lion"s. Iraj pointed at two canyons that bisected the caravan track.
"The demons," he said.
And Safar saw the two forces of mounted demons waiting to ambush the wagons.
"What shall we do?" Safar asked.
Iraj laughed, drawing his sword. "Warn the caravan," he said. And he started running down the mountainside.
But in midflight he turned his head and shouted back. "Oh, I almost forgot. This time Palimak is withthem!"