The owl opened one eye. "Just try it, that"s all: just try it!"
He closed the eye again. He had spoken so Conn and I could understand, man-speech, but even as I registered this I realized he had also answered so the others could understand as well, the different sounds and att.i.tudes echoing one behind the other with the fraction of a second between so that only I, and most probably Snowy, would know this was some kind of magic. I shook my head: only one way to deal with this. I did the same thing, talked so they could all understand, but whereas the owl had talked to each in their individual speech, I just used human speech and the special language my friends used. It was still like trying to do five things at once.
"I will, don"t think I won"t! We haven"t travelled all this way to find a magician, a wise man, just to be put off by apples and strawberries and-and things! Now then, I know this is the right place, so please tell us where we may find your master?"
The owl opened his eyes again, and now they were full open, considering.
"What business have you with The Ancient?"
"That"s ours to say, to him. Tell your master we are here!" I sounded bold, but inside I was shaking. For the last few minutes-hours?-since we had arrived, ever since we had come across the th.o.r.n.y hedge in fact, I had seemed to a.s.sume charge, and now I realized how that was entirely against my nature; with Conn and Snowy so much better qualified than I, the strain began to tell.
So I repeated what I had just said, but my voice was uncertain, to my ears anyway. "Tell him we"re here . . ."
The owl shifted on his perch. "You"re too late."
"Too late?"
"Too-hoo late. By about two-hoo hundred years . . ."
"What do you mean?" But even as I spoke I could feel the frustration, the despair of having walked so many, many miles for nothing, and my stomach contracted as it used to when we were with the witch, and it seemed the others were similarly affected, for I heard a curse from Corby, a wail from Moglet and sympathetic noises from the others, echoing my distress.
"Do you mean, by all the saints, that we"ve come all this way for nothing?"
began Conn angrily, and it was only Snowy who said nothing, his large, dark eyes switching from me to the owl and back again. Somehow this gave me confidence, and I looked hard at the fluffy bird again. There was something cloudy, undefined about the area behind him, something not quite right . . .
"You say your master died-er, two hundred years ago? Can you prove this?" I spoke carefully, politely.
"Why, of course! Come this way," and he waved an inviting wing.
Conn had learnt enough about my friends by now to go back for Pisky"s bowl without being asked, and we all followed the owl as he flew into the cave.
Inside it was light, dry and airy, about twenty feet long by ten or twelve wide; torches burned quietly in sconces and there was no need for the owl to indicate a recess in the right-hand corner, for we could not have missed it.
Behind a kind of crystal curtain hung a suit of clothes, enclosing a skeleton.
The clothes were ornate, jewel-encrusted, richly embroidered; the skeleton was-a skeleton, with a few wisps of greying hair still adhering to the skull.
Though there can have been no wind behind that curtain, yet the whole thing swayed, very gently, back and forth.
The owl waved his wing again. "There you see the mortal remains of my dearly beloved master, trapped into a living death by a treacherous maiden,"
he intoned. "Here he wasted away, imprisoned by the webs you see fastening his legs and arms, enchanted by the power of a woman"s wiles. For weeks he endured, railing against his fate, but at last he succ.u.mbed . . ." The owl wiped his eye, visibly affected. "With his last breath he forgave the errant maid who enslaved him, and now his remains are a reminder to mortal man that even the greatest may not be proof against female pulchritude and greed . . ."
It might have been a servant showing unexpected guests around a castle in the owner"s absence, and I didn"t believe a word of it. Conn, on our travels, had sometimes beguiled us with folk tales and legends, and among the latter I remembered various episodes in the life of one Artorius, a Romano-Saxon king of Wess.e.x and his magician friend Myrddin of Cymri-but even Conn sometimes mixed these tales with others about an Arthur Pendragon of the Old Lands and a shaman of Scotia called Merlon-and although all these tales bore some similarity and indeed did have a treacherous maiden in them, sometimes it was the king who fell foul of her and other times the magician, so this hotch-potch of the owl"s was obviously meant to beguile the superst.i.tious into connecting a very-present enchantment with something that happened, or might have happened, two hundred years ago, and was obviously intended to deter us from further inquiries, pack ourselves up and go away.
But I had no intention of going away; here we were and here we stayed until we got some of the right answers, at least. I would have to be careful, though, and play it just right.
"Thank you, O Guardian of the late-lamented One," I said, bowing to the owl.
"May we now go back outside? I find this sad atmosphere somewhat oppressive, and I am sure my companions do also," and I rushed back into the open, hoping for a glimpse of that shadowy something I thought I had detected behind the owl. Nothing. Still . . .
"What the h.e.l.l are you doing?" queried Conn, but I turned my back to the cave and gave him a big wink.
"Trust me . . ." I turned to the owl, back once more on his perch on the stone.
"May I question you a little further before we gather up our belongings and take our leave of this fair place?"
"But of course," said the owl, fluffing up his feathers and mollified, no doubt, by my obsequious tone. "Pray proceed."
"Your master (rest his soul) has been dead-or in this state in which we found him-for two hundred years, you said?"
"Alas yes, almost to the day. And many the pilgrims, like yourselves, who have pa.s.sed this way to marvel and to mourn . . ."
"Alack-a-day," I said, and bowed my head. "It is the world"s loss . . . Men say he could have been the greatest sorcerer and magician since the world began-"
"The greatest," a.s.serted the owl, nodding his head wisely. "Indubitably."
"Yet I question this," I said. "Tell me-"
"Question it?" said the owl in a different voice. I looked again: yes, I was not mistaken. There was a sort of greyish, wavery background to the bird.
"Yes," I hurried on, for I was almost sure now: "for I have heard of other such who gave counsel and comfort to the great ones of the land who were accounted less great than this Ancient One we came to seek, and then lived their allotted span and pa.s.sed away amid scenes of universal grief: they did not succ.u.mb to mortal wiles, they-"
"My master was greater far than these-these minor tricksters you speak of,"
said the owl, and he was definitely becoming more ruffled. "My master is- was-the greatest sorcerer the world has ever seen! Master of the Art of Illusion, Traveller in Time, Licentiate of Language, Far-Seer . . . Why, he was a man so great that the kings of the world came to him on bended knee asking him to solve their problems, work out their battle strategy, choose their companions, and would not rest until he had seen them and given them the benefit of his experience. It"s not my fault if they didn"t listen . . ."
I pretended not to hear this last. "Yet he succ.u.mbed to a bronze-coin"s-worth of tawdry female," I said warmly. "Just like any other male. No magician worth his salt would even admit to-"
"Do you dare to question The Ancient?"
"Oh, I don"t question his mortality, his frailty: I do question, yes, whether he ever was the great magician he claimed to be!"
"Not claimed to be: is! Er . . . was."
"No! For no magician as great as that could possibly behave as vulnerably as you say; no sorcerer with his reputation could be so reduced by a mere woman-" I moved closer. "And no Master of Illusion worth anything could resist the temptation to try and con ordinary people into believing he was dead and gone, if only because he was too lazy to-"
"Lazy!" came an indignant voice. "I"ve never been accused of being lazy all my life! And I am the greatest!"
"Then stop mucking about, Ancient or whatever you call yourself," I said.
"Right! You"ve asked for it," he said, and materialized behind the owl.
The Gathering
The Ancient
"You"ve asked for it!" repeated The Ancient crossly, swatting at the owl, who fluttered onto his shoulder and shut its eyes again. "I"m not used to visitors, don"t want visitors! Anyway, you"ve come too soon-stop digging your claws in, Hoowi!-and I"m not ready . . ." and he went on grumbling and grousing to himself, a seamed old man with nut-brown wrinkles, bright blue eyes, long white hair and a longer tri-forked beard dyed yellow, red and blue. He wore a lopsided paper crown that kept slipping to one side, a mothy green velvet cloak edged with tarnished gold braid, and what looked like a rather lived-in yellow-woolly night robe. His feet were shoved in scuffed purple slippers; his fingernails looked chewed, although what teeth he had were decidedly rocky.
His voice was high, nasal and singsong; not lilting like Conn"s. His nose was rather large and definitely hooked; his ears stuck out, and behind the one that wasn"t saving the paper crown was a quill pen; round his neck hung a rope of blue gla.s.s beads.
"Done weighing me up?" he snapped, but I fancied the snap was as harmless as an old dog threatening flies.
I bowed: time for politeness and diplomacy. I had tried him very hard and he had let me, but I thought that so far he was merely amusing himself, pretending wrath merely to see me crumple at his feet in awe. My bow extended so far I could almost b.u.mp my forehead with my knees, for this man was an unknown quant.i.ty.
"Dear Sir," I began. "Am I correct in supposing that we have reached journey"s end? That I am, in fact, addressing The Ancient, a magician and sorcerer without parallel, whose reputation reaches far across the land?"
"That"s not what you said two minutes ago . . ."
"Ah, but then you were playing games with us. I may have seemed presumptuous, but I a.s.sure you it was the presumption of desperation. We have come so far, and it has been such a hard journey, and we are so-so in need of your help . . ." My voice quavered: I couldn"t help it.
"Indeed, sir, the little la.s.sie speaks only the truth." Conn"s hand was on my shoulder. "She can be a mite sharp-tongued perhaps, but this Thingummy has had one h.e.l.l of a life and you have only to look at her to know she is really as guileless as a newborn lamb. She-"
"I know, I know," said The Ancient. "You all are. Lambs to the slaughter, all of you; except perhaps the White One, and even he has been foolish enough to forget the rules of faery and lose his heart along with his horn . . . Never mind, never mind. Come, all of you: you are all welcome. We shall eat, and then we shall talk." He looked at me. "Here you, Flora who brought the Fauna," and he wheezed at some joke only he could understand, although I felt a sudden jolt of recognition I could not account for. "Go back into the cave. On a shelf you will find oatcakes, b.u.t.ter, honey and a flagon of mead, a crock of goat"s milk and some cheese . . ."
They were there as he said, and of course the silly skeleton had gone, as had the crystal curtain. Moglet had milk and cheese, Corby oatcakes and cheese, Puddy appeared to be devouring fireflies, though there were always as many again, but for Pisky there was something special: the old man scooped him up in his bowl, and sprinkled something into the water.
"Here, Emperor of the fishes: my de-luxe mixture."
This kept Pisky quiet for at least ten minutes, then I saw him glance down at his flanks, flirting his tail, standing on his head: "Emperor of the fishes, he called me. Did you ever! Emperor . . ."
At last I leant back, wiping my sticky mouth on the back of my hand: I was full. Any more and I should be uncomfortable. I looked round at the others.
Snowy was lying down, legs tucked under. Puddy had his eyes shut, which meant he was still chewing; he burped. Pisky was still. Corby groomed his uninjured wing, oiling it evenly with his beak. Moglet was licking her stomach, with long, even strokes that left sticky runnels on it. Conn was lying full-length on the gra.s.s, chin in hand, his rusty armour a discarded heap in the shadows. It was a still, warm night, with just the faintest breath of a mint- smelling breeze to touch our faces, ruffle my hair. Somewhere a bird still sang, sweet and low, and fireflies danced among the trees. Perfect.
"Now then," said The Ancient. "We shall talk . . ."
I do not remember what tongue we spoke; I know we all understood. One by one we told The Ancient who we were, how we met and why we were travelling together. It was thus I learnt more fully of Conn"s encounter with our Mistress and a little of what it had meant to Snowy, and less and less did it seem that our meetings were chance.
"So, you are bound together, all of you, by the unfortunate wiles of a powerful witch," mused The Ancient. His throne-like rock seat gave him an advantage, for sitting on it he was taller than any of us standing up, even Conn. "And so she is dead . . . I find it hard to believe she is gone, for she was an adversary worthy of even such as I, but she moved away to the east many, many years ago, so long that I have forgotten her name. Strange, for once I could recall her with ease . . . You are sure she is dead?"
We rea.s.sured him.
"One of the best Shape-Changers ever, too: I remember once . . . No matter."
He stroked his beard. "Not at her best recently, I gather. However, good as she was, I fancy I could give her a run for her money. Watch this!"
And as we gazed his edges grew blurred, then he disappeared completely, leaving in his place a white rabbit washing its whiskers. Then it wasn"t a rabbit but a hedgepig. Then a rather foolish-looking sheep. Then just a head, looking rather like Tom Trundleweed. Then a brightly spinning ball. Then nothing. Then The Ancient again.
He beamed at us. "How"s that for Shape-Changing, then?"
Conn applauded, clapping his hands, but I frowned. "That"s not Shape- Changing!"
"Then what is it, clever-sticks?" and he frowned, too.
"Illusion. Like your hedge. And a lot more here, I shouldn"t be surprised."
"You"re a fine one to talk of illusion!" He had half-risen from his seat, and Conn put a hand on my arm.
"Now then, Thingummy dear," he muttered. "You may be right and all that, but the laws of hospitality-"
I began to apologize, but The Ancient cut me short. "She"s right, you know, right in her own way. Comes of spending her formative years with that old b.i.t.c.h of a witch What"s-her-name . . . No, no apologies. I"m not a true Shape- Changer, but I am an Illusionist and, though I say it myself, the best!" He failed to look modest. "One can"t do everything, and I concentrated on what I did best. Worth remembering that: forget what you want to do, find something you do better than anyone else, even if it"s only t.u.r.d-throwing, and become undisputed champion: better a champion s.h.i.t-shoveller than a forty- second-rate turnip-carver . . . Where was I? Ah yes. Time-Traveller, too, and Master of Languages and the Crystal Ball. Not very good at the last: lost the old ball . . . Some are good at one thing, some at another. Never fancied the Resurrectionists, for example; there is always a price to pay for immortality, and sometimes it is far harder to render than the common coin of mortal clay.
And who knows what one might have to bear? Watching those one has loved pa.s.s into decay and die; perhaps seeing all one believes in, had fought for, pa.s.s into disrepute . . .
"The enchanted may mourn, but they may not weep: that relief is the only compensation for mortal grief. My friend, the White One, knows that, do you not?" And he nodded at Snowy, who bowed his head until I could see the maimed stump where his horn had been.
Without thinking I rose and went to his side and knelt down and kissed him.
"Never mind, dear one, The Ancient will help you find a new horn-you will, won"t you?" I asked anxiously. "We"ve come all this way . . . Forgive my rudeness and help them. Please?"
"Depends on what you want, doesn"t it? I can"t work miracles!"
"Sure and we don"t ask for the impossible, your Sagacity," said Conn earnestly, rising to his feet. "All we seek is your wisdom. As you said, it seems we are all enchanted by the same witch, and I, for one, will not believe that her spells cannot be broken."
"Broken, perhaps not: bent a little is what we seek. Never go at magic straight on, you"ll only bruise your hopes. Sneak round the edges if you can. It"s like Roman law: or," looking at Conn, "killing a boar, if you like. Get round to the flank." He blew his nose on an orange scarf he pulled from his cloak. "Now then, my White One, let"s begin with you: what do you wish for? You know, of course, that it would take far stronger powers than mine to undo the ill to your enchanted prince? Only a life, freely given, may release him, and then only to a Between-World . . . So, if it is possible, you would wish your horn to be restored?"
Snowy bowed his head, and I thought I could see the gleam of a tear in his eye.
"Yes, then if-if all else fails, I shall still have the right to rejoin my brethren in the west, and live out the rest of my life with them."
"Then I do have some hope for you; small hope, "tis true, but one grain of salt on an egg is better than none at all. The witch"s curse was powerful enough, but there was more concentration on the boy than on you, and I am fairly sure, from what you said, that she cut off the closing words that stifle all hope.
"Your horn, my friend, may be restored by one thing and one thing alone: a fresh drop of dragon"s blood, freely given!"
"But that is not fair!" burst out Conn, coming over to Snowy"s side. "There are no dragons! They all died out-oh, hundreds of years ago! You"re just saying something to comfort the poor old thing that can"t possibly come true, and that"s the cruellest kind of hope-"
"Wait!!" thundered The Ancient, and for a moment, behind the doddery old man who rose unsteadily from his seat, I caught a glimpse of another, a tall stern-faced warrior wearing purple and blue and carrying a wand in his right hand . . . Then the vision faded, but it was my turn to catch at Conn"s arm, anxious not to offend.
"Yes, wait, my dear . . ."
"For, if I mistake me not, all your problems resolve around the same end,"
said the old man, slowly resuming his seat, as if there had been no interruption. "Tell me now, Connor O"Connell, as you seem to like the sound of your own voice. What is your heart"s desire?"
"My desire? Why sure and that"s plain enough to see. My sword, my father"s sword, is snapped in two and needs to be made whole; my armour is rusted past polishing and I want it once more bright!"
"And then?"
"Then? Oh, I see. Well, then I would go off to Frankish lands or Germanica and hire myself out as a mercenary, or maybe even seek adventure farther abroad. There is money to be made in service, you know, and perhaps more as free-sword."