Quest for Lost Heroes

CHAPTER FIVE

Maggrig's fever-induced weakness lasted a further five days, during which time Chareos continued to teach Kiall the elementary moves of swordplay. Beltzer, his mood foul, took to walking alone in the mountain woods. Finn spent much of the time in his workshop, completing a new long-bow.

The snow all but disappeared from around the cabin, and the sun shone with summer warmth over the mountains.

On the morning of the sixth day, as the questors prepared to set off for the Valley of the Shrieking Gateway, Finn called Beltzer to his workshop. The others gathered round as the hunter pulled clear a brass-bound oak chest from its hiding place beneath a bench seat. Finn opened the chest and lifted out a long object, wrapped in oiled skins. He placed it on the bench-top and cut the thong bindings with his hunting-knife. He gestured to Beltzer. 'It's yours. Take it.'

The giant unwrapped the skins and there lay a gleaming, double-headed axe. The haft and handle were as long as a man's arm — oiled oak and reinforced with silver wire. The heads were curved and sharp, acid-etched and decorated with silver runes. Beltzer's hand curled around the haft, lifting the weapon.

'Nice to have it back,' he said and, without another word, stalked from the workshop.

'Ignorant, ungrateful pig,' stormed Maggrig. 'He didn't even say thank you.'

Finn shrugged, and gave a rare smile. 'It is enough that he has it,' he said.

'But it cost you a fortune. We had no salt for two years, and precious little else.'

'Forget it. It is past.'

Chareos moved forward and placed his hand on Finn's shoulder. That was nobly done. He wasn't the same man without that axe. He sold it while drunk in Talgithir and never knew what became of it.'

'I know. Let's be on our way.'

The journey to the Valley took three days. They saw no sign of any Nadren, and only once caught sight of a single rider far to the south. The air was thin here and the questors talked little. At night they sat beside camp-fires, but slept early and rose with the dawn.

Kiall found it a curious time. It was an adventure, full of promise — yet these men, these comrades of war, hardly spoke at all. When they did it was to discuss the weather, or the preparation of food. Not once did they mention the Gateway, or the Nadir, or the quest. And when Kiall tried to introduce such topics to the conversation they were brushed aside with shrugs.

The Valley proved an anti-climax to Kiall. It was just like several others they had journeyed through, its pine-cloaked flanks dropping away into a deep cleft between the mountains. There were meadows at the base, and a stream ran along its length. Deer moved across the gentle hills, and there were sheep and goats grazing close by.

Finn and Maggrig chose a camp-site, removed their packs, took up their bows and moved off to hunt for supper. Chareos climbed a nearby hill and scanned the surrounding countryside while Beltzer prepared a fire and sat, watching the flames flicker and dance.

Kiall seated himself opposite the bald giant. 'It is a beautiful axe,' he said.

The best,' grunted Beltzer. 'It is said that Druss the Legend had an axe from the Elder Days that never showed rust, and never lost its edge. But I don't believe it was better than this one.'

'You carried that at Bel-azar?'

Beltzer glanced up, his small, round eyes fixing to Kiall.

'What is this fascination you have with that place? You weren't there — you don't know what it was like.'

'It was glorious. It is part of our history,' said Kiall. The few against the many. It was a time of heroes.'

'It was a time of survivors — like all wars. There were good men there who died on the first day, and cowards who lasted almost until the end. There were thieves there, and men who had raped or murdered. There was the stench of open bowels, and split entrails. There was screaming and begging, and whimpering. There was nothing good about Bel-azar. Nothing.'

'But you won,' persisted Kiall. 'You were honoured throughout the land.'

'Aye, that was good — the honour, I mean. The parades and the banquets, and the women. I never had so many women. Young ones, old ones, fat ones, thin ones: they couldn't wait to open their legs for a hero of Bel-azar. That was the real glory of it, boy — what came after. By the gods, I'd sell my soul for a drink!'

'Does Chareos feel as you do — about Bel-azar, I mean?'

Beltzer chuckled. 'He thinks I don't know… but I know. The Blademaster had a wife,' he said, twisting his head to check that Chareos was still high upon the hill. 'Gods, she was a beauty. Dark hair that gleamed like it was oiled, and a body shaped by Heaven. Tura, that was her name. She was a merchant's daughter. Man, was he glad to be rid of her! Anyway, Chareos took her off his hands and built a house for her. Nice place. Good garden. They'd been married maybe four months when she took her first lover. He was a scout for the Sabres — just the first of many men who romped in the bed Chareos made for her. And him? The Blademaster, the deadliest swordsman I ever saw? He knew nothing. He bought her presents, constantly talked about her. And we all knew. Then he found out… I don't know how. That was just before Bel-azar. Man, did he try to die! He tried harder than anyone. But that's what makes life such a bitch, isn't it? No one could kill him. Short sword and dagger he carried, and his life was charmed. Mind you, he had me alongside him and I don't kill easy. When the Nadir rode away you've never seen a man so disappointed.'

Kiall said nothing but gazed into the fire, lost in thought.

'Shocked you, did I, boy?' said Beltzer. 'Well, life's full of shocks. It's all insane. There never was a better husband. Gods, he loved her. You know where she ended up?'

Kiall shook his head.

'She became a whore in New Gulgothir. The Blademas-ter doesn't know that but I saw her there, plying her trade by the docks. Two copper coins.' Beltzer laughed. 'Two of her front teeth were gone, and she wasn't so beautiful. I had her then. Two copper coins' worth. In an alley. She begged me to take her with me; she'd go anywhere, she said. Do anything for me. She said she had no friends, and nowhere to stay.'

'What happened to her?' whispered Kiall.

'She threw herself from the docks and died. They found her floating among the scum and the sewage.'

'Why did you hate her?' asked Kiall. 'She did nothing to you.'

'Hate her? I suppose I did. I'll tell you why. Because in all the time she was cuckolding Chareos, she never once offered it to me. She treated me like dirt.'

'Would you have accepted?'

'Sure I would. I told you, she was beautiful.'

Kiall looked into Beltzer's face and remembered the song of Bel-azar. Then he looked away and added fuel to the fire.

'Don't want to talk any more, young Kiall?' asked Beltzer.

'Some things it is better not to hear,' said the villager. 'I wish you hadn't told me.'

'Whores' lives don't make pretty stories.'

'No, I suppose they don't. But I wasn't thinking of her; I was thinking of you. Your story is as disgusting as hers.'

Kiall rose and walked away. The sun was fading, the shadows lengthening. He found Chareos sitting on a fallen tree, gazing at the sunset. The sky was aglow, red banners flowing over the mountains.

'It is beautiful,' said Kiall. 'I have always enjoyed the sunset.'

'You are a romantic,' stated Chareos.

'Is that bad?'

'No, it is the best way to live. I felt that way once — and I was never happier.' Chareos stood and stretched his back. 'Hold on to your dreams, Kiall. They are more important than you realise.'

'I shall. Tell me, do you like Beltzer?'

Chareos laughed aloud and the sound, rich and full of good humour, echoed in the valley. 'No one likes Beltzer,' he said. 'Least of all Beltzer.'

Then why do you have him with you? Why did Finn buy his axe?'

'You are the dreamer, Kiall. You tell me.'

'I don't know. I can't imagine. He is so gross; his speech is vile, and he doesn't understand friendship or loyalty.'

Chareos shook his head. 'Don't judge him by his words, my friend. If I was standing alone down there in the valley, surrounded by a hundred Nadir warriors, and I called his name, he would come running. He would do the same for Finn, or Maggrig.'

'I find that hard to believe,' said Kiall.

'Let us hope you never see the proof of it.'

At dawn the next morning the questors moved north into the shadowed pine woods, following a deer trail that wound down to a shallow stream. This they waded across, climbing a short, steep slope to a clearing beyond. The wind gusted and an eerie, high-pitched scream echoed around them. Finn and Maggrig leapt from the trail, vanishing into the undergrowth. Beltzer lifted his axe from the sheath at his side, spat upon his hands, and waited. Chareos stood unmoving, hand on sword-hilt.

Kiall found his limbs trembling and suppressed the urge to turn and sprint from the clearing. The scream came again, an ululating howl that chilled the blood. Chareos walked on, Beltzer following. Sweat dripping into his eyes, Kiall could not bring himself to move. He sucked in a deep breath and forced himself forward.

At the centre of the clearing, some fifty paces away, stood a huge stone edifice and before it, on lances decorated with feathers and coloured stones, were two severed heads.

Kiall could not tear his eyes from the shrunken faces. The eye-sockets were empty, but the mouths trembled with each scream. Maggrig and Finn stepped back into view.

'Can we not stop that noise?' hissed Beltzer and Chareos nodded. He walked swiftly to the first lance and held his hand behind the severed head. The scream stopped instantly. Chareos lifted the head and placed it on the ground, then repeated the action with the second. All was silent now, save for the gusting wind. The other questors approached. Chareos squatted down and lifted the silent head, turning it in his hands. Taking his hunting-knife he plunged it deep through the scalp, peeling back the skin, which stretched impossibly before snapping clear of the wooden skull beneath. Chareos stood and lifted the wood to his lips — immediately the blood-curdling scream sounded. He tossed the object to Finn. 'It is merely a kind of flute,' said the former monk. 'The winds enter through the three holes in the base, and the reeds set in the mouth supply the sound. But it is beautifully crafted.' Stooping, he gathered the skin, lifting it by the hair. 'I do not know what this is,' he said, 'but it is not human flesh. See, the hair has been stitched in place.'

Kiall picked up the second head and looked closely at it. It was difficult to know now why it had inspired such fear. He turned it. The wind whistled through it and a low moan came out. Kiall jumped and dropped the head, cursing himself even as the others laughed.

Chareos moved on to the edifice. There were two stone pillars, twelve feet high and three feet square, covered with an engraved script he did not recognise. An enormous lintel sat above the pillars, creating the impression of a gateway. Chareos squatted before it, running his eyes over the script.

Kiall moved around to the rear. There are symbols here,' he said, 'and the stone seems a different colour. Whiter, somehow…" He stepped forward.

'Stop!' yelled Chareos. 'Do not attempt to pass through.'

'Why?' Kiall asked.

Chareos picked up a round pebble. 'Catch this,' he said, tossing it through the opening. Kiall opened his hands, but the stone vanished from sight. 'Throw one to me,' commanded the Blademaster. Kiall obeyed. Again the pebble disappeared.

'Well, do we go through?' asked Beltzer.

'Not yet,' Chareos told him. 'Tell me again all that Okas told you of the Gateway.'

'There was precious little. It leads to another world. That is all.'

'Did he not say it leads to many worlds?'

'Yes,' admitted Beltzer, 'but we do not know how the magic works.'

'Exactly,' said Chareos. 'Did Okas give an indication of when he would pass through the Gateway. Daytime, midnight, sunset?'

'Not as I recall. Is it important?'

'Did he say which side he entered, north or south?'

'No. Let's just go through and see what we find,' urged Beltzer.

Chareos stood. 'Take my hand, and hold to it tightly. Count to five, then draw me back.' He moved to the entrance and held out his arm. Beltzer gripped his wrist and Chareos leaned forward, his head slowly disappearing from view. Beltzer felt the body sag — he did not count, but dragged Chareos back. The Blademaster's face was white, and ice had formed on his moustache; his lips were blue with cold. Beltzer laid him down on the grass, while Finn began rubbing at the frozen skin. After a while Chareos' eyes opened; he stared angrily at Beltzer.

'I said count to five,' he said. 'Not five thousand.'

'You were in there for only a few heartbeats,' Finn told him. 'What did you see?'

'Heartbeats? It was an hour at least on the other side. I saw nothing, save snow and ice blizzards. Not a sign of life. And there were three moons in the sky.' He sat up.

'What can we do?' asked Beltzer.

'Build a fire. I'll think on it. But tell me everything you can remember about Okas and his tribe. Everything.'

Beltzer squatted down on the grass beside Chareos. 'It's not a great deal, Blademaster. I never had much of a memory for detail. They call themselves the People of the World's Dream, but I don't know what that means. Okas tried to explain it to me, but I lost hold of it — the words roared around my head like snowflakes. I think they see the world as a living thing, like an enormous god. But they worship a one-eyed goddess called the Huntress, and they see the moon as her blind eye. The sun is her good eye. That's all.'

Finn lit the fire and joined the two men. 'I have seen them,' he said. 'In the mountains. They move at night — hunting, I think.'

'Then we will wait for moonlight,' said Chareos. 'Then we shall try again.'

The hours passed slowly. Finn cooked a meal of venison, the last of the choice cuts he had taken from the deer killed the previous evening. Beltzer wrapped himself in his blankets and slept, his hand on his axe. Kiall wandered away from the fire, walking to the crest of a nearby hill. There he sat down alone and thought of Ravenna, picturing the surge of joy she would feel when he rode to her. He shivered, and depression struck him like a blow. Would he ever ride to her? And if he did would she just laugh, as she had laughed before? Would she point to her new husband and say, 'He is my man. He is strong, not a dreamer like you'?

A sound came from behind and Kiall turned to see Finn walking towards him. 'You wish to be alone?' asked Finn.

'No, not at all.'

Finn sat down and stared over the rugged countryside. 'This is a beautiful land,' he said, 'and it will remain so until people discover it and build their towns and cities. I could live here until my dying day — and never regret it.'

'Maggrig told me you hated city life,' said Kiall. The hunter nodded.

'I don't mind the endless stone and brick — it's the people. After Bel-azar we were dragged from city to city so that crowds could gawp at us. You would have thought we were gods at the very least. We all hated it — save Beltzer. He was in a kind of Heaven. Chareos was the first to say, "No more". One morning he just rode away.'

'He has had a sad life, I understand,' said Kiall.

'Sad? In what way?'

'His wife. Beltzer told me about it.'

'Beltzer has a big mouth, and a man's private business should remain so. I saw her in New Gulgothir three years ago. She is happy at last.'

'She is dead,' said Kiall. 'She became a street whore and killed herself.'

Finn shook his head. 'Yes, Beltzer told me that but it's not true. She was a whore, but she married a merchant — bore him three sons. As far as I know they are still together. She told me she had seen Beltzer — it was the lowest point of her life. That I can believe. Every time I see Beltzer I feel the same way. No, Beltzer heard of a whore who drowned and the rest was wishful thinking. She was happy when I saw her — for the first time in her life. I was pleased for her.'

'You did not hate her, then?'

'Why should I hate her?' asked Finn.

'She betrayed Chareos,' Kiall answered.

'She was sold to him by her father. She never loved him. She was fey and high-spirited — reminded me of a fawn I saw once. I was hunting and the creature saw me. It did not recognise a bow or a hunter, it had no fear. When I stood with bow bent, it trotted towards me. I dropped the arrow and the fawn nuzzled my hand. Then it went its way. Tura was like that. A fawn in search of a hunter.'

'You liked her, then?'

Finn said nothing but stood and walked back down the hill. The sun was setting, and a ghostly moon could be seen shimmering behind the clouds.

Chareos waited as the moon rose higher. Silver light bathed the clearing and the ancient stone Gateway shimmered and gleamed like cold iron. He stood and rolled his head, stretching the muscles of shoulder and neck, trying to ease the tension born of fear. Something deep within him flickered, a silent voice urging him to beware. He sensed himself on the verge of a journey that would take him where he did not want to go, on pathways dark and perilous. There were no words of warning, merely a feeling of cold dread.

'Are you ready then?' asked Beltzer. 'Or would you like me to try it?'

Chareos did not reply. He walked to the Gateway and held out his arm. Beltzer gripped his wrist as he leaned forward, half his body disappearing. Seconds later he drew back.

'I do not know if that is the place, but it fits the description. There is jungle beyond. The sun is bright.' He swung towards Maggrig and Finn. 'I need only Beltzer with me. The rest of you should stay here and await our return.'

'I get bored just sitting,' said Finn. 'We'll come with you.'

Chareos nodded. 'Then let us go, before good sense can assert itself.'

He turned — and was gone from sight. Beltzer followed him, Maggrig and Finn stepped through together. Kiall found himself alone in the clearing. His heart was beating wildly and fear surged through him. For several heartbeats he stood rooted and then, with a wild cry, he leapt through the Gateway — cannoning into Beltzer's back and sprawling to the mud-covered trail. Beltzer swore, leaned down and hoisted Kiall to his feet. Kiall smiled apologetically and looked around. Huge trees festooned with vines surrounded them. Plants with leaves like spears, and heavy purple flowers, grew at their bases. The heat was oppressive and the questors began to sweat heavily in their winter clothes. But what impressed Kiall most was the smell — overpowering and cloying, decaying vegetation mixed with the musky scent of numberless flowers, plants and fungoid growths. A throaty roar sounded from some distance to their left, answered by a cacophony of chittering cries in the trees above them. Small, dark creatures with long tails leapt from branch to branch, or swung on vines.

'Are they demons?' whispered Beltzer.

No one answered him. Chareos looked back at the Gateway. On this side it shone like silver and the runic script was smaller, punctuated by symbols of the moon and stars. He gazed up at the sun.

'It is near noon here,' he said. 'At noon tomorrow we will make our way back. Now, I would suggest we follow this trail and see if we can locate a village. What do you think, Finn?'

'It is as good an idea as any. I will mark the trail, in case any should become lost.' Finn drew his hunting-knife and carved an arrow-head pointing at the gateway. Beside it he sliced the number 10. 'That represents paces. I will swing a wide circle around our trail, marking trunks in this manner. If we do become separated, seek out the signs.' Aware that Finn was directing his remarks to him, Kiall nodded.

The group set off warily, following a meandering trail for almost an hour. In that time Finn disappeared often, moving to the left and reappearing from the right. The small, dark creatures in the trees travelled with them, occasionally dropping to the lower branches, where they hung from their tails and screeched at the newcomers. Birds with glorious plumages of red and green and blue sat on tree-limbs preening their feathers with curved beaks.

At the end of the hour Chareos called a halt. The heat was incredible and their clothes were soaked with perspiration. 'We are travelling roughly south-east,' Chareos told Kiall. 'Remember that.'

A movement came from the undergrowth to their right. The spearlike leaves parted. . and a monstrous head came into sight. The face was semi-human and black as pitch, the eyes small and round. It had long sharp fangs and, as it reared to its full height of around six feet, its enormous arms and shoulders came into view. Beltzer dragged clear his axe and let out a bellowing battle-cry. The creature blinked and stared.

'Move on. Slowly,' said Chareos. Warily the group continued on the trail, Chareos leading and Finn, an arrow notched to his curved hunting bow, bringing up the rear.

'What an obscenity,' whispered Kiall, glancing back at the silent creature standing on the trail behind them.

'That's no way to talk about Beltzer's mother,' said Maggrig. 'Didn't you notice the way they recognised each other?' Finn and Chareos chuckled. Beltzer swore. The trail widened and dropped away towards a low bowl-shaped depression, cleared of trees. There were round huts there, and cooking-fires still burned. But no one would use them. Bodies lay everywhere — some on the ground, some impaled, others nailed to trees at the edge of the village. Huge, bloated birds covered many of the corpses or sat in squat and ugly rows along the roofs.

'I think we've found the Tattooed People,' said Finn.

Kiall sat on the slope above the devastated village and watched his companions moving about the ruins. Finn and Maggrig skirted the round huts, reading sign, while Beltzer and Chareos walked from hut to hut looking for survivors. There were none. Kiall felt a sense of despair creeping over him. This was the third time in his young life that he had seen the results of a raid. In the first Ravenna had been taken, but other, older, women had been raped or abused. Men had been slain. In the second he had witnessed — and taken part in — a wild, frenzied slashing of swords and knives, his blood hot, fired by a need to kill. Now here was the third — and the worst of all. From his vantage point he could see the bodies of women and children, and even his unskilled eye could read the mindless savagery which had taken place here. This was no slave raid. The Tattooed People had been exterminated.

After a while Maggrig shouldered his bow and strode up to sit alongside Kiall.

'It is revolting down there,' said the hunter. 'It seems that nothing was taken in the raid. Some two hundred warriors surrounded the village earlier today, moved in and killed almost everyone. There are some tracks leading north and it looks as if small groups of the Tattooed People fought clear and fled. Maybe a dozen. But they were followed.'

'Why would anyone do this, Maggrig? What is gained by it?'

The hunter spread his hands. 'There is no answer I can give you. I took part in a raid on a Nadir camp once. We had found several of our men tortured over camp-fires, their eyes burned out. We followed the raiders to their village and captured them. Our officer, a cultured man, ordered all the children to be brought out to stand before the captives. Then he slew them in front of their parents. After that the Nadir were hanged. He told us the Nadir did not fear death, so to kill them was no real punishment. But to butcher their children before their eyes — that was justice.' Maggrig fell silent.

Kiall looked back at the village. 'There is no justice in any of it,' he said. The others joined them and the group moved back from the slope to make camp. Finn was unable to light a fire because the wood was too damp, and the questors sat in a circle, saying little.

'Was Okas among the dead?' asked Kiall.

Chareos shrugged. 'Difficult to tell. Many of the corpses have been stripped almost clean, but I saw no tattooes I could remember."

'Have we arrived in the midst of a war between them?'

'No,' answered Finn. 'The Tattooed People are small, and pigeon-toed. The tracks of the raiders show them to be tall. I found this,' he went on, pulling a broken gold wristband from the pocket of his deerskin jerkin. Behzer gasped as he saw it.

'Sweet Heaven!' he exclaimed. 'How heavy is it?' Finn tossed it to him. 'It must be worth around a hundred Raq,' said the giant.

'The owner threw it away when it broke,' said Finn. 'Gold cannot be worth that much here.'

'It isn't,' agreed Chareos, producing a small, barbed arrow-head — it too was gold.

'I am beginning to like it here,' remarked Beltzer. 'We could go back to Gothir as rich men.'

'Let us be content to be going back as live men,' snapped Chareos.

'I am with you on that,' whispered Finn, holding out his hand to Beltzer, who reluctantly returned the wristband.

Chareos rose. 'It is coming on towards dusk,' he said. 'I think we should make our way back to the Gate and camp there.' He shouldered his pack and led the others towards the north-west. They moved warily, stopping often while Finn scouted the trail ahead, and Kiall grew increasingly nervous. There would be little chance of hearing the approach of a legion of enemy warriors, not above the cluttering of the dark creatures in the trees, the distant roar of hunting cats and the rushing of unseen rivers and streams. He kept close to Chareos, Beltzer bringing up the rear with his huge axe in his hands.

Up ahead Finn dropped to his haunches, raising his arm and pumping his fist three times in the air. Then he rolled to the left and out of sight. Maggrig ducked into the undergrowth, followed swiftly by Chareos and Beltzer. Kiall stood for a moment alone on the trail. Three tall warriors came into sight, dragging a young woman; they saw Kiall and stopped, perplexed. They were tall men, bronze of skin with dark, straight hair. Gold glittered on their arms and ankles. Two of them carried weapons of dark wood, while the third had a long knife of burnished gold. They wore necklets of coloured stone, and their faces were streaked with many colours. The woman was small, her skin copper-coloured. On her brow was a blue tattoo. She wore only a loincloth of animal skin.

Slowly Kiall drew his sabre. One of the warriors screamed a war-cry and ran at him, his wooden club raised high. Kiall dropped into the sideways crouch Chareos had taught him, then sprang forward, the sabre lancing the man's chest. The bronze warrior staggered back as the sword slid clear. He looked down at the wound, saw the blood burst from it and slumped face first to the ground. The young woman tore herself free of her captors and ran down the trail towards Kiall who stepped aside to let her pass. The remaining warriors stood, uncertain. But from behind them came a score more of their comrades.

Kiall plunged left into the undergrowth as the hunters rushed forward. The ground dropped away and he lost his footing, slipping and sliding down a mud-covered slope to land in a sprawling heap at the bottom.

Half winded, he struggled to rise. Gathering his sabre he glanced up: the bronze warriors were coming down towards him. Spinning on his heel, he raced down a narrow trail. Broad, overhanging leaves lashed at his face, thorn-covered branches ripping at his clothes. Twice he slipped and fell, but the bloodcurdling cries of the pursuing hunters fed his panic, giving strength to his flight.

Where were his friends? Why were they not helping Aim?

He forced his way through a last section of dense undergrowth and emerged on the muddy bank of a great river, wider than the lakes of his homeland. His breathing was ragged, his ears filled with the drumming of his heart.

Where can I go?

He had lost all sense of direction and thick, lowering clouds obscured the sun. He heard shouts from his left and swinging to the right, he ran along the river-bank.

A huge dragon reared from the water, its elongated mouth rimmed with teeth. Kiall screamed, and leapt back from the river's edge. A spear sliced the air by his head and he turned in time to see a bronze warrior diving at him. The warrior crashed into Kiall, hurling them both back towards the river-bank. His sabre knocked from his hand, Kiall surged up and crashed his fist into the man's face, knocking him sideways. The warrior sprang upright but Kiall leapt feet-first, his boots thudding against the man's chest and propelling him back into the dark water. As the warrior struggled to the surface and began to wade ashore, the dragon's head reared behind him, the monstrous jaws clamping home on his leg. He let out an agonising scream and began to stab at the monster's scaled hide with a golden knife. Blood billowed to the river's surface and Kiall watched in horror as the warrior was dragged from sight.

Kiall tore his eyes from the scene and took up his sabre. He scanned the trees for sign of the enemy. A sudden movement behind made him spin round with sword raised. It was the young woman and she waved him towards where she was hidden in the undergrowth. He ran to her, dropped to his knees and crawled inside the spike-leaved bushes. Carefully she eased leaves back across the opening.

Within seconds more of the enemy arrived on the scene. They stood at the river-side, watching the struggle between the dying warrior and the dragon. When it was over the hunters squatted in a circle and^spoke in low voices; one pointed up the trail, and it seemed to Kiall they were arguing about which direction to take. A large spider, hairless and bloated, crawled on to Kiall's hand. He stifled a scream. The girl swiftly leaned over him, plucking the insect from his skin and carefully placing it on a leaf.

The hunters rose and moved off into the jungle.

Kiall lay back and smiled at the young woman. She did not respond in kind, but touched her hand to her breast, then to her brow, then pressed her ringers to Kiall's mouth. Not knowing how to respond, Kiall lifted her hand and kissed it. She settled down beside him, closed her eyes and slept.

For some time he lay awake, too frightened to leave the sanctuary of the undergrowth. Then he too drifted off into a light doze — and awoke with the moon shining high above the trees. The woman sat up and crawled into the open. Kiall followed. She whispered something to him, but it was a language he had never heard.

'Okas?' he asked. Her head tilted. 'I am looking for Okas.'

She shrugged and trotted off along the river-bank. He followed her through the moonlit jungle, up over hills and rises, down through vine-choked archways and on to a wide cave where she stopped outside and held out her hand. He took it and was led inside. Torches flickered and he saw more than thirty of the Tattooed People sitting around fires built within circles of stone. Two young men approached them. After the woman had spoken to them for a few moments, he was led further into the cave.

An old man, near toothless, sat cross-legged on a high rock. His body was completely covered in tattooes and his lower face was stained blue, as if emulating a beard and an upturned moustache.

The woman spoke to the old man, whose face remained expressionless throughout. Finally she turned to Kiall and dropped to her knees. Taking his hand she kissed it twice, then rose and was gone.

'I am Okas,' said the old man.

'I am. .' Kiall began.

'I know who you are. What do you want of me?"

'Your help.'

'Why should I seek to aid the soul of Tenaka Khan?'

'I do not know what you are talking about,' said Kiall. 'I am seeking to rescue a woman I love — that is all.'

'Where is fat Beltzer?'

'I lost them when we were attacked.'

'By the Azhtacs, this also I know! Give me your hand.' Kiall reached out and Okas took his hand and turned it palm upwards. 'You lost your woman — and yet not your woman. And now you are on a quest you do not understand, that will determine the fate of a people you do not know. Truly, Kiall, you are a part of the World's Dream.'

'But will you help me? Chareos says you can follow spirit trails; he says that without you we will never find Ravenna.'

The old man released his hand. 'My people are finished now, the day of the Azhtacs has dawned. But soon another day will dawn, and the Azhtacs will see the destruction of their homes, the torment of their people. Yet that gives me no pleasure. And I do not wish to be here when they come for my children. I had thought to die tonight, quietly, here on this stone. But now I will come with you and die on another stone. Then I will join the World's Dream.'

'I don't know how to thank you,' said Kiall.

'Come,' said the old man, dropping to the floor beside him, 'let us find the ghosts-yet-to-be.'

Chareos dragged his sword clear of the dying Azhtac and swung to see if any of his companions needed help. Beltzer was standing over a dead warrior with axe raised. Maggrig and Finn had sheathed their knives and notched arrows to their bows. Nine dead Azhtacs lay sprawled around them. Chareos glanced up at the sun; it was almost noon and the silver-grey Gateway beckoned him.

'Where in Bar's name is Kiall?' hissed Chareos.

Finn joined him. 'I marked as many trees as I could, Chareos. I think he must be dead.'

Beltzer dropped to his knees beside a corpse and began to tug at the gold circlet the man wore on his brow. At that moment Maggrig shouted a warning and a large group of Azhtacs raced from the trees. 'Back!' shouted Chareos. Beltzer cursed and rose. Maggrig and Finn ran through the Gateway. Beltzer raised his axe and bellowed a battle-cry and the Azhtacs slowed. Beltzer turned and sprinted through the Gate, followed by Chareos.

The moonlight was bright on the other side, and the cold was numbing after the heat of the jungle. A spear flashed through the Gateway, striking the ground and half burying itself in the snow. Beltzer moved to one side of the Gateway; when an arm and a head showed through, his axe smashed into the head, catapulting the man back through the opening. Then there was silence.

'All that gold,' said Beltzer, 'and I didn't get a single piece of it.'

'You have your life,' Finn told him.

Beltzer swung on him. 'And what is that worth?'

'Enough!' roared Chareos. 'We have a comrade on the other side. Now cease your arguing and let me think.'

Within a circle of boulders, within sight of the Gateway, Maggrig lit a fire and they all gathered around it. 'You want to go back, Blademaster?' asked Maggrig.

'I don't know, my friend. We were lucky to escape the first time. I should think they would place guards on the Gate — and that makes it doubly perilous.'

'I think we should go back,' said Beltzer. 'I'm willing to risk it.'

'For the boy or the gold?' asked Maggrig.

'For both, if you must know,' Beltzer snapped.

Chareos shook his head. 'No,' he said, 'that would be foolhardy. Kiail is alone there, but he is a resourceful lad. Finn marked the trees and if he still lives Kiall will follow the trail back to the Gate. We will wait for him here.'

'And what if you are right about guards, eh?' enquired Beltzer. 'How will he get past those?'

'My guess is that they will be watching the Gate to see who passes from this side. He may have an opportunity to run at it.'

'Aren't you forgetting something, Chareos?' asked Mag-grig. 'If he chooses the wrong time, there is no knowing where the Gate will take him.'

'As I said, he is resourceful. We wait.'

For some time they sat in silence. The wind picked up, gusting the snow around them; the fire spluttered and little heat seemed to emanate from it. 'We could freeze to death waiting here,' grumbled Beltzer. 'At least it is warmer on the other side.'

'It is colder than it ought to be,' remarked Finn suddenly. 'When we left the thaw had set in. The weather should not have turned so swiftly.'

'It has not necessarily been swift,' said Chareos, drawing his cloak more tightly about his frame. 'When I first looked beyond the Gate I seemed to be there, frozen, unable to move, for an hour at least. You said it was but a few heartbeats. Well, we were beyond the gate for a day — that could be a week here, or a month.'

'It better not have been a month, Blademaster,' said Maggrig softly. 'If it is, we are trapped in this valley for the winter. And there is not enough game.'

'Rubbish!' snorted Beltzer. 'We would just pass through the Gate and wait for a few of their days, returning in spring. Isn't that right, Chareos?'

The Blademaster nodded.

'Well, what are we waiting for?' asked Beltzer. 'Let's go back and find the lad.'

Finn bit back an angry response as Beltzer pushed himself to his feet. Just then a spark lifted from the fire and hung in the air, swelling slowly into a glowing ball. Beltzer's mouth dropped open and he took up his axe. Chareos and the others stared at the floating sphere — watching, astonished, as it grew to the size of a man's head. The colour faded until the globe was almost transparent and they could see the Gate reflected there, and the snow gusting around it. Finn gasped as two tiny figures showed inside the sphere, stepping through the miniature Gateway.

'It is Okas,' said Beltzer, peering at the ball. 'And the lad with him.' He spun round, but the real Gateway was empty. The scene inside the floating sphere shimmered and changed; now they could see Finn's cabin, and a warm fire glowing in the hearth. Okas was seated cross-legged before the blaze, his eyes closed. Kiall sat at the table.

The sphere vanished.

'He found the old boy,' said Beltzer. 'He found Okas.'

'Yes, and arrived back before us,' continued Finn.

The four men stood. Chareos doused the fire and they set off through the snow.

In the cabin Okas opened his eyes. 'They come,' he said.

'I had begun to give up hope,' replied Kiall. 'Twelve days is a long time to be trapped in that jungle.'

Okas chuckled. They left before we did. But I know how to use the Gate.' He stood and stretched. A small man, no more than five feet tall, he was round-shouldered and pot-bellied. He could have been any age from sixty to a hundred, and looked as if a stiff breeze could snap his bones. Yet he had walked through the snow clad only in a loin-cloth and had appeared to suffer no discomfort, neither through cold nor exhaustion. And he left barely a print on the snow, as if his weight was no more than that of a bird. He looked up at Kiall. 'So tell me all you know about the Great Khan.'

'Why are you interested? I don't understand,' said Kiall.

'I was here when he led his armies into Drenai lands,' Okas told him. 'And again when they marched against Bel-azar. Strong man, the Khan. Great man, perhaps. But he is dead, yes?'

'I don't know much about him. He conquered the Drenai and the Vagrians. He died some years ago; he is buried in the tomb of Ulric.'

'No, he is not,' said Okas. 'He is buried in an unmarked grave. But I know where it is. How did he die?'

'I do not know. His heart gave out, I would suppose. That is how most people die — even kings. Are you sure Chareos is coming?'

Okas nodded. He poured himself a goblet of water. 'I sent them a message. They come. Fat Beltzer is disappointed. He wanted to go back through to the jungle to find you — and to be rich. Fat Beltzer always wanted to be rich.'

'He is your friend?'

'All men are my friends,' said Okas. 'We are all of the Dream. But, yes, I like very much fat Beltzer.'

'Why? What is there to like?' Kiall asked.

'Ask me again in half a year. I will sleep now. I am older than I look.'

Kiall thought that barely credible, but he said nothing. Okas sat down before the fire, crossed his arms and slept upright. Kiall blew out the lantern and lay back on the bed by the wall.

The others were coming. The search for Ravenna was under way.

He slept without dreams.

It was a further two days before the exhausted travellers reached the sanctuary of the cabin. Beltzer was the first inside. He hoisted Okas into a bear-hug and spun him round until the little man laughed delightedly. 'How come you still live, fat man?' he asked. 'How come no one kill you yet?'

They do keep trying,' replied Beltzer. He put the old man down and stared closely at his wrinkled skin and rheumy eyes. 'By the Source, you look all but dead yourself.'

'Soon,' said Okas, smiling. 'The Dream calls. But I will stay a little while with my old friends.' He turned to Chareos, who had shed his ice-covered cloak and was stripping his wet clothes from him and standing before the fire shivering. 'You and I, we speak,' Okas said. 'Back room good place.'

'This minute?'

'Yes,' answered Okas, moving through to the workshop. Chareos pulled a fresh tunic from his pack and dressed, then he walked to where Okas waited. The old man reached out and took his hand, holding it firmly for several seconds. 'Sit down,' he ordered, 'and tell me of quest.'

Chareos explained about the raid on the village, and Kiall's love for Ravenna. The others are coming along for different reasons. Beltzer is a lost soul, down from the mountain. Finn fears his death will leave Maggrig alone.'

'And you?'

'Me? I have nothing better to do with my life.'

'Is that true, Chareos? Do you not carry a dream?'

'Another man's dream. It was never my own.'

Okas clambered up on the edge of the work-bench, and sat down, his short legs dangling less than half-way to the floor. He looked closely at Chareos. 'Not your dream, you say. So, you also do not understand nature of this quest, nor where it take you. Tell me of Tenaka Khan, and gate-tower night.'

Chareos smiled. 'Do you know everything, Okas?'

'No, that is why I ask.'

'He climbed up to sit with us and we talked of many things: love, life, power, conquest, duty. He was a knowledgeable man. He had a dream, but he said the stars stood in his way.'

'What did he mean by it?'

'I don't know. He was no youngster then. Perhaps he meant death.'

'How did he die?'

'As I understand it, he collapsed at a feast. He was drinking wine and his heart gave out.'

'What happened then? After feast?'

Chareos spread his hands. 'How would I know? They buried him in Ulric's tomb. It was a great ceremony and thousands witnessed it. Our own ambassadors — and others from Ventria and the east — attended. Then his eldest son, Jungir, became Khan. He killed all of his brothers and now rules the Nadir. What has this to do with our quest? Or are you merely curious?'

Okas lifted his hand, the index finger pointing up, and spun it in the air. Golden light streamed from the ringer, forming a circle. Other circles sprang up, criss-crossing the first until a sphere hung there. He dropped his hand and traced a straight golden line. 'This line is how you see your quest; flat, straight, start, finish. But this,' he said, raising his eyes to the globe, 'is how it really is. Your line is touched by many others. I know your secret, Chareos. I know who you are. You are son of last Earl of Dros Delnoch. You are heir to Armour of Bronze. And that makes you blood relative of Tenaka Khan and descendant of both Ulric and Earl Regnak, the second Earl of Bronze.'

'That is a secret I hope you will share with no one else,' whispered Chareos. 'I have no desire to return to the Drenai, and I want no one seeking me out.'

'As you wish. . but blood is strong and it calls across the centuries. You will find it so. Why did Tenaka Khan let you live?'

'I don't know. Truly I don't.'

'And the ghosts-yet-to-be?'

'Just another riddle,' answered Chareos. 'Are not all men the ghosts of the future?'

'Yes. But in the Nadir tongue the phrase could be translated as Companions of the ghost, or even Followers of the ghost. Is that not so?'

'I am not skilled in the nuances of the Nadir tongue. What difference does it make?'

Okas jumped down to the floor, landing lightly. 'I will take you to Nadren village where Ravenna and the others were held. Then we see.'

'Is she still there?'

'I cannot say. I will pick up the spirit-trail at her home.'

Okas returned to the main room, where Kiall had lifted a heavy bundle to the table-top. When he opened it golden objects fell across the wooden surface, glinting in the lantern light. There were armbands, necklets, brooches, rings, and even a belt with solid gold clasp.

'Oh, joy!' cried Beltzer, dipping his huge fingers into the treasure and lifting a dozen items clear. 'Chareos said you were resourceful, but he didn't do you justice.'

'With this we should be able to buy back Ravenna,' said Kiall.

'With this you could buy a hundred women,' countered Beltzer. 'When do we share it out?'

'We don't,' Kiall stated. 'As I said, this is for Ravenna.'

Beltzer reddened. 'I worked for this too,' he said, 'and you must have stripped it from the bodies of the men I slew at the Gateway. Part of it is mine. Mine!' He scooped up a handful of golden objects and began to cram them into his pockets. Kiall stepped back and drew his sword, but Beltzer saw the move and swept up his axe.

'Stop this foolishness!' roared Chareos, moving between them. 'Sheath the blade, Kiall. And you, Beltzer, put back the gold.'

'But Chareos. .' began Beltzer.

'Do it now!'

Beltzer slammed the gold back to the table, and stalked off to sit by the fire. Chareos turned his angry eyes on Kiall. There is truth in what he said. Think on it!'

Kiall stood silently for a few moments, then he relaxed.

'You split it fairly, Chareos,' said the young man. 'I will use my share to buy Ravenna.'

Finn stepped to the table, lifted a single ring and slipped it on his finger. 'This will do for me,' he said. Maggrig chose a wristband. Chareos took nothing.

Beltzer stood and glared at the others. 'You will not shame me,' he hissed. 'I will take what is mine!' He shovelled a number of items into his deep pockets and returned to the fire.

'We leave at first light for Tavern Town,' said Chareos. 'We will buy extra horses there. Since you are now rich, Beltzer, you can buy your own — and all the food and supplies you will need.'