The Gods Awaken

CHAPTER THIRTY

When Safar realized Leiria was gone it was as if his heart had been pierced by an arrow. One of the enormous creatures loomed up, deadly branches slashing in to take him. But he didn't care. In that terrible moment of agony only Leiria mattered.

It was Khysmet who saved him, wheeling about and kicking through all those chattering teeth and thorny tongues to knock the tree beast away.

Coming out of his shock, Safar saw Leiria lying on the deck, desperately cutting and jabbing at the huge creature towering over her. One blood-smeared leg was caught in a slender, snake-like branch and she was being drawn slowly toward the beast's twisted trunk.

Safar kicked Khysmet and they charged forward, only to be hurled back by three other creatures who moved in to block the way.

Hard as he and Khysmet fought, they kept losing ground to the living wall of pain.

Then he saw Jooli vault to Leiria's rescue. As she jabbed at the tree beast with her spear, Leiria slashed away the branch gripping her leg and then the two women joined together to drive the creature off.

It was then that a strange sensation came over him. To Safar it seemed as if he split in two and another part of him-a spirit self-was standing off at a great distance watching the progress of the battle. He could even see himself, astride Khysmet, fighting along with the others.

Although the view was godlike, his emotions were intensely human-frightened that all his friends would soon die unspeakably horrible deaths.

Then his spirit self heard a voice whisper, Safar, Safar.

It came from quite close-just at his ear. He even imagined he could feel warm breath stir his hair.

And then the voice came again, whispering, Look to the heavens, brother!

He looked up and saw nothing but the night sky. A cloud bank partly obscured the Demon Moon, dimming its red light. Surrounding it were only the stars-cold and pitiless as always.

Then he noticed a faint golden shimmer beyond the night. As if the darkness was a thin black veil drawn over a sheen of some ethereal surface.

Reflected in that sheen was the dim outline of two enormous faces. He couldn't make out who they were, only that they were watching.

And then there was motion. A disturbance. First it pierced the golden surface. Then the black veil that was the night.

A long, slender needle of flame pushed through and descended toward the Nepenthe. His eyes followed its course, the needle growing thinner, sharper, hotter.

And then, with a jolt, he realized it was aimed directly at Jooli!

Suddenly, his spirit self vanished and he was back in the midst of the battle. Slashing and cutting as the three creatures closed in on him and Khysmet.

But now he knew why he was losing this battle.

Fighting all natural instinct, he ignored the long tendrils of death reaching for him and sheathed his sword.

With forced calm he drew out Asper's shell trumpet. And lifted it to his lips and blew.

The sound was world-shattering. As if a thousand war trumpets-set close by-blared all at once.

Everyone on the ship-including the creatures-froze, as if they'd been suddenly turned to stone.

Floating high above the Nepenthe he saw the mural of the Spirit Rider. It was hazy, ghost-like and of enormous size. Then he saw the beautiful Princess Alsahna and her black mare come alive.

The Princess shouted, "For Safar!" and horse and rider soared out of the mural into the night sky. They charged, up and up-Alsahna pulling a javelin from a loop on her saddle.

And then, just before they reached the golden shimmer, the Princess hurled it at the Watchers.

An intense white light flared, then was gone. Taking with it the faces of the Watchers, the shimmering gold surface and the ghostly mural.

Now there were only the cold stars and the grinning Demon Moon to observe what followed.

Immediately, Safar sensed a subtle shift in the atmosphere. And then a settling. It was as if the very particles that made up the air had rearranged themselves into a more normal pattern.

But he could still hear the sounds of battle and human cries of pain and defiance all around him.

A long, thick branch filled with chattering teeth reached for him. Safar roared in a fury and slashed it away. Then he kicked Khysmet forward, cutting at the beast's trunk with his sword.

But this time, when the blade bit the creature screamed and died!

All over the ship the besieged humans experienced similar results.

Biner, spattered with blood from dozens of cuts, swung his great club, bursting a tree-beast in two. He shouted in glee as it writhed in agony, then grew still.

Arlain hissed a long tongue of fire at one of the creatures. To her delight it burst into flames, then toppled over the rail into the sea.

Kairo the acrobat clung to a boarding rope and swung along the deck, slashing at the creatures with a sword. Amazed that this time they remained where they fell and didn't get up again.

Renor and Sinch netted their attacker, then slung it over the side.

Leiria and Jooli had found ropes. Together they lassoed one of the creatures, toppling it. Then, with sword and spear, they slew it where it fell.

But even without the magical assistance of Clayre and Kalasariz, the beasts were not easily defeated. It took an hour of furious fighting and many tricks before the humans had killed them all and hurled them into the sea.

As Leiria and Jooli dealt with the last one, Safar and Khysmet thundered up to them.

Safar shouted, "Have you seen Palimak?"

Leiria's heart jumped as his question sunk in like a wide-bladed spear. Dismayed, she shook her head: no.

Safar leaped off Khysmet and raced toward the stairwell leading down to Palimak's cabin, Leiria and Jooli at his heels.

He didn't bother with the stairs, but jumped ten feet to the passageway below. Immediately he saw a large, ragged hole where the door to Palimak's cabin had been. He also heard movement-a dry scraping sound-and knew another of the tree-creatures lurked inside.

Leiria and Jooli had joined him by now and he signaled silence. Then the three of them crept down the passageway, weapons ready.

When he reached the cabin he peered inside. Lying in the wreckage of the room was one of the beasts.

Many of its branches had been ripped away and its trunk had enormous chunks torn from it. The creature was weak and dying.

Heart racing, Safar looked about the cabin and saw no sign of Palimak. He sagged against the broken doorway, overcome by grief.

It was Jooli who finally killed the beast, running it through with her spear. Leiria called for help and several crewmen came to drag the thing away and dispose of it.

By the time it was gone, Safar had recovered some of his sensibilities. And with them came hope.

"Palimak wouldn't die so easily," he said.

"Of course not," Leiria agreed, soothing herself as much as Safar. "Perhaps he managed to get out of the cabin."

Safar winced and shook his head. "I heard one of the crewmen say that no one has seen him since he went to bed."

He studied the cabin, looking for some sign. At first all he could see was the broken debris-smashed furniture, shattered bunk, scarred walls and deck. Then he spotted something peeping out from under a ruined plank.

Safar lifted the plank away, revealing a strange little object in the shape of a man. He squatted down to examine it more closely.

"It's been molded from dough or something," he said to Leiria, who was looking over his shoulder. He touched it. "It's still wet," he said.

There was an impression in the belly of the dough man where a navel might be. There was slight movement in the depression so Safar gently pulled the dough away from the edges. To his surprise he found what appeared to be part of a still-living worm. At the same time his magical senses caught a faint spark of sorcery.

Safar grinned. This was Palimak's work.

"It's a cheese beast," he said.

"What?" Leiria asked. "I thought you said it was made from dough."

"Never mind," Safar said.

He moved some other planks and found another dough man, but this one was missing a leg. However, he found the worm's other half wriggling within. An idea of what Palimak had intended started to come to him.

"Over here!" Jooli said.

Safar turned to see her pulling a blanket through the porthole. She held it up and he saw that one end of the blanket was tied to a broken stool. Jooli placed it across the porthole, measuring. The stool was larger by several inches than the opening.

"He used the blanket to hang outside the cabin," she said, "so the creature couldn't get at him."

Safar came to his feet. "Go tell the captain to turn the ship about," he said to Jooli.

Then, to Leiria: "Ask Biner to get into the air as fast as he can. Palimak is out there someplace-and I mean to find him if I have to search every inch of sea from here to Aroborus!"

Palimak tightened his grip on the blanket. He said to the twins, "All right. Tell him to come in!" And he dived head-first through the porthole.

Slender though he was, he stuck at the hips and found himself in the ridiculous position of hanging half in and half out of the cabin, his posterior facing the monster as it burst through the door.

A fit of hysterical laughter nearly overcame him when he had a sudden vision of the creature gaping in astonishment when confronted with such a rude view of his victim.

But the chattering sound of many teeth spurred him onward and he kicked himself through the rest of the way.

Palimak plunged out into the night, then was brought up short by the blanket rope as the stool rose up to slam across the porthole.

He hung there a moment to recover, swaying with the motion of the ship. Then he spun about, got his feet against the hull and pulled himself up hand over hand until he could see through the porthole.

His first sight of the creature took his breath away. Its twisted, blackened trunk. Scores of branches and minor limbs waving madly about. All pockmarked with hundreds of little mouths filled with sharp, chattering teeth. And it was huge. Standing just inside the cabin-the wreckage of the door hurled to one side-its jagged-edged top was jammed against the ceiling.

It was also looking for him-turning slowly, first this way, then the other. Long barbed tongues tasting the air like a nest of snakes hunting their prey. Any minute now, it would make the connection between the stool jammed against the porthole and the whereabouts of its intended victim.

Palimak concentrated, drawing on all his powers. Opening the gates to his demon side and feeling the strength pour in. His nails grew into talons, cutting through the blanket, making his grip catlike and more assured.

He felt his canine teeth lengthen until the sharp points hooked over his lower lip. And his eyes burned in their sockets, turning a blazing yellow that cast twin beams of light onto the hull.

He hissed the spell words remembered from his boyhood. Foolish words, composed by a child. But the moment he said them he felt a surge of magical energy well up. He called out to the twins, using his mental "voice" to urge them to join him in the spell.

They replied in unison, their spirit voices like little bells-We're here, Little Master! We're here!

And boom! he cast it. Thunder crashing against his spirit ears as he hurled it into the cabin. And boom!

boom! the little dough men containing Gundara and Gundaree jumped to their feet, swinging around to confront the beast. They were on either side of him, so small and made only of moistened bread crumbs that it would be laughable even to think the word "surrounded," much less use it.

But then they started growing and growing until they were the same size as the monster. And they were strong, so strong-dough flesh hardening into the consistency of steel-that they weren't laughable any longer.

And there was nothing funny at all when the creature realized it had been tricked and closed with them.

All those deadly branches whipping out to embrace and kill the Favorites.

The three strange beings locked in battle. Crashing about the cabin, shattering everything in sight. The only sound was the destruction. There was not one roar of fury or agony from any of the creatures.

For Palimak it was like watching three mute giants fighting it out in an arena too small for any of them to escape.

As the fight raged, Palimak tried to shout a warning to the crewmen on deck. But his shouts were swept away by the heavy sound of the wind and crashing waves.

Even so, it didn't seem to matter. Because, ever so slowly, the twins gained the advantage. Hardened flesh impervious to all those teeth, they ripped off limbs and gouged out hunks from the beast's thick trunk. Greenish-gray acid splattering everywhere to hiss and burn wood and cloth.

Finally they had the creature pinned to the floor and were tearing at the jagged top Palimak imagined as a head. He thought it was over. The beast's movements growing weak, as if it were dying.

Then, suddenly, it surged up. Strong and fresh as when the fight had begun. And the furious battle commenced again.

And again.

And again.

Each time the twins got the creature down it somehow found new strength to fight on. The minutes dragged on like each was a year. And slowly Palimak and the twins began to weaken.

He dug deep for more strength, finding just enough to make one last desperate attempt to call for help.

But this time he made the shout magical, calling for Safar:

"Help me, father! Help!"

For a brief moment Palimak thought there was an ethereal connection. A stirring of the magical atmosphere. So he clung to the blanket harder, directing the twins to continue the fight as long as they could.

After what seemed like an eternity he heard his father's voice raised in a thunderous cry:

"All hands! We're under attack!"

And Palimak laughed. Help was on the way. But then from the deck he heard cries of pain and the sounds of battle. Khysmet shrilling his battle cry, shattering the walls of his stable with his powerful hooves. And then the shouts of Leiria and Jooli and Biner and Arlain.

All of them fighting just as desperately as he.

Then the twins cried out, Help us, Little Master! Help us, please!

And that was the end of it.

Clinging with one hand, Palimak fished the stone turtle from his pocket and raised it high. He called for the twins and the turtle suddenly glowed as they fled into it.

Through bleary eyes he saw the doughmen collapse, then shrink to their original size. And the monster started turning again, hunting him with those flickering snake tongues.

Palimak returned the turtle to his pocket. And let go of the blanket.

Cold, salty water enveloped him. He kicked his way to the surface and when his head emerged he could see the Nepenthe moving away from him.

He saw a rope dangling from the side, trailing in the water and he swam after it. Arms and legs churning furiously. He nearly caught the rope. But then, weary, so weary from the battle, he slowly fell behind.

Then he could swim no more.

Palimak rolled over on his back and floated. The sounds of the fight on the Nepenthe growing fainter and more distant by the minute.

Finally, there was silence-and he knew he was alone.

Then he heard a stirring and Gundara and Gundaree hopped up on his chest.

"Please, Little Master, don't give up!" Gundara said.

"It would be awful if you drowned, Little Master," Gundaree added.

Palimak couldn't help but smile. "It's nice to finally know you care," he said.

"Of course we care, Little Master," Gundara said.

"If you drown," added Gundaree, "then we'll sink with you."

"And then we'd have to live on the bottom of the sea for ever and ever," Gundara said.

"I can't think of anything more boring," Gundaree put in. "Although it might not be so bad if we could find some nice fat sea worms."

"That's disgusting," Gundara said. "You stupid worm eater!"

"Shut up, Gundara!"

"No, you shut up!"

Palimak was too tired to intervene. And he floated along under the Demon Moon, wondering how long it would be before he drowned.

The twins voices echoed across the empty sea like strange gulls that cried, "Shut up, shut up, shutup!"