Warriors Of Latan

Chapter 21

The Guardian died at dawn. Eye of Crystal managed to gasp out how to make the poison, then collapsed so completely that Blade was afraid she was dying, too.

Her mother assured him this was probably not so. «She would spare herself no more than her father,» Kyarta said quietly, «but this is most likely no more than a sleep that will heal her if she is left in it. I will watch over her to be sure that it is nothing worse. You and Winter Owl will be the first called if I need anyone.»

Then, dry eyed, she gave orders for litter-bearers to carry away her unconscious daughter to their hut and her dead husband to the Dead House. There he would be embalmed with herbs and ashes. After lying for a month he would be cremated at the Burning Stairs by the river.

Kyarta, who Blade wouldn't have been surprised to see fall completely apart, seemed to be taking things calmly. Blade was glad to have someone else watch over Eye of Crystal. He and Winter Owl already had enough to do without that.

Warriors had to go find Ellspa's hiding place and if possible Ellspa herself. Cheeky gave the best directions he could, but no one could follow his route through the treetops. It was three days before they found the ruined hut. By that time the bird had flown so long ago that Winter Owl didn't even try to pick up her trail.

«I'd rather have bagged her along with her Mistress,» Blade reassured the chief. «But I don't think she'll do much harm. She won't be able to learn about the archery and warn the Rutari.»

«Perhaps not,» said Winter Owl. «But I think it would be best if the men we are teaching the archery were to go to a new camp. No one except those men will be allowed in it, or even near it. If Ellspa is hiding somewhere in Uchendi lands or if the Rutari have other spies, this will keep them from learning what they should not know.»

«Good idea,» said Blade. In fact, Winter Owl seemed to have got a firm grip on himself. He'd stopped arguing with Blade and even refused to quarrel with his niece. His brother-in-law's death and the knowledge that the war with the Rutari was fast approaching had sobered him. Blade no longer worried about Winter Owl's turning the warriors of the Uchendi against him or his new ideas.

In fact, Winter Owl worked nonstop for a week to get the Uchendi archers off to a good start, taking time off only for food and sleep and not much of either. By the end of the week he'd picked a hundred men to learn to shoot and fifty craftsmen to make bows, bowstrings, and arrows. Blade helped choose the wood for the bows and arrows.

«With the poison, the small reed arrows I used may be enough,» he said. «But we have not made any of the poison yet, let alone tested it to make sure it is strong enough. So we must be ready to make arrows strong enough to hurt a shpuga without the poison.

«Also, when the shpugas are all dead and the Rutari are defeated, you will be using the arrows to hunt birds and animals. We do not know if the poison will make them bad to eat. Again, you will need strong arrows so that your children may have full bellies.»

The warriors looked at him, trusting but obviously confused. Without any telepathy, Blade could tell what they were thinking: Is he mad, to be so sure of victory over the Rutari?

Blade wasn't mad. He wasn't even overly confident, at least by his own standards. He simply had a piece of knowledge no one else among the Rutari or the Uchendi had, and he had no intention of sharing it with anyone right now.

He knew where the Rutari had hidden the stolen Idol.

Blade learned this from Cheeky, which was one reason he couldn't talk about his discovery. The Uchendi were still a little suspicious of Cheeky. Of the two people who might have trusted him, the Guardian was dead and his daughter sick. Blade couldn't help noticing the number of people making motions to avert evil Spirits when they saw Cheeky.

Blade saw even more gestures than usual the morning he and Cheeky buried Moyla. Blade dug the hole and laid her in it, then shoveled the earth back. Cheeky mourned with a high-pitched wail that set Blade's teeth on edge, then piled stones on the grave until there was a little cairn. As they walked back to the village, Blade saw people not only making gestures of aversion but actually stepping out of their path.

Apart from the burial, Cheeky didn't spend much time mourning for Moyla. («She wished too much bad for Master Blade, friends of Master Blade. I wish she was not dead. But I will not be weak about it. Mistress Crystal is strong about the death of her father, who did not wish any bad to anyone. I must be strong about the death of Moyla. I wish Mistress Crystal to be my friend.»)

(«I think she will be, Cheeky.»)

(«That will make me happy.»)

With Cheeky showing that kind of courage, Blade didn't really care who thought he was an evil Spirit. The little fellow was back. He also gave enough information about the Rutari to lay to rest any last doubts in Blade's mind about where his loyalties really lay.

Blade was impressed by the intelligence Cheeky had shown in using his relationship with Moyla and Ellspa to spy on the Rutari. («You keep this up, little friend, and J will want to hire you as an agent.»)

(«I do not want to work for the Master J.»)

(«You do not like him?»)

(«He is a good man, and he is your friend. But he is not you. I do not want to have to obey too many Masters I do not know.»)

(«Sensible.») Then as an afterthought: («Will you do what the Master Leighton tells you?»)

(«He is not such a good man. Why should I do what he tells me?»)

(«You want to learn more about your strong thoughts?»)

(«Yes.»)

(«Leighton can teach you more about them than anybody else, if you will do what he wants.»)

(«I will think about it.»)

That was as much of a promise as Blade could get out of Cheeky. He was pleasantly surprised to get even that much. The increase in Cheeky's intelligence was apparently permanent; he hadn't taken a dose of kerush since he came south with Ellspa, but his strong thoughts were coming just as smoothly. By the time they got back to Home Dimension, there'd be even less justification than before to treat Cheeky like a laboratory animal.

Not to mention the fact that Cheeky would hardly put up with such treatment. His main experience with scientific research was in the Dimension of Kaldak, with the Seekers of Doimar. Their cruelty was not exactly good promotion for scientific research. Blade wouldn't have blamed Cheeky if he'd refused to ever see the inside of a laboratory again.

After the second week in their camp the archers seemed to be making progress, or at least able to hit something smaller than a large hut. The craftsmen could make bows and strings that wouldn't snap on the first pull, and arrows that sometimes flew almost straight.

Even the Healers trying to brew up the poison were making progress. The main ingredient was the crushed seeds of a marsh plant that grew only in a few places. They'd had to make a long trip to bring back enough for their experiments, and they'd have to make an even longer one to get enough to make poison for the war.

Blade hoped the Rutari would give them at least enough time to carry out his plan. However, he himself wasn't going to do anything to slow down the coming of the war. In fact, he told the Uchendi that he intended to make sure it would happen as soon as possible, at a place of the Uchendi's own choosing.

«Or as close to it as you can hope for in war,» he added.

«We are not ignorant of war,» said Winter Owl. Kyarta and the recovering Eye of Crystal nodded. «We know you hope for much. Now tell me how this is to be done.»

«I will go north and bring back the Idol,» he said. «The Rutari will immediately march south to bring it back. We will wait for them. «

Three sets of open mouths and wide eyes greeted that statement. It was Kyarta who came to first.

«You know where the Idol is?»

«Yes. Cheeky told me.» He scratched the feather-monkey's crest. «He learned it from the Wise One and Ellspa. In fact, he stayed behind to learn this because he knew I wanted to know. I did not know that this was his reason for staying with the Rutari, so I was angry with him. Now I know that he may have saved the Uchendi.»

Nobody here knew about Cheeky's relations with Moyla, except possibly Crystal: Blade was quite happy to keep it that way. He also didn't bother telling them that Cheeky had actually gone to see the idol with the two shamans of the Rutari. Nobody would believe that.

Winter Owl was nodding. «It is indeed best to make your enemy come to you. We would have to send many warriors north to beat the Rutari. While they were away the Rutari might come south and attack the women and children in the villages.» Winter Owl's expression said the rest to anyone who hadn't seen the Rutari dealing with enemy prisoners.

«But-is the Cheeky trustworthy? I do not doubt that he is lawful, Blade. If he was not, he could not have lived around you as he has. But does he know as much as he thinks he does?»

Blade felt Cheeky stiffen and start to bristle under his hand. Some of Winter Owl's doubts must be reaching him telepathically. Blade stroked Cheeky and spoke more sharply to the warrior than he would have over an insult to himself.

«I have trusted my life to Cheeky many times, and I am still alive. Do you doubt my word on this?»

Winter Owl did not, and said so. But he still looked worried, and Crystal noticed it. «Blade,» she asked, «might I come with you to seek the Idol?»

Both her mother and her uncle stared and started to protest. She raised her voice sharply. «I can watch over the Cheeky to see if he is leading us astray. I can also guard Blade's back, for I have eyes and ears if no great war skill, although I can carry a bow and hunt with it.»

She lowered her voice. «Also, I am the daughter of the Guardian, gifted with the Voice. I am not stronger than Blade, but I know that I or someone like me should be present when the Uchendi take back the Idol. It might be angry otherwise.»

Kyarta nodded slowly. She was clearly torn between reluctance to risk her daughter after losing her husband and knowing the girl was telling the truth. Loyalty to her tribe won out. «Yes. You will know the ways of the Idol better than Blade. His Voice is strong but it is not ours.»

«I have no weak Voice,» said Winter Owl. «Also, I am a proven warrior. I think it would be better for me to go. «

Blade shook his head. «One of us has to stay behind and train the warriors in archery. Plus, you could not speak as well as I to the Cheeky, who knows where the Idol is to be found. That means it must be I who goes north. Also, if the warriors are properly trained, the Uchendi will have their victory whether or not I come back. We must think of that as well.»

Nobody was foolish enough to ignore that idea. Winter Owl had to agree with Blade, and started talking of what Blade and Eye of Crystal would need on their trip.

Afterward, Crystal pulled Blade aside into a doorway and kissed him with surprising warmth. «You have done more for me than I could tell you with Winter Owl listening,» she whispered. «One who becomes the Guardian must pass a Warrior's Test. That is why no woman has ever been a Guardian.»

After a moment Blade realized what she meant. «Then-our trip north will be your Test?»

«It can be, if you will bear witness that I have done as a warrior should.»

She was obviously dead serious. Blade put an arm around her and said, «I will.»

«Bless you.»

Blade wasn't sure it deserved a blessing. Did Crystal know what she might be getting into, going against so many customs and taboos? Probably not. On the other hand, it was her life and her people. If she wanted to succeed her father and become the first female Guardian, why not help her?