Artem did not argue: Ivan Semenovich was right.
“So, we must use this opportune moment while he is in his present frame of mind. We’ll wait and see what happens next. No resistance now! That especially goes for you, Artem, though you, Dmitro Borisovich, must keep it in mind, too. Now, be quiet and stand still!”
Another clap of thunder was heard, but this time it was much less powerful than the previous one. The Scythians were standing around the explorers in a tight circle, neither retreating nor approaching. Diana kept turning her head, looking around, ready to spring at her enemies.
“All right, if we surrender now,” Lida said in a low voice, “what’ll happen to us afterwards?”
As though in reply to her question, the soothsayer’s voice could be heard again, a voice that could be recognized among hundreds of other voices, hoarse and imperative. But the soothsayer was not to be seen behind the circle of the Scythian warriors.
“I remind you — stand still now,” Ivan Semenovich said emphatically.
The Scythians on one side of the circle stepped forward, holding their spears in front of them. Diana rushed at them, but the spears stopped her. The Scythians advanced, the sharp points of some spears were already touching the explorers. Diana made short jumps in all directions, but everywhere she was stopped by the spears. It was easy to see now that as the spears on one side were steadily advancing toward the explorers, while on the opposite side they were retreating, making way for the explorers to pass.
The intention of the Scythians — or rather that of the soothsayer who issued the commands — was all too apparent. They were maneuvering to make the explorers move in the desired direction.
“We must do what they want us to,” the geologist said. “Let’s go.”
As they began moving, the circle of the Scythians around them expanded, and the spears stopped prodding them, since the Scythians had realized that the strangers would not try to resist. Diana also obeyed the geologist’s commands, all the more so since the explorers were trotting quietly along, and their apparent calm meant there was no immediate danger. The dog was now walking peacefully by their side. If not for the circle of silent, hostile men all around holding spears and other weapons in combat readiness, the explorers might have been walking in a procession reminiscent of the one earlier in the day when they followed Skolot to his tent.
“How come Skolot gave in so easily to the soothsayer’s demands?” Artem suddenly spat out angrily. “Didn’t he say just a while ago that we were under his protection? This is downright treachery!”
“What else was there for him to do?” Lida replied. “You saw for yourself how the old bastard had incited the crowd. You saw what fear he had put into them, didn’t you?”
“All the same, Skolot should have defended us to the end,” Artem insisted stubbornly.
“Nothing would have come of it. It would only have resulted in bloodshed, and in the end the soothsayer would have us captured anyway,” the girl said. “Didn’t you see that even Varkan was begging Skolot not to interfere?”
“Ah. you and your Varkan!…” Artem said contemptuously. Now the young man regarded <every Scythian as an enemy.
“You shouldn’t, really, speak like that,” Lida said heatedly. “Varkan seems to be very sympathetic to us.”
“Is he really?” Artem said, his lips twisted ironically.
“Stop grumbling, Artem. You’re just peeved. And Lida is right on every point,” Ivan Semenovich broke in. The young man fell silent discontentedly: what could he say more if everybody was against him? Lida was right as far as Varkan was concerned; Varkan did seem to be a very likeable person, but all the same, why should she be speaking so ardently in his favor?
“There’s one thing that still remains unclear to me,” Lida said, as if picking up the thread of the conversation.
“Ugh, just one thing?” Artem snapped. “Everything else she’s understood, so it’s all clear to her!”
“Hold your tongue, Artem!” Ivan Semenovich said angrily. Lida continued as though she had not heard Artern’s acrimonious remark:
“What role does the misshapen Scythian play in all these goings on? That’s what I’d like to know.”
Naturally, no one could provide her with an answer, and the conversation ceased.
They were moving along the same road they had taken on their way to the chieftain’s tent. It was a passage between two rows of wagons and kibitkas. The soothsayer, already on horseback, trotted past the explorers, leaving the crowd behind. He looked down at the explorers from his horse; it was not a comforting glance, for it was filled with cold fierceness. To thi^ik only that they were at the mercy of this cruel and unscrupulous person!
Further in the distance, beyond the crowd, on the knoll, the explorers saw a group of people. They were probably the captives whom the explorers had seen earlier in the day. It was difficult to say for sure, though, as they were far away.
Artem again turned his gaze to the precipitous cliffs that were rising high on the far side of the field beyond the forest and the hillocks. The whole place seemed surrounded on all sides by mountains which reached high up to the clouds and beyond. The surroundings resembled an enormous mountain valley, especially now in the dusk, when the unnatural yellowish-pink of the plants had changed to a uniform black.
Mountains, mountains everywhere. But are they really mountains, in the proper sense of the word? They’re probably not mountains but the walls of a gigantic cave… a cave where ancient Scythians lived… But how had they found their way here?… And how and why had they managed to survive to modern times? Hm, if it is a cave, does that mean there is a ceiling somewhere up there, above the fields, the woods, the wagons… rocks straight ahead, hidden beyond the clouds? Very, very strange, incredible, impossible!
Meanwhile the procession reached the kibitkas, adorned with grotesque pictures crudely drawn on the felt of the tents, among which one could make out figures of panthers — poskinas — lions, and deer.
“These pictures must have some religious or ritual significance,” remarked the archeologist who had almost completely regained his composure. No signs of his recent agitation were noticeable.
The procession stopped. The soothsayer was standing in front of a big kibitka. Now, on top of his long dress, he was wearing a long cloak also adorned with grotesque pictures of animals and birds. The soothsayer was now full of dignity, as if he were waiting for distinguished guests.
“The old trickster’s putting on this show to let us see what a big wheel he is,” Artem muttered. “If I could, I’d beat the hell out of…”
“Keep quiet!” Ivan Semenovich said sharply. “Don’t forget we’re in his hands. I’ve already told you to keep quiet, haven’t I?”
The soothsayer pronounced a short incantation, pointing alternately to the kibitka and the captive strangers. Those Scythians who were standing closer, immediately stepped back as though the strangers and their horrible poskina had become doubly dangerous to touch. Another wave of renewed fear passed over their faces. The soothsayer certainly did possess the power to intimidate these people.
After the old man was through with his incantations, he stepped aside, and the robust priestesses, daggers in hand, points forward, came up to the captives and indicated the entrance to the kibitka with their weapons.
“I think we must go in there,” Dmitro Borisovich said. “You don’t need any interpretation here. Right, Ivan Semenovich?”
“We don’t have much of an option,” replied the geologist.
He was the first to enter the tent, drawing the piece of felt that served as the door, aside. Lida was the last to go in. She was very tired by now, and what she wanted most of all was a chance to rest.