The next day he was on the march again.
Deep within the rising pass he found a swinging bridge, another landmark. It was built of ropes as thick as tree trunks with wooden planks serving as the roadbed. A few hundred feet beneath the bridge, the turbulent Nualna River crashed over the huge, blunt boulders of the gorge. Here the trail turned north while the river cascaded down steep waterfalls flowing east. Beyond the falls to the west he could see only blue sky.
He left the trail and moved west to a cool shaded area near a waterfall. He had heard, but not seen any living creature for a day and a night, no bird, insect or beast. Here the river water was no haven for fish, frog or dragonfly, and the sky looked as if it had never served as a highway for bird or butterfly.
He peered into a still pond at the base of the waterfall, expecting to see his own reflection. But refractions of sunlight distorted his image so he could not tell who or what he saw. He started to kneel and drink the water, but stood instead and urinated on his rippling reflection.
It was dusk when he reached the top of the falls. Rain started drizzling down through thick mists. It was impossible to tell direction. Mists lay low, enveloping the ground. All he could see were thick, grey places of moving mysteries.
Gath found a dry perch under a shelf of overhanging rock. When night came clouds of moving blackness swirled over him. Moon and star were invisible. He could not see the axe in his own hand. The sounds of the unseen crashing water blotted out all other sounds and dominated his senses. Again he did not sleep.
Morning arrived as a pale grey glow behind swirling fog. But the rain had stopped.
With burning red-rimmed eyes, Gath stalked out from under his shelf wearing an expression as temperate as a flung spear. He could not see trail or landmark. He growled, groped for his belongings and started off into the mists blindly. Ten feet of this, and he stopped short. An emerald and gold lizard poised on a black rock was staring at him audaciously.
Gath took a stride toward it and his eyes widened with curiosity. The arrogant lizard was wearing a thin gold collar. He grabbed for it, but it scooted off and vanished among the rocks, only to reappear on a flat bare area a short way off. An escort? Why not? He, more politely, moved after the lizard and it turned, led the way skittering forward.
Gradually the mists burnt off, and the midday sun spilled light down through blue sky to grace distant black clouds with crowns of dusty gold. The clouds clustered over the flaming mouths of several volcanic craters, the largest of which rose directly in front of him. The Land of Smoking Skies.
As he advanced, Gath spotted guards standing at the mouths of caves on the sides of the volcano. Coming closer, he saw a small troop of soldiers carrying game into one cave as another troop moved out. They saw Gath and seemed to hesitate and consult each other. But then they went on about their business.
He reached a rock staircase leading up to the two enormous golden doors Cobra had described. Upon arriving at the landing he found the golden doors slightly open and two soldiers in green leather waiting for him. Music and the scents of jasmine and strong, sweet liquor drifted out of the dark corridor behind them. The soldiers were heavy boned, with jewels on their fingers and in their ears. They welcomed Gath using the common language of barter, and told him that the Queen of Serpents awaited him in her quarters. Their tone was one of hardy warmth, but Gath found it difficult to trust. Their tongues were forked.
Thirty-one
The two escorts led Gath slowly down a corridor of polished black rock. As they passed the open barracks door, Gath glimpsed men coiled with serpents, heard hissing sounds and pleasurable groans, and disgust crawled down his back.
Reaching the long tavernlike room, the escorts hesitated and soldiers, both male and female, stopped their drinking and conversations to look at Gath. They all had blackened, lewd eyes as cold-blooded as last year’s dead. By contrast, their faces were vivid and hot. Glittering scales showed on the backs of their hands. In a corner a young naked girl, a Dowat, was chained to the wall playing a flute. Seeing Gath, she stopped and a flicker of hope touched her eyes. A soldier stood abruptly, kicked her, and she resumed playing.
The two escorts asked Gath if he wished to eat and clean up before being presented to their queen. Without looking at them, he snapped, “No.”
He tossed his backpack in a corner, then, with axe still in hand, strode past the tables and preceded his startled escorts through a blood-red door. Before the door shut a burst of bawdy laughter followed them out.
The guards led Gath down the tunnel of volcanic rock, through a corridor of polished obsidian and into a wide staircase. He noticed a large hole in the ceiling and paused, scrutinizing it intently, before proceeding up the opposite stairs. The two escorts had hurried ahead to part heavy silver drapes revealing a room spilling with gold and silver light. Gath entered alone, and the drapes fell closed behind him.
Cobra stood at the center of the silver floor, a figure of cascading diamonds and glittering light in silver scales. Regal. Magnificent. She stood perfectly still yet seemed to be constantly moving, like a liquid jewel being poured from a goblet. For a breath of time she softened and radiated rosy light from a voluptuous body of powdery rose-pink flesh, then the gown returned to behaving like the formal tunic of ornamental majesty which it was.
“Greetings, Dark One,” she said with throaty emotion. “You are a welcome sight indeed. But you look exhausted. Your new armor must be very heavy.”
He hardly heard her. Everything about her and the room emanated a discomforting elegance and heady sensuality that made his flesh crawl, yet brought color to his cheeks. Regaining his composure, he admitted, “It was a long trip.”
“You didn’t sleep, did you? I was afraid of that.”
“That is my business.”
“But it’s my fault, and I am truly sorry. The creatures of the swamp and mountains did their best to ease your trip, but it is difficult for them to be quiet at night.”
Gath’s eyes impatiently searched the bed of black furs, the ebony cabinets, and the silver drapes which circled the room. “Where is it?” he demanded.
“There is no hurry, if you would like to eat and sleep first, you are welcome to.” She indicated her bed.
“I have no need of sleep.”
The corners of her full mouth drew down slightly, but then, with a subtle show of confidence, she nodded graciously and said, “Then come with me.”
Cobra’s glittering form glided to an internal stairway and down into it. Gath followed, taking note that it did not have a hole in the ceiling but was decorated artfully with ancient spears, swords, shields and pieces of armor.
The stairs descended in a steep circular fashion through a rough-hewn tunnel of basalt. Gath could feel himself approaching the center of the mountain. Black smoke hovered at its ceiling. As they descended, it gathered around their heads and the walls became hot.
Gath’s face reddened, and he began to sweat. Cobra’s movements showed no change, but the gleam of excitement in her eyes was not completely sane.
The base of the tunnel clouded with a smokey red glow. Gath squinted under the glare, his pupils retreating to inky points, then followed her blindly into a searing, enveloping light.
When his vision cleared he saw they stood in the cone of a living volcano. Its hard basalt floor was penetrated by holes bubbling and flaming with molten lava. The flames cast moving red light over the smoke-filled room, and crackled and bubbled with sounds of eerie aspiration. Then, as if the mountain itself were drawing its breath, the smoke was sucked away to reveal an altar over the large central hole of bubbling lava, a huge reptilian skull mounted on a rock. Flames filled the massive brain cavity. They alternately hid and revealed a glistening dark object, fondling it in their torrid embrace.