I walked warily but unhindered, seeking their lairs and the storied riches therein, but at first found little. Past the Boundary I went a mile north, keeping the shoreline in sight, then turned inland. I should have known, I suppose. Do not all the ballads describe the lairs of such beasts as being in caves? Half a mile in from the sea I came across a low line of hills. and the first of their dwellings.
From the outside it was plain rock. I approached cautiously, even though the boots masked the sound of my footsteps. I heard no movement, and my dim sight saw nothing, but I did not trust it. I stood and listened a good ten minutes, then crept slowly in keeping well against the wall, but there was no need, it was deserted. I lit a small taper I had brought, lifted it high and gazed about me dumbfounded.
The tales were true and more than true. I did not know there was so much gold in the world.
The wall, the very floors were covered with it. I looked all round, noting all but touching nothing, then moved on.
I saw three more caves; the first two were occupied and I went near enough only to hear the inhabitants and leave, but the third was the charm indeed. Its tenant was absent, so I brought out my tinderbox again and lit the taper. When finally it caught I lost my breath, for I had surely found the lair of their treasure-keeper.
The walls were covered with gold to the depth of my second finger joint, deeply graven with strange symbols and set with many-hued crystals from the earth and vast pearls from the sea.
But at the back was an opening into a second chamber. I went swiftly towards it, meaning only to glance inside, but I defy anyone to look on such wonders and not linger.
The inner chamber was forty feet on a side and, though it was lined floor to ceiling with gold, you barely noticed the gold for the stones. Faceted all, the largest I saw as big as a duck's egg, and every colour known to man. Emeralds, rubies, wondrous sapphires, topaz the colour of smoke and of sun-light, and huge beryls green as the sea. But even these paled by comparison to the centerpiece of all the splendour.
It was all I could do not to laugh out loud for the sheer joy of it. Before me lay riches even I could not conceive of, a reasure trove beyond price, beyond imagining. There in the center of the room, in a cask of gold on a golden pedestal, lay casually heaped one on another the most wondrous gems in the world. What would not kings or the greatest of the merchants pay for these wonders I had found? There must be two hundred of them, each the size of my fist. Why, I would demand payment for a glimpse of them in their cask before ever I needed to sell off the gems themselves. And when I did sell, I would charge the world for them, sell but one in a year, or two perhaps if times were hard and all my other ventures doing poorly.
Who had seen their like?
Who could resist them, having seen?
Perfectly cut, flawless gems, with the very flicker of life in their depths.
I was reaching out to touch one when I heard a soft clatter outside the cave mouth. I blew out the taper, but not before I caught sight of what awaited me. A vast shape of dark bronze was sliding into the cave and coming straight towards me. I could not see in that sudden darkness, but had the sense to move to the wall next to the entrance to the chamber. I heard the creature sniff, then start to hiss. Sudden as a snake I felt rather than heard it flow past me to the back of
the inner chamber. I took my chance and slipped out the entrance, through the outer chamber and on, not pausing for breath until I had run the full two miles to the Boundary and beyond. I dared not look behind me, but I had heard nothing and would not spare the time to stop and see if I was followed.
For all their usefulness, for all their ruinous cost, the precious articles that Berys made were so flawed they were barely worth using. The boots raised such bloody welts on my feet that I could barely walk when I returned, and it took much out of Maikel to ease them. The cloak appeared to work well enough, but the shadow it created affected me as well. I could barely see and found I stumbled like a blind man until my eyes grew accustomed to the lessened vision. My vision was blurred, and my old pain stabbed at me dreadfully.
I spoke with Caderan, and he admitted that the spells could protect me only, not that which I might be carrying. Thus the cloak might hide me from sight, and the spells hid Raksha-scent, but only my footfalls would be silenced. Should I cough I would be heard, should I strike a light the scent of burning would be evident, as would any light illuming anything beyond the circle of my cloak.
I began to wonder if the Rakshasa were so puissant as I thought. The limitations of these articles, which Berys claimed were the best in the world, made them barely usable.
But these were trifles. Maikel salved some of my wounds and Healed the others, and I knew that I truly had power over the Dragons, for I had myself been in their most guarded places and found their dearest treasure.
XII
THE WIND OF SHAPING
I woke in midafternoon to find the cave filled with a grey light from the opening far above my head. Akor was not long gone, for the heat of him lingered in the golden floor. I wandered outside and into the wood a ways, to perform the necessary and to drink from the pool. As I had guessed from the sound of it the night before, it was not a still pool, more a wide spot in a small stream. The water was fresh and clear but icy cold.
It was a good match for the day. Clouds had moved in and covered the sun in winter grey, and there was a deceptively gentle breeze that blew straight through me.
As I stood at the edge of the wood, braiding my hair and looking up at the clouds, I found myself tracking a dark speck in the distance. It was either a very large bird or Akor returning. I watched the flight with some pleasure as it drew nearer and became clearly a Dragon's shape.
It was still a dark shape.
I ran for the cave. What would become of me here, without his protection? And who would know this place, he had said it was secret. Did his parents still live? Was this a soulfast friend?
Oh dear Goddess. Shikrar.
The dragon landed just as I bolted into the semidarkness. Ah, well. No peace for the wicked, they say.
// "Akhorishaan, are you here? I have sought you since dawn, I need you, my friend." //
There was no reply, though I would have sworn the cave was not empty. I put my head just inside the passageway. // "Akor, for the love of our friendship, come out to me if you are here."//
Then I smelled her.
I hit my head on the low roof of the passage in my anger, then cried out, furious, // "Akor, what in the name of the Winds are you doing!"//
"Lord Shikrar," I said, "I don't know what you just said, but if you're looking for Akor, he's not here. It's me, Lanen. We spoke the other night." I stepped into the center of the room so he could see me, calmer than I had ever dreamed I could be. ''Akor brought me here last night to talk, and I fell asleep. He was gone when I woke."
He rumbled deep in his throat. It was a terrifying noise, like the growl of some unimaginable bear. His truespeech lanced into my mind. "Gedri, speak to me of this in the Language of Truth or I shall flame you where you stand. Where is Akor, and how came you here?"
Those were better odds than I had hoped for.
I concentrated as hard as I could. Like a small hole, Akor had said, send your thoughts through it, no larger than it must be, concentrate on what you are saying.
"My lord, I tell you but truth. Akor and I came here last night to speak with each other. A great deal happened that we did not expect and we were talking until dawn. I slept and when I woke he was gone. I swear on my soul that I speak truth. I do not and have never wished harm to any of the Kindred.''