"You bet our survival on the possibility that there's another way off the plain?"
"Yep. We didn't have anywhere left to run back there."
There was that look again.
Suvrin, plodding along and listening in silence, had that look, too.
I said, "Although I've been surrounded by Gunni all my life, I'm still unfamiliar with the more obscure legendry. And I know even less about that of the older, less well-known, non-proselytizing cults. What do you know about The Land of Unknown Shadows? It seems to be tied in with aphorisms like ‘All Evil Dies There an Endless Death' and ‘Calling the Heaven and the Earth and the Day and the Night.'"
"The last one is easy, Dorabee. That's an invocation of the Supreme Being. You might also hear it as the formula ‘Calling the Earth and the Wind and the Sea and the Sky,' or even ‘Calling Yesterday and Today and Tonight and Tomorrow.'You spout those off thoughtlessly because they're easy and you have to deliver a certain number of prayers every day. I'm sure Vehdna who actually keep up with their prayers take the same shortcuts."
Twinges of guilt. My duties of faith had suffered abominably the past six months. "Are you sure?"
"No. But it sure sounded good, didn't it? Easy! You asked about Gunni. I could be wrong in a different religious context."
"Of course. How about Bone Warrior, Stone Soldier, or Soldier of Darkness?"
"Excuse me? Dorabee?"
"Never mind. Unless something related occurs to you. I'd better trot up the line and get Tobo slowed down again."
As I passed the black stallion and white crow, the latter chuckled and whispered that "Sister, sister" phrase again. The bird had heard the entire conversation. Chances were that it was not Murgen, nor was it Soulcatcher's creature, but still, it was extremely interested in the doings of the Black Company, to the point of trying to give warnings. It seemed quite pleased that we were headed south and were unable to turn back.
Behind me, Master Santaraksita's group paused. He and Baladitya studied the face of the first stone column, where golden characters still sparked occasionally.
It is immortality of a sort .
73
T he people of the former Shadowlands clung to the best cover available while they watched Nemesis cross their country in a slow and angry progression toward the pass through the Dandha Presh. In more than one place Soulcatcher's appearance gave rise to the rumor that Khadi had been reborne and was walking through the world again.
She always did love a good practical joke.
What the witnesses saw seemed to be the goddess in her most terrible aspect. She was naked except for a girdle of dried penises and a necklace of babies' skulls. Her skin was a polished mahogany black. She was hairless everywhere. She had vampire fangs and an extra pair of arms. She seemed about ten feet tall. What she did not seem was happy. People stayed out of her way.
She was not alone. In her wake came an equally naked woman as white as Soulcatcher was dark. She was five and a half feet tall. Even covered with cuts and bruises and dirt, she was attractive. Her face was empty of all expression but her eyes burned with patient hatred. She wore only one item of ornamentation, a shoulder harness to which a cable ten feet long had been attached. That cable connected her to the rusty iron cage floating in the air behind her. The cage enclosed a skinny old man who had suffered several severe injuries, including a broken leg and some bad burns. The girl was compelled to tow the cage. She never spoke, even when the monster encouraged her with a switch. Possibly she had lost the faculty.
Narayan Singh had been the unfortunate who triggered Goblin's booby trap, not its beloved intended.
The Deceiver shared the cage with a large bound book. He was too weak to keep it closed. Wind toyed with its pages. Once in a while the breeze showed its vicious side and yanked a page away from the book's tired binding.
Sometimes delirious, Narayan thought he was in the hands of his goddess, either being punished for some forgotten transgression or transported to Paradise. And perhaps he was right. It did not occur to Soulcatcher to wonder what use she had for him alive. Not that she was taking any special trouble to keep him that way. Nor did the Daughter of Night seem particularly concerned about his fate.
74
I managed to overtake Tobo before he sped through the crossroads' circle. "We're stopping here," I told him, hanging onto his shoulder.
He looked at me like he was trying to remember who I was.
"Back up to the circle."
"All right. You don't have to be so pushy."
"Good. The real you is back. Yes. I do. No one else seems to be able to restrain you." As we stepped into the circle, I told him, "There should be a... yes. Right here." There was a hole in the roadway surface, four inches deep and as big around as my wrist. "Put the handle of the pickax in that."
"Why?"
"If the shadows can get inside the protected areas, that's the direction they'll come from. Come on. Do it. We've got a ton of work to do if we're going to set up a safe camp." There were too many of us to get everyone inside the circle. That meant some would have to overnight on the road, not a practice encouraged by Murgen.
I wanted only the calmest personalities back there. Murgen guaranteed that every night on the plain would be some kind of adventure.
Suvrin found me trying to get Iqbal and his family moved toward the heart of the circle. The animals were hobbled there. And I had a feeling that the plain really did not like being trampled upon by things with such hard feet. "What is it, Suvrin?"
"Master Santaraksita would like to see you at your earliest convenience." He grinned like he was having a wonderful time.
"Suvrin, have you been getting into the ganja or something?"
"I'm just happy. I missed the Protector's state visit. Therefore I'm all right until sometime that's still far off yet. I'm on the greatest adventure of my life, going places no one of my generation would have thought possible even a few weeks ago. It won't last. It just plain won't last. The way my luck runs. But I'm for damned sure having fun now. Except my feet hurt."
"Welcome to the Black Company. Get used to it. Bunions should be our seal, not a fire breathing skull. Did anyone learn anything useful today?"
"My guess would be that Master Santaraksita might have come up with something. Else why would he bother to send me to find you?"
"You got bold and sarky fast once you got up here."
"I've always thought I'm more likable when I'm not afraid."
I glanced around. I wondered if stupid ought not to be in there somewhere, too. "Show me where the old boy is."
Suvrin had the chatters. Bad, for him. "He's a wonder, isn't he?"
"Santaraksita? I don't know about that. He's something. Keep an eye out that you don't accidentally find his hand fishing around in your pants."
Suvrin had made camp for himself and the older men right at the edge of the circle, on its eastern side. Santaraksita had to have picked the spot. It was directly opposite the nearest standing stone. The librarian was seated Gunni-style, crosslegged, as near the edge as he dared get, staring at the pillar. "Is that you, Dorabee? Come sit with me."
I overcame a burst of impatience, settled. I was out of shape for that. The Company continued its northern habits—using chairs and stools and whatnot—even though we now had only two Old Crew souls left. Such is inertia. "What are we looking for, Master?" It was obvious he was watching the standing stone.