Alchymist (30 page)

'Are
you awake, Xervish?' he said softly, touching him on the arm.

'I
saw it too.'

'What
do you think —’

'I
don't want to know,' Flydd murmured, 'but get ready to move.'

'What's
the point, if they can find us wherever we go?'

Flydd
did not bother to answer. 'Ullii?' he hissed. A small shape detached itself
from the trees behind them. She went to Flydd, not to Nish. 'What can you see
in your lattice?'

She
was as still as the night. The tension in her was palpable. 'Nothing.' she
muttered.

There
was a long silence. 'I don't believe you, Ullii,' said Flydd.

She
walked away into the trees. Nish turned to go after her.

'Leave
her, Nish,' said Flydd. 'Something's very wrong. I can feel it.'

They
stood together, staring at the field of stars. Nish caught another flash,
though this one was the moon catching something high up.

'Was
that a night-bird, do you think?' Nish knew it was not, 'It's an air-floater,
searching for us, and it hasn't got this close by accident. They must be
tracking me, and my only defence is at the bottom of that ravine. Why didn't I
think before I threw it away?'

Shortly
Nish heard the distinctive whirr of the air-floater's rotor and its silhouette
appeared low down in the west.

'Shouldn't
we run?' he said.

'It's
too late — we can't outrun it. We must make our stand, Nish. Here we survive,
or here we fall.'

Here
we fall. The air-floater would carry armed, well-fed soldiers. Nish was no
warrior and had no weapon. Flydd had only the overseer's knife and the partly
unravelled whip. In the dim light Nish looked around for a stick, but all he
could find was a sorry, worm-eaten item that would break at the first blow.
Just slightly better than nothing, he thought, hefting it above his shoulder.

'I'm
beginning to feel something,' Flydd said softly.

'What?'

'There's
a weak field here. We must have moved into the influence of another node last
evening, though I was too tired to realise it.'

Does
that help?'

'It
just means I'm not completely defenceless.'

Ullii
came drifting through the trees, again going to Flydd. Though it was a warm
night, her teeth were chattering. What was the matter with her? She hadn't
reacted that way the last time they'd seen an air-floater.

Flydd
put am arm around her. 'You can see something in your lattice now can't you
Ullia.

She
pulled away which was strange. In times of danger she sought out physical
contact. See a crystal:

'It's
the one in the air-floaters controller, isn't it?

'Yes,'
she said, no more than a sigh.

'What
else? Can you see any of the people in the air-floater?'

'No'
she muttered, in a way that meant, Yes, but I'm not telling you. When piqued,
she took pleasure in nurturing her little secrets.

'Of
course you can,' Flydd cajoled. 'Surely you can see the pilot? To use the
controller, she must have some talent.'

'Hardly
any —’ Ullii began dismissively.'

He
drew her back to him. 'And of course, someone must be directing the
air-floater, otherwise they would never have been able to track me. Someone
with a considerable talent for the Secret Art. A querist, or perhaps a
perquisitor. Maybe even a scrutator!'

She
recoiled and tried to get away but Flydd held her firmly. 'Well, Ullii?'

'I
can't tell,' she said, struggling furiously. 'I can't see into them. They're
hidden.'

'What?'
His head jerked up. 'Deliberately hidden? Shielded?'

'Yes.'

'Oh,
this is bad. Bad!' Letting her go, Flydd walked across the clearing and back,
staring up at the sky. The rotor sound had faded. He took Ullii under his wing
again, and this time she did not resist. 'What else, Seeker? Is this person
using some kind of device to hunt me down?'

'No.'

'Then
how? Is there anyone else on the air-floater with the talent?'

She
did not answer.

'There
has to be, said Flydd. 'Who is it? Ullii!'

The
moon slid between the trees and a single moonbeam touched her face. She looked
as if she had just seen her own corpse. Her face was silvery pale, her eyes
wide and staring.

'Seeker,'
she whispered.

'Another
seeker?' Flydd cried.

'Yes
. . .' The word trailed off to oblivion. She stared up at the empty sky.

Flydd
took Nish by the arm and drew him across the clearing. 'We've got a problem and
I don't know how to solve it.'

'If a
seeker is watching you, you can never escape,' said Nish.

'Though
I'm wondering if there might not be a way to confuse one. Or even use one
against the other.'

'Could
be dangerous,' said Nish, 'if Ullii begins to feel sympathetic to her
counterpart.'

'Good
point. Sometimes I'm glad I've brought you along, Nish.'

Faint
praise, but better than nothing. 'How could you confuse a seeker?'

'I
can't think.' Flydd went to the other side of the clearing and began tapping
his knuckles against the side of a tree. 'If only I had that crystal.'

Ullii
was still staring raptly upwards.

'There's
no point in trying to find it, I suppose?' said Nish.

"They'd
catch us before we got to the ravine.'

'What
scrutator powers do you have that could influence the mind of another person?'

Flydd
was still tapping. 'I — What's that?'

It
was a subtle ticker-tick-tick. 'It's the rotor of the air-floater. They're
coming back.'

It
sounded as if it was heading right for them, though Nish could not see it.

'Take
my knife,' said Flydd. 'I'll be busy with other things. I may have to hypnotise
her.'

Thrusting
the knife into his belt, Nish said, 'Isn't that a bit lame?'

'Mancery
would be like cutting your nails with an axe. It could break her mind. I'd get
myself a big stick if I were you.

Nish
probed around in the gloom and came up with a better weapon than the wormy
branch. The stick, heavy and gnarled on one end, made a fine cudgel, though
he'd only get one blow against a swordsman. He moved into the shadows, trying
to still his thudding heart.

'Ullii?'
called Flydd. 'Come here. I need you for a minute.'

She
was standing in the middle of the clearing, staring at the sky.

'Nish?'
said Flydd, thinking he was near. 'This is what we're going to do —’

Leaves
crackled underfoot and Nish did not catch the rest. He started back towards
Flydd, who was an indistinct shape in strips of moonlight and shadow. 'Surr, I
didn't hear what you said . . .' But now Flydd was moving his hands in front of
Ullii. Nish caught whispers, soft and sibilant, but could not make out the
words.

Suddenly
Ullii began to scream. 'No! Get away.' She thrust both hands hard against
Flydd's face. His head snapped back and he overbalanced. Wailing, Ullii ran
into the trees. Nish hurried across and helped Flydd up.

'Someone
must have tried that with her before,' said the scrutator. 'I suppose it was
Ghorr, in Nennifer.'

'Or my
father,' said Nish.

'As
soon as I began, her defences went up.'

'What
are we going to do, surr?'

Mistaking
the question, Flydd replied, 'I'll have to try stronger measures.' His voice
went strange, as if he was choking. 'Though it will be like betraying a friend.
I —’

The
rotor roared and the air-floater appeared above them, bathed in moonlight, a
bladder like a gigantic ovoid football with a boat-shaped compartment suspended
beneath it. Soldiers were ranged along the side. At the front a slim figure
held an object resembling a stubby spyglass to one eye. The images of machine
and men, black and white against the black sky, froze in Nish's inner eye like
brushstrokes on paper.

The
soldiers moved; it looked as though they were readying crossbows to shoot. With
bare seconds to act, Nish did the only thing he could. He hurled his cudgel
straight at the rotor.

'No!'
hissed Flydd, but it was too late.

The
whirling club went true, for once. It flew straight into the wooden rotor,
which was not meshed at the back, and smashed it to splinters. Some scythed
across the clearing, tearing leaves off the trees and sending up clouds of
dust. Others went straight up, tearing through the fabric of the balloon.
Floater gas hissed out. The air-floater lifted, hovering for a second before
turning over and plunging towards the ground.

'You
wretched fool!' cried Flydd. 'If there's a spark when that hits, it'll blow us
halfway to Borgistry.'

The
air-floater struck hard, hurling soldiers and crew everywhere. There were
thuds, snaps, screams. The airbag collapsed. Someone called out in an
unnaturally high voice. It was Flydd. What was the matter?

Nish
tried to answer but his voice was just as shrill. He waited for the spark that
would blow them to pieces, but it did not come.

'Flydd?'
he whispered after a minute or two. His voice sounded normal again.

'Here'
Flydd said. 'Quiet.'

Someone
emerged from the wreckage. It was the slim figure who'd been looking through
the spyglass, a young man dressed in white. Long hair streamed down his back
like a waterfall of black ink. He disappeared into the shadows.

A
pair of soldiers hacked themselves free. One helped out a third soldier, who
fell down. A fourth crawled out from under the collapsed gasbag. The first two
lunged at Flydd. The fourth soldier came for Nish, limping badly, though his
sword cut the air in a professional manner.

The
sword flicked out. Nish backpedalled frantically, feeling for his knife. He hit
a tree, leapt sideways and almost spitted himself on the soldier's blade, which
had anticipated his every move. He slipped on wet leaves and the point crunched
into his ribs.

He
hurled himself backwards, landing hard in the darkness behind a pair of
dose-growing trees. The soldier pushed forwards, feeling with the tip of his
weapon to the right of where Nish lay. Nish held his breath.

The
sword rustled in the leaves, left and right. Nish tensed. As the soldier moved,
one leg was outlined in a sliver of moonbeam. Nish stabbed for the knee. The
blade went in, the leg collapsed and the soldier went down.

Nish
dared not go for the kill; the man still had the sword. He scuttled away,
holding his ribs. Blood was trickling down his side though he felt no pain, so
the injury couldn't be that bad.

Peering
through the trees, he saw Flydd wrestling with a soldier. The other soldier lay
on the ground. Ullii stood by the wreckage, staring into the forest behind the
air-floater. The dark-haired man emerged, then froze, staring. She let out a
faint cry; he ran at her.

A
cloud drifted in front of the moon and Nish lost sight of them. Twigs crackled
to his left. He turned slowly, so as not to give away his position. The
rustling moved closer. He held his breath, afraid lest even that faint sound
should give him away. Nish felt desperately frightened. A civilian with a knife
could not hope to defeat a soldier with a sword.

A
branch snapped, even closer, and he jumped. A drop of sweat made an itchy trail
down his nose. He wasn't game to rub it. A shadow moved just a few steps away.
Surely the soldier could smell him from here?

Nish's
fist, clenched around the knife, shook. Just keep going, he prayed. He did not
want to use the knife — he wanted out of here as fast as possible.

After
an agonising wait, the shadow moved on and he lost it in the darkness, though a
faint crunch of leaves told him that the soldier was not far away. Nish slid
forward, one slow step after another, until he reached the edge of the
clearing.

We
could hear Ullii making a high-pitched keening sound.

Where
was she?

There,
close by the air-floater, and she appeared to be struggling with the
dark-haired man. Nish could only make tarn out because his clothes were white.
Ullii's pale face seemed to be floating in mid-air.

Holding
the knife out, Nish tiptoed across the clearing. The man seemed to be wrestling
with Ullii, who began to make choking noises. Nish crept closer.

As
the moon came out, he threw his arm around the young man's neck and pressed the
knife to his back. 'Let her go! Don't move.'

The
young man gave a frightened cry, reared backwards and the knife slid into him
like a red-hot poker into a block of cheese. He let out a soft sssss, stood up
straight and tall, and fell, thumping face-first into the ground.