Call of the Herald (22 page)

They were few and stunted, but they were
heavily laden with fruit. Catrin scanned the branches for ripe
apples and picked those within her reach, but she wanted a few
more. As she stood on the tips of her toes and stretched toward an
apple, hands grabbed her waist. She gasped when they lifted her
into the air but was reassured when she heard Benjin chuckle. She
snatched four beauties from the highest branches, and Benjin
lowered her gently.

"It looked like you needed a lift."

"Except for the fact that you frightened me
out of my wits for a moment, I thank you. I'm glad you're here too.
I need to talk to you." He nodded, and she went on. "Do you believe
I'm the Herald of Istra?"

"Yes, I do believe you are," he replied
slowly and deliberately. "I believed it the instant you said you
were. I was undecided until that moment. When I returned from
Harborton and found out you were gone, I was worried beyond reason.
Chase and the others were just as distraught, and we reviewed
everything we knew. They told me about the night in the greatoak
grove. I'm truly sorry about that, Catrin."

"Why do you keep calling me that? You've
called me 'li'l miss' for as long as I can remember. Why don't you
still call me that?"

"I'm sorry, Cat--uh, li'l miss," he fumbled.
"You've changed in the last year . . . and for the better; you're
becoming a strong young woman. It's not the changes in you that
caused me to use your name, though," he said, and Catrin glanced up
in surprise. "I've been remiss, you see. I have failed to properly
perform the duties of a position passed to me by my
grandfather.

"When I was a boy, he said he had a very
important job for me. He said we were Guardians of the Vestrana,
though I knew very little of what that meant at the time. I had
already been sworn to secrecy, and he knew I could keep a secret. I
guess he was right about that, at least, because you are only the
third person I've ever told.

"He said our job was difficult but had a
single aim: we were to protect the Herald and their line and swear
our lives to them. Since I didn't understand at first, he explained
it. 'A time will come when the Herald will need protection, and our
family will answer the call; that is our destiny and our duty,' he
said to me. He told me to train myself both as weapon and shield,
and so I became a soldier." Fascinated, Catrin nodded for him to
continue.

"That's why I started calling you by name; it
is my duty to show you proper respect." Catrin needed time to
absorb what she had heard. Her perceptions of events and people
kept shifting.

Benjin had always lived at the farm with her
and her father and had been a part of her world. She'd never before
wondered why he lived there and had no wife or children of his own,
and she began to see him in a new light.

"Well, the Herald is telling you to stop it,"
she said, smiling and waving her finger in his face. "You can call
me by name if you like but not solely because I'm the Herald."

Benjin smiled. "Li'l miss, consider it
done."

"What do we do from here?" she asked.

"I think we should do what you think is best.
I'll give you my best advice if you want it, and I'm sure Chase and
the others will as well, but my first duty is to protect you. I
hope you consider our advice, compare it to your senses and your
gut, and then make your decisions based on those things. I'll do my
best to help--no matter what you decide."

She felt inadequate and small, yet it was up
to her to decide what actions to take, what course to follow. The
responsibility was a little frightening. What if she made the wrong
choices?

"I don't want you to stay with me because
your family was sworn to protect the Herald. I want you to stay
because you want to stay," she managed through tears she hadn't
realized she was crying.

Benjin pulled her into his arms, hugging her
close. "There, there, li'l miss. Don't you cry. I'm here because I
want to be here, and no one could tear me away. My duty to the
Herald is just a fortunate coincidence that tells me to do what I
would have done anyway."

Catrin cried and hugged him back; then she
wiped her eyes and gathered the apples, while he picked several
that were not yet ripe, saying they would make a nice treat in a
few days. When Catrin stood, he noticed her carved fish.

"I like your necklace."

"Thank you. So do I. I found it while I was
exploring the cavern, and I just remembered it when I was talking
to Chase. He made the necklace for me," she said.

"He did a nice job; it compliments you."

* * *

Premon Dalls shuffled along the halls with
the rest of the refugees as they were moved to their new homes
within the audience halls. As the seemingly endless line of
humanity poured into the halls, pushing, shoving, and vying for any
scrap of space they could claim as their own, Premon faked a
coughing fit. Standing in the arched entranceway, flanked by the
strange carvings that adorned the archway and pretending to catch
his breath, he examined the mechanism Master Edling had told him
about.

The entranceways were narrow, yet long, and
they served more than one purpose. Though the ceiling was decorated
and appeared to be of solid rock, it was a ruse. The designers of
the Masterhouse had foreseen the possibility of a siege, and they
had built defense mechanisms into their fortress. Above these
corridors lay a mountain of rubble and rock supported by joists
that could hold its weight but little more. Above that stood a
massive shaft, and at the top, an enormous weight was suspended by
a chain. All Premon had to do was retrieve the special rod that
Master Edling had told him how to find, insert it into the mouth of
either carving, twist, and yank. That was all there was to it, at
least that was what Master Edling had said. How Premon was supposed
to trigger all three collapses before anyone emerged was something
of a mystery, but Premon didn't care. He had nothing to lose.

The thought of killing all those people,
sentencing them to starvation, would have made most men sick, but
Premon considered himself a practical man. The loss of the refugees
would mean many more months before those in the Masterhouse would
either starve or be forced to surrender themselves into slavery.
When he had revealed to Peten Ross that he could escape through the
sewers, Premon had known he was sending the boy to his death, but
he had also known that it would mean one less mouth to feed. Now he
would achieve the same result, only on a much larger scale.

Chapter 13

Even the greatest catastrophes bring new
opportunities for life.

--Brother Ramirez, Cathuran monk

* * *

Eager to put the plateau behind them, Catrin
set a brisk pace. The sodden valley reeked of rotted vegetation and
dead fish. "This valley runs all the way to the coastline, but the
mountains on our right turn south and open into this area, the
Arghast Desert," she said aloud while glancing at her map. She
remembered the Arghast Desert from school: a vast wasteland.
Nomadic tribes were said to wander the area, but no one had
reported seeing them in generations.

The ragged northern coastline bordered the
desert and was lined with mountains, which dwindled in the east.
The southern coast was flat and lined with long stretches of sandy
beach. It would be a long hike south, but Catrin thought it might
be easier going than the mountains. She thought of how nice it
would be to walk along the ocean with the sounds of crashing waves
to soothe them. "Do you think we should go north or south when we
reach the desert?"

"North," Benjin replied immediately. "The
southern coast would be a more pleasant journey, but there's no
cover there, and those lands can easily be patrolled by ships. We'd
be inviting the entire Zjhon fleet to intercept us. The northern
coast is much less accessible to enemies. There is very little safe
anchorage, and most of the shoreline is made up of steep cliffs and
mountains. If we stay close to the mountains, we should only have
to skirt around the edges of the desert, which is not only
uncomfortable, but often deadly. However, it is our best
route."

"How many days would it take us to walk
straight across the desert?"

"It's hard to say," he said after a moment.
"I'd say six days at the least and as long as ten in the event of
sandstorms. The days are hot and the nights cold, and there's
almost no water. Venomous snakes, lizards, and scorpions are almost
impossible to avoid." Before Benjin could continue, Catrin cut him
short.

"I agree we should avoid the desert, and I
agree the southern coast is too dangerous, so let's discuss the
northern coast. What kind of difficulties do you expect on that
route?"

"There are venomous snakes in that area as
well--but fewer. We must be watchful for glass vipers. They're
deadly, and because of their ability to take on the color of their
immediate surroundings, they can be almost impossible to see.
Beyond that, there are predator cats, roaming packs of wolves, and
possibly bears, but they should not pose too great a threat. We'll
just need to be cautious. The foothills are partially forested,
which should provide additional cover should we need it."

"How many days will it take us to go north
around the desert? Do we have enough provisions?"

"I'd say fourteen days until we reach the
east coast, and then another two south to the cove. We have enough
food to last ten days comfortably, the full fourteen if we stretch
it. Of course, we may find game along the way, but I wouldn't count
on it. We've got enough water for three or four days, and we'll
need to replenish our supply as we travel."

Catrin nodded, scanning her map for
indications of water features, but they were few. "Are there other
sources of water to the east? I don't see many marked on the
map."

"We'll need to be watchful. I'm sure there
are streams and creeks that aren't on the map, but we'll have to
find them. Once we reach the desert and turn north, we'll be
entering territory I've never traveled, and I'll know little more
than what the map shows us."

The sun rose higher, and so did the
temperature. As they were trying to get some relief from the heat,
Benjin snapped his head to the left, squinting in the bright light.
Chase saw it too.

"I saw something moving in those trees."

"I did too," Benjin said, "but I didn't get a
good look." They all watched the trees for a long while, but
nothing moved; if someone lurked there, he remained hidden.

"Probably just a deer," Chase said.

Anxieties ran high, and they often looked
over their shoulders for signs of pursuit. The tension and
uncertainty gnawed at Catrin like an itch she could not scratch.
Distant noises and glimpses of movement were the only indications
of pursuit, but each occurrence renewed their apprehension. Catrin
tried to convince herself it was her vivid imagination that each
distorted echo was an approaching battle cry and that within every
shadow lurked men intent on killing them. Though she had vowed to
show the Zjhon no fear, she hadn't promised not to feel any.

As the valley widened into a broad plain,
trees became more numerous and thickets more dense, and they had to
use game trails or clear paths of their own. The shade provided
respite from the glaring sun, but the underbrush slowed their
journey. On a steep slope covered with thorny bushes, brambles, and
vines, they found a patch of berry bushes, but the fruit lay beyond
a thick screen of the plants. Working with great care, they cleared
a narrow pathway to the berries. Benjin knew which ones had
poisonous berries and others whose fruit was edible. Soon they had
ample raspberries, blackberries, and even huckles. In a brief
moment of levity, they filled themselves with the fruit.

Once beyond the wall of thorns, the land
became more hospitable; underbrush gave way to tall grasses, and
trees were sparse. Ahead lay marshy lowland, and already dark
clouds of gnats buzzed around them. Emerald biting-flies darted
around their heads, and walnut-sized mosquitoes attacked in
legions.

"When I last passed this way, a strip of dry
land bordered this marsh on either side. Now it appears we'll have
to wade through it," Benjin said, scowling with squinting eyes over
the saturated lowland, which now stretched across the entire
valley. Narrow islands appeared throughout the marsh, creating a
disjointed maze of land almost entirely immersed in stagnant water,
and the search for a dry path became paramount.

As they moved deeper into the marsh, the
stretches of water separating the islands became longer and deeper.
Osbourne was the first to notice the leeches, which had attached
themselves to his legs. He yanked his pant legs up and pulled the
leeches off, throwing them. The rest discovered the same effect,
and Benjin suggested they tuck their pants into their boots.

Slogging through the mucky quagmire was
difficult and unpleasant, and Catrin was relieved when the marsh
began to give way to some patches of high ground. Then a nearby
scream and a series of splashes broke the silence.

"I saw something flailing around behind those
weeds, but I'm not sure what it was," Chase said. "Shouldn't we go
back to check?"

"I think we should take a look," said Benjin.
"That sounded like a man shouting, and it sounded like he was hurt.
If someone is following us, I want to know for certain. Let's go,
Chase."

When they returned, Benjin said grimly, "A
soldier was tracking us. We don't know if he was alone, but he'll
follow us no more; he was bitten by a poisonous snake, and he took
his own life before we arrived. We didn't go very close, since the
snake was coiled in our path, but I could tell the man was no
ordinary foot soldier. He was a member of an elite unit; at least
that's what I gather from his attire. Unlike the other soldiers, he
was equipped to move quickly; his armor was light and his weapons
advanced. We'll have to remain more alert. I suspect more soldiers
are tracking us."