Fires of Azeroth (14 page)

"They want us all to come," Lellin said.

"Liyo
-get out of here."

She did not. Vanye turned his head, trying to reckon his chances of breaking for his horse and living to reach it. Morgaine did not move, doubtless weighing other considerations.

Sezar muttered something he did not hear clearly. "Their weapons are poisoned," Morgaine said more loudly. "Vanye, their darts are poisoned. I think Lellin has been persuaded by that from the beginning. We are in somewhat of a difficulty, and I fear that there are more of them that we do not see."

Sweat trickled down his face, cool as it was in the night "This is a ridiculous situation. I apologize for it. What do you advise,
liyo?"

"Vanye asks for advice," she said to Lellin.

"I think we have no choice but to go where they wish ... and not to do anything violent. I do not think they will harm any of us unless they are threatened. They cannot speak to us; I think that they want to assure themselves of something or to demonstrate something. Their minds are very different; they are changeable and excitable. They rarely kill; but we do not enter their woods, either."

"Are these their woods, where you have led us?"

"They are ours, and we are now nearer Azeroth than I would have liked to come, following this one. Your enemies have roused something that we may all regret.
Khemeis
Vanye, I do not think they will let you go until they have what they want, but I do not think they will harm you."

"Liyo?"

"Let us go with this a little way and see."

Lellin translated an affirmative sign. The
haril
tugged gently at Vanye's arm, and he went, while the others were allowed to go ahorse: he heard them following. The
haril's
hand slid to his wrist, a gentle grip, dry as old leaves and unpleasantly cold. The creature turned and chittered at him now and again as they came to rough ground, helped him up slopes, and when a time had passed in their journey, it let him go seeming to judge that he would stay with it. Then his fear diminished despite the strangeness of the face which occasionally turned to him in the dark. They were being urged to haste, but not threatened.

He looked back more than once, to be sure that they had not lost the others; but the riders stayed with them, more slowly and by a course the horses could follow. Sezar brought Mai along, which he was glad to see. But when his looking back delayed him, a touch came on his shoulder: shuddering, he faced the
haril,
which seized him a time and hurried him on.

He tried signs of his own, making what among Andurin signed for
-where!-
a pass of the open palm back and forth supine. The
haril
seemed not to comprehend. It touched his face with clinging, spidery fingers, replied with a sign he did not understand, and hurried him on, through the thicket and up slopes and on and on until he was panting.

They came briefly into the open between trees. The
haril
seized his arm again to be sure of him, for suddenly there was a dead man at their feet, and another, as they crossed that area, bodies almost hidden in the dark and the leaves. He saw the leather and cloth in the starlight and knew them for the enemy. One carried arrows, white-feathered. He resisted the
haril
enough to bend and gather one up, showing the creature the nature of the feather. The
haril
seemd to understand, and took the arrow from him and threw it down.
Come, come,
it beckoned him.

He glanced over his shoulder and for a moment panicked, for he no longer saw the others. Then they came into view, and he yielded to the
haril's
pulling at him. It began to go very quickly, so that he was rapidly exhausted by the pace, for he was in armor and the creature strode wide with its stalking gait.

Then they were at a complete break in the forest: trees ceased, and starlight fell clearly across a wide plain. Something else glowed there, the glare of fires spangled across the open. Where they stood there was wood hewn, trees felled, their wounds stark in the faint light. The
haril
pointed to those, to the camp, and signed at him, at
him,
accusingly.

No,
he signed back. Whatever it wanted or suspected that had to do with himself and that camp, the answer was no. Morgaine and the others overtook them now, and
harilim
were all about them. He looked up at her, and she gazed at the campfires of the enemy.

"This is not their main strength," she whispered for Lellin's benefit; and that was true, for the camp was not nearly large enough-nor would Roh or Hetharu likely give up possession of the Gate of Azeroth's center.

"This is what the
harilim
brought us to see," Lellin said. "They, are angry ... for the trees, for the killing. They blame us that this has been allowed."

"Vanye," Morgaine said softly. 'Try; mount up quickly."

He moved, without prelude or hesitation, flung himself for Mai's side and scrambled into the saddle. There was a stir among the
harilim,
but none moved to stop him. He remembered the poisoned weapons and sat the nervous horse with his heart pounding against his ribs.

Morgaine turned Siptah slowly, to regain the shelter of the woods.
Harilim
stood gathered in the way, stick-like arms uplifted, refusing them passage.

"We are not wanted here," Lellin said. "They will not harm us, but they do not want us in the area."

"Will they cast us out onto the plains?"

"That seems their intent."

"Liyo,"
Vanye said for of a sudden he read her mind and liked not what he read. "Please. If we strike at them, then we will not ride far in the forest before there are others. These creatures are too apt to ambushes."

"Lellin," she said, "why have not your people been hereabouts? Where are the
arrhendim
who should have warned us of this intrusion of enemies?"

"The
harilim
probably forced them out ... as they mean to do with us. We do not dispute passage with the dark folk. Lady, I fear for Mirrind and Carrhend. I fear greatly. That is surely where the other
arrhendim
have retreated, to protect and warn those places with all haste; they would not have come this far when they knew the dark folk were here. Lady, forgive me. I have failed miserably in my charge. I led you into this and I do not see a way out. None of the
arrhendim
hereabouts had reason to suspect there were those who would ride past their warning-signals. They gave them, but we rode through. I thought only of
sirrindim,
that we could resist. I did not reckon that the
harilim
had taken possession here. Lady, it may be that the keepers of Nehmin have stirred them up."

"The
arrha?"

"There is rumor that the keepers of Nehmin can call them. It is possible that they are part of Nehmin's defense, summoned against
that.
If that is so, then I myself would be surprised; they are as difficult to reason with as the trees themselves; and they hate both Men and
qhal."

"But if it is true, then it is possible that Nehmin itself is under attack."

"It is possible, lady, that this is so."

She said nothing for a moment. Vanye felt it too, the sense that beneath the peace of Shathan, which had wrapped them securely thus far, things had been going dangerously, utterly amiss.

"Beware, all of you," she said, and slipped
Changeling
from her shoulder to her hip. Holding one palm aloft, in a gesture which somewhat stilled the
harilim's
chittering apprehension, she unhooked the sheath.

Then, two-handed, she drew it slowly, and the opal light of the blade swirled softly in the dark. The light glittered in the dark eyes of the
harilim,
and grew as she drew it forth. Suddenly it blazed full, and the well of darkness at the tip burst into being. The
harilim
drew back, their large eyes reflecting it, red mirrors of that cold light. The wind of otherwhere stirred the trees and whipped at their hair. The
harilim
covered their faces with spidery hands and backed and bowed at that howling sound.

She sheathed it then. Lellin and Sezar slid from their horses and came and bowed at Siptah's hooves. The
harilim
kept their distance, chittering softly in fear.

"Now do you understand me?" she asked.

Lellin looked up, his pale face stark with dread. "Lady, do not-do not loose that thing. I understand you. I am your servant. I was given to be, and I must be. But has my lord Merir knowledge of that thing?"

"Perhaps he suspects. He gave you for my guide, Lellin Erin-hen, and he did not forbid my seeking Nehmin. Tell the
harilim
we will go through their forest and see what their mind is now."

Lellin rose and did so, signing quickly; the
harilim
melted backward into the trees.

"They will not stay us," he said.

"Get to horse."

The
arrhendim
remounted, and slowly Morgaine urged Siptah forward. The gray horse threw his head and snorted his displeasure at the
harilim,
but they passed freely back into the forest, while the
harilim
stayed with them like shadows.

"Now I know the grief that is on you," Sezar whispered as they came near in the dark. Vanye looked at him, and at Lellin, and a weight sat at his heart, for it was true that the
arrhendim
began to understand them, who carried
Changeling ,
.. recognized the evil of it, and the danger.

But they served it, as he did.

Chapter Seven

The
harilim
moved about them still, shadows in the first fading of the stars. They rode as quickly as they could in the tangled wood, and the
harilim
did not hinder, but neither did they help; while Lellin and Sezar, beyond the woods that they knew, could only guess at the quickest way.

Then at the very last of the night the forest gave way before them, and dark waters glistened between the trees.

"The Narn," Lellin said as they drew rein within that last fringe of trees. "Nehmin lies beyond it."

Morgaine stood in the stirrups and leaned on the saddlebow, stretching. "Where can we cross?"

"There is supposedly a ford," Sezar said, "halfway between the Marrhan and the plain."

"An island," said Lellin. "We have never ridden this far east, but we have heard so. It should be only a little distance north."

"Day is coming on us," Morgaine said. "The riverside is exposed. Our enemies are likely near at hand. We cannot afford errors in judgment, Lellin . . . nor can we linger over-long and risk being cut off from Nehmin."

"If they have hit Mirrind and Carrhend," Vanye reasoned, "they will have learned which way we rode, and some of them would not be long at all in understanding the meaning of that." He saw Sezar's stricken face as he said it; the
khemeis
knew well his meaning and understood the danger his people were in. "Can we find an answer of the
harilim,
whether the strangers have crossed the Narn?"

Lellin looked about; there was nothing behind them, not a breath, not a whisper of leaves ... no sign, suddenly, of their shadowy companions.

Morgaine swore softly. "Perhaps they do not like the coming daylight; or perhaps they know something we do not. You lead, Lellin. Let us come to this crossing as quickly as we can, and if there is night enough left, we will try it."

Lellin eased his horse into the lead northward, trying to keep within the trees as they rode, but there were washes and flood-felled trees that made their progress slow. At times they must go down onto the bank, exposing themselves to view of any watchers on the far side. At others they must withdraw far into the forest, almost losing sight of the river.

And they were tired, the better part of the night without sleep, constantly tried by obstacles, the branches cf the trees tearing at them, the horses stumbling often over impossible ground, or exhausting themselves in climbs up and down tributary washes. Dawn began, almost enough that they could see color on the forest's edge.