Kiteman of Karanga (9 page)

Using Karl's Asti as a model, Karl and Rika matched every piece of terry bone in the framework and cut it to the exact length. Next, they set the Asti up and laid the sheets of terry leather over it and cut them to shape. Karl was learning to appreciate the superb craftsmanship that had gone into his own kitewing, and though he knew he could never duplicate it, he privately hoped they could produce something much better than the basic kitewing he had promised Athgar.

Late in the summer, the entire village spent several days in the fields bringing in the hay. Karl was swinging a scythe with a group of hay cutters; nearby, Rika and Rolf were turning over the previous day's cuttings with pitchforks. Till the haying was done, Karl had to stop work on the second kitewing, even though it was almost ready to test. However, Karl enjoyed haying, the congeniality of being out in the fields with everybody, the hard physical exercise, and the sweet smell everywhere.

A shout carried across the fields and Karl saw Rolf pointing to a column of lizard riders in the valley. At the head of the column flew a long red banner with a white lizard in the center. Murthdur's flag!

Rolf and Rika came running over. "Karl, hurry back to the house," Rika urged. "Get your wing and escape."

"They're moving too fast," Karl protested, looking over the two miles he would have to run and judging the speed of the lizards. "I'd never make it. All I'd do is attract attention to myself. The Hrithdon have seen my flying before and haven't done anything, so maybe they're here to see Athgar."

They watched the column coming up the winding road, passing in and out of view along its curves. Then they heard the trumpet announcing Murthdur's arrival in the village.

"We'd better get back to work," Rika said with vexed frustration. "We might hear something at lunch."

Karl returned to his scything and tried to put the Hrithdon out of his mind, but he could not. What was Murthdur doing in Eftah?

"Oh, no!" Rika cried.

Karl looked up. A mounted lizard bore down across the fields in their direction. The rider pulled up to a group of hayers in an adjacent field, then he turned and raced toward them.

"Which one of you is the Karangan?" the rider demanded as he reined in his ferocious mount.

"I am," Karl answered. A feeling as sharp as a spear thrust ran through him.

"Get on behind me," the rider ordered. "His Excellency wishes to see you."

Karl hesitated to approach the giant lizard. He stood horrified as the beast snapped the air with its huge, metal-tipped teeth, and when it screeched, he and the others fell back in alarm.

"Don't worry," said the rider with a laugh. "As long as I don't drop the reins, you won't be eaten. Hurry up and climb on."

With an anxious glance at Rika and Rolf, Karl mounted behind the Hrithdon guardsman. The lizard leapt forward with an astounding surge of power. A few moments later, Karl climbed down in front of Athgar's house. Mounted Hrithdon guardsmen lined the road.

Athgar met Karl before he reached the door and put his hand on Karl's shoulder as he led him inside. "Murthdur is here to question you himself, Karl. I don't know what he wants." Athgar took Karl to his private sitting room where Murthdur waited.

"Excellency, Karl from Karanga," Athgar announced.

As Karl entered, Murthdur turned abruptly toward him. The Imperial Magistrate was a small, swarthy man whose short black hair was plastered to his skull with the sweat and dust from a hard ride. Above the white lizard on Murthdur's breastplate was a sharply featured face that was commanding and cruel. As he met the Magistrate's penetrating stare, Karl realized that he would have to think quickly. Murthdur looked capable of anything.

"I heard about you a few weeks ago, kiteman, but I've been busy." He gave Karl an unsettling smile. "From the reports of the expeditions I sent to the south of Karanga over the past few years, I've learned about the size of the desert. What I want to know is how did you get
here?"

Though he didn't let his expression betray it, Karl was astonished! So Bron had known that the desert wasn't endless when he had told him to choose banishment. News of strangers from across the desert must have traveled up from the south of Karanga to the Amonte in the north—and Bron must have heard it!

"I flew," Karl answered.

"You flew a ten-day lizard ride in one leap! That's pretty amazing even for a Karangan, isn't it?"

The Hrithdon had been to Karanga! What if they decided to make Karanga part of their empire, the same way they had brought Eftah under their control? Karl wondered. Perhaps Murthdur would leave Karanga alone if he thought Karangan hunters could fly across the desert any time they chose.

"Not amazing at all," Karl lied. "In Karanga, we fly to hunt, so we travel hundreds of miles every day."

Murthdur took the guardsman's knife from his belt and shook it at Karl. "Don't lie to me, kiteman! Don't tell me that you primitives could just fly across the desert any time you wanted to! If that's true, why hasn't it been done before? Why are you the first kiteman who has ever shown up on this side of the desert?"

"Maybe some Karangans have been here before, but nobody recognized them," Karl answered. "From a distance, a kitewing can look like a hawk or a terry."

"There has to be a better explanation than that," said the Magistrate with a menacing frown. He gave the knife a twirl and stepped closer. "Perhaps you are better at flying than the rest. Just how good a flyer are you?"

"I was the best flyer in Karanga," Karl stated boldly, guessing that his extraordinary skill with a kitewing might make Murthdur think he was worth keeping alive.

"Ah, now we're coming to an explanation. The best flyer in Karanga flies across the desert, not just any old wing-beater."

Karl decided not to explain to Murthdur that kitemen did not beat their wings. The Magistrate's ignorance of flying was total—and maybe it was better left that way!

"Why did you leave your homeland? Wanderlust? Curiosity? You must have had some reason."

"I was banished."

"What for? I would think the Karangans would want to keep their best flyer at home."

"I beat all the chiefs' sons in the cross-country flying competition," Karl lied quickly, "so reasons were found."

"Now your story's making sense," said Murthdur with a sly smile. He tapped the white lizard on his breastplate with the point of his dagger. "See that? Lizards are the real power in the world, not primitives fluttering around killing antelope with stone barbs. The sooner you understand that, the better."

Murthdur's expression was becoming meaner and uglier, and Karl noticed that the dagger was pointed at him again.

"Excellency, I do understand it," answered Karl. "The power of the Hrithdon war lizard is without equal."

"You comprehend quickly," said Murthdur with a self-satisfied grin. "Now let's get to the point. I've decided to allow you to join my service, so prepare to leave immediately. You'll be paid an officer's wages in gold, and you'll live in Ithdon. You'll also be provided with a house and servants."

"And what am I to do?" Karl asked, hardly believing what he was hearing.

"First, you will build kitewings. Next, you will teach my guardsmen how to fly. Then you will teach others to make kitewings and still others to train flyers. This will continue until there are a thousand flyers under my command. If you prove out to my satisfaction, you will be allowed to live and prosper." Murthdur chuckled. "Of course, if you choose to do otherwise, you'll make excellent lizard fodder. Think about it."

Karl did think about it. The vision of a thousand grim faces in kitewings horrified him. A house, servants, gold, a commission, power! He was not interested in these things. All he wanted was to be with Rika and Rolf, to be a shepherd or a hunter, and to fly free, not en masse like a swarm of insects.

But as he met Murthdur's intense stare Karl realized that if he showed the slightest hesitation, he would be fed alive to Murthdur's lizards. Somehow he had to trick the ruthless Magistrate into leaving him behind for a few days. Karl straightened up and stood his tallest.

"Your Excellency, I am proud to be in your service. And if I may be permitted to say so, I am happy to be leaving this degrading shepherd's work, digging ticks out of sheep's ears and the like."

"Good, I am pleased with your decision," said Murthdur with a half smile that made Karl feel even more uneasy. "Ithdon is a three-day ride. You'll travel with us by lizard, and teach me more about kitewings."

"I am honored, Excellency. However, in that case I shall have to leave my kitewing here."

"What? You'll bring it strapped to a lizard, of course."

"But that would deprive your Excellency of his first kitewing," Karl replied seriously. "You see, a kitewing is delicately balanced and stressed when it is made, and it should be handled on the ground as little as possible. Carrying it three days on lizardback would render it useless. I'd have to rebuild it all over again, and I wouldn't be able to begin training flyers for a month or more." Karl hoped Murthdur would believe this lie.

"Hmmmm," said the Magistrate as he thought over what Karl had said. "There are more problems to this kitewing flying than I thought. No matter. You stay here then and fly to Ithdon on the third day from now. Follow the river and land near my castle. Athgar will assist you in any way needed. And be sure you show up on time! I would hate to turn a kiteman into lizard fodder."

Murthdur's harsh laugh made Karl shudder. Without further ceremony, the Magistrate turned and strode out of the room, leaving the door open. Karl heard Athgar greet him and stepped closer to listen.

"Athgar, I have confidence that the Karangan will prove valuable in my service. He's to fly to Ithdon and meet me on the third day from today. See that nothing interrupts his departure."

"I understand, Excellency. He'll depart on time." Athgar accompanied Murthdur out of the house. Then Karl heard a military voice call the riders to attention. A moment later a trumpet sounded, and with a rumble as loud as an approaching storm, the Hrithdon started back down the mountain.

"So that's what Murthdur wanted," Athgar said, returning to Karl. "A kitewing force of Hrithdon guardsmen!"

"I don't want anything to do with the Hrithdon," Karl said emphatically.

Athgar's bearded face broke into a warm smile. "I know, Karl. But it will mean trouble. If you don't report to Murthdur when you're supposed to, he'll scour the continent for you. He sounds determined to use your knowledge of kitewings for the Hrithdon."

"Yes," said Karl, "and he'd probably like to take over Karanga too."

"It wouldn't surprise me. In the past fifteen years Murthdur has taken over more new territory for the Hrithdon Empire than any other general or magistrate in the past two centuries! After he conquered Eftah, he sent a few expeditions out to explore the desert, but they never returned. He was outraged. But the success of the recent expeditions in the south have renewed his desire for more land."

"So now he's found Karanga, and he wants it," Karl added.

"Murthdur isn't stupid. He can imagine the danger that enemy kitewings could pose to the Hrithdon Empire."

"Well, he won't learn about the kitewings from me," Karl stated. "How long do I have before he sends someone to arrest me?"

"Three or four days. But you'd be safer if you left Eftah before then. Will you try to return to Karanga?"

"No, I can't go back." Karl said. He then told Athgar about the ill-fated terry hunt, his moment of panic that had cost Bron's life, and how he had been banished from Karanga for cowardice. When he had finished, he couldn't look at Athgar. He was afraid that Athgar would no longer respect him now that he knew the truth.

"Karangans have a harsh code. But I think you've proved that you can be brave. You risked your life to save Rika and Gardo and Rolf, and you showed plenty of courage when you faced Murthdur. Karl, you've toughened and matured since you left Karanga. You're no coward."

"I guess not," Karl said. "But that doesn't help Bron."

"No, it doesn't," Athgar agreed. "But remember, Bron took the blame on himself, and he forgave you for your part. What you have to do now is forgive yourself."

Karl nodded and looked away.

"I understand how hard it will be for you to leave us," Athgar continued, "and I admire you for not going over to Murthdur. I'm sure he offered to make you powerful and rich."

"The Hrithdon are no better than dread lizards," Karl said. "They should be driven from Eftah."

"They should," Athgar agreed, "but at present there is no way to do it. All we can do is survive the best way possible."

"What about you?" Karl asked. "Murthdur told you to see that I departed on time."

"Don't worry about me," Athgar assured him. "I've been dealing with Murthdur for a long time. But you should stay out of sight for a while. A good place to hide is in a crowd—and one of the best places for crowds is the city. If you go to Ithdon and ever need help, look for my friend, Zanzu, in the market. You can trust him."

Karl thanked Athgar for his advice.

As he left Athgar's house, Karl saw Rika waiting for him.

"I thought Murthdur might have taken you away," she said with relief.

"He almost did," Karl answered. "I had to think fast to get out of it. Now I've got to leave Eftah if I don't want to end up teaching Murthdur's soldiers how to fly."

"Where will you go?"

"Athgar said the city would be a good place to hide, so I'm going to go to Ithdon," Karl told her. "And I want to see the oja fields you told me about. I think it might be possible for Eftah to get rid of the Hrithdon someday."

"Then I'm going with you," Rika announced. "If there's any possibility of freeing Eftah from the Hrithdon, I want a part in it."

"But what about your grandfather and Rolf?" Karl asked. "Would leaving on a dangerous trip be fair to them?"

"No," said Rika. "But we all want to get rid of the Hrithdon. If it is ever going to happen, no opportunity can be missed."