Shardik (15 page)

‘I have hunted with Durakkon, and with Senda-na-Say. I was with the Barons of Ortelga thirty years ago, when we hunted the Blue Forest of Katria as the guests of the king of Terekenalt and killed the leopa
rd they called the Blacksmith
. That was King Karnat, who was almost a giant. We were merry after the hunt and we we
ighed him against the Blacksmith
; but the Blacksmith turned
the
scale. The Barons were pleased with the part I had played in
the
hunt and they gave me the Blacksmith’s eye-teeth: but I gave
them
to a girl later. Yes,’ said
Bel
-ka-
Trazet
reflectively, ‘I gave
them
to a girl who used to be glad to sec my face.

‘Well, it’s no matter, lad, what I’ve seen or known, though I sit here bragging to
the
stars that saw it long ago and can tell
the
truth from the lies. By the time I had become a young man there was not a baron or a hunter in Ortelga who was not eager and proud to hunt
with
me. I hunted with whom I would and declined company that I
thought
too poor for
the
name I had made for myself. I was -ah I -‘ He broke off, thumping
the
butt of his stick on
the
grass -‘You have heard old, wrinkled women round a fire, have you, talking of their lovers and
their
beauty?

‘One day a lord from Bekla, one Zilkron of the Arrows, came to visit my father with presents. T
his Zilkron had heard of my fath
er in Bekla - how he drew the best hunters about him and of the skill and courage of his son. He ga
ve my father gold and fine cloth
; and the
heart of it was that he wanted us to take him hunting. My father did not fancy
this
soap-using lord from Bekla but, like all the flea-bitten barons of Ortelga, he could not afford to refuse gold; so he said to me, “Come, my lad, we’ll take him across the Telthearna and find him one of the great, savage cats. That should send him home with a tale or two.” ‘

‘Now the truth
was
that
my father knew less
than
he supposed about the great cats - the cats that weigh t
wice as much as a man, kill cattl
e and alligators and rip open
the
shell
s of turtles when th
ey come ashore to lay their eggs. The plain truth is that they are too dangerous to hunt, unless one traps them. By this time I knew what could and could not be done and did not need to prove to myself that I was no coward. But I did no
t want to tell my fath
er that I knew better than he. So I began to think how I could best go to work behind his back to save our lives.

‘We crossed
the
Telthearna
and began by hunting the green-and-black water-serpents, the leopard-killers, that grow to four or five times the length of a man. Have you hunted
them
?’

‘Never, my lord,’ replied
Kelderek
.

‘They are found by night, near rivers, and they are fierce and dangerous. They have no poison, but kill by crushing. We were resting by day, so that I spent much idle time with Zilkron. I came to know him well, his pride and vanity, his splendid weapons and equipment which he did not know how to use, and his trick of capping hunters’ talk with tales he had heard elsewhere. And always I worked on him to make him think that the great cats were not worth his while and that he would do better to hunt some other beast. But he was no coward and no fool and soon I saw that I would have to pay some real price to change his mind, for he had come of set purpose to buy danger of which he could go home and boast in Bekla. At last
I
spoke of bears. What trophy, I asked, could compare with a bearskin, head and claws and all? Inwardly I knew that the danger would still be great, but at least I knew of bears that they are not con
stantl
y savage and that they have poor sight and can sometimes be confused. Also, in rocky or hilly country you can sometimes get above them and so use a spear or an arrow before they have seen you. The long and short of it was that Zilkron decided that what he wanted was a bear and he spoke to my father.

‘My father was in two minds, for as Ortelgans we had no business to be killing bears. At first he was afraid of the idea, but we were far from home, the Tuginda would never get to hear and none of us was pious or devout At length we set off for the Shardra-Main, the Bear Hills, and reached them in three days.

‘ We went up into the hills and hired some villagers as trackers and guides. They led us higher, on to a rocky plateau, very cold. The bears, they said, lived there but often came down to raid farms and hunt in the woods below. No doubt the villagers had learned something from the bears, for they too stole all they could. One of them stole a tortoiseshell comb that Zilkron had given me, but I never found out which was the thief.

‘On the second day we found a bear - a big bear that made Zilkron point and chatter foolishly when he saw it moving far off against the sky. We followed it carefully, for I was sure that if it came to feel that it was being driven, it would slip away down one or another side of the mountain, and we would lose it altogether. When we reached the place where we had seen it, it had disappeared, and there was nothing to do but to go higher and hope to get a sight of it from above. We did not see it again all that day. We camped high up, in the best shelter we could find; and very cold it was.

‘The next morning, just as it was getting light, I woke to hear strange noises - breaking sticks, a sack dragged, a pot rolling on its side. It was not like fighting, but more like some drunken fellow stumbling about to find his bed. I was lying in a
little
cleft like a passage, out of the wind, and I got up and went outside to see what was amiss.

‘What was amiss was the bear. The Beklan lout on guard had fallen asleep, the fire had burned low and no one had seen the bear come shambling into the camp. He was going through our rations, such as they were, and helping himself. He had got hold of a bag of dried tendriona and was dragging it about. The village fellows were all lying flat, and still as stones. As I watched, he patted one of
them
with his paw, as much as to tell him not to be afraid. I thought, “If I can get up on some high spot, where he can’t reach me, I can wait until he is clear of the camp and then put an arrow in him”: for I was not going to wound him in the camp, among men who had had no-warning. I slipped back for my bow and climbed up
the
side of the
little
cleft where I had been sleeping. I came out on top of the rock and there was our fine friend just below me, with his head buried in the bag, munching away and wagging his tail like a lamb at the ewe. I could have leaned down and touched his back. He heard me, pulled his head out and s
tood up on his hind legs: and th
en - you may believe this or not,
Kelderek
, just as you please -he looked me in
the
face and bowed to me,
with
his front paws folded together. Then he dropped on all fours and trotted away.

‘While I was staring after him, up comes Zilkron and two of his servants, all set to follow. I put them off with some excuse or
other
- a lame one it must have been, for Zilkron shrugged his shoulders without a word and I saw his men catch each other’s eye. I left them to make what they cared out of it. I was like you,
Kelderek
-and like every man in Ortelga, I dare say. Now that I had come face to face
with
a bear, I was not going to kill him and I was not going to let Zilkron kill him either. But I did not know what to do, for I could not say, “Now let us all turn round and go home.”

‘My fathe
r, after he had heard Zilkron’s story, asked me privately whether I had been afraid. I tried to tell him something of what I felt, but he had never actually encountered a bear and merely looked perplexed.

‘That day I bribed the leader of the villagers to guide us in such a way that it would look as though we were after the bear, but actually to take us where we were unlikely to find it. It was nothing to him -he merely grinned and took
the
price. By nightfall we had seen nothing more and I fell asleep wondering what I should do next

‘I was woken
by Zilkron. A full moon was setti
ng and frost was glittering on the rocks. His face was full of triumph - and mockery too, I fancied. He whispered, “He’s here again, my lad!” He was holding his big, painted bow with the green silk tassels and handgrip of polished jet. As soon as he was sure I was awake, he left me. I got up and stumbled after him. The villagers were huddled behind a rock but my father and Zilkron’s two servants were standing out in the open.

‘The bear was certainly coming. He was coming like a fellow on his way to the fair - trotting along and licking his lips. He’d seen our fire and smelt
the
food. I thought, “He has never come across men until yesterday. He does not know we mean to kill him.” The fire was burning bright enough but he did not seem afraid of it. He came clambering over a
little
pile of rocks and began nosing round the foot. I suppose the cooks had left some food there.

‘Zilkron laid a hand on my shoulder and I could feel his gold rings against my collar-bone. “Don’t be afraid,” he said. “Don’t
be afraid, my lad. I’ll have th
ree arrows in h
im before he has time even to th
ink of charging.” He went closer. I followed him and the bear turned and saw us.

‘One of Zilkron’s men - an old fellow who had looked after him since he was a child - called out “No nearer, my lord.” Zilkron flapped his hand behind him without looking back and then drew his bow.

‘At
that
moment
the
bear stood up once more on his hind legs and looked straight at me, his head inclined and
his front paws one over the other, and gave two littl
e grunts, “A
hl Ahl” As Zilkron loosed the
string I struck his arm. The arrow split a branch in the fire and the sparks flew up in a shower.

‘Zilkron turned on me very
quietly
, as though h
e had been half-expecting someth
ing of the sort. “You stupid
little
coward,” he said, “get back over there.” I stepped in front of him and walked towards the bear - my bear, who was begging a man of Ortelga to save him from
this
golden oaf.

‘ “Get out of the way!” shouted Zilkron. I looked round to answer him and in that instant the bear was down upon me. I felt a heavy blow on my left shoulder and then
he had wrapped me about and was
clutching me against him, gnawing and biting at my face. The wetness and sweetness of his breath was
the
last thing I felt.

‘When I came to myself, it was three days later and we were back in the hill village. Zilkron had left us, for my father had heard him call me coward and
they
had quarrelled bitterly. We stayed there two months. My father used to sit by my bed and talk, and hold my hand, and tell old tales, and then fall silent, the tears standing in his eyes as he looked at what was left of his splendid son.’

Bel-ka-Trazet gave a short laugh. ‘He took it hard. He’d learned less of life than I, now I’m his age. But that’s no matter. Why do you think I sent my servants back from Quiso and came here unattended? I will tell you,
Kelderek
, and mark me well. As you are a man of Ortelga, so you cannot help feeling the power of the bear. And every man in Ortelga will feel it, unless we see to it - you and I -
that
th
ings go otherwise. If we cannot, then in one way or another all Ortelga will be set awry and smashed, just as my face and body have been smashed. The bear is a folly, a madness, treacherous, unpredictable, a storm to wreck and drown you when you think yourself in calm water. Believe me,
Kelderek
, never trust
the
bear. He’ll promise you the power of God and betray you to ruin and misery.’

Bel-ka-
Trazet
stopped and looked up sharply. From beyond the top of the bank a heavy, stumbling tread shook the branches of the mclikon so that a perfect cascade of berries tumbled into the pool. Then, immediately above them, there appeared against the brilliant stars a huge, hunched shape.
Kelderek
, springing to his feet, found himself looking up into the bleared and peering eyes of Shardik.

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The Baron’s Departure