The Longsword Chronicles: Book 03 - Sight and Sound Read online

  “Eem Thalin-Raheen, Sutengard! Stent vegg!” Eldengaze rasped, and Gawain felt her anger scraping his nerves.

  “I’ve had enough of this. Master Arramin, I will need you to make that light of Aemon again.”

  “My lord.”

  “This is precipitous, Longsword,” Allazar warned.

  “Because this is getting us nowhere,” Gawain replied, and flashed a hand signal to the scouts in the middle of the barge.

  At once, they turned, crouching low, and then rose, levelling their crossbows, in full view of the elves on the bank. In three strides, Tyrane was out of the deckhouse and had leapt up onto the walkway, his own crossbow levelled. Arramin stepped forward, the white oak staff held low, muttering, and a cone of brilliant white light blazed across the canal into the faces of the stunned elves on the tow-path. Gawain stepped up out of cover to stand beside Allazar while the elves, flinching, frantically tried to shield their eyes.

  “Allazar, one of your lightning-trees if you please. Arramin, dim your light.”

  The First Wizard of Raheen sighed, but obeyed, planting his Dymendin hard upon the grating of the walkway, and when Arramin’s light of Aemon flickered out like a snuffed candle, an immense and crackling blast of white fire rent the air above the barge.

  “I am Gawain, Son of Davyd, King of Raheen! My lady commands you stand aside, and stand aside you shall! Eem frith am Elvendere!”

  Seven dazzled and furiously-blinking elves contemplated the three crossbows and two clearly powerful staves pointed in their direction, and confusion began to reign in their ranks once more. Gawain ended it with another command.

  “You!” and he pointed at the apparent leader, “Bring your Sutengard across the gate here to the west bank, we have neither the time nor the patience for this delay! Now!”

  There was the briefest moment of hesitation, but then at the rear of the vessel, Jaxon and Kahla emerged from the deckhouse to stand on the walkway. The sudden increase in numbers visible aboard and the edge to Gawain’s command tilted the balance, and with a jerk of his head the elf leader strode along the blue-stone wall past the lock gate wheel, his men following.

  Allazar helped Elayeen over the tiller, across the prow, and off the vessel onto the tow-path, and as the elven southguard nimbly hurried across the narrow lock gates, those aboard the barge followed their movement closely, until, finally, the nine who had left Jarn together stood face to face with elves from Ostinath.

  The leader, perhaps realising too late that no Raheen horde was secreted aboard the vessel, became suddenly braver.

  “Who are you to trespass here in…”

  But he broke off as Elayeen strode forward, reached up, and took him by the throat, and with deft flick of her right leg, brought the elf to his knees. She stooped at the waist and forced the elf backwards painfully, and then gazed down at her victim. With a voice which sent a shudder through Gawain and Allazar, and, apparently, the elves too, Eldengaze hissed:

  “Eem Elayeen Rhiannon Seraneth ní Varan, Thalin-Raheen, athin am Thal-Hak, athin am Thalin-Reeyan! Stent vegg! Stand aside, Sutengard, do not bar my way!”

  An expression of unspeakable horror washed over the elfguard’s face, and try as he might, he was unable to avert his eyes from the elfin towering over him. Perhaps it was the slender hand gripping his windpipe which prevented him from twisting his head away from that dread gaze, but Gawain knew differently. Elayeen had him pinned with the sight of the Eldenelves.

  Another elf moved forward to intervene, and Elayeen flicked her glance up at him. At once, that elf threw up his arm in front of his face and twisted away in horror. Still clutching the leader’s throat, Elayeen swung her gaze over all the elves before her, and all of them flinched, and backed away.

  Then, with a final, guttural command, Elayeen released her grip, and stood upright. “Stand aside. Do not bar my way!”

  oOo

  17. Master-stroke

  It was a sullen and somewhat cowed group of elven Southguard who trudged back across the lock gates to the east bank, followed by two wizards, the King of Raheen, and a Captain of Callodon. Elayeen and Kahla boarded the barge at Gawain’s quiet but insistent request, while Jaxon and the scouts poled the vessel to the middle of the canal facing the lock gates.

  At the east side of the lock, Arramin turned to Gawain and with a gesture towards the north-eastern corner of the staging pool where the hut containing the speaking-tube stood with its door wide open, requested permission to speak to those below. A simple nod granted his request and the elderly wizard at once hurried off, watched by an increasingly petulant group of elves.

  “Tyrane, the gates if you please, and shut down the chains in the southern canal if you would.”

  “Aye, my lord,” And the captain began cranking the wheel to begin the process of admitting the barge to the staging pool. Gawain and Allazar made their way slowly towards the northern gates which gave way to the aqueduct leading to the wheel, pausing when they’d gone half way.

  “You there,” Gawain called to the unfortunate elf still rubbing his bruised throat. “What’s your name?”

  “Ellas,” was the simple and somewhat truculent reply.

  “Are you and your men from Ostinath?”

  “Yes.”

  “What brings you to the Canal of Thal-Marrahan? Surely you cannot be travelling to the city in the south?”

  Elven eyes widened again, and some flicked nervous glances towards the barge and Elayeen standing in front of the forward deckhouse, her face turned towards them.

  “What do you know of Calhaneth?”

  “We have come from there,” and Gawain again noted the shock in elven faces. “We are making haste towards Shiyanath and the Council of Kings there. We were invited here. I understand your surprise at our arrival, Ellas of the Southguard, but your welcome leaves much to be desired. I ask again, what brings elves to the Canal of Thal-Marrahan?”

  “War,” Ellas announced.

  “War!” Allazar gasped, standing beside Gawain, “Where?”

  Ellas nodded towards the north. “Ostinath. Korothin. Medthorn. Ulniyen. All have been attacked.”

  “These are all western provinces?” Allazar gasped, and when Ellas nodded an affirmative, added, “Attacked how? And by whom?”

  “By foul beasts and dark magic, creatures of the air, and creatures of the land.”

  “When did this begin?” Gawain pressed, moving forward to stand closer to the elves, a gesture of support which was not lost on them.

  “Ulniyen was struck in the last week of July.”

  “After Ferdan, Longsword.”

  “Yes. Morloch, attempting to drive a wedge between Elvendere and her lowland neighbours. Tell me, Ellas, what news of Shiyanath, and Elvenheth? In other lands, wizards have betrayed the kindred races again, what has happened here?”

  The elf shrugged. “We are Sutengard from Ostinath, and know nothing of events in Shiyanath. There were wizards who betrayed Elvendere too. Many lives have been lost, and there are those who hold Raheen responsible.”

  “Foolishness,” Allazar glowered, “It was Raheen who revealed the treachery and Morloch’s foul intent.”

  Again, Ellas shrugged.

  “You still haven’t answered my question,” Gawain prompted. “Why is the Southguard at the canal, and making ready the wheel?”

  “We are ordered to scout south, where the Empire touches nearest the great forest. After Ulniyen and then Medthorn, scouts were sent on foot. They returned with news of a creature of the air similar to those which struck at Medthorn.”

  “And so Ostinath has decided to send an expeditionary force?”

  Ellas nodded, glancing briefly and nervously over Gawain’s shoulder as the barge slid silently through the lock into the staging pool, and towards them and the eastern dockside. “We are to escort a wizard the length of the canal.”

  “Then I have good news. What dark creatures there were in the city of the south have been destroyed. There is
nothing there. Elves have no reason to venture to that dread place.”

  The Southguard exchanged fresh glances which revealed a mixture of relief and then sudden nervousness as the barge bumped noisily against the blue-stone dock. Chains rattled, the Callodon scouts deftly mooring the vessel, and then the elves took a pace backwards. Gawain didn’t need to look over his shoulder to know that Elayeen had stepped ashore.

  Arramin hurried to join the small knot of men and elves. “My lords, I have persuaded those below to cease their bumbling attempts at turning the wheel. I must go down to operate the controls, and while it is my sincere hope that the wheel is undamaged, I cannot say for sure until I am able to survey the scene.”

  Gawain nodded. “Ellas, is there a safe path down?”

  “Yes.”

  “Safe enough for horses?”

  “No. The path is broad but there are steep steps cut into the rock. It is why we wanted to use the wheel, to bring up horses and supplies.”

  “I should like two of your guards to accompany the wizard Arramin and my scouts down below.”

  Elayeen drew up just to the rear of Gawain’s left arm, and suddenly there was no shortage of volunteers from the Sutengard. Ellas nominated two, and Tyrane summoned Rollaf and Terryn forward.

  “Make certain you inform those of your comrades below who we are, and the reason for our presence here,” Gawain addressed the two elves, “I don’t want any repeat below of the poor welcome we received up here. Serre Wizard, please signal Allazar when you feel the wheel is ready for use, or if you find it damaged beyond safe use. If we have to, we’ll find another way down with the horses.”

  “My lord.”

  “Scouts, eyes and ears open please. The darkness from the west has struck at Ostinath. It’s not impossible they may also strike here.”

  “Aye milord.”

  Gawain flashed a brief hand signal, which to the elves might have been a simple gesture to wave the men away to their duties, but which of course was a command for caution. The party bound for the steep descent of the northern cliff face set off, leaving five elves desperately seeking a way to join them to evade the unsettling presence of the daughter of Thal-Hak, Queen of Raheen, and the dreadful gaze she possessed.

  “It may be some time before Arramin has the wheel operational,” Gawain announced, “We’ll bring the horses ashore to stretch their legs and enjoy the grasses yonder. Ellas, you and your men are of course at liberty to continue what duties you may have, though I would appreciate it if you would give the First Wizard of Raheen as much information as you can about recent events.”

  Ellas nodded, and with obvious relief, the elves moved away from the strangers in their midst, and gathered again at the corner of the staging pool by the speaking-tube hut.

  “Find out what you can, Allazar,” Gawain said softly, “But be cautious. Elayeen, please keep a good watch. We may not be safe here.”

  “They shall not bar the way.”

  “Perhaps not. But if the darkness in the west has been loosed upon your homeland, the danger may not be from your people.”

  Allazar nodded, and strode purposefully towards the elves, and Kahla led Elayeen to the grass bank beyond the blue-stone surrounds of the staging pool.

  “They don’t seem very fond of us, my lord.”

  “No, Tyrane, they don’t. Come, let’s get the horses ashore. Allazar is more likely to obtain the information we need than we are. Me, they resent for many reasons, and my lady, it seems, terrifies them.”

  “Yes, it is strange my lord. Though I confess, the method by which her Majesty elected to chastise her countrymen for their poor welcome was a little unnerving.”

  Gawain grimaced. “Yes, though I suspect once word spreads there’ll be few foolish enough to stand in her way again.” He glanced towards Elayeen standing on the grass with Kahla. She was so far removed from the Elayeen he had met in Gan’s province far to the northeast. But, he conceded, much had happened in everyone’s lives since then, and who was he to judge elves and their behaviour in their own homeland?

  “Let’s tend to the horses, Tyrane. Gwyn is looking fretful and that’s making them all nervous.”

  Half an hour later, the horses grazing happily on dry land, there was a low rumble under foot, and then a hissing, and a fine misty spray drifted up from the wheel and wafted over them all. There was a clunk, and then a squeal, and the wheel began to rotate, slowly. Elves and men watched, fascinated, as the immense structure slowly revolved, axles giving occasional shrill protests. When the caisson from below eventually swung into place at the end of the aqueduct, there was another immense clunk, and the wheel locked into position.

  Steam mingled with the mist of water sprays playing on the bearings below them, and Allazar left the group of elves and strode to the northeast corner and the speaking-tube.

  “It seems, my lord, that the wheel goes ‘round once more.”

  “So far so good, though I expect we’ll be here for a while yet. It took a few revolutions to lubricate the thing back in the south, I doubt this one will be any different.”

  “Aye.”

  “Here comes Allazar. Hopefully he will have persuaded the elves of our best intentions, and gleaned some detail about the attacks in the west.”

  “At least we know that the wizard Arramin is safely in command of the wheel, if the noises the thing made before our arrival are anything to go by.”

  “Longsword, Captain.”

  “Allazar.”

  “Master Arramin reports the wheel appears to be functional, but needs more time and testing before he’ll permit a descent. There is an elfwizard below, with the remainder of a squad of thirty Southguard. They also have horses and supplies. Word is being sent ahead to Ostinath of our arrival.”

  “I thought it might be. Arramin and the scouts are safe?”

  “I would think so. The fact that Master Arramin has the wheel operational has earned more than a little gratitude from sensitive ears down below. How Ostinath and its governors will react to news of our presence, I cannot say.”

  “What news have you gleaned from our truculent friend Ellas?”

  “Do not judge him too harshly, Longsword. His experience at the hands of our queen was not pleasant, and they fear her. If they had expected a shy and retiring faranthroth elfin, then their expectations have been brutally shattered. Elf does not kill elf, but Ellas came close to being dangerously injured.”

  “Serves ‘im right,” Tyrane muttered.

  “Perhaps, Captain, but he is only a simple guardsman, their officer remained below and sent this small contingent up only because it was felt it might be necessary for them to operate a lever or control for the wheel. They are simple soldiers, far removed from crowns and diplomacy.”

  “All the more reason for them to yield,” Gawain asserted on Tyrane’s behalf. “But no matter their rank, what news?”

  Allazar nodded seriously, and leaned on his staff, lowering his voice a little.

  “Attacks have been made on four of the larger western provinces from Ostinath northwards. From the descriptions, I would say elves have been fortunate, though they would not think so. Razorwings struck Medthorn, which, apparently, is situated on the western slopes of a high hill. A good portion of the forest has been cleared there for the raising of sheep, for wool and for meat, or so Ellas said. The clearance gave the Razorwings room for manoeuvre, and until wizards were able to destroy the dark winged enemy, much harm was done.

  “At Ulniyen it was a Kraal-beast loosed upon them, and at Korothin, from the description Ellas gave, it was two Grimmand which wrought havoc upon the gentle people there. At Ostinath, the enemy were somewhat braver, loosing a Kraal of Tansee and then raining black fire from the back of a Graken. The Graken and its rider were repelled by elven arrows but the Kraal and black fire took their toll before the attack was ended.”

  “Dwarfspit. That sounds like much more than a simple tactic to divert Thal-Hak’s attention from affairs of state at
Shiyanath.”

  “It does,” Allazar nodded seriously, “And there have been reports of an army of Gorian troops mustering northwest of the quarries beyond the forest at Ostinath. If true, and if they are supported by dark wizard-made creatures, they could strike any of the provinces already within their range. It is entirely possible that this is the ‘urgency’ to which Brock of Callodon referred in his message.”

  “Elve’s Blood and Dwarfspit, is nothing ever simple? Would the Empire really side with Morloch?”

  “They may have no choice, Longsword. I suspect that any army mustering to the west will not be under the Emperor’s control. From what Jaxon has told us, the Emperor is shut up in his golden city. What forces there might be gathering beyond the quarries may well be conscripts driven by their dark masters.”

  “Do the elves have sufficient loyal wizards to defend against the creatures?”

  Allazar shrugged. “I do not know. I understand that the wizard waiting below is of a low order of the elven brethren, sent to gather information concerning reports of the Razorwing in the south and possibly to take action against it. I suspect he and all the southguard will be much relieved to learn we have already destroyed the creatures which lurked at the far end of this canal. It is true to say that sufficient mystic power existed to defeat the dark powers loosed upon the provinces here, but not before much harm was done. They would not risk sending a wizard of power on a simple scouting expedition to the south, not with a proven threat already present from the west.”

  Gawain remembered the insidious nature of the fear which had slowed their progress in the south, and tried not to imagine the extent of the carnage which creatures such as the Grimmand and Kraal and Razorwing could wreak upon an unprepared population. Without loyal wizards of power, what chance would people have against those vile beasts, never mind a Kiromok?

  “Do they know nothing of events in the north?”

  “Alas. The officer and the wizard below might have some knowledge, but the soldiery do not. Their homes and families are here in the southwest, and that is where their interests lie. Any talk of war in the north would be of little concern to them given the attacks which have already happened in their own provinces.”