Shardik (31 page)

‘Steady, sir,’ repeated the man, holding him up. Hobbling, hopping, stumbling, Ta-Kominion plunged down
the
steep track, the clamour growing louder in his ears until he could plainly discern the clashing of arms and distinguish the cries of warriors and the screams of the wounded. The woodland, he saw, ended at the foot of
the
hill and the fighting, which he still could not make out clearly, had been joined in
the
open, beyond. Men with drawn weapons were running back among the trees. He saw a great, fair-haired fellow pitch to the ground, blood oozing from a wound in his back.

Suddenly
Zelda
appeared through the leaves, calling to the men about him and pointing back into the open with his sword. Ta-Kominion shouted and tried to run towards him. As he did so he felt a sharp, clutching sensation pass through his body, followed by a cold rushing, a crumbling and inward flow. He blundered into a tree-trunk and fell his length in the road. As he rolled over he knew
that he could not get up - that he would never get up again. The flood-gates of his body had broken and very soon
the
flood would cover hearing, sight and tongue for ever.

Zelda
‘s face appeared above him, looking down, dripping rain on his own.

‘What’s happened?’ asked Ta-Kominion.

‘
Bekla
ns,’ answered
Zelda
. ‘Fewer than we, but they’re taking no chances. The ground’s in
their
favour and they’re simply standing and blocking the road.’

‘The bastards - how did they get up here? Listen - everyone
must
attack at the same time,’ whispered Ta-Kominion.

‘If only they would
!
There’s no order - they’re going for
them
all anyhow, just as they happen to come up. There’s some have had enough already, but others are still out
there
. It’ll be dark in less
than
an hour - and now
the
rain -‘

‘Get them - all back - under the trees - re-form - attack ag
ain,’
gasped Ta-Kominion, contriving to utter
the
words with an enormous effort. His mind was drifting into a mist. It did not surprise him to find that Zelda had gone and
that
he was once more facing the Tuginda on the road to Gelt. She said nothing, only standing submissively, her wrists tied
together with a soaked and filth
y bandage. Her eyes were gazing past him at the hills and at first he thought that she must be unaware of his presence. Then, with a conclusive and sceptical glance, like that of some shrewd peasant woman in the market, she looked into his face and raised her eyebrows, as much as to say, ‘And have you finished now, my child?’

‘You bitch!’ cried Ta-Kominion. ‘I’ll strangle you!’ He wrenched at the bandage; and the deep, suppurating wound along his sword-arm, which for more than two days had been pouring poison into his body, burst open upon
the
rain-pitted dust of
the
track where he lay. For a moment he jerked his head up,
then
fell back and opened his eyes, crying, ‘
Zelda
!’

But it was
Kelderek
whom he saw bending over him.

22
Tie Cage

Throughout the latter part of the night and on into
the
dawn that appeared at last, grey and muffled, behind the clouds piled in the cast, Baltis and his men slowly hauled the cage above the forests
of the Telthe
arna. Behind and below them the miles of tree-tops -that secluded, shining haunt of the great butterflies - appeared, like waves seen from a cliff-top, to be creeping stealthily down-wind. Far off,
the
line of
the
river shone in the cloudy light
with
a glint dull as a sword’s, the blackened north bank dim in the horizon haze.

The bear lay inert as though dead. Its eyes remained closed, the dry tongue protruded, and with the jolting of the boards the head shook as a block of stone vibrates on the quarry floor at the thudding of rocky masses falling about it. Some of the dusty, footsore girls clung to
the
ramshackle structure to steady it as it went, while
others
walked ahead, removing stones from the track or filling ruts and holes before the wheels reached
them. Behind the cage plodded Sencre
d,
the
wheelwright, watching for the beginnings of play in
the
wheels or sagging in
the
axle-trees, and from time to time calling up the rope-lines for a halt while he checked the pins.

Kelderek
took his turn at the ropes with
the
others, but when at length
they
stopped to rest - the girls pushing heavy stones for blocks behind
the
wheels — he and Balti
s left
the
men and walked back to where Sencred and Zilthe stood leaning against the cage. Zilthe had thrust her arm through the bars and was caressing one of the bear’s fore-paws, with its curved sheaf of claws longer than her own hand.

‘Waken, waken to destroy Bekla,

Waken, Lord Shardik, na kora, na ro,’ she sang sof
tl
y, rubbing her sweating forehead against the cool iron.

Full of sudden misgiving, Kelderek stared at the bear’s corpse-like stillness. There seemed not the least swell of breathing in the flank and the
flies
were settling about the cars and muzzle.

‘What is this drug? Are you sure it has not killed him?’

‘He is not dead, my lord,’ said Zilthc, smiling. ‘Seel’ She drew her knife, bent forward and held it under Shardik’s nostrils. The blade clouded very slightly and cleared, clouded and cleared once more; she drew it back and held the flat, warm and moist, against
Kelderek
‘s wrist.

‘Thel
tocarna is powerful, my lord; but she who is dead knew -none better - how it should be used. He will not die.’

‘When will he wake?’

‘Perhaps this evening, or during the night I cannot tell. For many creatures
we
know the dose and the effect, but his body is like
that
of no other creature and
we
can only guess.’

‘
Will
he
e
at
the
n? Drink?’

‘Creatures
that
wake from the
ltocarna
are
always dangerous.

Often there is a frenzy more violent than that before the trance, and then the creature will attack anything that it encounters. I have seen a stag break a rope as thick as one of these bars, and then kill two oxen.’

‘When?’ asked
Kelderek
wonderingly.

She began to tell him of Quiso and the sacred rites of the spring equinox, but
Baltis
interrupted her.

‘If what you’re saying’s true, then those bars won’t hold him.’

‘The roof’s not stout enough to hold him either,’ said Sencred. ‘He’s only got to stand upright and it’ll smash like a pie-crust.’

‘We’ve been wasting our time,’ said
Baltis
, spitting in the dust. ‘He might as well not be the other side of those bars at all. He’ll get up and go when he wants. But I’ll tell you this, I’ll go first.’

‘We shall have to drug him again, then,’ said
Kelderek
.

‘That would certainly kill him, my
lord,’ put in Sheldra. ‘Thelto
carna is a poison. It cannot be used twice — no, not twice in ten days.’

There was a murmer of agreement from the other girls.

‘Where is the Tuginda?’ asked Nito. ‘Is she with Lord Ta-Kominion? She would know what to do.’

Kelderek made no answer but, walking back up the track, began getting the men to their feet again.

An hour later the going became easier as the ascent flattened off and the road grew less steep. As near as he could judge from the confused, murky sky, it was about noon when at last they came into Gelt. The square was littered as though after a riot There was scarcely a living creature to be seen, but a smouldering reek hung in the air and a smell of garbage and ordure. A solitary, ragged urchin loitered, watching them from a safe distance.

‘Smells like a herd of bloody apes,’ muttered
Baltis
.

‘Tell your men to eat and rest,’ said Kelderek. ‘I’ll try to find out how long
the
army’s been gone.’

He crossed the square and stood looking about him in perplexity at the shut doors and empty alleys beyond. Suddenly he felt a sharp, momentary pain, like the sting of an insect, in the lobe of his left ear. He put his hand to the place and drew it away with blood between finger and thumb; and in the same instant realized that the arrow that had grazed him was sticking in the doorpost across the way. He spun round quickly, but saw only another deserted lane running between closed doors and shuttered windows. Without turning his head, he stepped slowly backwards into the square and remained watching the blank, silent hove
ls for any sign of movement

‘What’s up?’ asked
Baltis
, coming up behind him.
Kelderek
touched his ear again and held out his fingers.
Baltis whistl
ed.

‘That’s nasty,’ he said, ‘Throwing stones, eh?’

‘An arrow,’ said Kelderek, nodding at the doorpost
Baltis whistl
ed again.

At that moment
with a grating sound upon the th
reshold, a nearby door opened, and a bleary, dirty old woman appeared. She was hobbling and staggering beneath the weight of a child in her arms. As she came nearer Kelderek saw with a start that it was dead. The old woman tottered up to him and laid the child on the ground at his feet. It was a girl, about eight years old, blood m
atted in her hair and a conjuncti
ve, yellow discharge round the open eyes. The old woman, bent and muttering, remained standing before him.

‘What do you want grandmother?’ asked
Kelderek
. ‘What’s happened?’

The old woman looked up at him from eyes bloodshot with years of crouching over wood fires.

‘Think no one sees. They think no one sees,’ she whispered. ‘But God sees. God sees everything.’

‘What happened?’ asked Kelderek again, stepping over
the
child’s body and grasping the sti
ck-thi
n wrist beneath the rags.

‘Ay, that’s right, better ask them - ask them what happened,’ said the old woman. ‘You’ll catch ‘cm if you’re quick. They’re not gone far - they’re not gone long.’

At this moment two men came striding side by side round the corner. They kept their eyes fixed before them and their faces bore the tense, resolute expression of those who knowingly run a risk. Without speaking to Kelderek they grasped the old woman’s arms and began leading her away between
them
. For a moment she struggled, protesting shrilly.

‘It’s the governor-man from Bekla! The governor-man! I’m telling him -‘

‘Now just you come along, mother,’ said one of the men. ‘Just come along with us now. You don’t want to be standing about here. Come along now -‘

They shut
the
door behind
them
and a moment later came
the
sound of a heavy bar falling into place.

Kelderek and
Baltis
left the child’s body on the ground and returned across the square. The men had formed a ring round
the
girls and were looking nervously about

‘I don’t think
we
ought to stop here,’ said
Sencred
, pointing. ‘There’s not enough of us to make it safe.’

A crowd of men had gathered at the far end of a lane leading off the square, tal
king and gesticulating among themse
lves. A few were carrying weapons.

Kelderek took off his belt, laid his bow and quiver on the ground and walked towards
them
.

‘Careful,’ called Baltis after him.
Kelderek
ignored him and walked on until he was thirty paces from the men. Holding his hands open on
either
side of him, he called,