Quest for the King (43 page)

"Could be priests. Stupid of them not to be more careful-perhaps
they do not know we are here. Are you armed?"

"Sword, bow and arrow, sir."

"You have your trumpet with you?"

The sentry nodded. The colonel said, "I will come with you."

They crept from the house, making a wide circle to a spot from
which they could both see and hear the men. They lay in the darkness
not more than five yards away and watched in silence. Two figures
in silhouette threw powder onto the fire, so that it flared up with
strange green colors. Then they began to circle round it and to chant,
and their faces were illuminated beyond the fire as they ringed it.

"They are indeed priests, and this is a standard ritual for calling on
boarwartz," the colonel whispered. "But they are also casting a spell
on the household. We must kill both before the spell is completeor we will never get away."

The sentry smiled. "One arrow each?" At this distance it was impossible for the worst of archers to miss-and he was far from the
worst of archers. The colonel returned the smile and nodded.

The sentry waited until the priests had their backs to him, then
stood and drew his bow. An arrow sped through the flickering darkness and pierced the first priest's chest. As his body slumped to the
ground, the second man hesitated before fleeing. But the bow spoke
again, and a second arrow pierced him before he had taken two steps.

The colonel turned the bodies of the two priests over, then nodded
to himself. "Both dead," he said with grim satisfaction.

"Did they know our company was here?" the sentry asked.

The colonel shrugged. "I do not know. Their incantation was all
priestly garble-set against the house, regardless of who might be
here."

"So will the boarwartz come, sir?"

Again the colonel shrugged. "Since we cannot be sure, we should
not stay. Sound the alarm now-I will go to the house and round
everybody up."

At once the trumpet sound pierced the stillness of the night. Colo nel Integredad ran to the house. His first thought was the safety of
the little king and that of the queen. His second thought was the
ferocity and size of the giant, deformed goblins known as boarwartzdreaded throughout the forest but rarely seen.

Every member of Lady Dolores's household fled with the company,
including the servants and her own children. They all emerged from
the house via the secret tunnel and began climbing into the long
canoes just in time. As the last canoe left the shore they looked back
to see the lawns crowded with hideous goblin shadows. There was a
cry of alarm, "Boarwartz!"

The queen called out to reassure them. "Have no fear! They can
only watch us from the bank now, for they are deadly afraid of the
river. Remember, they dissolve in water!"

"Nevertheless," the colonel muttered, "I have a horrible feeling of
danger. To get away this cleanly seems unnatural. We are not free
yet!"

"Do not despair yet," Gerachti called to him. "The hard part is over
now!"

The colonel shrugged his shoulders. "I wish I could agree, but I do
not," he said. "I know the enemy!"

More than one of them seemed to share his conviction. Kurt said,
"Something's going to happen. I can feel it in my bones."

"Has the prophet's mantle fallen on you?" Wesley grinned. "Come
on! You're singing my tune for once, and I seem to be singing yours."

"You can laugh, Wes. But I feel just as I did when we were climbing
up to Lion Rock And something happened that time, only this is even
more scary."

"Really? No kidding!"

"But something good happened then," Lisa said.

Shiyrah had said almost nothing since her great-great-grandfather's
death. Sitting behind lieutenant Kosti at the front end of the children's canoe, she turned and said, "Kurt is right. Goodness and evil
seem to be coming to a climactic clash. I am not sure of this, but I think it will be over rather quickly."

"For better, or worse?" Wesley asked, a worried look clouding his
face.

"I wish I could say," Shiyrah replied. "I have a feeling we are going
to have to fight hard."

"Does the queen have the book from which the light shines?" Lisa
asked.

Shiyrah nodded. "Yes-and it is well that she has."

Nobody had enjoyed as much sleep as they would have liked, but
the urgency of their mission fueled their paddling for many hours.
From the lead canoe (bearing Gaal and his parents) the queen constantly watched the east bank, straining to identify the point at which
the path to the meadow emerged. As dawn broke she called, "Pull over
to the right-I believe this is the spot."

She was right. And of goblins there was no sign.

"So far, so good," murmured Alleophaz, looking worried.

"Surely you are not troubled?" Gerachti asked him.

"I cannot believe the priests would give up this easily."

"They are defeated and they know it!" Gerachti said contemptuously.

"I wish I could be sure."

Leaving the boats, they crossed the old Bamah road on the east side
of the river and followed the winding path through the forest. They
came at last to the meadow, which was shaped like a slightly squashed
circle. On the right side, close to where they had entered, they could
see the two trees Kurt had described.

"It's just like I said-all lit up!" Kurt called in triumph. "You can
even see the blue light on the trunks!"

They could all see the hilly landscape between the trees, shining
like a vision in the morning twilight.

"It's like a revelation from another world!" Mary said.

Hastily they bade farewell to Ish and Mehta, awed at what was about
to take place. "Hasten!" the colonel called. "I have a dread that the
most perilous moment has arrived. We could lose everything if we
make any false moves now."

Quickly he began to dispose his forces. A line of soldiers ran
to form a shield as Mehta, Ish (carrying little Gaal) and the queen
hurried toward the trees, with Shiyrah and Lieutenant Kosti behind.

"Go with them-and hurry!" Colonel Integredad called to Alleophaz, Gerachti, Belak and all the Ashleigh household. "We will come
if we can. For now-oh-oh! Here they come-boarwartz!"

By now the large crowd was halfway to the two trees. At the colonel's shout they glanced back and then began to run in earnest.

From their left boarwartz poured from the forest to pursue them on
all fours. They came as bestial creatures, looking like ancient aurochs,
but with enormous heads that bore a central horn, and boar tusks that
gleamed in the early morning light. Certainly they inspired terror in
the group. Yet almost immediately from the forest on their right, from
either side of the two trees, Koach also burst in large numbers. They
moved with incredible speed, howling, snarling and surrounding individual boarwartz just as they reached the men and women making
for the Glason vision.

"They're after Gaal!" Mary called.

"Look! The queen's slashing at them with her sword!"

Faintly, they heard the queen call, "Keep moving! The Koach will
protect us. Keep your swords handy!"

Lisa cried, "Oh, go, go, GO! Look! They're almost there!"

Then, so quickly that they could scarcely take it in, the whole group
seemed to be standing on the brink of something. They heard Alleophaz calling out to them, his voice echoing loudly across the glade, "Children from worlds afar! Come and visit us in Glason!"

Then, all except the queen and some of the soldiers disappeared.
Only the picture of the Glason hills remained. The queen had not left,
and some of the soldiers stuck to her side.

Fred and Jane Friesen stood and stared at the "TV wall," where a
new scene appeared silently like the first. Bizarre creatures from a
world of fantasy flung themselves at their children and other characters they did not know. Their children and Mary all swung their
swords desperately, looking weary and pale with sweat streaming
down their gaunt and hopeless faces. Then as sound grew to accompany the action, they could hear the din of battle. Fred's stunned face
paled till his skin was paper white. His wife stared horrified at the
scene, which was growing more three-dimensional every moment.

Jane said nervously, "They're not acting, Fred. I know our kids, and
they can't act as well as that. Whatever this is, it's real. I feel faint."
She stared in silence before asking, "Fred, d'you think they're in real
danger?"

Fred stared, trembling a little. "I-I'm not sure. They might be."

"Oh, Fred, what can we do?"

There was no reply. She turned, and to her dismay she found they
were no longer in the hotel. All around was the scene of the battle,
and they were near their own children. She reached out for her
husband and clung to him. "Fred?"

"We're having a nightmare. But this isn't a nightmare-this is reality.„

"Can they see us?"

"I don't believe so. Lisa just looked right through me."

They saw with dismay the growing number of the wounded and the
dead, and smelled the stench of fallen boarwartz. Fred made a feeble
effort to seize his daughter. What he intended to do with her was not
clear, but in any case his arms were insubstantial, ghostlike, and had
no effect.

They leaned against each other, shaken and shivering. Jane turned
to hide her face on her husband's shoulder, but could not keep from
watching.

The children's efforts flagged with the weariness of the short night
and the struggle with the inexhaustible masses of boarwartz. The Koach helped enormously by worrying at the huge goblins and distracting them. Wesley, who still swung the Sword of Geburah like an
exhausted expert, struggled on simply because the sword gave his arm
no choice.

Meanwhile, inch by inch, they were being forced in the direction
of the bluelit opening. Lord Nasa and his lady still faced the boarwartz
with Kurt and the two girls, while Wesley defended their rear.

Then they heard the terrible shrieks of the Qadar, and before they
knew what was happening the swooping shadows were diving on
them. The queen, ready for this moment, dropped her sword and
picked up the great volume of the history and prophecies of Anthropos and opened it. Immediately they were all blinded by dazzling light
that filled the meadow and the surrounding forest. At the same instant, a flash of lightning and a crash of thunder shook them all.

Fred and Jane could feel rain falling and the sting of hail on their
shoulders. Then the whole battle faded from around them, and once
again they faced the blank wall of the hotel suite.

They were soaked from the rain, and water streamed from their
clothes onto the carpet. At their feet lay a chunk of hail the size of
a tennis ball. Fred picked it up.

"Is it real?" his wife asked.

"It's certainly cold. I think I'll put it in the refrigerator."

"You mean to keep it?"

He sighed and long sigh. "I know what we saw was real, but I want
some evidence tomorrow of where we've been."

His wife said, "I know how you feel. I'm not even sure you're real
yourself at the moment." She moved toward him, took his hands and
placed them round her waist. "Do I feel real to you?"

He smiled and stroked her wet hair. "You feel more than slightly
damp, and yet reassuringly familiar. I can smell your perfume. I suspect all we've been through is real, though I don't understand any of
it. But what is going to happen to the children? Will they return?"

"They'll return all right, if all those stories they told us are true."

They sat together on the settee, and for a long time neither of them
said a word. Eventually Fred drew in a deep breath and spoke again.
"I'm not used to eating humble pie, but I have a feeling that I shall
need to develop an appetite for it very soon now. And we might as
well take hot showers and change."

Rain drenched the company and hail pelted their shoulders, disheartening them at first until they saw the effect on the boarwartz.
The goblin monsters began dissolving rapidly, and those who could
still run disappeared into the forest. The Qadar had disappeared
totally. The Koach stood suddenly foeless and began wagging their
tails and sniffing among themselves.

Wearily, the humans made their way across to where the queen was
standing. Too exhausted to do more than bid one another farewell,
they merely nodded when the colonel said, "The Emperor never fails.
I should have been more confident."

The queen addressed the children. "And he used you young people. He brought you here from worlds afar. Had you not been led to
us through the forest in such a remarkable fashion we would not have
known quite how to proceed. Had Lisa not been able to find and to
open the secret passage, our plans for the temple could not have been
carried out."

"But your majesty used the book!" Mary said.

The queen smiled and nodded. "And you, Mary, now know with
certainty which side you are on!"