Authors: Marion Zimmer Bradley
Two more riders appeared, and then they saw Leonora, clutching the pommel of a
saddle, riding astride and looking both determined and frightened. She had smuts of
ash all over her round face, and her hair was draggled. Her eyes were huge, and her
mouth a maw of fury.
Marguerida repeated her strange call, and the closest horses balked. One threw its rider
overhead, and the other reared and sent the man slamming into the high back of the
saddle. The horse that
Domna
Leonora was riding screamed and twisted its head, as if
something was hurting "it.
The woman pulled herself off the horse, dropped to the ground with a soft thump, and
flew at them, her hands before her. Mikhail could sense the force of her personality,
even at the distance separating them. Something tried to seize his mind, but it was like
the buzzing of a gnat.
Marguerida stiffened beside him. He sensed that they were engaged in a silent battle of
wills. It took him an instant to realize that he was watching two women with the Alton
Gift of forced rapport come head to head.
Domna
Leonora halted, looking startled. She gave a little huff, and squared her
drooping shoulders, then closed her eyes. At the same moment, he saw a slow smile
spread across Marguerida's face, and he had the oddest feeling that she was actually
enjoying herself. Her golden eyes sparkled in the early morning light.
"Then
Domna
Leonora staggered, and went down on her bottom, into a small puddle
behind her. Her eyes snapped open and one of the armsmen urged his horse forward.
His face was so blank that Mikhail could not guess what he expected to do.
"Come on—run!"
Marguerida's voice snapped him out of contemplation, and he felt her hand clasp his.
He turned and bent his stiff and tired legs, then started to 'run. She was beside him,
panting but keeping pace. Behind them he could hear Leonora screaming with fury.
The mist of the lake coiled around them, tendrils of moisture like soft fingers, touching
his already wet skin as they crossed some invisible boundary. Lake Hali embraced
them, drew them into her depths, into silence and stillness, and an utter emptiness.
He floated, floated. He had come a great distance, so great he could not remember
where he began. Nothing existed here. Not even himself—nameless and placeless.
There was only a vast longing. It stung him, and a mote of something seemed to stir in
the nothingness. What was it? He longed for light or darkness—anything but this void.
The spark expanded, but it could not divide the endless emptiness.
A heat passed through him. If he could just hold it, name it. ... Anger? The word was
without meaning there. It belonged in another place. He belonged in another place. But
where? The heat passed, and he floated in the void, waiting for release, empty within.
It was so still. So still. . ..
Was that a sound? He tried to sense it, but it was gone. A tremor ruffled his emptiness,
a presence penetrated it, piercing him through and through.
The void released its hold, and fury ripped across it. There was a voice speaking, a
deep rumble. He listened
without hearing, feeling words that lacked meaning cover him, smother him.
There is nothing here, not even . . . who am I? Alone. No time, no place, no one
else . . . alone. But there should be someone, or something, if only . . . remember. Time
and space and memory. No meaning.
Shifting, something is shifted. Movement changes
—
no, not that. What? Ah, yes.
Feeling stuff. A word
—
gone, all gone. Need to catch . . . Catch? Grab? Seize? Clutch?
What are those? What am I?
Better, now. Stay hot! Burn! Flames! Surge
to ...
where? What? No where to go. Only
here, meaningless here. Drifting beyond meaning. I WANT
—
Spinning in emptiness, no direction, no point, hopeless, loss, FEAR!
Clenching fear! Hold, hold! Cold fear brings brightness! Slipping away. So hard.
Running out of time! What is time? Where is time? Wrongness? Rightness?
Where am I? Where is . . . Other? Other? What is that? Missing piece . . . of what?
Self? Self is Other? Nothing but • sparkles, motes of nothing.
GIVE IT BACK! Give me back myself!
Alone, alone, alone. Heat gone, cold gone. Sparkles gone. Calling to sparkles. Silence.
What's that? The silence stirs. Where? Terrible noise
—
find terrible noise! Seek! Seize!
Mikhail felt himself wrenched into air, cold and clammy, and found a hand in his,
holding so tight it ground something into his finger. It was painful. Something was
squeezing his hand, and something else was hauling at his collar! Someone was trying
to kill him!
He gasped and began to struggle feebly. Then he felt himself pull away, and there was
a rock in his hand. He closed his fingers around it and started to lift it, but there was no
strength in his arms. He tried to twist free, but he was too weak.
"Dammit, Mik!" Something gripped his shoulders and shook him hard. His teeth
chattered.
"Ouch! Stop that!" He peered out. There was nothing except a blur at first. Then he
saw Marguerida, and everything flooded back. It was an overwhelming rush of
memory and emotion, and he retched weakly. Her breath was
warm against his cheek, and her hand on his shoulder tingled.
"Hurry!" She dragged him upright, on legs that felt like straws.
'"Hurry?"
"Did you leave your brains in the bedamned lake?" She was furious with him, and he
could not understand why. There was too much in his head, and all of it was jumbled
together.
"What happened?"
"Damned if I know, and we don't have time to discuss it now. Get a grip on yourself! I
can't carry you, and we have to hurry!"
"Why?" He knew she must be right, but he still felt dazed.
Then he heard voices, men speaking quietly, and the soft whicker of horses. They were
not in sight, but close enough. Too close. Hadn't they escaped?
Then the fear came back, so strong it nearly drove him to his knees. Mikhail shivered,
trembled, and wanted to weep.
She
was going to catch him! No! He felt a power rush
into his limbs, a combination of terror and will. His hand was trembling beneath the
ring. He felt a surge from it, bracing. His feet began to move, his legs following, and
then suddenly he was dashing across pink grass, toward a gleaming building that stood
at the top of a small rise.
He heard himself pant, and felt Marguerida beside him. Mikhail knew his legs were
moving, but he had a distinct sense that something else supported him. It was very
strong, the presence within him, and he moved quickly.
"There they are! Get them!" It was a woman's voice, sharp and authoritative, and the
sound of it nearly made him stumble. He heard Marguerida gasp and cry out.
Hoofbeats thundered, making the earth beneath his feet tremble, and he reached toward
the unseen source of his strength. It seemed to pull him along, wrenching at his heart,
dragging him forward even as his terror made him want to hesitate.
They came to the white building just as the horsemen were within a few strides of
reaching them. Mikhail glanced
quickly behind him, saw the men and the woman with them, a small, middle-aged
woman with a fixed expression. Their eyes met for only an instant, but it was enough
to make his laboring heart skip a beat. Ashara Alton, the creature he had only glimpsed
in the overworld, in the flesh. His throat went dry.
Mikhail dragged Marguerida's hand against his chest, and pushed her ahead of him.
The building appeared to be quite solid, and he could not see any entrance, but he felt
the pull of something, leading him to the right. He shoved the small of her back, urging
Marguerida forward, then moved to protect her with his body.
They raced along the round walls, the horses coming
nearer. His heart pounded against his ribs, and cold sweat
poured from his face. He could smell the heated flesh of
the animals. They were not going to make it!
*
Something boiled up in him at that moment, a sense of fury and outrage. Mikhail
turned around, and found one horseman almost upon him. There were more, crowding
at them. He roared with rage, lifted his hand without thinking, and released all his
pent-up anger in a gesture. It seemed to flow out of his heart and into his hand.
A sheet of brightness rose in front of the riders, and the animals reared and struck at it.
He could hear the screams of the horses, and could see men falling from their mounts.
There was a smell like lightning, then the stink of singed grass.
Only two riders remained, the woman and one man. The
man took one glance, and turned his horse aside. But the
woman remained, glaring with frustration as the barrier
flared in the darkness. She made a fist and raised it. "I will
not let you destroy me!" *
Mikhail turned quickly, found Marguerida staring at the woman, frozen with terror.
Her face was completely white, and her eyes were empty. Mikhail pulled at her arm,
and when she did not move, he threw her over his shoulder. She lay there limply.
Ahead he could feel the veil of the
rhu fead
only a few steps away. And above him, he
sensed the four moons conjoining. How? They had not been here long enough . . . how
long had they been immersed in the strange waters of Lake Hali? Not now, he scolded
himself! Light as she was,
Marguerida was a burden, and he forced his feet to move, almost stumbling. He could
hear the scream of Ashara behind him, but he concentrated on reaching the portal that
promised escape. The veil shimmered, and Mikhail plunged through it.
34
Cold struck him like a fist, and icy snow stung his face. The indoor robe Mikhail still
wore could not keep out the wind. In the darkness he could just make out Marguerida.
She was sitting in a drift a few feet away, looking stunned.
Mikhail dragged Marguerida to her feet. She stumbled up, then bent over and vomited
in the snow. "I hate time travel," she hissed through chattering teeth.
"Come on. We have to find some shelter."
"Where?"
"If we are back where we began, there will be an inn near the ruins of the Tower."
Mikhail hoped his assumption was correct, because he did not know what he would do
if they had ended up in another time or another place. He just hugged Marguerida
against him and started walking, keeping the wind to his back.
In just a few minutes the soft slippers he was wearing were coated with ice, and he was
colder than he had ever been in his life. His breath came in short gasps, and it was all
he could do to keep moving. Marguerida pressed against him, silent in her misery,
keeping pace by will alone. It was impossible to speak in the cold, but he heard her
thoughts.
Do you know where we are going? Or have any idea where we are?
You want the truth? No. I am assuming that the storm we dropped into is from the
Hellers, which is usual in winter, so keeping our backs to it will keep us heading south
toward Thendara.
We need help Mik. Dressed as we are, we can't go too much farther before we get
hypothermia. After all we've been through, we can't end up freezing to death
—
we just
can't!
For a moment he felt powerless. She was right, but he*
had no idea how to summon help when he did not even know where they were. But he
did have Varzil's matrix. All he needed to do was use it.
Before he could put this thought into action, he felt Marguerida's body tense against
his, straining as if she were reaching for something.
What are you doing?
I know there is someone nearby. I just hope it is a telepath. HELP. HELP!!!
CHIYA!
There was no mistaking Lew Alton's mental voice, even in the howling of the
wind.
Where are you?
How should I know
—
I can't see three feet in front of my face! I am lost in the snow
and freezing to death.
Marguerida's flare of temper was heartening. But how was
anyone going to find them in this swirling whiteness? They had to keep moving until
they were rescued, even though all he wanted to do was collapse. Every step was
agony now, the cold seemed to consume them. They were so close, but he knew they
could easily die before they were found. He ignored the familiar sense of despair, and
tried to think of some solution.
The ring! Mikhail unclenched his hand painfully. He stopped trudging and closed his
eyes, focusing on the matrix. After making contact with the starstone, he felt himself
shift into it. The wind seemed to vanish, and the cold as well. He felt Marguerida press
closer, and sensed her immediate and unquestioning understanding. He knew they
were standing in a globe of energy which kept the elements at bay, and shone like a
beacon in the night. Now, if he could only sustain it long enough for them to be found.