Durwin nodded readily. “So it is! As I was about to say, it is believed that not every age must end in calamity. The destruction may be lessened or turned aside completely—usually by some act of heroism, some supreme sacrifice or the coming of a mighty leader to lead mankind into the new age.”
“Do you believe this?” Quentin asked.
“I believe in the truth of what has been handed down to us. Those who witnessed it explained it as well as they could with the words and ideas they had available to them. Certainly, much remains unexplained; but it seems strange that each race has somewhere in its past memories of this sort.”
Quentin leaned forward and placed his elbows on the table and clasped his hands. “I meant, do you believe that the star in the sky betokens the end of the age?”
Durwin pulled on his chin and scratched his jaw. He looked at Quentin with quick black eyes and smiled suddenly. “I believe a new age is coming, yes, such as the world has never known. A time of mighty upheaval and change. And I believe change does not take place without struggle, without pain. So it is!”
“It all seems very grim to me,” admitted Quentin.
“You should not think of the pain involved,” responded Toli. “Think of the greater glory of the new age.”
Toli and Quentin had ridden from Narramoor to Durwin’s cottage in Pelgrin Forest. They had made good time and arrived late in the afternoon, just as the sun slipped into the treetops.
“Durwin is not here,” Toli had said as they approached the cottage. They looked around before Quentin went inside. He returned without a clue to where the hermit might be.
“He may be away only for a short while, perhaps tending someone nearby. Maybe he will return by nightfall, but I think not. His cloak is gone and his pouch, though his bag of medicines is inside.”
They had then decided to ride through the night, and reached Askelon’s mighty gates as the moon set in the west. Not wishing to disturb the servants or awaken the king and queen, they went instead to the chambers kept for Durwin when he was in residence at the castle. There, to their surprise and pleasure, they found the hermit slumped in his chair with a scroll rolled up in his lap. He was sound asleep and snoring.
Upon their entrance, despite their attempts to be quiet, Durwin woke up and greeted them warmly. “You have ridden all night! You are hungry; I will fetch you some food from the kitchen.”
He hurried away with a candle in his hand while Quentin and Toli pulled off their cloaks, dipped their hands in the basin, and attempted to wash away their fatigue. They then settled themselves, exhausted, into the chairs and dozed until Durwin returned with bread and cheese and fruit he had filched from the pantry.
“Here, sit at this table and eat while I tell you what I have been doing since we were last together.” Durwin told them of his studies and his healing work among the peasants, and at last Quentin told him about their audience with Biorkis and their discussion about the star that nightly grew brighter.
They had talked long and late. At last they rose from the table and turned to curl themselves in their chairs to sleep. Just then a barely 414 audible knock sounded on Durwin’s door. Quentin said, “Durwin, you have a visitor, I believe. Do you entertain so late at night?”
“I, as you well know, did not expect a single person in my chambers tonight, and I find not one, but two. So now I entertain any possibility! Open the door and let them in, please.”
Quentin stepped to the door and opened it. He was not prepared for the greeting he received.
“Quentin, my love. You are here!”
Quentin instantly threw his arms wide, swept up a young woman in a long, white woolen robe, and buried his face in her hair.
“Bria! I did not know how much I missed you until this moment.”
The two lovers clung in a long embrace, breaking off suddenly when they remembered that they were not alone. Quentin gently set his lady back upon her slippered feet. Durwin and Toli smiled as they looked on.
“And what, I might well ask, brings you to this hermit’s chambers so late at night?” Quentin demanded, taking her hand and pulling her into the room.
“Why, I was passing by and fancied I heard voices. I fancied one of them was yours, my love.”
“Ah! Your lips utter the answer my ears long to hear. But come, I have much to tell you. Much has happened since I was with you last.”
“Not here you don’t!” replied Durwin. “In a very short time this chamber will ring with snores of sleeping! You two doves must take your cooing elsewhere.” He beamed happily as he shooed them out the door.
Quentin and Bria walked hand in hand along the darkened passageway and out onto the same balcony the princess and Durwin had occupied only a night earlier.
As Quentin opened the balcony door, the faint light of a glowing sky met his eyes. Dawn’s crimson fingers stretched into the sky in the east, though the sun lingered below the far horizon, and one or two stars could still be seen above.
“I have missed you, my darling,” sighed Bria. “My heart has mourned your absence.”
“I am here now, and with you. I find my greatest happiness when I am at your side.”
“But you will leave again—too soon, I fear. My father has a task for you, and we will be separated again.”
“Do you know what it is?”
Bria shook her head.
“Then how do you know it will take me away from you so suddenly?”
“A woman knows.”
“Well, then, we will have to make each moment we are together so much sweeter.” So saying, Quentin pulled her to him gently and kissed her. She wound her arms around him and rested her head upon his chest.
Quentin looked at the placid sky as its rosy red brightened to a golden hue. The mighty ramparts of Askelon Castle gleamed like burnished gold, magically transformed from their ordinary state of dull stone by the dawn’s subtle alchemy.
“Quentin . . .” Her voice was small and frightened. “What is happening? I am afraid, though I do not know why; the king holds his own counsel and will see no one. And when I ask him about the affairs of the realm, he only smiles and pats my hand and tells me that a princess should think of only happy things and not concern herself with mundane matters.
“I am worried for him. Oh, Quentin, when you see him, you will know—he is not well. He is pale and drawn. Some dark care sits heavily upon his brow. My mother and I do not know what to do.”
“Hush, my love. All will be well—you will see. If there is anything that can be done to ease his mind, I will do it. And if medicines have any effect, Durwin will know it and avail.
“And yet, I must confess that I am troubled, too. But by nothing so easily explained—though I wish that were the case. I would give a fortune to any who could calm the turmoil I feel growing inside me.
“There is trouble, Bria. I feel it, though all about me appears peaceful and serene. I start at shadows, and night gives me no rest; it is as if the wind itself whispers an alarm to my ears, but no sound is heard.”
Bria sighed deeply and clutched him tighter. “What is happening? What will become of us, my darling?”
“I do not know. But I promise you this: I will love you forever.”
They held each other for a while, and the new sun rose and filled the sky with golden light.
“See how the sun banishes the darkness; so love will send our troubles fleeing from us—I promise.”
“Can love accomplish so much, do you think?” Bria said dreamily.
“It can do all things.”
6
Listen, Theido; I say we should turn back. We have already come too far, and it is past the time when we should have been in Askelon. The king will be fearing our disappearance soon, if not already.”
“But we have not seen what we came to see: the enemy, if there is one. We would be remiss if we returned now. Our task is not completed.”
Ronsard sat hunched in the saddle, one arm resting on the pommel, the other
bent around him as he pressed his arm into the small of his back. “If I do not get off this horse soon, I may never walk again.”
“Since when have you been fond of walking? The lord high marshal of the realm should set a better example for his men,” joked Theido, swiveling in his saddle to cast an eye upon the four knights behind.
“My men know me for what I am,” said Ronsard. “But I do not jest when I say that we should return at once. It is no light thing to keep a king waiting.”
“Nor is it acceptable to bring him useless information—the one would foil his purpose as easily as the other.” Theido turned his horse and brought himself close to Ronsard. “But I will tell you what we will do, so that I may hear the end of your complaining. We will send one of the knights back with a message of what we have discovered so far, and of our intention to continue until we are satisfied.”
“Fair enough. Also relay that we will return as soon as we can, by the most expeditious means, with a full report.”
“Agreed.” Theido turned his sun-browned face toward the place where the knights waited, resting their mounts before continuing their journey. “Martran! Come up here.” He signaled to one of them.
The knight approached his leaders on foot and saluted. “Martran,” commanded Ronsard, “you are to ride to the king at once and deliver this message: We are continuing on our mission and are sorry for the delay in returning to him sooner. Tell him we have seen nothing to occasion his concern. Tell him also that we will return to him as soon as we have found what we seek, or have some better report to give him. Do you understand?”
“Yes, my lord,” replied the knight crisply.
“Repeat the message,” ordered Ronsard.
The knight repeated the message word for word with the same inflection given to the words as Ronsard himself had used. “Very well,” said Ronsard. “Be on your way. Stop for nothing and no one.”
The knight saluted again and walked back to his horse. He mounted and rode off at once, without looking back.
“Now then,” said Theido, snapping his reins impatiently, “let us proceed. We have lingered here too long already.”
Ronsard raised himself in his saddle and called to the remaining knights. “Be mounted! Forward we go!”
Since leaving Askelon, they had ridden farther and farther south, first to Hinsenby and then along the coast as it dipped toward the Suthland region of Mensandor. They had passed through Persch and a host of peasant villages unnamed on any map.
Now they approached a rocky stretch of coastland that rose in sharp cliffs at the brink of the sea. This was where the Fiskill Mountains spent themselves in their southernmost extremity. The crags marched right down to the sea, and there the land dropped away as if it had been divided by the chop of an axe. The sea lay crowded with jagged teeth of immense rocks, some as big as islands, though they jutted sharply out of the ocean’s swell, bare and lifeless, uninhabited except as roosts for myriads of squawking seabirds.
A narrow, treacherous track climbed upward through the cliffs and entwined itself among the tors. Now it cut through a wall of rock so narrow that a man’s outstretched hands touched either side, and now it swung out upon the sheer cliff face, where one misstep would send horse and rider hurtling down into the churning sea.
They halted.
“I suggest we stop here for the night. I would not like to trust that trail by night; it is bad enough in the daylight.”
“Very well,” agreed Ronsard. “A fresh start at it in the morning would not be disagreeable to me.”
They removed themselves but a little way from the trail and set about making camp for the night. As the sun slid down below the dark rim of the sea, the birds fluttered to the roosting rocks, and the evening trembled with their noisy calls.
After a while the moon ascended and cast its pale light all around. The tired men dozed and talked in hushed tones.
“Listen!” said Ronsard abruptly. All lapsed into silence and sifted the soft breeze for sounds. The only sound to reach their ears was the faraway roll of the waves crashing against the rocks and slapping against the cliff walls.
Theido cast a wondering glance toward his old friend.
“Well, perhaps I am hearing things,” said Ronsard, but he still peered intently into the night as if listening for the sound to repeat itself.
In a moment he was on his feet, pacing uneasily about the camp, just out of the circle of firelight. Then he walked a short way along the road and stood for a long time, looking toward the cliff trail. Theido watched him narrowly and was not surprised when the brawny knight came hurrying back.
“What is it?”
“Someone is coming! Up there in the cliffs—I am certain of it!”
He ordered his knights in a harsh whisper, “Put out the fire, and take the horses aside. Hide yourselves, and watch me for a signal!”
In the space of five heartbeats, the small camp was deserted, and no sign remained that only a moment before five knights had been encamped there.
Then Ronsard and Theido sat down to wait in the dark alongside the road, hidden from view by a low-lying clump of harts-tongue. Shortly there could be heard the minute sounds of a group of people hurrying along the path, desperately trying to pass unseen: the rattling echo of a stone dislodged by a careless foot, the muffled creak of a wheel upon the rock, a cough.
Then their murky shapes could be seen against the night sky as they drew nearer. They were on foot, and there were smaller shadows among the larger ones. They huddled together in a close knot, rather than ranging themselves along the trail; they evidently feared separation more than detection.
“It is no army,” breathed Ronsard between clenched teeth. He let his breath out slowly. “But now to find out who they are and why they risk the cliffs at night—the very thing we declined to do.”
“We had a choice; perhaps they felt they had none,” replied Theido.
Ronsard rose from his place and stepped near the trail, just ahead of the nocturnal travelers’ leader. When the man approached close at hand, Ronsard said in a loud, steady voice, “Halt, friend! In the name of the Dragon King!”
A shriek and a stifled oath came from the main body of the group. But the man stopped dead in his tracks and looked about him for the source of the unexpected command. Ronsard stepped closer, and the moonlight fell on his face. He smiled and held up his hands to show the frightened travelers that he meant them no harm.
“Wh-what do you w-want?” the leader managed to stammer.
“I wish to speak with you—that is all. I will not detain you long.” Ronsard still spoke in the same steady voice, loud enough for all to hear.
“Who are you?”
“I am the lord high marshal of Mensandor,” replied Ronsard. “Who are you, and what are you doing on this road in the dead of night?”
“Oh, sir!” gasped the relieved man. “You do not jest? You are really a king’s man?”
“At your service. Are you in trouble?”
At this all the people rushed forward, drawing close around Ronsard as if to seek the protection of his title, a welcome shield over their heads. They all began to shout.
Theido crept from his hiding place and came to stand beside Ronsard, who held up his hands and called for quiet. “I think I would better hear the tale from only one mouth at a time. You are the leader of this band.” He pointed to the man he had first addressed. “You begin.”
The man’s face shone pale in the moonlight, but Theido got the impression that it would be pale in the bright daylight as well. Deep lines of fear were drawn on the man’s countenance. His eyes did not hold steady, but shifted to the right and left and all around as if to warn him of the imminent approach of an enemy.
“I . . . we . . .” The man’s mouth worked like a pump, but his words were slow in coming.
“It is all right; you are safe for the time. I have soldiers with me, and we will defend you at need.” Ronsard raised his arm in signal, and his knights
came forward to stand along the trail, their hands upon the hilts of their long swords.
Their presence seemed to frighten the man rather than calm him.
“Come, you may speak freely,” said Theido in a gentle voice.
“We are from Dorn,” the leader managed to wheeze at length. “We have left our homes and carry all our belongings with us. We are going to the High Temple of Ariel.” He paused, gulped air, and plunged ahead. “We do not know where else to go.”
“It is a strange pilgrimage you make, friend,” observed Ronsard. “Why do you leave your homes and flee by night?”
“Have you not heard? They are coming . . . a terrible host, terrible. They have landed at Halidom, and they are coming. Why, we are fleeing for our lives to the protection of Ariel! Only the gods can save us now.”
“Who is coming? Have you seen anyone?”
The man looked at Ronsard, wide-eyed with disbelief. “Do you not know? How is this possible? The whole land is in turmoil! We are fleeing for our lives!”
The people began to shout again, each pouring out his heart, beseeching the king’s men to help them escape. Ronsard and Theido listened and drew aside to confer. “Something has frightened these people; that much is clear. Though what remains a mystery. I can make no sense out of it.” Ronsard scratched his jaw.
Theido called the leader over to where they stood. “Tell us plainly, friend, who is it that you flee? What do they look like?”
The man hesitated. “Well . . . we have seen no one. But we dared not wait. Two days ago, men of Halidom in the Suthlands came to Dorn, and they told us of terrible things which had happened there. A mighty enemy has risen up and drives all before him. Their city was burned, and the streets ran with the blood of their children and women. Those that would save their lives fled to the hills. So we flee while we still may.”
“This enemy—did you hear a name?”