All of the groups which had been involved in the night navigation exercise had been attacked in the forests by monsters of the Swarms. There were few survivors. However, Sarazin, Fox, and a dozen other exhausted men eventually straggled back to headquarters with tales of death and horror. Fox, the only survivor who had dared the Door, was infuriatingly vague about it.
Drake Douay, the thief who had stolen Sarazin's bard, had told stories of Doors in Penvash and elsewhere. Sarazin now deeply regretted disbelieving those stories. If he had believed, he might have paid attention to what he was being told. What had the pirate said of the management of such Doors? The details escaped his memory.
'This Door,' said Sarazin, when all at the hunting lodge were discussing the disaster in common conference, 'I heard someone talk of such. You know who I'm talk- ing about, Jarl. The man Douay. What did he say about Doors?'
'That he went through such,' said Jarl. 'That's all I remember. Do we know where this one goes? Fox?' 'It goes from one place to another,' said Fox. 'Like a dog pissing,' said Glambrax.
'Shut up, you!' said Sarazin. Then, to his father: 'What places were these? Where might they be?' 'I've no idea,' said Fox. 'Then what did you see?' said Sarazin.
Through this Door,' said Fox, 'I saw tree and stone, rock and sky, earth and water.'
This was all… real?' said Lod, who had not seen the Door.
'If illusion, then illusion is life,' said Fox. 'Do you think our monsters mere nightmare? They killed!' Lod shook his head.
'It was the Door I doubted,' said he, 'for I've never heard of such. But your monsters, which must surely be creatures of the Swarms, are famous in Chenameg since the eldest sons of our kings are bound by tradition to quest as heroes to the lands south of Drangsturm.'
'So this Door, then,' said a dark-bearded soldier, 'must open to the terror-lands of the Deep South.'
'For all we know,' said another warrior, 'it could open to another world entirely.'
'Swarms are creatures of our world,' argued a third. 'Besides, young Sarazin here spoke to a wizard in Galish. The Door opens to a place of wizards beyond Drangsturm.'
'Not necessarily,' argued a fourth. It could be a gateway through time, to a past or a future where the Swarms rule all of Argan.' 'No-' 'But-' 'I say-'
'Silence!' said Fox, thumping his fist on a table. As his men hushed, he looked from one to another. Red- eyed. Exhausted. He marshalled words with care, then spoke. 'Whatever the nature of this Door, wherever it goes, without doubt creatures of the Swarms come through it.'
Slowly, compensating for fatigue with an exaggerated precision, he detailed their task. They must shut the Door. How? He had dared the Door himself yet knew of no way to close it. So help must be sought, either to seal the Door or to guard it with gates and walls, lest monsters invade all Chenameg and the lands beyond.
'We lack the numbers to defeat such brutes,' said Fox. 'They have killed some of our best already. We should withdraw from our headquarters, now, today, lest we wake tomorrow to find ourselves besieged by nightmare.'
He proposed sending embassies to Shin, Selzirk and the Rice Empire to sound the warning. Sarazin was about to volunteer to journey to Voice when Fox said:
'I myself will warn the Rice Empire. I have the confidence of Lord Regan, who will believe me where he might not believe others. Jarl will go with me.'
'Then I will risk the wrath of Tarkal in Shin,' said Lod. 'As I have said, we know much of the Swarms here in Chenameg. Tarkal will doubt, but he will check before he disputes.'
Silence.
Sarazin realised Fox and Lod were both looking at him.
'Oh well,' said Sarazin, 'I suppose that leaves me with Selzirk. I mean, I'm the logical choice. Okay, I'll go.'
He was glad now that he had carefully arranged things so that the people of Selzirk would think he had been kidnapped. That limited the amount of explaining he would have to do on his return. He could simply say his kidnappers had dragged him to Chenameg, that he had been held prisoner, had broken loose, had staggered through the forest – and discovered the Door! A thin tale. But no more incredible than the truth.
– Aye. There's the rub. Will anyone believe me? They must! Otherwise Chenameg is finished. The Harvest Plains will fall to the Swarms next. Then all of Argan!
– But has Selzirk strength sufficient to close or secure such a Door?
Could the death-stone destroy the Door? Perhaps. But could Morgan Hearst be persuaded to make the attempt? If Hearst refused to believe the tale Sarazin told, what then? -Then we are doomed.
But… yes, of course! There were transcripts of Drake Douay's interrogation in Selzirk. Douay had known the secret of commanding Doors. Given that knowledge,
Sarazin might be able to close the Door in Chenameg on his own, even if nobody in Selzirk believed his grim tidings.
Later that day, Sarazin was in a barn packing for his journey to Selzirk when Glambrax came to him. 'Out of my way, mannikin!' said Sarazin. 'I'm busy.'
'Aha!' said Glambrax. 'But not too busy to satisfy your heart's desire!'
Tou mean, to cut out your liver and hack off your head?' said Sarazin. 'Why, I can do that any day. Scram!'
Instead of fleeing, Glambrax grinned and produced a rope of woven bark which was knotted round a glittering silver ring (still attached to its silver chain) and an ornamental bottle of leaf-green jade.
'Give me that!' said Sarazin, shocked, startled, snatching for the enchanted treasure.
But Glambrax ducked away, pocketed the valuables, dodged a blow from Sarazin and sprinted outside. There, Jarl, Fox and Lod were conferring over a map of Argan which Lod had drawn with a stick in a patch of dirt. 'Stop him!' cried Sarazin. His father collared Glambrax. 'What do you want with the dwarf?' said Fox.
Sarazin hesitated. He could reveal all. He could have the ring of invisibility and the dragon-bottle taken from Glambrax. But then the secret would be out. And Jarl and Fox would doubtless want to use his magic dragons to destroy the Door.
But they were his, his, his alone! Special treasures given to him by the druid all those many years ago. They were his weapon of last resort in his campaign to win himself an empire. He would not squander such simply to close a Door. Since pirate scum like Douay had mastered Doors, Sarazin knew he could do as much himself without help from magic dragons. Once he knew the secret.
'I wanted,' said Sarazin, 'merely to get some work out of this mannikin.'
'Then take him,' said Fox, in good humour, giving Glambrax a shove which sent him staggering towards Sarazin.
As Sarazin grabbed for the dwarf, Glambrax jinked, evaded him, and sprinted back to the barn. Sarazin stalked him with murder clearly written on his face. By the time Sarazin gained the barn, Glambrax had nimbled into the rafters and was sitting there out of reach, kicking his heels.
'Come down,' said Sarazin, picking up a pitchfork. 'Down, mischief! Or it will go ill with you.'
Glambrax grinned, then ran along a rafter to a little bat- high window. He could jump and be gone in a moment. Sarazin sighed, and threw down the pitchfork. 'What do you want?' said Sarazin. 'Your oath,' said Glambrax.
'To do what?' said Sarazin. To buy you the favours of six dogs a day? Or what?' To ask no questions,' said Glambrax, grinning.
'Don't be ridiculous!' said Sarazin, speaking with ex- plosive force. 'I have to know what happened! It's my right. You – you buggered my chances, you filthy piece of cheese-shit! I could have won, could have ruled, could have conquered. But you – you-' Sarazin was so angry that words failed him. 'But it wasn't me!' protested Glambrax.
'What do you mean, it wasn't you?' said Sarazin. 'You were the thief! You were the one who ruined my conspiracy!'
'No, no,' said Glambrax, with a rare display of urgency. The thieves came before me. They took your bard, your book, your precious papers, ah, all of it, all of it.'
Sarazin, in reply, picked up a hardened piece of dung and hurled it at the dwarf. It hit the rafter below Glambrax's feet and exploded into pieces.
You were the thief!' said Sarazin. You and Douay, in league together! You stole the magic, he stole the bard!'
'Not so, not so,' protested Glambrax. 'There were other thieves. They took your stuff then gave me a chance to take more.' 'You admit it!' said Sarazin. You thieved my magic!'
They warned me Plovey was coming,' said Glambrax. 'If I hadn't taken it, then Plovey would have.'
You could have told me!' said Sarazin. 'I was in con- ference with my mother. You could have warned me.'
'But I was made to swear not to,' said Glambrax. 'I was made to swear many things, oh yes, not to warn you, never to give you the names-' 'The names?'
'The names of those who took your bard, your book, your papers. I swore I would not. Thus you must swear to ask me no questions.'
Sarazin stared at Glambrax. Could he tempt the dwarf within pitchfork range? If so, then he would kill him! Then Fox came into the barn.
'Are you ready to go?' said Fox. Your escort is nearly ready.' 'Almost,' said Sarazin.
Then embraced his father, who slapped him on the back and called him a man. Then left to supervise other activities. Whereupon Sarazin turned to Glambrax and said, with venom:
'All right then. I swear. I'll not ask you questions. I'll not harm you, either. Not for this. But if you step out of line again, I'll – I'll – I'll stuff your guts with biting vermin then broil you alive.'
Glambrax feigned fear, then laughed, and dropped both ring and bottle to Sarazin. Who, swearing softly to himself, tore those items free from the rope of bark. He put the ring's chain round his neck and pocketed the bottle. Then Glambrax produced the magic green candle and tossed it to Sarazin. Who finished packing then went outside, meaning to seek out the escort which was to accompany him to the border of Chenameg. Glambrax jumped down from the rafter and came jog-jog-jogging up behind him.
'M-m-mathter, m-mathter' said Glambrax, faking a lisp and a stutter simultaneously, 'd-d-don't leaf us, don't leaf us.'
TMara zabara jok!' said Sarazin, using the crudest Galish he knew.
Whereupon Glambrax, giggling, skipped in front of him, dared his boot, laughed when it missed, then started skipping backwards, keeping just out of range of Sarazin's wrath.
'I was very good, you know,' said Glambrax. 'I didn't meddle with ring or bottle, though I was tempted, tempted, oh, you can't imagine the temptation.'
'It's well that you resisted it,' said Sarazin, 'for this magic would have been your death if you'd tampered with it. It kills dwarves and mutants, and you're both!'
'Will it kill monsters, too, if we meet such on our journey?' said Glambrax.
'Our journey?' said Sarazin. "No, my journey. You're staying here. The last thing I need right now is a delinquent ankle-biter scuffling around at my heels.' 'You'll die without me,' said Glambrax.
'That's all right,' said Sarazin, with unfeigned non- chalance.
And Glambrax protested no more, for their colloquy had brought them in sight of the escort.
Shortly, Sarazin set out – without Glambrax! He had an escort of a dozen men to accompany him through the forest, and he had a string of four horses. Once they reached the border of Chenameg then Sarazin, with the forest's dangers behind him, would ride for Selzirk alone, with all possible speed.
Many dangers lay ahead. But surely nothing could defeat Sean Sarazin. Not now that he had recovered his magic.
His anger was already fading, and he was beginning to experience something close to joy. The power, the power! It was his! Again! And, this time, he would not lose it. His implements of power would never again leave him. He would keep them with him always.
Sarazin took his leave of Fox, Lod, Jarl and several soldiers he had come to know well during his sojourn in Chenameg, then swung up into the saddle, and, singing a snatch of a hunting song, rode forth into the future.