'There it is,' said Garash.
From a high ridge, they had a view across bleak and broken country. Far off, about seven leagues distant, loomed the uprearing vertigo of Stronghold Handfast. impressive, yes?' said Garash.
'Some think so,' said Hearst. 'Saba Yavendar always used to think it was ugly.'
'Really,' said Garash.
'Yes,' said Hearst.
And saw Garash looking at him oddly. Of course, the memory was not Hearst's, but a stray recollection inherited from the wizard Phyphor.
'What do you know of Saba Yavendar?' said Garash.
'His poems are famous.'
'Yes, but the man – '
'Don't you recognise a joke when you hear it?' said Hearst.
'A joke, hey? Does that count as humour where you come from? Don't bother me with any more of your jokes.'
'As you wish,' said Hearst.
Garash again looked at him suspiciously: that was not the way Rovac warriors talked. As you wish. As you please. If it suits your convenience…
'We're on the skyline,' said Blackwood.
'No matter,' said Elkor Alish, buoyed up by excitement at the sight of Stronghold Handfast.
'Blackwood's right,' said Hearst. 'We'd better get off the ridge.'
Hearst did not share Alish's excitement.
As they scrambled down the other side of the ridge, Hearst thought about Saba Yavendar. He remembered him quite clearly: a short man with a big ugly nose, a quick grin, and broken blood vessels mottling his face where years of drinking had done their damage. Phyphor had known him well.
Blackwood halted amidst jagged uprisings of rock and clutches of boulders which would shelter them from scrutiny but still allow them a clear view of the landscape ahead.
'What do you think?' said Blackwood. 'Shall we camp here?'
'It's not far now,' said Alish.
'We won't get there today,' said Hearst. 'It would be foolish to try. Let's just go down into the valley and camp for the night.'
'We can go further than that,' said Alish.
'The sky looks like snow,' said Hearst. 'I want to make camp early. I don't want night to catch us unprepared.'
'A little snow won't hurt us.'
'If there's snow, I'll want fire. Remember why I left the Cold West.'
T remember,' said Alish 'I remember…'
And was silent while Hearst scanned the torn landscape confronting them.
'To the left looks easier,' said Hearst.
'I prefer the right,' said Gorn. 'It's steeper but shorter.'
The two Rovac warriors argued it out. Blackwood did not take sides, though he was sure which was the easier, and was relieved when Hearst won the dispute.
'Let's move out.' said Hearst.
They shouldered their packs and continued their descent. With plenty of time remaining till dayfail, Hearst called a halt in a small valley where tall rocks provided a little shelter. Spindly trees grew here and there; without any chitchat, they felled trees, made a rough lean-to and built a pile of firewood. There would be no cooking: they now had enough food for only one meal each day, which was breakfast. At this rate, their rations would be exhausted in a week.
Some time before darkness, it began to snow. The air seemed to warm a fraction, then, white by white, flake by flake, the snow descended. The first flakes, landing on the dark rocks, puffed out to nothing. But light, white, air-light, more snow fell, settling white on black, white on white on black, then white on white on white.
Blackwood coughed.
'You're not sick, are you?' said Gorn. i thought you'd recovered,' said Hearst. i have recovered,' said Blackwood, and it was true: the parasitic smoke was long dead. T coughed, that's all.'
But he was touched by the concern in their voices. Shared hardships had made them allies against the dangers of the world.
Hearst flexed his hands, which were going numb in the cold, took his tinder box, and, with the skill which comes from long experience, he lit the fire.
Dark, and… Stars! And how cold! 'Who -' 'What?'
'Ahyak Rovac!' 'Hold!' 'Who's that?' 'Blackwood?' 'I'm here 'Miphon!' 'Who else?'
'Miphon, how did you – what took you so long?' 'Here I am.'
'Is it warm in the bottle?'
'It's freezing cold out here. For certain it's warmer inside. Hold my arm. Blackwood.' 'Here. I'm here.'
'Hearst. Alish. Gorn. Garash, come on, Garash. Where are the others?' 'Dragons ate them.' 'Oh. I'm sorry about that.'
'So was the dragon. Their armour gave it indigestion. Come on now!'
And Miphon twisted the ring on his finger, and the whole party was sucked into the green bottle.
'Here we are,' said Miphon.
'The bottle's gone from my belt,' said Blackwood.
'Of course,' said Miphon. 'You're inside it now.'
'Food,' said Gorn. T can smell food.'
'Down here,' said Miphon. 'Down these stairs.'
'Where's Comedo?' said Alish.
'Ah,' said Miphon. 'Thereby hangs a tale
For hungry men, stomachs demanded satisfaction before curiosity had its turn. When appetites were satisfied, Miphon told his story.
'… so there I was, trapped behind the portcullis,' said Miphon. i must admit, I felt foolish to have been caught so easily.'
'You should have ripped his guts out right at the start,' said Gorn.
'So you were caught behind the portcullis,' said Alish. 'Did you try to raise it?'
'Yes, but that proved impossible. However, I went deeper down in this green bottle. After a while I found a red bottle, together with a ring which I could use to enter it.'
'I see,' said Hearst. 'Given that, you could easily escape. I can guess what you did. You reached through the bars of the portcullis to put the red bottle down on the other side. Then used the ring to transport yourself into the red bottle. Then used the ring again – and came out of the red bottle on Comedo's side of the portcullis. Then you found Comedo and overpowered him.'
'Exactly,' said Miphon.
'But what took you so long?'
'Well… how long do you think it took me to find the red bottle?'
'I see,' said Hearst. 'The green bottle's bigger than it looks from the outside.'
'Of course,' said Miphon, 'Or how could we be inside it?'
'How can something small outside be large inside?' said Blackwood.
'All enchantment is an anomaly,' said Miphon.
'Words are words,' said Blackwood. 'Facts are facts.'
Miphon laughed at his bewilderment. It was the first time in a long time that he had laughed. It felt good.
'So where's Comedo?' said Alish.
'The red bottle's sitting right there,' said Miphon, 'See? Beside it is the ring which commands the red bottle. Comedo's in there for safekeeping.'
'Bring him out,' said Alish.
'Time for that later,' said Hearst, 'When we've finished our business with Heenmor.'
'How far is there to go?' said Miphon. 'How far are we from Stronghold Handfast?'
'We can get there tomorrow,' said Hearst. 'It's rough country, but we're all fit enough to tackle it.'
Miphon glanced at Blackwood.
'You look much better,' said Miphon.
'I'm cured,'said Blackwood.
'How?'
'The old lore tells how.'
'Really,' said Miphon. T have got a lot to hear about.'
'Yes,' said Hearst. 'And it'll give you something to chew on, as Andranovory said when the dragon bit him in half 'Which dragon was that?' said Miphon. 'The one which killed all the others?" 'Oh, there were five dragons actually,' said Hearst, 'But one was just a baby. It was chasing mice when we found it.'
At which point Miphon began to suspect that he was being kidded, because his reference books said – and he believed them, though such tomes were not always entirely accurate – that: (a) the immature form of the common or land dragon lives primarily on sulphur; and (b) dragons are afraid of mice.
Nevertheless, he did not interrupt. It was Elkor Alish, in the end, who told the truth. Alish wanted the Rovac to be credited with Hearst's dragon-kill. He wanted the wizards, Garash and Miphon, to understand the superiority of the Rovac. Even though he suspected that he would shortly have to kill both wizards.
And, perhaps, Morgan Hearst as well.