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.All these weeks, they had been marching steadily northward, through land that bore no sign of people except the charred ruins of villages and cattle roaming wild, with pigs and dogs who had quickly reverted to the ways of nature.When first they came to such a village, Lua stared in shock, Yocote began to look angry, and even Culaehra felt a chill at the postures of some of the skeletons they found.“What has happened here?” Kitishane cried.“Bolenkar's agents have come among these villagers,” Illbane told her grimly.“They have found cause for war between neighbors, then between hamlets, and finally between villages.The victorious villagers then fought one another, and this country now is stripped to a few small cities that live in an uneasy truce, each waiting only for some advantage over the others before it strikes.”“Is there no remedy?”Illbane shrugged.“Destroy the agents of Bolenkar.”“Then let us do so!”But the sage shook his head.“We are not yet strong enough.Meanwhile, more of his emissaries work among the cities of the south and the nomads of the steppe, and in time both will march to conquer this land.Their armies will chew one another to bits and strew these plains with the dead and dying.”Even Culaehra blanched at the thought of death on such a scale, but he said stoutly, “They will all deserve it.”“They will not deserve it, for they would have been peaceful enough without tempters to puff them up and tell them that each of them deserved dominion over all the others.” Illbane glanced keenly at the outlaw.“Would you not stop it if you could?”Culaehra started to answer, then bit his tongue, remembering to gauge Illbane's mood.Carefully he said, “They are nothing to me, Illbane, and would probably cast me out if I had been born among them.Why should I care?”The sage never took his gaze from the outlaw's face, only nodded and said, “You must discover that.”He would not say why or how, only led them away from that village and on toward the north.All Culaehra's pestering would not draw an answer from Illbane, and when the outlaw perceived that the sage's mood of the day was patience, he grew bold, even to the point of hectoring.“You seem to think that I should take another person's troubles upon me, let them become my troubles! Why ever should I do that?”Illbane stopped and gave him a long, penetrating look, his face so grim that Culaehra's heart sank and he readied himself to fight even though he knew he would be beaten and punished.However, Illbane merely said, “Only experience can teach you that.” He turned away, and Culaehra followed slowly, dying to ask what he meant, but too wary.He found out when they came to the cliff.The cliff happened at the end of their path.They were following a faint animal trail toward a line that they took for a ridge, a trail that suddenly veered aside to a spring that jetted from a crevice, then ran to splash off the side of the ridge.Illbane halted and held out a hand to stop them.Glad of any rest, Culaehra dropped the packs with a sigh, but Yocote peered through his goggles.“Why did the animals who made this trail turn away? The stream runs to the ridge.” Then he frowned.“Come to that, if it is a ridge, why does the spring run over it without pooling first?”“A good question.” Illbane leaned on his staff, watching Yocote intently.“Seek the answer carefully, you who are now a shaman.”Yocote glanced up at him, frowning, then turned to follow the animal trail, dropping to all fours at the spring.He crawled as he followed its course.Culaehra snorted.“Yes, Yocote, crawl like the worm you are!”“Do not make your ignorance march where all can see, Culaehra!” Illbane snapped.“He mimics the deer who made the trail so that he may take in their thoughts.”The outlaw glared at him.“Take in their thoughts? You mean think like them, do you not? Oh, I do not doubt that Yocote thinks like a timid antelope!”“He takes in the thoughts of the animals who made the path!” Illbane strode over to him, his voice dropping to an angry mutter.“It is shaman's work, to bring the memories buried in the stone and the earth into his own mind, that he may know what they know! Do not speak of what you cannot understand!”Culaehra's head snapped up as if he had been slapped, and within, he vowed revenge on Yocote for Illbane's insults.The amulet at his throat chilled him, but he shook off its spell angrily.Yocote stiffened, then shied away.“It is no ridge, Illbane, but a cliff's edge!”“Is it truly?” Illbane sounded quite interested, but Culaehra felt sure he had known it all along, and silently cursed him for making them go through this game.The sage strode up to the edge of the cliff and nodded.“Indeed it is, and we can see an amazing distance from it! Come up, my companions, and look upon your path for the next sennight—but come carefully.”Slowly, they came up, Yocote to one side of him, Kitishane to the other, dropping to their knees for the last pace or two.They gasped in awe—and Lua, finally curious, crept forward to join them.None stood right next to Illbane, of course; they maintained their respectful distance—and Culaehra suddenly realized that now, even now, he could run at the sage's back and push him off the edge.His blood quickened even as the amulet turned so cold that he almost yelped in surprise—but it reminded him to be cautious.For all he knew, Illbane might sprout wings and fly! And, come to think of it, Illbane had stepped up quite close to the edge, turning his back on him, ignoring him quite deliberately—almost as if he were inviting the assault.Illbane was angry at him; Culaehra knew that, and he also knew the old man must have eyes in the back of his head.He wouldn't put it past Illbane to sense when he was rushing, and step aside at the last second, to let him go hurtling over the edge of the cliff.Culaehra's blood chilled at the thought—or was that only the amulet's effect running through him? No, he decided, the risk was too great.He went forward after all, but slowly, moving up beside Yocote and fighting down the urge to kick the little man off the precipice instead.Then Culaehra saw the view and forgot all thoughts of revenge or assault.The plain stretched away to another range of mountains far in the distance.It was grassy, with three lines of trees winding across it.One had deep curves, even an oxbow.He wondered why the trees grew in lines, then caught the glint of water from the oxbow.The trees showed the courses of rivers! Was water so scarce in this land that trees could grow only on the banks of streams?It would seem so, but the grass was lush green with the summer rains—summer, and Illbane had caught him in early spring!—and the sky arched huge above all, almost awing him with the depths of its blueness and the streams of clouds that streaked it like rivers in the sky.He stood spellbound by the vista until Yocote's voice brought him out of his daze.“How are we to climb down there?”A good question! He glanced at Illbane—and saw the sage watching him with a thoughtful, weighing look, almost as if he were suspecting there might be some good in him after all.Culaehra flushed and turned away—to find Kitishane watching him with a look that was much the same, but held some difference in both kind and intensity.Culaehra turned quickly back to the vista before him.“Well asked, Illbane [ Pobierz całość w formacie PDF ]
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.All these weeks, they had been marching steadily northward, through land that bore no sign of people except the charred ruins of villages and cattle roaming wild, with pigs and dogs who had quickly reverted to the ways of nature.When first they came to such a village, Lua stared in shock, Yocote began to look angry, and even Culaehra felt a chill at the postures of some of the skeletons they found.“What has happened here?” Kitishane cried.“Bolenkar's agents have come among these villagers,” Illbane told her grimly.“They have found cause for war between neighbors, then between hamlets, and finally between villages.The victorious villagers then fought one another, and this country now is stripped to a few small cities that live in an uneasy truce, each waiting only for some advantage over the others before it strikes.”“Is there no remedy?”Illbane shrugged.“Destroy the agents of Bolenkar.”“Then let us do so!”But the sage shook his head.“We are not yet strong enough.Meanwhile, more of his emissaries work among the cities of the south and the nomads of the steppe, and in time both will march to conquer this land.Their armies will chew one another to bits and strew these plains with the dead and dying.”Even Culaehra blanched at the thought of death on such a scale, but he said stoutly, “They will all deserve it.”“They will not deserve it, for they would have been peaceful enough without tempters to puff them up and tell them that each of them deserved dominion over all the others.” Illbane glanced keenly at the outlaw.“Would you not stop it if you could?”Culaehra started to answer, then bit his tongue, remembering to gauge Illbane's mood.Carefully he said, “They are nothing to me, Illbane, and would probably cast me out if I had been born among them.Why should I care?”The sage never took his gaze from the outlaw's face, only nodded and said, “You must discover that.”He would not say why or how, only led them away from that village and on toward the north.All Culaehra's pestering would not draw an answer from Illbane, and when the outlaw perceived that the sage's mood of the day was patience, he grew bold, even to the point of hectoring.“You seem to think that I should take another person's troubles upon me, let them become my troubles! Why ever should I do that?”Illbane stopped and gave him a long, penetrating look, his face so grim that Culaehra's heart sank and he readied himself to fight even though he knew he would be beaten and punished.However, Illbane merely said, “Only experience can teach you that.” He turned away, and Culaehra followed slowly, dying to ask what he meant, but too wary.He found out when they came to the cliff.The cliff happened at the end of their path.They were following a faint animal trail toward a line that they took for a ridge, a trail that suddenly veered aside to a spring that jetted from a crevice, then ran to splash off the side of the ridge.Illbane halted and held out a hand to stop them.Glad of any rest, Culaehra dropped the packs with a sigh, but Yocote peered through his goggles.“Why did the animals who made this trail turn away? The stream runs to the ridge.” Then he frowned.“Come to that, if it is a ridge, why does the spring run over it without pooling first?”“A good question.” Illbane leaned on his staff, watching Yocote intently.“Seek the answer carefully, you who are now a shaman.”Yocote glanced up at him, frowning, then turned to follow the animal trail, dropping to all fours at the spring.He crawled as he followed its course.Culaehra snorted.“Yes, Yocote, crawl like the worm you are!”“Do not make your ignorance march where all can see, Culaehra!” Illbane snapped.“He mimics the deer who made the trail so that he may take in their thoughts.”The outlaw glared at him.“Take in their thoughts? You mean think like them, do you not? Oh, I do not doubt that Yocote thinks like a timid antelope!”“He takes in the thoughts of the animals who made the path!” Illbane strode over to him, his voice dropping to an angry mutter.“It is shaman's work, to bring the memories buried in the stone and the earth into his own mind, that he may know what they know! Do not speak of what you cannot understand!”Culaehra's head snapped up as if he had been slapped, and within, he vowed revenge on Yocote for Illbane's insults.The amulet at his throat chilled him, but he shook off its spell angrily.Yocote stiffened, then shied away.“It is no ridge, Illbane, but a cliff's edge!”“Is it truly?” Illbane sounded quite interested, but Culaehra felt sure he had known it all along, and silently cursed him for making them go through this game.The sage strode up to the edge of the cliff and nodded.“Indeed it is, and we can see an amazing distance from it! Come up, my companions, and look upon your path for the next sennight—but come carefully.”Slowly, they came up, Yocote to one side of him, Kitishane to the other, dropping to their knees for the last pace or two.They gasped in awe—and Lua, finally curious, crept forward to join them.None stood right next to Illbane, of course; they maintained their respectful distance—and Culaehra suddenly realized that now, even now, he could run at the sage's back and push him off the edge.His blood quickened even as the amulet turned so cold that he almost yelped in surprise—but it reminded him to be cautious.For all he knew, Illbane might sprout wings and fly! And, come to think of it, Illbane had stepped up quite close to the edge, turning his back on him, ignoring him quite deliberately—almost as if he were inviting the assault.Illbane was angry at him; Culaehra knew that, and he also knew the old man must have eyes in the back of his head.He wouldn't put it past Illbane to sense when he was rushing, and step aside at the last second, to let him go hurtling over the edge of the cliff.Culaehra's blood chilled at the thought—or was that only the amulet's effect running through him? No, he decided, the risk was too great.He went forward after all, but slowly, moving up beside Yocote and fighting down the urge to kick the little man off the precipice instead.Then Culaehra saw the view and forgot all thoughts of revenge or assault.The plain stretched away to another range of mountains far in the distance.It was grassy, with three lines of trees winding across it.One had deep curves, even an oxbow.He wondered why the trees grew in lines, then caught the glint of water from the oxbow.The trees showed the courses of rivers! Was water so scarce in this land that trees could grow only on the banks of streams?It would seem so, but the grass was lush green with the summer rains—summer, and Illbane had caught him in early spring!—and the sky arched huge above all, almost awing him with the depths of its blueness and the streams of clouds that streaked it like rivers in the sky.He stood spellbound by the vista until Yocote's voice brought him out of his daze.“How are we to climb down there?”A good question! He glanced at Illbane—and saw the sage watching him with a thoughtful, weighing look, almost as if he were suspecting there might be some good in him after all.Culaehra flushed and turned away—to find Kitishane watching him with a look that was much the same, but held some difference in both kind and intensity.Culaehra turned quickly back to the vista before him.“Well asked, Illbane [ Pobierz całość w formacie PDF ]