Crystal Gorge. David Eddings

When we add the horse soldiers in the north and the women warriors in the east, we’ll have enough people to bring any bug invasion to a stop. Then, when the rest of our friends arrive, we’ll be able to stomp all over the invaders and win the third war here in the Land of Dhrall.’

      ‘It’ll be something on the order of the way we handled things before the war in Lady Zelana’s Domain,’ Narasan added. ‘There’ll be enough of our people in either region to hold off the invasion until our friends can join us. Then we’ll move directly on to stomp-stomp. ’

      ‘What a clever way to put it, Narasan,’ Sorgan observed.

      ‘I’ve always had this way with words,’ Narasan replied modestly.

      ‘I don’t want to intrude here,’ the scar-faced Ekial said, ‘but how are we going to get my people – and their horses – up to Lord Dahlaine’s territory? Horses can run fast, but probably not quite fast enough to gallop across the top of the sea.’

      ‘I think I know how we can do that,’ Narasan said. ‘Gunda’s got that little fishing yawl that almost knows how to fly. He can take you on down to Castano and hire ships. Then the two of you can sail on over to Malavi and pick up your men and horses. Then you’ll go north to Lord Dahlaine’s territory.’

      ‘I think that maybe I should go with them, Commander,’ Veltan added. ‘When you hire Trogite ships, you need gold, and I know of a few ways to keep that much gold from sinking Gunda’s yawl.’

      ‘I think we’ve pretty much solved all the problems now,’ Narasan said, looking around at the others. ‘When do you think we should start?’

      ‘Have you got anything on the fire for tomorrow?’ Sorgan asked him.

      ‘Not that I can think of,’ Narasan replied.

      ‘Tomorrow it is, then,’ Sorgan announced.

      Red-Beard had been watching Zelana’s sister rather closely as Sorgan and Narasan smoothly cut the ground out from under her. It was quite clear that she wanted to protest, but the two clever outlanders hadn’t left her much to complain about. She obviously still wanted all of the outlanders to go east to protect her Domain, but Sorgan and Narasan – at Zelana’s and Veltan’s suggestion, evidently – had dismissed any protest she could raise.

      ‘I don’t know if you’ve been watching, friend Red-Beard,’ Longbow said quietly, ‘but doesn’t it seem to you that the warrior queen called Trenicia is staying very close to Commander Narasan, and she appears to be very impressed by him.’

      ‘Do you think it’s possible that she’s having those kind of thoughts about dear old Narasan?’ Red-Beard asked.

      ‘I couldn’t say for sure,’ Longbow replied, ‘but that would be a very interesting sort of thing to crop up along about now, wouldn’t you say?’

      ‘Not as long as my head was on straight, I wouldn’t.’

       2

      At first light the following morning, the farmers of Veltan’s Domain began carrying large amounts of food down to the beach to stock the ships of the two fleets. There was a steely quality about that early morning light that always made Red-Beard’s instincts seem more intense. ‘This might be a good day for hunting,’ he said to Longbow as they watched the farmers come down the hill.

      ‘I don’t think Veltan would like it much if you started shooting arrows at his farmers,’ Longbow replied.

      ‘Funny, Longbow, very funny,’ Red-Beard said. ‘There’s something about this first light before the sun comes up that always makes me feel that this might be one of those perfect days – you know, a day when nothing can go wrong.’

      Longbow looked up at the still colorless sky. ‘You might be right, friend Red-Beard,’ he agreed, ‘and if you’re very lucky, things won’t start to fall apart until mid-morning.’ He looked out at the ships of the Trogites and Maags. ‘It’s likely to take them most of the morning to load all that food on their ships,’ he said. ‘Let’s go talk with Zelana and find out if there’s something she wants us to do before we leave Veltan’s territory.’

      Zelana and her two brothers were watching the farmers from a hill-top some distance back from the beach when Red-Beard and Longbow joined them.

      ‘I’m not trying to tell you what to do, baby brother,’ Zelana told Veltan, ‘but I think you might want to consider a bit of “tampering” to get Gunda and Ekial down to Castano as quickly as possible. We won’t know for sure exactly where the creatures of the Wasteland will mount their next attack until one of the children starts dreaming. It’s only a short distance from here to Aracia’s Domain, so Narasan should arrive there in just a few days, and it’s just a short voyage from Aracia’s temple to the Isle of Akalla where Trenicia’s warriors live. It’s much farther from here to Dahlaine’s Domain. Sorgan’s ships are fast enough to reach that part of the Land of Dhrall in plenty of time, but you’ll be spending quite a few days in Castano hiring Trogite ships and more days sailing on down to the land of the Malavi. Then you’ll have the long voyage from there to Dahlaine’s country on those wallowing Trogite ships.’

      ‘I’m very good at tampering, dear sister,’ Veltan told her with a faint smile. ‘Mother Sea is lovely at this time of the year, and I’m sure that the Malavi will enjoy their voyage enormously, but sight-seeing isn’t really all that important right now, so we’ll hit a few high spots and hustle right along. It’s going to seem to Ekial’s Malavi that big brother’s Domain isn’t really all that far north when they get there, but that’s not particularly important.’ Then he turned to look at his older brother. ‘Will the local people in your Domain be at all useful if the Creatures of the Wasteland decide to go north?’

      ‘The natives of the Tonthakan region are fairly good archers,’ Dahlaine replied. ‘Their territory’s very much like sister Zelana’s Domain, so the Tonthakans are primarily hunters. The central region, Matakan, is open grassland and the game-animals there are bison. They’re quite a bit larger than the deer in the forest, and their fur’sa lot thicker. Arrows wouldn’t be too effective against animals like that, so the Matans use spears rather than bows and arrows.’

      ‘Wouldn’t that limit the effective range?’ Longbow asked.

      ‘Bison aren’t as timid as deer are,’ Dahlaine explained. ‘They don’t panic the way deer do. The Matans use what they call “spear-throwers” to increase the range.’

      ‘I don’t think I’ve ever heard of a “spear-thrower”,’ Red-Beard admitted. ‘How does it work?’

      ‘Basically, it’s an extension of the hunter’s arm. It’s a stick with a cup on the end. The hunter sets the butt-end of the spear in that cup, and then he whips the stick forward. The added length increases the leverage, and it nearly doubles the range of the spear. The stone spearhead’s quite a bit heavier than your arrowheads are, so it cuts through the fur and the thick skin of the bison. It sounds just a bit crude and primitive, but it does keep the Matans eating regularly. You’ll probably have an opportunity to see how well it works when we get there.’

      ‘Isn’t there a third region up there as well?’ Veltan asked.

      Dahlaine made a sour face. ‘I should have done something about Atazakan quite some time ago, but I’ve been just a bit busy here lately. The Atazaks have an elevated opinion of themselves – which probably derives from what’s referred to in that region as “the royal family”. I’ve never had occasion to study the notion of “hereditary insanity”, but the term seems to fit in the case of Atazakan. The current chief, leader, king – whatever – is totally crazy. He’s absolutely convinced that he’s a god, and that I’m just a usurper, and that I’m trying to steal what’s rightfully his.’

      ‘Oh?’