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"I have said we are ready. Now we must wait to see what task shall be laid upon
us." What is time? In the life of men a numbering of sunrises and sunsets, of days,
years, seasons,
plantings and reapings. Man makes times, dividing it into narrower and narrower portions as
he needs it for living which becomes more and more complex in its demands. Naill Renfro
was space born; thus time had not laid so tight a bond upon him as upon most other men. And
when he had become Ayyar he had walked into a time that was reckoned by seasons, by
growth and winter sleep. Now he was caught up in another time in which his body was
nothing, in which he was only to wait. And how long was this time he could not afterwards
have told, nor did he remember it clearly.
There came a moment when the mist below lay quiet, collapsed into water. But now the
water was not a smooth, set mirror. Through it ran ripples of blue and green which thinned
and paled into silver, and these formed lines and patterns which were not normal for any
water, if the Mirror of Thanth was, or had ever been, mere water.
Illylle and Jarvas chanted together the girl's lighter voice rising, the man's making a
lower, stronger note, yet both fitting, one to the other. And again the words were not to be
translated but were meant to be sounds in which the meaning lay only in the melody.
The silver lines moved back and forth, tracing the fantastic pictures one could almost
understand, but never entirely. Now the whole of the flood lapped higher about the walls
of the crater, as it had on the day when it had spilled over to cleanse the wilderness about
and to challeng eThat with storm and flood.
From it arose another tongue, this not of mist but of substance, lifting higher and higher
into the air as it circled the wall, thinner and thinner, until it could have been a vine of the
Forest. And into that writhing, curling vine of water poured all the silver, so that it was alight
throughout its length, although the gleaming brilliance of it did not strike harshly on Iftin eyes.
It approached in its round the ledge on which the Iftin stood, and its tip was star bright,
curling down over their heads. It quivered, swinging back and forth, lingered for a moment
above each in turn, sometimes for only a second, sometimes longer. Twice did it so quest,
and then it struck at Illylle. Down over her head and body ran the coruscating silver, beading
shoulders, limbs
Then it raised again, and once more swung out over the rest of their small
company, seeking seeking
Ayyar started. He was the target this time. He did not feel the touch of the water as it
chose him, rather a tingling through flesh and bone and blood, as if the silver flood had
entered into him. Then that was gone, as was the tongue itself, fallen back into the Mirror.
And the turbulence of the Mirror died away so that they looked down into a calm
surface. Ayyar knew that what had dwelt there for a space had now withdrawn into the
place which was its own, and that a door between was closed.
But the reason for what had just passed was what he must know. He looked down at
his arms, his shoulders, his body where that river of silver had run. He was warm, and the
hunger, the thirst he had known, was gone. Instead he was alive as he had been after his
draught of sap, filled with energy, with the need for action. But what action? In the answer
to that lay the importance of all that had happened here.
Illylle turned away from the edge of the ledge and came to him.
"Thus has it been ordained. As it was with Kymon, the Oath Giver, so is it now with
us. We go to wher eThat abides, that we may be the vessels through which what lies in
Thanth may loose wrath upon the Enemy."
And the choice had not been his at all, was Ayyar's first thought. No, that was not the
truth either. By coming here he had indeed offered himself for battle. Now he could not
protest when he had been accepted. But why? He was no Mirrormaster; he was only a
warrior who had once fought in a lost cause against this same Enemy. But Kymon also had
been a warrior if Kymon ever trul ywas , inside the wrapping of legend and hero worship.
And there was no denying that the choice had been made.
He turned to Illylle. "We go now ?"
"Now."
"Take this." Kelemark drew off his baldric, pushed it and the sheathed sword it supported
into
Ayyar's hands. It would seem the others accepted the fact of their out-faring.
Jarvas drew his cloak closer about his shoulders. "What can be done here is done.
We must not linger."
"Then where?" asked Illylle.
"To the bay at the shore, if fortune allows us to win there. If the brothren come
overseas we shall meet them." He paused and looked for a time-stretching moment into
her eyes and then into Ayyar's.
"I know not what you face, save that it is peril indeed. And one which none can share
with you, no matter how much they wish it. What good fortune may come from willing and
from our desires shall march to your right and left, but whether that can arm or defend
you" he shrugged. "Can any man tell? This has been laid upon you to do the best with it
and you!"
They crossed into the Waste where the road walls were waist high. Day sky was above
but there were clouds; by so much did the weather favor them. But where were they to go?
Venture without plan int oThat 's stronghold?
"Where we go, that I can guess," Ayyar said. "But what we do there, that is another
thing."
"We shall know that also when the hour is come," she replied.
Her confidence grated against his doubt. "To run blindly int oThat 's hold is to perhaps
throw away every defense we have."
Illylle looked at him over her shoulder. "Defense? Is it 'once a warrior, always a warrior,'
Captain of the First Ring of Iftcan that was? There may be other ways of fighting than with
blade "
"Yes," he told her grimly, "with blaster and flamer! Have you forgotten what army has
drawn ahead of us into this land? You say we are weapons in ourselves, carrying in us some
potent force to meet that which the Enemy can muster. But it is in my mind that we must do
as the songs says Kymon did, win directly t oThat , face to face. And in so doing we must
pass any defensesIt has set. Do you not remember how it was when that space suit took us
so easily prisoner? And that may be the least of the dangers now ranged against us."
"So, what then is your answer? We have no time to creep and lurk, seeking out some
unknown safe path "
"Can we not? I say we have to or be finished before we are fairly begun. This is no
Forest hunt, this is in a land the Enemy has made. There is one way " He had been thinking,
fast, clearly, more clearly, it
seemed, than he had for some time.
"And what way is that?" she demanded. Already she had pulled well ahead of him on into
the
Waste, her impatience a goad.
"Does not the Enemy have the false Iftin? Are they not to the eye even as we?" He
had caught her attention. She looked back at him, a frown on her face.
"The false Iftin but how ?"
"They are sent out to raid from whatever cam pThat keeps. They come and go if we
can track a returning pack, join it as stragglers "
"They do not live as we, canno tThat detect the difference?"
"We must take our chances. But they are no more, and they may be less than the
perils we may encounter going blindly. There is no reason not to try this."
"And where will you find them?"
"They have been raiding across the river. Lokatath was with those who pursued [ Pobierz całość w formacie PDF ]
zanotowane.pl doc.pisz.pl pdf.pisz.pl fopke.keep.pl
"I have said we are ready. Now we must wait to see what task shall be laid upon
us." What is time? In the life of men a numbering of sunrises and sunsets, of days,
years, seasons,
plantings and reapings. Man makes times, dividing it into narrower and narrower portions as
he needs it for living which becomes more and more complex in its demands. Naill Renfro
was space born; thus time had not laid so tight a bond upon him as upon most other men. And
when he had become Ayyar he had walked into a time that was reckoned by seasons, by
growth and winter sleep. Now he was caught up in another time in which his body was
nothing, in which he was only to wait. And how long was this time he could not afterwards
have told, nor did he remember it clearly.
There came a moment when the mist below lay quiet, collapsed into water. But now the
water was not a smooth, set mirror. Through it ran ripples of blue and green which thinned
and paled into silver, and these formed lines and patterns which were not normal for any
water, if the Mirror of Thanth was, or had ever been, mere water.
Illylle and Jarvas chanted together the girl's lighter voice rising, the man's making a
lower, stronger note, yet both fitting, one to the other. And again the words were not to be
translated but were meant to be sounds in which the meaning lay only in the melody.
The silver lines moved back and forth, tracing the fantastic pictures one could almost
understand, but never entirely. Now the whole of the flood lapped higher about the walls
of the crater, as it had on the day when it had spilled over to cleanse the wilderness about
and to challeng eThat with storm and flood.
From it arose another tongue, this not of mist but of substance, lifting higher and higher
into the air as it circled the wall, thinner and thinner, until it could have been a vine of the
Forest. And into that writhing, curling vine of water poured all the silver, so that it was alight
throughout its length, although the gleaming brilliance of it did not strike harshly on Iftin eyes.
It approached in its round the ledge on which the Iftin stood, and its tip was star bright,
curling down over their heads. It quivered, swinging back and forth, lingered for a moment
above each in turn, sometimes for only a second, sometimes longer. Twice did it so quest,
and then it struck at Illylle. Down over her head and body ran the coruscating silver, beading
shoulders, limbs
Then it raised again, and once more swung out over the rest of their small
company, seeking seeking
Ayyar started. He was the target this time. He did not feel the touch of the water as it
chose him, rather a tingling through flesh and bone and blood, as if the silver flood had
entered into him. Then that was gone, as was the tongue itself, fallen back into the Mirror.
And the turbulence of the Mirror died away so that they looked down into a calm
surface. Ayyar knew that what had dwelt there for a space had now withdrawn into the
place which was its own, and that a door between was closed.
But the reason for what had just passed was what he must know. He looked down at
his arms, his shoulders, his body where that river of silver had run. He was warm, and the
hunger, the thirst he had known, was gone. Instead he was alive as he had been after his
draught of sap, filled with energy, with the need for action. But what action? In the answer
to that lay the importance of all that had happened here.
Illylle turned away from the edge of the ledge and came to him.
"Thus has it been ordained. As it was with Kymon, the Oath Giver, so is it now with
us. We go to wher eThat abides, that we may be the vessels through which what lies in
Thanth may loose wrath upon the Enemy."
And the choice had not been his at all, was Ayyar's first thought. No, that was not the
truth either. By coming here he had indeed offered himself for battle. Now he could not
protest when he had been accepted. But why? He was no Mirrormaster; he was only a
warrior who had once fought in a lost cause against this same Enemy. But Kymon also had
been a warrior if Kymon ever trul ywas , inside the wrapping of legend and hero worship.
And there was no denying that the choice had been made.
He turned to Illylle. "We go now ?"
"Now."
"Take this." Kelemark drew off his baldric, pushed it and the sheathed sword it supported
into
Ayyar's hands. It would seem the others accepted the fact of their out-faring.
Jarvas drew his cloak closer about his shoulders. "What can be done here is done.
We must not linger."
"Then where?" asked Illylle.
"To the bay at the shore, if fortune allows us to win there. If the brothren come
overseas we shall meet them." He paused and looked for a time-stretching moment into
her eyes and then into Ayyar's.
"I know not what you face, save that it is peril indeed. And one which none can share
with you, no matter how much they wish it. What good fortune may come from willing and
from our desires shall march to your right and left, but whether that can arm or defend
you" he shrugged. "Can any man tell? This has been laid upon you to do the best with it
and you!"
They crossed into the Waste where the road walls were waist high. Day sky was above
but there were clouds; by so much did the weather favor them. But where were they to go?
Venture without plan int oThat 's stronghold?
"Where we go, that I can guess," Ayyar said. "But what we do there, that is another
thing."
"We shall know that also when the hour is come," she replied.
Her confidence grated against his doubt. "To run blindly int oThat 's hold is to perhaps
throw away every defense we have."
Illylle looked at him over her shoulder. "Defense? Is it 'once a warrior, always a warrior,'
Captain of the First Ring of Iftcan that was? There may be other ways of fighting than with
blade "
"Yes," he told her grimly, "with blaster and flamer! Have you forgotten what army has
drawn ahead of us into this land? You say we are weapons in ourselves, carrying in us some
potent force to meet that which the Enemy can muster. But it is in my mind that we must do
as the songs says Kymon did, win directly t oThat , face to face. And in so doing we must
pass any defensesIt has set. Do you not remember how it was when that space suit took us
so easily prisoner? And that may be the least of the dangers now ranged against us."
"So, what then is your answer? We have no time to creep and lurk, seeking out some
unknown safe path "
"Can we not? I say we have to or be finished before we are fairly begun. This is no
Forest hunt, this is in a land the Enemy has made. There is one way " He had been thinking,
fast, clearly, more clearly, it
seemed, than he had for some time.
"And what way is that?" she demanded. Already she had pulled well ahead of him on into
the
Waste, her impatience a goad.
"Does not the Enemy have the false Iftin? Are they not to the eye even as we?" He
had caught her attention. She looked back at him, a frown on her face.
"The false Iftin but how ?"
"They are sent out to raid from whatever cam pThat keeps. They come and go if we
can track a returning pack, join it as stragglers "
"They do not live as we, canno tThat detect the difference?"
"We must take our chances. But they are no more, and they may be less than the
perils we may encounter going blindly. There is no reason not to try this."
"And where will you find them?"
"They have been raiding across the river. Lokatath was with those who pursued [ Pobierz całość w formacie PDF ]