Alchymist

'But—' said Nish. 'What if someone else compels me?' They could not, unless they had the tears.' That wasn't comforting. 'Can't you remove it?' 'Not without the tears.'

Day after day, Yggur sat at the big table in his workshop, reading or writing in his journals as though nothing had happened. Nish could see how frustrated the scrutator was. After five days of inaction, Flydd went to see Yggur, taking Irisis and Nish with him.

A map of the known world was spread out on the huge tabIe and Yggur was measuring distances on it with a pair of black calipers. He did not look up.

We've got to get moving,' Flydd said abruptly. 'The lyrinx mature quickly. If we don't strike them now, by spring they'll have another army and they'll be unstoppable.'

I have no grievance with the lyrinx,' said Yggur, making a notee in his journal. 'But you agreed to help us,' Flydd spluttered.

'I agreed to give you a refuge for a few days, Scrutator. That doesn't make us bedfellows.' 'But I thought—'

'You aroused my curiosity about the Numinator and the tears, but what I'm doing about that is my own affair. I'm not going to fight your wars for you.'

'You're up to something!' Flydd said furiously. To have power, as Yggur undoubtedly did, and not want to use it, was incomprehensible.

Yggur simply raised his hands in the air. 'Then leave. I didn't ask you to come here, consuming my supplies and disturbing my peace.'

'You don't care about the fate of your own kind.'

'If I were threatened by the lyrinx, would you have come to my aid?'

'That's different,' said Flydd.

'I see. Why don't you go to the Aachim?'

'Our alliance was not a fruitful one,' Flydd said uncomfortably.

'Meaning you've made enemies of your friends and now look to me to fix it for you.'

'Vithis is an unreasonable man, even by your standards,' snapped Flydd. 'Besides, he's withdrawn to the Foshorn, near the southern corner of the Dry Sea—'

'I know where the Foshorn is,' said Yggur. 'I've been there.'

'The Aachim have driven out the people that dwelt there and closed the borders. Vithis isn't going to help us.'

'Then you'll have to abandon Lauralin. Go north across the tropic ocean. You may find a haven in that hemisphere.'

'The lyrinx breed like maggots,' said Flydd. 'In a few generations they'd overrun Lauralin and come after us. Win or lose, the battle must be fought now.'

'You will lose,' said Yggur with such studied indifference that Nish wondered if he was testing their resolve before committing himself.

'When you're the last human left alive, you'll regret that you did nothing for your fellows.'

'I'm immune to emotional blackmail.' Nodding stiffly, Yggur went around the table and out.

'Arrogant swine!' said Flydd as they were walking back to their rooms. 'To have such power, yet refuse to use it.' 'How do you know he still has power?' Nish wondered. 'I don't suppose I do,' Flydd said slowly. I just assumed …Perhaps I was wrong. Perhaps he hides here because his power is failing.'

'But he does live in harmony with the lyrinx,' said Irisis. 'Why should he turn on them on our say-so? It's up to us,' she sighed. 'I suppose it always was.'

'But what can we do?' cried Nish. 'We're exiles cowering in our hidey-hole a hundred leagues from Lauralin. We've got no army, no coin, just a handful of weapons and a decrepit air-floater. We've no friends, no influence, and face instant death if we return to Lauralin. How can we hope to overthrow the scrutators? How can we do anything at all?'

No one spoke. They seemed shocked by the outburst, though Nish had only put into words what they'd all been thinking: they were deluding themselves.

'I expected Yggur to take over' said Flydd. 'I was steeling myself for a fight to maintain our objectives. The last thing I expected was a complete lack of interest.'

'Then we'll have to find a way to gain his support,' said Irisis.

Flydd went out, head bowed, looking very careworn.

For a long time after that, the scrutator did nothing but sit by the fire, reading Yggur's volumes of the Histories or, more often, just staring into the flames. The pain of his ancient torments troubled him more than usual, and Irisis often noted him sipping from a flask of poppy syrup, though not even that could bring him the oblivion he so desperately sought.

'It's been my life's work to protect the people and the civilisations of our world,' he said one bitter night. 'To stop — if not to reverse — the long decline that's been going on ever since the Forbidding. In that time we've had failure upon failure, defeat upon defeat, and I'm forced to the realisation that I simply can't do it. No one can reverse the damage caused by the reign of the scrutators. It's too late.'

'It's not like you to despair, Xervish,' said Irisis.

'It's the only thing left to do. Ah, but it's a tragedy. The loss of Thurkad, the destruction of the College of the Histories. A hundred cities are gone; whole nations and cultures have disappeared. The past was a glorious place, Irisis, where men and women were free. The scrutators have turned the present into a slave pen. What can the future hold but a slaughterhouse for us all, until humanity is no more?'

He began to weep, silently and terribly, and Irisis could not bear to see it.

Another week went by, more painful than the previous one. In Yggur's absence, for he kept to his rooms, they debated the problem over and again. Whatever scheme was proposed, and there were many, the group always reached the same conclusion: there was no way a handful of people, in hiding so far from Lauralin, could affect the war.

Irisis came back from a walk to Old Hripton, a fishing town a few leagues away along the bay, to find Flydd sitting on his bed, head in hands. She ducked out again before he could see her and went looking for Nish. Flydd had always been so strong, and had always known what to do. It hurt to see him laid so low.

'Where the masters fail,' Irisis said to Nish, 'the peasants must take charge. It's up to you and me, Nish.'

'I don't follow you.'

'Come outside, where we can talk.' She led him into a chilly corner of the yard. 'Do you get the impression that Yggur knows more than he's letting on?'

'It's just rivalry. No mancer can bear to be told what to do. And they've always got to go one better.'

'That's not what I meant. I think Yggur, despite his gruff manner, does feel some sympathy for our cause. But he's been burned in the past and that's why he's withdrawn.'

'Doesn't help us much,' said Nish glumly.

'He was one of the greatest mancers of all time.'

'A thousand years ago.'

'He played a great part in the Tale of the Mirror, too. We've got to convince him to help us.' 'Good luck!' said Nish. 'I've an idea. I'm going to see him.' 'What are you going to say?' 'I won't know until I say it.'

Nish followed her inside and down the corridor. She rapped on Yggur's door, which was firmly closed. There was no answer. She rapped louder. Go away!' he roared. Irisis took hold of the handle. 'Coming?' Nish, who was hanging back, shook his head. 'I've felt enough of the wrath of mancers for one lifetime. I'll see you later.'

You coward,' she said amiably. She opened the door and slipped inside.

Yggur was down the far end, working at a bench littered with objects familiar and unfamiliar. 'Go away, I said.'

Irisis kept coming. 'I know you want to help us. You're a hard man, Yggur, but not a mean one. You'll happily turn the screws on Flydd, out of mancer's rivalry—'

'It's not rivalry, Irisis. I'm not that petty.' He smiled ruefully. 'Well, hardly ever. It's not the man, but his office. The Council is notoriously corrupt. I'm sorry, but I just can't bring myself to trust a scrutator' 'He's not like them.' 'How do you know?' 'I'm a good judge of character—' Clouded by feelings for your lover.'