“I would fight them with you,” Fenorah said, and all of his men shouted, “Aye.”
“Then draw your weapons upon no man, except in self-defense,” Ceravanne said.
“But-how can we fight the servants of the Inhuman without drawing upon them?” one giant asked.
“Your people are tied to the sea, and I forbid you to shed blood. But that does not mean that you cannot fight. There are ships in the harbors of Babel preparing for war,” Ceravanne said. “Set them afire. See that the Inhuman does not cross the ocean. And in every ear, with everyone you meet, tell them that the Swallow has returned to build the Accord, and that she begs human and Inhuman alike to lay aside their weapons.”
“But the Tekkar will not listen to you,” Fenorah said. “They are as deadly and vile a race as ever the Rodim were. We cannot let them live.”
“How do we know that we cannot reason with them, if we have not tried?” Ceravanne said. “They are violent and cunning and bloodthirsty. But their men love their women as passionately as you love your own wives. And their mothers love their children.”
The Im giants shook their huge heads in disbelief, doubting that the horrid Tekkar could share any brotherhood with them.
But Fenorah looked to his men. “Anabim, Dodeo, the Swallow has spoken her wishes. I charge you to return to Battic and raise some men. Go east along the coast, and set fire to any ships that are preparing for war. And tell people what you have learned here today-that the Swallow has returned to rebuild the Accord. It will set fire to their hearts.”
The two giants turned and ran from the grove, heading toward the bridge east.
“You know, Great Lady,” Fenorah said, “that news of your presence will put you in greater peril. It now becomes imperative for the Inhuman’s agents to kill you, lest some among their numbers give you aid. Legends of the golden days of the Accord abound, and long have we hoped for your return. Still, some people may be slow to believe that you have returned. In past years, there have been rumors.…”
“What kinds of rumors?” Ceravanne asked.
“It was said that you had died and that the Lords of the City of Life would not let you be reborn. It was said that they feared a new Accord. It has even been said that the Inhuman has sought to rebuild you, so that you will come and lead it to victory.”
“Those were lies spread by the dronon and their Inhuman,” Ceravanne said. “The dronon tried to kill me when they learned that they could not turn me to their violent ways, when I would not champion the cause of the Inhuman. Four times the Rebellion brought me the rebirth, and each time I tried to return south to my people, but the Inhuman stopped me.”
“Of course,” Fenorah said. “Some had guessed as much, and all will be glad of your return.” He lowered his head in thought. “Look, when I heard the Servants of the Inhuman talking yesterday, making plans in their cave, I knew only that they sought to turn you because you are a Tharrin, and because you brought a Lord Protector to fight them. I am sure that they did not know your real name, or the full scale of your mission.”
“I have been careful not to reveal that until now,” Ceravanne said.
“Well,” Fenorah said, “what I mean to say is-we had planned to take you inland for a hundred kilometers. But maybe we could go farther.”
“Yes,” one of the giants echoed.
“And what will you drink?” Gallen said. “Without seawater, you will die of thirst in a matter of days.”
“We could buy sea salt in the villages along the way, and add it to fresh water,” Fenorah said. “I have gone far inland in such a manner. Indeed, I brought a small pouch of salt just for such an emergency.”
“Bless you,” Ceravanne said, and tears suddenly shone in her eyes. “But I fear that it would put you in danger. Four giants, all searching for sea salt in those small villages? No, I would be asking too much.”
“One giant, then,” Fenorah said. “I am Lord Sheriff for this region, and I will accept the risk. I will run two thousand kilometers at your side, all the way to Moree.”
“There are vast deserts between here and Moree.” Ceravanne shook her head. “You will not find the salt you need to purchase, and even water may be scarce. No, my faithful friend, I cannot accept your life as a sacrifice.”
“It is mine to give,” Fenorah said.
“Then give it in service. Two hundred and eighty kilometers you may come, to High Home, where the Old King’s Road meets the Marbee Road. If we are in peril from the Inhuman’s servants, that is where we will most likely find them, and I would welcome your protection.”
“Agreed,” Fenorah said. “And now, we must be on our journey, for every second matters.”
With that, the giants leapt to their feet, and in a moment the travelbeast was harnessed. They did not clean their cooking pans, only pushed them under a bush for later retrieval, then Orick and the others climbed into the wagon.
The giants were no longer content merely to run loosely behind the wagon. Instead, two of them got behind and pushed, and in moments they were off, the wheels singing down the road, the travelbeast lowering its head and huffing as its hooves thundered over the bridge.
Orick looked out over the broad river, saw the folding wings of a fish eagle as it dove, and he gazed along the cliffs at the gray statues of the birds that rose above the trees, gazing out to sea, in to land, their wings and heads splotched green and white and yellow with lichens. Gallen sat beside Orick, an old friend and confidant, yet now Orick knew that Gallen was a stranger. Indeed, the man he’d befriended and trusted most was gone, if Orick understood correctly, becoming submerged under layer after layer of other beings.
Orick recalled how Jesus once met a man near the region of the Gadarenes who was afflicted with demons, and he spoke to the man, asking his name, and the man said, “Legion, for we are many.”
And Jesus commanded the demons to depart, and they begged to enter a herd of swine. So Jesus allowed it, and two thousand pigs immediately ran downhill into the raging sea and were drowned.
Ah, Gallen, Orick wondered. Will you let your demons pull you into the sea? And Orick wished that he were a priest, with the authority to cast out demons. Indeed, Gallen needed an exorcist now, as deeply as any man ever did.
But I’ve always been too weak to accept the priesthood, Orick realized. Too much tempted by the things of the world.
Orick looked at Gallen, all draped in black. And he wondered if he might yet have to fight Gallen at some lonely spot down this road.
Orick could not examine such possibilities for long, and somehow he found himself mourning for lost Profundis and the people who had lived in hard-won peace under these sun-drenched skies. For he knew that, like them, he would never see this place again.
* * *
Chapter 21
For two hours that morning the giants ran west along the coast as Gallen drove the wagon. When the road abruptly turned south, heading between two low hills, the giants stopped to rest. All four of them went down to a calm sea, as blue and sparkling as sapphires, and waded into waves up to their chests. For ten minutes they stooped and slowly drank their fill. Afterward, each of them bathed, then clambered back up the long sandy beach, looking refreshed, but as bedraggled as if they’d washed up in a flood.
Then the group headed south through the wooded hills. Tallea was healing nicely, and she and Orick took advantage of the opportunity to rest, while Ceravanne only sat gazing out the back of the wagon.