I turned over determinedly and crushed the pillow to me. "Go to sleep, Lanen you idiot," I thought. "You've to be at the dock before dawn. Then it's off to Corli and ho for the Dragon Isle!" I smiled into my pillow and closed my eyes.
Not a bad day at all.
"By the price that was paid, by the power of blood, in the name of Malior, Lord of the Sixth Hell, I conjure a Messenger here to me. By this sigil ye are bound, by these wards restrained. I am your master. Come now and speak."
I poured the blood I had drawn from my arm over the hot coals on the altar, and in the rank steam there appeared a wizened figure no longer than my forearm. For a moment I was concerned. I hadn't asked Berys how I would know it was a Messenger—but then it opened its mouth. The mouth was half as large as the entire creature, filled with teeth like wicked thorns. When it spoke I started, for it was the voice of Berys himself.
"I trust you have good reason for waking me in the middle night," it—he—rumbled.
"Reason most excellent, Magister Berys. I have found her, the child of Maran Vena, here in Illara. She is the right age to be the child of my body, though I can see no trace of myself in her. For looks she might be the mother come again."
Berys's voice sounded much more awake this time. "What have you learned? Does the mother live, or does she herself have the Farseer?"
I laughed. "I had not long converse with her, Berys. There was no need. The young idiot seeks the True Dragons with all her heart, she is headed for Corli on her own. She even thanked me for agreeing to take her on as a Harvester! Now I need not lose sight of her while I am gone, and when we return we will learn what we need to know, and this eternal pain of mine will end."
"Is she your child, Marik?"
"I have no idea, Berys, but I will find out once we are on the island."
"And if she is not?"
"It is well known, is it not, that Dragons are vicious killers?
Simple enough, once we are there. In the meantime I begin to learn some of the joy of the cat with a mouse between its paws. There is no question that the mouse will die, but there is a certain contentment to be gained from playing with it."
"Indeed," replied Berys, his voice now calm, "but this could have waited for morning. Again I ask you, Marik, why am I wakened thus?"
"Reason enough. From the records I have found here, along with old seamen's tales and those I heard in Elimar, I cannot but begin to believe in the True Dragons. I am hoping that the legends of their gold are equally true. The difficulty will be to take what I need and get out alive, if the tales of this Boundary are correct, and if it is true that they can smell Raksha trace on any who have dealt directly with the Rakshasa."
"Ah. This makes things more difficult." Berys was silent a moment. "It is well you woke me. I will need every hour to prepare all for you, if they must have the added virtue of removing all trace of Raksha-scent." Another moment's silence, then, "You must know that this will cost you dear."
"Let all be your best work, Magister," I answered him, laughing, "for when I return I shall pay you in lansip, a king's bounty that no king has seen in over a century."
"Very well. As we agreed, I will provide boots, cloak, amulet and the Ring of Seven Circles. Thus shall you be provided with silence and concealment enow for your task, and a chance of surviving battle should things go ill. As for dragonfire—there are ways. I could prepare an artifact, but there is a simpler method." The demon held silence for a moment, then Berys's voice said, "I shall send Caderan with you. He is well able to provide such protection, and he may serve you in other things as well."
"I thank you. Let him be sent to Corli with the items you have spoken of. You must know, Magister," I said quietly, "that I show you great trust in this. I have no wish to end my days in a watery grave, in company with all the other fools who have attempted this journey. I have only the word of your 'prophet' that I will return alive from the Dragon Isle, with lansip for all my needs and to spare. Should that not come to pass, you should know that I have ensured that proper recompense will be made to you and yours. You understand me I trust."
"Indeed," replied Berys, sounding almost pleased. "But you need not doubt me. I will find many uses for a quarter of your journey's profits. Just remember, Marik. The child of Maran must not be harmed, lest she be your daughter. The bargain was for her whole. I know you would not let so minor a pleasure as she might prove rob you of the cessation of your pain."
"She will be whole; Magister," I replied smoothly. "You look to your side of the bargain, and I shall look to mine. I will speak with you again once we reach the Dragon Isle. Commend me to your masters."
Berys must have released the Rikti from his side, for with a noisome pop the creature that had spoken with his voice suddenly disappeared. I walked away from the darkened summoning chamber, going over and over my plans and preparations for this mad journey. My only crumb of comfort was that Maran's daughter would be on the ship with me, and was every bit as likely to die as I was.
It was small comfort, but better than none.
"I am to go with him, Magister? But he is a lout, a bungler!"
"Then you are more foolish than I thought, Caderan. Do you not know who it is who has arranged for so many of our number to find useful work to do? No, Marik is no fool, though he is not nearly so wise as he believes." The Magister smiled. "For example, he does not know that by completing this first summoning, he has begun a record." The Magister showed me a thick volume bound in a strange, pale leather. The pages were blank except for the very first, which was half-filled with small, neat script. At the top of the page were written the words "By the price that was paid, by the power of blood, in the name of Malior, Lord of the Sixth Hell ..." The very words he had spoken, the tenor of his thoughts between the words.
I turned the page and nearly dropped the book. An invisible hand wrote still. "I must remember to have that damned mare taken to Gundar. She'll make good breeding stock, at least. Now, where did I put that report from ..."
The Magister snatched the book from me. "So you see, my apprentice. I will know all that he seeks to keep hidden from me, and I will know all that happens on this voyage as soon as he thinks it. The book will continue until he steps foot again on this shore. Go, attend him, and remember—I will never be far from you, either."
I bowed humbly, as befitting his status as a great demon master. "I will not forget, Magister. Remember me to our masters."
His laughter as I left was not reassuring.
V
RIVERS
I was soon sick of Water.
The first few days on the riverboat had been a novelty, living on the river Arlen, which is the border between Ilsa and the North Kingdom. I was disappointed to discover that the western marches of the North Kingdom looked so very like Ilsa, but as we moved south the land changed at last. It was greener, for one thing, and the air a little warmer, though each morning brought fresh promise of winter's approach. I had enjoyed seeing the land slip by, and the speed of the journey had been all that I could wish.
At first.
I soon learned, however, that the rivers in eastern Ilsa run through the flattest country imaginable, and after more than a week of it I was thoroughly bored. It began to rain on my birthday, only a week out from Illara. Joss, the owner and captain of the Maid of Ilsa, set up a shelter of waxed cloth on the deck so we passengers need not spend all our time below in the dark—but whether we huddled under its slight shelter or sat cramped in the tiny space below, it made little difference. We were all wet and we were all miserable.