“I understand the type,” said Zanos. “You escaped him-and that is something he cannot stand.”
“Yes. I knew he would take his revenge if I succeeded in freeing Kwinn-but I thought that by returning with a group of strangers I might reach Maldek’s castle unnoticed. Instead, I have brought Maldek’s attention to you-and you will suffer for my stupidity.”
“Dirdra, we came of our own free will,” Melissa pointed out. “Surely four people with both Reading and Adept powers would not long have escaped the notice of the Master Sorcerers. As it is, one of them is aiding us in reaching Madura.”
“The most powerful… and the most evil,” said Dirdra.
Remembering that Dirdra did not know what Maldek had told the Readers after Zanos had shaken off his possession, Torio said, “Maldek said the way would be hard and dangerous.”
“He is playing games with you already!” Dirdra replied. “Now he knows I am within the range of his powers, he will toy with us as a cat does with a field mouse before the kill. If he wanted us directly, he would have the ship sail up the river to his casde. We could be there by noon tomorrow.”
But the wind drove the ship south as well as west, all through the short night of early summer, and in the gray dawn light they anchored along an empty shore, bleak and uninhabited.
The five adventurers went ashore in a small boat-and by the time they had beached it, the ship was already well out to sea.
The morning was rainy and chill. They wore clothes suitable for an Aventine winter, and shivered as the cold penetrated.
“Which way?” asked Zanos as they slogged through mud up to a trail which followed a ridge overlooking the sea.
Torio Read east and west along the trail. “There’s an abandoned settlement about a mile to the east,” he reported. “We can shelter there long enough to dry out our clothes.”
“Torio’s right,” said Melissa. “None of us have enough Adept strength to use it for hours on end just to keep warm, dry, and healthy.”
“Not and be awake when we’re really needed!” Astra put in with a forced smile.
They were all starting out tired, as no one had thought of sleeping last night. They had eaten just before dawn-ship’s rations, though, for the aborted stop in Brettonia had not resulted in the intended acquisition of supplies. Thus only Zanos, whose combination of athlete’s and Adept’s metabolism made him perpetually hungry, had eaten much.
Tumbled walls and roofless buildings greeted them in what once must have been a fishing village.
Remnants of the stone supports for a pier still marched across the beach and disappeared into the water.
Gulls as gray as the sea and sky called harshly and hungrily as they skimmed over the deserted sand.
“This is not how I remember home!” protested Zanos. “At this time of year it should be warm- there should be flowers blooming in the gardens, roses climbing the walls. My village was laid out just like this-it has to be along this coast somewhere. But it was bright and cheerful… and alive!”
Only wisps of dry weeds blew in the sea wind. Torio knew Zanos was right-if the climate were as he described, wildflowers would bloom here as they did in Brettonia. Not even dead remains of rose vines clung to the walls; it had been cold and bleak here for a long time.
One building had a wooden roof, warped and gray with weathering, but offering the most shelter in the area. They built a fire with what few scraps of wood they could find, only Zanos’ Adept power able to get it started, and huddled around it to warm their hands and faces.
With the blankets from their bedrolls hung across the empty windows and doorway, they were able to get the one-room cottage warm enough to strip the boots and stockings off their freezing feet. Leaving their clothes to steam-dry, they toasted their toes and drank the herb tea Melissa made, feeling somewhat better.
Knowing that it was likely they would have to make part of their journey afoot, they had all packed money, as Decius had advised Torio. Now, though, having to use their bedding to keep the chill wind out of the cottage, they were left with nothing to wrap up in except dry undergarments, and each other.
Torio hefted the sack of gold coins he had brought. “It’s all very fine to plan to buy what we need-but where? I haven’t Read another human being since we came ashore. Have you, Astra, Melissa?” he asked the other Magister Readers.
“No one,” the women agreed.
“We don’t even know which way to go,” said Zanos, taking his maps out of their waterproof case and unrolling them on the stone floor. “Where are we?”
“Somewhere along this southern stretch,” Torio replied, running his finger along what on the map was many miles of shore. “Let me go out of body, and I’ll give you an accurate Reading.”
The stone floor was cold to stretch out on-but Zanos concentrated on him, and Torio felt his body warmth stop dissipating into the ground. He smiled a thank-you to the gladiator, then composed himself and let his “self drift upward.
When one escaped discomfort, it was always a sore temptation to remain out of body. No rain or cold assaulted him now, and he felt light and free as he followed the trail eastward-for the map showed far more settlements in that direction, suggesting a greater chance that some of them had survived.
Sure enough, where a main road met the trail they were on, there was a decent-sized town with an inn and a stable. They would have to walk all day to get there, but the knowledge that they could sleep in dry, warm beds and buy warm clothes and horses for the rest of their journey would make the trek more bearable.
Remembering the map, Torio followed the main road northward to where Maldek’s castle sat on the edge of a navigable river-the one Dirdra had said would have been the short route to reach the Master Sorcerer. Not knowing how sensitive a Reader he might be, Torio did not attempt to locate Maldek within the castle, but noted that it was protected by moats on three sides and the river on the other. A thriving city stood near the castle, with ships on the river loading and unloading trade goods. So not all of Madura was as desolate as this area where they had landed.
There was only one bridge across the river, leading to the main north-south road Torio was following. It entered the city several miles from the castle, which stood on the north bank to the east of the city, with a small strip of forest between.
There was a denser forest, though, on the north-south road between the southern coast and the city.
That, Torio guessed, was where lay the dangers that Maldek had promised. Even without lingering to examine closely, he Read both bears and wolves in the wood-hungry animals looking to feed their young.
What was missing from the picture was agriculture. Only a few of the cleared fields between the forest and the shore were cultivated. Most lay fallow, deserted, young trees beginning to encroach on their edges. There were a few swine and cows, and more sheep, but they were not thriving. There was not enough production here to feed the people of that city.
Maldek had to be either trading for food or letting his people go hungry. With even his limited knowledge of ruling a land, Torio knew that the former was merely a slower way of destroying the country than the latter. Yet power-mad rulers often took farmers away from the job of feeding their people to fight wars or be otherwise used at the lord’s pleasure. Eventually, it would lead to Maldek’s downfall, as just such neglect of his people had led to Drakonius’.
However, the five adventurers didn’t have time to wait for Maldek’s government to collapse. They had to reach Maldek’s castle, rescue Dirdra’s brother… and in the process try to find out about the sorcerers who might rule other Maduran lands. It was obvious already that Maldek was not the healer Melissa sought. Even if he could restore injured people to wholeness or return life to the slain, clearly he would not teach anyone else except at an unacceptable price.