in view. He wanted to shout out to his companions about the red and black figures he could
see, scrawled in primitive fashion on the wall outside the cave entrance: men hunting boar,
just as Edouard had seen before passing out after his accident. Edouard had said that he would
know where the Razan stronghold was if he could find the place where the men were hunting
wild boar. Ben was puzzled, but he noted the position of the ancient artwork as he was shoved
into the passages branching into the caves.
Lanterns guttered feebly in the dank rock tunnels, which seemed to twist and turn endlessly.
Sometimes they would pass side chambers—Razan clan members stared out at them across
fires that had blackened and sooted the walls of these miserable hovels where they lived like
animals. Water seeped down the rocks of the passages, and a foul odour of communal living,
damp, and leftover garbage hung on the still air. Karay noted that nowhere was there sight or
presence of children. Then they were in a longer passage, more straight and broad than the
ones they had travelled. It even had rush mats and animal skins laid on its smooth floor.
Without warning they were thrust into the lair of Maguda Razan. The friends were startled by
the horrific sight: a vast natural cavern with a ceiling so high that it was lost amidst the thick
clouds of noxious smoke that snaked upwards in spiralling columns of all hues, from
sulphurous yellow and oily green to muddy crimson and acrid blue, mingling in a turgid
browny-black mass overall. The smoke columns issued from fires at the bases of monolithic
figures, some freestanding but most carved into the living rock of the cavern walls—strange
monsters and forgotten deities frightening to look upon, some animal, some human; many half
animal and half human with extra limbs. Monstrous forms with horns, fangs and evil leering
faces. And there, seated on her throne at the top of a circular-stepped rostrum, was the spider
at the centre of this web of unholiness. Maguda Razan!
Her eyes swept over them briefly, then settled on Ligran. Ben saw his throat bob nervously as
he swallowed.
Maguda spat out a single word at him. "Fool!"
Ligran stared at his feet, not daring to look her in the eyes. He tried to sound commanding yet
respectful. "A harsh word, sister. I lost four good men taking these prisoners for you. The dog
was just an ordinary dog that ran off like a frightened rabbit. We couldn't risk a shot at it, for
fear of starting an avalanche, so we just . . . brought these three ..." His voice trailed off into
silence.
Maguda snarled at him, "I wanted that dog—the omens told me it was a bad thing for us to let
it live. Thou art a fool, brother Ligran. Look at me!"
Ligran reluctantly let his gaze rise. His legs were trembling. A long, curved and blackened
fingernail pointed at him.
Maguda spoke. "Thou art a fool. Say it!"
Ligran's lips moved automatically as he repeated the words: "I am a fool."
Maguda sat back, and her hand waved at Ligran dismissively. "Count thyself lucky thou art
my brother. Begone to thy cave." Ligran slunk away wordlessly.
Ben felt Karay, who was standing close to him, give an involuntary shudder. Maguda was
pointing at her. "Pretty girl, what were ye doing up in my mountains?"
Ben whispered fiercely, "Don't look at her eyes, Karay!"
"Silence!" Maguda shouted. "Rawth, I do not want yonder boy looking at me, attend to him!"
The eldest brother moved swiftly, dealing the boy a blow that laid him senseless upon the
floor. Dominic and Karay were overpowered by Maguda's guards as they leapt forward to
help Ben.
An evil chuckle came from the throne. "I'm told thou art a sweet singer. Sing for me, girl."
Karay's voice dripped loathing as she struggled between two burly Razan robbers. "I'd never
dream of singing for a wicked old hag like you. Never!"
Maguda Razan's smile was a hideous thing to see. "Sooner or later thou wilt sing for me, just
like a little bird. Aye, a songbird. I'll have a cage made for thee. 'Twill hang in this cave—ye
shall wear a gown of feathers and sing for me each day. A song of why ye came here. Ah, do
not think I don't know. Ye came on a wasted journey, though, for the one ye seek is no longer
here. Oh, don't look shocked, child, Maguda Razan knows and sees all."
Dominic could contain himself no longer. Straining against the guards who held him, he
shouted out, "You lie! Deceit and evil are in your eyes! Truth and honesty are strangers to
you. Your world is built on wickedness and lies!"
Maguda turned her baleful glare on him. "Facemaker of Sabada, I know thee. Look at me! For
one so young, thou hast a lot to say."
Dominic's gaze was unwavering. He stared straight at Maguda. "I'm not weak and ignorant,
you cannot frighten me. My eyes see the truth—your spells and trickeries have no power over
me!"
It was like a struggle of wills, one will trying to overpower the other. Maguda's pupils shrank
to pinpoints, and her head trembled as she intensified her gaze on the boy in front of her.
Dominic's gaze was calm and steady.
Karay had only looked into Maguda's eyes for a few seconds before the power of them made
her feel dizzy, and she turned her attention to the floor. Now she watched Dominic, amazed
that he could look into the Razan woman's eyes for so long. Ben moved slightly and groaned.
Karay edged over to his side and placed her hand on his brow. The contest of wills continued
until, much to Karay's surprise, Maguda's withered hand rose to shield her gaze.
Dominic still stood staring. His face did not register the horrors he had envisioned, though he
had to control his voice to keep it level. "Death and decay are all I see in your soul, old one.
You cannot hypnotise me—I have gifts of my own!"
Maguda Razan's answer sent a chill through Karay's heart. "There are other ways of bringing
ye under my power, ways that bold young fools such as ye do not realise. This pretty girl, and
the boy from the sea, they are thy friends, I believe ..."
From between her clawlike fingernails Maguda cast a sly glance at Ben and Karay. Dominic
tried to leap forward, but another Razan man tugged him back by the rope looped about his
neck, and two more jumped in to assist the pair already hanging on to his arms.
Dominic felt helpless as the realisation of Maguda's words swept over him. "Witch! Rotten
hag! Leave my friends alone!"
Maguda's triumphant cackling echoed around the vast vault. She pulled a grotesque face at
Dominic. "Not so confident now, little boy, eh? Take them away, lock them in the deep
dungeons. Let them ponder on what delights I have in store for insolent trespassers!"
After the three friends had been marched off, Maguda beckoned to a dark figure who had
been crouching in a shadowy corner close to the cave walls.
"Thy senses did not fail thee, eh, Gizal? Thou wert the first to note the presence of those three
young ones."
Maguda's staff tapped upon the floor as Gizal shuffled to the throne. "Have I ever failed thee,
mistress? Touch, scent an' hearing serve me better than the eyes of most folk!"
Maguda drew Gizal forward until she could whisper in the blind one's ear. "What think ye of
my prisoners?"
Gizal thought carefully before she answered. "The girl is nought, she can be bent to thy will in
time. But the one they call the facemaker, he sounds like a problem to me. He is gifted. Thine