There was a pause, while servants walked precariously along the wall, handing mugs of beer and plates of sausage and roast meat to the spectators. Then the guards drove one of the single-horned deer in through the gate.
Blade knew that this animal would be a somewhat more drastic test than the ones before. It was many times larger, and would therefore need a much larger dose of sleeping water. In the confined arena it could not run as freely and swiftly as it could in the forest, but it would still be a difficult target. It was also capable of defending itself. That made Blade feel a good deal more comfortable about going after it. He didn't much like shooting things at birds and animals who could do nothing in return except run.
He stepped toward the deer. It lowered its head until the point of the horn was low enough to hook upward. Large black eyes rimmed with white stared at Blade. The stag made a low bubbling sound in its throat. Then it charged straight at Blade.
Blade's first shot of sleeping water went right over the stag's head and struck halfway down its back. A patch of hair turned dark and damp. That was all. Before Kulo could fire, the stag was on them.
Blade darted to one side, Kulo to the other. The stag made an incredibly sharp turn and followed Kulo. Worried about not appearing a coward before his king and so many warriors, the young man was a little slow off the mark. The stag caught up with him and the horn hooked upward. Kulo rose into the air, sailed over a stump, and kept on running. A long, neat slash gaped in the seat of his leather trousers. A surgeon with a scalpel couldn't have done a better job. On the wall above, the gasps of surprise turned into roars of laughter.
Blade vaulted high over two stumps in a single bound and came down beside the stag as it turned to pursue Kulo. He swung the heavy sprayer like a quarterstaff, smacking the stag across the back of the neck. As it turned to face him, Blade aimed and fired a quick shot that hit squarely on its long black-furred nose.
The stag reared back on its hind legs in surprise, then dropped back onto all fours. Its nostrils flared. Its eyes remained open, but they seemed curiously unfocused. Then it tried to take a step toward Blade, nearly fell to its knees, and stood wobbling and motionless. Blade walked up to it and scratched it between its floppy ears, then ran a hand along its back. The stag trembled but did not move or even look at Blade.
Blade raised a hand in salute to the royal party. «With your permission-shall it go free? It has done its part, and bravely.»
King Embor nodded. «By all means, let it go. It is no enemy of ours-although Kulo might have something to say on that.» Everyone joined in the laugh, including Kulo.
Letting the stag go was easier said than done. Blade went around behind it and slapped it on the rump. It shivered but didn't move. He went back to the head and tried to push it around toward the gate. Nothing happened. Kulo pushed with both hands on its rump while Blade pulled with both hands on its horn. Still no results. By this time all the spectators were half-hysterical with laughter, and some of them looked ready to fall off the wall.
«Well, we can't say we didn't stop the stag,» Blade muttered to himself. «In fact we did the job too bloody well!» Sweat was streaming down both his face and Kulo's, and he alternately felt like cursing and laughing.
Eventually they had to call six guards into the arena. The men picked up the stag as if it had been a statue-one at the head, one at the rump, four in the middle. Then they staggered out of the arena with it, and Blade never did find out what happened to the stag after that. He hoped it didn't end up as venison for the guards' next dinner.
At this point Blade noticed that Queen Sanaya was no longer in sight. He was about to call a question up to King Embor when the king shouted down, «Hold for a time, Blade. The queen feels faint. She has gone to lie in the shade for a time, with her personal Kaireen to attend her.»
There was something in that tale that didn't ring quite true in Blade's ears. It was also obvious that King Embor wouldn't have told it if there wasn't some good reason for having it believed by everyone within earshot.
«Very well,» he shouted back. «We shall wait until our lady queen returns. Let my other three assistants come down.»
The three assistants climbed slowly down the rickety ladder. Blade and Kulo drank water, nibbled cheese and sausage, checked and refilled their sprayers, then sat down to wait. Blade took out a sharpening stone and set out to improve the edge on his sword.
The sky was completely clear by now, and the sun was getting positively hot. In the arena the log walls cut off much of the breeze. Blade sat on a stump, listening to the drone of insects and the steady scrrrp-scrrp of stone on steel, smelling the odors of mold and resin, thinking of nothing in particular.
An hour passed. Blade began to wonder if Queen Sanaya was really ill, and if so, what was wrong with her. He also couldn't help wondering if this was a natural illness, or had one of her enemies taken a hand in the matter?
More immediately important to him, what animal would come through the gate first when the testing started again? It might be another stag. It might be the snake. Or it might be one of the black stalkers. It had to be one of those three. The stag and the snake held no real danger. The black stalkers, on the other hand-
Someone shouted from the ground outside the arena. It was a high-pitched shout, almost a scream; filled with surprise and fear. Several people on the wall turned to stare down, then suddenly sprang to their feet with more shouts. Blade saw Neena snatch up one of her spears, turn, and raise it, ready to throw.
Then for the first time someone shouted out in words.
«The black stalkers are loose!»
A moment later the gate was hurled aside. It crashed to the ground, and two black stalkers came leaping in through the opening. Their mouths were wide and foam-flecked, and their eyes red and ghastly.
As they saw Blade and Kulo, they let out their terrible hunting screams. Neena's scream echoed theirs. Then the two animals sprang toward Blade and Kulo.
Chapter 23
Neena's spear whistled down from the wall. Normally she had a deadly eye and arm, but these creatures were moving too fast even for her. The spear sank into a stump. The second stalker leaped clear over it, knocking it to the ground, and charged on.
The two creatures seemed to come at Blade like shots from a gun. One moment they were leaping in through the gate. The next moment they were leaping at his throat.
As fast as they were, Blade was faster. In the hope of confusing them he leaped forward, passing between them. A heavy black-furred hind leg brushed against his shoulder. The stalker felt the touch and tried to lash out at Blade's head while still in midair. Blade ducked in time, and the claws missed his cheek by an impossibly thin margin. The stalker landed off balance and could not turn and spring at once. As the creature turned, so did Blade. He drove the end of his sprayer into its face, then slapped the plunger with his other hand.
The spray came out with a pitiful little wheeze. For all the effect it had on the black stalker, it might as well have been milk. The creature gave a tremendous scream and leaped again. Blade threw himself to his knees as the stalker rose into the air, and it sailed over his head to land on a stump behind him.
This time he had a few seconds before the creature leaped again. He risked taking his eyes off it to look around. The three assistants were all swarming up the ladder as fast as they could. As the last one scrambled to safety, the ladder gave a sharp crack and split in the middle. The two halves thudded down onto the floor of the arena.