That struck me as humorous. I chuckled, then said, "Knowing Raven, he didn't lie about much. Just edited the truth."
"You'll really let me go?"
"When we're safe."
"Oh." He did not sound reassured.
"Let's say when we get to the edge of the Plain of Fear. You'll find plenty of friends out there."
He wanted to get into a quasi-political discussion about why we insisted on resisting the Lady. I refused. I am no evangelist. I can't make converts. I have too much trouble understanding myself and unravelling my own motives. Maybe Raven could explain after Goblin and One-Eye brought him out.
The night seemed endless, but after three eternities which took me up to midnight I heard unsteady footsteps. "Croaker?"
"In," I said. It was Goblin. Without a light I could not read him well, but got the impression that his news was not good. "Trouble?"
"Yes. We can't get him out."
"What the hell are you talking about? What do you mean?"
"I mean we don't have the skills. We don't have the talent. This's going to take someone bigger than we are. We aren't much, Croaker. Showmen. With a few handy spells. Maybe Silent could do something. His is a different sort of magic."
"Maybe you'd better back up. Where's One-Eye?"
"Resting. It was rough on him. Really rocked him, what he saw in there."
"What was that?"
"I don't know. I was just his lifeline. And I had to pull him out before he got trapped, too. All I know is, we can't get Raven without help."
"Shit," I said. "Double damned floating sheep shit. Goblin, we can't win this one unless we have Raven to help. I don't have what it takes either. I'll never translate half those papers."
"Not even with Tracker's help?"
"He reads TelleKurre. That's it. I can do that, only I take longer. Raven must know the dialects. Some of the stuff he was translating was in them. Also, there's the question of what he was doing here. Why he faked his death again and took off. On Darling."
Maybe I was jumping to conclusions. I do that. Or maybe I was indulging in the human penchant for oversimplification, figuring that if we just had Raven back our troubles were solved. "What are we going to do?" I wondered aloud.
Goblin rose. "I don't know, Croaker. Let's let One-Eye get his feet under him again and find out what we're up against. We can go from there." "Right."
He slipped out. I lay down and tried to sleep. Whenever I dropped off I had nightmares about the thing lying in the mud and slime the Barrowland had become.
Chapter Thirty-Six: HARD TIMES
One-Eye looked gruesome. "It was grim," he said. "Get the chart out. Croaker." I did. He indicated a point. "He's here. And stuck. Looks like he went all the way to the center along Bomanz's trail, then got in trouble on his way out."
"How? I don't understand what's going on here."
"I wish you could go in there. A realm of terrible shadows… Guess I should be glad you can't. You'd try it."
"What's that crack mean?"
"Mean's you're too curious for your own good. Like old Bomanz. No. Be still." He paused a moment.
"Croaker, something that was trapped there, one of the minions of the Taken, was situated near Bomanz's path. He was too strong for it. But Raven was an amateur. I think Goblin, Silent, and I together would have trouble with this thing, and we're more skilled than Raven could be. He underestimated the dangers and overestimated himself. As he was leaving, this thing usurped his position and left him in its place."
I frowned, not quite understanding.
One-Eye explained, "Something used him to keep the balance of the old spells. So he's stuck in a net of old-time sorcery. And it's out here."
A sinking feeling. A feeling edging despair. "Out? And you don't know?…"
"Nothing. The chart indicates nothing. Bomanz must have been contemptuous of the lesser evils. He hasn't marked a dozen. There should have been scores."
The literature supported that. "What did he tell you? Were you able to communicate?"
"No. He was aware of a presence. But he's in a sinkhole of spells. I couldn't contact him without getting caught myself. There's a small imbalance there, like what went out might have been a hair more than what stayed in. I did try to get close to him. That was why Goblin had to yank me out. I did sense a great fear, not due to his situation. Only anger there. I think he got caught only because he was in so big a hurry he didn't pay attention to his surroundings."
I got the message. Been to the center, and in flight. What lay at the center? "You think whatever got away might try to open the Great Barrow?" "It might try engineering it."
I had a brainstorm. "Why not sneak Darling out here? She could…"
One-Eye gave me a don't-be-stupid look. Right. Raven was the least of the things a null would loose.
"The big guy would love that," Goblin chided. "Purely love it."
"There's nothing we can do for Raven here." One-Eye said. "Someday we might find a wizard who can. Till then?" He shrugged. "Better make a pact of silence. Darling might forget her mission if she finds out." "Agreed," I said. Then: "But…" "But what?" i "I've been thinking about that. Darling and Raven. There's something there we don't see, I think. I mean, considering the way he always was, why did he cut out and come here? On the face of it, to sneak around the Lady and her gang. But why would he leave Darling in the dark? You see what I'm saying? Maybe she wouldn't be as upset as we think. Or maybe for different reasons."
One-Eye looked dubious. Goblin nodded. Tracker looked baffled, as usual.
"What about his body?" I asked.
"A definite encumbrance," One-Eye replied. "And I can't say but what taking him to the Plain might not snap the connection between flesh and spirit."
"Stop." I looked at Case. He looked at me. Here we had another double bind.
I knew one sure way of solving Raven's body problem. And of getting him brought out. Betray him to the Lady. That might solve several other problems, too. Like the escaped whatever, and the threat of another escape attempt by her husband. It might buy Darling time, too, for the Lady's attention would shift dramatically.
But what would become of Raven then?
He could be the key to our success or failure. Give him up to save him? Play the very long odds that we could somehow get him in hand again before his knowledge could hurt us? Ever a quandary. Ever a quandary.
Goblin suggested, "Let's give it another look. This time I'll take the point. One-Eye will cover."
One-Eye's sour look said they had had a knock-down-drag-out about this before. I kept my mouth shut. It was their area of expertise.
"Well?" Goblin demanded.
"If you think it's worthwhile."
"I do. Anyway, there's nothing to lose. Different viewpoint might help, too. I might catch something he missed."
"Having only one eye don't blind me," One-Eye snarled. Goblin glowered. This had arisen before, too.
"Don't waste time," I said. "We can't stay put forever."
Sometimes decisions get made for you.
Deep in the night. Wind in the trees. Chill fingering into the shelter, waking me to shiver till I fell asleep again. Rain pattering steadily, but not restfully. Gods, was I sick of rain. How could the Eternal Guard maintain any semblance of sanity?
A hand shook me. Tracker whispered, "Company coming. Trouble." Toadkiller Dog was at the tent flap, hackles up.
I listened. Nothing. But no point not taking his word. Better safe than dead. "What about Goblin and One-Eye?"
"Not finished yet."
"Oh-oh." I scrambled for clothing, for weapons. Tracker said, "I'll go scout them and try to scare or lead them off. You warn the others. Get ready to run." He slipped out of the tent behind Toadkiller Dog. Damned beast showed some life now!