The wizards were served by the Landguard, just as the sages of Veda had been served by the Secular Arm. Some of the Landguard, disconcerted by the troubles, had deserted. Meeting some of these deserters, the travellers heard rumours of expeditions to the Dry Pit, of attempts to capture the Skull of the Deep South, of wizards building strongholds in the Ashun Mountains while others, helped by Southsearchers, set up places of refuge deep inside the lands controlled by the Swarms.
At this distance, the truth was impossible to determine.
'But we know this for certain,' said Hearst. 'Narba fears war between the orders of wizards. That's why the city's so busy with these extra fortifications.'
'Small help they'd be,' said Blackwood.
'A war between wizards might lead to other evils,' said Hearst. 'For instance, the Landguard troopers might run wild.'
The men of the Landguard were tough, resolute and dangerous, trained to hunt down and kill any creatures of the Swarms which got round the shoreside edges of Drangsturm or overflew the flame trench. If they went to war on their own account, they would be a serious menace to a place like Narba.
'We'll take your word for it,' said Blackwood. 'You're the warrior.'
'What we have to decide,' said Miphon, 'is what we do now. My duty lies south. The Confederation of Wizards has to be warned that Valarkin may be on the loose with a death-stone. However… friend Hearst, the south would hardly be healthy for a Rovac warrior at the best of times. Now…' iil see this thing through to the end,' said Hearst. 'A war between wizards could mean… perhaps the end of the world as we know it. I won't try to disown my part in history.'
If he no longer wished to be worshipped as a hero, he still wished to be significant; he was still of the opinion that quiet, sheltered lives were for woodlice, not for men.
'You know the risks,' said Miphon, knowing that, actually, if the wizards really did go to war, nowhere in Argan would be safe. 'And you, Blackwood?'
'Once I've bought a bow, a knife and a new pair of boots, I'll be ready to travel.'
'You don't have to come with us,' said Hearst. i have to go south to discover my destiny,' said Blackwood.
'Your destiny?'
'Yes,' said Blackwood. 'Why would all these things have happened to me if not for a purpose? Why did I survive when so many others died, if it were not that some destiny is intended for me?'
Hearst smiled, amused at this provincial certainty, which was not far removed from the belief traditional in Estar, namely that a peasant was destined to remain always a peasant.
'Chance attends even to falling dice,' said Hearst. 'Much more so to us.'
'That's as may be,' said Blackwood, choosing not to argue. 'But in any case, I've no idea what I'd do if I didn't continue this journey.'
'That's a poor excuse for getting yourself killed,' said Hearst.
'In your company, I doubt any of us will be losing our lives,' said Blackwood.
'I wish I shared your confidence,' said Hearst.
They stayed three days in Narba, spending most of the money they had made from the sale of bits of the substance of Veda – as well to spend the money now, since death might be waiting a short distance down the road – and then they set off south.
Here in the south, the weather was warm; even when winter came, the south would never see a frost. Nevertheless, there was no doubting that it was autumn.
CHAPTER FIFTY-SIX
Twenty leagues from the Castle of Controlling Power, the travellers came upon the skeleton of one of the Neversh. Hearst and Blackwood, who had never seen such a thing, examined it with fascination. From the twin feeding spikes to the tip of the whiplash tail, it was two hundred paces long.
'it's… it's a little larger than it looks on a chess board,' said Hearst.
'They grow bigger than this,' said Miphon.
Hearst chipped away at one of the feeding spikes with his sword. The delicate interior structure reminded him of honeycomb. i thought these spikes would be solid ivory,' said Hearst.
'That's what many people have thought,' said Miphon. if it was, it would hardly be left lying here. Besides, it'd be too heavy to fly. All the bones are light -but strong.'
The arch of the ribcage was huge, bulbous.
'There are sacs inside here,' said Miphon. 'Full of lighter gas. The Neversh find it easy to get off the ground, because of all the lighter gas inside them.'
'What's lighter gas?' said Hearst. it's a kind of air that floats within air," said Miphon. i don't understand.' if you have oil and water, the oil will float on the water. If you have lighter gas and air, the lighter gas will float on the air. Do you see now?'
'Maybe,' said Hearst.
He examined the thin vein-structure of the wings. 473 which remained even though the actual tissue of the wings was gone.
'It looks clumsy," said Hearst.
'You forget the tail,' said Miphon. 'That's very mobile. It's armed with poison. It can move fast as a bullock-whip. It's said the tail's sometimes fast enough to deflect a crossbow bolt.'
'What damage could a crossbow do anyway to a thing this size?' said Hearst.
'With a quarrel through the ribs, all the gas goes out from the inside,' said Miphon. 'Then the Neversh can't fly. It falls.'
'Why doesn't it fly higher? Out of range of crossbows?'
'The higher it goes, the more danger of meeting a high-flying wind that would blow it away,' said Miphon. 'Because they're so light, the Neversh have trouble controlling their own mass in flight. That's one reason why mountains are a good barrier against the Swarms. Most of the ones that live on the ground, like keflos, can't climb very well over rocks, and the Neversh get blown away by the updrafts you find in the mountains.'
'It's absurd for a flying creature to fly so badly,' said Hearst.
'Perhaps,' said Blackwood, 'But we've got an insect like this in Estar.'
'An insect? I didn't see it,' said Hearst.
'It was there to be seen, all the same,' said Blackwood. 'It's called the hubble fly. It has to puff itself up with air before it can fly – though it uses just ordinary air, none of this fancy lighter gas you've been talking about. Then when it flies it's very clumsy. It's about the size of my thumb.'
'There are lots of things that fly that don't do it very well,' said Miphon. 'Chickens, for one thing. Anyway, the Neversh came long ago from the deserts of the Deep South. They've got no trouble with mountains there.'
Hearst struck at one of the ribs with his sword, then sheathed his blade.
'Pity the poor hubble fly,' said Hearst. 'Too big and clumsy to fly properly.'
He spoke lightly, but could not suppress a memory he had inherited from the wizard Phyphor. Twisted shapes against the sky, twisted screams in the noon-day sun. Words of power. A blast of flame. The darkest fears of nightmare animated by the full power of day. Some broke, some ran. Some stayed to stand against the Neversh…
If war broke out between the orders of wizards, and they failed to guard the flame trench Drangsturm, the Swarms would spread north as they had in the days of the Long War. They would soon reach Narba, then would follow the Salt Road north. Before long, they would be at Selzirk. The very thought of it was nightmarish.
At dayfail, they camped; they were still seven leagues from the Castle of Controlling Power. Here, close to Drangsturm, the Salt Road ran beside the sea.
'Would it be safe to have a fire this close to the castle?' said Hearst.
'Of course,' said Miphon. 'Landguard patrols are always out and about in the countryside. Nobody will think it odd if they happen to see a fire here.'
They gathered driftwood from the beach in the gloaming then lit a fire. From the shadows of an island to the west, a pinprick of fire answered their own.
'There's someone on that island,' said Hearst.