A few hours later, they had traversed higher into the mountains and were following a shallow,pebbled stream along a gentle rise. Here the gentle hills ended and the cliffs and crags began in earnest. Their path ended at a mossy rock face, from which the stream gently spilled as a tumbling,white spray.
‘We walk from here,’ Daneel announced and dropped lightly from his groaning saddle.
‘What about the supplies?’ Sir Ferse asked, looking to the ponies.
‘We leave them. The guides will take them-as gifts.’
‘But they didn’t do anything!’ Sir Ferse protested.
‘They accompanied us and they will continue in another direction toward their homes,’ Daneel replied. ‘It’s safest not to tell even the good Captain Orrell the way we are going and secrecy is expensive in these dangerous days.’ He looked at Samuel with a wink. ‘That’s how I’ve survived for so long.’
‘This is a sham! What will we eat?’ Ambassador Canyon said, annoyed. ‘You’re giving away our supplies. This is madness!’
‘Don’t you worry, my good people. Take these,’ he said, and pulled some packs fromahiding place behind a pile of rounded boulders. ‘We can take our clothes, water and as much food as we can carry. Don’t worry. I will see you through.’
The party gave in, for they had little choice but to obey him, and they each begrudgingly took a coarse pack and filled it from the backs of the pack animals. Afterward, their four guides turned and left,with cries of delight at their new ponies, loaded with gifts.
Everyone stood by the waterfall with nothing but their clothes and what they could carry, which varied as per the individual. The god-woman was given nothing to carry, while Ambassador Canyon and Lady Wind had minimum loads on their backs. In contrast, the fighter Horse was loaded with such a mountain ofitems thathe looked set to topple over. The magicians had what Samuel deemed sensibly-sized loads, but Sir Ferse seemed to be in hopeless competition with Horse and was already struggling under the weight.
‘This way,’ Daneel directed, looking at them all with amusement before beginning up the steep embankment beside the cliff face. ‘Try not to fall.’
They continued like that, ever upwards and along steep inclines, sometimes scrambling on their hands and knees, sometimes pulling each other up and over rocks and jagged edges. Sir Ferse had abandoned almost half of his pack along the way, periodically stopping with exhaustion and summarily sacrificing one item after another, until his pack looked similar to those of the magicians. Horse, however, continued on as if he were made of stone, never complaining or uttering a word and he picked up each item thrown from Sir Ferse’s load and added it quietly to his own.
There were still many trees here, overhanging their mountain path, and they were ever beside a gully or a ravine of one description or another. Not far above them, the mountainfacewas sheer stone. Above even that, blue ice and snow hung over them, waiting ominously.
The air was bitterly cold and the wind was blowing down hard from the icy mountaintops when Daneel finally announced that they would rest, and they made for a tiny hut amongst the trees, just as the light was fading.
Smoke rose from the chimney and seemed to fall straight off the shingles and slide onto the ground, for the air had become so cold and heavy. A light shone in the window and Daneel instructed them all to leave their packs beside the door while they went in.
A lone old man, few of teeth and thin of hair,inhabited the hut and he stood from his place and welcomed them in his chanting dialect. He seemed to know Daneel and be expecting them, for he had a great pot boiling on his stove and hurried to ready a number of chipped,ceramic bowls.
‘Come, sit,’ Daneel implored them, while he stepped outside to take care of their things.
The stew seemed to fill them with strength and,before long,they were all sitting comfortably, although in close proximity, on thick rugs and cushions upon the floor.
‘Just sleep where you can,’ Daneel instructed later. ‘We will leave at first light.’
As he went to go outside again, Lady Wind bustledupto himin the doorway and Samuel had to translate what she was trying to say to himand why she wasin a fluster. ‘We cannot sleep here-amongst these men,’ she said. ‘I am a
‘Fine,’ Daneel told her. ‘You can sleep outside.’ And,with that,he nodded to her politely and stepped outside to see to his tasks.
Balten also took the chance to slip out the door, but everyone else remained firmly within the warm interior of the hut.
Samuel chuckled to himself and gathereda fewcushions to make his makeshift bed as comfortable as possible. They made concession to the women by ensuring that the men were all cramped tightly together, leaving a small channel of space between them, but everyone was touching and jostling each other throughout the night as they attempted to sleep. There was little talking, for everyone was exhausted. Only Sir Ferse and Master Celios whispered together long into the night.
Before hefell asleep, when the fire had burned low and was barely glowing coals, Samuel heard the door creak open and Daneel sneaked back in with Balten beside him,bothreeking of Fiskian tobacco. They found spots for themselves beside the door and soon settled down to sleep. The old mountain-man had fallen asleep long ago and was whistling through his nose as he snored, as well as smacking his lips and murmuring. Strangely, it reminded Samuel fondly of his youth and he had barely rolled over once before he was fast asleep.
The next thing he knew, it was morning. Breakfast was, unfortunately, the same boiled stew, but at least the old man did have some fruit to give them. Before long, they were struggling back into their boots outside in the freezing morning air, pulling their packs onto their aching backs.
The world outside the little hut was grey with mist and the moss-covered trees, sheathed in vibrant green, vanished barely five strides from the path. To their left, they could see into the gully and the low clouds meandered along, pouring off the cliff tops in a tumbling mist. The peaks above were like meandering gods, wandering through a sea of fog and the party trudged along beneath them, with Daneel whistling a merry tune as he went, following the narrow trail up and ever up.
‘It’s time you were honest with me, Samuel,’ Eric said abruptly, as they walked along the rising path, puffing out steam.
Samuel was immediately on guard. ‘What about?’
‘What’s happened to your magic?’ Samuel continued walking, but did not answer. ‘Goodfellow was protecting you all along, making excuses for you right up until he died. There are only the two of us left now, Samuel. Won’t you tell me what is going on?’
‘It’s true,’ Samuel replied,after treading along in dreadful silence. ‘I have lost my power. There is a ring in my pocket. It has some magic, but it’s difficult to control.’
‘How long has it been like this?’ Eric asked.
‘Since Ash. I exerted myself too much and lost my magic then.’
‘Didn’t you think of telling us? You’ve kept this a secret all this time? Who else knows?’
‘No one.’
‘How could you be so stupid!’ Eric said, raising his voice. ‘You’ve been hiding this all along and didn’t think to ask for help? Of all the stupid things, this is the greatest!’ Samuel did not know what to say, and Eric was only becoming more furious. ‘I never would have agreed to such a hare-brained idea if I’d known about this. Didn’t you stop to think that it could be dangerous-that your full power would have been needed? If only we’d prepared better, we could have saved him!’
‘We couldn’t!’ Samuel said defiantly, keeping his voice restrained. ‘No matter what we could have done, we made a mistake. Eric did, too! Once we started that spell, it was too late and nothing any of us did would have made any difference. He was bound to the spell and we couldn’t get him away from it. We all made mistakes. You know that.’
Eric only shook his head angrily. ‘You were always the strongest, Samuel, but look at what’s happened to you. You haven’t learnt anything inall theseyears. If you hadn’t lost your magic you would be as strong as the Lions by now. You could have taken down the fortress alone.’
‘We’ll never knowand there’s no point in guessing. I’m as upset at losing Eric as you and I’m certainly not
