unfazed by the loss of their amour.
He was dusting himself off when Stryke slid down and went to him.
“What’s up?”
“That.” He pointed towards the cliff.
Stryke had to strain to see what it was. Even so, he could only make out a dark shape against the lighter background of rock. “What is it?”
“Something you have to take. Assuming you can get away with it alive.”
26
“ What do we have to take?” Stryke said. “What’s so important?”
“I believe that what lies over there is going to be vital to us. But we need more information. Will you let me take a look?”
“Go ahead.”
The shape-changer transformed himself into a bird. It was difficult to say what kind. A large seagull, perhaps, although it was black. He took off at speed.
“Why does he always seem to know more than he’s telling?” Jup wondered.
“That’d crossed my mind,” Haskeer said.
“A short journey, then.”
Dynahla was soon back. Once he changed form he stated, simply, “It’s a weapon.”
“What kind?” Stryke asked.
“A kind you’re unlikely to have seen before. You should go and look at it.”
“Why?”
“As I said, it’ll be useful for what follows.”
“And what’s that?”
“I don’t know.”
“Fat lot of use you are,” Haskeer muttered.
“I don’t know specifically,” Dynahla said, “but I know there’ll be challenges. What I do know is you need that device to be able to advance further.”
“ How do you know that?”
“Serapheim told me.”
“Why didn’t you tell us until now?”
“I didn’t know I had to until we got here. And all Serapheim told me was that in this place gift horses shouldn’t be ignored. That weapon’s here for a reason. Everything is here for a reason. You have to take it.”
“Well…”
“At least have a look. Would that hurt?”
“All right. But it better be worth it.”
“I think you’ll find it is.”
The band headed for the cliffs.
When they got to the object it proved extraordinary. It was essentially a long dark metal tube or pipe, with the circumference of a hogshead, mounted on wheels. From its arrangement of gears and handles it looked as though the tube’s angle could be adjusted. On one side at its blunt end was a large wheel, on the other a lever. The top of the tube had a sight, in the form of a raised ring with an inset cross. There were wide grooves on both sides of the chassis that bore the weapon. They each held around a dozen sizeable black globes, possibly of iron.
“How does it work?” Coilla said.
“I think I know,” Dynahla replied.
Haskeer looked to him. “Weapons expert now, are you?”
“No. But when I was here before I changed myself into something that could get inside this thing. Well, not that small, but an appendage with an eye attached did the job.”
“And you figured it out?” Stryke asked.
“I think so. Inside that tube there’s a very powerful coil, made of some sort of tough, flexible metal. You drop one of these balls down the tube, then turn that wheel at the end. That draws back the coil, taking the ball with it. When it’s in place, the lever releases the coil. It comes free with enough energy to launch the ball. And with a lot of force, I imagine.”
“Clever,” Jup declared admiringly.
“They’re a size,” Haskeer said, pointing at the weighty metal balls.
“Nearly as big as your head. Though less dense.”
Haskeer contented himself with giving the dwarf a murderous look.
“This thing must weigh a ton,” Stryke said.
“We can couple the millipedes to it,” Dynahla suggested. “They’re strong. And maybe there’ll be a bit of hauling where necessary. But believe me, Stryke, we should take it.”
“All right, I believe you. I hope this isn’t wasted effort, for your sake.”
Wheam was staring at the weapon. “How come it’s just sitting here? Doesn’t it belong to somebody?”
“Quite possibly,” the shape-changer replied. “In which case you might have to fight for it.”
Wheam looked around. “Fight who?”
“If we’re lucky, nobody. But we should stay alert.”
“That we can do,” Stryke told him.
Using rope the band carried, along with some pleated vines, they fashioned crude harnesses. They found that two millipedes were capable of pulling the load, as well as carrying riders.
When they were finally ready, Stryke said, “We have to skirt these cliffs. Which means going away from north and then turning back to it once we’re round ’em.”
“What about that canyon?” Coilla suggested. “Isn’t that heading north?”
The peculiar daytime star hung directly above it.
“I guess it does. If it’s not a dead end.”
Dynahla offered to find out. He changed to his black bird guise and took off. Before long he was back to confirm that the canyon did indeed go clean through the cliffs.
“What’s it like on the other side?” Stryke wanted to know.
“More or less like this, though rockier. There are some caves.”
“All right, let’s move.”
They set off, unsteadily at first, hauling the weapon.
The canyon was narrow and high-sided. Its floor was stony, with occasional clumps of miserable vegetation. It didn’t run straight; there were bends.
As one of these came into sight they saw a shadow cast by something moving their way. Something very large. Stryke halted the convoy. No sooner had they stopped than a creature rounded the bend.
It could have passed for vaguely human, apart from its size. High as a fully grown oak, and looking as hardy, it was male. The creature was naked save for a loincloth of pelts. He was an extremely hirsute specimen, with a bushy head of hair, a full beard and a mane on his chest, all rust-coloured. There was a belt at his waist, and tucked through it a club as big as a young tree. His piggy eyes held a malevolent glint.
When he saw them he gave a furious roar.
“Shit, an ogre,” Jup said. “That’s all we need.”
“I think we can guess who the weapon belonged to,” Spurral added.
“Why didn’t you see this when you scouted, Dynahla?” Stryke demanded.
Before the fetch could answer somebody yelled “ Watch out!”
The ogre had lifted a sizeable rock and was getting ready to throw it at them.
“Back!” Stryke ordered. “ Pull back!”
“You tried getting these things to back up?” Haskeer shouted, pulling hard on a millipede’s reins.
Those hauling the weapon had an even harder time trying to turn in the confined space. But they managed to
