Jup shrugged. “Saves us having to negotiate.”
Stryke didn’t waste time. They got the weapon onto the barge, which proved a tough task. Then the band embarked and they cast off, using the barge’s oars. There was a small sail too, and Stryke had it unfurled, despite little wind.
As they moved away they saw the liberated millipedes undulating towards the forest. Everybody was sorry to see them go. Except Standeven.
28
The waterway took them through terrain that was mostly flat and lacking in any particular landmarks. All they saw was an expanse of green, dotted with the odd tree or rock. An occasional low hill, glimpsed in the distance, became an event to be remarked on. Taking advantage of their stately progression, the band rested, fed themselves and maintained their weapons. Curiously, they met no other boats.
As best as they could estimate it, more than a day went by as they slowly glided towards their unknown destination. Some in the band wondered if there was a destination, and whether the canal might not go on for ever. Those who thought there must be a destination speculated on how they would know it. The only certainty was the north star, and they were still heading straight for that.
Into the second day they saw the peaks of a mountain range ahead, and also noticed something strange about the star above it.
“It’s definitely getting bigger,” Coilla decided.
“I think you’re right,” Stryke agreed. He turned to the shape-changer. “Dynahla?”
“It’s to be expected the nearer we get to our goal.”
“You mean we are, at last?”
“It’s in the air. Can’t you feel it?”
Haskeer gave a prolonged, noisy sniff. “I can’t.”
“Take my word for it, Sergeant; our destination’s imminent. Though we shouldn’t get too excited. It may be closer only in distance.”
After that, the star and the mountains it crowned rapidly grew larger.
Eventually the problem of where their destination would lie was solved: the canal came to an end. It terminated in a modest dock, which had the benefit of a winch that proved sturdy enough to unload the barge. But that was the end of their luck as far as the weapon was concerned. Without beasts to help with the burden, it had to be moved bodily. The band was hardly keen on the idea, but they had experience of hauling siege engines over long distances. Once roped up, they found it took about half the band to pull it, which meant they could labour in shifts.
Now as big as a harvest moon, and rivalling the sun, the star was suspended above whatever lay behind the mountains. Fortunately there was a wide pass cutting through them. They made for it.
Halfway along, the pebbly stone floor of the vale began to be covered in patches of fine sand. By the time they got to the end of the pass there was nothing but sand underfoot, and it was quite thick. They had to work even harder to negotiate it. The temperature was also noticeably hotter.
Ahead of them was a low ridge of granite. Leaving the weapon at its base, they climbed the gentle incline to see what was beyond. Lying on their bellies, they looked out at the beginning of a vast desert. More arresting was what stood on it in the near distance. It was a pyramid, the largest any of them had seen, and it seemed to be made of milky glass. At its apex was what looked like a massive, multifaceted gem. Sunlight glinted on it.
“What in hell is that?” Coilla said.
“Something legendary,” Dynahla explained. “If I’m right, it’s the Prism of Sina-Cholm.”
“Which is?”
“An artefact created by the wizards who built this world.”
“What does it do?” Stryke asked.
“It kills.”
“How?”
“Can you get one of the archers to send an arrow its way?”
“Sure. It’s in range. But I don’t think an arrow’s going to hurt it.”
“That’s not the point.”
Stryke shrugged and ordered one of the grunts to string-up.
“It might be an idea if we all kept our heads down,” Dynahla suggested.
The archer loosed his bolt and it soared towards the pyramid. It had almost reached it when an intense white beam shot from the gem at the apex, striking the arrow and obliterating it.
“It targets anything that approaches,” Dynahla said.
“Is there somebody in there operating that thing?” Pepperdyne wanted to know.
“No, it functions entirely by itself. It works by drawing energy from what passes for the sun here, concentrating it and using it to defend itself.”
“Do we have to tackle it?” Stryke said.
“You know the nature of this place by now. It’s there because it’s the next thing we have to overcome. Maybe the last thing. Fortunately, we have a chance because of that.” He nodded at the weapon parked below them.
“Won’t the pyramid just destroy what we fire at it?”
“What if we were to fire more than one thing at the same time?” Coilla suggested.
“That’s not a bad idea. Think it might work, Dynahla?”
“Your faith in my knowledge about this place is touching, Stryke. Frankly, I don’t know. But it’s worth a try, isn’t it?”
They needed a spot where they could get the weapon to see its target, and where there was some kind of shelter for the band. Scouts found such a place not far from the incline they climbed. It was a ground-level slab of stone big enough to accommodate the weapon, and with a perfect view of the pyramid. There were enough sizeable boulders strewn around it to give the Wolverines cover. They set about hauling the weapon to it.
“All right,” Stryke said when they were installed, “let’s get the thing loaded and lined-up.”
While that was going on he picked six archers.
There was a lot of fussing with the weapon’s alignment, and when he was finally satisfied, Stryke stood ready at the lever. The archers nocked their arrows and drew back the strings.
“Now!” he yelled, pulling hard on the lever.
The weapon coughed its missile as six arrows were loosed.
The arrows travelled faster than the ball, which described an arcing path. A flash came from the gem and one of the arrows vaporised. There was another dazzling streak and a second arrow disappeared. Then it was the ball’s turn. A beam sought it out, shattering it to fragments. The remaining arrows got through and clattered feebly against the pyramid’s face.
“Fuck it!” Haskeer cursed.
“We proved it can’t handle several things at once,” Stryke said.
“But it got the important one, didn’t it?”
“We’ll do it again, with more archers this time.”
Ten archers lined-up as the weapon was reloaded and its angle slightly adjusted.
Again the launch was simultaneous. The beam from the gem got two, three and then four arrows, and they were picked off before they had travelled as far as the first volley. But the ball got through. It struck the pyramid low down, near its base, and did some damage, although nothing terminal. A cheer went up from the band.
The weapon was primed once more and its angle altered on the basis of the previous shot. Arrows were readied.
“Now!” Stryke bellowed. He pulled the lever and rushed forward to see the result.
The beam singled out no less than five arrows this time, and intercepted them much nearer their firing point than before. Tumbling through the air on a high trajectory, the ball travelled unscathed.
