“Is he the only shaman here?”
“How would I know? I’m not a clairvoyant. I hope he’s the only one, and I really hope he’s not as strong as they think he is, otherwise my magic isn’t worth a copper coin.”
“Take your mittens off first, before you try working any magic,” Mis chuckled.
“We’ve got a hard day tomorrow,” said the goblin, avoiding an argument. “We’ll need all our strength, may the gods help us.”
Of course, I was hoping for help from the gods, too, but usually when I’m in a really tight spot, all the gods are somewhere very, very far away, and I have to cope with the cunning wiles of fate on my own. So I could only rely on myself—and my comrades, who should have been here a long time ago.
“Eat, Harold,” Glo-Glo said with his mouth full, holding out the food that the orcs had lowered into our pit early in the morning. “You mustn’t go hungry today.”
“No thanks, I don’t feel like it,” I muttered.
I couldn’t eat a scrap, even though I’d slept remarkably well. The goblin and Mis ate breakfast until it was coming out of their ears, but I couldn’t stop listening to the roaring. The orcs, may the darkness take them, had started their entertainment first thing in the morning and they’d already put someone in the Labyrinth. Perhaps elves, or perhaps the captured warriors from the Borderland, perhaps someone else, I didn’t know. The roar of the crowd died away and then grew louder again, reminding me of the rumble of distant thunder.
“They’re enjoying themselves, the lousy scum,” Mis hissed through his teeth as he listened to the shouts of the crowd.
No one answered him. I was too tense, and Glo-Glo was still mumbling those goblin tongue-twisters to himself. Eventually our turn to take part in the performance arrived. The grille moved aside and Fagred’s face appeared against the background of the cloudy sky. With the help of an orc we didn’t know, he lowered a ladder into the pit and barked, “Hey, bald monkey! Time to join the show!”
Mis got up without hurrying and stretched.
“What about us?” I asked quietly.
“We’ll be in the next round,” Glo-Glo answered just as quietly.
“Remember me kindly,” Mis said in farewell, and set off up the ladder.
He clambered out of the pit and the orcs set the grille back in place.
“Listen to me very carefully, lad,” Glo-Glo suddenly whispered. “I didn’t say anything before, because I wasn’t sure who I would be tied to, and speaking too soon would have meant losing the one tiny chance that we still have. But since the forest spirits have chosen you to be my companion … listen and remember. I won’t have time to tell you this again. I’ve already run round the Labyrinth, a long time ago, more than thirty years ago, in fact. That time I managed to get away from the Firstborn unharmed, so I know what I’m talking about. They always put the prisoners in the Labyrinth six at a time—in three pairs. Each pair is fettered with a single chain. And they fetter them in completely different ways—however the forest spirits happen to whisper. The easiest way is hand-to-hand. But there are others: hand-to-foot, foot-to-foot. Or even worse: foot-to-neck or hand-to-neck. We can’t manage the last two—if they put the chain on your neck and my foot, we won’t run very far, so let’s just pray that’s not what happens. When they take us to the Labyrinth, don’t forget to limp.…”
“Why should I do that?” I interrupted.
“Listen, will you!” the goblin said furiously. “Limp, but make sure it’s convincing. Sometimes the Firstborn get the idea that their prisoners can run too fast, and that’s not good. To slow some of them down, they cut a tendon in their leg. You don’t want to crawl round the Labyrinth, I suppose? I should hope not. When they let us go, we have to run to the center of the Labyrinth. At the center there’s a stone, and all we have to do to win is stand on it. But that’s not so easy; in fact, it’s almost impossible. Only one pair in fifty ever gets there. If we run along the path that leads to the stone, we’re doomed, but there is another way round. I came across it last time, when I was stupid enough to run in the wrong direction. The path is guarded by ‘pillars,’ and if we can get past them we can slip through a narrow passage to the stone. It’s not much of a chance, but it’s better than running like everyone else.”
“What’s in store for us in the Labyrinth, what are the dangers?”
“Firstly, the Hunters. Four orcs. Their job is to get our heads, but we’re allowed to kill the Hunters, too, and none of the Firstborn watching this stupid show will touch us if we do. I don’t know how the Hunters will try to catch us—working separately or together. Secondly, the traps. Ordinary traps and magical ones. I think I can handle the second kind. Thirdly, the beasts. They’re created by the orcs’ magic and there are different kinds, but the most dangerous of them are the ‘pillars.’ They can all be killed, you just have to know how, but let’s hope we won’t have to go that far. Remember the most important thing—do what I tell you to do, no matter how strange it seems. Is that clear?”
“Perfectly. But do the orcs know about this secret passage of yours?”
“They do, but they don’t think they need to block it up. It adds a pleasant edge of uncertainty to their bets. The forest spirits be praised, they have no idea I’ve already had the dubious pleasure of taking a stroll around their Labyrinth.”
“This information could have saved Mis’s life.”
“What can I say to that, Harold?” Glo-Glo sighed, without trying to make excuses. “Perhaps you’re right, and it would have saved him, or perhaps you’re wrong and he would just have lost his way in the winding corridors and never found the right place. All I know is that if I’d told him, my chance of survival would have been immeasurably reduced. The orcs will never allow more than one prisoner a day to squeeze through that passage and reach the stone. That’s just the way life is.”
I didn’t say anything to the goblin. Probably he was right. But maybe he wasn’t. Who could tell? There was no way I could judge.
I listened to the distant roar, trying to guess when our turn would come. We had to wait a long time before anyone came for us. More than two hours. I was shivering a little, or rather, shuddering. Those damned nervous shudders really unsettled me, and I was longing for just one thing—for the cursed waiting to be over.
The metal grille moved aside, the ladder was lowered, and Fagred’s face appeared again.
“Your friend has departed for the next world. Out you come, monkeys! It’s your turn now.”
So Mis had failed. May he dwell in the light!
As soon as I clambered out of the pit, I was knocked down and my hands were tied, and then they did the same to Glo-Glo.
“Follow me, keep quiet, and listen. Do you understand?” asked one of the orcs.
“We understand,” Glo-Glo replied.
“Pick those feet up, moth,” said Fagred, shoving me forward, but this time the shove wasn’t rough at all. He was treating his racehorses gently, the lousy snake.
Anyway, I hadn’t forgotten the old shaman’s instructions and as I walked I limped picturesquely on my right foot.
“What’s wrong with your leg?” Fagred immediately asked.
“I turned my ankle climbing down into the pit,” I lied. Fagred frowned anxiously, but he didn’t say anything.
“Before you go into the Labyrinth, they’ll tie you together with a chain,” said the orc, beginning our instructions. “In the Labyrinth, you have to find a triangular stone lying on the ground. Stand on it, and the game’s over. Four Hunters will come after you—trying to kill them isn’t against the rules. You have the right to choose any of the weapons offered. There’s no limit to the time you can spend in the Labyrinth. That’s all. Do you understand?”
“We understand everything,” Glo-Glo answered again.
The cries of the crowd grew clearer as we left the village behind and the maples parted to reveal a valley squeezed between the forest-covered cliffs. I had the impression that magic had been used on this place sometime in the past. In any case, about fifty yards away from us the valley ended in a gigantic steep-sided pit that stretched on between the overhanging cliffs for as far as the eye could see. Observation platforms had been cut into the cliffs. Many of the platforms were empty, but I could see orcs on others. Glo-Glo’s calculations weren’t exactly right— there were more than three hundred Firstborn. I reckoned there were thousands of orcs on the hillsides, watching the action unfold in the pit. Not everyone had set off on the march to the north.
