obeisance.
'What the fuck's going on?' Haskeer wanted to know.
The shepherd gazed up at him with something close to terror distorting his features. ' Get down,' he hissed. 'Show respect!'
'To them? ' Haskeer sneered. ' Humans? They can kiss my scaly arse!'
Yelbra seemed profoundly shocked. His mouth hung open and all trace of colour left his face.
'Since when did orcs prostrate themselves in front of humans?' Coilla said.
The shepherd looked as though the question made no sense to him.
'Serapheim said humans had the upper hand here,' Stryke reflected. 'Seems he was right. Get up,' he told Yelbra.
He stayed where he was, eyes fixed on Pepperdyne and Standeven.
Stryke nodded at the scouts. They heaved the shepherd to a standing position. He clutched his crook as if it was all that kept him upright.
'I'm asking the questions,' Stryke reminded him in a harsher tone, 'not them. What's the name of this land?'
Still he remained under the spell of the humans, staring their way and trembling. He said nothing.
Stryke beckoned Pepperdyne. 'Here.'
The human hesitated for a second, then came forward.
'You ask him,' Stryke said.
'Me?'
'He's more in thrall of you two than us. Do it.'
A little awkwardly, Pepperdyne cleared his throat. 'Er, Yelbra. What's this land called?'
Even with his head bent to avoid Pepperdyne's gaze, it was apparent he was taken aback at them not knowing. 'If it pleases you, master; Acurial.'
'It does please me. But I'm not your master. Do you hear me?'
The shepherd shot him a glance suffused with bewilderment, and a hint of what might have been pity for someone self-evidently insane. 'Yes, mas — Yes, I hear you.'
'Good. What's the name of the nearest settlement?'
'Taress.'
'And there are orcs there?'
'Of course. Many.'
'Where is it? How far?'
'Due south. On foot, it can be reached by sundown.'
'Thank you, Yelbra.' Pepperdyne looked to Stryke, and was about to step back when the shepherd spoke again.
'Begging your pardon, my… You pardon, but I'm at a loss to understand why you don't know these things. Is it a test?'
'No. We're… from a far country.'
'It must be very far from here.'
'More than you can guess,' Stryke put in. He waved Pepperdyne away. 'I meant what I said, Yelbra; we won't harm you. But I want your word that you'll tell nobody about seeing us. Or do you need to hear that from him, too?' He jabbed a thumb Pepperdyne's way.
'No one would believe me if I told this story. Anyway, I see few others out here. Tending sheep is a solitary business.'
'What kind of job is that for an orc?' Haskeer said with contempt.
Once more the question seemed irrelevant to the shepherd. In any event something else had caught his eye. 'You bear arms,' he whispered, as though noticing for the first time. There was wonder and fear in his voice.
'That's unusual in these parts?' Coilla asked.
'You are indeed from a distant land. It's forbidden by law.'
'We've spent enough time here,' Stryke decided, turning away from Yelbra.
Clear of the others he went into a huddle with his officers.
'We'll get ourselves over to this Taress,' he told them. 'And it looks like we'd do well to conceal our weapons.'
'Are we all going?' Coilla said. 'What about a base camp?'
'Not this time. If we have to use the stars again in a hurry I want us all together.'
Jup glanced over at the humans. 'How do we deal with them?'
'They'd better come along. From what we've just seen they might be the only way anyone's going to talk to us.'
'I don't like it,' Haskeer grumbled.
'Me neither. But we can be rid of them as soon as they stop being an asset. Now get the band organised for a march.'
As they scattered to their duties, the shepherd called out to them.
'What about me? I've my animals to tend to.'
'You can go,' Stryke shouted back.
'Yeah,' Coilla added. 'Get the flock out of here.'
14
In sharp contrast to the ruined land of Maras-Dantia, Acurial was fair.
Its jade-coloured fields and lush pastures washed against the rims of dense forests. The streams ran crystal clear. An abundance of wildlife roamed the woods, and smaller creatures burrowed in the undergrowth. Birds of many hues wheeled in the cloudless skies.
The river flowed southward, so the Wolverines marched beside it for several hours. When it curved to the west, they found a trail running in the direction they sought, and took that. They met no other travellers.
As the day lengthened the earlier warmth began to abate.
Stryke was at the head of the column, with Jup at his side.
The dwarf looked back at the band. 'They're starting to flag a bit. Can we spare time for a break? They haven't eaten properly since yesterday, and that was a world away.'
Stryke nodded. 'But we'll keep it short, and no fires. And we eat the rations we're carrying; I don't want anybody off hunting.'
The band left the trail and made for a stand of trees. Lookouts were posted, and hardtack and water was distributed.
When everyone had eaten their fill, Stryke allowed them a brief rest. Perched on fallen tree trunks, some of the band reflected on how Acurial differed from the world they recently left.
'Compared to this place,' Jup was saying, 'Maras-Dantia's completely bust. Failing harvests, barren livestock, fouled rivers; you know the score.'
'Yet there are humans in Acurial too,' Coilla replied, 'and they don't seem to have screwed things up here.'
More than one pair of stern eyes turned to Standeven and Pepperdyne.
'So far,' Jup amended. 'We don't know how long they've been here. It took them a generation or more to devastate Maras-Dantia, and maybe longer before the magic started to bleed away.'
'I wonder if magic works in this world,' Coilla mused.
'That hadn't occurred to me. But… why shouldn't it? Unless Maras-Dantia was special in some way, maybe all worlds have magic. Or at least the energy to make it work.'
'Find out,' Stryke suggested. 'Your skill could be useful to us.'
'All right.' Jup got to his feet and surveyed the area. 'I'll try over there.'
As everyone watched, he set off for a gully thirty or forty paces away. A small stream trickled along it, and it
