The Gods Awaken

He turned to the other wolves. 'Am I a reasonable king, or am I not?' he asked.

The other wolves growled agreement that His Majesty was the soul of gentility and kindness.

Iraj grinned at Safar, dark eyes flashing with amusement. Golden hair and shapely beard beaming in a sudden shaft of sunlight.

'Do you really want to save Palimak, brother?' he asked. 'What would you do to spare him?'

And Safar groaned, 'Anything!'

Iraj nodded, sharp. 'Good,' he said. 'Now that we've agreed on a price, shall we start again?'

And he waved a hand and suddenly Safar found himself standing above a snowy pass. He was back in Esmir, high in the mountains called the Godsa€™ Divide. He could hear caravan bells jingling and could see a wagon train-Coralean's wagon train-winding toward the white peaks known as the Bride and Six Maids.

Iraj was beside him and he was young again, a boy of seventeen. And Safar was young too, with supple limbs and a heart like a lion's. Iraj pointed at two canyons that bisected the caravan track.

'The demons,' he said.

And Safar saw the two forces of mounted demons waiting to ambush the wagons.

'What shall we do?' Safar asked.

Iraj laughed, drawing his sword. 'Warn the caravan,' he said. And he started running down the mountainside.

But in midflight he turned his head and shouted back. 'Oh, I almost forgot. This time Palimak is with them!'

And he ran on, leaping over icy boulders, crying, 'Follow me, brother! Follow me!'

Safar ran after him. Bounding down the steep slope, heart bursting, mouth full of ashes. He had to reach the caravan. He had to warn Coralean.

But most of all, he had to reach Palimak in time.

Except the harder he ran, the more distant became the caravan. His legs grew weary, his breath short.

But he struggled on, slipping in the snow. Desperately fighting to keep on his feet. But then falling, falling

… hearing the war cries of demon bandits as they attacked. And it was too late, too late, and he could hear Palimak scream:

'Help me, father. Please!'

And the last thing he heard was Iraj laughing.

Safar shot up in bed, clawing at the blankets, Iraj's laughter still echoing eerily from his dream. He was soaked to the skin with sweat and he shivered in the cold night air.

He could hear the low rumble of the magical furnaces that powered the airship and the fluttering of the balloons in the wind. But he didn't make the mistake of thinking what he'd experienced was only a dream and sagging back in relief.

To be sure, some of it was a dream: The wolves, Iraj, plus the repeated caravan incident from his boyhood.

He had no doubt, however, that Palimak really was in great danger. The atmosphere fairly crackled with a dark, brooding force. He had a sudden sense of looking into a huge demonic eye and seeing Palimak reflected in the surface of its iris.

Safar leaped from his bunk, hastily pulling on clothes. He rushed outside, buckling his sword belt as he ran. There were only a few crewmen about-the rest were asleep. But on the bridge he spotted Biner at the wheel. Safar raced up the stairs to his side.

'Where's the ship?' he shouted. 'Where's the Nepenthe?'

Biner knew at once something was wrong and didn't waste time asking for details.

'About a mile back,' he said. 'On the lee side.'

Safar bolted to the rail to look. The seas were running like an incoming tide over a sandbar. Short, frothy waves speeding past; foam faintly pink under the bright Demon Moon. He made out the billowing sails of the Nepenthe just where Biner had said she'd be.

'Get back to the Nepenthe! ' he shouted to Biner. 'And get everybody up.'

Biner went into instant action, roaring, 'All hands! All hands!'

Other orders followed and the night crew got busy adjusting the steering sails as Biner muscled the wheel over-turning the airship in a wide arc.

The soldiers and the rest of the crew poured out onto the deck. Leiria, followed by Arlain, rushed up to the bridge. Professional that she was, Leiria was already dressed to fight-boots, buckler, short tunic with a weapons belt buckled about her small waist, a bow in one hand and a quiver of arrows thrown over one shoulder.

Arlain, who never wore that much in the way of clothing except in the coldest of weather, wore only a revealing sleeping gown thrown over her startling-beautiful body. But she was wide awake and prepared for battle. Claws extended. Sparks and smoke leaking from her dragon's mouth.

'What's wrong, Safar?' Leiria shouted over the wind.

'I'm not sure,' he replied. 'Except that Palimak's in some kind of trouble.'

Leiria didn't ask any more questions. She only nodded and raced over to the soldiers. Barking orders for them to get into position. The long days of drilling paid off and everyone moved like well-oiled clockwork. Within a few scant minutes, they were all ready.

Arlain's great eyes glowed in fury. She loved Palimak like a doting older sister. Both the product of inter- species mating, they'd been close friends from the moment they'd met.

'If anybody hurth him,' she said, 'I'll roatht them in their thkinth!'

Safar only hoped they had skins to roast. Other than the fact that powerful sorcery was involved, he didn't have the faintest idea what he was up against.

But all he said was, 'Make sure the boarding lines are ready.'

Leaking smoke through her nostrils, Arlain hurried off to do his bidding.

Safar leaned far out over the rail, patience barely under control as they tacked toward the Nepenthe.

Biner bellowed orders as they fought the wind.

Finally they were hovering directly over the tall ship.

'Let's bring her down, Biner,' Safar said. 'But keep it quiet, please.'

Biner nodded. The airship's best defense and offense was surprise. After all, who would ever imagine an attack from the skies? He signaled for runners and started a relay of whispered orders. The magical engines were cut so the only sound was the gentle buffeting of the wind against the big balloons.

Then, slowly, cautiously, the crew started bleeding air from the balloons and the airship drifted down toward the Nepenthe.

Safar peered at the shadowy deck as it rose toward him. He could only see a few small figures moving about. With the weather so mild, night watches on both the Nepenthe and the airship were kept to a minimum so everyone would be fresh in an emergency.

Everything seemed quite peaceful. The crewmen's movements were leisurely. And only the most necessary lanterns were lit-a normal practice aimed at conserving oil for the long journey.

Then Leiria was at his side again. 'I don't see anything,' Safar said. 'But I know they're there!'

Leiria remained silent, running experienced eyes over the ship and the surrounding seas.

Then she pointed. 'There's something odd along the port bow,' she said.

At first all he could make out were eight dark, twisted shapes hanging off the ship. They looked inanimate, like logs of stressed timber with the branches still intact.

Then he saw thirty-possibly forty-other similar shapes bobbing in the ocean next to the ship. It was if the Nepenthe were sailing through debris from a lumber mill. Although there was no land for miles, it was entirely possible the cast-off wood had been carried far out to sea by a swift-moving river.

Safar wondered why the crew couldn't hear the ship bumping into the logs. They ought to be fending off the debris with poles before the hull was damaged.

Leiria said, 'Did you notice how the ones in the water are moving with the ship?'