The Gods Awaken

And Palimak thought, Die, damn you! Die, Safar Timura!

CHAPTER THIRTY-SEVEN

WITCHCRAFT

Ordering Jooli and the others to remain in place, Leiria rushed back along the trail to the point where they'd seen Safar vanish.

She cursed herself as a fool for not remaining at Safar's side at all times, no matter what the circumstances. Leiria had watched him come around the bend, then pause as if something was troubling him. She'd even called to him to say there was nothing to worry about.

Then-right before her eyes-he'd mysteriously disappeared. There'd been no disturbance or hint whatsoever that something was going to happen. He'd just vanished into thin air.

Now, bared sword ready, Leiria was determined to take on a whole army if necessary to wrest Safar from the clutches of whatever threatened him.

But when she came to the place where she'd last seen him there was no sign of what had occurred.

Cautiously, she retraced Safar's steps-the prints of which were mingled with hers and the others-about a hundred feet back down the trail. Still nothing. She returned to the bend where they'd lost sight of him and examined the area more closely.

The only thing she found were the scattered bodies of scores of dead butterflies. This was quite puzzling.

As far as Leiria could recall she hadn't seen a single butterfly since they'd entered the jungle. More determined then ever, she once again retraced the trail. Studying every inch of the ground for some sign of Safar.

Meanwhile, Sergeant Hamyr had stumbled on a new mystery.

'Look here, Your Highness,' he called to Jooli. 'Young Lord Palimak's footprints ain't here no more!'

Jooli strode over to Hamyr who crouched, studying the ground. He looked up at her, bewildered.

'They were here, plain as day, a couple of minutes ago,' he said, making a wide circle with his finger to surround an empty spot on the path.

He tapped the center with heavy emphasis. 'Right damned here, they were,' he said.

'And there were others, too,' he continued, pointing down the trail ahead. 'But those bastards ain't there, either! You saw them, right? Or has some son of a flea-bitten goat snuck up to steal my wits?'

Grim-faced, Jooli absorbed the news. 'Yes, I saw them,' she said. 'Unless my wits have been stolen as well.'

'Where'n the hells did they go, then, Your Highness?' he asked, voice pleading. 'Nothing but damn, rotted jungle trash far as the eye can see!'

'Let me take a look, sergeant,' Jooli said, motioning Hamyr aside. 'And then maybe I can answer the question for both of us.'

Sergeant Hamyr made room and Jooli crouched before the circle he'd scratched in the leaves. She fumbled in her witch's pouch, which hung from her belt, and found a small oilcloth packet, marked with magical symbols.

Jooli opened it and sprinkled a small quantity of purple dust into one palm. Then she blew gently across her open hand, the dust streaming out to settle on the circle.

'There it is! Right where it was before!' Sergeant Hamyr exclaimed as Palimak's distinctive footprint faded into view, thinly painted purple by the magical dust.

It remained there a moment, the dust stirring into motion as if bringing the footprint to life. Then it vanished, dust and all.

'It's gone again, by damn!' Sergeant Hamyr cursed. He looked at Jooli, scratching his head. 'Do you know what in the hells is happening, Your Highness?' he asked.

Jooli nodded, face grave. 'It's a false trail, sergeant,' she said. 'Laid by witchcraft.'

Sergeant Hamyr was aghast. 'You mean some wrinkle-teated witch played us the fool?' he said.

Then he reddened as he remembered Jooli's abilities and made a hasty apology. 'Beggina€™ your pardon, highness,' he said. 'I guess I stuffed my boot in my mouth, heel and all!'

'No apology necessary, sergeant,' Jooli said. Despite the circumstances, she couldn't help smiling.

'Although I can't speak for the witch, who may or may not possess a wrinkled bosom. As a matter of fact, this witch could be a wrinkle-teated he, instead of a she.'

The sergeant goggled. 'I thought a witch was just a wizard in female dress,' he said.

The other men had gathered around and were listening in. Although this was hardly the moment for a general discussion on gender sorcery, Jooli noted that their interest was taking their minds off their current problems.

So she said, 'The difference is in power, plus the source of the magic. Witches generally get their power solely from nature and make greater use of plants, animal matter and talismans. Wizards rely somewhat on nature, but they can also draw energy from the spirit world.'

She shrugged. 'Generally speaking, this makes wizards like Safar and Palimak much more powerful than witches. But not always. And not in all cases.'

Jooli gestured, taking in the surrounding jungle. 'In this place a witch would be very strong indeed.'

She started to explain that the jungle was full of animal spirits and magical plant life, but decided not to.

No sense frightening them so much they'd need a change of breeches the next time an ape hooted.

'Anyway, that's the theory,' Jooli said, rather weakly.

Just then Leiria strode up, interrupting the conversation. Jooli's immediate reaction was relief that she'd be able to avoid some uncomfortable questions. But when she saw Leiria's expression all the worry returned.

'No sign of Safar?' Jooli asked, praying that her guess was wide of the mark.

Leiria shook her head-so much for the power of prayer.

'Not a trace,' she said. 'I couldn't find a clue about what happened.'

She hesitated, frowning. 'Except for one small thing. And maybe I'm just a drowning woman grabbing at straws. But I did find some dead butterflies on the trail. Hundreds of them. At the very spot where he vanished.'

Sergeant Hammer said, 'That don't seem right. Ain't seen a butterfly since we walked into this godsforsaken forest. And I got pretty sharp eyes.'

He turned to the other soldiers. 'How about you men? Seen any butterflies lately?' All the soldiers said they hadn't.

Jooli's eyes lit up with excitement at Leiria's news. 'Show me,' she said to her friend.

Leiria led them all back to the place where Safar had been seen last. She took the precaution of posting the men on both sides of the curving trail so they couldn't be taken unaware.

Jooli, meanwhile, was studying the heaps of dead butterflies. After she got over the surprise of their numbers, the first thing she noticed was the amazing variety of colors.

In her experience, butterfly swarms were always composed of the same shade. And if there weredifferences, they were so minor that they went almost unnoticed.

She started to sort them by color-reds, blues, greens and so on. Which was when she came upon her second discovery. No two seemed to be quite the same! Butterflies that were mainly blue might have touches of orange, or purple or red. While those that were red might be tinged or spotted with green, or brown or yellow.

And the more the she tried to break down the colors further, the more it became apparent that each individual butterfly was startlingly different from the others.

'If I hadn't seen it with my own eyes, I wouldn't have believed it possible,' Leiria said after Jooli had demonstrated her discovery.

'It isn't,' Jooli said. 'Except through magic.'

'Surely either you or Safar would have noticed if someone had cast a spell,' Leiria said. 'Safar's always told me that he can, well, feel it happening. Like the hackles going up on the back of his neck, or something.'

Jooli nodded agreement, saying, 'When Safar and I first entered the jungle we both cast spells to alert us to