They had left Krondor by ship, travelling down the coast until they entered the narrows between the Bitter Sea and the Sea of Dreams, which was more of a giant saltwater lake than a true sea. At Shamata they had commandeered horses and followed the river Dawlin to its source, the Great Star Lake. Now they stood waiting for the barge to put in. It was poled by two men in simple tunics and trousers, local peasants by the look of them. In a moment Gardan, Brother Dominic, Kasumi, and six Tsurani guards would step aboard and be poled to Stardock Island, almost a mile away.
Gardan shivered in the unseasonably cool air. It was spring, but the late afternoon air had none of the warmth expected at this time of year. ‘I’m the fugitive from a hot land, Captain,’ said Kasumi with a chuckle.
Gardan’s voice had little humour in it as he replied, ‘No, it is cold here, but there’s something else. I’ve felt nothing but dark foreboding since leaving the Prince.’ Brother Dominic said nothing, but his expression showed he shared the feeling.
Kasumi nodded. He had stayed in Krondor to guard the King, and when Arutha’s messages arrived he had accepted Lyam’s charge to accompany Gardan and the Ishapian monk to Stardock. Besides his desire to visit Pug again, there had been something in Lyam’s orders that made him believe the King counted the monk’s safe arrival at Stardock vital.
The barge put in to shore and one of the two bargemen stepped ashore. ‘We’ll have to make two trips to carry the horses, sir,’ he said.
Kasumi, who was senior, said, ‘That will be fine.’ He indicated five of his men and said, ‘These will go first; we will follow.’
Gardan said nothing about going second; he had no desire to rush the coming ordeal. The five Tsurani led their animals aboard and took up position silently. Whatever they might think about journeying on the wallowing barge, they maintained their stoic demeanour.
The barge put out, and Gardan watched quietly. Save for faint signs of activity on the far island, the southern shore of the Great Star Lake was deserted. Why, wondered Gardan, would anyone choose to live in such isolation? Legend had it a star fell from the sky, creating the lake. But whatever the lake’s origins, no community had ever arisen upon its shores.
The lone remaining Tsurani guard said something in his own language to Kasumi, pointing to the northeast. Kasumi looked where the man pointed.
Gardan and Dominic looked as well. In the distance, close to the horizon and coming before the approaching night, several winged figures could be seen gliding swiftly towards them. ‘What are they?’ asked Kasumi. ‘Those are the biggest birds I’ve seen on your world so far. They appear to be nearly man-sized.’
Gardan squinted. Suddenly Dominic shouted, ‘Ishap’s grace! Everyone back to shore.’
The bargemen looked back from where they were making slow, steady progress. Seeing Gardan and the others draw weapons, they quickly pushed back for land. The approaching figures could now be seen as they raced towards the party on shore. One of the boatmen cried out in fear and prayed to Dala for protection.
The nude creatures were grotesquely human-shaped, male, with blue skins and powerfully muscled torsos. Shoulder and chest muscles flexed as giant batlike wings beat the air. Their heads resembled those of hairless monkeys, and each waved a long, prehensile tail. Gardan counted: there were an even dozen of them. With impossibly high shrieks, they dived straight at the party on shore.
As his horse bolted, Gardan lunged to one side, barely avoiding the outstretched claws of one of the creatures. A scream sounded behind, and Gardan glimpsed one of the bargemen being carried aloft by a creature. It hovered for an instant with a powerful beat of its wings, holding the man by the neck. With a contemptuous cry it ripped out the bargeman’s throat and dropped him. In a spray of blood, the man fell to the water.
Gardan struck out at one of the creatures, which sought to grab him in the same manner. The blade struck it squarely in the face, but the creature only withdrew with a back beat of its wings. There was no apparent mark upon it where the sword had struck. It grimaced, shook its head, then launched another attack. Gardan fell back, focusing his entire concentration on the creature’s outstretched hands. Very humanlike fingers ending in long talons raked across the steel of his blade as he parried. The captain wished his horse had stood long enough for him to retrieve his shield.
‘What manner of beings are these?’ Kasumi shouted as the barge got close enough for the five Tsurani to leap for the shore.
Dominic’s voice could be heard somewhere behind. ‘They are elemental creatures, fashioned by black arts. Our weapons have no effect.’
The Tsurani seemed unperturbed despite that fact, attacking the creatures as they would any enemy, with no hesitation. While the blows received did no damage to the creatures, they obviously inflicted pain, for the Tsurani’s onslaught caused the creatures to withdraw and hover for a moment.
Gardan looked and found Kasumi and Dominic close by. They both had shields and stood at the ready. Then the creatures were on them again. A soldier screamed, and Gardan caught a glimpse of a Tsurani falling nearby.
Gardan saw Kasumi avoid the rush of two of the creatures, using sword, shield, and agility to good advantage. But the captain knew there was no hope of survival, for it would be only a matter of time before they tired and slowed. The creatures showed no sign of fatigue and were attacking with as much fury as when they arrived.
Dominic lashed out with his mace, and a creature warbled a high-pitched note of pain. If weapons could not cut the magically constructed hide, then at least they could break bones. The creature fluttered in a circle, trying desperately to stay aloft, but slowly it approached the ground. From the way one wing lamely flapped, it was obvious Dominic had broken its shoulder.
Gardan dodged another attack and danced to one side. Behind the two creatures attacking him he saw the wounded one touch the ground. As soon as its feet made contact with the earth, the creature emitted an ear-splitting howl of pain and burst into a shower of sparkling energies. With a flash, near-blinding in the evening gloom, it vanished, leaving only a smoking patch on the ground. Dominic shouted, ‘They are elementals of the air! They cannot abide the touch of earth!’
Gardan swung a mighty overhand blow at the creature on his right. The force of the blow drove the creature downwards. It made the briefest contact with the earth, but that was enough. Like the other, it exploded into sparks. In panic, it reached out a hand and gripped the trailing tail of the creature beside it, as if trying to pull itself away from the destruction below. The sparking energy travelled up the tail of the second creature and it, too, was consumed.
Kasumi whirled about and saw that three of his six men lay dead. The creatures now numbered nine, and they swarmed the remaining fighters, though there was now an element of caution in their approach. One swooped down towards Dominic, who braced for the attack. Instead of reaching out for the monk, the elemental beat backwards against the air, buffeting the cleric, seeking to knock him down. Gardan raced up behind the creature, ducking to avoid claws reaching for him. He lunged forwards, barely keeping sword in hand, and threw his arms about the dangling legs of the creature facing Dominic. He hugged them close, his face buried against the naked thigh of the thing. His stomach churned at the stench from the elemental’s body, the odour of things long dead and best buried. His unexpected weight pulled the thing downwards. It shrieked and beat its wings furiously, but it was off balance and Gardan pulled it to the ground. Like the others, it burst into sparks.
Gardan rolled away, feeling pain erupt along his arms and chest, where he had gripped the creature when it exploded: he had been burned in the process of destroying it. He ignored the pain and felt a growing hope. Those on the shore numbered seven – Gardan, Kasumi, Dominic, three soldiers, and a boatman wielding a pole – and the creatures were now only eight.
For a moment the attacking elementals chose to circle overhead, out of reach of the surviving soldiers’ weapons. As they began to peel off for a swooping attack,
a shimmering began a short distance down the beach from the defenders. Gardan prayed to Tith, god of soldiers, that it wasn’t the arrival of another attacker. One more foe would surely tip the balance and overwhelm them.
With a flickering of light a man appeared upon the beach, dressed in simple black tunic and trousers. Gardan and Kasumi at once recognized Pug and shouted a warning to him. The magician calmly surveyed the situation. One creature, seeing an unarmed opponent, howled with maniacal glee and dived for him.
Pug stood his ground, showing no defence. The diving creature reached a point less than ten feet from him, then crashed into an invisible barrier. As if it had struck a stone wall, the creature crumpled to the ground. It vanished in another blinding flash.
Shrieks of panic sounded overhead, as the remaining creatures now understood that here was a foe beyond their powers to harm. As one, the seven remaining creatures turned and began a headlong flight northwards.
Pug waved his hands and suddenly a blue fire danced upon his upraised palms. He cast it after the fleeing creatures. The sphere of blue fire sped after the elementals and caught up with them as they winged furiously over the water. Like a cloud of pulsating light, it enveloped them. Strangled cries of pain could be heard as the elementals contorted in midair and fell twitching into the lake. As each touched the surface of the water, it erupted into green flame, consumed as it vanished under the rippling surface of the lake.
Gardan watched Pug as he approached the nearly exhausted soldiers. There was something unusually sombre in Pug’s expression and his gaze held a hint of power Gardan had never seen before. Abruptly, Pug’s expression changed as he relaxed. His face now looked young, boyish in spite of his nearly twenty-six years of age. With a sudden smile he said, ‘Welcome to Stardock, gentlemen.’
A warm fire filled the room with a cosy glow. Gardan and Dominic rested in large chairs set before the fireplace, while Kasumi sat on cushions, Tsurani fashion.
Kulgan dressed the captain’s burns, fussing like a mother over her idiot child. The two had known each other for years at Crydee, well enough for Kulgan to take a rough tone with the captain. ‘How you could be foolish enough to grab on to one of those things – anyone knows that contact with an elementally dependent creature when it returns to a primal state involves the release of energies, mostly heat and light.’
Gardan, tired of being scolded, said, ‘Well, I didn’t know. Kasumi, did you know? Dominic?’
Kasumi sat laughing as Dominic said, ‘As a matter of fact, I did know.’
‘You are no help at all, priest,’ muttered the captain. ‘Kulgan, if you are done, can we eat? I’ve been smelling that hot food for nearly an hour and it’s close to making me go mad.’
Pug laughed, leaning against the wall next to the hearth. ‘Captain, it’s more like ten minutes.’
They were sitting in a room in the first floor of a large building under construction. Kasumi said, ‘I am glad the King permitted me to visit your academy, Pug.’
‘And I as well,’ said Brother Dominic. ‘While we at Sarth appreciate those copies of works you’ve forwarded to us so far, we are still vague about what your plans are. We seek to know more.’
Pug said, ‘I am pleased to host any who come with the love of learning, Brother Dominic. Perhaps someday we may claim repayment of our slight hospitality and visit your fabled library.’
Kulgan’s head came around at that. ‘I would be pleased to claim that right, friend Dominic.’
‘Anytime you call, you’ll be welcomed,’ answered the monk.
‘Watch this one,’ said Gardan with a tilt of his head towards Kulgan. ‘Lose him in those underground vaults and you’ll never find him. He’s as passionate for books as a bear for honey.’
A striking woman with dark hair and large, dark eyes entered the room, followed by two servants. All carried platters with food, and as she placed hers upon the long table at the other end of the room from where the men were gathered, she said, ‘Please, it is time for supper.’
Pug said, ‘Brother Dominic, this is my wife, Katala.’
The monk nodded deferentially and said, ‘My lady.’
She smiled at him. ‘Please, Katala. We tend to the informal here.’
The monk again inclined his head as he came to the indicated chair. He turned at the sound of a door opening, and for the first time since the captain had met him, the monk’s composure cracked. William came hurrying into the room, the green-scaled form of Fantus behind.
‘Ishap’s mercy! Is that a firedrake?’
William ran to where his father stood and hugged him, eyeing the newcomers cautiously. Kulgan said, ‘This is Fantus, lord of this estate. The rest of us live here by his sufferance, though he suffers William’s company best.’ The drake’s gaze shifted to Kulgan for a moment as if he agreed totally. Then his large red eyes returned to contemplating the table and what lay upon it.
Pug said, ‘William, say hello to Kasumi.’
William bowed his head slightly, smiling. He spoke in the Tsurani tongue, and Kasumi answered, laughing.
Dominic looked interested. Pug said, ‘My son is fluent in both the King’s Tongue and the Tsurani language. My wife and I keep him practising both, for many of my works are in the Tsurani language. That is one of the problems I have in bringing the art of the Greater Path to Midkemia. Much of what I do is the result of how I think, and I think magic in the Tsurani language. William’s going to be a great help someday, aiding me in discovering ways to do magic in the King’s Tongue so I can teach those who live here.’
Katala said, ‘Gentlemen, the food grows cold.’
‘And my wife does not permit talking of magic at this table,’ said Pug.
Kulgan snorted at this, and Katala said, if I did, these two would hardly get a mouthful.’
Gardan moved with alacrity, despite his discomfort, saying, ‘I don’t have to be warned more than once.’ He sat down and immediately one of the servants began filling his platter.
Dinner proceeded pleasantly, with talk of small things. As if the terrors of the day had vanished with the night, all mention of the grim events that had brought Gardan, Dominic, and Kasumi to Stardock were ignored. Nothing about Arutha’s quest, the threat of Murmandamus, or the portent of the abbey was said. For a short time no discord existed. For a brief hour, the world was a pleasant place with old friends, and new guests, enjoying one another’s company.
Then William was making his good-nights. Dominic was struck by the resemblance between boy and mother, though his manner of moving and speaking was in open imitation of his father. Fantus had been fed from William’s plate and padded out of the room behind him.
‘I still can hardly credit my senses where that drake is concerned,’ said Dominic after they had left.
‘He’s been Kulgan’s pet as long as I can remember,’ said Gardan.
Kulgan, who was lighting a pipe, said, ‘Ha! No longer. That boy and Fantus have been inseparable since the day they met.’
Katala said, ‘There is something beyond the ordinary with those two. At times I think they understand each other.’
Dominic said, ‘Lady Katala, there is little about this place which is not beyond the ordinary. This gathering together of magicians, this construction, that is all extraordinary.’
Pug rose and led the others to the chairs near the fire. ‘But understand that upon Kelewan, when I studied at the Assembly, what you see aborning here was ancient and established. The brotherhood of magicians was an accepted fact, as was the common sharing of knowledge.’
Kulgan puffed contentedly upon his pipe. ‘Which is as it should be.’
Pug said, ‘We can discuss the rise of the academy at Stardock tomorrow, when I can show you our community. I’ll read the messages from Arutha and the Abbot tonight. I know all that led up to Arutha’s leaving Krondor, Gardan. What occurred between there and Sarth?’
The captain, who had been feeling drowsy, forced himself alert and quickly told of the eve
nts from Krondor to Sarth. Brother Dominic remained silent, since the captain forgot nothing of significance. Then it was the monk’s turn, as he explained what he knew of the attack upon the abbey. When he had finished, Pug and Kulgan asked several questions but withheld comment.
Pug said, ‘The news you carry is cause for the deepest concern. Still, the hour is late, and I think there are others upon this island who should be consulted. I suggest we show these tired and sore gentlemen to their rooms and begin discussions in earnest tomorrow.’
Gardan, who could feel a yawn beginning, stifled it and nodded. Kasumi, Brother Dominic, and the captain were escorted from the room by Kulgan, who bade the others good night.
Pug left the fireside and crossed to a window, where he stood watching the little moon’s light reflecting off the water as it peeked through the cloud cover. Katala came up behind her husband and her arms went around his waist.
‘You are troubled by this news, husband.’ It was a statement, not a question.
‘As always, you know my mind.’ He turned within the circle of her arms and drew her closer, smelling the sweetness of her hair as he kissed her cheek. ‘I had hoped we would live out our lives with the building of this academy and the raising of children our only concerns.’
She smiled up at him, dark eyes mirroring the unending love she felt for her man. ‘Among the Thuril we have a saying: “Life is problems. Living is solving problems.’” He smiled at this. She said, ‘Still, it is true. What do you think of the news Kasumi and the others brought?’
‘I do not know.’ He stroked her brown hair. ‘Lately I have felt a growing gnawing feeling inside. I have thought it simply worry over the progress we make here in building the academy, but it is more than that. My nights have been filled with dreams.’
‘I know, Pug. I have seen you struggle in your sleep. You have yet to speak to me of them.’