Outside, it was now raining, which dismayed me, because it would be impossible to farseek the others. It would also prevent Veril from farseeking Tomrick. He would have to come into the compound, and of course he would go first to the One’s chamber. I regretted that I had not sent Elkar back there to wait, but it was too late to do so now. Harwood cursed the ill timing of the rain, but I said that although it was inconvenient, at least rain would ensure that no one would be outside, save those commanded to be there, so we likely would have an easier job ahead of us.
We spotted the end of the narrow path that ran between the walls surrounding the library yard and the inner-cadre garden; beyond lay the Hedra buildings. Someone reached out from a darkened doorway and caught my hand. I stifled a cry, for it was Yarrow, and pressed into the doorway behind him were Reuvan, Ode, Geratty, and Zuria, their faces slicked with rain.
“What is happening?” Harwood asked, wasting no time. He spoke aloud because the taint from the armory wall was strong enough to make farseeking impossible, even if it had not been raining.
“Hilder and Colwyn presented themselves at the armory gate and were taken to the Hedra master,” Yarrow said.
“Did you say Hedra master?” I repeated.
He nodded. “It seems that he is one of seven Hedra generals who run the Hedra force, and from Zuria’s memories, he is the most powerful, for he reports each new moon directly to the One. That means he will likely take this inspection by Zuria as interference at best and an insult at worst. We will need to be very careful how we proceed, especially if even a lesser number of Hedra can form this group mind outside of an exercise.”
Harwood said, “It is a great pity we cannot reach Hilder or Colwyn to find out how they have been received by this general.”
“Colwyn did send a mental picture of the yard,” Yarrow said, and both Harwood and I reached out to make physical contact so we could take it from his mind. I saw a dark rain-swept yard paved in black cobbles and a single blocklike building set against the outer wall of the compound. Before its two huge metal doors stood ten armed Hedra.
“It seems small for an armory,” Harwood muttered.
“A lot of protection for seemingly little,” I said.
“Therefore, there must be more than there seems,” Harwood added.
“There might be levels underground,” Reuvan suggested.
“Let’s find out,” Harwood said.
“Who goes there?” demanded the Hedra at the armory gate, his bald head gleaming wetly in the light of the lantern he carried.
Zuria stepped forward as he had been coerced to do and asked sharply if the two Hedra sent ahead had not arrived to announce him. “If they have not delivered my message, I will have them confined in the tidal cells,” he snapped.
The other Hedra made the throat-tapping gesture that we now understood denoted obedience and said that two Hedra had arrived a short time ago and had been taken to the Hedra master.
“And are two Threes to wait in the rain while two Hedra are questioned?” Zuria snarled.
“I am sorry, Master,” said the first Hedra. “If you will accompany me, I will bring you to the Hedra master.”
We followed him along the path, which ran to the right of the gates and along the inside of the armory wall to a barracks built against it. I bit my lip, aware that being so near the tainted wall would prevent us from coercing anyone, including Zuria or Mendi. I moved close enough to make contact with Harwood and pointed this out. He said calmly that he had anticipated it and had already given both Threes their instructions. Moreover, he would stay close enough to both to be able to make contact.
I nodded and, falling behind again, glanced across the wet cobbles at the lantern-lit face of the armory with its phalanx of guards. It looked bigger than it had in Yarrow’s memory vision, but even so, it was smaller than I would have expected, given the number of Hedra warriors. Reuvan might be right about levels underground, but how many could there be in such a flat island?
The two Hedra on duty at the barracks door snapped to attention as we approached and stepped aside. The guard pushed open the door, and we followed him into a long, low room that was bare save for a battered-looking desk. Behind it sat a muscular man whose stiff bearing and frigid gray gaze reminded me chillingly of Malik. I had no doubt he was the Hedra master, for he emanated authority and his eyes were calculatingly intelligent.
The Hedra master’s eyes turned to Zuria and Mendi. “Masters Zuria and Mendi, as foretold,” he said. He did not rise, and this calculated discourtesy seemed to confirm Yarrow’s feeling that there was bad blood between the Hedra master and the Threes.
“As you have been informed, we have been sent by the One to inspect the armory, Master Hedra,” Zuria said in his hard, clear voice. “Will you accompany us?”
The Hedra remained seated. Indeed, he sat back as if to make himself more comfortable and asked why the One had sent them to inspect the armory at such short notice.
“The One has experienced a vision that troubled him,” Zuria said haughtily.
“What was the nature of this vision?” the Hedra asked.
“The One did not confide that to us, nor did we think it meet to question him about it,” Mendi said reprovingly. “Shall we proceed? The One is impatient for an immediate report.”
“Very well,” the Hedra master said smoothly, at last rising to his feet. “When you return, I will accompany you in order to offer any additional information our illustrious One may need about the armory.” It was not a question, and rather than waiting for a response, he led us into the rainy night.
“Where are the two men sent to inform you of our imminent arrival?” Zuria asked as we crossed the yard.
“The men you sent lacked proper discipline,” the Hedra master said. “They need reminding of the standard expected of them. You may take Volent and Davil here in their place.”
“I do not like the sound of that,” Yarrow farsent, having maneuverd himself close enough to touch my arm.
“Nor I,” I sent. “See if you can make contact with any of the Hedra as we go out, to learn where Colwyn and Hilder are.”
Within moments, we stood before the great metal doors, and the Hedra master commanded them to be opened. They were heavy enough that it took all ten men standing guard to open them—five to lift the great metal-shod bar and the rest to open one of the heavy doors.
We entered the cavernous darkness beyond and stood a moment in a slice of dim light that flowed through the open door. But even as the door was heaved closed, the Hedra master snapped his fingers, and the Hedra Davil opened the flaps on his lantern. The glow that flowed out seemed to move slowly, as if the darkness resisted or had some heavier form than ordinary air. Gradually, I saw that we were in a big square room rimmed with doors; here and there, instead of a door, a narrow set of steps rose sideways to a second tier and then to a third tier of doors that ran just under the ceiling. They were all low doors and the tiers narrow, but it was an ingenious design that made much of little.
“What do you wish to see?” the Hedra master asked. There was a thread of mockery in his tone.
“Everything,” Zuria said.
The first several doors led to long narrow cells lined with shelves piled high with the metal-shod poles favored by the warrior priests. The next contained short swords and another daggers. There were enough for five hundred men but not more. Of course, double that many had been taken for the invasion. There were also metal shields, though I had seldom seen those used. The Hedra master said in the same amused tone that the poles were conveniently placed on the lowest tier, because they were used constantly in training exercises. Zuria observed that the swords and daggers had a shine that made them look fresh-honed, and the Herder master said they were indeed, for each man was responsible for the weapon he used, and all were inspected before their return to the armory. Anyone whose weapon was not spotless and well sharpened was like to find himself in the tidal cells.
??
?We believe that all activities are a preparation for Lud’s holy war to come; therefore, every activity must be undertaken with discipline and resolution.” His voice had taken on a lecturing tone as he led us to another door and snapped his fingers for another of the Hedra with us to open it.
This one and the rest along the left wall contained demon bands, but there were a good many empty shelves here.
“The store is much depleted,” Zuria observed.
The Hedra master gave him a narrow look, which reminded me that I could probe him now that we were out of the rain and shielded from the wall’s taint. I shaped a probe, but before I could assay it, Yarrow plowed into my mind to stop me, for both the Hedra master and Davil were mind-sensitives. Unless great care was taken, they would know if anyone probed them and would command the other Hedra to capture or kill us. Relieved to have been stopped in time, I thanked Yarrow for the warning and bade him, Geratty, and Asra coerce two apiece of the Hedra who were escorting us. I would do the same to another two so we would have them on our side when we returned.
The Hedra master gestured at the doors along the rear of the room and Davil and the other men opened them to reveal hundreds of barrels like those I had seen in the minds of Vos’s armsmen in Saithwold. It was no surprise when the Hedra master announced that they were filled with black powder. What did surprise me was the Hedra master’s casual mention that after Salamander’s next trip to the Red Queen’s land, they would have even more barrels and a supply of fist-sized compacted powder balls that, when dipped in liquid whitestick, would explode on impact. Davil added enthusiastically that the balls could be fired by catapult or slingshot or even hurled by hand.
The chambers all along the right side of the room contained amphoras of something the Hedra master called honey fire. The mind of the Hedra I had entered told me that it was a liquid that stuck like honey to skin and would burn the flesh like acid. I was sickened to catch a fleeting memory vision of the honey fire being tested on two hapless Norselanders.
“It is only a pity this is too volatile to be shipped by sea,” said the Hedra master. “Next time we must ensure that we have the makings of it sent to the Land to be concocted.”
On the next level, we were shown a room full of small black metal objects that were made to fit comfortably in the hand and which had a protruding metal tube. I had no idea what the devices were, but they had a Beforetime look. The Hedra master lifted one and explained that they had been a recent gift to the armory from Ariel. Realizing we were not expected to know what the devices did, I prompted Zuria to ask. The Hedra master readily explained that each device possessed the capacity to spit out small darts of metal at great and killing speed. I was not much impressed by them, for what harm could a dart small enough to pass through the tiny hole in the tube of the device do? Especially given that, from what was said, Ariel had not been able to explain how the devices could be made to work. But Davil put in with an enthusiasm almost equal to his master’s that even now scholars in the library were researching Beforetime texts to learn the device’s secret. It was hoped that these, too, would be ready for the next invasion.
“Where were they found?” Zuria asked, this time at Harwood’s behest.
“You will have to ask Master Ariel when he returns,” the Hedra master answered, moving to the next cell.
“We have to take control now,” I sent urgently to Harwood. “We may never get another chance like this.”
“I know it,” Harwood sent determinedly. “Get ready. I will deal with the Hedra master; Yarrow, you, and Geratty must overpower Davil. Reuvan, you and Ode will hang back and use the coerced Hedra to give help as it is needed.” He stepped backward and turned smoothly, lifting his elbow and driving it into the Hedra master’s gut—or he would have driven it in if the blow had connected. Instead, the Hedra master stepped back as if he had read Harwood’s intention in his mind, lifting his hands to ward off the attack. But Harwood had made his move so that the Hedra was very close to the edge, and he overbalanced and fell. Yarrow and several of the Hedra had leapt on Davil and were bearing him to the ground under their weight as Geratty drew out a dagger. Another Hedra was sprinting toward the door, and I realized that none of us had coerced him. I flung out a probe after him but was horrified to find he had been chewing spiceweed, so his mind was impenetrable.
“Reuvan! Ode!” I called. “Stop him! The door!”
They whirled and raced after the fleeing Hedra, who turned and drew twin swords, his eyes glittering in the guttering light of a lantern that had been dropped and smashed. Its oil was now spreading, and where it spread ran fire. Reuvan and the Hedra began to fight, and Ode stood by, ready to strike if they gave him the chance. They were right against the door, and I prayed it was too thick to allow anyone outside to hear the battle inside or to allow them to catch the smell of burning, for the flames were now licking up the open wooden door to one of the sword cells. Beams ran along the top of all the cell doors, and if these battles were not quickly concluded, we were like to have the place burning about us. A chill ran through me at the thought of those barrels of black powder, and who knew how the vile honey fire would act in heat.
Harwood and the Hedra master were fighting savagely, bare-handed. As I watched, the coercer executed a perfect turn, which ended in a savage gut-level kick that ought to have dropped the Hedra master. But again he swayed back from the strike, agile as a snake, and suddenly he stepped forward and struck a blow that took Harwood full in the face and sent him staggering sideways, blood gushing from his nose. In the hiatus, the Hedra master cast a devouring look around the armory, seeing Davil held by his own men while Yarrow bent over him, Geratty and the Hedra by the door, circling one another, and the other Hedra standing about, their faces blank. His face darkened with enraged comprehension and loathing.
“Mutants!” he bellowed.
Afraid that he would be heard through the door despite its thickness and the rain, I hurled a probe at his mind, only to find that, as sometimes happened with sensitive un Talents, his mind also possessed a natural shield.
“You see, filth,” he snarled, turning to look at me. “Not all Hedra are weak and impure enough to allow your maggot minds to devour their will.” Without warning, he turned and ran into one of the cells, slamming the door so hard after him that the outer bar fell into place.
“He locked himself in,” Harwood said incredulously, mopping blood from his face.
“Your nose is broken,” I said.
“Just bloodied,” he answered impatiently. I was moving to the door, but the coercer caught my arm. “Let him stay there while we coerce the others. Reuvan and Ode, smother that fire.”
It took us twenty minutes to issue instructions about what would happen when we left the armory; the air was acrid with the stench of the smothered fire. I was more than relieved to see it quenched, though the flames had gone nowhere near the black powder barrels.
Yarrow learned that Colwyn and Hilder were in a shallow punishment cell under the barracks where we had met with the Hedra master, and I suggested we coerce Davil to go with him to release them when he left the armory. The Hedra master would come with us. His men had already heard him speak of accompanying Zuria to see the One.
“The only problem is that his mind is both sensitive and has a natural block, so we cannot make him behave normally,” I said.
Harwood scowled, still wiping blood from his nose. “Then we will coerce these men into believing that a weapon he was demonstrating misfired and knocked him out. That will explain my nose. We will render him unconscious, and he will be taken to the healing center.”
“What about just sayin’ he took a fit an’ collapsed?” Geratty suggested. “We can have one of his own men say he caught you in the face with a flailin’ fist, and another one can say that their master was just yesterday speakin’ to another Hedra who was taken to th’ healing center suffering some sort of an attack.”
“It would explain the smashed lantern and the fir
e,” Reuvan said.
“It is a brilliant idea,” I agreed, remembering how the notion of sickness had rattled the Hedra who had stopped me alongside the healing center.
“Very well,” Harwood said. “Yarrow, you will take the coerced Hedra and their master to the healing center. Command some of the Hedra guarding the door to help you. Take him to Sover and explain what has happened. We need him to spread the rumor that the Hedra master is suffering from plague and must be isolated. Coerce the men who carry him to return to their barracks with reports of a fevered delirium and…
Well, ask Sover what other symptoms he might show if he had some sort of plague.”
“The guildmistress and I will leave, ostensibly to report to the One with Zuria and Geratty. We will have Davil demand to come with us in his master’s stead. Before he goes, he will command one of the other Hedra to take you, Geratty, to Colwyn and Hilder. Ode, you remain here. I will send in the Hedra who wait outside to close up the cells. Coerce as many as you can and deepen the coercion when possible. Prepare one to send as a messenger if there is any trouble you cannot handle. Station yourself outside the door and let no one enter. Say it is the One’s command. I will send relief when I can. Yarrow, when you have done with the healing center, come to the One’s chamber. I want to plan how we will take the sector where the demon bands are made, for this night has shown me that, although it is my desire to proceed carefully, events might force our hand, and the Hedra must not have the chance to don demon bands. Any questions before we face the wolf in his den?” Harwood concluded.
There were none, and we set about opening the door to the chamber where the Hedra master was hiding. The falling bar had bent one of the hooks, so it was hard to raise, but once it was done, Harwood grasped the handle and flung open the cell door. To our astonishment, the cell was empty.
21
“HE HAS CONCEALED himself, the snake,” Yarrow cried, but Geratty was already entering the chamber with another lantern. The cell was deep, and the shelves were piled with demon bands. I called out to Geratty to be careful, though in truth the natural block on the Hedra master’s mind would make him as difficult to locate as if he had been demon-banded.