Dark Sun: Prism Pentad 1 - The Verdent Passage (28 page)

As the noble opened the neck, Rikus cried, “It's not time to drink. Save that for later.”

Agis sneered at the mul. “I'm carrying it. I'll drink when I like.”

“We're running short on water,” Rikus growled, stepping toward the noble.

“Our stores are far from depleted,” Agis countered. “Besides, I've spent time in the
desert. I can find more water when we run out.” The noble looked around at the barren
mountainside surrounding them, then added “Well, before we're in danger of dying, anyway.”
He lifted the skin to his lips again.

The mul reached for the waterskin. “Your soft ways are going to get us killed!”

Agis pulled the skin away. “What are you doing?”

“Protecting us from you!” Rikus replied. He lunged for the waterskin again, this time
grasping it around their open neck.

Agis pulled in the other direction just hard enough to prevent the mul from taking it.
“Rikus, if we continue this, we're going to spill what's left of the water,” he said,
speaking in a patronizingly calm tone.

“What are you two doing?” Sadira cried as she got close.

Rikus ignored her. “I'm not going to let you drink it all,” he said, refusing to yield to
what he perceived as a veiled threat. “I'll pour it on the ground first.”

Agis released the waterskin. “You're a big enough fool to do it, aren't you?”

“I ought to split your skull for you,” Rikus countered. Unimpressed with the threat, Agis
turned to Sadira. “I don't think Rikus could have illustrated my point any better, do you?”

“Don't get me involved,” she said, rubbing her temples. “This is between you.”

Neeva joined them. “If you two spent less time arguing, we'd probably be in the halfling
forest by now,” she said. Rather than trying to stand next to Sadira on the narrow ledge,
she stopped behind the half-elf. “Maybe what we need is a leader.”

Rikus smiled at his fighting partner, then smirked at Agis. “Good idea,” he said, retying
the neck of the waterskin. “We drink when I say.”

The noble frowned. “Neeva said we need a leader, but I didn't hear anyone say it should be
you.”

Rikus regarded Agis disdainfully. “Who else could it be?” he demanded. “You're too soft.”

Agis's eyes flashed. “I spent more than a year learning the ways of the desert,” he said
in a controlled voice. “I doubt that your background allowed for the same opportunities.”

“We're in the mountains, not the desert,” Rikus insisted, not quite sure whether the noble
had meant his comment as an observation or as an insult. “Besides, I don't care how much
time you spent in the desert. You're still too soft.”

“You're too simple,” Agis countered hotly. “You mistake bullying for leading, and the only
way you know to solve a problem is to kill it.”

Rikus stared at Agis without speaking. There was probably some truth to what the noble
said, for he had never been trained to do anything but fight. This realization did little
to decrease his desire to grab Agis and pitch him over the cliff.

“Neither of you should be the leader,” Neeva said, stepping around Sadira.

“What are you saying? We should follow you?” Rikus asked.

“Maybe,” Neeva answered. “At least my mind is on Nok and the spear.”

“When did you get so interested in the spear?” Rikus demanded. “Don't tell me
you're
joining this crazy plot to assassinate Kalak?”

Neeva met his gaze steadily. “What do you think I'm doing here?”

Rikus frowned, unable to answer. He had assumed that Neeva was making the journey just
because he was. It had not occurred to him that she might have another reason.

“If you're not here because you want to kill Kalak, why did you insist on coming along?”
Agis asked pointedly.

The mul motioned to the half-elf. “To protect Sadira,” he said. “She saved my life, so I
owe her a debt of honor. I must defend her life until that debt is paid.”

The senator smiled. “In that case, there's no need for you to continue. I'm perfectly
capable of defending the youngÑ”

“Forget it,” Rikus snapped, glaring at Agis. He had not explained the real reason he was
here: he simply wanted to be with Sadira.

“Why don't you both turn back?” Neeva asked. “We'll travel a lot faster if we don't have
to stop and wait while you two fight over Sadira every few miles.”

“They're arguing, not fighting,” Sadira noted. “Besides, there's nothing to fight over. A
woman can have feelings for more than one man.”

Neeva rolled her eyes.

“Just like Rikus loves both you and me,” Sadira went on. “No one sees
us
arguing.”

“We're not exactly friends,” Neeva replied coldly. “And I wouldn't say what Rikus feels
for me is love.” With that, she looked toward the end of the terrace. “There's Anezka. If
we're going to reach Nok, we'd better keep up with her. Soon, she'll grow tired of waiting
for us.”

Rikus gave Neeva an angry glance, but did not say anything. As usual, his fighting partner
had cut to the heart of the matter with a few biting comments.

When the mul looked forward, he saw Anezka standing at the end of the terrace watching him
and the others with a disgusted expression. She turned toward the peak on the right, then
stepped over the edge of the terrace and was gone from sight.

The mul followed and saw that she had stepped onto a small shelf of rock. This ledge was
so narrow that, at first glance, it appeared to be nothing more than a dark line crossing
the shadowy side of the peak. It ran along the granite face until it disappeared around
the far side of the mountain.

Rikus took a moment to secure his twin-axe to his satchel, then stepped onto the ledge. It
was barely wider than his feet and was covered with a layer of loose dirt. Nevertheless,
Anezka moved along it as casually as if she were walking down the corridor leading into
Tyr's great stadium. Rikus followed, half expecting the shelf to collapse under his weight.

To his surprise, he discovered that the ledge itself seemed quite sturdy, but the thick
layer of dirt covering it posed a constant threat. Twice in the first few steps, the slick
soles of his sandals slipped on the loose ground and nearly plunged him into the dark
abyss below. He looked back to warn the person behind him about the treacherous ground,
but held his tongue when he saw it was Agis. Even if Rikus had felt like protecting him,
he doubted the noble would have taken the advice in a friendly manner.

Rikus faced the mountain so that he could use both hands to brace himself. Slowly he
shuffled across the ledge, kicking the dirt away before he took each step. He had always
heard that one shouldn't look down from a high place, so he tried to keep his eyes turned
toward the summit of the peak.

After a time, he realized this was a terrible mistake. The endless sky overhead filled his
mind with images of a bottomless abyss beneath his feet. When he had gone about a quarter
of the way across, a picture of his body tumbling into the chasm below flashed through his
mind. Every now and then, he saw himself bounce off a craggy wall, his musclebound figure
growing smaller every second and the echoes of his terrified scream more distant. Finally
his body shrank to a speck and simply disappeared into the dark abyss.

Rikus ignored the vision as best he could and continued to shuffle along the ledge.
Halfway across, the mul pictured not his own brawny form falling into the chasm, but
Neeva's. He saw her bounce off the cliff once, twice, then silently plunge head-first into
the abyss. He shook his head to clear it, then continued forward. To his surprise, he
found that the muscles in his knees were quivering.

When he was most of the way across, Rikus's lead foot slipped as he placed his weight on
it. He let out a short yell, then his fingers caught hold of the rocky handholds and
prevented his fall. Rikus's legs began to tremble. He found himself breathing hard and
fast, and his vision was filled with white spots. The mul closed his eyes and held onto
his handholds so tightly that his forearms ached.

Agis crept up beside Rikus. “What's wrong?” the noble asked. “Do you need help?”

“No!” he hissed, keeping his eyes closed. “I'm fine. How are Neeva and Sadira?”

“Better than us, I think,” Agis replied. “They've tied themselves together.”

“What? That's stupid,” Rikus said, opening his eyes “If one of them falls, she'll pull the
other off.”

Agis's grim face was perspiring with the bitter sweat of fear. Like Rikus, he gripped the
rocks so tightly that the veins on his forearms bulged. The noble's knees were also
shaking, though not nearly as badly as the mul's.

Although it made him perilously dizzy, Rikus tilted his head back so he could see the two
women. They had roped themselves together and were working their way across the ledge in a
much calmer fashion than the men. First Neeva moved ahead the length of the rope. Sadira
waited behind, watching the other woman intently, prepared to cast a spell that would save
them both from falling. When Neeva neared the end of the rope, she found a suitable place
to brace herself. As Sadria came along behind, the gladiator took up the rope and remained
ready to catch the smaller woman the instant she misstepped.

“Not a bad idea,” Rikus said approvingly.

"I wonder if we should try something similar, Agis replied.

Rikus glanced over his shoulder at his satchel, then looked between his feet at the
darkening depths of the abyss. “You feel like digging your rope out of your bag?”

Agis also looked down. “I don't think so.”

“Me neither,” Rikus replied. “We'll just have to do the best we can alone.”

The mul returned to shuffling across the ledge. Soon, Rikus smelled a strange fragrance,
an earthy odor he had never known before. It seemed sweet and sour at the same time, with
undertones of both perfume and decay. Rikus looked westward. Anezka waited a short
distance ahead, where the ledge crossed the corner of the mountain.

Behind her, a fuzzy silhouette ran the entire length of the ridge. It looked like a
roiling, greenish cloud hanging close upon the ground. At certain times, the shapes
protruding from it reminded Rikus vaguely of the rare tree he had seen in the Tyr Valley,
but he had never seen one writhe and twist as these seemed to be doing.

As he came closer, Rikus heard the wild cackles and squeals of strange creatures. The wind
now carried something the gladiator had never before felt on his skin: a cold mist. The
air was heavy with the scent of recent rain, and the mul could see now that the strange
silhouette running along the top of the ridge was, in fact, the crown of a forestÑa forest
that seemed to be dancing, but a forest nonetheless.

The mul could not count the number of times they had crested similar ridges or saddles in
the last week. Each time they expected to see the great halfling woodland spread out
before them, but discovered only the rocky slopes of an even higher mountain hidden behind
the one they had just crossed. Filled with joy and excitement now, Rikus looked back and
gave Agis a broad smile. “We're there!” he said, pointing toward the ridge.

The mul's foot slipped, unexpectedly shifting half of his weight onto the hand still
clinging to the rock face. His fingers peeled away from the handhold. Painfully they
scraped along a series of tiny sharp ridges on the rocky face, vainly clutching at each
minuscule rib as they passed.

Rikus toppled backward.

The cliff fell out of reach as the mul found himself looking straight up into the azure
sky. The peak's distant summit flashed before his eyes. Agis called his name.

Rikus watched his feet tumble over his head, then the maroon depths of the chasm were
rushing up to meet him. Distantly he heard Neeva and Sadira screaming, and even thought he
heard a soprano trill from Anezka's direction. Rikus somersaulted again and glimpsed Agis
glowering with intense concentration, pointing one long finger at him.

It seemed to Rikus that his heart stopped beating. A sick, giddy feeling of terror gorged
his stomach, and the sound of his own screaming filled his ears. He wished for the only
thing that a man could wish for under such circumstances, to die of fright before his body
erupted into a red spray on the boulders far below.

As the mul tumbled over again, a circle of blackness opened beneath him. He plunged into
it. An icy blast knocked the air from his lungs. Passing through the dark tunnel, Rikus
had enough time to wonder where the circle had come from. An instant later his body
smashed into the ground.

His breath shot from his lungs, and his body erupted into agony The mul curled into a
fetal position. To his surprise, the pain continued. He felt himself sliding down a steep
slope. When be opened his eyes, he saw green ferns and black, rich soil beneath his checks.

A pair of tiny strong hands gripped his shoulders and stopped his descent. Rikus looked
up. The soft, familiar features of a small, wild-eyed face greeted him.

“Anezka?” he gasped, finding to his amazement that he could still breath.

The halfling scowled, then nodded. Bracing her feet on either side of Rikus's shoulders,
she pulled him into a more or less seated position. The mul gasped at the sight before his
eyes.

The mountains on this side of the range were even steeper than those facing Tyr. Instead
of barren yellow-orange rocks, the slopes were covered by a dense forest of indigo-needled
conifers. These towering trees looked as though they were performing some primitive,
gyrating dance. Their red trunks were segmented by pivoting joints that creaked and
groaned as the powerful wind contorted them into an endless succession of shapes.

There were also smaller treesÑat least Rikus assumed them to be treesÑwith large,
white-barked trunks shaped like balls. From the tops of these globes rose sprays of huge
fronds covered with heart-shaped leaves.

Long strings of moss dangled off the boughs of both kinds of trees. From these damson
strands sprouted an astounding array of colorful mushrooms, most shaped like bells and as
big around as Rikus's fist. On the ground flourished a puffy, billowing mass of yellow
undergrowth. In the distance, more than a dozen steep ridges covered with the same profuse
vegetation reared up, presenting themselves to Rikus.