Lady Carliss and the Waters of Moorue (20 page)

She looked about for the one who had left the sword but could see no one—just the hawk preening himself on the stump. She walked the perimeter of her small haven of glowing flowers, looking into the surrounding swamp for him, but he was not there. She came to the sword again, reached for the handle, and then paused. The reality of her mission hit her hard as she remembered why she was standing here and what had brought her to this place. This was the eighth and final morning she could be in Moorue. Delaying even a few more hours would mean Dalton’s death, if Petolemew’s book was correct, and it had been spot-on thus far. If she was to make it back to Dalton in time, she needed to leave immediately. She might already be too late.

She knelt down to the ground and reached for a swamp lily, then gently pulled it out of the soft soil. The petals lost their subtle glow and seemed to wilt immediately. She pulled three more out and dusted off the bulbous roots. She tucked them within her leather vest, then returned to the sword.

“Well, Spirit,” she told the hawk, “I’m not sure what all this means, but I need this sword if I’m going to make it out of here alive.”

Carliss grasped the handle of the sword and pulled it out of the ground. Chills flowed up and down her spine as something deep within her whispered,
You are called!

Carliss stood still as all the swamp noises seemed to collapse to silence. She looked down at the ground where the sword had been and realized that the swamp lilies around her were beginning to fade and wilt. Carliss became concerned that she had erred, for the entire garden seemed to be melting back into swampland. She reached down and pulled one of the wilting flowers out, but the stem disintegrated in her hand.

As she contemplated what was happening, Spirit screeched loudly and took to flight. Carliss nearly jumped out of her skin. She looked about, wondering which way to go next as the morning sunshine faded away beneath a thick layer of clouds. She couldn’t be sure where she was, but she knew that Malco’s castle lay due east of the city, so her best chance of getting out of the swamp lay to the west. Basing her calculations on the last position of the sun, she took a step in that direction, then froze. The familiar hissing sounds of torment began to fill the air, and now there was no place to hide.

Carliss ran, but once again the lizards seemed everywhere. She saw branches move without a breeze. She stepped near a log, and it opened yellow eyes and snapped at her. She had only sprinted a short distance when it seemed as though she would become overwhelmed again. She pushed through a thick growth of vines and trees. Her foot caught on a vine, and she fell to the ground. Thinking the lizards would be on her in an instant, she quickly rose to one knee and swung her sword in a circular arc around her, but it struck only air.

She snapped her head from side to side, looking for something to strike, but there was nothing. She noticed that the hissing of the lizards had subsided but did not go away. Only then did she realize that she had fallen into a strange and eerie abode. The peripheral trees she had stumbled through seemed to bend over to cover this dark domain in continual shade. On the ground all around her were dozens of large circular mounds made of twigs, vine, rocks, and mud. In the center of each were twenty to thirty apple-sized eggs.

Fear gripped Carliss’s heart at the realization that she had fallen into the nesting area of the esca lizards. She tried to stay calm, reminding herself that she was still alive and that only clear thinking could help her now.

She slowly stood and turned about, looking for some indication of the direction of attack that would surely come. She dared not go back the way she had come, for the lizards there would surely devour her in an instant. Here in the nesting area, they seemed reluctant to pursue. She didn’t understand why; perhaps they feared a struggle would destroy the eggs. Clearly, though, she had no choice but to try and make her way across the shadowy expanse of the nesting area—at least thirty paces to the next thick line of trees. She forced herself to breathe calmly but kept a tight grip on her sword.

Carliss carefully stepped between two nests, stopped, took a deep breath, and then moved on. Remarkably, she was able to proceed unhindered by the threatening shrieks and hisses of the lizards. After a painstakingly careful advance, Carliss made it two-thirds of the way across the nesting area. Coming to a point where two nests were very close together, she stepped between them and onto a loose vine. Here her quiet, careful journey through this abode of certain death ended.

The vine she had stepped on came alive in a high-pitched, ear-piercing shriek, for it was a camouflaged baby lizard. Carliss immediately lifted her foot, and the six-inch lizard scurried under one of the nests. What she heard next caused her to shudder. A deep, guttural hiss filled the air, and Carliss looked to the nearby tree on her left just ten paces away. The entire trunk seemed to move, and Carliss had to look carefully to see. Then, near the base of the tree, she saw two large yellow eyes glaring at her. Carliss whirled and brought her sword to bear in that direction just as the lizard’s skin color burst into vibrant hues of blue and orange.

This esca lizard was huge, nearly ten feet from head to tail. Carliss wondered if there were dozens more ready to pounce on her from behind, but she dared not take her eyes from the one before her. Carliss blinked, and the lizard raced toward her, seeming to appear instantly just
two paces away. Carliss gripped the sword tightly with both hands, holding the tip toward the monster. She slowly backed away toward the closest edge of the nest area. Surely this must be the mother lizard… perhaps of the entire swamp, she thought.

The mother lizard followed just out of reach of Carliss’s sword. The foot-long antennae moved forward, searching for something to strike. Each time the lizard shrieked, the antennae would lie down on the back of its neck, and the entire swamp hushed to silence.

Carliss stole very quick glimpses behind her as she backed away, avoiding the nests and looking for other lizards. It was a frighteningly slow process, and she was certain the creature would attack and swallow her whole at any instant.

She finally made it to the edge of the trees and wondered what army of smaller lizards waited for her there. She was in such a desperate predicament that she could hardly make herself go on. She could hear the smaller lizards hissing beyond the vine-and-tree wall.

The mother lizard pushed closer. As quickly as the creature moved, Carliss dared not even swipe at it, for if she missed, she was certain the momentary unguarded exposure would be her end. Backing into the mass of waiting smaller lizards was not a pleasing prospect either, but she knew she had no choice.

Carliss found an opening in the trees and prepared to jump through. The mother lizard crouched low to the ground as if she were ready to launch. Just then, Spirit screeched and swooped down toward the mother lizard from behind. The lizard shrieked and struck at Spirit instead, just missing the mighty bird of prey.

Carliss used the distraction to leap through the trees out of the nesting area. She ran faster than she ever had before, imagining an entire army of esca lizards trailing close behind. The air filled once more with hissing.

As she ran, she mentally charted the location of the lizard nests and realized it had to be but a short distance directly north of Malco’s castle. She did this automatically, as she had done the same thing a thousand times while hunting game. The information didn’t really matter, however; it would probably be useless in just a few minutes.

She continued to run west until she could run no more. She was shocked that she had not been attacked yet. She slowed to a stop, wondering if by some chance she had made it out of the lizard territory, but soon the trees around her hissed and moved in fluidic motions. Everywhere she looked, she caught glimpses of subtle snakelike motions that disappeared into the bark, vines, and soil. Breathing hard, she fell into battle stance, holding the magnificent sword before her, willing to take as many of these hideous creatures with her as possible.

She waited, but none attacked.

She took a step, still holding the sword ready. Nothing happened.

After many long moments of torturous waiting, she finally approached a tree where she had earlier seen movement. When she was a sword’s length away, a portion of the trunk came to life, hissed, then scurried to the far side… away from Carliss. By now Carliss had caught her breath.

Why are the lizards staying away?
She looked anew at the splendid piece in her hand.
Is it this sword?

Curious to discover the secret of her transparent shield, Carliss held the sword behind her and carefully approached another tree. She prepared to duck away just in case, but once again a portion of the tree trunk sprang to life and slithered away.

Carliss reached into her vest and removed the swamp lilies she had harvested. She looked at the withered flowers and then up to the sky. She felt the peace of the Prince wash over her from head to foot and wanted to shout. That was why the man had her eat the root. And that was why she was safe now, protected by the Life Spice in the swamp lily she had eaten.

Carliss continued her journey west toward Moorue, unhindered by the threat of the esca lizards. Before long she came to the edge of the swamp and breathed a deep sigh of relief. She had survived, but now she faced the biggest dilemma of her life.

WHO SHALL LIVE?

Carliss emerged from the swamp north of Moorue and marked the place in her mind. She could see the three castles of Moorue not far to the south and traveled toward them. She followed along the river’s edge until she could see the eastern bridge and the lamps burning just above the fog in the late morning air.

She paused and reached into her vest to look at the swamp lilies once more. In her hand was life for Dalton—the reason she had come to this place. If she left the city immediately and traveled hard, Dalton might yet live. But so much had happened in the last eight days that her simple mission to find the flowers and return was now complicated by the peril of Si Kon and the Followers.

On the edge of a lonely swamp in a foreign land, Carliss was faced with the decision that every soldier that ever bore arms hopes to avoid—the decision as to which of her fellow combatants would live and which ones would die. She couldn’t choose. Not yet. She refused to give her mind fully to her dilemma, hoping to just react as one would during a sword fight. It was foolishness, she knew, but it kept her moving forward.

Carliss came to the bridge and crossed over, then made her way quickly down the road toward Moorue. She traveled along the edge of the road, using the tree line along its edge as cover. She could imagine that the castles would be on alert, especially after her and Ganoaf’s
escape from Esca Prime. Her ability to move about freely in Moorue now was a lost privilege.

She saw a peasant not far up ahead leading a bundle-and-basket-laden horse. Carliss wasn’t concerned about that as much as what was coming up behind the peasant. Two mounted castle guards were fast approaching. Carliss darted off the road, hoping she hadn’t been seen. She continued along the cover of the trees, wondering if going into Moorue was a foolish plan.