Morgawr (23 page)

He knew the only way to rid himself of this feeling was to go down into the Crake and face the Graak.

He was about to do that.

“I won't ask you to go with me,” he said to Quentin Leah without looking at him.

“He won't ask, but he'll make it plain enough that he expects it,” Spanner Frew snorted. “And then he'll find a way to make you end up thinking it was your idea!”

Alt Mer gave the shipwright a dark look, then smirked in spite of himself. Something about the other amused him even now—the perpetually dour look, the furrowed brow, the cantankerous attitude, something. Spanner Frew always saw the glass as half-empty, and he was ready and more than willing to share his worldview with anyone close enough to listen.

“Keep your opinions to yourself, Black Beard,” he said, brushing a fly from his face. “Others don't find them so amusing. The Highlander is free to do as he chooses, as are all of us in this business.”

Quentin Leah was looking better this morning, less ghostly and wooden than the day before when he was brought in with Bek and the witch. Alt Mer was still getting used to the idea of having her around, but he wasn't having as much trouble with it as his sister. Little Red hated the witch, and she was not likely to forgive her anytime soon for Hawk's death. Maybe having Bek back would help, though. She'd been upset at the thought of losing him, more so than by anything for a long time. He didn't understand the affection she felt for Bek, but was quick enough to recognize it for what it was.

He sighed. At any rate, there were more of them now than there had been three days ago, after Rucker and Tian had died. Down to only six, the Rovers had seen their numbers strengthened since. The Wing Riders had reappeared first, flying out of the clouds on a blustery day in which rain had soaked everything for nearly twelve hours. After that, Po Kelles had found Panax, the Elven Hunter Kian, and those odd-looking reddish people they called Rindge. It had taken the Rindge another two days of travel to reach them, but now they were camped several miles east in a forested flat high in the mountains, concealed from searchers while they waited to see what would happen down here.

Their leader, the man Panax called Obat, was the one who told them that the valley was called the Crake. He knew about the thing that lived there, as well. Obat hadn't seen it, but when Panax brought him down to talk, and Alt Mer described it, he recognized it right away. He had gotten so excited that it looked as if he might bolt. Hand gestures and a flurry of words that even Panax had trouble translating testified to the extent of Obat's fear. It was clear that whatever anyone else did, neither Obat nor any other Rindge was going near whatever was down there—“A Graak,” Obat told Panax over and over again. The rest of what he said had something to do with the nature of the beast, of its invincibility and domination of mountain valleys like the Crake, where it preyed on creatures who were foolish or unwary enough to venture too close.

Knowing what it was didn't help solve the problem, because Obat had no idea what they could do about the thing. Graaks were to be avoided, never confronted. His information did not aid Alt Mer in any measurable way. If anything, it further convinced him of his helplessness. What was needed was magic of the sort possessed by Walker.

Or by Quentin Leah perhaps, in the form of his sword, a weapon that had been effective against the creepers of Antrax.

But he could not say anything more to persuade the Highlander to help. If anything, he should advise against it. But then he would have to go into the Crake alone, and he did not think he could do that. Though he was a brave man, his courage had eroded so completely that he felt sick to his stomach even getting close enough to look down into the rain forest. He had concealed his fear from everyone, but it was there nevertheless—pervasive, inescapable, and debilitating. He couldn't confess it, especially to Little Red. It wasn't that she wouldn't understand or try to help. It was the look he knew he would see in her eyes. He was the brother on whom she had always relied and in whom she took such pride. He could not bear it if she found out that he had run away while his men were dying.

The Highlander looked over at him. “All right, I'll go.”

Big Red exhaled slowly, keeping his face expressionless.

“I'll go,” Quentin Leah continued, “but Bek stays. Whatever magic he's got is new to him, and he doesn't have the experience with it that I do. I won't risk his life.”

Whatever magic the Highlander possessed was pretty new to him, too, from what the Druid had told Alt Mer. Still, he wasn't about to argue the matter. He would take whatever help he was offered if it meant getting his hands on the diapson crystals. He didn't know what they had accomplished by coming here in the first place, but he didn't think it was much. Mostly, they had succeeded in getting a lot of their friends killed, which was hardly a reason for going anywhere. You didn't have to come all the way here to get killed. His frustration with matters surfaced once more. He would do anything to get out of this place.

Before he could respond to the Highlander, Rue and Bek Ohmsford walked out of the trees from one side and Panax, having gone off earlier to try to find an easier way down the cliff face, appeared from the other.

“Morning, young Bek!” the Dwarf shouted cheerfully on spying him. A grin spread across his square, bluff face, and he gave a wave of one hand. “Back among the living, I see! You look much better today!”

Bek waved back. “You look about the same, but that's not something sleep will cure!”

They came together at the cliff edge with Spanner Frew, Quentin, and Alt Mer and clasped hands. The Highlander's face had gone dark as he realized what was about to happen and knew he couldn't prevent it. Alt Mer gave a mental shrug. Some things couldn't be helped. At least his sister seemed composed again. Almost radiant. He stared at her in surprise, but she wouldn't look at him.

“I've scouted the cliff edge all the way out and back,” Panax informed them, oblivious to the Highlander's look of warning. “There's a trail further on, not much of one, but enough to give us a way down that doesn't involve ropes. It opens onto a flat, so we'll be able to see what's waiting much better than Big Red could when he dropped into the trees.”

He glanced at Bek. “I forgot. You just woke up. You don't know what's happened.”

“About the Graak and the crystals?” Bek asked. “I know. I heard all about it on the walk down. When do we leave?”

“No!” Rue Meridian wheeled on him furiously. “You're not going! You're not healed yet!”

“She's right,” Quentin Leah said, glaring at his cousin. “What's wrong with you? I just spent weeks worrying that you were dead! I'm not going through that again! You stay up here. Big Red and I can handle this.”

“Wait a minute,” Panax growled. “What about me?”

“You're not going either!” Quentin snapped. “Two of us is enough to risk.”

The Dwarf cocked one eyebrow. “Have you suddenly gotten so much better at staying alive than the rest of us?”

Bek glared at Quentin. “What makes you think you have the right to decide if I go or not? I decide what's right for me, not you! Why would I agree to stay up here? What about our promise to look out for each other?”

“Well, I'm going if you're going!” Rue Meridian spat out the words defiantly. “I'm the one who's done the best job of looking out for everyone so far! You're not leaving me behind! No one's leaving me!” She shifted her angry gaze from one to the next. “Which one of you wants to try to stop me?”

They were face-to-face now, all of them, so angry they could barely make themselves stop shouting long enough to hear what anyone else was saying. Spanner Frew was quiet, his dark face lowered to hide the grin on his lips, his head shaking slowly from side to side. Alt Mer listened in dismay, wondering when to step in and if it would make any difference if he did.

Finally, he'd heard enough. “Stop shouting!” he roared.

They quit arguing and looked at him, faces red and sweating in the midday heat.

He shook his head slowly. “The Druid is dead, so I command this expedition. Both aboard ship and off. That means I decide who goes.”

His eyes settled momentarily on Bek—Bek, who looked taller and stronger than he remembered, more mature. He wasn't a boy anymore, the Rover Captain realized in surprise. When had that happened? He glanced quickly at his sister, suddenly seeing things in a new light. She was staring at him as if she wanted to jump down his throat.

He looked away again quickly, out over the valley, out to where his fears were centered. He wondered again why he had come all this way. Money? Yes, that was a part of the agreement. But there had been a need to escape the Prekkendorran and the Federation, as well. There had been a need to see a new country, to journey to somewhere he hadn't been. There had been a need for renewal.

“There's not that many of us left,” he said, more quietly now. “Just a handful, and we have to look out for each other. Arguing is a waste of time and energy. Only one thing is important, and that's getting back into the skies and flying out of here.”

He didn't wait for their response. “Little Red, you stay here. If anything happens to me, you're the only one who can fly the
Jerle Shannara
home again. Bek might try, but he doesn't know how to navigate. Besides, you're all beat up. Broken ribs, broken arm—if you have to defend yourself down there, you'll be in trouble. I don't want to have to worry about saving you. So you stay.”

She was furious. “You're worried about saving me? Who was it who got you out of the Federation prison? Who was it who . . .”

“Rue.”

“. . . got
Black Moclips
back from the rets and would have kept her, too, with just a little help? What about Black Beard? Standing there with his head down and his mouth shut, hoping no one will remember he can sail an airship just as well as I can! Don't say a word about it, Spanner! Don't say anything that might help me!”

“Rue.”

“No! It isn't fair! He can navigate just as well as I can! You can't tell me not to go just because I—”

“Rue!” His voice would have melted iron. “Four of us are risk enough. You stay.”

“Then Bek stays with me! He's injured, too!”

Alt Mer stared at her. What was she talking about? Bek wasn't her concern. “Not like you. Besides, we might need his magic.”

She glared at him for a moment, and he could see she was on the verge of breaking down. He had never seen her do that, never even seen her come close. For a moment, he reconsidered his decision, realizing that something about this was more important than what her words were telling him.

But before he could say anything, she wheeled away and stalked back toward the airship, rigid with anger and frustration. “Fine!” she shouted over her shoulder. “Do what you want! You're all fools!”

He watched her disappear into the trees, thinking that was that, there was nothing he could do about it. Anyway, his next confrontation was already at hand. If Rue Meridian was angry, Quentin Leah was livid. “I told you I wouldn't go if Bek went! Did you think I didn't mean it?” He could barely bring himself to speak. “Tell him he can't go, Big Red. Tell him, or I'm not going.”

Bek started to speak, but Alt Mer held up his hand to silence him. “I can't do that, Highlander. I'm sorry things didn't work out the way you wanted, but I can't change that, so threats are meaningless. Bek has the right to decide for himself what he wants to do. So do you. If you don't want to go, you don't have to.”

There was a long silence as the Rover and the Highlander stared each other down. There was a dangerous edge to Quentin Leah, as if nothing much mattered to him anymore. Alt Mer couldn't know what Quentin had gone through to get clear of Castledown and find them, but it must have been horrendous and it had left him scarred.

“I'm sorry, Highlander,” he said, not knowing what he was sorry about, save for the look he saw in the other's eyes.

“Quentin,” Bek interjected quietly, laying one hand on his shoulder. “Don't let's argue like this.”

“You can't go, Bek.”

“Of course I can. I have to. We promised to look out for each other from here on, remember? We made that promise only a day or so ago. That meant something to me. It should mean something to you. This is when we have to make it count. Please.”

Quentin stayed silent for a moment, looking so desperate that Alt Mer wouldn't have been surprised at anything he did. Then Quentin shook his head and put his hand over Bek's. “All right. I don't like it, but all right. We'll both go.”

They stood looking at each another for a moment, aware that Quentin's words had made final their commitment to undertake a task that on balance was far too dangerous even to consider. Yet it was only the latest in a long line, and their decision to take this one, as well, no longer had the edge to it that it might have had once. Gambling with their lives had become commonplace.

“We'll need a plan,” Panax said.

Big Red glanced over his shoulder in search of his sister. She was out of sight now, and he wished suddenly that they hadn't left things as they had between them.

“I have one,” he said.

The Dwarf stared down into the leafy depths of the Crake. “When do we do this?”

Alt Mer considered. The sun had eased westward, but most of the afternoon light still remained, and the sky was clear. It would not get dark for hours.

“We do it now,” he said.