The Spook 9 - Slither's tale (13 page)

Two mounted Shaiksa assassins, lances at the ready, waited on either side of these huge gates, but they had rivals who would compete to seize me: three score of foot militia had lined up, their captain holding my arrest warrant with his left hand extended over his head in the traditional manner. The red seal formed from the spit and coagulated blood of the Triumvirate was clearly visible.

The Rowler girls gasped in shock at the sight that greeted us. But of course, none of my enemies could touch me if I could persuade the Triumvirate to allow me legal entry.

I believed it could be done, but I must first deal with their instrument, the gatekeeper known as the Kashilowa, which now undulated its way towards us, its long, pulsing body bristling with spines and its breath billowing into the cold air in great clouds. At first it was hidden by the cloud of snow kicked up by its thousand legs, but this slowly settled and it was fully revealed to us. The single Kashilowa and the myriad whoskor had been created in order to serve the needs of the city. It was all part of the magic of the High Mages.

Immediately, clearly terrified, the smallest sister began to scream at the top of her lungs, and Nessa brought her horse alongside my own, trying to comfort her. But before she could do so, Susan fainted away, and it took all
Nessa’s
strength to prevent her from falling from their horse.

Even brave Nessa moaned in terror when the gatekeeper scuttled forward and touched her forehead with the tip of the long tongue that spiralled from its mouth. It was simply tasting her skin to determine her fitness to enter Valkarky, so I don’t know why she found it so alarming. All purrai in transit are subject to the most stringent health checks to make sure that no contagion is brought into the city.

Our two horses were Kobalos-trained, but the proximity of the gatekeeper caused their nostrils to flare and their eyes to dilate; they trembled with fear. This was hardly surprising: when the huge creature yawned to feign boredom, opening its jaws to their full extent, its mouth was so big it could have swallowed them whole.

‘Speak!’ the Kashilowa commanded, directing its one hundred eyes in my direction. Its voice was as loud as a thunderclap, and that one word brought down dozens of long icicles from the overhang of the wall above the gate. One of the spears of ice impaled a militiaman, whose blood began to stain the snow an appealing shade of red – almost as lovely as the lambskin rugs in my old ghanbala tree. One glance made my mouth start to water and I found it difficult to concentrate on the business in hand.

Fortunately the Kashilowa’s movement had disturbed the multitude of winged parasites that sheltered amongst its prickly spines. Quickly I reached out and plucked a few from the air, before they could settle again, and stuffed them into my mouth. Their own blood combined with that of
their
host was a tasty blend and assuaged a little of my hunger.

Now, I gathered my thoughts and, not wishing to appear intimidated, leaped from my horse and grew to my largest size so that my eyes were level with the gatekeeper’s teeth. I amplified my voice too, dislodging another shower of icicles. This time no one was harmed; the militia had sensibly withdrawn to a safe distance.

All those present at the gates knew my identity and what my business was. Nevertheless it was necessary to make a formal statement.

‘I demand entry to Valkarky!’ I cried. ‘I have been wronged by a High Mage and a band of his accomplices, including a Shaiksa assassin, who conspired together to illegally appropriate my three purrai for their own use. I request a hearing before the Triumvirate!’

‘Where is this High Mage whom you claim appropriated your property? Who are these three purrai who accompany you? Are they the same ones you refer to? If so, they are now in your possession, so how has a crime been committed?’ asked the Kashilowa.

‘Yes, they are the same. I seized them back, as was my right, using only minimal force. Unfortunately, in defending myself, I was forced to slay the High Mage and the Shaiksa assassin. Additionally, a hyb warrior waylaid me on the road to Valkarky and I was forced to kill him too. It is all very regrettable but necessary.’

‘Your story is questionable. How could a haizda mage such
as
yourself confront and slay a Shaiksa assassin, a High Mage and a hyb? What is your name?’

It already knew my name, but this was a formality of question and answer that I could not avoid; the ritual necessary to gain entry to the city.

‘My name is Slither and I did just what was necessary. Perhaps the red eye of the Dog Star looked down on me favourably, thus accounting for my victory.’

‘
Slither?
What kind of a name is that?’

The Kashilowa was no longer giving me the respect I felt was my due. I would not allow it to deride me. So I answered it with venom in my voice. It was no more than it deserved.

‘It is the name I chose for myself when I came of age in the early spring of my seventieth year. It is the sound I make when I swing with my tail from a high branch of my ghanbala tree. It is the sound I make when I become very small and creep through a gap in a wall or floor to gain access to a locked, secret or private place. It is also the sound and sensation that an enemy is aware of when I creep into his brain. Allow me to demonstrate!’

Feeling insulted that the gatekeeper should bring the suitability of my chosen name into question, I spat into the nearest of its hundred eyes. I had quickly combined with my saliva two substances that cause instant itchiness and irritation. Simultaneously my mind slithered into its brain.

The reaction of the gatekeeper was somewhat extreme. It must have had a low toleration of pain. It leaped backwards so quickly that most of its thousand legs became entangled; it lost
its
balance and rolled sideways in the snow, crushing another unfortunate militiaman.

Do you like the sensation of slither?
I asked, speaking my words straight into its head.

Enough! Enough!
it cried – although of all the sentient minds around, I was the only one who heard it, its thoughts trembling within my head.

Allow me my rights!
I demanded.
Grant me entry into Valkarky and a hearing before the Triumvirate and I will ease the discomfort in your eyes and slither right out of your brain
.

Yes! Yes! I grant it!
it said.

Keeping my promise, I withdrew from its head. It rolled back onto most of its feet and brought its head close so that my horse began to tremble even more violently and little Nessa began to moan with terror. Quickly I spat into its nearest eye for a second time. This time my saliva contained an antidote to the irritation.

However, it was a long time before it spoke, and for a moment I feared betrayal. ‘I must test you to verify your claims,’ it growled.

I nodded acceptance, and now it was my turn to feel the touch of its long tongue on my forehead. It would be able to taste whether I was lying or not. At last the tongue withdrew back into its cavernous mouth.

‘You
believe
that you are telling the truth. But lies can sometimes be cloaked by magic. Nevertheless, your claims deserve further investigation. Would you submit to a rigorous probing?’ it asked.

‘Willingly,’ I said.

‘On that condition, I grant entry to the city and a hearing for this haizda mage!’ it cried out, and it was done.

I leaned down and whispered into Nessa’s ear, ‘That wasn’t too bad, was it? I promised your father that I would look after you, and I am certainly keeping that promise!’

Thus we were given permission to enter Valkarky, and our enemies could do nothing to prevent it. The two younger sisters were hysterical now, while even brave Nessa was clearly struggling with the prospect of entering our beautiful city. So I breathed into each of their faces in turn, using boska, and caused them to fall into a very deep sleep.

So long as I lived, they were safe. So long as I kept them in separate rooms in my own quarters and always accompanied them in public in the appropriate manner, the law would protect them.

I walked through the gates, my head held high, while the sisters were carried inside by the Kobalos servants summoned by the gatekeeper. We haizda mages rarely visit Valkarky, but in case it ever proves necessary, we maintain quarters here, along with a small number of servants to receive us. Within an hour I was safe in that refuge, all my needs attended to while the sisters slept.

What lucky girls they were to have such a benevolent owner!

First I tried to wake Nessa.

I had already breathed into her face to counter the effects of boska, but her eyes remained stubbornly shut. She was proving very difficult to rouse, and for a few moments I feared that in my haste to render her unconscious, I had made the chemical
mixture
too strong and damaged her brain. This happens only rarely, but it is always a risk. My error would have been forgivable. After all, I had been occupied with my negotiations with the gatekeeper and had other, more important things on my mind.

I studied her face, willing her to wake up. My anxiety growing, I began to call out her name.

NESSA

‘WAKE UP, LITTLE
Nessa!’ cried a voice. It seemed to come from a great distance. I was in a deep, comfortable sleep and just wanted to be left alone. Then I was shaken roughly by the shoulder.

The moment I opened my eyes I was filled with the extreme terror that comes to one whose nightmare follows her back to the waking world. Instantly I remembered the horrors before the gates of Valkarky and the terrible sensation of choking when Slither breathed into my face. I had fallen into darkness, believing that I was dying. But it wasn’t that which caused my heart to flutter and my whole
body
to shake. Nor was it the snarl on the face of the beast as he shook me.

What made me shrink away to the far corner of my bed was the thing that I saw behind him.

‘There is no need to be afraid,’ Slither told me in his gruff voice. ‘For the present you are quite safe. This is the refuge for haizda mages visiting Valkarky.’

I took several shallow breaths and managed to point over his right shoulder at the horrific thing on the wall. He looked back at it and then gave the travesty of a smile.

It looked like an extremely large human head with six thin, multi-jointed legs sprouting from the place where its ears should have been. It had long hair but neither eyes nor a nose. There wasn’t room for them. A huge oval mouth took up most of its face, and from it protruded three long thick tongues covered with backward-facing barbs. It seemed to be licking the walls, making a harsh rhythmical rasping sound as it did so.

‘Because these quarters are rarely used, they are subject to fungal growth. What you see is just a harmless
sklutch
, one of the lesser servants that we employ. It is merely going about its routine duties, cleaning the walls with its tongues and sucking up the loose fragments. There is no need to be afraid, little Nessa. It is simply a diligent servant, but as it disturbs you I will send it away immediately.’