The Wizard's Curse (Book 2) (72 page)

“Oh my stars,” breathed Waterstone, peering down at the forest floor far below them. “I don’t know what made us think this was a good idea. This is terrifying. Are you sure you can keep holding us up? It’s an awfully long way down.”

Danton smiled across at him, “Don’t worry. We can keep this up for a while yet.”

“Speak for yourself!” exclaimed Stormaway. “I really am getting too old for this. I struggle to do this on my own without providing the power for two.”

Tarkyn eyed him for a minute, trying to gauge the seriousness of his remark. Eventually he said, “Stormaway, either I can give you some strength or Summer Rain can give you one of her restorative tonics, if you are struggling. Just tell me and it shall be done.”

The old wizard gave a gusty sigh. “I wasn’t looking for a remedy. I was looking for sympathy and encouragement.”

“Stop whingeing, you old windbag!” laughed Tree Wind. “I bet you’re loving this. You always like any sort of intrigue and adventure.”

“Yes, Stormaway,” said Danton firmly, “Stop whingeing or you’ll make Summer Rain feel unwelcome.”

Stormaway gave Summer Rain’s leg a little pat. “What nonsense! Summer Rain knows me better than that. But I do beg your pardon, Summer Rain. I would not like to give you the wrong impression. It is a pleasure to be of assistance to you.”

“Hmph. You just make sure, old man, that you can hold me up.” The humourless healer paused before adding gruffly, “And thank you for doing this. It means a lot to me.”

Sorcerers and woodfolk glided silently between the highest branches of the trees. As the inundated forest spread out before them, they could smell a soft dankness in the air, not unpleasant but quite different from the usual odours of the forest. Occasionally, they saw eddies or a little splash disturb the silky surface and once they saw the rippling V of a snake gliding through the water. Around them in the branches, they passed the odd grey heron perched in stately aloofness. Groups of white
egrets clustered in the trees in increasing numbers as they moved further into the swamp. Now and then, a mosquito whined past their ears but the emanation from Summer Rain’s herbal ointments would make it shy off.

As the sorcerers and woodfolk drew nearer, they lapsed into silence, aware that their voices might betray their presence too soon. The three woodfolk had all seen the image of the egret’s journey and, with their ability to discern and remember minute differences in the forest vegetation, directed the sorcerers unerringly to Falling Rain’s hideout.

Leaving Danton, Stormaway and their passengers to wait a short distance from their destination, Tarkyn glided slowly above the trees, carefully keeping his levitation spell firmly to one side of his mind and watching intently for the instant that Falling Rain came into sight. Tarkyn had to immobilise the woodman first before Falling Rain saw him and flicked into hiding. Gradually Tarkyn and Waterstone became aware of the sound of soft, rhythmic beating and an egret flew slowly past them, eyeing Tarkyn suspiciously as she passed. The egret who, at her slowest, still travelled through the air much faster than Tarkyn, glided in a large circle in front of them before coming back to circle around them in a large figure of eight. Tarkyn’s mind was filled with a sharp query and a view of Falling Rain moving around his reed platform, intent on his preparations for his evening meal. A clear warning echoed through Tarkyn’s mind before he sent her a wave of reassurance. In response, she showed him other egrets gathered in nearby trees, watching.

Tarkyn transmitted this to the three woodfolk. Suggestions ranged back and forth amongst them but eventually Tarkyn sent the egret a message that, as soon as the sorcerers had dropped off the woodfolk, he would wait among the egrets to show them his good faith. The egret flapped past them once more but this time she flew further ahead, and then swooped back around to fly straight at Tarkyn, her long, sharp beak aimed right at his forehead. The forest guardian stared directly at her, sending out waves of friendship and keeping his course steady, although Waterstone could feel Tarkyn’s muscles tensing as she came nearer. At the last possible moment, she gave her wings a strong flap and lifted herself just high enough to skid over their heads, the feathers of her underbelly and the tips of her feet just brushing the top of Tarkyn and Waterstone’s hair.

“Whew,” breathed Tarkyn. “We have been warned. Your friend seems to have developed a following.”

Chapter
61

Falling Rain had cleaned a fish ready for his dinner. He had a particular area further up in the tree for cleaning and scaling so that the fishy mess did not spread around his small domain. Now he was cutting up a selection of marsh plants that he knew would complement the flavour of his bream. On the other side of the platform, hanging from the branch above, was a large iron pan that he used to contain his fire so that the reed platform did not catch alight. It was already set with dry reeds and twigs. An assortment of branches, broken into tidy lengths, was stacked neatly against the trunk of the tree.

The lone woodman let his gaze wander through the surrounding branches, watching the egrets settling for the night, ruffling their white feathers and sometimes swooping out to land in another tree. Tonight, they seemed more restless than usual and many of them had congregated in one particular tree. Sometimes this happened when a large hawk or eagle was soaring high in the air above them. Falling Rain tilted his head casually to survey the skies for an airborne predator. A wave of horror ran through him as his eyes met the intense amber eyes of a sorcerer who had suddenly come into view above his hideout. Never before had anyone breached the security of his isolated home. Before he could react, the sorcerer murmured something, and Falling Rain found himself unable to move. He felt his heart hammering in his chest and, with a sense of déjà vu, saw the sorcerer advancing on him.

Oh n
o
, he thought
,
Not again. At least this time, I will know nothing to betray them wit
h
.

Unable to move anything but his eyes, he watched the sorcerer draw ever closer until he landed next to him on the platform. Only then did Falling Rain notice the woodman clinging to the sorcerer’s back. Without a word, the woodman climbed down and the sorcerer took off, gliding to the nearest tree to sit among the egrets who were watching the proceedings balefully
.
No wonder the egrets have been restles
s
, thought Falling Rain as, unbeknownst to him, Tarkyn sent greetings to the egrets around him, which were received with a stiff acknowledgement.

A true sense of panic now gripped Falling Rain. He couldn’t move to escape and so was unable to fulfil his requirement to avoid woodfolk. Now he would stand condemned of betraying what little honour was left to him. Worse still, the woodman who had arrived was Waterstone, one of the strongest protectors of woodfolk values. The exiled woodman watched, helpless, as two more sorcerers descended, deposited woodfolk and left without speaking. He saw that as each sorcerer landed in a tree, the egrets around them rose into the air and flapped their way slowly over to land in the branches around the sorcerer with the amber eyes.

Just when Falling Rain thought it couldn’t get any worse, the air around him seemed to erupt into a golden brown haze. Suddenly he realised he could move again and immediately tried to flick into hiding. But instead of reappearing behind his shelter, Falling Rain thumped against the wall of the barrier and slid to the floor of the platform, still in view of the other woodfolk.

The sounds of ruffling feathers grew louder around the amber eyed sorcerer and Falling Rain saw him glance nervously sideways at a large white egret, only feet away from him.

Inside the shimmering dome, Tree Wind ran over to the fallen woodman and knelt down beside him, “Don’t, Falling Rain. You don’t have to avoid us.” She waved her arm, “And while this shield is in place, you can’t.”

Falling Rain sat up, his face suffused with chagrin and anger, and pushed her firmly away, “I have tried to leave but can’t. So, keep away from me. All three of you, stay over there.”

For a moment, Tree Wind’s face tightened and it looked as though she might protest but on balance, she decided to do as he asked, and retreated to stand beside Waterstone. Falling Rain stood up and ignoring them completely, gazed around the bronze dome that surrounded him. Once he had taken that in, he stared through the slanting shafts of late afternoon sunlight into the surrounding trees until he had spotted the three waiting sorcerers, before finally bringing his gaze to bear on the three woodfolk before him.

He crossed his arms and said quietly, “So, is it not enough that I am exiled? Do I now have to be imprisoned as well? What has changed that you feel you must do this to me?” As they all began to speak at once, he held up a hand to stop them. “And when did sorcerers become servants of the woodfolk? Last I heard, woodfolk treated everyone as equals.”

This last question so stunned his audience that they looked in shock at each other and for a moment, couldn’t answer. Eventually Waterstone cleared his throat and said, “It is not as it seems. These sorcerers are working with us, not for us. They would be here by our sides talking with you too, but we did not want to alarm you any more than we had to.” He turned and pointed at the source of the shield, “I don’t know if you recognise him, but that is Prince Tarkyn over there, grown to manhood and returned to claim our allegiance.” He indicated the other two in turn, “Over there is his friend Lord Danton, who is…” Waterstone broke off with a little smile, “Well, you will meet him later and decide for yourself, but I like him. And over there is Stormaway Treemaster, creator of the oath and, ever since the death of King Markazon eleven years ago, Prince Tarkyn’s loyal retainer.”

“I see. So it is they who would have me imprisoned?” A self-deprecatory sneer appeared on the woodman’s face, “I would have thought they would be grateful to me for betraying you.”

“No, Falling Rain,” said Tree Wind impulsively, “You are not imprisoned.”

The woodman waved a hand over his head at the glowing bronze dome, “So what is this thing, then, that is stopping me from leaving?”

“It is Tarkyn’s shield, Falling Rain,” Summer Rain spoke in a steady, calming voice. “And if you are imprisoned, so too are we. Do not fear it. Tarkyn will release it at our request when we are sure you will not run.”

“We must talk with you, Falling Rain. If you give your word that you will stay, we can ask Tarkyn to remove his shield, if it is unnerving you,” said Waterstone.

“I’m surprised you would accept my word,” Falling Rain said bitterly.

Waterstone did not make the mistake of thinking that his remark was directed at all three of them. “I will, Falling Rain, without a moment’s hesitation.”

The woodman folded his arms again, “I will stay with you until the first star appears. Beyond that, I will make no guarantee.”

Waterstone nodded and after a few moments, the shield flicked out of existence. In the nearby tree, several egrets ruffled their feathers and a couple of them flapped from one branch to the next. One egret took off and came gliding in to land on the edge of the platform, tilting her head to eye the group of woodfolk.

“Just a minute,” Falling Rain disappeared around the side of his little shelter and returned with a tiny fish that he threw to her. The egret accepted the offering but did not move.

“She is waiting to see whether you smile,” Waterstone explained.

Falling Rain frowned, “What rot! How would an egret know what my expression was?”

Waterstone shrugged, “I guess she has spent enough time around you to know your moods.”

“And how would you know all this?” demanded the woodman.

“Our prince over there. He persuaded the egrets to guide us to you by showing them an image of you smiling when we came to you.” Waterstone grimaced, “So far, that hasn’t happened. Until it does, Tarkyn is in a rather awkward position. He offered himself as surety to underwrite his word. It is he who is imprisoned and in danger at the moment, not you.”

Falling Rain snorted, totally unimpressed, “You have changed, Watersone. You never used to talk drivel before. How could those birds hurt a sorcerer? He can just flick up that shield of his.”

“He could, but he won’t. He gave them his word that we wouldn’t harm you.” Waterstone squatted down near the waiting heron, “One of them, possibly this one, flew straight at us. Missed us by a hair’s breadth.” He glanced up, “Your relationship with these birds is most impressive. They are united in protecting you. I have never seen anything like it among woodfolk.”

And finally Falling Rain did smile, “I didn’t realise they were protecting me like that.” His smile broadened until his whole face was beaming. “That is so marvellous, that they are looking after me.” He looked across at the willow, full of egrets. “I was wondering why they had all congregated in one tree. They usually spread out over several.” He laughed, “Your precious prince is safe after all.”

Waterstone shook his head, smiling, “The risk was small because we had no intention of hurting you. If it had been greater, we wouldn’t have let him do it.”

“You mean, we would have tried to dissuade him,” added Tree Wind dryly.

Falling Rain looked from one to the other, “So, why are you here?”

“To bring you back, Falling Rain,” said Tree Wind softly. She took a breath, “You didn’t betray us after all, at least not by your own weakness or volition. Stormaway used mind control on you.”