Vengeance of the Dancing Gods (13 page)

"Well, I'll wake up your old man. You just go back and keep our two lovers happy and make sure they stay put inside the inn..

"I don't think he—.

"Just do it, girl!.

This was more than the innkeeper's daughter could handle, and she left.

Marge gently turned the knob and entered a hallway.

At the end was a stairway going down to the cellar, and she realized that they lived down there with the potables and other stored items. That was perfect for her.

She lighted no light, although it was very dark at the bottom. All this suited her just fine. The walls were stone, it was somewhat cool, and there seemed no sign of a window. Taking a chance, she removed the goggles and found, to her relief, that the cellar blocked out the radiation that would affect her. In fact, in a place this dark and this well insulated, it was almost like being in night, and she felt her powers grow to near normal.

Most of the cellar was still devoted to storage, but one 86 VENGEANCE OF THE DANCING GODS area had been divided into three small rooms. It was pretty clear which one held the proprietor; he snored like a dragon.

Although her motivation was different, she automatically drew on her powers as needed, taking in the impressions from the sleeper beyond the wall and using them without even thinking about it.

The Kauri's power over men was great, in part because it drew upon the man to supply what was necessary and most appropriate. She opened the thin door to the proprietor's bedroom and saw him instantly, sleeping sprawled across a bed much like the ones upstairs. He was an unassuming, dark, chubby man with a close-cropped beard and thin mustache.

"Wake up," she said softly, but it was no request or timid attempt. It was a command with fairy power behind it.

The man stirred, shifted, then frowned, and opened his eyes. She reached up and found a candle, then willed Page 66 Chalker, Jack L - Vengeance of the Dancing Gods the energy to flow from her to it. The candle flickered into life, lighting up the entire small room. He saw her in an instant, and his mouth dropped. "Umora?.

"Yes, my darling," she responded, knowing that he was seeing not a Kauri but the image of his dead wife, not as she was but as he remembered her.

He yawned and sat up. "But—you should be at peace now! I did what you asked of me." He paused a moment.

"You are not like you were. You are beautiful and radiant once more..

"I have not returned before, my love, for it is generally forbidden. I was sent back because I was told you had committed a grave evil. Are you saying you did it in my name? For me?.

"But—you were here! Cold from the grave! I saw you!.

He shuddered.

So that was it. "Someone made you believe it was me, but it was not. You were fooled by a very evil one, my darling. Who was it?.

87 JACK L. CHALKER He shook his head, trying to take it all in. She could see he was struggling, but she presented the preferable vision of reality, even if the false one. Bit by bit, he told her the tale.

She—or one who'd looked like her—had come to him in the early morning, as she did now. But that one was not beautiful as she now was; no, she'd been only a terrible shadow of her former self, a recognizable but horrible corpse, partly decomposed. She—his wife's corpse—had told him that her soul was trapped and could not go on, held by one who was the Master of the Dead.

The Master had sent her to request a small task of any who came, and had agreed that, if he performed that task, she would find eternal peace. Her voice and horrible appearance had haunted him and filled him with pity. When she'd piteously complained of the cold and the worms, he could do no more than follow orders. To free his beloved wife from such a fate, he would have committed mass murder; this was merely to slip a potion, which he'd been assured was not lethal, to a couple of strangers.

"Who gave you the potions?" she asked him.

"You—she—did. Left them here..

"Then you never saw this Master of the Dead?.

"I—well, sort of. He was here, last night. Where I don't know, but he was here. I was to leave the keys available and then come down here. I did, but not all the way. I heard him moving about and heard him mount the stairs. When he came out, I peeked through the eyehole in back—you remember when and why we put that in..

Page 67 Chalker, Jack L - Vengeance of the Dancing Gods She nodded and let him continue. Best not to get trapped into details she couldn't possibly know. This thing had its limits, and she was no mind reader. Irritated, she realized that she hadn't asked, nor did she know, his name.

"All I can say is that he was a big man, dressed all in black robes. His face I didn't see, or any particular features.

Just a large man dressed in full robes and hood of solid black, that's all..

88 VENGEANCE OF THE DANCING GODS "It was definitely a man, then, my love? No woman or another sort of creature or fairy?.

"No—it was a man. A wizard for sure. He went out the front door, and I checked; all was quiet, so I just came down and went to sleep." He hesitated a moment. "Those two were a strange pair, even for an inn. What did the potion do?.

"You will see. I must go now, but do not feel guilty.

You did what you thought you had to do for my sake.

Other powers far greater than me will deal with this Master, and I will return to the peace and joy I left. Goodbye, my darling..

The candle winked out, and for a while he just sat there on the side of the bed in the dark shaking his head and looking very guilty indeed. She had become as nothing to him, and she was able to exit and climb back up the stairs without his even noticing that anyone was opening and closing the doors. She hesitated, almost forgetting to replace the goggles, but did so just in time.

The daughter was waiting hesitantly in the hallway near the door.

"Your father was not awakened by me," she told the girl. "Don't worry. He may be up shortly and acting a little strange, but don't be afraid for him." She then walked past the girl and back to the inn proper.

The Master of the Dead.... An animated corpse of the innkeeper's wife.... This was power indeed, but at least the bastard lived up to his name. Her thoughts went back to the male wizards on the Council. She found she wouldn't put it past any one of them, Ruddygore excepted.

One thing was certain, though. She and Joe had certainly underestimated their foe here in Husaquahr, expecting as they did more of a frontal attack or at least a good stab in the back, with her as the more vulnerable target. With this one simple gesture, the enemy had halted this expedition at its beginning, with minimal exposure, and taken out the best sword in the bargain.

The two were still there, but not for long, it appeared.

89 JACK L. CHALKER Page 68 Chalker, Jack L - Vengeance of the Dancing Gods "I am water," Tura said, "and you are Earth. I feel like an early morning swim..

Joe got up, then scooped up the mermaid as if she were a feather. "Anything you want, you get." He started for the door, which was locked; when it didn't move at his prod, he stood back and kicked it hard. The lock splintered and the double doors swung open, one hanging by only a part of a hinge.

Word, of course, had gotten around the little town already that morning, so they were more curiosities than shocks to those who were already out on the streets. Joe went to the center of the street, looked up and down, and spotted the mast of the ship at the far end, and headed for it. Tura lay in his arms, giggling and laughing all the while.

Marge took flight, knowing she couldn't stop it and just determined to shadow them and, if need be, beat them to the river. There was nothing she could do; anyway, they were going pretty much where she wanted them.

They reached the bank and then went out on a small pier. Joe didn't stop, walking right off the end with Tura still in his arms and hitting the water with a big splash.

For a moment Marge felt fear, wondering if Joe could swim; but as she flew over them she found that he seemed to swim quite well, although not nearly as well as Tura.

There was little she could do except hope they'd play and stay nearby. She looked around and saw the eagles circling lazily in the air high above, then headed up toward them. It was quite an ordeal and she was extremely tired and weakened by the sunlight, but she was determined to make it.

Fortunately, one of the eagles noticed her, sensed her weakness, and descended to her level.

"What brings you to us. Kauri?" the eagle asked somewhat menacingly. In many cases, eagles were not adverse to attacking fairies if they appeared weak and out of their element.

She was banking on them being on the same side. "If 90 VENGEANCE OF THE DANCING GODS you please, great lord of the skies, we need to contract the wizard Ruddygore at once and it was hoped by me that one of such grace and mastery could aid in this..

"What's the problem? Were you attacked while we roosted?.

Quickly, Marge sketched in the problem and pointed out the swimmers far below.

The eagle snorted. "Surface grubs," it murmured derisively.

"Wait here, if you can, on these currents. I'll have Page 69 Chalker, Jack L - Vengeance of the Dancing Gods to take this to a higher-up..

With that, the eagle climbed. He related the story to the second level above, which in turn relayed it to the third, which finally dispatched someone to the highest eagle in the bureaucratic and physical pyramid. Marge only hoped that the message didn't get garbled in the translation.

Finally the word came back down, and the lowest eagle approached her once more. "You sent the pigeon this morning with this news?.

"As much as we knew at the time. Not the details I gave you..

"Well, we can beat the pigeon if we have to. Get on below, and we'll take it from here. You should hear something in a couple of hours at most. How are you going to keep them handy, though?.

"We'll think of something," Marge replied, more in hope than with any concrete idea. She wearily descended and looked for the pair of potion-induced lovers. They were on the bank, in very shallow water and mud, and both of them were apparently dismembering and eating a live fish.

She found Biy looking over the repair work, which did indeed seem more inconvenient than serious, and sent him to the inn for Joe's sword. She was determined to try every trick available to her to get Joe under control, but she badly needed some rest. It was going to be a busy evening.

Finally, she went down to the galley and saw Audra.

91 JACK L.CHALKER "Have you any booze on board other than the usual ale kegs?" she asked the nymph.

"Yeah, I think we have some." The nymph rummaged around to the resounding sound of hammers and saws, then brought up two bottles of what looked to be decent wine. "This do?.

"Maybe," Marge said hopefully. "Just keep them handy while I make a quick visit to the village apothecary shop..

"Yeah, okay, I—yeowF The nymph jumped a foot and whirled around, looking very angry. "Those bastards just goosed me in the deck planking!.

The fact that the apothecary was a small room in the back of the public stables was not encouraging, but Marge looked around anyway in hopes something could be done, at least temporarily. When, after a while, no one seemed to notice her, she called out, "Hello! Anybody here?.

A strange head suddenly popped up from below the double-doors leading to the apothecary storage room. She Page 70 Chalker, Jack L - Vengeance of the Dancing Gods jumped, startled, then stared, not sure if she was looking at a fairy or a human face. It was round and rosy-cheeked, surrounded by snow white hair the thickness and consistency of sheep's wool, with a bulbous nose and tiny, squinting eyes. "Yes, my dear?" the stranger asked, in a voice that sounded like a very old man speaking falsetto.

He seemed to have difficulty with his vision, and certainly did not see her clearly, judging by where he was looking.

"Over here," she told him. "You the apothecary?.

"Oh, my yes! Phineas T. Harbottle, at your service, m'um. What seems to be the problem?.

"I have a male, six feet six and all muscle, who's been slipped a love potion that apparently also has induced amnesia. He's cavorting around naked in the mud with a mermaid, who got the same stuff..

"Well, at least it's mutual," Harbottle commented. "Last few times I've had to deal with such potions, the devotion was strictly one-sided. Makes for a messy thing, you know..

92 VENGEANCE OF THE DANCING GODS "I've sent off a message for help to Terindell, but I need something to keep them under control until that help arrives..

"Oh—slip 'em a Mickey, huh?.

"Well, it worked to get them into this mess. Say! How do you know the term 'Mickey' anyway?.

"Oh, I know all the great Irishmen, Mr. Michael Finn in particular. We do some business around here with some emigre leprechauns, you see, and they love to tell stories.

Unfortunately, they love to tell the same stories. I'm afraid I'm the only one they can pin down who'll still listen to them. Only the Americans believe in 'em anymore, you see—the Irish are far too practical these days—and it's far too fast a culture in America for them. Also, it seems, these Americans who think of themselves as Irish are ten times more Irish than the Irish, so the little people tend to wind up coming over here..