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SETISIA

Chapter 1

Horn Hill was the kind of feature that will always be given a name if there are people in its vicinity. Adistinctive shape, that of an upside-down drinking horn, as well as its size determined this. Its peak wasthe highest point for many miles in all directions, offering unrivalled views of its surrounds, but the hill hadfew human visitors. One who did sometimes make the effort to climb to its treeless, rocky crown was ayoung hunter and dreamer known to his community as Telli. He came there on days when he knew theweather would allow him the clearest of views. On one such day, in his fifteenth year, he came to sayfarewell to his homeland from a favourite seat on a flat rock at the summit.

It was a clear, bright morning in late spring. Songbirds chorused in the forest below and a squirrel-hawkcircled high in the sky. Bees buzzed around the flowers under his feet, and Telli was enjoying the sights,sounds and smells he would soon be leaving. With the sun already high above rolling hills to the southeast, he could see for great distances from his vantage point.

To his south there were trees, millions and millions of them, as the forest stretched so far away that eventhe squirrel-hawk's eye could see no end to it. Only the occasional bald, rocky outcrop like Horn Hill itselfbroke the view. The area of this great forest immediately surrounding the hill was Telli's hunting ground,his home from home, where he knew every shady glade and bubbling brook, and where he spent most ofhis waking hours.

To the west, the forest became slowly thinner and thinner until it gave way to flat prairie land. This Telliknew to be the haunt of great yellow lions, hunting its herds of giant buffalo. He had never been this way,and few men would dare to go alone, for the big cats hunted in prides of ten or more, each animalweighing as much as two grown men. Telli's own father had perished on these great plains.

To the north, at about two hours' walking distance, the trees stopped abruptly, cleared by men. Telli couldsee his village of some two hundred wooden homes with thatched roofs, stone chimneys, and asurrounding patchwork of green and yellow fields. A tall fence encircling the village, there to protect

children and livestock from the forest's wolves, was clearly visible, and he could just make out wisps ofgrey-white smoke from early cooking fires rising above some of the houses. The river Elne wound fromeast to west beyond the settlement, and further north were low purple hills where wild goats grazed onthe heather. No signs of human life could be seen in any other direction. As far as the Elne-siders knew,there were none.

Then there was the east. Here the forest lay flat for some distance, then rose slowly over ridge after ridge,each higher than the last. Beyond were tree-covered hills, then higher blue-grey mountains; and behindthese, looking like a line of tiny, pointed clouds above the haze, were the snow-covered peaks of theGreat White Mountains. It was to the east that Telli gazed for the longest on that fine spring morning. Hethought of the tales told by his uncle Takos of the prophet, Drakis, who had led more than two-hundredyoung followers out of their land on the far side of the mountains, crossing over perilously high, snow-covered passes to become founder of Telli's community nearly three hundred years before. Of how

Drakis had planted his staff in the ground when he arrived at the small, fertile delta by the river Elnewhere the village now lay, and declared this to be the Promised Land. The land where his people couldthrive without the terrible wars they had escaped; without the greed for power and for gold that haddestroyed so much in the old country.

Looking to the east, Telli thought also of the tales his grandfather loved to tell. Stories passed downthrough centuries of the Great River, with its trading ships as long as cornfields and wider than houses.Of walled cities with thousands of stone buildings, and of ornate palaces with hundreds of rooms andtowers far higher than the tallest of trees. Over the mountains had been the wonders of the world, and theyoung hunter from Drakisland wished for nothing more than to see if those wonders still existed.

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His desire to see the lands in the east was not only due to a thirst for adventure, although Telli certainlyhad that. He felt that beyond the mountains might be found the answers to many questions he had aboutlife; answers which could not be had in his own small community. And, most important, he wished to findout about certain traits that he thought to be unique in himself.

Sitting in the warming sun, Telli's mind wandered back drowsily to a night four years earlier, when he had

discovered the most peculiar of these traits. He had been lying on his bed, playing a game in his mind, agame he played nearly every night before falling asleep. Eyes closed, he would imagine himself to beflying, as perhaps all children do at some time. Flying over fantasy landscapes, up with the birds andamongst the clouds, until the daydream merged into night-dreams, and he fell asleep. On this particularnight, Telli had pictured himself as flying in the very room where he lay rather than in some exotic world ofthe imagination and, to his astonishment, had opened his eyes to find himself floating several inchesabove his bed. Falling back instantly to the mattress, he had rested there for a few minutes in a state ofshock, experiencing a mixture of excitement and exhaustion, as if he had just made a great effort ratherthan indulging in a pleasant fantasy. On recovering, he had managed to 'fly', or levitate, once again,floating for several seconds at a short distance above the cot.

An unusual child in other ways, Telli had resolved that night to tell no one of his new found ability until hefully understood its nature and what lay behind it. He was both fascinated and worried by his discovery,

which seemed to contradict the laws of nature his people believed to have been laid down by their Gods.Now, with four years' examination of this strange talent behind him, he could float up to thirty feet in anydirection with great concentration and effort. He still kept to his resolution of secrecy, being no nearer toknowing why he alone should be able to do this seemingly impossible thing. He gazed at the distantpeaks of the White Mountains, wondering if the answers might be found in the Old Kingdom of hisancestors beyond.

A movement below jerked Telli's mind back quickly from its reverie. He froze instinctively, moving only hiseyes to see what had distracted him. Coming out of the forest onto the southern slopes of the hill was aherd of Yellowhorn, a species of dwarf deer common west of the mountains. They moved cautiously,noses and ears twitching, one or more of them looking around while the others grazed. There were manypredators to fear, including Telli.

The boy hunter eased himself slowly off his rock seat on the side opposite to the herd, then licked a fingerand held it up to test the wind. After a patient crawl to a point out of sight and downwind of his quarry, hefitted an arrow to his bow and moved forward on both knees until he could see the nearest animal, whichhad its head down grazing. Telli then stood quickly and, in the split second when he knew the startleddeer would look up at him before running away, planted the arrow in its throat. The animal fell deadinstantly. It was the knowledge of how his target would move as much as the accuracy of his shootingthat had made the youngster already one of the best hunters in his village.

The rest of the herd disappeared quickly into the forest barking their alarms. Telli knelt to the ground tothank his Gods for the luck of an easy kill, and to show respect for the spirit of the victim as was thecustom amongst his people. He then drew an axe from the sack on his back and walked down to thetrees to make a wooden stretcher on which to tie the deer's carcass. This he would drag home behindhim, as even the small Yellow-horn was too heavy to carry over any great distance.

Telli took about four hours to make his journey home, stopping frequently, both to rest and to gatheredible roots, herbs, nuts and berries to add to his load. His grandmother would make a feast that night forthe family and for many guests. It was his sister's wedding eve, and also the night when Telli must tell thefamily of his plans to leave them shortly. This last would not be easy, he knew, but how could they stophim? Thinking of his impending departure, he arrived at Elneside village about four hours before sundownand dragged his load through it until he reached the home of his grandfather, old Beyorn the fisher.

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The old man was seated on a wooden bench by the open door of his house, where Telli and his sister,Trina, also lived. He smiled a greeting, showing all three of his front teeth.

"We shall feast well tonight, little hunter," he said. "And where did you happen across that fine beast ofyours, then?"

"Horn hill. She walked right into my arms," Telli smiled back. "You've not done so badly yourself," headded, nodding towards a barrel of water teeming with silver fish, still alive.

"They swam right into my arms! Your sister is waiting for you and your grandmother will want to start workon that deerling." Beyorn picked up a net he had been mending and went back to work as Telli enteredthe house, dragging his load behind him into the hall.

The hall of an Elneside home was usually most of the house, that of old Beyorn and his wife, Allina, beingno exception. Some fifteen yards long by ten wide, it was used for cooking, eating, working andsometimes sleeping if there was no other space available. There was a large fireplace at one end with astone chimney, and a long oak table in the centre at which as many as thirty people could be seated onfeast nights such as this one. Trina was to get married the next day and her husband would move into thehouse. Tonight was a welcoming party for him.

Telli's sister, his grandmother and two aunts were busy round the fireplace preparing the night's meal.They welcomed the young hunter and his burden with pleasure and a great fuss.

"We have too much meat, too much of everything," said Allina.

"Thank the Gods. We shall have to stuff ourselves full all week," said Trina, grinning at her brother. "Brilleats like a pig anyway, so it'll soon disappear."

"Don't speak of your man like that before you're even married," chided an aunt who was standing by thefire turning a spit on which a large boar was already roasting.

"Alright, I'll start calling him names tomorrow if I must wait," Trina replied, winking at Telli. Telli smiledback at her, suddenly realising just how much he would miss his sister when he left Elneside. The twowere matching siblings and, if Telli had been a few inches taller, could have been twins. They shared thesame dark brown, almost black hair, light brown complexion and striking black eyes; Trina's usuallysmiling, and Telli's more often dreamy, but piercing when he was alert and interested in what was aroundhim. He helped the women put his contribution to the feast where they wanted it, then left through a doorwhich led to the sleeping rooms of the house where he could change from his hunting clothes and washhimself. He would then help to prepare the food for the party.

People started arriving at old Beyorn's house just before sundown. They were nearly all relatives of Trinaor her fianc, Brill, and all knew one another well. Beyorn greeted them at the door with Trina by his side.

On entering the hall, guests would be given a large cup of wine or mead by Allina, and would sit wherethey chose to around the long table. All feasts in this small community began in much the same way, sothat all of its members knew what was expected of them. When all those invited had arrived, toasts weredrunk to the betrothed couple, and the first plates of food were served. Plates piled high with meat, fish,vegetables or fruit, from which the gathering helped themselves, spooning the food into wooden bowlsand making any mixture they chose.

Telli looked around the table of plenty, at the happy, smiling faces, and thought that he must be slightlymad to dream of leaving his village for lands of which he knew nothing. The Elnesiders lived well. The

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forest, the river and their fertile fields provided more than they needed, and they had no neighbours tocompete with for land or hunting grounds. Indeed, to Telli's knowledge, no-one from the settlement hadever even seen a human being from outside the community since their ancestors had arrived there withDrakis the prophet three centuries before. But curiosity is a powerful force, and Telli was not the firstyoungster from the banks of the Elne to dream of a more interesting and exciting life that might be foundelsewhere.

The guests at Trina's party did not remain in one place, but moved around to serve themselves food anddrink, and to change partners in conversation. At one point, Telli found himself next to his sister on oneside and Brakis the hunter, an old friend, on the other. He had talked to both on several occasions of hiswish to see the lands east of the White Mountains. Now, with the wine starting to reach his head, hechose to announce his intention of leaving within the next few days. Trina was not having it.

"You are mad, you are still a child, and why should you want to leave us anyway?" She didn't wait for ananswer, but announced loudly to the gathering that her crazed brother was talking of leaving Drakislandto die in some foreign place. Allina looked over from the end of the table where she was carving upvenison.

"The boy speaks nonsense," she said. "He is as his father washead full of dreams and never content

with the good, simple life the Gods have blessed us with

and look what came ofhim." Telli's father hadbeen killed by prairie lions ten years before while hunting buffalo (which he did not need to do).

Brakis came to Telli's defence, saying that he too had often dreamed of travelling.

"How do we know our life is so good when we have nothing to compare it with?" he reasoned. "However,the mountains are high and snows cover their peaks. Even if Telli is serious about this journey, he willprobably be back within a few weeks to tell us that they cannot be crossed."

Others joined in the discussion. Most did not seem to take Telli's intentions seriously. Those who didgenerally tried to discourage him on account of his age, and on the basis that there was no reason toleave his Elneside home and many a good reason for staying there. Old Beyorn looked at his grandsonfrom under bushy white brows, smiled a little, and said nothing. Conversation turned to other things. The

marriage taking place the next day, which the entire population of the settlement would attend, andspeculation as to other matches that might be arranged in the near future. There was talk of the weather,the crops, some gossip and scandal, some hunting and fishing news. Telli listened to the familiar talk andfelt increasingly that he was different from the others present; that he was not intended by fate or by theGods to lead the same kind of life. For one thing, whoever had heard of a man who could fly? He knewthat if he told the others of this strange discovery about himself, they would not believe him until he liftedhimself off the ground before their eyes, and he had no intention of doing so.

The feast continued past midnight, with less and less eating and more and more drinking. Songs weresung. Songs they all knew well. Some were Elneside tunes, but some were very old, coming from thetimes before Drakis had crossed the mountains and concerning near forgotten people and places. Places,Telli knew, that might still exist. His grandfather came and sat beside him, bringing two cups of the strong,sweet mead he made from wild bees' honey.

"So, little hunter, do you really mean to leave us?" The old man spoke as though he knew the answer.

"I must. I have decided. I wish to go now," said Telli. Old Beyorn sighed and sipped from his cupthoughtfully.

"When I was young, I dreamed also," he said. "I dreamed of a life that offered more than merely providingfor my needs, and those of my family. Once, I even set off for the White Mountains, but turned back after

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three days. I was a little older than you are now and could not live without a pretty girl I knew, little Allina."He looked along the table to where his wife sat watching them.

"Then you understand?"

"I do not want you to go, but I do understand, perhaps. Yet you are different from others," said the old

man, putting Telli's own thoughts into words. "Of all the young men who have left, perhaps you will be thefirst who does not turn back for home. Whichever way, you have my blessing." Old Beyorn smiled."Anyway, if you have truly decided to go, we can hardly tie you down to your bed for the rest of your life,can we?"

Telli had not expected his grandfather to be so easy on him, and knew that he would find more oppositionfrom his grandmother and from Trina. He had no worries about their welfare in his absence. Brill was agood man and would be moving into the house the next day, and Telli's grandparents were surrounded byrelativeshe was just one of their nine grandchildren. Knowing that they had brought him up in theirhouse since his mother had died at his birth, he wished to leave with a clear conscience, and the oldman's blessing was important to him.

The party reached its liveliest point. Two harps, drums and a wooden flute were being played, and two of

Telli's cousins had started to dance on the table. He caught the eye of pretty cousin Rita, his own age,and with his head swimming from the mead he jumped up to join her. Others followed until the solid oaktable shook beneath them. Brill and Brakis swung Trina up onto the centre of the table, knocking two ofthe dancers off, and Brill leapt up to join her in an impromptu wedding dance. The normally staid andreserved character of the Elne-siders was forgotten on such occasions. Even Beyorn and Allina took aturn at table dancing despite the latter's fears for her furniture.

Then Telli forgot himself. Still dancing, he reached down for a cup of wine offered to him by an aunt, anddrained it in one go. Then, concentrating as best he could, he leapt for a beam above him, placed hishands on it and swung his legs upright over his head. Flipping over completely, he landed with perfectbalance back on the table. The other dancers gasped in amazement, then applauded, fortunately tooconfused with wine and the excitement of the occasion to notice that the feat was near enough humanlyimpossible.

"Ooooh Telli!How wonderful!" Rita's pretty eyes shone with admiration, much to her cousin's gratification.

Then Telli caught the eye of Brakis. The hunter was staring hard at him and shaking his head slowly fromside to side. As Telli met his gaze, Brakis winked an eye without smiling and pressed his forefinger to hislips to indicate secrecy or silence. Telli had used his strange talent to show off in public, and the shrewdhunter had noticed that something was not as it should be.

The wedding ceremony took place at noon the next day and in the Elneside tradition it was brief, withmany of the participants suffering from their excesses of the night before. The whole village attended

while Trina and Brill had their union blessed by the High Priest (Telli's uncle Takos) on the common landin the centre of the settlement. They then went about their business, with only the heads of each familycongregating at Beyorn's house, bearing gifts for the young couple. Later in the afternoon the fire was re-lit in the family hall, and the festivities recommenced.

Telli had noticed Brakis looking at him thoughtfully during the ceremony. He wasn't surprised when thehunter arrived at the house later and sat beside him at the long table.

"I must talk with you, son," Brakis said after eating a little. "Will you come outside?"

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Telli followed him to the back of the house, where they were alone. Brakis sat down on a low woodenfence, and began to speak.

"About two months ago, I was in the forest on my way back from a morning's hunt. As I walked, I saw afigure come down from a tall fruit tree about eighty yards ahead of me. I hid behind a bush and watchedcarefully, because this being did not seem to be climbing down by means of the branches, but rather, was

drifting down between them while carrying a load of fruit in both arms. At the foot of the tree, he appearedto look around carefully, then picked up a bundle from the ground in which he put the fruit. Then he set ofin the direction of the Elne. I followed carefully, but saw nothing else unusual. I caught up with you, Telli,as you entered the village, if you remember."

"Why did you say nothing?" asked Telli.

"For one thing, the light of the sky had been in my eyes, and I was not sure until your display last nightthat I had seen anything out of the ordinary. There was another thing also. Something that worried me."

"Which was...?"

Brakis sighed.

"There are old stories from our people before they came here to Drakisland, which you may have heard.Stories of wise Holy Men who, by prayer and meditation, could actually raise themselves off the groundas you seem to be able to do. But there are also tales of men possessed by demons who appeared to dothe same. I know you well, Telli, and although you are no Holy Man, I am certain that you are no demoneither." He smiled briefly through his beard, then became serious again. "Others may not be so sure."

"Would that matter so much?" Telli asked.

"Perhaps, yes," Brakis replied. "Here at Elne-side, many years ago when my grandfather was a youngboy, there was a girl of about fifteen years who was seen to lift herself off the ground without knowinghow or why she had done so. The priests were convinced that she was controlled by demons, which they

tried to exorcise. No one knew exactly what happened excepting the priests who were present, but in thecourse of their efforts to cleanse her the poor girl died. You have been discreet about your gift, or curse,or whatever it is; and you would do well to be even more so in the future, here or anywhere else youmight find yourself."

Brakis then asked Telli questions about how he had discovered his ability to levitate, how far and howhigh he could go, and whether these distances were improving with age and experience. On receiving theanswers, he smiled and commented that Telli was still a long way from being able to fly over the house,let alone the White Mountains. Then he added, to the boy's surprise, that speaking of which (the WhiteMountains) he would like to join Telli on his journey if he was still intending to go; if it had not been thewine talking the night before.

"Think about it," he said, "and give me your answer tonight if you can." Then he left to rejoin the merry-

making inside the house.

Telli stayed outside for a while, considering Brakis's suggestion. He had only thought of journeying alonebecause it had not occurred to him that anyone else would wish to join him. Certainly, there was unlikelyto be a more useful companion in Elneside than the hunter. Brakis was a tall, agile man, just over fortyyears of age, with a permanently tanned face half concealed by his greying beard, and a pair of broadshoulders on which he could carry a full-grown deer with ease. He was held in great respect by theyounger hunters of the village as the best guide to and teacher of the ways of the forest. There was

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something else which made it likely that he might be prepared to leave Elneside for a long period of timeand would not worry too much about risk to his life. Brakis had no wife or children to care for.

The story behind this was well known to Telli and to his family. Brakis as a young man had beenhandsome, carefree, and much admired by the girls of the village. He had fallen in love with, and married,a young woman named Esmelda, considered by many to be the most beautiful in Elneside. She was the

sister of Telli's mother. It had seemed a match made by the Gods, but Esmelda had fallen ill suddenlyafter nearly a year of marriage, and had died at noon (the marriage hour) on the first anniversary of theirwedding. The timing had seemed a deliberate blow by the hand of fate. Brakis had gone mad with grief,and had heaved a huge rock onto a shrine dedicated to the Goddess of Love, before disappearing intothe forest, saying he would never return. It had been Telli's father, Brakis's best friend, who had trackedhim down many months later living wild in the forest and persuaded him to come home. The carefreeyoung man was no more, and Brakis had never trusted the Love Goddess; he had never married again.

Telli re-entered the house, his decision made. He nodded to Brakis, and sat beside him. The two talkedquietly for a few minutes, arranging to meet the next day. Then both settled down to enjoy what might betheir last Elneside feast. The night went on much as the night before, with eating and drinking, singingand dancing, until Telli retired to bed in the early hours of the morning, when the last of the guests wereleaving. He fell asleep knowing his life was about to change, dreaming of the great White Mountains and

what he might find beyond them.

Chapter 2

The huge peaks of the White Mountains were turning slowly orange with the setting sun, and the sky waschanging colour from a light blue to an eerie, glowing pink. Telli and Brakis watched a sight they hadnever seen before with wonder and in awe.

"The Gods are fine artists," said Brakis, and could have been reading his companion's thoughts.

They watched the changing scene in silence for a while. The mountains looked so near, but the travellershad already realised that this was something of an illusion due to the range's great height, and Brakis hadguessed that they had at least another three or four days' walking before they had to worry about trudgingthrough the snows.

This was the end of the fifth day since their departure from Elneside. The journey had been uneventful forthe most part, although difficult at times because there were no paths, and they had no way to know theeasiest way eastward. They had followed the Elne up river for the first two days, but when they hadreached the hills the river had begun to wind, and they were forced to choose between a long route on itsbank, or shorter, but steeper cuts between its bends. Now on a high ridge that seemed to lead straighttowards the mountains, they had decided to stop for the night by a spring in a small hollow offering themsome protection from the wind. A stew, consisting of rabbit and edible roots gathered on their way, wascooking over the fire that Telli had made up earlier, and smelled good to the hungry travellers.

The spring formed a stream, which flowed into a pool a short distance away. Brakis got up, went over tothe pool, and started to rinse his face and hair. Telli, watching idly by the fire, saw his friend stop suddenlywith his washing and stare down into the water for fully half a minute, before pulling off his shirt andplunging his head and shoulders below the surface. He came up holding something in his hands which heexamined for a moment before giving it a good rinse in the pool, then looking closely at it again. Tellicould see a gleam of white and his curiosity was aroused. Brakis picked up his shirt and came back to thefireside. He handed over his find.

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"What do you make of this, then?" he asked.

It was a skull, complete with lower jawbone which came away from the rest in Telli's hands as heexamined it. No animal that he knew of had such a skull. Indeed, it was more like a man's than that ofanything else, but could not be unless it had belonged to someone hideously deformed. The nose andupper jaw were one bone, sticking forward and pointed at the end, and the lower jaw matched it, sloping

upwards to a point without forming a chin. The eye sockets looked human, as did the large brain cavity. Itwas like the skull of a man with a beak. Brakis took it back and held it to the neck of his shirt, moving thelower jaw up and down.

"Helleeow Telli, cheep cheeep," he said in a high pitched voice. They both laughed, but Telli was uneasy.

"Do you know what it is?" he asked.

"No. I've seen nothing like it." Brakis looked serious now. "It belonged to something more like us thananything else I have ever seen. The pond is clear with a stone bottom and little mud. There are manybones, not just those of one maof one being." He looked at the skull thoughtfully. "Our friend here wasabout the same size as me, and perhaps around my age when he died. I cannot tell how long ago thatwas, but it was not so long. The bones of animals lying for a very long time in a stream become slowly

worn down, the edges become rounded and they start to lose their shape. This skull is in good shape, soI think that this creature was walking around the area quite recently. Perhaps some of his friends still are."They both looked around instinctively.

Brakis stood up, walked over to the pond and dropped the skull back into the water.

"There are so many bones that perhaps these creatures buried their dead in the water as we do under theground," he said on returning. "Let's eat. That stew must be ready."

The last light faded as they ate their meal. When it was finished Telli wrapped himself in his cloak and laydown beside the fire to sleep, it being Brakis's turn to watch first. Even when in the familiar forest aroundElneside a night watch was a wise precaution as wolf-packs, large brown bears and tree leopards couldall pose a threat to the unwary hunter. Now well away from their home ground, the travellers were morecautious than usual.

Telli took some time to fall asleep, thinking of Elneside without yet feeling homesick. The goodbyes tofamily and friends had been difficult, but not to the extent he had feared. The fact that he was nottravelling alone, and that Brakis, of all people, was to be his companion had gone a long way to calm thefears of his grandmother and sister. His grandfather's support had also been a great help. He drowsedcontentedly until, in a half-dream, the image of the strange skull appeared in his mind, and he stirredrestlessly, tossing and turning before eventually the tiredness from a long day's march led him into adeep, dreamless sleep.

*

It was still dark when Telli awoke, but the sky had already turned from black to a dark blue behind thesilhouettes of the mountains, announcing the imminent sunrise. He sat up sharply and turned to see thereassuring shape of Brakis sitting nearby with his back against a large rock.

"Why didn't you wake me to watch?" he asked. "It's near sunrise."

"I did not feel the need to sleep, so left you to rest well. I shall sleep now, and if we start a little later thanusual it does not matter. What hurry is there? It's perhaps better if we divide the night in two like this,instead of four, to be sure that one is always awake now we are so far from the lands we know."

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Brakis laid down and seemed to sleep immediately. He appeared relaxed, but Telli knew well that hisfriend was a little uneasy, and was probably nearly as alert in his sleep as others are when wide awake.Telli waited for a while until the day became lighter, then collected some dead wood from under thenearest trees and made up the fire. Then, nothing else to do, he started to whittle away at a new arrow hewas making, pausing every so often to watch the morning light, and then the sun, rise from behind thesnowy peaks ahead of him. He would leave Brakis to sleep as long as he could. True, there was no hurryat all. Only when they were in the snows would they need to move as quickly as possible while their foodsupply lasted, and to avoid too many cold nights.

Brakis woke at about two hours before noon to the smell of cooking, as Telli was boiling a soup ofvegetables and grain from the supplies in his pack. They ate quickly and went on their way, following theridge towards the mountains. The forest was now below them, with only a few scattered and stunted treesgrowing exposed to the weather on top of the ridge, and the travellers could see fine views all aroundthem. Brakis was well rested and more talkative than usual.

"Drakis found a way over the mountains which brought our forefathers to this side south of the river Elne,where we are now. It was not far from the Elne, because they reached its south bank just three days afterleaving the snows behind them, as you know if you remember your reading. We cannot do better than tocontinue straight ahead where we have as good a chance as any of finding that route. You can see by the

break in the trees that there is a river or stream down in the valley to our right, and we know that the Elneis to our left. Brenen the scribe, whose account of the journey with Drakis is the best in detail, writes ofhow they followed a stream down from the mountains. We know that it did not lead them directly to theElne, for they cut north to avoid the thick forest, and to march on more open ground. Therefore, I thinkthat the stream they followed must flow down into the one on our right, or perhaps the next one to thesouth."

Telli, who had also read Brenen, both as part of his learning of letters and again recently with this journeyin mind, had been thinking along the same lines. He nodded in agreement, and replied:

"We should follow each stream that flows down to the river below, going upstream as far as we can. If wedo not find Drakis's route, or another, we should come back down, hunt ourselves up another supply offood, and then do the same for the next river to the south."

"You have worked it all out," smiled Brakis. "I agree."

He looked at Telli, now walking ahead of him, and thought how different his young friend was from othersof the same age, indeed from other people in general. Telli often seemed wise beyond his years andreserved things to himself, so that when he did reveal some of his thoughts, Brakis was sometimes takenby surprise. If other children had discovered the ability to raise themselves off the ground inexplicably, asTelli had at the age of ten, they would surely have run around telling everyone and showing off. Brakiscould see some of the traits of his sister in law and her husband, Telli's parents, in Telli's looks and hisways, but there was so much more that seemed to be the boy's own, as if he had arrived at birth acomplete stranger to the Elneside community. Travelling with him was like travelling with another man,the only difference being that he could not carry as much weight, leaving Brakis's pack the heavierbecause they had balanced their loads so that both walked easily at the same pace.

The pair marched through the day, stopping to rest only once, briefly, because they had started late. Theymade good progress as it was easy going along the top of the ridge, and by late afternoon the mountainswere visibly much nearer. Around the time they had started to think of looking for a suitable place to passthe night, Telli saw something ahead that seemed unusual, and pointed it out to Brakis. At about anhour's walk away, the ridge rose up to a point. On the top of this was what seemed to them to be a verylarge rock sticking up towards the sky, with a jagged edge on top and unusually straight sides. Theydecided to continue towards it and, as they approached, it seemed less and less like a natural feature,and more and more like something made by man.

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Brakis stopped at some distance and gestured to Telli to join him behind a low ledge which offeredconcealment, but over which they could look at the object, now just three to four hundred yards away.

"What do you think it is?" he asked. Telli stared, concentrating hard, and suddenly had a vision in hismind of a great grey building with battlements on top, with shouts, horn blows and drum beats soundingaround it, and the glint of armour as men walked on its walls. A vision, perhaps, from the stories he had

heard or read of the old country.

"I think it is, or was a castle," he answered slowly.

They both stared. No Elnesider had ever seen a building other than their own wooden houses. Afterwatching for a while and seeing no sign of life excepting an eagle circling above the hill in front of them,they continued to walk very cautiously towards the building they could soon see was obviously a ruin.Both held bow and arrow loosely at their sides in the left hand, and their long hunting knives ready in theright. It hadbeen a castle or watch-tower and, although the battlements were crumbling so that manyfallen stones lay at the foot of the weathered walls, all four walls themselves were still standing. It wassquare at the base, with a round turret running from bottom to top in each corner, about fifteen yardsseparating each one, and stood about seventy feet high. To the travellers it seemed enormous.

"How did they build such things?" whispered Telli. Brakis shrugged, as buildings of stone were just asnew to him.

"Just as interesting is whydid they, and who were they," he pointed out, also in a whisper.

They circled the castle slowly and quietly, looking for an entrance, and found it on the far side. It was anarchway in the wall facing the mountains, and would have made an easy way in were it not for the factthat it was about twenty-five feet up, and any outside stairway, if there had been one, had long sincegone.

"I think these people had enemies," commented Brakis, dryly. "They did not want their guests walking inunexpectedly."

Curiosity overcame caution for Telli. He laid down his pack and stood below the archway, estimating itsheight. Then, concentrating all of his attention on it, he rose slowly from the ground, and ten seconds laterwas hanging from the doorstep. He heaved himself onto it and sat there for a moment to recover, grinningdown at Brakis who stood below, open-mouthed. He had seen Telli cross a couple of streams on theirjourney without getting his feet wet, but this effort (which was about the most that his friend could managewithout great risk of a fall) was spectacular in comparison. He watched as the boy turned on his seat toface inside, and saw his head moving to look down, and then upwards. After a few moments, Telliseemed to have decided that there were no obvious dangers in the castle, as he turned back and, still toocareful to shout down, made gestures with his arms and hands miming someone climbing a rope. Brakispulled their only rope, brought with the mountain crossing in mind, from his pack. He coiled a few feet of itto make a weight and threw it accurately to Telli then, on the signal that it was secure, showed his agilityby arriving on the doorstep in little more time than his flying friend had taken to get there.

Telli watched Brakis as he looked around. The sight was surprising, mainly because while the weathered,rocky ridge outside had few plants growing on it, here, under the protection of the walls, they wereeverywhere. Climbing ivy covered most of the stonework, and on the ground below them they could seeshrubs, grasses, flowers and, most surprising of all, a few trees were growing, two of them reaching wellabove the point where they sat. It was like a very high walled garden. All that was built of stone had stoodthe test of time well. They could see the large holes in the walls at every level, made for the beams thatwould have supported the various floors and the roof. These must have been made of wood and had longsince disappeared, presumably becoming part of the fertile earth now covering the foundations. Threepillars, or buttresses, ran from bottom to top of each wall helping to support ledges, about two feet wide,

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which ran between the rounded corner towers on each level, joining arched doorways in their walls. Telliand Brakis were on the second ledge of six, what would have been the floor level of the third chamber upfrom the ground.

Having taken all this in, Telli began to move carefully along the ledge towards the tower on his left, thenstarted, and nearly lost his balance, at a sudden noise from above. Looking up quickly, he spotted the

eagle they had seen earlier flying out of the top of the castle, and the mess of twigs and moss that was itsnest on the highest ledge. Shaking his head and smiling as his nerves calmed, he looked back at Brakis,who was also smiling as he sheathed his hunting knife. The eagle was good news. It would not nest thereif it felt threatened by any regular visitors to the ruin, and the travellers felt more confident that they werealone. Telli continued along the ledge with increasing confidence as it felt solid beneath his feet, andreached the arch in the corner tower. Looking inside he could see that the tower contained a spiralstaircase made of stone treads attached between the walls and a central pillar. He turned and beckonedBrakis to join him, but his companion signed back, pointing out through the castle entrance. Hedisappeared for a minute or two, then reappeared with Telli's pack, which he placed on the ledge beforedescending again for his own. This task completed, he came along the ledge to join Telli.

"Up or down?" he asked, after peering through the arch.

"Up," decided Telli, thinking of the view they might have from the top, and as the lighter of the two he ledthe way up the staircase. It proved to be solid, and was well lit from the two arches leading out to theledges on each level they passed, as well as from arrow slits at intervals through the outside walls. Theyreached the sixth level in a few minutes and went out onto the ledge, which was slightly wider than theothers and seemed strong enough. From here they had a fine view through the weather worn and slightlycrumbling battlements.

It was now not much more than an hour before sundown, and the colour of the snows on the mountainswas beginning to change, white turning to soft pinks, yellows and oranges. Brakis looked down towardsthe route they would have to follow the next day and spoke, no longer bothering to whisper.

"This must have been built by people from the other side and, from the wear on the stones, must be very,very old. I would guess that its builders were long gone from the area by the time of Drakis, who knew of

no settlements in his time or before on this side of the mountains. We can also assume that ourforefathers did not pass exactly this way, as Brenen and the others make no mention of a castle, or tower.Indeed, they state clearly that they found themselves alone on this side of the mountains, and discoveredno signs of habitation by man."

Telli nodded his agreement, and looked down into the valley below, where he could see the break in thetrees that indicated the line of the river, to their right as they faced the mountains.

"They certainly did not find this," he said, "but could easily have come down from the mountains followingthe banks of the stream down there without seeing the tower through the trees, as we cannot see thewater itself from up here." He looked along the ridge below them as it stretched towards the highmountains. "If the castle builders came from the other side, perhaps we shall find theirway over to theKingdom in the east, whether it is the way Drakis found or not."

"True," said Brakis, "but for now I think we had better leave our fellow hunters in peace and make a campdown below for the night." He pointed upwards, where the eagle had been joined by another, and the twocircled high above, clearly watching the intruders with their sharp eyes. Telli looked over at the ledge onthe wall opposite, and could see the head and neck of an eagle chick protruding from the nest. It wasearly summer, and he knew that the chick would soon be joining its parents in flight, a magnificent flightthat made his own small efforts, however unique, seem absurd, he thought as he made his way down thestairs.

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Investigating the bottom of the tower they found, unsurprisingly, that the earth which had accumulatedover the centuries to form the base on which the plants and trees were growing blocked the lowestarches. However, they could easily jump down onto the new ground level from the entrances to what hadbeen the floor above. So, after retrieving their packs from the ledge by the castle entrance, they madetheir camp for the night under the trees inside the protective walls of the building. They found amplefirewood for Telli, the tinderbox expert, to start his cooking fire, and as they had enough water in theflasks they carried with them, started to prepare their evening meal.

While waiting for their food to cook, they made a brief exploration of their surroundings, finding nothing ofgreat interest except for some scratches and writings on the walls. These appeared to contain letterssimilar to their own, but were impossible to read in the fast fading light. They decided to explore the restof the castle the next day before going on their way, to see if there were any clues as to who had built it,and why they had done so. Telli, up since before dawn that morning, fell asleep immediately after eating,leaving Brakis awake and watchful in spite of the seeming security of being within four walls for the firsttime since leaving Elneside.

As he had done the night before, Brakis left Telli to sleep until just before dawn, each of them now

sleeping on completely different cycles to ensure continuous vigilance as they neared the mountains. Tellistarted his watch sitting drowsily with his back to the wall, waiting for the light before searching for moredead wood and making up the fire. This chore finished, he decided to continue the exploration of the nightbefore.

Keeping an eye on the camp and on the entrance to the castle from time to time, he first checked thewritings they had seen. These proved to be of little interest, consisting of what Telli deduced to be namesidly carved on the walls by soldiers who had served in the castle, although none were names used inElneside. He then investigated the stairways in the three corner towers they had not visited the eveningbefore, finding them more or less identical to the first one. Then he decided to walk along the ledges atevery level of the building. It was on the second highest ledge, just below the eagles' nest, that hediscovered some more interesting writings.

I CHARICLES AM LASTE KAPTAIN OF THYS FORTE

WE SHALL DESERT -------- AS NO RELIEF FOR 1 YEARE

HE WHOMEVER ---------- READE THYS BE WARE -H---

WORMLING-- AS THEY ---- ---W STRONGE

The writing was ancient and faded, but Telli thought he could understand the gist of the message.Someone had been forced to leave the castle, and wished to warn anyone who understood his languageof an enemy in the area. Telli wasn't too worried at the warning as it had clearly been made centuriesago. After searching for a while and finding nothing else of great interest, he went back down to the camp,

and started to prepare some food while waiting for Brakis to wake, which he did while the meal was stillcooking. Telli described his find and Brakis went up to see it for himself. When he returned, theyspeculated as to what or who a wormling might be as they ate, and Brakis wondered aloud that thebuilders of this great tower had clearly spoken a version of the Elnesiders' own language. Telli thoughtthat the discovery raised more questions, rather than giving answers, and he was even more eager thanbefore to complete the journey over the mountains where he felt that some of his curiosity might besatisfied.

They left the castle, Brakis climbing down first with the packs, and Telli detaching the rope before usinghis strange talents to drift slowly to the ground, Brakis waiting beneath to break his fall if necessary as

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neither of them yet had complete confidence in his "flying" abilities. However, all went well, and thetravellers set off along the ridge towards the mountains.

After about an hour's walking, they noticed that the line of the river to their right was going through anumber of sharp bends and was rising up towards them. A while later, they saw a series of waterfallsahead of them and Brakis commented that it looked as though they would join the river without going

downhill. He proved to be right, as they soon reached the head of the falls at a point where the wayahead up river looked promisingly easy.

The water cascaded down several different levels until it reached a pool far below them, from which theriver flowed on its way westwards, away from the mountains. Above them, the stream was not large, butwas turbulent and fast flowing, swollen by the summer melt water from the peaks ahead. There were afew trees and bushes along its banks, but not enough to impede their progress, and it looked to thetravellers as though they had reason to be pleased with the route they had taken so far. It was a pleasantplace, and they decided to stop for a while to rest and to eat.

Telli was just about to move towards the river to refill his water flask, when Brakis stopped him with ahand on his arm and a whispered caution, pointing upstream. At about forty yards distance, an animalwas moving out from behind some rocks on the opposite bank towards the water, clearly unaware of their

presence. The two hunters crouched slowly, and watched what appeared to be a large cat of a typeunfamiliar to them. It was a whitish grey in colour, and had a long, bushy tail, clearly used to help itselfbalance as it moved to a position on some rocks forming a small island in the river. Like a smallishleopard, apart from the colour and the tail, it was not large enough to cause the two watchers, armed asthey were with bow and knife, any serious concern.

"A white cat the Snow Leopard from Brenen's writings," whispered Telli. Brakis nodded, rememberingthe scribe's account of the beast. Both then thought along the same lines. Brenen had recorded a sightingof the cat on the otherside of the mountains, when their forefathers had first reached the heights wherethe snows still lingered in the summer. This must then be a species that lived on both sides of this naturalbarrier, and probably one of the few that could easily cross it. The sight of the animal made them feelmuch closer to their goal.

Still unaware of being watched, the leopard was crouched low on a rock, looking intently at the riverbeneath it. Then, with a sudden movement, it darted a paw into the water, and the watchers saw a flashof silver as it landed a large fish on the rock.

"Good hunting," murmured Brakis with admiration. "I wish I could do thata fresh cooked fish would godown well." They watched for a while as the snow leopard ate its catch, and then patiently repeated thefishing performance, this time carrying the fish in its mouth to the bank and disappearing in the direction ithad come from.

"She has a young one and is a good mother." Brakis stood up and made a saluting gesture towards thefar bank where the cat had been. It was signal of respect amongst the Elnesiders for the beasts withwhich they shared the land, and which they regarded as fellow creatures of their Gods, only to be huntedwhen there was a use in doing so.

The travellers ate cold food from their stores, and continued on their way, following the left bank of theriver upstream. The going was easy and they made good progress, climbing steadily and, towards theend of the afternoon, beginning to feel that the night ahead of them would be noticeably cooler than thelast two. Eventually, following a series of rapids up a steeper incline than usual, they arrived slightlybreathless at a small lake, from which the river flowed. On the far side was an impressive waterfall,thundering down some sixty feet into the lake from a huge cave in a mountain rising up sheer from thewater's edge. It was an unexpected sight. They had come suddenly to the source of the river, or rather, ofthe part of it that ran above ground.

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Telli was the first to comment when they had taken in the scene for a few moments.

"Well, this cannot be on the way that Drakis came. Brenen would surely have mentioned such a placehad they passed this way."

Brakis agreed. This was not somewhere easily forgotten, with the blue lake like a mirror, reflecting the

scattered firtrees around its shores, the mountains behind it, and even the waterfall which fed it.

"It's still possible we may find a way up and over, either to the left or right of that," he said, indicating themountain ahead. "Indeed, with your flying tricks and my rope climbing, it seems almost likely," he added,smiling at his young companion. "But for now, we must make our camp here, and I suggest we leave thedecision on which way we shall try for tomorrow."

Looking into the clear waters of the lake, they could see that it contained some good-sized fish. So, whileTelli collected wood and made up the fire, Brakis took a thin line from his pack, tied it to a stick and, usingworms dug from the bank as bait, tried to catch the meal he had so envied of the Snow Leopard. Afternearly an hour had passed, a cry of triumph told Telli that his friend had been successful, and the pair atea good meal of fresh fish and boiled roots.

This ended a good day. The way had been easy, and the sight of the Snow Leopard somehowencouraging. Yet Telli felt a vague uneasiness as he settled down for the night. A feeling as if they werebeing watched in their exposed camp on the edge of the lake, as if perhaps the mountains themselveswere aware of the two strangers who dared to challenge their might.

He fell asleep later than usual, listening to the roar of the waterfall, then woke suddenly to the sound of acry from Brakis. Confused with sleep and the dark night, he felt something like a fishing net covering him,then strong arms holding him down as he struggled. A dark figure leant over him, and something with astrong, pungent smell was thrust into his face. Feeling sick and dizzy, he looked up to glimpse a whiteface above him, and a pair of pale, pink eyes staring into his own, before he lost consciousness.

Chapter 3

Telli regained consciousness slowly, becoming aware of the sound of running water, then of flickeringlight around him. He could sense that he was lying on his back on what felt like hard rock. As his memorybegan to come back, he struggled to sit up, and realised that his wrists and ankles were bound. Managingto sit after a fashion, he started to take stock of his surroundings, trying to ignore a dull aching heavinessin his head and a bitter taste in his mouth. He seemed to be in some kind of cave, the light coming fromtorches carried by hooded figures in dark robes. His movement had obviously attracted some attention,as two of these figures approached him and a torch was held to his face, temporarily blinding him, untilthey withdrew, making strange hissing sounds. In the light of their retreating torches, he was relieved torecognise the silhouette of Brakis's head and beard a few feet away, the more so because his friend alsoappeared to be struggling to sit up, and therefore could not be too badly harmed.

"Brakis, you alright?" he enquired in a hoarse whisper. After a few seconds, there came a groan in reply.Then Telli saw a different light beyond Brakis, and identified it as the growing light of day outside themouth of the cave. Hearing the roar of falling water coming from the same direction, and the sound ofrunning water just beneath him, he suddenly realised where they must be. It was the cave they had firstseen the afternoon before, from which the river they had been following flowed out of the mountain. Theymust have been carried across the water at some point while unconscious, as well as up the cliff,because from the direction of the cave mouth to his left, Telli could see that they were now on the otherbank, or southern side of the stream. Looking at the robed figures, now clustered some distance away, he

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felt curiosity as much as fear. If they merely wished to kill their captives, they would have already done so.Then what did they want?

His thoughts were interrupted as one of their captors came towards them carrying a flaming torch in onehand, and a bundle in the other, which he placed on the floor between Telli and Brakis. Then, drawingback his hood, he made gestures with one arm accompanied by the hissing sounds Telli had heard

before. The boy stared at the creature, open-mouthed. Its very pale white face and its pink eyes broughtback a flash of memory from the night before, but it was the nose and mouth, fused together andprotruding to a point, like a birds beak, which triggered a clearer memory. The skull in the pool, thoughtTelli. His glimpse of the creature was brief, as two others had arrived by its side, and one of these threwcold water over his head and face. As he spluttered and blinked, he could tell from the stream of curses tohis left that Brakis had received the same treatment.

The creatures went away, leaving them with a torch propped against a rock nearby. From its light theycould see (to their surprise) that the bundle between them consisted of their own packs with their foodsupplies taken out and laid on top. When Brakis first spoke, Telli knew that he too had seen the featuresof their captors.

"I hope they do not know that we have defiled one of their graves! Even if so, it appears that they want us

to eat before putting us to the sword. How are you, Telli?" He sounded in a remarkably good humour,considering their circumstances, perhaps because he had been sure that he was about to die the nightbefore, and waking up in any situation seemed an improvement. Telli was feeling a similar effect as hereplied.

"Well enough, a sore head and a few bruises on me. And you?"

"About the same. Any idea where we are?"

Telli told Brakis his theory of their whereabouts as the two of them manoeuvred into positions where theycould reach the food. Their hands had been tied together in front of them, so they could feed themselveswell enough.

"I think you are right," said Brakis. "Where else could we be. It was perhaps two hours before the time foryour watch when they took us, and the daylight has only now arrived. They could not have carried us far.Can you fly with your limbs bound?" He added this last as the thought occurred to him.

"Not far enough to escape certainly not with this aching head. There are always at least three of thembetween us and the cave entrance, anyway."

"Yes, I noticed. We shall....here they come." Brakis was interrupted by the arrival of five or six of theircaptors. The prisoners were lifted to their feet, had their ankle bindings cut and ropes tied loosely roundtheir necks like animal leads, then were shown sharp swords as a clear hint not to resist, before being ledaway. Not towards the cave's entrance, but the other way. Upstream, and into the core of the greatmountain.

It was a strange journey for Telli and Brakis, something between a dream and a nightmare. The cavesthey passed through in the flickering torchlight were fantastic to them, almost beyond belief. They sawhuge caverns, their roofs supported by great natural buttresses and pillars of rock. Seams of crystalglistened with different colours in the walls, and waterfalls shimmered down them. They passed throughlong tunnels and around deep ravines, neither of them ever having thought such wonders existed within a

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mountain. All this to the eerie accompaniment of the hissings, clicks and high-pitched screams thatseemed to serve their captors for language.

At first, they followed the river for perhaps an hour. Then, after a short rest, they were led into a tunnelthat branched off to the right and wound downward to well below the river's level, but was itself dry. Theythen joined a small stream which flowed through a series of wide caverns until, emerging into an

enormous one, it entered a lake which seemed to the captives to be as big as the one they had campedby the night before. Here they were allowed to rest again, and had a chance to speak briefly.

"Even if these caves are the last thing I see, it's almost worth it," Brakis said. Telli agreed.

"I would want to explore them without being a prisoner. Do you think you could find the way back out?"

Brakis shook his head. They had passed so many passages branching off to each side, that to find theway back without taking a wrong turning seemed impossible. One of their guards indicated that they mustmove on, and they got up to be led around the lake, and into a long tunnel. This tunnel seemed to be amain route for their captors, and they started to pass some of the creatures going the opposite way.Greetings, and perhaps explanations, were hissed between their group and others, but those who had notseen the captives before did not show too much curiosity. It occurred to Telli that they must be

accustomed to seeing men. If so, then it must mean that they had all crossed the mountains and mustcross them regularly, as they could not have seen men on the western side, let alone be so familiar withthem. Had he not been a captive, he would have been excited by this seeming connection with the peopleeast of the mountains.

They were moving at a good speed now as many steps had been cut in the rock where the way wasdifficult. There were also torches set in the walls at ever more frequent intervals. The captives had noidea at all in which direction they were being led, but could tell that they were going down more often thanup. Once, about an hour after they had left the lake, they climbed down several hundred steps in almostcontinuous flight, and the way after this continued on a downward slope until they reached a huge cavernof spectacular beauty where they stopped for a while.

Telli looked around in wonder as they entered the cave, which he later remembered as the water cavern.

It was completely circular in every way, like the inside of a globe, with a diameter of about three hundredfeet. Their tunnel emerged half way between roof and floor, one of several entrances Telli could see. Ariver ran from his left to his right, entering the cavern at the level he stood, and tumbling down to thelowest point on the floor in a series of falls, like giant steps, before flowing out through a small gorge ithad cut in the opposite side. Other streams entered through the roof and walls, those highest up fallingdirectly through the air, three hundred feet to the floor. There were hundreds of stalagmites andstalactites, varying in length from a few feet to giant pairs meeting in the middle of the huge chamber andforming natural pillars.

All of this wonder was lit by many torches and by other light sources Telli could not identify coming fromshelves cut into the walls. There were many of the beak-faced creatures in the cavern, and some of theElnesiders' captors went down a long flight of steps to join their fellows. Telli and Brakis were left at theentrance with several guards, but were standing some distance apart, and could not possibly talk above

the sound of falling water, a constant and strange effect because of the echo and re-echo of the greatspherical chamber. Both were slightly dazed and confused, more by their experiences of the last fewhours than from the effects of the drug they had been forced to inhale when captured, which had largelyworn off. However, neither had serious injuries, and they were far from exhausted as their captors had notforced the pace of the march, and seemed to understand their limitations and their needs. This wasevident now as one of the guards came forward with a bag for each of them containing some of whatremained of their own food supplies.

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Telli sat down on a convenient rock facing towards the cavern and ate what he could, taking in the scenebelow, and reflecting on the puzzling mixture of rough treatment and apparent concern for their prisoners'welfare shown by the beak-men. The light here was by far the best of their journey so far, and he couldsee more of the features of his captors, most noticeably a very light, white or yellowish hair, whichseemed to cover all exposed parts of their bodies, including most of the face. He spotted with interest afemale at distance down below as she held a baby to her breast, human-like in posture, and then realisedthat, unlike his guards, perhaps half the creatures he could see in the cavern were female. Thetemperature in the caves was comfortable in general, and here seemed quite warm so that few of themwere wearing the hooded cloaks Telli had already seen, and the attire of both male and female wasvaried in both quantity and style. He would soon have plenty of time to examine this at closer quarters.

It was more than half an hour before they moved on, following the wall around to the right on a ledge cutinto the rock, rather than descending to the floor of the cavern. This led them to the opposite side,passing high above the river halfway around, over the point where it flowed out through the gorge. Theystopped at the entrance to another tunnel, where they were rejoined by the rest of their guards, arrivingup steps from below, and accompanied by another of the creatures who appeared to be someone ofimportance.

The newcomer seemed considerably older than the rest of the group, and was dressed in an elaborate

robe of many colours. He inspected the prisoners, and Telli had to suppress a nervous laugh on catchingBrakis's eye as the creature exuded a pompous self-importance so nearly human that it appearedcomical. After some hissing conversation with the guards, the old one led the group along the tunnel, andtheir march continued for about two hours before the next rest stop, this time in a much smaller cavern.Another hour after this and the prisoners began to sense that the air was becoming fresher, and onrounding a bend could see the light of day, and realised that they were being taken out of the mountain.

The two Elnesiders had been through an experience that would have been strange and confusingenough for any human, let alone those whose only knowledge of intelligent life was with the people oftheir own small community; and it was to continue. On arriving at the cave mouth, blinking in the daylight,they saw amongst a group of "beakmen" waiting for them, a man, the first stranger they had ever

encountered. Middle aged, with grey hair and a light brown complexion like their own, it was only hisgoatskin clothes that lent him a foreign appearance in the eyes of the prisoners. To their astonishment, heappeared to hold a fluent conversation with the old beakman leader, making a fair imitation of the hisses,clicks and cries they were becoming familiar with. Then, to their great joy, the rope leads were taken fromaround their necks, their wrists were untied, the man beckoned to them, and they followed him out of thecave leaving the creatures who had captured them behind.

A few yards from the cave mouth, the man stopped, turning to speak.

"Greetings strangers," he said, without smiling. "Do you speak Allenth?" His accent was strange to theElnesiders, but this was their language, the old written tongue of Drakis and their forefathers from east ofthe mountains.

"Yes, Allenth and nothing else," replied Brakis, thinking of the other's conversation with the old creature inthe cave.

"I am Anolph, foreman. And you are?"

They gave their names.

"Come and look," said Anolph, simply, and led them a short way on to a viewpoint.

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They were in a deep valley completely surrounded by mountains. Immediately before them was a villageof wooden houses. A stream ran through it, and around it were fields, orchards and small woods, orcoppices. At a distance was a high wall, made of stone, unlike the wooden fence that surroundedElneside to keep out the wolves at night. They looked at the scene, lit by the late afternoon sun, for a fewmoments. Then Brakis started to chuckle to himself in disbelief. Putting an arm round Telli's shoulders hesaid:

"I think we shall not need to trudge through the snows after all, my son." He pointed at the peaks in frontof them, and then around at those behind.

The dying sun shone on the mountains ahead, which were tree covered most of the way up to their rockypeaks. Only the occasional patch of snow clung to the highest slopes. Behind the two travellers, in thedirection from which they had come, were higher peaks covered with snow, which hid the setting sun fromtheir view, and therefore must be to the west. Telli realised that he had succeeded in his dream ofreaching the lands beyond the White Mountains, albeit by passing under rather than over them.

Anolph led them down to the village in silence, until they reached a wooden hut, which he enteredindicating that they should follow. He threw open the shutters of two windows to reveal a simple andslightly dilapidated room with a stone fireplace built out from one wall, and furnished only with two

wooden cots and a bench.

"You will stay here. It is all that is free at this moment," he said. Then, after showing them a barrel ofrainwater for washing behind the hut, and a latrine at a few yards distance from it, he stated that peoplewould arrive shortly with food and drink, before leaving, still without a smile.

The travellers were instinctively puzzled at the apparent lack of friendliness shown by their newacquaintance, although they had no references to indicate what should be expected when strangersarrived in a new community. Telli was wary, and suggested to Brakis that they should not divulge toomuch information as to their origins and the whereabouts of Elneside.

"We would not like our friends to receive an unexpected visit from the cave creatures," he said, andBrakis agreed.

They washed at the water barrel, then, for want of anything better to do, made up the fire with wood thatwas piled beside it even though they had no means or need to light it. Then they sat down to discuss theirbewildering day and await the promised arrival of food, and the chance to meet some other inhabitants ofthe village. Their hut was near the edge of the settlement on the side they had come from and, Anolphapart, they had only seen a few people at distance on their arrival. Brakis insisted on apologising for theirhaving been taken captive during his watch.

"They were silent and I heard nothing above the noise of the waterfall until the last second before theywere upon us," he explained. "There was a small noise from the rock behind as they threw some kind ofnet over us, and though I had my knife in hand, I could hardly move my arms in the mesh, and was hit onthe head before being smothered by something pressed to my face. I thought I was dying, and was verypleased to wake up in the cave as soon as you spoke and I realised that it was not the underworld, or thatif it was, at least I had company!"

Telli smiled at this, remembering his own elation at finding himself alive, in spite of the seeminglydesperate circumstances.

"It was some kind of sleeping drug they made us breathe in," he said, adding thoughtfully that there wereperhaps many interesting things to be learnt from the "beakmen" as he called them for want of a bettername. They discussed the strange creatures and the sights they had seen underground, until voicesoutside and a knock on the door told them that their food had arrived.

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Two women and a man entered the hut, laden with pots, plates and cups. The women introducedthemselves by name"I'm Marth" and "I'm Gretal"and nodding as the Elnesiders did likewise, placedtheir burdens on one of the cots, then withdrew, bidding the strangers to eat well. Both were elderly, anddressed in goatskin robes like Anolph. Unlike him, they had smiled a little in welcome, making Telli feelslightly more at ease. The man placed a large pot he was carrying over the unlit fire and, takingsomething from a pocket, crouched before it and produced a bright flame that lit the wood immediately, tothe surprise of the pair watching him. He filled three cups from a large flask, passing them round anddrinking a long draught from his own, before introducing himself as Seth.

Seth was a massive man, not so much in height as in breadth, with muscular arms as thick as Telli's legshanging from the broadest pair of shoulders the Elnesiders had ever seen. Although appearing to be afew years younger than Brakis, he was completely bald, the firelight shining a reflection from his smoothhead. He lit two lamps he had brought, producing a surprisingly strong light sufficient to illuminate theentire room well. Then, seating himself on one of the cots, he began to question the travellers after askingthem politely if he could stay for a while and eat with them.

Brakis gave a brief account of their journey, but deliberately left out any indication as to where Elnesidemight be, and gave the impression that it was part of a much larger community. This proved to be bothwise, but perhaps unnecessary where Seth was concerned, as the big man interrupted him at one point,

warning him to be guarded with such information although not immediately explaining why. While Brakisspoke, Seth rose from time to time to stir the contents of the pot cooking over the fire, and to refill theircups. He was also obliged to interrupt at times because the difference in accent and usage of wordsbetween his own dialect of Allenth and that of the Elnesiders was sufficient to mean that someclarification was necessary, although the gap was far from being insurmountable.

When Brakis had finished his account, Seth turned to Telli and asked:

"Telli, your name, is that after Tellimakis, conqueror, the first great King of my land this side of themountains?" Telli nodded and explained that the story of the King was known to his people through thewritings of their forefathers, the followers of Drakis. Seth seemed well pleased at this clear connectionbetween their two cultures, and also, on further questioning, at finding out that both of his newacquaintances could read. He became increasingly friendly, suggesting that they might teach his own

children their letters, as only three or four people in the village could read, and those not too well. Thenthe conversation took a strange turn.

"I shall ask for you to be sent to work with me," Seth said to Telli. "I am a smith, and make tools andweapons. It is easier for the youngsters to assist us than to work at the mining."

"Workermining?" Brakis was confused. "We are hunters, and would be happy to assist in huntingsome supplies for the village before we go on our way."

"We do not hunt. We have nothing to hunt and nowhere to hunt. You will work as we all must." Sethlooked from one puzzled face to the other before him, and sighed.

"You will not be going on your way, as I could never leave once here. We have no choice in this. We areslaves."

Chapter 4

Slaves. Words like "slave" and "mining" were nearly forgotten in Elneside. People who were doingarduous jobs, chopping firewood or harvesting a crop, might still declare themselves to be "working like

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slaves," a reference passed down through generations from a distant time and place. But after theirexperiences that day, the meaning of Seth's words was fairly clear to Telli and Brakis. The motives of thecave creatures in capturing them, without inflicting unnecessary injury, were explained. So was the highstone wall around the village, not there to keep wolves out, but to keep people in.

Seth busied himself for a while, serving portions of food from the pot into bowls and refilling their cups

while the Elnesiders absorbed his information. Every cloud is said to have a silver lining, and the wearytravellers soon discovered this to be true of their present predicament. Slaves maybe, but the food, athick, richly flavoured stew, was excellent. So was the drink, a brew made of fermented apple juice, whichSeth drank at an almost alarming rate. Brakis decided it was just the thing to help digest the news that hemight spend the rest of his life digging holes for the "beakmen," and drained his cup, holding it out formore and saying:

"It is not every day a man falls asleep free, and wakes a "slave" as you call it, so I think I shall celebrate."

Seth gave a rare smile as he filled the other man's cup.

"Have you been here a long time?" Telli asked.

The big man looked down at hands like shovels, shaped by his work as a smith. Telli saw a dreamy lookcome to his eyes as he replied in the slow manner of speech that was his nature.

"I was nine years old when the Khrelling took me, stole me from near my home as I was walking back onenight alone after a visit to my grandmother in the next village. I do not know how far away it was, for likeall here, I do not know exactly where we are, and I was drugged for most of the journey here. For the firstthree years I worked the fields with the women, as all our children do here. Then I started in the forge,and have been there since, more than twenty years. My wife was born here, as was her mother, but nother father who was taken as I was. Nearly all here were born slaves. Only a few like myself have somememory of another life; and there are only three others who, like you Brakis, reached manhood beforecoming here."

"Do you not think of escape?" asked Brakis.

The question made Seth visibly uneasy, and he replied gruffly that he would speak of that the next day,as he had the day off, and had been told by Anolph to show them around. The mention of Anolph's nameled Telli to another question.

"Can you speak the language of the creatures you call Krelling?"

"Khrelling," Seth corrected him, starting the word with a hissing sound in the back of his throat, so like thenoises the creatures made themselves that the others laughed. "I understand a little, perhaps a little morethan I choose to let them know. It can be useful to hear things not meant for one's ears at times." Sethlaughed also, and Telli, who had been noticing the way their new acquaintance became increasinglyrelaxed in their presence, realised that the big man instinctively liked the newcomers. He guessed

shrewdly that what Seth liked, whether he knew it or not, was that they smiled and laughed with ease;that in spite of their recent capture, they had not begun to behave like prisoners or slaves.

Brakis seemed to have decided to take their situation philosophically, and indicated as much bycomplimenting Seth on the food and the apple wine, and asking if he could spare some more of the latter.Telli had come to know his friend well, and knew that he also had guessed Seth might like to stay and talkwith them for a while. Brakis might seem determined to enjoy himself, but was also trying to guide themood of the big man in such a way as to make him reveal as much as possible about their new situation.

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Telli smiled to himself at the guile of the hunter, as the two men started to drink cup for cup of the brewtogether, while he drank slowly, keeping his young head clear and taking in the conversation.

The Elnesiders learnt that the village was known simply as the "camp", the slaves lacking the affection forthe place to give it a proper name, unusual for people in such a beautiful and fertile valley. When Brakiscommented again on the quality of the food, Seth stated that the Khrelling went to great lengths to ensure

that their slaves had the means to produce plenty to eat for themselves.

"In my village we kept oxen as beasts of burden, to pull our ploughs and our carts. Only a foolish manwould starve his oxen. He would get less work from them, and if they did not die they would still have lostvalue if sold at market. The Khrelling are not fools, at least not in that way. Their own diet is completelydifferent from ours, and they have no reason to take any of what we produce."

It appeared that the Khrelling were very much creatures of the caves, and when outside them, werecreatures of the night. They saw well in the dark and their eyes did not like bright light, like other nightanimals. Their pale skin needed to be covered when in direct sunlight, as it would burn. They could swimvery well, and could climb rock faces far better than men, their hands and feet specially adapted to do so.Important in their diet were blind-fish and a white fungus, both plentiful inside the caves, and whenoutside they preferred scratching in the ground for insects to anything else. One of the main reasons for

keeping slaves was that their ability to make and use tools was not nearly as good as that of the men whoworked for them. Seth indicated that he considered himself very valuable to his masters, and Telli noticedthat Brakis found this particularly interesting. The big smith explained that "Khrelling" meant "masters" inthe creatures' own language, leading Brakis to comment that the slaves of the camp must then have otherless polite names for them, drawing another smile from the big man.

Seth stayed for the evening, leaving once for a few minutes to return with another flagon of wine andsome cakes, which he presented as a gift from his wife. By the time he left, the Elnesiders had learnedquite a bit about their new home, but were still curious and puzzled as to many things.

"We must be careful," said Brakis, as they lay down on the cots for the night. "I think our new friend is agood man, but there is much he has not told us, and some of his hints lead me to believe that we cannottrust some of our fellow slaves, as well as the Khrelling. We shall find out more when we see the camp

tomorrow."

Telli agreed and, too tired to talk much, they both fell asleep at the same time for the first night since theirjourney had begun. Already captives, there was no need to watch.

The sun was already rising over the eastern peaks of the mountains surrounding the "camp" when Telliwoke Brakis, who was still feeling the effects of the apple wine. They had slept well and late, and Telli feltmore relaxed and refreshed than he had on any morning since leaving Elneside. He was building up thefire from the previous night's embers when Seth arrived with some food, this time accompanied by ayoung boy whom he introduced as his son, aged ten. Telli smiled at the introduction, hardly necessary asthe youngster was already his own size, and resembled his father so closely in every way (excepting thebald head) that the sight of the two together was almost comical. Indeed Brakis, coming in with his headdripping wet after an attempt to clear it in the water barrel, laughed aloud as he guessed the relationship,and clapped Seth on the back, congratulating him in typical Elneside fashion on having such a sturdyoffspring. Seth was obviously pleased, and stated that he would be back shortly to show them around thecamp, wishing them a good appetite before leaving with his son in hand.

The food was plentiful and good, and it was difficult for the Elnesiders to feel anything other thanoptimism in their present circumstances. The memory of the day before seemed like a receding nightmareas they sat down on a pile of logs outside the hut to eat. It was such a beautiful day, the lush green valley

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and the splendid mountains to the west bathed in sunlight, that contrast with the dark caves and theirhissing, squealing inhabitants could hardly have been greater. Several neighbours passed and greetedthem shyly. The apparent health and wellbeing of the camp's inhabitants added to the impression, sostrange for two people who had just lost their freedom, that all was going well with their journey. Theyhad, at least, passed the highest of the great White Mountains.

When Seth returned, the three of them set off on a tour of the village and its surrounds. The houses wereall on a similar model to the hut allocated to Telli and Brakis, although most were larger. There were fewpeople around, but as they emerged from the village, they passed several groups of women and childrenworking in the fields and picking the summer fruit in the orchards. Seth led the newcomers directlytowards the boundary wall as if sensing their inevitable interest in the practical nature of theirimprisonment, speaking of escape as he had promised the night before.

"When I first arrived here, though only a boy, I thought of little else than of finding a way out of the camp,and of returning to the family and friends I had left behind. You will do this also, as all new captives do,and indeed, many of those who are born here. It is impossible to escape! I have been told to show youwhy this is so. Only a man who could fly could possibly leave the camp."

Telli deliberately showed no reaction to this chance remark, but was sure that he could feel the smiling

gaze of Brakis, walking a step behind the other two, on the back of his head. They were approaching awooden fence which ran parallel to the high stone wall at about thirty yard's distance from it, and couldsee a man sitting on a small platform at the top of some steps beside it. On arriving at the fence, Sethintroduced the man, who was elderly and grey-haired, as Hanith, a "fence-guard" by occupation. Heasked the Elnesiders to join Hanith on the platform, and when they had done so, he untied a goat thatwas tethered to the foot of the steps. Lifting it easily in his great arms, he then carried it up to the platformbeside them, and dropped it on the other side of the fence.

"This is the boundary we cannot pass. Watch the goat," he said simply.

They watched as the goat struggled to its feet and limped away, bleating in protest at this unexpectedtreatment. The area between the fence and the wall was covered in long grass and shrubs, and therewere several large ponds in sight. The watchers saw nothing unusual at first, then there was a splash

from one of the nearest ponds, and the grass seemed to part at an ever-increasing speed in a direct linefrom the water's edge to where the goat now stood. The animal reared up suddenly with something largehanging from its throat. Telli and Brakis watched in astonishment as the goat fell to the ground and theycould see its attacker clearly. It was a massive lizard, perhaps nine feet long and looking like anenormous version of the green fly-catching lizard that lived on the banks of the Elne, but which never totheir knowledge grew to more than two feet in length. As they watched, the monster was joined by twomore of its kind, and while they tore into the flesh of the goat with huge jaws champing, and tongueslonger than a man's arm flickering in and out, red with blood, others started to arrive from further away.Fights broke out over the meat, the beasts swinging their tails at each other with such force that a singleblow would surely have killed a man. After a few moments, nothing was left of the goat but a few bones.

As the great lizards moved away, Brakis let out his breath in a long whistle, and commented that hewould not be going any nearer to the wall in a hurry.

"Cannot lizards climb trees?" he asked. "Are we safe up here?"

The fence they stood on was about twelve feet high, and Hanith told them to lean over and look at theinside. They could see that this was covered not with wood, but with squares of smooth slate, each layeroverlapping the next from top to bottom.

"Their claws cannot grip this," he explained. "If it was m