Gaal the Conqueror (13 page)

They read the words several times, its meaning chilling. The
thunder of the falls seemed to make the ground tremble beneath their feet.

"I guess you saved my life," John shouted at length.

"Who is Mirshaath?" Eleanor shouted in return.

"I've no idea. Ponty might know."

"I'm scared for you-"

"But don't you see? The Mirshaath creature obviously meant
me to die by drinking from the pool-and you stopped me." He
paused and shuddered. "You know, I nearly plunged right into
it, even after you stopped me."

"Shagah is behind this," Eleanor said. "I can feel it in the
shaking of my bones. I wonder how come Authentio never told
us about it?"

"Yes. That sure is strange. Perhaps this place is like Brigadoon-here once in a hundred years or something."

"Well, it must have been here before to kill all those people.
Perhaps he uses that spell whenever he wants to. The poem
says you'll destroy the wheel. How will you do that?"

"I don't know. I never thought about it. With one of the
treasures, I suppose. I guess I could lean out over that ledge
half way up the falls and-and do something. But destroying
it! It sounds crazy. How could I? Its enormous."

They discussed which of the magic treasures to try, and finally selected the orb. But they were by no means clear why they
did so. For the longest time John stared at the ledge that jutted
behind the falls to where the wheel was turning. He saw that
he could probably just about touch the wheel with the tip of his
fingers if he leaned out beyond the ledge. It looked dangerous.
And he was extremely weary and desperately thirsty. Yet the
more he stared at the ledge, the more certain he felt that he
must climb up to it.

Wearily he worked his way up to the ledge, taking the orb
with him. "Be careful-do be careful," Eleanor shrieked. But John never heard her.

The thunder of the waterfall numbed his brain. The wheel
whirled dangerously fast. Its spokes were like immense whirling
teeth waiting to crush and devour him. Strangely, he felt no
fear. He turned to look down at Eleanor whose lips were moving, but whose hands gripped the side of her head in terror.
But the roar of the water prevented him from hearing her.
Slowly he wriggled forward over the wet and slippery ledge until
his shoulders extended beyond it. Spray soaked his clothing. A
dark abyss behind the fall was filled with the monstrous whirling wheel. Terror and dizziness had him in their grip in an
instant. He closed his eyes for several seconds. "I'm all right.
I won't fall. An' I won't look down again."

Nevertheless, his whole body shook as gripping the orb in his
right hand he extended it forward as far as he could. He could
feel it vibrating in his hand, extending flashes of clear blue
light into the darkness of the abyss from its burning jewels.
Somehow it steadied him, so that his trembling subsided. But
it failed to reach the whirling wheel. He gritted his teeth, conscious of the drop beneath him but determined to focus on the
job at hand. Then he wriggled forward until the upper part of
his chest was over nothing.

He almost fell as he extended his hand further and pulled
it back sharply, wriggling back a little. In spite of the chill from
the spray, sweat mingled with water running down his face.
With utmost caution he extended the orb again. Slowly it pulled
forward almost out of his control. There was a vivid flash and
above the roar of falling water he both heard and felt a loud
crack. Instinctively, not knowing why he did so he pulled back,
still gripping the orb, scrambled away from the fall and back
on to the hillside.

Then as he turned to look he saw that blue flames had enveloped the wheel and that it had stopped turning. It was being
battered mercilessly by the awesome waters. Clouds of spray soon obscured the view, and he scrambled down to where Eleanor was standing. For several minutes giant blue flames continued to shoot through the cloud of spray that covered the
falls. Then with a final flash, the spray was gone and the fire
swept down to cover the pool of Taavath-Basar below.

There was a crash behind them that was louder than the
thunder of the falls. They turned and saw that the obelisk had
fallen and lay shattered in myriad pieces. For two full minutes
neither of them spoke, staring alternately at each other and at
the falls. Suddenly John's face lit with wonder. "I'm going to
drink from the pool and then bathe in it," John shouted.

"Oh, no! You mustn't." Eleanor's face was white.

"It's O.K. Don't you see? The spell's broken. The water's pure
now. The fire cleaned it out."

"How can you be sure?"

"I just am."

Wearily he stumbled down to the edge of the pool, selecting
a point where the water was almost calm. Then as he had done
by the larger pool earlier, he knelt and scooped up water in his
hands. But this time he drank. He scooped more and drank
again. And again. And again. Then cautiously, and without
bothering to remove any of his clothing, he put in his legs first
standing waist-high in the water.

"It's freezing!" he cried breathlessly, and plunged his head
and shoulders below the surface, to rise gasping and sputtering.

He glanced up at Eleanor. "Come and drink it!" he cried.
"I've never tasted water like it. It's-it's such powerful water! All
the ache's gone out of my legs! I feel marvelous!" The skin of
his face was glowing and his eyes were shining. "My whole
body's tingling and-" he scrambled out of the water, dripping,
and twisted round to examine the place where his sandal had
rubbed his left heel. "-that big blister's gone!"

He jumped in the air, a picture of vigor, and then ran to
where Eleanor stood uncertainly. He grabbed her arm. "Come on! Try some! It's terrific!"

She resisted and. shook her head. "Oh, John, I wish you
hadn't done that!" She was trembling and weeping from near
exhaustion.

Almost angrily John seized her head between his hands.
"Look at me!" he cried. "Can't you see what's happened to me!
Look! My blisters are gone. I don't ache anywhere. I'm not tired
anymore. I feel full of energy. The spell-or whatever it was has
been broken just like the writing said it would be! The water's
back to what it was in the past. It must have been some special
water the Changer made. And now-oh, come on and try it!"

Eventually Eleanor did. Her face bore a worried expression
as she dipped her hands in the water, but a moment after she
had tasted a little of it, the look changed to one of wonder. A
few more sips, then another handful, then more and more.
Soon she was laughing with merriment and dancing. "It's wonderful!"

John removed his cloak and spread it out to dry. They lay on
their backs letting the sun's heat pour over them, and stared up
at the blue sky above, discussing the strange events of the day.
By and by they drifted to sleep, and slept for three hours or
more. The cool of the evening was on them when they woke,
and as they opened their eyes and sat up the scene around
them had been transformed.

"Just look at that!" John said.

"It's all green!"

"You can hardly recognize it!"

While they had slept the valley had been clothed with vegetation. Many of the trees were festive with blossoms. Others
bore fully ripe fruit. Wild flowers were scattered everywhere
and the air was filled with the scent of flowers and blossom, and
the sound of bird song.

"How could it happen so quickly?"

"Mebbe we've been asleep for a hundred years!"

John laughed. "I don't think so. The place was under Mirshaath's spell, and the spell has been broken. "Hey! What happened to the skeletons?" There was no sign of them on the far
hillside. But on the crest of the hill opposite, a small knot of
people was making its way north.

"They must all have come to life!" Eleanor said wonderingly.

"They can't possibly have-"

"Then where are they? And how do we explain the trees and
the grass? They're every bit as impossible as skeletons brought
to life."

"It's incredible. .

Then, rested and filled with new strength, they set their faces
to the southeast, and began to climb out of the valley.

The forest did not look forbidding. It was beautiful, sunlit and
inviting. The trees were neither too tall nor too close together,
so sunlight filled open areas around them. The pathway they
were to follow wound and twisted before disappearing from
view. The forest seemed to be saying, "Hi, there! How are you
this morning? Why don't you come in and enjoy me?"

They had luxuriated the previous night in a Gaal tree, a
second one which they had discovered as they had emerged
from the Valley of Taavath-Basar. Then on setting out that
morning they had encountered no difficulty in following the
directions Authentio had given them. Eleanor carried a large
linen napkin knotted at the corners, bearing a lunch she had
made up for them before setting out. John carried the leather
water bottle and the book on his back

Dew sparkled in the early morning sunlight as they ap proached the wood. "There's something on that trunk-a piece
of paper or something," Eleanor said, pointing to a tree.

It was as she said. A weather-beaten piece of paper bore the
words, "To the Sword Bearer and his companion Eleanor:
Greetings. I have seen evidences of enchantment in this area.
Proceed with special caution. Use the power of the treasures.
Authentio."

John held the paper in fingers that trembled partly with fear
and partly with excitement. "I hope he's OX There's danger
for him as well as us-and he doesn't have the treasures."

Cautiously, their eyes darting here and there for any hidden
dangers, they began to follow the path slowly. It was too narrow
for the two of them to walk side by side in comfort, so John led
the way. Weatherworn rocks, mantled with a glowing green
moss jutted unevenly along the path, which continued to wind
and twist. Tree roots also sent thin knuckled fingers across the
path, seeming to say, "Please do not step on us. We have rheumatism."

A velvet hush and an expectant stillness reigned. The forest
seemed to be waiting. But for what? The notes of an occasional
bird call fell as liquid droplets into a pool of silence. Automatically John and Eleanor lowered their voices when they spoke.

"You know, it must have been quiet in the desert when we
were there-but I didn't notice it like I do here," John murmured.

"It's the birds," Eleanor replied. "There weren't any birds in
the desert. But their calls sort of remind you how still everything
is."

Beside the path, and in sunlit openings, asters, dandelions
and clover seemed to raise their heads in greeting, while lady
slippers and tiger lilies lowered their heads modestly.

"It's not a bit like I expected," John said softly. "I thought an
enchanted forest would be-well, sort of sinister. Look at the
flowers! They're so nice and not a bit magical or enchanted."