Quest (46 page)

'Jump back, Lord Davred!' yelled Benjan. As Davred obeyed instantly, the Hashite whirled to his side and thumped another black-clad figure into oblivion. Laughing, he turned to face the next attacker.

Behind the second wagon, Fiana was struggling desperately to fend off two men at once. Jonner leaped off the first wagon and ran back to help her, sending a knife ahead of him. All Fiana saw was a glint in the air, then one man fell, yelling in pain, blood pouring from a knife wound in his thigh. The second hesitated a moment, then thrust at Fiana again while edging around to face Jonner.

At the same time a third man rounded the wagon from the other side, howling a stream of abuse. With a gasp of outrage at his accusations, Cheral seized a frying pan and clanged him on the side of the head with it.

'How
dare
you!' she panted.

He yelled in pain and began to threaten her with obscene and agonising sacrifice in the Inner Shrine, so she flung a minor illusion at him. It was poor, as were all her illusions, but it was enough like a raas wasp to distract him while she clouted him on the other side of the head. He fell to the ground with a grunt, and the wasp winked out of existence.

'Forgive me, Brother!' Cheral gasped, but she kept a firm hold of the pan, and used it again on another attacker who was unwary enough to present his back to the wagon.

Carryn began to whimper, as if she could sense the violence around her, even through the slumberbane. Seeing that most of their attackers were disabled one way or another, and the rest fleeing down the track as fast as they could, Cheral put down the pan and leaned over to soothe the child and check her pulse.

QUEST Shannah Jay 169

As quickly as it had begun, the tumult was over and the last attacker dropped his sword in token of surrender.

Benjan kicked it out of the way immediately in case this was a trick, and shoved the man around to the front of the wagons, where Herra wanted all the prisoners to be gathered. 'If you make one wrong move, I'll knock the sun out of your sky!' Benjan threatened.

Sh'ellen bugled loudly and the other deleff stopped making their whining noises of distress. The aura of light around them faded and they began to shuffle restlessly in their places. They seemed very upset, but when the deleffal bugled again, they stood still and sighed through their nostrils. As Benjan's prisoner passed by, Sh'ellen stretched out his neck and hissed in the man's face, causing him to stumble.

Benjan laughed. 'Even the deleff can tell what unholy scum you are!' He thrust the man among the other prisoners and went to scratch Sh'ellen under the ruff of scales, telling him what a fine discerning creature he was. The great head leaned briefly against him and the ruff opened and closed. Sh'ellen sighed wearily.

'It's not our fault,' murmured Benjan. 'I know you don't like violence, but it's over now.' He looked a little puzzled at his own words. Now, how had he known to say that to the deleffal?

Herra waited until thirteen sullen or unconscious men were gathered before her, then clapped her hands for attention. '
Go and sit under that setheresh tree! Carry your wounded with you.
' She waited until they’d obeyed her, then with a flick of her hands, she set wards around them.

Cheral dropped to her knees, which had begun to tremble now that the crisis was over. 'Elder Sister, I
hit
a man!' she wailed, then corrected herself. 'Two men! My soul is lost!'

'Nonsense!' said Herra. 'You did what you had to, that was al , not in viciousness, but in self-defence.'

'But Elder Sister, I hit them in anger! They were saying such dreadful things about us.'

'I see nothing wrong with that feeling. There was no reason for anyone to attack us. We've harmed no one. If we can’t feel angry at that, then we’re not normal.' She gave a half smile and added, 'We did well, too. We managed to fight off an ambush without killing a single attacker. We should rejoice that our Brother is still with us.'

'Rejoice!' Katia's voice was full of pain and she slid to the ground in a faint.

Herra turned to their captives and her voice lashed them with scorn. 'This Sister, whom you attack and revile, has so gentle a nature that she doesn’t willingly hurt even a spider. It's the pain of defending herself against your attack which has made her faint. Look well upon your handiwork, ravishers of the innocent. Take pride in your bravery!'

'Close your eyes and ignore the witch!' yelled one of the prisoners. 'She’s trying to snare you with lies and sorcery.'

He pressed his hands together at his breast in the writhing motion Those of the Serpent used when praying to their God, and began to intone, 'Serpent, save your Servants! Serpent, save your Servants!' in a loud whining monotone.

Before any of the other prisoners could take up the chant, Herra snapped her fingers and he froze into glassy-eyed immobility. 'Beware my wrath if you invoke that name again in my presence!' she warned in a voice that chilled the air around them. After waiting for a minute to make sure they’d obey her, she continued, 'You may judge for yourselves our evil intent, for we shall now heal the wounded before we leave you.'

'Herra, is that wise?' asked Davred in a low voice. 'None of them is seriously injured, and we ought to leave here as quickly as possible. There may be reinforcements already on the way.'

'I couldn't leave them in pain I had helped to inflict, and it's unworthy of you even to consider it, Lord Davred. We search for the Path of Wisdom, not the path of violence.'

He stepped back and bowed his head, accepting the rebuke.

'We shall heal Katia first,' commanded Herra. 'She's in the greatest pain.'

Watched open-mouthed by the eleven conscious prisoners, they formed a circle and performed the healing together.

As they did so, Davred could feel the anger seeping out of him.

'Don't watch them,' one of the prisoners mouthed to the man next to him. 'It's too dangerous.'

'None of us has ever managed to see one of their filthy rites. It's our duty to watch. How else can we learn to defeat
QUEST Shannah Jay 170

them?'

'Not much to watch, if you ask me,' said another man. 'They must save the real filth for inside those hel -pits of theirs.'

Once free of the pain, Katia took her place in the circle, while Benjan, at a nod from Herra, went over to the prisoners. He thought it a sheer waste of time to help such as these, but if the Lady Herra wished it, then he’d do as she asked. A part of the fence warding the prisoners shimmered and he stepped through to pick up the man with the deep slash in his thigh. The other men muttered, but none dared move against the witch's henchman - not with the example of their paralysed leader before them.

As he laid the injured man down in front of Herra, Benjan realised how terrified the fellow was. 'Peace, friend! If we were going to kill you, we'd have done it by now, word of a Hashite.' He grinned at the expression of relief on the man's face.

Herra snapped her fingers and Benjan resumed his place in the circle. She knelt beside the man and laid her hands on his thigh. 'He's telling you the truth, you know. We do not kill.'

'Who knows what sorcery you'll lay upon me!' the man said, his voice hoarse with fear. 'I'd rather keep the wound.

Truly I would. It's nothing. It'll heal in a few weeks.'

'Tel me that after it's healed today. Hush now. Lie quiet. Think only of your leg. Think of it whole . . . '

Sweat broke out on the man's brow as a crawling feeling in his leg was followed by the edges of the wound knitting together of their own accord. A furious itching heralded the formation of new pink flesh. The pain went and stillness reigned for a few minutes over the dusty patch of track.

'You've been fed with lies about the Sisterhood, you know,' Herra told the man, speaking softly, for his ears alone. 'I don't ask you to believe me now, only to watch what happens around you when you go back to Tenebrak. Think of what you're doing, how you're hurting people. Are you married?'

'What business . . . ' he began, then caught Benjan's eye and muttered, 'Yes.'

'Does your wife enjoy being whipped?'

'She does her duty.'

'Then why must she be whipped? Has she been a bad wife to you?'

'It's her duty, and mine, to do as the Servants tell us. She's only a woman. The pain is the proof we offer of our devotion. It gives strength to the Serpent.'

'Do you enjoy watching them whip and humiliate her? Does that make you both happy?'

A vision of Jannel's terrified face each time he took her to the shrine made him swallow hard, so he threw at her,

'What's that got to do with you? Why don't you just kill me and be done with it? Stop filling me with your lies!'

'Certainly, friend. But
think
about the questions I've asked you, won't you? Think of them every time Jannel weeps in fear or whimpers in pain. And
remember
that we killed no one today, and healed your wound. Now, stand up and walk back to your fellows.'

He did as she asked, too terrified to ask how she knew his wife's name. When he sat down under the setheresh tree, his companions shrank away from him.

'You should've stopped them healing you, Maren!' snapped one of the Servants of the Shrine.

'Oh, yes?' he replied fiercely, as afraid of the ideas Herra had planted as of what had happened. 'You try to stop them, then! They're coming for you now. Show us how to stop them healing you.'

'Like this.' The Servant plucked a concealed dagger from his belt and in one swift movement plunged it into his chest, where it stood vibrating as his nerveless fingers loosened their grip. But only a thin trickle of blood ran down the blade, and he continued to breathe, as the knife was ejected from his body.

'No!' he screamed. 'No! Foul sorcery! I'm dead! I'm dead!'

QUEST Shannah Jay 171

He started to scream, as hoarsely as a li-bird mating, on and on and on until his voice broke. Nothing Herra could do would stop him. Though she stood over him and willed him to stay sane, his mind broke into shreds and shards which his screams threw out until there was only a yawning emptiness left in his skull. With tears running down her face, Herra touched his forehead gently and the dreadful cries ceased. 'Why will you reject life, poor soul? Why will you choose oblivion?'

She let the body roll back on to the ground and turned to the rest of the prisoners. 'Who is next?' And though her cheeks were still wet with tears, her voice was implacable. 'I shall not bewitch you, or harm you in any way, but the God within me will not let me leave behind pain that I have caused without attempting to heal it.' She scanned the prisoners and was thankful to find no darkness in any of their souls like that which had lain within the dead man. 'If it wil make you feel more secure, we shall heal you two at a time. Thus you may watch over each other carefully for witchcraft.

You! And you!'

With the Servant's body lying before them, they dared not refuse. One minor fracture. A strained tendon. The cut on Davred's arm. Two cases of concussion, thanks to Benjan's strong right arm. One lacerated arm and cheek. One sprained ankle. One black eye and grazed forehead. Nothing escaped Herra's sharp eyes; nothing was too small. One man, who had had headaches for years, she worked on for longer than the others. Another, who was older and whose back was getting stiff, she admonished about lifting things carelessly and sent away with the aching gone.

Davred, his newly-healed arm still throbbing slightly, glanced anxiously up the track once or twice. Jonner was visibly itching to leave and had to be removed from the circle because he was distracting the others. Even Benjan was rumbling with unease, but Herra insisted on healing every injury, even the slightest bruise, and the other three women obeyed her without question.

At last, however, it was al finished. Sh'ellen began to stamp his feet and whistle through his nostrils the minute they stopped, and the other deleff rattled their harness.

'You'd think they knew,' muttered Jonner.

'Those of the Serpent will send more men against us. How shall we avoid them, Elder Sister?' asked Davred as the wagons began to roll down the track.

'I think we must turn from the track and travel through the wildwoods.'

'With these wagons?'

'If we can. If not, we shall have to leave the wagons behind.'

'Do you know of a turning?'

'No. But our Brother is watching over us,' she said serenely.

Two kloms along the track, with no signal from Jonner, the deleffal moved smoothly into the undergrowth and the other wagon followed. Jonner started to pull on the reins and shout at Sh'ellen to stop, but Herra laughed aloud. 'Stop shouting, Jonner. We need to get off the track, don't we?'

'But not to get bogged down in the wildwoods.'

'We shall not get bogged down.'

The wagon tilted and rol ed about as it moved over the rougher ground, but it didn’t get stuck. Katia slipped down from the second wagon. 'I'll go back and cover our tracks.'

Davred made as if to join her, but she shook her head. 'You’d make more tracks than you obliterated, my Davred.

Leave it to me.'

It was agony to him to acknowledge that she was right. In the wildwoods they must all follow her instructions, even Herra.

Katia rejoined them a while later, as they continued to creak through the undergrowth. She waved at Herra. 'No one can now see where we left the road, and I set minor wards over the beginning of the track. I haven't the ability to set major wards yet, unfortunately, but they won't want to look in the direction we took.'

QUEST Shannah Jay 172

Herra looked at her quizzically. 'Since when have you been able to set any wards at all, child?'

Katia looked stunned. 'I - never have before. I just - did it. It was necessary to guard our tracks. I’d done the preliminary exercises for that Discipline before we left Tenebrak, though.'

Herra bowed her head for a moment. 'Brother, you move swiftly,' she whispered, and only Sh'el en's sensitive ears caught her words. 'Well done, Katia! I must give you some more tuition when we have time.' She grinned at Jonner. 'So, Jonner, are you happier now? Who can tell where these faithful creatures are taking us, or how they knew we needed to turn off the track?' She raised her voice and called, 'Thank you, my friends!'