Текст книги "Quest for the Faradawn"

Автор книги: Richard Ford

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Текущая страница: 9 (всего у книги 23 страниц)

CHAPTER XII

The entrance to the tree, for it was hollow, was a large pointed archway, the edges of which were framed with moss. The elf led the animals through it into a circular hall, the floor of which was again covered in a carpet of green moss. Around the walls seats had been carved into the wood and they were taken across to one side of the hall and asked to sit for a short while.

‘Welcome to the Elvenoak,’ said the elf. ‘My name is Reev and I will be your guide and friend while you are here. I have spoken to the Lord Wychnor and he wishes you to spend the night with us for he will see you on the morrow. I must now go and arrange some sustenance; I am certain you must be hungry. I will call you shortly,’ and he walked lightly away over the velvety carpet to a circular flight of steps which had been cut into the wall and which wound round the inside of the hall until it disappeared through the ceiling above them. When he had gone the animals relaxed and looked about them, talking amongst themselves and exploring. What seemed strange at first was that though it was dark outside now, there was still plenty of light in the hall but on looking round the walls Nab discovered little patches of bright orange lichen which gave off a warm glow and it was these, combined with the light that came from a number of small fungi growing out of the moss, that enabled them to see as if it were a summer twilight. As they walked around they found strange carvings sculpted into the wood, some portraying the mythical events with which old Bruin had made them so familiar and others that related legends and stories they had never heard. As their eyes grew more used to the light they saw that even the stairs and the seats were decorated with ornate and intricate patterns which Warrigal said were ancient runes. There were a number of doors set flush with the walls and twice while they were waiting an elf came out, gave them a greeting and walked through the front archway into the night. When the door was open they could see stairs behind leading upwards which were smaller than the main stairway.

While they were looking at a particularly large carving which Warrigal was attempting to explain, Reev called to them and they turned around to see him standing halfway up the stairs.

‘Your room is ready now,’ he said, and the animals, who had not eaten since they left Silver Wood, gratefully walked across the hall and climbed the stairs. The last time they had seen stairs was in the Urkku dwelling where Nab had been captured and they shuddered with fear and revulsion at the memories that came back to them. These were different; the dark wood had been worn smooth and the edges of the stairs were rounded and shaped so that walking up them was a delight. As they got higher they looked over the side at the hall below and saw the orange glow flickering against the burnished wood of the carvings. Suddenly they were standing at the end of a winding corridor with doors on either side, and Reev led them off the stairs, which continued to wind around upwards, and took them down the corridor and round some corners until they came to a door which he opened and ushered them through.

‘This is where you’ll stay tonight,’ he said. ‘I think you will find everything you want; food is on the floor in the corner; but if you require anything just pull that briar that you see hanging from the roof. I will call you in the morning when the Elflord will speak with you.’ He paused and smiled at them. ‘I bid you goodnight; may your dreams be touched with silver.’

The room was small but extremely comfortable. Along one wall was a mass of fresh meadowsweet for Brock and Nab to sleep on and a stout branch had been provided for Warrigal’s perch. It had been placed on the dark wood floor next to a small round hole in the outside wall through which the moon was shining, sending in a shaft of light which bathed the little room in silver. The animals went over to the window and looked out at the clearing. Warrigal was of course used to looking down at things from a great height but for Nab and Brock it was wonderful to survey a scene from above. The moon seemed to be shining out of the pond, so brightly was it reflected in the still, black water, and the trees sparkled as the frost brushed their branches with glitter. They stood for a long time, gazing out at the picture below them until its memory was so firmly implanted that, whenever they wanted to later, they could recall every minute detail and always with a feeling of calmness and serenity.

Eventually their stomachs began to remind them that they were hungry and they reluctantly turned away and went over to the corner in which Reev had said there was something to eat. There in carved wooden bowls and dishes they found a selection of food and drink that was bewildering in its variety. There were all the usual things which they were accustomed to, but they came from all the seasons, not just winter, and Nab marvelled at their exquisite flavours and the odd fact that they seemed to taste so much better than they did at home. There were some dishes which contained familiar things but which were warm as if they had been heated in the sun; hot portions of puffball and boletus that seemed to melt away in the mouth without the need to chew and which tasted completely different from when they were cold. There were other dishes which contained foods they had never seen before, and they took a long time cautiously exploring these new flavours and textures, each reporting to the other his views on the contents of a certain bowl and being advised in return to try a bowl which the other had just investigated. Interspersed among the foods were bowls of crystal clear water which sparkled and seemed to fill the drinker with energy. The animals discovered that even these were different; some were of a delicate pink and had the sweet savour of rosehips while others were more of a reddish hue and reminded the animals of clover. There was one of which Brock was particularly fond; it was a rich golden colour and tasted how the badger imagined meadowsweet would taste in a drink. He found that it went particularly well with the flavour of the hot portions of puffball and he spent a long time by the two bowls that contained these delicacies taking a mouthful of the white fungus and following it with a sip of the golden water.

Finally, when the moon was high up in the night sky, the animals stopped eating and, feeling as content and secure as they had ever felt, settled down to sleep; Brock and Nab with the fresh scent of meadowsweet surrounding them to remind Brock of Tara and the sett and Nab of the days when he was young and would curl up against Tara’s warm fur at night, and Warrigal perched on the branch, his liquid brown eyes closed, thinking of Wythen and the number of times his father must have stayed here on previous occasions. Their long journey and the excitement they had gone through had left them more exhausted than they had realized and immediately their eyes closed they were off into the light but restful sleep of the wild animal, and whether it was the food or the drink or the moon they could not be sure but their dreams seemed touched with silver as Reev had wished them.

They were woken next morning by the sunlight pouring in through the window and when they looked outside they could see a thick layer of hoar frost on the trees and the ground, covering everything in white. At that moment Reev came in.

‘Welcome to the day,’ he said, and the sing-song sound of his voice chased away the shadows. ‘Have you glanced outside? We are blessed with a frost; a wonderful day. A good day for you to meet the Lord Wychnor.’ He danced over to the empty bowls on the floor and began to chuckle quietly to himself. ‘My, you were hungry. You enjoyed your food.’ He pulled the bramble briar and three elves came in carrying more bowls full of food and put them down in place of last night’s, which they then took away on wooden trays.

‘The morning is yours,’ he said. ‘When you have eaten you may do as you wish; walk around outside, explore the pond; and I will meet you at Sun-High in the hall downstairs whence I shall take you to meet the Elflord. ’ He went out as suddenly as he had come in, and the animals, to their surprise, found themselves as hungry as ever and began to eat once more.

‘I shall forget what it’s like to have to go and find food,’ said Brock with his mouth full of bilberries, but in spite of himself and all the wonder and magic of this place he found himself thinking of Silver Wood with a little ache of homesickness.

‘I suppose once we have seen the Lord Wychnor we shall leave,’ said Nab, who knew how the badger was feeling but whose excitement did not allow him any room to think of home. He knew that he was about to learn about himself, and his apprehension at the thought of this, coupled with an intense curiosity, made him begin to feel terribly nervous and to realize that, in their fascination with everything around them, they had forgotten the main purpose of their visit.

When the bowls were empty again and the animals were replete, Nab pushed open the door to their room and they walked back along the corridor and down the stairway into the hall where they had waited last night. It looked different now with the sunlight streaming in through the entrance, making the corners it didn’t reach seem dark in contrast and throwing great bands of light on to the mossy floor, turning it into a bright emerald green: the colour of the young beech leaves when they first start to unfurl in the spring. There was much coming and going with elves rushing in and out through the doors leading off the hall, meeting and talking and laughing as they went about their business, going outside and coming in again. To the animals they gave the impression of always being on the move; full of a restless vibrant energy with quicksilver minds and bodies that danced about ceaselessly. Their voices filled the hall with music and reminded Nab of the sound of the stream behind Silver Wood as it chuckled and tinkled its way over the pebbles on its sandy bed. In the sunlight the glow from their bodies seemed less bright than it had done yesterday evening but it was still there and as they moved it seemed to leave a trail behind so that it was difficult to see exactly where they were at any single moment except when they were standing still, which was never for very long.

The animals made their way through the hall slowly, feeling ponderous and slightly clumsy as well as extremely conspicuous. The elves all seemed aware of their presence and none showed any surprise as they walked past; each one giving them a different greeting but all bade them welcome before going on their way.

Nab emerged first into the sunlight and had to screw up his eyes for a short time until he got used to it. Then they all walked down to the shore, scrunching over the oak leaves on the ground which were still crisp with frost, and made their way around the edge of the pond. They found themselves strangely relieved when they realized, after walking for a while, that they were out of sight of the entrance and they settled down on a stone behind some tall rushes and sat for a long time without saying a word, staring down at the water and listening to the sound of some little waves, stirred up by a light breeze, as they lapped gently against the shore. It was good to be on their own again and eventually they all felt more relaxed and began talking about everything that had happened to them since they first entered Ellmondrill. Soon they were all talking at once, each with his different ideas and views and opinions, until Wanigal interrupted.

‘Come on, we’d better be making our way back. It’s almost SunHigh,’ he said, and a little sadly they got up and, with the sun on their backs, went back to the entrance and through it into the hall.

The bustle of the morning had subsided now and there were just a few elves passing through. It seemed very dark inside after being out in the bright sunshine and it took a while for their eyes to adjust so that they could see clearly. Reev had spotted them from the other side and he came over to address them before they had had a chance to see him.

‘You enjoyed your morning,’ he said. ‘You smell of sunshine. Come; Lord Wychnor is waiting,’ and he walked off up the main stairs. The animals followed him as he went up the way they had gone to their room last night, past their door, along to the end of the corridor and then up a new flight of stairs which seemed to go on for ever. Every so often there was a crack or a hole in the wall and, when they peeped cautiously out, they realized that they were climbing higher and higher as the clearing grew smaller beneath them and soon they came level with the tops of the trees on the other side of the pond. They could see the great squirrels’ dreys nestling amongst the stark black winter branches and sometimes they saw a squirrel sitting patiently on the twigs and staring out over the tops of the trees in the rest of the wood to the fields beyond.

‘They keep a constant vigil for signs of danger, approaching Urkku and so on,’ said Warrigal, when Nab asked him what they were doing.

A door suddenly appeared before them; a great door set in a high curved archway, heavy and laid across with bands of silver which formed a criss-cross pattern. A rope made of many bramble briars woven together hung down to one side, and Reev pulled it while the animals waited nervously. Then the door opened and they were ushered into a high circular chamber by two elves dressed in green and brown who led them along an aisle which ran straight through the middle towards a raised dais at the far end. Nab, his heart in his mouth and his stomach fluttering with nerves, stole a glance around him and saw elves gathered in little groups; some were dancing, others were seated on the floor and appeared to be working with their hands while still others were making music from strange instruments, some of which were composed of strings which they plucked with their fingers and others which they held to their mouths to produce cascades of high pure crystal notes. Nab felt the music take his soul and send it soaring through the air until it felt as if it had broken through the roof of the chamber to fly off into the grey, winter sky; it filled him with energy so that, as he moved, the rhythms of his body coincided with the spirit of the music and he found himself dancing in time with it as he followed Reev. He also became aware of the fact that they were all being looked at with some curiosity by the elves, and there was a sustained level of animated discussion as the elves stopped what they were doing and put their heads together to talk excitedly amongst themselves. Nab felt that he in particular had been singled out for special attention and, as he walked down the centre of the enormous chamber into which the sun was sending streams of light through the little windows in the outside walls, he could feel hundreds of pairs of eyes watching him and hear the hubbub of voices rise as he got near and then fall as he passed by. Eventually, after what seemed like an age, they reached the dais at the end. They went up some steps to it and then walked nervously across until they came to where the Lord Wychnor sat waiting for them.

‘Welcome,’ he said, and the music of his voice sent shivers down their backs. ‘I apologize for their rudeness; they should not have stared but you understand that they were curious to see you. Come; we will go through into my own room where we can be private and talk.’

He stood up and his great green and silver cloak fell to the floor and swept along after him as he walked towards a little door and, opening it, ushered them through. Nab glanced back at the huge throne where he had been sitting; made of black oak it seemed to grow out of the floor. In fact it did not seem to have been made at all but rather to have always been there; there was no decoration except that which was in the wood itself, and the ends of the arms shone where the Elflords’ palms had rested on them since the beginning of time, polishing them so that they glistened like water. The throne was bathed in a pool of sunlight which poured through a window high up in the roof. The sun shone against the black wood and brought out the colours; blues, purples, and reds from deep within.

The little room in which they were now standing was panelled in green moss all around the walls and here and there patches of the orange lichen that served to provide light were buried amongst the green. The wooden ceiling was low and gave the room a cosy atmosphere quite unlike the grandeur of the great chamber outside; it reminded Brock and Nab of the sett. There were two small round windows in opposite walls and through them could be seen the whole of the clearing; Brock looked out and saw that the sun was starting to grow pale and the mist beginning to rise from the water and spread out amongst the trees.

The Elflord sat in a seat that had been carved in the wooden wall next to one of the windows and Nab and the animals sat on the floor at his feet. He smiled at them for a long time, looking from one to the other, and his smile had the warmth of age. They looked deep into his misty grey eyes and became lost in the mysteries of time until they felt as if they were swimming in a sea of cloud. Finally, as the sun sank in the winter afternoon and shone through the window casting a halo of gold around his head, he began to speak, and his voice was grave.

‘The time has come,’ he said, ‘for you to learn something of our world. In the beginning were only the Efflinch, by name Ashgaroth and Dréagg; and Ashgaroth the Great One, Lord of Good, had fought Dréagg the Mighty, Ruler of Evil, since time itself had begun.

‘And the Universe rang with the sound and fury of the Efflinch Wars and the nature of them may not be contemplated by us though their horror may be perhaps guessed at and glimpsed in the darkest and wildest of our nightmares.

‘And in their struggle for supremacy the Efflinch wrought matter out of themselves and hurled it through the endless darknesses of space.

‘And after aeons of time too infinite to grasp Dréagg the Mighty wearied and became subdued and Ashgaroth trumpeted in the heavens his glorious victory. And Dréagg he banished to the Halls of Drāgorn in whose foul atmosphere he was to languish for ever. Dréagg, he nursed his wounds and brooded long over the bitterness of his defeat.

‘And Ashgaroth looked at the wreckage of war and saw the Universe full of the missiles of battle; and in celebration of victory he chose such a one and vowed to transform it, to make it his jewel and glory to shine as an everlasting memorial to the triumph of the Lord of Good.

‘And he blessed it with the gifts of life and he gave colour, shape and form to this life.

‘He first created the green growing things: the trees, grasses, mosses and lichens; then the flowers and the vegetables of the earth and their colours glowed and shone so that he was well pleased.

‘And he created the mountains as pinnacles of his power to reach up to the sky; and he gave them a savagery and power to reflect even his own.

‘And he created the sea and the blue was of a depth and brilliance that defied the eye to meet it; and in joy at his creation he invested it with a fragment of his own might so that it heaved and rolled even as he breathed.

‘And lastly he peopled the oceans and the land with the creatures of life, the animals, the birds and the insects, to live among them and to survive by the fruits and the berries. And there was harmony and peace amongst the life he had created and they were at ease with one another so that it was even as he had wished, for Earth shone out as the creation of the Lord of Good.

‘And the light was strong so that it came to Dréagg where he lurked in the Halls of Drāgorn which are outside the Universe and his fury welled within him even as the light goaded him, seeming to taunt him with the bitter memories of his defeat so that he fed from the eldritch and steaming fluids that lie within the Halls and slowly regained his strength and power.

‘And his sojourn amongst these noxious vapours had made of Dréagg a more cunning adversary and the more dangerous for it so that he returned slowly and insidiously with great stealth and deceit and he turned the animals one against the other so that they fought one with the other and lived off the flesh of their fellows, and the creatures of the Earth were afflicted with much suffering and torment as the waters ran red with their pain.

‘And Ashgaroth in his renewed struggle with the Lord of Evil created a race to fight the influence of Dréagg and to restore peace and innocence to his chosen jewel. And this race is named the Elves and they are of Magic so that they were formed from the wind and the stars and their essence is of the depth of the mighty sea and their spirit is amongst the green growing things of the woods and the trees and their souls are of the wild forgotten mountains.

‘And three Elves he put over all the Earth according to the three great vastnesses of creation, so that there was Malcoff, Lord of the Mountains; Saurélon the Lord of the Seas and Ammdar who was Lord of the Forests and the green growing things.

‘And the Elflords fought the power of Dréagg for many moons and the stories of their struggle have passed into legend for great was the bravery of the Elves and mighty were their Heroes. But greater still was the power of Dréagg and Magic alone was not enough to combat his dread evil so that his influence waxed strong and the Earth was rendered hideous by the horrors that abounded.

‘And the Elflords beseeched the Mighty Ashgaroth to render them aid in their time of need. And so it was that he bestowed upon the Elves, the second of the Duâin Elrondin (or the powers of life) which is Logic, and of the two, which are Magic and Logic, this second is the most dangerous. But there was great fear in the heart of Ashgaroth at the bestowal of this gift and he warned them of its danger and that it was to be used most sparingly for if it were allowed to gain ascendance, then it would destroy the Earth.

‘So that none of the Elves should be able to use the power without the others, Ashgaroth divided the power into three, which are the Three Seeds of Logic, and each seed he placed in a casket wrought from burnished copper from the deepest Mines of Mixon; and each casket he gave into the possession of one of the three Elflords. Thus it was that the power of Logic could not be used unless the Three Seeds were brought together and released as one and once they had been released they could be used no more.

‘And it has been seen that there were three Lords over all the Earth; but of these the greatest was Ammdar, Lord of the Forests whose power was such that the grass turned to silver where he walked and the leaves changed to gold when he wished it. And he walked the forests, his domain, and all bowed down and marvelled at his might and he fought Dréagg and many times he won.

‘And Dréagg watched the powers of Ammdar and saw in their very greatness the chance for which he had been waiting. And in the darkest nights, when the Earth slept, he whispered to Ammdar from afar so that he might not know that the words were the words of Dréagg. And as time passed so did Ammdar, the Silver Warrior, become vain and proud and conscious of his strength; and so also did he grow greedy and Dréagg nurtured this greed and fed it until it grew so that Ammdar rejected his Lord Ashgaroth.

‘And finally, when Dréagg sensed the time was right, did he make himself known and plant his scheme in the mind of Ammdar. “With the seeds of logic in your possession,” he said, “then would you indeed be supreme over all the Earth. And I will help you in this task if you will accept me as your Lord so that together we may conquer Ashgaroth.”

‘And the lust for power, which had been gnawing away at the soul of Ammdar like a disease, was such that he welcomed Dréagg willingly as his Lord.

‘And so began a saga of deceit and treachery in which Dréagg assisted Ammdar to find Elflings of his own and of the two other Great Lords who would help him in his quest for the seeds. And he promised them power if they would reject Ashgaroth and their own Lords in favour of the Ruler of Evil. And many who were approached refused Ammdar and were destroyed most horribly but some there were who accepted him and these are called Goblins for they are Fallen Elves.

The Goblins were granted the powers of evil by Dréagg and became reviled and feared, and mighty was their cunning so that they wormed their way into positions of trust with Malcoff and Saurelon and the Keepers of the Seeds.

‘And so finally it came about that Ammdar Lord of the Forest had at one time in his possession the Three Seeds of Logic. The power could not be granted to the Goblins for they were of Magic and Magic and Logic would not lie together. Thus he conceived of the idea that if the gift of Logic were to be given to the animals in return for their acceptance of him and the Rule of Evil then would he truly be supreme over the Earth and the overthrow of Malcoff and Saurélon would be complete.

‘So on a night when the moon did not shine and the air was still he did summon the Leaders of the Animals to his lair in the deepest forests of Spath and there he offered them this mighty gift if they would pledge themselves to him alone.

‘But the powers of Ashgaroth were strong in the animals and they rejected the offer of Ammdar so that they might remain in the light of Ashgaroth.

‘And a great fury came over the Lord of the Forest at his rejection so that his wrath was terrible to see and the animals fled in fear and the trees shook till they were rended from the earth and the mighty boughs tore and broke like blades of grass.

‘And Dréagg watched the ravings of Ammdar with much satisfaction for the Lord of the Forests was now as clay in his hands to be used as he would.

‘ “Let us take revenge for your rejection,” he whispered in the mind of Ammdar, “on these creatures which scorn your might.”

‘And it was thus that Ammdar and the Ruler of Evil, the mighty Dréagg, created a race of beings which they called Man; which we call, in the language of the Old Ones, Urkku which means “The Great Enemy”.

‘And in them was all the wrath of Ammdar against the animals so that they had no regard for them and Dréagg planted the root of cruelty deep within the Urkku so that they were cruel in their ways towards them for Man had been made as an instrument of revenge.

‘And Man was created with the power of the Three Seeds so that he was of pure Logic; and Magic, the gift of the Mighty Ashgaroth to the Elves, was denied to him. Clever was the work of Dréagg for even as Ashgaroth had bestowed upon the Elves fragments of himself so did Dréagg give to Man, alongside the root of cruelty, the evil nature of arrogance so that he believed himself to be supreme over all the Earth and over all the Creatures of the Earth. And in his logic, this justified his treatment of the animals.

‘So Man began his reign over the Earth and Dréagg was well pleased for the jewel of Ashgaroth was torn asunder and the colours faded and the green growing things withered and died and it became as a barren waste. And only what was necessary for the support or pleasure of the Urkku was allowed to survive.

‘And the creatures of Ashgaroth, the Elves, whose powers were of Magic, were driven out by Man and began to dwell in the secret hidden places deep in the fortress of the Earth; known only to the animals.

‘And Ammdar also was well pleased as he watched for truly a terrible revenge was exacted on the animals and great was their suffering.

‘And the Tale of their Persecution and Abuse is as known to you as is the air you breathe.

‘But some there were among the Urkku who cast out the influence of Dréagg and in whom the root of cruelty and the nature of arrogance failed to grow. And they turned towards Ashgaroth and he opened their eyes so that they had glimpses of the Earth even as the Elves and the animals do and they saw the magic in the mountains and the trees and the sea and they were as one with the animals so that they are called Eldron or The Friends.

‘And throughout the reign of Man have been the Eldron but in numbers they are few. And for their ways have they been laughed at, scorned and ridiculed, and a great anger is in them as they see the suffering and horror inflicted by their fellow race on the animals whose pain they feel as they would feel pain inflicted on their fellows for with them is all cruelty vile.

‘For Ammdar, Lord of the Forests, the taste of power was to be bittersweet and brief, for Dréagg had no more use for him and in him Dréagg sensed appetites to rival even his gargantuan tastes. So did the Ruler of Evil sow the seeds of discontent among Ammdar’s lair in the Forests of Spath, and a Goblin, Degg by name, was given the power to destroy Ammdar, which is to say that the sword of Degg was woven with the spell of time; for in his fall from Ashgaroth Ammdar had lost the immortality of the Elves, and Dréagg now could destroy the Goblins as he wished by halting the flow of time within them.

‘And the sight of the destruction of Ammdar was truly horrible and the sound of his wailing at the anguish of his betrayal, even by Dréagg who had sworn to make him great, rang out from the Forests of Spath and sounded long and loud throughout the Earth for many moons so that the Elves trembled even as they rejoiced at his ending.

‘And since that time the smells of corruption, deceit and trickery have lingered around the Goblins’ lair in the Forests of Spath and they have fought and quarrelled constantly among themselves, forgotten even by he who spawned them, using each the other to indulge their vile games and appetite for cruelty. Yet sometimes will Dréagg use them in the struggle against us so that they are not to be ignored.