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breath. Worse and worse, and Lephi had no real idea of what went on in Cyador,
not with his dreams of rebuilding past glories.
The wizard frowned as he caught sight of the wall of green that stretched
across the horizon, above the fields through which the packed clay road
passed. Ahead the road ended at a wooden gate in a low wooden fence. The gate
to the field was ajar, and there were hoof prints in the damp soil.
 There! You see. Even since yesterday, the Accursed Forest has grown.
The white wizard eased his mount through the gate into the field and rode
another hundred cubits or so before he reined up.
A line of green creepers had covered half the field, and he could almost
see the green edging toward him. He blinked, and blinked again. Was the green
closer?
 You see, honored wizard? said the headman of Geliendra.
To the east, beyond the rebuilt dike that held the irrigated rice field,
the scene was worse. There& trees had sprouted. Not all that high, perhaps
knee-high, but knee-high in a season? Or less than a season?
As the headman had said, Themphi could not see the retaining walls. They
could have been a few hundred cubits back behind the advancing greenery-or
farther. He studied the forest again, mentally calculating. The taller trees,
the older ones, began no more than two hundred cubits back from the creepers
and the lower undergrowth. A chest-high line of green, barely visible,
stretched from west to east-the wall, covered in vines.
The wizard dismounted and handed the gray s reins to Jyncka. Then he
stepped forward, gathering whiteness around him.
Light flared, as if from the forest, and Themphi staggered on the soft
ground that had been turned and sowed, where sprouts of green peered through
the dark soil. Themphi forced himself erect, ignoring the dampness on his
forehead.
After another glance toward the wall of green nearly a hundred rods north
of the long green creepers, his brows furrowed, and a firebolt arced into the
green. The vines and knife grass blazed for a moment, and a circle of ashes
spread until it was nearly thirty cubits wide before the flames died.
The white wizard wiped his sweating forehead, and he turned.
 Jyncka. We will do this the hard way, the way our forefathers did. Make
arrangements tor torches and barrels of pitch.
Jyncka nodded.  Yes, honored wizard.
The headman smiled nervously.
Themphi studied the forest for a time. Then he turned and took the gray s
reins from Jyncka and remounted.  It will be a large undertaking, but mainly
tedious. Then he swung the gray back toward Geliendra.
Behind him followed the headman, Fissar, and the disgraced lancers.
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XXII
FOR A TIME after they ate, Nylan just lay on the bedroll in the early
twilight. His rear was too sore to sit on anything, and the muscles above his
knees ached too much to stand. His hands were raw from cold water washing off
everything from their few pots to Weryl s cloth undersquares, and his head
ached faintly.
So, facing Weryl, he lay on his stomach, wearing his shirt and a tunic, but
no jacket. Down the needle-strewn slope, the stream rushed and gurgled. The
faint hum of insects rose as the light dimmed. A faint and chill breeze swept
across their campsite from the higher and ice-covered peaks to the east.
Ayrlyn sat sideways on the blanket behind the silver-haired infant. She wore
her jacket, but had not fastened it.
 You know, it took just moments when I brought the lander across what it s
taken us three days to cover by horse.
 & ooo&  Pudgy fingers grasping for the wood, Weryl crawled across the
blanket toward the smooth stick Nylan had shaved clean and rounded with his
dagger.
Ayrlyn pulled off her boots and massaged her calves.  I d forgotten how
many muscles riding affects. The skiing helped, though. It isn t as bad this
year as it was last.
 Hmmm&  said Nylan as he held the stick.
 We re lucky it s early in the year. The mosquitoes aren t out yet. None of
the big flies, either. That will change when we get lower.
 Wonderful.
 Gaaaa! Weryl s fingers grasped the stick.
 He s strong.
Nylan nodded.  He ll be walking before summer s end- sooner, perhaps. If we
travel too far, I ll have to make some sort of seat for him. He already gets
heavy.
 I ve noticed when I ve carried him. He also squirms.
The engineer rolled on his side, containing a wince as various muscles
protested. Weryl began to climb over his shoulder.
 Not so fast, young man. Nylan set the boy back in the middle of the
blanket, and Weryl charged across it on hands and knees, again climbing across
Nylan.
 Like his father, he doesn t give up.
 I m tired, and he s just getting started.
 Well& he sleeps most of the day, the healer pointed out.
 The motion of riding and the carrypak must be soothing. Nylan let the
silver-haired boy climb almost all the way over him before he picked his son
up and set him back in the middle of the blanket again.
Weryl laughed.
 He thinks it s a game, Ayrlyn said with a chuckle.
 I ll really be worn out by the time he s tired.
 You, the untiring iron smith? The tower builder who never stopped? Tired
by a child? Ayrlyn s smile got broader.  You could just go to sleep.
 Just sleep? Not a chance. Nylan grinned back, ignoring the twinge in his
shoulder as he set Weryl back on the center of the blanket once more.
Weryl charged toward Nylan s knees, instead of his chest.  It sounds like a
triumph of lust over common sense. Do you think I m interested? You didn t
ask.
 Are you interested?
 I ll have to see. You only asked when I forced you to. The healer tossed
her head, and the flame-red hair glinted with a light of its own in the gloom.
 I ll try to do better in the future. Nylan lifted Weryl overhead.  Your
powerpaks are still fully charged, aren t they?
 Oooo&  Suspended over Nylan, Weryl immediately drooled, and the liquid
dropped on the smith s chin. Nylan set his son on the blanket and wiped his
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face.  Serves you right, Ayrlyn said.
 Thanks. I ll remember that when we re& whatever. The smith absently
reclaimed Weryl once more.  Doing what we can where we can. You know, in some
ways, it was idiotic to just leave. No destination, no plans.
 It would have been better to wait until Ryba found a way to dispose of me
or turn you into an armless stud, the way she threatened Gerlich? Sometimes, O
rational smith, you have to go with your feelings. By the time you can
rationally figure it out, it s too late.
 Maybe& I don t know as I m a very good smith, though.
 The locals thought you were, and that s one test.
 Maybe, Nylan repeated.
 Don t you think you could be a smith somewhere? Ayrlyn asked.
 I don t know. I d guess it would have to be a small town somewhere they
don t have one. The locals have to be better than I am.
 I wonder about that. You can feel the metals, and most people here don t
seem to have that ability. Both Nerliat and Relyn were clear on that. Lord [ Pobierz całość w formacie PDF ]