universe. I know no more than that."
"Why did you choose to come here?" Calatin seemed to accept Corum's explanation without surprise.
"I did not choose. I was summoned."
"An incantation?" Now Calatin was surprised. "You know a folk with power to summon the Sidhi to their aid? In Caer Mahlod? It is hard to believe."
' 'In that,'' Corum told him, ' 'I had some choice. Their incantation was weak. It could not have brought me to them against my will."
"Ah," Calatin seemed satisfied.
Corum wondered whether the wizard had been displeased when he thought there were mortals more powerful at sorcery than himself. He looked hard into Calatin's face. There was something most enigmatic about the wizard's eyes. Corum was not sure that he trusted the man very much, even though he'd saved his life.
At last the fire began to blaze and Calatin moved towards it, extending his hands to warm them.
"What if the hounds attack again?" Corum asked.
' 'Kerenos is nowhere near. It will take him some days to discover what happened here, and then we shall be gone, I hope."
"You wish to accompany me?" Corum asked.
"I was going to offer you the hospitality of my lodgings," said Calatin with a smile. "They are not far from here."
"Why were you wandering the forest at night?"
Calatin drew his blue robe about him and seated himself on cleared ground near the fire. The light from the blaze stained his face and beard red, giving him a somewhat demonic appearance. He raised his eyebrows at Corum's question.
"I was looking for you," he said.
"Then you did know of my presence?"
"No. I saw smoke a day or so ago and I came to investigate it. I wondered what mortal could be daring the dangers of Laahr. Happily I got to you before the hounds could dine on your corpse. Without my horn, I could not, myself, have survived in these parts. Oh, and I have one or two other small sorceries to help me remain alive." Calatin smiled a thin smile. "It is the Day of the Sorcerer in this world, again. Once, only a few years since, I was deemed eccentric because of my interests. I was thought mad by some, evil by others. Calatin, they said, escapes from the real world by studying occult matters. What use can such things be to our people?" He chuckled. It was not an entirely pleasant sound to Corum's ears. ‘ 'Well, I have found some uses for the old lore. And Calatin is the only one to remain alive in the whole of the peninsula."
"You have used your knowledge for selfish ends alone, it seems," said Corum. He drew a skin of wine from his pack and offered it to Calatin, who accepted it without suspicion and who seemed to experience no rancor at Corum's remark. Calatin raised the skin to his lips and drank deeply before replying.
"I am Calatin," said the wizard. "I had a family. I have had several wives. I had twenty-seven sons and a grandson. They were all I could care for. And now that they are dead, I care for Calatin. Oh, do not judge me too harshly, Sidhi, for I was mocked by my fellows for many years. I divined something of the Fhoi Myore's coming, but they ignored me. I offered my help, but they laughed and rejected it. I have no cause to love mortals much. But I have less cause to hate the Fhoi Myore, I suppose."
' 'What became of your twenty-seven sons and your grandson?''
"They died together or individually in different parts of the world."
"Why did they die if they did not fight the Fhoi Myore?"
"The Fhoi Myore killed some of them. They were all upon quests, seeking things I needed to continue my researches into certain aspects of mystic lore. One or two were successful and, dying of their wounds, brought me those things. But there are still several things I need and, I suppose, shall not have now."
Corum made no response to Calatin’s statement. He felt faint. As the fire warmed his blood and brought pain to the minor wounds he had sustained, he began to
"Why did you choose to come here?" Calatin seemed to accept Corum's explanation without surprise.
"I did not choose. I was summoned."
"An incantation?" Now Calatin was surprised. "You know a folk with power to summon the Sidhi to their aid? In Caer Mahlod? It is hard to believe."
' 'In that,'' Corum told him, ' 'I had some choice. Their incantation was weak. It could not have brought me to them against my will."
"Ah," Calatin seemed satisfied.
Corum wondered whether the wizard had been displeased when he thought there were mortals more powerful at sorcery than himself. He looked hard into Calatin's face. There was something most enigmatic about the wizard's eyes. Corum was not sure that he trusted the man very much, even though he'd saved his life.
At last the fire began to blaze and Calatin moved towards it, extending his hands to warm them.
"What if the hounds attack again?" Corum asked.
' 'Kerenos is nowhere near. It will take him some days to discover what happened here, and then we shall be gone, I hope."
"You wish to accompany me?" Corum asked.
"I was going to offer you the hospitality of my lodgings," said Calatin with a smile. "They are not far from here."
"Why were you wandering the forest at night?"
Calatin drew his blue robe about him and seated himself on cleared ground near the fire. The light from the blaze stained his face and beard red, giving him a somewhat demonic appearance. He raised his eyebrows at Corum's question.
"I was looking for you," he said.
"Then you did know of my presence?"
"No. I saw smoke a day or so ago and I came to investigate it. I wondered what mortal could be daring the dangers of Laahr. Happily I got to you before the hounds could dine on your corpse. Without my horn, I could not, myself, have survived in these parts. Oh, and I have one or two other small sorceries to help me remain alive." Calatin smiled a thin smile. "It is the Day of the Sorcerer in this world, again. Once, only a few years since, I was deemed eccentric because of my interests. I was thought mad by some, evil by others. Calatin, they said, escapes from the real world by studying occult matters. What use can such things be to our people?" He chuckled. It was not an entirely pleasant sound to Corum's ears. ‘ 'Well, I have found some uses for the old lore. And Calatin is the only one to remain alive in the whole of the peninsula."
"You have used your knowledge for selfish ends alone, it seems," said Corum. He drew a skin of wine from his pack and offered it to Calatin, who accepted it without suspicion and who seemed to experience no rancor at Corum's remark. Calatin raised the skin to his lips and drank deeply before replying.
"I am Calatin," said the wizard. "I had a family. I have had several wives. I had twenty-seven sons and a grandson. They were all I could care for. And now that they are dead, I care for Calatin. Oh, do not judge me too harshly, Sidhi, for I was mocked by my fellows for many years. I divined something of the Fhoi Myore's coming, but they ignored me. I offered my help, but they laughed and rejected it. I have no cause to love mortals much. But I have less cause to hate the Fhoi Myore, I suppose."
' 'What became of your twenty-seven sons and your grandson?''
"They died together or individually in different parts of the world."
"Why did they die if they did not fight the Fhoi Myore?"
"The Fhoi Myore killed some of them. They were all upon quests, seeking things I needed to continue my researches into certain aspects of mystic lore. One or two were successful and, dying of their wounds, brought me those things. But there are still several things I need and, I suppose, shall not have now."
Corum made no response to Calatin’s statement. He felt faint. As the fire warmed his blood and brought pain to the minor wounds he had sustained, he began to
Similar Books
