didn’t go away, but split into other strange, amorphous shapes. They made the darkness seem even more complete.
When she saw a faint wash of light in the distance, she thought at first it was another illusion. She had ceased long ago to believe in the possibility of an end to the tunnel. She rubbed her eyes, but the light was still there, and then she realized she could see the mountain lion walking in front of them, and turning, could see Cadvan beside her. She felt like crying with relief, or whooping with joy.
They emerged blinking onto a broad ledge high in the side of the mountain. Maerad flinched, as if she had been hit; the light was blinding, after so long in the darkness. She stood for a time, shading her face, while her eyes adjusted. Finally she looked out and gasped in wonder.
Before them stretched a vast green land of rolling hills and dark woods, and the red sun sinking in glory through a wrack of golden clouds threw its light over their faces.
“Behold the beauty of Annar!” said Cadvan. “I thought I would not see it again.”
She saw that tears glinted on his lashes, and she looked away, suddenly acutely conscious that he was still holding her hand. But Cadvan spun her around, laughing. “Maerad! We’re almost there!”
“Norloch?”
“Oh, no, no, no, that lies many leagues west. No, a bath and a meal! Roast meats! Remember, I promised you!” He let her go and stepped back smiling.
Infected by Cadvan’s joyousness, Maerad smiled back. But Cadvan was already speaking to the mountain lion, bowing low as he did so. The beast bowed his head also, and spoke, and then turned to Maerad and made the same gesture. Maerad instinctively bowed in return. Then the great animal vanished into the tunnel without a backward glance, loping with the same slow, steady pace, and disappeared.
“There goes a lord among beasts,” said Cadvan. “Thus is the best hope oft unlooked for! Even by my best calculations, we had no chance of being in reach of help so soon. It would have been days, else, and even then uncertain — if we ever arrived.”
Maerad shuddered at the thought of the mountain lion’s long walk back home through the black bowels of the mountain. “But I couldn’t go through that tunnel again, not if all the wers of the Landrost were after me!” she said.
“Don’t speak so lightly of such things!” said Cadvan swiftly. “You would, if you had to. And we still have to get down off this mountain, and quickly before it grows completely dark.”
A broken, narrow path led off the ledge and wound its way eccentrically downward, curling around ridges and gorges and then suddenly switching back on itself. They were not ten feet away from the ledge when Maerad looked up and realized the passage was completely hidden; even from this distance she doubted that she could find it again. After that she had to concentrate on scrabbling down the mountainside. It was exhausting work, and her hands were already scratched and blistered. She gritted her teeth and ignored her discomforts. Cadvan was again displaying his ability to behave as if he had just arisen from a long, refreshing sleep and was now partaking of a gentle stroll, and if, she thought to herself, he could do it, so could she. Once she slipped and slid more than twenty feet down a rocky slope, landing in a small heap of pebbles and dust at the bottom of a gully. Cadvan leaned over the edge of the ridge, anxiously peering through the dusk, and when he saw her answering wave he grinned and slid down to join her. “It’s quicker,” he said, landing beside her. “But a sight less comfortable.” He stood up, brushing himself off, and peered down the gully. “We could follow this, I think,” he said. “There’s not much farther before we’re off the mountain proper. And then a quick march, and then dinner.”
The going after that was not so hard. It was now dark, but it was a clear night, and the swollen moon edged over the horizon,
When she saw a faint wash of light in the distance, she thought at first it was another illusion. She had ceased long ago to believe in the possibility of an end to the tunnel. She rubbed her eyes, but the light was still there, and then she realized she could see the mountain lion walking in front of them, and turning, could see Cadvan beside her. She felt like crying with relief, or whooping with joy.
They emerged blinking onto a broad ledge high in the side of the mountain. Maerad flinched, as if she had been hit; the light was blinding, after so long in the darkness. She stood for a time, shading her face, while her eyes adjusted. Finally she looked out and gasped in wonder.
Before them stretched a vast green land of rolling hills and dark woods, and the red sun sinking in glory through a wrack of golden clouds threw its light over their faces.
“Behold the beauty of Annar!” said Cadvan. “I thought I would not see it again.”
She saw that tears glinted on his lashes, and she looked away, suddenly acutely conscious that he was still holding her hand. But Cadvan spun her around, laughing. “Maerad! We’re almost there!”
“Norloch?”
“Oh, no, no, no, that lies many leagues west. No, a bath and a meal! Roast meats! Remember, I promised you!” He let her go and stepped back smiling.
Infected by Cadvan’s joyousness, Maerad smiled back. But Cadvan was already speaking to the mountain lion, bowing low as he did so. The beast bowed his head also, and spoke, and then turned to Maerad and made the same gesture. Maerad instinctively bowed in return. Then the great animal vanished into the tunnel without a backward glance, loping with the same slow, steady pace, and disappeared.
“There goes a lord among beasts,” said Cadvan. “Thus is the best hope oft unlooked for! Even by my best calculations, we had no chance of being in reach of help so soon. It would have been days, else, and even then uncertain — if we ever arrived.”
Maerad shuddered at the thought of the mountain lion’s long walk back home through the black bowels of the mountain. “But I couldn’t go through that tunnel again, not if all the wers of the Landrost were after me!” she said.
“Don’t speak so lightly of such things!” said Cadvan swiftly. “You would, if you had to. And we still have to get down off this mountain, and quickly before it grows completely dark.”
A broken, narrow path led off the ledge and wound its way eccentrically downward, curling around ridges and gorges and then suddenly switching back on itself. They were not ten feet away from the ledge when Maerad looked up and realized the passage was completely hidden; even from this distance she doubted that she could find it again. After that she had to concentrate on scrabbling down the mountainside. It was exhausting work, and her hands were already scratched and blistered. She gritted her teeth and ignored her discomforts. Cadvan was again displaying his ability to behave as if he had just arisen from a long, refreshing sleep and was now partaking of a gentle stroll, and if, she thought to herself, he could do it, so could she. Once she slipped and slid more than twenty feet down a rocky slope, landing in a small heap of pebbles and dust at the bottom of a gully. Cadvan leaned over the edge of the ridge, anxiously peering through the dusk, and when he saw her answering wave he grinned and slid down to join her. “It’s quicker,” he said, landing beside her. “But a sight less comfortable.” He stood up, brushing himself off, and peered down the gully. “We could follow this, I think,” he said. “There’s not much farther before we’re off the mountain proper. And then a quick march, and then dinner.”
The going after that was not so hard. It was now dark, but it was a clear night, and the swollen moon edged over the horizon,
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