One balances the other. This is the first
lesson we teach to our children.”
She
stood and picked a leaf from the tree. It shone even brighter in her hand.
She blew on it and it floated upward, caught on a current of air, and drifted
away like a feather.
“We
must find a way to free our other selves,” she said, “or we will die there. Then
we could only be here.”
Kyric
grinned in surprise. “Are you saying that when we die there, we do not die here ?”
“Yes.
It is the same on both sides of the dream.”
She
led him around to the other side of the tree. The trunk had split open,
revealing a hollow inside. It was wide enough for a man to pass.
“This
is the first door,” she said. “It leads to the caves of many ways. From there
you can find many places. I want you to come with me to the rainland plateau.”
“Why?”
“So
that you can bring rain to the other side.”
He
smiled sheepishly. “You know that when I carry things to the other side, they
become much less that what they were. The fire breath of the salamanders came
across only as a sunburn.”
“The
rains of the plateau are punishing.”
A
breeze shook the dream tree and the glowing leaves twinkled. The light danced
in Rolirra’s eyes.
“What
good would the rain do?” Kyric asked.
“It
would drive them away. The river would rise, and the swamp would rise. When
they overflowed, the evil men would have to go. They would have to take their
evil treasure and leave, or else drown. They were on the verge of this when
the wet season ended. It would not take many days of rain.”
“Wouldn’t
you drown as well?”
“No,”
she said simply. “The island will hold us up. It will ride on the water.”
She
was obviously getting confused, mixing what could happen in the dream world
with the real. “Maybe it would here,” he said, “but on the other side, earth
doesn’t float.”
She
placed her hands on her hips. “It does.”
With
his memory of the real world intact now, he suddenly felt uncomfortable with
Rolirra’s near nakedness. She’s really an old woman, he told himself, but he
had to look away nonetheless.
“Listen
to me,” he said. “The man they have chained in the camp will free us soon. It
looks bad now, but Aiyan is an extraordinary man. He is a true warrior and a
master of weird arts. The rain is not needed. So do not worry — when the time
is right, Aiyan will see us rescued and the slavers undone.”
Rolirra
was unconvinced. “That may be so. But it may not. Their leader is clever as
a demon. He has a power.”
Thurlun
did seem to have a way of looking right into you, Kyric thought.
He
threw himself down in the grass. “Come. Let’s just lie here for a while. It’s
been a hard day.”
She
knelt beside him and patted his hand. “Tomorrow will be even harder.”
CHAPTER 10: Slaves
He
awoke at first light to the sound of a bell, thinking for a moment that he was
aboard Calico . Then he opened his eyes and sat up, suddenly furious —
furious that this place existed, furious that Dorigano could be blissfully
ignorant that this was happening so near to him. He was angry at Lerica for
coming along. He was angry at Aiyan for letting them be captured. He was
angry at Rolirra for guiding him here, and he was angry at himself for helping
her do it.
Aiyan
still sat on the stump, unmoved from when Kyric had seen him in the light of
last night’s moon.
The
remaining fish from the night before had been wrapped in leaves and set atop
the cooking table, and now everyone filed by the table to gulp down a handful
and get to the drawbridge before Guppy and Harlon finished lowering it. Their
urgency made it clear that they would be punished for not being ready to go as
soon as it was down.
The
morning was moist and smelled vaguely of rotting leaves. The Terrulans shuffled
across the bridge, holding their irons up with one
lesson we teach to our children.”
She
stood and picked a leaf from the tree. It shone even brighter in her hand.
She blew on it and it floated upward, caught on a current of air, and drifted
away like a feather.
“We
must find a way to free our other selves,” she said, “or we will die there. Then
we could only be here.”
Kyric
grinned in surprise. “Are you saying that when we die there, we do not die here ?”
“Yes.
It is the same on both sides of the dream.”
She
led him around to the other side of the tree. The trunk had split open,
revealing a hollow inside. It was wide enough for a man to pass.
“This
is the first door,” she said. “It leads to the caves of many ways. From there
you can find many places. I want you to come with me to the rainland plateau.”
“Why?”
“So
that you can bring rain to the other side.”
He
smiled sheepishly. “You know that when I carry things to the other side, they
become much less that what they were. The fire breath of the salamanders came
across only as a sunburn.”
“The
rains of the plateau are punishing.”
A
breeze shook the dream tree and the glowing leaves twinkled. The light danced
in Rolirra’s eyes.
“What
good would the rain do?” Kyric asked.
“It
would drive them away. The river would rise, and the swamp would rise. When
they overflowed, the evil men would have to go. They would have to take their
evil treasure and leave, or else drown. They were on the verge of this when
the wet season ended. It would not take many days of rain.”
“Wouldn’t
you drown as well?”
“No,”
she said simply. “The island will hold us up. It will ride on the water.”
She
was obviously getting confused, mixing what could happen in the dream world
with the real. “Maybe it would here,” he said, “but on the other side, earth
doesn’t float.”
She
placed her hands on her hips. “It does.”
With
his memory of the real world intact now, he suddenly felt uncomfortable with
Rolirra’s near nakedness. She’s really an old woman, he told himself, but he
had to look away nonetheless.
“Listen
to me,” he said. “The man they have chained in the camp will free us soon. It
looks bad now, but Aiyan is an extraordinary man. He is a true warrior and a
master of weird arts. The rain is not needed. So do not worry — when the time
is right, Aiyan will see us rescued and the slavers undone.”
Rolirra
was unconvinced. “That may be so. But it may not. Their leader is clever as
a demon. He has a power.”
Thurlun
did seem to have a way of looking right into you, Kyric thought.
He
threw himself down in the grass. “Come. Let’s just lie here for a while. It’s
been a hard day.”
She
knelt beside him and patted his hand. “Tomorrow will be even harder.”
CHAPTER 10: Slaves
He
awoke at first light to the sound of a bell, thinking for a moment that he was
aboard Calico . Then he opened his eyes and sat up, suddenly furious —
furious that this place existed, furious that Dorigano could be blissfully
ignorant that this was happening so near to him. He was angry at Lerica for
coming along. He was angry at Aiyan for letting them be captured. He was
angry at Rolirra for guiding him here, and he was angry at himself for helping
her do it.
Aiyan
still sat on the stump, unmoved from when Kyric had seen him in the light of
last night’s moon.
The
remaining fish from the night before had been wrapped in leaves and set atop
the cooking table, and now everyone filed by the table to gulp down a handful
and get to the drawbridge before Guppy and Harlon finished lowering it. Their
urgency made it clear that they would be punished for not being ready to go as
soon as it was down.
The
morning was moist and smelled vaguely of rotting leaves. The Terrulans shuffled
across the bridge, holding their irons up with one
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