The Quest - Smith Wilbur (читаем книги онлайн бесплатно TXT) 📗
'Look!' she cried, her voice shaking with excitement. 'The land of Jarri is burning!' Mighty clouds of smoke were rising over the horizon, boiling upwards into the heavens, grey and menacing, gradually blotting out the sun and plunging all the earth into sombre shadow. 'What is it, Taita? What is taking place in the kingdom of the witch?'
'I cannot hazard a guess,' Taita admitted. 'This thing is too vast to admit of reason or belief.'
'Might we not attempt to overlook the land of Jarri once again, and try to fathom the cause and consequences of this holocaust?'
'We must do so at once,' he agreed. 'Let us prepare ourselves.' They sat together on the barren hillside above the thundering river, linked their hands and launched themselves in unison into the astral plane.
They soared on high and glided towards the mighty cloud and the land spread beneath it.
Looking down upon it they saw that it was ruined: the villages blazed and the fields were devastated by poisonous smoke and falling ash. They saw people running from it with their hair and clothing on fire. They heard women wailing and children screaming as they perished. They drew closer to the Mountains of the Moon, and saw that the peaks were blown away.
From the craters that had split them asunder poured rivers of fiery lava.
One spilled down on to the citadel of the oligarchs, submerging it with fire and ash until it seemed that it had never existed.
In the midst of all this destruction only the valley of the Cloud Gardens seemed untouched. But then they saw the peaks that towered above them heave and sway. While they watched, another volcanic eruption blew away half of the mountain. Massive buttresses of black rock were hurled into the heavens. The Cloud Gardens were obliterated.
Where once they had stood another yawning crater spewed forth fresh rivers of lava.
'The witch! What of her?'
Taita drew her with him into the very heart of the furnace. Their astral beings were impervious to the raging temperatures that would instantly have reduced their physical bodies to puffs of steam. Down they sank through the passages of Eos's lair, which Taita remembered so well, until they reached the chamber in which her cocoon lay. Already the green malachite walls were glowing, the tiles popping and shattering with the heat.
Wisps of smoke rose from the carapace. The glistening surface began
to blacken and crack. Slowly it twisted and writhed, then suddenly it split open and from it poured a glutinous yellow fluid, which bubbled and boiled as it cooked. The stench was overpowering. Then the carap1 ace burst into flames and burnt to a powdery ash. The last of the foul liquid boiled away, leaving a black stain on the glowing malachite tiles. The roof of the cavern burst open, and burning lava forced its way through the cracks to flood the witch's chamber.
Taita and Fenn drew back and rose above the mountains. Below, the destruction was complete. Jarri had disappeared beneath the ash and the lava. When at last they dropped back across the ether into their physical bodies they were at first too moved by all they had seen and experienced to speak or even move. Still holding hands, they stared at each other.
Then Fenn's eyes filled with tears and she began to weep silently.
'It is over,' Taita told her soothingly.
'Eos is dead?' Fenn begged. 'Tell me it was not an illusion. Please, Taita, tell me that what I saw in the vision was the truth.'
'It was the truth. She died in the only way that was possible for her, consumed in the flames of the volcano from which she had risen.'
Fenn crawled into his lap and he put his arms round her. Now that the danger had passed her strength had evaporated. She was a frightened child again. They sat for the rest of the day gazing down upon the green Nile. Then, as the sun set behind the towering smoke and dustclouds that still filled the western half of the heavens, Taita stood up and carried her back up the hill path to the village.
The people saw them coming and rushed to meet them, the children squealing with excitement and the women ululating with joy. Meren raced ahead of the crowd to be the first to greet them. Taita set Fenn down and opened his arms to welcome him.
'Magus! We feared for your lives,' Meren bellowed, while he was still fifty paces away. 'I should have had more faith in you. I should have known that your magic would prevail. The Nile flows again!' He seized Taita in a fervent embrace. 'You have restored life to it and to our motherland.' He reached out with his other arm and pulled Fenn to him.
'None of us will ever understand the extent of the miracle that the two of you have brought to pass, but a hundred generations of Egyptians will thank you for it.' Then they were surrounded by the exultant throng and borne up to the hilltop. The singing and laughter, the dancing and rejoicing lasted all that night.
It was many weeks before the Nile had dropped sufficiently to be contained once more between its banks. Even then it was wreathed in silver spray, and the roaring flood continued to grind great chunks of the red rock along the bottom. It sounded as though a giant was gnashing his teeth in rage. Nevertheless, Taita gave the order for the boats to be carried down the hill and reassembled on the bank.
'If you had not made us bring them to the top, that wave would have smashed them to kindling,' Meren admitted. 'I argued with you then, and I ask your forgiveness and understanding for that, Magus.'
'They are freely given.' Taita smiled. 'But the truth is that, over the years, I have become inured to you jibbing like an unbroken horse at any piece of good sense I offer you.'
Once the boats were reassembled on the riverbank, they left Kalulu's old village on the heights to set up a new encampment in a pleasant wooded site closer to where the boats lay. Here they waited for the Nile to drop to a level at which it could be safely navigated. The mood in the camp was still festive. The knowledge that they were safe from further pursuit by the Jarrian army and that they need no longer fear the malignant power of Eos was a constant source of joy to everyone. It was enhanced by the realization that they would soon be embarking upon the final leg of the long journey back to the motherland they loved so well and had missed so keenly.
An enormous female hippopotamus, one of a herd that inhabited Lake Nalubaale, ventured too close to the newly opened mouth of the Nile and was caught in the current. Even her great strength was insufficient to save her from being swept down the rapids. Her body was ripped and torn as she was thrown against the rocks. Mortally wounded, she dragged herself ashore just below the encampment. Fifty men armed with spears, javelins and axes rushed down upon her and the dying beast was unable to flee. Once they had despatched her, they butchered her carcass where it lay.
That night, pieces of her flesh wrapped in the luscious white belly fat were grilled upon the coals of fifty separate fires and, once again, the people feasted and danced the night through. Although they had all gorged themselves, there remained plenty to salt and smoke; it would feed them for several weeks. In addition to this, the river teemed with catfish that were stunned and disoriented by the raging waters and easily harpooned from the bank, some were heavier than a full-grown man.
They still had several tons of the dhurra they had taken from the Jarrian granaries so Taita agreed that some might be fermented to make beer.
By the time the river had dropped to a level that allowed them to take to their oars, they were all strong, rested and eager for the voyage to recommence. Even Hilto was almost recovered from his wound and able to take his place on a rowing bench.
