Black wizards - Douglas Niles [164]
Pontswain, too, joined them, though he avoided meeting the prince's gaze. He stared around the battlefield and the vast, blue bay where the enemy army had once stood. His expression passed between disbelief and sullen brooding.
"The cliff is steep, but we can get down it in a couple of places," Daryth said. "More serious is the water – but there's a few strong swimmers among the men. If we can't attract a fishing boat or something, we can send them to the mainland to get a boat or two."
"How many men do we have left?" asked the prince.
"About three hundred," said the Calishite. Tristan felt a wave of sadness for the deaths. He remembered O'Roarke's sacrifice with a particular pang.
"And seventy-nine of my dwarves," said Finellen, staring at the ground. She looked up with an expression of fierce determination. "But that's more than I ever thought would live through this fight. My lad, you've got some very powerful friends."
The prince looked at Robyn and took her hand. She slid to his side and leaned against him. They drew strength from each other.
"The prophecy," she said softly. "Do you remember what you told me?"
Tristan shook his head. "I haven't given it a thought."
"Wind and fire, earth and sea, all shall fight for him, when it is time for him to claim his throne.'"
He sat up straight, remembering the magic of Robyn's runestick. "The wind drove the gas away, in Doncastle. And the fire – that routed the Scarlet Guard at Hickorydale."
"And I saw those earth-guys come out of the ground and pound on the ogres!" said Newt. "They were really something, too – but not like the earthquake! Did you see that? Boy, you should have if you missed it!"
"And the earthquake," finished Robyn, "was the sea pounding against the cliffs, carrying away the land!"
Tristan still shook his head. "It's an amazing coincidence, but it can't be me! Remember, the prophecy starts out: 'His name shall be Cymrych.'"
Finellen snorted in amusement. "Have you ever heard of anybody named Cymrych?" she asked.
"Not in my lifetime, no."
"Well, neither have I – in your lifetime, that is. Now, I don't mix with humans much – nothing personal, you understand – but one thing that comes from living four centuries is a little bit of knowledge."
Tristan was surprised to learn the dwarf's age.
"Used to be, when I was a youngster, half the humans around Gwynneth were named Cymrych – all after Cymrych Hugh, of course. Got so you couldn't tell the western Cymrychs from the southern Cymrychs from the – well, you get the picture.
"From what I gather, the names were changed – altered slightly so that you could tell which branch of the family you were talkin' about."
"Altered to what?" asked the prince.
"All kinds of things. Cymrych -" She took time to pronounce the word carefully. "Kim-Rick became Kimball, Cambridge, Kincaid…" Finellen paused. "And Kendrick."
"So your name is Cymrych, in a sense!" said Pawldo, clapping the prince on the back. "Congratulations, Your Majesty! How about a knighthood for your faithful halfling companion?"
Tristan laughed, but he was too dazed to answer. He had wanted to lead the Ffolk into a period of unity and strength. But an hour ago he had been certain that he would be dead by now. The transition was too sudden for his mind to grasp.
"Look!" cried Fiona, suddenly leaping to her feet. She stood at the edge of the precipice, pointing downward. "What's that?"
The prince sprang to her side, staring down the hundred-foot cliff into the green waves rolling below. A circle of whiteness, a shimmering whirlpool, marked the surface of the water, swirling in a growing pattern and calming the waves around it.
"It's her," Robyn said mysteriously.
The circle of water suddenly exploded upward in a foaming geyser, spewing higher and higher from the surface in a fountain of gushing water. Twenty, forty, eighty feet it spouted upward, and still it climbed. There was no sign of anything but frothing, turbulent water. But Tristan understood who Robyn meant.
Finally the