Feathered Dragon - Douglas Niles [36]
She shook her head. “Let the people go to the valley. They can stop there to rest. I believe Poshtli shows the path for me-for you and me-alone.”
Halloran looked to the narrow ridge that loomed to the east, knowing of the bleak desert (hat lay beyond. Silently he vowed to do his utmost to see Erixitl safely through that waste. It was all another part of their search for a home, he told himself. And someday they would find one.
As the Mazticans bestirred themselves, many already starting on the trail toward the southwest, Erixitl and Halloran found Cordell and Daggrande among the camp of the legionnaires.
“We need your help,” Halloran began. Cordell’s eyes flashed at the news, and his hand went instinctively to the hilt of his sword,
“Speak,” he requested.
“We are leaving the trail, following Poshtli to the east. He flies over the bare desert.” Then Halloran described the lush valley that lay to the southwest, knowing that Grimes and some of the other riders had already found it as well. “Go with the people and keep an eye out for attack. If you can make a defensible position there, set up a long-term camp.”
“Why do you think he’s taking you that way?” Cordell had known Poshtli as an adversary, and a courageous one. Too, he had witnessed the man’s appearance in the guise of the bird. But he wasn’t willing to let Halloran and Erix go without some plan.
“Qotal.” Erixitl replied simply. “Somehow I am tied in to his return. He is the only force that can counterbalance Zaltec and his creatures. I must do what I can to bring him back to the True World”
Halloran knew the resentment his wife felt for her enforced role in this game of the gods, yet he heard none of it in her voice. She spoke as a true believer, and Cordell accepted her faith without question.
“Good luck to you, then,” he agreed. “I’ll get the company together. The Kultakans will stand bravely, and so will these Nexalan warriors. I’m sure we can hold the bastards at bay!”
Cordell’s voice carried renewed enthusiasm at the prospect of battle and action, as Hal had known it would. He understood as well as anyone the heavy toll that the long retreat had exacted from the aggressive general. Still, to Halloran the commander’s optimistic assessment of his chances seemed almost reckless.
“I’m coming with you,” Daggrande declared, facing Hal and Erix. He coughed awkwardly. “That is, if you think you could use some help.”
Halloran looked at his old companion with deep affection. I know we could use your help, my friend.”
“Don’t get mushy on me,” huffed the dwarf, his own voice gruff with emotion. “Just let me get my whetstone-my damned axe keeps going dull, what with all the dust and all!”
Daggrande marched away, and Hal watched him with affection. A “dull blade” by the old dwarf’s estimate was still as sharp as a barber’s razor, he knew. The sturdy veteran’s presence would greatly enhance their chances of survival.
Several Mazticans approached. Hal recognized the priest Xatli and the Eagle Knight Chical. Erixitl explained their plans and accepted their good wishes for their journey. The cleric of Qotal looked at her seriously.
“Out there in the desert, sister, I sense that your destiny awaits. I would offer to accompany you, to offer whatever feeble aid I can, but I know this: You will have the aid of someone far greater than myself.”
“Who do you mean?” she asked, surprised.
The cleric shook his head. “1 do not know, but I sense it
about you. You will lie carried to your final challenge on the wings of your friends.”
“I hope you’re right,” Erix admitted with a shake of her long black hair. She pulled her cloak, growing brighter with each minute of increasing daylight, tightly around her shoulders.
* * * * *
The great monolith looked like a living form as it moved. Two great legs, thicker than massive tree trunks, supported it and carried it cumbersomely forward. Two arms, humanlike in shape but tipped with wicked talons of crooked stone, swung at its sides.
The form of Zaltec disdained the broken causeways that still connected the island