The Spirit Stone - Katharine Kerr [156]
‘Ancient runes are never trivial.’
They found Dallandra supervising her helpers as they set up the healers’ tent. When Salamander hailed her, she left the job to her chief apprentice, Ranadario, and came over to join him. After a few moments of shouting at one another over the noise of an army making camp, Dallandra led them inside to the relative quiet of the tent, which smelled of herbs and roots, a spicy blend in the hot summer air, from the packets of medicinals lying stacked on the floor cloth. They stood under the smokehole to catch the last of the sunlight.
‘It’s about this staff.’ Kov waggled it in emphasis. ‘I was wondering if you knew anything about the runes upon it. It’s very old, at least a thousand years old, in fact.’
‘May I?’ Dallandra held out her hands.
When Kov handed it over, she spent some while studying the twelve runes, then turned the staff so Salamander could get a good look at them.
‘I recognize Rock and Gold,’ Kov said, pointing. ‘Those two there. This third one might be a very old form of Dust. And of course, there are two Deverry letters at the very beginning.’
Dallandra nodded and continued studying the staff. Her lips moved as if forming words. With a shake of her head, she handed the staff back.
‘Two of the symbols are from an ancient version of our syllabary,’ she said. ‘I recognize them from a scroll that Aderyn left me as a legacy when he died. The one that looks like Dust to you is actually the elven Cloud, and this fourth one is Sky.’ She pointed to the runes with a fingertip. ‘Two are Gel da’ Thae, but there are others that I can’t sound out.’
Kov caught his breath, and his eyes grew wide. Dallandra continued to study the runes. ‘So, we have twelve marks,’ she said eventually. ‘Two are in the Mountain language, two in Elvish, two in Gel da’ Thae, two from Deverry, and then there are four others that I can’t decipher. Tell me, if Rock and Gold stood alone, what would they mean?’
‘Earth,’ Kov said. ‘Earth in the elemental sense, that is.’
‘Good, because Cloud and Sky together mean air. These Gel da’ Thae marks—well, I can speak something of their tongue, and while I can’t read it, I did see an explanation of their writing once. If I’m remembering it a-right, this pair means fire. The Deverry letters—’ She glanced at Salamander.
‘It could mean Aethyr,’ Salamander said. ‘The actual word has four letters, but if you say the names of those two aloud, you get eth err.’
‘Hah!’ Dallandra’s eyes gleamed. ‘So the symbols that we don’t understand should mean water—in some language or another. Bardekian, could it be?’
‘No,’ Salamander said. ‘Their writing is almost the same as the Deverrian, and their word for water is much longer than two letters. Dragonish?’
‘A good guess, not that there’s much watery about dragons. Kov, when Arzosah returns, you could ask her.’
‘I could?’ Kov’s rose several intervals. He coughed and brought it back down. ‘I mean, why, yes.’
‘I’ll go with you.’ Salamander managed to keep from grinning. ‘Don’t worry. She’s quite safe around people she views as useful.’
‘Then I’ll hope she finds my presence of some benefit. There’s a legend about these runes, that they spell out an ancient dweomer spell. Silly, isn’t it, how these superstitions spring up?’
‘Do you think so?’ Dallandra quirked an eyebrow. ‘I’d say that it must have some kind of dweomer upon it. The wood should have rotted away by now, if it’s as old as you say.’
‘What?’ Kov frankly stared. ‘I never—I mean, I—ye gods, you make a very apt point, Wise One. I, uh, well, um.’
Salamander suppressed another smile. Kov hesitated, looking back and forth between them. Finally he bowed to Dallandra. ‘My thanks, Wise One. I very much appreciate your help.’
With a second bow, Kov backed a few steps away, then turned and strode off, his staff over his shoulder. Salamander started to make some pleasantry, but a yawn interrupted. Dallandra