Jack Vance Elder Isles 1 Lyonesse

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passed, the barrow was rolled so as to flatten the ventilation tube. The far
end became so stifling that the overseer spent as little time as possible in
the tunnel.
The side-tunnel, dug five feet high and three feet wide, and slanting sharply
upward, went swiftly, and the diggers probed continually with cautious
strokes, lest, in their zeal, they strike a great hole into the surface which
might be visible from the fortress. At last they found roots, of grasses and
shrubs, then dark topsoil and they knew the surface was close above.
At sunset the tunnel-Skalings took their supper in a chamber at the head of
the tunnel, then returned to work.
Ten minutes later Aillas went to summon Kildred the overseer, a tall Ska of
middle-age, with a scarred face, a bald head and a manner remote even for a
Ska. As usual Kildred sat gaming with the guards. He looked over his shoulder
at the approach of Aillas. "What now?"
"The diggers have struck a dike of blue rock. They want rock-splitters and
drills."
"'Rock-splitters'? What tools are these?"
"I don't know. I just carry messages."
Kildred muttered a curse and rose to his feet. "Come; let us look at this blue
dike."
He stalked into the tunnel, followed by Aillas, through the murky orange
flicker of oil lamps, to the tunnel face. When he bent to look for the blue
dike, Cargus struck him with an iron bar, killing him at once.
The time was now twilight. The crew gathered by the side-tunnel where the
diggers were now striking up at the soft top-soil.
Aillas wheeled a barrow of dirt to the end chamber. "There will be no more
dirt for a time," he told the winch-tender, in a voice loud enough for the
guards to hear. "We have hit a lode of rock." The guards looked over their
shoulders, then returned to their dice. The winch-tender followed Aillas back
into the tunnel.
The escape tunnel was open. The Skalings climbed out into late twilight,
including the winch-tender who knew nothing of the plot but was happy to
escape. All lay flat in the sedge and saw-grass. Aillas and Yane, the last men
to depart the tunnel, pulled the supporting posts back in place, leaving no
clue as to their function. Once on the surface they wedged the escape hole
right with bracken, pounded dirt into the choked hole and transplanted grass.
"Let them think magic," said Aillas. "All the better if they do!"
The erstwhile Skalings ran crouching across the Plain of Shadows, through the
gathering dark, eastward and ever deeper into the kingdom of Dahaut.
Poelitetz, the great Ska fortress, loomed black on the sky behind them. The
group paused to look back. "Ska," said Aillas, "you strange dark-souled folk
from the past! Next time we meet I will carry a sword. You owe me dear for the
pain you put on me and the labor you took from me!"
An hour of running, trotting, and walking brought the band to the Gloden
River, whose headwaters included the Tamsour. The moon, almost full, rose
above the river, laying a trail of moonlight on the water. Beside the
moon-silvered veils of an enormous weeping willow, the band paused to rest and
discuss their situation. Aillas told them: "We are fifteen: a strong band.
Some of you want to go home; others may have no homes to go to. I can offer
prospects if you will join me in what I must do. I have a quest. First it
takes me south to Tac Tor, then I can't say where: perhaps Dahaut, to find my
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son. Then we will go to Troicinet, where I control both wealth, honor and
estate. Those of you who follow me as my comrades, to join my quest and, so I
hope, to return with me to Troicinet, will profit well; I swear it! I will
grant them good lands, and they shall bear the title Knight-Companion. Be
warned! The way is dangerous! First to Tac Tor beside Tintzin Fyral, then who
knows where? So choose. Go your own way or come with me, for here is where we
part company. I will cross the river and travel south with my companions. The
rest would do well to travel east across the plain and into the settled parts
of Dahaut. Who will come with me?"
"I am with you," said Cargus. "I have nowhere else to go."
"And I," said Yane.
"We joined ourselves during dark days," said one called Quails. "Why separate
now? Especially since I crave land and knighthood."
In the end five others went with Aillas. They crossed the Gloden by a bridge
and followed a road which struck off to the south. The others, mostly Daut,
chose to go their own ways and continued east beside the Gloden.
The seven who had joined Aillas were first Yane and Cargus, then Garstang,
Quails, Bode, Scharis and Faurfisk: a disparate group. Yane and Cargus were
short; Quails and Bode were tall. Garstang, who spoke little of himself, [ Pobierz całość w formacie PDF ]

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