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  Lying in the plains, however, the lance-head deep in his brain, Old Three-Paws twitched his last.

  CHAPTER EIGHT

  The Leopard-Skin Pouch

  As fish are caught in a cruel net, or birds are taken in a snare, so men are trapped by evil times that fall unexpectedly upon them.

  — Ecclesiastics 9:12

  Elidad tipped back Herrek’s water-skin. The burly noble’s armor was dust-stained and his leggings ripped. Scratches lined his face. His eyes were bloodshot, and although he was sunburned, he seemed pale and sickly.

  The sabertooths had fled after Old Three-Paws’s death. Joash had wondered why the big predators had been in such a hurry.

  Elidad gasped for air, wiped his mouth, and drank again. He was handsome, in a rugged way, with a prominent chin and a rough-looking scar underneath it. He’d gained the scar when gamblers had tried to cheat him in Further Tarsh. Unfortunately, or so Herrek had once said, Elidad had a fondness for mad gambles.

  Elidad finally finished drinking. Gens took the water-skin and hung it on its peg in the chariot. Elidad’s silvery eyebrows rose upon seeing the singer, although he winked at Joash when he saw the spear.

  “Where’s Brand?” Herrek asked.

  “Dead,” Elidad said. “The damned sabertooths chased us here to this trap. We weren’t as lucky as you were. The sabertooth you slew pulled down my lead horse. That’s why my chariot is wrecked where it is. Brand leaped clear, I fell to the ground.” Elidad gave them a sly grin. “Brand blew his horn and startled the old sabertooth, giving me time to pick up my shield and spear. Then as Brand climbed the nearest boulder, I engaged the huge beast. Brand turned and hurled rocks, clipping the beast. That gave me time to climb up after him. Then we were where my fire is now. All day the sabertooths prowled by the wreckage, feasting upon my stallions and watching us. Brand and I raged from thirst.”

  Elidad’s eyes seemed to glaze over and his manner became pensive. “Brand decided to try to make it to the lake for water. We had a water-skin, but it was empty. I told him that we should wait, that help would come. I knew you wouldn’t let us die, Herrek. But Brand grew despondent. He begged me to let him try for water. At last, reluctantly, I bid him go while I went down and harried the beasts. I taunted them, hurling rocks and challenging them. They watched me, and it seemed they were filled with fury.

  “When I was sure Brand was gone, I retreated to my fire. Several hours later, I heard the beasts roar. I looked down, and saw Brand’s corpse. I…” Elidad paled as his words withered away. “They feasted on him,” he whispered.

  Gens ground his teeth with rage. Joash was too stunned to think.

  Elidad looked away as a powerful emotion worked its way across his face. “Brand is dead. Now, I will hunt sabertooths for the rest of my life. They will rue their arrogance.”

  “We found Ard,” Herrek said.

  Elidad said nothing.

  “We buried him,” Herrek said.

  Elidad still said nothing.

  “Sabertooths killed him.”

  Elidad eyes were more bloodshot than before. “They surprised us. The stallions bolted…”

  “Why did you head out here?” Herrek asked.

  Elidad took a deep breath and put his big weapon-hand, his left, on Herrek’s shoulder. “I’m going to bury Brand’s remains. I don’t want the vultures to feast upon him as the sabertooths did. After that, at the lake, then I’ll show you. Then you’ll understand.”

  Elidad walked back to the cul-de-sac.

  Herrek turned to Adah.

  “Tarag,” she said grimly.

  “Do you think he’s in league with the First Born?” Herrek asked.

  “No, I think he’s bewitched.”

  Herrek tried the word silently. He shook his head.

  “I’ve seen such things in Poseidonis,” Adah said. “We must be careful.”

  Herrek frowned. At last, he said, “I’ll help Elidad.” He walked toward the cul-de-sac.

  Gens thoughtfully tugged his mustache. He glanced at Adah, and it seemed he wished to ask her something. Instead, he said to Joash, “Come, help me scour the wreck. We need to jury-rig our chariot.”

  Soon Herrek’s chariot was rigged with wheels, although it would need a more thorough fixing back at camp to make it war-worthy again. Brand’s remains were buried, and they began the trek to the nearby lake.

  Spear in hand, Joash walked behind the chariots. Elidad rode with Adah. From now on, until they returned to camp, Joash knew he’d be walking. His days as a chariot-driver were over. What he disliked more, though, was not being beside Adah. Although she told grim tales, he liked thinking about what he’d do if he were only a little older.

  The lake spread out before them, and soon a smell of dampness filled the air. Between groves of birch and tall pine trees Joash saw the other shore and long-horned bison wading into the water. The lake might be dangerous, he realized. Predators would be here, and game and fish.

  Joash ran to help scout the lake. Herrek pointed at a sandy spot. Joash ran ahead with Koton. He kept his spear ready and his eyes open. The sand was hot. Koton whined and rushed into the water, cooling his paws. Joash waded ankle deep in the water. He saw a fish jump, a trout. He cupped lake-water. It tasted sweet and felt cool, refreshing. He drank more and listened to Koton lap water. At a word from Herrek he ran back to the chariot and unhitched the stallions. Joash led them to the lake and they drank. He kept a lookout for any strange water ripples.

  About five hundred yards to the right was a swampy area of bulrushes and honking geese. To his left there stood a tall embankment. Birds nested on the steep shore, while muskrat-holes were lower down. About three hundred yards over, orns drank water. They were twelve-feet-tall flightless birds with wickedly curved beaks and strong talons. Few predators could match the deadliness of orns. Luckily, those looked full.

  Once the stallions had drunk their fill Gens and Joash brought them to the chariots, which were parked under birch trees. The stallions were hobbled and began to graze. Adah, who had gathered driftwood and fallen branches, dropped them into a ring of stones she’d pushed together. Then she picked up her bow, whistled for Koton, and set out toward the bulrushes.

  Joash decided to use the opportunity for what he’d been thinking about for hours. Gens stayed near the horses he saw, working on a frayed bit of harness. Herrek crouched near the lake. He wore his white tunic, and sharpened his spear and sword. His face was stern, his motions jerky. The sound of whetstone on steel seemed loud. Elidad, after washing his face and arms, went to stand by the stones He took something off his belt, and studied it. Then he put the thing away and worked on starting a fire.

  Joash stripped off his leathers and soaked them in the water. He scrubbed them with sand and a bar of lye soap from his kit, finally pounding them on a hot rock. He laid his leathers and sandals on the grass to dry. He then pushed his spear into the sand and waded into the water. The water was cool and refreshed his sweaty skin. He kept his eyes open for any water ripples. When he was waist deep, he held his breath and plunged underwater. He leaped into the air and splashed back down like a fish. He swam out, and flipped onto his back, forgetting his worries and about any dangerous water creatures. Then he chanced to look at Herrek. Herrek watched him. Joash backstroked toward shore. Maybe it was wrong to feel so good so soon after burying Brand, but the water felt so grand.

  Herrek whistled.

  Joash stood up, his toes delighting in the watery sand.

  A water ripple V-ed toward him. He splashed out of the lake and snatched his spear. A huge fish, more than eight feet long, darted toward shore. It looked like a freshwater shark.

  Joash’s blood went cold.

  The freshwater shark, a deep-sea blue in color and with seven gills, turned and swam back toward the middle of the lake.

  His clothes were still damp, but Joash put them on. He inspected and repaired his kit. By the time he was done Adah returned. She used her cloak to hold a dozen wild
goose eggs. Joash’s stomach rumbled. He’d had no idea the Singer was such a good forager. In no time he’d cooked the eggs, and each of them ate in silence under the shade of the birch trees. When they were done, Herrek belched and cleared his throat.

  “I think it’s time we talked,” he said.

  Adah nodded, closely watching Elidad.

  Elidad held a leopard-skin pouch in his hands. His big fingers worked things in the pouch.

  Joash had never seen the pouch before. He looked closely. It seemed supple, and a string of sinew closed the end. He was surprised to see a parchment of some kind tucked in Elidad’s broad leather belt. It wasn’t that Elidad couldn’t read, it was simply that he seldom did. Few warriors bothered with such an art. He knew Lord Uriah could read, but that was to be expected from Elon’s Patriarch.

  “It is time to talk,” Herrek repeated. He sat on a rock, his spear and shield beside him. The stallions were close. Koton slept beside them.

  “Yes,” Elidad said, still fondling the leopard-skin pouch as he looked down. “We must talk.”

  “You must tell us why you came out here,” Herrek said.

  Elidad’s fingers stopped moving. His shoulders grew tense. Then his fingers moved again, causing the things in the leopard-skin pouch to slide from side to side. His shoulders relaxed.

  Adah, like Joash, studied the pouch. Her eyes narrowed.

  Elidad took a deep breath. “I’m uncertain where to begin.” His fingers moved faster, as if whatever he slid from side to side in the pouch gave him strength, or gave him comfort or guidance. The things made clacking noises, like stones.

  Adah stared suspiciously at the pouch, as she pulled her cloak around her knees and gnawed on one of the sea-flower designs.

  A feeling of wrongness seeped into Joash. He didn’t understand the feeling, but he saw goose bumps rise on his arms and felt the hair on his neck stand up. He sat cross-legged, his spear beside him. He reached out and touched the wooden shaft, hoping to calm his strange fear. The wrongness gnawed at him. He wanted to rip the leopard-skin pouch out of Elidad’s hands and hurl it into the lake. Let the shark eat it.

  “It began several days ago.” Elidad stared at the fire. “Brand and I chanced upon it.”

  “Upon what?” Herrek asked.

  Elidad’s fingers moved faster still. It was eerie. The clacking noises increased. There was a wicked rhythm to it.

  Joash glanced at Adah, wondering why she didn’t say something. She sucked on a flower design. It seemed she wanted to talk, but something held her back. She stared at Elidad’s fingers, at the supple leopard-skin pouch. Joash glanced carefully at Gens. He too stared at Elidad’s pouch. Now Joash was worried. He glanced at Herrek. The tall warrior also watched Elidad’s fingers. Herrek seemed entranced, expectant.

  “The skeleton looked to be very old,” Elidad said, his voice devoid of inflection. The tiniest curving slid onto the corners of his lips. Then the secret smile vanished. “The skeleton was huge, it was a giant. The bones were ancient and had sunken into the ground. Green lichen had grown on the femurs. The giant had once held something in his right hand, his weapon hand, I think. But the weapon had long ago disappeared. The other arm-bones were bent down and under the rib cage. The hand held at the waist seemed to clutch something. In the skeleton’s fingers I found this!”

  Elidad looked up, with a strange gleam in his eyes. He held the leopard-skin pouch before them. His sunburn had almost vanished, and in its place his skin looked pale and feverish.

  “What’s in the pouch?” Herrek slowly asked.

  “Ah,” said Elidad. “Do you wish to see?”

  “Yes,” Gens hissed.

  “Truly?” Elidad asked. He glanced at the Singer.

  She still had the flower design in her mouth. She croaked, “No, don’t open it.”

  “Are you not curious?” Elidad asked, his fingers making the things clack together.

  To Joash the things looked to be about as big as robin’s eggs.

  “Throw it away,” she whispered. “It’s evil.” But she made no move to rise.

  “Joash?” Elidad asked.

  Joash nodded slowly, but said nothing. In his mind he nodded in agreement with Adah. It seemed important to not agree with Elidad. The broad-shouldered warrior should throw away the pouch. If the giant’s skeleton was so old that lichen grew upon it, why was the leopard-skin pouch so supple? That didn’t make sense.

  “Singer?” Elidad asked. “Everyone else wishes to see what the pouch contains. Surely you do as well.”

  Her face was tight. “Yes,” she whispered. “Show me.”

  Elidad pushed the sinew open and upended the pouch. Two uncut emeralds, about the size of robin’s eggs, dropped onto his palm. The campfire seemed to brighten. The emeralds captured the light and flared at their heart with a cold and ice-green fire. They were of flawless purity. Elidad’s eyes shone with greed, and his mouth was wide with a triumphant smile.

  “Do you see?” he said.

  “They’re lovely,” Gens said. “They should be set in a crown and placed upon the world’s greatest stallion.”

  “Pure and marvelous,” whispered Herrek. “We should add them to the treasures of Elon that our glory spread accordingly.”

  “Such bewitching magnificence will have a source,” Adah said. “There the secrets of Nephilim may be found, and therefore the cause of Elohim increased.”

  Joash gazed into the heart of the emeralds. They glowed with cold evil. He grew faint, seeing clear and enticing images in his mind. “Bewitching,” he whispered, thinking about what Adah had said before. Elidad was bewitched. And here was the source of it! Joash willed himself to look down. He couldn’t! The emeralds held him. Rage and fear drove him. He was a free man. No one or no thing controlled him. By an act of will he tore away his gaze and stared at the fire, thinking furiously.

  “Joash?” Elidad called.

  Joash looked into the warrior’s avaricious eyes.

  “What do you see?”

  “Gems to put on a scabbard that I would wear at my side,” Joash whispered. And he did see that. It was a crystal-clear image. He would become the world’s greatest swordsman.

  Elidad smiled, nodded, and turned toward Herrek.

  Joash immediately turned from the gems. What was occurring here?

  “This,” Elidad said, pulling the parchment at his belt, “is a map I found under the pouch. It shows me where there are even more gems.”

  “A… a map?” Herrek asked.

  Elidad handed him the parchment.

  Herrek unrolled it, frowned, and handed it across the fire to Adah. Joash almost reached up and snatched it. He would burn it. But he was too afraid. So he glanced at the map as it passed him. It showed a cave in the hills. He supposed that in this cave was a glittering pile of gems.

  Adah studied the map. After a time she smiled. “This is a burial place. Notice these symbols.” She pointed to crooked crosses and upside down ciphers. Beside those marks were many others. The script looked sinister. “Someone, or something, very powerful was entombed here.”

  “Evil ones?” Herrek asked.

  “I believe so.”

  For a moment, Elidad looked troubled. “You said something about Nephilim. I’d not thought of that before. Do you think some will be here?”

  “Yes,” Adah said. “I relish the idea of stealing Nephilim secrets.”

  Herrek nodded. “I relish the idea of slaying Nephilim.”

  Elidad stroked his chin. “Might they bar us from the treasure?”

  Adah lifted her eyebrows. “I will outwit them,” she boasted.

  Herrek laughed. “I am the champion. To me will fall our ancient foes.”

  Gens nodded. “None drive a better team than I. We will bewilder them with our tactics and drive them from the cave.”

  “Yes,” Elidad said. “My cunning is superior to theirs.”

  Joash couldn’t believe what he was hearing. They were mad. “We must return to
the camp and get help,” he said. “It’s foolish to face Nephilim on our own.”

  “You hold a spear,” Elidad told him. “Do you fear to wield it?”

  “It isn’t that,” Joash said, looking to the others for help.

  “Are you a coward?” Elidad asked.

  “He’s no coward,” Herrek said. “Lord Uriah raised him from the rank of runner to that of groom. And Joash spoke with a giant, with Mimir the Wise.”

  “Ah,” Elidad said.

  “Bu-but, don’t we need help in order to slay more Nephilim?” Joash asked.

  “The lad speaks wisdom,” Adah said. She was frowning. “We do need help.” It sounded as if she was surprised that she hadn’t thought of it herself.

  “Perhaps so,” Elidad said smoothly. “But we have no time. Our ships will arrive. Then we must leave Giant Land with our stallions in order to take them to the market festival.”

  “True,” Herrek said.

  “We must strike quickly,” Elidad said.

  “But…” Adah tried to frame her question. “What if the Nephilim overpower us?”

  “Bah!” Elidad said. “We’re more cunning than that. We can slip past them, steal the treasure, and then we will slip away.”

  “No,” Adah said, “our purpose is to gather Nephilim secrets, not gather stones.”

  “No,” Herrek said. “We must slaughter the ancient enemy. I must show them they face the champion of the expedition.”

  “Then we will slay them,” Elidad said.

  The others pondered his words, as if he’d made a wise and thoughtful suggestion.

  “Yes,” Herrek said. “We will slay them.”

  Adah grinned. “Truth has been spoken. It is within our power to do this deed.”

  Then it came to Joash that they were drunk, perhaps not on wine or strong spirits, but on the evil magic that poured from the emeralds. Perhaps the emeralds were a trick of Tarag’s. He swallowed. It seemed they were being drawn to the treasure cave. Surely Tarag waited for them there. He must go to the cave, too.