Jack Vance - The Asutra

Ifness asked in a voice of mild interest: "Am I to understand that the Hulka defeated the Red Devils? How is this possible, if each Devil is worth ten men?"

Gulshe spat into the flames but made no reply. Srenka leaned forward to push a stick into the coals, the ring in his nose flickering with orange reflections. "It is said that magic weapons were used."

"By the Hulka? Where would they get magic weapons?"

"The warriors who destroyed the Red Devils were not Hulka."

"Indeed. Who were they then?"

"I know nothing of the matter; I was at Shillinsk."

Ifness pursued the subject no further. Etzwane rose to his feet, and climbing to the top of the rise, looked around the horizon. He saw only darkness. He listened, but could hear no sound. The night was fine; there seemed no threat from chumpa or bad ahulphs. The two Sorukhs were another matter. The same thought had occurred to Ifness, who now went to kneel before the fire. He blew up a blaze, then holding his hands to either side, made the flames jump back and forth while the Sorukhs stared in amazement. "What are you doing? " asked Gulshe in awe.

"A trifle of magic, for my protection. I laid a command upon the fire spirit to enter the liver of all who wish me harm and there abide."

Srenka pulled at his nose ring. "Are you a true magician?"

Ifness laughed. "Do you doubt it? Hold out your hand."

Srenka cautiously extended his arm. Ifness pointed his finger and a crackling blue spark leapt to Srenka's hand. Srenka emitted a ridiculous falsetto squawk of astonishment and jerked back speechless. Gulshe sprang erect and hurriedly retreated from the fire.

"That is nothing," said Ifness. "Only a trifle. You are still alive, are you not? So then, we will sleep securely, all of us, knowing that magic guards us from harm."

Etzwane spread his blanket and bedded himself down. After a mutter or two Gulshe and Srenka arranged their own gear somewhat off to the side, near the tethered pacers. Ifness was more deliberate and sat for half an hour staring into the dying fire. At last he took himself to his own bed. For half an hour Etzwane watched the glitter of Gulshe's and Srenka's eyes from the shadow of their hoods; then he dozed and slept

The second day was like the first. In the middle afternoon of the third day the foothills of the Kuzi Kaza came down to meet the plain. Gulshe and Srenka took counsel and established landmarks for themselves. By nightfall they had reached a desolate upland region of limestone cliffs and pinnacles. Camp was made beside a great sinkhole of dark mirror-smooth water. "We are now in the Hulka land," Gulshe told Ifness. If we are set upon, our best safety is flight, in four different directions-unless by magic you are able to insure our defense."

"We will act as circumstances direct," said Ifness. "Where are the Red Devil bones?"

"Not far distant: beyond the ridge. Can you not sense the presence of so much death?"

Ifness responded in a measured voice: "An intellect in full control of itself unfortunately must sacrifice that receptivity which distinguishes the primitive mentality. This is an evolutionary step I have, on the whole, been happy to make."

Srenka tugged at his nose ring, uncertain whether or not Ifness had spoken in disparagement. He looked at Gulshe; they gave each other shrugs of perplexity, then went to their beds, where they muttered together for half an hour. Srenka seemed to be urging some action which Gulshe resisted; Srenka grumbled raucously; Gulshe made an ameliorative statement and both fell silent.

Etzwane sought his own blankets, where he lay wakeful, uneasy for reasons beyond his understanding. "Perhaps," he told himself, "my mentality is primitive and credulous."

During the night he awoke often to lie listening, and once heard the bickering of distant ahulphs. Another time a far mellifluous hooting reverberated through the stone defiles, to send eerie shudders along Etzwane's skin; it was a sound he could not identify. He had no awareness of returning to sleep, but when he awoke next, the sky glowed lavender to the approach of the three suns.

After a glum breakfast of dried fruit and tea, the four set forth again, passing through a series of limestone defiles, then out upon a high meadow. They rode through a forest of gallows trees, then up a barren valley. A five hundred foot crag loomed above them, with the parapets of a ruined castle at the crest. Gulshe and Srenka halted to consider the trail ahead. "Is the castle inhabited?"

"Who knows? " growled Gulshe. "Enough such places exist, with rogues and murderers waiting to roll down a rock, that the traveler must take care."

Srenka pointed a crooked finger. "Lyre birds fly above the stones; the way may be considered safe."

"How far now to the battlefield? " asked Ifness.

"An hoar's ride, around the root of yonder mountain… Come now; at a fast pace. Lyre birds or not, I mistrust these old bandit dens."

The four rode forward at a smart gait, but the ruined castle offered no menace and the lyre birds soared as before.

They rode down from the pass. Gulshe pointed toward the great mountain, hunching like a sullen beast over the plain below. "Thence the Red Devils came, on their way to Shagfe-there, to the north, you can barely see the Shagfe stockade. Early in the morning the men attacked, from positions they had taken during the night, and the Red Devils were encircled. The battle lasted two hours, and all the Red Devils, with their captive women and imps, were dead; and the band which had destroyed them marched south and was seen no more: a great mystery… There! The place where the Red Devils camped. The battle raged in this vicinity. Ah! Smell the carrion! "

"What of the bones? " inquired Srenka with a sly grin. "Do they meet your expectations?"

Ifness rode forward, across the scene of carnage. Roguskhoi corpses lay everywhere, in a clutter of twisted limbs and contorted postures. Decomposition was far advanced; ahulphs had toyed with the idea of devouring the black flesh and some had died from the experiment; these lay curled in furry balls down the slope.

Ifness rode in a great circle, gazing intently down at the corpses, sometimes halting to study one or another of the stinking red shapes at length. Etzwane halted his pacer somewhat to the side, where he could watch the Sorukhs. Ifness rode up and halted beside Etzwane. "What do you make of the situation?"

"Like yourself, I am puzzled," said Etzwane

Ifness looked sidewise, eyebrows disapprovingly high. "Why then am I puzzled?"

"Because of the wounds, which are not those of swords or cudgels."

"Hmmf. What else have you noticed?"

Etzwane pointed. "He with chain bib yonder appears to be a chieftain. He has suffered damage to his chest. The asutra he carried was destroyed. I noticed another dead chieftain across the field with a similar wound. The men who killed the Roguskhoi, like ourselves, knew of the asutra."

Ifness gave a curt nod of the head. "So it would seem."

The Sorukh approached, wearing artificial smiles. "The bones then," Srenka put forward, "what of all these fine bones?"

"They are obviously not in salable condition," said Ifness. "I can make no firm offer until you clean and dry them, make up standard bales, and convey them to the Shillinsk dock."

Gulshe gave his flowing mustache a sad tug; Srenka was less controlled. "I feared such duplicity! " he cried. "We have no guarantee of profit; we have invested time and property to no avail, and I for one will not let the matter rest on these terms."

Ifness said coldly, "Upon our return to Shillinsk I will compensate you and your comrade generously; as you point out, you have done your best. However, I cannot undertake to buy a field full of corpses in order to gratify your avarice. You must find another customer."