Alan Foster - Kingdoms of Light

Cezer frowned. "What does?"

The giant looked down at him and smiled. "Color."

Oskar continued to stare quietly. "This rainbow may be the last remaining object of real color left in the Gowdlands."

"But why should it be so?" Samm was clearly, and unashamedly, puzzled. "Why should color here alone remain, in this form?"

Though she was no scholar, Mamakitty did her best to offer an explanation. "I can't really say, except that rainbows aren't like painted walls or dyed clothing or even spotted fur. According to the Master, they exist from moment to moment. Maybe the ability to constantly renew itself through the varying action of the falls allows it to elude the effect of the Mundurucu hex."

"I suppose that makes sense, of a sort." Turning from the rollicking, booming torrent to face her, Cezer smiled expectantly. "So—how do we capture some of it and carry it back with us to the forest? Or anywhere else, for that matter?"

Oskar taunted his companion. "You once told me that, given a clear shot at it, you could catch anything in your paws."

The younger man held up his human hands. "In my claws, long-face." He indicated his blunt human nails. "With these I would be lucky to catch spaghetti."

Mamakitty had been giving the matter some thought. "Ever since we left the Fasna Wyzel we have been within a day's walk of pond, or stream, or town. So we don't really need these heavy water bags. We can empty them out and use them to catch and carry rainbow."

"I'm all for that." Samm grunted approvingly. Which was not surprising, since he was carrying nearly all the water and the bulk of their supplies by himself. The weight would have been better distributed if he had been able to crawl. Traveling upright had disadvantages as well, he mused.

"Why, what a fine idea!" Cezer gestured expansively into the gorge. "We'll just stroll over to that vaporous band of blurry light, pluck colors from it the way Master Evyndd's visiting help used to pick grapes from his vines, and stuff them in our water bags." His voice dropped to a huskily sardonic, but nonetheless still attractive, murmur. "There's nothing to it. All we need to do is figure out how to catch light with our bare hands."

"If anyone can do that, a cat can." Pushing past him, a determined Cocoa followed Mamakitty down into the bushes that lined the canyon. Lilting fragrances from the flowers they disturbed rose up toward the road. Color might have vanished from the world, but there was still sweet fragrance aplenty.

Oskar clapped Cezer on the back. "Come on, fuzzball. Let's see if you can keep your dainty costume spotless while slogging and sliding down through soggy vegetation and muddy hillsides."

Tugging at first one lace-trimmed sleeve and then the other, the younger man sniffed haughtily. "With the greatest of ease, my rough-hewn friend. Watch, and marvel at natural grace at work."

Samm and Taj followed behind them. "Those two have always argued, no matter what kind of body they happened to be occupying. Up in my cage, I was able to see and hear everything."

"Lucky you, living in a penthouse." Unable to fit between two trees, Samm simply shoved one aside. Upturned roots bled mud and worms as it crashed to the ground. "As for myself, I find I quite like this new perspective."

"We're all going to have get used to these new forms if we're going to fulfill Master Evyndd's last wish." Taj hopped nimbly over a small stream. "And stop staring at me like that! You're making the back of my neck burn."

"Sorry." The giant contritely shifted his gaze.

It was not an easy descent, but by relying on their natural instincts they crossed obstacles and surmounted barriers that would have given even very agile humans pause. By nightfall they had reached the base of the cataract. While the perpetual mist that rose from the water-worn rocks at the bottom of the falls did not bother Samm—much less Taj and Oskar, who reveled in it—the other members of their party were adamant about finding a drier place to spend the night. A small rocky overhang surrounded by dense vegetation provided the shelter they were looking for. Close at hand, falling water plunged earthward behind the diffuse arc of muted color that was the rainbow they had come to find.

Somewhat to everyone's surprise but to Cocoa's especial delight, Oskar proceeded to make a fire. Their amazement surprised him. "If you'd watched as many of these being built as I have, you'd understand." While he tended to the comforting blaze, the rest of them set about gathering the driest plant matter they could find with which to fashion temporary bedding.

"In the morning," Mamakitty announced, "we'll start working on how we're going to capture some of that colored light to bring back home with us. If empty water bags won't serve, we'll think of something else. Once we've gathered our fill of color, we can seek out other masters like our Evyndd. They will know best how to spread it through the Gowdlands and beat back this hex of the invaders."

"I don't think the water bags will work. I still think we need a special kind of container. Something that will hold anything." For once, Cezer was not being sarcastic.

"I wonder if we could make something?" Taj mused.

"Too bad we're not bringing back sound." Cezer's serious mien had not lasted long. "Then we could just grab it and shove it down your throat. You being the master of song, and all."

Having come so far, and participated in at least one fight (even if it was among friends), Taj was no longer so easily intimidated. "I'm composing a special song just for you, tyrant of baby mice."

As Cezer's expression tightened, Oskar stepped in front of him. "Since you're so full of suggestions and energy, why don't you help me gather some more fuel for the fire?" He indicated the cheerful but modest blaze. "That is, unless you fancy waking up cold sometime before dawn."

"No, that doesn't appeal to me." Joining his companion, Cezer added, "The Master knew what he was doing. Ordinary humans would have difficulty spending the night in a place like this, but not us. We're all used to sleeping on the ground."

"Speak for yourself." As the other men disappeared into the bushes, Taj started looking for a comfortable tree in which to make his bed.

The relentless rumble of the falls served to hasten everyone's sleep. Not that help was needed. The difficult descent down the mountainside to the river below had exhausted everyone. A short evening meal was followed by rapid dispersion to individual beds.

Oskar was the last to allow himself to relax. By the time he had finished thinking, and planning, everyone else was already asleep around the fire. Samm had gone off by himself, to find a separate clearing where he would have enough room to make himself comfortable—and also so that he would not roll over in the middle of the night and crush one of his more fragile companions.

With a sigh, Oskar rose and walked over to the berth he had fashioned for himself out of leaves, smashed twigs, and other forest floor detritus. It was not his soft, padded bed back home in the Master's house, but it was better than the bare, rocky ground. Nearby and not far below the site of their campsite, the river Shalouan foamed its way eastward, toward Zelevin and Sibrastkou and the other mountain communities that had so far largely escaped the most devastating effects of the Totumakk invasion. Eventually, he knew, the Horde would extend its hand here as well, to these peaceful hillside towns and river communities, to pillage and despoil. Before that happened he hoped he and his companions could furnish the means for forestalling any further abominations.

Stepping into the center of his bed, he paced his ever-tightening circles before finally sitting down and curling into a sleeping position, his head resting on his hands, legs stretched out away from him. The resounding music of the cataract overwhelmed all but an occasional crack of burning wood from the fire, and lulled him into a deep and unforced sleep.