Hugh Cook - The Walrus and the Warwolf

'Don't silence me fast!' said Drake, a touch of desperation in his voice. 'Or you'll never hear of Morgan Hearst and all.'

'Of Hearst?' said Elkor Alish, he of the elegant clothes and the square-cut black beard. 'Tell!'

So Drake told his story, clearly, briefly and with only a bare minimum of exaggeration. He held nothing back. He offered up the documents he had been told to take to Elkor Alish, and concluded:

'. . .so you see, all I need is a note in the hand of the good lord Alish. Then we can have two of the world's best pirate captains back to fight with us, aye, to tear down the towers of Selzirk, burn out their law courts, pull down their prisons, lynch their gaolers, kill out the Regency entire, string up Watashi and torture the torturers to death.''Admirable sentiments,' said Alish, with a smile.

Then he conferred with Menator. They spoke in something close to a whisper: nevertheless, their disagreement was plain. Finally, Alish said to Drake:'You must talk in private with the pair of us.'

With some trepidation, Drake accompanied the two warlords into a private chamber where they interrogated him in depth and in detail, until his head spun. The questions they asked! What signs had he seen of war? Of the arming of men? The disposition of cavalry? The stockpiling of fodder? The movement of stores? The building of ships?

They were on at him till nightfall, by which time he was fatigued to the point of death. Both were intensely interested in the conflict between Watashi and the Regency -thinking obviously, that here was something they could exploit.

When they were finished, Drake mustered up his boldest voice and spoke:

'I've done my best, man. Now what about my note, that I may rescue Walrus and Warwolf? There's not much time left, you know.'

'You may have no note,' said Menator, 'for you have seen what you have seen, and they will use you as a spy if you return. You've sharp eyes about you: that you've proved by your answers.'

'He'll tell them no more than they know already,' said Alish.T ask you not to defy me in this,' said Menator.

After some argument, Alish – against his better judgment – yielded to Menator over what was to him a small matter. But it was no small matter to Menator. He loved the thought of Walrus and Warwolf being tortured to death: he had wanted, for a long time, to be rid of them once and for all.'Menator, man,' said Drake. One last chance. But a good one. 'What say you?' said Menator.

'I say you're missing a grand opportunity, man. You think of me as enemy, that's plain, but I could be ally for real. Listen – you've got 'Marphos, true, but Selzirk is strong. You need all the help you can get.''What help are you?' said Lord Menator.

'It's King Tor who'd be help if I spoke to him right,' said Drake. 'I could go to the province of Hok, aye, summon him out of the mountains, march his men to your banner.'Menator laughed.

'What's so funny, man?' said Drake, in anger. 'Haven't you heard?' said Lord Menator. 'King Tor is dead. He died this last winter. Killed on Stokos he was.' 'How came it?' said Drake.

'Your ogre-king gambled at war,' said Lord Menator. 'He left Hok with what men remained to him. He landed on Stokos. Many flocked to his banner. Then those who ruled in Cam were sore afraid.'T bet they were!' said Drake. 'Tell on!'

'With pleasure,' said Menator, for this was one of his favourite stories, and it was rare for him to meet ainan who did not know it backwards. 'It happened that those who held Stokos for Gouda Muck fought savage battles with Tor. The result.was a draw.''They split the island in half?' said Drake.

'No,' said Lord Menator. 'They sat licking their wounds, thinking. Those who ruled in the name of the Flame thought best. They sent to the Teeth, inviting me to take their side in return for the rule of Stokos. It was their lives they were fearing for, you see.''Gutless cowards!' said Drake. 'I see right enough!'

'So I sailed my ships to Stokos,' said Lord Menator. 'That turned the balance. King Tor's men saw that all was lost. So they murdered their king. They brought the ogre's head to Sudder Vemlouf in Cam. By that time, of course, I was ruling above Vemlouf.'

'So you won your war with the blood of others!' said Drake, shocked at how filthy power politics could be.

'Isn't that always the best way to win a war?' said Lord Menator, grinning.

He was doing well for himself. He had won the rule of the Greater Teeth; he had conquered Stokos; he commanded Androlmarphos. He was well on the way to fulfilling his ambition to conquer the western seaboard of Argan.

'Now,' said Lord Menator, 'the question arises – what shall we do with Drake Douay?'

'I see you don't like the man,' said Elkor Alish. 'But that's no excuse for killing him.''You wouldn't stand for it?' said Menator.

'My war is fought for reasons which are pure,' said Alish. 'I'll not stain my hands with the blood of the innocent – or stand aside and watch the innocent murdered, either.'

'But we must do something with this unruly fellow,' said Menator, 'or he'll scarper back to Selzirk to try something rash to rescue his Walrus and Warwolf. We wouldn't want to see him in Selzirk betraying our secrets, would we now?''I'd betray nothing!' said Drake, defiantly.

'Under torture,' said Menator, 'even the best will betray everything.''That's but theory talking,' said Drake.

'We can put theory to test, if you wish,' said Menator blandly.'No thanks!' said Drake.

So it came to pass that Drake Douay (also known as Arabin lol Arabin and Shen Shen Drax, as the Demon-son and other things), was placed in preventive detention aboard one of the ships moored in the harbour of the city of Androlmarphos.

Which was soon beleaguered by an army from the city of Selzirk.

Drake's training in preventive detention: with the knife; with sword; in combat against ghosts and shadows. He alarms his jailors with the intensity with which he rages against imprisonment. Sweat, rage and endeavour allow him to win back his strength. The elegant Elkor Alish, rated by many as the best swordsman of Rovac, visits him twice to check on his conditions, and, impressed by his dedication, gives him some pointers on technique and on training.Then Alish visits no more: for there is war.

The Harvest Plains finally responded to the capture of Androlmarphos by sending an army from Selzirk to lay seige to the place. That army was commanded by Morgan Hearst, a warrior of Rovac, who had once been a battle-companion of Elkor Alish.

Nothing daunted, Elkor Alish led his troops out of the planning to break the strength of Selzirk on the plain of battle. But the chances of war gave Hearst the victory. Alish, his battle-strength broken, retreated behind the walls of Androlmarphos. After a brief siege, Morgan Hearst used the death-stone against those walls. A few defenders escaped to sea; the rest, for the most part, died.

Since Drake was in preventive detention, he missed the preliminary skirmish which saw Lord Menator of the tattooed rose killed outside the walls of Androlmarphos. And he took no part in the Battle of the Pyramid Plain, or in the defence of 'Marphos. But he did see something of

the terrors of the attack which drove Alish and his allies from the city.

Before Drake's ship got away to sea, Drake saw walking rocks raging on the docks of 'Marphos, conjured to life by the death-stone. He had heard much of that rock-waking magic from Atsimo Andranovory in Selzirk, but had believed none of it until he saw those living rocks in rage.

Morgan Hearst commandeered some ships and gave chase to the few survivors – but, after a desperate battle at sea, Elkor Alish and some of his men escaped. Drake, by luck, was amongst them. By then, Drake had long since finished his weeping for Walrus and Warwolf; he counted himself lucky to have got away with his own life when so many thousands had perished.