Roger Taylor - Caddoran

‘I suppose we can’t be,’ Hyrald said eventually. ‘He’s young and he’s unusual, and what’s happened of late could push anyone over the edge. But if he is mad, it’s not like any other kind of madness I’ve ever seen, for what that’s worth. We’ve all seen him change from being an irritating burden to becoming one of us – someone we could rely on, someone who pulls his weight. Nordath understands more about being a Caddoran than any of us, so I’m quite prepared to accept his word that Thyrn and Vashnar have become tangled together in some way. But this last business, and him wandering off like he did, meeting little old men that none of us saw, hearing him speak in the night… it’s straining matters for me.’ He gave Nordath an apologetic look.

‘It’s all right,’ Nordath said. ‘I understand how you feel. I don’t know what’s happening either. But I do know that whatever it is, Thyrn believes it absolutely. There was no mistaking his fear when he woke up, or when he was talking to us.’

None of them disputed that.

‘What do you think, Endryk?’ Rhavvan asked, still subdued.

Endryk was staring into the fire. ‘My stomach says, yes, it’s all true. My head says, I don’t know. I told you – I’ve seen such powers used before by men, which were far beyond anything I could begin to explain. And I know that there are old and fearful forces which are ignored or dismissed only at appalling risk – to everyone.’ He looked at Nordath. ‘As you’ve already surmised, it’s because of that that I’m here. I’ve been through my own insanity and I’m loath to condemn Thyrn.’ He tapped a burning log absently with his boot. ‘I think we’ve no choice but to give him the benefit of the doubt – to accept his tale, and support him as much as we can. One way or another it’ll resolve itself.’ Suddenly he bared his teeth and his eyes shone, feral and frightening, in the firelight. ‘One thing’s for sure. If we ignore him, and he’s telling the truth, it’ll be the last mistake we ever make.’

No one spoke, but all eyes were on him. Then, the fearful mask was gone and he stood up, himself again. ‘Anyway, it’s my duty spell now, isn’t it?’ He slapped Rhavvan on the back heartily. ‘Don’t look so glum, Rhavvan. Whether in the end we’re going to face your Vashnar and his thugs, or dragons and wild beasties, we’ve still got tomorrow to get through – food, walking, training.’

The remainder of the night passed off without incident. Rather to his surprise, Nordath found that Thyrn was already asleep when he returned to his tent. He was less fortunate himself and woke the next morning bemoaning the fact that he had ‘only just got off’.

The preliminaries of the day were completed in comparative silence, albeit more strained than usual, and they were sitting eating before Thyrn spoke.

‘I’m sorry about last night, but I was very frightened. Thank you all for helping me.’

This brought a variety of awkward and dismissive mutterings which ended with Rhavvan asking him how he felt now.

‘Still frightened,’ he replied, causing a momentary pause in the meal. ‘But I’ve been going over what happened. Thinking about it.’ He cleared his throat nervously. ‘I’m assuming that I’m not going mad – that something in my Caddoran nature hasn’t gone askew and is leading me astray, as it were. But if that’s so, then I have to say that something far worse is happening than just the Death Cry being proclaimed against us, or whatever it is that Vashnar’s up to with his Tervaidin Wardens.’

His voice was compellingly calm and no one was eating now. He looked up at the surrounding peaks, forbidding and enclosing against an overcast sky. ‘Somewhere, not far from here, I think – there’s a place that’s… significant… in this business. I think I was being drawn to it yesterday. Maybe if the old man hadn’t stopped me, I’d…’ His expression became preoccupied and he paused. ‘I told you I could feel part of Vashnar with me all the time.’ He looked at Rhavvan. ‘I know that’s difficult for you to understand, but it’s so, nevertheless.’ He turned to the others. ‘Now there’s something else. A call. A sign. Voices. Something to draw Vashnar here.’

‘What do you mean?’ Hyrald asked.

Thyrn shrugged. ‘Just that. I can feel it – hear it, if you like. Whatever it was that reached out to Vashnar last night needs him to be closer – physically closer. The call that it left is for him to follow. And he will – even I can feel its compulsion. And it will bring him here.’

‘Here? Right here?’ Hyrald’s finger pointed directly downwards.

Thyrn shook his head. ‘No. Just into these mountains – but somewhere not too far away. As I said, I think perhaps I was being drawn to it myself yesterday.’ He caught Rhavvan’s eye. ‘Don’t you think I know how crazy all this sounds?’ he protested angrily before Rhavvan could say anything. ‘Don’t you think I’d rather we just broke camp and plodded on towards Arvenshelm in the hope that sooner or later I – we – would get a fair hearing in a Warden’s Court, or something; that everything would be seen to be a regrettable misunderstanding; that we’d all be allowed back to our old lives as though nothing had happened?’ Rhavvan made to speak, but Thyrn ploughed on. ‘Maybe I’m wrong. Maybe I am going insane. I don’t know. How could I tell? I don’t feel insane. And what I’m sensing, for all it seems to be beyond reason, feels as real as this plate.’

Rhavvan managed to interrupt him as he paused for breath.

He echoed the conclusion that Endryk had offered the previous night. ‘You’re right, it does sound crazy. And more than once I’ve thought you might be crazy yourself. But this whole business has been crazy from the start. And no matter what we all think of one another we’ve no alternative but to stick to Endryk’s advice and work as a team if we’re going to stand any chance of getting out of this. If it’s any help, you might be having crazy thoughts, but you neither look nor sound mad and, like Endryk told you last night, none of us think you are. The least any of us will give you is the benefit of the doubt – innocent until proved guilty, if you like. There’s no denying you were a pain in the beginning, but you’re one of us now.’

His large hands reached and engulfed Thyrn’s.

Adren’s eyebrows rose and she seemed to be weighing a tart response to this bluff admission, though in the end she remained silent. Endryk spoke as Thyrn eventually extricated himself from Rhavvan’s grip.

‘You were going to tell us something else about this call to Vashnar that you heard.’

‘Am hearing,’ Thyrn corrected. He hesitated. ‘Something inside tells me that I should follow this call myself – move towards what seems to be the heart of all this.’

Endryk stared at him uncertainly, then, ‘That’s your judgement, Thyrn. I couldn’t begin to advise you. But we’ve no route planned and if this call takes us south or west, I can’t see why we shouldn’t go wherever you want.’ He looked round at the others, seeking their consent. No one disagreed, though there was concern in all their faces. He voiced it. ‘But don’t forget we’re as bound up in this as you are. You are one of us now. Don’t shut us out. Don’t wander off on your own again. And if anything else strange happens to you, don’t nurse it to yourself… spit it out straight away.’

‘I will,’ Thyrn agreed.

A little later they were trudging towards the rocky head of the valley. Thyrn had wanted to clamber up on the ridge again but Endryk had been unequivocal about not dividing the group. ‘We stay together and we go where the horses can go,’ he insisted. ‘Not every valley’s going to be as bleak as this, I hope, but generally, hunting around here’s not going to be good and, apart from the horses carrying our equipment, if the worst comes to the worst, we can eat them.’