Freda Warrington by Blackbird in Amber

Author:Blackbird in Amber [Amber, Blackbird in]
Language: eng
Format: epub
ISBN: 9780450568626
Google: jb6eLgAACAAJ
Publisher: New English Library
Published: 1992-12-15T08:00:00+00:00

9

A Sorceress Born

All night Kharan and Melkavesh scrambled around the base of the forbidding mountain wall. Out of the forest, the starlight was clear enough for them to see their way, so Melkavesh did not need to use her power. The mountainside gleamed like obsidian in the faint radiance, and it was rough and cold under their hands. Millions of years had weathered scars and faults deep into the rock, so that the surface was scored by ink-black shadows. Kharan followed Melkavesh with her heart in her mouth, convinced that they were certain to plunge into a chasm at any second.

But Melkavesh seemed confident and climbed on without hesitation. Presently she turned to the left and began to forge steeply upwards, and Kharan was forced to follow, fighting her reluctant, trembling limbs at every step. Finally, to her relief, the ground levelled out; Melkavesh had found a pass into the range. It was a relief to be able to walk upright, although the path was treacherous with loose stones.

Just before dawn they came out into a valley. The Emethrians soared all round them, hostile and barren, but on the valley floor there was grass, and Melkavesh pointed out a sparkling cascade of water at the far end.

‘We can follow that stream into the heart of the range. That will solve several problems for us.’ Kharan was too tired to do more than nod in acquiescence; she yearned for the moment when they found a suitable hiding place, and she could slough off her pack, curl up in her cloak, and sleep.

Gorethria had very little farmland; most of their food came from the fertile bowl of Patavria, which had been under Gorethria’s domination long before the rest of the Empire was taken. However, herds of goats were kept by certain wealthy families who lived on the fringes of the Emethrians, and wild antelopes roamed the mountain valleys. Although the heart of the mountains would be deserted, as yet they were only just within the edge of the range, and Melkavesh knew there would be numerous Vardravian goatherds and Gorethrian hunters about. They must be cautious. The stream would be essential to their survival, but it was also a magnet to anyone else wandering the mountains.

At twilight the next evening they emerged from their rock cleft and struck upwards alongside the noisy torrent of water. Hardy trees leaned at grotesque angles from the bank, heavy with heart-shaped amber nuts. On either side of the stream were sloping fissured walls of jet-black rock. It was an unfriendly environment which Kharan could not stand, but Melkavesh strode briskly through it like a queen surveying her realm. ‘

‘Mel, you seemed to know this stream was here, but I’ve never seen you look at the map,’ Kharan said. Ts that part of your power?’

I studied an art known as the Way between Worlds. It’s related to sorcery, certainly, though not quite the same. But it enables me to sense the geography of an area from a distance, without prior knowledge.

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