The Well of Darkness by Randall Garrett

Author:Randall Garrett [Garrett, Randall]
Language: eng
Format: epub
ISBN: 978-1-625670-24-3
Publisher: Jabberwocky Literary Agency, Inc.
Published: 2014-08-29T04:00:00+00:00

12

I took a step back from the two women. “Are you crazy?” I said.

Zefra’s jaw tensed and her eyes narrowed. “Many in Eddarta believe so,” Zefra said. “Take care you do not make the same error.”

“Why don’t you convince me, then,” I demanded, “why it makes sense to go clear across the world in pursuit of something we may not find, when we know that something we could use is right here in Eddarta?”

“Because,” Tarani said patiently, “those things are just as inaccessible here, and an attempt to get them is fraught with personal danger for all three of us.”

“All we know about the location of Kä is that it’s somewhere in the Kapiral Desert. Are you trying to tell me that there’s no danger in marching out there with no idea where we’re going—assuming, of course, that we get away from here with our skins and walk clear across the world before we start looking?”

Tarani’s patience was wearing thin. “Do you hear what you are saying, Rikardon? ‘March’ into the desert. ‘Walk’ across the world. I think that you do not object to the plan as much as to the discomfort of making the search on foot. The Sharith are few, my friend; the rest of us must walk wherever we wish to go. Yet few people of any sense have died in the Kapiral or any other desert.”

“Sharith?” Zefra asked; we both ignored her.

I hate to admit it, I thought, but she may be right. Looking for that stupid city seems a much bigger job without Keeshah. Maybe I‘m even afraid …

“Everyone else has learned those survival skills,” I said slowly. “I have never needed them.”

“Then how did we survive walking through the Chizan Passage?” Tarani demanded. “And that terrible crossing from Sulis to Stomestad, with an injured man and a sha’um who slowed our movement?”

I said what I felt, though I knew it had little logic. “Keeshah was there, Tarani. It’s different, now.”

She put her hand on my shoulder, a welcome tenderness in the gesture. “Keeshah is not the source of your strength, my love. How did you get to Eddarta?” she asked.

“I … ran,” I answered.

“The route?” she demanded.

“Across desert,” I answered, seeing her point but still fighting it. “But Lonna …”

“Lonna will be with us in the Kapiral, as well,” Tarani said. “If necessary, she will bring food, as well as water. We can do this, Rikardon. And we must. It truly is the only way we can be sure Indomel never abuses the power of the Ra’ira.”

I sighed. “You still haven’t told me how you expect to find the city,” I said.

“Tarani’s link with the All-Mind is very strong,” Zefra said. “She read the Bronze; she will be able to find Kä.” Zefra moved forward, pressed herself between her daughter and me. “Tarani could do it alone,” she said, and turned her back to me.

“Who is this man, daughter?”

“He, not I,” Tarani said calmly, “is the key to finding Kä.”

“What?” Zefra said, beating me to it by only a fraction of a second.

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