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True, Jak the Unsturr.
Mulishly, I said, It is Jak the Sturr, my lady.
She frowned. I do not choose to be crossed.
Well, it was a petty matter and not worth arguing about. Not here, where a ghastly death might leap
upon us at any moment.
Faintly at first, and then growing steadily louder, the sounds of voices; the shuffle of feet and the clink of
weapons sounded at our backs. We looked around as the noises strengthened.
From the center door, said Naghan. Best, my lady, we keep out of sight.
Silently, all of us, slaves fearful and retainers not much happier, we crowded behind the seven tables and
crouched down. It was a jostle and we were cramped; but the fighting men positioned themselves ready
to leap out if the occasion warranted.
The noises spurted into the chamber and then a voice broke out, hard, high and yet lighthearted.
Thank Havil! There is real light ahead. Courage, my friend.
Courage? came a wheezing voice. It is more a pair of strong legs, like yours, I am in dire need of at
this moment.
Out into the light from the central opening stepped Deb-Lu-Quienyin and, with him and leading a small
bunch of warriors and slaves, came Prince Tyfar. They stared about, much as we had done when we first
entered.
The lady Ariane stood up, and smoothed her white gown.
Lahal, prince!
The shock was profound. Ariane laughed mischievously.
I frowned. She had risked an arrow through that pretty head of hers the warriors with Prince Tyfar
lowered their bows reluctantly. The prince smiled and walked forward, his hands outstretched.
My lady Ariane! Lahal and Lahal. What a pleasant sight in this infernal prison!
We all stood up from where we had hidden behind the tables and we all felt foolish, I daresay. After a
space for mutual greetings, our stories were told. Very similar they were, too. As Ariane and the flying
man had been separated, so the Wizard of Loh and the young prince of Hamal had been cut off from the
main party by a falling block of stone. Now, together, we studied our present predicament.
Deb-Lu-Quienyin walked across to peer at the dead Kataki, and I observed how these people, like
ours, had learned to do nothing foolish until everything that could be worked out had been worked out.
He saw me. His face expressed surprise; but no great surprise, no shock. He smiled his old smile.
Why, Lahal, Jak. How nice to see you again you have had success, I trust?
I greeted him in turn and then Ariane broke in to say, So you two know each other? How nice!
Prince Tyfar and I made the pappattu, and he gave me a hard look. A lone adventurer, down here?
There are few people with you, prince.
Yes, true your party?
I pointed up, down, and around. Havil alone knows.
You are welcome to join our party
I looked at him. He was a fine, sprightly, well-set-up young man, and the axe that dangled at his belt
looked freshly cleaned. He was a prince of Hamal.
I said, And you are at liberty to join me.
His eyebrows went up. His right hand dropped betrayingly toward his axe. Then his face creased. He
threw his head back. He laughed. By Krun! You are a jokester and that is good, down here.
If you two have finished? Ariane looked cross. This was man s business and she felt a little left out
or so I judged the situation. How do we go on? She motioned to the three doors. The left-hand one?
Quienyin sighed. That will probably take us back again where we do not wish to go. And the way is
hard.
In the pause that followed we all heard the noises from the third door. There was about them a familiar
ring.
Quienyin nodded. We have all been working our way through these places and have, by different
routes, converged on this chamber. That, I judge, is the rest of the party.
We all agreed and did not shelter behind the tables.
The Wizard of Loh was both right and wrong. When the newcomers walked out into the chamber we
saw that they were the people belonging to Kov Loriman the Hunter. He strode ahead, swinging his
sword about, enraged, looking for quarry. He had only two slaves and many of his fighting men carried
bundles of loot.
The pappattu was made and he gave me a queasy look for which I did not blame him. After all, I could
easily be a monster waiting the opportunity to rend him into pieces. But Quienyin s word sufficed.
These passages writhe like a boloth s guts, Loriman said, and his full fleshy face exhibited passion.
When do we get to the real treasure house? By Spikatur Hunting Sword! I need to get my hands on
He checked himself and then blustered on Gold and gems! Aye, by Sasco! That is what I came for
and that is what I will have!
So, I said to myself, this fine fleshy bucko was down the Moder for something other than gold or gems...
While the slaves and retainers wandered about the chamber seeking to read its riddles, I got hold of
Quienyin and steered him to the center where we might talk. From our fascinating conversations under
the stars as we rested in that caravan in which we traveled to Jikaida City, I knew him to be a pleasant
old buffer for a Wizard of Loh! who felt the loss of his sorcerous powers most keenly. Yet I had
sensed in him a groping for comradeship passing strange in a thaumaturge and not to be simply explained
away merely because he had lost his arts of sorcery.
Spikatur Hunting Sword, he said and puffed out his cheeks. The kov let slip more well, little
enough is known of that secret order
I heard rumors it was a new religion out of Pandahem
You see? Stories, rumors, nothing known for certain. Whatever the truth, its members are Dedicated to
Hunting. That, at least, is sure. He pushed at his turban. And it is the least nothing vital is known.
I am most happy to see you alive and well, San. You seek your powers here
The intelligent inquisitiveness he had exhibited over this matter of Kov Loriman s secret allegiances
shriveled at my words. He rode the tragedy extremely well, and showed a brave and proud face to the
world. He was a Wizard of Loh. Instant obedience from ordinary mortals had been habitual to him.
Sucking up, to find no easier way of saying it, from simple men who feared him had been his lot in life.
But this loss had changed him greatly. He was troubled. He and I had come to an understanding out there
on the Desolate Waste.
Thank you, Jak. But, I crave your indulgence, do not tell these people I am a Wizard of Loh. His old
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