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necessary."
"Excellent," Harka said. "The Isomage will be very pleased.
He doesn't have many visitors, as you can imagine."
"What about me?" Nikolai asked.
"All who have helped the man-child are welcome in Xanadu. Shall we begin now,
or must you rest after your& strenuous night?"
"I'm rested," Michael said. Nikolai squared his shoulders and nodded
agreement.
"Fine. It's a pleasant journey. We can be there by late evening. Of course, if
we could all ride& " He looked enviously at the horse. "But we can't. Bek will
tend the epon
."
For the next ten miles, the walls of the canyon grew higher until they walked
through a deep chasm in perpetual shadow. Mosses and ferns crowded the river
bank, some towering high overhead to form a dense canopy, casting everything
in verdant gloom. The river became a deep, swift-running torrent no more than
thirty feet across.
In its translucent volume, Michael saw Riverines flashing by like trout,
dodging rocks and reed banners in their plunge toward the sea.
They approached the canyon's end by late afternoon. The walls declined
abruptly and the river broadened, pouring out onto a wide, forested plain. The
plain was brushed by swift patches of fog; overhead, the sky melted into a
color between butter and polished bronze. The trees on the plain took up the
bronzen color and became a pale, umbrous green. Golden-edged clouds cast long
shadows over all.
The plain sloped gradually to an immense flat sea, placid as a mirror in the
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last light of day, reflecting the sky and adding only a darker hint of its own
character.
In the red glow of sunset, they hiked through the nearest spinney of trees,
still following the river. The water sighed and hissed over a broad course
covered with small stones. Where the Riverines went when the water was only
inches deep, Michael couldn't decide.
Harka urged them on through the evening shadows. The forest trail was
overgrown and difficult to track even in good light, but the cadaverous Sidhe
seemed to feel an added urgency. Bek, Tik and Dour followed some distance
behind. Shahpur stayed near Michael, his white form making barely a noise as
he passed through brush and over dry leaves.
file:///F|/rah/Greg%20Bear/Bear,%20Greg%20-%...er%2001%20-%20The%20Infinity%20
Concerto.html (177 of 198) [5/21/03 12:42:33 AM]
Bear, Greg - Songs of Earth and Power Vol. 1 - The Infinity Concerto
Harka puzzled Michael. There was a familiarity about his emptiness& but
Michael had never encountered a Sidhe with Harka's affliction. If these beings
worked for Clarkham, it was possible he had performed some sort of magic on
them  subjected them to a geas
, perhaps. But how could Sidhe be controlled by someone not a Sidhe?
Again and again, Michael concocted plans of escape, and discarded them. His
deep-seated anger and confusion fermented. Why had Bin subjected him to such a
weird, ridiculous philosophy? Perhaps, Michael thought, to create the stymie
he was in now.
Nikolai became more and more apprehensive as they neared the shore of the sea.
Finally, the pearly ribbon of light appeared and illuminated their path out of
the last stretch of the forest. They walked across sand to the still water's
edge.
"It is dangerous to approach Xanadu in the dark, even for the desired
visitor," Harka said. "We stay here for the night."
Nikolai followed Michael a few yards up the beach. The others made no move to
stop them. Michael bent down and dipped his hands in the sea's glassy surface.
The ripple caught the ribbon light and carried it yards away from the beach.
The water was neither warm nor cold. Michael brought a wet finger to his lips.
It was only faintly salty  more of a mineral tang, actually.
"There's nothing you can do?" Nikolai whispered.
Michael shook his head. "Why try? This is where you wanted to go  and I, too,
at first."
"You decided against it."
"If I change my mind, how can I be sure I'm the one, changing it? If my mind
is changed for me, does an escort make any difference? Perhaps they're merely
making us do what we should be doing, anyway."
"I have always felt apprehensive about that Harka," Nikolai said. "But to know
he works for the
Isomage!" The Russian clucked his tongue, then looked at the Breed, Sidhe and
cloaked human from the comer of his eye. "Surprises, surprises. What will we
do when we see Clarkham?"
"I'm sure he'll let us know what's expected."
The night passed quickly. Michael did not sleep. He sensed a growth of the
poison within, a combination of hatred, suspicion and strength that was
dismaying. Bin's discipline was blossoming and the flower was ugly.
Dawn disrupted the eastern sky and shattered the arcing ribbon light into
fading fragments. The air hummed once again like the beginning chords of a
symphony. When the sun was fully above the horizon, the hum subsided. The
bronzen sky brightened to pure butter.
Harka walked past Michael and Nikolai, who lay in the sand, and gestured for
them to follow. "We have an appointment and we're already late."
Their path took them at a tangent away from the still sea. Within a mile the
sand acquiesced to grass  a perfectly kept rolling lawn spaced here and there
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with peaceful ginkgo trees, rustled by leisurely warm breezes. Once the sun
reached a certain angle, it blended with the rest of the sky, leaving only an
illuminated featureless bowl.
Harka pointed to a green hill which rose with dignified gradualness to a
rounded peak about five hundred feet higher man the sea. Surrounding the hill
were walled forests and gardens, and atop squatted a pale ivory dome, its size
uncertain from their distance. In one side of the hill was a deep gash
bordered by trees; even from miles away, the sound of water plummeting from
the gash was audible. The water came in a torrent down the hillside facing
away from the sea and began a sinuous river.
"The Isomage's palace," Harka said solemnly.
They approached a stone wall about fifteen feet high, made of blocks of dark
marble. There was an open bronze gate, the doors chased with dragons. The
gate's only guard was a twelve-foot-tall granite warrior, his fierce oriental
eyes fixed on the lifeless sea, one hand holding a gatepost like a spear. As [ Pobierz całość w formacie PDF ]