"There are terrible outlaws there, and Demons, and--and things."
His patience ran out. "To hell with them! We already have one Demon; do
you think it's going to share us with everything on the planet? Come
on!"
Janee didn't insist on being carried now; evidently she felt
compromised enough to come along. They hurried, stopping only once to
finish up their food. They were thirsty, but Hot Water was supposed
to come up out of the Warm Ground, and anyway they could wait for the
evening rains.
It was dusk, and already beginning to drizzle, when they noticed that
the ground under their feet was warm.
This was mostly hardened lava, sloping upward toward the volcano, but
with small streams and patches of vegetation.
Before they found a good place to stop for the night, Bru pointed
ahead. "Look! That glow!"
They went forward cautiously until they could see what must be a Fire,
with people sitting around it. Fascinated, Alyar went closer. Suddenly
he heard the girls scream, and simultaneously two pairs of rough hands
seized him from behind. He wrenched desperately, throwing himself and
the two husky men around, but not getting free. More came shouting, to
help pin him down and tie him with ropes. It sounded as if Bru and the
girls were being similarly treated.
A man who acted like the leader came running from the Fire. "What
have we got here? Scouts?" He began directing squads of spearmen as
if he expected an attack. "Two women with them? Funny. All right,
you--who're you spying for?"
"What are you talking about?" Alyar demanded, as indignantly as his
position allowed. "We're from the smit clan and we're--trying to get
home," he finished lamely.
"Clan? From a beast? What are you doing up here, then?"
"We came to keep warm."
"Keep warm? Why didn't you build a Fire?"
"I--we don't believe in Fires."
Laughter arose. "Let him up," the leader said. "He must be telling the
truth. Only a fley-eater would be so ignorant."
They took off some of the ropes. Alyar rubbed at various bruises and
abrasions, wondering whether he and Bru would be killed or made slaves.
The outlaws would surely keep the girls. He wondered whether the Demon
were going to give up its property so easily.
As if in answer to the thought, it came strolling into the light, and
the leader made a sign nervously. "Damn! A black cat! Is it yours?"
"A black what? It captured us in the Forest."
"It ... captured you? In the Forest? Then it's a real Demon!"
"Of course! How can you be so ignorant?"
"And you're still alive?"
"It hasn't hurt us yet, but it won't let us get away and it makes us
carry it. I think we're uncursed right now. I'm not sure; I sort of
lost track."
The man gulped and faced the Demon. "Please forgive us, Demon. We
didn't know these people were yours."
The Demon looked at him scornfully and uttered a curse. People moved
away, except one young spearman who stood his ground. "It--it sounds
just like a cat," he quavered.
The leader knocked him spinning with the sweep of a forearm. "Of course
it sounds like a cat! How do you think it would sound when it's in cat
form? Do you expect it to speak ingils to us?" He beckoned to several
women. "Bring food for the Demon, and offerings of iron and jewels!" He
glanced at the four captives, and added, as an afterthought, "Better
feed its slaves, too."
* * * * *
Cooked meat was easy to chew, but it tasted odd, and the fruit was
completely baffling. Still, they were filling.
The outlaw leader eyed the Demon, which had pre-empted Janee's ample
lap. "Where is it taking you?"
Alyar didn't want to admit how little he knew of the nature of things,
so he said the most awesome thing he could think of. "To Iron Mountain."
There were gasps. "Oh, what unfortunate people you are!" the leader
said. Then, eagerly, "When will you go?"
Alyar thought he'd better press his luck. "It wants us to start
right away. It only pretends to be asleep like that, to see if we're
obedient. Er--I seem to have gotten turned around. Which way is Iron
Mountain from here?"
The man pointed with alacrity. "That way! A third of the distance
around the volcano. Here, we'll help you get loaded up."
The girls were festooned with necklaces and pendants of rare stones,
while Bru and Alyar toted the food and the oddments of iron. The
outlaws had hastily gathered a fabulous treasure of the metal--whole
spearheads, and even a knife, of it!
Alyar waved and smiled at the outlaws just before they were out of
sight, then turned north.
"We'll go upcountry," he said. "They won't look for us there. I'm not
sure they won't follow; they probably don't know what this Demon will
do any more than we do." He saw some huge rocks not far away, with
bushes growing on top. "Let's climb up there."
When they were halfway to the rocks, incredible good fortune struck.
The Demon with one hurried "Meow!" scrambled away from Janee and ran
back toward the outlaw camp.
"Come on!" Alyar exclaimed. "Maybe we can get out of its circle of
influence!"
They climbed the rocks and found they could see the Fire. Presently
they knew the Demon had arrived there, for the distant figures
scattered. Moments later, faint laments drifted to them.
They spent the rest of the night awake and watchful. "The outlaws will
surely be after us now," Bru said, "to get back all this treasure."
"Marisu and I want to be near our clan," said Janee. "Even if--" she
blushed--"you make smits out of us, the two beasts would meet once in a
while and we could visit."
Alyar looked eastward, where numerous glows marked other outlaw camps.
The volcano was a barrier to the north. The outlaws would bar the way
to the south, expecting them to head home to the beasts. The only
direction left was west, and he found that it pleased him.
"I guess we'll just have to visit Iron Mountain," he said. "Then we'll
be such heroes that Pabosses smit and jaksin will have to forgive us."
The girls looked at him with awe while Bru moaned.
When the sun came up they could see the northern end of the Forest,
south of which the jaksin beast had been feeding. Past it, surprisingly
visible from this altitude, were the two beasts, head-to-head with
eyestalks touching.
The Forest ran up close to the steep side of the volcano, leaving only
a narrow pass. Beyond that was the river which, turning south, passed
the two beasts. Farther up the river, according to legend, was Iron
Mountain.
They stayed long enough to see what kind of animals prowled the country
and to lay out a course, then climbed down and got started. They walked
all day with only a few halts and some minor adventures with strange
animals, then found another high place to spend the night. In the
darkness they spotted a single Fire west of them. The next morning they
detoured around that spot, and entered the narrow pass. Before noon
they stood looking down at the river.
* * * * *
The canyon was deeper and wider than Alyar could have imagined, and
there was more water at the bottom. The country ahead, though, was so
rough that it seemed the easiest way was to climb down and go along the
river. It took them half the afternoon to get down.