Sporni blazed brightly in the hand of Arbros. As he moved forward along the noisome tunnel the stream of foul water beneath his feet glistened. Damp patches and trickles on the rocky walls reflected the light. The tunnel echoed to their steps. It was narrow and low. Arbros walked bent over, and so did Rógat, who came behind with his family in front of him: being shorter, they did not need to stoop. Arbros glanced back back and saw with satisfaction that Níbar and his family were following, and further back there were indistinct figures who must be Thanrád and his family.
Presently the tunnel opened into another with a higher roof and wider floor. The greater volume of waste water in this tunnel, rushing along, showed clearly which way to turn. Arbros looked back again, trying to count the party. The three families each had two children, so he expected to see twelve figures and Lansenet at the rear. There seemed to be more than that number, but it was hard to tell in the light that Sporni shed.
This tunnel was much longer. Everyone’s spirits were oppressed by the dark, the damp, the stench, and the seemingly endless journey. Several of the children were whimpering. But finally the passage opened into a much bigger passageway, so big that several people could walk abreast despite the greatly increased stream of waste water. This now ran in a gulley with raised edges which were only damp. Arbros halted and turned, standing aside in a slight hollow in the wall. The others began to emerge from the tunnel, and seeing him waiting, gathered around him: Rógat and family, Níbar and family, Thanrád and family. Expecting Lansenet to be the last to emerge, Arbros was surprised to see a man he did not know, and a woman, and children, and yet more people — dozens of people clambering into the cavern-like space. They were holding each other’s hands, and at once he understood that this was because they had been at the rear, in the dark where the beams of Sporni did not reach.
Thanrád spoke, and his voice boomed in that vaulted passage:
‘My lord! Our neighbours discovered what we were doing, and wanted to flee with us. We had not the heart to deny them. We trust that we have not done wrong!’
Arbros replied:
‘Nay, Thanrád! It was a good and generous offer. We are despoiling Oigenas of his treasures!’
And he laughed, and the sound of laughter in that gloomy place lifted everyone’s heart.
‘But Lansenet! For how many did he have to abide in that accursed street? Is he with us?’
Thanrád replied:
‘Perhaps with more space around us we can find him.’
But by now the place where Arbros stood was greatly thronged and no more folk could enter, so, remembering how oppressive the previous tunnel had been, he once more set out, holding Sporni aloft in the hope that his gleam would reach to the back of the crowd.
Presently there was a commotion behind him. Someone was hastening up through the knot of people behind, asking pardon to right and left as he threaded his way. It was Lansenet, and even in the gloom Arbros could see that he was troubled and somewhat dishevelled.
‘My Lord, we are indeed discovered! Many folk have joined us, as you see, maybe threescore or more, but even as the last mother with babe in arms descended the steps, there were rough voices in the street hailing us, and Hyûvanka guards came running towards us. It was a close thing! I threw myself into the shaft — getting some cuts and bruises, tearing my raiment, but no matter — and called out the closing rune as I did so, hoping I had the right words. Sáphavë tregna, I did! I heard the men’s tread and their voices by the cover-stone even as it swung shut. I fear that, if they know the fashion of these tunnels, they may be at the mouth before us!’
So Arbros said:
‘Hear all you who are close by! This my faithful companion Lansenet has saved us by his prompt action! My dear friend, you shall be for ever honoured for that deed. Let us take courage, for we are many, and there are some doughty men among us — and not a few women of valour too, if I know aught of the Eskenári.’
At this several who were walking close behind them cried:
‘Aye!’
And one said:
‘We owe them a buffet or two!’
And that was the first hint that Arbros had heard that ill-treatment had been handed out by the servants of Prámiz.
‘How long have we journeyed? What hour of the night is it? How much longer before we reach the mouth of the tunnel? And will the Moon still be over Thrayeldim when we get out? And what if the guards indeed come and take Pedrekkarpon unawares?’
Arbros asked himself these things anxiously, but did not speak his thoughts. Instead, he endeavoured to lift the hearts of those about him.
After they had walked for what seemed hours more, a woman spoke up:
‘My lord, I am Lamína, wife of Níbar, and I venture to address you for I think I see a glimmer yonder before us that might be moonlight at the mouth of this tunnel.’
All at the front of the throng strained their eyes, and Arbros said:
‘Yes, Mistress Lamína, you speak well, for Sporni quivers in my hand, sensing the moonlight. Let us be hopeful that we have not far to go.’
Soon the bright white light was unmistakable. It took on the shape of an arch. And to their delight, a draught of fresh air was blowing into the tunnel. Everyone hurried forward. As they came closer, they saw that the patch of light was not single, but looked like light coming through a window with many panes. And when they reached the place which they hoped would be the mouth of the tunnel, they saw before them a great grille, formed of thick uprights and crosspieces, filling the whole passage from floor to ceiling and side to side. Its openings were of such a size that a dog or a cat might pass through, but no larger creature.
As many as could came up and laid their hands upon the grille. It was made of stone, thick and immovable. There was a stunned silence as the news of the obstacle was passed back through the crowd. There were a few sobs and moans. But these were a staunch people, not given to lamentation.
Arbros slapped the stonework that separated him and his followers from freedom.
‘If only Pedrekkarpon were here. Kabadri made this barrier, a Kabáda could unmake it.’
But as his hand stung from the impact, he laughed for a second time, for the meaning of what he had said dawned upon him.
‘Lansenet, another service, I beg. Take Sporni and hold him aloft to light me and all the people. Daganarth has work to do.’
So saying he drew from his side the sword that Nozdusombath made in Hlund in mockery of Gantzor at Slungandi’s entreaty, long years before. Then he cried:
‘Kabadka Tagsê, kapa kayâremef! Kabáda sword, eat stone for me!’
And he plunged the blade into the stone of the upright before him. People gasped as he drew the sword swiftly out, leaving a hole through which light showed. A second cut he made, near the ground. And then a stroke into one end of a bar that ran athwart, and a stroke at its other end. He made several more cuts, then rested for a moment, leaning on Daganarth.
Then he took back Sporni from Lansenet, and called out to the crowd:
‘Are there any among you who were smiths before the time of your captivity, and shod the hoofs of the teams that drew your wains?’
To his slight surprise, two women made their way to the front of the assembly. They were tall and muscular, almost like small giantesses, but much fairer to look on. One said:
‘My lord, we are smiths of the Eskenári, after the custom of the Thendâ our teachers, who have many yaka Thendári that shoe their horses.’
Arbros smiled at this, for he had lived among the Thendâ and had been bred by them to riding. He said:
‘And I’ll warrant that each of you still has about her one small hammer from her forge?’
They smiled in their turn, and the other woman said:
‘You mistake not, my lord. Our hands must not forget all their skills.’
Then they each brought out from the scanty baggage that they carried a small but very stout hammer. Arbros said:
‘Knock me out that masonry, I pray!’
They stepped up and with a few swings of their iron-headed hammers beat out the stonework between the sword’s incisions. There was now a great hole in the barrier.
Arbros called to the assembled multitude:
‘My friends, a way out has been made. Step through, but I pray you wait at the tunnel’s mouth, for we must find our Kabadka helper Pedrekkarpon. He has with him the supplies we brought. Though they were meant for twelve, not two and seventy!’
One by one the fugitives clambered through the gap and went forward to the mouth of the tunnel. It was indeed the same arch of stone that Arbros and his companions had seen from the outside the night before. When all were gathered, Arbros went to the edge of the tunnel and peered out into the gloom of the hollow where they had camped. There was now little Moonlight. He called:
‘Friend Pedrekkarpon, are you there?’
A rough voice called back:
‘No friend is here, but a bitter enemy!’
It was a voice he knew, the voice of Ketumar. Out of the dark from both sides of the hollow, flaming torches appeared, revealing eight figures, who swiftly advanced down the slope and stood in a line looking up at them.
Ketumar cried out sneeringly:
‘Now we have you! The rats of the sewer, caught in the trap!’
‘I think not, Master Ketumar, for you are but eight, however well-armed you may be, but we are more than three-score and ten, and some among us are mighty men and women!’
‘Be not so sure, young lordling. Mere numbers avail you nothing. Shortly every yokeservant here will be begging to return to Vogalúd with me! So now, let the feeling begin! Come, Lebengri! Bilbángath khimblid fidrúg, yat úgam zigdamagum úkhash!’
And he smote the ground with the end of the staff that he bore.
At once, something like a thick mist arose from the ground in front of him, swirling and curling, shimmering in the light of the torches. There were dim shapes in the mist, some rounded like faceless heads, others waving like searching hands. The mist streamed into the mouth of the tunnel, weaving around the assembled people, who stood for that moment in shock. The smoky hands reached around their legs and the mist rose above their knees and covered them up to the waist.
To the horror of Arbros and Lansenet, the fugitives began to cry out in anguish. They swayed and bowed, fell to their knees, beat their fists upon their thighs, clutched themselves, shivering, weeping. Some screamed and rolled on the ground, hardly visible in the horrible mist.
Anger rose in Arbros’s heart. He had Daganarth in his hand and would have leapt out and struck down Ketumar without thought for himself, but held back: for only Ketumar could call off the torment.
‘Have pity, Master Ketumar! End this cruelty! There are little children here!’
‘By all means, lordling. The people have had enough medicine to cure them of your teaching!’
Ketumar again smote with his staff on the ground and said, with a loud voice:
‘Shakhú mugamadgiz magú, tay gúrdif dilbmikh thangáblib!’
The mist dissipated. The cries and writhing of the fugitives ceased abruptly. Then he said:
‘Now, you foolish people, you see that you cannot depart from the great city of Magéraz Urlan-fên. It is your home, your destiny. Take no heed of these upstarts from the southlands. It will soon be their time to receive the Yoke of Negobith. But now it is your time to return to your houses. Step forward before I summon back the Lebengri!’
There arose a great commotion among the fugitives. Evidently some out of fear of further torment wanted to surrender, while others still hoped to resist. Some began to push their way towards the tunnel mouth. Others tried to hinder them. There was an angry tussle.
But Arbros bethought himself of Sporni. He drew forth the shard, and as it shone in the last rays of the setting Moon, its beams trembled with a regular beat, as if warning of some fast-approaching body.
‘Listen to me, all of you! That which is hidden has spoken. Ketumar boasts of the power of his Lebengri. But I say to him that his doom is close, and even now the drumming of its feet can be heard!’
A great quiet followed. The seven followers of Ketumar looked nervously to the west, as a sound like a great host of riders carried clearly over the plains. The fugitives nearest the archway pushed forward to see what the sound might betoken. Ketumar alone stood as if bewitched, his staff raised ready to summon back the Lebengri from the earth.
Suddenly the beating sound was in everyone’s ears. A great dark mass, like a thick undulating wave, came pouring down the slope of the hollow. Entering the light it resolved itself into a huge herd of creatures, packed together. They rushed across the gulley, splashing through the foul water, and bore unhesitatingly up the other side. Like deer they seemed, as occasionally branching horns, a shapely eye, or a white rump flashed past. The guards dropped their torches and fled. As the greatest beasts of the herd rushed close to the archway, the still figure of Ketumar suddenly heeled over and vanished from sight between the pounding legs and hoofs of the herd. On and on they galloped, so fast that they seemed like a river in flood.
Then suddenly the torrent of creatures ceased. There was silence for a moment, and then the crowd of fugitives moved almost as one person down from the tunnel mouth into the hollow. The light from Sporni showed the muddy ground churned and pockmarked by the passing hoofs. Several staves lay upon the earth, and some smoking torches. Then said Lansenet:
‘This is passing strange. Surely that hapless fellow’s body should be lying hereabout, but there is no trace of him, not a rag or a buckle.’
Rógat said:
‘Strange tales have been told of the fate of those who pass into Onguláz, Master. They say some sorcery is done to their bodies and souls. But no one rightly knows.’
There was a cheerful shout, and a figure carrying a small burning torch came into the circle of Sporni’s light.
‘Master Pedrekkarpon! Well met! So you escaped the villains and the wild herd!’
‘Yes, my Lord Arbros! It is too long a story to be told now. Suffice it to say that I evaded the guards, but I brought the herd!’
‘You brought it? How can this be? And how wonderful!’
‘These beasts are laukarellna, Moondeer, my Lord. They are partly tame. When we Kabadri of Thémi Kapatigna dwelt in Norog Minlárim in the far north long ago, we used to herd them. And so indeed did our friends here when they were free, and roamed these parts of Arkallumis with their beasts. And the thought came to me that we would need mounts to return quickly to Dúmiel, so I summoned the beasts. All the Eskenári know how to ride them, do you not?’
Several of the bystanders replied:
‘Aye, Master, that we do.’
‘I still have a singing-pipe for calling the Moondeer, and a few skills in handling them. When I heard those guards talking I understood that we should need to mount not twelve fugitives, but three score and more, so I summoned the whole herd urgently — and they did what you saw. They are mostly gentle beasts, but they can smell out angûthégus.’
‘And have they not now galloped far away into the plains?’
‘Not at all, my lord Arbros, they are waiting beyond the gulley — outside the limits of the accursed city, you might say. They hate the Deep Runes that lie upon it.’
And with that, Pedrekkarpon led the way out of the hollow, Arbros following with Sporni aloft, and the whole host of fugitives behind them. The herd of Moondeer stood waiting, and many of them gave a low bellow of pleasure when the Eskenári gathered around them.
Though they had walked all night, the fugitives would not rest within sight of Magéraz Urlan-fên, but wished to depart at once. So everyone mounted, as easily if they were back in the time of their wandering life on the plains of Arkallumis. The Moondeer took their burdens on their backs willingly. At first light the whole herd began to move south.
Balancing himself on the back of a great horned Moonstag, Arbros said:
‘We shall have a few things to learn, Lansenet. These are not quite Borotíki or Haldosartu, our ponies!’
When the sun was beginning to climb they broke their journey in a hollow of the hills and slept, shielded by the Moondeer herd. They continued on their way in the evening. After several such days and nights, they passed into the Berufarána, the wide forested boundary of the southlands. Here they bade farewell to their mounts and continued on foot into the guarded land of Dúmiel.
And now the column of tired and footsore, but very cheerful fugitives drew near to the island city of Tídris. And all the people of the city came forth to greet them with singing and flowers. They honoured the three former Guardians, Rógat, Thanrád, and Níbar, their wives, Polwêi, Keseth, and Lamína, and their children, and welcomed all their companions into their homes. Then Queen Vidnî came forth with Thilfri. The Queen embraced Arbros her husband with fervour and great relief, and Arbros made much of the valour of Lansenet, so that the eyes of Thilfri shone (though she was his twin sister, not his lover). And the Queen received back Sporni from Arbros and with his power destroyed the marks of the Yoke of Negobith on the bodies of all the new citizens.
After almost a whole year, when the New Moon was seen, the time came that Ketumar had appointed for his return visit. But no embassy arrived from Magéraz Urlan-fên.
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