Like Shaun and Matthew, the Underworlders recognised that body protection against enemy weapons was a more important consideration than personal comfort and Thomas could see the sweat literally dripping from their faces and hands as they gripped the hilts of their swords, ready to draw them in an instant. All that sweating would dehydrate them very quickly if the water wasn't replaced, and each of the Underworld soldiers had a water bottle hanging from his belt from which one of them was taking a long drink. Watching him made Shaun suddenly feel thirsty and he reached for his own water bottle, but it only had a tiny mouthful left in the bottom which only accentuated his thirst as he gulped it down. He felt as if he could have drained a whole bottle in one go.
“Who aar ye?” demanded one of the soldiers whose uniform was slightly different from those of the others, marking him as being higher in rank, probably the equivalent of a Corporal. “Whaddya doin’ ere? What d’ye waant?”
“We’re from the surface,” replied Shaun, pointing upwards, “and we’re looking for a priest of Samnos, also from the surface. Do you know where we can find him?”
Excited, confused gossip broke out among the Underworld civilians, until the Corporal quieted them down. “From the surface, ye saay?” he said sceptically. “D’ye expect us ta believe thaat? D’ye think we’re such simple minded fools that we’d fall fer a tall story loike thaat?”
“It’s true,” protested Thomas. “Believe us.”
“Thar be no such plaace,” stated the Corporal flatly. “The surface be just an auld legend, a bairn’s tale. Now tell us whar ye be really from afore oi gives ye a taste o’ me steel.”
“Maybe they be telling the truth,” pointed out another of the soldiers. “Look at ‘em, Tolba. They be just as the auld legends say the folk above be. Their hands an’ faces baked brown loike the crust of a loaf by the light that cooks wi’out heat. An besoides, that priest said ee were from the World Above, so if thar be no such place, ee must a’ been lying.”
“You know the priest from the surface?” asked Shaun excitedly.
The Corporal was speaking, though, and ignored him. “They could be in disgoise,” he said. “They coulda stained their skins wi’ the juice o’ the joppa bush."
“They be spois!” shouted one of the farmers, waving a wicked looking hoe. “The Llanoks sent ‘em!”
"Yes, that's right," said Thomas with a tired sigh. "We're spies. That's the reason for our cunning disguises, allowing us to move among you without being noticed."
Tolba stared at him, his eyes narrowing. Sarcasm seemed to be a foreign concept to them.
"What I mean is," added the wizard, "if we were spies, wouldn't we have tried to make ourselves look like you?"
"We came openly, so you would know that we came in peace," said Diana, stepping forward. One of the farmers pointed a pitchfork at her and Shaun stepped protectively in front of her, his hand on the hilt of his sword. That in turn brought a reaction from the Underworld soldiers, who advanced menacingly, and the cleric shouldered her way past her brother to try to talk sense.
"Don't make any menacing move," she hissed. "We didn't come here to start a fight."
“Kill ‘em!" cried a farmer, brandishing a long knife. "Kill ‘em now!”
They closed in menacingly, reaching out with hard calloused hands to grab and hold them, but Jerry managed to slip away and turned to face them. “We can prove we’re from the surface,” he called out in his squeaky, high pitched voice, reaching into a pocket to pull out a bit of fleece. “Behold!”
He cast the illusion spell he’d been practicing every chance he could get since leaving the University, and the magnificent, dazzlingly beautiful pattern of dancing lights sprang into being once more above his head. All his practice attempts paled into insignificance, though, as he put everything he had into this display of magical art, the one upon which all their lives might well depend.
Brilliant stars and globes in all the colours of the spectrum circled and orbited each other while shifting, shimmering spikes and curtains of light connected them, turning them into a single, ever changing illusory construct of breathtaking complexity and beauty. Amidst the impressive light effects, though, flashes of lightning flickered menacingly, and the eyes of some great beast became momentarily visible, glaring in hatred and primeval hunger before being mercifully hidden from view by a cloud of spinning snowflakes.
This was Jerry’s masterpiece, the most ambitious illusion he’d ever attempted, and he screwed his eyes up tight as he concentrated furiously, putting everything he had into it. Even his travelling companions were speechless despite having seen his practice attempts, but the effect upon the Underworlders, who’d never seen any kind of magic before, was everything they could have hoped for. Hearing the gasps of wonder, fear and surprise coming from their men, the women and children peeked out of hiding to see what was going on, and when they saw the illusion they were also captivated by it. Many of them were drawn helplessly out to see it better until nearly thirty people were gathered around the tiny nome.
The men holding the other questers let their hands fall away, completely forgetting about them as they watched the magical display. “A wizard!" one of them muttered fearfully. "By the Gods, we’ve angered a wizard! The Gods have mercy on us!”
Jerry maintained the illusion for another couple of minutes before letting it fade, to the mingled relief and disappointment of the Underworlders. “Now let there be no more doubt,” he said, trying to make his squeaky, high pitched voice sound as confident and powerful as possible. “We are who we say we are, we are from where we say we are from. Is there anyone here who dares call me a liar? If so, let him step forward now.”
No-one did so, though, and instead the Corporal, fear beginning to replace the breathless awe on his face, ordered that the others be released, not realising that they already had been. “Please forgive our doubts,” he pleaded. “Ye must understaan’ that it were a perfectly understaandable mistake. The Llanoks hate us being here, they send their slaves in to attack us, an’ sometoimes they send in human spois t’ learn all our secrets an’ turn us against each other. We must be constantly on guard, an’ sometoimes we make a mistake. Please understaand and forgive us!”
Jerry was too exhausted to reply, it took all his remaining energy simply to remain standing and try to give the impression of haughty contempt, so Thomas spoke for him. “You are forgiven,” he said magnanimously. “Like my fellow wizard, I am not a man of violence, and I’m pleased it wasn’t necessary to harm any of you, in self defence of course.”
“Ye be a wizard also?” asked the man who’d been holding him, wringing his hands as if afraid they’d drop off at the wrists while his face turned as white as a sheet.
“Yes, as is my colleague here,” replied Thomas, indicating Lirenna, making the two men standing close behind her jump back in terror. “And it’s a good thing you unhanded her when you did because she’s not nearly as forgiving as we are.”
The demi shae, catching the hint, glared at the man who’d been holding her, who bowed fearfully and babbled out a string of almost incoherent, abject apologies that she ignored completely, turning her back on him.
“Why don’t we put this whole unfortunate incident behind us and start again?” suggested Diana, who went on to introduce herself and the others to the Underworlders. The Underworlders, or Ukranians as they called themselves, that being the name of their particular settlement, then returned introductions, and while they were doing so Thomas and Lirenna went over to Jerry, who’d just about recovered from the effort of the spell.
“What’s going on?” asked Thomas in confusion. “Why are they so afraid of us?”
“It occurred to me a few days ago,” replied the tiny nome. “I wasn’t sure it would work, but we had nothing to lose so I thought it was worth a try.”
“What was?” demanded Lirenna in exasperation.
“Well, these people have been down here, virtually cut off from the rest of the world, ever since the days of the Agglemonian Empire, right? But they’d still have tales and legends of the surface, including tales about wizards, and the kinds of wizards who’d figure in those tales would be the kind they’d known about in the days of the old Empire...”
“Immortal wizards!” exclaimed Thomas in sudden comprehension. “They think we’re immortal wizards!”
“Right,” agreed Jerry. “The Mage Wars were long over by then, of course, but there were still one or two immortal wizards right up to the fall of the Empire, and these people have no reason to believe that they’re not still alive now. So remember, act like immortal wizards, all powerful and full of timeless wisdom. If they find out the true extent of our powers, they’re likely to turn nasty. Most people don’t like being deceived, and these people aren’t likely to be any different.”
“What about the others?” asked Lirenna, glancing over at the Winterwells and the trogs.
“Well, they’re obviously our servants, hired help,” replied the tiny nome with a grin. “Their families have been in my service for centuries, you know.”
“We’re going to have to get them alone so we can explain it to them,” said Thomas. “They’re going to have to show us a certain amount of respect and deference so long as we’re among these people.”
They returned to the others just in time to hear Shaun repeating his question about the whereabouts of the priest.
“Oh, he be gone now,” replied the Corporal. “Bloody farlander! ‘E comes out wi’ all these fancy words an’ promises aboot ‘ow e’s going ta clear out all the monsters’n make it safe fer us doon here, an’ fer a few months ‘e goes aboot it, slayin’ an’ drivin’ away everythin’ fer a hundred miles west o’ here, creatures wot never came near our homelands cossa the guardstones, an’ then e’ says we can live in peace in the parts e’s cleared cos they be safe fer us now. E were all roit ‘till ‘e got that bloody new magic sword! Up until then, ‘e were ‘appy t’ jest help us ter protect our homelands agin the monsters too stupid to know aboot the guardstones, but when ‘e got that sword ‘e got all ambitious, said it were a sign or summin, an’ that the toim ‘ad finally come fer good t’ triumph over evil. E began t’ lead all our best soldiers on raids agin th’ Llanoks an’ their slaves.
“But now ‘e be gone, an’ took ‘is sword wi’ im, an’ now the Llanoks are gonna punish us fer not stayin’ in our place, as soon as they realise th’ raidsa stopped. Things are gonna get bad down here afore long, an’ it be all his fault! If ‘e hadnay come stirrin’ fings up, the Llanoks still wouldnay think we were worth botherin’ with fer a while yet, an’ we’d be safe! I tell ye, if ‘e comes back doon ‘ere, ‘e’s gonna find a hot reception waitin’ fer him! Thank the Gods ye’re here. Wi’ yer powers, ye c’n protect us agin the Llanoks. They fear magic, an’ they wouldn’a dare go up agin power such a yours.”
“I’m afraid not,” said Thomas quickly, before any of the others could say anything. The wizards had to appear to be in charge of their little group. “We also can't stay. We have to go to find that priest as soon as possible. Tell us where he's gone.”
The Corporal’s face dropped with disappointment, but he didn’t dare argue with an immortal wizard. “E went back t’ Belthar," he said. "That were the name of his kingdom."
“What!” exclaimed all the questers at once.
The Corporal staggered back in alarm, thinking they were angry with him. “It be not moy fault!” he cried in fear, and Diana had to take him by the arm and speak soothing words until he calmed down. “E said e’d had some kind o’ message or summin, an’ that ‘e were needed back in his own country."
“When did he leave?” asked Shaun flatly.
“About a week ago,”
Angus cried out and grabbed the woven wall of a hut with his great meaty fists, and Matthew cursed violently, earning him a stern glare from Diana.
“A week ago,” said Thomas numbly. “So it was all for nothing. Charlie, the amoeba, the fusts, everything. Our whole journey’s been a complete and utter waste of time!”