Warlock Read Free

narrow the search with their aerial reconnaissance.”
        
        “And with my magics,” the Shaker said, “you expect little if any problems in discovering this cache of ancient devices.”
        
        “You must come with us!” Belmondo said emphatically. “If you have any love for Darklands, any pride in nation-”
        
        “I have none of that,” the Shaker said. “The gods have mercy on you if your own life is guided by such shallow motivations. But I will ease your mind immediately by accepting your offer. I will cross the Cloud Range with you, chiefly because the General is a beneficent ruler while Jerry Matabain is known for his dictatorial ways. A Shaker in Oragonia, I understand, has no personal freedom as here, but is kept by the King in a state of comfortable slavery. I should not wish to see the ambitious Jerry assume control of my Perdune and me.”
        
        Captain Belmondo seemed perturbed by such unpatriotic talk, but the commander was wiser. “If your own ends are those of the Darklands,” Richter said, “we can hardly care what your motivations are. Can you be prepared to depart Perdune at dawn? My men require a rest today before the beginning of such a trek.”
        
        “Dawn will be fine,” the Shaker said. “But one or two questions first We could not help but notice the colorful cloaks of your troops. It seemed to us that their clothing was too foppish for the rugged work of climbing and too bright for the dangerous work of traveling through unknown lands.”
        
        Richter seemed suddenly embarrassed. “These are our parade dress uniforms. It was the special wish of the General that we proceed here in them for two reasons. First, we were coming through a gentle pass in the Banibals and did not require heavy-duty climbing gear and could thus make a more impressive arrival. Secondly, the General thought that any Oragonian spies within the Darkland capital would be less suspicious of a gayly attired squad than one obviously equipped for the Cloud Range. We have supplies and other uniforms in the man-drawn carts and in a number of rucksacks carried by the enlisted men.”
        
        “The Cloud Range is all but insurmountable,” Gregor said, speaking for the first time. “Has the General sent foot soldiers to scale the peaks?”
        
        “Hardly,” Belmondo said. “We are the Banibaleers. You may have heard of us.”
        
        “Indeed,” Shaker Sandow said, not concealing his admiration. “It is said that your climbing skills are below none and that you scale the sheer walls with less energy expended than a normal man walking the steep streets of Perdune.”
        
        “Aye,” Richter said, “but the streets of Perdune are just utter insanity, designed for madmen and goats.”
        
        For the first time since the officers' arrival, the air of tension was broken, and laughter was heard in the littered study of the Shaker.
        
        Later after small talk and a second round of ale, Richter and young Belmondo left to see to the quartering of the troops in the two largest inns of Perdune, and it was agreed, again, to meet at the Shaker's gate at dawn for the hike to the foot of the eastern mountains.
        
        “I am still against your going,” Gregor said when they were alone again. “You are old, and though you are also fit, you will most certainly find this trip a rugged one.”
        
        “Yet your own powers are not nearly so well developed that you could take my place,” Sandow said to the boy. “And, besides, when you grow as old as I, you will not mind risking life and limb for a change of scenery, for the hope of something brighter in the future than working minor magics and watching Perdune wake every morning.”
        
        “Don't worry,” Mace said gruffly. “If the master finds the way difficult, I can carry him with little trouble.”
        
        “I'm sure you