The Elder Gods (The Dreamers 1)

Rabbit, crouched low in the darkness, fed arrow after arrow into his friend’s right hand, and Longbow fed arrow after arrow to the men of Kajak’s ships.

Finally, all hope aboard the five ships fluttered and died when Kajak, screaming orders and curses, broke off quite suddenly when his forehead sprouted a single quivering arrow. Everybody went over the sides of the ships at that point.

“We won!” Rabbit exclaimed. “We actually won!”

“Not quite yet,” Longbow said, carefully taking up one of his old stone-tipped arrows. He rose to his feet, his eyes searching the beach. “There,” he said, drawing his bow and loosing his arrow all in a single move.

The arrow arched high over the dark water of the bay, and it unerringly found the grey-hooded figure which had been howling in frustration since the rain had extinguished the fires on the five ships surrounding the Seagull.

The hooded figure shrieked in agony as the venom-tainted arrow buried itself in its chest. Then it fell writhing on the sand, stiffened, and went limp.

“What was that all about?” Rabbit demanded.

“That one was the true enemy, my little friend,” Longbow replied. “It’s gone now, though, so we don’t need to worry about it anymore.”

“There were enough enemies out here to suit me, Longbow,” Rabbit said. “I can’t believe that we actually came out on top. There were only two of us, so I wasn’t about to place any large bets on this. Why did you shoot everybody in the forehead like that?”

“I wanted the ones who were still alive to realize just exactly what to expect. An arrow in the chest might not be visible if the dead man falls forward. An arrow in the head’s almost always right out in plain sight.”

“I still can’t hardly believe that only two people could win a fight with the crews of five ships.”

“The fight wasn’t really all that serious, Rabbit. Our arrows were coming out of the dark, so no one on Kajak’s ships could be certain just exactly where we were, and as long as nobody was steering the ships of the man who used to be called Kajak, the Seagull was in no real danger.”

“You’ve got a very peculiar way of looking at the world, Longbow. If they used to call him Kajak, what do they call him now?”

Longbow shrugged. “‘Dead,’ probably,” he replied.

“The one on the beach isn’t laughing anymore,” Longbow briefly advised Zelana and Eleria a short while later.

“Good,” Zelana replied. “I told you that those iron arrowheads would be better than the stone ones.”

“Perhaps,” Longbow admitted, “but I saved a few of the old ones for special occasions.”

“Whatever for?” Eleria asked.

“My stone arrows had all been dipped in venom,” Longbow explained. “It seemed proper to me that the creature of the Wasteland who was behind what happened here tonight receive something special.”

“I’m sure it appreciated that,” Zelana said dryly.

“The shouts it was making after my arrow reached it were not exactly shouts of joy, Zelana,” Longbow said with a faint smile.

Then Sorgan, Ox, and Ham-Hand came bursting into Zelana’s cabin. They all seemed to be agitated. “Why didn’t you tell us what Kajak was up to, Longbow?” Sorgan demanded. His voice was just a bit shrill.

“It wasn’t necessary,” Longbow replied. “Rabbit and I were able to deal with it. It’s always best in such situations to use as few warriors as possible. The more that we involve, the more confusion’s likely to turn up.”

“But Rabbit?” Ox exclaimed. “Rabbit’s never been any good in a fight. He’s too small.”

“He did what was necessary,” Longbow pointed out. “He’s as quick with his hands as he is with his feet. He passed arrows to me faster than any other man on the Seagull could have, and that’s what I needed. I didn’t need to kill all the men on those ships, only the ones manning the tillers. Rabbit and I were able to do that without any help. Everything came out the way we wanted it to, so why are you all so excited now that it’s over?”

“You’re a cold one, Longbow,” Sorgan observed. “Nothing rattles you at all, does it?”

“I’m a hunter, Sorgan. A hunter who gets excited at the wrong time doesn’t eat regularly.”

“About all that saved us was that freak rainstorm,” Ham-Hand declared accusingly. “If that hadn’t come along, we’d have been in a lot of trouble. How did you know it was coming?”

Longbow touched his nose. “I smelled it,” he lied glibly. “Have you been at sea for all these years without learning how to recognize the smell of approaching rain?”

Sorgan looked directly at Zelana. “If you’ve got an army of men like Longbow working for you, why do you need us?” he demanded.

“Because I don’t have that many Longbows, Sorgan,” she replied. “He’s unique. There’s nobody else like him in the whole world. He shoots arrows very fast, but he thinks even faster. The time will come—before very long, I believe—when he’ll make certain suggestions. If you want to go on living, pay very close attention to what he says, and do exactly what he tells you to do.”

Eleria came to where Longbow was sitting and held out her arms to him. He picked her up and seated her on his lap. “I’d do as the Beloved tells you to do, Hook-Big,” she said.

“That’s Hook-Beak,” he absently corrected her again.

She shrugged. “Whatever. Longbow’s the best in the world, and the Beloved says that he’s mine, so you’d better be awfully nice to me, don’t you think?”

“Every time I turn around, somebody else is trying to give me orders,” Sorgan complained.

“It does seem to be working out that way, doesn’t it?” Eleria said, yawning. “If we’ve said everything that needs to be said, I think I’ll take a little nap. I didn’t get much sleep last night because of all the shouting and running back and forth. Do me a favor and try to fight quieter battles, Hook-Big. I really need my rest.” Then she kissed Longbow, snuggled down in his arms, and immediately went to sleep.

THE JOURNEY OF VELTAN

1

Charity?” the ragged beggar said in a tentative sort of voice as Veltan of the South passed him on a quiet street near the forum of the Trogite city of Kaldacin on a blustery winter morning.