Part Four
Chapter 33
ON TO BISUREE
Monwyrt tied the thong as securely as he could manage around the bulging rolled skin, and sighed. He could use another thong. He could use another whole skin, actually; but what he had would have to do.
The ruhhnecca had dried beautifully, and he had such a huge supply of it that he could not carry it all. It seemed such a waste to just abandon it, but there was nothing else for it. The Eatopygiastees refused to handle it: they said their iscelervees would bolt at the scent of it. But Monwyrt had an idea that they themselves were rather repelled at the thought of eating "orstorqueomee," and intimidated by the thought of Monwyrt having killed one. They had at any rate kept a discreet distance between themselves and him the past several days. He could scent them in their wretched camp ("no gear at all!" he sniffed) and could hear them rollicking about, but he could not detect their thoughts.
That in itself was quite a relief. He shuddered to think what life amongst a lot of Eatopygiastees must be like, and he pitied the whole race.
"But, luckily for me," he reflected as he checked the inventory of his gear one last time, "I won't be amongst them long. As soon as Binatree and Unustree lead me out of these fens and we find the river, I'll be gone."
He was ready to be gone. He had been encamped there beside the acabee for over a hand-day now, and he had been in the fens for two hand-days. Now, he had food enough to last him perhaps three hand-days ahead, and he was eager to get on the move again.
There, in "the mists," as the Eatopygiastees referred to that area, Monwyrt had had ample opportunity to relive his revelation of the falling of a dewdrop. The entire fens was one sopping, dripping mass. For a while, he had almost come to despair, fearing that the mersc was in fact the ultimate destination of the river, and that his quest had come to this inglorious end. The waterways and channels there certainly seemed to flow nowhere. But the Eatopygiastees' almost casual mentioning of the river beside their Bisuree renewed his hope and rekindled his ambition, and this morning, with a full pack and full stomachs, he was anxious to start out. He wrapped what food he could not carry in the hollowed-out shell of the ruhhnecca (it seemed appropriate), at the last moment taking out a great handful of dried strips to eat on the march, and walked out of his camp toward the outriders' sleeping-place.
"Odee cipiacee, I'm sore! Inabinaniltrinaquinaquaterbinatree, if you please," said Unustree, "the day is upon us, and I believe Igilvee approaches, also. Perhaps you would care to rise and join us? Shake your tail!"
"Negligible blot! Oh, excuse me, am I tardy?" Binatree apologised. "Inabinaniltrinaquinaquaterunustree, I am shamed in your exalted presence! Please, condescend to call me humbly yours, Binatree. With your dying words!"
"You are cursed right to be ashamed! Only if you will favor me with your thoughtfulness by referring to me as Unustree. So get up!"
"Ermisvee! I would be greatly honored to do so!"
"Orpensnucestee! You are too kind!"
"Adospee! You credit me unduly!"
"Cursed right! Not at all."
"Aexfee. Thank you!"
"Ofaexedee. No, thank you!"
"Espavees!" they both suddenly thought.
"Good morning," Monwyrt broke in cheerily, parting the ilixfee fronds and stepping into their small clearing. "Shall we depart for Bisuree this morning?"
"No, let's stay in this lovely place forever! Of course, of course!" rasped Unustree deleriously. "We are at your service, Igilvee."
Binatree struggled to his feet. "Ugh! Icsee, Igilvee! Let us set out at once! We will only be a moment!"
The two Eatopygiastees made their way with their exaggerated waddle over to the two large balls of fluff which were their steeds. "Ofaexedee!" they called lovingly, "awaken, please! Ofaexedee!" Monwyrt watched with curiosity and amusement as they turned their backs to the iscelervees and squatted, obviously straining. To the Traeppedelfere's amazement, they soon had deposited two steaming, odoriferous wads of moc on the ground before the beasts. Instantly, the iscelervees woke up, apparently; and Monwyrt watched as their heads and long, slender necks emerged and made directly for the fresh piles. To his revulsion, they immediately scooped it up in their mouths and swallowed it greedily, with obvious and great relish. Then they stood, stretching their legs and preening. After a few short moments of this, the iscelervees each dropped their own aromatic pellets, and again, eagerly gobbled these up, too.
The Eatopygiastees laughed at Monwyrt's contorted expression. "You see now," Binatree laughed, "why they are called ofaexedees!"
"They are very clean beasts!" Unustree commented. "On the outside!"
"Perhaps Igilvee would like to ercustee! feed them, some time," Binatree added.
"Ebeshee! What are you saying? Igilvee eats orstorqueomee! The ofaexedees won't touch that ercustee. Forgive me for the unseemly remark of my compatriot, Igilvee," pleaded Unustree. "He is known to speak, er, inadvisedly."
"No slight taken," said Monwyrt, still a little revulsed. "But if you are ready, let us depart."
"About time! As soon as we mount," said Unustree.
By mid-day Monwyrt was much relieved to find himself under a clear sky. They had left the mists behind them, and he could look back and see the towering haze hovering over a vast area. The fens seemed much less like some soggy dream-land with a bright sun overhead, and he felt more at ease than he had for a long time.
The iscelervees marched at a steady and rapid pace, and Monwyrt found he had to run to keep up. He didn't complain: it felt good. He hadn't run, really run, since the day he left Todymody, and then only until he got to the shoam. Unfortunately, he couldn't run very long at a time now, either - the dry land was constantly interrupted by bogs, sinks and channels. Most of them he could wade across without too much difficulty. But occasionally they came to a pool too deep to ford.
"Here," Monwyrt said to the Eatopygiastees on their steeds when they had first come to one of these obstacles. "Take my pack across. I will swim."
But the small folk had other plans. "Swim? No, no," they cried. "You can ride! This should be good!"
They had the iscelervees sit, and Unustree dismounted and climbed up behind Binatree on his steed. "Oh! Ha, ha! There, Igilvee," he said. "You mount my ofaexedee! She can carry you."
Monwyrt looked darkly at Unustree. He was not sure about that. He knew he had to be heavier than both the Eatopygiastees put together, and he mistrusted the iscelervee's strength. But finally, he shrugged his shoulders and straddled the beast, determined to try anything once. Besides, he reasoned, the worst that could happen was that he would be thrown off into the water, and then he could swim. It seemed to be worth a try.
The poor beast grunted and strained, but finally succeeded in standing up under Monwyrt's weight. Once in the water, though, she seemed to have no trouble, being exceedingly bouyant. It was an altogether weird and unusual ride for the Traeppedelfere, but he weathered it at least as well as the iscelervee did, and the two of them emerged at last on the other side, ready to part.
They made their way rapidly across the mersc, running on the islands and wading or riding through the water between them. Once, the iscelervees balked, and Monwyrt scented a ruhhnecca. The Eatopygiastees were suitably impressed when the brute turned and disappeared into the scrub at Monwyrt's command, and the steeds were calmed and they continued on. That night the sky was practically bulging with stars, and Monwyrt lay on his back looking at them a long time with his inner lids open. He could almost pretend he was in the forest. He wondered when, or if, he would see it again.
Dawn the next day illuminated the silhouette of the distant encircling mountains just above the still-dark foliage of the mersc. Monwyrt had not noticed the mountain-tops in the full light the day before. Now, as he turned and saw the black, jagged teeth of the peaks all around, he shivered with an uneasy chill. An eerie notion stole over him that he was inside the mouth of some yawning giant creature. He shivered again, and then noticed the fronds of the ilixfees waving. The wind had shifted.
Monwyrt habitually tasted the new breeze. Mixed with the rich, heavy aromas of the fens was a new scent, biting and altogether mysterious. He didn't even attempt to identify it: he knew it was like nothing he had ever come across before. It was an old, old scent, he felt, and dry - and refreshing, too. But the fronds soon fell quiet, and the breeze was gone, and Monwyrt lost the scent. It was not one he would easily forget, though.
Binatree and Unustree were eager to start. "Look where we are! Dear me!" exclaimed Unustree upon arising and looking at the position of the mountain peaks. "Inabinaniltrinaquinaquaterbinatree, stalwart aide, we appear to be far short of our intended goal! Odee cipiacee!"
"Ercusstee! Inabinaniltrinaquinaquaterunustree, how is that?" asked Binatree sleepily.
"Ebeshee. If you please, Inabinaniltrinaquinaquaterbinatree," Unustree responded, "you can see for yourself. Open your eyes, lump!"
"Curse it! If you please, good Inabinaniltrinaquinaquaterunustree, there is no need for formality for the time being. Call me Binatree, and choke!"
"Hurry up, adospee! I will on the assumption that you will do me the favor of referring to me simply as Unustree."
"Every day we do this! Agreed, friend."
"Every day you are an orpensnucestee! Thank you so much."
"You are quite welcome, ermisvee!" returned Binatree politely. "Now, what were you saying? As if I could hope that it made any sense."
"As if you have any sense! We must make haste," Unustree urged. "We are running slow. If we hope to reach Bisuree yet today, we must push the ofaexedees."
"Ugh! Why not take our time, and arrive tomorrow?" suggested Binatree.
"Espavees!" they both ducked low at the same time.
"Shall we go?" said Monwyrt, approaching through the scrub. The Eatopygiastees looked at each other.
"Today would be good. Icsee," Binatree answered to both the others. "Let us make all due haste."
If Monwyrt had exulted on the run of the day before, he labored on it this day. The omofinishees were skilled iscelervee handlers and they could coax them to sustained speeds incredible to the Traeppedelfere. That is not to say he could not keep up with them, however: the land was flat and the foliage was thick but easily pushed aside, and Monwyrt amazed the Eatopygiastees with his ability to dodge and dart through it, an ability the iscelervees, with their long, stiff legs, did not share.
He noted with some satisfaction that the channels they were now crossing had a noticeable current, although they each still seemed to flow in a different direction. Not only that, but the ground seemed firmer, higher between waterways, and not boggy at all any more. About mid-day he tasted the unmistakeable scents of another Eatopygiastee and iscelervee - they were gone now, but had been standing or sitting on the spot of the scent for some time, and recently. He mentioned it to the outriders who said nothing aloud, but thought, "They are watching for our return!"
The three of them kept up the rugged pace almost as long as daylight lasted. The sun was sinking behind the ragged peaks beyond the fens when Monwyrt finally burst through some particularly dense fronds a few paces ahead of the ofaexedees (which were struggling with foliage tangled thickly about their legs), and nearly tumbled headlong down a steep bank into a wide, calm river. He looked up, overjoyed, and was amazed.
On the opposite shore were points of light; lamps, or something; evenly spaced, and stretching as far as he could see in either direction, and up the slope beyond off into the distance. He could make out the shape of the huts when he opened the inner lids - some figures, Eatopygiastees, could be seen rollicking through their gardens, or riding iscelervees on the paths.
"Bisuree, at last! Ah, here it is!" said Binatree, first to catch up to Monwyrt on the shore of the river.
"Ercusstee! Dismount, Binatree, if you would be so inclined," barked Unustree courteously, a little disgruntled at having fallen behind.
"Odee cipiacee! We must allow the ofaexedees to rest a while," Binatree explained to Monwyrt, "before we try to cross the river." The outriders awkwardly slid off the backs of their seated, panting steeds, and commanded them to stand again, so they could remove the creepers and fronds from about the iscelervees' legs. That accomplished, they allowed the tall creatures to sit, and they rollicked stiffly over to Monwyrt.
"You didn't tell me Bisuree was so big!" Monwyrt said in awe. The sky behind them was still aglow with the late purple of early night, but before them and over Bisuree the stars were appearing even as they watched, sparkling as if to shame the timid lights mirrored in the restful river. "How many Eatopygiastees are there?"
"What a question! Well," began Unustree, "I am aterquee hands-and-inabee seasons old, and my name is Inabinaniltrinaquinaquaterunustree, if that gives you any idea."
It didn't. Monwyrt decided to forget it.
Right now, something else was troubling him. Apparently, the Eatopygiastees relied exclusively upon their iscelervees to convey them across the river. He had counted on being able to find some sort of batohram in Bisuree in which he could continue his journey. He had no desire to travel with a disgusting ofaexedee as a companion. They tired, they stank, and, worst of all, they had to be (ugh!) fed. He squinted at the opposite shore to see some sign of a vaisoh, or vahnsack, or even a quay. None.
"Where does the river flow from Bisuree?" he asked suddenly.
The Eatopygiastees were surprised. "What? Are you blind? That way!" answered Binatree in all seriousness, pointing a stubby finger downstream.
"I mean," Monwyrt went on. "What kind of land is it that way? Is it difficult to travel?"
"What difference does it make? I, that is, we have never been that way," Binatree admitted, somewhat ashamedly. "Only the higher-ranking omofinishees ride that way."
"Adospees! Because they are weak!" said Unustree with some heat. "I have heard that there are no fens anywhere on the Bisuree side of the river. I have heard that there are no acabees, but no espavees, either. There are open paths; and there is hard, dry ground; there are no orstorqueomees! And we are thrown up to our tails in slime!"
"And on this side?" Monwyrt pressed.
"Look about you! Fens!" Unustree spat bitterly, then remembered himself. "I mean to say, Igilvee, good Orsnumquammee, all-knowing but full of impossible questions nonetheless, this inhospitable wet-land stretches as far as we have knowledge of in that direction. The First Hand may know otherwise, of course, but we do not."
"Um, the First Hand," Monwyrt mused recessively, then asked aloud, "Do you think I may be permitted to speak with the First Hand in Bisuree?"
"Undoubtedly. I believe," said Binatree, casting a glance at Unustree, "that they will be highly desirous of speaking with you, all-knowing Igilvee. And will not have it any other way!"
"'All-knowing?'" wondered Monwyrt. Where did they get that? He was glad to hear that he would be permitted to speak with the learned members of their race, though. Perhaps they could even give him a batohram. "If the iscelervees are rested," he said at last, "let's begin the river crossing."
Monwyrt marveled at the gentle strength of the iscelervees as they silently swam, one carrying him and the other carrying the two Eatopygiastees. There was a breeze blowing out in the middle of the river that he didn't feel on the shore, and again he tasted that mysterious biting scent. This time, the breeze also brought a low, rumbling hiss to his ears, only just audible occasionally even to his keen hunter's senses. It immediately reminded him of the sound of the caves at night, and the rumors of the mines and forges carried through solid rock and dryge corridors. The association brought back his old claustrophobic unease, even out on the open river under a wide sky.
Steadily, the lights of Bisuree approached.
They seemed to be making for a dark hut on the riverbank. The iscelervees soon could touch bottom - Monwyrt could feel the difference when they went from their smooth paddling strokes to their more solid wading strides - even though they were still some distance from shore. But they could wade faster than they could swim, and it was not long before they were all on land again, right in front of the dark hut.
"Here goes! We have landed here for a reason, Igilvee," began Unustree. "Inaquee has provided this hut for you. She instructed us to bring you here."
"I would prefer to sleep outside," Monwyrt said coolly, still thinking of the caves.
"Curse it! I believe you will find our bedding very comfortable," suggested Binatree helpfully.
"I will be fine right here," Monwyrt said firmly.
"Inaquee will aexfee! That is all right," Unustree acquiesced, "but humor me first, please, and allow me to show you the accomodations, before you decide. Please please please?"
"I have already decided," Monwyrt said stubbornly, "but I will look, if you insist."
"Heh, heh. I do insist," said Unstree nervously. "Thank you. My superiors would think ill of me were I not to."
They dismounted before the low, black entrance to the hut. "Go ahead," urged Unustree to Monwyrt, who moved much faster on his own feet than they did on theirs. "We'll be right there to light the lamp."
Monwyrt stooped to step through the small doorway. It was pitch black in the hut. He turned to watch for the outriders' entrance, only to see the open doorway suddenly go dark, and to hear the solid thud of a heavy door being slammed shut, followed by some metallic clicking and scratching he did not recognize. Alarmed, he rushed over to the door. It would not budge. He groped around in the darkness for some other door or window. There were none.
He was imprisoned.
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