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«The gods are hard at work on all of their forges to the north. I counted seven, and there will be more. The mountains throw out ashes and cinders, like the ones from your cookfires, but so many that they bury the land as deep as a tall man's waist. They throw out evil vapors, like those that rise from a dead animal, but far worse. The vapors from the volcanoes will slay any who breathe them. The trees and the bushes, the grass and the crops of the Ganthi will die. The animals and the fish will die, or flee away to the south, away from the mountains.»
«And the Ganthi?» That was Kordu, asking the question Blade had told him to ask.
«The Ganthi also will die if they do not flee away from the mountains, for in a year there may be nothing in all this land we call ours. Even if they stay, they will become so weak that their enemies may strike them down.»
His voice rose. «If the Ganthi march forth, across the Great River and into the lands to the south, they will live. As they march they will be so strong that none may stop them, or keep them from taking as much land as they need to live. For we are the Ganthi, and others go in fear of us.»
This appeal to the pride of the leaders did most of the work. The rest had already been done for him, by the earthquakes that by now had laid half of Thessu in ruins, and by the clouds to the north that grew more terrible each day. The warriors who had been with Blade were asked to speak, and they confirmed his tale of a land dead and still from the deadly breath of the mountains.
There was no discussion after that, and in fact no real need for it. They all knew that they must do as Blade urged, and after that there was nothing to do but scatter to their homes and start packing. It would be a long journey.
Blade went back to the High Chief's compound to warn the servants and the women. Then he and Katerina lay down and made love as fiercely as if they could somehow drive back the death that was stalking the jungle and its people.
Chapter Twenty
Moving all the Ganthi south of the Great River meant moving more than fifty thousand people across a hundred miles of jungle and hill. The Great River itself was a mile wide, with many rapids. Then there were the Gudki-the «Hairy People.»
«We know only enough about them to know that they are dangerous,» said Kordu. «They live mostly to the south of the Great River, but some of them cross it to hunt. They are no taller than the Ganthi, but they are much stronger and they have long brown hair all over their bodies. We kill them whenever we see them. They kill us whenever they can. That is not often, for they have only stone spears and axes. But they attack us often enough so that we call them an enemy to consider. They have great skill in laying ambushes.»
Blade nodded. «We will have to think even more about them now. We are going to march all of the Ganthi right into their homeland.»
In the end, Blade decided he would have to lead a scouting party to the south, searching out the best route for the great journey of the Ganthi. There would be no really «safe» route, but certainly some would be better than others.
Blade had enough volunteers for that scouting party to form a small army. He selected forty, including Katerina but not including Kordu. The man was not at all happy about this.
«It is not only my pride as a Hunter of the Ganthi that is hurt, Blade,» he said quietly. «It is that I fear for you.»
«Are the Gudki so dangerous, then?»
«No, but they are not the only enemies you may face. I have continued to listen as I promised you, and I have heard things I do not like. There are those who say that the gods have made the mountains burn because the Ganthi have done wrong to make a Stranger the High Chief.»
«They can say what they please,» replied Blade. «It will not make me less than High Chief, nor will it stop the mountains from burning.»
«That is true,» said Kordu. «But many are not wise. They might decide that the gods will make the mountains sleep again if you do not return from your journey to the south. Certainly that journey will give them an opportunity if they want one. I would be happier to go with you and do what a friend may do to guard your back.»
«I honor you for this,» said Blade, putting both hands on Kordu's shoulders. «But I say to you, and it is no shame to you, that my woman Katerina can do that also. You know well that she fights like a strong warrior.»
«I do,» said Kordu, with a reluctant smile.
«She can guard my back. She ca
Kordu made all the gestures of respect and smiled widely. «I shall.» Then he turned and left. Blade watched him go with relief. That was one considerable load off his mind. Kordu would be the best possible leader for the Ganthi while he himself scouted in the south. Besides, if something actually did happen to him-Gudki ambush, treachery, snakebite, fever, or anything else-Kordu would make a magnificent High Chief. The Ganthi would need good leadership to survive in their new homeland, and Kordu seemed like a man who could provide it.
Blade's leg was completely healed by the time the scouting party headed south from Thessu toward the Great River. He and Katerina were able to set a fast pace in the lead. The damp heat, the stinging insects, the vines that tangled and tripped feet were no more pleasant than before, but they didn't slow anyone down.
There seemed to be more wildlife around, though. It ranged from birds and creatures the size and shape of a housecat up to a pair of three-horns nearly as large as the one Blade had killed. Half the animals in the jungle seemed to be on the move, and all of them were heading south.
«Even the animals know what is going to happen in this land,» said Katerina.
More than once the scouts had to stop and fight off monstrous reptiles. After they had lost half a dozen men in these fights, Blade ordered that from now on they would scatter or climb trees, rather than fight. The warriors and Hunters grumbled and muttered at this order. It went against all the traditions of the Ganthi and their own pride. But they obeyed.
About halfway to the Great River they saw their first signs of the Gudki. They practically stumbled over the long-haired, broad-framed corpse sprawled beside the path. It was already swollen and dark with decay, and large chunks of flesh had been slashed or torn out.
«They eat their own dead when they can find no other meat,» said one of the Hunters.
The party moved on, with eyes searching even more carefully a forest that seemed even less friendly than before. When they camped that night Blade doubled the sentries, and they built screens of logs around their campfires to shield them from watching eyes.
After two more days it was clear that the Gudki were roaming the jungles in greater strength than ever before. They found more corpses-the victims of wild animals, snakes, or fallen trees. They found the ashes of campfires, and once they saw one glowing far off in the twilight. They found bloodstained hide garments, tufts of long gray hair, and half-eaten carcasses with stone spearpoints broken off in their death-wounds. The faces of the Ganthi grew strained and drawn. They had had much experience fighting the Gudki, but this was something new, something unknown. They were not yet ready to confess to being afraid, but they talked more freely to Blade.
«Only a few times have the Gudki come this far north of the Great River,» the Hunters said. «Even when they did, they came only in twos and threes. They did not hunt, they did not build fires, they slipped through the forest unseen, like snakes. Now they must be coming here by the dozen. Many hundreds of them must be north of the river. The gods have chosen to play yet another trick on the Ganthi.»