Warriors Of Latan

He couldn't tell where he was-there'd been so many ships and so many seas in so many Dimensions, and deadly battles in all of them…

A vast blue-lit chamber, with pulsing walls that seemed to be made of living flesh. At the far end a delicate latticework of crystal rods and shining wires, and a terrible presence. Blade had no trouble in recognizing the Ngaa, the Dimension X monster the experimental KALI capsule had unleashed on Home Dimension.

He also had no trouble recognizing the woman in the white nurse's uniform lying on the floor between him and the Ngaa: Zoe Cornwall. His first and truest love, and now he suspected likely to be his last. Snatched into this Dimension of horror because in her love for him she'd battled for his sanity against the Ngaa that had driven him mad.

He ran forward and lifted her in his arms. He could tell that she recognized him. He could also tell that she was dying, that the Ngaa was killing her-

And that this time he would see her death from inside her own mind.

No.

(«No! I will not let you put me through this. I refuse. THERE ARE SOME THINGS YOU CANNOT MAKE ME DO AND THIS IS ONE OF THEM. GET OUT OF MY MIND, YOU FILTHY BARBARIAN GHOUL!»)

The sensation of Zoe in his arms and her mind linked to his vanished in a blur of light so dazzling that Blade cried out from the pain in his eyes. Thunder cracked in his head, then rumbled away into silence.

He felt himself weightless, as if he were in space or falling from a great height. All around him was blue, but somehow it was a saner, more healthy blue than the nightmare light of the Ngaa's chamber of death.

The Guardian was falling beside him, his arms outstretched, looking helpless and even frightened for the first time. It was hard to judge distances in this blueness, but the shaman seemed close enough to reach out and touch.

A great pulsing golden bar was growing rapidly below them. Blade somehow knew that he would fall across the bar and be saved. If he reached out a hand and gripped the Guardian, the man would also be saved. If he let the Guardian fall past the bar, however…

The bar slammed Blade in the stomach so hard all the wind whooossshed out of him. It was a terrifyingly strong physical sensation to have in this world he'd been told was a thing of the mind. It also confirmed his judgment, that he should reach out and catch the Guardian.

Blade balanced himself across the bar so that he could use both hands to reach out. The steel-hard muscles of his arms rippled under the skin as he pulled the Guardian to a stop in midair, then started hauling him in like a gaffed fish. The man's eyes were blank and staring. Blade couldn't help wondering if he'd been too late, if he was hauling in a dead man-

Then he was hauling an unconscious man toward him across the bare earth of the testing place, with a two-handed grip on the man's left wrist. Blade hastily let go. His hands were strong enough to break the shaman's older and smaller bones if he wasn't careful! The arm flopped limply to the ground …. Blade heard a hiss of indrawn breath and an angry muttering all around him.

He looked up. Everyone who wasn't looking at the unconscious Guardian was looking at him, and he didn't like most of the looks. He wasn't sure what he'd done to the Guardian, though he was sure it was an accident. That obviously didn't matter to the circle of witnesses. Blade had never seen anything that looked quite so much like the begi

He wouldn't kill Eye of Crystal or her mother, he decided. He would try not to kill Winter Owl if he could avoid it. The Uchendi would need him if the Guardian was dead or mindless. Anyone else who got in his way had better look out.

Blade bent over the Guardian's wrist and felt for a pulse. One was there, and it was steady but also weak enough to worry Blade. He drew the man toward him, ready to start mouth-to-mouth respiration or even cardiopulmonary resuscitation if he had to.

A howl of rage came from the crowd.

«He works further magic,» shouted someone. «Kill him now.»

Blade stood up, ready to move fast, but just then a hysterical screech from a woman cut through the crowd noises. It might have launched everybody forward to tear Blade to pieces. Instead it stopped everyone who'd started moving, as if they'd stepped into concrete. It was the Guardian's wife Kyarta. She went on screaming as Eye of Crystal tried to hold her up, calm her down, and get her to drink some water all at once.

Before anybody else could do anything wise or foolish, the Guardian groaned and sat up. He looked to Blade like a man suffering from a crashing hangover. However, he was definitely alive and conscious, and possibly even of sound mind. About the sound body, Blade wasn't going to take any bets now.

Blade knelt again, which accomplished two things. It looked like a gesture of respect, and he and the Guardian could talk without strain or the risk of anyone overhearing them.

«I am sorry if I have done you harm,» Blade whispered. «But what you asked of me-I would rather die than give it, no matter to whom.»

The Guardian blinked and seemed to be able to focus on Blade for the first time. «You-die? I was far closer to death than you could have been.»

«That was not my wish.»

«I know. But-I have never been hurled out of a man's mind like that before. I was doomed but for your help.»

«If I have passed my testing-«

«Oh you have, you have,» the Guardian said almost irritably. «You have done so well I think it may have been a waste of my time to test you at all. «

«I thank you,» said Blade. «Now, if I have passed my testing, will you teach me as much about the Wisdom and the Voice as you think I can learn? Clearly you will not be the only man I can put in danger, if I have this kind of strength in my mind.»

Then he looked around the circle and added quickly, «But first, could you tell these people that I have passed the test and you are not hurt? Otherwise I fear I shall not live long enough to be taught anything, or else have to kill some of your people to keep them from killing me.»

The Guardian managed to laugh. «Certainly, Blade of the English. If you will help me to stand…»

Blade pulled the Guardian to his feet and then held him with a hand under one arm as he spoke to the crowd. «Put down your weapons and set aside your anger,» he began. He had to repeat himself twice before anyone heard him, and twice more before people started obeying. Then he had to be quiet until he'd caught his breath.

«Blade of the English has passed his testing. He is a good man, with a great power, but his people did not teach him how to use it to the fullest.»

«He used that power against you!» shouted River Over Stones. «How can he be within the law?» Mutters of agreement.

«Do you know the law better than I? Is it the custom that a barely fledged warrior shall dispute He Who Guards the Voice?» That silenced River Over Stones, but not the muttering.

«Blade is a mighty warrior. His strength and his skill and his heart are all good, though he does not know all that he ought to know about using them. He has traveled far, fought in many lands, and used strange and magical weapons. I have seen them, and I have also seen that he always used them lawfully, against unlawful enemies.»

«Then why did he fight you?» said someone. He didn't sound angry now, just curious. That was a considerable improvement.

The Guardian whispered, «Blade, I must tell the tale of your-dying woman-before they will understand. May I?» Blade nodded.

«The last memory I reached was the death of the woman he loved most, at the hands of a great and evil magician.» Blade supposed that was as good a description of the Ngaa as any other these people would understand. «He would not live through her death again, so he drove me from his mind. He did not wish me harm, only that I should not know something that indeed I did not need to know, because it was very painful for him to think of it.»