The Quest

Meren Cambyses will be taken to the sanatorium in the Cloud Gardens.

This may take a little time to arrange because the medications to treat his condition must be prepared. When this has been done, you, Magus, may accompany him to observe his treatment. When you return from the sanatorium we will be pleased to meet you again and discuss your views.'

A soon as they returned to Mutangi, Taita examined Meren's eye and his general condition. The conclusions were troubling.

.There seemed to be a deep-seated infection in the wound cavity, which would account for the repeated pain, bleeding and suppuration.

When Taita pressed firmly on the area round the wound, Meren bore it stoically, but the pain caused his aura to flicker like a flame in the wind.

Taita told him that the oligarchs were pla

'You care for me and my injuries. I do not trust these renegade Egyptians, traitors to our land and Pharaoh. If anybody is to cure me, it will be you,' Meren declared. As much as Taita tried to persuade him, he remained determined.

Bilto and the other villagers were hospitable and friendly, and Taita's party found themselves drawn into the daily life of the community. The children seemed fascinated by Fe

Why don't you have one, Taita?'

Taita was at a loss for an appropriate reply. Although he had never attempted to hide it from her, she was not yet of an age at which he could discuss with her his mutilation. That time would come all too soon. He thought of remonstrating with Imbali, then decided against it.

As the only female in their band, she was as good an instructress as any.

He smoothed over the moment with a noncommittal reply, but afterwards he felt a keener awareness of his own inadequacy. He began to take pains to keep his body covered from her sight. Even when they swam together in the stream beyond the village he did not remove his tunic. He had believed himself resigned to his imperfect physical state, but that was changing each day.

It could not be much longer before Onka arrived to escort Meren to the mysterious sanatorium in the Cloud Gardens, and Taita exerted all his powers of persuasion to make him agree to undergo the treatment, but Meren was capable of immutable obstinacy and stood firm against all blandishments.

Then one evening Taita was awakened by the sound of soft groans from Meren's chamber. He lit the lamp and went through to find him doubled over on his sleeping mat with his face buried in his hands.

Gently Taita lifted away his hands. One side of his face was horribly swollen, the empty eye socket a tight slit, and his skin was burning. Taita applied hot poultices and soothing ointments, but by morning the old injury was little improved. It seemed more than coincidence that Onka arrived before noon that same day.

Taita reasoned with Meren: 'Old friend, there seems nothing that I can do to cure you. Your choice is to endure this suffering, which I now believe will lead before too long to your death, or you can allow the Jarrian surgeons to try where I have failed you.'

Meren was so weak and feverish that he resisted no longer. Imbali and Fe

The men led him out and helped him into the saddle. Taita bade Fe

Once again they headed towards the triple peaks of the volcanoes but before they reached the citadel they took a fork that led in a more northerly direction. Finally they entered a narrow pass into the mountains, and climbed up it to a height from which they could look down on the citadel far to the south. From this distance the council hall where they had met the oligarchs seemed tiny. They went on up the mountain path. The air grew colder and the wind moaned sadly along the cliffs.

Higher they climbed, and higher still. White hoarfrost formed on their beards and eyebrows. They huddled into their capes and continued to climb upwards. By now Meren was swaying drunkenly in the saddle.

Taita and Onka rode on each side to support him and prevent him falling.

Suddenly the mouth of a tu

'Do not look into their eyes,' Onka warned. 'Do not provoke them.

They are powerful, dangerous creatures, and single-minded in their guard duties. They can rip a man to pieces as you would dismember the carcass of a roasted quail.' He led them into the mouth of the tu

They had no means of measuring the passage of time or the distance they travelled, but at last they were aware of a nimbus of natural light ahead. It grew stronger and they approached another gate similar to the first that had sealed the tu

It took some time for their eyes to adjust, and then they looked around in wonder and awe. They were in an enormous volcanic crater, so wide that it would have taken even a swift horse half a day to traverse it, from one vertical wall to the other. Not even a nimble mountain ibex could have climbed those lava walls. The bottom of the crater was a concave green shield. In its centre lay a small lake of milky sapphire-tinted water.

Tendrils of steam drifted over the surface. A flake of ice melted from Taita's eyebrow and tapped his cheek as it fell. He blinked, and realized that the air in the crater was as balmy as that of an island in a tropical sea. They shed their leather capes and even Meren's condition seemed to improve in the warmer air.