Night's Daughter Read online

  In that moment of terror he noticed only hugeness, scales, and wings, a suggestion almost of feathers, a cruel beak striking at his head. He backed away and fumbled for his bow, stringing it swiftly; but the dragon swooped down and Tamino ducked and went sprawling on the ruined mosaics and grass of the clearing. Almost automatically his fingers notched an arrow into place and let it fly.

  It must have found a target somewhere, for he heard the creature scream with rage as it struck down again to the kill. It was too close for his bow to be any use now. Somehow he had his knife in his hand, but he was all too conscious that it had never been intended for a weapon. He was all but unweaponed against the worst menace he had ever seen.

  He thrust blindly upward. The dragon's wings were all round him, blurring away sight. The monster's evil breath was hot against the back of his neck as he turned blindly and began to run. Fighting was useless; no single human could hold his own against such a beast.

  He cursed the fates that had sent him out unweaponed and felt a desperate regret that his journey should end here, regret for all the new things he would never see or know, even for the Ordeals he would now never have a chance to attempt.

  He whirled about desperately and struck up again with his knife. He would at least die fighting, not let himself be carved up and clawed to bits from behind. He wished there would be someone to carry news to his father of how he had died, and he found himself wondering wildly if there was anything after death or if this would be the end. The roaring of the dragon was loud in his ears. His knife found a target again; he ripped at it and dark foul-smelling blood showered over him, but the dragon was still fighting, he had not even seriously wounded it.

  Then, in the dark nightmare of blood and stench and effort he heard high voices, women's voices. He saw the sharp points of metal spears piercing the dragon, saw, disbelieving, that it fell away and died. Above him were women's faces: three women clad in leather armor with high moonlike crescents on their armor. They looked, he thought in a last flicker of exhaustion, like the moon-crowned women in the mosaics beneath his feet. Was this a dream, were these the guardian spirits of this place? Were these only the last dying fancies of his brain, had the dragon killed him after all?

  Exhausted, he fell a million miles into starless dark.

  CHAPTER FOUR

  DISA kicked the dead body of the dragon; then bent to tug it away, signaling to her sisters to help her. Zeshi bent to the task, but Kamala remained motionless, staring down at the face of the unconscious youth.

  "Can he really be a prince? His cloak is so shabby—"

  "He is the second son of the Emperor of the West, and his name is Tamino," Disa said, "but unless we move away the body of this dragon we cannot release or revive him."

  Reluctantly Kamala took her eyes from Tamino's unstirring form and hauled, with her sisters, at the dragon's body. As she hauled she said resentfully, "What kind of work is this for us? I never heard that there were dragons in this place."

  "These are the Changing Lands," Zeshi said. "You should know as well as any that you are likely to find absolutely anything in the Changing Lands, and whatever you find, it will not be what you found there before."

  "I suppose so." Kamala straightened her back, and looked down at Tamino again. "How handsome he is!"

  Zeshi nodded, and slid her tongue over her lips. "There are no men in the Temple of Night to compare with him.

  Look at his shoulders, his thighs, his hands. His eyes— are they blue or are they dark? His lashes are as long as a maiden's. I am sure he could give great pleasure. I wonder if in his faraway country he has a lover, and if I could make him forget her? I wonder—"

  Disa laughed. It was not a kind sound. "Your body is hot for any new young man, Human or Halfling, no? I do not think he is intended for you, nor yet for me, Zeshi. Forget for once the pleasures of your pillows, and put your mind to the task the Starqueen has given us."

  "And do you think you are better, Disa? There are stories I could tell from the Temple of the Bull—"

  "Be quiet, both of you," Kamala interrupted with authority. "When the Starqueen bade me leave the guards and come here into this wilderness, she ordered me to protect the youth—and now that we have done so, our next task is to tell her that her wishes have been carried out. I do not think that she wants him for her pleasures either."

  "We were ordered to protect him," Zeshi argued, "and there might well be dangers in this place. I will stay and guard him while you bear this news to the Lady."

  "If there is guarding to be done," Kamala reminded them, "the Starqueen put me in charge of her guards, so that task would be mine. And you, Zeshi, have other duties to the Halflings. Go, then, and tell the Queen, and I will guard him—"

  "And who will guard him from you?" Disa jeered. "He will be safe enough here alone. Come, then, and let us tell the Starqueen. She has enough to trouble her," she added in a gentler voice, "must we quarrel among ourselves? Especially now, when she is so distraught?"

  "You are right," Zeshi agreed, and Kamala laid a hand on her sword.

  "If only my guards and I could lay hands upon that monster—first I would tear his eyes from his head and cut away his manhood, and then when I had done I would fling the remnants to the crows!"

  Disa nodded grimly. "He is mad with power. And it does not help our mother, I suppose, that Mono-statos, our half brother, the son of our father, the Great Serpent, has defected to the monster and taken himself away to the temple of the priest-kings. Yet one would think the Starqueen cherished no hatred even against him!"

  "She has room now for only one hatred," said Zeshi, "and it is not for Monostatos. Perhaps she has sent for this prince to help her."

  "With all her allies among Halflings and men, why would she turn to a stranger from a distant land?" Kamala asked, and she looked scornful.

  "She might well," said Disa, "for a prince from a distant land would have no loyalties already given among us. But I remind you, my sisters, it is not our work to question her, but to carry out her wishes. Come, let us be on our way."

  Kamala cast back a wistful look at the motionless body of the young prince, but she did not protest. She followed her sisters from the clearing.

  Tamino came slowly to his senses, hearing the sound of a whistle. Slowly, he sat up. His head felt bruised, and as he raised his hand to touch it he felt slimy evil-smelling blood on his tunic.

  Now he remembered. He had fought a dragon. He looked around; its lifeless body lay at a short distance. He had not killed it. These were the Changing Lands; had it turned conveniently into a dragon's corpse, as the antelope had turned first to a gazelle and then to a squirrel? But he was not lying where he had fallen. Someone had dragged the dragon's body off his own, and propped him up against a tree. His knife lay nearby; Tamino retrieved it, and stowed it away in his belt, then looked about for his bow and arrows. He found the bow lying still strung where it had fallen; no arrows were to be found. Well, now he was once again among the dwellings of men, he might be able to get some more.

  But who had saved him?

  Now he became aware that he was not alone in the clearing. The whistle he had heard earlier sounded again, and he saw a strange-looking man moving about near the edges of the trees.

  He was slenderly built and small-boned, and for a moment Tamino thought he had green hair—no, he had green feathers on his head! No, that was not quite right, either, but his hair was an odd color, greenish yellow, and it grew down along his neck in layers which did indeed give an impression of feathers. His nose, too, was just the suggestion of a beak, or so it looked at a quick glance, though at a second look Tamino realized that it was a perfectly normal nose, though somewhat sharper and beakier than any nose Tamino had seen. There was something odd about his hands, too, though he used them deftly enough. He raised them now to his lips and blew on a small set of pipes, which perfectly imitated a birdcall. Then he whistled engagingly, and at the sound a half dozen small birds flew down into
the clearing, pecking up something he had scattered there. The strange man made a movement with his strange hands, so swiftly Tamino could hardly follow it with his eyes, and four of the birds were squawking and fluttering between his hands. He thrust them into a wicker cage that Tamino had not noticed on the grass at the edge of the clearing, and whistled again.

  As he watched, Tamino realized what this strange creature must be. He looked like a man who had been partly transformed into a bird; or like a bird who had somehow taken on human characteristics. And that meant he was a Halfling.

  Another Halfling. But the Halfling he had met before had not been nearly so human in manner, had not worn clothing, had not spoken. This Halfling wore a coarsely woven green tunic trimmed with green and yellow feathers—which struck Tamino as being in poor taste, as if he himself had worn a belt of baby skin. But perhaps he did not think of it that way, or had not the wit to think of it that way, or whoever owned the bird-man thought it a pleasant japery to dress him in bird feathers and set him to catching birds.

  The previous Halfling, the otter-woman, had not been able or willing to speak. But she had indeed given him directions by gesture, so she must at least have understood human speech.

  Tamino got up and hesitantly approached the bird-man, who went on unconcernedly whistling to coax the birds from the trees.

  "Excuse me, friend—" he began.

  With a great flutter of wings and shrill cries, the birds took wing, and the Halfling turned. He saw Tamino, started and frowned.

  "Look what you have done! Now they've all flown away," he scolded.

  "What were you doing with them?" Tamino asked, startled and yet pleased that the strange creature could speak.

  "Catching them and putting them into cages. Couldn't you see that? Are you blind?" He sounded cross, and Tamino wondered if he had made a mistake, if this were after all an ordinary man and not a Halfling after all.

  "Why were you catching birds?"

  "It's my work; I get fed for it," replied the stranger. "I catch birds, and in return they give me cakes and wine and good fruits. Don't you do any work? What kind of idler are you then?"

  "I am no idler, but a traveler," Tamino said, then was annoyed at himself for being drawn into irrele-vancies. "Who are you—I mean, what are you?"

  "A man like yourself, a man like any other man," said the bird-man crossly. "I really think you must be blind after all. And what are you doing here? There are not supposed to be any strange men in these parts, and the Starqueen will be angry when she finds out."

  "Who is the Starqueen?"

  "You really are very ignorant," the bird-man said. "Don't you know anything about anything? She rules these wilderness lands. How did you get here anyway without her leave? Why, she might send a dragon after you, or something like that!"

  "I think that's just what happened," Tamino said grimly. "Did you kill it?"

  "Kill what? I was joking," said the odd little Half-ling, with a comical grin. "There aren't any dragons in these parts."

  "That was what I thought," Tamino said, and pointed. The bird-man jumped, shrank back in terror.

  "Oh, help! Is it dead?"

  He edged around behind Tamino, looking out fearfully at the corpse. Reassured by its continued silence, he sallied out, and stood over it in a swaggering attitude.

  "Hah! You don't think a fellow like me would be afraid of a dragon," he said. "Not a little dragon like that! Why, you should see some of the real dragons around here!"

  Tamino tried to hide his grin. Now that he was safe, he could see that the dragon was not as large as he had believed when he had been fighting it; but it was larger than anything he had ever fought in his life, and larger than anything he ever wanted to fight again. He was still not sure that it had been real, rather than an illusion of the Changing Lands. Yet the corpse looked real enough. He had not killed it, either; but he was perfectly sure that this comical Halfling had not done so, either. The Halfling was slender and so slightly built, Tamino would not have wagered on him to win a cockfight, if the cock was a real fighter.

  "You killed it, then? What sort of weapon did you use?" he asked, laughing.

  The bird-man looked at his belted tunic, where the only things even resembling weapons were a tiny knife which would hardly have trimmed a quill pen, and an implement for braiding wicker or vines—probably the birdcage he carried had been made with its help. He touched the hilt of the little knife and Tamino could almost see him debating whether he would be believed if he claimed to have used the knife. Instead he bragged, "I don't need weapons! Can't you see the power of my arms and fists?"

  Tamino was almost shouting with laughter now. How absurd the little fellow was. If a human being had told such lies, Tamino would have been repelled, but this little chap could not be expected to have human standards and ethics.

  "Tell me about all the dragons you've killed," he said, still chuckling. "Does the Starqueen collect them as she does the birds in your cages?"

  The bird-man's eyes widened at the mention of the Starqueen. "Oh, no," he said, his eyes wide. "She would rule over all the dragons as she does over all of us! She is great and powerful—and I, Papageno, am her chosen companion, catcher of birds, killer of dragons and her wisest of councillors—"

  "Oh, are you indeed?" Tamino chuckled. "Then perhaps you can direct me to some friendly inn around here where a traveler can be fed, and have a bath and perhaps a jug of good wine, for I've been traveling for thirty days, and I'm in need of some gracious hospitality!"

  "There are no inns in these parts," Papageno said naively, "or at least I don't know about them. I haven't seen many travelers. It must be terrible to be hungry! I'll tell you what—soon there will be some pretty ladies, come to collect my birds, and they will bring me fruits and good wine and a loaf of fine bread. They always do, because I'm such a charming fellow—after all, the Starqueen's chosen champion. There's always more than I can eat and you're welcome to anything I can share with you."

  "You are very kind," Tamino said sincerely. The little chap might be a silly and comical braggart, but he had a kind heart.

  There was a soft call from the edge of the clearing.

  "Papageno!"

  The bird-halfling quivered, and again tried to hide himself behind Tamino. Again the soft insistent call, in a woman's voice.

  "Papageno, naughty fellow!"

  "Are those the pretty ladies you told me about?"

  The bird-man nodded miserably as the call came again for the third time: "Papageno!"

  Tamino looked around for the speakers, and saw three women coming into the clearing.

  "Who are those ladies?" he asked.

  "They are the ladies of the Starqueen," said Papageno, trying again to hide behind Tamino. The prince looked at the women.

  All three were tall and imposing, with dark hair and dark eyes, strong-featured, with high foreheads. Tamino, who had seen no woman in a month of travel, looked at them with interest. One was dressed as a warrior, in a kilt and breastplate of black leather and high boots about her shapely calves. The other two wore robes of pale woven material, and their brows were crowned with a kind of headdress bearing a crescent moon. Somehow Tamino felt that he must have known them somewhere before. Yet to his certain knowledge he had never set eyes on any women like this, they were certainly nothing at all like the delicate, fair-haired, fair-skinned women of his own country, clad in silks and soft stuffs; not one of them would have considered bearing weapons like this.

  He was about to come forward and speak to them, but their attention was entirely on Papageno.

  "Papageno," one of them said with silken menace. "Today I bring you from the Queen, instead of fine bread and fruits, only a basket of empty hulls and husks." She raised the basket and emptied it over his head, laughing gaily. Tamino was startled; the young woman looked too kind and gentle for such rough teasing. Papageno stood uncomfortably brushing away the husks from his head and off his rough clothing.

  "My
lady Zeshi, what have I done? Look, my birds— how fine they are, what beautiful colors, not a single tail feather missing—" he babbled.

  "And from her Graciousness I bring you no sparkling wine, but a jug of muddy water from the pig trough!" The speaker was the warrior woman with the sword; and as she spoke she threw the water over Papageno's head. He emerged soaked and miserable, shaking the featherlike layers of greenish hair from side to side and muttering, "Lady Kamala, I beg you—"

  Tamino, shocked, moved out of range. The third, who was the tallest and most imposing of them, said sternly, "And for your lips, lying and bragging to an unsuspecting traveler, I bring a liar's bridle to still your untruthful chatter!"

  "Oh, Lady Disa—" Papageno moaned, but he was quickly seized between the two smaller women and the gadget fixed over his mouth.

  He shook his head, mumbling, but all he could say was, "Ummm-ummm-ummm!" Tamino was troubled and distressed. They were laughing. They were playing with the Halfling. It was only a game to them; he could tell they did not mean to be cruel, but why should they treat the poor little fellow so harshly?

  But they had finished their fun, and while Papageno cowered, the tallest and most imposing of them advanced toward Tamino.

  "Prince of the Empire of the West," she began, while Tamino wondered how she had known his name. "Good fortune awaits you. Your name and purposes in traveling here are known to our great Queen, and she bids you to her palace, where you shall be an honored guest of her Graciousness."

  Tamino hesitated only a moment. He had been commanded to seek the Temple of Wisdom, yes, and request admission to the Ordeals; but he had not been forbidden to undertake such adventures as might befall him on the way. This Queen was evidently a person of local importance, and she might well be able to set him on the correct path. If he could encounter the dangers and difficulties of the road, there was no reason he should not also undertake and enjoy such pleasant encounters as came his way.

  "I should be delighted," he said.