Warlock

terribly quiet, except for the shuffling of Mace's large feet. At last, the boy said, “But that's impossible! The legends of horseless carts are only children's tales!”
        
        “Our spies say not,” the commander said. “Indeed, there are further reports that the King of Oragonia, Jerry Matabain, has within his palace grounds a flying machine resurrected from the Blank. We have in hand three separate reports of the craft being sighted above the ramparts of the castle, circling the mountainous grounds around Jerry's keep. It is not large, perhaps only big enough for two men. But the Darkland agents in Oragonia say that it is of sleek design, in the shape of an oval, glittering like the purest silver and progressing from one point to another in the sky but with the slightest humming sound as accompaniment.”
        
        Shaker Sandow's eyes went to the open books on his desk, and he began to review whole paragraphs which he remembered most well of all those things he had half-believed to be merely legends. The books were scraps from the Blank, pieces of that forgotten age before the earth's crust had shifted and the towering mountains bad risen where no mountains were before, before the shape of the seas had changed, before jungles had become deserts and grassy plains had become sea bottoms. If the books could survive, why not other things? And suppose that the tales of flying machines and horseless vehicles were not legends, but the truth? All of what Richter said might be so. The old Shaker felt a thrill run through him that he had not experienced in such intensity for at least twenty years, since the last days of his youth.
        
        “And the General wishes us to go with your party across the Cloud Range to search for more such artifacts.”
        
        Richter nodded positively. “We have discovered nothing more than that the Oragonia expeditions crossed the Cloud Range at a point they call High Cut and that some two hundred miles into the unexplored lands to the east, they found the place where these marvels lay intact. We want to cross the mountains here, preferably at Shatoga Falls, and strike north once we reach the far slopes of the mountains. If the Oragonians have a major operation in progress to the north, we should eventually discover some trace of it to lead us. It is, admittedly, a weak plan. But we have a number of Squealers with us, and they are birds known for their efficiency. They should help narrow the search with their aerial reconnaissance.”
        
        “And with my magics,” the Shaker said, “you expect little if any problems in discovering this cache of ancient devices.”
        
        “You must come with us!” Belmondo said emphatically. “If you have any love for Darklands, any pride in nation-”
        
        “I have none of that,” the Shaker said. “The gods have mercy on you if your own life is guided by such shallow motivations. But I will ease your mind immediately by accepting your offer. I will cross the Cloud Range with you, chiefly because the General is a beneficent ruler while Jerry Matabain is known for his dictatorial ways. A Shaker in Oragonia, I understand, has no personal freedom as here, but is kept by the King in a state of comfortable slavery. I should not wish to see the ambitious Jerry assume control of my Perdune and me.”
        
        Captain Belmondo seemed perturbed by such unpatriotic talk, but the commander was wiser. “If your own ends are those of the Darklands,” Richter said, “we can hardly care what your motivations are. Can you be prepared to depart Perdune at dawn? My men require a rest today before the beginning of such a trek.”
        
        “Dawn will be fine,” the Shaker said. “But one or two questions first We could not help but notice the colorful cloaks of your troops. It seemed to us that their clothing was too foppish for the rugged work of climbing and too bright for the dangerous work of traveling through unknown lands.”
        
        Richter seemed suddenly embarrassed. “These are our parade dress uniforms. It was the special wish of the General that we proceed here in them for two reasons. First, we were coming through a gentle pass in the Banibals and did not require heavy-duty climbing gear and could thus make a more impressive arrival. Secondly, the General thought that any Oragonian spies within the Darkland capital would be less suspicious of a gayly attired