The boy hugged his dog closer. "All we can do now is wait for daylight. Maybe the sun will
reflect through all this, and we'll be able to judge our position."
Surprisingly, it was not as cold as they had expected. Their breath and body heat combined to
keep the temperature above freezing in the dungeon of snow and ice.
Throughout the remainder of the night, the four friends slept fitfully. Ben was half in and half
out of sleep when the dog's thoughts cut in on him. "Phew, it's getting a bit muggy in here, but
I can see your face now, mate. Can you see me?"
Ben open his eyes to a blurred grey gloom. "Aye, I can see you, mate, though it's getting a bit
difficult to breathe. It must be near dawn outside."
Dominic opened his eyes. "Any food? I'm famished!"
Karay's voice came from over Ned's shoulder. "Me too!"
Ned, with the limited room allowed to him, dug in the snow, which was almost knee high.
Ben heard his thoughts. "I've found Dominic's facemaker satchel, anything in here?"
Dominic pulled the satchel free of the snow. "Thank you, Ned. Let's see what's left in here."
They watched as he loosed the straps and rummaged about. "A hard piece of cheese, stale
heel of a loaf . . . Aha, what's this? Wine, nearly a flask of it. I'd forgotten about that!"
Karay sat up as best as she could. "I'm glad you did! Now share it out, quick, before I die of
hunger!"
Dominic smiled. "Oh, what's your hurry, you'll live. Now eat slowly and don't talk for a while,
or we may use up all the air in here. Proper daylight can't be too far off."
Nibbling and sipping, they bided their time. Gradually the greyness was replaced with a
golden glow that began permeating their snowy prison. Ned wagged his tail. "Looks like a
nice sunny day!"
Ben pushed the offending tail away. "It might if I could see properly. Keep your tail still,
mate!"
He felt around until he unearthed Arnela's ice axe. Ben poked it forward and tapped gently.
"Feels like a solid block of ice trapping us in here. What d'you think, Dom?"
The facemaker took the axe from Ben, reversing it until he was holding the metal head. He
probed over his shoulder with the butt of the shaft, pushing at a space above him. Loose snow
showered down on them.
Karay encouraged him. "That's the way, give it a good hard shove!"
Dominic shook his head, murmuring as he probed. "Gently does it, don't want to bring the
whole lot down on us." He pushed further with the haft until it slid forward easily, then
withdrew it.
A golden circle of light shone down, centering between Ned's ears. The air began freshening
immediately. Ben laughed. "Well done, sir. You've saved our lives!"
They took turns. Working carefully, each one widened the hole, waggling the ice axe and
pulling down chunks of ice and frozen snow. As water droplets came down, Ned held out his
tongue and caught a few.
Karay knotted the rope about her waist and stood in a crouch. "I'm the slimmest and lightest,
so I'll go first. You men, take one of my feet each and give me a good boost."
Ben and Dominic cupped their hands, making stirrups for her feet, then lifted. Her head rose
into the hole above. She called back to them. "Right, one, two, three. Hup!" Their heads
banged the ice wall as they jerked her upwards.
Karay fell out and forward at the same time, enlarging the hole; then she disappeared. A
moment later, her head appeared in the hole. "Ned can come next! Pass him up. Here, boy,
give me your paws, good dog, come on!"
The Labrador rose into the sunlight, dispensing cheery thoughts. "Hey, hup! This is good
fun!"
Ben did not exactly return the sentiment. "Huh, it should be, you're sitting on my head, you
great broad-beamed hound!"
Soon all four were standing out in the fresh, sunlit mountain morning air. Dominic swelled out
his chest and thumped it cheerfully with both fists. "Well friends, onward and upwards, eh?"
A strange voice answered him. "Aye, lad, that's the way we're goin' too. Let's all go together!"
Ligran Razan and five of his followers strolled out from behind the rock that the friends had
been trapped against.
Ben was stunned. He shot Ned a swift thought. "Don't move, mate, they're too well armed.
Don't try anything!"
The black Labrador speedily replied, "Watch out for me, Ben, I'll be around!" He streaked off
down the mountain.
One of Ligran's men unslung a rifle and grabbed a powder flask from his belt.
Ligran stuck out a foot and tripped him. "D'you want to start another avalanche, idiot? Let the
dog go, it ain't important. Well, now, what've we got here? Two handsome boys an' a pretty
girl." He drew his sword and placed the point against Ben's chest. "What are ye doin' this high
up in our mountains, lad?"
Ben tried to look simple and friendly at the same time. "We're travellers, crossing over into
Spain, sir."
Ligran's sword flashed in the sunlight. Ben felt the sharp sting as the flat of the blade slapped
him across the cheek.
The Razan leader snarled viciously at him. "Liar! Travellers go through the pass, south of here
in Andorra. Now tell me the truth or I'll slice the nose off you!"
Karay stepped boldly in front of Ben. She faced Ligran. "He told you, we're going to Spain.
Now I'm telling you. Go on, cut my nose off, you coward. I'm not armed like you!"
Ligran raised the sword and struck. It sheared off a dark ringlet of the girl's hair. Karay did
not flinch. Ligran let his sword fall and laughed. "I like a maid who has spirit. We'll see how
much you have left when Maguda's finished questioning you. You've heard of Maguda Razan
—she's my sister."
Karay laughed in Ligran's face. "If all her brothers are as ugly as you, I feel sorry for her!"
The blade quivered a moment in Ligran's grip; his eyes narrowed savagely. Then he turned
away and rapped out orders. "Take their rope an' tie them together, hands an' necks! If we
hurry we'll arrive back just after the two I sent ahead with the bear. Use your clubs an' beat
them if they try to lag behind!"
Tied together with Arnela's rope looping their hands to their necks, the three friends shuffled
forward. Ben spoke out of the side of his mouth to Dominic, who was behind him. "Well, at
least we won't get lost on our way to the Razan hideout."
A cudgel cracked sharply against his shin. A lanky, scar-faced villain waggled the weapon in
Ben's face. "Shut your mouth, boy, or I'll break your leg. That goes for you other two. You're
prisoners now, so march!"
23
HUDDLED forlornly on the floor of the big cave, the bear uttered a piteous moan. Razan men
and women formed a circle around the animal, watching it curiously. The two who had been
sent ahead with it held the neck chains slackly, averting their eyes when Maguda spoke. The
matriarch of all the Razan leaned forward slightly. Her huge hypnotic eyes pinpointing on the
wretched animal, she croaked venomously, "Ye'll dance before I'm through with ye. Guards,
take this thing out of my sight. Away to the dungeons with it!"
Men hauled on the chains, forcing the bear into an upright position. It made a mournful noise
as the spikes inside its iron collar dug into its neck fur. They were dragging the bear away,
when Rawth, the eldest of Maguda's b
rothers, entered the cavern and approached his sister.
The hypnotic eyes swivelled in his direction. "Thou hast come to tell me that our brother
Ligran approaches, this I already know."
Rawth shrugged uneasily. "He brings captives, two boys and a girl, but no black dog is with
them."
Maguda hissed like an angry snake. "Ssssstupid men! Would that I had the strength in my
limbs that mine eyes possess. It is I who would have captured all four. Bad omens portend
misfortune if the dog is not in my grasp. Bring the prisoners straight here to me when they
arrive. Go now, help thy brother!"
Ben stumbled in deep snow, and a guard poked him in the back with the butt of Arnela's ice
axe. The boy straightened and struggled on uphill, his mind worried by lack of communication
with Ned.
Dominic whispered furtively, as if privileged to his friend's thoughts. "Wonder where Ned is.
Not like him to run off."
Karay overheard him and replied shortly, "If I was as fast as a dog, I'd have made a run for it,
One of the guards pushed the girl roughly. "Shut your mouth!"
Ben spoke aloud to distract the robber's attention from her. "Ned's more use to us running
free. He'll help us—mark my word, he's no ordinary dog."
Ligran Razan turned and pointed his sword at Ben. "One more word from you, lad, an' I'll
chop your tongue off!"
Ben decided it was wiser to keep silent from then on. The Razan leader looked like a villain
who would take delight in carrying out his threats. Cruelty and a volatile temper were stamped
all over Ligran's coarse features. So Ben held his silence, even as the mouth of the cave came
in view. He wanted to shout out to his companions about the red and black figures he could
see, scrawled in primitive fashion on the wall outside the cave entrance: men hunting boar,
just as Edouard had seen before passing out after his accident. Edouard had said that he would
know where the Razan stronghold was if he could find the place where the men were hunting
wild boar. Ben was puzzled, but he noted the position of the ancient artwork as he was shoved
into the passages branching into the caves.
Lanterns guttered feebly in the dank rock tunnels, which seemed to twist and turn endlessly.
Sometimes they would pass side chambers—Razan clan members stared out at them across
fires that had blackened and sooted the walls of these miserable hovels where they lived like
animals. Water seeped down the rocks of the passages, and a foul odour of communal living,
damp, and leftover garbage hung on the still air. Karay noted that nowhere was there sight or
presence of children. Then they were in a longer passage, more straight and broad than the
ones they had travelled. It even had rush mats and animal skins laid on its smooth floor.
Without warning they were thrust into the lair of Maguda Razan. The friends were startled by
the horrific sight: a vast natural cavern with a ceiling so high that it was lost amidst the thick
clouds of noxious smoke that snaked upwards in spiralling columns of all hues, from
sulphurous yellow and oily green to muddy crimson and acrid blue, mingling in a turgid
browny-black mass overall. The smoke columns issued from fires at the bases of monolithic
figures, some freestanding but most carved into the living rock of the cavern walls—strange
monsters and forgotten deities frightening to look upon, some animal, some human; many half
animal and half human with extra limbs. Monstrous forms with horns, fangs and evil leering
faces. And there, seated on her throne at the top of a circular-stepped rostrum, was the spider
at the centre of this web of unholiness. Maguda Razan!
Her eyes swept over them briefly, then settled on Ligran. Ben saw his throat bob nervously as
he swallowed.
Maguda spat out a single word at him. "Fool!"
Ligran stared at his feet, not daring to look her in the eyes. He tried to sound commanding yet
respectful. "A harsh word, sister. I lost four good men taking these prisoners for you. The dog
was just an ordinary dog that ran off like a frightened rabbit. We couldn't risk a shot at it, for
fear of starting an avalanche, so we just . . . brought these three ..." His voice trailed off into
silence.
Maguda snarled at him, "I wanted that dog—the omens told me it was a bad thing for us to let
it live. Thou art a fool, brother Ligran. Look at me!"
Ligran reluctantly let his gaze rise. His legs were trembling. A long, curved and blackened
fingernail pointed at him.
Maguda spoke. "Thou art a fool. Say it!"
Ligran's lips moved automatically as he repeated the words: "I am a fool."
Maguda sat back, and her hand waved at Ligran dismissively. "Count thyself lucky thou art
my brother. Begone to thy cave." Ligran slunk away wordlessly.
Ben felt Karay, who was standing close to him, give an involuntary shudder. Maguda was
pointing at her. "Pretty girl, what were ye doing up in my mountains?"
Ben whispered fiercely, "Don't look at her eyes, Karay!"
"Silence!" Maguda shouted. "Rawth, I do not want yonder boy looking at me, attend to him!"
The eldest brother moved swiftly, dealing the boy a blow that laid him senseless upon the
floor. Dominic and Karay were overpowered by Maguda's guards as they leapt forward to
help Ben.
An evil chuckle came from the throne. "I'm told thou art a sweet singer. Sing for me, girl."
dream of singing for a wicked old hag like you. Never!"
Maguda Razan's smile was a hideous thing to see. "Sooner or later thou wilt sing for me, just
like a little bird. Aye, a songbird. I'll have a cage made for thee. 'Twill hang in this cave—ye
shall wear a gown of feathers and sing for me each day. A song of why ye came here. Ah, do
not think I don't know. Ye came on a wasted journey, though, for the one ye seek is no longer
here. Oh, don't look shocked, child, Maguda Razan knows and sees all."
Dominic could contain himself no longer. Straining against the guards who held him, he
shouted out, "You lie! Deceit and evil are in your eyes! Truth and honesty are strangers to
you. Your world is built on wickedness and lies!"
Maguda turned her baleful glare on him. "Facemaker of Sabada, I know thee. Look at me! For
one so young, thou hast a lot to say."
Dominic's gaze was unwavering. He stared straight at Maguda. "I'm not weak and ignorant,
you cannot frighten me. My eyes see the truth—your spells and trickeries have no power over
me!"
It was like a struggle of wills, one will trying to overpower the other. Maguda's pupils shrank
to pinpoints, and her head trembled as she intensified her gaze on the boy in front of her.
Dominic's gaze was calm and steady.
Karay had only looked into Maguda's eyes for a few seconds before the power of them made
her feel dizzy, and she turned her attention to the floor. Now she watched Dominic, amazed
that he could look into the Razan woman's eyes for so long. Ben moved slightly and groaned.
Karay edged over to his side and placed her hand on his brow. The contest of wills continued
until, much to Karay's surprise, Maguda's withered hand rose to shield her gaze.
Dominic still st
ood staring. His face did not register the horrors he had envisioned, though he
had to control his voice to keep it level. "Death and decay are all I see in your soul, old one.
You cannot hypnotise me—I have gifts of my own!"
Maguda Razan's answer sent a chill through Karay's heart. "There are other ways of bringing
ye under my power, ways that bold young fools such as ye do not realise. This pretty girl, and
the boy from the sea, they are thy friends, I believe ..."
From between her clawlike fingernails Maguda cast a sly glance at Ben and Karay. Dominic
tried to leap forward, but another Razan man tugged him back by the rope looped about his
neck, and two more jumped in to assist the pair already hanging on to his arms.
Dominic felt helpless as the realisation of Maguda's words swept over him. "Witch! Rotten
hag! Leave my friends alone!"
Maguda's triumphant cackling echoed around the vast vault. She pulled a grotesque face at
Dominic. "Not so confident now, little boy, eh? Take them away, lock them in the deep
dungeons. Let them ponder on what delights I have in store for insolent trespassers!"
After the three friends had been marched off, Maguda beckoned to a dark figure who had
been crouching in a shadowy corner close to the cave walls.
"Thy senses did not fail thee, eh, Gizal? Thou wert the first to note the presence of those three
young ones."
Maguda's staff tapped upon the floor as Gizal shuffled to the throne. "Have I ever failed thee,
mistress? Touch, scent an' hearing serve me better than the eyes of most folk!"
Maguda drew Gizal forward until she could whisper in the blind one's ear. "What think ye of
my prisoners?"
Gizal thought carefully before she answered. "The girl is nought, she can be bent to thy will in
time. But the one they call the facemaker, he sounds like a problem to me. He is gifted. Thine
eyes have no power over him. As to the other boy, the one whom Rawth laid senseless, I
cannot say, I have no knowledge of him."
Maguda stared at the ragged cloth that bound her aide's eyes, as if trying to penetrate it. "But
the dog, you sensed a dog. It remains uncaptured!"
Gizal sniggered. "What does it matter, mistress? Who cares about a stupid dumb animal?"
Maguda was silent for a moment, then she laughed. "Aye, thou are right, the beast is likely
still running. Why fret about a dog? Gizal, ye did a fine job with our other beast, the bear.