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.At intervals sink-holes brimming with clear water irrigated fields and plots where grew melons,pulses, sweet vetch and cereals, each area guarded by its fiap.Northwest across the plain sailed the yawl, sometimes in company with Wind-runner brigantines, moreoften alone.Long sunny days alternated with nights glittering with stars.Elvo often reflected that herewas a life to be envied, a life without circumscription and no routine other than that imposed by the windsand the seasons.Perhaps the Wind-runners were the most sensible folk of all Koryphon, scudding as theydid across the open places, with great clouds towering above and glorious sunsets to mark the end of eachday.On the fourth afternoon along the northwest trail, a dark smudge appeared on the horizon, which thebinoculars revealed to be a forest of massive dark trees of a species Elvo had never seen before. Thismust be Aluban forest, said Jemasze. We now proceed to a white pillar.Presently the pillar appeared an object thirty feet high, constructed of a white lumpy stucco-likesubstance.At the base of the pillar an old man in a white cassock worked a pestle in a large iron mortar.The yawl coasted to a halt beside the pillar; the old man rose to his feet and, showing the clench-facedglare of a zealot, backed protectively against the white pillar. Take care with your vehicle; this is theGreat Bone; steer aside.Jemasze performed a courteous gesture to which the old man made no response. We seek a certainPoliamides, said Jemasze. Can you direct us?Before the old man deigned to answer he dipped a brush in the mortar and applied a white wash to thepillar.Then he pointed the brush toward the forest and spoke in a harsh croaking voice: Follow the trail;inquire at the hexagon.Jemasze released the brake; the yawl sailed past the Great Bone toward the Aluban.At the forest s edge Jemasze halted the wagon; the three men descended warily to the ground.The treeswere the most ponderous growths Elvo had yet observed on Uaia: great twisted baulks the color andapparent density of black iron, with sprawling heavy branches and masses of pale gray and gray-greenfoliage.For several silent moments the three men stood peering into the forest, where the trail woundfile:///C|/3278%20Sci-Fi%20and%20Fantasy%2.ack%20Vance%20-%20The%20Gray%20Prince.html (83 of 132) [1/11/2005 11:52:19 PM]THEGRAYPRINCEaway among slanting sun-rays and black shadows.Listening, they heard only a dank stillness.Kurgech said in a heavy voice: We are expected.Elvo suddenly became aware that by some tacit understanding leadership of the group had transferred toKurgech, who now muttered to Jemasze: Let Elvo stay with the wagon; you and I will go forward.Elvo attempted an uneasy protest, but the words stuck in his throat.In an awkward attempt atfacetiousness he said: If you run into trouble, call out for help.Kurgech said: There will be no trouble.No hot blood spills in this sacred forest.Jemasze said softly: I fear Moffamides has played us a sour joke. So much was clear from the first, said Kurgech. Still, it is better to play the game out, and to act incertitude.The two set off into the forest and immediately foliage closed out the sky; the trail became narrow andwound back and forth, past banks of moss and clusters of pale star-flowers; in and out of small glades,along dim aisles with pink rays slanting across the vistas.Kurgech moved with a peculiar delicacy,striding on the balls of his feet, turning his head first one way, then the other.Jemasze felt only stillnessand peace; he apprehended no danger, nor did Kurgech s attitude suggest more than wariness in theproximity of the unknown.A glade carpeted with purple sedum opened before them; here stood a hexagonal structure of white stone,twice as tall as a man, open on all sides to the slow airs of the forest.In front of the structure a priest in awhite cassock awaited them: a man frail and cold-faced. Outkers, said the priest, you have come far,and you are welcome to share the peace of our forest Aluban. We have come far indeed, said Jemasze. As you know we have come in search of Poliamides.Willyou take us to him? Certainly, if this is your wish.Come then. The priest set off through the forest; Jemasze and Kurgechfollowed.The sun was low; the forest had become dim and dark.Looking up, Jemasze stopped short atthe sight of a white object: a skeleton in the crotch of the tree.The priest said: There sits WindmasterBoras Mael, who suspires his soul through the leaves, and who has given his right toe to the Great Bone.He signaled them forward.Jemasze looking aloft saw skeletons in many of the trees.The priest, halting once more, spoke in a plangent voice: Here all weary or troubled souls make theirpeace with Ahariszeio.Their transitory flesh is buried; their bones embrace the tree; the soul is absorbedfile:///C|/3278%20Sci-Fi%20and%20Fantasy%2.ack%20Vance%20-%20The%20Gray%20Prince.html (84 of 132) [1/11/2005 11:52:19 PM]THEGRAYPRINCEand purified and suspired into the holy air of the Palga, to ride the blissful clouds. And Poliamides?The priest pointed aloft. There sits Poliamides.Jemasze and Kurgech studied the skeleton for a moment.Jemasze asked: How did he die? He went into an introspection so earnest that he neglected to eat or drink, and presently his conditionbecame indistinguishable from death.The errors of his gross vitality are now forgotten and his soulbreathes out from the leaves
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