He'll find it soon enough, the rest of him, and then we're done. He wants the Southlanders as witnesses because our testimony will be useless in short order. That's his plan. Tasinal didn't understand how he knew, but he felt certain of it all the same. But why? What offense have we given? Besides Strall, of course.
Elgar's roar, even in his weakened state, shook the ground beneath them. He leapt from the Black Pool, his body whole and deathly pale like the others, save for the eyes: they were still missing, now blackened, burnt sockets.
Elgar strode toward Amrath, fury twisting his features, cold, pale light dancing in his empty sockets. He seized Amrath by his tunic with both arms and lifted him off the ground. “Where is it, sorcerer?” he roared.
Tasinal did not have time to think. He simply reacted, as did Noril. One of their own was under attack. Tasinal swung a fist. Noril leapt forward, again choosing a headbutt.
It did not work out well for either of them this time. As Tasinal jumped up and down, trying to convince himself no bones in his hand had actually broken despite hearing and feeling them snap, Noril staggered backward, wobbled a moment, then fell face forward on the stone floor. Not as hard headed as we all thought, it seems. I suspect they heard that one back in Laurea.
Elgar turned from Amrath, as if Tasinal were a buzzing fly he had just deigned to notice. “Be patient, plaything. I shall get to you soon enough.” He tossed Amrath against the wall like a child discarding one toy for another, and bent to Noril, lying defenseless on the floor. Elgar seized Noril by the neck and held him aloft as he demanded, “Speak, one of you! Where is it?”
Tasinal had already forgotten the pain in his hand for the most part, but enough memory remained for him to know it was a losing proposition to try a second time. “I don't know,” he said, feeling his confidence gutter like a spent candle. No matter how hard I try, I can't convince myself I can overpower a god.
“Lies! Tell me now, or you will all suffer and die! What have you done with it!”
Amrath coughed and rose slowly to his feet. “We have done nothing! We don't even understand what it is you want of us!”
Elgar's reply was a bestial roar of pure rage. “Then die!”
Aswan suddenly shrieked in an unearthly voice, “You are outside the law, Avenger! I will not stand for you destroying mine!” He charged forward, tackled Elgar, and hurled him to the ground. Noril, still unconscious, slipped from Elgar’s grasp and tumbled across the floor as they fell. Aswan pummeled Elgar with his fist repeatedly as the Meites stood in shock.
Tasinal felt himself reeling. How could any of this be happening? How could Aswan bowl over even an injured god, much less hold him down and beat him? He could almost literally feel the world tilting beneath his feet, reality no longer solid.
It took a moment for him to realize it was not simply in his head. The ground really was tilting beneath him.
“Tasinal!” Amrath shouted. “Grab Noril and get him away!”
The air seemed electrified, the very stone of the building humming as Tasinal grabbed Noril by the collar and hauled him away from the two struggling figures.
He looked back, seeing more clearly now. Aswan was bleeding from his mouth and nose, which seemed sensible enough considering the fight, but also from his eyes and ears. Brilliant, yellow light leaked from his body, and steam rolled from his skin. Burning up inside. Containing energies his body was never meant to house.
The tremor ripped through Torium as if a giant had stamped the earth, a deep blow that seemed to ring the entire world like a bell. Tasinal turned to Amrath, feeling his guts twist. “What is going on?”
Amrath answered absently, still, focused on the fight, “It would seem Mei has intervened on our behalf.”
Strall shook his head, then covered his eyes with his hands a moment as he gathered his thoughts. “You do not understand, Amrath. They should not be here. What they are doing—” He shuddered. “Can you not feel it?”
“I feel something,” said Amrath. “But what, I cannot say.”
Talus spread his arms wide in a sweeping gesture. “What they do to the bodies they wear, they do to the world. We see only the tiniest part of their battle. The rest is being waged around us.”
Tasinal watched dust trickle from the ceiling with growing dismay as another shockwave ripped through Torium, stronger this time. It's not only here, though. It's everywhere. The whole world, getting ready to tear itself apart. “And what are we to do about it?”
Talus, the closest thing the Council had to a conscience, sat on the floor, and wrapped his arms around his knees, looking haggard. “Hope some other god intervenes.”
Amrath’s nostrils flared at this. “If I am to die, it won't be waiting for death! Tasinal, help me clear this blockage while he's occupied!”
The sky above was dark. An ill wind blew cold, far too cold for the season, and the clouds ran across Tasinal’s field of vision with unnatural speed. The sun hovered above, fat and bloated, no longer yellow but purple, a clot of blood plugging a mortal wound.
Tasinal shook his head in dismay. “Mei! What now?”
“He's occupied,” Amrath said sourly.
Tasinal looked up at the alien sky and shivered. “I don't even know any gods but Mei to call upon.”
Amrath, for once, was beaten as well. He, too, searched the heavens with haunted eyes, as if he might find some salvation. “Surely there must be a god of rules, of order? Of law?”
“Then we're doomed! He'll never listen to the likes of us!”
Amrath sat on a large rock and shrugged, then offered a wry smile. “Aye, perhaps he will save the world for the weaklings and rule-followers, then. It's about time we benefited from their existence, for once, eh?”
The earth trembled again. Tasinal, too, took a seat on one of the numerous pieces of shattered stone, still contemplating the cloud river and the blood sun. This is not how I imagined the day would end, much less my life. Or the world. He drummed his fingers on the stone seat a moment, then said, “So we're at that 'dying well' part, do you think? I never felt I quite had the hang of that.”
Amrath snorted. “I don't think there's much of a trick to it beyond trying not to, honestly.” His expression grew impish. “Perhaps there’s time for one last game. I have but one goal now. To outlive you. Even a single second counts as victory.”
Tasinal slapped a knee and rocked back and forth, grinning. “I shall deny you that!”
“How?”
Tasinal considered this briefly, still looking up at the flowing sky, which had ceased flowing altogether. The wind had died as well, though the sun remained the same blood red. It was a bit eerie how things had suddenly gone completely still. I suppose the end of the world is bound to have plenty of surprises. “Well, the simplest thing to do would be to kill you before I die. Then I could be certain.”
Amrath's jaw dropped in feigned shock. “Mei! Murder your master?”
“It’s your game. You can't blame me for accepting the challenge. Should I be a good little rule-follower and let you win? Humor an old man?”
“Old?” Amrath rose and jabbed a finger at Tasinal. “Go ahead. Try to kill me. I'll show you who’s—” Amrath stopped abruptly and cocked his head. “Do you hear that?”
Tasinal listened a moment, then shook his head. “I hear nothing.”
Amrath nodded vigorously. “Precisely! I hear nothing.”
Tasinal stood silent, straining to pick up any sound, but heard none beyond his and Amrath's faint breathing. “The clouds have stopped, and the wind.”
Amrath was staring at a small tree, a look of intense concentration on his face, his blue eyes blazing. “That is not all that has stopped.”
Tasinal followed his gaze. For long moments, Tasinal saw nothing out of the ordinary, but at last it struck him: a leaf, a simple leaf, had fallen from the tree, and never reached the ground. It hung suspended, unmoving, a few inches above eye level.
Amrath reached out hesitantly and took
hold of the leaf, eyes growing wide as he saw it offered no resistance, and moved easily. He released it mid-air, and it remained in place, just as it was before. “Amazing.”
Tasinal reached to move the leaf himself, needing to actually touch it to fully grasp the reality. “Did the world end and no one told us?” he mused.
Mirth danced in Amrath's green eyes. “If so, we'll never know who won our game.”
“I won.”
Amrath chuckled. “Very well. I will allow you to keep that delusion.”
Their laughter was interrupted by Noril shouting from the tunnel, “Amrath! Mei, you need to see this!”
His cry was strident enough that both men charged back at once.
The ritual chamber was no longer dark, but lit with a brilliant, silvery light that streamed from the center of the room, bright enough that Tasinal briefly raised a hand to shield his eyes against it before realizing it wasn’t so bright after all. The rest of his order were each staring at the source, their faces almost inhuman in the unearthly glow. Noril was covered in his own blood, but it seemed he had forgotten the nasty gash on his forehead well enough. Elgar and Aswan were still struggling on the floor. Though that isn't exactly the case is it? A more accurate description is that they were poised, like statues in combat. Neither moved.
A newcomer stood in the center of the room, light radiating from him as if he were himself a small sun. It clung to him, draped about him like a robe. At first, Tasinal could not make out the details of the man’s features against the glare, but when he managed it, he felt his legs weaken, almost to the point of falling.
Mei! He wears my face! Tasinal hardly considered his own appearance so remarkable that anyone would want to steal it. By his own estimation, his face was a bit hatchet-like and cruel looking, but it was his, and the very idea that someone else would have the gall to copy it irked him immensely.
As if hearing his thoughts, the figure turned and spoke to Tasinal. “You are the leader?” The voice was the rapping of a gavel, the closing of a cell door, the snap of a hangman's noose.
Mei! Another one! Careful what you wish for, indeed. Tasinal cleared his throat. “Technically.”
“I do not understand 'technically'.”
Tasinal looked around at the rest of the Meites. Idlic offered a smug grin, and Prosin was smirking, both of them enjoying Tasinal’s being put on the spot. Amrath, also amused, made a twirling, 'get on with it' gesture with his hands. Fine, I'm on my own, then. “Leadership is a burden. They've pushed it off on me, but they reserve the right to ignore everything I say. And mock me. And insult me.”
Amrath snickered. “Make no mistake, friend, he reserves the same rights with me, and I taught him everything he knows. You'll find—”
“Silence!” The newcomer's voice rang through Torium and sent a shiver down Tasinal's spine. Even Amrath looked crestfallen. The figure again turned to Tasinal. “You are the leader?”
Tasinal stared defiantly at the radiant doppelganger before him for a moment, then answered, “I am.”
“Witness.” The figure gestured at Elgar and Aswan, still locked in combat.
Immediately, Mei spoke, using Aswan's mouth, though the rest of him remained locked in place. “I will kill you for this, Lawbringer!”
“You cannot, Rebel. You can only kill these small creatures, as you well know. It cannot be permitted. Why do you struggle with the Avenger?”
“He strikes directly at my people! He is outside the law!”
“As are you.” The Lawbringer gestured again. “Avenger. Why do you strike at the Rebel's people?”
“They are wicked. They must be destroyed.”
“There is no evidence that these men fall within your purview.”
“All men are my purview, now.”
The Lawbringer leaned closer, examining Elgar, before declaring, “You are not the Avenger.”
“I am Avenger.”
“You are other, as well.”
“Yes. I am Destroyer, now, too.”
The Lawbringer gestured for silence again, and brought a hand to his chin in a human gesture of contemplation. “This should not be.”
Amrath hunched his shoulders as if readying for battle. “You might have spoken with Naritas and his minions, if they were still alive. This was their doing.”
The Lawbringer's gaze remained on Elgar as he said, “They are not dead.” He raised a hand to the black pool, sending more light over its surface. Faces formed in the liquid, expressions of agony and terror. “The Avenger's justice to these is within the law. They shall be deprived of their flesh, but their lives will continue for some time.” He gestured toward the pool again, and the faces sank below the surface. In the center, the golden lion's head broke the surface and rose slowly from the blood, not a drop of the black fluid clinging to mar its pristine surface. The eyes within should have been dead, but Tasinal was certain he saw within them the spark of life.
The Lawbringer repeated, “This should not be.” He held his hand high, and the golden head flew to him. He took it in both hands and held it to his face, as if studying intricate details not visible to mere mortals. His voice and his light wavered briefly, as he pronounced, “There is no law for this!”
He spun to Tasinal, then, his light flaring to red. “You must permit me to destroy this!”
Tasinal snorted. “I don't do 'must'. You must know that about all of us.”
The Lawbringer's light slowly returned to white as he looked about at the Meites, several of whom were snickering. “Fools. All of you.”
Amrath was not laughing. Tasinal could see something like terror in his mentor's eyes as Amrath spoke to the Lawbringer. “Why do you say 'permit'?” he asked, his voice grave, drawing everyone's attention and dousing their humor. He sees something we don't. As always.
The Lawbringer looked back and forth at the Meites, at last settling on Tasinal. “There is no law for this,” he repeated, as if this explained everything. After a moment, he added, in a halting voice, “You are of the Sleeper. Only the Sleeper can judge matters for which there is no law.”
Tasinal opened his mouth to speak, but Amrath held up a hand for silence and spoke himself. “When you say 'law', you mean the rules of nature, yes?”
The Lawbringer continued to regard Tasinal as he nodded, which Tasinal found increasingly unnerving. “I am law. Avenger is law. Even Rebel is law. You are not law. You are of the Sleeper. Only the Sleeper can judge matters for which there is no law.”
Amrath smiled and spoke slowly, deliberately calm, as if reassuring a timid child. “Tell us about this thing. We cannot see it as you do. Why should it be destroyed?”
The Lawbringer stood for long moments without speaking, his light pulsing and shifting from yellow to gray. When at last he spoke, he continued to address Tasinal, not Amrath. “It is difficult to explain. Your minds are small. You are... choosers. Individually, you are small things, with small power. Even you, as powerful as you are, are gnats to such as I. But I do not choose. I am law.
“The Sleeper is all choosers. The Sleeper compared to me is as I am to you. The Sleeper creates us in a dream. It is dangerous for him to awake. Do you understand? It threatens the order of things.”
Amrath's face was drained of blood, his eyes haunted. Strall, too looked haggard. Well, I'm glad you geniuses have somehow grasped this sophistry. It's clear as mud, to me.
Strall stepped forward, “And this... item. It can wake the sleeper?”
The Lawbringer's light rose to brilliant white as he smiled with Tasinal’s face. “Yes! You understand!”
Tasinal scoffed, unsettled by the Lawbringer's continued focus. “I understand nothing.”
“This thing now has elements of choice and law. The Avenger's power has been almost completely absorbed into it and this pool. But it now has the essence of not one, but two choosers, one of whom you all know was capable of utter madness. Look at the Avenger. He is damaged, and his essence marred. Already, new law has been cr
eated, a law of Destruction and Madness, and I cannot correct that. But I could destroy this thing, if you would choose it.”
Tasinal folded his arms across his chest. “And if I choose otherwise?”
Strall shouted, “Tread lightly, fool!”
Amrath nodded gravely. “We're in uncharted waters.”
“Are we?” Tasinal asked, sneering. “We're just discussing one more weapon, that's all. Escalated power, yes, but it's nothing new.”
Noril chuckled at this. “Indeed.”
Luvox rose and addressed the Lawbringer. “Is it true? Is this a weapon?”
The Lawbringer's light tinged orange. “It could be used as such, it is true.”
“We have enemies,” Tasinal said to everyone. “Aristodemos's cronies have been building an army of the Southlanders.” He pointed to Elgar. “This man is one of them, and he was cooperating with Naritas. Clearly, we have need of a weapon. They intended to use this on us!”
The Lawbringer shook his head, his light deepening again to red. “You must permit me to destroy it!”
Tasinal looked about at the rest, gauging their convictions. Most were with him. Amrath, though, cast his gaze aside when Tasinal sought it. So, it's my decision, then? Too weighty for the great Amrath? He turned back to the Lawbringer and said flatly, “We're keeping the weapon.”
The Lawbringer's light flared brilliant crimson. “Fool!” he roared, his voice now the crumbling of walls, the shriek of a hurricane.
“You can't stop me, can you? You’re not allowed to, I think. The decision is made!”
The Lawbringer's light tore at Tasinal's eyes like talons, nearly blinding him. Tasinal refused to believe he could not see, and slowly his vision cleared. The entire ritual chamber flared blood red as the Lawbringer swept a hand toward them, fury burning the air around him, his cry the eruption of a volcano:
“Then, wretched chooser, I shall deliver it to your enemies!”
Chapter 1
War God's Will Page 3
