by Glen Cook
“As you command, Lord.”
The minutes rolled away. At last there was no one left but Lord Kuo and Pan ku. “Lord,” Shih-ka’i said, “I’ll give you a few minutes before I come through. Have a good ambush ready. The transfer may waken it.”
Wen-chin nodded and departed.
“Go, Pan ku.”
“Lord…”
“I’ll be there in a few minutes.”
“As you will, Lord.” Pan ku disappeared.
Shih-ka’i stared down at the box. What would the godlet do? Surely transfer would waken it. Could they control it long enough to put it into a boat? How powerful was it?
He waited five minutes. Before transferring he set the portal to collapse behind him. No one would return the box to the desert should it grab a man as it did the dead. He took a deep breath, stepped into the portal.
The thing wakened as Shih-ka’i reached the island. A finger of power stabbed his brain. He staggered. “You!” the thing in there bellowed. He moaned. Its rage was stronger than he had expected. Its angry, greedy tentacles drove into him, taking control….
Ssu-ma Shih-ka’i was stubborn. He turned, threw the box. It bounced across the floor.
Lord Kuo smacked it with a bolt of power that did no harm at all. Shih-ka’i dove after the box, smacked a fist against its side. It tumbled onward, into the pulsing black maw of the portal.
A dwindling scream faded from Shih-ka’i’s mind.
Pan ku reached his side. “Are you hurt, Lord?”
Shih-ka’i allowed himself to be lifted to his feet. “I think I’ll live, Pan ku. Damn my bones, I’m afraid I’m going to.” He leaned on his batman. “It almost caught my soul.”
Hsu Shen came roaring in. “What happened?”
“It woke up,” Lord Kuo explained. “My Lord threw it back through the transfer.”
“Oh, no! It’s back in the desert? What’ll we do?”
Shih-ka’i caught his breath. “No. Not the desert. No. Caught in the transfer stream. Done with this world. Forget the boat, Hsu Shen. Let me rest before I return to Lioantung. We’re done here.”
Pan ku was helping him leave when the air crackled behind them. A man stepped from a portal. “Lord?” he inquired.
Shih-ka’i turned. “Lord Lun-yu?”
“The Princess Mist is in Lioantung, Lord. Thought you’d want to know.”
Tasi-feng surveyed his surroundings. He seemed puzzled. Lord Kuo tried to make himself invisible.
Shih-ka’i sighed. “All right. I’ll be there directly. Pan ku, let’s collect our gear. Hsu Shen, send the rest of your men out.”
Lord Kuo remained apart from Shih-ka’i till Tasi-feng departed.
“Pan ku,” Shih-ka’i said as they approached their quarters, “I think I’ve aged a hundred years.”
A deputation of nervous Tervola waited in the transfer chamber. Tasi-feng said, “Lord Shih-mihn is entertaining the Princess, Lord.”
“What’s that racket?”
“Harassment from outside, Lord.”
“Tell the lady I’ll be with her as soon as I’ve studied the situation.”
“Lord?”
“You heard me. Lord Lun-yu, come with me. Tell me everything she’s said.” He led the way to a high gallery in the old fortress at Lioantung’s heart. From it he could see most of the city and much of the countryside beyond. Pan ku dogged their steps.
“This was a monastery in the old days,” Tasi-feng said.
“Really? Interesting. But I’m more interested in current events. What’s the Matayangan situation?”
“She gives the impression it’s under control. Lord Kuo struck a particularly savage blow before… before…”
“I see. What did she say she wants?”
“She’s investigating our position. The army is stretched thin. If either front sours we might have to abandon the western provinces.”
Shih-ka’i leaned out a window, watched dragons circle. “The worst is over here. We’ve eliminated their godling. There’ll be no more debacles like the Tusghus. What have they been doing?”
“Getting ready to storm.”
“Storm? That’s crazy. They don’t have the manpower.”
“They didn’t have it at the Tusghus, Lord.”
“So true. But they haven’t the weapon they had then, either.” Shih-ka’i scanned the darkness. “When will they start?”
Tasi-feng shrugged. “If he follows precedent, not for a few days.”
“Don’t count on it. He’s learning.” Shih-ka’i glared at the night. “Damn. I’d like to get my hands on him.”
Something skittered behind them. Shih-ka’i whirled. “A mouse, Lord,” Pan ku said. “Strangest thing. Sat there just staring at you.”
“Let’s see what’s on the woman’s mind,” Shih-ka’i said.
“Lord…”
“Not to worry. I’ll comport myself properly. I’m as fond of my position as you are of yours.”
Shih-ka’i had encountered Mist twice before, during her first reign, and each time his first glimpse had hit him like a blow between the eyes. Though he steeled himself, the result was no different this time. Hard to believe that anything that beautiful was human. Hard to believe that she was the child of that ugly old madman, the Demon Prince.
She rose when he entered the small chamber where she was holding court. As his legion commanders bowed to him, she extended her hand. Never having been formally presented to any of Shinsan’s masters, Shih-ka’i was not sure how to respond. He made the slight bow due an army superior. The woman seemed satisfied. “Lord Ssu-ma.”
“A pleasure, my Princess.”
“The pleasure is mine.” She seated herself. Lord Shih-mihn remained at her right hand, a man smitten. “I’ve been reviewing your campaign.”
Shih-ka’i bowed again. “Mercy, Mistress,” he said. “I’ve done my best, but I’m only a pig farmer’s son.” His tone did not match his words. They were mere formality.
“Mercy isn’t necessary, Lord Ssu-ma. Not even the great Lords Chin or Wu could have done more.”
Shih-ka’i surveyed his brethren, surprised. They stood tall and silent, unreadable behind their masks. What was this? They had spoken for a pig farmer’s son?
The woman continued, “I have complete confidence in you. I’m not here to interfere, only to familiarize myself with your situation. These are trying times for the empire.”
Shih-ka’i did not respond immediately. Tasi-feng stepped into the breach. “Lord Lun-yu, Mistress. Commander, Seventeenth.”
“A legion I remember well, from times when Lord Wu commanded.”
“Those days are gone, Mistress. As is Lord Wu.”
“Gone, forgiven, and forgotten.”
“Thank you, Mistress. There’s a way you could help. The Deliverer has a companion of great power. We’re unable to defeat her. To make the point directly, you might match yourself against her.”
Shih-ka’i regained his composure. “My commanders tell me she’s almost as strong as yourself, Mistress.”
“This woman is the Deliverer’s source of power?”
“One source. He had another, a godling of ancient times, that resided in the desert to the east. Tonight a Tervola named Hsu Shen and I destroyed it. Now the Deliverer and his woman are on their own.”
“They’re outside now?”
“Yes, Mistress.”
“Let’s have a look.” Shih-ka’i bowed. His entire staff started to follow. Mist said, “You gentlemen return to work. Wait. Lord Shih-mihn. Your granaries are full?”
“Yes, Mistress.” Puzzled.
“This place is filthy with mice. You might do something if you anticipate a long siege.”
“Yes, Mistress.”
Softly, Shih-ka’i said, “It won’t be long. They’re down to the lees of their strength. He’s planning another surprise.”
Mist glanced over her shoulder, gave Pan ku a look filled with meaning. The decurion was not intimidated. Shih-ka’i
said, “Pan ku is my shadow.”
“As you will.”
Ten minutes later, as they approached the city’s northern wall, Shih-ka’i heard a scrabbling sound behind him, then a meaty thump as one body hit another. He spun, saw Pan ku push a large dog away from himself. The hilt of the decurion’s shortsword protruded from the beast’s chest. The dog twitched, whimpered, lay still. Pan ku retrieved his weapon, separated the beast’s head and limbs.
“Pan ku?”
“I’m all right, Lord. Didn’t bite through my armor.”
“What happened?”
“Came out of the dark straight at you, Lord.”
Mist squealed, “Down!” A flash blinded Shih-ka’i for an instant. His vision cleared. Another dog lay at his feet. Its left shoulder had been burned to the bone.
“Maybe we should’ve let the others come,” Mist said.
“I think I see the direction of his next attack.”
He was right. Similar attacks were occurring throughout the city.
“Your commanders say he has a huge hatred for the empire. Any idea why?”
“Not the least, Mistress. We don’t know who they are, or where they came from.” Shih-ka’i resumed walking, “Keep a good watch, Pan ku. He might try again.”
From the city wall he could see the woman in white standing atop a knoll a third of a mile away. She glowed in the darkness. “That’s her,” he told Mist.
She did not respond for half a minute. Then, “Curious. She’s not alive. Not in the usual sense. She doesn’t have a physical body. Yet there she is.”
“There!” said Shih-ka’i, suddenly feeling the presence of the Deliverer. “To the left of her.”
Mist shifted her attention, gasped. “It can’t be!”
“Mistress?”
She was walking away already. Shih-ka’i and Pan ku trotted to catch up. She said, “Stay stubborn. Give me at least three more days. I think I know the cure for your Deliverer.”
Shih-ka’i heard the soft pad of animal feet, but nothing charged out of the darkness. “I hope so, Mistress. I hope so.”
FOURTEEN: YEAR 1016 AFE
THE SEED OF DOOM
Days had passed. Varthlokkur was at Mist’s home, making certain neither she nor her new subjects had left Kavelin any unwanted gifts. The King walked in. The wizard was surprised.
“Found anything?” Bragi asked.
“Couple of inactive portals. Nothing else.”
“Have to leave one working so she can drop in on her kids. Can you fix it so a gang of Tervola don’t come tumbling through?”
“I’ve been considering using a demon guard.”
The King made a face.
“I have a particular one in mind. A bureaucratic type. He’ll throw anyone but Mist into stasis and defer to higher authority.”
The King chuckled. “Come on. Be serious.”
“I am. The creature exists.”
“What about the others?”
“I shut them down. Radeachar is out looking for any that might be hidden away from the house.”
“What about Maisak?”
“It’s clean. We went through it last night. Found four.”
“Think she was planning something?”
Varthlokkur shrugged. “My guess is, she used them for communication while she was getting her plot together. Not that she wouldn’t take advantage of them later if we overlooked them.”
“How’s the baby?”
“Perfect. And Nepanthe is up walking around. We decided to call her Smyrena.”
“That’s an odd name.”
“Not so much so in the old days. It was my mother’s name. Nepanthe’s idea.”
“What about Ethrian? Caught anything new?”
Varthlokkur felt the unreasoning anger beginning to rise within him. He clamped down on it, growled, “No. I told you I don’t want to talk about it. Let sleeping dogs lie. I think I’ve finally gotten Nepanthe off the damned subject.”
“I got a problem you can maybe help with. Mist’s kids.”
“Nepanthe was talking about them this morning. They’re her brother’s kids. We’ll take them off your hands as soon as she can cope with them.” He had no enthusiasm for the task. He suspected he was too old and set in his ways to father Smyrena properly, let alone to foster a band of stepnephews.
“What are your plans? I’m pretty well through this crisis.”
“But this wasn’t the crisis you summoned me for. My friend, you played a little game with your eastern obsession and won. That’s over. Now you have to come back and face your real problems. And you’ve got big ones. You’ve been using Mist’s coup to distract yourself.”
“Michael and I can handle Kavelin. My big worry is still Shinsan.”
Then you’re a fool, Varthlokkur thought, but didn’t say it. “I doubt it. Well, I’m done here. I’ll get back to Nepanthe. Seeing as you don’t need me anymore, she’ll want to get ready to travel. She’ll want to make long lists of things we just have to drag along with us.” He got out before the King irritated him more than he had already.
He thought he’d better stall Nepanthe for a week or two. It shouldn’t take Michael that long to show the King how much trouble he really had.
“He’s having dinner with the Queen,” Dahl Haas said. “I can’t disturb him. I thought you went back to Shinsan last week.”
“I did. And now I’m back here. And if you don’t take that message to the King right now I’m going to bless you with a spell that’ll leave you sterile and impotent. Do I make myself clear?” Mist was tired and frightened and angry.
“All right. On your head be his wrath.”
“You let me worry about the wrath. Just drag that note upstairs.”
Haas returned in five minutes. “All right. He says come on up.”
Mist turned away from the mirror where she had been considering herself. She looked older by a decade. She’d had very little sleep for a week. As she followed the King’s adjutant through the halls, her legs felt twice their normal weight.
Haas showed her into the Queen’s sitting room. The King met her there. “Through here. Been rough?” he asked, leading her through the apartment to a dining room. “It may not be polite for me to say so, but you look awful.”
“Hello, Inger.”
“Hello, Mist.”
There seemed to be a mild frost. Mist shrugged, told Bragi, “I feel awful. Could you spare a meal for a tired old woman? I’ve been eating on the run since I left. Haven’t had anything since yesterday.”
Inger said, “Of course.” Though she’d never gotten along with Mist, suddenly she was all solicitude. She gestured. One of her women departed.
Mist sagged into a chair. She noted the quick change but was too wrapped up in her misery to care. “I’m exhausted.”
The King frowned. “Trouble? What the hell are you doing back? They didn’t throw you out already, did they?”
“No. Not yet. No. I came to beg for help. Again.”
“What for? You got what you wanted.”
“This is something a little different. I got all the troubles, too. I can’t handle this on my own.”
The King settled himself opposite her. His face became more empathetic. “Go on.”
“It’s our problem in the east. I got a close-up look. It was worse than I expected. Lord Ssu-ma thought he was on top of things, but… Bragi, he’s got his back against the wall. He’s been driven back hundreds of miles to an old fortress town called Lioantung. He can’t go any farther. He’s going to make a stand with what’s left of Northern and Eastern Armies.”
Bragi looked puzzled. “So? What does that mean to me?”
“He won’t just lose a battle if he loses Lioantung. He won’t just lose Shinsan. The man is fighting for the world. It lives or dies with him.”
“Oh, really!” Inger said. “Mist, that’s just too much to swallow.”
Mist ignored her. She did not like the woman. She spoke directly to the King,
though she answered the Queen’s predictable objection. “Bragi, Lioantung is the last obstacle between the Deliverer and the heart of the empire. The last defense of regions where people are packed together several thousand to the square mile. If Lioantung goes, there’s nothing to stop the Deliverer from devouring the populations of whole provinces.”
“All right. You’ve got me curious. Start from the beginning. I really don’t know what you’re talking about.”
She went back and began with Lord Kuo’s intuition about the eastern desert and his having sent Lord Ssu-ma Shih-ka’i to take command. She meant to edit, but found everything gushing out, without any control. She told every detail she knew, up through her recent visit to Lioantung.
“Armies of dead men?” Bragi murmured. “Really?” He seemed unable to choose between horror and amusement. “And he can take over anyone they kill, too?”
“Exactly. He can even control the living if they’re not protected, though it’s harder. Animals, too.”
“The dead rising against the living. It’s a Trolledyngjan draug tale come true… Up where I was raised the old folks liked to scare us kids with tales about the dead coming down from the mountains or out of the sea to carry us off. Draugs, we called them. The walking dead. But those were just wintertime stories.” He closed his eyes and looked thoughtful for half a minute. “Mist?”
“Yes?”
“You haven’t said why you came to me. You’ve got the toughest army in the world.”
“It’s all tied up. And because the Deliverer is going to come after you when he’s finished with Shinsan.”
“Me? Me personally, or just the west in general?”
“You. Very personally.”
“Why? I’ve put a lot of people in the ground, but none that would want to get even so bad they’d get back up again.”
“A grudge, Bragi. Definitely a grudge. This dark Deliverer, this warlord of the dead, is driven by hatred. Something twisted and molded and reshaped him till all he cares about is revenge. On Shinsan. On you. Because, Bragi, the Deliverer is Ethrian. My nephew. Your godson. Nepanthe and Mocker’s boy.”
She expected the news to smack him like a blow from a club, and she was not disappointed. He gulped air like a fish out of water. “But… but…” He stared, unable to accept. The Queen stared at him, her face pallid, one shaky hand held at her lips. Bragi tried to say something, apparently could not.
