by Pedro Urvi
“Romen, no!”
Torkem came closer to them. “The Gods are on our side, not hers. She must die. She must pay for her sins, for rising against the divine.”
“I’m sorry, Liriana. My duty is to my own people.”
The dagger started to cut her throat. She felt the cut, the cold metal. It’s the end.
And Romen’s hand stopped.
“Noooooo!” Sesmok cried.
The grasping hand loosened and the dagger fell to the floor. Liriana spun round like lightning. Romen’s head was tilted backwards. A dagger, black as night, was buried to the hilt from the jaw to the top of the skull. Behind Romen she saw a shadow, and in its midst Albana’s face.
“Thank… you…” she stammered in amazement.
“Look out!” Albana cried in warning.
Liriana turned and saw Torkem coming for her with unusual speed, considering the size of his body. Before she could react he hit her with the scepter on the top of her head. The blow was sharp and brutal. She lost consciousness and fell to the floor.
“You shouldn’t have done that,” Albana said.
Torkem took a step back and glanced at Sesmok. The Regent pressed a spring in the wall behind his throne, and part of the stone structure opened, revealing a secret passage. Torkem turned to escape. Albana’s dagger caught him in the back of his neck.
“You… bitch…” he muttered, an instant before he collapsed and died.
She threatened Sesmok with the other dagger. “If you try to reach the passage, you’ll end up like your dear friend that lump of lard over there.”
Sesmok left his sword on the throne and raised his hands in the air.
He smiled broadly. “Let’s talk,” he said. “Surely we can come to an agreement.”
“I doubt it.” She turned to the door. “In any case, it’s not my place to pass sentence on you.”
“Whose privilege is it?”
“You’ll find out soon enough.” She tried to revive Liriana, but the blow had been a hard one. A deep gash was bleeding all over her face. Albana feared for her life. She had to help her.
She decided to take the risk and use her Power. She closed her eyes and whispered: “Ikai, Kyra, I need you,” and as she did, she breathed long and softly. Her breath became a thread of black mist that left the great hall and went in search of the siblings, carrying its mistress’s message.
Chapter 38
Ikai was on his way down the stairs when he saw his sister come in from the garden and ran to her.
“There’s no sign of Sesmok out there,” she said.
“He isn’t upstairs either.”
She pointed behind him. “What on earth is that?”
Her brother turned and saw the thread of mist approaching. Unsure about this strange sight, they tried to dodge it but were unable to; it seemed to be looking for them. The messenger breath went on until it finally reached them.
Ikai, Kyra, I need you.
“It’s Albana,” Ikai said.
“She’s calling us…”
“She needs us, let’s go.”
Kyra nodded decisively. “Let’s follow the thread to its origin.”
In the throne room, Sesmok gestured at the saddle bags loaded with gold and jewels.
“Are you sure we can’t come to some sort of agreement?”
Albana retrieved her dagger from Torkem’s body and turned an icy glance of disdain on him. “You’ve got nothing I want.”
He was still trying to find a way out. “We all have a price.”
“You can’t pay hers,” came a cavernous voice behind Albana.
She spun round to face Oskas, Master-Spy and leader of the Shadows.
“Master,” she said, and tensed from pure instinct.
“You shouldn’t have used your Power openly. Remember, we’re Shadows, and we must act as such. You never know who might be listening in the dark, as I was. Stealth and darkness are our allies. You’re my best pupil, you know the rules well. You shouldn’t have broken them. That’s what allowed me to find you.”
“I thought you’d have gone back to the Eternal City.”
“I haven’t finished my mission yet.”
Albana took a long look at her old master. His figure always impressed her: tall and strong, like a Warrior-God, with his reddish ochre skin, his swollen veins, equally red, and the Helmet of Oblivion which covered his face.
“What’s the first rule of the law of the Shadows?” he asked. His worn-out voice echoed under the sinister helmet.
“We serve the House of Aureb.”
“What’s the second law?”
“We serve in secrecy.”
“And the third law?”
“The past doesn’t exist.”
“Good. I see you remember who you are.”
“I’m no longer a Shadow, Master. I gave it up.”
“Giving up isn’t an option, you know that. Only death can free you from your duty.”
“I never chose to be who I was.”
“True. I found you and trained you. But you’re a Shadow, and so you will be until you die. There’s no giving it up, there’s no forgiveness.”
“That’s right, kill her!” shouted Sesmok in fury.
“Shut up, little man,” Oskas replied with such vehemence that Sesmok flinched. “This doesn’t concern you.”
He turned back to Albana. “You,” he went on, jabbing his finger at her, “are an anomaly, just like me, a very special anomaly. That’s why I rescued you, and that’s why I’m giving you this last chance. Go back to being a Shadow, and your offense will be forgiven. Refuse, and you’ll die.”
Albana sighed. “If I agree, then we leave now, straight away?”
“Not yet. I still have one little detail to sort out.”
“The siblings…” she said. She was beginning to understand what he was after.
“Exactly, my young Shadow. He must choose his destiny, just as you must choose yours. She has to come with me. Lord Asu has ordered it so.”
“That’s why you’re still here.”
“That’s right. And as you’ve called them, they’ll soon be here. We’ll have them and we’ll be able to go back.”
Albana clutched her two daggers tightly. What a mistake! I’ve called them into a trap! I can’t let him kill Ikai and take Kyra to that heartless creature. Never! I’d rather die first. There’s only one way out. I won’t let anything happen to them, not as long as I can stop it.
“I have to reject your offer, Master. I’m not going to hand them over.”
“You disappoint me. I had high hopes for you. But if you want to die, I’ll grant you your wish.”
Before Oskas could see the move coming, Albana attacked with astonishing speed. Her daggers searched for his heart, but he moved with a swiftness surprising for his size. The master drew his daggers, and the murderous edges of the four weapons met with a flash of sparks at each stroke. Albana moved with the agility and skill of a black panther, but Oskas seemed to guess every movement and blocked his pupil’s blows and thrusts. Using her Power, she took an inhuman leap and fell on to Oskas’ neck, her daggers aiming at his jugular. Oskas leapt upwards and kicked her in the chest from midair.
“Ouch!” she groaned as she was thrown backwards. She hit a column awkwardly and fell to the floor. With difficulty, she managed to get to her feet. Oskas used his Power to propel himself forward so fast all her eye caught was a blurred shadow. His daggers searched for his pupil’s heart. In a reflex movement she managed to block the first of them, but all she could manage to do with the second one was deflect it. It drove into her side.
She cried out in pain, rolled to one side and dodged two strokes to her neck.
Oskas emitted a black flash, and a shadow enveloped him. In the blink of an eye, he disappeared. The shadow moved and reappeared in front of her, covering the space between them in an instant. She knew what would happen next, and readied herself. Oskas’ powerful body loomed out of the dark with his da
ggers in front of him aiming at her neck. She crouched and slashed twice at his legs. The darkness behind him vanished, leaving his body totally visible. But her thrusts had already found their mark.
“Well done,” he said. Then ‒ as if the wounds did not affect him at all ‒ he kicked her in the face. She was thrown backwards and crashed into the fountain in the middle of the room. Half unconscious, dizzy, she used her Power and hid. Oskas lunged at her, but met only a black mist and her blood in the water.
“Hiding in the shadows won’t do you any good. I’ll find you.” The Helmet of Oblivion flashed and projected a white light, like that of the Eye of the Eyes-of-the-Gods. Oskas scanned the whole room with it.
Albana was trying to recover behind one of the columns. Fear was working in her. He’s too strong. He’s not human. And his Power’s greater than mine. I won’t be able to defeat him. She breathed in deeply to clear her mind. If he catches me I’m dead. I need to hide and strike from the shadows. It’s all I can do. If I come out he’ll kill me.
“Are you going to die for them?” he asked. “Do they really deserve the sacrifice of your life?”
Albana considered it. I love Ikai with all my heart, and I’d give my life for him gladly. She felt a vibration in the darkness around her, and instantly the beam from the Helmet of Oblivion reached her. He’s found me! She rolled to one side, and an instant later Oskas’ two daggers struck the column smeared with her blood. She used her Power to disappear. Oskas was ready for this move and reached her with the beam from his helmet. She somersaulted backwards out of its reach. Oskas hurled himself at her with both feet forward and all the momentum of his body behind him. The blow was brutal. She was thrown back against a column. She tried to protect herself, but was unable to. With a hollow sound her body crashed into the cold rock and fell to the floor. She tried to rise, but instead fell back and lost consciousness.
“Albana! No!” Ikai cried from the door, with Kyra behind him.
Oskas turned to the siblings. “If you hand yourself over,” he said to Kyra with icy coldness, “I’ll let him live.” He pointed his dagger at Ikai. It was smeared with Albana’s blood.
“Albana!” Ikai cried again, but she could not hear him.
Sesmok took advantage of the moment. He grabbed several saddle bags and fled down the passage like a weasel, without a backward glance.
Kyra, her eyes blazing with fury, watched what was going on but neither moved nor replied to Oskas. She was waiting to see what her brother would do.
Ikai pointed his sword at Oskas. “What do you want with my sister?”
“I must take her to Lord Asu, and I’m always as good as my word.” He pointed at Kyra and paused. “Whatever happens to your brother is in your hands.”
What does this despicable God want of me?” she said, to gain time.
“My lord and master’s interest in you is none of my concern. I carry out his orders, and my orders are to bring you to him. What His Highness has in mind for you only he can say.”
She glanced over her shoulder in search of help.
“If you’re looking for Prince Adamis, I’m afraid that at this moment he’s facing his own problems. I’ve informed Lord Asu of his interference. My lord and master was very pleased with the information I provided for him. At this moment the High Kings are demanding Adamis’s head. They’ll send someone at once to stop him from interfering again. This Boundary belongs to the House of Water, and they won’t forgive such an offense.”
“You’re disgusting!” she spat at him. “You’re a loathsome creature!”
“And yet we’re of the same blood.”
“You’re nothing to do with me, you monster out of the abyss!”
Ikai looked at the battered bodies of Liriana and Albana and knew he had to act urgently before they bled to death. He had no choice.
“I’ll deal with it,” he whispered to Kyra, and attacked Oskas. He thrust his sword savagely at his neck, but the Master Spy blocked it with both daggers. Ikai tried to knife him with his dagger, but Oskas gave him a tremendous kick which reached him in the stomach, he bent over in pain. The Master Shadow moved forward, his lethal daggers at the ready.
“It’s a pity things have to end this way.”
Kyra could not hold herself back when she saw her brother in deadly danger. She lashed out her arm with all the rage which had built up inside her, and her throwing dagger flew straight at the Helmet of Oblivion. Oskas did not see it coming. The throw was so powerful that when it hit the Helmet, his head whipped back. The helmet cracked with a clang, the polished surface broke like a mirror and several pieces fell to the floor. But the dagger could not penetrate it.
Ikai recovered from the kick. Seeing Oskas swaying as he held the front of the sinister helmet, he seized the advantage his sister had given him and attacked again. He went for Oskas’ legs, which were already bleeding. Before the dark hybrid could stop him, Ikai slashed at both his legs. Oskas defended himself with his daggers, but Ikai rolled to one side out of his reach.
Oskas tried to take a step, but his legs failed him and he almost stumbled.
“Even crippled, I’ll defeat you. You’re no rivals for me. Setting yourselves up against the Gods is useless. Their Power is immeasurable. Only by serving them can we realize ourselves.”
Ikai took a step toward him, but the Master of Shadows called upon his Power and vanished in an unnatural darkness.
“Show yourself, you coward!” cried Kyra.
Oskas emerged from the shadows behind Ikai, who was still trying to locate him. The daggers flashed, and two gashes appeared on Ikai’s back forming a great X. He arched in agony and cried out.
“You shouldn’t try to stand up to me, Ikai, it’s pointless. I’m profoundly superior to you. My physical strength and my Power are much greater.”
In desperation, Kyra used Adamis’s disc. She concentrated and used the Power, found Oskas’ aura, fixed it and gave the order. The Master Spy flew into the air, hit the far wall hard and fell to the floor with a dull blow.
“Impressive… Power, Ether,” he muttered. He got to his feet, and Kyra used the Power on him once again. She sent him flying to the opposite wall, and the blow was hollow but tremendously powerful.
He got to his knees and spoke with difficulty. “I’m impressed, young Kyra. You have Power, and a lot of it. With the right time and learning, with the right master, that Power could come to be immense. Unfortunately you’ve offended a God, the most powerful of the Gods. That is leading you to a premature death, or else something worse.”
“Then leave us free to go,” she said. “For the sake of what you once were, the person you once were.”
“Once I was a man, a man of principles, with dreams. A devoted man, with wife and children… a slave with a family, with hope. But I’m no longer that man. The Gods made me see the truth of our existence. Those who don’t serve the Golden die as slaves. This rule is unalterable. We exist by their grace and glory, solely to serve them. To believe otherwise is a chimera, and leads only to suffering and death.”
“Isn’t there anything left in you of Siul, my father?”
Oskas straightened and stared at her. “That man died on a cold table during an Erudite-God’s experiments. For a long time that man fought, resisted, clung to the dream of going back to his family. But the experiments did not stop, and day after day of inhuman suffering corrupted not only his body but his soul. His mind was unable to bear the torture, and one day he lost his reason. Only pain and agony awaited him, day after day. He only wished to die, but that too was not granted to him. It would have been too easy an escape. In the end they broke his body, his soul and his mind. And from that inhuman torture I was born. Oskas was born. Stronger, more powerful, more intelligent. I serve my master, for the past is no more.”
“I don’t want to believe it. There has to be something of him left in you. A speck of his kindness, of his humanity.”
“That was all erased by the golden pip I bear embed
ded in my forehead. The Gods make me see the golden path. They make me follow it. Their will is sacred.”
“My father would never follow the Gods.”
Oskas pointed one of his daggers at her. “Don’t think I don’t remember the past, because they haven’t managed to erase it completely. Your father was captured by the Gods because of you. Or have you forgotten that?”
Kyra cringed at the memory of her terrible mistake and its consequences.
“Yes, you do remember. You couldn’t hold back that character of yours. What I am today, I owe to you. You who spoke to the Enforcers with your fiery tongue as a child. You who made me intervene to save your life. You who caused them to take me.”
Kyra felt such remorse, shame and pain she could barely stay on her feet. Her knees trembled, and tears flooded her eyes.
“Don’t listen to him,” Ikai said. “He’s not our father, he’s nothing but a monster who serves the Gods!” He was trying to make her react and not allow herself to be overcome by her feelings of guilt. He needed to gain time for his sister, so he attacked.
Oskas saw him approach, but even so, he kept his attention on Kyra. From his hand there issued a blackness in the shape of a ghostly figure which went swiftly for her. At the sight of it, she raised her protective sphere. The evil shadow tried to devour her but it could not penetrate the sphere.
“How much talent, how much Power… worthy of my blood…” said Oskas.
Ignoring his wounds, Ikai attacked. His sword went for the heart. Suddenly Oskas’ image blurred, as if it were no more than a reflection. The sword pierced it, but he was not there. It was a false image.
“Look out!” Kyra cried.
Oskas appeared a step to the left of the decoy image, and Ikai spun round. Oskas’ daggers flashed like lightning. Ikai dodged the first one, which was aimed at his neck, by a finger’s span. But with the second, aimed at his face, he was not fast enough. He felt an explosion of cold pain. The edge of the lethal weapon sliced deeply through half his face, from the right side of his forehead, diagonally between his eyes to the left side of his cheek.
“Noooooooo!” Kyra cried.
