Damus motioned to the faceless greycloaks, who lowered their hands in mechanical unison. The sallow light faded from Irallel’s icy cage.
To her surprise, Damus pointed at Astlin. “Melt that block.”
“Me?”
“I’m sorry,” said Damus. “Is there another red-headed Kethan dressed like a bell foundress? If you’re not the one who breathes fire, please find her because I can’t wait all day.”
“Don’t free the bronze lady,” Zan pleaded.
Megido hid behind a drifter pallet loaded with crates.
Astlin faced Damus. “Irallel’s insane.”
“So are you.”
“She’ll try to kill me.”
Damus stroked his chin. “Good point. Everyone fall back.”
Zan and Megido exchanged reluctant looks with Astlin before turning away.
“You two stay right where you are,” Damus ordered. To Astlin he said, “Remember. Thurif is watching closely.”
Astlin approached the ice block as if it were a sleeping lion. Though the figure trapped within was motionless, its green eyes shone with cruel glee.
Heaving a sigh took conscious effort, but Astlin felt it was justified. She glanced back at the group, who’d taken shelter beneath an outcropping. The grim priest stood impassively by. She considered reading his mind, but her conscience warned against it.
There’s no Fire; only me.
Astlin faced her frozen enemy and unlocked the gates of her soul. The air around her shimmered.
Out of the corner of her eye Astlin saw the Exarch, still floating high over the landing site, rear up like a frightened horse. Its blocky nose went almost vertical before free falling back down. The drifters prevented a crash, but that didn’t rule out damage or injuries.
Astlin stared at the idle ship and hoped that Xander and her friends were safe. The navy men’s frantic sendings to the Exarch merged into meaningless noise. Her concern turned to fear as minutes passed with no sign of life from above.
A shrill scream cut through the sky and shocked everyone to silence. Someone was falling from a lift hatch with no air column to slow his descent. Astlin watched the man’s black robes flutter like broken crow’s wings until he vanished behind the rocky outcrop. A sharp thud echoed from the canyon walls.
Xander had hoped that dropping Thurif from the cargo hold would quell his rage, but his thirst for vengeance burned hotter than ever. He reactivated the lift and descended with Tefler and Cook into the canyon.
The drop site occupied a sandy basin where the furrowed rock walls widened. Besides the three new arrivals who searched among the clustered crates, nothing moved.
“Over here!” Tefler soon shouted from behind a stack of plastic boxes.
Xander found the priest standing just beyond an irregular patch of red sand. A motionless black-robed figure lay facedown at its center.
Xander took in the sight with a complex flood of emotions. “Is he dead?”
Tefler grimaced. “He’d better hope so.”
Cook rejoined them. Surprisingly light footsteps carried him over the sand to Thurif’s side. He knelt down and examined the broken body.
“No respiration and no pulse.”
Thurif’s treason is avenged, Xander thought. His satisfaction was almost worth spending time as a hostage, but it still lacked something.
Xander led his friends to where the canyon narrowed. They rounded a corner and found the landing party huddled beneath an overhang.
And Xander found what he was missing.
“Damus!”
The Gen’s eyes bulged when he saw the three newcomers. He opened his mouth, but Xander’s will choked off his words and lifted him from the ground.
“God taught men speech so we could petition him,” Xander said as he approached the dangling Gen. “Ask him to save you now.”
The only answer was a chorus of popping sounds.
Cook’s strong hand rested on Xander’s shoulder. “Don’t do this.”
Xander pushed his friend’s arm away as several Cadrisians gathered nearby trained their guns on him. A watery groan escaped Damus’ throat. He hemorrhaged from mouth, nose, and ears.
Astlin’s armor chimed as she positioned herself between Xander and the firing squad.
“Xander,” she said softly, “let him go.”
“You plead for Damus? He hates you!”
“He has good reasons. More than you know.”
“I know all I need to.”
“The Guild took his daughter,” said Astlin. “He hoped the souldancer in the Tower Graves was her. I crushed that hope.”
Hate sustained Xander’s will. “That is no cause for betrayal.”
“No. It isn’t,” Astlin said. “And it’s no reason to kill him.”
“I have others.”
Damus convulsed. A red stain spread upon the sand beneath him.
“I’d give anything for a chance to undo what I’ve done,” said Astlin, “to be where you are now.”
Xander’s voice faltered. “My revenge will cost me your respect?”
Astlin took his head in her hands. “I’ll still love you, but I’ll grieve like you do for me.”
Clenching his eyes against hot tears, Xander made his decision.
Damus tumbled into the dust and heaved a shuddering breath. The Cadrisians rushed to his side, calling for a medic.
Astlin had never looked more radiant than when she smiled then. The sight burned away Xander’s rage, leaving only joy.
She stood beside him, and he took her hand.
“Your masters have fled or died,” Xander said to the Exarch crew. We claim your ship in payment for ours. Come aboard under our command, or remain here.”
A familiar-looking man in a green cloak stepped forward. “Shaiel’s thralls may leave. Thera’s hosts must remain till their task is done.”
“You fought Hazeroth,” said Xander. “And the Isnashi. Who are you?”
“Sulaiman Iason—a priest of Midras, ere he forsook this world.”
“Midras?” Cook repeated. “That cult died out in the Purge.”
Sulaiman’s eyes narrowed. “I’d thought such knowledge lost to the flames.”
“Cook inherited the captain’s library,” Tefler said. “He had lots of books on theology.”
“A disfavored discipline in the last days before the fire,” said Sulaiman.
Now that he could see him clearly, Xander studied Sulaiman. His face evoked the memory of a boy with sandy hair and hard eyes.
Xander raised an eyebrow at Astlin. “Why was Sulaiman in your vision of Keth?”
“He wasn’t,” Astlin said uncertainly. “I knew someone who could’ve been a younger version of him, but that kid was no priest. And he didn’t talk like a Mithgarder from an old book.”
Sulaiman regarded her as if she’d walked on his grave. “We have not met ere now. Yet dire need demands that I beseech your aid.”
“My people kept their faith,” Xander said. “Why should I heed the priest of a dead cult?”
Sulaiman pointed at the vault door. “Because your faith is no surety against Shaiel, who seeks the Guild’s prisoner.”
“It’s another souldancer,” said Astlin.
Sulaiman gave a slight nod. “Thera’s host, and more besides. In their deepest sanctum the Guild bound a smith to forge gods’ banes—or break their fetters.”
“I can see why Thurif wanted in there so bad,” said Tefler.
“We must capture the smith,” Sulaiman warned, “lest Shaiel turn him to worse ends.”
Astlin shared a worried look with Xander. “How do we open the door?”
“You prophesy unknowing,” said Sulaiman. “Think on your presence here with three of your kind.”
Tefler laughed. “It takes four souldancers to open the vault! They were serious about keeping this one locked up.”
“Maybe he should stay that way,” said Cook. “We’ve got a ship. If that vault holds something dangerous, let’s m
ove the keys as far from it as we can.”
“You could hide them for a season, perhaps,” Sulaiman said. “Shaiel will hunt you without rest. He has naught but time, for each day darkens the Well and deepens the Void.”
“He will do the same if we steal his prize,” said Xander. “Freeing this souldancer only adds another target.”
Sulaiman’s lips parted in a joyless grin. “Not so. Through him I shall free the world.”
“How’s that?” Tefler asked.
“Among his many gifts,” said Sulaiman, “the smith can forge weapons to unmake gods.”
Tefler cocked an eyebrow. “You’re going to kill Shaiel?”
“Thera.”
“Oh,” said Tefler. “Okay.”
Xander gaped. “He wants to murder your goddess!”
“I didn’t ask to be her priest.”
Sulaiman studied Tefler before speaking again. “Thera’s priesthood is hereditary. Who was your father?”
Tefler shrugged. “I never knew him.”
“Tefler’s parents died the day he was born,” said Cook. “In the Cataclysm. They must’ve been on the Serapis, but we never identified them beyond that.”
Sulaiman nodded to Tefler. “Know that Thera’s death will avenge them.”
“Your goal is noble,” said Xander, “but how will killing Thera save us from Shaiel?”
Sulaiman looked to Astlin. “I knew both gods when they were of her kind. Their deification washed the cosmos in fire. I have labored these years to redress their sin. Slaying Thera in due season will seal her brother’s fate.”
That’s a big job,” said Cook. “Why should we trust you with it?”
“Th’ix judges you unequaled at reading thoughts,” Sulaiman told Astlin. “Judge mine.”
Astlin stared at Sulaiman. Her brow knotted. “He doesn’t think like other people. There’s a lot I don’t understand, but he’s not lying.”
“Serieigna’s judgment speaks well for you,” said Xander.
Sulaiman flashed his cold smile again. “An apt name.”
“My real name’s Astlin. I can’t even pronounce that Nesshin one.”
“Well met, Beautiful Flame and River of Laughter,” Sulaiman said. “Perhaps a double nature merits two names.”
“Say-re-ayn-ya?” said Zan.
Xander sighed. “First of all, go lighter on the r. I do not see what’s so difficult.”
An agonized scream rose up and quickly multiplied. Xander’s eyes darted back to the outcropping where the landing party stood—or where they had until mowed down or scattered.
“Hazeroth.” Xander glared at Sulaiman. “I thought you killed him.”
A flame leapt from Sulaiman’s hand to form a curved blade. “I drove him to flight. He must be blood-mad to come against us alone.”
“That’s not reassuring,” said Cook.
Sulaiman raced to meet the demon. “Open the gate!” he called over his shoulder.
Astlin looked to Xander, who nodded in reply. She turned and ran; not to the vault with Megido and Zan, but toward a large block of ice.
33
Astlin ran her bare hand over the vault door. Its pebbled surface glistened like an oil slick. What kind of metal is this? she wondered, but the cries of Hazeroth’s prey shattered her reverie.
“How does this damnable door open?” Irallel cursed.
“We’re the keys,” said Astlin.
Zan’s pearlescent eyes glanced over the door. “There’s no lock.”
A frown split Megido’s oddly proportioned face.
Nearby, Sulaiman bellowed a challenge. Hazeroth’s answering shriek stabbed Astlin’s ears.
Astlin pressed her hand to the door. “Do what I’m doing.”
Zan followed her lead. Megido joined him. Irallel hesitated before placing her corpselike palm against the oily metal—with no result.
She scowled at Astlin. “Think harder, you vacuous tart.”
Astlin racked her brain. An idea surfaced, and she seized on it. “Touch it with your soul.”
Irallel’s brow creased. “What in the Nine Circles do you mean?”
“This.” Astlin released a burst of flame from her hand. The others acted in kind, but the door didn’t budge.
“If you wanted some dust washed off,” Irallel said, “you’ve succeeded brilliantly.”
“Look,” said Zan, pointing to one of the door’s spiraling seams.
Astlin had to strain her eyes, but at last she saw what he meant. “It widened a little.”
Xander ran to the vault with Tefler and Cook behind him. “We must retreat inside. Sulaiman cannot hold Hazeroth forever.”
Astlin spread her arms in frustration. “All four elements hardly budged it.”
“Sometimes there are six,” said Cook. “Atavists counted prana and Void.”
“Greycloaks can channel the Void,” Xander said.
“Yeah,” said Cook. “Too bad Hazeroth killed them.”
Tefler stepped forward. “Not all of them.”
“Oh yes,” Xander groaned. “I almost forgot your display with the cat.”
Tefler touched the first two fingers of his right hand to the grainy metal. His multicolored eyes squinted, and a golden glow spread over a small section of the door.
Astlin led the souldancers in loosing their elements. This time the vault irised open enough to squeeze a hand through. Stale air hissed out. “It’s working. We just need prana.”
“We need a priest of Midras,” said Cook.
Xander nodded to the duel raging behind them. “Sulaiman is busy.” His eyes flashed to Tefler. “You can draw on the Well.”
“I really hate it though,” Tefler sighed.
Astlin tried to keep her voice calm. “Why?”
“It comes from Thera,” said Tefler, “and her gifts are never free.”
“You will be haggling with her in person if we don’t get in,” Xander said.
“Okay. I’ll try, but I’ve never done both at once before.” Tefler laid his palms against the door as if trying to push it in.
Astlin glanced at the battle between priest and demon. “They’re getting closer!”
“Hold on,” Tefler said through gritted teeth. “This is really hard.”
Light flickered from Tefler’s left hand; then flared into radiant splendor. Astlin and the other three souldancers joined in. Nothing changed until a sallow gleam haloed the priest’s right hand. With a deep grinding sound, the panels irised open.
Astlin ushered Zan and Megido into the gloomy vastness beyond the gate. Irallel gave her an acid stare before passing inside. Looking back, the fire souldancer saw Hazeroth pressing Sulaiman toward them.
Xander grabbed her arm. “Quickly!”
She didn’t argue as they plunged through the door with Tefler and Cook.
Astlin found herself in a cavernous chamber of smooth red stone filled with stagnant air. An arched passage curved around a corner to the right.
“Can we close the door?” Xander asked.
Tefler crossed his arms. “I’m not some kind of hot and cold cosmic spigot.”
“Doesn’t look like the same trick works twice anyway,” Cook said as he ran his hand over the empty frame. “There must be a control mechanism, but I don’t see it here.”
“Then we move deeper,” Xander said.
The passage corkscrewed downward, delving into the dry sea bed. Astlin had the strange notion of running through a huge conch shell. The sight of a metal door at the path’s end dispelled the illusion.
“Looks pretty standard, but outdated,” Cook said as he crossed the short distance from the group to the barricade. Though dwarfed by the main entrance, it was still unusually large.
“Can you get us in?” asked Astlin.
Cook felt along the door frame. The barrier slid into the ceiling with a loud clang.
“Well done,” said Xander.
Cook backed away from the open door. “It wasn’t me.”
Two
sullen red points shone from the darkened opening, inviting thoughts of a crimson-eyed giant. The twin lights shifted with a series of whirring sounds, changing from horizontal to vertical.
Xander stared at the red lights shining less than a dozen feet away. “What is that?”
A hulking figure lurched from the shadows. Antique armor adorned its metal frame, which ducked through the door with oddly natural movements. The red eyes continued their shifting dance within the crested helmet.
“Halt!” a tinny voice boomed. “You are guilty of criminal trespass. Use of deadly force is sanctioned by the Sublime Brotherhood of Steersmen.”
“An old Worked Regulator,” Tefler said. “I thought the Guild retired the last of them after all those civilian deaths.”
Cook’s voice was flat. “They missed one.”
The Regulator’s advance shook the floor. “Under Article Thirty-Six of the Transessence Propriety Code, you are subject to summary execution. Resistance may incur further penalties.”
Xander stretched his hands toward the Regulator. His will surged like an invisible tidal wave, but the metal giant hardly slowed.
Astlin looked past the Regulator. She could see a large chamber through the doorway. “I’ll distract it. Everyone else get in there and close the door.”
“To hell with that!” Xander said. Sweat streamed down his face.
The Regulator gained speed. Its footsteps reverberated through the passage.
“I can handle him,” said Astlin.
“What about him and Hazeroth?” asked Tefler.
“A fair question,” Irallel said. “This graceless cow is less hindrance than a stubbed toe.”
“You were not much hindrance inside that ice block,” Xander said, keeping his eyes on the Regulator.
“Excuse me,” said Cook. “We have bigger problems right now.”
Still striving against the tireless giant, Xander looked to Astlin. After a moment he nodded.
“I will hold him. Do as Astlin says.”
Xander gave a defiant cry. A tremendous force burst out from him, and the Regulator took a step back. Xander swayed and might have fallen, but Cook and Tefler took his arms and rushed with him through the doorway. He managed a final look at Astlin before the barricade slammed down behind them.
Souldancer (Soul Cycle Book 2) Page 24
