This was the mighty and dangerous Warlock of Digilan.
“I thought you were dead,” he squeaked.
Tymall smiled and spread his hands. “Clearly not. Change is upon us now. My father is near.” He closed in and whispered through the bars. “Teroux Valla, I know your innermost desire and I tell you …”
“Do not listen to him!” Tristan shouted.
“… Tannil can be brought together, here, in this place.”
Teroux’s face paled to the white of death. “You lie!”
“Despite appearances, only truth is able to keep this place in the everywhere of nowhere functioning.”
Teroux was speechless.
“I am able help you find the pieces of your father,” Tymall goaded.
“How?” Teroux whispered.
“I am Warlock, remember? I brought my pieces together; I was forced to learn that or die into nothing. I can do so for Tannil.”
Teroux stared at him wordlessly, his heart thumping.
“Of course, I need something in return,” Tymall laughed.
“Teroux, for god’s sake, do not listen to him!” Tristan could not hear the words, but knew his cousin was susceptible.
“What do you need from me?” Teroux said.
Tymall smiled. First convert. Tianoman was next. “I need your oath you will fight on my side without question. You will do everything I command, no matter how terrible it is for you. Do this and I swear I shall return your father to your life.”
Teroux looked wildly around, in quandary.
“I need an answer now. I shall not make this offer again.” Tymall waited a beat, two, three, and then shrugged and moved away.
“No, wait! It will be as you say.”
“No, Teroux!” Tristan shouted. “By all gods, do not listen to him.”
“Retract!” Teighlar added his voice. “Do not trust him. Whatever he promises you is not worth what you must promise him.”
Tymall ignored the outbursts, a feral light in his eyes. “Swear, Teroux Valla.”
Teroux slumped against the bars. “I swear.”
Tymall smiled again and waved the bars aside. “You are free. Come with me.”
Teroux stumbled from the cell and walked away at Tymall’s side without looking at his cousin or the Senlu Emperor.
“Teroux, no!” Tristan shouted.
“Oy, pal, I hope you come out of this whole,” Teighlar muttered as Teroux passed by.
Then there was silence.
Elianas, however, had heard the most important fact of all, although he could not say anything; his mouth was gummed closed with blood and mucus.
My father is near.
Torrullin was somewhere close.
He would hold onto his remnant energy until the moment Torrullin stood before him.
Nowhere
THE WARLOCK OF DIGILAN was only inactive for a short time; the period Tianoman grew up, a period to allow Tianoman Valla to attain adulthood without interference.
In the meanwhile the Warlock planned escape, but not the kind that freed him of Digilan - the kind that allowed him permanent access to the realm of his birth without having to fear retribution from Digilan. The loyalty of Tianoman as Vallorin factored into it, and thus he waited.
Then, unfortunately in hindsight, Nemisin and his foul promptings hastened action ahead, and rashly he followed heed when not entirely prepared, but in his impulsivity he was granted something unexpected.
Something beyond the need to crush Elianas Danae.
Digilan was sundered by his vengeful father, thus releasing him eternally from that bond. The way opened to formulate long laid plans into action, and in the launching he discovered something extra, and the poetry within it caused him the kind of delight only something terribly perfect and unassailable was able to engender.
He had not lied when he told Teroux of the ability to summon scattered pieces to restore a life, but the process was a slow one, painstaking and painful. Shadow Wings, however, rebuilt and resurrected a life within hours.
Tymall received four months of freedom in the universe, while his father was a prisoner under the thumb of the dark man, both of them blind to reality, to inveigle himself and set plans and tricks into motion.
Shadow Wings created. How inspiring.
WHEN TORRULLIN SAW the castle shimmering upon a platform of blue air, every doubt vanished.
And so too hope.
It was not Digilan, but it was Warlock territory.
Tymall, dead son, was alive.
Breath left him. Although he had hoped for life for this son, he only did so in wishful thinking, for Tymall did not deserve to be resurrected.
Tymall was alive, while Elianas was near death. And now he understood why Elianas was on the edge of depletion.
Nothing would save Tymall if Elianas succumbed. Elianas’ death was not an ending, for he was a true immortal, but if his energy was exhausted it would serve as a kind of death, here. It could be thousands of years before they were again together.
He had not the patience for such a lengthy wait.
Tymall would pay eternally, he swore it. Not for parting them, per se, but for bringing the dark man to that kind of brink. He would pay also for the manner in which he accessed that brink.
It was a fort not unlike the castle Tymall commandeered once on a dead world to hide his darklings, Saska and Margus. Two giant towers were set apart, and between were the warrens of buildings that constituted an old-style place of safety.
The kind of place difficult to lay siege to.
Clearly Tymall used Shadow Wings to create, using them to raise a building from memory - easy and quick, and also defendable. Genius.
The fort was not real in the sense of having a proper and tangible place in space and time, something like to Rose’s imagined palisade, but it was nonetheless tangible in the created sphere. In the formation of a void, Tymall also engendered what amounted to another and separate realm, and could thus raise his fort with ease. Laws were varied in realms.
Reaume, Ariann and Lethe could not touch this, and neither could this interfere with them. There was advantage in that. Elixir could function without causing havoc elsewhere. There was also disadvantage. Laws were varied in realms.
How had Tymall known to manipulate the wings?
Closing in cautiously, Torrullin sensed Tristan, Teroux and Teighlar in debilitated state. Aislinn was with Tianoman and both were protected. He doubted harm would befall them, not unless one or both denied their gaoler.
It meant he could concentrate on the others. He needed them to help him get Elianas out.
What manner of torture had his son applied to Elianas to take from him so much energy?
He bit down on fury, and wished he thought to bring Sabian, despite the dangers of the void. Quilla was right in reminding him of that option, one he did not now have. Damn it, should he turn around and fetch Sabian first?
No.
Get them out. That was all that mattered.
How?
Dungeon
“WHAT ARE YOU MOST afraid of?” Tymall whispered insidiously.
Elianas hung limp, could not speak and could barely open his eyes. There was no movement or sound to satisfy the questing creature.
Tymall closed in and smacked him hard. Elianas’ head snapped back and stayed there.
“Gods,” Tristan muttered somewhere. The connection of flesh had been unmistakably vicious.
“Torrullin will kill him this time,” Teighlar said. “And I aim to help him do so.”
“You were afraid you could not make him whole, Elianas, not so?” Tymall said. “One wonders if you succeeded. Elixir has lost compassion, has he not? He has lost objectivity also, I believe. He is not as whole as you would like, is he? Perhaps you were right then to fear. Perhaps you chose the wrong method of restoration.”
A laugh followed. “That sense of failure must hurt the mighty Eternal Companion. But, now is a different time and place, and what w
ent before is of no matter. What are you most afraid of now, Elianas? Me? Are you afraid I will rape you? Do not concern yourself there; right now you are far too dirty and messy for that. I might catch something. Are you afraid to die? Surely not? Are you afraid he will choose life for his son this time … over your sanity? He is not too objective, after all. Tell me, sweet companion, what you are most afraid of, and I shall release you.”
There was no reaction.
Tymall reached up and jerked that head up and dropped it forward. Elianas’ chin rested without resistance on his chest. With a sound of disappointed disgust, Tymall drew a small dagger from inside his cloak and wielded it menacingly.
“See this? We shall find the nerve that reanimates, shall we? We shall keep on until you answer.”
No movement.
Tymall plunged the blade into Elianas’ side, and there was reaction, although so slight it would have gone unnoticed had not Tymall watched carefully.
“Ah,” he crowed. “You are conscious.”
Blood dripped sluggishly from the wound.
There was no further reaction.
He plunged the knife into the man’s thigh; it shuddered and blood seeped out. He plunged it into Elianas ’shoulder. Nothing, except more blood.
Then a savage glow entered his eyes. He had discovered something extra in his store of tricks. He forced Elianas’ head up and rested the blade against his cheek.
“You are a beautiful man. Of course, one would not know it now to look upon you, but it hides beneath. You rely on that, do you not? You use it to trap my father time after time. Perhaps it is proper to finally do something about it. Perhaps losing beauty and therefore your hold on my father is what you fear most. Am I right? Shall we put it to the test?”
The blade pressed down.
“Speak, Elianas, or lose your noble features.”
Tristan crashed against the bars. “Leave him alone!”
Teighlar too rattled his cage. “You upstart, how dare you!”
Tymall laughed in delight. “They think I am on the right track. Come, Elianas, speak.”
Elianas did not react. His blood dripped to the dirty stone floor and it was the only sound.
Tymall pushed his fingers between the man’s lips, pulled his mouth wide, tearing his lips open in forcing them apart. Blood dribbled over his chin and Tymall’s hand, and he swore and retreated to wipe it clean.
Then he was back, hissing, “Now you can speak, you fuck. So speak, or I cut you.”
Elianas swallowed. “Fuck you,” he croaked.
Tymall swore again and swiped the blade across Elianas’ cheek. It burst open. He swiped it viciously across the other cheek.
“That can be healed!” he screeched. “Last chance!”
Elianas, with mammoth effort, lifted his head and opened his eyes. “You waste time. Prepare for your father.”
Tymall screeched again and punched him in the gut once, twice, and then a flurry of blows followed. Elianas slumped into oblivion within moments, and still he kept on. He kept on until all his frustration bled out, and then he kicked the man’s shins until he ran out of steam.
He stalked from the dungeon breathing hard.
Elianas swayed on his chains for a long time.
Chapter 35
A dual nature is of no use when evil is paramount. Duality, then, sickens the vessel.
~ Book of Sages ~
Fort of Manipulation
THERE WAS NO BREACH that allowed entry.
The only way in was via invitation.
Thus he sought it.
Standing in the open before mighty metal gates, he called out, “Tymall!”
TIANOMAN RUSHED TO the window. “Torrullin!”
Aislinn clambered from the bed and ran to him. “Is he here?”
“I can hear him, but I cannot see him. Torrullin!” He turned to Aislinn, his eyes shining. “Torrullin is back, Ais, aware again.”
She scowled. “And you were taken, because someone knew the timing of his reawakening.”
He stared at her.
“Someone seeks to control him, Tian. Start a manipulation when a man is still weak from an illness …”
“… and you force his compliance.” Tianoman jerked back to the window.
Stone heaved into a view everywhere, replacing the blue sphere view. A courtyard, towers, the warren of an old fort. It was empty, but this Vallorin sensed the malevolence present in every tiny space.
Dread flowed into his veins.
TYMALL SMILED IN ANOTHER chamber.
Finally.
He strode out into the passage and made his way to Tianoman’s door, and entered swiftly, locking it again.
Tianoman and Aislinn turned. Both were pale. Anxiety had etched lines upon Tianoman’s forehead.
“Son, it is good to see you.”
Tianoman swallowed and stared. He had suspected this, but the reality was something far greater. “I thought you were dead,” he managed hoarsely. “They told me Elianas broke your neck. Elianas told me that.”
Tymall moved slowly forward. “I am surprised that creature knows how to tell the truth. I was dead, Tian, but only for a brief time.”
“How?” Tianoman whispered.
“My father loves me.”
Tianoman moved forward as well after whispering to Aislinn to stay where she was. She followed his progress with anxiety.
“Torrullin saved you?” There was doubt in his voice.
“Yes, when he released his mighty wings to seal the remnant of Digilan away. At first I thought he merely sought to contain that place, and then understood he believed the shadows would aid me. It did.” A smile that froze Tianoman’s blood followed. “He betrayed Elianas in doing so.”
“I do not believe it.”
“I do. Best of all, Elianas will believe thus.”
Tianoman blinked and stammered. “Where are we? This fort, how is it yours? Torrullin is outside.”
“I am very aware of my father’s presence. He cannot enter unless I grant access.”
“I do not understand.”
Tymall closed in. He placed his hand on Tianoman’s shoulder. “I love you the way my father loves me, know that. I do not hate you the way my father hates me. Ah, yes, we have both, always have, always will. And now a choice is before you and your lovely wife, and your choice determines Elianas’ fate, and thus determines my father’s sanity.”
“Elianas?” A pause, and Tianoman’s eyes narrowed. “Where is Elianas?”
A feral smile erupted. “In the dungeons. And not in good condition.”
Tianoman was paralysed under that hand, and Aislinn came forward to link her arm into his as tacit support. “Tian loves you, that is true, but he is no fool. He knows what you are.”
Tymall’s head moved to her. “I am not sure he does, but that is not the issue.”
“You admit what you are when you say Elianas is hurt and enjoy that it is so.”
A smile blossomed. “You are clever indeed, Queen of the Valleur.”
“Aislinn has nothing to do with this,” Tianoman said.
“Not yet, no. I hope, however, she will make you see reason. My father requires entry, Tian, and you determine whether I allow it or not.”
“How so?” Aislinn’s hand tightened on Tianoman’s arm.
Tymall released his hold and paced away. “This is my old fort, one I inhabited on another world. I brought it to the Nowhere, but it is not mere stone and age now. It is sorcery untamed, volatile and yet utterly controllable … by me. Every exit and entry is mine to determine, as is every path walked here. My father cannot enter unless I grant him leave. In the dungeons below Teighlar and Tristan await release unharmed. Does he enter to secure their release, Tian?” He lifted an eyebrow in Tianoman’s direction.
“Why are they there?” Tianoman asked quietly. Every nerve quivered inside him. His father had embarked on the kind of vendetta that led to death and destruction.
A skewed smile arrived
. “Family and true friends are so useable, are they not? They came looking for you and walked into an elaborate trap. Teroux as well.” In an undertone, he added, “One that was meant to capture my father also.”
“What trap– where is Teroux?” Tianoman burst out.
“Your very prejudiced cousin has joined my cause and is free in the halls of this fort.”
“No!”
Tymall cocked his head. “He has issues, son, big ones, and I have used them to my advantage. I swear to you he is free and he is working with me.”
Aislinn put a hand to her lips.
“What have you promised him?” Tianoman whispered.
“His father.” Tymall spread his hands as if to say that the current situation was all about fathers, after all.
Tianoman paled. “Impossible.”
“Not so impossible, but the father he will find may not be the father he seeks.”
For a moment there was only silence, and then Tianoman blinked once. “You say you meant to trap Torrullin also.”
Fury twisted Tymall’s face for a moment. “He became suspicious, unfortunately, and left the scene briefly.” Tymall’s expression cleared. “Never mind. I knew there was that risk, and I prepared to unsettle him in a manner most foul.”
Elianas was hurt badly, Tianoman understood. “What do you want from me?”
“I shall not force you into anything, Tian. No matter what path you choose, you remain safe.”
Aislinn drew a breath. “And what is his choice?”
Tymall paced to stand before his son.
“Agree to work with me as Teroux has, and Aislinn may go home to Lunik, and I allow my father access to the dungeons … only the dungeons. He rescues his beloved Elianas and stays sane enough to fight another day, and he may take Tristan and Teighlar with him. Those two will not ever work with me, no matter which coercion I employ.
“If you do not agree to work with me, Aislinn stays and Lunik grows up without a mother, and my father is denied entry. Of course, eventually he will bring all his considerable talent to bear to destroy this place, a breach he seeks to reach Elianas and, in doing so, will lose everything, including his grandsons, and the Valleur lose their Vallorin. You see, if he breaches, this place will rupture. It may not be pretty.”
Lore of Sanctum Omnibus Page 160
