The Unmaking: The Last Days of Tian Di, Book Two

by Egan, Catherine

  ~~~

  They made their camp on the mountainside. It was a cold night but Jalo created a roaring bonfire with his firestick and they gathered around it.

  “Is it customary to...burn your dead?” asked Jalo.

  “We’ll take him back to Holburg,” said Nell. “He should be cremated and buried there. Nay here.” She said here with real loathing, as if no place could be as barren or as heartless as this place.

  ~~~

  “Today is the Day of Feasting,” said Nell sardonically. None of them was hungry.

  “It’s almost tomorrow,” said Eliza.

  “The Day of Dancing,” said Nell. She began to laugh, then stopped abruptly and closed her eyes.

  There was a distant rumble of thunder. In the ruined Hall at the top of the mountain, Nia’s tiger let out a desolate roar.

  ~~~

  There was a storm off to the north, moving away from them, further into the distance. Nell and Charlie fell asleep wrapped in blankets by the fire. Uri Mon Lil nodded off in the middle of updating his book and, at last, Jalo dozed as well.

  Eliza looked at Swarn. Her clothes were soaked in blood, particularly around her right shoulder, and her face was swollen and bruised. She sat very still.

  “Are you injured badly?” asked Eliza quietly.

  “Yes,” said Swarn. “But I’ll live. What is the Magic you did?”

  “The main bit wasnay Magic at all,” said Eliza. “I used the Sorma techniques of taming and healing – that was how we disassembled the monster. That was enough to stop it from doing any harm, but I remembered what you told me about the wizard who Made the dragons and was absorbed by them. I was gambling that anything a being Makes could draw Magic from its Maker. You and the Mancers taught me that the Magic in the worlds is what was left here by the Ancients, the Magic of their Making, but I’m nay even sure...” Here Eliza took a deep breath, and then she said, “I’m nay sure the Ancients left Tian Di. I think maybe Tian Di absorbed them.”

  Swarn listened but said nothing.

  “I’ve felt how alive the worlds are with mysterious powers that...lah, it seems true, but I spose it doesnay matter. If I could control the thing Nia Made, I thought I could control her Magic. Praps not use it myself but at least direct its flow. I got the idea of a deadlock from Wennot’s Sixth Law. Only her own Magic would really be strong enough to bind her.”

  “Wennot?” inquired Swarn.

  “A Di Shang scientist. Equal and opposite force...something Nell told me about.”

  “Her pride was her downfall, as is often the case,” mused Swarn. “She couldn’t resist performing the Magic of Making, dangerous as it was. You must keep the Urkleis safe, Eliza.”

  Eliza could feel it in her chest, a hard, bitter lump, aching.

  She said, “The Oracle told me that victory would only come for me with sacrifice. She said I would cut my own heart out.”

  Swarn nodded slowly, staring at the fire. “I doubt that is meant literally,” she said. “You could try to interpret it, but sometimes hints of the future are best left alone. Have you sacrificed much for this victory?”

  “It doesnay feel like a victory,” said Eliza.

  Swarn nodded again and let the subject drop. “You have brought the Vindensphere,” she said. “How did you take it from the Citadel?”

  “It was easy to take, aye,” said Eliza. “I think the Citadel knew what I meant to do with it.”

  “What do you mean to do with it?”

  “I have to find Kyreth. I dinnay know if Nia has killed him, but if he’s alive he might be the only one who can break the Curse on the Mancers.”

  Swarn gave Eliza a long, steady look, as if weighing something. “You asked me once why your mother hid you from the Mancers and I did not tell you,” she said at last. “I thought the knowledge would be a burden, as it was for her. She learned something from the Oracle that broke her heart, Eliza.”

  “What was it?”

  Even as she asked she realized that she knew what Swarn would say.

  “Kyreth is Nia’s father,” said Swarn heavily. “You should know everything, Eliza, before you seek him out.”

  ~~~

  Jalo, Charlie and Nell wandered among the trees. Eliza, Swarn and Uri Mon Lil were working some Magic together and had asked for no distractions.

  “It’s cold,” said Nell.

  “We could be at the seaside in summertime,” suggested Jalo, looking at the bare trees and the snowy crags overhead.

  “No,” said Nell, shuddering. “I’ve had enough Illusion.”

  “It’s the Day of Dancing,” Charlie reminded them, doing a half-hearted little jig.

  Nell laughed a little, then said, “It feels strange to laugh, aye. My throat hurts, like I’ve been coughing all night.”

  “You look terrible,” Charlie agreed.

  “Not at all!” said Jalo indignantly. He took Nell by the arm and drew her aside. Charlie scowled and stuffed his hands into his pockets.

  “Soon, we will be going our separate ways,” he said. “But meeting you has been an honour and a delight, Nell. I hope it will not be the last we see of each other.”

  “Aye, we’ll keep in touch,” said Nell vaguely.

  “In that spirit, I have a gift for you.” From a pocket in his vest, he produced a gold ring with a white crystal embedded in it.

  “Oh,” said Nell, taken aback. Charlie craned his neck to see.

  “It is one of my family crystals,” said Jalo. “Crystals are used for summoning. If ever you need my help, turn the crystal and call my name. I will come find you.”

  “Thank you,” said Nell. “Lah, I wish I had something to give you.” Then it struck her. “You should take the helicopter! It’s still in the Dead Marsh, aye! There’s enough fuel to get you to the sea of Tian Xia, I’m sure. And if you do run out of fuel...lah, you’re an Immortal, so I’m sure you’ll be all right.”

  “The helicopter is a fine gift,” said Jalo, smiling down at her. “I hope that I will see you again, Nell.”

  “Who knows,” she said. She stood on tiptoe to kiss his cheek. His skin was cold.

  “I am very sorry about your friend,” he added.

  A light rain began to fall.

  ~~~

  As the sun crossed the sky somewhere behind the swathe of heavy cloud, Swarn stood in the rain and let loose a wrenching cry in the language of the dragons. The Mancer dragons became alert and restless, scanning the horizon. They all sheltered among the trees as the rain came down and at last they heard an answering cry. The two cliff dragons, rust-red and terrible to behold, came hurtling towards them out of the grey sky.

  ~~~

  They said their farewells on the mountainside. Uri Mon Lil was going to the Realm of the Faeries with Jalo, who had promised that his Curse would be lifted by the most skilled practitioners. Having heard that his daughter had been released to return home, his face was lit with joy.

  “You will always be welcome in Lil,” the wizard said to Eliza, clasping her hands and pumping them up and down. “And if ever you need a wizard’s help again, I hope that you will call on me.”

  “Thank you,” said Eliza warmly. “And if you ever need a Sorceress’s help, the same applies.”

  Uri Mon Lil’s face creased with smiles. “I look forward to remembering you without the help of my book.”

  “That will be nice,” agreed Eliza.

  ~~~

  Swarn said her farewells curtly. Her dragon lay flat to enable her to climb onto its neck. She did so slowly and with difficulty, but they all knew better than to help her.

  “What will you do now?” asked Eliza.

  “Bury the dragons,” said Swarn. “Rebuild my home.”

  She did not look back as the dragon beat its great wings and took off, flying back in the direction of the Dead Marsh.

  “Wait, Jalo!” cried Nell as the Faery was about to follow, sitting in front of the wizard astride the young dragon whose life Nell had saved. “Can I.
..may I have your fire stick?” she asked humbly.

  He gave it to her without question, and then they took to the air.

  ~~~

  The three friends made the journey back to the Crossing with two Mancer dragons and a dead man. The Faithful were beginning to trickle back to their temples.

  “It is all as the Ancients will it,” said Rhianu to Eliza. “Now we will rebuild.”

  ~~~

  Eliza commanded the Boatman and he came.

  “Lah,” said Charlie, impressed. “How about that!”

  “We have one stop to make,” she said darkly.

  ~~~

  It felt as if he were splitting in two. Half of him stepped out of the shadows and the other half remained. The shadows clung to his back, tugging at him. He saw before him a young girl with wild curly hair, looking at him very coldly. A pocket in the mist had opened around them.

  “Eliza,” he said, when he had found her name inside the part of him that knew her. The shadows curled around his shoulders, wove up his spine, pulling. Back that way was only a mad, helpless terror. He knew because half of him lived there, would always live there.

  But the half of him emerging remembered power. Hungered for it.

  “We couldnay break the Curse,” said Eliza in a hard little voice. “It’s too deep for that and the Faeries will nay help you. All I can do is give you clarity.”

  “Yes,” said Kyreth, understanding this immediately. “Of course. Clarity.” He clung to it. It was all he had. It was the thin cord between him and the power. The story returned to him piece by piece.

  “I know everything,” said Eliza. “I know what you did to her mother. I know what you did to her. I thought about leaving you here, but I need you to break the Curse on the other Mancers. It’s a simple Curse, I think, but I couldnay ask more of Swarn. She was so...broken. We all are.”

  “Yes,” said Kyreth. His mind was creeping among the parts of the story he knew like a rat in a half-finished house. Something was changed about Eliza. She carried a great weight. She had found her Guide, too. “Good,” he said. “Good girl.”

  Eliza looked outraged at this. “Come on,” she said. “We need to go back to the Citadel.”

  Kyreth followed her down the winding steps. “And Rea?” he asked. “No harm has come to Rea?”

  Eliza told him and he listened. Her words were like little darts. She was so angry, so angry. It didn’t matter. She didn’t understand. Rea was safe. The mist kept opening before the girl. Kyreth’s eyes met the Boatman’s as he stepped aboard. Yes, home, they would go home. Away from this awful place. He barely took in the other passengers, the dragons. He shuffled to the bow and sat down. Eliza said something but he wasn’t listening now. If he let go of himself for an instant he would tumble backwards into that void. Eliza’s spell of clarity was weak, but what could he expect of one so young? She’d had some help; he felt two other wills at work, soldering this feeble spell. It was just enough that he could get a grip on the world and cling to it, hold tightly and see out of the prison Nia had made for him, the mad fear that pulled him back and pulled him back. Now they were going home, back to the Citadel, and he would be stronger there. The Mancers would refine the spell. He just had to hang on long enough to get there.

  ~~~

  “I’ll join you as soon as I can,” Eliza promised Charlie and Nell once they were all safely in the grounds of the Citadel. She hugged them both tightly.

  “I just noticed,” said Nell, smiling tearfully at Eliza. “You’re wearing it.”

  “What?” said Eliza, and then her eyes widened as she remembered the flowery bra. “Oh. Yes. I spec I’ve gotten used to it.” She looked tenderly at her best friend, her pale tear-streaked face and the hollows under her eyes. “You need rest, Nell.”

  “You too,” said Nell.

  Charlie became a gryphon. He bore Nell on his back and held Ander’s body, wrapped in the Faery cloak, in his great talons. They soared up into the welcoming Di Shang sky.

  The few intruders that still lingered in the Citadel fled as soon as they saw the Supreme Mancer had returned. Kyreth barely glanced at the dead dragon in the grounds. He went straight to the Inner Sanctum. He seemed to stand straighter there, his eyes brightening. Eliza watched him for a while, struggling to work Magic in spite of the powerful Curse that still clung to him. He was strong enough and she could not help him, so she went to the Library and waited.

  It was late in the day, on the Day of Songs, when the stone cracked and fell away. Foss looked around at the ruin of the Library and saw Eliza catapulting into him.

  “I can only presume,” he said, catching her in his long arms, “that everything has come out right.”

  “Yes,” said Eliza, beaming up at him. “It has!”

  He cupped his huge hand around her cheek tenderly. “Poor Eliza, I see that you have borne the worst of it. I called you back here – a terrible mistake, but I had no time to undo it!”

  “It came out right,” said Eliza. “Except for the books, lah. She drained the books, Foss.” She picked one of the empty books up to show him and he flipped through it sadly.

  “Recovering the stolen words of these texts is a project that will go beyond my lifetime,” he said. “Destruction is a quick matter, whereas rebuilding – ah! But at least I have a clever assistant to help me begin!”

  “Foss,” she said, and then her eyes filled with tears and she could not continue.

  “What is it?” he asked her gently, resting a hand on her shoulder.

  She swallowed the lump that had come to her throat and said in a voice that shook only a very little, “I’m leaving and I’m nay coming back this time. I just wanted to say goodbye to you.”

  Foss looked stunned. He said simply, “Why?”

  “There are...many reasons,” she said. “But mostly...I’ve learned some terrible things about Kyreth. I cannay stay here. Nay with him.”

  Foss took this in and then said, “Tell me.”

  When she had told him everything, he said, “If you wish to go, you must go quickly. You will not be allowed to leave if the other Mancers learn of your intent.”

  Eliza took the crystal Kyreth had given her from around her neck and pressed it into his hand.

  ~~~

  “It was an evil act,” said Anargul to the assembled Mancers on the following day. The Emmisariae sat at a long stone table in the Inner Sanctum. The rest of the Mancers were seated around the walls. Kyreth sat in a chair before the table, his eyes terrible. “It was a very great evil and one he kept secret from all of us. It has been costly, too. The worlds have suffered terribly from the wrath of the Xia Sorceress.”

  “You misinterpret his actions,” said Obrad, glancing at Kyreth. “Though it cannot be denied the result was catastrophic, he acted with noble intentions. Had Nia been malleable we would have had a powerful Sorceress on either side of the Crossing, protecting it.”

  “But he told us nothing of this,” said Anargul. “He acted in secrecy, risking the balance of the worlds. When he became Supreme Mancer he did not own up to any responsibility. And what of Nia’s mother? Was not a terrible crime committed against her?”

  “We do not know that,” said Obrad.

  “She killed herself,” pointed out Aysu softly.

  “That is not proof of anything but an unhinged mind,” said Obrad.

  “Trahaearn,” said Aysu. “What say you?”

  Trahaearn raised his head slowly. “He did wrong and kept secrets. For this he should be punished. And yet in his years as Supreme Mancer he has been a strong and wise leader. For this he should be rewarded. I do not know what justice is, in this case.”

  “Ka,” said Aysu, “What say you?”

  “I agree with Trahaearn,” said Ka. “Though I do not condone what he did, I do not wish to see His Eminence cast out from the Mancer fold. He is one of the greatest Mancers in all our long history and Nia has punished him soundly for what wrong he did. But he cannot lead us anymore. Even if
we forgive his wrongs, he is too much impaired. We cannot break a Curse as strong as the one Nia has laid on him and the Faeries will never come to our aid.”

  “Anargul?” asked Aysu.

  “He should be cast out,” said Anargul shortly. She did not look at Kyreth.

  “Obrad?”

  “I accept whatever is the will of the Mancers, but in my own heart I feel that His Eminence is the greatest leader the Mancers have known since Karbek and should not be lightly cast aside.”

  “Then let us say he has earned our friendship and our help through the centuries and we shall give it to him,” said Aysu gravely. “He shall stay among us and we shall do what we can for him, but he shall not be called Supreme Mancer anymore.”

  “That title must fall to you, Aysu,” said Ka. The others murmured their assent.

  “Then Foss will take my place among the Emmisariae as Manipulator of Water,” said Aysu. “Foss, will the Shang Sorceress accept this arrangement? Will she return to us?”

  “I do not know,” said Foss.

  “As Emmisarius, you must seek her out and hear her thoughts on this,” said Aysu. “If she refuses, she must be persuaded. The Shang Sorceress cannot sever ties with the Mancers, nor dictate how we deal with our own.”

  She looked out at the assembled Mancers.

  “Do the Mancers accept what we have spoken?” she asked.

  Kyreth half-listened to what was being said, the Mancers voicing their approval that he should be deposed. Aysu would be Supreme Mancer. It was laughable, that. Even in the throes of this Curse, he was stronger than Aysu. It didn’t matter. He had his own battle to tend to, the constant struggle against the shadows of dread that sought ever to draw him back to the tower where his other half waited, utterly lost. There were ways to break even a Curse as powerful as this one. The simplest way was to kill the one who has Cursed you. His mind worked slowly, slowly, but it worked. Lost in shadow, still he could see in the dark. He could see, he could think, he knew what to do. They would not cast him out. Though they did not say why, it was because they feared him. And rightly so.

  Aysu stood before him now, demanding his acceptance of her authority. He closed his mind to her and bowed.