“There is no need for that,” said Shinzan. “You cannot harm me. If I were so easily dispatched, would you even be here? The power of this world would have cast me out long ago.”
Ethan could see that he was not looking at the image of Jake, or his father. The being standing before him was unlike anything he had ever seen. Though still wearing a US airborne issue uniform, its flesh was blanketed by a thin veil of black smoke covering all but a pair of vividly bright red eyes that glowed unblinkingly in the gloom.
“What the hell are you?”
“An interesting question. I guess I would have to say that I am the part of me who is consuming this world. Connected to the rest and yet disconnected. You can’t imagine how stubborn Lumnia is being about giving up its power. Not that fighting me will do it a bit of good. The outcome of this battle was decided long ago.”
Ethan knew he would need to go through Shinzan if he was to leave this place. But where would he go then? Everything around him was probably nothing more than an illusion. He gave a mental shrug. If he couldn’t escape, what difference did it make? He tightened his grip on the knife.
Let’s see how real this place is, he thought.
Springing to his feet, he charged directly at Shinzan, thrusting his knife deep into where he guessed his opponent’s belly would be. But the moment he made contact, the smoke-shrouded shape vanished.
“You are determined. I’ll give you that.”
The voice came from behind him now. Ethan didn’t even bother to turn. Instead, he bolted straight toward the exit. The street outside was deserted. Not a sign of any tanks or soldiers, only the ruined buildings of Carentan.
“Where do you think you can go?” Shinzan asked.
He was now standing several yards away, close to the corner of the next block.
“If you will listen to reason, perhaps we can still come to an arrangement,” he continued. “I urge you, do not throw your life away on this foolish quest.”
“You don’t have anything I want,” Ethan retorted. “So you had better kill me now…if you can.”
“Why would I do that when I can simply keep you here with me? Helpless. Weak.” He began laughing. “I’m afraid the spirit that led you here has condemned you. Not surprising, really. Lumnia knows the end is near and has grown desperate. It will do anything to hold on as long as possible. It fears the death which I bring: the darkness of oblivion.” He clicked his tongue. “Pitiful.”
Ethan sniffed contemptuously. “You’re lying. You’re the one who’s afraid. I can hear it in your voice. And when I get out of here, you’ll be the one sent to oblivion.”
His threat had little impact. “You are certainly not the boy you once were,” Shinzan remarked. “I can see that clearly. And I can see the hardships you have endured in this fruitless battle. But there is no more reason to fight on. Your war was over the moment you crossed into this realm.”
Ethan turned his back and closed his eyes. He would not listen. Shinzan would not cloud his mind with doubt.
In spite of this action, the voice still got through to him. “Let me show you what your life could be,” it continued. “There is no more need to suffer. If only you’ll let me in, I can give you everything you desire. I can create a world just for you. You can live out your days happy and contented.”
The ground began to tremble.
As it did, Shinzan’s voice rose, suddenly booming in at him from all directions at once.
“Or I can strip you of your soul and leave you nothing but a quivering mass of flesh, doomed to spend the rest of your life in fear and agony.”
Ethan sneered. Shinzan’s threats would not shake his courage.
“You’re the one who’s afraid,” he said firmly. “And I’m going to beat you. I swear it.”
Hollow laughter echoed from inside one of the ravaged buildings. “I can see through you. If you will not give over to your desires, then you will surely live wrapped within your fears. The choice is yours…Lord Dragonvein.”
Chapter Fifteen
“Ethan.”
The familiar voice insisted into his consciousness, nagging him to rise.
“Ethan,” it repeated, this time more urgently.
The scent of a fire reached his nostrils. Together with the sound of many hushed voices nearby, it was sufficient to prod him into finally opening his eyes.
“Ethan.”
It was Markus kneeling beside him again. But this time it wasn’t the Markus he’d known on Earth. This was the older man, weathered by time and tempered by hardship. His dark eyes stared at him from a few feet away.
“Are you ready?” he asked.
All around him in small scattered groups was a large gathering of dwarves, together with a lesser number of elves. He was back in Lumnia. Had he passed through the heart? No, came the answer quickly. Certainly not. This had to be another trick.
“I said, are you ready?” Markus repeated.
“Ready? For what?”
Markus blew out a long breath. “It’s happened again,” he called over his shoulder.
From within a group of elves, Keira emerged, a deep look of concern on her face. “How bad is he?”
Markus touched Ethan on the shoulder. “Do you know where you are?” he asked. Not receiving any reply, he turned to the approaching Keira. “Pretty damn bad, I’d say.”
She knelt beside Markus and gave Ethan a forced smile. “Do you know who I am?”
A trick, he thought. Just another trick.
Markus rubbed the back of his neck. “This keeps getting harder.”
“You can stop,” Ethan told him. “I still have my memory. Whatever you did to me the first time, it won’t work again.”
Keira leaned over and leveled her gaze. “Ethan, you need to listen to me now. I found you three days ago at the foot of Gol’ Shupa. You told me that Shinzan had driven you from the heart of Lumnia and robbed you of your sanity. Since then, your memory has come and gone.”
He sniffed. “Is that right? Then tell me, how did you know where to find me? You just happened along and there I was – right?”
“No,” she replied. “Shinzan sent word to us.”
This drew a derisive laugh. “He sent word? That’s pretty amazing. But I guess it’s good to know he cares.”
Markus cut in, his tone hard. “You don’t understand. He has Kat. He’s demanding that you face him. If you don’t…”
Keira’s elbow jabbed into Markus, stopping him from saying anything further. After taking a deep breath, she turned her attention to Ethan. “He says that if you face him, he will allow her to live.” Her voice was now soft and comforting, as if soothing a skittish horse. “We’re on our way to save her right now. The problem is, you keep forgetting where you are. I can only assume that it’s because of what happened to you while passing through Lumnia’s heart.” She reached out to touch his hand, but he drew back. “I need for you to focus. If you don’t, Kat will die.”
“This isn’t going to work,” Ethan growled, raising his eyes skyward. “You can stop now. I’m not falling for it.”
Without warning, Markus leaned forward and slapped Ethan hard across the cheek. “Snap the fuck out of it!” he shouted.
Keira quickly placed herself between the pair. “Enough!”
Ethan jumped up and retreated a step, ready to fight. But Markus made no attempt to force his way past Keira. After a tense moment, he jerked himself free and rose abruptly.
“He’d better damn well start remembering,” he muttered before storming off.
Ethan watched as his friend sat down amongst a group of dwarves. A convincing ruse, to be sure. But a ruse, nonetheless. His cheek was burning from the impact, and he noticed a soft red glow starting to radiate from his hands. A sure sign that he was angry. What’s more, his anger was still building. The temptation to destroy the false images around him was becoming stronger by the second.
“Please don’t,” said Keira, clearly seeing the fury in his eyes.
“Listen to me. I’m begging you. Hear what I’ve got to say.” She gestured for him to sit.
Ethan allowed the power flowing through him to subside, though initially he remained stubbornly standing. She was just as stubborn, however, and said nothing more until he’d complied.
“Markus is still grieving,” she explained. “Lylinora’s death has cut him to the core.”
His eyes flashed over to Markus. He was squatting in front of a fire, totally ignoring the dwarves around him and picking angrily at the grass by his feet. Lylinora…dead. Nice touch.
“How did she die?” Get as much information as possible, Ethan told himself. Use it to unravel the deception.
Keira’s eyes became downcast. “She was killed while trying to stop the Rakasa from taking Kat. A group of them infiltrated our ranks under the cover of darkness, and after drugging Kat with a poison dart, they were in the act of dragging her from her tent when Lylinora caught them. As she fought to save Kat, one of them plunged a dagger through her heart from behind.”
Ethan huffed. “A likely story. You expect me to believe they managed to get away with carrying Kat through the middle of thousands of soldiers?”
“Rakasa are not to be underestimated,” she told him. “They killed twenty dwarves during their flight, then sacrificed all but one of their number so that the one carrying Kat could escape. By the time we were able to mount a pursuit, the creature had vanished into the hills.”
“And this is the rescue party?” Ethan nodded at the assembled groups.
“This is all that remains of our army,” she said, a slight tremor in her voice.
“How is that possible?”
Keira remained silent for a time, as if unable to bring herself to speak the words. Eventually, she cleared her throat and wiped away the tears welling in her eyes. “It was Shinzan,” she said. “He came forth from his palace shortly after Kat was taken. We were no match for his power. He slaughtered us like spring lambs – fifty thousand of us died in the fires he created during the first ten minutes alone.”
Ethan was watching her every move: listening to every word. The likeness was exact. Not a single flaw. Taken from his memories, he assumed. “And how is it you escaped?” he asked.
“My guards rendered me unconscious and carried me away,” she explained, this time showing a hint of anger. “The rest we have gathered along the way...stragglers with nowhere to go. Were it not for the valor of Lynial, I doubt there would even be this many of us remaining. He stood against Shinzan long enough for some to get away. Of course, he was not nearly powerful enough to stop the cursed Emperor for very long.” She hugged her shoulders. “I’m told he died screaming in an inferno of black fire.”
“And what about King Ganix? Or David and Val?”
“We don’t know. I would like to believe that they still live. But after what I saw unleashed…” Her voice trailed off.
“So what now?”
“Markus has discovered where the Rakasa has taken Kat,” she replied. “That’s where we’re heading now. Shinzan has said that he will meet you at the site of your first battle to settle things, which is good. The place Kat is being held is some distance away from where he is waiting. We’re hoping we can get to her before Shinzan is aware of us.” She frowned. “Unless, of course, this is all a trap. I suppose we’ll know one way or the other in a few hours.”
Ethan regarded her. Had Shinzan been able to again rob him of his memory, he would have been totally convinced. Everything was there: the despair in her voice, the anguish he could see in Markus, even the way the remaining elves and dwarves were brooding hopelessly. When all put together, it was a perfect illusion.
“I’ve heard enough,” he said. “It’s good. I’ll admit that. And if you’d started off with this instead of plopping me back in France, it might have worked. But like I said before, I’m not falling for it.”
“Is that really what you think?” Keira stood sharply up and drew a dagger from her belt. “If you truly believe that none of this is real, then here.” She held out the blade. “Take this and stab me through the heart.”
Before Ethan could respond, she grabbed his wrist. In a single fluid motion, she pressed the handle into his palm and the tip of the blade to her left breast.
“Do it,” she challenged. “Or are you unsure?”
Ethan met her gaze, but she did not wither, nor did she look afraid. He tried to withdraw his hand, but her hold was vice-like. When he looked down he saw that a spot of blood was soaking through her shirt.
Part of him wanted to put it to the test. But this deception was clever, he realized. Just enough to instill the tiniest bit of doubt. Enough for him not to risk killing a dear friend.
“I still don’t believe any of this,” he said, opening his fingers away from the dagger handle.
Keira released her grip. “I do not pretend to understand what you are going through. But if you can hang on to reason for a while longer, all will be made clear to you. We will rescue Kat. And perhaps seeing her will restore your mind.”
“Yeah, sure.”
Without waiting for her to say anything further, Ethan walked quickly away. Separating himself from the others, he took a seat beneath a young birch tree. Keira joined Markus for a time, then went to speak with a few of her kin.
Much as Ethan wanted to dismiss them, the tiny lingering doubts remained. What he was seeing here was exactly how he’d imagine it might turn out should he fail to destroy Shinzan. The power he inherited from Martok had made him fully aware of how devastating the emperor could be should he come forth from his palace. He could easily consume an entire army in a lake of fire should he choose to. Or bury every one of them alive with a flick of his fingers. Worse still, Ethan was equally sure that slaughter on this scale was precisely what would happen should he not succeed in passing through the heart of Lumnia.
“But that’s how you’re doing this, isn’t it?” he said to himself. “You’re showing me all of my worst fears.”
As soon as he could be totally sure this was false, he would do what was needed to end it.
Or would he? The only way to finish things would be by killing his friends, and Shinzan was well aware that he would hesitate to do so. His frustration grew. Even understanding the emperor’s intentions was doing nothing at all to ease his mind. If by some chance – some tiny chance – he was wrong, he could never live with the consequences of his actions. No. This must play itself out to the end.
A short time later, Markus and Keira walked over.
“Sorry I hit you,” Markus said. “It’s not your fault you can’t remember anything.”
“I still don’t believe any of this,” Ethan told him. “But if I’m wrong, I’m the one who should be sorry. I know how much you loved Lylinora.”
His friend nodded. “That will have to do for now, I suppose.” He motioned with his hand. “Come on, let’s get going.”
“Be careful,” said Keira.
Ethan raised an eyebrow. “You’re not coming?”
“As much as I want to, I cannot,” she replied. “I have a responsibility to my people…or what remains of them. There are others still alive, I’m sure. We go to find them, if we can.”
“And when you do, what then?”
Keira shook her head. “I don’t know. But I must find them, nonetheless.”
Ethan regarded her for a long moment, pondering whether the real Keira would abandon a friend in this way. Perhaps. Her commitment to her people ran deep. In the end, he decided it was irrelevant. Even if he was wrong and all this was actually happening, unless Shinzan himself was waiting to greet them, nothing in Lumnia could stop him. He was by far the most powerful being in the world, save for the Emperor.
“Then good luck to you,” Ethan told her.
She stepped in close to embrace him. At first he resisted the contact, but soon yielded and returned the affection. She felt real enough, he considered. More doubt seeped in.
As he and Markus departe
d the camp, Ethan noticed that very few of the elves or dwarves bothered to look up. They were truly and utterly beaten. And so few in number.
“This can’t be all that’s left,” he remarked.
“There’s more somewhere, I’m sure,” said Markus. “Hiding…waiting for death.” He looked back at the camp. “And it will find them soon enough.”
They walked in silence for a time. Ethan kept a few paces back, watching the image of his friend closely. Sooner or later, Shinzan would make a mistake. And then he could be sure. “How did you find her?” he asked. “Kat, I mean.”
“Through the Urazi,” Markus replied. “The temple where she’s being held was once one of their strongholds. It’s abandoned now, but they still keep a watch on it.”
Very convenient, Ethan thought. “So you are with the Urazi now?”
Markus glanced back. “That’s not something I can talk about.”
This response could only mean that his friend was indeed now a member. Martok had learned much about the Urazi: knowledge that he now possessed. He had seen the magic that inducted members into the order firsthand, and he had spent years poring through their archives while learning the true history of Lumnia. No one knew the Urazi better.
“You can at least tell me what to expect when we get there,” Ethan said.
“Expect a fight,” he replied. “But nothing to worry about. A great mage like you should have no trouble dealing with it.” There was clear sarcasm in his tone.
“So you blame me for this?”
Markus heaved a sigh. “No. I know you tried. The truth is, I should have stayed on Earth when I had the chance. That’s my fault. Not yours.”
Ethan saw his opening. “I could still do it. I know how to open a portal.”
Markus stopped and turned, a look of annoyance on his face. “You already tried, remember?” After a moment, he threw up his hands and continued walking. “Of course, you don’t. Why would I think you would?”
While moving on, he mumbled something else under his breath. Ethan couldn’t make it out, though he imagined it was nothing complimentary.
Dragonvein Book Five Page 20
