You have returned, Amra, sooner than I had hoped. And with a companion or two.
Tha-Agoth. My heart skipped a beat, then started thumping madly. I hadn't thought he could make contact with me so far away from his prison.
“Just a little visit,” I whispered as I hoisted Ruiqi on my back. “I'm not staying long.”
You hare reconsidered my offer?
I shifted the unconscious mage around until I got her arms flopped over my shoulders. Then I got a good grip on her lower arms and teetered to my feet.
“I'm entertaining the possibility of helping you.” I said. “Don't pressure me and stay out of my mind, and maybe we can work a deal.” I staggered across the square toward Holgren.
As you wish.
“Swear you'll stay out of my mind, Tha-Agoth. You know I hate it.”
I will not tamper with your mind, Amra, nor go digging through your memories. That I swear. But I cannot communicate with you without making contact with your mind.
“I suppose that will just have to be good enough.”
Return to the square when you are prepared to talk. I will be waiting.
“I know you will be. Now go away.”
Silence. I prayed Tha-Agoth wouldn't go hunting around in my mind. His sister may have betrayed him, but I was willing to bet he wouldn't look kindly on us sending her off to the Shadow King. If he saw in my thoughts what I intended to do—I didn't know what he was capable of, and I didn't want to find out. Not under those circumstances.
Holgren met me a few yards away from the edge of the square. Together we hauled Ruiqi out of sight of the Tabernacle and I let her drop to the street, more roughly than I intended. I didn't feel much guilt. She had put us in stupid, unnecessary danger. I sat down, put my hands on my knees, and took deep breaths, resting and trying to regain some calm.
“I sensed something,” said Holgren, "some power there when you were bringing her back.”
“Tha-Agoth. I'll tell you about it. Not here.”
He nodded, gestured toward Ruiqi. “Ready?”
“I suppose.” I hauled myself to my feet.
“Remarkable, the kind of willpower it must have taken to crawl so far.” He grabbed her under her arms. I got a backward grip on her legs and we heaved her up and started back toward camp.
“Sure,” I panted, “give me the messy end.”
“We can switch if you'd like.”
“No. This end is lighter. I'll take the tradeoff.”
We toted her back to camp and treated her wounds again as well as we could. They would probably become infected. It would be a terrible way to die. After we’d done what we could, I secured her to the tree with a length of rope salvaged from the Duke’s camp. I didn't want her wandering off again. If she decided to use magic—well, Holgren was more than a match for her now, though that kind of pissing contest would only benefit the Shadow King in the end.
I decided to worry only about the things I could do something about. Magic wasn't one of them. Breakfast was. I looked up at the sky—the sun had barely risen two fingers from the time we'd woken. Had it only been an hour or so? It seemed much longer.
“Well, partner,” I said. “I guess it’s time you sampled the fine cuisine Thagoth has to offer.”
“Lovely,” he said. “Do you need help?”
“No, you keep an eye on her. This won't take long. Not much of a menu.”
“Tell me about Tha-Agoth when you come back.”
“I will, but I want to talk to Ruiqi first.”
“I owe you six months’ worth of meals,” he said over a breakfast of dates that were well past their prime. I’d decided not to bother digging up any grubs. He wasn't hungry enough yet, and I was in no hurry to reacquaint myself with their taste or texture. I'd passed on breakfast entirely, in fact. My last encounter with dates had left a vivid, lasting impression on memory and body. When I got hungry enough, I knew where the grubs congregated. I was willing to put that off pretty much indefinitely. The bitter nuts I'd been harvesting when the Duke showed up, I was holding in reserve. What was left of them might have to last a while.
“Six months of good meals.”
He looked up at me and smiled. Then he turned his attention back to the rotten dates. His smile faltered as he looked down at his less than appetizing breakfast. I think one had a worm in it.
“It helps if you close your eyes, and try not to breathe through your nose,” I suggested.
“Does it?”
“Not much, but some. It could be worse. At least dates don't squirm.”
“This one here does.”
“Think of it as a two-course meal, then.”
I caught motion out of the corner of my eye. Ruiqi was stirring.
“I'll just go have a chat with her. Enjoy your breakfast.” I rose and gave his shoulder a brief touch. He grunted noncommittally and poked at one of the dates with a forefinger. I don't believe I'd ever actually seen him look glum, before that. I couldn't help but smile. Many's the time I'd wished he was alive and suffering what I was suffering during my first stay in Thagoth. Sometimes wishes come true.
Would Ruiqi's? I sat down next to her on the cold grass, just looking at her for a time. Her hair was in her face, but did not obscure the distant, pained expression there. She was lost in some internal hell. I don't think she even noticed me until I brushed the hair away from her face. Then she jerked away and cringed.
“How did you end up with the Shadow King?” I asked.
“I have a right to die," she spat.
“I agree. No one should have to live forever if they don't want to. Especially not as a slave.”
“Then why don't you let me die?”
“Because I need you. I need your knowledge. You had a hand in setting all this in motion, and now you have a responsibility to help us stop it.”
“I didn't do anything to you. Or him.”
“You didn't try to stop it from happening, either.”
“I would have been punished.”
“That doesn't free you of the responsibility.”
She began to tremble. Tears welled up in her eyes. “I will never be free of responsibility. Never. Until I die. Duty. Oh, gods.” She dissolved into tears then, and a sort of keening. I was fairly certain she was losing her mind. It wasn't pleasant to witness.
“Amra,” said Holgren, “leave her be, for now.”
“I will if she answers just a few more questions.” If I waited, I was afraid she might be too far gone to answer.
“Ruiqi. Tell me something that will help me defeat the Shadow King.”
“It is impossible.”
“I refuse to believe that. He has to have some sort of weakness. We know he has trouble operating during the day. We know he is confined somehow to the area he called Shadowfall. How can we use that to our advantage? Give me something, Ruiqi. Tell me where he and his creatures go during the day.”
“The umbrals bury themselves. Shemrang has many hiding places—anywhere the sun cannot touch. The mountains to the east of Shadowfall are riddled with caves.”
“What about the Shadow King? Where does he go when the sun comes up?”
“He doesn't go anywhere. He cannot. Not until he subdues Athagos. He can only command his creatures, and send his will out into the world to affect events indirectly.”
“What do you mean?”
“He manipulates events, actions. Subtly, so subtly that you think it is your own idea, to go one way and not another. To take a ship to the Wild Shore instead of trekking across wilderness. To take a mountain trail instead of a forest path. All the while you believe you're on a trail of your choosing. And then you're standing in front of his altar, and he is offering you refreshment and rest from your journey. He's offering you power to destroy your enemies. Immortality. A chance to remake the world. You see your hand reaching out to touch his black prison. You think it is your own will moving your hand, but is it? Is it really? Ask your lover if it was his choice to be snared
.”
“It was not my choice.” Holgren had come up behind me. I'd been concentrating on her tale. I hadn't noticed. He sat down beside me.
“No one would choose to become part of a khordun, especially not with such a beast,” he continued. “Not the renegade apprentice of a murdered master, and certainly not an adept of the Order of the Dawn. That's what you are, aren't you?”
Even I had heard of the Order. Powerful mages bound to serve the throne of Chagul. Aridhall Flamehand had decimated them centuries before in open battle, but that was Aridhall Flamehand. The stuff that legends were made of.
Ruiqi shook her head. “What I was makes no difference. Now I am a slave. You say no one would choose such a fate, but you are wrong. The Duke of Viborg did. The fool actually believed he could pit his will against the Shadow King. Use him to gain power. He was allowed to think they were equals, as he had great skill in fashioning artifacts.”
“The Duke is dead, and no one is mourning his loss. You two are still alive. I intend to keep it that way. Tell me something I can use. He has to have some sort of weakness. What about that stone block? Is that what he is tied to?”
“I don't know.”
“I think you do. Is that why you were punished, because you tried to destroy him? Did you try to destroy that block?”
“Leave me alone!” She curled up into a ball, face buried in her hands. I had pushed her too far. I looked at Holgren and he shook his head. I sighed.
“I wish I knew more about how the original ceremony was supposed to work,” he said quietly. “What is the stone's significance? Why is the Shadow King tied to that particular area?”
“It was where the Sorcerer King was supposed to be resurrected. Or so he said.”
“That’s odd. Not in the Flame's halls?”
“Not from what I was told.”
“Let's try to reconstruct the events. The Sorcerer King convinces Athagos to slay her brother, somehow—”
“By piercing him through his heart with a sixty-foot rod made of sky-metal, to be exact. But he says it was her idea, not his.”
“Be that as it may, it was somehow supposed to supply the Sorcerer King with the element necessary to transform him into an immortal, all-powerful being. The ceremony takes place in his sanctum, and involves the members of his khordun committing ritual suicide. He is expecting to be reborn on the other side of the lake, miles away from his sanctum. In that spot is an obsidian block, or altar.”
“Well, the husk didn't have a mark on him. He wasn't killing himself. Maybe he intended to go to the block later to complete the ceremony.”
“Perhaps.” He picked at the grass as he spoke, brow furrowed. “Athagos fails to kill her brother, pinning him to his own altar for an age instead. He is unable to break free of the rod that pierces him. Athagos is driven insane—though not necessarily by the act. The Sorcerer King's ceremony is botched, and instead of being transformed into some sort of god, he is split into three separate entities—the Flame, the Shadow King, and the physical husk.”
“Well, you've summed it up nicely, but how does it help us?”
“You said the Flame told you he was the part that was discarded in the attempt, correct?” I nodded.
“Somehow the old sorcerer was trying to mirror effects. A sort of grand scale sympathetic magic. Tha-Agoth was to die, what was to become the Flame was to be discarded. The deaths of his khordun would supply an enormous surge in raw power to work with, for a brief few moments. But was it more than that? Was it somehow meant to attract or mesh with Athagos's need to kill?”
“Death stead,” said Ruiqi, voice raw, much to our astonishment. She turned to look at Holgren.
“What?”
“The death stead. An ancient ritual. No one of the Order has performed it in centuries. No one has had the power. It is a way for a mage to send his spirit out, to draw back the spirit of one who has just died. It kills the mage.”
“You think the old sorcerer killed his khordun to work a version of this ‘death stead’ ritual?” I asked. “What for?”
“To guide Tha-Agoth's soul to the block!” said Holgren. “He was going to trap it there, and use it somehow to further his ends. You're right, Ruiqi. I believe we're on to something.”
“Tha-Agoth didn't die, though.” I'm good at pointing out the obvious.
“Exactly. The ceremony must have required a soul to inhabit the block. The Sorcerer King had already laid the groundwork of the transformation—he was going to forfeit one part of his soul anyway, the part that became the Flame. What was left was what became the Shadow King, and it was sucked into the prison prepared for Tha-Agoth.”
“So we need to destroy that black block.”
Ruiqi made a rasping, choking sound that I recognized after a second as laughter.
“What's so funny?” I asked her.
“Ask him.” I turned to look at Holgren.
“That block isn't just stone. Layer upon layer of protective spells have been placed on it. I know of no force on earth that could even mar its surface.”
“How do you know this?”
“I tried, when the Shadow King took me. I hurled every scrap of power I had at it. It was like throwing a twig at Havak's Wall. If destroying that block is the answer, then there is no answer.”
“Just because you couldn't do it using the Art doesn't mean it can't be done. Or if we can't destroy it, we could try hauling it off during the day, dump it in the lake—”
“You asked how I received my wounds,” said Ruiqi. “I will tell you. I tried destroying it, both with magic and without. It amused him. I failed. And was punished.”
I thought about it. I tried to think of some other option, but it seemed there was none. No matter what, the Shadow King had to be destroyed and desperate situations call for drastic measures. I resigned myself to the only course of action available, much as I didn't want to. I could see no other way.
“That black block is the key,” I said. “I know it is. If we can't destroy it, then were just going to have to enlist someone who can. I don't think he's going to like our methods, though.”
“There's no mage alive today powerful enough to contend with the Shadow King,” said Holgren. “Besides, we're trapped here.”
“Not a mage,” I said. “A god. Tha-Agoth. Start working on a way to deafen me, Holgren. We’re going to send Athagos to the Shadow King. Then we're going to send her brother after her.”
Chapter 8
“You want to free Athagos and Tha-Agoth. Do you really think it wise?” Holgren was looking at me as if I were talking nonsense.
“No. I don’t. Truth be told, I think Tha-Agoth is as bad in his way as the Shadow King. But we don't really have a choice. Once we release Athagos, we lose our only way out of Thagoth, namely the necklace. She isn't going to let us stroll along with her through the death lands. She'll most likely try to hunt us down. The only safe place will be in Tha-Agoth's chamber. Only he has the power to keep her at bay.” I raked my fingers through my filthy hair and continued.
“He is also the only being I know who's powerful enough to take on the Shadow King. And honestly, given the choice between a world ruled by Tha-Agoth or one ruined by the Shadow King, I choose Tha-Agoth. At least his vision for the future doesn't include death and destruction, that I'm aware of. It may not come to that. They might destroy each other, and leave the world to itself.”
“That's wishful thinking, at best.” Holgren drummed his fingers on his thigh. “We're meddling with forces far more powerful than any that walk the face of the world today, hoping to manipulate them into doing what we want. There's no guarantee we won't make matters far, far worse in doing so. Is this really the right thing to do, Amra? I just don't know.”
“I don't know either. I really don't see how things can be worse than the Shadow King ruling the world, but I suppose it's possible. Let's look at it this way, though: Have you got a better idea?”
He pursed his lips, shook his head. Those f
ingers kept drumming, though.
“All right, then. Maybe Ruiqi will help you figure out a way to keep Athagos from sucking me dry while I collar her. Remember, it's her voice that is her weapon. I'd rather not be permanently deafened, but I'll take it if there's no other choice.” I was hoping that perhaps, if Ruiqi had some task to occupy her, she would stop trying to kill herself for a few minutes. If this worked, I could get her the blood that would save her life and heal her wounds. Then she could do what she pleased. If that was suicide, I couldn't stop her. I hoped that with a whole body she'd see there were benefits to living.
“Ruiqi?” Holgren said. “Will you help?”
She had her eyes closed. She took a deep breath, and exhaled slowly. “This is madness,” she said. It was something like her original voice, now. Confident, even a little arrogant. I took it as a good sign.
“So it’s madness. So what?”
“You've no idea of the true nature of Tha-Agoth, do you? His sister did not try to destroy him on a lark, you know.”
“I'm sure he has character flaws. I can't imagine they’re any worse than the Shadow King's.”
She had nothing to say to that.
“So answer the question. Can you help Holgren?”
“Perhaps. Either we can deafen you, or silence Athagos. Actually, a combination of effects is the better route. It affords a greater chance for success.”
“How do you propose to silence her? Get anywhere near her and she has you. She took a score of men at once, marched them to her one at a time like marionettes, and sucked them dry. She's death on two legs.”
“And I am the legless undying thing. We are a fitting match.”
“Are you trying to get at something, Ruiqi?”
She looked at me. “I will help you, but in return you must let me die.” I started shaking my head, and she raised her hand. “Death is my only escape. I choose to die at her hands. In doing so I promise I will aid your plans.”
“No. Absolutely not,” I said, but she wasn't listening.
“Holgren will help me prepare. When Athagos takes me, my death will trigger a spell that we will have prepared, one that will incapacitate her for a short span if all goes well. It will give you time to place the necklace on her and escape to Tha-Agoth's temple. It is the safest way.”
The Thief Who Spat In Luck's Good Eye Page 14
