I took a second to secure the rod in my belt again, wishing I'd thought to do it before I dove in, and began to search by feel along the muddy, weed-choked lake bottom. If I occasionally dragged Tha-Agoth's face through the silt, what can I say? It was dark and I'm no swimmer.
I felt the bulk of Shemrang’s corpse pressing down on me, figuratively if not yet literally. My lungs began to burn with the desire for fresh air. With the threat of immediate, horrible death removed, I was able to control my emotions and my lungs a little better this time around. Still, time was trickling away, and my fear was mounting. I was going to have a hard time just getting back to the surface. Once there, I wasn't sure if I could make myself go under again.
When the ache in my lungs became a clawing beast, I gave up and planted my feet on the bottom to kick up—and I felt the rubbery give of flesh under my ragged boots. Quickly I found what I'd stood on, a thigh, and followed with my hands the way bodies are usually put together, along buttock, back and shoulder to get to the neck. Briefly I wondered what would happen if I stuck Tha-Agoth's head on backward, but the need to breathe was overpowering. I shoved his head down on the stump and fled toward the surface, using Shemrang's body to claw my way up.
Sweet air waited for me at the surface. I imagined Tha-Agoth would follow shortly. I clung to Shemrang’s slowly sinking corpse and willed my limbs to stop shaking, but once the fear subsided the cold took over.
It was maybe twenty yards to the quay. I figured I could make it. I'd mastered up and down in the water. How hard could across be? I never got the chance to find out.
I clung to Shemrang's side, eyeing the quay and judging distances. Then I noticed movement above. I glanced up at the ledge, and there she stood. Athagos.
The little mouse has wicked teeth, she said, and began to descend the stairs. I do like you, thief, yes I do. You are the very definition of surprising.
“Stay away from him,” I chattered. I meant Holgren, but she misunderstood me. Or maybe chose to misunderstand me. It's hard to say, what with her being stark raving mad.
Oh, he's no threat to me, that one. I led him by the nose when he still had one. Now that he doesn't even have a nose, how could he trouble me? The king of shadows. What a poor kingdom that is, always dependent on the brilliance of others for your very existence. She'd reached the bottom of the stairs now, and was walking out onto the quay.
“Whatever you say. Why don't you just run along, then, and do whatever it is you plan on doing?” And get the hell away from Holgren.
Oh. I am. I just wanted to leave a message for my brother. You'll be so kind as to pass it on?
“Whatever you want.”
Tell him I look forward to our meeting on the other side. We've put it off long enough.
“I’ll make sure he gets the message.”
See that you do. With that she ripped a hole in reality much as Tha-Agoth had done repeatedly to get us here. I'd never seen it from the other side. I don't know what I expected. Darkness, perhaps, or the pearlescence of a gate. It was neither. It was—nothing. Not blackness, just—nothing. When it disappeared, if that's the right word, so had Athagos.
So had Holgren.
“Tha-Agoth!” I screamed. “Hurry up and re-capitate, you sorry excuse for divinity!” I knew he couldn't hear me. Sometimes screaming isn't about that.
Finally Tha-Agoth broke the surface a few feet away from me, graceful as a fish. I kicked out wildly toward him, obscenities boiling out of me all the way and water leaking in.
Be still! he finally roared, and got an arm around my chest. He lifted my head out of the water and went easily, gracefully toward the quay.
Now tell me what has happened. I did, including the message Athagos had asked me to give him. He went very still.
“We've got to hurry,” I said. “There's no time left. Work your damned magic and get us over there.”
I ... can't, he said, and continued on to the quay.
“What do you mean you can't? You've been obsessed with getting your sister back and now you say you can't? What the hells are you saying?” We made it to the quay. He lifted me out of the water and I climbed up. He followed.
I can't. I won't. It's over.
“I clawed my way through that monster's belly to get you back. I saved you from a fate literally worse than death. You owe me. Don’t you dare tell me it's over.”
You don't understand. If I continue after Athagos, it may mean my death. It may mean both our deaths, hers and mine.
“What are you talking about, mister 'I can't be killed'?"
He wouldn't meet my eyes.
“Answer me, damn you!”
There is a way. It will destroy us both. I hid it from her. I kept it from her, because she desired it so badly and I so much wanted to live. She has puzzled out what it is. That is what her message means.
“Too bad.”
Don't you understand? I could die.
I took a deep breath and forced down my frustration. Talking to him was in some ways like talking to a spoiled child. A powerful, deadly, spoiled child that I couldn't take over my knee.
“Look,” I said. “I don't really care what sort of problems you two have had in the past. I don't care whether she wants to die or if you don't. It's this simple: She's gone to the Shadow King. She's taken Holgren. You owe Holgren and you owe me, us poor mortals who deal with the very real possibility of dying every single day. If you think I'm going to be sympathetic because there's an off-chance you might die, you've got to be out of your mind.” I shook my head, turned away. “I figured you for a lot of things, Tha-Agoth, but a coward wasn't one of them.”
You dare call me a coward?
“When you run away from your fears? I certainly do. They wouldn't call it courage if it was easy.”
I owe you nothing.
“If you really believed that we wouldn't be standing here having this conversation. You'd be high-tailing it back to Thagoth.”
He stood with his arms crossed, looking out at the lake. I was silent, letting him make his own way toward what had to be done, though every fiber of my being wanted to scream at him to hurry the hell up.
At last he dropped his arms, took a deep breath and said Let us pay a visit to the Shadow King, then.
I let out a deep breath, and took stock. I was sopping wet and freezing. I'd lost my best and only knife for the second time, and I'd lost Holgren for, what, the fourth time? How many times could I twist events in my favor?
As many times as it took, I told myself firmly. You keep trying until you're dead, and then you try some more. We were going to get out of this mess. We were going to destroy the Shadow King and free Holgren.
I ignored the niggling little voice in the back of my head that said “What if Athagos has already sucked him dry?” I had Tha-Agoth, at least. And near three feet of monster-killing metal. It would have to be enough.
“The Shadow King's stone is about a hundred yards east of the lake,” I told Tha-Agoth. “We're fairly certain it contains his power. It might even be him, in a sense. After dark, it's behind those walls.” I pointed toward Shadowfall, where it rose up against the stars, faintly glowing, massive.
They will afford him little protection. He stared out toward Shadowfall, then glanced at me. Stay behind me, little thief, during the battle that ensues. I will protect you as I can.
“I’ll take care of myself. You take care of the Shadow King.” But I was begrudgingly touched. “Let's get to it. Remember, you must destroy the stone, Tha-Agoth. Everything else will sort itself out if you do.”
I will do what I must.
He gestured. A rent appeared before us and I followed him through, heart in my throat.
We came out on the wooden dock on the far side of the lake. I expected to be attacked immediately. Everything was still and silent. Shadowfall clawed its way to the stars ahead of us, through a thin screen of trees. Pale starlight, a newly risen gibbous moon, and Shadowfall's faintly glowing bulk were our only il
lumination.
I clutched the oddly warm rod with both clammy, shivering hands and followed Tha-Agoth into the tree line. He moved as silently as a wraith. I wasn't exactly noisy myself. Perhaps the Shadow King had exhausted all his troops. Maybe he just didn't give a damn whether we came calling or not—or he wanted us to. In any case, no night-spawned monsters came out to greet us as we made our way through the evergreens.
I was strung tight as a wire, waiting for the ambush that had to come.
It never came.
When we followed a bend in the path and came upon an open archway into Shadowfall's courtyard, it was almost disappointing. Almost.
Through the arch I could make out the square black stone in the center of the courtyard. Just to the left stood Athagos, one hand on a hip, the other pressed lightly against her mouth in a contemplative, philosophical manner. She was regarding a heap on the ground that I recognized immediately as Holgren.
He was between Athagos and the stone, hunched over and facedown, knees to his chest. The palms of his hands were fitted against the sockets of his eyes. There was no way he'd been positioned like that. He was conscious, then.
Welcome, Tha-Agoth. Welcome, Amra. We've been waiting for you. The Shadow King's voice rolled out from no particular direction, pleasant, amused.
Please, don't stand out there in the cold. Enter.
Tha-Agoth strode into the courtyard as if he owned the place. I followed, looked around for the Shadow King's manifestation. It wasn't here, this time. I looked back at Holgren, but he hadn't moved.
“The stone,” I whispered to Tha-Agoth. “That's his power. Destroy it and we've won.”
Tha-Agoth glanced at me, then made a beeline to his sister, ignoring the stone completely, damn him. I think I knew then that we had lost.
He put his hands on Athagos's shoulders. I moved to one side, to keep all the players in view. This was not how it was supposed to go. At some point I was going to have to go for the block myself, but I had a feeling if I just went up to it and started whacking on it with the rod I wasn't going to get very far. Something told me—the Flame?—that things had to fall in line, and they hadn't, yet. It wasn't time. I only hoped I would know when the right time came around.
Come with me now, Tha-Agoth told his sister. Back to our city, to our people. All is forgiven, and the future stands before us. Come.
She stared into his eyes for a long time, then put a gentle hand to his cheek. He sort of leaned into it, and closed his eyes. Which is when she spat in his face. He took a startled step back.
All is forgiven? No, brother. I have forgiven you nothing. I’ll not go back to your city and imprisonment. I will not return to our children, the fruit of forced union. I am free of your yoke, free of your attentions. I will remain so. Forever.
My love—
I’ve never seen anyone move as fast as her, not even the ensorcelled Elamner assassin that had nearly taken my life the year before. One moment the two godlings were standing there, Athagos airing their soiled laundry, and the next moment Athagos had her hand inside his chest, and her mouth locked on his.
I suppose it was a parting kiss, of sorts. I felt a trickle of that awful power of hers in my body, scouring my soul and making me twitch. They toppled to the ground and Tha-Agoth's robust bronze flesh began to shrivel, slowly. He got his hands round her neck and began to squeeze. I didn't think it was going to do much good.
She is crushing his heart, said the Shadow King merrily, as she sucks away his vitality. His blood may be life eternal, but only while his heart beats. That rod you hold should have stopped his heart front beating a millennium ago, but he moved just enough at the last instant. It crippled, but did not kill him. She will finish him this time. Better late than never, I suppose.
“Won't she die, too?”
Oh, yes, normally she would. The bond between the Twins is unlike any other. They are tied to each other, body and soul, whether they like it or not. But of course I can't allow her to die in such a fashion. Once they've died, their very essences will be trapped here. I have great plans for such power. Just as I have for you.
I didn't like the sound of that.
I underestimated you, my dear. You tricked me. You caused the death of not one, but two of my khordun, and stole a third away from me, at least for a time. You defeated my umbrals and destroyed Shemrang, a creature so old and wicked and powerful that I was at pains to make her obey me. I would be very angry with you indeed, if I weren't so impressed. You will be a valuable tool.
“I’m nobody's tool.”
I believe you will discover otherwise. Think on this, Amra: If you are of no use to me, then I have no reason to spare you, do I? Too, I hold your lover's soul in the palm of my hand.
I suppose he had a point.
Now be quiet, and do not bother me, he said. I have waited to see Tha-Agoth die for a very long time.
I shut up and feigned interest in the gruesome show. Tha-Agoth was struggling, and putting up far more of a fight than anyone else I'd seen Athagos slurp down.
He wasn't going to make it. His skin began to sag off his bones. The hands that had tried to pry his sister off him now beat feebly at her head. Blood trickled from her hand's point of entry into his chest. All in all, I’d seen more pleasant things.
I weighed all the options, and with a little regret decided it wouldn't be such a bad thing if the Twins took each other out. Theirs was an old and apparently ugly story that had nothing to do with me.
The Shadow King did. I hoped the rod would do to the block what it had done to Shemrang. It was all I had going for me.
I didn't try anything tricky or fancy. I just walked up to the block and, with every ounce of force I could muster, rammed it down onto the stone's wide black surface.
I flew in one direction, and the rod spun end over end in another.
I told you not to bother me, Amra.
When the cobwebs cleared it was very quiet. I clambered slowly to a standing position and took a look around. Athagos was prone on the ground, not breathing, not moving. Next to her was Tha-Agoth's skin. It was crumbled into an untidy ball. His braids were bigger than the rest of his remains. It was a little sick-making. Or maybe it was just the pain.
That was ... satisfying, said the Shadow King. Now. Pick Athagos up and lay her on the block.
“Do it yourself,” I muttered.
How soon they forget. I think it is time for another object lesson.
I was expecting him to magically rip portions of my anatomy from me. I didn't get off that lightly.
Holgren twitched, stirred, then stood up. His eyes were wide, and the veins in his temples throbbed. I felt the presence of magic creep up my neck. I braced myself—the Shadow King was about to do something unpleasant to Holgren. And he did, after a fashion.
Holgren twitched, cocked his head and screamed “NO!” Then his hand shot out toward me and I was in agony. It was as if molten lead had replaced the marrow of my bones. I fell to the ground, writhed, shrieked. There was no more me. There was only the terrible pain.
It stopped as abruptly as it began. I curled up into a ball and panted.
Place Athagos's body atop the block, Amra.
If it had just been my pain, I might have held out until I died. Very, very doubtful, but at least possible. It wasn't just my pain, though. It was Holgren's as well. The Shadow King's display of power would hurt Holgren far more than it hurt me.
I crawled over to Athagos's body and began to drag her to the block. I didn't look at Holgren. I couldn't. I had failed him.
“I'm sorry, Amra. Oh, gods, I'm sorry,” Holgren whispered.
Be quiet, said the Shadow King.
I finally got Athagos up on top of the block, head lolling, arms trailing off the edges. I stepped back and sort of tumbled down to a sitting position, every bone aching. The Shadow King's voice let out a strange little hiss.
Finally. Freedom at last, and the power of the Twins to shape the world in my image.
>
Holgren collapsed, then, and the stone began to melt away in an odorless vapor. It was over. We’d lost. I sat there for a moment, bitter with defeat and despair. I wasn't going to get up again. Everything seemed pointless.
I glanced at Holgren. I'd failed him. He had counted on me and I'd failed him. I didn't even have a knife to end his suffering with.
It was about then that I noticed a subtle change in the light, a flickering. I looked around for the source, and found it outside the archway. A large, flickering fire was gliding rapidly through the air toward me. I closed my eyes, rubbed at them with the heels of my hands.
Now my time comes, said the Flame.
I opened my eyes again, and it was bobbing gently in the air in front of me. I tried to understand the words.
All is not lost, Amra. On the contrary. You now have the opportunity to destroy him.
“What are you talking about? It's over. Tha-Agoth is dead. We lost.”
It is doubtful whether Tha-Agoth would have been able to defeat the Shadow King in any case. Listen well. The Shadow King is in the process of transferring himself from his stone prison to the goddess's body. He can do nothing to protect himself while that process takes place. If you strike now, you can destroy him.
Hope flared, then dimmed. My natural facility for suspicion I suppose. It was just too easy after all that had happened.
“What's the catch?”
I will be destroyed along with the Shadow King, but I do not think that was your meaning. The ‘catch’ is that you will almost certainly be destroyed as well.
“That's a damn big catch.”
Choose, Amra. Little time remains. Soon the process will be complete and the opportunity lost. He is vulnerable now, and only now. End him.
“And end myself in the process?”
I ask you to do nothing I will not do myself. Your spirit will not be consumed, at least, as mine will, and the pain will be fleeting.
“That's not really a great selling point.”
I am not trying to sell you anything. Hurry. Decide. The process is nearly complete.
The Thief Who Spat In Luck's Good Eye Page 21
