Chainer laughed and sat on the pile of paper with the Mirari in his lap as the entire city wailed in horror.
"The Cabal is here," he cackled, "and nowhere else."
*****
Kamahl had never seen such chaos. It became difficult to tell who was real and who was a summoning, and impossible to tell which side they were on. Harpy fought angel, zombie fought trooper, and all manner of things that never had names fought beasts from the forest that had never been seen. Kamahl did not consider himself a brilliant man, but he knew how to learn from experience. An out-of- control catastrophe spelled Mirari, and a flood of monsters spelled Chainer. Kamahl concentrated. He could feel the sphere's presence. His former partner had finally fallen victim to the Mirari's curse. It was not hard to locate the Mirari, and Kamahl made his way through the killing floor as fast as his wounds permitted. There were plenty of victims to go around, and Kamahl encouraged a few of the monsters to find easier pickings with the tip of his sword. Before long, he was at the end of the long hallway that led to Chainer and the Mirari.
"Chainer," he bellowed. A hissing snake man attacked him, and Kamahl burned its throat out where it stood.
"Is that my old friend and partner?" Chainer's voice called back.
"Come on out, 'old friend.' Let's finish this."
The flood of sprawling monsters pouring out of the chamber door momentarily increased just before Chainer came through it. The creatures fled past Kamahl without looking at him. They were far more interested in getting away from their master.
Chainer's braided hair splayed out around his head like a crown. His eyes were black again, but the void had spilled out of his sockets and was obscuring the top half of his face. His feet floated six inches above the ground, and he held the Mirari in his metal hand. He was smiling.
"Kamahl."
"Chainer."
"Have you come to apologize, or to kill me and take the Mirari?"
"Neither. I've come to stop you."
"Stop me? From what?"
"From destroying yourself. From destroying this city." He shrugged. "From destroying everything."
Chainer's smile faded. "Still looking out for me, big brother? I have a bad history with authority figures, you know. They always die or betray me."
"I'm not your brother, Chainer. I'm your friend. Listen to me. You've got to put the Mirari down. You're going to get us all killed."
"We have to get killed," Chainer flared. "Have to destroy before I can rebuild."
"If you don't put it down, I'm going to put you down."
Chainer smiled again. "Aaah, threats. You don't really think you have a chance, do you?"
"Enough talk." Kamahl drew his sword. "Now we fight."
"You don't look healthy enough to fight."
"I'm healthy enough to fight you. Not your monster pawns, not the Mirari. You.
"I don't need pawns," Chainer said darkly. He gestured at Kamahl's weapon. "Don't you know that no one with a sword can get the best of someone with a chain? That's why I carry this thing."
"Then let's go. You're right, Chainer, I'm not healed. But this isn't the pits. There isn't a scheduled conclusion to this fight. Care to test your skill?"
Chainer's eyes twinkled. "Are you proposing that we come to some sort of arrangement?"
"No arrangement. No tricks. Just a plain challenge. I say I can take you using nothing but my sword. Can you take me with just a length of chain?"
"And my dagger. I used to use that, too."
"And your dagger. Come on, Chainer, it's you and me. We both fought for the Mirari. Now we can fight fair, and may the best man win."
"Done," Chainer said. He tossed the Mirari through the open door into the next room and squared off against his former partner. Kamahl breathed a sigh of relief. At least the building wouldn't go up in a black cloud of debris and body parts while they were fighting. Now all he had to do was overcome the pain of his wounds and the fatigue in his body to defeat his insane ex-partner who could kill with a gesture and created both weapons and monsters out of thin air.
After he had done that, Kamahl promised himself he would look into some other kind of work.
*****
Veza swam for all she was worth, but Burke caught her just outside the chasm. He never seemed to get tired, and Veza simply could not keep up the pace. From the mirror around his bodyguard's neck, Laquatus watched as Veza was recaptured.
"Now you are mine," Laquatus said, "along with the empire."
Veza struggled in Burkes grip, but she was staring at the war being waged around her. In the distance, something new was happening on the battlefield. Veza allowed herself a small smile.
"Nothing is yours yet, Laquatus."
"Emperor," a mercenary's voice said, "are you seeing this?"
"Seeing what?"
"Look at the battle. Look! By the depths, what's going on?" Veza looked. Inexplicably, the hundreds and hundreds of serpent warriors who had been grappling with Llawan's soldiers were vanishing in mid-blow. His mercenaries found themselves face-to-face with trained imperial guards, and the guards adjusted much more quickly than their new opponents. Within seconds of the final serpent's disappearance, a hundred of Laquatus's mercenaries fell dead, and the rest fell back in disarray.
"Perhaps you only rented those warriors from the Cabal," Veza called into the mirror. "I'll bet it's not too late to get your deposit back."
"Get my troops back inside the chasm. Burke, kill that wench and bring her body back here."
Veza didn't wait for Burke to comply. Instead, she clamped on to the gel man's thumb with her short, sharp teeth. With a wrench that nearly dislocated her jaw, she tore the digit off and spat it back in its owner's face. Minus his thumb, Burke could not maintain his grip on Veza's wrist, and she was able to kick her way free and dart out into the open ocean.
Burke was close behind, however. Apparently he took any order Laquatus gave him to heart. He elongated his feet to give him more drive, and with each stroke he stretched his arms a little closer to Veza.
When his finger brushed Veza's foot, she panicked and dove for the sea bed. Burke changed course even quicker than she did and actually gained on her before she could hide among the seaweed and silt. She needed to go faster. She needed her tail. It was impossible, though. She couldn't change while moving, and the transformation was extremely painful. Burke would be on her before the process had even begun.
Just as his hand closed around her leg, the empress's ship swam into view. Burke snapped Veza's ankle, and she sank painfully to the sand. She cradled her injured leg and wondered why he wasn't finishing her off. She looked up, and saw the reason.
Burke was beset by the empress's barracuda. All twelve of the spindly killer fish circled around him, breaking their teeth on his body and occasionally ripping small chunks off. The pieces of Burke's body immediately floated back and rejoined the main mass. The barracuda were ill-equipped to deal with something that didn't panic, bleed, or feel pain.
Burke, on the other hand, was killing the barracuda with both hands. They were strong and they were fierce, but they were not faster than Burke, and they had bones he could break. Five of the fish already floated dead in the water around him. In a matter of seconds he would be through them and ready to finish Veza.
Veza concentrated. Laquatus was wrong, magic wasn't about being mentally, physically, and morally flexible. It was about understanding the world and your place in it. Veza felt the powerful tides flowing out of the chasm, felt the palpable force of the civil war around her, felt the bond between the barracuda and Llawan. I am a servant of Mer, Veza reminded herself. I am of the sea.
"Change," she commanded, and her legs merged seamlessly and painlessly into a powerful fish's tail. Burke was just finishing off the last of the barracuda when he noticed Veza's metamorphosis. He elongated his arm across the gap between them to clutch at her throat, but she shot off like an arrow through the air. She laughed, exhilarated as she screamed toward the em
press's vessel, until she felt Burke's hand close round her lower extremities once more. The gel man's arm had continued to stretch after her as she swam, and now he had her snared in a long, tough line of his own bodily substance. He didn't have much power at this distance, but he was able to hold her fast. She now outweighed Burke, so he couldn't draw her toward him, but he was quickly pulling himself closer to her by retracting his arm and letting her weight carry him forward. Veza thrashed and clawed at Burke s unyielding hand.
Suddenly, the featureless killer stopped. Through the water, Veza could make out Laquatus's voice from the mirror around his servant's neck. Burke stood still, nodded, then released Veza's tail. He struck out, back toward the chasm.
Laquatus must have summoned him home. There was a cloud of bubbles and a whirling sensation, and Veza found herself and the remaining barracuda on the bridge of the Llawan's vessel.
"Greetings, Veza. We are so glad to see you alive. Is all as you described it to Olsham?" "It is, Empress."
"Then, my mystic, if you would begin?"
The cephalid mystic nodded and once more formed a complicated symbol with his multiple arms. Llawan joined him, and between the two of them they wound up looking like a strange new alphabet.
Veza looked to the screen. All of Laquatus's mercenaries had retreated back into the chasm and were fending off Llawan's troops. Veza tapped the captain on the shoulder and said, "Pull those guards away from there." He looked dubious, but he decided not to question her authority. Several seconds later, the imperial troops backed off.
"All clear, Empress." Veza anxiously counted the seconds. Once more, Veza spotted the flow of the shield defenders' transparent bodies as they positioned themselves in front of the chasm. "The shield is in position."
Llawan clicked, and her shield defenders formed their barrier, larger and thinner than they had ever created before. It sparkled like a sheet of ice, and Veza could even see a ghostly reflection of the empress's troops in it. Olsham reached out and traced a huge circle in the water before him, and the huge convex shield tilted slightly, sparking at its edges and reflecting the light back upon itself.
At last, a huge silver-white plane of energy flickered across the transparent shield. The energy flowed past the empress's servants and continued out to cover the mouth of the chasm. It was almost a mile across, wide enough to overlap the chasm opening by several hundred feet on both sides. It stretched from the ocean floor to the water's surface, and Veza knew it would stretch across the entire chasm, the magical impulses relayed by the crystals she herself had installed, to enclose the entire flood zone in a huge tunnel of mystical energy. A cheer went up among the bridge crew.
Olsham and Llawan opened their eyes. Olsham smiled and said, "Behold, Empress. The largest water portal ever created. Or rather, the largest portal barrier ever created. Nothing outside the chasm can get in, and-"
"Nothing inside can get out. As always, Olsham, you exceed our expectations." Llawan turned and noticed Veza's wound. "All hail the noble sacrifice made by our comrades, warriors and defenders both. And captain, get a medic to the bridge," she snapped. "Our valued sister is injured. Are you blind?" "Sorry, my empress."
Llawan floated down and gathered Veza up in her forelimbs. "Is the damage permanent?"
"No, Empress. I think it's a simple fracture." She flexed her tail and winced. "A very painful one, but a simple one."
"Veza," Llawan said softly. "Are you sure that Laquatus and all his troops were inside the chasm when the portal was created?" "Yes, Empress."
Llawan smiled. "Then we have won." She handed Veza to the medic, then began floating back toward the view screen.
"Empress," Veza called. "You planted the survey data that proved the chasm was valuable, didn't you?"
Llawan smiled. "Olsham altered the recording device before he teleported off the ship."
"So you used me."
"Not at all. We employed you. We assigned you a task, and you performed it. It is the right of the empress to demand service from her subjects."
"Service, Empress, or sacrifice? Your leviathan, its crew, your soldiers and shield defenders. Even me."
Llawan scowled. "What is your point, Veza? Laquatus would have sunk the entire empire into economic warfare and decadence. This is why civil wars are fought. To preserve that which is worth preserving, at any cost."
Veza nodded, then floated quietly as the medic examined her tail. "Forgive me, Empress. My wound has made me light-headed."
"Of course. When you are healed," Llawan said, "you will join us in the palace as our Imperial Counsel. We have risked much together, and we do not refer exclusively to our personage. You and all of our loyal subjects either made us empress, or welcomed us as empress. Now that we have earned that title fairly in combat, we will not forget those who made it possible. We expect a steady flow of consistently good advice from you, Counsel."
"Yes, Empress." Veza felt herself being taken away, and though she didn't know exactly where she was going, for the first time in months that wasn't something she had to worry about.
*****
Chainer sent three separate chains screaming at Kamahl's sword. The first two locked and held onto the blade, while the third snared Kamahl's wrist. Chainer hauled with all his might, but he could not pull the sword loose or Kamahl down.
Annoyed, he sent another chain coiling around Kamahl's foot. With a brutal tug, he finally hauled Kamahl off his feet. Kamahl dropped his sword as he fell, and took hold of the chains himself. When he hit the ground, he yanked hard to pull Chainer toward him, but the chains vanished before Kamahl could bring his superior strength and weight into play.
A rounded weight broke Kamahl's jaw before he could get up. "Guess you'll have to learn how to fight without teeth now too, won't you barbarian?" Chainer's voice was high-pitched and grating. Kamahl sneered and spit blood at Chainer. He reached for his sword, but Chainer struck it and sent it skittering across the floor. "I'm getting bored now." Chainer sank a sharpened weight into Kamahl's thigh, and another into his shoulder. "I can stand here, twenty feet away, and whittle you down to nothing. I told you. The sword is useless against the chain."
Kamahl stood firm, his breath ragged and blood streaming from his wounds. "You should just kill me now, then. There's no audience to be disappointed by a short bout."
Chainer wagged a finger at his partner. "Now, now. We both know you're not that weak." He slashed another chain at Kamahl, but the barbarian ducked under it. "Not yet, anyway."
Kamahl conjured an axe and hurled it down the corridor at Chainer. Reflexively, Chainer threw out his hand and released a large, gelatinous mass which absorbed and muffled the explosion.
"I thought you said no magic."
Kamahl shrugged. "I was just trying to clear us some space."
"Now you've done it," Chainer said. "You've made me angry." He jutted both arms out in the casting position, but instead of the death bloom or a nightmare casting, ten sharp chains exploded out of his hands, streaming and curling in twisted spirals as they flew toward Kamahl. The hallway was not wide enough for him to dodge them all. Six of them found their way into his body, linking his sword arm and both legs to Chainer. Kamahl stiffened but did not fall. He couldn't move, but he would not go down.
"The best man wins. That's what you said, isn't it?" Chainer walked casually toward the immobilized barbarian. He waved his hand, and the Mirari appeared in it. "I think I'll do something really special for you, Kamahl. You rejected my gifts once. If I remake you from the bones out as one of my snakes, however, you won't have any choice but to accept it." Chainer stood less than an arm's length from Kamahl. He reached out his metal arm and daintily flicked Kamahl in the chest. The nudge sent Kamahl teetering backward, and he began to topple like a great tree. Before he fell, however, Kamahl reached out and grabbed on to Chainer's metal arm.
"Let go of me, you lump of rock." Chainer jerked his arm back, but Kamahl didn't let go. He clamped onto the artificial limb with t
he other hand and steadied himself on his feet.
"I'm sorry, Chainer," he said, and channeled a withering blast of heat from his own body into Chainer's arm.
The metal limb instantly became red-hot, and Chainer screamed. He dropped the Mirari and drew his dagger, stabbing it into Kamahl's forearm, once, twice, a half dozen times. Kamahl grimly held on through it all, pumping more heat and more energy through his hands.
Chainer's arm melted into slag with a wet, angry hiss. He fell backward and lashed his foot out at Kamahl, finally knocking the barbarian onto his back. "That was a gift from Skellum," Chainer hissed. "Can't you barbarians lay off my thrice-damned arm?" He kicked Kamahl in the ribs as he stepped over his prone body to retrieve the Mirari. He took the sphere in his remaining hand, closed his eyes, and concentrated. The smoking end of his stump started to swell, and a new arm began to unfold like an inflating balloon. It wasn't Chainer's arm, or any human's. It was a thin, segmented claw like an insect's, and Chainer looked at it in confusion.
"That's not right," he said. The insect claw vanished, and in its place a large, black rattlesnake sprouted. Chainer scowled at it until it withered. Another attempt produced a mewling, eyeless monstrosity that wailed like a baby until Chainer shook it away.
"Chainer, what's happening?"
"I don't know," he said. What was happening? How could the Mirari keep failing?
Unless he had overtaxed it. Of course. He had been communing with the sphere for days, actively using it for the past half hour, and then had simply cast it aside. Of course it was malfunctioning, he wasn't using it properly. He ought to have pulled himself out of the sphere's bottomless well of power before he tried to do something else. Also, it was probably mad at him for abandoning it.
"Chainer, wait."
"Shush." Chainer absently flicked his arm toward the helpless barbarian, and a torrent of misshapen snakes and monsters swamped Kamahl where he lie.
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