Alchymist (88 page)

'But
if we turn back now we must lose the construct, and all our plans fail with it.
I give you the choice, Scrutator. What do you say?'

'You
bastard!' said Irisis.

Flydd
stared up at the ceiling.

'Do
you understand what I'm saying, Scrutator?' said Yggur.

'I
do,' he rasped.

'Well?'

'Of
course you must take the flying construct. Why do you have to ask?' Flydd's
head fell sideways and the laboured breathing renewed.

Yggur
ran outside and focussed his spyglass. Not finding what he was looking for, he
cursed and ran back, to lug out a wooden box.

'Hundreds
of lyrinx are rising out of Alcifer,' he rapped.

'But
where are they going? Flangers, you've got the best eyes, can you see the
construct?' Handing him the spyglass, he began to unpack the transfer
controller.

The
rotor missed a beat. Inouye let out a frightened squawk.

'What
the hell's going on?' said Yggur.

The
mud terrace above the ridge erupted as a geyser roared thirty spans in the air.
A roiling cloud of dirty steam burst out in all directions and they lost sight
of the ridge, as well as the drama unfolding below.

'That
can't have been an accident,' Fyn-Mah said quietly.

'Let's
see what the result is,' said Yggur.

'The
lyrinx are heading that way,' said Nish.

'I
can see the construct!' Flangers hissed. 'There — at the end of that ridge.
There are people around it, though I can't tell if it's on the ground or above
it. No, it's flying. It's just gone out over the edge. There's a flying lyrinx
there. Looks like it's carrying something. It's gone down into the trees. I
think the construct's crashing. No, it's all right.'

Nish
found it now, a shadow creeping in and out of the mist. Flangers was silent for
a minute.

'It's
coming up again,' said Flangers. 'It's landing on the ridge. Someone's getting
in. Now it's lifting; it's moving very slowly. The enemy are coming fast,
forming a circular wall around it.'

'Should
I go down?' Inouye asked softly.

'Yes.
No! Wait.' Yggur was uncharacteristically irresolute. 'No. They'll tear us to
pieces. How is your power, Inouye?'

'Steady,'
she said.

'Stay
at this height.'

'Aren't
you going to use your wonderful transfer controller?' Irisis ground the words
out.

'When
the time is right,' said Yggur. 'What do you see now, Flangers?'

'It's
turned west, moving very slowly. They're going to catch it.' A long pause.
Flangers adjusted the spyglass. 'No, it's shot up through the circle. It's
leaving them behind.'

Yggur
cursed. After it, Inouye! Stay in the clouds. We don't want them to see us.'
'Why not?' said Nish.

'It'll
make it harder to seize control. Flangers?' The air-floater turned, the rotor
whirring, and soon a vig-orous tailwind drove them swiftly west.

'It's
slowing again,' said Flangers. 'The lyrinx are catching it.'

'They
must be controlling its field,' said Yggur after they'd watched the construct's
stop-start progress for some consider-able time. 'I wonder how they're doing
that? I don't dare try to take control while it's having trouble drawing power.
All that's keeping it ahead of them is the skill of the pilot. I can't
duplicate that from here.'

'If
at all,' Irisis said under her breath, and turned back to the cabin.

'It's
going the way we want,' she heard Yggur say as she went through the door. 'Keep
shadowing it, Inouye.'

Flydd's
knees were drawn up into his chest, his face wracked. His breathing was barely
detectable. She took his hand. He was going to die, uselessly. Even if, by some
miracle, Yggur did succeed in seizing control of the construct, he'd never fly
it. He'd barely controlled his little flier from the next room. The construct
would fall out of the sky, destroying itself and everyone inside, and the
lyrinx would feast on their remains.

She
went out again. Far below, the situation was unchanged, though the construct
seemed to have drawn a little further ahead. 'They're getting away,' Irisis
said.

'I
don't think so,' said Yggur, but it became clear the machine was outdistancing
its pursuers, and shortly the lyrinx began to turn back. Soon there were none
pursuing. The sun was just above the horizon.

After
them! Full speed, Inouye,' Yggur ordered.

He
whipped the transfer controller from his pocket. It was an oval made of metal
with holes in it like a colander, though larger, concealing the crystals and
wires at its core. Thrusting his fingers through the holes, he held the device
above his head, closed his eyes and strained.

'Iit's
still drawing away,' said Flangers. 'Which direction?' 'Continuing west.'

Yggur
strained again. Irisis focussed her spyglass through the veils of cloud. The
construct dipped sharply before continuing on.

Yggur
was panting. He kept trying, but without success He doesn't have the strength,
Irisis thought. He was very old despite his appearance. And, she reminded
herself, he had not been tested in a long time.

'I
can't help thinking that you're past it,' she said.

'The
scrutator would have done the same, you know.'

Irisis
knew it to be true, knew it to be the right thing to do, too, but it made no
difference. Her loyalties were personal, not national.

'They're
drawing further away,' called Flangers.

The
sinews on Yggur's arms stood out. Still with eyes closed, he strained again.
The construct sailed on, unaffected. He grunted with the effort. Sweat burst
out on his forehead. The machine stalled, then dropped like a stone.

'I
bloody well knew it!' Irisis raged. 'I knew this was all going to be for
nothing.' She made a move towards him but thought better of it.

Yggur
stood, hands straining above his head, eyelids bulging. They watched the
construct plunge down and down. Irisis could imagine how the people inside must
be feeling.

Yggur's
eyes opened and closed again. He trembled from head to foot. A thread of saliva
dribbled out of the corner of his mouth. 'Aaagh!' he cried, swinging the device
around his head, then, Aah! I've got it.'

The
construct fell unchecked.

'I've
got it.'

There
was no change in its downward plunge.

'I've
got it!' Foam flew from his lips.

Irisis
saw, through her spyglass, the fall become less vertical. The construct swerved
wildly but recovered. It curved away, away, away, rose slightly, flattened out
and headed west.

'I've
got it,' he whispered.

From
inside the cabin, Flydd let out a groan that trailed off to nothing.

Gilhaelith
had stopped pounding on the hatch long ago. Tiaan lifted it and looked down. He
was sitting on the floor, eyes shut, rocking back and forth. She closed the
hatch -putting off the confrontation for as long as possible.

'Hey,
there's an air-floater behind us — really high up.'

'Is
it the one we saw over Alcifer the other day?' said Malien.

'It
looks the same.'

The
air-floater disappeared in the clouds. The thapter was slowing now, as they
began to pass over swamp forest. The sun went down. They continued in the dark
for hours, having no idea where they were going. Finally, in pitch darkness the
whistling of the wind died away. The base of the thapter thumped hard against
stone and sparks flew up.

A
glowing globe blazed, revealing part of a dark wall and a wide doorway. All
else was in darkness.

'What
now?' said Tiaan.

'We
wait,' Malien replied.

'This
doesn't look like a lyrinx city.'

The
air-floater ghosted down to their left. It was there one second, gone the next,
as it went up in a rush. A tall man stood in the centre of the yard, a shadowed
object in his left hand.

Malien
said, 'Well, well. In a dozen lifetimes I wouldn't have expected this.'

'Who
is it?'

She
didn't answer.

'What
do we do?' Tiaan squeaked.

"Go
down. But keep your counsel, Tiaan. Let's find out what they want, first.'

Tiaan
unfastened the lower hatch and quickly climbed down the side. Her back was
aching but she managed to walk across to the steps without limping. The man
extended a hand. I am Yggur. Welcome to Fiz Gorgo.’

 Had
she been capable of rational thought, Tiaan would have assumed him dead
centuries ago. 'Thank you. My name is Tiaan Liise-Mar.' She looked around but
Malien wasn't in sight. 'Surely you're not alone?' he said.

No:

Malien
had gone down the far side of the machine and now appeared out of the darkness
without warning. 'Well met, Yggur. I imagine you no more expected to see me
again than I did you.'

'Malien!'
he exclaimed. 'It seems like it was only months, ago I last saw you. And for
all the change in you . . .' 'You flatter me. That was two centuries ago. It
was in Chanthed, wasn't it, when Llian told his Tale of the Mirror and the
masters voted that it become a Great Tale.' And he was banished from being a
chronicler for seven years. No, Malien, we met for the last time in Gothryme,
when the Charon sent Maigraith back through the gate.' 'Of course we did. My
memory must be going. I wonder what-?'

He
hastily interrupted her. 'Do you know what happened to Llian?'

He
would be dead a hundred and fifty years, even if he lived into grand old age.'
And Karan too, no doubt.'

'We
all have our time,' Malien said. 'I'll not complain when mine comes. The old
must give way to the young.' 'Quite. Come inside,' said Yggur.

They
went indoors, to a large chamber off the hall, where a fire blazed. Shortly
Gilhaelith appeared in the doorway.

There
were lines on his forehead, blood spots along his ribs, and his skin had a
greenish cast. He was furious.

'Where
did you come from, fellow?' said Yggur. 'I feel as though I ought to know
something about you.' He did not offer to shake hands.

'I
don't see why,' said Gilhaelith curtly. 'I'm a trader in odd commodities and a
dabbler in the arts and sciences. My name is Gilhaelith and these wretches have
just kidnapped me from Alcifer.’

'Ah,
yes, Gilhaelith. The geomancer who trades with the enemy!' Yggur turned his
back. Tiaan, I apologise for taking over your flier in such an .., abrupt
manner, but we need it desperately. We have a plan for the war.’

'I'm pleased
to hear that someone has,' she said quietly. That terror of falling, of having
control snatched away, would never leave her. 'But you're mistaken. The thapter
belongs to Malien, not me.' She moved away from him, taking refuge by the fire.
Thankfully Yggur did not follow, for she had no idea how to deal with such a
legend.

Gilhaelith
came up beside Tiaan. 'How dare you interfere in my life!'

She
looked up at him, remembering how he might have come to her aid in Snizort, but
had cared more about the amplimet. 'Do you mean to say you didn't want to be
rescued?'

'I
chose to be in Alcifer, and I was close to a breakthrough. Now all my precious
instruments lie abandoned. You have destroyed the work of a lifetime.'

'I'm
sure your friends the lyrinx will take good care of them!'

'What
price did you pay, for them to repair your broken back?'

'Nothing
I wasn't forced to. Unlike you, I've never dealt with the enemy for profit.'

'Why
did Malien come after me?' he said in a low, quivering voice. ''Why me?'

Tiaan
saw no reason not to tell him. 'You're the greatest geomancer and mathemancer
in existence now, and no one else can help her.'

That
mollified him a little. 'Certainly I am! Go on.'

She's
concerned that the nodes are being overdrawn and will soon fail, to the ruin of
all.'

'What
does it matter if one or two nodes fail?' he said.

'Because
they're linked! Malien has discovered that a drained node is replenished from
those surrounding nodes at are linked to it. Those, in turn, are replenished
from nodes further away. If enough fail, all the nodes could colapse and the
whole world—'

'That's
it!' he whooped. 'The missing piece of the puzzle.'

'What
do you mean, Gilhaelith?'

He
strode away without answering, already so caught up in the problem that Tiaan
was an irrelevance.

She
ran and took him by the arm, so outraged by his arrogance that she wanted to
unsettle him, shock him. 'The lyrinx were using you!' she cried. 'I can't
believe you didn't realise that. You were just the bait to lure me and the
thapter to Alcifer.'