Dragon Ultimate (17 page)

Once they had been men. Now they shone with a faint green fire and were sheathed in horn. They appeared like a row of gargoyles with inhuman beaks and eyes of black fire. Heavy brows swept up into spines that trailed back over their shining pates.

They were an awesome sight to most, but they did not particularly impress Waakzaam the Great.

As he watched this bizarre exercise in futility, he considered the strange frailties of the human spirit. Men were weak, both in the flesh and the spirit. They were plastic things, easily molded by more powerful forces. And yet, they grew in numbers until they ruled the world. These Masters, although considerably transformed by their system of magic, were weak. Yet they possessed great power, which he would need to borrow to complete the overthrow of the Argonath cities.

He indulged them. While he needed them.

They slowly moved into a line facing him beside the great fire and settled onto their feet. He thought to clap his hands, then decided it would seem too condescending.

The Masters had set themselves into the Nirodha trance state, their minds coalesced in temporary gestalt consciousness. Their power blazed forth on the psychic plane, and all the men on the mountain quailed and felt the huge gestalt mind gazing in on them.

Only the figure of the elf lord remained still. He smiled calmly, his blue eyes raking theirs.

At once their thrust on the psychic plane encountered the gate to his thoughts, vast, steely, adamant. They thrust against it to no avail. A dreadful thought came home to all of them: Waakzaam was stronger than they.

Then the gate opened a crack and He emerged with fair countenance and open arms.

"I bid you welcome Lords Enthraan! Great have you become in your study of the deep magic. Wide and deep is your art, beautiful and astonishing, your power."

They stood there, irresolute.

"Once more, welcome, be assured that I mean you no harm." He spoke Intharion, his words were sweet and honeyed.

"Our interests coincide, and our differences are minor. Let us converse among ourselves as equals and allies. We have no need for this sort of sparring with our minds. I acknowledge your powers; you have come far down the road of your system. You acknowledge my own, I'm sure. We have no need to try and prove ourselves against each other."

The Four recoiled for a moment, then their gestalt accepted the situation. What else was to be done?

They fell out of the Nirodha trance and opened their eyes. These horn-covered demons came up only to the elf lord's shoulders and seemed slight, almost diminutive in comparison. Yet few observers would have been amused, knowing the dread power these four now wielded.

Far away across the steppe, lightning flickered beneath vast clouds.

"Speak then," said Gshtunga. "For we are here to listen to your words."

"Good. I see that you are the greatest power on this world and that you should rule it. And yet you do not. You have been defeated by the treachery of the High Ones, themselves."

This confirmation of their worst suspicions brought a hiss from the Four.

"They did intrude. We suspected this, but had no definite proof."

"I have detected them. They have left traces here and there among the under men and their creatures."

None of the Four thought fit to mention Waakzaam's recent humiliation at the hands of such, though it was well-known to them.

"They have interfered more directly yet. They have given information to the witches of Cunfshon."

The black fire eyes of the Four flickered momentarily with hatred. But for the accursed witches, the power of Padmasa would have conquered the world. But Mach Ingbok had failed, and the Six had become the Five. Then Heruta was brought down and they were four. The witches had triumphed again and again and now threatened Padmasa directly.

"This is against the treaty that long ago the High Ones signed with me. In that treaty I gave up my claims on this world entirely, and they withdrew themselves to the higher planes and promised never to interfere here again."

The black eyes stared at Waakzaam.

"They have broken the treaty; therefore, I am here to reassert my claims."

The Four said nothing, but a giant question seemed to form above their gleaming heads.

"What are these claims?" said Prad Azod, eventually.

"I will take half of this world. You will take the other half. We will share evenly."

"Which half do you claim as yours?"

"The southern half will be fine. I will reside in distant Eigo, far from your concerns."

"Eigo is a pestilential land filled with monster reptiles of the ancient times. You are welcome to it."

Waakzaam made no rebuke to this impertinence. He knew well when it was best to dissemble.

"Ah, then we shall have no conflicts. I rejoice. And as for pestilence, the Argonathi are dying by the thousand even as we speak. We have infected the nine cities on the coast and also the large military towns inland. Soon they will be sufficiently weakened for our stroke. In time, my friends, we shall burn their loathsome witches at the stake."

"That is wonderful news. You are to be congratulated, friend Lapsor," said Gshtunga.

"Thank you." Waakzaam smiled upon each of them in turn. "Have you considered my proposal for the next step?"

"We have," said Prad Datse. "We have readied a force of fifty thousand imp, five hundred troll, fifty ogres, and twelve thousand horsemen, massed not more than a hundred miles from this spot. General Munth will command."

Waakzaam the Great's perfect features remained fixed as marble, but he experienced a tremor of surprise, and even a twinge of concern. How had they moved such a huge force so quickly and so quietly?

"Wonderful. If you cross the Gan and fall on the western frontier, they will have to meet you in the lower Argo valley. When you have engaged them, you will hold them tight while I come in behind them."

"And what will you invade with?" asked Gzug Therva with a chilly whisper.

Waakzaam laughed heartily.

"Oh, my friend, great Therva, do not worry yourself that I will come in without sufficient force to do the job."

"We sent you a force before. What has happened to it?"

"I used it, as you will recall, to strike at the empire."

"You failed in both endeavors. Our force was destroyed."

"Ah, not entirely. I have retained more than half of it. It was hidden in deep fastness."

"We are relieved to hear this."

"I have also begun to awaken the Irrim Baguti. They have been neutered by the policies of the witch empire. When I give them back their manhood, they will fall on the cities of the Argo and sack them."

Gzug Therva laughed soundlessly. "Baguti are indifferent troops for conducting siege operations. We have long experience with these nomads."

"My own men are in charge of the siege train. Rest assured that they know what they are doing. They have broken into cities on more worlds than you can imagine, dear friends."

The Masters fell silent, a ring of sullen horned faces with smoldering eyes.

"Where is General Haxus, by the way?"

"Haxus is no longer an officer," said Prad Azod tonelessly. "General Munth will command."

"That is good," said Waakzaam. "Munth is a skillful commander. We will work to coordinate our blows. At Gestimodden Haxus failed to use all his forces. What did happen to Haxus, by the by?"

"Haxus went to the bloodworms."

"Ah." The Masters enjoyed a certain reputation for not accepting failure. Waakzaam could see that they fully deserved it.

"I must admit that I have had my doubts about this operation," said Prad Azod. "We have had heavy losses for several years now. Once we put more than three times this force into an invasion of the Argonath, but it failed."

"I have studied that campaign, as you might expect. We must not underestimate the Argonathi. Their Legions are a formidable military system. But they will be weakened severely by the pestilences I have set among them. With my force in their rear, we shall overwhelm them."

"All very well, but it is our army that will be confronting the Legions on the banks of the Oon. Unless your pestilence works its magic, we will be faced with thirty thousand or more men, and their damnable dragons."

"The Argonathi will not give up without a fight, but they will not have anything like thirty thousand. The witches will not go easily to that fiery death, my friends. But if we play it correctly we can defeat them in the Argo valley this time. Then we will pour over the passes and down on Marneri."

"This sounds wonderful," murmured Prad Datse.

"But only if it is true that the pestilence levels their Legions," said Prad Azod.

"It is doing so even as we speak."

"You have seen it, yourself?"

"No, but I have a witness here." Waakzaam turned slightly and raised a hand. "Higul!" he called.

Higul the Lame stepped forward. Higul had made a long journey on the back of a batrukh, a process that had astonished and terrified him. He had learned, however, that such astonishing experiences were just part of his service to the Lord. One just had to grit one's teeth and accept them.

"This is Higul, a man we can trust. Speak, Higul. Tell us what you saw in the cities of the Argonath."

"Death, Lords, nothing but death. They die by day and night, in their thousands."

"But enough to weaken them on the battlefield?" said Prad Azod.

"Yes, Lords, for the plague is loosed in Dalhousie and Fort Picon."

"The first plague had spotty success, did it not?" said Prad Azod.

Waakzaam held back any rebuke to this further impertinence. "It did its job. They were gravely weakened, and many thousands died."

"Only in Kadein did it really get loose. It hardly affected some of the other smaller cities."

"Ah, but there is more than one way to skin a cat, my friends. The second plague has devastated Ryotwa. Even their shipyards are stilled. Is this not true, Higul?"

"It is, Lord. Ryotwa is an empty shell."

"And what of Marneri, that troublesome city?" Gshtunga brought up a sore subject among the Four.

"Marneri was hit, but not like Ryotwa. An older part of the city was devastated, but it did not spread beyond that."

"And the city of Talion, too, how did the horsemen's city fare?"

"The northern sector was emptied, but they held the bridges at bowpoint, and the south was spared."

"It is most unfortunate that Marneri could not be destroyed utterly," husked Gzug Therva.

Prad Azod was troubled, still. "This is not enough to allow us to be sure. We cannot afford to lose this army."

Gestimodden had been a severe blow, Waakzaam could tell. The armored knights of the Czardhan heavy cavalry had found a way to slay trolls and break the Padmasan formations.

"You will only engage if you judge their numbers manageable. That is understood. If necessary I will revisit them with the plague. We will not be moved from our implacable aim."

"And if their force is depleted enough for us to engage, then you will invade through the north and envelop their right flank?"

"That is the plan. Then we will pour over the pass and down into Marneri and Talion. In six months the Argonath will be ours."

"Actually," said Gshtunga, "all these lands will be ours, not yours. You will be confined to the southern hemisphere."

"Of course, but to rid this world of these witches is the first essential step. I pledge all my strength to it. They are the contacts of the High Ones and represent their interest. We expunge them and cut off the High Ones' contact with this world."

"Excellent," rumbled Gshtunga. "This amplifies my own thinking."

"I, too," contributed Gzug Therva. "Heruta always said that they interfered here despite their solemn oath."

"Oathbreakers is how we have named them," said Prad Azod.

"They are that, and more. But once we cut their connection to Ryetelth, their strength will begin to fail."

"With the Argonath removed from our path, we will be able to turn all our attention on the impudent knights in Czardha," exulted Prad Datse.

"And the Isles?" wondered Prad Azod.

"Not possible," muttered Gshtunga.

"To win the Isles we will have to master their fleet," said Gzug Therva.

This produced a pause. The fleet of the Empire of the Rose included a dozen or more immense ships, the great white ships of trade and war. They carried catapults capable of sinking smaller vessels with a single missile and were faster than anything else afloat.

"It will take us time to ready a fleet capable of matching theirs."

"This has always been their ultimate security," said Waakzaam, "but perhaps there are other ways of attacking their precious islands. Mmmm?"

The black eyes blazed again. What was this? Their minds became eager, questing for the slightest scrap of information.

"Yes," hissed Gshtunga with sudden realization. "We understand the magic of the Black Mirror."

"Good. Our thrust will surprise them when it comes. And, as for Marneri? I will take Marneri myself."

The black eyes glanced at each other for a moment. Waakzaam had something special in mind for the hated white city on the Long Sound.

Later, when the great ones had left, Higul the Lame prowled by the embers of the fire. It was cold up on the top of that hill in the night wind, and Higul wore a thick nomad coat, buttoned tightly to the neck. He pulled up the hood to ward off the chill wind. The Masters' emissary would join him here, so they had said.

The moon was partly hidden behind silvery clouds, but there was enough light to see the land spread out below, dark folds in a sea of grass. The batrukh came in suddenly, beating up from the Gan on enormous wings, then folding them and landing with a single mighty spring. It eyed Higul and snarled at him in open hunger. Higul really didn't care for the red glow in the eyes of the thing.

Down from its neck stepped the Mesomaster Gring.

"I am Gring."

"Higul."

"You were here during the meeting?"

"I was."

"And now you return into the east?"