Emperor Mage (31 page)

The
caged immortals watched silently.

Emerald
fire gathered, slowly, around Ozorne s hands; he swayed as it grew. There was a
white-hot edge to its glow, the kind that left a streaky imprint on eyes that
watched it too long. The hyenas circled to the mans left and right, yipping
with excitement. Daine stayed in front of him, teeth bared, mane erect.

One
more blow should do it! she told the others. One more and he's ours,

"No!"
cried a human voice behind her. Sparkling fire leaped through the air to form a
bubble around the emperor.

Daine
snarled without looking away from her quarry. How dare two-leggers cheat her of
what she had won? She threw herself against the new fire barrier, and received
a nasty shock on her delicate nose.

"You'll
have to choose, Uncle." This voice was different from the one that had
cried "No." "Abdication and imprisonment—or the hyenas. You must
give in. Your Gift is almost used up. We can see you're taking it from your own
life force now."

Ozornes
fire had evaporated. He swayed, his skin gone cheesy white under streaked
facial paint. "Abdi—•? Never!" His voice was hoarse with effort.

"Then
it must be the hyenas, Uncle, just as the Graveyard Hag promised."

"Give
him to the animals!" cried the female Stormwing, Barzha. "They have
worked hard for his flesh—let them have it! Let them feast, so vw can sup on
his fear!"

The
emperor stared at the female immortal in open terror. Daine, Teeu, Aranh, and
Iry cried their triumph in a series of hollow yips that made Ozorne shudder.
Daine stalked up to the sparkling barrier, intent on the man inside. You're
mine, she thought, and bared white, bone-crushing teeth. For Numair, you're
mine,

Ozorne
s eyes brightened feverishly, "Promises, is it? Well, I have a promise in
reserve!" he grabbed the hair on the back of his head, fumbling among its
strands.

A
rattle of steel made Daine glance to the side. Barzha and Hebakh were at the
bars of their cage, staring at the Emperor Mage with grim eoneentra-don. Above
them, on the roof of their prison, Rikash had also come to watch,

"See!"
Ozorne cried Daine's head whipped around. The emperor held a metal feather—the
one Rikash had given him, pulled from a braided strand of hair, "I have
this promise!"

She
snarled in fury and threw herself at the barrier as Ozorne drove the feather
through his arm.

Something
exploded in a burst of light, Daine,

falling
through a vanishing barrier, slammed into metal that cut. She rolled away and
struggled to her feet. A Stormwing with Ozorne's face and hair stood where he
had just been. Steel feathers and talons gleamed as if newly minted. The gash
on his chest was now a clean, broad scar.

Chimes
filled the air. One after another the cages disappeared, releasing the
inhabitants. The griffins and hurroks wasted no time: they fled into the night
sky, filling Daine's ears with the sound of flapping wings. Magic of a
deep-gray shade, almost like fog, washed and wrapped itself around the killer
unicorns, spidrens, and killer centaurs, holding them where they were, as the
more peaceful centaurs fled. Kitten, in a cage at the far end of the courtyard,
sat up with an inquiring cheep; Zek clambered up her back to perch on her
shoulder. The Coldfangs looked around, tongues sliding out to taste the breeze.

Barzha
and Hebakh stretched their wings in a slow, ominous movement, exercising each
feather. "Humans, stay out of this," commanded the queen. "Now
he is in our form; he must answer to Stormwing justice!"

Ozorne
gaped in horror, "No! I am the Emperor Mage, lord of Carthak."

"No
immortal may hold a mortal throne," Hebakh said, rocking to and fro.
"Wake up, Emperor Mage! Do you understand now the trap that was laid for
you?"

"No
immortal may rule over humans or use human magic." Rikash had drifted
gently to earth, wings outstretched, when the Stormwing cage vanished under
him. Now he stood behind his queen and her consort, razor-sharp teeth bared in
a nasty grin. "Go ahead—try it."

Ozorne
croaked a word. Something boomed, and he went flying end over end, as if blown
by a powerful wind. He smashed into the menagerie's rear wall and lay stunned.

"You
forgot our earliest lessons, Ozorne," said a voice behind Daine. It struck
a chord in her memory, but if her life had depended on it she couldn't have
looked away from the drama taking place before her nose. "Once you take
immortal shape, you can never change back."

"We
are free!" cried Barzha in triumph. "First I take payment from that
motherless worm Jokhun and then I will tend to you, Ozorne!" She took to
the air, Hebakh behind her.

Ozorne
screamed and struggled to stand up on his awkward new claws. "I have
magic! I—I have Stormwing magic!"

"Of
course you do, sweetheart," Rikash said pleasantly. "Do you know how
to use it?"

A
scarlet bolt edged with gold struck from over-head to blow a hole in front of
Ozorne. For a moment he stood there, panting, mouth working as he tried to
speak. Sweat rolled off him.

"You'll
get the hang of it in a few days or so," Rikash told him with false
sympathy. "If you live that long, of course. There is a reason the former
King Jokhun didn't want to fight Barzha Razorwing on her terms."

A
second bolt struck the flagstones behind the new Stormwing, spraying him with
sharp fragments. Ozorne cursed blackly, then leaped, pumping his wings
clumsily. For a moment he dropped. At last he began to rise, bit by slow bit.
Everyone watched as he climbed into the darkness overhead.

Rikash
sighed. "I must go after him. I wouldn't like him to lose interest, not
after it took so much work to get him into the proper claws. Barzha will want
him eventually, after all." He looked at the hyenas. "Is one of you
Daine?"

The
girl trotted to the edge of the dais that had once been a Stormwing cage.

Rikash
waddled over to look down at her. "If it counts for anything—though I'm
not sure that it does—you have my gratitude. And things aren't as bad as you
think. You might look around." He took flight and sped away, calling,
"Ozorne, my precious, where are you?"

The
hyenas gathered around Daine. What did that mean? asked Teeu. Look around for
what?

I don't
know, the girl replied, turning to find the human mages behind her. Kaddar was
standing by the griffins empty cage. Lindhall, Bonedancer on his shoulder, was
keeping the killer centaurs, spi-drens, and killer unicorns penned with his
fog-colored magic.

In the
gateway stood Numair Salmalin.

Daine
gasped and lost her grip on the hyena shape. She turned human instantly—human
and unclothed—and sat down hard. "No," she whispered, breathless. "Gods,
this is too horrible. Don't do this to me."

The
hyenas shifted to form a circle of furry bodies, concealing her, as the man
came forward.

"I'm
real, sweetling. It truly is me."

"Kaddar
and Varice saw them kill you. You're a—a ghost, or a—puppet. A
simu-thing."

He
lifted a hand: black, sparkling fire grew around it. "Ozorne couldn't
attach magic to a simulacrum, remember?" He let the fire die as the hyenas
watched, heads cocked in interest.

She
swallowed. "Very well, then—you're one of Numair's simal—"

"Simulacra.
Magelet, remember how we met? I was a shape-shifted hawk. You nursed me until
Alanna helped me regain my true form. Last year, in the courtyard of Dunlath
castle, I changed Tristan Staghorn into an apple tree with a word of power."
He removed his cloak and tossed it toward her.

Borne
by his magic, it settled onto Daine.

Rising,
she wrapped the cloth around her with numb fingers. She didn't think a fake
would know so much. Gingerly she stepped away from the hyenas and reached for
him, then yanked back, terrified that if she touched him, she would know he was
dead.

"Kitten?"
she cried. "Is it really him?"

The
dragon chortled happily and nodded.

Numair
waited, one hand extended to her. Steeling herself, she reached again and
placed her hand in his. Roughly he pulled her into an enveloping hug, arms
encircling and lifting her off her feet. Nose buried in his shirt, she breathed
his unique smell, one of spices, soap, and clean clothes. No one would think to
copy that, she realized, and began to cry.

He
murmured softly to her, arms wonderfully tight. When at last she stopped, he
let her go and produced a handkerchief.

Obediently
she wiped her eyes and blew her nose. "Where have you been?"

"At
the university. Once the emperors men arrested my simulacrum, I had to play
least-in-sight for a day or two."

"But—they
knew—Varice and Kaddar were sure it was you."

"It
was a very good simulacrum, my dear. I worked on it for weeks in secret and had
it shipped to Lindhall from Tyra. I didn't quite trust Ozorne s good
intentions, I'm afraid."

Memory
flared: in LindhalTs office, Lindhall had placed the turtle in another room,
and she had seen a shape like a body covered with cloth.

"Why
didn't you tell me?"

Numair sighed
and smiled ruefully down at her. "I have no idea. I think I forgot."

"Oh."
That made more sense than it didn't. "How'd you find out? About—all this,
then?"

"Kaddar
made it across the river. We have enjoyed a most informative evening. Are you aware
that the entire west wing and Astronomer's Tower are burning?"

She
scuffed a foot on the ground. "I thought they'd killed you. I lost my
temper."

Numair's
eyes danced. "Magelet, that is the greatest understatement I have heard in
my life."

"She
had help," said a cracked female voice. "She couldn't have done it
without me." The Graveyard Hag had appeared at the back of the immortals'
enclosure, cane, eye patch, and all. The badger waddled at her side.

"That's
true enough," Daine snapped. She hadn't forgotten her anger with the
goddess. "But if you'd done what you're supposed to, none of this would ve
been necessary."

"And
I told you, we have rules." As she passed

the
Coldfangs, they slid their tongues out, tasting her cape. "Oh, go away,
you," the goddess ordered. Silver light gathered around the Coldfangs, and
they were gone. "You, too," she said, pointing at the spi-drens, then
at the killer centaurs and unicorns with her cane. "I'll talk to you when
I get back." Silver fire gathered, and they vanished.

"Interesting
company you keep these days" Numair told the badger as Daine stifled a
yawn.

—If
I'd had a choice, I would have given up the experience,—was the grumbled reply.
—You did very -well, kit,—he told Daine.

She
smiled at him. "Thank you, Badger. Coming from you, it means a lot."

The
Graveyard Hag came over to Daine. "Well, dearie, it's been fun, but you
have something of mine, and I want it back."

Numair
put a protective arm around Daine's shoulders. "She doesn't have anything
of yours, Goddess—does she?"

"Bringing
the dead animals back," Daine said, yawning. "That part's hers. You
can have it," she said, extending a hand to the goddess. "It makes me
nervous."

The Hag
wrapped a gnarled hand around Daine's. White light blazed, and vanished.
Suddenly the girl's knees felt rubbery. She swayed, and Numair caught her.
Kitten, who had managed to leap down from the platform of her former