EPIC: Fourteen Books of Fantasy (395 page)

Her team escorted us through the city, keeping the majority of the throng at bay. They led us through the main bazaar of the city, almost a perfect mirror of the one in Atikala, straight to a spire in the centre.

“Vrax and the rest of the council will see you at the top.”

I could barely take my eyes off the rest of the city, but I kept presence of mind enough to nod. Khavi, Tzala, and I walked up the long spiral stairs of cut and polished stone, passing door after door. Artwork adorned the walls, canvas paintings and tapestries so numerous that they seemed to be made from them, and white balls of light provided the illumination. The colour of this place reminded me of the surface with all its vibrant colours and beauty.

Khavi looked as I felt, nervous and out of place surrounded by such things, but Tzala did not. She must be used to it. Was this where the leaders of the cities lived? The leaders of Atikala had lived below the city. Is this what their building had looked like?

We reached the top, and the stairs opened into a semicircular room with a dozen kobolds seated before a stone table. Vrax sat at the centre, towering over all.
 

We stepped inside, bowing nervously.

“Lord Vrax,” I said. “Although almost our entire unit was destroyed, the humans retreated.”

“And you have been granted access to Ssarsdale, as was offered to you.” He did not smile, his expression cold and calculating. “You have done extremely well, former Atikalans, and your return speaks of your strength and prowess. You are valuable additions to this city, and I am proud to call you Ssarsdalians.”

We bowed our heads again.

“Tzala, please step forward.”

She did so.

“I, Lord Vrax of Ssarsdale, offer you a place on our circle of sorcerers as an advisor. This should better suit your talents than the city guard.”

“Thank you, Lord Vrax. I accept.”

I was glad; Tzala would never be a powerful warrior with a missing arm, and she had dedicated her life to sorcery. To work and live amongst her peers would be much more appropriate for her skills and power.

Vrax folded his claws in front of him. “Regarding the other survivors, including your gold-scaled speaker, I have desires for them also.” He stood, stretching himself up to his full height, the table barely coming past his knees. “Walk with me,” he commanded Khavi and I, “and I will explain.”

Vrax led Khavi and I out of the chamber. Tzala stayed behind, speaking to the other council members about matters I did not concern myself with. All I knew was that beyond everything we had experienced on the surface, we had finally made it to a safe place. A new home.

The other refugees occupied my thoughts though, as Vrax led us back through the bazaar. They had died never knowing this joy, falling in a battle they thought was hopeless. I had not forgiven Vrax for this, for the council turning us away when we needed them most, but the battle and day’s travel beforehand had drained all of my will to argue with him away. I wanted to rest, but I knew that if Vrax wanted to speak to us, I should obey. I was not dead on my feet yet.

“You and your companions fought well today,” said Vrax. Eyes followed us as we walked, the throng of Ssarsdalian kobolds whispering amongst each other, pointing and looking, giving us admiration and congratulations. “You should be proud of yourselves.”

Pride was not one of the emotions I felt. “Thank you, Leader,” I said, “but many of our number died today. I would prefer to remember their sacrifice over my own glories.”

Several kobolds, caretakers by their appearance, stopped to pat Khavi on the shoulder and congratulate him. He seemed to be taking the attention a lot better than I was. “But there was a lot of glory to be had,” he said, “and we earned it.”

“You did,” said Vrax. “Tell me, what weapons did the humans use against you?”

“Spears and horses,” I answered. “And a spellcaster. An elf with an eidolon.”

“Where did you dispose of their bodies? I would have another company pick them clean for supplies.”

Perhaps Vrax was more cunning than his tremendous size would indicate. “Unfortunately the surviving humans took their dead with them.”

“Did they now.”

I just wanted to sleep, but his response was odd. “Yes, as one might expect.”

He said nothing to this. We walked past the bazaar, out towards the gates.

“I want to show you something.”

Khavi and I followed obediently. I felt my claws scrape on the ground. “Leader, I’ve been travelling and fighting for over a full day now. I am weary. Could we not do this after some rest?”

“I had not expected Ren Humanbane to whine so loudly.”

I felt my scales ruffle. “Is that what they call me?”

“Titles are earned in Ssarsdale, as they are in Atikala. You have earned this one.”

“Thank you.” I still had no taste for it, no desire to have anything attached after my name. I wanted only to know who I was
—
what my real name was—and earn that.

“Congratulations,” whispered Khavi. I glared at him.

The gates of Ssarsdale opened at a wave of Vrax’s hand, and we passed through. Khavi and I had to jog to keep up with him, something that did not aid my fatigue.

“Tell me, Ren Humanbane, how many humans escaped?”

I tried to think. “At least fifteen, maybe more. Some were wounded. I know not the exact number, Leader. I apologise. It has been a long and tiring day.”

“Amongst the ones you killed, was there a gold helmed warrior?”

The question confused me. I tried to think, but I was so tired. “I did not see one, Lord Vrax. It is possible. The site of the battle was dark, and it all happened so suddenly.”

“
Think
. Search your memories.”

I didn’t understand, but I did as I was told. “If one was amongst their group, I did not see them.”

We turned down one of the tunnels leading away from Ssarsdale. Khavi looked at me in confusion. I couldn’t think, didn’t want to think, and only wanted to rest. Did Vrax have no understanding of how far we had walked? All of this could be done within the city.

One last sacrifice, that’s all I needed. Then I could sleep.

“Lord Vrax,” I said, “where are you taking us?”

“To the southern tunnels, away from the city. It’s important that you understand something about Ssarsdale before you take your posts here.”

Unable to jog anymore Khavi and I walked. Annoyed, Vrax slowed his pace for us. I tried to make conversation.

“Lord Vrax, you offered Tzala a post other than that of a warrior. Do you intend to do the same for us?”

He glared down at me. “Yes.”

Khavi shot me an excited look. I didn’t share his happiness. “May I ask what that position is?” I asked.

“You are a sorcerer,” Vrax said, “a talent I do not possess. It is rare indeed, almost unheard of, for one to sit on the council of any city without the blood of dragons. Rarer still to be its leader.”

“I’m not sure why you’re telling me what I already know, Lord Vrax.”

“Because it is important you understand. I am not the leader of the kobolds of Ssarsdale through magic, nor through my considerable skill with a weapon. I am the leader of Ssarsdale because while I have extremely rare gifts, and those gifts are powerful, there is power greater than even the mightiest spell.”

Was it love? Did Vrax feel love as Tyermumtican did? I wanted to ask but didn’t. “I’m sorry, Lord Vrax, I know of no power greater than the dragons.”

“Then you are smaller minded than I had anticipated. Think for a moment of the humans you defeated. Were they powerful as individuals?”

“Humans have strength beyond our own, but their skin is soft and frail. Their height makes them easy targets, and they are slower than we are. They are bulking and brutish, Leader, and a force to be reckoned with, but they die just as we do.”

“Astute observations, Ren Humanbane. How many kobolds were there in Atikala?”

The question seemed inane to me. Was he testing my wit? My patience? “Fifty thousand, Lord Vrax. Approximately.”

“And in Ssarsdale?”

“I do not know.”

“Twenty thousand. How many humans are there on the surface?”

Over the whole surface? I knew it to be vast. The world spread south, far beyond our tunnels and our knowledge. Pewdt had mentioned Wasp-Men, a people I had barely heard anything about, and I knew there were stranger lands still undiscovered. “I do not know.”

“Millions.”

Millions. Millions of lives. The number was staggering to me, but I had seen how vast and flat the surface was. If it were possible to have so many living up there, then I could believe it. It was just another lesson, another set of facts for me to take in.

“I see. That is a large number of humans, Lord Vrax.”

“It most certainly is.”

A worrying thought wormed into my mind. Why had Quennax and Malicandra saved me? Why had the humans just left?

“Imagine for a moment,” Vrax continued, “my predicament. Humans are a proud, blusterous race who believe their strength easily exceeds our own, but their greatest power lies in their adaptability and resilience. The humans who escaped today will not retreat, lick their wounds and wisely decide against pressing us further. They will summon more armies from afar, and they will try again. They will stop at nothing to mete out justice to those they perceive as having wronged them. To the two kobolds who killed their friends, their children. Tell me, Ren Humanbane, how could my city have survived so close to the surface all these years? What power could keep that tide of strength at bay?”

How did Vrax know of the human child? I went to answer, but we stepped around a bend. At the end of the tunnel, five humans in warrior’s garb stood, expecting Vrax’s arrival. Their leader wore a gold helm.

“Appeasement,” Vrax said, and I felt a sharp pain on the back of my head. I slumped forward onto the stone as the world grew black, and then I felt nothing.

Chapter XXIV

S
OMEONE
WAS
DRAGGING
ME
. T
HAT
was the first thing I realised when I woke up and felt my knees and footclaws scraping along the stone floor. My head felt like it was on fire, pounding and throbbing, my vision returning in a blurry mist.

Khavi was beside me, dragged as well. He was limp and unmoving and his face was covered in blood. His left arm hung at a strange angle. He had a second elbow; the bone beneath snapped. I knew he had put up a fight.

The humans dragged us upward, up past the battle site, past the dark curtain between the underworld and the surface, then out into the brilliant light. It stung my eyes, but my head hurt from where Vrax had hit me. That pain was little compared to the thumping in my head. I managed to stand.

The humans we had fought were waiting for us by the hole in the ground. Their retreat, it seemed, had not been far. I was led into the middle of them. I kept my head down, and I could see my armour and my weapons were missing.

“Well now,” said a voice I remembered. Pewdt. “Fancy seeing you here again.”

I looked up, into his eyes, trying to will him to death with my hatred. “I knew you had something to do with these humans.”

“Of course. Who do you think leads them into the underworld? Who guides them on their raids?”

“You murdered unhatched eggs,” I spat. “I have nothing to say to you.”

“Eggs?” Pewdt reached down and touched a pouch at his belt. It bulged with something oval. “Why would I kill that which is valuable to me?”

Faala’s egg was still alive. I could not, however, let go of my anger. “One egg, then. There’s a circle of the lower planes reserved just for you. You’re going to roast for what you did.”

“Perhaps,” said Pewdt, his childlike smile unnerving me, “but not today.”

He said something to the humans who held me. They let me go. I crouched beside Khavi who lay limp in the grass beside me. I gave him a shake. He groaned feebly.

“Hey,” I whispered, “wake up.” I coaxed him into a sitting position.
 

“What the hells happened?”

“Vrax knows the humans,” I said. “He gave us to them.”

“I know that much.” Khavi rubbed his face ruefully. “That bastard can really fight. Took me down on his own without trying. The humans just watched.”

“Tzala will save us,” I said. “She knows we are missing. She’ll come for us.”

Pewdt’s attention returned to us. “So,” he said, “enjoying your time on the surface, murdering human children?”

I just glared at him. He was trying to bait us.

He patted the pouch that contained the egg. “Kobolds don’t count as sentient,” he said. “You speak, but you’re just monsters.”

“You’re the monster.”

Pewdt’s face fell. “You’ll change that tune when Contremulus is through with you.”

The golden helmed human put the horn to her lips and blew. No sound came out. For a moment nothing happened, although Pewdt and the humans clearly expected something to.

I heard it before I saw it. Beating wings. Huge wings, moving such a volume of air that a cloud of dirt and dust grew in its wake. A mighty creature flew over the treeline, twenty kobolds long and ten high, a sinuous snakelike form with four powerfully muscled legs, held aloft on two gargantuan bat wings. Its scales were an iridescent gold, its whole body seeming to shimmer in the morning light.

The largest dragon I had ever heard of, with scales just like mine. Male. I could tell from the horns.

He banked, his wingspan blocking out the sun as he landed, flaring his wings into two giant crescents. The golden light of the dawn broke behind him, highlighting his perfect draconic form with lines of pure gold. Hovering in the air for just a moment, he touched down with astonishing grace, the groan of ground a faint murmur as it took his weight.

The humans around us slowly knelt, placing one knee on the earth and lowering their heads. Even Pewdt knelt. Khavi and I threw ourselves into the dirt, whimpering and cowering in fear as we were taught to do. The dragon watched us with eyes full of intelligence and cunning, evaluating us, studying us. We were a curiosity brought before genius.