Shadowmasque (45 page)

The thread of your fate has many twists, Corlek Ondene, and its course will test you to the heart.
The muted howl of the vortex lent a mournful counterpoint to the voice of the god.
I have seen the broken shard of malice you carry and felt the edge of his wrath, yet you will be called upon to bear a still greater burden. To endure such a thing may seem to be beyond you but I have not named you the Prince of Change for naught — when change comes you will know it.

“I only wish to be free of this burden,” Ondene said stonily. “I did not ask for it…”

I could not take it from you with maiming you,
said the Sleeping God.
But I do not need to do nothing…

The eyes of the Sleeping God held Ondene’s gaze in unbreakable thrall as they looked deep into his thoughts and for a moment he imagined that a shaft of pure sunlight shone through his body, illuminating, dazzling him completely. Then the moment passed and that encompassing presence withdrew, leaving him weak-kneed, blinking as he swayed on the spot. His vision was blurred by the brightness and as it began to return to normal he looked up and saw that there was no trace of male aspect in the Sleeping God’s face. Only the glory of womanhood shone forth, making him wonder at this manifestation.

* * *

Calabos, filled with worry for him, reached out to steady him. Ondene jerked slightly at the touch as if roused from a reverie.

“What happened?” Calabos said. “Are you well?”

“A light,” Ondene said in a stunned voice. “Such light….yes, I am well — well enough…”

From now your lives and the lives of all hang in the balance. The Israganthir seek an end to their wandering, but your is not done yet and its outcome may test you.

The chieftains of the Stormclaw looked angry as they muttered among themselves, and Calabos thought that one or two might shout or curse. But then Prince Agasklin managed to calm them with a lowered voice and a steady gaze before turning to face the presence.

“Have we displeased you, divine one?” he said. “Why do you lay further tasks upon us?”

The greatest weights are not hung on the weakest chain, nor is a task of fire entrusted to an adept of water. Have patience, trust to your strengths.

Then the huge countenance turned and Calabos had to force himself not to flinch as that exalted regard bore down on him.

Yours has been a long voyage, Beltran Calabos. We remember the face you once wore as well as that which once wore you. The scar was deep in you yet you have triumphed over the memories it holds and forged yourself anew. Are you now ready to behold the cause, the deadly seed which has brought about such a flowering of malice across these lands? Would you see into what has been hidden?

Calabos took a deep breath. “I am ready.”

Then look….

Abruptly, the pillar-top and the moaning vortex and the Sleeping God with its louring tree were gone. He was standing in a rock-ribbed chamber open to skies of swirling rose-grey, standing on polished viridian marble just within a rough square of twisted black pillars while at its centre was a squat conical altar atop a low dais….

The Wellsource, at the very heart of Hewn Mountain, in the realm of the Lord of Twilight.

The raging emerald of it flickered and flowed up like a fountain of fire, then a jumble of rods and vanes, then a boiling cloud of agonised faces. He remembered it, bit by bit recalling what had happened as he saw Byrnak’s entry with Atroc, the blow aimed at Kodel, then his passage through the Wellsource with the Crystal Eye and the Motherseed in his arms, then emerging with them fused together.

Then Keren entered in Daemonkind form, bearing the Staff of the Void which Suviel joined with the other talismans. Byrnak left but Tauric arrived and Calabos saw for the first time the event which Atroc later described, Suviel and Tauric walking hand in hand into the fury of the Wellsource.

There was a sudden dislocation and a dizzying, disembodied plunge into darkness as he followed them down through the under-realms and further down into the depths of the Void. Their plummetting descent followed the harsh emerald stem of the Wellsource and Calabos could see the wonder and fear in their faces as they fell through that conduit of coruscating power.

Eventually they slowed and slipped out of the narrowing flow to drift down towards a strange black plain of blurred and shifting features, across which cold blue webs of radiance crawled and flickered. Suviel and Tauric found themselve wading through a clinging black fog and Calabos followed as they moved away from the Wellsource’s burning fumarole only to halt perhaps a dozen paces away. Suviel produced the fused talisman staff and gave it to Tauric, muttering something as she did so. The young emperor nodded and went down on his knees in the misty blackness, clasped in both hands the headpiece of the staff then raised it above his head for a brief moment before bringing it down to smash into the strange floor of the Void.

Polychromatic light burst forth from this new wound, spouting around Tauric who did not flinch amid this torrent of raw, primal energy. Then a change came over him and a many-coloured lustre began to pour through his skin, glowing from the exposed skin of face and neck and hands. Soon a single colour emerged to dominate the others, a pure violet that cast its hue in blue-tinted shades across all his form as the remnants of his garment melted away. Tauric had become a god.

Calabos stared in amazement. From all around jagged webs of blue light flashed in towards the nascent fount of Tauric’s power, momentarily brightening the surroundings and allow a glimpse of the vastness of this plain at the bottom of the Void. Suviel came over to face Tauric and said something to which he nodded, his eyes aflame. Then he turned and strode back in the direction of the Wellsource. But he was only a few paces from it when a huge figure came rushing out of the glittering shadows to stand in his way. Tauric halted and gazed up at the evil grinning visage of the Lord of Twilight, whose barbaric armour and downward-curving horned helm gleamed in the glimmering radiance of the Void. Then Tauric raised one foot and stamped — and his form grew to match his foe, then the battle of gods was joined.

It was a violent, thunderous struggle in which Tauric, for all the righteous fury of his cause, found it increasingly difficult to match the skill and practised wiles of the Lord of Twilight. It was the vigour of unschooled youth against the experienced cruelty of age, with the latter gaining the upper hand. Bolts and blades were hurled back forth and the savage ardour of combat stirred up the black fog of the Void’s lowermost plain and made its foundations tremble. And it was bitter to see Tauric reel from blow yet drag himself back to his feet to deliver weakening attacks. The Lord of Twilight had not been untouched by Tauric’s attacks but the triumphant grin on his glowing face told all. With fists wreathed in viridian fire he gathered himself for an assault on the nearly defenceless Tauric — then another figure entered the fray, slender, womanly, her eyes burning with hate.

A single shock of golden force sent the Lord of Twilight flying backwards, and without pity the Earthmother rained more blows upon him. Calabos looked on as battle resumed with a savagery that spoke of an ages-long enmity. And as the Earthmother and the Lord of Twilight engaged in a shattering string of mauling attacks and flaring countersallies, Tauric regained sufficient strength to lunge back into the struggle.

Yet still it was no enough. The Lord of Twilight was still able to fend off the Earthmother’s raging thrusts while dealing Tauric a blow that knocked him off his feet to lie sprawling on the dark and foggy plain. And still he forced himself to clamber upright, letting a cry of despairing anger as he regained his feet and prepared to charge once more…

Then a tremor passed through the plain and several shadowy figure emerged from the turbulent black mists, converging on the conflict. There were no details to their oddly elongated and angular forms which were wholly black.

The masters of the Void,
said the Sleeping God in Calabos’ thoughts.

Suddenly aware of the newcomers, the three gods ceased their violence and drew apart, all weary from the fight yet all still bright with anger.

*This*must*not*continue*
said one of the Void masters.
*This*vicinity*already* suffers*damage*from*your*barbarity*

“Do not stand between me and my victory!”
said the Lord of Twilight.

*There*can*be*no*victory*for*you*
said another.

The Lord of Twilight answered with an emerald spear of power. But the Void master caught it in mid-air and returned it three-fold to strike him full in the chest, throwing him to the ground.

*You*forget*where*you*are*

*You*forget*who*rules*here*

*You*forget*from*whence*you*came*

“I know my power,”
the Lord of Twilight said with an evil grin as he got back on his feet.
“And I know yours, thus I know that I can defeat you in the end.”

*You*know*less*than*you*believe*
one of the Void masters said.
*But*even*is*that*were*a*possibility*the*war*would*be*a*long*drawnout*torment*that*would*wreck*the*Void*and*all*the*realms*and*leave*both*you*and*us*diminished*beyond*recognition.*You*know*this*to*be*true*

Calabos stared, hanging on every word. The Lord of Twilight glowered back at the Void master who had spoken, his silence a tacit admission that it was true.

“I will not submit,”
he said.
“Destroying all of you would be a sweet triumph, and what matters it if I am diminished? I have regained myself before and will do so again.”

*We*understand*this*which*is*why*we*want*to*propose*a*compromise*

At this the Earthmother stepped forward, her perfect features distorted with fury.

“Do not make a pact with this vermin!”
she cried.
“It is in his nature to betray and kill and corrupt!”

Beside her, Tauric nodded.
“She speaks truly — he cannot be trusted in anything.”

The Lord of Twilight laughed.
“The bleating of the prey,”
he said, the addressed the Void masters.
“Say your piece — reveal your plan.”

*We*propose*to*split*the*coursing*of*Time*and*thereby*create*one*world*where*you*are*defeated*and*another*in*which*you*triumph*completely*

Tauric and the Earthmother were aghast.

“That would be an abomination,”
the Earthmother said.
“It would condemn an entire world to slavery under his will!”

*But*in*the*other*course*of*Time*that*same*world*would*be*free*of*his*influence*
the Void master said
*Free*to*make*its*own*way*

“You would be purchasing the safety of one world by sacrificing another,”
Tauric said.
“That would be irredeemably wrong — I say no!”

To which the Earthmother gave a nod of agreement, but the Lord of Twilight just laughed.

“I say yes! — carry out your plan!”

Tauric clenched his fists and violet flame wreathed them.
“I will stop you….”

But he paused as another of the Void masters came into view bearing a limp form in inky black arms — it was Suviel and even Calabos could tell that she was dead.

*We*can*bring*her*back*to*life*and*return*her*to*the*realm*between*if*you*agree*to*the*division*of*Time*

“I had forgotten how cruel you could be,”
said the Earthmother.

*Or*would*you*prefer*to*contend*against*both*ourselves*and*the*Lord*of*Twilight?*It*would*not*be*a*long*battle*

Calabos almost wished that Tauric and the Earthmother would choose to resist, but they looked at each other for a long moment before Tauric said bitterly;

“Do as you will — we shall not oppose you.”

Suviel stirred in the cradling blackness of one of the Void masters, glancing about her, and in the next instant her bearer rose straight up and soon vanished in the upper gulfs of the Void. Then a series tremors passed through the plain and flickers of red and gold radiance gathered around them, building until they joined together in a single dazzling flash of power. In the aftermath, the foggy murk seemed darker than before.

*It*is*done*

The three gods glanced about them then regarded the Void masters.

“So which world is this?”
growled the Lord of Twilight.
“Along which path of Time are we passing?”

One of the Void masters began to drift towards him.

*In*splitting*the*course*of*Time*
it said
*certain*weaknesses*have*occurred*thus*this*is*not*a*good*world*for*you*

At this the Earthmother let out a cry and lunged towards the Lord of Twilight, closely followed by Tauric. Calabos watched in awe as white fire clashed and clawed against blades of hot green power while Tauric sent violet whips darting in. Then the Void masters converged and called down shards of indivisible blackness from the yawning heights. As their terrible impacts struck the Lord of Twilight to the ground and hammered through his defences he bellowed -

“I can see it! — I can see my victory!….”

Then a concerted rush of attacks broke apart the last of his shielding powers and the howl of his death-agony was heard for only a moment or two before his essence shattered in a bright, abrupt wave of force which drowned everything in blinding green radiance….

The Void masters also attempted to close off the Wellsource,
the Sleeping God said in Calabos’ thoughts,
But there were only able to curtail it to a trickle.

“And Tauric and the Earthmother,” he said. “They joined to become you, correct?”

And admirable piece of deduction, Calabos — yes, this is what happened, a fusion made pragmatic by our greatly reduced state in the wake of the enemy’s shattering.

“And what happened in the other world?” Calabos said, seeing with his returning sight a gloomy, grey-brown mist all around. “Where the Lord of Twilight triumphed…” A realisation came to him, “…and he became…”