Star Mage (Book 5) (14 page)

As they gathered their gear and prepared to leave the Emperor’s Revenge, the Captain came and shook hands with Talis and Master Goleth, and bowed in respect to Mara. “We all owe you our lives, young master Talis and Master Builder.” He looked to Talis and nodded his head in admiration. “I saw what you did to obliterate that massive wave and keep watch over the storm that foul night. I will never forget the aid you provided us after the betrayal of those sorcerers. If you ever need help of me or any of my captains, just you let me know. And you won’t forget our agreement? The gods be blessed, soon the sea with thrive with trade from the Storm family and may Naru once rise again in power and wealth!”

Talis said goodbye to the man, and helped Mara down the gangplank where Master Goleth wasted little time in leaving the docks. His long legs strode at a pace hard for them to keep up with, and Talis had to call out a few times, asking for him to slow down. At those times the Builder’s face looked nervous and even afraid to find himself in such a poor part of the city. To Talis it seemed familiar and warm, like the lower part of Naru, and nothing hideous like Seraka or seedy like Khael.

“We must keep moving,” the wizard said, and he glanced around and winced as he spotted something off in the distance. “It will look poorly if we arrive at the Regent’s Inn too late in the day.”

When the Builder charged off once again, Talis scoffed and rolled his eyes at him, and Mara joined in, giving Master Goleth her cute and conniving look of mockery behind his back. “The
Regent’s Inn
awaits us, my dear. Let us not tarry here in this disreputable part of the city. The gods forbid such dissolute behavior.” She made an expression like she wanted to vomit.

Talis chuckled with her and he expected a harsh retort from the wizard, but Goleth was so intent on studying the streets that he hadn’t heard a word they’d said.

“Blasted damned circular streets!” Master Goleth swung his head back and forth, his eyes in a panic as the darkness fell over the city. “There’s no order or logic at all in this part of the city.”

“But of course not,” Talis said, and cleared his throat. “Do you really expect the city planners to spend time in the poor, common quarters of the city? The money flows to where the money comes. I imagine this entire quarter provides little in the way of taxes. Likely when they come to collect, the people ask for work or for money to help feed hungry children. After a few years of that, even the most motivated tax collector will give up and go for easier targets.” Exactly how the lower quarter of Naru worked. Only the official shops and artisans generated tax wealth for the King. The poor provided little, but made cash and kept it hidden from the government. Not that Talis cared, for the King had much and the people had little.

“Are you lost?” Mara said, and Talis could tell she was trying to keep the humor out of her voice.

“Of course I’m lost!” The wizard sighed in frustration and let his hands flap to his side. “I’m a master builder but I have a terrible sense of direction. And I hate this part of Carvina.” He paused for a moment, his eyes vulnerable and disoriented, as if he were a boy remembering a painful experience.
 

“I suppose you might as well know,” Master Goleth said, “you deserve an explanation for my strange behavior. You see, when I was young I traveled through these streets with my mother. We had arrived in Carvina at those same docks to try and find my father, who had failed to write to us for many months after coming here to work as a stonemason.”

The Builder rubbed his weathered, wrinkled eyes and Talis could see a quick swell of sorrowful emotions flourish on his face. “Those men
hurt
my mother… I can still feel the anger and impotence I felt, so powerless and unable to do anything to stop them. I tried”—he raised his big fists and shook them at the stars—“oh, gods I tried to beat them, but I was so little and those men were so strong and they laughed at me while they hurt my mother in so many terrible ways. I never saw her again. They beat me and left me for dead on these streets, and I never knew what happened to her.”

Mara gaped in horror at the Builder’s story, and Talis could see that she felt embarrassed for having mocked him before. And Talis felt the same way. If he’d only known why Master Goleth acted the way he did, he would have never made fun of him. But Talis realized that perhaps many people were like that, acting in some strange way because something horrible had happened to them, something painful that scarred them for life.

“And did you ever find your father?” Mara said, her voice soft and penitent.
 

The wizard nodded and his eye twitched at the memory. “After those men dragged her away and left me bruised and beaten, I forced myself to crawl and eventually stumbled away to safety that very night. I left this evil area and vowed to find my father, and I did after a week of searching and begging and asking for help in finding him. An old priest took pity on me and fed me and gave me shelter until he located my father at a temple building site where they were erecting a new shrine. But my father had found a new wife and she refused to allow me to stay with them. That’s when the priest arranged for my acceptance into the Order of Rezel.”
 

Talis found his hand settling on the Builder’s shoulder, and the wizard looked at him with eyes ready to burst with tears. “I’m sorry for your loss, Master Goleth, truly I am. And don’t worry, I’ll help us out of this place.” With an appreciative nod from the wizard, Talis withdrew the Surineda Map case and unfurled the parchment. He commanded the map to show their position in the streets of Carvina, and asked for aid in finding the Regent’s Inn. Soon a wispy thread of gold appeared on the map and gave them clear guidance.

But Mara asked him to wait, and Talis saw a dark malice appear in her eyes as she stared down the dark streets. “Such an evil deed against one so innocent deserves revenge. I refuse to allow those men to go unpunished. They deserve to die.”

Talis found himself shocked at the look of fierce determination and fury on her face as she stared at the wizard. Even though Master Goleth’s stunned silence provided no agreement to proceed, Mara fixed her eyes on Talis and motioned for him to use the map. He had no choice but to humor her request. But he couldn’t help but feel it was a terrible idea. So he closed his eyes and asked the map to display the location of the men that hurt Master Goleth and his mother so many years ago. When he studied the parchment, the map jittered for a while and blinked in response as if thinking, then it moved over to the northeast and displayed twin grey lights.

Mara nodded her head and exhaled, catching Master Goleth’s attention as she pointed at the Surineda Map. “There are the men that hurt you and your mother. And tonight they will die, by your hands or mine, I do not care, but I swear to the gods that tonight they will meet the cruel Guardians of the Underworld.”

Rikar screamed in horror as a shadowy being engulfed him in the purest form of malevolence. All his meditation, all his training, fled him in an instant. A vast hand of darkness squeezed him as if there was something soft inside to savor and consume. The pressure was so immense he cried out in agony and begged for it to stop, but Rikar soon realized that his words were swallowed by the black void that surrounded him.

Then the pressure released and the darkness vanished and the feeling of the presence smothering the life out of him disappeared into a sea of silvery starlight. He found himself floating in the space between stars, and the breadth and awe of that place astounded him. There were thick patches of stars condensed together into a white ball that spread out into fuzzy edges, and deep, massive stains of inky blackness that refused to allow any light within their terrible boundaries. Concentrated light alongside utter darkness. Madness and sanity. Life and death. Chaos and order. The fundamental opposite forces presented before him in the auditorium of the universe. And all Rikar could think about was killing Garen Storm.

He was sure that many people would be absorbed with the beauty of the vision and find themselves caught up in rapturous euphoria, but Rikar only stared at the black stain and pictured it as a dagger striking the heart of his enemy. After all his meditation and fasting, the focus of his mind distilled into one pure malicious thought: bring death, bring pain and suffering, and cause cascading collateral damage to everyone.

The oppressive feeling of the Nameless returned to him in an instant fury. A thought penetrated through to his mind; a silent question of Rikar’s worthiness. Soundless curiosity voicing the doubt that Rikar had often expressed to himself,
Why should I bother with you?
The being failed to even care about his memories, it didn’t probe and it seemed to care little, and after its initial horrific force, touched Rikar’s mind like the soft breeze of summer. And he heard another glancing thought (perhaps the last one)
, What thing of interest do you have for me to see?

Aurellia had done no coaching with him on what to expect with the Nameless. In fact the Dark Lord doubted that Rikar would even be able to gain an audience with the Lord of All. He had forced Rikar to leave and ordered him to try his best to slay the Starwalkers.
At least one must be killed,
Aurellia had said.

He found fear pierce his heart as he pictured the Starwalker woman being impaled by the crystal shards of the temple, and Jared, the lead Starwalker, with his raging eyes locked on him in an eternal promise of vengeance. The Starwalkers would come for Rikar, now he knew it with an absolute certainty.

The voice again, stronger now
, Ah…now that is something of interest to me, the ancient beings of light who walk the stars. They possess the primordial fragments of power from the birth of the universe. I desire such power. Interesting. You have slain such a being?

Rikar opened his mouth to answer, but found no purchase for his voice.

Speak in your mind, strange one
. The voice had a pompous edge that irritated Rikar.

So he tried again, thinking the words this time.
I have killed a Starwalker, and they have vowed revenge against me. Can you protect me from their rage?

The Nameless issued a contemptuous laugh that echoed across Rikar’s mind and filled him with fury.
You come to me daring to speak of self-preservation? There is no self in the universe, only the whole… The life or death of your physical form does not interest me, and I doubt it interests anyone.
The being issued a great wheezing sound like the rattling rasp of refuse in the lungs of a smoker.
However, if you prove a suitable lure for us to catch our plump and shiny fish, then perhaps…

A shock of light burst in his mind’s eye and soon he returned to the darkness of the chamber, filling him with a mixture of dread and hope.
But without an actual promise to help
, Rikar thought. The door opened behind him and he could see a faint light outside, but not even the most infinitesimal bit of light entered the chamber.
A prison, indeed
, Rikar mused, and allowed a smile to spread on his face.

As he was leaving the room, the voice returned, formidable and indignant this time,
Here is the not prison. The door seals the prison of the outside world of illusions. You have been permitted entry through one of the gates into the real world, where illusions vanish into the sea of the whole. You know nothing, illusion-blinded fool…

The smooth sensuousness of Callith’s skin tormented Nikulo as he sat with her in the palace library, feeling the fire burning at the great hearth. The flames flickered and danced around the logs, sending shadows flittering across her face as the fire burned low. She’d led him here seeking privacy after the long dinner.

“I probably should have you arrested for killing my husband,” she said, and surprised Nikulo out of his stupid entrancement. “But considering that you were afflicted at the time, I guess I can’t completely blame you for what you did.” She winked at him with an irritably cute expression on her face. “But I can blame you for all the other things you did to me, in my moment of emotional weakness…”