The Arcanist (58 page)

Edouard spun belatedly, his pistol raised and his finger on the trigger, only to discover in one horrible instant that he couldn't squeeze it. Vesar was there all right, but he was standing right behind Kyriel with a knife held firmly against her throat.

She was struggling, but she was in no position to do so. He had her strong arm wrapped tightly around her body underneath his own, preventing her from going for her weapons. His other arm was holding her throat tightly with the knife. She was properly pinned.

“He was behind me. I never heard him.” Kyriel choked out an explanation, probably as humiliated at being in this position as she was angry. Probably more so actually.

“And why would you girl?” Vesar smirked nastily at her, though because he was behind her she couldn’t see it. She was lucky in that. His face was badly torn apart from where Simon's shots had torn into it. His cheek was a crude mess of scars and stitches and the tusks on the injured side were completely missing. His mouth was ripped open far wider than it should be. It seemed that Simon had only just failed to kill him. “Did you think you were a fighter of some sort?”

“I can see my brother improved your looks considerably with his shots. Would you like me to even things out a bit?”

Edouard didn't even bother trying to reason with the Cabal wizard. Instead he kept his pistol aimed straight at his head and taunted him. Of course he couldn't shoot. Vesar was careful to keep his head well hidden behind Kyriel's, and even if Edourd's shot was perfect he knew the spray of burning powder would burn her face badly.

“That foul bastard!” Vesar all but snarled his anger and a trickle of spittle ran down his misshapen jaw. “I gave him everything he asked for and he still betrayed me!”

“Treachery was always Simon's most endearing quality.”

Edouard stepped to one side, looking to get a better angle on Vesar, though of course Vesar just turned around, making sure to always keep Kyriel directly in front of him. That was all right though. The Cabal wizard hadn't realised what Edouard was actually doing. He was circling him. Forcing him to turn around. At present they had a stand off. Edouard could have turned around and shot the powder trail but Vesar would still have had enough time to slit Kyriel's throat and then run before he turned back. Edouard needed to be able to shoot the powder and never stop having a weapon pointed at Vesar's head. Getting an angle that allowed him to have one weapon trained on Vesar and the other on the trail of black powder at the same time would allow him to do that. Once he had them both in his sight, he would be the one in control again.

Provided that was that Kyriel didn't do something stupid. And she was looking very angry. Anyone else would be frightened. But Kyriel was a warrior. For her the fear mattered not a wit as much as the humiliation of having been caught in such an embarrassing position. Edouard silently willed her to stay calm and not do anything stupid. But he had no idea whether she would realise what he was doing. Or whether she could do it even if she did.

“He was a weasel in all things! I'm glad he's finally dead. And the rest of you with him shortly,” Vesar all but snarled at them.

“Oh I doubt that.” Edouard decided it was his turn to sound as if he was the one in control. This was a game of minds as much as weapons. “And you'll die regardless.”

“These … mechanical demons … will hurt, but they won't stop our army. We have enough sparks to undo them and you don't have enough soldiers. And when our people catch you they will string you up.”

“You think this is it?” Vesar spat at him, though his spittle went everywhere save where he intended. It was hard to spit straight with a ruined mouth. “I have a portal waiting as well. Once your army enters the city I'll open it and bring through another army. Goblins from the west. Twenty thousand of them. There will be nothing left of your friends.”

“Goblins are weak!” Edouard smiled cruelly at his enemy and took another sideways step. “A single well trained soldier with a sword could kill half a dozen of them. My brother has fifteen thousand such soldiers. Or can't your people count?”

It wasn't completely true. A well trained soldier could kill half a dozen of the biting, scratching little fiends, but his brother didn't have fifteen thousand of them. He had ten thousand men, and they weren't all soldiers and they weren't all that well trained. But Vesar had to believe him. Because he had to break the Cabal wizard's confidence.

It seemed to work. Vesar didn't say anything for a little bit. He just stood there, and appeared to be weighing his words. Perhaps he was even starting to panic. Sensing that Vesar was about to founder Edouard pressed his advantage.

“Besides, you can't do anything while I'm alive. And you can't kill me. Not with a knife. Taking Kyriel hostage may have been a way of protecting yourself, but it also trapped you. How do you plan on awakening these mechanical demons while I'm here? Or running to your portal to open it? I'll shoot you if you run or if you go to the mechanical demons, and I never miss. And I'll shoot you if you harm Kyriel.”

“Then again perhaps we should just continue standing here and wait for my brother's army to come through that door.” Edouard smiled some more. “It won't be long. Especially when you have no demons and no goblins.”

“Bastard!” Vesar spat some more.

“Oh come now. Where's that oily, smooth little toad who always had a clever answer for everything?” Edouard taunted him some more and took another couple of steps to the side, forcing Vesar to move with him. “Or is this what you truly are? Nothing but a cut throat little monster and a liar?”

“You call me a monster?! After what you've done?! You can't even imagine how hideous your race is to mine!”

“I've done?” Edouard hadn't expected the accusation. Nor did he know what he was being accused of. But he didn't let it stop him from taking another step to his side.

“Your miserable race. You started this war after all.”

“I think you have it backward. You attacked us remember. The mammoths. How many innocent people did you kill? Thousands?”

“We were just defending ourselves. Your mines came down from above and punctured the walls and roofs of our cities like spears. Your people brought diseases with them and vermin that multiply and destroyed our fields and ate our crops. Our water supplies are polluted with the tailings of your diggings. Many of them have been completely drained as the water was released from its underground rivers. And then every so often you simply attacked and murdered our people. How in any way are you innocent?!”

“You sent the sprigs! They killed upwards of ten thousand people and all but destroyed Theria.”

Edouard responded to his preposterous claim almost without thinking. Because what he was saying couldn't be true. His people could not have done that. And yet he had a horrible feeling in the pit of his stomach that said otherwise.

“Five years ago your people punctured the dome over Gellis Deep. A hundred thousand of my people were driven from their homes as the city of jewels became darkness. It cannot be repaired. The city is lost to us now. Forever. One of the greatest cities the world has ever known. Destroyed. Abandoned to the vermin.”

“If that happened it was an accident.” Edouard had no way of knowing if he was speaking the truth. But he could think of no reason why Vesar would lie to him. Not now at least. Still, he had to defend his people. And he had to save Kyriel. So once again he managed another couple of steps to his side, turning Vesar around a little bit more.

“And how many more accidents will your people have?!” Vesar screamed at him, more spittle dribbling down his chin. “You dig your accursed mines ever deeper every day. How many more of our great cities will you destroy? How many more of our people will you kill?”

“You could have said something.” Edouard fought back as best he could. But he knew it was a weak argument if Vesar was telling him the truth.

“We tried. By rock and iron we tried! We sent envoys to speak with your people. They were fired on before they even got to open their mouths. Most were killed. We sent soldiers under a flag of truce. They were murdered too. Then the ventilation shafts leading to our cities were blocked. And all so that your people could dig a little more gold. You surface dwellers are savages!”

Edouard didn't answer him immediately. He couldn't. His family had nothing to do with mining. So the dwellers of the deep were only stories to him – if even that. But if Vesar was telling the truth, he might have cause for his anger if not for what he had done. But he was still holding Kyriel hostage and he had to free her.

“If what you're saying is true then your argument was never with those you murdered. Lord Smallbridge owns the goldmines in the Archaise Mountains to the north of Theria. Count Stevenson owns the copper mines to the east. They don't draw their labourers from Theria alone but from anywhere they can find them. And both of them are dead as far as I know.”

“Let Kyriel go. Surrender yourself to me and I will see that you get a fair trial and a chance to present your claim to King Edmond.”

Edouard wasn't sure that he wanted to make the offer, only that he had to. It was required by both his position as one of the nobility and by righteousness. And maybe he thought, it might even save Kyriel's life.

“Surrender?! Never!” Vesar yelled at him, spraying spittle in all directions as he did so.

“My army will crush your savage race! And then we will seal up your mines forever. We did it thousands of years ago. We will do it again.”

“The Cabal.” Despite everything Edouard was curious. It was always his greatest failing. But that didn't stop him taking another step sideways and turning Vesar a little more as he tried to face him. And the black priest still hadn't realised what he was doing.

“Your word, not ours. To us they were the Legion of Glory. They came above ground to this hideous land and naked sky to stop the transgressions of your ancestors. Of the dwarves most of all as they dug almost to the very heart of the world in their search for gold. They were destroying everything in their greed, and the warlord of the time – the Dragon King as you called him – urged them on.”

“But our people stopped them. They turned your ancestors' thoughts from greed to distrust and from distrust to war. They saved our world. One of my own distant ancestors saved our world. Arch Engineer Vesar.”

Or Vesar the Corrupt as Edouard knew him from history. But he suspected Vesar wouldn't appreciate the reference. And it didn't really matter as he kept slowly circling him.

“They destroyed our world to do it!”

“No. Your ancestors destroyed your world. They were always warlike. Elves, dwarves, humans. Tribes of savages, held together only by the strength of each successive warlord. So they revolted. They killed themselves. They overthrew the Dragon King and then descended into anarchy and war for a thousand years. And in the end only the bastard children of those races survived.”

“But it seems you have the same flaws. Greed. Selfishness. Ambition.” Vesar laughed bitterly. “You've learned nothing in three thousand years. And because of it you can be destroyed in the same way.”

There was truth in that Edouard thought. His brother was the perfect example. But it no longer mattered as he finally found himself in position. Vesar was in front of him with his back to the golems. Ironically enough he might even shelter Kyriel a little from the blast with his body if the worst came to the worst. And just off to his side Edouard could see the trail of black powder on the floor just waiting to be lit.

It was time. He drew his second pistol and aimed it at the powder while his first still covered Vesar.

“All right, here's what's going to happen.” Edouard took control of the situation as he knew he had to. “In a moment I'm going to fire and ignite the black powder trail. There'll be perhaps a handful of seconds after that before the powder reaches the keg and everything including your entire army of these things goes bang.”

“You wouldn't – !”

“I will.” Edouard cut him off bluntly. “Now if we're still here we all die. You will die certainly. Our only chance is to run for the door. All of us. If you cut Kyriel's throat I will shoot you and you will die. If you delay and keep holding her we will all blow up together. Again, you die. If you try to drag her to safety you'll be too slow, and you'll die.