The Crystal Mountain (31 page)

Kael approached the creature. “I’m so sorry, Micus,” he

said. He hefted his sword. “I wish that… everything had been different between us.”

He drew back the blade and sliced downward. Micus’s grotesque, bloated head tumbled from his shoulders. Blood sprayed as the head bounced to one side and rolled away. The rest of the creature continued to flop and spasm.

Kael turned back to Pharaun. “Tauran will grieve this loss for a long—”

“Beware!” Pharaun said, grabbing Kael and shoving him aside.

Crackling, blinding light erupted from behind Kael and engulfed Pharaun. Kael staggered to the ground and flung his arm up across his face. Spots swam in his vision and he shouted in pain and horror.

When the afterimages of the stroke faded enough for him to see again, Kael, on his hands and knees, peered toward his father.

Pharaun lay unmoving: Smoke rose from his scorched body.

“No,” Kael pleaded, scrambling to his father’s side.

Aliisza could barely keep aloft. Her muscles, weakened so much from her magic consuming her, struggled to work. She climbed slowly, gasping for breath with each pump of her wings, rising in a corkscrew fashion.

Just one more time, she’d tell herself. Just once more. An easy pace. You can do it.

But she didn’t think she could.

The last of the demons were dead. She had slain them with

her blade and watched them fall away. She wondered where they would land. If they would land.

You could fall, too, she thought. Just let go. It would be easy. Get rid of this pain.

No! Just one more time around. An easy pace. See this through. Kaanyr needs to understand.

At last, Aliisza came through the tops of the clouds and spied the bottom of the great stone basin that held the Lifespring.

She almost sobbed in relief, but she couldn’t give in even that little bit, or she’d lose her momentum.

Aliisza circled around three or four more times until she crested the edge. She pitched forward and went limp upon the rocks.

You did it. You got here.

Yes, she thought, gasping and panting. Now for the hard part.

She could hear the shouts of battle and urgency forced her up again. She sought her companions and spied them part of the way down the shore, still fighting. Kael and Pharaun opposed the thing that had once been Micus and Myshik. It had grown since she had seen it last.

She felt a momentary pang of guilt and regret, remembering how Micus thought she had betrayed him. Then she shook it off. I am not that person, she insisted. I did the best I could.

Farther along the narrow beach, Tauran and Kaanyr dueled one another.

Eirwyn lay crumpled on the sand.

Aliisza struggled onto her knees, then tried to stand. She wanted to rush forward, to join the fray, but her body was

betraying her. She dropped back down.

I can’t, she thought. The magic has taken everything from me. Just too much. I’m sorry.

No, the defiant part of her thought. Get up. Die trying. Don’t lie here regretting. She listened to that defiant part, struggling to rise again. You must help them. Find a way, Aliisza.

She staggered upright once more. She took one tentative step, and then another. Confident she wouldn’t tumble over from exhaustion, she moved forward, maddeningly slowly.

She saw Kael take Micus’s head from his body and a sense of sadness, but also peace, filled her. Tauran will take it hard, she thought. But Micus’s suffering is over, at least.

She was getting nearer to the pair when Pharaun jumped forward, knocking Kael to the ground. A booming crack of lightning erupted from the beast’s corpse. The concussive blast stunned Aliisza and she fell to one knee, watching as Pharaun, his back arched in torment, was engulfed in the blast. He toppled.

“No! Pharaun, no!”

Aliisza forced herself to her feet a third time and stumbled down the beach.

By the time she reached him, Kael had recovered and had Pharaun’s head cradled in his hands. She dropped down beside the two and saw then that the wizard’s form had reverted back to its natural state. Kael held Zasian, whose broken and battered body sported several injuries. “Is he—?” she asked, her voice a near-whisper.

Kael looked at her. “It caught him squarely.” His voice cracked. “I guess the ‘imperfect vessel’ finally had taken all the punishment it could. He was… interesting.”

Aliisza stroked Kael’s hair. “At least you finally got to meet him,” she said. Then she looked down the beach. “Kael”—she tried to get to her feet one last time—”Tauran still needs us.”

“I know,” Kael said. He set Zasian down gently and pushed himself up. “Come.” He took her hand.

The two of them trotted down the beach as fast as Aliisza could move. She could see Kaanyr and Tauran battling furiously. Beside her, Kael was already clenching his sword, and she could see the lines of his jaw working as he clenched his teeth.

She didn’t want to tell him to go on ahead. She didn’t want to be left behind. I want to be there when Kaanyr goes down, she insisted. But Tauran was in trouble, and Kael wanted to rush to his side.

“Go,” she said. “Help him.”.

Kael looked at her gratefully and took two steps forward.

A black blur flashed in front of Aliisza’s vision and plowed into Kael from behind and slightly to one side. The force of the impact took both it and the half-drow over the side.

Aliisza screamed and stumbled to the edge. She peered over and spotted Kael locked in a death grip with one of the demons. It had a hold of the knight’s throat with its claws, and Kael was struggling to get his sword into position to stab at it. Both of them plummeted away from her.

“Kael!” she cried out. She wanted so desperately to tip herself over the side, to drop down there with him and aid him. She knew she could not.

You’re the only one left, she thought. Go help Tauran.

Sucking in a deep breath, Aliisza struggled to her feet yet again. She trotted unsteadily toward the dueling foes, anger

at Kaanyr driving her forward. All of this is your doing, she thought, staring right at the cambion. It all comes down to here and now. And I will make you understand!

Cambion and angel pummeled one another with blade and mace, their blows ringing in the air. Tauran, sporting a number of nicks and scratches that soaked his tunic with blood, swatted Kaanyr’s blade away from his head and made an elaborate gesture. A shaft of holy light stabbed downward from the heavens and struck Kaanyr directly.

The cambion grunted and stumbled back a step.

Aliisza closed the distance. She only needed a few more steps. She fumbled her sword out of its sheath.

Kaanyr spied her coming. He gave her a little grin and turned to face Tauran once more.

Before Aliisza could reach them, Kaanyr muttered something and pointed at the angel with his sword. A sickly purple gout of flame burst from the tip and enveloped Tauran.

The angel went rigid and howled in misery.

Frantic to stop him, Aliisza rushed on. Her feet felt like blocks of stone. Her legs screamed for her to stop. She ignored her body’s torments and raised her sword.

As the flames from Kaanyr’s sword died, he took one lunging step toward the teetering angel and drove his blade deep into Tauran’s chest.

“No!” Aliisza screamed. She staggered closer.

Kaanyr grinned at her.

“You bastard, no!” She staggered forward with her blade up. “I will gut you! I will make you understand!”

Purple energy crackled over Tauran. The angel gasped and dropped his mace. He put both hands on the hilt of the blade, and Aliisza could see him feebly working to remove the

weapon. Then his arms dropped, he fell back, slid free of the sword, and flopped onto the sand of the beach.

Tauran, I’m sorry. I wasn’t fast enough.

Aliisza reached Kaanyr and swung her sword down with everything she had left. He casually flicked his blade up and deflected it, knocking the weapon from her trembling hands.

All the rage, all the pent-up frustration, drained from her. She dropped to her knees. No more, she thought. I’ve got no more. But you will understand.

“You were a fool to try to stop me,” he said, looming over her. “All of them.” He gestured down the beach. “Fools. When I set out to claim the power of this Lifespring for my own, I vowed that nothing would stand in my way.”

Aliisza snorted. It turned into a chuckle. “You’re the fool,” she said. “You’ll never get what you want from the damned water, but even if you did, you missed the whole point.”

“What are you talking about?” he growled at her, his fury plain on his face. He did not like being laughed at.

“No one cares about you, Kaanyr. No one gives a damn that you succeeded. You have no one to share your victory with.”

“Ah, but knowing how my taking it from under the angels’ noses infuriates you so is almost as sweet.”

Aliisza shook her head. “I’ll be dead, remember? When I’m gone, no one will care about that, either.”

“Enough of this drivel,” he said. “I should have killed you back in that stinking cave. You’re as weak as a kitten, just like then, but I will not make the same mistake twice. When I was hanging from chains in a balor’s palace, suffering for your betrayal, I vowed to get even.”

“No one cares, Kaanyr. With your power and your glory, you will always be alone.”

“Shut up!”

Kaanyr raised his sword. She knew she had no strength left to fend him off. She could not stop the blade as it came forward, thrusting into her belly. She gasped and fell back, but Kaanyr came with her, driving the blade deeper. The malevolent magic of the weapon crashed into and through her, leeching her life away.

Gods, it hurts, she thought, tears filling her eyes. She heard herself whimper once, the sound very small.

More tears screamed down Aliisza’s face. She gazed up into Kaanyr’s eyes, which burned with rage. With one trembling hand, she reached up and touched him on the cheek. Then she said, “Nobody cares about you, Kaanyr.” She gasped for air. It was hard to breathe. I don’t want to die! “But people used to care. I did. I used to love you.”

Kaanyr smirked, but she could see a moment of doubt reflected in his eyes. They unfocused for a moment and he stared at nothing as he contemplated how much he had lost.

That’s when she knew he understood.

Feeling a burden lift from her, Aliisza summoned the last remaining reserves of her magic. She poured them all into a final spell. She knew it would consume her utterly, but that was all right.

Nothing can keep me from dying now, she thought.

She uttered a single word, spoke it as loudly and clearly as she could. “Mortalos” she said. Her voice rang out clearly and without wavering.

Kaanyr heard her, and his eyes grew wide. He staggered onto his feet, letting go of the hilt of his sword. “What did you do?” he demanded. “Aliisza, what did you just—?”

The cambion staggered back a step. Two steps. He clutched

at his chest and toppled to the ground. With one horrific, gut-wrenching cry of anguish, Kaanyr Vhok died.

Aliisza sobbed and fell on her side.

Everything went black.

Kael knelt over Aliisza in the shallow water. He bathed her forehead with the healing waters of the Lifespring, willing them to work their divine magic upon her. The alu was still dying.

It had been too late for Pharaun and Tauran. They were both already dead by the time he reached them. But Aliisza still lived, and he had hoped.

Hope is a cruel thing, Kael thought bitterly. Maybe it’s better to live without it.

Aliisza smiled up at him, her dark eyes beaming. “You fought well today,” she said.

“Not well enough,” he mumbled, cradling his mother’s head in his lap. “And now the Lifespring won’t heal you. I don’t know what to do.” He could hear the anguish in his voice.

What in the Hells is wrong with me? he thought, wiping away a tear. I’ve seen friends die in battle before. How can this hurt so much?

“The power of the spellplague within me is too strong,”

Aliisza said, her voice weak. “The magic consumed me in a way the Lifespring cannot undo.”

“Well, it should,” Kael said. “After all you’ve done for this place, your life shouldn’t end like this.” He fought to keep his voice steady. “It’s not fair.”

He looked out over the battlefield. His gaze moved from body to body, settling first on Pharaun, then on Tauran.

Two fathers, and I lost them both. And now my mother, too. An orphan three times over. None of this is fair.

Kael choked back a sob, hot wanting to let the alu lying on his lap see him that way.

“Look,” she said, pointing with one trembling finger. “The peak up there. It looks like a crystal mountain.”

Kael turned to see what she was staring at. The sun had at last broken through the clouds and the blue sky was visible once more. The bright rays shone upon the peak where the mists of the waterfall burst from the side of the mountain. The whole thing sparkled from the dampness, refracting the light in a dazzling display.

Kael smiled. “It does,” he agreed, turning back to look at her face.

“I wish I’d gotten to live with you,” Aliisza said, her voice fainter. “You know, when you were a boy. I would have liked to have raised you.”

Kael sniffed and rubbed a hand across his eyes. “I know,” he said. “I missed you then too.”

Aliisza opened her mouth to say something more, but she coughed, and blood came with it.

“Don’t talk,” Kael said. “Be still and rest.”

She shook her head. “No time,” she whispered. “I can’t breathe.”

Kael felt his throat constrict with sorrow. “I’m sorry,” he said, his voice cracking.

“I want you to have this,” Aliisza whispered, fumbling for something on her hand. “It was Pharaun’s. Your father’s.”

Kael saw her slip a ring from her finger and hold it up to him.

“He would want it back,” she said, smiling, “but since he can’t have it, you should.”

Kael took the ring from her. It was thick and silver and had a strange, spidery emblem etched into it. “Thank you,” he said.

Aliisza died smiling at her son.