The Destroyer Goddess (81 page)

"No, but I do not intend to leave you unguarded, even so."

As Kiloran turned to leave him, Zarien said, "Where are you going?"

"Up to the surface. This is a battle. I need to see what's happening in order to fight our enemies most effectively."

"I want to come, too," Zarien said quickly.

"No, you'll be safer here."

"But I—"

"No," Kiloran said. "Stay here, with these four men."

Zarien nearly protested again, but he saw the look in Kiloran's eyes and held his silence.

Tansen waited until Baran told him it was safe, then he waded into Lake Kandahar, his flesh crawling as he did so. 

"Faster," Baran chided. "I don't think he's noticed me amidst all the fire magic yet, but he will any moment."

This is even worse than jumping into the gorge below Geriden's house was
.

But Zarien was down there, so Tansen took a deep breath and dived for the center of the lake. Once again, he wished he'd asked his son for swimming lessons. Fortunately, there were no strong currents here. But the lake was deep, dark, cold, and terrifying—he'd have been scared even if there
weren't
a waterlord somewhere in this lake eager to kill him. However, he'd survived this journey once before, albeit as a captive—when he'd returned Armian's
shir
to Kiloran—so he didn't turn back, not even when his lungs felt close to bursting.

And then he saw it—the glow of light from the underwater palace. By now, his whole body ached with the need to breathe and he feared his lungs would reflexively gulp for air at any moment. Desperate to inhale, he headed for the glowing dome directly beneath him, letting the weight of his swords and his boots help carry him there as his arms pushed water behind him.

He hesitated briefly when he reached the palace ceiling. There were figures below him. People moving around.

They've seen me
.

He couldn't hesitate. Surprise was his only weapon against Kiloran now. He unsheathed his swords and tumbled through the domed ceiling as if it were made of... water.

The
floor
, however, felt as if it were made of crystal, and hitting it knocked the wind out of him. 

Tansen heard Zarien scream, "
No!
" and rolled to defend himself just as two assassins jumped him. He killed one of them instantly, but the fall had disoriented him enough that the other made a deep slash in his shoulder before Tansen parried the blow and slit his throat.

"Stop!" Zarien shouted.

He was on his feet as two more men circled him.
Only
two, he saw to his relief. He made them retreat with a flurry of thrusts, and used the moment to look around. They were in the main hall, where Kiloran had once nearly killed him; and Kiloran was nowhere in sight.

"Don't! No!" Zarien cried.

Make it fast
, he thought,
and get out of here
.

He attacked, making one of the assassins fall over Kiloran's gaudy chair, which gave him time to kill the other one. Then he beheaded the assassin who was recovering his balance. 

Only when they were all four dead did he feel the intense pain of the
shir
wound one of them had just inflicted. He turned to Zarien, his heart racing, his lungs still aching, and his body protesting that hard fall.

Kiloran, who was too old for steep climbs, let a large bubble of water carry him to the surface. He was only halfway there when he realized what else was invading his territory besides fire magic.

Baran
.

He knew the flavor of Baran's reckless talent too well to mistake it now.

So
that's
why Baran had let his ally, whoever it was, completely take over their battle for Alizar and the Idalar. Not because he was nearly dead, but because he was concentrating his remaining strength on violating Kandahar tonight.

Kiloran felt a moment of elation as he realized he would finally get to kill Baran, who'd been fool enough to return to Kandahar after all these years. 

The moment was short-lived, though. All that Guardian magic! The sudden assault, on such a huge scale. He should have realized it was Tansen's plan, designed to confuse Kiloran's senses long enough to keep him from sensing that Baran was here... until Baran had had time to remove the deadly, flesh-killing chill from the lake. 

Zarien
.

The boy was no longer protected. The lake was vulnerable, and so was the palace.

Was Tansen already in the lake? In the palace? He couldn't tell. Baran's power was now assaulting his domain, trying to pull Kandahar away from his command, and the fire magic everywhere was corrupting his senses. 

The one thing Kiloran couldn't afford to lose was his son, his heir, his future. Zarien might be able to protect himself with his power, but they hadn't actually practiced any such skills yet. Therefore, saving the boy from Tansen must be Kiloran's first priority, even above the battle raging for control of his entire territory.

As for Baran... Did that madman really think he could invade Kiloran's domain and survive? Did he think Kiloran had never prepared for the assault of another waterlord?

As Kiloran commanded the water to take him back down to his palace to protect his son, he closed his eyes, ignored the clamoring of fire magic spreading rapidly through his territory, and called upon the darkest, strongest power of a waterlord: the White Dragon which guarded Kandahar against the attack of another waterlord.

Kill Baran
, he commanded his watery offspring in silence.
He has finally come home, so we can kill him, at last
.

Tansen's eyes met Zarien's. The boy looked shocked and horrified. He was also, Tansen realized with a sick feeling, backing away from him. 

Tansen said, "Let's go."

Zarien's gaze dropped to the swords in his hands. Tansen looked down and saw they were drenched in blood. He didn't even bother to flip it off, simply resheathed them as they were, though he supposed he'd regret that later.

"Zarien," he said calmly, trying to break through the boy's evident shock. "We're leaving."

Zarien froze. He looked confused. "We... You... you came..."

Tansen prodded. "
Now
, Zarien."

"Are you... Why are..."

Suddenly, he just snapped. Simply couldn't focus anymore. Whether it was the way Zarien was backing away, or the shocked expression on the boy's face, or his own fear, he didn't know; but Tansen completely lost control of himself. He forgot how much danger they were in, forgot about the battle. All at once, he couldn't think of anything but how incredibly, blood-boilingly furious he was with his son. 

"And
you
," he informed Zarien in harsh tones, "are in so much trouble! What did you think you were
doing?
Running away like that! And coming
here,
of all places!"

"I... I'm..."

"Najdan is right!" Tansen shouted, heedless of who might hear. "I should beat you! And don't think I won't!"

"I didn't... I couldn't..."

"I don't want to hear your excuses!" he raged. "When will you learn to think before you act? Anything could have happened to you! Anything could
still
happen to you! Do you
ever
think?"

"I'm... I'm..."

"
What?"
he snarled.

"I'm
sorry!
"

"Well, that's hardly helpful right
now,
is it?" Tansen snapped.

Tears welled up in those dark eyes and started to slide down that young, tattooed face. Zarien brushed them aside. "I didn't know what to do," he choked out. "I was afraid... I thought you'd hate me..."

Tansen closed his eyes and tried to control the torrent of anger. "And you thought I'd kill you? Zarien, is that really what you thought?"

"I don't know. At the time, you seemed so... I don't know!"

"But no doubt
he's
been telling you I'd kill you."

The boy suddenly stumbled towards him, panic replacing the confusion, sorrow, and guilt. "He'll kill you if he finds out you're here! You've got to go!"

"
We've
got to go," Tansen corrected. "I'm not leaving without you."

Zarien looked at him darkly. "Do you just want to take me from him?"

"Is that what he says? If that's what I wanted, I
would
just kill you." Tansen took him by the shoulders. "I don't want him—or anything else—to take you from
me
." 

Zarien's face crumpled. "I'm sorry. I didn't mean to..."

"I'm sorry, too," Tansen said more calmly. "I know I said and did things I shouldn't have. We have a lot to talk about. But no matter what happens, I'm your father and nothing can change that." More in command of himself now, he looked around, "Where is he?"

"He went up to the surface."

"Good," said Tansen. "Let's go before he realizes I'm here and comes back."

"How?"

"We'll have to swim for it."

Even as the words died in the air, the walls of Kandahar started roiling like wildly boiling water.

Zarien gasped. "He
knows.
"

Tansen seized his arm and dragged him toward the nearest wall. By the time he reached it, only an instant later, it was impenetrable, as hard and unyielding as the floor beneath their feet.

They were trapped.

Baran stood thigh-deep in the chilly water and felt it change, felt something raging and powerful come to life in it.

Ah...

It was disappointing to see Kiloran do something so predictable. A White Dragon had killed Josarian in the Zilar River, after all. One would really like to think a waterlord would be more creative about guarding his own home than he was about murdering some upstart peasant in a minor tributary of a secondary river. But,
no
, Kiloran was repeating himself now. 

"As I said before," Baran murmured, "no one has any standards anymore."

The power of hundreds of Guardians assaulted him, burdening his senses. He could see enchanted wildfire approaching the lake from several directions now. His insides felt as if they were dissolving in the relentless flow of his illness. Velikar's tisane had made him more lightheaded than he'd expected—or perhaps this feeling was just exhaustion.