The Ghosts of Blood and Innocence (31 page)

He closed his eyes briefly. ‘It is not beyond the realms of possibility.’

Lileem rubbed her hands over her face. ‘It’s like putting together an immense, universe-sized jigsaw puzzle.’ She glanced at Ponclast. ‘I feel we’ve just found an important piece, don’t you?’

Ponclast shrugged. ‘Perhaps the picture is becoming clearer.’

‘But in that case, were we created by the Aasp, who favor advancement, or the Zehk, who wanted to clear up an ancient mess?’

‘Neither faction could simply manifest in your realm and start creating new species,’ Ta Ke said. ‘It would have to be more complicated than that. Essentially, they’d have had to work through humans.’

‘A breakthrough in knowledge,’ Lileem said softly. Her voice became more excited. ‘A human, or humans, working on a brilliant ground-breaking project that was in fact the seed of their own destruction.’

‘Now you are making assumptions,’ Ta Ke said. ‘Before vaulting to conclusions, you should gather more information.’

‘I’ve spent years of earthly time doing that,’ Lileem said. ‘Your words are the closest I’ve come to finding anything out.’

Ponclast fixed Ta Ke with a narrow-eyed stare. ‘You still haven’t answered my original question,’ he said. ‘Well?’

Ta Ke gestured languidly. ‘Of course it will affect you. It all depends on who created you, doesn’t it? But be aware of what happened to humanity when they received the gifts of the rebel Zehk. They became monstrous hybrids really. To use an analogy of your world, they became half angel, half beast, capable of the greatest compassion and nobility but also the basest brutality. Their natures were constantly at war with one another. Your kind should think carefully before accepting tempting offers from higher powers.’

‘We already travel the otherlanes,’ Ponclast said. ‘Do you think that should be curtailed?’

Ta Ke shrugged. ‘That is not my decision to make. I suspect it is too late for that gift to be revoked, in any case.’

‘I’ll take you to Thanatep, or at least will try to,’ Lileem said, ‘on the understanding you’ll help us discover our origins. Are you agreeable to that?’

Ta Ke inclined his head. ‘It is a reasonable request.’

‘Can we work in mind touch?’ she asked.

‘That should not present a problem,’ Ta Ke replied.

‘Good.’ Lileem turned to Ponclast. ‘I’ll have to leave you alone… perhaps for some time.’

Ponclast raised a hand. ‘You must do it. Don’t concern yourself with me.’

Lileem hesitated. ‘I won’t forget you, Ponclast. Remember that.’

He closed his eyes briefly. ‘I know…’

Lileem braced her shoulders and addressed Ta Ke. ‘Well, there’s no point in delay. Let’s get started, shall we?’

Ta Ke nodded. ‘I agree.’ He held out his spidery hands to her. ‘Join with me, and open your mind to me.’

Lileem did as he asked. The experience of touching his hands was unsettling enough because they enfolded her own completely, but the moment she touched his mind it unnerved her utterly. His essence was totally unfamiliar. She had to steel herself to withstand it.

Open a portal,
Ta Ke instructed.
Project us into it, and I will then take control.

Lileem did this by focusing inwardly on her own cauldron of creation. She visualised it as a doorway within her, through which she could step into other realities.

Interesting,
Ta Ke observed.

Generally, when hara do this, they have to be engaged in aruna, sexual activity,
Lileem told him
. I’m able to accomplish this purely by my own will.

A useful skill,
Ta Ke said.
Now, surrender your will to me. I can direct us from this point.

Ta Ke effortlessly took control of Lileem’s ability. He might have been physically impaired, but the strength of his mind and his will was volcanic. He used her as he would use a
sedu
, she thought. She was a vehicle he could direct.

As they neared Thanatep, the first thing that Lileem became aware of was that the realm contained harish life force. It was unmistakable because it was what she had often used to guide her in her travels. It was faint, just a trace. But what were hara, or creatures like hara, doing in that realm?

She communicated her findings to Ta Ke, and he was firm in his response.
If there are hara in Thanatep, it’s likely they have been taken there by the Aasp. From what you have told me, they could be individuals taken from the battle of Fulminir. Do not attempt communication.

Lileem was impressed Ta Ke had remembered such detail of her narrative, since at the time she’d related it, he’d still been learning her language.

But we’re drawing closer to them.

Unavoidable. This is our exit point. It might be uncomfortable, because generally the opening of portals within Thannaril itself is prevented. But the wards have decayed enough for me to breach them. They will identify my life force and permit me entrance, but they might try to resist you.

If Lileem had been a horse, Ta Ke would have put spurs to her flanks to encourage her to jump. As it was, his psychic directive had the same effect and Lileem burst from the otherlanes involuntarily. She hit the ground with a bone-shaking crack and for some moments lay there, dazed, barely able to draw breath into her aching lungs. She felt as if an invisible force had tried to squeeze the life from her.

Ta Ke towered over her. ‘Forgive me, that exit was rougher than I thought it would be. It is different with you than with a
sedu.
They are more adept.’

Lileem dragged herself into a sitting position. She clawed her hair from her face and gazed about herself. They were in a huge domed chamber that was lit with a beautiful dark blue radiance. The light was dim but bright enough to see by. Lileem and Ta Ke had manifested close to the circular wall. The chamber spread out in front of them, so large Lileem’s perceptions had difficulty in taking in its details. ‘Where exactly are we?’ she asked.

‘We are in my work area in Thannaril Below,’ Ta Ke said. He surveyed his domain, hands on hips. ‘I am relieved to see it does not appear to have been touched since I left it.’

Shakily, Lileem got to her feet. ‘Why didn’t the Aasp destroy it?’

Ta Ke had begun to walk along the wall, touching various glyphs of light there, which appeared to respond to his touch, since some of them brightened while others faded. Lileem followed him. ‘The Aasp would not be so stupid,’ Ta Ke said scornfully. ‘To destroy Thannaril Below could have had catastrophic effects upon the fabric of the realms. The cities of Thanatep are inextricably wound with the different realms, although it is likely the Aasp disabled the surface areas of the city quite drastically. As far as the lower city is concerned, it is clear to me that the Aasp simply let things lie, go dormant. It must have been the only way for them. Thannaril and her sister cities are useless without the Thanadrim to manipulate them.’ Ta Ke smiled at Lileem, clearly excited and pleased to be home. ‘We must hope that the underground farms are still operational. Now, of course, free from Shaa Lemul, we will feel hunger and thirst. We will have to sleep.’

‘Or I could fetch food from the earthly realm,’ Lileem suggested.

Ta Ke sniffed fastidiously. ‘I would prefer to see what’s left here first. Also, I doubt you would find it easy to enter Thanatep again without me to guide you. It is well secured against intruders.’

‘Then I hope the farms are still working,’ Lileem said, ‘or otherwise we’ll starve.’

Ta Ke made no comment to this but continued to examine his arcane equipment.

‘What exactly do you plan to do?’ Lileem asked him.

Ta Ke paused in his work. ‘Inspect my tower, Mutandis,’ he said. ‘It rises above the surface of Thanatep, as do countless others, and is my tool of regulation. If I can wake it, it might be able to wake others. But it has been exposed to the elements for a long time, so I expect it will have suffered damage. I have to investigate the feasibility of repairing it.’

Lileem folded her arms. ‘Ta Ke, there are other beings above us here. Perhaps we should go to a different city, somewhere isolated.’

Ta Ke shook his head. ‘I can only work with my own tower. We are attuned.’

‘Are you sure? Have you ever tried?’

Ta Ke regarded Lileem disapprovingly. ‘Feel free to explore. If you go through that doorway over there and keep heading straight on, you should come to the farms. They are unmistakable.’

Lileem stood her ground. ‘I question the wisdom of waking a tower when there might be agents of the Aasp around it. It doesn’t make sense.’

Ta Ke sighed; it was clear his patience was wearing thin. ‘Lileem, you speak in ignorance. It will take me some time to reactivate the tower, and I intend to be discreet. I know my job.’

‘And if you succeed, what then?’

‘I will use it to try and track down others of my kind, or seek alternative aid. It is possible a higher power might assist me, although they usually regard the antics of lesser beings as inconsequential.’

‘You don’t say!’ Lileem shook her head. ‘I’ll go and look for food.’

Lileem found the farms quite easily, as they were recognizable by their glass exteriors. They looked in fact like enormous greenhouses. At first, Lileem was concerned she’d find only a barren desert of dried up stalks within them, but was relieved to discover the opposite was true. The farms had been neglected, but the mechanisms that provided light and nutrients had obviously remained functional since, inside, the greenhouses resembled impenetrable jungle.

Lileem had to force her way in, and it took several tries, with different greenhouses, before she found one where she had the strength to push the door against the tangled growth within. She clawed her way through the vegetation and was pleased to discover large pale yellow fruits hanging amid enormous wide leaves. There was a strong smell of over-ripeness in the air, like sickly sweet honey. But for the first time in ages, her stomach growled in anticipation of food.

The plants had originally grown in raised beds between wide aisles, but now grew rampantly all over the place. Lileem progressed down one of the aisles, picking fruit as she did so, and laying them on the floor in piles. Although the smell the fruit left on her hands was strong, it was not unpleasant, and this indicated to her that they were unlikely to be toxic to her body. Back in the earthly realm, Lileem had often used her heightened senses to identify consumable foods in this way, but she decided to err on the side of caution and take everything she found back to Ta Ke before sampling it. Her body had waited years to feed; it could wait a short while longer now.

As she pulled the fruits down, she let her mind drift over pleasant memories: living with Flick, Ulaume and Mima on the riverboat Esmeraldarine; her first days in Shilalama; her love for Terez har Aralis. When she got to that part, Lileem decided she’d gathered enough to eat. She’d come to a work station, where panniers were stacked in a pile, just visible but mostly covered by leaves. She dragged one of the panniers free and retraced her steps up the aisle gathering the fruits she’d left on the floor.  She supposed that different fruits and vegetables might grow in the other aisles; another time she’d investigate further.

When she returned to Ta Ke, he was not at all happy. She’d been gone for longer than she’d realised because he’d had time not only to inspect his tower on the surface, but also to scan the ethers for traces of his people.

‘They are gone,’ he told Lileem in bewilderment. ‘I cannot find any sign of them. They have either died out or have been hidden somewhere so distant they might as well be dead.’

Lileem put down her basket. Ta Ke barely glanced at it. ‘I’m sorry,’ Lileem said. ‘Can you do this alone?’

Ta Ke sighed heavily. ‘The towers are badly damaged,’ he said. ‘Time has taken its toll on them. I do not even think the Aasp harmed them. Natural dissolution has gnawed at their fabric.’

‘Does that mean you can’t do anything here?’

Ta Ke’s eyes took on a fierce expression. ‘I will attempt to rebuild Mutandis. It will be a start. As to whether one tower is enough, I cannot yet say. I have no choice but to try.’

‘Eat something,’ Lileem said. ‘This fruit smells edible.’

‘They are goyani, yes,’ Ta Ke said, in a wistful tone. He bent to take a fruit from the pannier, then held it to his nose. ‘Once, I feasted on this delight with my loved ones.’

‘I really am sorry,’ Lileem said. ‘It must be terrible for you. You said it felt like you only went to sleep yesterday. The grief…’ She shook her head.

‘In some ways, yes, there is much grief,’ Ta Ke said, ‘but in others, I am numb. I feel as if I lost everything a long time ago, even though it also feels recent. Strange. It must be an effect of what Hagak did to me.’ He was silent for a moment, then bit into the fruit he held, chewed it slowly. He swallowed, blinked a few times and sighed. Then, almost sadly, he smiled. ‘Try the goyani, Lileem. Enjoy this experience for the new and rare thing it is for you, and I will enjoy it for the happy memories it invokes. There are many other delights to be found in the farms.’

‘You haven’t seen the state of the farms,’ Lileem said dryly. ‘They are jungles now.’

‘But still fertile,’ Ta Ke said. ‘We must be thankful for that. You will need something to occupy your time as I am working. You can concentrate on clearing an area in the farms for us.’

Lileem laughed. ‘All right. It’ll be like old times for me. But if there’s anything I can do to help you with your work, please let me assist.’

Ta Ke inclined his head. ‘I will bear that in mind.’

Lileem could tell he didn’t think a lower being of her type could do anything to help him. She sighed. She had a feeling she’d be in this place for a long time.

Chapter Eighteen

Ookami set up his black pavilion in the field opposite Phade’s Tower. It appeared overnight, and Darq first saw it when he rose from his bed and looked out of his window. Ground mist swirled around the graceful folds of fabric; it looked somehow mystical, as if a magician lived within. There was no sign of life, because Ookami wasn’t in it. He was elsewhere, breathing in the morning. Darq did not yet know the name of this har but nonetheless was aware that his fate had come to meet him. His time at Samway was nearly over.