World's End (8 page)

Shilen's voice seemed to come from elsewhere in the dark. She groaned.

‘I'm sorry,' he said, as if that could be any use.

Her shoulders shook as she pushed herself upright again. She turned her face to him. Blood so dark it was black seeped from her forehead, past her nose and mouth. She smiled through its sheen, her teeth white for a moment till they were drenched. ‘You have hurt me,' she said, ‘but not too much. No one promised my duties would come without pain.'

He went to her. Misunderstanding his intent, she said, ‘Stop. Don't be foolish. You cannot kill me.' She palmed the blood from her eyes.

‘You aren't human, are you, Shilen? A human could not survive this kind of injury. But I'm sorry I hurt you. Very sorry.' Clumsily she stood up, swaying on her feet. ‘What are you?' he said.

‘I'll not answer.'

‘Are you a dragon in disguise?'

‘I speak for them. That is all you need to know. Since your
answers come with a price, so now do mine. Do you understand what you just saw?' She pointed at the door.

‘An illusion.'

‘No. You saw a future. When seers see futures they see only probabilities …
usually.
But what you just saw is what comes. Unless you help us.'

‘Why should I believe you, Shilen? You've just shown you are perfectly happy to lie to me.'

She seemed angrier at this remark than at his having shot her. ‘You tell tales to children to impart lessons. That is no worse than what we have done. The future you just saw is what awaits. Did you enjoy it? That is your home, all dead and gone, if you choose. Choose now, Pilgrim! The dragons are useful allies. Help them while your help still matters to them.'

He picked up the gun he'd tossed away. She flinched back from him. ‘I'm just putting it back in the holster. I'm sorry I shot you.' Why am I the one in this position? he thought for the thousandth time. Predictably there was no answer. Shilen crouched down, shivering. ‘Is there anything I can do to help you?' he said.

‘Be grateful. I choose not to return the pain you just gave to me. Will you help the dragons or not?'

‘Wait, I want to understand things properly. You are speaking for the dragons, and I'm speaking for the human race. Is that right? I'm first among the Favoured, you say.'

‘The lord of your kind, if that term better suits.'

‘No one else seems to know that.'

‘The dragons shall make sure they do.'

‘And in exchange for that, they want me to help them get free. And they will save my world, Otherworld, Earth? They will
prevent what I just saw, at the cost of killing most people here in Levaal. Is that right?'

‘Killing your kind is not the reason the dragons desire to be free.' She made it to her feet again. ‘Are we to bargain now, Favoured one? If so, name your price for this arrangement, if being lord of your kind is not already enough.'

He had no idea what to say to her. Again he seemed to hear Loup's voice:
Tell em whatever they want to hear, lad. Tell em you're a dragon yourself, if it please em.
‘All right, here are my terms. People in Levaal are to remain free.'

She scoffed. ‘Are they free now?'

‘They're free from dragons, even if they imprison each other. If I'm lord, I'll put a stop to that. But when the dragons are freed, our cities will be left alone.
We
are to be left alone.'

Again she swayed on her feet, then crouched down in apparent pain, and he got the impression she wasn't badly hurt at all, that she was just exaggerating. He could not be sure.

She said, ‘That is not a price, Favoured one. You have simply described what will already be. Dragons do not wish to dwell in the cities of men; their homes are mostly found in what you call unclaimed lands. Why not name a price? Do you wish for protection from other men? You shall have it. You wish for magic power? A life many centuries long? You shall have them. Treasures the envy of your kind, and even the envy of some dragons? You shall have them. If you wish.'

‘That beast I saw before, the one named Shâ …'he began.

‘
He
will remain here,' she said in a quieter voice, as if that dragon were lurking in the dark nearby.

Eric crouched down too, as if pushed by the weight of all humanity. That was how it felt. ‘What is it the dragons want
of me, Shilen? Not of my species, but of me. Why am I here speaking with you now, out of all the people they could have picked?'

‘I cannot answer, for I did not make the choice, Favoured one.' Light faintly gleamed in her eyes, as if the human mask she wore had slightly cracked, as if something else peered through her face. A hard edge came to her voice. ‘Speak your wishes now, clearly. The dragons will accept them as law, provided you keep me as an advisor in your affairs. It does not mean you must do as I ask, but you must speak with me whenever I wish it. That is all they ask. The dragons do not break agreements. Nor should you. You and your mate shall have the throne between you.'

She stepped in his direction and seemed to grow in stature till she towered above him, her eyes blazing. ‘And this too is now law. You shall not ever again, under any circumstance, play with those mechanics which elevate a man to the stature of a god. That beyond all else is forbidden. Too little is known of those sciences, even to the dragons.'

‘Don't the dragons like what became of Vous?' Eric said. He'd had no idea the question was a dangerous one, but anger seemed like a burst of heat pouring from her, so hot he stepped back in surprise. That was answer enough for him: whether or not the dragons had somehow had anything to do with creating Vous, the result had not met their expectations.

Shilen said, ‘All knowledge of those arts will be destroyed and never sought again. If you, as lord and firstborn of your kind, ever work with the gods
against
the dragons, know that this is a violation of the laws of their Parent. If you do service to the gods against us, the Eight will ride across World's End to swing the Pendulum high on purpose, and so waken their Parent. All
humanity, even the Favoured among you, will be destroyed. You are warned.'

These words shook the cavern and sent him staggering backwards. He closed his eyes, but when they opened she was a woman again, with flaxen hair stained by a wound he had caused.

She said, ‘Gifts you shall have, if you will take them. Blessings of protection and luck you shall have also. Together the dragons and your people shall preserve this world, and Otherworld, from the danger in Levaal South.

‘And hear this: it is rumoured some of your kind seek to awaken Inferno. Do not let them! Levaal has gods enough. If Otherworld would be defended, Levaal must set its dragons free. For the dragons and Otherworld share certain enemies, and we will fight those enemies with fury.' She said all this softly, conjuring pictures in his mind of humans riding dragons across fields of battle, enormous wingspans casting shadows on hordes of armies, fire pouring from the dragons' mouths to glint on thousands of spear tips below. And Eric rode the dragon leading their march.

Shilen said quietly, ‘Accept the gifts you are now offered, Favoured one, firstborn, lord of men. Accept the dragons' blessing. You do not yet know your privilege. You among all of your kind who ever walked, breathed, or toyed with fire and magic. Go, be with your mate. When you both wish to, you may leave this place and claim your throne. You are invited to return here as you wish, and bring with you whoever among your kind you choose.'

She stepped out into the dark and was gone. The door had vanished, leaving only the slab of stone it had been set into. Eric stared about, not knowing which way to go to find Aziel,
when the faint glimmering light of an Invia roost in the distance glinted as if switched on to guide him back. Further away, high above, so far he could only faintly hear it, was the ominous noise of heavy weight shifting. With the sound the very slightest shiver ran through the stone where he stood. Eric hurried his steps.

Long before he reached the Invia roost he heard laughter, so high and sweet it seemed some enchantment was in play. He ran the rest of the way back. As before, the roost seemed to get no closer till he was upon it.

He had expected to find Aziel still asleep, or perhaps shivering in the dark. She'd be clutching her ripped dress to cover her nakedness as best as she could, maybe weeping, wondering if what had happened to her had been a horrible dream. He felt
he
was the one dreaming when he came into the roost and found her sitting high on a ledge between two pillars, with Invia on either side of her, looking as if she had become one of them herself. The laughter was hers. Threads of her dress hung freely from her shoulders and waist. Her necklace poured forth gleaming radiance, making solid the otherwise flickering dreamy light of the roost.

Invia on nearby structures – he counted them: eight – watched her with cocked heads, big eyes and what seemed to be amusement. He had never seen such looks on their faces before. They did not turn to him when Aziel finally noticed his arrival. She made not the least motion to cover her breasts; in
fact she stood up proudly, naked as all the Invia were. Her smile beamed down at him.

This was so contrary to what he'd envisioned – tears, anger, accusations – that all he could say was, ‘Aziel … be careful up there.'

‘They won't let me fall. Watch!' She jumped into the air, her ripped clothes and hair trailing gracefully behind her, face filled with light and joy. As she began to arc down from her leap, all the Invia rose from their perches, the two nearest reaching her in a blink, taking her by an arm each and setting her gently down. They flew straight back to their perches, watching her.

‘I have learned so much,' she said. A touch of sadness came to her smiling eyes. ‘We have to leave soon and take the castle. The ones there now aren't allowed there any more. It's ours. I suppose you're nobility now. They said you're coming with me.'

‘I'm sorry about your dress, Aziel. And … the rest of it.'

‘Don't be a fool! We have a world to govern, Eric, and you bother yourself over a ripped dress?'

‘It wasn't just the dress.'

‘I'm aware of what happened,' she said, and he was glad to see a touch of her familiar regal annoyance. ‘It was a dream we both had, did you not know it? A dream, and real, all at once. As is life itself. Come. We should leave soon.'

‘Won't your father still be at the castle? Won't the Arch?' She shrugged as if neither was of great import. ‘Aziel, they might have other ideas about us claiming their home.'

‘They're entitled to whatever ideas they like in the privacy of their own minds.' She sounded solemn and – he could not deny it – powerful. Then her voice and manner changed to those of a delighted girl: ‘You must meet Hauf! He's nearby; he's been waiting for you. Hauf! Come. He has a gift for you, Eric.'

A shape loomed in from beyond the perimeter. It was a dragon, but one smaller even than Case the drake. Its skin was dark as the cavern floor and walls, cracking as the dragon moved with apparent difficulty towards him. If not for Aziel's light manner, he'd have run from it, for its face was vicious. Its body was lean but heavy muscles rippled about its shoulders and legs. It came slowly, straight for Eric, dark eyes glittering.

‘This is Hauf. Don't be afraid of him. He's the smallest dragon here, I think. But he's very strong. He's made of stone, on the outside at least. The Invia say he doesn't use magic. He can fight, though. He survived a fight with one of the Majors, long ago. He didn't win of course, but he survived. That's what they say, at least. It made him famous among the lesser dragons. Hauf doesn't fear magic at all.'

The dragon paused with its head lowered at Eric's feet, eyes glaring up as if it meant for all the world to rip his throat out. Instead it set down a small, plain-looking amulet. From deep in Hauf's throat came a growl like angry stone. Words were faintly discernible in the sound: ‘You may call me three times. Then I am free.'

‘Oh!' said Aziel. She clasped her hands together. Eric reached for the amulet, only because he feared Hauf would bite him if he did not. ‘He won't hurt you,' Aziel assured him.

The dragon watched him pick it up, grinding its teeth with the sound of rocks being chewed to powder. Slowly Hauf turned to limp into the dark beyond the roost.

‘He's nicer than he looks,' Aziel confided. ‘Most dragons are, I think.'

He looked at her, wondering who had convinced her of this, and how. ‘I can think of an exception. I'm sure you can too.'

She would not meet his eye. ‘Why must you bring that up again? Most of the others don't like
him
either. You needn't worry. He'll never be free. They won't let him out.'

‘So I'm told. Listen, Aziel. You may not care about this, but I do. What I did to you earlier … it wasn't a dream, do you understand? I never meant to touch you in that way. It's not something I'd have done to you at all, if I'd been able to think straight or control myself. I think there was some kind of magic at work. That sounds like an excuse I know. But I want you to know, I'm sorry.'

She interrupted him with laughter. ‘Not some thing you'd have done at all? Let's see about that. There's no magic here now, Eric. Unless
I
have powers. Do I?' She stepped closer to him, pushed her body into his, her lips onto his, not concerned at all for the Invia who still watched them.

After a minute or two, neither was he.

As they made to leave the roost one of the Invia drew their attention to a little chest made of something like ivory, half buried in a mound of dust. Inside it were gowns, several of them. One fit Aziel perfectly, though the rest were far too large. While she examined these Eric ignored her commentary and stared at the amulet Hauf had given him. It was cool on his palm, light in weight, and the colour of dull steel; entirely unremarkable to look at. Part of it depicted what was perhaps an eye. If it were magical, he felt none of its effects and his mage eyes saw nothing unusual.

Aziel dug around in the chest. ‘Look! There's even more in here. Here! Something for you, I think. It's a shirt. O, it's armour. See? There're three of them. This one might fit you.'

She held up a sparkling chain-mail shirt. He ran a hand down
it, imagining Loup's voice issuing words of caution about taking gifts from strangers, especially strange dragons. ‘Aziel, what have we learned about taking objects we find lying about? Beautiful objects or not.'

‘
We
have learned more than we ever dared dream we would know,' she snapped. ‘Here we are, in a place where no one else dared to come. And we are made rulers of everything! We wouldn't be here at all if I hadn't taken the necklace. So there's your answer.
We
have learned some gifts are too perfect to refuse.'

She tossed the chain-mail shirt at him. He caught it. ‘I have a hunch I know what kind of queen you're going to make,' he said.

‘I'm trying to be practical. You'll need protection. We may be about to do something very dangerous.'

He held aloft Hauf's amulet. ‘What about this? Is it good for anything?'

‘Weren't you listening? Hauf will come if you call him. Maybe he can hear you through the amulet. Though he won't be able to help us within the castle.'

‘Why not?'

‘Spirits and dragons can't go there. I don't know why, but everyone knows it to be true.'

For a while longer he watched her rummage through the chest as though she'd owned it for years. ‘Aziel, these gifts … Look, help isn't usually given freely. As a queen or empress or whatever you are, you ought to know that.'

But he slipped the chain-mail shirt on nonetheless, and took the other odds and ends Aziel dug out of the chest: pieces of seemingly plain jewellery, things like coins, coloured gems, some which gleamed bright, others which were dull. There were half a dozen dragon scales of various colours, big enough to be scales
from the brood's Parent. Including – he almost heard Kiown's jealous, anguished scream – a black scale.

Aziel waved goodbye to the Invia. They did not respond at all. The chain-mail shirt clinked faintly for a few steps then seemed to settle itself on Eric's body. They heard beating wings behind them as one or two of the Invia left the roost and flew into the gloom above.

Aziel showed no sign of trepidation as they got nearer to where they'd entered the dragons' sky prison, easily found by following the trail of dead war mages. The place Shâ had revealed himself for the first time to human eyes, unless others like Shilen dwelled here. (Did Shâ know that we watched him? Eric wondered. Was that display of cruel power somehow part of the dragons' plan, a message to the new human lords? Emphasising, perhaps, what Shilen had told him:
The dragons do not break agreements. Nor should you.
)

War-mage bodies grew more common the closer they got to the tunnel leading down: war mages broken and twisted into odd shapes, unclosed eyes here and there still glowing catlike and yellow, though most had faded out. Overhead, the cavern ceiling began again its song, with new wind blowing through the tunnels. Aziel looked up and waved, as if the eerie notes had bid them a personal farewell.

When they neared the downwards-curving tunnel, Eric gazed at the two dragons lying dead among the piles of slain war mages. The larger one's body was of golden shades, in places coppery red, or edged with silvery white, now vandalised all over with whiplash burns, punctures and tears. Still it was breathtaking, like something beautiful dropped senselessly from a great height and broken. A lump came to Eric's throat, hot tears welled in his eyes as he recalled the cry it gave while it died.
It need not have died like that. Shâ could have come down right away, ended the battle with ease, and spared this magnificent thing its life.

‘Eric, we have to go,' Aziel said, pulling at his arm.

He began to turn away when one of the dragon's eyes peeled open. A faint, pleading groan sounded from its lips, barely audible. Eric recoiled in horror – not horror of the beast, but horror
for
it. He hadn't the power to help speed up its death; he could not bring himself to try shooting it. He wept. ‘I can't help you. I'm sorry, I can't help you.'

Its one open eye looked into his, saw so deep within him he felt naked to his very innermost layer. He did not know if it had understood him or not, only that it suffered and could not be helped. Aziel, weeping also, pulled him away from its gaze and towards the tunnel.