Part 64 (1/2)

Argoth wanted to fight, but his limbs were sapped of strength. Across the chamber, Hogan raised a stone to cave in the woman's head, but she struck his arm, knocking the stone from his grasp. Then she bucked and slipped out from under him. Hogan chased after her, caught her, and slammed her against the rock wall.

The ribbons of light flew at him, cl.u.s.tered around.

Hogan grabbed her around neck with both hands and began to throttle her. The lines of his body blurred at the edges, blurred even her form. She was choking. Her ribbon familiars seemed to shudder with a sympathetic pain.

For a brief moment her visage flickered. One moment she was a woman whose face shone with such beauty it almost took Argoth's breath. The next, the woman was gone, and in her place was something horrible with a round, sucker mouth full of teeth that looked like it belonged on a leech or lamprey. Her undulating creatures seemed to swim with less vigor for a moment. And then the G.o.ddess was back.

She held a pointed weapon in her hand. With a quick jab she thrust it at Hogan's gut. There was a flash, but it didn't look as if it had penetrated the mantle.

Argoth began to believe they might win this fight.

But then the monster rose from the ground, holding up the two hag's teeth in its rough hands.

Argoth watched in dismay as the teeth stilled their movements. Then the monster crushed the teeth and threw the lifeless twists of metal to the dust.

”Hogan!” Argoth yelled in warning.

But it did no good. Hogan was too focused on the woman.

The monster charged. With three enormous strides it covered the distance between it and Hogan. It dropped its shoulder and crashed into Hogan, its large bulk hurling him away from the woman.

Argoth wanted desperately to join in the battle. But the crown yet drew from him, leaving him with hardly the energy to even walk.

Hogan whirled on the monster and, with terrifying violence, struck it in the head with his stone.

The monster reeled to one side.

Argoth marveled at the power of Hogan's blow. He'd seen the dreadmen attack this thing. He'd seen the Skir Master. None had come close to this.

Hogan followed with another blow, the very air seeming to bend before him.

The monster fell back to the floor.

There was more in those blows than the simple force of stone. The mantle was at work. He could see the stone glistening with the power of it.

The ribbons of light swirled about the room. A number still clung to Hogan, and Argoth could see they'd eaten partway through the mantle.

Hogan raised the stone again, then the woman attacked him from behind, penetrating the mantle, stabbing deep into Hogan's back.

He jerked in pain, then twisted round and struck her with an elbow.

She flew backwards, but Hogan dropped to one knee. He tried to rise, but the monster fell upon him and ripped the stone away from his grasp.

Hogan struggled. He delivered two mighty blows to the monster, but they were not what they had once been. Argoth could feel a weakening in the binding between him and the crown. The monster caught the second blow in its rough hand, and wrapped Hogan in its long arms. Then it took him down to the floor in a full body hold. Hogan thrashed, but he did not break free.

The woman walked up to Hogan, a number of her s.h.i.+ning school of light still writhing, hissing, and whispering about her. She reached down and clutched at the golden square of the crown.

Hogan twisted in the monster's grip.

Argoth felt the woman through the bond of the crown. It felt like something gnawing on his bones. She was breaking the crown.

How was this possible? This was a Victor's crown. It was supposed to be impenetrable. And then he realized the crown was, but the bond was another matter entirely.

The bond suddenly changed. The harmony that sang through him departed, replaced by something painfully off key. Then the bond snapped altogether.

The Creek Widow cried out.

Argoth felt a great gust of his essence whirl up and away. The break had rent him. In panic, he tried to close up the leak.

Hogan grunted and struggled once more against the monster's grip.

Argoth stemmed the rent in his being. A portion of his strength returned, but it felt as if a sword had just sliced through him.

The woman ripped the crown from Hogan's head and tossed it aside. It landed only a pace or two from Talen.

The monster squeezed Hogan tighter, shook him. And as it did, sparks of light fell from Hogan like pieces of ash to the floor.

”Unruly beast!” the woman said to Hogan. The remnants of her s.h.i.+mmering school drew round her, but not so tightly as before. She felt the side of her face where Hogan struck her with the chain then turned to the monster. ”Take him there,” she said and motioned to a place next to the rough figures on the floor.

The monster changed its hold on Hogan to clasp him firmly in one arm and got to its feet. Hogan struggled, but to no avail. The monster dragged him to the earthen bodies lying in their horrible rows on the other side of the chamber.

”That one will do,” said the woman.

The monster laid Hogan next to a rock and clay figure with a vicious muzzle. Splotches of dead gra.s.s sprouted from the side of the figure's head and chest.

The woman moved close to the monster. She hovered over it. ”This,” she said, ”will be your first child. He'll be more aware than you were, have more human memories from the start, and be more intelligent, more powerful. You were a mishmash of many things; I couldn't recover you whole. Not with the binding your original master had put upon you. But he is unfettered and pure.”

What was she talking about? Fear rose in Argoth's mind.

”Separate the man,” she said. ”Put his soul and Fire into the body of earth.”

At first Argoth could not believe his ears. Then the shock rolled over him. She was transferring Hogan's essence-spirit and soul-to one of the still creatures on the floor.

”No!” he cried. ”Stop!”

The woman turned to them. ”You all will serve me,” she said, ”with a lesser binding or with one of rock and stone. With your current bodies or that of another. I am now your master.”

Hogan struggled in the monster's grasp. ”Ke!” he called out. ”River!”

Ke was already charging. But how could he? The breaking of the bond had nearly crippled Argoth. Argoth marveled at the strength in the boy.

Ke held Hogan's chain in his hand. In a blinding motion, he drew back and struck at the monster with terrible ferocity. The chain wrapped around the monster's neck.

Ke grabbed the chain with both hands and yanked it backwards. Such a move would have ripped the head off a normal man. The monster jerked back, but it did not loosen its grip on Hogan. Instead, it reached up with one hand and tore the chain out of Ke's grasp. Then it struck him with it full in the face, knocking him to the floor.

Talen yelled. He held a knife aloft and charged.

The monster turned slightly when Talen got close and struck out in an almost lazy fas.h.i.+on. Argoth thought he heard ribs crack. The blow sent Talen flying backward to land sharply on his side.