Part 24 (1/2)
”I do not sleep until you sleep, Mina. You know that. Or you should, after all this time together.”
Her head bowed. He was astonished to see two tears glitter in the candlelight, slide down her cheeks. She whisked them both swiftly away.
”I know, Gaidar,” she said in m.u.f.fled voice that tried to be gruff but failed, ”and I do appreciate your loyalty. If only ...” She paused, then, glancing back at him, she said, almost shyly, ”Will you wait here with me?”
”Wait for what, Mina?”
”For a miracle.”
Mina lifted her hands in a commanding gesture. The flames leaped and swelled, burning brighter and hotter. A wave of searing heat smote Gaidar in the face, causing him to gasp for breath and lift his hand to s.h.i.+eld himself.
A breath filled the chamber, blew on the flames, caused them to grow stronger, burn higher. Banners and tapestries graced with emblems sacred to the Mystics hung behind the altar. The flames licked the fringe of the tapestries. The fabric caught fire.
The heat grew in intensity. Smoke coiled around the altar and around Goldmoon's amber sarcophagus. The Solamnic female began to cough and choke and woke herself up. She stared in fearful amazement, jumped to her feet.
”Mina!” she cried. ”We must get out of here!”
The flames spread rapidly from the banners to the wooden beams that supported the steep ceiling. Gaidar had never seen fire move so fast as if the wood and the walls had been soaked with oil.
”If your miracle is to burn down this temple, then the Solam-nic is right,” Gaidar bellowed over the roar of the fire. ”We must get out of here now, before the ceiling collapses.”
”We are in no danger,” Mina said calmly. ”The hand of the One G.o.d protects us. Watch and wonder and glory in her power.”
The gigantic wooden ceiling beams were now ablaze. At any moment, they would start to crumble and break apart, come cras.h.i.+ng down on top of them. Gaidar was just about to grab hold of Mina and carry her out bodily, when he saw, to his utter confusion, that the flames consumed the beams entirely. Nothing was left of them. No cinders fell, no fiery timbers came thundering down in a rush of sparks. The holy fire devoured the wood, devoured the ceiling, devoured whatever materials had been used to build the roof. The flames consumed and then went out.
Nothing was left of the temple roof, not even ashes. Gaidar stared into the night sky that glittered with stars.
The corpses of the two mages sat on their bench, unseeing, uncaring. They could have perished in the flames and never made a sound, spoken no word of protest, done nothing to save themselves. At a sharply spoken command from Mina, the bodies of the mages rose to their feet and moved toward the altar. Walking without seeing where they were going, they came to a halt when Mina ordered them to stop-near Goldmoon's amber sarcophagus-and stood once more staring at nothing.
”Watch!” said Mina softly. 'The miracle begins.”
Gaidar had seen many wondrous and terrible sights in his long life, particularly that part of it that revolved around Mina. He had never seen anything like this, and he stared, thunderstruck.
A hundred thousand souls filled the night sky. The ghostly mist of their hands, their faces, their diaphanous limbs blotted out the stars. Gaidar stared, aghast, amazed, to see that in their ephemeral hands, the dead carried the skulls of dragons.
Reverently, gently, the souls of the dead lowered the first skull through the charred opening where the roof had been and placed the skull on the floor, before the altar.
The skull was enormous, that of a gold dragon-Gaidar could tell by the few golden scales that clung to the bone and gleamed pathetically in the flickering candlelight. Though the altar room was large, the skull filled it.
The dead brought down another skull, that of a red dragon. The dead placed the skull of the red dragon down beside that of the gold.
Shouts and cries rose up from outside. Seeing the flames, people came running to the Temple. The shouts ceased as they gazed in shock at the wondrous and fearful sight of dragon skulls, hundreds of them, spiraling down out of the dark night, cradled in the arms of the dead.
Methodically, the dead piled the skulls one on top of the other, the largest skulls on the bottom to form a secure base, the skulls of smaller dragons piled on top of that. The mound of skulls rose higher and higher, stacking up well above what would have been the height of the steep-pitched roof.
Gaidar's mouth went dry. His eyes burned, his throat constricted so that he had difficulty speaking.
”This is a skull totem from one of the dragon overlords!” he cried.
”Three of the dragon overlords to be precise,” Mina corrected. of the dragon overlords to be precise,” Mina corrected.
The totem increased in height, now taller than the tallest trees, and still the dead continued to bring more skulls to add to it.
”This is the totem of Beryllinthranox the Green and of Khel-lendros the Blue and of Malystryx the Red. As Malystryx stole the totems of the other two, so the dead steal hers.”
Gaidar's stomach shriveled. His knees weakened. He was forced to grab hold of the altar to remain standing. He was terrified, and he was not ashamed to admit to his terror.
”You have stolen Malys's totem? The dragon will be furious, Mina. She will find out who has taken the totem, and she will come here after you!”
”I know,” said Mina calmly. ”That is the plan.”
”She will kill you, Mina!” Gaidar gasped. ”She will kill us all. I know this foul dragon. No one can stand up to her. Even her own kind are terrified of her.”
”Look, Gaidar,” said Mina softly.
Gaidar turned his reluctant gaze back to the pile of skulls that was now almost complete. One last skull, that of a small white dragon, was laid upon the top. The dead lingered for a moment, as if admiring their handiwork. A chill wind blew down from the mountainside, shredded the souls into wisps of fog, and dispersed them with a puff.
The eyes of dead dragons began to s.h.i.+ne from their hollow eye sockets. It seemed to Gaidar that he could hear voices, hundreds of voices, raised in a triumphant paean. A shadowy form took shape above the totem, coiled around it covetously. The shadowy form became clearer, more distinct. Scales of many colors gleamed in the candlelight. An enormous tail curled around the totem's base, the body of a giant dragon circled it. Five heads rose over the totem. Five heads attached to one body and that body attached to the totem.
The body lacked substance, however. The five heads were daunting, but they were not real heads, not as real as the skulls of the dead over which they hovered. The eyes of the dead dragons gleamed bright. Their light was almost blinding, and suddenly it lanced straight into the heavens.
The light of the totem blazed through the sky, and there, looking down upon them, was a single eye. The eye of the G.o.ddess.
White, staring, the eye gazed down at them, unblinking.
The body of the five-headed dragon grew more distinct, gained in substance and in strength.
”The power of the totem feeds the One G.o.d as the totem once fed Malys,” Mina said. ”With each pa.s.sing moment, the One G.o.d comes closer to entering the world, joining the mortal and immortal. On the Night of the Festival of the New Eye, the One G.o.d will become the paradox, she will take a mortal form and imbue it with immortality. In that moment, she will rule over all that is in the heavens and all that is below. She will rule over the living and the dead. Her victory will be a.s.sured, her triumph complete.”
She will take a mortal form. Gaidar knew then why they'd been forced to cart the body of Goldmoon across Ansalon, haul it up mountains, and hoist it out of valleys. Gaidar knew then why they'd been forced to cart the body of Goldmoon across Ansalon, haul it up mountains, and hoist it out of valleys.
Takhisis's final revenge. She would enter the body of the one person who had fought life-long against her, and she would use that body to seduce and enthrall and entrap the trusting, the innocent, the guileless.
He could hear outside the temple a hubbub of voices, raised in excitement, babbling and clamoring at the sight of this new moon in the heavens. The cry raised, ”Mina! Mina!”
She would go out to them, bask in the light and warmth of their affection, far different from that chill, cold light. She would tell them that this was the work of the One G.o.d, but no one would pay any attention.
”Mina . . . Mina . . .”
She walked out the door of the ruined temple. Gaidar heard the swelling cheer raised when she appeared, heard it reverberate off the sides of the mountains, echo to the heavens.
To the heavens.
Gaidar looked up at the five heads of the ethereal dragon, swaying over the totem, consuming its power. The single eye burned, and he realized in that moment that he was closer to this G.o.ddess than Mina was or ever could be.