Part 16 (1/2)

There were no guards on duty, but only a single Mindlight Master-a boy half Turek's age-walking a lonely path among the machines, kilns, and alcohol lamps.

Turek had half-expected to find a crowd of smiths frantically fas.h.i.+oning swords, but the village leaders had evidently decided that such last-minute efforts were futile. The decision was undoubtedly correct, and it made Turek's job much easier.

Skulking around outside the circle of light, he quickly located what he had come for: the bins holding pure, refined metals.

Even with only one other man present, the area was too small for Turek to sneak over to the metals without being caught. Biding his time, he waited until the youth was facing the bins, his back to the Shadow Warrior... and as the glow of Mindlight dazzled Turek's mind, he stepped from concealment and slapped the others head as hard as he could with the flat of his blade.

The boy sprawled to the ground with scarcely a sound. Replacing the weapon at his side, Turek hurried over to the bins. A small wooden bucket sat by each of them; grabbing one, he dipped it deeply into the nearly empty bin marked COPPER and came up with a load of fine, s.h.i.+ny dust. He debated taking a second bucketful, decided against it. A sudden thought struck him, and he lugged his bucket to an adobe structure that looked like a storage shed. Inside, he quickly located a large waterskin whose contents smelled like the alcohol lamps outside.

With the waterskin in one hand and the bucket in the other, he headed back toward his rope.

The copper dust was astonis.h.i.+ng, and more than a little frightening. Barely five minutes after scooping it out of the bin the effects of the Shadow growing around it were becoming painful; within ten Turek was forced to stop and clear the Shadow away. Never before in his life had he seen a Shadow grow so quickly, and for a long moment he wondered if he would ever be able to get the dust back to Krain's encampment. But he really had no other choice. Gritting his teeth, he picked up the bucket and kept moving.

The trip back would forever afterwards remain a blur in Turek's memory; a blur of fatigue, Shadow-pain, and an endless series of battles, each one seemingly longer and less effective than the one before. He reached his rope guideline, loaded the copper and waterskin into his basket, crossed the rapids-a h.e.l.l of water and cold that rivaled the usual image of brimstone-and stumbled down the stones toward his boat. The river current seemed twice as strong as before... and the Shadow made the trip seem to last forever.

Somehow, he made it.

”I don't understand,” the older of the two guards said, his face puckered with confusion as his eyes flicked uncertainly over Turek's disheveled appearance.

”I didn't ask you to understand.” Turek kept his voice low, his anger in tight check. Wet, cold, and deathly ill with fatigue, he was in no mood to be blocked here, ten feet short of his goal, by two fools. ”I told you once: The picket line captain needs you up at post five immediately. Period. Now get moving.”

”But our orders-”

”I'm giving you new orders. I'm a Shadow Warrior, one of Krain's personal servants. You'll do as I say.”

There was something in his voice and eyes, Turek knew-he could tell from the way the guard seemed to shrink slightly within his own skin. The Shadow Warriors had commanded awe and not a little fear in their day... and this man was old enough to remember that. His gaze s.h.i.+fted to the sword at Turek's side, as if seeking proof of the Shadow Warriors claimed status. ”Very well,” he said uncomfortably. Motioning to his companion, he eased gingerly past Turek and the two men left, disappearing into the gloom beyond the sputtering torchlight.

Turek watched until they were gone. Then, gritting his teeth against its growing Shadow, he retrieved his basket from behind a nearby tent and started forward-and as he did so a blue-cloaked figure stepped from the tent entrance and stood in his path.

It was Brisher. ”So now you're Krain's personal servant, are you?” the old Shadow Warrior growled. ”What did he promise you, Javan's head and half of Lazuli?”

”Don't sound so virtuous-you're working for him too.”

”I had no choice,” the other muttered, dropping his eyes. ”There was no other way for me to earn my livelihood anymore, and I'm too old to survive out on my own. But you don't have that excuse.” He nodded at the basket. ”What's that?”

The Shadow was growing painful again. ”Step aside,” Turek ordered.

”What is it?” the other repeated.

”Copper dust from Lazuli. Now step aside.”

Brisher's eyes raked Turek's face. ”What are you going to do?” he demanded.

”Remember, our duty is to Krain now.”Turek's arms were beginning to tremble. If Brisher tried to stop him he would have to fight the older man. ”We have a higher duty than that,” he said, sudden weariness breaking through his tension. He was tired of fighting. ”I'm going to do what I have to-what you should have done long ago.”

For a long moment Brisher stood motionless, the resolve draining from his face and leaving him an eternity older. Bowing his head slightly, he moved away from the tent. Without looking at him, Turek stepped through the entrance.

Inside was unrelieved darkness; but Turek needed no light for what he was going to do. Dropping the waterskin by his foot, he raised the basket chest-high and, with a single convulsive movement, flung its contents over the neatly stacked swords. The basket he tossed to one side; picking up the waterskin, he went back outside. Brisher had vanished, and a quick look showed no one else in sight.

Opening the waterskin, Turek doused the tent with the alcohol, concentrating on the middle of the roof. When the skin was empty, he threw it back inside.

And so all was finally ready. Stepping back, he pulled up one of the torches stuck in the ground. With a sigh more of fatigue than of relief, he flung it onto the tent.

The cloth ignited with a roar and a fireball that singed Turek's eyebrows. He stepped back hastily as sounds of confusion erupted suddenly from the camp around him and half-dressed men staggered from their tents. By the time they had a bucket brigade organized the waterproofing resins in the tent cloth were beginning to melt and burn, and strangely colored flames were leaping toward the clouds.

No one paid any attention as Turek left the scene and returned to his tent to wait.

The fire was nearly out when they came for him: Krain and two of his men, each with a sword that had clearly not been in the weapons tent. Turek emerged at Krain's command, once more clad in his blue cloak. For a moment the air was thick with tension; and then Krain broke the silence. ”The Shadow around my swords is fifteen feet across and still growing,” he said softly, the venom in his voice all the more intense because of that. ”What did you do?”

”I ended your war of conquest,” Turek told him, countering the others rage with quiet firmness. Despite his fatigue, he stood straight and tall, with all the dignity he could muster. There was death in Krain's eyes, and Turek was determined not to show even the appearance of fear or cowering before it. ”There's pure copper dust on your swords now, a fair amount of it glued there by drops of resin from the tent fire. Even if your Shadow Warriors-your other Shadow Warriors-can clear enough Shadow away to go in and untangle the swords from that sticky mess, you won't be able to use them until someone sc.r.a.pes all the copper off-and you'll need a Shadow Warrior standing by while all that's being done, too.””I can do that,” Krain gritted-but there was uncertainty in his voice. ”All your treachery has done is postpone things a couple of days. I'll still have Lazuli.”

”Only if Lazuli is stupid.” Turek waved toward the villages barricades.

”They've seen the fire, and they'll know soon enough that I took some copper dust tonight. And when morning comes they'll be able to see the Shadow. They'll figure it out-and they outnumber your army two to one.”

”Then we'll pull back-”

”Pull back where? Your whole strategy depended on your being in control of the Mindlight school before Masard had time to react to the risk you were taking, the risk that they would lose all protection from Javan's people. By now they surely know what you've done-or, rather, haven't succeeded in doing-and are going to be getting nervous. If you prolong this insanity much longer you're going to have a revolt on your hands.” A wave of dizziness swept over him; with an effort, he fought it back. ”But don't take my word for it. Get your other Shadow Warriors and go ahead and try.”

Krain exhaled a long breath, and somehow he seemed to slump slightly.

”They're not here anymore,” he muttered. ”They all deserted during the fire.”

Turek permitted himself a faint smile. ”So they finally realized where their duty lay. Good.”

”Their duty was to me!” Krain shouted abruptly. ”I hired them, fed them, gave them back their self-respect and their power. And then they-and you-turn around and betray me!” Clenching his sword tightly, he took a step forward.

”Self-respect?” Turek's voice was still calm, but as cold as Lazuli's river. ”No.

All you offered them was escape from the lonely, ignominious death they were afraid was coming to them. Why else do you think none of the younger Shadow Warriors accepted your offer? That alone should have told you something was wrong.”

”So your loyalty is only to yourselves,” Krain spat contemptuously. ”I understand, finally. How much is Javan paying you?”

Turek shook his head, too weary to feel anger at the insult. ”Javan can't buy us, any more than you can. If you were older-if you'd known more Shadow Warriors-you might understand. We weren't in this for any personal gain. We served the people of Vesper; served them with our sweat and pain and, ultimately, our lives. Our 'loyalty,' as you insist on calling it, was burned into us as part of our training; and it was to nothing more or less than the dream of a better existence for everyone. For everyone, not just our friends or our home villages. A lot of people misunderstood our refusal to pa.s.s judgments or take sides, but it helped us balance the more advanced technology our work permitted; helped keep people from misusing it. Do you see now why it was foolish to think we'd freely help you start a war?”Hatred smoldered in Krain's eyes. ”I can kill you. You know that, don't you?”

”Yes.” Though he'd known this moment was inevitable, Turek's mouth was still dry. ”But whether you do so or not, your war is still over.”

For a long moment no one moved. Then, abruptly, Krain turned away and, without a backward glance, disappeared into the night. His two men eyed Turek uncertainly, exchanged glances, and followed their leader.

Turek let his shoulders slump. It was over, and he'd won. Not the war, of course, but certainly the battle he'd set out to win. As for the war itself... that burden was no longer his.

Reaching into his tent, he pulled out the pack he'd prepared and slipped it onto his shoulders. Deathly tired though he was, he still wanted to put some distance between himself and Krain before sleeping; the young ruler might yet decide to seek revenge. For a moment Turek looked toward Lazuli, tempted by the thought of its warm food and beds. But he didn't want to see Javan again, and there was no real point to such a meeting, anyway. The Mindlight Master had just had a lesson in the potential dangers of progress; nothing Turek could say would improve on that. And as for the responsibility for guiding this next stage of Vesper's growth... Turek wished them the best of luck. The Shadow Warriors had found a method that had worked for their more exclusive group; how Javan would do it, with his dream of giving control over Shadow to everyone, Turek couldn't begin to guess.

Keilberg and home lay to the southwest. Turek had taken only a few steps in that direction when he paused and, as an afterthought, returned to his tent. The sword lay just inside the entrance; picking it up, he once more fastened it to his side. It wasn't very heavy, and it might come in handy back home. His hoe, after all, still needed a new blade.

Afterword.