Part 22 (1/2)

'Somewhere out there,' said Pug, 'there are arms and legs.' There was a tone in his voice Magnus and Nakor had never heard before.

'What is it, Father?'

Pug looked more closely at the creature's head, at the two searing red slashes of glowing orange light in the black mask. Around the head, like a crown, floated flickering tiny red flames. 'I know it,' he said.

'What?' asked Nakor. 'What do you mean, you know it?'

'It is no G.o.d, Nakor, or at least not as we understand such things.'

Magnus said, 'What is it then?'

'The Dark G.o.d of the Dasati is not of this realm, or of any other we comprehend. The Dark G.o.d of the Dasati is a creature of the void. We are looking at a Dreadlord.'

'What?' asked Magnus, steering them away from the Dreadlord towards the edge of the vast pit.. Little was known of the dread, but he had heard enough to understand why his father's voice was forced to calm; his father was frightened, and Magnus had never experienced that before. 'What is it doing here?' he asked, his own calm barely maintained.

'Ah,' said Nakor. 'That explains much.' He sounded surprisingly unfazed by the revelation. Magnus glanced at Nakor and saw the little gambler had his eyes fixed on the Dreadlord, studying it as they moved across the pit.

They could feel a strange heat rising, a heat that was both unnatural and troubling. The red-orange light from below seemed to liquefy, as if the Dreadlord was squatting in a huge lake. Pug had a worrying idea. 'See that green flame dancing across the surface of the liquid?'

'Yes,' answered Nakor. 'Life trying to escape.'

Magnus said, 'We can see life?'

'I've seen it once before, when your mother and I helped Calis destroy the Lifestone and set free all the trapped souls within.'

'Like so many things we can't see as humans, we can see with Dasati eyes,' answered Nakor. 'This monstrous ent.i.ty is living in a sea of captured life. It is bloated to a ma.s.sive... thing, huge beyond its original capacity. It has become engorged, like a glutton at a feast that never ends, swollen like a monstrous tick endlessly sucking blood from a dog. Look!'

As they approached the edge of the vast pit, they could see that there was a ceremony underway. A dozen Deathpriests stood arrayed in two rows, behind which stood armed Deathknights wearing orange armour. Pug a.s.sumed they were temple guards. A long line of shuffling Lessers came inching towards the edge of the pit, and when each reached the edge, a priest would give a quick benediction and they would be pushed over the edge. The Lessers fell into the roiling surface of the liquid, which Pug now understood was mostly blood, and sank from view.

Those who hesitated were picked up and thrown in by Deathknights. Most wept or had a shocked look of resignation on their faces, but a few revealed wide-eyed panic and some tried to bolt. Those who did were cut down by the Deathknights standing behind the priests, and their bodies were rolled into the ma.s.s.

'Over there!' said Nakor, and Pug looked to where he pointed. A small raised dais, perhaps used by some high-ranking official, perhaps even the TeKarana himself, had been erected here from which to observe the endless sacrifice.

Nakor said, 'Magnus, can you remember this place well enough to bring us back here in a hurry if you need to?'

'I think getting us out out of here in a hurry would be a better idea.' of here in a hurry would be a better idea.'

'That too,' whispered Nakor. He added, 'Sometimes the creature seems to sleep but I wouldn't want to try to sneak in that way again. Last time I was with a bunch of those poor souls who are being fed to that monster so I was unnoticed when I walked in.'

'How did you get out?' asked Pug.

'I used some tricks,' Nakor said. 'Come, we need to start back: I don't want to leave Bek unattended.'

'Nakor, is Bek the G.o.dkiller?'

'Maybe, maybe not,' answered the little gambler as Magnus lifted himself and his two companions into the air. 'But he has a role to play. When I'm sure it's safe to leave him, there are some places I must visit.'

'Where?' asked Pug.

'There are rooms all over this temple, many containing scrolls and things that no one looks at any more. These were once a great people, Pug. Magnificent even, and I think it was was the Dasati who built these amazing places. That meant they were like the Ipiliac. Much of their creative greatness was drained away by the need to survive between the realms. Here, the Dasati turned all their energies to build, to create, to investigate. They must have had great scholars, poets, artists, musicians, healers, and engineers living here. They must have been almost G.o.ds themselves when this horror came to them.' the Dasati who built these amazing places. That meant they were like the Ipiliac. Much of their creative greatness was drained away by the need to survive between the realms. Here, the Dasati turned all their energies to build, to create, to investigate. They must have had great scholars, poets, artists, musicians, healers, and engineers living here. They must have been almost G.o.ds themselves when this horror came to them.'

'There is so much we may never know,' said Pug. 'How a creature of the void came to live at the heart of this world...'

'Better go faster, Magnus,' said Nakor. 'Time is fleeting.'

Magnus used more speed in leaving than he did in approaching, so they rapidly reached the top of the enormous pit. As they descended down to the tunnel leading to the tram, Nakor said, 'Whatever Bek's role may be, I believe he needs to try to kill it.'

'But you said you didn't know if he was the G.o.dkiller,' said Magnus.

'Yes, he may not be, but he needs to try.'

'How do you know, Nakor?' asked Pug.

The little gambler emerged from his invisibility. 'I don't know how I know, Pug. I know a lot of things and I don't know how I know them. I just do. Now, we had better move along.'

Pug and Magnus became visible too and Nakor turned to hurry down the tunnel towards the tram. The father and son exchanged a silent question. Both knew that Pug had not removed the invisibility from Nakor. Nakor had done it himself.

Pug hurried along after the strange little man wondering if he would ever learn the truth about him.

CHAPTER SIXTEEN - Sun-Elves.

MIRANDA SCREAMED.

Unable to contain her frustration, she threw the message across the floor. She swore, then said, 'The King won't see me.'

Caleb said, 'It's understandable, Mother. Father hasn't been on good terms with the Crown of the Isles for many years. In fact, he hasn't been on good terms with any n.o.bles save those working with the Conclave.'

'I'm your mother! I don't expect you to be reasonable. I expect you to agree with me.'

Caleb was motionless for a moment, then he started to laugh. 'I see. I'm sorry.'

'I'm losing my sanity,' said Miranda as she began to pace in her husband's study. 'I fear I'll never see your father again, despite his rea.s.surances that he will return. I fear for Magnus and even Nakor.' Softly she added, 'I really don't know what to do next, Caleb.'

Caleb had never seen his mother so distraught. She even sounded helpless as she admitted her uncertainty. His mother was many things, but never in her life had helpless been one of them. There had to be a reason for this lack of decisiveness. 'What is it?'

She sat down in her husband's chair. 'I'm agonizing over what your father would do in this situation. Would he simply appear in the King's private chambers and threaten him?'

'Hardly,' said Caleb. With a wry smile he added, 'You might, perhaps, but not Father.'

She glared at him a moment, then was forced to smile. 'Yes, you're right.'

'I think he'd find those n.o.bles of influence who are most favourably disposed towards us and speak with them.'

'That's either old Lord James or Lord Erik.'

'James is, by some convolution, a cousin,' said Caleb. 'That might have some weight in persuading him to intercede with the King. Erik, on the other hand, is an old companion of Nakor, and he's seen at first hand what enemies like the Dasati can do. He stood at Nightmare Ridge.'