Part 24 (1/2)

Martuch now surveyed the carnage around the courtyard and said, 'Everyone must leave, now.'

Audarun clapped her hands once, and called out, 'Prepare to evacuate.' She looked at Martuch and Valko, then nodded once in agreement. 'We have contingency plans. We knew it was likely that the Dark One's followers or the TeKarana's agents would discover this sanctuary eventually.'

Those Bloodwitch Sisters who were uninjured hurried to gather up the essentials they needed, while the five who were too injured to help rested wherever fate had placed them. Martuch inclined his head towards diem and Audarun nodded once.

The old warrior swiftly drew his sword and quickly went from one wounded witch to the next, dispatching them in turn with a clean blow. Each witch closed her eyes and stoically waited for her death.

'Why?' Pug, asked, appalled.

'The journey is arduous,' said Audarun. 'If we left them behind, the Dark One's priests could extract knowledge from them, despite their devotion. All of us know this risk; all of us accept death willingly rather than becoming the instrument of betrayal.'

Hirea said, 'Betrayal, yes. Somewhere in the White we have a traitor, for this attack was too coordinated, too well conceived to be by chance, and it coincides too neatly with the coming invasion of the human realm. The Dark One wishes no energies at his back when he launches his onslaught into the human world.'

Pug looked a Audarun. 'Can you find the traitor?'

She nodded. 'We have means, now we understand there is one to find.' She signalled to a young woman standing a short distance away who came and listened as she gave instructions. The young Bloodwitch nodded once and hurried off. 'It is done. If the traitor has not fled or been killed in the attack, we shall find him.'

'Him?' asked Magnus.

'The Sisters undergo years of training, young human. No, the traitor must be a male Lesser. No female Lessers abide here.'

Pug nodded as Valko moved to stand at his side. 'What was that thing?' he asked.

'A creature of the Void,' replied Pug. He glanced around at the slaughter. 'What happened here?'

Valko said, 'At dawn a scout reported a party of the TeKarana's palace guards and some Deathpriests were approaching along a seldom-used trail to the south. Audarun said to remain calm, for such groups have come close from time to time without piercing the illusion that hides this sanctuary.

'I suggested the Deathknights here should stand ready, anyway.'

'A wise precaution,' said Hirea, obviously pleased that his student had shown more patience than the average young Deathknight. Most young Dasati warriors would have been inclined to attack at once, without waiting to see if it was necessary.

Pug said, 'Obviously, they knew where to look.'

Magnus said, 'Everything we've seen tells us there have been preparations in place for a very long time.'

'Yes,' said Audarun. 'We grew complacent, thinking we had remained hidden for so many years. But it may be simply that we were not enough of a threat to warrant attention until now.'

Martuch returned from dispatching the wounded. 'You are required for the Great Muster,' he said to Valko.

'The Lord of the Camareen must appear in the Great Hall of the Sadharin. I will go with you. Hirea will have to join the Scourge.'

'No,' said Valko.

Martuch frowned. 'No?'

'It is time.'

'What do you mean?' asked Hirea.

'There will never be a time when so many Deathknights from the societies, from the palace guards, from the temple will be absent from the city. They will be off-world, on the other side of the portal,' said Valko. He turned to Pug and Magnus. 'You have brought the weapon to destroy the Dark One, and I am fated to kill the TeKarana. If more of his men come and find this place deserted he will a.s.sume that the Bloodwitches and the White have gone to ground, are hiding in the thickets like so many mothers and children. Instead, we will summon all our forces out of their musters, and marshal inside the precinct of the Great Palace, and when the TeKarana is at his most confident, when his armies have marched off to conquer another world, then we will strike.

'The chancellors of the Orders may notice that one or two Deathknights from the societies are absent at the muster but they will almost certainly conclude that they were killed or injured during the Great Culling. When this raiding party doesn't return, they will conclude some of those missing from the muster were here, and were servants of the White, dead or in hiding.' Valko's eyes were almost alight with pa.s.sion. 'It is time! Send word that I am dead, Martuch, in a battle last night. Then muster our forces at the agreed place, and impress on our men the need for stealth and cunning. We will wait, like children in hiding, until the army has departed, and when the TeKarana is most certain of his invincibility, we shall strike!'

Those Deathknights who stood nearby raised a cheer of approval, even Hirea and Martuch. Pug realized that no matter how reasonable these men were compared to others of their race, they were still at heart Dasati and only a short step between being rational beings to becoming murderous warriors lacking any shred of compa.s.sion. But he also knew that there was some sort of prophecy involved that made it likely Valko would plunge ahead despite any advice anyone might give.

He turned to his son. 'We can do nothing more here. We can only hope that your mother and those allied with her have prepared the Tsurani for what is to come, and that she has found and destroyed Leso Varen.'

Despite his respect for his mother and her single-minded ability to pursue a goal until it was achieved, Magnus had grave doubts that she would be able to find the necromancer and deal with him.

The cheering died down and Valko said, 'What will you choose to do, human?'

Pug considered. He was becoming certain his time on this world was growing short 'If you are moving against the TeKarana, then Nakor must decide quickly what to do with Bek.' Pug was not convinced that Bek was the prophesied G.o.dkiller, but he knew there were many things he didn't yet understand, including the reasons why they were all in this realm. He didn't know if Nakor could shed any light on these mysteries. He would not leave Nakor behind if he could avoid it, and if Bek was not fated to die here, then that strange young man as well had to be returned to Midkemia.

'I hope you will be victorious against the TeKarana and unseat him and that the Dark One's power is blunted, but I must return to my own realm for there will be many of your warriors overrunning a world that I once called home. I will go back with you.'

Valko weighed Pug's words and nodded once. 'Can you move us all by your magic?'

Pug looked to Magnus who said, 'If you wish to return to the Grove, I can move perhaps four or five of us at a time. It will take several trips.'

Valko said, 'One trip will be enough. You only need take your father, Martuch, Hirea, and myself.' To the remaining Deathknights he shouted, 'Accompany the Sisterhood to their new place of hiding. Protect them! If we fail, you are the seeds of the new White.'

The Deathknights who served the White saluted the young lord and departed, and Valko said, 'Let us be away, for there is much to do and scant time.'

Pug nodded. Magnus motioned for the three Dasati to come close, bade them to take hold of one another, and suddenly they were gone.

Miranda asked, 'Have I made it clear enough for you, Lord Erik?'

Erik von Darkmoor settled into the large chair in his private quarters and let out a long sigh. 'Yes, Miranda, you have. Even if you hadn't, Nakor wouldn't have gone to the trouble of keeping me alive this long if he hadn't judged the situation grave, and that alone would have convinced me that any warning from the Conclave should be treated with the utmost gravity.' He s.h.i.+fted his weight and grimaced.

'Are you all right?'

'No, I'm dying... again.' He looked out of the window of the palace, his favourite view, to watch the sun set over the harbour in Krondor. 'I don't mind being dead; it's the getting there that's aggravating.' He motioned towards a large wooden chest at the foot of his bed. 'Would you do me a favour, please, and fetch a small vial from that chest? It's in a pouch of black velvet.'

Miranda opened the chest and fetched him the pouch. Erik carefully unknotted the two cords that kept it closed, and took out the vial. He pulled out a tiny stopper and tipped the contents of the vial to his mouth. Then he tossed the empty vial on to the table next to where he sat. 'There. That's the last of it. I've nursed along that elixir Nakor gave me and it's kept me fairly fit... for a man pus.h.i.+ng a hundred years old.'

'I thought closer to ninety,' said Miranda.

'Well, never let the truth get in the way of a dramatic point,' Erik countered with a smile. As she watched she could see lines beginning to fade from his face and the colour return.

'How much time do you have?'

'I don't know. A few months perhaps.' He sat back. 'I'm tired.

Down to the core of my bones tired, Miranda. I've served the Crown for the last seventy years, and I deserve a rest.'

'We all do,' she replied. She chose not to delve into the fact that she and her husband had been fighting against the forces of madness since long before Erik was born. Still, he had served with distinction and fought his share of battles. He had never wed and fathered children, and she realized how much starker that must have made his life compared to her own. And while he had lived a long time, he had aged, while she seemed forever a woman in her late thirties or early forties in terms of appearance and vigour.

Erik slapped his hands on the arms of the chair. 'As to your first need, I can do nothing. The King is adamant. He has no love for your husband and less love for the Tsurani.'