Part 30 (1/2)

Nakor said, 'Martuch, Hirea: guide the lad.'

'Others?' asked Pug.

'You will see, soon enough,' he said to Pug. To Magnus, Nakor said, 'Come, the three of us have much to do and little time. Let us go to the Dark One's pit.'

Magnus obliged and Pug and Nakor felt the sense of dislocation, almost a faint jerking feeling as they left one place and arrived at another. Suddenly the three of them were standing before the TeKarana's throne on the observation platform witnessing a scene of madness beyond their experience.

Thousands of Dasati were falling from above, some bouncing off the rock-face, others falling directly into the burning sea of orange energy and green flame. Others landed on the bloated thing that was the Dark G.o.d and a few pitiful wretches were still living when they landed. One or another was picked up by the Dark One's magic and carried screaming towards his ma.s.sive maw. The featureless head was without distinction, yet the two burning red eyes regarded its next victim. While no mouth could be seen, the victim would vanish into the face of the Dark One, who would swallow the Dasati whole.

'This is unnecessary,' said Nakor. 'The creature can suck life energy with a touch. The eating is... theatrics.'

'Terror is a tool of the Dread,' said Pug. Turning to look at Nakor, he said, 'Why are we here? We may be noticed at any moment, and even the three of us can not best a thousand Deathpriests, or that thing in the pit if it reaches out to us.'

The gallery beyond where they stood and the rim of the pit above as well as a dozen openings at various levels of the cavern were thronged with Deathpriests and temple Deathknights.

'We're waiting,' said Nakor. 'We're waiting for the G.o.dkiller, and when he arrives, we must each carry out our appointed tasks.'

'Nakor,' asked Magnus softly, 'what are you not saying?'

The little gambler sat. 'I'm tired, Magnus. Your father has understood for quite a long time that I am not entirely what I seem, but he's had the consummate good grace to let me play the fool when it served my purpose and not ask too many questions.'

'You've always been a good friend and staunch ally,' said Pug.

Nakor let out a sigh. 'My time is almost over, here, and it is fitting that you should know the truth.' He looked from Pug to Magnus. 'You will inherit a burden from your father, and it is a heavy one, but I think you will be equal to that task. Now, I need a moment of time with your father, alone if you don't mind.'

Magnus nodded and moved away to give them some privacy.

To Pug, Nakor said, 'You must make good your promise and suffer your trials, my friend, but if you are resolute, all will come to pa.s.s as it must. You will, in the end, save our world and help restore a much-needed balance.'

Pug looked hard at Nakor. 'Do you speak of-'

'No one knows of your arrangement with the Death G.o.ddess, Pug, except she and you.'

'But you do,' Pug whispered. 'How is that possible? Even Miranda doesn't know.'

'Nor can she, or any other mortal,' said Nakor.

'Who are are you?' Pug asked. you?' Pug asked.

'That,' said Nakor, 'is a very long story.' Then he grinned his familiar grin and said, 'All in good time. Now we must wait.' Looking over at the horrific scene in the heart of the pit, he said, 'I hope our wait is short. This place is no fun.'

Men screamed in pain and shock as the Black Mount suddenly expanded in a single gigantic spasm. Where it had been half a mile away one moment, the next it loomed over the command centre, mere yards from Alenburga's headquarters. Miranda managed to get a defensive s.h.i.+eld up but it was already too late.

The screaming stopped as abruptly as it had started. The men who had been positioned before the commander's observation point on the ground below the hill had, it appeared, been bisected by the arrival of the sphere. Blood and body parts rimmed the edge of the sphere.

Miranda cried, 'We must pull back!'

Stunned by the sight of the Black Mount, General Alenburga now ordered, 'Withdraw!' To the four young captains who waited to carry out his instructions he said, 'Head south. There's a knoll near a stream that feeds into the river. Grab as many maps as you can carry and take them there.' To Kaspar and Erik he said, 'Gentlemen, it's time to go.' To Miranda he said, 'Madam, if you and your magical friends can shed any light on this development, sooner is better than later.'

The commanders of the Tsurani army made an orderly, but hurried, departure.

Miranda felt confident that the sphere wouldn't expand again for a while, but her curiosity was piqued. She closed her eyes while others around her beat a hasty retreat, and sent her mind forward.

She encountered the mystic anti-scrying magic she had been repulsed by previously, and sought once more to neutralize it. She had discussed this problem with several other magicians while they were resting, and had got several useful suggestions. She realized one point made was possibly the most cogent: it wasn't a barrier, but rather a counter-spell, one designed to harm, injure, or kill should intrusion be pressed. If that was the case, she could counter it, as long as she was willing to endure some discomfort.

She forced her mind to conjure up the strength of will to push her mystic sight through the barrier and felt a sharp stab of pain as she did so. She battled the pain and erected defensive spells of her own to counter the attack on her mind, and then she looked at what was occurring inside the sphere. The revulsion she felt as her mind registered the scene before her caused her to recoil instinctively. She almost fainted as she tore her mind back to this side of the barrier.

An unknowable time later, she found Erik von Darkmoor standing over her and Miranda realized she was lying on the ground. 'Are you all right?' he asked calmly in the midst of the organized chaos.

'I saw...' she said weakly as the old warrior extended his hand to help her to her feet.

'What did you see?' he encouraged, supporting her by one arm.

'We must...'

'What?'

Her eyes were unfocused and her thoughts were cloudy. She said, 'We must leave.'

'We are leaving,' he said. 'We're pulling back to regroup.'

'No,' she said. 'We must leave... this world.'

'Miranda,' he said calmly as he walked her down the hill to where a lackey held his mount, 'what are you saying?'

He saw her wits return and despite her obvious exhaustion, her eyes were wide and her features became animated. 'Erik! They've opened... I don't know what to call it. It's not a rift as I know it, but rather... a tunnel! It's some sort of pa.s.sage between the two realms, and it's occupying almost the entire inside of that sphere!' She looked back at the monstrous Black Mount that rose up into the late afternoon sky like terrible dark boil on the surface of the planet. 'The mouth of the tunnel is this vast pit, only a hundred or so yards inside the edge of the sphere. It must expand as the sphere expands.' She squeezed her eyes shut, and took a deep breath. 'Most of your troops... they must have fallen into that void... tunnel, whatever it is.'

'G.o.ds,' he said softly.

'Erik,' she said, looking around and realizing that Alenburga and Kaspar had already departed. 'You have to tell them. Everyone... we must evacuate as many people as we can. There are Deathpriests inside that thing, stunning those who fell inside, your men, and they had Deathknights throwing them into the opening of the tunnel...' She closed her eyes as if willing herself to remember. 'Erik, they're feeding it. They're using your soldiers to make it stronger, make it bigger.'

Erik's face drained of colour. 'And when it gets strong enough, it'll jump again?'

'Yes,' said Miranda, almost unable to frame the word. 'The sphere will get bigger... and bigger...' Her voice grew softer and she started to wobble on her feet. 'Until it covers this whole world...'

'But it can't keep growing... forever.'

Miranda's face was ashen. 'No, it only needs to get big enough to let something come through from the other side...'

'What?'

'The Dark G.o.d of the Dasati,' she whispered. Miranda went limp and only Erik's firm grip kept her from falling to the ground.

'You!' he shouted to a nearby soldier. 'Get a litter! Bear her to the Supreme Commander!'