Part 13 (2/2)
Myranda held her aching wrist and stood.
”How can the powers that be have made such mistakes? How can the very beings created and selected to protect the people of this world care so little about them?” Myranda asked.
”Emotion is weakness. It sensitizes you to the trivial and blinds you to the important. Only in detachment can decisions be made clearly. Only in solitude can all efforts be directed to the appropriate ends,” the shape s.h.i.+fter recited like a mantra.
”Why do you even seek to save this world if you do not care about the people in it?” Myranda asked.
”It is not a matter of desire. It is a matter of purpose. Purpose is the rarest thing in the world. Few beings will ever be given a true purpose for existing. Fewer still will achieve it. I was placed here to perform a task of which I am uniquely capable, and so I shall do it,” she answered.
”What of the others who share the purpose? Isn't it your duty to be sure of their fate. Isn't it your obligation to find them if you can?” Myranda countered.
”It is not your place to question my decisions or interpret my role,” she said.
The debate continued for the better part of an hour. The shape s.h.i.+fter, once unwilling to acknowledge Myranda's presence, was now determined to put the girl in her place. For Myranda, all of the confusion and disappointment caused by having her illusions of the heroes that would rescue the world dashed now had a target. Desmeres sat in quiet amus.e.m.e.nt as they argued. Myn was mindful of the shape s.h.i.+fter. Unlike in Myranda and Lain's spats, here there was a clear enemy. Many times the Chosen motioned as though she would strike the girl, but each time she held herself back. The creature mostly maintained her composure, but occasionally her anger would flare. Such bursts were brief, but notable. The ground would rumble in sympathy to her anger, and rus.h.i.+ng winds could be heard even through the thick earth roof of the storeroom. The argument had not yet begun to subside when the sound of Myn clawing at one of the walls drew Myranda's attention. She approached the dragon and tried to find out what was the matter. The corner of the room she was in was pitch black.
”There, You see. You cannot ignore the plight of the lizard long enough to finish your pathetic point,” the s.h.i.+fter remarked smugly.
”What is wrong?” Myranda said, ignoring the attack.
”It would appear something didn't escape her notice,” Desmeres said, the constant grin widening.
”What . . . Lain. Where is Lain?” Myranda demanded.
The s.h.i.+fter glanced casually about to discover that the malthrope was indeed missing.
”I actually thought it was going to be difficult. I was confident that I could distract you, Myranda, but the newcomer was going to be tricky, and the dragon would have been next to impossible. Fortunately for me, you two turned on each other. He snuffed out the candle a moment before our latest ally first claimed that nothing escapes her notice. When she grabbed your wrist Lain made his escape. I suppose what she says is true. Emotion does blind you,” Desmeres said, pulling open a sack hanging beside him and retrieving a heavily smoked piece of meat.
”The hatch never opened. I would have seen it,” Myranda said.
”That may well be so, but then, Myn isn't clawing at the hatch, is she,” Desmeres pointed out.
Myranda lit the candle again with a swift spell and investigated the wall. Before long she found where a secret handle was recessed. When she reached for it, Desmeres stopped her.
”I wouldn't. Not yet. You see, in case you haven't noticed, we make it a habit to trap all entrances and exits,” he warned, chewing the leathery meal.
She turned impatiently to him.
”Here is what is going to happen,” he began. ”You and the shape s.h.i.+fter are going to go off and attempt to find Lain. She may succeed, but you will not.”
”I have found him many times before,” Myranda said.
”You may find this difficult to believe, but until now if you have found him, it is because he wanted you to. Because of the uniqueness of the situation, Lain was able to use himself as the bait to his own trap. Think about it. How have you found him before? The tooth? As you may have noticed, or more disturbingly, as you may not have noticed, that little keepsake went missing from your bag at about the same time as the book you borrowed. Lain wanted you to keep it as a memento, but such an item is a shade too dangerous to us to remain in general circulation. All you have left is Myn. I'll admit, she would be a great help, but Lain above any other is savvy at disguising his scent. So you will leave and you will search and when you realize the futility you will try to find me. You will fail there as well. Finally you may choose to search for the shape s.h.i.+fter. I doubt you will be met with any more success there either. And so your days will be spent in fruitless wandering, much as they had before, until you abandon this quest you have imagined for yourself. I don't say this to dishearten you or to dissuade you. I say it because you are a woman of great potential and the world deserves better than to have such a life squandered,” he said.
”The world deserves a future, and if Lain cannot be turned to his task it will not have one,” Myranda raged.
The shape s.h.i.+fter allowed a hint of a grin show itself.
”Why aren't you furious?” Myranda demanded.
”Lain has ill.u.s.trated that he is not so deeply altered by his time among you as I had first supposed. He has abandoned both of you. To locate him shall be a simple task, and without mortals to slow us, we shall strike down this threat at its roots soon enough,” she said.
”You know I am half elf, and thus only semi-mortal,” Desmeres reminded her, more in an attempt to irritate her than anything else.
The shape s.h.i.+fter moved dutifully toward the small panel that acted as a door for the hidden exit and forced Myn aside. Desmeres quickly motioned that Myranda restrain the dragon. She just managed to do so before the door was forced open, prompting the same burst of hisses that had accompanied the opening of the surface hatch. The arm that had pushed the panel was now perforated with more than a dozen tiny needles. The shape s.h.i.+fter slowly withdrew and a.n.a.lyzed the arm.
”Pathetic,” she declared as she s.h.i.+fted swiftly to wind, scattering the needles dangerously in all directions.
As Myranda dove for cover, the shape s.h.i.+fter swirled through the hatch and after Lain. Myranda quickly climbed to her feet to follow.
”Wait,” Desmeres requested.
”You have stalled me long enough,” she said.
The dragon vanished into the narrow tunnel beyond the hidden hatch. Myranda started to sidle along after her.
”You are right. I have stalled you long enough. By now even if you knew precisely where Lain went, which you don't, and even if he were standing still, which he isn't, you would either have to sprout wings or have a very fast horse to even hope to reach him inside of a few hours. A few minutes now will make no difference at all. However, if you will listen to what I have to say, a few minutes may well make all of the difference,” he said.
”Go Myn. Make a trail I can follow,” Myranda said.
She scarcely had to finish her sentence before the little dragon was out of sight. Myranda squeezed back out of the opening.
”Say your piece,” she said.
”First, I would like to give you one last chance to make the correct decision,” he said.
”And what might that be?” she asked sternly.
”Join us,” he said.
Myranda turned to leave again.
”It is the only sure way to see Lain again,” he said.
”I notice you didn't court the Chosen One for such a position,” Myranda said.
”I had thought of it, but she is even more single-minded than you, not to mention that, despite being uniquely suited to stealth, she can hardly list subtlety among her many virtues. No, you are a far better choice. You have already revealed yourself to be an able negotiator, and you are quite capable of playing a role when properly instructed. Our clientele would be far more willing to confide in a woman. There are countless reasons. For you, there is the possibility for security, contact with Lain, and, not that you care, enormous profit,” he said.
”I will not help you kill people,” she said.
”If you must simplify it so, then why not view your own cause from the same point of view? What do you suppose Lain will have to do if you finally convince him to end the war? A great many very important people will have to die to cripple either army. Unless you suppose that Lain will turn to diplomacy. And no level of care taken will prevent the chaos of the war's end from claiming at least a few innocent lives,” he said.
”If we can find the others . . . ” she began.
”Yes, yes. The other Chosen will find a way, despite the fact that at least one is certainly dead, and two more are affirmed to be likewise by the only being likely to know. I think you know better than to rely upon miracles to do what must be done. Regardless, I have your answer. Let me just offer you a bit of advice. You see, as the Alliance Army never paid for you, and likely never will, it suits our purposes that you never find your way into their clutches. As such, I urge you to seek the Undermine. Their resources should be enough to keep you from the light of day long enough for Epidime to find a new pet target. The other generals stopped caring about you shortly after you were captured,” he said. ”Now go, follow. Take some supplies and good luck to you.”
Myranda fetched her bag and supplemented its contents with some provisions. She also selected a heavy white cloak that hung on one wall. It was likely one of Lain's, as it dragged the ground when it hung about her shoulders. With the far warmer garment in place and staff in hand she set off into the pa.s.sage. It was a tight fit. The tunnel was clearly a natural one, irregular in shape and claustrophobic. The barely adequate light from the storeroom lapsed quickly into complete darkness. She conjured a light in her staff and pressed on. Myn must have been far ahead. Not even the sound of her scratching claws could be heard. There was only one path, and it became mercifully wider, only to have the ceiling steadily lower until she had to crawl to continue. This was not like the cave. At least there the walls, floor, and ceiling had been solid. Here, great clumps of soil brushed loose with her every move, at times making her feel as though the whole of the tunnel would drop down upon her. Two long hours of painfully slow travel finally brought the night sky over her head again. She doused the light to a mere ember and held it low, so as to avoid notice. The claw marks Myn left in the snow were easy enough to follow. As she traveled, she thought.
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