Part 133 (1/2)

Durzo sighed. ”You think in seven centuries I didn't try? It's deep magic, kid. A life for a life. The Wolf can delay it, but not stop it, and it's not easy even for him.”

Kylar cleared his throat. ”What if, um, what if I were killed by Curoch during the time between me dying and the person who is going to die for me dying?”

The look on Durzo's face made it clear that Kylar's question was far too specific for him to dismiss as theoretical. ”Boy, you have no idea what Curoch is like-”

”Yes I do, I threw it into Ezra's Wood.”

”You what?!”

”I made a deal with the Wolf. I didn't get your note until afterward.”

Durzo rubbed his temples. ”And what did he give you in return for the most powerful artifact in the world?”

”He brought me back to life faster-and gave me my arm back, which I kind of cut off.”

Durzo's flat stare was all too familiar, despite that it was coming through almond-shaped eyes. It suggested he was seeing previously undredged depths of stupidity. ”And between a.s.sa.s.sinating a G.o.dking and a Cenarian queen and rescuing a man from the Hole and making a king of him, when did you squeeze in the time to find and lose the world's most coveted magical sword?” Durzo asked.

”It only took me a week. Lantano Garuwas.h.i.+ had it. I dueled him for it.”

”Is he as good as they say?”

”Better. And he's not even Talented.”

”Then how'd you win?” Durzo asked.

”Hey!” Kylar protested.

”Kylar, I trained you. You're not the best. Someday, maybe. So either he's not as good as they say, or you got lucky, or you cheated.”

”I got lucky,” Kylar admitted. ”Is it so bad though? I mean throwing Curoch in the Wood?”

”Do you know who the Wolf is?” Durzo asked.

”That was the next question.”

”The better question is who the Wolf was. No one knows what he is now.”

”I'll bite. Who was the Wolf?” Kylar asked.

”In Jorsin Alkestes' court, there was a mage with golden eyes. He was slightly less Talented than Jorsin himself in terms of raw power, but whereas Jorsin had to learn the arts of war and leaders.h.i.+p and diplomacy in addition to magecraft, the golden-eyed mage had only magecraft to study, and he was the kind of genius of magic born once in a thousand years. He had few graces and fewer friends, but Jorsin meant the world to him. In the war, he lost everything: Jorsin, all his tomes of magic, his only other friend, Oren Razin, and his fiancee. He lost his sanity, too, and no one knows if he ever really regained it. He hid in a forest where he could work out his hatred. The forest, of course, took his name.”

”Ezra's Wood,” Kylar whispered. ”The Wolf is Ezra?”

”Jorsin had a close friend who betrayed him, a man named Roygaris Ursuul.”

”Oh G.o.d.”

”During the war, Roygaris Made something-out of himself. We called it the Reaver. It was impervious to magic, faster than thought. It killed thousands of us.” Durzo touched his cheek. ”I was the first person to even wound it. My pockmarks are from where its blood sprayed me. Magic couldn't heal me. After the last battle, the Reaver was badly wounded. Instead of killing it, Ezra took it to the Wood. Fifty years later, there was a power struggle of some sort, and every living thing in that wood died-and dies to this day, whether animal, krul, mage, or the purest virgin. Armies from both north and south have perished there. Whatever it is, the Wolf has been collecting artifacts for seven centuries, and he gets the best of every deal.” whether animal, krul, mage, or the purest virgin. Armies from both north and south have perished there. Whatever it is, the Wolf has been collecting artifacts for seven centuries, and he gets the best of every deal.”

Kylar felt suddenly cold. ”What did you give him?”

”A couple of the ka'kari. He wants them all-and Curoch and Iures.”

”Iures?”

”The companion to Curoch. The Sword of Power and the Staff of Law. Jorsin died the day Iures was finished, before he could use it. No one knows what happened to it.”

”But what's the Wolf trying to accomplish?”

”I don't know. Kylar, we've held one ka'kari, and its power is awesome. Imagine what an archmagus could do with seven ka'kari and and Curoch Curoch and and Iures. Even if the Wolf is Ezra, would you trust a madman with that much power? Would you even trust yourself? What if the Wolf isn't Ezra, what if it's Roygaris?” Iures. Even if the Wolf is Ezra, would you trust a madman with that much power? Would you even trust yourself? What if the Wolf isn't Ezra, what if it's Roygaris?”

”So you've opposed him,” Kylar said.

”After I gave him the brown ka'kari, I thought better of it. Since then, I've scattered ka'kari to the ends of the earth. This is no short-term ambition. It has taken the Wolf seven hundred years to get a few ka'kari and now Curoch, and perhaps Iures. He doesn't care if it takes another hundred years to get the rest. This is part of your burden. Make sure he doesn't get them all.”

”But he might be on our side,” Kylar said.

”You tell that to all the innocents he's murdered.”

”What do I tell all the innocents you've murdered?”

Durzo blinked. He chewed on his lip. ”The problem with the black ka'kari is that it doesn't work in a mirror. I could never see the state of my own soul, and you can't see yours either. But if you wish, bring it to your eyes now. Judge me.”

Kylar didn't dare. Durzo had poisoned dozens during the coup alone. There were surely hundreds-thousands-more deaths on his soul. If Kylar saw profound guilt, he might not be able to stop himself from killing Durzo. Or at least trying. It wasn't a fight he wanted to win, and now that he knew the cost of losing, that was even worse. ”What should I do about the Wolf?” Kylar asked.

”Nothing now. But if you hear that Mount Tenji isn't spitting fire for the first time in two centuries, or you hear that the Tlaxini Maelstrom has stilled, you need to move fast. Like I said, this is not a short-term threat.”

”When does it end?”

Durzo snorted. His hand moved to his belt where he used to carry a small pouch of garlic cloves. He noticed and gritted his teeth. ”It could be hundreds of years. It could be twenty. Giving him Curoch was a big mistake.” hundreds of years. It could be twenty. Giving him Curoch was a big mistake.”

Thanks. ”Can we win?” ”Can we win?”

”We? I'm mortal now, kid. At best I have thirty, forty years left? I'm not terribly interested in tangling with the Wolf. Can you win? It's possible. He can't live forever. His magic's only an imitation of ours. Yours.”

”He made one black ka'kari, why not make another one for himself?” Kylar asked.

”Made it? No. Ezra found it. He studied it to make the others, but they were all inferior copies.”

”It told me-”

”Let me guess, something about being crafted with 'limited intelligence'? The black ka'kari was ancient when I was born, Kylar. It told you that so it wouldn't scare the s.h.i.+t out of you. You're sharing your head with a being whose power dwarfs yours.”

~I wouldn't say my power exactly dwarfs dwarfs yours.~ yours.~ ”Give the f.u.c.ker my regards,” Durzo said.

~I loved you better than you loved yourself, Acaelus.~ ”I have to say, though, if he tells you to move, do it,” Durzo said.