How Black the Sky

by T J Marquis

  "Well she is supra-gen, for one thing," said Kash, "so she is not of Overland, not really. But no, her dislike of me is far more personal than you know."

  "Kill him, Scythia," said Ess.

  Pierce wondered at this. Ess already had Kash locked in place. Why wouldn't she do it? She was so fixated on Scythia doing it... He loosed his sword in its scabbard.

  "She's never liked the fact that her sister married me," Kash said, smirking.

  The supra-gen woman Pierce had seen in the doorway couldn't stand it anymore and rushed forward to Kash's side. Her eyes were wide. She was exceedingly beautiful, and she looked familiar.

  "Ugrata!" Kash howled. "Go back!"

  "Sister," she cried to Ess. "Please don't do this. If you would just speak with him calmly, honestly, you would understa-"

  Her words were cut short as Ess drew a finger sharply across the air. A dark line appeared across Ugrata's throat, and it began to ooze thick purple blood. She clutched at the wound and fell to her knees. Kash roared. He strained at the enchantment that bound him.

  "He may find a way out of it, Scythia," Ess hissed. "Do it now."

  "Why did you..." Scythia stammered. "Was that really your sister?"

  "I do not have a sister," Ess said, "any more than I retain my old name."

  Pierce reflexively slid his sword partway out of its scabbard. He had the unmistakable intuition that he should strike Ess down now when she would not expect it. He could close the distance in a mere few seconds. She was not facing him and would not know to fold. It was irrational and surprising, and it contradicted everything his body felt about her. He studied her face and doubted. She must have had a reason for what she'd done.

  Then why this intuition?

  Scythia hesitated to strike Kash down, and in that moment, he broke free and sent her flying with an explosion of invisible force.

  Pierce rushed Kash before anyone else could beat him to it. There was no forethought, just instinct and the release of a passion for justice that had been building since Pierce had learned of Kash's plans.

  "Pierce!" Scythia and Agrathor called out. But they let him have the initiative for fear of friendly fire.

  Pierce was in range and struck. Kash did not react to the bright flash of blue. A blade of leaf green light that had not been in his hand before parried the strike.

  "Such passion!" Kash laughed. "Do you have grievances as well?"

  Pierce wouldn't dignify torturers like this. He thrust, was parried, and countered. Kash's movements were effortless. He'd been doing this for at least five of Pierce's lifetimes.

  Kash nearly killed him on the next strike. Only training and blessing pivoted him away from the bright green blade. It scored his chest plate deeply but did not reach his heart. Lightning ripped toward Kash from Pierce's right, but the Underlord casually deflected it into the floor with a bloom of green power in his offhand.

  The distraction was still a help. Pierce struck, a blur of speed, and cut open Kash's shoulder. All of Ess's orbs spun into view nearby, buzzing around Pierce, but didn't strike Kash.

  The Underlord said, "Enough," and gestured with his offhand.

  The release of his power was a palpable thing, filling the room with an insubstantial thickness like gelatin. Pierce couldn't move. Everyone else seemed to be frozen as well, even Ess and her orbs.

  Kash dissolved his wicked green blade into points of light at the tips of his long fingers, and he watched the power condense with a grin. Then he looked over at Ugrata. She had fallen on her side, blood still trickling out of her throat. Her eyes were dim. Kash's dark eyes flashed.

  "It would have been nice to have Gorgonbane around for what is coming," he said. "I am truly disappointed that it came to this. It will be a quick death."

  He raised his hand, fingers pointed at each of the others in the room. He released the thin points of green light and they shot through the air, but they dissolved into the aether before they could strike any of their targets.

  "No," came a hearty, tenor voice. The room had grown lighter, whiter.

  Pierce regained his movement and took a deep breath. The others followed suit. Kash was petrified again.

  "About much, you are correct, Underlord," said the voice. A form materialized in front of Gorgonbane. It looked familiar. It was big.

  "Yet you believe you may meet your goals by any means. You do your talents a disservice."

  The voice belonged to a tall, burly man. He had clear skin and a wild shock of fiery red hair that flowed down into an equally wild beard. He was dressed in loose white clothes like military fatigues, cinched with a golden belt at the waist. An amulet of white stone hung around his neck, with a word written on it in a language Pierce couldn't read.

  "Axebourne!" Scythia cried, and ran to him, wrapping him in her arms "You vagabond! You trickster! I thought I buried you!"

  Axebourne laughed with real joy. "That would have been some prank, my love. You did bury me. I have returned."

  Scythia stood back from him and eyed him suspiciously, almost playfully.

  "How I've missed looks like that, my darling," he said. "I do not jest, though. I have walked the Glorious Path and returned."

  Everyone sucked in a breath of shock, even Agrathor.

  "You came back just to kill me?" Kash said, real fear in his eyes.

  "If I wanted revenge," said Axebourne, "it would not be upon you, though you did choose to attack us all at Chasmverge." He turned to Ess.

  "Would you like to tell them, dear friend?" he asked her. "Or should I?"

  All eyes went to Ess. Pierce made the connection, and prepared to charge. Axebourne must have seen him tensing.

  "Hold, boy," he said, and Pierce obeyed, with difficulty.

  Ess didn't look terribly shocked, or afraid that Axebourne was accusing her. Pierce actually thought she seemed a little annoyed.

  "I did not intend to kill you, friend," she said. Scythia immediately moved to attack, and all at once she was frozen again, halted mid-stride. "But you should not have tried to defend the First."

  Axebourne laughed. "I will defend anyone from harm who I do not deem deserving of it."

  "Yet you do not understand my work, any more than you understand Kash's goals. He is right - there is something rising from the depths of the world that only the three of us knew about. Kash, the First, and I. My former master was resigned to it, awaiting his death. I knew I must take his power from him." Ess's seven orbs circled the air around her hand, joined suddenly by an eighth she must have kept hidden before. This one was a deeper orange than the rest. "Kash sought to resist but keep control of the world for himself. That I could also not abide."

  "And you, old friend?" Axebourne asked. Pierce thought he might already know. "What did you want?"

  "I want it to come," Ess admitted. "Them, really. There is no stopping the upward shift of the layers of the world. It isn't the first time our world has been fundamentally altered, nor will it be the last. We would be fools to try and stop it."

  "But why kill your mentor and teacher?" Scythia asked. She sounded distraught. Pierce couldn't blame her. How long had they trusted this woman, with their secrets, their very lives? He himself felt betrayed, and he had only known her for a short span. They had kissed. Did it mean nothing to her?

  "The First no longer deserved his title," Ess said, "but he refused to relinquish it to me, despite my surpassing him in power. It was for the best, I must admit. His sacrifice earned me this Skill of Control with which I bind your bodies." The enchantment of stasis cinched around Pierce once more. Ess didn't even have to gesture. "With Kash in my hands, I complete this test of my will, and claim my place as the First."

  She glanced at the Underlord as if she'd forgotten about him.

  "I suppose this will do," she said, raising her hands toward him, "though I would have preferred the blood of unjust revenge, a more proper sacrifice."

  Kash's mouth moved but did not make a sound. Ess brought her hands together,
cupped as if catching a flying insect to study it later. Kash's body collapsed instantly into a small orb of blood, bone and flesh, with a surface that shifted about like liquid. It shone with an eerie green light. He didn't even have time to cry out in pain. The orb floated over to join Ess's others, and she looked up to her former comrades.

  "You will think to come for me. Do not try. Continue to delve into the Theory," she said, "and you may someday understand." She looked Pierce straight in the eye.

  "For what it's worth, I thought you were beautiful too," she said. "If I thought you would come, I would fold you away with me, but your stout heart is much too warm for this, is it not?"

  Pierce nodded in shock, the movement stiff. Even now, a portion of him twitched with attraction.

  "Very well," she said.

  With that, Ess dissolved into the air, and Gorgonbane regained their movement.

  "Why didn't you stop her?" Agrathor roared at Axebourne. "You halted Kash with a word, you could have halted her too!"

  "I'm glad to see you as well, Aggie," said Axebourne. "The betrayal of an old friend is a sad thing, but my business is not revenge. That is not why I was sent back. "

  "Sent?" said Scythia.

  "I'll explain everything. Everything I have words for, anyway."

  CHAPTER THIRTY-FOUR

  Lords of Testadel

  Scythia would not let Axebourne begin his story. She took him into her arms and held him as if she would never again let go.

  Sev was the one to go to Ugrata's body and kneel. He laid her on her back and straightened out her robes and limbs. He closed the lids of her sightless eyes and bowed his head in what Pierce supposed was a prayer.

  Ess's parting words had led him to a new realization. The people of Overland really didn't know that much about the thoughts and feelings of those who had lived beneath them. Ess's actions were evidence that many people, even legendary heroes, didn't truly know even their own friends. Pierce had never considered the secret thoughts of others. He was realizing in this moment that he tended to take everyone at face value.

  Ess had been young to him, a fresh, beautiful girl who he might be able to get close to. She had been fairly aloof, sometimes seeming almost stoic, but this had only added to her mystery. Pierce had never liked people who blurted out their every thought and emotion anyway. He did, of course, have to admit that he often was one of those people.

  That kiss... Why had she done that, if all she meant to do was betray them?

  All this time, Ess had been mixing truth with lies. She had known that the world consisted of at least three layers, and not just two. She had known that the First's enchantment of the sky would stave off or at least stall the Underlands' uprising and had prevented his success by killing him. She was able to fold into areas that were supposed to be protected with deadly anti-folding enchantments - what else could she do that she had claimed was impossible?

  Everything she'd said about the events that had taken place atop Chasmverge had been twisted.

  Pierce's bemusement quickly shifted into anger. Perhaps the woman hadn't owed him anything after this short time of fellowship, but how could she do this to her comrades? He couldn't understand how she could be willing to sacrifice their lives just to gain more power and knowledge.

  "I know that look," came Agrathor's rough voice. He came up to Pierce's side and put an armored hand on his back. "It looks like what I've felt every day since I lost my flesh." Agrathor made his odd sighing sound. "I don't speak of it much," he said, "but I know that anger, that resentment, that fixation on betrayal is often my master. It's why I gave Scythia leave long ago to stop me when I begin to stumble over my own anger. All she has to do is say my name, and I know I'm not being rational, or worse, that I'm about to endanger the group. You felt something for Ess, didn't you?"

  "I know I'm transparent," said Pierce. "I don't mean to be. But it was nothing, just the urges of my body."

  Agrathor chuckled. "Maybe, kid, but the heart wants what it wants. I remember that well, even if I don't have my own heart anymore. If you're feeling betrayed, you had more hope for her than merely sharing a bed."

  "Maybe," said Pierce. "I wouldn't really know. I don't know if I've ever fallen in love with a girl before."

  "Ah," said Agrathor. "Take your time, kid. It's a beautiful thing, but it'll mess you all up."

  They were quiet for a long time, and Pierce could hear the sound of Scythia's quiet sobbing. Axebourne held her in silence, his head resting on hers, his eyes closed in peace. Sev had risen from Ugrata and gone to sit on an ornate, high-backed chair that must have been for Kash.

  "What do we do now?" Pierce asked. He didn't really expect an answer, was just thinking out loud.

  "Look around, kid," said Agrathor. "We're the Lords of Testadel now. Kash is gone, the First is gone. Grondell, the Temple, likely all of the old mages. I'd be surprised if there's a capital left standing in Overland. But we control the fortress. We defeated Kash - his followers will respect that. Whether we sought it or not, we're left to be the rulers of the land."

  Pierce couldn't wrap his mind around another big thing just then and didn't try. He was part of Gorgonbane, and would leave it at that for now.

  "My love," Axebourne spoke to Scythia finally. She backed away a step and wiped at her eyes, dark makeup running down her cheeks. It had left a smudge on Axebourne's white shirt.

  "There is a Skill I must try before we move on from here," Axebourne said. "I think it may help us with what comes next."

  Scythia nodded as if she understood, but her face was dull, her eyes distant.

  Axebourne moved over to Ugrata's body, laid out on the floor of the antechamber. Her blood had seeped into the fibers of a large, lavish rug.

  Axebourne knelt beside her and put one hand on her slit throat, the other over her heart. He breathed in slowly, then began to speak in a language Pierce didn't understand. He uttered a final, strange word, and Ugrata sucked in a sharp breath. Her body shuddered and her eyes opened for a moment. Then she lapsed into a fit of coughing, spat out a long stream of purple blood, and settled at last. Her eyes were glazed, but they found Axebourne and she smiled for a moment.

  "It's true," she whispered. "The Blacksmith is real, and now I come to meet him, despite my lack of faith."

  "I am not the Blacksmith," Axebourne said gently. "You are not dead, child."

  Ugrata's eyes grew tense and fearful then, flicking across the room as if she'd just awoken from a vivid and terrifying dream.

  "I can't..." she spluttered. "My sister killed me..."

  "She did," Axebourne said lowly, evenly. He kept a hand on her heart and moved the other to the top of her head. He stroked her ebony hair to soothe her. "None of us knew about you, Ugrata. We didn't even know your sister's true name. Everything my friends came here for, it was all a lie. I am sorry about your husband."

  "Kash," Ugrata breathed. "She killed him too?"

  Axebourne nodded sadly.

  "Why?"

  "We don't really know," Axebourne said. "She found a way to capture him, to turn him into one of her weapons. We have to assume she needed his power for whatever she plans to do next. She had said we must know what knowledge Kash had discovered."

  "Power," said Ugrata. "Savita did always have to be the best."

  "That was her name?" asked Agrathor. "Savita?"

  Ugrata nodded, wincing in sudden pain. "Can I... Will you help me sit up?" she asked.

  Axebourne did so, assisting as she moved to one of the room's couches.

  "My head hurts," Ugrata said.

  "You were dead," Axebourne smiled. "I'm not surprised."

  "How did you bring me back?"

  "Your sister killed me as well, so I know how it feels," Axebourne said, chuckling. "When I was gone, I learned a few new skills, such as restoring the life of one unjustly slain."

  Axebourne took a seat in a chair nearby, pulled Scythia near to him and held her hand.

  "Listen, Ugrata,
" he said. "Big things are coming upon the world, things even I wasn't told about during my short time away. Until now, we would have counted you our enemy, but now, I would like to propose a treaty similar to what Kash had in mind. Perhaps with less bloodshed."

  Ugrata didn't even take time to consider it. "Yes," she said, eyes sincere. "Any person who would resurrect their enemy from the dead deserves my allegiance. I will do anything you ask."

  "Telling us Ess's real name was a good start," Axebourne said. "Can you get whoever is left in Testadel to fall in line?"

  "The men and women here loved Kash," said Ugrata. "He was a diligent and fair ruler to them, despite what you Overlanders tend to assume. Nevertheless, they are also in the habit of keeping order, and they respect might and authority. I think they will submit to you, especially when they see that I stand with you."

  "Good," said Axebourne. "It wasn't what we wanted, but we're starting from scratch here. We'll need every helping hand we can get."

  "So what's the plan?" said Agrathor. Pierce thought it odd to see him finally out of armor, draped only in loose cotton shirt and trousers.

  Gorgonbane and Ugrata were arrayed at a table in one of Kash's old war rooms. Someone had brought mead, bread, and cheese, and everyone ate ravenously. Agrathor's skeletal feet were up on the table.

  "Unification," said Ugrata. "It has to be that."

  The others nodded.

  "But we can't do it Kash's way," said Agrathor. "We won't."

  "I concede that it wasn't the best," said the supra-gen woman. "Perhaps I believed in him somewhat blindly."

  "Or perhaps you'd demonized Overlanders the same way we did you," said Scythia. "But I get the feeling there is not much time to dwell on the old problems. I'm not much one for suppressing feelings, but I will say that they don't matter much now."

  "So we need to know what Kash knew," said Axebourne. "Can you tell us?"

  Ugrata closed her eyes thoughtfully, perhaps remembering her late husband.

  "Some of it, yes," she said. "But not all. We will have to speak with his sorcerers. I fear, though, that some of his deepest knowledge may have died with him. He did not speak of everything he'd discovered, even to me."