Heights of the Depths

by Peter David

  “That is none of your concern.”

  “So you admit there is someone. Some female that is not one of your own. Which is why,” and now everything was coming together in his head, “you were so interested in finding a way of disposing of your mother. It wasn’t about attaining power. You knew that as long as she ruled, she would never allow you to take other than a Trull as a mate. But if you disposed of her, then the way was clear for you.”

  Eutok stared off into empty air. He took a deep sigh and let it out in a slow rumble. It seemed as if Karsen’s questions had taken some of the energy from him. “The way would never have been clear for us,” he said finally. “It was foolishness even to conceive of it. Even with my mother gone, my brother would never have accepted it. And even were he gone, and I were supreme ruler of the Trulls, her presence would have guaranteed insurrection. We would not have survived. Or at the very least, she would not have survived, and that is all that matters.”

  “Have you considered the possibility that you are underestimating your fellow Trulls?”

  Eutok actually seemed to find the notion amusing. “No. I have never considered that possibility.”

  “But why? Would they be so averse to your interest in a human that—”

  “It wasn’t a human.”

  “Oh.” That brought Karsen up short. “I just…my apologies, I simply assumed that—”

  “It wasn’t a human. Isn’t. She isn’t a human.”

  “Then what—? I mean, if you don’t mind my asking…”

  “I do, actually, but I very much suspect that isn’t going to stop you.” He hesitated and then said, “I lived my life underground. How many non-Trull females do you think I am liable to encounter?”

  Karsen frowned. “I don’t understand what you…” Then he lapsed into silence, unable to disguise the shock he felt at the very notion. “No.”

  “You see—”

  “A Piri?”

  “—this is exactly what I didn’t—”

  “A Piri?”

  “—want to have to deal w—”

  “A gods damned Piri?”

  Before Karsen could move, Eutok’s hand lashed out and clamped around his throat. Karsen’s eyes widened in fear as he tried to draw in breath and failed to manage it.”

  With a low, furious snarl, Eutok said, “You don’t know her. You don’t know what she’s like. So don’t act as if you do. Because if you continue to act that way, then you’re not going to act in any way, ever again.” Making no attempt to hide his disgust, he shoved Karsen aside, allowing him to thud to the ground. Karsen lay there, gasping hungrily for air, clutching at his chest, trying to pull himself together.

  Eutok turned his back pointedly to him but remained sitting. “You don’t know her,” he said again, under his breath, seemingly as much to himself as to Karsen.

  Karsen was caught between his strong desire to know how in the world Eutok could possibly become involved with something as repulsive as a Piri and an even stronger desire to purge his mind of what little knowledge of Eutok’s assignations he already possessed. Deciding that saying nothing would be better than saying the wrong thing, Karsen pulled himself over to the other side of the narrow brook and lay down to sleep. The large brown whores stared down at him with sympathetic eyes.

  Can you believe it? Karsen asked the whores silently.

  He lay back, stared up at the stars, fell asleep, and awoke to someone about to kill him.

  ii.

  Why did you tell him?

  Eutok kept going over it and over it in his mind. Granted there was no denying that the Laocoon was extremely intelligent, and had figured out for himself Eutok’s secret. Still, Eutok had practically taken him by the hand and led him down the path.

  Even so…

  You didn’t have to tell him. You didn’t have to tell him or acknowledge that he was at all right. You could have said nothing. Hell, you could have beaten him into silence. But you didn’t. And he reacted exactly the way you expected him to.

  Except…

  Why shouldn’t he? After all, when you first lay eyes on Clarinda, your intention was to kill her. You wanted to bring her head back to your mother as a trophy. You didn’t think of the Piri as anything other than animals. It took ages, and Clarinda’s influence, to make you come around to another point of view. So doesn’t it make sense that the Laocoon would react with the same disbelief that you initially displayed?

  Which brings you back around to why you told him, or allowed him to figure it out, considering that all you could reasonably have expected from him was revulsion.

  Maybe it’s because you’ve been carrying this inside you for so long that you wanted to have the opportunity to talk to somebody about it. You couldn’t talk to your own brother. The bastard hated you, and you despised him, and if he found you now then things would certainly be no better between you considering all he wants to do is kill you. If my lover is a Piri, then why shouldn’t I wind up becoming friends with a Laocoon…?

  He stared at Karsen, whose chest was rising and falling in a steady motion. The whores also appeared to be dozing, although curiously they were doing so while standing. He considered that to be very strange. Who or what sleeps standing up? Still, he had to admit that it was handy in case someone tried to sneak up on you while you were asleep. It meant you could start running the instant you realized that there was danger bearing down upon you.

  A friend? Is that what you’ve come to? Have you fallen so low that you are actually worried about acquiring a friend? What do you need with a friend?

  He realized he had no answer to that. Having never actually had a friend, he wasn’t sure what his life would be like with one. Nor could he entirely comprehend why his thoughts had turned in this direction.

  Maybe, he thought, it’s because you have no one and nothing else anymore. You don’t even have a brother to hate you, or a mother to despise you, or soldiers to look up to you and obey you in your authority as—

  “Chancellor?”

  The voice was nothing more than the softest whisper, and yet Eutok heard it and was immediately on his feet. Karsen, sleeping deeply thanks to sheer exhaustion, did not react. If anything, he snored slightly louder.

  It had come from one of the caves. He squinted, trying to see clearly, and then two shadows separated themselves from the shadows within and approached him cautiously.

  Trulls. Two Trulls, and even in the dim light that the sliver of moon was providing, their astonishment was evident. “Chancellor?” one of them said again.

  Eutok did not recognize them immediately. “Fokor…?” he said uncertainly to the slightly larger of the two.

  “Vokar, Chancellor.”

  “And Tobis,” said the other.

  “Yes, Vokar…Tobis…of course.” He had his axe in his hand, preparing himself for their inevitable attack. He was, after all, a traitor and a fugitive.

  “What are you doing way out here, Chancellor?” said Vokar. He looked with obvious distaste toward Karsen. “And with that?”

  It was at that point that the Trull’s voice caused, not Karsen to awaken, but the whores. The whores took one look at the new arrivals and, apparently deciding that they were not to its taste, produced a loud and protesting whinny. The other whores did as well, and this was more than enough to awaken Karsen. Upon seeing the other two Trulls, he was immediately up on his hooves. He kept his hands relaxed at his sides, making no sudden moves, but he was understandably cautious considering he had no clear idea of just what sort of situation he was facing. He looked questioningly at Eutok as if silently asking him how exactly they were supposed to deal with the newcomers.

  As for Eutok, he could not quite comprehend why Vokar and Tobis were not attacking him immediately. “He is…” His mind raced, trying to come up with an explanation that would seem reasonable. “A spy. A spy on my behalf on Mandraque activities.”

  “Mandraque activities, Chancellor?” said Vokar. He didn’t sound skeptical; mer
ely curious and eager to learn more.

  Still they made no move to attack. Instead they were treating him with all the deference that would be required when interacting with the Chancellor of the Trulls.

  “Yes.” Eutok cleared his throat, trying to sound confident rather than tentative, as if he were still Chancellor rather than a fugitive. “And it would appear that they have acquired weapons from someone other than us. This spy is leading me to a weapons cache that we believe to be somewhere in the vicinity of Murako.”

  “Really,” said Tobis. “Then obviously we wish to assist you, Chancellor.”

  “Yes, Tobis speaks truly,” said Vokar. “In our capacity as long-range scouts, it is not very often that we have the opportunity to be of direct aid to you and the interests of the Trulls.”

  Karsen’s face was carefully neutral. “Long range scouts, you say.”

  “Yes, Chancellor. We are gone for many turns at a time, and so have very little access to any news from the Hub.”

  “That is true. We never have any idea what is transpiring. In fact, we are very much looking forward to news from home.”

  They were now walking toward Eutok with that swaying, slightly waddling stride that Trulls typically had. Eutok felt a flood of relief rushing through him. If he could keep these two Trulls with him, have them watching his back, then that would provide even more safety for him. Of course, they didn’t have whores available for the newcomers to ride upon, but perhaps more mounts could be found. Or maybe—

  And suddenly Karsen had his war hammer in his hands and he said grimly, “They’re about to attack.”

  “What?” Eutok couldn’t believe what he was saying. “What do you mean they’re—?”

  With a roar that was remarkably similar to that which Eutok had displayed when he and Karsen were charging the whores, Vokar and Tobis came straight at Eutok. Vokar was wielding a massive spiked club, and Tobis a sword carved from stone. They moved quickly, converging from either side.

  Eutok was caught completely flatfooted. He had moved away from his battle axe and was empty handed. Vokar whipped his club around and Eutok barely avoided it. He tried to grab at his axe, but Tobis swung his sword around and down and Eutok barely yanked his arm out of the way. If Tobis had connected, it would have shattered Eutok’s forearm.

  The whores were leaping about, trying to yank free of the ropes that were keeping them affixed.

  Karsen vaulted over the brook and swung his war hammer. Vokar, who had been about to take another swing at Eutok, spotted the assault at the last moment and switched targets. He blocked the swing of the hammer with his club. The impact was so violent that it ran the length of Karsen’s arms and caused him to lose his grip on the hammer. He leaped to one side as Vokar slammed down his club, which barely missed connecting with Karsen. Karsen lashed out with a hoof and caught Vokar’s right wrist, which snapped under the impact. Vokar screamed, dropping his club. He bent to grab it up with his left hand, and then looked up just in time to see the head of Karsen’s war hammer sweeping through the air right toward him. He started to shout, “No!” but he didn’t have the time, nor would it have made much difference as the head of the war hammer buried itself in Vokar’s face, smashing it flat. His brains seeped out of his ears and the Trull collapsed. Karsen had to yank hard to extract the hammer since he had virtually buried it in there.

  He turned just in time to see Eutok catching the blade of the stone sword between his massive palms. Tobis blanched as he realized he was unable to free his weapon from Eutok’s grip. Furthermore, he saw the Chancellor’s face and realized his death was written in Eutok’s expression. He released his hold on his sword, backpedalled, and then turn and ran straight for the cave.

  Tobis didn’t make it. Eutok threw the sword like a javelin and it drove through Tobis’s back and out the front, impaling him. Tobis looked down, never more surprised, as he saw the blade sticking out his chest. He tried to grab at it as if he could somehow push it back out the other way and thus survive the fatal wound. Then he lost all feeling to his legs and tumbled forward.

  Eutok strode toward him and crouched next to him. “You knew,” he said. “The entire time, you knew. And you tried to catch me off guard by acting as if you hadn’t heard about what transpired.”

  “Not tried…,” Tobis managed to say. “Did…catch you…would have…if not for damned…Bottom Feeder,” and he tilted his bearded chin toward Karsen.

  “I’m pleased I was able to disappoint you,” Karsen said.

  Tobis’s chin twitched violently, and then before Eutok could move, a wad of bloodied spittle flew from Tobis’s lips and landed on his face.

  “Traitor,” growled Tobis, and then his head slumped to one side and his eyes glazed over.

  Eutok reached up, wiped the spittle from his face, and then smeared it on Tobis’s beard. For good measure he kicked the dead Trull. Then he reached back around, placed one oversized foot against Tobis’s back for balance, and yanked hard. The sword came free with a loud splutch and Eutok studied it. “Decent enough weapon,” he said.

  “You want it, you’re carrying it,” said Karsen. He had placed the war hammer back in its strap on his back.

  “A warrior should be well armed.”

  “I’m not a warrior. I just do what I need to do and take no relish in it.”

  “Nor do I.”

  “I don’t believe you.”

  “It’s true,” said Eutok, who knew that it was not. Karsen knew as well but chose not to make an issue of it. Eutok took the sword belt off Tobis’s body, fastened it around his own waist, and slid the sword in. “How did you know?”

  “Know? That they were simply trying to get close enough to you to kill you?”

  “Yes.”

  Karsen shrugged. “It was obvious. The way they carried themselves, looking ready to leap upon you at the first opportunity. Their fists were clenched. Their words were laced with lies. They tried too hard to sound as if they had not heard what had transpired with you. I know not if Trulls as a race are bad liars, but these examples certainly were.”

  “We have to hurry and keep hurrying. They will know we are here.”

  “How will anyone know? We’ve just dispatched these two.”

  “They are scouts, true, but scouts report back regularly. They are as expert in navigating Trullers as anyone else,” he said, referring to the high speed underground means of conveyance. “When they do not report back, it will be assumed that something has happened to them. The further assumption will be that I was involved, considering that the only thing that would have lured Trulls out from underground would be me. The Trulls will converge on this area, and trust me, Trullers can move far faster than whores.”

  “I know,” said Karsen. “I rode in one, remember?”

  “Yes. It seems a lifetime ago, but yes, I remember.”

  The whores had settled down with the demise of the attacking Trulls. Now Karsen and Eutok remounted, knowing that further attempts at resting in that area would be far too hazardous. “Out of curiosity: Do Trull tunnels reach all the way to Murako?”

  “Of course they do. Our digs reach from one end of the land to the other.”

  “What about to other lands? Other continents?”

  Eutok paused and then shrugged. “Not to my knowledge.”

  “I suppose we have to hope it doesn’t come to that, then. Come. We have a long way to go before we dare rest again, I think.”

  “Aye, we do. By the way…”

  “Yes?”

  Eutok appeared as if he were about to vomit up something truly foul that had lodged in his chest, and then he managed to cough up two words: “Thank you.”

  “For what…oh. For saving your life, you mean.”

  “For warning me,” Eutok said quickly. “You did not save my life. I saved my own life. You simply warned me that my life was in peril. I did the rest.”

  Astride his whores, Karsen bowed slightly. “I never meant to suggest otherwise.”
<
br />   Moments later they were riding across the plains while birds, as if sharing some manner of psychic link, converged upon the fallen bodies of two Trulls and prepared to feast.

  en route to Perriz

  I.

  The hiding had been the worst part of the trip.

  Initially Clarinda would have thought that it was going to be the constant state of paranoia. The certainty that, at any moment, more Piri would descend upon them and attack them, led by the implacable Bartolemayne.

  But it hadn’t happened. It had not happened, and she could not begin to guess why that might be. Her mother, Sunara Redeye, had sworn to her that she would be pursued by the Piri no matter where she tried to run.

  Why would they stop, she wondered. They wouldn’t stop. That’s the only possible answer. They wouldn’t stop, which means that they are continuing to pursue us except we’re not seeing them. Why are we not seeing them? There must be some reason for it. Why would they hide themselves from us? It must be to lull us into a false sense of security. Which means we cannot relax vigilance for a moment. But that’s going to wear us down until we’re in no shape to fight or even string coherent thoughts together. What is their plan? Is it possible they don’t actually have a plan? Maybe they’re not out there at all. Maybe my mother simply decided to let me go, and to hell with me, because if I didn’t want to be part of our race, then why should my race go to such lengths to get me back? Maybe she did it out of love. Gods, I hate her.

  Night by night as they trekked, she kept going over the same things in her head. The problem was that the further they got from the land of Feend, the longer the trek took. She had known that was an inevitable result of their putting distance between themselves and their homeland, but it had seemed the only possible means of survival.

  The young Ocular had damned near panicked the first time that the sun’s rays peered over the horizon. They had not been expecting it, for they were accustomed to the lengthy nights of Feend. Their miles-consuming pace had brought them a healthy distance from Feend in fairly quick time, but now they were paying for it.