by Ian Irvine
'You surprise me,' Gyrull said ambiguously. 'I begin to wonder if you've also been corrupted by association with the human, Tiaan.'
'She made me realise that humankind are not so different. And then, what you discovered in the Great Seep …'
'It's always on my mind.' She scratched a scaly armpit. 'The war will be over within a year. We must prepare for the peace now, though —’
'Not all of us want to change,' he said perceptively. 'We've had too much of it, and it's uncomfortable. The way we are is a refuge. Take that away, what do we have left? And yet…'
'Go on,' she said.
'It's not enough to be the greatest and most successful martial species of all, for in our hearts our people know that they're destroying a great and glorious culture, and replacing it with a desert. We know because we've lost our own civilisation, and the best among us lament it. Our ordinary folk just have a feeling that their victories are hollow, their very lives and purposes meaningless. For thousands of years they've been warriors but, once the victory comes, we won't need warriors any more. What will they do then? They don't know anything else. They don't want anything else.
'So now,' he went on, 'some of us are asking what this war was for. It is no longer mere survival — it's now existence.'
'Indeed, though that's a debate for another time. Let's talk about your patterning. I've the impression that you're thinking along new lines.'
'It was Liett's idea,' he said over-generously. 'To link a dozen patterners, each with its human inside. Each contributing, in its own way, to the flisnadr we're trying to create.'
'I don't see how it can work,' said Gyrull.
Pink speckles flushed his chest and throat, as if he took her words as a criticism, but he quickly skin-changed to the brilliant blue of resolution. 'We also have doubts, but first let me tell you about the advantages. If Liett's idea works it will give us a stronger and more robust flisnadr. A weak human must result in a feeble device, if she survives at all, and many don't. This way, we need not pattern any human to their limit, which gives us a better chance of success.'
Gyrull was pleased by the idea, and the forceful way he presented it, though she foresaw difficulties with his plan. 'How can the individual patterners be linked, and how are the different efforts coordinated? It's never been done before.'
'In the past year,' said Ryll, 'we've done many things that had never been done before. I — I have an idea,' he said, now hesitantly. 'I'm not sure you're going to like it.'
Allow me to decide that for myself!' she said peremptorily.
Again the blue of resolution and she smiled to see it. Ryll was developing well.
'Do you recall the behaviour of Tiaan's amplimet in Snizort, just before the end?' said Ryll. 'It appeared to be communicating, via threads of force, with the node.'
'I do. Continue!'
'I thought we might…I don't know …'
'Use the amplimet, and perhaps Tiaan too, to link the patterners together?'
'Yes' he said quietly. 'It's against our creed, but…'
'We've used her and her crystal before. It was not an unqualified success.'
'The torgnadrs we made by patterning Tiaan never reached their potential,' Ryll agreed. 'What happened to them?'
'One failed in Snizort and had to be destroyed. The other burned in the fires.' Gyrull rubbed her chin. 'I think I know what the problem was, and how to solve it, but Tiaan is far away. Do you propose to make a foray after her?'
'Not if there's any other way,' he said. 'And there may be. Remember how she came to Snizort, even though crippled, to find the tetrarch? Tiaan's weakness is excessive compassion; she cares about people even when they don't reciprocate. She even felt for me, an alien and her enemy. If we were to make it known that the tetrarch was here, I believe she'd find a way to come after him.'
'She might,' mused Gyrull, 'if she gets the opportunity, but we can't rely on it. And this amplimet is a perilous device we may not be able to control it. We must have an alternative plan.' She strode up and down, her armour flashing in waves of colour — mauves to reds to purples — as she thought. 'We might link the patterners another way. The tetrarch's geomantic globe offers certain possibilities. It might, if carefully formed, and used at a certain place within Alcifer, be made to serve.'
'How so?' said Ryll curiously.
'Alcifer's original purpose was never fulfilled. The city sleeps, but it is still powerful.' 'I don't understand.'
'How could you — you don't know the place. Leave it to me. I've been spying on the tetrarch. He's begun to rebuild his geo-mantic globe and already realises it has a number of flaws.' How do you know?'
'I studied it carefully in Snizort, and I've been feeding him information since then, to make him aware of errors in it. He will come to me for assistance — he has no other option. Were I to provide him with certain knowledge, and he to mould the globe according to it, if taken to a particular place in Alcifer it might just be what you need.'
'I don't know what you're talking about,' said Ryll.
'No matter — I was just thinking aloud. We'll go over it later. In the meantime, I'll assist you in the design of the new patterners, so they can be linked. Once that's done you must begin patterning the flisnadr, but don't take it beyond the juvenile stage. Leave it in stasis until the geomantic globe is ready. I'll spread a rumour in Lauralin that the tetrarch has fled to Alcifer. If Tiaan does come, we'll be waiting for her. If she doesn't, I'll send a force to snatch her from the Aachim. Between her amplimet and Gilhaelith's globe, we'll create a perfect flisnadr And then let the humans beware!' she concluded fiercely.
I — I would like to put one condition,' he said, diffident at first but finishing forcefully.
Gyrull looked taken aback, but replied, 'One who would lead must learn how to be strong. What is your condition?'
'I would have Tiaan treated with due respect, and given her freedom afterwards.'
She inclined her head, watching him with her penetrating eyes. 'I applaud your nobility of spirit, though to be freed by us will rouse suspicion in the eyes of her own people. And what of Gilhaelith? Do you feel compassion for him too?'
'He's a danger to the whole world; said Ryll.
'Yes, he's a brilliant, blind fool. He cannot see what others will do with his work, if it succeeds. It would give them power undreamed of, power that, if misused, could sterilise Santhenar for all forms of life. We must prevent that, or turn it to our own purposes. So, Ryll, what are we going to do about Gilhaelith?'
'Once we've no further use for him, he can go to the slaughtering pens.'
Forty-one
Irisis was sitting by herself, slicing onions as she watched the sun go down from the mouth of the cave they'd been living in for well over a month. The ragged slot was etched into a pebblestone cliff on the seaward edge of a barren island in the Sea of Thurkad, half a league off the coast of Lauralin. It was the safest refuge Muss had been able to find — hidden from all but a direct pass by Ghorr's remaining air-floaters, which was unlikely here; and, being surrounded by water, it was even less likely to be visited by the enemy. It was, however, exposed to the chilly south-westerlies, which intensified every day as the season turned. Winter was still months off, but every morning it felt a little closer.
Squatting by the smoky camp fire, she tossed dried beans into the cooking pot. They had been eating bean-and-onion soup for a week and not even her cooking could make it interesting. Irisis had no herbs, spices or oil left. Just beans, onions and water, three times a day, washed down with ginger tea. She'd dug some ginger root that morning in the moist bank of the only rivulet on the island.
There was nothing to do and Irisis was bored out of her mind. Fyn-Mah had withdrawn completely, Pilot Inouye didn't let out a peep and Flangers had taken to going on long walks by himself along the clifftops, which did nothing for Irisis's peace of mind. She would not have been surprised to find him at the bottom one day. Flangers's destruction of the air-floater
, and inability to honourably account for it, was corroding his very soul. And Irisis could not talk to Muss about her fears, on the rare occasions he was around. Muss required nothing of anyone, nor gave back any human warmth.
Irisis sometimes felt that she understood the lyrinx better than she did Muss. He gave his reports to Fyn-Mah, fully and completely, and advice when specifically requested, but not a sentence more. Muss recreated himself for each spying role, revealing nothing of the inner man. She had no idea what his hopes or dreams were, or even if he had any. But in any case, having procured a tiny skiff from somewhere, Muss was away most of the time, doing who knew what. It could have been Flydd's work or Muss's own. There was no way of telling.
She'd already taken the controller to pieces twice, rebuilding it to improve the way it drew power. She'd also disassembled the floater-gas generator but, not understanding how it created gas from water, had put it back together the way it had been. Irisis had, however, made one innovation vital to their morale. They could not use any kind of flame on the air-floater, but the floater-gas generator became hot when in use and she'd worked out how to heat water with it, for tea.
At midnight, when everyone else was asleep, she heard the snap of a sail in the wind. Muss had been away five days this time. She was sitting by the fire, making jewellery out of silver wire, as she did every night. Once each new work was complete, she took it apart and used the silver and crystals in a new arrangement. Irisis made jewellery because she had to. She could not sit idly, as Fyn-Mah seemed able to do. Irisis did not like to think too much, for her unpleasant foreboding was growing, day by day. Things were going to get worse before they got better, but they would not get better for her. She had committed enough crimes against the scrutators to be executed a dozen times.
The keel of the skiff grated on pebbles as Muss brought it in shore. Shortly he appeared, face pinched from the cold wind.
'I had news of Flydd and Nish,' said Muss, 'but they've disappeared again.' Shaking his head, he squatted down to warm his hands by the fire. A cold wind came off the water, coiling around into the mouth of the cave and lifting sand into their eyes, not to mention into the stew pot.
Have you eaten?' Irisis asked.
'Not since breakfast time.'
'Did you bring any supplies?' she said hopefully.
'No. What we have will do me.'
She cursed him under her breath. Muss must have been through many towns on his long trip.
He took a bowl of bean-and-onion stew while she made a warming cup to wash it down. He kneaded his back with his fingers. 'A long sail, a hard paddle, and a day and night's walkj before that,' he said without expression.
Irisis chopped a knob of ginger into small pieces. Scraping it into another pot, she filled it with water and sat it on the fire. When it began to boil she stirred it with the blade of her knife and filled two mugs, passing one to the spy.
He sipped the scalding liquid. 'Jal-Nish got his army, and the clankers, to a usable node west of Gospett. They tracked the retreating lyrinx towards Gnulp Landing, some twenty leagues south of here, planning to lure them into a trap, but the enemy disappeared.'
'Where to?'
'It was assumed they'd escaped across the sea to Meldorin.'
'But they hadn't?'
'Some thirty thousand lyrinx were enchanted into a field of limestone pinnacles above the valley of Gumby Marth, where the army lay hidden. It was a perfect ambush.'
Her blood ran cold. 'What happened?'
Muss's face showed nothing. "Three things saved them from annihilation, and all down to your friend Nish.' He explained how Nish had led Troist's army to the relief of Jal-Nish's forces, sounded an alert about the stone-formed lyrinx at the last moment, and led the breakout that had saved the survivors.
Irisis's eyes were glowing by the time he finished. 'I always knew Nish was destined for great things. Where are they now?'
'The army took ship from Gnulp Landing, in two merchant fleets, and both landed safely at Hardlar, near the mouth of the River Libbens in Nihilnor. Flydd and Nish were delayed, sailed into a storm and did not reach Hardlar. The Council of Scrutators has put a price of a thousand gold tells on Flydd's head but only if he can be taken alive.'
A thousand gold tells was an immense fortune. 'Why alive?' said Irisis.
The list of allegations is too long to enumerate, but they add up to treachery of the blackest kind. The scrutators don't like to delegate their justice.'
'I see Jal-Nish's hand in this.' Irisis shivered. She had never experienced such utter loathing as he had directed at her, the last few times they'd met. He would not rest until he had destroyed her.
"Not any more. Unfortunately, or fortunately, depending on your point of view, Jal-Nish was killed in the battle, and eaten.' . She stood up, spilling her tea. 'You're sure of that?'
I've seen the battlefield. He tried to work a great magic against the lyrinx as they attacked. The survivors said he'd lured the enemy into battle for that purpose, to prove his mastery to the Council, but the enemy turned his magic against him and cut his own officers down. It doesn't do to underestimate the lyrinx. The army was routed. About ten thousand got to Gnulp, of the forty that set out from Snizort to pursue the enemy.' He gave the dreadful numbers without regret or compassion.
Thirty thousand dead. Irisis warmed her hands on the mug, then rubbed it over the back of her neck. The chill faded. 'It's hard to believe Jal-Nish is no more. You've no idea how much I wished for it.'
'Anything can happen in battle,' said Muss. 'Though the official story is different.' 'Oh?'
'Xervish Flydd has been accused of murdering him.' 'Can that be possible?'
'No. He was with General Troist, leagues away, when the ambush took place, but the scrutators can make any lie into truth.'
And any truth into a lie,' said Irisis, thinking about the Histories. Do you have any idea where Flydd might be?' 'His ship sailed into the Karama Malama, was driven south by a gale, and there disappeared. He could be anywhere between Fleen Haven and Karints, and there's a hundred leagues of water in between.'
'Or he could be dead,' said Irisis. Nish too. Tears pricked at the corners of her eyes.
'He probably is. I learned yesterday that their ship was wrecked on a reef. A skeet brought the news. A lifeboat got away with the captain and a handful of sailors. Neither Flydd nor Nish was on it. The captain did not think anyone could have survived.' Muss still showed no emotion, though he'd served Flydd for many years.
This time the chill slid all the way down her backbone. Flydd dead? For all their sakes it must not be. And Nish? Yet they were mortal men — they could die, or be killed, as easily as anyone else.
Fyn-Mah shot up in her sleeping pouch, rubbing her eyes. 'Where did this happen?' Her voice went shrill.
'In the middle of the Karama Malama,' said Muss. 'The ship struck a reef 'There are a thousand islands in that part of the Sea of Mists,' said Fyn-Mah hopefully.
She'd served Flydd just as long, but it mattered to her. Irisis wondered if, secretly and hopelessly, she loved him.
'And Flydd is a strong swimmer' Fyn-Mah went on. 'There's a chance he's survived.'
A slim one,' said Muss. A man would soon die of cold in those waters, even at this time of year.’
'Nish isn't a strong swimmer' said Irisis.
'Then he's dead. And Ghorr has sent a fleet to make sure.'
'We must find them first' said Fyn-Mah.
'That's a task beyond our powers' said Muss.
Fyn-Mah began to say something, looked across to where Flangers and Inouye lay sleeping, and said, 'Come outside.'
Irisis followed her and Muss in her bare feet across the round pebbles. It felt as if she were walking on eggs.
The scrutator is a particularly thorough man' Fyn-Mah said obliquely. 'Since he first fled the manufactory after being suspended from the Council, he's tried to anticipate every kind of eventuality.'
I don't see how he could have anticipat
ed this one' said Irisis.
'Of course not. But he took steps to ensure that, if lost in desperate circumstances, or held prisoner in a secret place, he might be found.'
Irisis's heart began to pound. 'What kind of steps?'
'We learned a lot from Ullii. About the traces that the Secret Art leaves in its surroundings. And we've learned about nodes, and flows of power, and crystals too.'
I'm surrounded by people who can never get to the point, thought Irisis. Clenching her toes around a pebble, she tried to be patient, though it was not in her nature.
'In short' Fyn-Mah went on, 'the scrutator had a lodestone implanted in his buttock in case he ended up where there was no field, or his other powers were stripped from him.'
'I wouldn't have thought his bum was big enough to hide one' Irisis muttered.
'You'd know!' Fyn-Mah said spitefully. 'But the stone was quite small.'
'How is that possible?' For all her work with such materials, Irisis couldn't imagine how it could work.
'In ancient times, a mancer called Golias the Mad made a device that had never been made before or since — a farspeaker — a way of speaking across the distances of the world. The secret of the device is long lost, but when Flydd was using Ullii to locate Tiaan and her amplimet, it gave him an idea for tracing the faint emanations emitted by certain objects. Xervish Flydd is cleverer than you know. He was, for some years, scrutator supervising all the mancers and artisans in Nennifer, and they've invented hundreds of devices powered by the Art.'
'I didn't know that' said Irisis. 'How will you look for it?'
I carry the complementary crystal, which is tuned to Flydd's lodestone. If he is still alive, we should be able to find it.'
'What if he's dead?'
The stone requires the warmth of the human body to operate. If he's dead, we'll find no trace of it.'
They went back to the cave and the firelight. From a lined wooden box no bigger than a needle case, Fyn-Mah took a grass-green translucent crystal, the length of a needle and not much thicker. After warming it in her fingers, she set it aside. Filling a beaten gold bowl with water until it reached the very top, she added more, drop by drop, until the surface rose minutely above the sides. With a pair of tweezers, she lowered the crystal to the surface and let it go. It floated.