by William King
An awful thought struck him. Morven appeared to be receding below him. He knew now for certain that the Serpent Man has not lied about one thing; the Tower was airborne. Even as he watched, the clouds slid shut below them and obscured the lights of the town. He could see them roiling greenly, hellishly lit by the contrail of the massive structure as it ploughed ever upwards.
His stomach lurched as the tower seemed to tilt sideways. The tug of gravity remained the same, even though his own senses told him he should be tumbling through the air, or at least sliding sideways on the smooth floor. Whatever magic drove the tower through the sky kept gravity on the same plane within it.
Why not, he thought wonderstruck. The sorcery that could manage the one would surely have no difficulty with the other.
A sense of his own smallness in the great scheme of things filled him. He was trapped here in the belly of a thing both wonderful and terrifying, in an ancient vessel capable of leaping the immeasurable distances between the stars. When he thought of the forces at work here, he felt tiny. Who was he to pit his will against the Terrarch that could control such a thing?
Someone with no option but to try was the answer. Nonetheless, he paused for a moment before the massive crystal panes of the window and let the wonder of it flood his brain. Even if he died here, he would have seen something few others ever had or ever would again, and it seemed worthy of contemplation even if only for a few quick heartbeats before he moved on.
The way led upward and into an open chamber, low and circular, the ceiling dimpled like a dome. In the centre of the chamber was a raised dais. On the dais loomed what Rik at first took to be an incredibly life-like statue of a snake. Only after a few moments of holding his breath did he begin to believe what his instincts were telling him, that the thing was alive, and unsleeping, with a cold intelligence in its eyes and a hunger that was not entirely for flesh.
Even as he watched the massive serpent uncoiled lazily, its head arcing upwards to almost the height of the dome. Massive muscles rippled below its scaly skin. Green venom dripped from its long fangs.
He recognised the thing from the storybooks he had read as a youth and the knowledge the Serpent Man had placed in his head. It was a Na Gha, a guardian created by ancient sorcery. If those fangs pierced his skin he would surely die.
Ilmarec sensed something wrong. The powers within the heart of the Tower were unbalanced. No matter how hard he tried to control them, he failed. It was like trying to prevent water flooding through the sides of damaged boat. As soon as he dammed the energy in one area, it broke through in another. He controlled the Tower only with the greatest of difficulty. It constantly threatened to leap skyward out into the cold gulf of space or plummet earthward and bury itself into the ground. Despite the Old One’s warnings, he had never imagined that it could be so hard.
Worse, the power of the heart of the vessel raged unchained. For once the problem was not gathering enough energy to keep the magic working, the perennial trouble of all mages on this accursed globe, but to bend the titanic forces he had unleashed to his will. He feared that he had made a miscalculation. Desperately he forced his mind through the symbolic sorcery of the control ritual. He prayed that it would be enough.
The Na Gha slithered toward Rik, fast as a galloping horse. Its triangular head snapped down like a thunderbolt, so fast that the eye could barely follow it. Somehow Rik managed to twist aside and lashed out with his knife. The blade sliced the golden patterned scales. He slid to one side and stabbed again.
The Na Gha hissed like a boiling kettle and lashed out frenziedly. Rik saw he had destroyed one eye. Insane killing rage entered the thing’s good eye, as it swept forward once more.
He backed away, drawing his own pistol and aimed for the other eye. When the muzzle of his pistol was so close to the Na Gha’s eye he could almost touch it, he pulled the trigger, praying that the gun would not misfire.
The hammer thudded home. The charge sparked. The pistol boomed. The bullet was driven right through the jelly of the thing’s eye. It hissed and lashed the air once more. He threw himself clear and waited for another attack. It did not come but the huge snake took a long time to die.
He slumped wearily against the wall convinced that his shot must have attracted the attention of the whole tower. After a second he forced himself to move on.
The Nerghul emerged from the maze at the Tower’s heart. Its feet were on solid ground, at last, and not a moving walkway. It knew that whatever controlled the walkway had tried to frustrate its designs but in the end the Nerghul had proved victorious. From up ahead came the scent of its prey. Not far now, it realised, and it would achieve its goal and fulfil the purpose of its creation.
Rik wished he had thought to take some of the serpent’s venom for his blade, although he knew how dangerous poison could be. He was nearing a time when any advantage could mean the difference between life and death. Too late now, he told himself, he did not have time to go back. He remembered the magebane Asea had given him.
He stopped for a moment, took the jar from within his duffel bag and, using a small bit of cloth, carefully smeared it onto the sword and the blades of his concealed dagger. Afterwards he sealed the jar and threw away the cloth. He did not want to take the chance of getting any of the poison on to his skin.
Now for the combat drugs, he thought. He took out the package and put the powder on his tongue and let it dissolve. Aside from a slight numbness in his mouth at first, he noted no effects, then he noticed that his senses felt keener, and he felt stronger and swifter and almost cheerful. The effects would only last for an hour, and then he would feel the dreadful after effects. He figured that if ever there was a time to use them, now was it.
He continued to follow the ramps upward until he entered an open space. Before him were two huge green-scaled figures. Their heads only came up to the height of Rik’s chest but that was because the upper half of their massive torso’s leaned forward, balanced by huge serpent-like tails. Their heads resembled those of dragons. Their teeth were massive, their tongues like those of snakes. Their eyes were small, cold and inhuman. In three-fingered, taloned hands they held saw-edged blades massive as two handed swords. It took him a moment to realise that he was looking at statues.
From the knowledge the Serpent Man had placed in his mind, he knew that the command chamber lay beyond. He had reached his goal.
Something like joy filled the Nerghul as it loped through the greenly glowing corridors. Finally its prey was before it. It could catch the scent intensely. It sensed other thing too, the presence of powerful magic, and strong sorcery as well as a potent demonic presence. It recalled its orders. It would kill all the others present as well, but first it would finish its prey. It rushed forward to strike.
Rik looked into a huge chamber in the centre of which sat Ilmarec enthroned. A nimbus of green light played around the wizard’s head. His eyes were closed. Rik slid through the entranceway, poisoned blade held ready. Then he noticed the wizard’s robed bodyguard hovering nearby. Its cowled head turned towards him, and he knew then that he was about to die. A moment later it passed over his head. Seemingly it had detected a greater threat.
Frustration filled the Nerghul. It had come so close. Another few steps and it would have achieved its goal. But it was not to be. The cowled demonic figure swept past his prey towards it. The Nerghul braced itself as the thing impacted upon it. A mass of enormously strong tentacles emerged from within the robes to grapple with it. The Nerghul mustered all of its strength to fight back.
Rik realised that Ilmarec’s demonic guardian had just saved his life, and he had no idea why. Perhaps it could detect the Nerghul and not him, which was a stroke of luck. Behind him the two hellish entities fought with a fury worse than that of rabid wolverines.
It looked as if the Nerghul was engulfed in a nest of snakes. It fought furiously to free itself as enormous ropes of muscle surrounded it and tried to crack its bones. When he looked closely Rik could
see that many of those tentacles appeared to have sucker mouths that ripped at the Nerghul’s flesh, yet still it fought on. He tore his gaze away from the battle and returned it to Ilmarec. He had no time to waste on these two. He needed to get the Talisman and go. He strode towards the throne, sword in hand. Just as he reached Ilmarec, the wizard’s eyes snapped open. They had a strange glazed look but still there was something potent and commanding about them.
“Who are you?” Ilmarec asked. “How did you get passed the Shaa Khyraa and the wards?”
Rik shrugged and lied, as he edged closer. “Give me that amulet. I will let you live.” He wanted to distract Ilmarec, to prevent him from drawing on his magic until it was too late.
“Who are you to threaten me in my place of power?”
“This is not your place. It belongs to the Serpent Men. It has always belonged to them. You are an interloper here.”
Ilmarec tipped his head to one side and gazed at Rik with narrowed eyes. “I see you have been touched by their power. That old monster down below was wilier than I gave it credit for being. Somehow it has betrayed me.”
“It said the same thing about you.”
“You look like a human but you are not. You look like a Terrarch but you are not. What are you?”
“I am a half-breed.” Rik took another step closer.
“You are more than that. You would not have been able to pass my wards. I think you are some creation of Asea’s.”
Almost there, Rik thought. “Will you do as I asked or must I kill you?”
“You are very confident to threaten me. I could slay you with a spell.”
“If you wish to try, now is the right time.” Rik raised the blade and pointed it at Ilmarec.
A sly smile of triumph crossed the wizard’s face. He raised his clenched fist. A ring glittered on one finger. Rik found his gaze drawn to the ring’s depths. For a moment his sanity tottered and he felt the urge to do whatever he was told by the Terrarch.
“You will obey me, half-breed,” said Ilmarec. Desperately, Rik resisted, putting all the force of his will into making his limbs obey him.
“I don’t think so,” said Rik lunging forward. The poisoned blade pierced the wizard’s belly and he howled like a tortured dog, writhing on the floor. Rik reached down and ripped the Serpent Man’s talisman from around his neck.
“You idiot,” said the wizard. “You have destroyed us all.”
His eyes closed. He looked dead. Rik stabbed him again a few times just to make sure.
Chapter Twenty-Four
What now, Rik thought? He had the talisman the Serpent Man required. The question was whether he could trust it. He did not see what else he could do. He was trapped on the Tower. The Tower raced through the sky uncontrolled. If the Serpent Man had told the truth it was only a matter of time before the god’s heart exploded killing them all. As ever, it seemed, he had very little choice in the matter. He glanced back over his shoulder. The Nerghul still fought with Ilmarec’s tame demon.
He caught a flicker of movement from the corner of his eye. He turned, raising the sword to protect himself. A tall Terrarch woman entered the chamber. Rik recognised her from Asea’s portrait as Queen Kathea. She had entered through another door.
Understanding flooded into Kathea’s eyes. She looked at Ilmarec’s dead body and then at Rik, and then she screamed in horror. Rik strode forward and put his free hand over her mouth. He did not want her screams to attract either of the two monsters.
He spoke slowly and softly, “Your majesty, I mean you no harm.”
A small muscle pulsed in her jaw, he could feel it. He kept speaking as quietly and persuasively as he could. “Nod if you understand what I am saying.”
She nodded.
“I have come here to free you, and to take you to Lord Azaar’s army. There are some problems. We need to get out of the Tower. You need to follow me.” He uncovered her mouth.
“We can’t get out of the Tower. It’s in flight and Ilmarec was the only one who could control it. We are all doomed.”
“There is another.”
“You lie.”
“Your majesty. You can stay here if you wish and you will certainly die, or you can come with me, and you may yet live. Which is it going to be?” Her response surprised Rik.
She walked over to Ilmarec’s corpse and started kicking it.
“Bastard,” she shouted. “Stupid, treacherous bastard. I knew it would all go wrong.”
“Your majesty, we don’t have very much time.”
The kicking ended and sobbing returned. “Are you ready to go, your majesty?”
“Let’s go,” she said. Her voice was calm, icy, in control. Her eyes were wet with tears, but her face was frozen into the formal mask of a Terrarch princess. “Lead the way.”
“It will be my pleasure.” He gestured at where the two demons fought. “Run past those two things as fast as you can go!”
The Nerghul felt the first faint stirrings of fear. Not for itself, but that it might not be able to complete its mission. The creature it fought was strong, quite the strongest thing it had ever encountered. The suckered tentacles sheared flesh from its bones. Worse than that, their icy touch seemed to be sucking all the animating energy from the Nerghul. It was weakened and depleted in a way it had never felt before. Nonetheless, it was not going to give up. It writhed and pushed against the demon’s embrace, sinking its own talons into the rubbery skin.
Just then, it sensed a death in the next chamber. The demon’s hold weakened slightly. The Nerghul twisted an arm free and reached forward grabbing a handful of its opponent’s eyestalks. Exerting all its might, it tugged them free. The demon’s struggles became weaker. The Nerghul bit and gouged at its flesh. Long minutes passed as its foe became weaker. The Nerghul sensed victory as the demon began to dissolve into slimy protoplasm.
It turned to pick up the scent once more.
Rik led Kathea down through the winding corridors. He ran as fast as he could and still maintain a sense of direction. He feared that every second would be his last. In his mind’s eye, he pictured a great sunburst explosion tearing the Tower apart. He pictured it ploughing into the ground with enough force to kill everybody on board. It was all he could do to keep his racing monkey fears under control and recall the path back to the Serpent Man’s vault. He prayed as he had not prayed since his youth that they would be in time, and that the creature had not been deceiving him.
The Nerghul pulled itself along. It was badly hurt. Chunks had been torn out of its leg, so it limped, supporting itself with its arms. It needed time to heal but it wanted so badly to kill its prey, to savour the taste of fulfilment that it could not stop. It forced itself to move on. Its target seemed to be heading back the way it came. It was only a matter of time before it overtook it.
The great loops of moving pathway carried Rik along the convoluted way into the heart of the Tower, past empty chambers full of strange moulded machines. Incomprehensible runes scrolled past on the floor beneath his feet. The light burned dim and green and the warm fusty atmosphere grew more intense. Kathea looked at him.
“What was that?”
Rik listened. He thought he heard the echo of something moving, coming from behind them.
“I think we are being followed. One of the demons must have survived.”
“I thought the thing that attacked the Shaa Khyraa was your ally.”
“I regret not.”
“Then you should be afraid. The Shaa Khyraa would not long survive Ilmarec’s death. His soul was what bound it to our plane of existence.”
Rik thought about the Nerghul. The creature seemed destined to dog his footsteps. There appeared to be no way to escape it. He smiled with grim humour. It was a race between the destruction of the Tower and the undead demon to see which would kill him. He thought for a moment that he had entered a place beyond fear then realised it was the effect of the combat drugs.
“Why are you smiling?”
“I wish to hell I knew.”
They came at last to the chamber of the sarcophagus and stood before the Serpent Man. Its gaze met his. The process was smoother this time and far less terrifying and he found establishing mental contact with the Elder One much easier.
You have returned.
I have, and I have kept my part of the bargain.
I see that. You have done well, human, and I am grateful to you. A sense of the Serpent Man’s weariness and sorrow entered him.
What must I do now, Rik asked.
It is too late to save the Tower. The wizard has started a process that cannot now be reversed.
Then we must all die.
No, I can save you and the woman. I can save the lands below.
Why would you do that? We have not been kind to you? The thoughts came out before Rik could stop them. He knew he was wasting time but still he waited for an answer. There was nothing else he could do now anyway.
I am the last of my kind on this world. The others have gone. They may be dead or they may be returned to the stars but they are nowhere within hailing distance of this vessel. I cannot join them. I am dying anyway. I would not needlessly kill others.
You do not want revenge.
You have killed the only one I would be revenged on. I owe you a debt. I will repay it. You have done what was needful and I thank you for it.
Hope leapt in Rik’s heart. There was just the slightest possibility he would get out of this alive after all. What must I do?
Place the amulet round your neck and command the Sarcophagus to open. Images of the command procedures, the swift, strange shifts of mind needed to open the way flickered through his brain. Rik followed them, and the lid of the Serpent Man’s coffin hissed open. It split into two and the crystal sections withdrew into the stonework, leaving the Serpent Man exposed to the air. Thousands of tiny filaments withdrew into the walls of the coffin. Slowly, weakly, like one who has not moved in a thousand years and whose limbs were barely responding, the Serpent Man drew himself upright. Rik moved to help him. He lifted the ancient being up. It was as light as a child, almost weightless. Rik wondered if its bones were hollow like a birds.