by Matthew Ward
Constans chuckled. "Edric, I think you've listened to too many spiteful legends. You're dead. Your soul is in my realm – it's already mine to do with as I wish. I'm just offering you a chance to save your beloved."
The idea was unthinkable, but then so was abandoning Arianwyn. Constans had no reason to lie, not about something like this. If it was indeed the only way...
"One other thing," Constans said, interrupting my thoughts. "It may interest you to know that a battle took place near Halmede a few hours ago, a battle between an army of your Empire on one side, and with the Tressians and the serathi on the other."
"So it's begun," I said quietly.
"It has. Unwillingly in some quarters, perhaps, but yes."
So that was it. War had begun, with too many friends on both sides. Torev would fight. He'd hate it, but he would fight. He'd fear what would become of his men and women if he refused to lead them. And my uncle; did he still seek peace, or had his patience been exhausted by Tressian intransigence?
It wasn't even the war itself that concerned me. It was the thought of Azyra and Magorian pulling the strings for their own agendas. Perhaps when the Radiant was restored, Azyra would be the force for good she'd always claimed. It seemed a slim hope, and even then it would cost Arianwyn her life. As for Magorian, I'd no idea what his goal was, only that the serathiel was as ignorant of it as I. It was plain he was a member of the cult I'd thought destroyed at Salkard, but beyond that? He wanted the Empire and Republic at each others' throats – that much was clear.
There was really no choice. I had to go back. Not just for Arianwyn, but for Torev, for my uncle and for all the people of both realms. I wasn't the Hadari Emperor, would probably never be the Hadari Emperor, not any longer, but the responsibility remained mine.
"I'll do it," I said quietly. "Send me back."
He smiled. "Good. I knew you'd see sense."
"I don't have much choice do I?"
"Certainly you do, but there was only ever one path you could choose or, at least, so I hoped. I don't want Arianwyn harmed any more than you do." He shrugged. "I'm not yet the monster you take me for, even after months in these delightful surroundings."
"So, what happens now?" I asked.
"Well, that rather depends on where you want to go. I can't get you onto Skyhaven. There are no exits from Otherworld that lead there."
"I thought that Otherworld led to all places." Certainly that was what Arianwyn had once told me.
"And so it does; almost," Constans said unhelpfully. "Skyhaven isn't part of the world in the traditional sense. Death's realm has no purchase upon it that I can find."
"That's ridiculous," I said. "I died easily enough, as did several serathi."
"Ah yes," Constans replied. "But you're not from Skyhaven. You're truly mortal, and mortality travels with you wherever you go. As for the serathi, I don't know what happens to them when they die. All I can tell you is that no dead serathi has passed through here."
"But that doesn't explain anything?"
"Doesn't it?" Constans said, plainly baffled. "I thought it explained things rather well. In any case, I can't get you directly onto Skyhaven, not from here."
"Perhaps Tressia then," I mused. "The serathi have set up what they call a stepping gate in the palace square. Skyhaven's on the other side."
Constans' eyes narrowed in concentration. "Yes, my ravens have seen such a thing. That I can get you to easily enough. There's at least one crossing point within a few minutes' walk of the palace square."
I didn't reply. I was too busy thinking. Every day was now a prize not to be lightly cast aside, but heading straight into confrontation would only end in failure. I needed allies and information, and I needed them quickly.
Unbidden, Morecet's offer came back to me. He'd claimed to know much about the serathi. Perhaps it was time to put that to the test. He'd said I'd find him at a village on the Thrakkian border. Valna, that was it. I hesitated. Valna was a long way from where the battles would be raging, and further still from Arianwyn, but an unprepared attempt would achieve nothing.
"Actually," I said. "I need to go to Valna, if you know it."
"Since coming here, I'm required to know all places," he joked, "but yes, I know of Valna. It's an interesting choice. May I know why there, rather than anywhere else?"
"Morecet's there."
Constans scowled. The two of them had never quite gotten along.
"I know you don't like him," I went on, "but he owes me a favour, and I can't fight this battle alone."
He pursed his lips. "Then Valna it shall be." He rose from the throne. "If you'll follow me?"
*******
Constans led me through the mists until we came to a vast gate, nearly three times my height. Yet despite its size, the gate swung open at his touch, revealing a long stairway and, beyond that, a bustling street.
This, at last was the Otherworld I remembered. The black and moonless sky, the ghostly buildings that shifted and flowed with the roiling mists and, of course, the crowds of the dead shuffling along streets cobbled with a dark and colourless stone. Some had walked these routes for centuries, their era and land betrayed by their ghostly garb.
"Stay close," Constans instructed. "If you get swept into the crowds, I might not discover you before the revenants do."
I quickened my pace to match his. It was odd how the ground felt as solid as ever under my feet, especially as every time I looked down I saw only a vaporous mist below my knees. "Why would the revenants be looking for me? I thought you controlled them."
Malgyne gave a harsh croak of laughter from Constans' shoulder,
"And I do." Constans moved quickly through the crowds. The ghosts parted for him, but not for me, and I discovered it was better to follow directly in Constans' footsteps than to risk being cut off from him. "But their nature calls them to seek out displaced souls. Without my presence, they'll drag you to your ultimate destination, or consume you entirely, if you're unlucky."
"Ultimate destination?" I asked.
"I don't know," Constans said, "and I don't care to find out."
We walked on through Otherworld, guided through shifting streets and ghostly fields by Constans' certainty. I made no attempt to keep track of our journey, and would never have been able to do so in any case, so many twists and turns did our path take. We walked along riversides, the waters rushing black and ominous beneath us. At some points, the roads were lined with looming buildings of Tressian design, at others with the angular villas popular in Tregard, or black-barked trees, their leafless branches swaying silently to a breeze I couldn't feel.
Sometimes the ghosts headed in our direction. At others, their tide flowed against us. There seemed no order to it, no reason. Perhaps there was none. More likely, it was simply something I didn't understand. The workings of the world didn't need to be obvious to Edric Saran in order to function.
At last we came to our destination, a worn and battered stone archway that stood alone in the shadow of three towering monoliths.
Constans led me out of the ghostly crowds and up to the arch. "This is as close as I can take you. It's on the other side of the Thrakkian border, but you should be able to make your way north to Valna without too much difficulty."
He traced a finger around the arch, all the while muttering under his breath. The stone glowed green wherever his finger touched, the light growing brighter as the shape came closer to completion. I'd seen Arianwyn perform this trick. You needed control over magic to open a portal between Otherworld and the mortal realm, but I supposed Constans could call upon magic easily enough now he'd taken Malgyne's place. Mists rushed to fill the glowing shape, then cleared to leave only darkness.
My way home was prepared.
"It is done," Constans said. "When you reach the other side, you'll be a fallen. You'll have life and form, of a sort, but you won't be truly alive. I can't restore that to you, Edric, though I wish I could."
"One problem at a time." I
tried not to think about the implications of that. "You've given me a chance to put things right, and I'm grateful." I shrugged. "I'd embrace you, but the act might lack for substance."
"Amongst other things," Constans agreed. "One last warning," he went on, suddenly serious. "The revenants will follow. They'll try to drag you back or devour you. I'll do what I can to stop them, but..."
"But it means exerting your influence over the living realm, and restoring Malgyne," I finished. "I understand." I glanced at the raven. "It may be that you can't hold him at bay forever."
"Perhaps not," Constans agreed. "But I'll do so for as long as I can."
"Will I see you again?" I asked.
"Pray that you don't," Constans replied, "for that will mean that Death's free, or you're dead again. Both fates can wait a few years, I hope. Goodbye Edric."
There didn't seem to be anything else to say, and no reason at all to tarry. I bid Constans a last farewell, took a deep breath that I no longer needed, and walked into the portal.
Two
I stepped out into darkness. Not the unsettling mist-wreathed gloom of Otherworld, but the cool, welcoming dark of night. Below me, pine trees clustered on the lower slopes of the hill. To the east, I saw signs of a roadway.
The portal closed without a sound, leaving an empty stone archway behind. It stood as alone in the mortal realm as it had in Otherworld, the last survivor of some building lost to the passage of time or to the onset of war. Not everything was the same. On this side of the portal, the monolith behind was toppled and half-covered by moss.
As for me, I almost felt like myself again. Almost. I was whole, clad in robes of black silk, with leather gloves and boots of the same colour. Whatever Constans had done to restore me had provided a dark replica of the clothes I'd worn before Azyra had murdered me. The only thing missing was my sword, which was presumably on Skyhaven. I'd find a replacement easily enough, but it was a sore blow nonetheless.
I removed one of my gloves and examined the hand in the moonlight. My skin was as pale as a serathi's, a far cry from its usual autumnal hue. I ran fingers along my cheek, and snatched them away in surprise. My flesh was cold, deathly cold.
The emotions I'd lacked in Otherworld came flooding back. I became lost in self-pity, but that was quickly followed by rage at what had been done to me, and was yet being done to my beloved, and to my people.
With a strangled shout, I aimed a kick at the arch. Dust billowed into the night. The arch shook, steadied itself and then, with a tortured creak, slid sideways onto the grassy hillside.
"Oh, very rational. Very mature."
Elspeth sat, legs crossed daintily, on the collapsed monolith. Her skin glowed softly in the dark, and she wore a supercilious expression. "That particular arch survived battles between mortals, and between gods. It even endured the attentions of peasants searching for good stone. Now it falls to a tantrum."
"It will have to forgive me," I growled. "I've been deceived, betrayed and murdered, and am now forced to walk the world as..." I gestured down at my body. "...as this. I'm feeling neither rational nor mature."
"And I, Edric Saran? Will I have to forgive you also?"
"I don't much care what you think. If you'd not abandoned me on Skyhaven, perhaps this would never have happened."
Elspeth's eyes flared. "Really. You think I didn't do enough? I purged poison from your body. I woke you up. I set you free. How many of those things could you have accomplished without my help? I even told Adanika where to find you which, let me tell you..."
"Wait," I interrupted. "You spoke to Adanika?"
Her eyes flared. "I just said so, didn't I?"
"Why?"
"Because you needed help, and I knew she wanted to give it."
"I see." In truth I didn't, but at least it explained how Adanika had found me so quickly. "If you've already done enough, why are you here?"
Elspeth scowled, but said nothing.
"Well?" I asked. Still there was no answer. "I don't have time for games. Keep your secrets. Goodbye Elspeth."
I started down the hill towards the road. I'd taken less than a dozen paces when Elspeth called out. "I'm here to help you!"
I considered continuing as if I'd not heard. However, there'd been a note of desperation in her voice, a tone that was almost pleading. It occurred to me that I needed all the help I could get, however irritating the source.
"Why?"
For a heartbeat, I thought she'd lapse into renewed silence, but then she rose and flung an arm up towards the moon. Her gaze didn't follow the gesture, and remained locked on me. "My mother..." She spat the word. "...disapproves of what I have done, or rather of what I have not done. She has told me I am no longer welcome in her Palace of Dreams until I have made amends."
"Wasn't it she who told you to watch over me, but not to act?"
"It was," Elspeth replied bitterly. "But I took that instruction too literally, apparently. I realise now, too late of course, that it was a test. She's inflicted similar things on my sisters in the past." Elspeth glared up at the moon, thrust her arms rigidly downwards and stamped her foot. "She doesn't seem to realise that the secret of a good joke is NOT TO KEEP REPEATING IT UNTIL IT GOES STALE!"
Wearied by her outburst, Elspeth half-sat, half-collapsed onto the toppled monolith. I sighed and walked back towards her. I wasn't too enamoured of the woman, or her behaviour, but her distress was plain.
"Stay away from me," she hissed. "I don't want sympathy from a mortal, most especially not from a dead one."
"But you want to help?"
"I don't have much choice in the matter, not if I want to go home."
"It seems choice is a luxury few of us have these days."
"What a mortal thing to say," Elspeth muttered.
"You're going to have to get used to that."
She snorted. "So it would seem."
Elspeth didn't appear very happy about the arrangement. In truth, neither was I. Unwilling help was only slightly better than no help at all.
"Here." Elspeth reached behind the monolith and produced a long, oilcloth bundle, which she threw to me. "A gesture of my good faith."
Puzzled, I snatched the bundle out of the air and unwrapped it. Inside was a scabbard of unfamiliar design. Within that, betrayed by the silver moon moulded into its pommel, was my sword. My sword!
"The original scabbard went the way of your flesh, but I thought you might like the sword back."
"I'm grateful," I said, and I was. This sword was a tangible connection not only to my family, but also to the life I'd so recently lost. Elspeth cracked an unexpected smile. Then she saw me looking at her, and the scowl flowed back. "Come on," I said.
"Where are we going?"
"I'm going north, to the village of Valna. You're welcome to come."
"Why Valna?" she asked suspiciously.
"Because I want to talk to Morecet. You've met him. He kicked you – by accident, of course."
"Of course," Elspeth mimicked. "Why do you want to talk to him?"
"I think he might be able to help. As the only ally I can currently count on is a resentful demigoddess..."
"I'll have you know that there's nothing 'demi' about me."
"Thanks for making my point. I need all the help I can get."
"Yes, but..." I heard an odd note of concern in her voice.
"That's where we're going, unless you've a good reason not to."
Elspeth scowled. "I just know my mother is wary of him. She won't tell me why – another of her little jokes, I suppose – but there has to be a reason. She does nothing without good reason."
"Including banishing her daughters?"
She glared at me. "Fine, don't listen. I'll simply remind you of this conversation at an opportune moment, even if I have to follow you to Otherworld in order to do so."
*******
Despite her protestations, Elspeth followed me closely as I made my way down the hill. I supposed I'd discounted her concerns
about Morecet a little lightly, but it was nice to be the source of irritation for a change, rather than the victim. It wasn't lost on me that Elspeth's worries about Morecet more or less paralleled Azyra's – not that I was concerned by the serathiel's opinions any longer – and I wondered why such a man could strike so dolorous a chord. It appeared I'd be well served to watch Morecet very closely indeed.
Elspeth remained mercifully quiet as we passed into the woods. It was still dark, but I saw clearly enough to avoid any embarrassing entanglements with the undergrowth. Besides, the illumination provided by Elspeth's presence rendered everything as visible as if we'd been travelling under a full moon. This was all very well in its way, but by the time I caught sight of road on the other side of trees, I grew concerned about the impression we might give fellow travellers. My face was as pale as hers, but at least it was easily concealed by my hood. By comparison, Elspeth wore the same white dress as when I'd first met her, raiment that could be said fit for a streetwalker or a formal dance, depending on how strict one was prepared to be with one's definitions. And, of course, she glowed.
"I don't suppose you can stop that?"
"Stop what?" she said crabbily. Goddess or not, she'd repeatedly snared herself in the forest. It had not improved her mood.
"Your luminescence is somewhat striking," I said diplomatically. "I'd rather not draw attention, if we can avoid it. Unless, of course, you'd rather we travelled the rest of the way through undergrowth?"
"No I can't. No more than you can stop asking foolish questions."
"Then the trek through the forest it is."
Elspeth sighed. "Mortals are impossible. Fine. Turn around."
I did as bidden. The glow faded. I felt a sudden weight on my left shoulder. Alarmed, I turned my head to see a white cat staring accusingly back at me, her balance precarious as she curled around the back of my neck like a scarf, her head and forelegs dangling off my right shoulder, her hind legs hanging off my left. Hoping that a robed and hooded man with a white cat around his neck was less peculiar a sight than one in the company of a glowing woman, I pulled my hood up, stepped out onto the roadway, and headed north.