by Aerie (lit)
The next thing that he noticed was that all around the edges of the bottom half of the stone jamming the bottleneck, there were little trickles, tiny streamlets that had not been there before. And even as he watched a spot that had been previously dry, he saw first a single drop of water well to the surface of the hairline crack, then a second and a third, then the drops became a trickle, then the trickle a thin stream down the face of the rock,
And he realized a moment later that somehow that crack, almost invisible to the eye, was widening.
He had to pull his feet up now, the water was getting so deep.
Then there was a wet pop, and the rock itself cracked across the middle from right to left, and water began to trickle from the crack.
That was the beginning of the end. The rock cracked, and cracked, and cracked again, but only the bottom half Soon the bottom half of the rock shimmered with water, and even with his feet pulled up, Kiron was ankle-deep in the stream.
Then the priest pulled away from the stone, and the steady drain on Kiron ended.
"I think we need to leave here and let Tam-kalet do his work," the priest—whose name Kiron still didn't know—said hoarsely. "The water has undermined the entire bottom half of that blockage; that is why it was cracking. I do not know when it will succumb to the stress."
Kiron didn't need a second invitation. He shoved himself up off the rock and realized, as he staggered away, that he was as completely spent as he had ever been in his life.
And cold, cold. As he stumbled into the harsh sunlight, the warmth felt good on his numb skin. He sat down abruptly on the first place that looked comfortable, as the priest's fellows came and assisted him away. Tam-kalet and two others went back inside the tunnel, after warning everyone else to stay back.
Just as Kiron was actually starting to feel warm again, they came running out, a grinding sound echoing from the tunnel behind them.
Tam-kalet jumped up onto the rocks stacked up to the right of the tunnel entrance. The other two scrambled over the ones to the left. And just in time, for a muddy wave of water and rocks tumbled together surged out hard on their heels with a roar.
When everything had settled again, the spring was back in its old bed. As near as Kiron could tell, the stream it fed was back at the highest level it had been in when Aerie was in its prime.
The priests that remained stared at the stream in satisfaction, but it was Rakaten-te who spoke, standing off to one side and leaning on his staff.
"Kaleth, Marit. It is our turn now."
Kaleth gestured to two of the younger priests. One stepped forward to act as Rakaten-te's guide, the other followed the trio. Kiron was curious, but his exhaustion overcame his curiosity. He knew he would find out what, if anything, was in there eventually, and for the moment, recovering his strength seemed more important than anything else.
It was not very much later that all five of them came out again. This time it was Kaleth who led the elder priest, while the two junior priests carried a small chest between them. It seemed very heavy for its size; after a moment, it occurred to him that it must be made of stone, and he wondered what could be so important that it required a stone chest to hold it.
Well, whatever it was, it seemed to be what Kaleth and Rakaten-te were looking for. They paused, as the two young priests went on with the chest, presumably to the Temple of Haras.
"We have found what we were sent to find," Kaleth said into the waiting stillness. "The Great King and Queen have been sent for, because the enemy comes apace, and the time has come to end what was here begun."
His words did not have the otherworldly ring about them that they had when he was speaking directly for the gods, but Kiron had no doubt that his words came from them anyway. As the rest of those waiting, Jousters, workers, priests and all, looked at one another in befuddlement and began to murmur, Rakaten-te rapped his staff three times on the stone to silence them.
"Prepare yourselves, people of Aerie, of the Two Kingdoms. The Heyksin come. And this time their Magi, and perhaps their gods, come with them."
Outside the temple, even through stone walls as thick as his arm was long, Kiron could hear the murmur of voices. Not surprising since just about every living soul in Aerie was out there right now.
With that single word, "Heyksin," every difference that had ever existed between the people, and the Jousters, of Tia and Alta had disappeared. It was what Ari and Nofret had wanted so badly—
Be careful what you wish for…
Kiron could not help thinking about those words, now so grimly prophetic. And yet, that wish had nothing to do with a plan that must have been a-building for tens of tens of years. Even if the Magi of Alta were not in league with their Heyksin cousins, it still must have been a-building for that long. It was just too well-plotted, too well-executed. Had not that one single man escaped… had he not gotten far enough and at the right time for his body to have been spotted by patrolling Jousters… then all of the border towns could have been removed and the way would have been clear for a Heyksin army led by Magi to strike straight at the heart of Tia. Alta was already weak and shaking. Tia's troops were decimated even if the land itself and the majority of the people were still secure. It would have been the ideal time to strike. Heyksin forces could have taken Mefis with scarcely a battle. And even if Ari and Nofret had escaped by dragon, where could they have gone?
They were here now, and along with the strongest priests of Sanctuary, and Aket-ten and Kiron, they waited to see what it was that the gods had wanted Kaleth to find.
Kiron had suspected a weapon of some type, perhaps something like the great Eye of Alta—though hopefully, one that could be powered without the dreadful cost of lives—but the box was far too small for that. Kiron had thought it was stone; it wasn't. It was made of some metal he could not identify, black either by design or blackened with age. And utterly plain, without any of the bas-reliefs or carved letters beloved of the craftsmen of the present day. In fact, in its simplicity, it seemed of a piece with this very city, a place where even the statues of the gods were curiously simplified and refined down to a few basic lines.
No one, not even Kaleth knew what was in there. He had been waiting for Ari and Nofret to arrive. And now was the moment of truth…
With great care, Kaleth reverently put his hand on the lid. Kiron held his breath—and truth to tell, he more than halfway expected that the box would be sealed, either by some invisible lock or by age. Or maybe by magic.
But the lid came up easily in Kaleth's hand, swinging on hinges that were invisible. Kaleth reached inside—and pulled out an oval, flat package, wrapped in age-yellowed linen that literally fell to pieces in his hands, revealing the gleam of gold.
It was a circlet, a crown, of the sort that could be worn alone, or over the Greater Crowns. This one, though—the hawk head meant to be worn on the brow was of nearly identical design to that of the statues outside, and standing in the sanctuary of this very temple. Very simple. Very stylized. The hawk head was all smooth curves, suggesting beak, eyes, the hunch of wings, rather than actually depicting them. Kiron stared at it, fascinated by the gleaming metal. He wanted to touch that little casting, feel the metal smooth beneath his fingertips…
But there were more. Five more times, Kaleth reached into that box and came out again with a crown, until he had placed the sixth and last on the floor, in a circle.
There was a stylized cobra and a scorpion. The hawk and the arching horns of a cow. The curled horns of the ram and the long-necked head of the vulture. Six crowns.
The representations of six gods and goddesses.
"The crowns of the gods?" Kaleth asked out loud.
"Ah, I wondered what you had uncovered." The Chosen of Seft nodded. "Such things were said to have been made. By the gods themselves, in fact. One wonders now if the blocking up of that spring was deliberate, not to stop the water, but to prevent the priests of this city from getting their hands on these relics."
Fo
r Siris, chief of the gods and lord of the dead, there was the ram. For his wife Iris, the cobra, wise and cunning. For Haras, the hawk of course, and for his wife Hattar, the curved cow horns surrounding a fertile full moon.
And for Seft… the scorpion crown. And for his wife Nebt, the vulture.
For a long time, everyone stared at the six crowns and no one moved. Finally, though he could not have said why he did this, Kiron reached avidly for the hawk crown.
Just as his fingers caressed the smooth surface of the gold, the crown suddenly flared to life. To his credit, Kiron did not even flinch. White-gold light blazed from the circlet for a moment, making them all squint, then faded to a soft, warm glow.
"Do—can I hold that?" Aket-ten said, hesitantly. Without a qualm, Kiron handed it to her.
The light was quenched as suddenly as if a lamp flame had been blown out. Aket-ten bit back an exclamation of disappointment and handed the crown back to Kiron.
The moment his fingers touched it, the light returned.
"I sense the magic," said Rakaten-te mildly. "If I were you, I would not put that on just yet."
Kiron blinked. He had, in fact, been thinking of doing just that. But the Chosen of Seft's words made him think twice about that idea. "Ah… you may be right," he said. But he didn't put the crown down.
He couldn't. Not even when another thought occurred to him. He hadn't been at all happy about the notion of the Gods pulling them about… and now, here he was…
"So. Kiron has—what?" Rakaten-te asked.
"The diadem of Haras," replied Kaleth. "So this, Chosen, is surely meant for you—"
Kaleth gingerly picked up the diadem of Seft and began to put it in Rakaten-te's hands. But as soon as the metal circlet got even close to the Chosen, a darker, redder light blazed from the gold, and Rakaten-te gave a swift intake of breath.
He reached out his hands, and Kaleth quickly dropped the circlet in them. He let out a long sigh, as the light dimmed to a ruddy glow. Meanwhile, with some hesitation, Aket-ten was reaching for the diadem of Hattar. As her fingers neared it, silver-gold light blossomed as if to welcome her, and she picked up the circlet with wide eyes, lips parted a little in wonder.
"I—feel the power, too!" she said. "I have never done that before—"
"You have never held something that the gods themselves have made," Rakaten-te said with a slight smile. "And I think there is a reason why the Great King and Queen were called for—"
But Ari hesitated, looking dubiously at the remaining three crowns. "I didn't want, didn't choose to be King," he said slowly. "This—this is so far beyond being merely King—"
The Chosen of Seft raised his chin, frowning. "And this may well be the only way you can save your peoples, Great King. You did not choose this task, it chose you. Nevertheless—"
"Nevertheless… it is a task I accepted. And this is a piece of that task." Ari took a deep breath and reached for the diadem of Siris, as Nofret reached confidently for that of Iris. Blue-white light, a little darker for the crown of Siris, answered their touch.
I am holding the crown of Haras. I am about to become a hound on the game board of the gods. He felt a chill, a sinking feeling in his gut, and yet… now that it had come this far, he could not put down that diadem. He could not back away from the game. More lives than just his depended on this.
And the game had been put in motion long, long before he was born. If Aket-ten was to be believed… maybe it had been started, not by the gods, but by men. As below, so above, she said. He clutched the crown and willed himself to be steady. He was on the path now. There was no turning back.
That left only one crown, that of the wife of Seft, Nebt, the Lady of the desert, the Voice of Prophecy, the Dweller Between, unclaimed. Kaleth stared at it for a long time. Finally, he picked it up. It remained lifeless gold in his hands.
He placed it reverently back in the metal box. "Not today, I think," he said, and put down the lid, which closed with a muffled click. Then he turned back to the Chosen of Seft. "I assume you know something of these objects?"
Rakaten-te shook his head, but he was smiling. "Only that they once existed and were lost. But the gods do not leave anything to chance when the situation is as grave as this one, and they will guide us as to what we must do next. I suggest all of you listen to your crowns. They will tell you what you need to know."
Kiron shook his head, even as his fingers caressed the cool gold. Listen to the crown? That was ridiculous…
… wasn't it?
But he closed his eyes for a moment, and felt the weight of the thing that he held in both hands, felt its solidity, its power, and…
Blinked, as his head jerked up, as if he had been nodding off and he knew in that moment exactly what it was he needed to do, and when. He didn't know what would happen after that, but he did know that much. The crown was a conduit for Haras, somehow and made it possible for the god to manifest when it was worn by a living human.
Provided, of course, that Kaleth knew what he needed to—these things required a ritual, it seemed—
"The crown has given me the ritual that we will need, Mouth of the Gods," Rakaten-te said, with great formality. "I shall teach it to you as soon as may be.
Kaleth looked around the circle of faces, lit from beneath by the softly glowing diadems on their laps. "You all know what you have to do?"
As he met the eyes of each of them in turn, they nodded.
He let out his breath in a sigh.
"Then teach me, Chosen of Seft, and let it be now," he replied. "The gods have spoken. Tamat the Render is coming, the ravaging goddess of the Heyksin, and there is very little time to waste."
The Chosen of Seft could not look at him, but Kiron sensed all of Rakaten-te's concentration was focused on Kaleth, with a fierce heat like that of the sun on the Anvil of the Sun.
"There is no time to waste, Mouth of the Gods," the Chosen said, in a very controlled voice. "No time at all."
NINETEEN
« ^ »
THE tallest flat spot in Aerie—on the top of the cliffs overlooking the main chasm—was their rallying point. Whatever Tamat the Render was, she was not coming alone. The Heyksin were bringing an army, the like of which only the Heyksin could field. For the Heyksin had in abundance something that was rare in Tia and unheard of practically, in Alta.
The Heyksin had horses.
Now, the Tian army did have chariots, about as many as they had dragons. Which was to say, formidable against foes afoot but nothing like what the Heyksin were bringing.
Orest's wing was running scouting forays, and caught them just leaving the Anvil of the Sun, at the farthest point of practical scouting range. The Heyksin force paused and camped overnight, resting for the assault on Aerie, and Jousters continued to watch the camp until it was too dark to see anything but the occasional torch, for they camped without fires.
That morning, a final set of scouts had gone out to take actual numbers, if they could. Orest himself returned, white-faced and shaking, to give the report.
"I've never seen anything like it," he stammered, balancing in his saddle as his blue dragon Wastet perched gracefully on an outcrop that really looked too small to support so much weight. "They cover the land from edge to edge. You can probably see their dust cloud from here. Thousands of them. And not like our chariots, no, these things have slicing blades on the wheels, and armor. They'll mow down foot soldiers like so many farmers cutting barley." He wiped his forehead with his hand. "Those blades and things weren't on the chariots before. They must have had them all stored and put them on last night."
The Chosen of Seft nodded gravely. "This was how they conquered before. But we will have no foot soldiers on the ground today. We will have archers, spearmen, and sling wielders on the cliffs of Aerie. And we will have the Jousters in the air—"
"Every Jouster that can drop a pot," Kiron said grimly, shading his eyes with one hand as he peered toward the horizon, looking for the haze of a dust cl
oud. "We have had every pair of hands that can busy brewing Akkadian Fire and sealing it in beer jars. The Jousters, too, are trained with javelin and sling. And I hope that the Heyksin horses are not accustomed to dragons."
"Do not count too much on that," Ari cautioned. "They have had a very long time to learn about our dragons. They might not have any themselves, but they surely have some weapons to counter them." He looked to Kiron. "Only our newest techniques are likely to work."
Kiron nodded, and turned to Gan. "Tell the Jousters that they must stay out of reach of the ground. Ari is right, the Nameless Ones must be expecting dragons and plan on us using the old tactics. I don't want anyone flying down to seize an officer. Stick to attacking from above, and choose your targets with care."
Gan nodded, and strode off to the edge of the cliff He whistled shrilly, and with a flash of green, his Khaleph rose up from a ledge below to land beside him. He swung himself up into the saddle and Khaleph pushed off carrying them both to pass the word on to the Jousters.
And perhaps the diadems they all held in uncertain hands would not be needed. He could hope for that. Perhaps whatever it was that the Heyksin had in mind to conjure up this "Tamat"—whatever it was—wouldn't work. Perhaps the real battle would be won by mortal hands, hands that the Heyksin had outnumbered by as much as a hundred to one.
And perhaps you will do as your mother wishes, take back the farm and house, marry whatever girl still living in your village happens to consent, and settle down to raise barley One was as likely as the other.
The dust cloud that stretched across the eastern horizon grew nearer. And now Kiron heard it, felt it, a rumble like distant thunder, except the thunder didn't end, and it grew louder, nearer. He felt the faint vibration of the stone beneath his feet. And the Heyksin army still was not in sight, only the dust they raised.
The dragons shifted, stirred, complained. Below him, in the valley and on the cliffs, they turned their heads to look at their riders. Those few that had been in battle knew what this meant, and they wanted to be off The rest took their cue from those few.