Thiss was but one of tens of thousands of worlds that had fallen into Despair s grasp. While the Bright Ones remained woefully ignorant of such worlds, Despair comprehended them all.
At that moment, Earth s warning struck, and Despair gasped. "Something is wrong," he said. "Something in the world has changed. Our enemy has raised his hand against us."
The emperor shifted at Despair s side. "Are you certain?"
"The Earth Spirit has been whispering to me for days that an enemy is coming," Despair answered, "telling me that my servants should flee Rugassa. I have ignored the warnings. My shipment of blood metal should be here soon, and our allies are coming-things that should tip the scales in our favor. But something has happened…"
"Perhaps your enemies have begun taking endowments," the emperor said, his robes fluttering just above the ground.
"We need not guess at our enemy s plans," Despair said. "We have the Chaos Oracles to guide us. Listen…"
He had waited a full five minutes to address his guests, time enough for them to get acquainted.
"Have my servants told you why I summoned you?" Despair called out.
From within the vortex of swirling mists and tatters of night, a voice answered. "No one has told, but we know." The accent was strange, soft and crackly, and the voice was filled with hisses and pops, like the sound of meat sizzling above a flame. It carried the hint of the Thissian tongue, but the Thissians had sifted through the wyrmlings memories and learned their language well.
"Tell me, why I have sent for you then," Despair said, "so that my friends may begin to understand your worth."
"You seek to create an alliance so powerful that you will overwhelm the inhabitants of the universe. You seek to dominate them for all time. You need us to translate your desires to creatures from a thousand worlds."
"And can my plans succeed?" Despair asked. This was a question in his mind. He had pondered the plans for eons, and he wished to know if all was in order. Despair planned to create alliances among the cruelest races in the shadow worlds.
"Your plans will succeed, O Great Darkness," a Thissian answered. "Worlds shall grovel at your command."
One of Despair s men whispered, "How can they know?" His voice was so soft that the question should not have been overheard, but a Thissian answered.
"Can you not see it? Time is like a river, flowing downstream, but not all of the water moves one way. There are eddies and whorls and backflows, if you look closely. Time is this way. Not all can be seen, but glimpses can. I behold countless worlds, groaning beneath Despair s burden. I behold seas of blood. I witness darkness falling across the heavens, smothering out all light."
Despair felt pleased, and he looked to see his wyrmlings reaction. Some seemed doubtful, others eager.
"What do I offer for your aid?" Despair asked, not because he doubted that they knew, but so that the Thissians could prove their powers to the others.
In answer, a hand rose above the swirling mists of darkness-a hand with but two enormous fingers, both of them twisted and covered with bony thorns. It pointed toward the first star of the night. "Worlds without end," the Chaos Oracle intoned, "all under our sway."
"And do you accept the offer?"
There was hesitation. "Your people are strong in the ways of war, and races from among the stars shall flock to your call. But none are like us. None are like the people of Thiss. You are unperceptive, hardly more sentient than stones."
"That cannot be helped," Despair said.
"We are so alone," the Thissians mourned.
"Nor can I offer any comfort to you," Despair said. "In the whole universe there are no others like you. You will remain alone, yet I will cherish you above all other allies." Despair paused. "Will you share my fate?"
The Thissians hissed and crackled for a moment as they spoke in their own tongue; after a bit one answered, "We shall."
Despair smiled in satisfaction.
"Now," he said, "the Earth warns that my fortress will soon be under attack. From what quarter comes the danger?"
The Thissians hesitated a moment. "There is a treasure that you seek-rods of blood metal. They have fallen into enemy hands…" After a bit longer, "They will use them… they come… to free the Worldbinder."
"Can we thwart their plan?"
"Yes, O Great Wyrm, easily. Send your Knights Eternal…"
Despair stood facing one of his Knights Eternal, Kryssidia.
"Take your companion and fly to Caer Luciare in all haste." The Death Lord in command of Caer Luciare had been slain. Despair did not even know the name of the wyrmling now in charge. "Tell the commander of the fortress that I need a shipment now-enough blood metal for two thousand forcibles, no less."
Despair felt in his heart. Giving this command would make a difference, the Earth agreed. The danger diminished, but did not dissipate completely. Despair did not understand why. Perhaps two thousand forcibles was not enough. Or perhaps they would not arrive in time.
He considered ordering a larger shipment, but that did not ease his mind. No, he needed them quickly-just as the Thissians had warned.
It was a long way to Caer Luciare. The Knights Eternal would not be able to fly there and back in a single night. They would be forced to land short of their mark, wait out the day tomorrow. So he added, "Let nothing delay you. Fly there and return without rest. It would be better for you to break your necks in your haste than to let me down."
Kryssidia glanced uncomfortably upward to where the thin evening light streamed above the rocks along the bowl of the volcano s cone, but he did not hesitate. He dropped to one knee, put a hand upon the hilt of his sword, and said, "Your every desire commands my deeds."
Then he nodded to his companion and the Knights Eternal leapt into the sky.
Despair wished that he had more knights like these. His Death Lords, with their ability to communicate from spirit to spirit across the leagues, had certain advantages, but they could not take endowments.
He made a mental note to have some warriors go down among the wyrmling horde to find some pregnant females. Knights Eternal could only be recruited from stillborn babes. The rites necessary to create the proper conditions were long and arduous, and as part of the ceremony, his priest needed to strangle a fetus while it was still in the womb, and then rip it from its mother. As the child lay dying, it would crave air, crave life, and if the child was cunning enough, the Death Lords had a brief window of opportunity to teach it the spells necessary to tear the life force from those around it.
If it survived the first five minutes out of the womb, its training would begin in earnest. Only one in thousands survived those first five minutes.
Yet even the diligence of the Knights Eternal did not lessen the coming danger.
Despair stood for a moment in the cone of the volcano and peered upward, gazing at the stars for a long moment before he headed into the fortress.
There is much to do, he thought. There are worlds to conquer.
Held captive in his own body, Areth Sul Urstone was witness to the evil imaginings of Despair s heart. Despair looked up at the stars and could not admire their beauty. Instead, they were only a reminder of his failure. He wanted only to seize them, bind them, and rule over a world perfect but for one flaw — himself.
Areth considered what to do. It was said that a man could resist a wyrm. Do good, legend said, and they will flee from you. Do evil, and they will bind you and make you theirs.
Already, Areth wondered if he had the will any longer to resist Lord Despair.
For his part, Despair heard the stirring of Areth within his skull, and mocked. "Plot as you will, your soul is mine. You gave it to me freely, to save your people. And I shall keep my word: your people shall live-under my rule."
13
THE DUEL
Every creature must struggle for that which it needs. Do not waste sympathy on the vanquished. The weak get what they deserve.
— From the Wyrmling Catechism
"Emir Tuul Ra of Dalharristan, I challenge you to a duel!" Talon intoned. "I fight for honor, and for the right to take endowments to battle the wyrmling horde and save my brother."
The emir s face was still turned to the side. He worked his lips, and spat blood and spittle onto the ground. Then he looked up at Talon and smiled wolfishly.
The emir knew what she was after. The Cormar brothers, Tun and Errant, could gather endowments easily. Their skill was legendary, and those who were capable of sacrificing their own brawn or grace would gladly make a gift to such worthy warriors. But Talon was no one, a girl, and among the warrior clans no woman challenged a man, unless she sought only to humiliate him.
"Are you of an age where you can even make such a challenge?" the emir asked.
He studied Talon s demeanor. She was a handsome girl, and strong. He admired her spirit.
But he could not let her make a fool of him, not if he hoped to win the endowments that he d need to free Areth Sul Urstone.
His question seemed to have caught Talon off guard.
"On your world," she said, "I am eighteen years. But on the other I was seventeen. It is not that I was born at different times, but that the years on this world are shorter than on the other."
She stopped her rambling, focused on the question. "In both worlds, I am old enough to make my own decisions in life."
"Then I hope you know what you re doing," the emir whispered. "This is dangerous. I won t hold back. For my people s sake, I can t hold back." It was not an idle threat. The Emir Tuul Ra knew that he was the finest warrior of his generation.
Talon gave him a wolfish smile of her own. "I can take the best that you ve got-and more."
The emir sighed. He didn t want to fight her, but neither could he refuse the challenge.
In part he did not want to fight her because Talon was the daughter of a friend. And she was young, too young to know what she was doing.
But more important, he had just been in a council meeting attended by Glories. There had been a sweetness in the room, a feeling of inner cleanliness, so profound that it had made him want to weep.
It made him want to be like them. He wanted to feel holy, to carry his own inner peace with him.
How could I bear it, he wondered, if I were to take the life of this girl?
Yet he knew that he was the best warrior for the job. The life of a friend and comrade hung in the balance. He could not spare the girl, for to do so would put his friend, and the future of his people, in jeopardy.
"I have no choice but to accept your challenge," Tuul Ra said.
It was raining when they exited the cave. The thunder that had shaken the sky earlier was gone, but the emir could hear it growling on the horizon. The skies were so leaden gray that it seemed that it was night, and rain was falling in sheets out on the grasslands.
But the magnificent pine of the netherworld held the storm at bay. A few great dirty drops splashed from the limbs of the tree, but it shed most of the water well beyond where they stood. The storm s only effect was to make a rushing sound as the wind tore through the pine boughs, and the treetops swayed under its onslaught.
Talon followed the emir onto their battleground, out at the far edges of the tree, where the light would be better. Pine needles and twigs lay thick all around, creating a soft carpet that crackled underfoot. The emir reached down with a toe and dug a large circle in the ground, roughly forty feet in diameter.
"To cross this line is to admit defeat," he said.
Talon nodded in understanding. As the challenger in this duel, she was forced to ask, "Choose your weapon!"
Choose the sword, he thought. It would be the gentlemanly thing to do. A bastard sword would be perfect for her, both in weight and size. He wanted to give her that much advantage. But a skilled warrior would recognize what he d done.
"Wyrmling battle-ax," he said. It was a heavy weapon-almost too heavy for a human to use. But it was a favorite of wyrmling warriors, and no doubt, if the girl hoped to enter the wyrmling keep, she d have to show that she could deflect a blow.
The weapons were brought forward, and Talon regarded them in silence.
The wyrmling ax was not a weapon to be trifled with, nor was it easily controlled. If the emir took a swing, he realized, he could not pull back.
Talon would either have to block it or dodge it-or get sliced in two.
They took their axes, heavy things with double blades. Each weighed roughly thirty pounds. They were made for lopping off heads and arms.
The emir felt the edge of his blade. It was filled with nicks and had grown dull. There was blood on it. This was not a weapon human-made. Someone had taken it as a trophy of war, won it at the battle at Cantular.
If Talon got hit, her death would not be pretty.
If he got hit, his death would not be easy.
I cannot win this battle by slaughter, he suddenly realized. If the girl defeated him, no one would grant him endowments. And if he killed her, the horror of the spectacle would turn the people against him.
The only way to win, he realized, is to throw her from the arena.
One of the warlords stepped forward and drew a line at the center of the circle. The warriors faced each other, one on each side of the line.
The warlord held a coin in the air. When he let it drop, the battle would begin.
The emir studied Talon for a moment, eyeing the way that she held her ax. There were numerous fighting styles with the ax. Some men might hold it near the end of the handle, and take large, sweeping strokes, relying upon the weight of the weapon to do its damage. Such men were dangerous on the attack, but left themselves vulnerable.
Other men sought to balance the ax. They might block a blow with their axhead, hoping to ruin an attacker s weapon in the act. Or they could reverse the ax and use its handle to stab quickly.
A man who was quick with his hands could adjust his grip from one second to the next, using a number of tactics.
Talon held her ax with both hands, keeping it firmly balanced, unwilling to give away her battle tactics.
The emir spun his ax in one hand, limbering his muscles.
"Talon," the emir said. "I don t want your blood on my hands. There is still time to withdraw-with honor. I beg you to do so."
"If I m willing to risk my life against wyrmlings," Talon said, "I ll risk it against you. It makes little difference where I die."
The emir nodded his agreement, and Talon added for good measure, "If it is any consolation, I don t want your blood on my hands, either. I urge you to withdraw. If you don t… well, one of us won t be going home for dinner."
The warlord looked each of them in the eye in preparation for the battle.
The Emir Tuul Ra thought, There is no room for error with these weapons. I can t just look good, I must be good.
The warlord dropped his coin, and both combatants instantly sprang back a step, giving the warlord time to break clear of the battlefield.
Talon stood perfectly still, conserving her energy, sizing up the emir. She did not want to reveal her tactics, or her repertoire of skills, too early in the battle.
The emir took his battle-ax and began stalking around the circle, twirling it in one hand, ready to lunge in and swing.
After an instant, he paused, stood with his ax lowered at his side, and offered, "Ladies first."
Talon couldn t resist.
She twirled her own ax, not as a demonstration of her prowess, but in the "Circle of Steel" style-which lent itself to defense but could swiftly turn into an attack.
Then she exploded for the kill. She raced in, her eyes pinned to the emir s, watching in order to anticipate his next move. She raised her own ax slightly, as if she would go for the throat, then dropped beneath his guard, rolling as she swept past his feet.
The crowd erupted into shouts of astonishment at her speed, and she nearly took his leg off with her first swing, but her ax met only empty air.
The emir leapt so
high that he nearly seemed to take flight.
Many in the crowd gasped in astonishment, for though they had heard rumors of his prowess in battle, they had not all seen him in action.
He came down, his own ax slamming toward her.
His heart was filled with regret, for he knew that it was a killing blow.
Talon waited until he was committed to the attack, and the last instant planted the handle of her own ax firmly into the ground with the head of the ax up high.
She caught the head of his ax on her own.
His blade shattered; sparks and shards of steel flew out. One hit Talon in the throat, and instantly blood coursed down her neck.
But he didn t give her time to recover; the emir reversed his axhead so that he came at her with a fresh blade, and struck again.
Talon leaned away, and the emir s blade narrowly missed her foot.
With one ax blade broken, the emir s weapon would no longer be balanced. It meant that his swings would require more energy to control, but were also more likely to go awry. It was a dubious advantage.
Talon swung at his unprotected back.
The emir tried to dodge, but she grazed his flank, then danced out of range.
"Getting slow in your old age?" Talon asked. "There s still time to withdraw."
The emir grinned. "What, and miss sparring with such a lovely opponent?"
Talon glanced back, grinning at him, her eyes flashing dangerously. He had never fought a woman before, and suddenly her beauty and her vulnerability smote him.
He stepped back a pace, wishing that he were not here, feeling like a cornered animal. I m not just fighting her, he realized, I m fighting all of my protective instincts.
The emir circled wide, then rushed at her again. He was used to ranging the fields and woodlands, doing a hard day s work, and he knew that he could put up a good, long, sustained fight. But what he couldn t know was how hard she had trained, in those days when with every moment, she had to watch her back for assassins.
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