It was one of the things she'd researched so she could steer clear of the creature's cage, should she stumble upon it during her quest.
"Ususi," pressed Iahn, "do you recognize the name?"
"Yes," she replied.
Shaddon took a step forward, strangely intent on the wizard. He said, "I could be destroyed for even asking this-but tell me more.
Quick!" He glanced back down the cavern he had come through. Ususi caught some faint sounds, like glass shattering and distant yells, but perhaps she was mistaken. She let her memory of the tome she'd found in the Purple Library swim before her eyes.
"Pandorym is the name of a doomsday weapon of sorts, a prototype entity conscripted out of desperation by the ancient Imaskari," said Ususi. "At least, so the records indicate in the Purple Library. It was designed solely as a deterrent, but a deterrent so potent it would give pause even to deities bent on vengeance."
"Why vengeance?" wondered Eined.
"Nothing stirs the gods' wrath like the wholesale enslavement of their believers. Which is exactly what the ancient Imaskari were guilty of. They needed labor to support their expanding civilization.
The wronged gods' world-shaking anger exposed the Imaskari Empire to divine retribution. Thus, the Imaskari prepared their deterrent-Pandorym."
"What is Pandorym?" demanded Shaddon, moving a step forward. The crystal on his face, as well as more crystal apparently hidden under his clothes, began to gleam.
"I don't know exactly what it was. Is. Like I said, the records, what I can remember of them, claimed Pandorym was a deterrent. Like all deterrents, they believed Pandorym would never be used. Or possibly-I'm not sure-he was too potent to be controlled."
"But they eventually unleashed Pandorym, is that right?" said Shaddon, his crystal eye blazing with intensity.
"No. They didn't have the opportunity. True, Imaskar's ruins litter the empty places of the world. However, it was not Pandorym that brought them low-the Imaskari were never given the chance to offer detente. The raging gods and their empowered champions among the enslaved ended the Imaskari reign before the threat of the Pandorym doomsday entity was ever made. All their plans, weapons, and desperate schemes came to naught."
"But Pandorym is loose now," insisted Shaddon. "It is in the crystal. It reaches out through the new crystal I use for artificial limbs and organs!"
Ususi looked at him. "How did you find the crystal?"
"I found bits of it here in these caves. But a while back, I found an inactive portal to a nether space. After a few years of examination, I forced open the portal and discovered a demiplane of great age. In this space was a massive tower of ancient construction, cold and dead. I also discovered a mother lode of the purest crystal, which I've been putting to use ever since."
A great crash and the faint sound of a distant, roaring wind issued from the tunnel behind Shaddon.
Ignoring these noises, Ususi addressed the elder Datharathi. "You fool! The portal to this 'nether space' of yours-where is it? You have unstoppered Pandorym, who was held safely for millennia!"
The crystal-faced man only muttered, "I wonder…"
"Grandfather, is it true? Is all this your fault? Have you done this willingly?" yelled Eined. She rushed forward, one hand raised in either accusation or anger.
Shaddon pointed a gloved finger at his granddaughter, as if to gainsay her question. Instead, a slender ribbon of darkness burst from it and struck Eined in the chest. She gasped, surprise turning to horror. She fell, sprawling to the ground.
The vengeance taker rushed forward and swung his dragonfly blade at Shaddon. The crystal-covered man swayed back, just beyond the arc traced through the air by the blade's tip. Shaddon pointed his finger again, this time at Iahn. The vengeance taker simultaneously raised his own hand, and with a mumbled syllable of warding, shredded another dark ribbon into so many threads.
The sound of the wind escalated in the corridor beyond, then suddenly fell to nothing.
"Shaddon," yelled the wizard into the sudden quiet, "why must we fight? We…"
An icy breeze froze the words in Ususi's mouth. The crystal that sheathed Shaddon's face no longer glowed violet-it became a mask of utter night. Black vapor streamed away from Shaddon's body like the sun's corona, if the sun had been a source of darkness instead of light.
A lifeless voice rumbled, "I recognize you, Imaskari scions. I will be revenged upon you." The words were an archaic form of the Imaskaran tongue that Ususi had assumed was remembered only behind the Great Seal.
The wizard stumbled back, her hands already tracing the outlines of a powerful ward. As she did so, she asked, "Why?"
"It must be so," thundered the terrible voice. The blot of darkness that obscured Shaddon's form swelled. "Your bloodline is Imaskaran. Imaskari remnants will be expunged first. Imaskar will fall. I will take the keystone you carry."
Ususi finished her spell, and a blue glow took up residence on her skin and garments-the telltale sign of protective magic. She edged over to where Eined lay and touched the woman. She could pass the protective glamour to any living creature.
The glow did not pass from the wizard's finger into Eined.
Shaddon, or Pandorym, had killed her.
Ususi stood and said, "I won't give a monster like you anything!"
"I do not ask."
The possessed form of Shaddon stretched its arms to both sides.
From every finger, dozens of umbral ribbons burst and swirled through the air at Ususi.
The strands, in the hundreds, fell upon her glittering blue aura and broke. But her aura's potency was halved, as shown by the weakening of its glow. Where each ribbon had grazed the ward and shattered beyond its radius, lingering coolness pressed on Ususi's skin, promising worse with Shaddon's next salvo.
Iahn appeared behind Shaddon. The vengeance taker stabbed his drawn blade deep into the darkness shrouding the elder Datharathi. The form in the center of the thickening cloud jittered, then spun around with blinding speed, one arm extended wide. As Shaddon completed his spin, one hand lashed out like a scything blade, trying to catch the vengeance taker across the throat. Iahn deflected the blow along the flat of his dragonfly blade, but the force of the blow knocked the vengeance taker's weapon spinning away.
Shaddon's other hand, closed in a fist, and jabbed with the speed of an adder. Iahn evaded it with an economical head bob, just as quick. Shaddon's sinews were enhanced with the power summoned by his Celestial Nadir prostheses, but a vengeance taker's abilities drew from years of hard training and sorcery.
Ususi whispered words of ineptitude and hurled them at Shaddon, who absorbed them without flinching. The wizard next traced a sign in the air, but Shaddon evaded the small, whirling vortex that tried to pull him up. She spoke the dark syllables of the Decomposition of Umyatin, but before she could finish, another barrage of wavering black rays fell upon her from one of Shaddon's hands. His other hand connected in a particularly vicious cross to Iahn's left shoulder, just missing his head. The wizard cried out as her protective screen failed, and several thin ribbons chewed through her flesh, thankfully still hardened from the ward she'd erected upon first entering Adama's Tooth. Blood flowed, and she hoped the pain meant only a superficial wound.
Iahn continued to circle and jab with his bare hands, attempting to prevent Shaddon from matching each of the wizard's attacks with a salvo of his own. The elder Datharathi managed to release another barrage against Ususi, but the vengeance taker took advantage of his split attention and assayed a vicious, low-leg sweep. The blow knocked Shaddon's feet from under him, and he clattered to the floor.
Shaddon bounded back to his feet, tangible claws of darkness growing from his fingers, and a mane of ebony fire rimming his brow.
Iahn backpedaled, spoke a single resonant word, and faded from view.
Shaddon intoned, "I see you." The possessed Datharathi waved its burgeoning claws of darkness through empty air and knocked the vengeance taker into view from t
he mystical angle of space in which he'd hidden. Iahn rolled away from the claws in a smooth tumble toward Ususi. Simultaneous with his roll, the wizard saw the taker deftly open and plunge a finger into his damos. Shaddon turned and advanced upon Ususi, claws clacking and ebony mane dripping malevolent fire. As Iahn finished his roll, she erected a semi-solid wall of ice, hoping to hold Shaddon back long enough for her to devise a better strategy.
She glanced at Iahn. The vengeance taker popped the finger he'd dipped in the damos into his mouth. Ususi gasped, "By the Great Seal!"
Iahn's eyes glazed, his vision fixing on some distant horizon. His head lolled, and he slurred, "One whose flesh is partly crystalline is yet thrall to his mind-and his mind is in thrall to Pandorym. Sever the first connection, and the second connection is for naught. Sever the second connection, and we…"
Even as he uttered the last of his warning, his diction improved.
Ususi realized the vengeance taker's body was throwing off the poison.
Ice fragments exploded outward as Shaddon clawed through the magical barrier. He spoke. "The keystone will be taken. The keystone …"
Ususi uttered a spell to freeze Shaddon's will, its sharp consonants and long vowels buzzing in her throat. The spell took shape and descended upon Shaddon like a stooping hawk. For a heartbeat, then two, Shaddon stood transfixed, his body refusing to act as his mind, or Pandorym's will, directed him.
The reprieve gave Iahn enough time to snatch up his fallen dragonfly blade.
Ususi shouted to the vengeance taker, "Use your damos on him!"
Without answering, Iahn took his blade and shoved it unceremoniously into the unmoving Datharathi's chest, but it failed to penetrate.
The vengeance taker said, "His flesh is completely encased in crystal."
Ususi yelled, "He's struggling against the bonds of my spell-kill him! Use your damos."
Darkness scythed around the transfixed body of Shaddon, swooping and whirling like a murder of crows.
Iahn explained, "I emptied the damos reservoir to see ahead to a future that contained both of us. It'll take a day for the damos to refill. The Voice is not something called on lightly, and doing so has consequences."
"Then forget Shaddon-by the time Pandorym breaks down my spell, we'll be gone. The portal must be this way!" Ususi made a dash toward the tunnel Shaddon had appeared from, but paused.
The still form of Eined lay sprawled in her path. The Datharathi woman's spirit had fled the world, to a place of final freedom Ususi herself had nearly reached when the efts had mauled her. The stars had been so bright…
Iahn saw Ususi's hesitation and sheathed his dragonfly blade on his left hip. He stooped, grabbed the girl, and threw her limp body over his shoulder. Without visible effort, he ran past Ususi down the corridor. Wiping a tear from her cheek, Ususi followed.
The vengeance taker ignored the side passages. Unearthly screeches pealed from one dark opening, and a venomous glow leaked from another.
But the main passage was clear, and soon enough emptied into another large cavern. This grotto was the site of some sort of recent disaster. A pile of broken wooden tables, the wreckage of expensive equipment, and a variety of other debris left a whorled trail of destruction across the floor. A woman lay at the spiral's epicenter, unmoving. Crystal implants were visible on her body. Some creature or force had apparently removed the woman's head. Ususi turned and saw the menhir ring. Her heart leaped! The ring was a duplicate of the Mucklestones of the Lethyr Forest, which meant… "There! A portal into the Celestial Nadir," the wizard breathed. The bright, unwavering lights on the cavern's periphery failed to illuminate the ring's interior. "Careful," the wizard told Iahn as he moved toward a gap between two stones, "it's open. Even without a keystone, they've managed to access the Celestial Nadir." The vengeance taker nodded and stepped through. Ususi followed.
CHAPTER TWENTY-FOUR
The sun burned a hole in the sky. Whisky burned Kiril's throat and warmed a path to her stomach. A slender tower reached toward the heavens as they galloped across the scorched dunes, raising a line of dust in their wake. Sweat stung the elf's eyes, but she resisted rubbing them. She could clearly see the splinter for the first time.
The shard towered a mile or more into the sand-hazed sky. "Blood!" she cursed. Kiril took another swig, then holstered her flask. The stone destrier ate up the wasteland miles, swelling the tower's silhouette to an improbable height. The geomancer dozed at Kiril's side. He was strapped into place, lest he roll off in his daze. He woke now and then to look at the splinter, mumble something half lucidly, then fall back into a fitful sleep. His curse-born illness had resurged. The dwarf's energy failed by the moment. Ahead, the booming sound of Prince Monolith's strides seemed to count the heartbeats remaining to the dwarf. "Hells and blood," muttered the elf. They reached the base of the splinter in the late afternoon. Vast and imposing, many-windowed and sprouting hundreds of secondary spires, Kiril could see for herself that the edifice was not an unworked fragment carved off some larger chunk of purplish stone. It was an enormous artifact of some previous era, worked by hands and minds informed with skill now unrivaled in the world. Hundreds of balconies, balustrades, verandas, spiraling stairs, and sealed doorways dotted the great tower's sides, all empty and silent. Drifts of sand and rust stains spoke of metal fixtures that had entirely dissolved. The lowest visible balcony was a good two or three hundred paces above the desert floor. Below it were sheer-sided tower walls as seamless and slick as an ice cliff. Kiril knew some dwarves and humans possessed great skill in climbing sheer rock or ice, but they weren't along, nor was any of the elaborate equipment such a climb required. The prince raised one hand and pressed it against the side of the purplish stone. "It rebuffs me," reported Prince Monolith. "I cannot force an entry." "Do you know who built it?" blurted Kiril. She recalled the fantastic glassy architecture of her own star elf heritage. This stone tower rivaled even the most fantastic glass fortresses of Sildeyuir in its size and imposing impregnability. "Thormud could answer that question." Monolith turned and strode back to the destrier. The elemental lord removed the dwarf from the destrier's back. He held Thormud in his massive hands. He exhaled long and hard, and golden motes of light danced from the elemental lord's open mouth to settle on the geomancer's beard and face. The dwarf opened his eyes. They were clear again. Thormud looked up at the prince, "Thanks for that, old friend." "It is only a reprieve, I'm afraid," said Monolith. The dwarf nodded. "Then you'd better set me down." The elemental obliged.
Thormud pulled from his belt his selenite rod, and smiled. He nearly seemed his old self in that instant. The swordswoman asked, "A reprieve? What does that mean?" Thormud ignored her and approached the vast tower. In a manner not dissimilar to Prince Monolith's earlier pose, the dwarf pressed his palm flat against the stone. "The stone was worked over five thousand years ago," Monolith offered. Thormud nodded and closed his eyes. In his hand, the moon rod began to shed its silvery radiance. The geomancer worked his slow, telluric magic.
The sun began sinking. The tower's shadow stretched across the barren plain, farther than Kiril's eyes could follow. Jagged peaks reached up well beyond the horizon-the Giant's Belt, of course. She marveled at the distance they'd covered in just a few days. She looked at the dwarf's stocky figure. She doubted anything could keep the plucky geomancer down for long. Whatever malaise or curse he'd picked up tracking the tower's location, she was confident they'd find an antidote once they gained the tower's interior. A grumbling tremble from Angul's sheath suddenly reminded her that not all stories have such happy endings. She groped for her flask. Before long, Thormud's eyes popped open and he stepped back from the tower's base. "It's Imaskari built, if anyone had any doubts. If my ability to speak to stone has not failed me altogether, it is the Palace of the Purple Emperor itself." "Truly?" spoke Monolith, impressed for the first time Kiril could recall. "Yes. Back from a long, profound slumber in a dark space, the stone tells me." "Hold on," interrupted Kiril. "What
's the Palace of the Purple Emperor?" "It marks… marked… the Imaskaran capital, Inupras." Kiril looked around. "Seems out of place here." "It hasn't been here for thousands of years. Inupras may well be buried in the sands of time below us, but the palace has spent the centuries elsewhere." "Where?" Thormud shrugged. "Some phantom space engineered by the absent Imaskari, no doubt. The Imaskari excelled at such things. Indeed, the palace itself was said to be ten times bigger inside than on the outside, hiding hundreds of dimensional halls, vaults, and arcane chambers. Including the Great Imperial Library."
"It's already so big." "Stories are sometimes exaggerated," said the dwarf. He shrugged again. "What is most important for us right now is to get inside and make our way to the Imperial Weapons Cache.
Something dark has been disturbed in the heart of the palace." "What are we looking for?" "That which has seen and cursed me. A weapon left over from the last Imaskaran war, the stone says. Something never used, thankfully." The dwarf stepped back a pace from the blank surface of the palace wall. "What ever disturbed the weapon has partially deployed it." Kiril asked, "How can a weapon be partially deployed?" The geomancer began tracing a great circle on the face of the palace wall with the tip of his moon rod. As he did so he said,
"The weapon isn't an object-it is an entity. An entity with power approaching that of a god, with both a physical and mental presence.
Even when held in physical captivity, the psychic component may roam.
Given the chance, it may infect surrounding matter. Some portion of the psychic component of this entity has been freed." A frisson of familiarity jolted Kiril. She was familiar with something like this.
She'd spent years as a keeper in Stardeep, where the heinous traitor was guarded. A conspirator whose overweening ambitions threatened all the star elf race, and more. A bastard who'd taken from her the only thing she'd ever loved, and left her with nothing but a cruel burden to bear. That was the reason she carried Angul. Thormud continued.
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