Jonathan Moeller - The Ghosts 08 - Ghost in the Mask

by Jonathan Moeller

  “You understand,” said Horemb. “Do you see, Caina of the Ghosts?” He spread his hands. “This…this is my poor Malifae’s spirit, not her mind. Her mind can grow, can learn new things. But this is her soul. Frozen this way, forever.”

  “Watching you die,” said Caina, “and swearing vengeance.”

  “She was brilliant, my girl,” said Horemb. “A genius. Rhames knew not what he had wrought! They buried the pharaoh with a complete library. And Malifae spent centuries there, learning the secrets of the Great Necromancers. Oh, they thought an Undying could never learn sorcery if the skill had not been learned in life, but she proved them wrong! She destroyed Rhames and the pharaoh and freed herself from the tomb after five centuries. And she brought her wrath upon the Great Necromancers and the Undying pharaohs in their pyramids, and she laid the dark empire of Maat waste. My daughter! If the Szaldic people had lived at the time, they would have named her the Balarigar, the breaker of chains and the liberator of slaves, and not the Moroaica.” He bowed his head. “But she did not stop there.”

  “She couldn’t,” said Caina. “She couldn’t make a different choice. The Great Necromancer and the empire that had slain her father were dust, but the pain was still with her.” She knew that well, too. “So she continued her vengeance. She sought out those who reminded her of Rhames, who had committed his crimes, and destroyed them.”

  Had not Caina herself done the same?

  “And in time,” said Horemb, “she came to believe the gods themselves were responsible for what had happened to me, for the suffering of all mankind, and she determined to bring vengeance to the heavens.”

  “Her great work,” said Caina. “That’s what it is, isn’t it? Her vengeance on the gods.” Horemb nodded. “What is she going to do? How could even a sorceress of her power think to make war upon gods?”

  “A spell,” whispered Horemb, as if afraid to speak of it. “A great and mighty spell. You see, my daughter is a genius, and she has wielded sorcery for two and a half thousand years. Even if Rhames is stronger, he cannot match her knowledge and skill. Her spell will waken all of the great elementals that sleep upon our world, hundreds of them at once, and capture their power. With that power, she will raise every man, woman, and child that ever died as Undying, give them immortal forms free of disease and pain. And with that power, she hopes to rip open a gate to the highest heavens, to find the sovereign of the gods, and kill him to repay the sufferings of humanity.”

  “That’s mad,” said Caina. “Utterly mad.”

  “It is mad to blame the gods for our sufferings,” said Horemb. “We do it to ourselves, Caina of the Ghosts. The suffering of men is not the fault of the gods, but of us. We harm each other. We torment each other. The gods gave us to responsibility to care for each other…and instead we destroy one another. We have abdicated our responsibilities, not the gods.”

  “Yes,” said Caina, “but her plan itself is mad. She cannot possibly do all that.” She hesitated. “Can she?”

  “No,” said Horemb. “Such power is beyond the reach of anyone, even Malifae. But she has the power to attempt to fulfill her vision, and those powers will burn beyond her control. It will destroy the world utterly. Your Empire, Anshan, Cyrica, Istarinmul…all will burn. Our world will be a lifeless cinder, a warning to the sorcerers of other worlds to avoid such mad folly.”

  Caina considered for a moment. “Why are you telling me this? Or…how are you even able to speak to me?”

  “Because Malifae tried to possess you,” said Horemb. “Involuntarily, I think, like a drowning man grabbing at anything to survive. She has possessed you once before, but was unable to control you. This time…I don’t think she’ll be able to possess you at all. Rhames weakened her too much. Very soon now her spirit will be expelled from your body, and she’ll move to another host.”

  “Oh,” said Caina. She hoped Jadriga did not try to possess Claudia. “That explains how you are talking to me. But why tell me this?”

  “Because,” said Horemb, “you have to stop Malifae. You’re the only one that can stop her.”

  “I’m a spy with a dagger and a shadow-cloak,” said Caina, “not a sorceress. I killed her once before, and that barely slowed her down. How am I supposed to stop her?”

  “Because you are the Balarigar,” said Horemb.

  “That’s rubbish,” said Caina. “The Balarigar is a myth of the Szalds. I was fortunate enough to survive some enemies that ought to have killed me, and that myth took hold.”

  “A name can be given,” said Horemb, “or earned. And you…you are the same as Malifae.”

  “I am not,” said Caina.

  “You are,” said Horemb. “If someone had rescued her after Rhames had killed me but before she became Undying, she would have become a woman like you. And if you had become Undying after your father’s murder, you would have a woman like Malifae. You and Malifae are different sides of the same coin. You must stop her. You must. Else the world will die.”

  “Well and good,” said Caina, “but none of that will happen if Rhames kills me first.”

  “He, too, is Undying,” said Horemb with a shiver. “If my daughter is frozen to take vengeance…he is frozen in his purpose to rebuild Maat to all its terrible glory. He, too, will not stop.”

  “So,” said Caina. “If he won’t stop himself, then how do I stop him?”

  “You must find and destroy his canopic jar,” said Horemb. “That is the only way to permanently destroy one of the Undying. Malifae destroyed his other six canopic jars when she escaped the pharaoh’s tomb.”

  “I know that,” said Caina. “How do I find the damned thing?”

  “His seset-kadahn has it,” said Horemb.

  “You’re sure?” said Caina.

  “Certain,” said Horemb. “In Maat, Great Necromancers who had become Undying gave at least one of their canopic jars to a seset-kadahn. The creatures are impossible to kill and equally impossible to corrupt. They will not betray their masters, not for any reason.”

  “I’ve looked at Rhames’s seset-kadahn,” said Caina. “It doesn’t have the jar. The thing is only wearing a kilt and a bronze mask. There’s no place it could hide a stone jar large enough to hold a mummified human organ.”

  “The jar could be inside the seset-kadahn’s torso,” said Horemb.

  “That…” Caina thought it over. “That…hadn’t occurred to me. It makes sense. The creature is undead, so it has no need of internal organs. Why not store a canopic jar inside its ribcage? Getting at it is going to be hard.”

  “It will be,” said Horemb, “but you can do it. You are the Balarigar.”

  Caina opened her mouth to answer, and saw a crack spreading across the street. A green light rose from within the crack, and Caina saw dozens more spreading across the white walls, rising even to fracture across the sky overhead. Harsh green light filled the city, painting the white walls with ghostly radiance.

  “What is that?” said Caina. “Are you doing that? Is Jadriga?”

  “I do not know,” said Horemb. The scribe looked frightened. “I am not doing this. Malifae is not doing it. I think…no.” He pointed. “I know what that is.”

  Caina reached for her weapons.

  Her mother floated down the street towards her.

  Laeria Amalas wore her gold-colored gown, as she had in Caina’s dreams. She hovered a few feet off the ground, her golden skirts and black hair rippling in a cold wind. Her eyes blazed with green flame.

  “The crystal,” said Horemb.

  “You know her?” said Caina. “That’s impossible. You died thousands of years before she was born.”

  “I have never seen this woman before,” said Horemb. “But I know what she is.”

  Caina’s fingers tightened against the hilt of her throwing knife. Of course, she supposed it wasn’t really a throwing knife, but a manifestation of her thoughts in this strange place.

  “Then what is she?” said Caina.

  Laeria stop
ped a few yards away, still hovering over the street.

  “The bloodcrystal,” said Horemb.

  “The bloodcrystal?” said Caina. “You mean the Ascendant Bloodcrystal? That’s impossible. I’ve been seeing her in my dreams for weeks. The bloodcrystal’s a thing, a tool of sorcery. It doesn’t have a mind of its own.”

  “But it does,” said Horemb. “That much necromantic force, imprinted upon an object created with such malice and hatred…the great bloodcrystals of old sometimes developed a will, a mind, of a sort. Not a consciousness, not truly. But a will to destroy, to conquer, to …”

  “To,” said Laeria, “be wielded. To have my purpose fulfilled at last.” Her burning eyes fell upon Caina. “To destroy, as I was meant to destroy.”

  “You,” said Caina, “you were speaking my dreams. All those times.”

  “Yes,” murmured Laeria.

  “Why?” said Caina.

  “Because I shall reach my apotheosis,” said Laeria, or the alien mind wearing Laeria’s form. “I shall fulfill my purpose, and soon. It is ordained. The shadows of the future converge. The ancient priest shall wield me. The sorceress of vengeance shall wield me. Or you shall wield me.”

  “No,” said Caina.

  “Wake,” said Laeria, “and see.”

  The white city splintered around them, shards of street and wall shooting upward into the sky.

  “What’s happening?” said Caina, shouting over the wind.

  “You are expelling my daughter’s spirit from your flesh!” said Horemb. “Go! Go, child of the Ghosts. Remember what I have told you.”

  Caina opened her mouth to answer, and the world shattered around her.

  Chapter 27 - Jars of Flesh

  Caina’s eyes burst open.

  She was still on the floor in the Chamber of Ascension, chunks of rubble falling around her, the ghostsilver dagger a few paces away. Rhames stood on the dais, his hands moving through intricate gestures as he shattered the final wards around the Ascendant Bloodcrystal. She saw Kylon getting to his feet, saw a blue-clad figure lying in the rubble that was likely Claudia.

  Caina realized that she had been unconscious for only a few heartbeats.

  She grabbed the dagger, sat up, and felt a strong hand close around her arm.

  Corvalis helped her to stand.

  “One last shot,” he said. His tone was grim. “We hit him hard enough, and we might get lucky and strike the canopic jar.” He took a deep breath. “On three. One…”

  Green fire flared around Rhames, and he took a step closer to the bloodcrystal.

  “No,” whispered Caina, grabbing his arm. “Listen to me. The canopic jar, it’s inside the seset-kadahn. The creature’s undead, it doesn’t need a heart or lungs. Rhames must have the jar sewn up inside the thing. We just need to get it open.”

  The seset-kadahn shoved aside an enormous chunk of broken pillar, the muscles in its chest and arms bulging.

  “We’ll just ask it nicely to sit still,” said Corvalis. “I’m sure it will oblige.”

  “It has to be now,” said Caina. “Rhames isn’t paying any attention, and the creature’s pinned. This is our best chance.”

  Corvalis nodded. “I know. I’ll attack it from the front and hold its attention. You cut it open from behind. Hopefully I can keep it occupied long enough for you to get the jar.” He took a deep breath. “If this goes badly…I love you.”

  “Corvalis…” started Caina.

  The last ward collapsed with a flicker of green light, and Rhames took the final step and seized the Ascendant Bloodcrystal.

  ###

  “No,” said Maena. “No, no, no. This cannot be happening. This…”

  “I fear that it is, disciple of the abomination,” said Rhames.

  Claudia’s eyes fluttered open, and she got to her feet, head spinning. She felt something wet and sticky on her cheek. Blood, most likely. Maena stood a few paces away, her green gown in dusty tatters, her eyes full of terror.

  Rhames waited atop the dais, the Ascendant Bloodcrystal cradled in the crook of his right arm.

  “Oh,” said Claudia. She ought to be terrified, she knew. She ought to run for her life, or fall on her knees and beg for mercy, but she felt no inclination to do either.

  She had failed, one last time. Rhames had taken the crystal, and the Empire would burn, a new Maatish kingdom rising from the ashes.

  Perhaps he had been too mighty for anyone to defeat.

  “You object, abomination,” said Rhames to Maena, “to my victory?”

  Maena blinked and found her voice. “Of course not, Great Necromancer. I recognize the new order to come, and I might be of use to you. Let me be the first to pledge allegiance to…”

  “Silence,” said Rhames, making a chopping gesture with his left hand.

  Maena went rigid, her jaw clamping shut in the grip of Rhames’s sorcery.

  “What a vile creature you are,” said Rhames, “a man’s spirit incarnated in the stolen flesh of a woman. A pale shadow of the Moroaica. Such a crime was punished most severely under the laws of the pharaohs. I will burn out both your tongue and your ability to wield arcane force, and then hand you over to the soldiers of the new kingdom, a plaything to use as they please.”

  His burning eyes turned towards Claudia, and she braced herself.

  “You, though,” said Rhames. “You might make a worthy acolyte.”

  Claudia had not expected that.

  “What?” she said at last.

  “You have arcane talent,” he said, “and you fought valiantly alongside the abomination. Though your efforts were in vain, of course.” Maena’s eyes rolled back and forth in terror, her body trembling. “And many men and women shall join in the noble labor of rebuilding the Kingdom of the Rising Sun. Join me, and you shall rise high in the new order.”

  “I…” said Claudia. “I…”

  She was horrified to realize that part of her, a large part, was tempted. She had always wanted to be a magus of the Magisterium, to use her sorcerous abilities for the good of the Empire. And with the power of Rhames behind her, she could do grand things.

  He was going to win anyway.

  Lord Martin and Harkus lay motionless some distance away. Blood tricked from beneath Martin’s helm, and she wanted to run to him.

  Rhames had done that to him.

  And as she turned her head to look back at the Great Necromancer, she saw a flicker of movement.

  Two figures in shadow-cloaks hurried along the far wall, past the smashed balconies.

  Caina and Corvalis. But what were they doing? Claudia knew her brother, and she knew at least a little about Caina. With so many lives at stake, they would do whatever they could to stop Rhames, even if it meant a final suicidal attack upon the great sorcerer. They would not slink away to hide.

  Unless they had a plan.

  The certainty crystallized in Claudia’s mind.

  Caina had a plan.

  And that meant Claudia had to distract Rhames as long as possible.

  ###

  Corvalis circled towards the seset-kadahn, sword and dagger pointed low. Caina crept to the side, her ghostsilver dagger ready. Once he distracted the undead thing, she would strike. A quick slice along the spine, parting the skin and muscle, and she would see if the jar was hidden beneath the creature’s ribs.

  Or the seset-kadahn would simply rip her head off.

  Corvalis darted forward, slashing at the creature’s arms and shoulders. The seset-kadahn reached for him, and Corvalis jumped away. Caina charged, readying her grip on the dagger’s handle…

  The seset-kadahn seized the broken pillar, lifted the mass of stone over its head, and flung it at Corvalis.

  ###

  “I,” said Claudia, trying not to shiver beneath Rhames’s burning gaze. “I…I don’t know.”

  “This world is in chaos,” said Rhames. “The Empire and New Kyre and Istarinmul war against each other, spilling blood to no purpose. The commoners are profane a
nd crass, and waste their lives in idle futility, rather than finding purpose in diligently serving their betters. The gods of Maat are not honored. But I shall change that.” He lifted the glowing crystal, the glyphs upon its facets pulsing and flowing. “Perhaps you wish to become the new pharaoh? I require one. It is not meet for a Great Necromancer to rule the Kingdom of the Rising Sun, and women have sat upon the pharaoh’s throne before. With my counsel, you shall rule wisely and well, and then become Undying, to dwell in splendor and bliss forevermore.”

  “You tempt me,” said Claudia, but that was a lie. She did not look forward to aging and death, but the thought of becoming a creature like Maena or the Moroaica was far worse. She glimpsed a flurry of motion behind Maena as Caina and Corvalis charged the pinned seset-kadahn. Why do that? The Moroaica had said the seset-kadahn could not be defeated unless Rhames was first destroyed. Did they think to use the creature to harm Rhames somehow? “You tempt me sorely. But I…I am a Ghost of the Empire, I have taken oaths…”

  “Oaths to a false Emperor,” said Rhames, “on the names of false gods. The gods of Maat are the true gods, and the pharaoh is the rightful ruler of mankind. Stand by me, and assist me in the work of bringing the world to divine order once more.”

  ###

  Kylon’s eyes snapped open.

  Every inch of his body ached, but the sorcery of water had cushioned his fall, shielding his muscles and bones from the explosion’s terrible backlash.

  And as he awoke, the answer came to him.

  Just as in a fight, when he realized the exact strokes that would undo his opponent. Or when he commanded the seventh fleet of New Kyre in battle, when he saw the openings that would allow him to win the battle.

  The canopic jar had to be with the seset-kadahn. There was nowhere else it could be. Rhames would not have carried it with him, not when he knew a rival sorcerer might attack him. And where better to hide it than within an undead warrior that could not betray him? The seset-kadahn had no need of functioning organs, and the hulking warrior’s ribs offered ample hiding space.