She blinked. Vireon in the jungle? The Giants marching to war? It was all so unexpected, yet she knew better than to doubt Iardu’s words. Then it came to her in a flash of insight.
“You set all of this in motion, didn’t you?” she asked.
“Speak with Vireon. Convince him that the war he seeks is not with the black city.”
“You’re bringing all the nations together here to fight the hordes of Zyung.”
His chromatic eyes blazed. “You have always been a clever pupil. Perhaps too clever. Now, go!”
She faced the southern window. Portions of the blackened fields still blazed; the purple glow of morning was fouled by the reek of smoke and blood. Beyond the flaming landscape stood the vast crimson wilderness.
“I begin to understand the true reason you are called Shaper,” she said.
He sang the ancient song.
Once more an eagle, she glided from the window.
Behind her the pinnacle of the high tower thundered and was no more.
20
On the Hidden Road
It was not the heat of the midday sun that woke him, but the stench of blood, feces, and rotten vegetation wafting from the mangled marshland. Weariness hung like an iron chain about his body, the invisible weight of it pressing him against the earth. He forced himself into a sitting position, grimacing at the ache of limbs and joints.
His skin was raw. Resting his elbows on his upraised knees, he saw that his color was no longer a sun-kissed bronze, but a ruddy copper. He looked like a creature born of the red jungle. His body ached, but his head was clear. This clarity filled him with a deep calm as he peered about the makeshift camp.
Dahrima stood leaning against the crimson bole of a jungle tree, a spear nestled between her folded arms. Her dark eyes were on him, but she did not trouble him with words. White bandages wrapped portions of both her arms and left thigh. Her corselet of black bronze showed the dents and scars of recent battle, and the mud on her boots was murky with congealed blood. The shadow of fatigue dulled the brightness of her face, yet her braided hair gleamed like red gold. On crude pallets beneath a canopy of low-hanging vines, the band of surviving Uduri lay at rest, camped in a ring about Vireon while he slumbered.
A few other spearmaidens turned their faces toward him, watching as he forced himself to stand on wobbly legs. He put a hand against the tree until the jungle stopped spinning about his head. Beyond lay a rugged trail torn, stamped, and smashed into the jungle by Giants. The wide swathe of upturned soil and felled trees ran along a shallow hillside and disappeared into the steaming marsh. A flock of vultures picked at the carcasses and entrails littering the wetlands. Piles of Khyrein bodies bulged from the fen waters, dead black beetles in crumpled armor. The stubs of broken spears stood thick as weeds among the carnage.
The basalt fragments of the tower his mountainous foot had crushed lay a bowshot away. The muddy Giant-trail ran toward a massive campsite of felled trees stretching eastward into the jungle. Tents had been set up on the leveled ground for the care of wounded and dying men. Their moans floated to Vireon’s ears on a warm breeze.
In a broad circle surrounding the tents of the wounded sat several legions of Udurumites and Uurzians, mostly cavalrymen tending to their horses. Their ranks seemed far thinner than before the swamp crossing. Vireon counted the green-gold banners of two full Uurzian legions, and a single Udurum legion milling beneath the Hammer and Fist standard.
He stood naked but for a loincloth someone had wrapped about his waist. His Giant-blade had been cleaned and polished to a cold blue shine. Dahrima, no doubt. It stood propped against the tree next to his pallet of sweat-stained blankets, its ornate scabbard missing. He coughed, spewing mucous and mud from the back of his throat onto the ground, then raised his eyes toward the roof of bloodshot foliage. From north and south came the deep cries of Giants, the clashing of metal and stone.
Dahrima brought him a skinful of fresh water. He took it and drained half its contents, wiped his parched lips with the back of his hand. “Tyro?” he asked.
“The Sword King lives.” She nodded toward the crude northern trail. “Quite the warrior, that one. He took several legions and a cohort of Udvorg to bring down the watchtower between here and the coast. The one called Mendices took another force south to assault the nearest tower in that direction. The gate to Khyrei has been opened.”
Vireon grunted, rubbing the back of his neck. Someone had tended him, wiped the filth from his body, carried him here, and provided his rude clothing. He looked up into Dahrima’s tired face. She wore a look he had never seen before. Concern? Disbelief? Some other mysterious emotion that only a woman could put a name to?
“Men leading Giants,” he said. “It seems unreal.”
“They lead in your name,” said Dahrima. “Othgar the Strong heads the northern contingent, Korek the Mace heads the southern.”
Vireon nodded. “What are our numbers?”
“We lost twelve sisters.” A cold blade in his heart. How many more of Dahrima’s sisters would die because of their faith in him? “Nearly five hundred Udvorg and six brave Uduru are also dead.”
Gods of Earth and Sky! So many deaths. And they had not even reached the black city.
“And the Men?”
She turned to stare at the collection of tents. Vireon saw a blue flame moving about the pavilions of the wounded. “Both armies lost a full legion to the swamp. A third of the horses are gone as well. Taken by the monster you killed. Yet the Border Legions of Khyrei are broken. Once the Swamp God died, victory was no great feat.”
Vireon rolled the numbers through his mind, breathing deeply of the dank air. So many lost. But still the triple host stood strong and victorious.
“That blue-skin witch has some skill at healing,” said Dahrima. She offered him a strip of dried beef. He waved it away. The memory of his torment inside the Swamp God’s belly drove away all hunger. “That cold flame of hers restores the Udvorgs’ strength instantly. I have never seen the like. Yet she will not use it on Men. Them she tends with herb and leaf. A fever has begun to spread among the legions. Varda says the filth of the swamp has poisoned their wounds.”
Vireon asked for wine. When she returned with a skinful of some Uurzian vintage, he asked the question he had been dreading. “Any sign of Angrid?”
Dahrima shook her head. “Only his crown of black iron.”
“Where is it?”
She motioned toward the blue flame dancing between the tents. “The witch keeps it. I believe she intends to make it yours. Now that you have proven yourself a true Giant.”
Vireon swallowed wine and stretched his arms. Already the pain of his burned skin was lessening. He hoped Tyro and Mendices did not stray far in their campaign to take the nearest watchtowers. The legions there had likely fled in the face of defeat. The triple host would have to leave the wounded here at the edge of the jungle. The northern forces must move forward as soon as possible. Days of marching through the deadly jungle lay ahead of them.
“Any sign of a road in there?” he asked, pointing to the deep glades.
“Not much of one,” Dahrima answered. “Little more than an overgrown footpath.”
“It will serve,” he said. “And be widened by our passage.”
Varda walked toward him from the mass of Men and tents. She carried something in her free hand, a glimmering loop of metal. Angrid’s crown.
He met her scarlet eyes as she came near. Her stature dwarfed his natural size, as did that of all Giants. His head barely reached the height of her waist. She sank to one knee before him, bringing their heads to a level. Her black hair was tousled and wild, full of briars, mud, and dust. Yet she carried a savage dignity. The azure flame quivered atop her staff.
She laid the crown at his feet and bowed her head. Vireon could not help but stare at it. A massive coronet of iron set with three great sapphires bright as the cold flame itself. At this size, he might only wear it as a belt.
A band of blue-skins came from the edges of the camp to stand about the scene. They followed Varda’s lead, kneeling before the Son of Vod. The worn faces of twenty-eight Uduri turned toward him as well. Beyond the ring of Giant and Giantess, Men in pocked armor stared through the red gloom.
“Angrid is dead,” said Varda. “His three heirs are only boys, and they are far from us. His crown falls to you, Vireon Vodson. Vireon the Slayer. Vireon the Man-Giant.”
Vireon stared at the crown, then at the blue faces and white manes of the Giants.
“I already have a crown,” he said. “It waits for me behind the gates of Udurum.”
“We have seen your power, Great One,” said Varda, her voice loud enough that all could hear her plainly. “You grew as your father did… tall enough to trample mountains… tall enough to reforge the world and release its deep waters… tall enough to crush the Swamp God and save us all. You are both Man and Giant. The Lord of Hosts. A Worthy King of All Giantkind. Only take this crown, and let it be so.”
Vireon shook his head. The power of his father had finally leaped into his heart. At last he understood the awe and worship that Men and Giants held for Vod. “The crown should go to Angrid’s blood. His eldest son when he comes of age.”
“That will be another hundred years,” said Varda. She lowered her voice for Vireon’s sake. “Until then we need a King. Can you deny it? I have already told the Udvorg you would lead them in Angrid’s stead. If I did not make this choice for you, we might abandon this war of yours and march back to our frosty climes. I will not have Angrid’s death rendered meaningless. He died for your cause… your vengeance. Wear the crown, Vireon.”
Vireon lifted the heavy loop of metal and held it in his hands, studying the intricate grooves of its ancient design. A ring of tiny runes was etched about the outer edge. The sapphires were each large enough to ransom a kingdom. He had never seen jewels that could rival them. Taking this crown would make him lord of two kingdoms. He considered the responsibility of such a thing, and he realized that Varda spoke truth. There was no real choice here. He could not afford to lose the Ice Giants as he had lost their ruler. Not with Khyrei and Ianthe so close.
He closed his eyes and willed himself larger. Fresh agony spread throughout his limbs, although this time he was prepared for it. As his flesh and bones expanded, he stifled the cry of pain that he desperately wanted to unleash. Then it was over, and he stood the full height of an Uduru. The Giants caught their breaths, and now even the Uduri kneeled in a show of amazed fealty.
Slowly but surely he lifted the iron crown–not so heavy now–to his head and placed it securely about his shaggy skull.
The Giants cheered his name. “Vireon! King of Giants! Lord of the Giantlands! Vireon!”
He endured it for a while, then waved them into silence. He bade them stand up, and now he stood in their midst as one of their own. He met Dahrima’s eyes briefly and was surprised to see tears brimming there. They did not fall, only lingered above her cheeks like pools of silver light.
“I take this crown to honor the memory of Angrid the Long-Arm,” he told them. “Until the day his eldest son comes to claim it along with his icy throne. Today, we march onward to finish what Angrid began. We march to end the tyranny of Khyrei. To bring down the walls of the black city!”
The cheers of Men joined those of the Giants. Vireon let it wash over him like a warm rain. Cherry-hued palm leaves fell from the branches, and flocks of bright birds fled the trees about the camp. He did not want to rule the blue-skins, but he had come all this way, dragging them along, to find justice for Alua and Maelthyn.
Justice or vengeance. Which was the truth? He would have to decide that later. There was no turning back now. No restoring the lives of the Men and Giants who had perished in the swamp. War was a decision that, once made, could never be reversed. Even if he refused the crown and lost the Udvorg, he would still march onward with the Men and the remaining Uduri. Knowing this, he could not afford to lose the might of the Ice Giants; that would only mean greater numbers of dead Men ahead. He must be their King. “Send riders to gather the cohorts of Tyro and Mendices,” he ordered. He lifted the Giant-blade, light as a dagger in his behemoth hand. “We march to Khyrei before the sun dies.”
Giants and Men scuffled to do his bidding, and to spread the word of the new Giant-King. The legend of Vireon the Slayer would only continue to grow. They had seen the breadth of his inherited sorcery. They knew what he was capable of, and it filled their hearts with confidence.
He turned to Dahrima. “A tunic, breastplate, and sandals,” he said. “And I’ll have a haunch of that beef now.”
“As you wish, Majesty,” she answered.
He sat himself upon one of the great stones from the smashed tower, drinking wine and chewing dried meat.
In his mind’s eye the black gates of Khyrei stood already before him. All the deaths, the terror of the marshlands, he had expected these. Yet still he had not been prepared.
All these Men and Giants, dead because of me.
He drained the wineskin.
More would die gladly, screaming his name.
For the first time, he felt the true power of Kinghood.
It rivaled the power of the sorcery simmering in his veins.
Thank you, Father.
May the Gods forgive me.
Tyro rode at the head of a cavalry legion winding out of the northern jungle. His gray stallion was draped in a chain-mail caparison. Dark stains lay upon the silvery links, and the bearing of the Men who rode with him spoke of victory. They tossed laughter among themselves along with waterskins. Pale Khyrein heads hung by the hair from the pommels of saddles, although Tyro himself carried no such trophies. Shorn of their devilish masks the Khyrein faces were sad and wide-eyed, the faces of confused boys.
Tyro slid from the saddle and walked across the encampment to the great slab of basalt where Vireon sat brooding. His wineskin was empty, and he had called for another. Dahrima had gone to scrounge for the last of the Uurzian vintage. Vireon watched the King of Uurz approach in silence, admiring his outward display of strength. The rigors of combat and lack of sleep had lined the Sword King’s face with wrinkles.
Tyro doffed his winged helm and unclasped his green cloak. He wore a fresh corselet, lacquered green with a golden sun spreading its rays across his chest. In the wake of the Uurzian cavalry marched the cohort of Udvorg. It was obvious they had done the bulk of the tower-toppling. They too held bundles of Khyrein heads as prizes, but these hung from their belts like clusters of pallid grapes. Their snowy manes were wild above faces of scowling indigo, red eyes deepened to maroon by the jungle gloom.
“King Vireon!” Tyro greeted him with a raised palm. The Emperor of Uurz stood barely a third of Vireon’s size now. “You bear a new stature and a new crown this day. I salute your unmatched greatness. Our campaign is not without losses, but it goes well. The tower between this glade and the northern coast is fallen.”
Tyro’s brawny arms and legs were wrapped in bandages, stained maroon by the slow seeping of his blood. Beneath the lower lip of his gilded corselet showed the hem of more bandages, likewise reddened by the stress of riding. Vireon marveled at the man’s endurance. He should be lying in one of the tents with Varda tending his wounds, yet he had led the northern sortie in Vireon’s stead. Beads of sweat dropped from his forehead and chin. Signs of fever, or simply the signs of heat and fatigue? Vireon could not tell, so solid was the Uurzian’s demeanor. Tyro slipped off the belt supporting his broadsword and laid it against the block of basalt.
“It gladdens me to see you hearty and whole,” said Vireon. “The Udvorg have named me their King in the wake of Angrid’s fall.”
“So I hear,” said Tyro, stripping off his breastplate. More leaking bandages. The worst of them was a growing blot of crimson above his right hip. He grimaced at the pain of removing the corselet, making sure that none but Vireon saw his face. “Your Uduri have found our route to t
he black city. Mendices will return before sunset with the rest of our legions. We may rest here tonight and march at dawn. We are close, Brother. So close!”
“No,” said Vireon. “We march tonight. If we wait until dawn the city may be warned by those who have escaped the towers. Already we risk that chance.”
Tyro accepted a cup of wine from an Uurzian captain. He poured the drink into his mouth and stared at the Giant-King. The sounds of jungle birds rattled among the treetops. Tyro mopped his face and brow with a wet cloth. At last he nodded.
“You speak wisdom,” Tyro said. “We’ll leave the wounded here then, with a cohort of horsemen to guard them. Can you spare a few Giants for this purpose?”
Vireon looked toward the tents. Hundreds of Men lay suffering beneath the flimsy canvas structures. There would be jungle cats, vipers, and possibly outlying squads of Khyreins. “Thirty Udvorg will stand with your horsemen.”
“Very well,” said Tyro. With a slight groan he settled himself on a smaller piece of stone and took a deep breath. “They can begin the process of burying the slain.”
Vireon nodded.
“How long do you intend to maintain this… bulk?” asked Tyro.
“I am their King,” Vireon said. “It is fitting.”
Tyro smiled and drained his cup. A warrior came forward with a poultice and rolls of linen. He began removing the bindings from Tyro’s wounds one at a time, cleaning the raw flesh and replacing the bandages with new ones. The gash in Tyro’s side was crudely stitched together. He would bear a mighty scar there for the rest of his days.
“Sleep now if you can,” Vireon said. “I see the weariness in your face. But we must move into the jungle. Soon.”
Tyro agreed. He walked toward the sea of tents, taking pains to hide his limp. The sound of breaking trees filled the glade. The Udvorg were expanding their camp yet again. Tyro halted and turned back to Vireon. “We found fresh meat and produce in the northern tower. Along with wine and medicines. We secured it all before the Giants demolished the structure. They would conquer the world for you if you asked them.” He turned and disappeared among the tents.
Seven Kings Page 36