OrbSoul (Book 6)

by Martin Ash

  He felt Issul stiffen at these last words.

  'Leth?'

  'Do not worry, my darling. It did not happen. But . . .'

  'But what?'

  He told of his first night in Orbelon's World, when Lakewander had come to him in his bed. 'It was not easy to reject her, Iss. Like you, I was alone and afraid and in need of comfort. In truth I no longer even knew if I was alive. I wanted her, I won't deny that. But in my mind there was only you. In a sense, I see, our experiences were mirror images of each other. I was charged by my greater need to find you and our children. Hence I turned her away.' He grinned. 'But I think I was mad to do so. She was an absolute vision in her nakedness, enough to arouse any man's passions.'

  'Pig!' She jabbed him in the ribs with her fingers. He writhed, and laughed; she covered his mouth with her hand, lest he wake the children. He pulled her to him and pressed his lips to hers in a lingering kiss.

  Then Issul said, 'Their prophecy was fulfilled in part, then. You saved them, in the manner of the god they believed you to be. But Lakewander does not carry the child that they desired from you.'

  Leth shifted uneasily. 'It may not be quite so, Iss.'

  'What do you mean?'

  With some hesitancy he gave his account of his journey with Lakewander, as far as their experience upon the Shore of Nothing. 'I don’t know what happened there, Iss, and that is the truth. It was ecstatic, agonizing, terrible, illusory, insane . . . I have no explanation for it, and my memory of what actually transpired is a blur. We did not make love, you have my absolute assurance of that. But something may have happened without my knowledge or consent.' He turned his head away. 'I do not know. I swear to you, Iss, that is how it was. The next thing I knew Lakewander was gone. I was with Urch-Malmain in the Tower of Glancing Memory. He told me Lakewander had gone back, but that she had taken my seed that she might bear my child; that the child of a god might live among her kind now that their own god had departed.'

  'Do you believe him?'

  'Everything there was strange; utterly, unutterably strange. Anything is possible. But it is important that you believe me, Iss. I will not deceive you. That is the way it was.'

  She gently squeezed his hand, and eased forward to put her lips to the flesh of his shoulder. 'I love you, and if I have learned one thing during all this turmoil, it is just how greatly I love you, and how I have missed you.'

  'Those are two things,' he said, kissing her.

  She tweaked his flank and smiled. 'I think there may be many more.'

  They lay entwined in quiet reflection for some time, soothed now by the hissing air. Then quite suddenly Leth stiffened. 'By the gods!'

  'Leth what is it?'

  He took her arm from around him and sat up, staring into the seething, glowing dark. 'By all that lives and breathes! Yes! It is so!'

  'Leth, what are you saying?'

  'It is why I know his face!'

  Leth pulled aside his bedcovers and rose quickly from the bed. He grabbed a robe and wrapped it around himself. 'I must speak to him.'

  *

  Shenwolf was housed in the neighbouring chamber. He was quick to respond to the knocking on his door, and fully dressed, giving Leth, and Issul behind him, the impression that he had not been asleep.

  His pale face registered immediate surprise. 'King Leth!'

  He stepped back to allow them in.

  Leth wasted no time. 'You know nothing of your origins, is that so?'

  The young soldier nodded. 'That is so.'

  Leth was staring hard at his face. Over his shoulder he said to Issul. 'Aye, there can be no mistake. I see it so clearly now. This is he.'

  'What is this, Sire?' asked Shenwolf. 'Do you know something?'

  'I have some questions,' Leth said. 'Does the name Lakewander mean anything to you?'

  Shenwolf shook his head.

  'Master Protector? Summoner? Orbia?'

  'Orbia is the name of your palace, Sire.'

  'Does it have any other connotation to you?'

  'No.'

  'What about Ascaria, the Great Sow, the Kancanitrix; the Dark Flame; the Orb of the Godworld, the World's Agony?'

  Shenwolf's face remained blank.

  'But you know of Urch-Malmain, the Noeticist?' said Leth.

  'Only what Iss-- what the Queen has told me. And I am aware that there may be an inauspicious connection between myself and him.'

  Leth was still scrutinizing his features minutely.

  'Sire, can I ask what it is that you know?'

  'I know with certainty that you are of Orbelon's World.'

  'These names you have mentioned - the implication is that you have knowledge of my background.'

  Leth hesitated, then said, 'You know I have just come from Orbelon's World. And I know now that I have met your family there.'

  Shenwolf’s eyes widened. 'My family?'

  'I can tell you little. Following a period of catastrophe and personal tragedy you were lost to them. They understood that you had taken up with Urch-Malmain, but know nothing more.'

  Shenwolf's gaunt face was filled with sudden hope and expectation. 'Who- who are my family?'

  'Your father is a venerable mage, a leader of his people and a keeper of history. He was known to me as Master Protector. You have a sister, too. She is of similar age to you. Her name is Lakewander. It was she who told me about you.'

  'Lakewander . . . ' echoed Shenwolf distantly.

  'Do you remember, Shenwolf?' asked Issul in a quiet voice.

  Shenwolf shook his head. 'Nothing.'

  Leth said, 'I can tell you nothing more. At least, not at the present time.'

  He turned and left the chamber. Issul remained for a moment with the troubled soldier. She reached out and took his hand. 'We know a little more, at least. Another clue has dropped into place.'

  Shenwolf gave a forlorn smile. 'For better or worse? The King has confirmed only that I am Urch-Malmain's creature. Who knows what is inside me?'

  'For better or for worse, we are at least one step closer to finding out.'

  'And what is this catastrophe and tragedy that King Leth speaks of?'

  'He has told me no more than you.'

  'The more I learn,' said Shenwolf, 'the more I fear what remains to be learned.'

  'No. The unknown must be explored, as far as it is possible to do so. No matter its nature and content, it is ultimately far more dangerous when it remains unknown. We have an obligation, a duty to discover. That is something these recent days have shown me.'

  iii

  Back in their bed Leth said, 'He is the image of her. I don’t know how I failed to spot it immediately. This whole business becomes more and more enigmatic.'

  'You were reluctant to tell him the details you have learned of his past,' Issul observed, laying her head on the pillow beside him and resting a hand upon his naked chest.

  'I am concerned that it might harm him or send him astray. There is much suffering in his past.' Briefly Leth told her of Lakewander's account of the sacrifice and death of Shenwolf's mother and younger brother, and Shenwolf's subsequent decline and disappearance. 'He apparently came under the influence of one who was able to erase such painful memories from his mind.'

  'Urch-Malmain.'

  'Aye, Urch-Malmain. And who knows what else was erased or altered?' Leth shrugged. 'Shenwolf has, or had, a destiny upon him. At his father's passing he was to have inherited the office of Master Protector, with all its responsibilities. And there is something else I do not understand.'

  'Orbia?'

  'Yes, Orbia. How does it exist both within Orbelon and within Enchantment's Reach? It cannot be coincidence. More, Lakewander claimed that it was I who named it, in another time in the long distant past. She said I dwelt among her people at that time, and I abandoned them and passed to the Godworld.'

  'What is Orbelon's view of this?'

  'We have not discussed it in depth. I must quiz him further.' Leth paused. 'Another thing, Iss. Urch-M
almain disclosed to me the fact that he had sent Shenwolf here.'

  Issul raised her head. 'He did?'

  'He did not name him, but spoke of persons he had performed his memory-operations on, whose lives had become miserable beyond recounting. And he told me of his experiments with the living artefact: the Portal he has constructed to allow him to pass back to this world. He had sent various persons through to verify its proper functioning. It seems that several perished or were otherwise lost in passage, for the tunnel was either malfunctioning or a flux of interference had been introduced by Ascaria. He claimed that most recently he had sent a young man through. The entities who constructed and comprise the Portal reported that as far as they were aware his passage had been without incident. That is, he had arrived, somewhere in Enchantment's Reach. And as it happened, a Karai warrior was drawn through to Urch's tower in reciprocation.'

  'Shenwolf, then,' breathed Issul.

  'It fits. But Iss, there is still more. "A savage creature, a hybrid of human barbarian warrior and some kind of blue-skinned reptilian brute". Does that description mean anything to you?'

  Issul was silent. . . then the memory came. Aghast, she rasped, 'But you know, that is the creature on Sentinel's Peak! The thing that killed Ressa, that sired the Legendary Child! Why do you mention it now?'

  'It is a description given me by Urch-Malmain, though I recognized it for what it is only days ago.'

  'He spoke of it?' Issul drew herself up in shock. 'In what context?'

  'He claimed that it had been drawn to his artefact in reciprocation, plucked from somewhere unknown. He said he jettisoned it on the instant, intimidated by its ferocity. I think perhaps there is more to it than that.'

  Issul was stunned, rocked once again by the power of the memory of that day on Sentinel's Peak and the horror that had followed. 'Where is it now?'

  'Only Urch-Malmain can tell us that - and even he may not know.'

  She clutched his arm. 'Leth, what is happening here?'

  'I am not sure, but Orbelon has said that Urch-Malmain is the key to our future endeavours. Though he has not stated as much, I think he sees in Urch a possible way to finding the Soul of the Orb.'

  Issul nodded. 'Yes, if Urch was one of the cabal who, with Strymnia, overthrew Orbelon in the first place, he may know where the Orb's Soul was hidden. But how will he be persuaded to tell?'

  'I don't know, but I think Orbelon wants me to go back, Iss. Into his World, to Urch-Malmain's tower.'

  'Will you go?'

  'If it can help us, there is no question. And I think Shenwolf should accompany me.'

  iv

  The morning was marked by intense debate between Leth, Issul, Orbelon and Triune. Uppermost in all their minds was a growing awareness of the diminishing time available to them in which to achieve their ends. Triune emphasized once again that her own resources were far from unlimited. 'We work to maintain control of the Portal's tail. Strymnia, though she cannot bring any greater force to bear against us at present, likewise does not diminish the force that she already applies. The Reach Rider struggles ceaselessly against our mesh. In time, inevitably, unless we are strengthened, it will break free.'

  In Leth's and Issul's minds was the stark knowledge that Enchantment's Reach was under investment and vulnerable, might even have fallen to the Karai. If it still held out, what of Pader Luminis, who struggled against powerful internal forces as well as the common foe? Leth and Issul were agonizingly aware of their inadequacy. They were reunited, but lacked a military force of any kind with which to return to Enchantment's Reach and vanquish their enemies.

  Orbelon and Triune affirmed that the only possible hope lay in locating and recovering their sequestered Souls. And Orbelon made them all more keenly aware of the immense peril they now faced from the Portal constructed by Urch-Malmain's inter-dimensional entities. For the first time they came to understand what the Portal's instability could mean, now that Urch-Malmain had nullified the Reciprocity.

  'He seems to be using it virtually indiscriminately as a two-way, one-channel Portal,' Orbelon observed. 'As if he has no appreciation of the possible consequences.'

  'What are they?' enquired Leth.

  'I have never faced this situation before, and hence cannot say with precision. But he is creating a blockage of the way. Increased use under these conditions will wholly destabilize the fragile, natural balance between worlds: my world - that is my Self - and this one. I had not even believed such a thing - a complete nullification of the Reciprocity - was possible. My understanding was that the laws that bind the confluence of our worlds are constant and immutable. Somehow Urch, with his entities and his transient obturation, has overcome that to at least a limited degree. But profound and irreversible catastrophe will inevitably ensue if he continues to tamper with such laws and deny the Reciprocity. It is why I always warned you against entering my world without my knowledge, or in company. There will be an intense, unimaginably destructive clash of cosmic energies. My world, I believe, will be annihilated. Perhaps the process has already begun.'

  'What will that mean for you?'

  'The world, the universe, is its god, and the god is its world and its universe. The end of one is the end of the other. Something will remain, something of Cosmic pre-mind. But it will be the raw non-stuff of unthought thought and undreamed dream, the random churnings of Potentia, awaiting the process without consciousness or form. All that is thus far known and achieved will have been destroyed. Furthermore, the destruction of my world whilst it remains in any form of confluence with this one will engender terrible consequences for this world too. It will create an energy vortex of incalculable power. This world and all it contains could conceivably be drawn into it and likewise annihilated.'

  'Do you think he truly doesn't know this?' asked Issul.

  'If he truly knew it, I do not think he would do it,' Orbelon said. 'I do not believe he desires to taste non-existence.'

  Leth spoke. 'He spoke of 'fooling' the Portal into believing that its head and tail both lie in the same world, thus nullifying the Reciprocity.'

  'And plainly he, or his entities, achieved that with the transient obturation. But it does not wholly nullify the Reciprocity, not at the rate he is using the Portal. It merely diverts its energies, as I have explained.' Orbelon was thoughtful. 'Those entities display an uncommon loyalty.'

  'It’s true,' said Leth. 'They have little genuine accord with Urch-Malmain, and have expressed their desire to be free of him and your world. Yet they will do nothing against his wishes. To act otherwise, they claim, would place an obscurity upon their souls.'

  'Yes, I have encountered their type,' said Orbelon, and the three heads of Triune nodded in sage agreement. 'There is little we can do there. They will not break their compact.'

  'Even if it means their own deaths?'

  'They will not die, they will be dispersed, but they will remain unsullied.'

  'Still, they are not entirely intractable,' Leth brought forth the Locator that Aztin had given him. 'They gave me this, so I might return should I need to.'

  'Ah, that will be of great use,' declared the smallest Triune-child.

  'Are you willing to go, Leth?' asked Orbelon. 'Are you willing to re-enter my world and face Urch-Malmain again?'

  'He is the hinge upon which everything swings, so it seems,' Leth replied. 'Do I have a choice?'

  'It is so,' said Orbelon. 'Apart from Strymnia, who we cannot approach, he is the only one who can possibly know where our Souls might lie.'

  'If it’s true, he has shown scant inclination to part with the information,' said Issul.

  'Then we must ply him to our will,' the second Triune-child said.

  'He has not so far shown signs of pliability.'

  'Perhaps the right leverage was not used.'

  'Have you considered,' said Leth to Orbelon, 'that upon my return Urch-Malmain will simply, instantly, perform his mind-alteration upon me? I will be rendered useless.'

 
'We can assist you there. All of you.'

  'All?'

  'You will not be going alone. Shenwolf should accompany you. Issul too.'

  'Issul?'

  Issul shook her head. 'I can’t leave the children here. I will not.'

  'You will not have to,' said Orbelon. 'Your children will also go with you.'

  She exchanged an uneasy glance with Leth. 'But why?'

  'In part it is to redress the balance, to compensate for Urch-Malmain's irresponsibility and help offset the growing instability of the Portal. More energy and matter has come out of my world into this than has passed the other way. Leth and the children came through, then came six warriors seeking them. A short time ago we witnessed only three warriors return. You can help fulfil the Reciprocation that is lacking. Believe me, it is the safest thing, at least until I can return.'

  'Can you not come with us, Orbelon?' Issul asked.

  The ragged head of the bundled god swayed from side to side. 'Too many uncertainties. My return must be through the blue casket. Even then I may still be held in the Orb, my blue domain, with no direct contact with the fullness of my world. I do not know if it is time for the Creator to be fully manifest within its creation.'

  'Will there ever be a time?'

  'Perhaps when the Creator is one with its Soul again. Perhaps that is the one time. Meanwhile, I ask myself if that can have been the real reason why you went there, Leth: as my agent, to realize the work I desired but was unable to perform.'

  Leth stared at him in puzzlement.

  'I have told you, Leth,' said Orbelon, 'I have told you all. We have entered Mystery. Do not look for small answers, nor surface truths. Be prepared only to travel and learn. Discount nothing, but equally anticipate neither endings nor beginnings nor anything else that you might ordinarily expect. We are doing things that we may not know we are doing.'