The Centuar’s eyes opened wide. “Pardon?”
Torrullin shook with laughter. “Priceless, my friend!”
Belun was serious. “Explain to me why you feel one thing and say another. Explain it to me so you may hear yourself.”
For an instant anger assailed him and then Torrullin realised this was a true friend who did not judge. He paced away to ensure Fuma and Jonas did not inadvertently hear something.
Belun, understanding, followed after.
“I met someone recently with eyes as green and bright as Saska’s used to be. She is not Saska, but she reminded me how much I miss my wife. She reminded me how much I loved Saska and still do even though she is no longer with us. Saska had a similar effect on me as Elianas has always had; it is more about the mind and the soul than it ever was about anything physical.
“Saska could see deep and the more she saw, the more I would need her. Elianas is the same. It is not that I want to sleep with him; I want to possess him to blind him, to not need him. Saska and I reached a similar point a number of times, unfortunately. As you know, it nearly destroyed us. Perhaps it will destroy Elianas.”
“And yet you claim your goal is brotherhood.”
“Brotherhood would silence the need to possess.”
“Ah.” Belun poked a finger at his Torrullin’s chest. “I don’t quite see you as the type to still urge in mindless sex, but I can point you in that direction if you need it.”
Torrullin stared at him, taken aback.
Belun laughed. “No, man, I’m not a pimp! I happen to know where there are clean girls. I helped them out of a bit of trouble recently.”
Torrullin smiled. “You can still surprise me, damn it. I bet Quilla the prude knows nothing of this, er, help?”
The Centuar loosed a great belly laugh. “Ah, no!”
Torrullin shook his head. “Hell, what is the Kaval coming to?”
Belun snorted as he contained his mirth and then managed to be serious again. “Xen.”
Torrullin raised his brows.
“The girls have a house in Kora City, a good, clean and well-run place. No one is there against her will; this is a life each chose freely. You would be safe there and they never reveal their clients. Yes, yes, I know, this is not you, but bear it in mind. It may be a good idea to let go for a time.”
“Yes, well,” Torrullin laughed. He sighed an instant later. “Elianas would know immediately.”
“So?” the Centuar’s great shoulders moved significantly.
Torrullin’s eyes glittered. “Right. Why am I worried about him? He has done it to me.”
Belun blinked. That was entering into dangerous territory again. He wondered if he should point out something obvious. Maybe not, and then Torrullin’s challenging gaze had him opening his mouth before he could properly think it through.
“Elianas slept with women.”
Torrullin stared at him. “Your point?”
It was a blunder, but it was better to finish something than leave something provoking unsaid. “You sleep with women.”
“Belun, I hope you have a point.”
The Centuar nodded. “Just bear with me. I’m not talking about sexual preference here, and I’m certainly not judging you or Elianas.” Belun scratched at his great head. “I overheard Tian and Tristan talk one day and something occurred to me, something so obvious, I’m astounded you don’t see it. More precisely, I’m astounded you never act with it in mind.”
“Obvious?”
Belun nodded. “You don’t see it. It is then my duty as a friend to tell you.” He looked over his shoulder and gestured Torrullin further into the recesses that were the ogives. “Torrullin, I overheard a discussion between your grandsons about noble purpose …”
“For Aaru’s sake, I do not want to hear about that crap.”
The Centuar was undaunted. “I get how it would get your back up, but when I heard it I put three and two together and came up with a hundred.”
Torrullin stared at him and then, despite himself, laughed. “What the hell does that mean?”
Belun grinned. “See? Laughter diffuses any situation.”
“Gods, Centuar …”
“Laugh, Torrullin. Ever you are serious, thinking, acting. When I overheard Tian with Tristan, they mentioned how hard it was for you to step aside from the pressures of duty. You see your existence in so many shades of seriousness, you have forgotten to laugh. So many issues. You want to fight the furies, but to what end? Noble purpose crap, as you say?
“You fight even Elianas, when he is the reason you should laugh. He is always there and will always be. So what if you have this attraction; you know you are made to love a woman, you have proved that. And Elianas had an ex-wife floating about somewhere, proving where his urge lies. You make it too complicated. So, enjoy this day, Torrullin, and laugh with him, and just maybe you will discover what really lies beneath.”
Torrullin stared at his friend. “It is not easy to enjoy this day when one has a long history and even longer future.”
“That’s where you make your biggest mistake. It isn’t always about the long view; it’s about the moment, the instant in time when you simply know you are alive.”
“Belun …”
“No, wait. You want to tell me how I know little about the dynamics between you, and you’re right, but it doesn’t take a sage to work certain emotions out. You blame him for something pretty big, or so you think. You blame yourself, Torrullin, and it sours the moment for you. Step aside and look around you; do it before you alienate everyone you love.”
“Laugh it away,” Torrullin said.
“I know you are in a place where you simply can’t spare time for loved ones; I have been in that place. Just think about what I said sometime.”
Because Belun was a friend, Torrullin nodded, smiled and thanked him, but inside a new fury took hold. He was angry, because Belun was probably closer to the truth than anyone. He did blame himself, and Elianas was in some manner a convenient scapegoat. But, sweet gods, to laugh with the man, to enjoy him? How was that even possible? One did not enjoy Elianas, one wanted to own him. The bloody man had that effect without having to try.
“Enough preaching,” Belun laughed. “Let us hear what Jonas and Fuma have found.”
They walked back into the circle.
“Um, Torrullin, one more thing …”
“Yes?”
“You’re a lucky to have someone to love, you know, man or woman or child. I have Assint and Mahler and those two Centuar are my life. For a long time there was only emptiness inside and some days I didn’t even want to wake up. I know you know how it feels. Don’t piss it away, my friend.”
Torrullin blinked. “You are right. I promise to at least think the next time I want to lash out.”
“Now you make this old heart happy.”
“What do I do with you, damn it?” Torrullin grinned.
Belun laughed, and they joined Fuma and Jonas. “Anything?”
Fuma spoke. “Nothing untoward. There is no record of Beacon accepting nuclear weapons, but that we expected, and we find no informant reports regarding skulduggery on Excelsior or Beacon. Not even Ymir.”
Belun sucked at his teeth. “Now you have me worried; there should at least be rumours.”
“Go further back,” Torrullin murmured.
Belun called it up and again Fuma and Jonas leaned in to work through the information on the view screens. The Centuar called Torrullin to the console. “Will Avaelyn be safe?”
“Hopefully, yes, now that we are gone.”
The Centuar frowned. “It occurs to me this is a set-up, as you intimated. Look at it this way; what if the masterminds drew you lot to Excelsior in place of Avaelyn?”
Torrullin paled immediately, for it struck a chord within. “Thinking Avaelyn could be too difficult to breach, thereby choosing an easier target?”
Belun inclined his head. “Just a thought.”
It possessed
terrible resonance. Torrullin ran for the Dragon ogive. It chimed and he was gone.
“What?” Jonas demanded, astonished by the sudden exit.
Belun got busy resetting the Dome’s parameters. “Nothing, I hope.” He lifted his great head as premonition shuddered through him. “Set all sensors on Excelsior right away. Now!”
Jonas hurtled into it.
Fuma approached. “Belun? What is it?”
The Centuar worked feverishly and spoke without again looking up. “It occurred to me Excelsior could be the trap laid for Elixir.”
The Deorc actually lost some of his dark skin pigment. “No,” he breathed.
“Maybe not,” Belun muttered, smacking at the console and the keyboard he had installed below it. “What worries me more than a trap for Elixir, however, is him being away while it’s sprung, only to arrive and find his grandsons atoms on the wind.” He punched a code and swore. “Never mind what it will do to him to lose Elianas.”
Fuma snapped back to the view screens and pulled at a keyboard. He crouched over it, his face strained.
Excelsior
General Rorkis’ Home
TRISTAN SNIFFED AT THE air like a bloodhound.
He sensed something was off-kilter and could not quite place it. Then again, perhaps his imagination was out of control. Setting off explosions could damage brain cells.
Reading titles, he wandered along the shelves of the General’s library. Not bad; the man at least was not a moron, if he had read them, that is. Some philosophy, a lot of poetry - maybe those belonged to Mrs Rorkis - advanced calculus and geography.
A tread on the wooden floor spun him around. His senses screamed danger.
Tristan froze in disbelief. “You!”
“Me,” came the soft reply.
A hand lifted and Tristan lost all sense of his surroundings, and then he lost all sense of self.
Soft, satisfied laughter floated over the library.
Weapons Facility
QUILLA HAD INSERTED HIS tiny form between two crates in the loading bay.
He watched as massive cranes lifted pallets of packed missiles. Then they were rolling the great shutter down on the gigantic flatbed truck. He whistled, throwing his voice to the front of the truck, and the two men ran towards the sound with their weapons drawn. Quilla, birdman and spy, hopped up and hid behind the nearest pallet.
A moment later he heard loud arguing and then the shutter came down. The sound of a lock being engaged, and the vehicle started to roll.
He wondered where he would end up.
Warehouse
TEROUX LEANED AGAINST the dirty wall, eyes closed. He seemed asleep, but actually tracked Elianas’ movements.
Teighlar paced with a low mutter. They heard him say ‘Alik’ and ‘Alexander’ but were too wrapped in their thoughts to question him.
Elianas, for his part, barely moved. He listened to the sounds outside, those further afield and those in the spaces. Since Torrullin left he felt something build, a kind of layering of intention. Something evil was out there and evil would rear its head before Excelsior’s night was done with.
If only he could place it.
Then it was too late.
Teighlar gurgled and fell senseless to the oil-spattered floor.
Teroux’s golden head slumped sideways.
Elianas had but a moment to know their attacker … and then he collapsed nerveless to the filthy floor.
A loud chuckle sounded through the empty warehouse.
TWO TRAVELLERS LIFTED INTO orbit from Excelsior’s major landing site and one cargo ship lumbered up into the skies from a lesser and more protected one.
They achieved the vacuum of space seconds before a massive fireball-mushroom engulfed the planet.
Chapter 22
What are you most afraid of, traveller?
Loneliness.
~ Note in an explorer’s diary ~
Vacuum
INSTINCT HALTED HIM.
An instant later Torrullin screamed soundlessly in the great vacuum of space.
Another instant later Belun, Centuar, pulled at him forcibly, removing him bodily from the site of annihilation.
He fought, but the Centuar was determined. He punched Torrullin hard in his face with all the power a mighty creature of legend could muster, and rendered the man unconscious. Life was more important than a broken nose.
Shudders of horror assailed the Centuar as he gaped at the great emptiness of anti-matter.
It was utter annihilation.
The Dome
BELUN HAULED TORRULLIN back to the Dome and there he tied the man firmly to the slab at one end. It would not hold him, but it would gift Belun a microsecond in which to reason with him when he awakened.
Belun stared sadly down. He had broken more than Torrullin’s nose, but it could not now be helped. Hopefully his friend would hark to the wisdom in the aftermath.
Fuma stood nearby, his face ashen.
Jonas quivered, and was then startled when Belun swore foully and stomped back to the console.
“Watch him!” Belun roared. “He cannot be allowed to return to Excelsior, hear me?”
Jonas nodded, and Fuma squatted down before Torrullin, his gaze unwavering on the fair man.
Excelsior
OF EXCELSIOR THERE WAS nothing left.
The nuclear devices were synchronised to detonate simultaneously, and were numerous and well positioned. An entire planet and its people vanished in a blinding flash of light.
Someone, somewhere, would have to pay for the affront to sentience everywhere.
Hideaway
LOWEN RAISED HER HEAD as terror filled her every pore.
Even those without magic could feel the terrible en masse removal of life, and she was not without magic.
Her blue eyes filled with tears, before she reached into the ether, searching, her only quest to find Torrullin. To know he remained in this realm. This type of annihilation meant that the mighty Elixir was returned to the universe. Someone had chosen to mark his return with death.
As suspected, Avaelyn was now deserted.
When she knew where Torrullin was, having tracked the shivers from the site of death, she rose slowly and unsteadily. Absolute relief. Absolute terror. He was unconscious, but he had lost everyone close to him and he knew it even in oblivion. His soul screamed out. She swallowed and prayed for strength and courage.
Lowen Dalrish went to the Dome, the place she vowed never again to enter.
Because she loved him more than life.
The Dome
BELUN DREW BREATH, frowning.
Someone requested admittance to the Gatherers’ Circle. It had not happened for a long time. He placed his hand lightly on the light for Communion, and then instantly lit his personal ogive. His hand trembled as he lifted it away and he stared at the female form that strode boldly in.
She ignored everyone there to kneel before Torrullin. “I will take him.”
“Lowen,” Belun began.
She did not look at him. “He will not get away from me, Belun, don’t worry.” She reached out to lay a hand against Torrullin’s cheek and felt there the tension. “He is close. I must take him now.”
“Where to?”
“Better no one knows. Find his family, Belun; they may have escaped in time.”
She touched Torrullin’s cheek again and murmured something. A moment later she had vanished with him, without the aid of an ogive.
Belun had never been so astonished in his entire life.
Luvanor
TORRULLIN ALREADY STRUGGLED back to awareness when she released him onto a bed in her home.
He sat up and, as she had hoped, the sight of her froze him in place. For a moment he was utterly paralysed, his silver gaze fixated on her. Then he frowned and glanced around him, breaking the connection. A strange place; where was he? He moved his head slowly back to her, to her patience and empathy.
He understood. “I can walk out.�
�
“Yes. Heal your face first, though.”
He did not move. “Are you messing with my head?”
“This is a safe haven, that is all.”
He put his hands up to his face, feeling there a broken nose, a cracked jaw and many loose teeth. Belun had hit him hard. He healed the damage and put his feet to the floor. His grey eyes silvered further and he stared through a window into a garden in full bloom.
“Tell me I imagined it.”
“I cannot do that.”
Torrullin stood and walked over to the window. He looked up at the bright sky. “This is Luvanor.”
“Best place to hide from The Valla is to hide among his people.”
“Lowen.” He drew a deep breath and it shuddered through his chest. “I have nothing to give.”
She smiled sadly. “You have had nothing to give for a while; I expect nothing.” She paced carefully closer. “Can you feel them anywhere?”
He closed his eyes and faced the window. “Blackness. There is only blackness.”
“I am sorry.”
His eyes closed even tighter. “Someone must pay.”
“The Dome is investigating, Torrullin.” She reached out to lay a hand on his arm. “Don’t be hasty, not now. Do it right, whatever comes next.”
His eyes opened and he looked down at her. “I am bereft.” The words were soft and they were ripped from his very soul.
She knew he would mourn his grandsons and the loss would never leave him, but those words spoke only of Elianas. He would never recover from losing the dark man again. A tear slid over her cheek. She said nothing because no words could ever answer him.
“I have no hold on you, Torrullin, but you may stay as long as you need.”
He watched her leave the room and then sank to his knees. He sat like that for many hours.
Lore of Sanctum Omnibus Page 150