He tried to crawl away when the shadow being came to him, but he couldn’t. He could only watch as the shadows wrapped around him too and wiped away the remains of his memories.
╬ ╬ ╬
Karliss awakened to find Batu shaking him. It was before dawn and the world was still gray.
“Wake up!” Batu said, shaking him again.
Karliss pushed him away and sat up. He felt disoriented, trapped still in the bizarre dream that he knew was more than a dream.
Hulagu got up and came over, his expression concerned. “He was thrashing around and moaning,” Batu told him. “At first I couldn’t wake him up.”
Karliss rubbed his eyes. He felt as if pieces of him were scattered over a large area. He was not himself. He wasn’t sure who he was supposed to be.
“What is it?” Hulagu asked him. “What happened?”
Karliss looked at him. Shadows seemed to be passing across the young man’s face. His features kept changing, becoming something else. Something clicked into place then, a connection between his dream and the vision that had come to him when he touched the blue gem.
“That was one of the masters,” he said.
“Who was one of the masters?” Hulagu asked.
“What masters?” Batu asked.
“The body we found. That was one of the masters.” Karliss felt panicky suddenly as more pieces clicked into place and he fought free of his blanket and stood up. “We have to protect the key. We have to keep it safe from the Devourers.”
“You mean the key that Kasai is looking for?” Hulagu asked.
“What’s a Devourer?” Batu looked around uneasily, as if one might be sneaking up right then.
“I don’t know,” Karliss said, gripping his head with his hands. “I can’t remember.”
His two friends exchanged confused looks. Hulagu handed him a skin of water. “Here.”
Karliss took a drink and spit the water out. The pieces were settling back into place, drifting around him like ashes. “I had a dream,” he said. “Or a vision. It didn’t feel like a dream.”
“Tell us,” Hulagu said.
Haltingly, Karliss related what he remembered. It was already fading quickly.
“That’s a really weird dream,” Batu said when he was finished.
“It was more than a dream. It felt like something that happened to me. A very long time ago.”
“When you touched that blue gem you were able to read those tablets for a few minutes. Maybe you got some memories or something from it,” Hulagu said.
“Maybe, but those creatures I saw—that I was—were definitely different from the body we found in the cave. They were shapeless, like clay.” He frowned. “I don’t know why, but I have a feeling that some of those beings I saw were aranti.”
“Aranti? But you said they live in the wind and have no shape,” Batu said.
“I know. It doesn’t make any sense to me either. It’s just a feeling I have. Remember I told you that the aranti said they are kin to Kasai and they had all been brought to this world a long time ago? I think that’s what I saw during the vision. I saw the arrival of the aranti and Kasai.”
“You said when you were one of these…creatures that you had the feeling your purpose was to protect the key for the masters,” Hulagu said slowly, figuring it out as he went along. “But if Kasai is also one of these creatures, then why does he want to get the key? Shouldn’t he be protecting it too?”
“The shadowy thing wiped away all our memories. Maybe Kasai doesn’t remember either.”
“Wait a minute,” said Batu. “You said our memories.”
“Did I?”
“Don’t you mean their memories?”
“I don’t know,” Karliss said. “I feel like somehow that was me, that it was something I’d experienced long ago.” He saw his friends exchange a look. “Don’t do that. I’m not going crazy.”
“You see, you look like our friend Karliss, a mostly normal person,” Batu said, “but you claim to be some kind of shapeless creature from long ago. I’m not sure what else we’re supposed to think.”
“You think the shadow thing you saw killed the masters?” Hulagu asked.
“I do.”
“So was it one of the Devourers, then?”
Karliss shrugged. “Maybe. But if the masters hid the key here to keep it from the Devourers, and one of them killed the masters and made the ones who were supposed to protect the key lose their memories, then why hasn’t he taken the key already?”
“That’s a good question.”
“Maybe it can’t get past that crystal,” Batu said.
Karliss remembered something else that the aranti had told him. “The aranti said that they and Kasai are Shapers. They said they chose the Sky and Kasai chose the Stone. It didn’t make much sense at the time, but now I think it does. All of us—I mean them—were formless when they fell to this planet, but then some went into the sky, some went into the stone and others must have gone into the water or the sea. That’s why there were three tablets with words of power on them. Each tablet was to control a different kind of Shapers.”
“And now Kasai wants the key. I hope he didn’t follow us here. If he did…” Batu trailed off. All three of them looked around, as if Kasai might be watching them that very moment, but there was nothing to be seen.
“One thing this still doesn’t explain,” Hulagu said. “What is the key for? Why do the Devourers want it?”
“That’s something we’ll probably never know,” Karliss said.
“Maybe you’ll have another dream,” Hulagu said.
“Why don’t we talk about this while we ride?” Batu said. “I’m ready to go home.”
╬ ╬ ╬
“Do you have any idea what the other words of power do?” Hulagu asked.
“No,” Karliss admitted.
“Why don’t you just try saying them?” Batu asked.
“It’s not that easy. Without clear intent and a strong will, the power can get out of hand. When I tried the one I know during the lightning storm, the lightning got worse and someone died. I don’t want to risk that happening again.”
“So you need to know what they can do before you can use them, but you can’t figure out what they can do without using them,” Hulagu said. “Did I get that right?”
“Pretty much.”
“Which means we came all this way for nothing?” Batu asked miserably. “They’re useless to you?”
“Not useless. I may still be able to figure them out.”
“How?”
“By trying them.”
“But you just said—”
“I know,” Karliss interrupted. “But I think that if I go off far enough by myself…”
“Bad idea,” Hulagu said. “You just said the words are dangerous if you don’t know what they do.”
“It’s a risk.”
“I agree with Hulagu,” Batu said. “It’s a bad idea.”
“Still, I have to do it. I have to know what these words do. How else are we going to have a chance against Kasai?”
“But if you get yourself killed, then we have no chance against Kasai either.”
“I’ll be careful,” Karliss said.
“Oh, sure, I feel lots better now,” Batu said, shaking his head and rolling his eyes. “As long as you’re going to be careful.”
“I don’t see what other choice I have,” Karliss said.
“You could wait until we get back to the clan. See what the council says.”
“No. If it goes wrong then, I’ll only endanger everybody.”
“And this way you’ll only kill us? Is that what you’re saying?” Batu wanted to know.
“If I go far enough away, I’m sure you’ll be safe.”
“How do you like that?” Hulagu asked Batu. “We’re supposed to be his best friends, but he has no problem killing us off. We’re only followers, after all.”
“I didn’t say that,” Karliss protested.
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Hulagu smiled. “I know. I’m only yanking on your harness. I agree with you.”
“You do?” Batu asked. “But what if he’s injured? We don’t have a healer here.”
“I think I’m going to be okay,” Karliss said. “When I used the word wrong before I got hit by lightning, but it didn’t hurt me. Much.”
“You got hit by lightning?” Batu asked. “And you just walked away?” Karliss nodded. “Is there anything you can’t do?”
“I can’t sing.”
“True,” Hulagu said. “So when do you want to do this?”
“Now.”
“What’s your rush? Why does it have to be today?”
“Because I don’t know how much time we have. I don’t know when Kasai is going to strike next.”
“I still think this is a bad idea,” Batu grumbled. “I know no one cares what I have to say, but there it is.”
Karliss took the parchment from his saddlebag, got down off his horse, and handed the reins to Hulagu. “I’ll wait until you’re on the other side of that hill,” he said, pointing to a hill in the distance.
Batu was still complaining as they rode off. Karliss looked at the words that he got from the tablet with the mountain drawn on it. Would they work on Kasai? But what did they do?
He took a deep breath and said the first word on the list.
“Resh!”
Immediately he felt a sharp, tearing pain inside his chest. The hillside next to him began to shake. Small stones dislodged and ran down its sides. A crack appeared in the side. In Karliss’ mind he had a sudden image of an ancient creature, long buried and asleep, starting to turn in its sleep.
Hastily he let go of the word’s power. The pain in his chest began to subside. The hillside quit shaking.
He stood there, breathing hard and sweating. He felt shaky, sick to his stomach. He looked at the next word on the list. It was longer than the first one. Did that mean it was more powerful? He didn’t think he could stand up to something even stronger than what he’d just been through.
Reluctantly, he decided not to try the other two words on the list. He had no idea what they were or how to control them, but he knew that the one he’d used felt wrong. He had a feeling that if he’d held onto it much longer it would have torn him in half.
He looked at the words underneath the one he already knew. They must be for controlling aranti. He prepared himself, then said the second word on the list.
“Akuy-ken-shai.”
He felt the sudden surge of power flow through him. At the same moment he sensed a number of aranti in the area, dozens at least, stop what they were doing and turn toward him.
Come! he called.
They began converging on him. In his mind he heard their confused voices and their unhappiness at what was happening. They began fighting against him. Very quickly he realized he wouldn’t be able to control them for very long. It was like trying to hold the reins of a half dozen horses at once. He could only hold them so long as they didn’t fight against him very hard. Once they did, it would be all over.
Just when they were about to break free, Karliss released the power of the word. Freed, the aranti flew away. He started walking to join up with his friends. He was disappointed that he hadn’t been able to use the word of power that might let him control Kasai. But he was excited that the new word he’d used let him control a number of the aranti all at once. Maybe he could find a way to use them to defeat Kasai.
The difficulty would be making them do it, since they were so afraid of Kasai. He’d had trouble controlling them and all he was doing was summoning them. It would be exponentially harder to control them if he was trying to make them do something they didn’t want to do. If he was going to use them against Kasai he was going to have to strengthen his will considerably. Part of the problem, he realized, was that he’d had no clear intent when he used the word. He didn’t really know what he wanted them to do. When he went up against Kasai he needed to be certain ahead of time how he wanted to use the aranti.
“Any luck?” Hulagu said.
“I tried the first word from the tablet with the mountain on it,” he said. “Something definitely happened.” He told them about the hillside shaking and the rocks rolling down. “But I couldn’t hold onto it for very long. It felt like it was tearing me apart.”
“So we came all this way for nothing?” Batu asked.
“I wouldn’t say that,” Karliss said. “I tried the next word after the one I already knew. Twenty or so aranti answered.”
“That sounds good,” Hulagu said. “Being able to control twenty spirits, I’d think you could do a lot with that many.”
“If I can hold onto them long enough and actually control them,” Karliss said. “It’s a lot harder than controlling one. I couldn’t hang onto them for very long.”
“What about the third word on that list?”
“I didn’t try that one yet.”
“Why not?” Batu asked.
“I think I know what it does.” They looked at him questioningly. “I think it allows you to control all the aranti.”
“All the aranti?” Batu breathed. “That’s awesome.”
“It sounds dangerous,” Hulagu said.
“That’s why I didn’t try it,” Karliss said. “I learned from Ihbarha that if a tlacti doesn’t have an iron will and clear intent he will lose his hold on the aranti he is trying to control. When that happens, bad things follow. The aranti don’t much like being controlled. I saw that firsthand during the lightning storm. I could barely manage to control a couple dozen aranti for a few seconds. I can’t imagine what would happen if I tried to control all of them.”
“I hadn’t thought about that,” Batu said. “Maybe you just need to practice more?” he said hopefully.
“I don’t think this is a matter of practice,” Karliss said. “I don’t see how anybody could ever be that strong.”
“But the masters could do it,” Hulagu said. “Otherwise, why have the word in the first place?”
“But they weren’t human,” Karliss pointed out.
“I think it’s more important that you figure out how to use the words on the tablet with the mountain on it,” Hulagu said. “All you need to control is one of the Stone Shapers and that’s Kasai.”
“I don’t know if I’m going to be able to,” Karliss replied. “When I used it, it didn’t just hurt, it felt wrong. It was like poison to me somehow. I still feel sick. I mean, if there’s no other choice, I’ll try it, but I don’t think it’s something I can practice. I think I’d only kill myself. I don’t know if I’ll ever face Kasai anyway. I told you what I saw, that cavern with all the people in it that he was changing. Kasai has thousands and thousands of people in his city. He’ll probably just make an army of those stone soldiers and send them at us in a flood. We barely fought off thirty of his men before. What would we do against a thousand?”
“I wish you wouldn’t say things like that,” Batu said. “It makes it feel like the whole thing is hopeless.”
“Not hopeless,” Hulagu said. “Only mostly hopeless.”
“Sure. I feel better now.”
Chapter Twenty-one
“What’s wrong with the horses?” Batu asked. It was the next morning and the three companions had only started out a few minutes ago. The horses had been skittish since they got up, but now they were getting worse. All three of them had their heads up, ears pointed to the south. As he spoke, Batu’s horse stopped dead in its tracks and jump-stepped back a couple of steps.
“It’s not just the horses,” Hulagu said, pointing. A pack of wolves could be seen on a nearby ridgetop, loping north. A flock of birds flew overhead a moment later, also heading north.
“There’s something coming,” Karliss said. “Hold on. I’ll find out.” He stopped his horse and sat with his eyes closed, listening. Right away he heard the alarm in the voices of the nearby aranti. He would have noticed it earlier except that he had shut them out an
d was wrapped up in thinking about the words of power, puzzling out ways he could use them.
He opened his eyes. “It’s Tharn.”
“Who’s Tharn?” Batu asked, then shook his head. “I’m not going to like the answer, am I? I already know I’m not.”
“Tharn is one of the Guardians.” Briefly, Karliss considered riding one of the aranti and going to take a look, but Tharn was too close. He didn’t want to leave his body vulnerable like that.
“And the Guardians hate people, right?” Batu moaned.
“Right.”
“It’s a terrible name then. That’s all I’m saying.”
“What are we going to do?” Hulagu asked. He’d drawn the heavy tulwar.
“You’re not going to do anything. Tharn’s here for me,” Karliss said.
“We didn’t come this far to do nothing,” Hulagu said.
“I have an idea,” Batu said.
“There’s nothing you can do against one of the Guardians except get yourself killed,” Karliss said. “You two stay back, out of the way.”
“We helped you before.”
“That wasn’t a Guardian.”
“I said I have an idea!” Batu said loudly. “Isn’t anyone listening?” The other two looked at him. “What about running away? You know, like everything else is doing?”
“We won’t get far,” Hulagu said. “Not with the horses already worn down like they are.”
“We could at least try,” Batu said, but the other two ignored him.
Then, in the distance, on top of a small hill a hundred yards away, Tharn appeared. Tharn was thick and blocky and looked like a jumble of reddish granite brought to life. Its legs were squat, its arms long. The hands at the ends of those arms were like small boulders. It ran on all fours, but when it saw them it stopped and stood upright.
“It’s huge,” Batu whispered. The horses were becoming frantic, fighting to get away, whinnying in fear.
Tharn was twice the height of a man and as wide as a barn door. Its head was the size of a boulder, craggy and irregular. A deep gash ran diagonally across its face, passing through one eye. From the depths of the gash came a flickering red glow. Tharn had another deep gouge in its shoulder that also flickered. The Guardian raised one hand and pointed a thick, stubby finger at Karliss.
Sea Born (Chaos and Retribution Book 3) Page 25