Darkness at Sethanon

by Raymond E. Feist

  Kulgan took out his pipe and said, ‘We stand properly corrected.’ He and Hochopepa exchanged glances. Both knew Katala’s brusque manner was born from frustration over a husband absent a year.

  Hochopepa said, ‘Indeed.’ He also unlimbered a pipe, a habit acquired in his year of working beside Kulgan. As Meecham had once observed, the two magicians were two peas in a pod.

  Katala said, ‘And if you intend to light those foul-smelling things, take them and yourselves out of here. This is Gamina’s bedchamber, and I’ll not have her room reeking of smoke.’

  Kulgan was on the verge of lighting his and halted. ‘Very well. How is the child?’

  Gamina had ceased her crying and spoke softly. ‘I’m all right.’ Since she had learned to speak, her voice had never been raised above a soft, childish whisper, save for her scream of a few moments before. ‘I … had a bad dream.’

  ‘What sort of dream?’ asked Katala.

  Gamina’s eyes began to brim with tears. ‘I heard Papa calling me.’

  Kulgan and Hochopepa both looked down at the girl intently. ‘What did he say, child?’ asked Kulgan softly so as not to frighten the girl.

  Katala went ashen, but showed no other signs of fear. She was born of a line of warriors and she could face anything, anything save this not knowing how her husband fared. Gently she said, ‘What did he say, Gamina?’

  ‘He was –’ As she did when under stress, she changed to mind-speech. He was in a strange place, far away. He was with somebody? somebodies? else. He said, he said –

  ‘What, child?’ said Hochopepa.

  He said we must wait for a message, then something – changed. He was – gone? in an empty? place. I became frightened. I felt so alone.

  Katala held the girl closely. She controlled her voice, but she felt fear as she said, ‘You’re not alone, Gamina.’ But inwardly Katala echoed the girl’s thoughts. Even when Pug had been taken from her by the Assembly to become a Great One, she had not felt this alone.

  Pug closed his eyes in fatigue. He let his head fall forward until it rested upon Tomas’s shoulder. Tomas looked back. ‘Did you get through?’

  With a heavy sigh, Pug said, ‘Yes, but – it was more difficult than I had thought, and I frightened the child.’

  ‘Still, you got through. Can you do it again?’

  ‘I think so. The girl’s mind is unique and should be easier to reach next time. I know more about how this process works. Before I only had the theory. Now I’ve done it.’

  ‘Good. We may need that skill.’

  They were speeding through the greyness they had come to call ‘rift-space’, that place between the very strands of time and the physical universe. Tomas had instructed Ryath to go there the moment Pug had signalled the end of his contact with those at Stardock. Now the dragon sent a mind message. Where dost thou wish, Valheru?

  Tomas spoke aloud. ‘To the City Forever.’

  Ryath seemed to shudder as she took control of that nothingness around her and bent it to her needs in travel. The featureless grey about them pulsed, and somehow they changed directions within this boundless dimension, this no place. Then the fabric of grey about them rippled once more and they were somewhere else.

  An odd spot appeared before them in the grey, the first hint of any reality within rift-space. It grew as rapidly as if Ryath were speeding through some physical plane, then they were above it. It was a city, a place of terrible and alien beauty. It possessed towers of twisted symmetry, minarets impossibly slender, oddly designed buildings that sprawled below the vaulting arches between the towers. Fountains of complex fashion spewed forth drops of liquid silver that turned to crystals, filling the air with tinkling music as they shattered upon the tiles of the fountain, becoming liquid again and running into drains.

  The dragon banked and sped downward, flying above the centre of a magnificent boulevard, nearly a hundred yards wide. The entire street was tiled, and the tiles glowed with soft hues, each subtly different from the next, so that over a distance it appeared a gradually changing rainbow. And as the dragon’s shadow passed over, the tiles blinked and glowed, then shifted colour, and music filled the air, a theme of majestic beauty, bringing a stab of longing for green fields beside sparkling brooks while soft pastel sunsets coloured magnificent mountains. The images were nearly overwhelming and Pug shook his head to clear it, putting aside a soft sadness that such a wonderful place could never be found. They flew under heroic arches, a thousand feet above their heads, and tiny flower petals of sparkling white and gold, glowing rose and vermilion, pastels green and blue fell about them, a softly caressing rain scented of wild flowers, as they made for the heart of the city.

  ‘Who built this wonder?’ asked Pug.

  ‘No one knows,’ said Tomas, ‘Some unknown race. Perhaps the dead gods.’ Pug studied the city as they flew over it. ‘Or perhaps no one built it.’

  ‘How could that be?’ asked Pug.

  ‘In an infinite universe, all things are not only possible but, no matter how improbable, certain to exist somewhere at some time. It may be this city sprang into existence at the very moment of creation. The Valheru first found it ages ago, exactly as you see it. It is one of the greatest mysteries of the many universes the Valheru have travelled. No one lived here, or we Valheru never found them. Some have come here to abide awhile, but none stay long. This place is never changing, for it stands where there is no true time. It is said the City Forever may be the only truly immortal thing in the universes.’ With a sad and rueful note he said, ‘A few of the Valheru attempted to destroy it, out of pique. It also may be the only thing impervious to their rage.’

  Then a flicker of motion arrested Pug’s attention, and suddenly a swarm of creatures leaped from atop a distant building, took wing, and banked in their direction. He pointed toward them and Tomas said, ‘It seems we are expected.’

  The creatures came speeding at them, larger red versions of the elemental beings that Pug had destroyed on the shores of the Great Star Lake the year before. They were man-shaped, and their large crimson bat wings beat the wind as they sped toward the two dragon riders. Calmly Pug said, ‘Should we land?’

  ‘This is but the first test. It will amount to little.’

  Ryath screamed a battle clarion and the demon host recoiled, then dived at them. On the first pass, Tomas’s golden blade arced outward and two creatures fell in screaming agony to the stones below as his sword severed batlike wings. Pug cast blue energies which danced from creature to creature, causing them to contort in pain as they fell, unable to fly. As each struck the ground, it vanished in green flame and silver sparks. Ryath unleashed a blast of fire, and all those within the blast were withered to ash. In moments the creatures were gone.

  Now the dragon turned and flew toward a sinister building of black stone, squatting like some brooding malignancy in the midst of beauty. Tomas said, ‘Someone makes it painfully obvious where we must hie to. It will clearly be a trap.’

  Pug said, ‘Will we need to protect Ryath?’

  The dragon snorted, but Tomas said, ‘Only against the most powerful magic and should that come to pass, we shall be dead and she may flee back to the real universe. Do you hear?’

  I hear and understand, answered the dragon.

  They swooped down over a brick courtyard and the dragon circled. Tomas used his power to lift himself and Pug from Ryath’s back and lower them to the stones. ‘Return to the fountains and rest. The water is sweet and the surroundings soothing. Should anything go amiss, depart as you will. If we need you, here or upon Midkemia, you’ll hear my call.’

  I will answer, Tomas.

  The dragon departed and Tomas turned to Pug. ‘Come, we should find an interesting reception ahead.’

  Pug looked at his boyhood friend. ‘Even as a child, your view of the interesting was somewhat broader than mine. Still, there is no choice. Will we find Macros within?’

  ‘Probably not, for this is where we have been brought. I
doubt the Enemy would make it easy for us.’

  They entered the only door to the vast black building, and the moment they were both beyond the portal, a vast stone door descended, blocking their retreat. Tomas looked back with amusement. ‘So much for an easy retreat.’

  Pug measured the stone. ‘I can deal with this if needs be, but it will take time.’

  Tomas nodded. ‘I thought as much. Let us go on.’

  They moved down a long corridor, and Pug created a light, which glowed brightly in a circle about them. The walls were without features, smooth and unmarked, leading only in one direction. The floor seemed fashioned of the same material.

  The end of the corridor produced a single door without markings or means to open. Pug studied it and invoked a spell. With a grinding note of protest the door rose upward, permitting them to pass. They entered a vast hall, with doors in a circle. As they entered, those doors flew open and a horde of creatures came tumbling out, snarling and screeching. Apes with the heads of eagles, giant cats with turtle shells, serpents with arms and legs, men with extra arms – an army of horrors came pouring forth. Tomas drew his sword, raised his shield, and shouted, ‘Make ready, Pug.’

  Pug incanted and a ring of crimson flames exploded upward about them, engulfing the first rank of creatures, who exploded in searing hot silver flashes. Many of the creatures held back, but those that could leap or fly cleared the top of the flames, to meet destruction from Tomas’s golden sword. As he struck them, they vanished in a shower of glowing silver sparkles, accompanied by a stench of rotting decay. The press of creatures continued, with more and more coming from the doors. As they pressed forward, those before them were pushed into Pug’s mystic flames and exploded in brilliance for an instant before vanishing. Pug said, ‘There seems no end of them.’

  Tomas nodded as he cut down a giant rat with eagle’s wings. ‘Can you close the portals?’

  Pug worked magic, and a loud wail of grinding metal and stone filled the chamber as the doors to the hall were forced closed. Creatures seeking to push through were crushed between door and wall, dying with loud piteous cries, shrieks, and hootings. Tomas dispatched all the monsters that had cleared the flames, and for a moment he and Pug stood alone within the circle of fire.

  Tomas panted slightly. ‘This is irritating.’

  Pug said, ‘I can finish this.’ The burning circle began to expand outward, and each creature it touched died. Soon it pressed to the very walls of the hall, and as the last creature died in an explosion and shriek, the flames winked out of existence. Pug looked about. ‘Each door holds dozens of those beasts behind. Which way do you think?’

  Tomas said, ‘I think down.’

  Pug reached out and Tomas slung his shield over his back. He took Pug’s hand while still gripping his sword. Another incantation was mouthed, and Tomas saw his friend becoming transparent. He looked down and saw he could view the floor through his own body. Pug spoke and sounded distant. ‘Do not release my hand until I say, or it will be difficult to get you back.’

  Then Tomas saw the floor rise, or rather they were sinking. Darkness engulfed them as they passed down into the rock. After a long time it was light again as they entered another chamber. Something sped through the air, and Tomas felt pain erupt in his side. He looked down and saw a warrior standing below, a thing of powerful shoulders with a boar’s head, wearing gaudy blue plate armour on back and chest. The creature bellowed, spittle dripping from long tusks, as he swung a wicked looking double-bladed axe at Tomas, who barely managed to turn it with his own blade. Pug shouted, ‘Let go!’

  Tomas released Pug’s hand and instantly was solid again. He fell to the floor, landing lightly before the man-boar as the creature brought his axe crashing down. Tomas parried again, and retreated, seeking to free his shield. Pug landed upon his feet and began incanting a spell. The boar thing moved rapidly for something so large, and Tomas could only just defend. Then the Valheru countered a blow with a parry and a thrust and the thing was wounded. It backed away, bellowing in anger.

  Pug sent forth a slowly expanding rope of pulsing smoke, which moved like a snake. It travelled only a few feet in the first several seconds, but began picking up speed. Then, like a striking cobra, the smoke lashed out and hit the boar thing in the legs. Instantly the smoke became solid, encasing the creature in boots as heavy as rock. The thing bellowed in rage as it tried to move. With no ability to retreat, the man-boar was quickly dispatched by Tomas. Tomas cleaned off his blade. ‘Thank you for the help. It was annoying me.’

  Pug smiled, seeing that his boyhood friend still hadn’t changed in some ways. He knew Tomas would have dispatched the creature eventually, but there was no point in wasting time.

  Tomas winced as he examined his side. ‘That axe had some unexpected mystic power to strike while we were insubstantial.’

  ‘Rare, but not unheard of,’ agreed Pug. Tomas closed his eyes and Pug saw the wound begin to heal. First blood ceased flowing and then the skin gathered itself together. A puckered red scar showed. That began to fade, until unbroken skin was shown. Soon even the golden chain and white tabard were mended. Pug was impressed.

  He glanced about, feeling discomforted. ‘This seems too easy. For all the fury and noise, these traps are pitiful.’

  Tomas patted his side. ‘Not all that pitiful, but in general, I agree. I think we are supposed to become overbold and fall prey to incaution.’

  ‘Then let us be wary.’

  ‘Now, where next?’

  Pug looked about. The chamber was carved from stone, without any apparent purpose except to provide a meeting place for several tunnels. Where they led was unknown. Pug sat upon a large rock. ‘I will send out my sight.’ He closed his eyes and another of the strange whitish spheres appeared above his head, spinning rapidly. Then suddenly it was off down one of the tunnels. In a few moments it was back, then down another. After almost an hour Pug recalled the device, and with a wave of his hand it vanished. He opened his eyes. ‘The tunnels all lead back upon themselves and empty out here.’

  ‘This is an isolated place?’

  Pug got to his feet. ‘A labyrinth. A trap for us, no more. Again we must go down.’

  They gripped hands and once more Pug allowed them to pass through the solid rock. For what seemed a very long time they moved downward in darkness. Then they were floating just below the roof of a vast cavern. Below and some distance away, a huge lake was surrounded on all sides by a ring of fire, which lit the cavern in a red-orange glow. Beyond the fire, a boat rocked at the edge of the shore, a clear invitation. In the centre of the lake they could see an island, upon the shores of which a host of human-shaped beings waited, all in battle dress. They surrounded a single tower, with but one door on the ground floor and a single window at the top.

  Pug lowered them to the ground and made them solid again. Tomas looked at the burning circle and said, ‘I expect we’re supposed to battle through the fire, take the boat, and evade whatever lurks below the water, then defeat all those warriors just to reach the tower.’

  ‘That looks like what we’re supposed to do,’ said Pug, sounding tired. He walked to the edge of the fire, and said, ‘But I think not.’ Pug waved his hand in a circular motion, then repeated the gesture a second time. The air began to stir in the cavern, following the circle described by Pug’s hand, moving along the curve of the vast stone dome above their heads. At first it was a simple gust, a breeze with some life, then quickly a zephyr. Again Pug motioned. Rapidly the wind picked up tempo, and the flames began to dance, illuminating the cavern in mad lights and flickering shadows. Another gesture from Pug and the wind blew faster and harsher until the fire was being blown backward. Tomas watched, able to stand against the pressure of the air without difficulty. The blaze began to sputter and lapse, as if it could not keep burning before the press of wind. Pug made a larger, broader circular motion with his arm, almost spinning himself about with the furious gesture. The water foamed as whitecaps appeare
d upon the lake. Wind-whipped water blew high into the air as spindrift leaped in capering dance and the water ran up the shores of the island. Swelling waves rolled, and soon the boat was overturned and sank below the surface, the fire hissing into nothing as the surf swept over the banks. Pug shouted a word, and a clear white light illuminated the cavern in place of the red fire glow. Now Pug spun his arm about like a child playing a game, imitating a gale-driven windmill. Within minutes the warriors upon the island were staggering back under the force of the wind, unable to keep their footing. One’s boot touched the water and something green and leathery rose up and seized the warrior’s leg. The screaming fighter was dragged below the water. Again and again this scene was repeated as more and more of the warriors were forced into the water, to be taken by the denizens of the lake. Then, as the windstorm reached a crescendo of fury, shrieking in their ears, Pug and Tomas saw the last figure upon the island stagger backward into the water, to be seized by whatever lay below the frothy surface of the lake. With a clap of his hands, Pug halted the wind and said, ‘Come.’

  Tomas used his ability to fly them over the water’s surface to the door of the tower. They pushed it open and entered.

  Pug and Tomas spent a full five minutes discussing what they were likely to discover at the top of the tower. The stairway leading upward was narrow enough so that it could be climbed only single file as it wound along the inside wall of the tower. At last Pug said, ‘Well, we are as ready as we are ever likely to be. There’s nothing to do but go up.’ He followed his friend as the white-and-gold clad warrior mounted the steps. Near the top, Pug glanced down and discovered it a fair fall to the stones below as Tomas reached the trapdoor at the top.

  Tomas pushed open the door and vanished upward through the opening. Pug followed. There was a single room atop the tower, a simple setting of a bed, a chair, and a window. Sitting on the chair was a man, wearing a brown robe cinched at the waist by a whipcord belt. He sat reading a book, which he closed as Pug joined Tomas. Slowly he smiled.