Ghost in the Winds (Ghost Exile #9)

by Jonathan Moeller

  “It is of no consequence,” said Callatas. “Do you think the rebel army is inclined to wait for you to abandon the city? If so, we need to do nothing, and the fools will stand idly by and wait for their own destruction.”

  “I fear not,” said Erghulan. “They, too, knew all about the Apotheosis.”

  “Did they?” said Callatas.

  “They threw it in my face during the parley before the battle,” said Erghulan. “Evidently that damned bitch the Balarigar told them all about it. Plus, Cassander Nilas’s lies have spread far and wide. They have at least some sorcerers among their number, and I presume the spells of the Apotheosis are powerful enough to be detected from a distance.”

  “They are,” admitted Callatas. Erghulan, despite his many failings, was not entirely stupid. “The enemy will realize the danger and attack, hoping to stop the spells before I can complete them.”

  The rebel army is in assault formation, from what our watchers upon the walls report,” said Erghulan. “I think they will risk an attack sometime tomorrow, hoping to rush within the range of the Hellfire catapults and seize a foothold upon the wall.” He grimaced. “If they get inside the walls, we are finished.”

  “Fight them in the streets, then,” said Callatas, annoyed.

  “We do not have enough men for such a battle,” said Erghulan. “The rebels have ten times our number. If we fall back to the Golden Palace to defend it, likely they shall seize control of the Hellfire catapults and bombard the Golden Palace to destroy your spells. Better to lose the palace instead of the entire city.”

  Callatas started to say that he would first burn the city to deny it to the rebels, but he stopped himself. His wraithblood addicts were inside the city’s walls, tens of thousands of them, and most of them would die if Istarinmul was consumed in a storm of Hellfire. It would do him little good to summon tens of thousands of nagataaru and have nowhere to put them.

  No. He had to keep the enemy outside of the wall, and Erghulan had to hold the city until the Apotheosis was finished. That was the only option.

  “A sortie,” said Callatas.

  “A sortie, Grand Master?” said Erghulan.

  “Yes,” said Callatas. “Most of the soldiers who escaped from the battle were horsemen, were they not? The nobles and their retinues.”

  “That is so,” said Erghulan.

  “Gather them together and launch a sortie upon the rebel lines,” said Callatas. “Mask your approach with a volley of Hellfire amphorae. Even if the fire fails to reach any of the enemy soldiers, it will disorient them. Hit them hard, and then return to the city. That will disorganize their assault for a few days, which will give me the time necessary to finish the Apotheosis.”

  Erghulan opened his mouth, closed it again, and then repeated the motion, which reminded Callatas unfavorably of a landed fish. “But…Grand Master. If the sortie fails, the rebels might well gain the gate.”

  “Then make sure it doesn’t fail,” snapped Callatas.

  “We will have to pull men from the walls,” said Erghulan.

  “Then round up some of the watchmen and put them on the walls,” said Callatas. “They have done nothing useful since the Crows’ Tower collapsed.”

  “Perhaps you should have kept Cassander from running amok,” snapped Erghulan. “We would not be facing these difficulties now.”

  A wave of burning fury rolled through Callatas, and he almost killed Erghulan Amirasku. Had the man always been this irritating? Or was Callatas’s rejuvenated body, with the raging emotions of a young man, threatening his control? Whatever the reason, it didn’t matter.

  “Do you not understand?” said Callatas. “You don’t need to win. You don’t even need to hold the city. You just have to delay long enough for me to finish the Apotheosis. Then ultimate victory will be ours, and we will slaughter the rebels to the last man. But only if you keep the rebels out of the city and away from the Golden Palace for at least the next two days. Anything that delays the rebels and slows them down works to our advantage.”

  Erghulan hesitated, and Callatas reached through the shadow of Kotuluk Iblis, looking into the Grand Wazir’s mind. Doubt and fear churned there, and Erghulan was actively considering betrayal, abandoning the city and Callatas to their fates. Yet mixed with the doubt was a tremendous amount of fear. No, Erghulan might think of betrayal, but he would not dare to turn against the Grand Master, not while his greed still made him think that Erghulan could become the immortal lord of the Istarish.

  “Very well,” said Erghulan at last. “I will follow your counsel. I just hope this Apotheosis is as potent as you claim.”

  “It shall be,” said Callatas. “It shall be far more potent than you could dream, Erghulan Amirasku. Go forth, and claim your share in the victory of the Apotheosis.”

  Erghulan nodded once and strode to rejoin his men.

  “Erghulan!” wailed the Padishah. “Kill me. By the Living Flame, kill me before it is too late!”

  Erghulan glanced at Nahas Tarshahzon once, shook his head, and then climbed into his saddle. His men remounted their horses, and the Grand Wazir rode away, vanishing through the archway that led back to the rest of the Golden Palace.

  “Fool,” said Callatas to no one in particular. “The truth is before his eyes, but he cannot see it. The wretched fool.” He looked to the side to make a barbed remark to Kalgri but blinked in surprise.

  Kalgri had vanished.

  ###

  Kalgri listened to the argument between the Grand Master and the Grand Wazir. Not that she cared what they were talking about. Erghulan Amirasku was a useless, blustering fool, and if Callatas told her to kill him, she would obey him without her usual games. She would feast on the Grand Wazir’s death…and the befuddled expression on his stupid face would be a delightful bonus.

  Still, she did not care what happened to Erghulan Amirasku, not really.

  Nor did she care about Callatas and his Apotheosis.

  She cared about killing the world. She cared about that very much, and the Voice’s hissing whispers told her that the Apotheosis was the best path to killing the world, which was why she had not betrayed Callatas and Caina to Kharnaces, why she had gone along with them as they fought against the Great Necromancer.

  It was why she didn’t kill Erghulan out of sheer annoyance at his stupid, ugly face and his pompous voice. Someone had to defend the city so Callatas could finish the Apotheosis, and while Kalgri had killed a lot of people, she couldn’t fight an entire army by herself.

  Something else gnawed at her.

  She should have killed Caina on Pyramid Isle.

  At the time, escaping had seemed like the best course of action. Callatas had the Seal and the Staff and the Star, everything he needed to cast the Apotheosis. Once Kalgri and Callatas stepped through the gate and into the netherworld, there was no way that Caina and Annarah and Morgant could follow them. Furthermore, Caina and her allies had been trapped on Pyramid Isle, surrounded by the lesser nagataaru that Kharnaces and the Harbinger had summoned.

  Also, Caina had found that damned valikon from somewhere. It wasn’t the one she had used against Kalgri at Silent Ash Temple, so she must have found it within the Tomb. Kalgri thought it stupid of Kharnaces to have kept a valikon, and the Voice hissed its full agreement. That was why Kalgri herself did not keep trophies, why she discarded anything that was not of use.

  Kharnaces should have followed her example.

  And in that final confrontation, Kalgri had been on the verge of collapse. Caina had that damned valikon, and that weapon could have killed both Kalgri and Callatas. At her full strength, Kalgri would not have feared Caina’s mediocre skill with a sword, but Kalgri had not been anywhere near her full strength, and fighting Caina then might have led to her death.

  No, in hindsight, retreating had been the correct decision. Callatas had the Staff and the Seal, and Caina and her friends had been trapped with no hope of escape. Kalgri’s mind and logic told her that she had made the
correct choice.

  And yet…

  She had the nagging feeling that she had made a mistake, that she should have made sure that Caina was dead, and Kalgri had not survived for so long by ignoring her instincts.

  Kalgri was utterly certain that Caina could not escape Pyramid Isle.

  She had also been certain that Caina would die at Rumarah, that Caina had been mortally wounded at the Corsair’s Rest…and that had turned out quite differently than Kalgri had expected. She had maneuvered Caina and Cassander into destroying one another…but Caina had walked away from that confrontation and Cassander Nilas had not.

  Kalgri had been wrong all those times.

  Was she wrong now?

  She couldn’t see how. Even if Caina had escaped and returned to her ship and set sail at once, she was still a minimum of five days from Istarinmul. The Apotheosis would be finished by then.

  And yet…

  That gnawing doubt would not leave Kalgri, no matter how much logic she applied to it.

  She listened with half an ear as Erghulan tried to justify his failures to Callatas. Perhaps Callatas would lose his temper and order Kalgri to kill the Grand Wazir…

  The presence thundered inside her skull.

  HUNTRESS.

  The furious rage and hunger of Kotuluk Iblis filled her head. The Voice went into a frenzy, cowering before the shadow of the sovereign of the nagataaru. A shiver of fear went through Kalgri as the immense presence filled her mind, but she steeled herself. She had known agony beyond imagination, and speaking with the lord of the nagataaru did not daunt her.

  YES. YOU ARE LIKE US. YOU HAVE MADE YOURSELF INTO OUR IMAGE.

  “What do you want?” said Kalgri in the vaults of her mind, keeping her half-closed eyes on Callatas and Erghulan. “You have won. The Apotheosis is at hand, and we will kill the world.”

  VICTORY IS NOT YET AT HAND.

  “No,” said Kalgri. “It isn’t.”

  MY ENEMIES MOVE AGAINST US.

  “Your enemies?” said Kalgri. “You mean Caina?”

  THE COURT OF THE AZURE SOVEREIGN.

  Kalgri frowned. Callatas had ranted about them from time to time. “The djinn?”

  THEY MANIPULATE DESTINY AGAINST ME. THE AZURE SOVEREIGN SLEEPS AND CANNOT SUMMON HIS HOSTS AGAINST ME. YET HIS MOST CUNNING VASSAL IS FREE AND HAS BROUGHT FORTH A DEMONSLAYER TO OPPOSE ME.

  “The Balarigar,” said Kalgri with disdain.

  SHE HAS CHEATED DESTINY. MY WILL ORDAINED FOR HER TO DIE AT YOUR HAND, YET THE KNIGHT OF WIND AND AIR THWARTED MY WILL. HE SEEKS TO SAVE THIS MISERABLE LITTLE WORLD.

  “Then you expect that Caina is still alive,” said Kalgri. “You expect that she will try to stop the Apotheosis.”

  YES.

  Kalgri shrugged. “Tell Callatas. He’s the one holding your shadow in that pompous head of his.”

  HIS TASK IS TO OPEN THE WAY FOR ME. YOUR TASK IS TO ENSURE THAT HE LIVES LONG ENOUGH TO DO IT.

  “How?” said Kalgri.

  FIND THE BALARIGAR AND KILL HER.

  “She’s stuck on Pyramid Isle,” said Kalgri. “Unless she suddenly grows wings, she won’t be here.”

  SHE SHALL ATTEMPT TO INTERFERE. THE KNIGHT OF WIND AND AIR HAS ALTERED THE TAPESTRY OF FATE TO ALLOW HER THE FREEDOM TO ACT. SHE WILL BE HERE, AND WHEN SHE COMES TO ISTARINMUL, FIND HER AND KILL HER. FIND HER AND KILL HER, AND YOU SHALL JOIN US AS WE KILL THIS WORLD.

  Kalgri sneered. “Is that a command?”

  THERE IS NO NEED TO COMMAND. YOU ARE LIKE US. YOU HAVE DESTROYED YOURSELF AND REMADE YOURSELF IN OUR IMAGE. YOU SHALL FIND AND KILL THE BALARIGAR BECAUSE IT IS YOUR NATURE TO DO SO.

  The awful presence faded away, leaving the Voice gibbering in fear in Kalgri’s mind.

  She rolled her shoulders, stretching her muscles. The lord of the nagataaru was right about one thing. Kalgri did want to kill Caina. She wanted that very badly…and it seemed that Kalgri’s instincts were correct. Caina would find a way to intervene in the Apotheosis.

  And Kalgri knew just where Caina would go if she returned to Istarinmul.

  She glided from the Court of Justice in silence, climbing up the wall like a spider as Callatas and Erghulan continued their argument. Once over the wall, she hurried over the rooftops of the Golden Palace and into the city proper.

  It was possible, she knew, that Kotuluk Iblis was wrong. There seemed no way for Caina to escape Pyramid Isle, and it was possible that both the sovereign of the nagataaru and Kalgri’s instincts were wrong.

  If not…

  Kalgri smiled as she donned her mask of crimson steel, pulling up a cowl of a normal black cloak over her head since her shadow-cloak would block the Voice’s senses.

  If not, if Caina returned to Istarinmul, then Kalgri would strike from the shadows and kill her.

  How sweet that would be!

  She hastened through the city, flowing from shadow to shadow as she made her way to the Cyrican Quarter. Once a group of thieves threatened Kalgri, but after she had killed four of them, the survivors reconsidered their course and fled. The Voice gorged itself on their deaths, feeding the stolen power into Kalgri to make her faster and stronger.

  No one else challenged her, and at last Kalgri came to the House of Agabyzus.

  The coffee house was silent, the shutters closed and the door locked and barred. Kalgri had spent several months working there, pretending to be a maid as she stalked Caina. The owner of the coffee house, a widow named Damla, was a Ghost, as was her brother, a cunning old spy named Agabyzus. Likely her sons were on their way to becoming Ghosts as well. When Caina returned to Istarinmul, she would go the House of Agabyzus at once.

  Perhaps Kalgri could arrange for Caina to be greeted by the dismembered corpses of her friends.

  She climbed the side of the House of Agabyzus, the Voice gripping the brick, and rolled onto the roof. As she did, she reached out with the senses the Voice granted her, seeking for the presence of living mortals within the House. She sensed only two – Damla’s sons, guarding the House while Damla and her brother did the little errands of the Ghosts.

  Kalgri smiled behind her mask, thinking of Damla’s reaction when she found her dead children.

  Well, Kalgri had threatened Caina with their deaths, and it was time to fulfill that promise. Perhaps Damla would blame Caina for the deaths of her sons, or perhaps Kalgri would kill Damla once she had seen her dead children.

  She was looking forward to killing the world, but this would make for a splendid appetizer.

  Kalgri picked the lock on the roof trapdoor and descended into the House in silence, making her way to the common room. As she did, she heard two low voices.

  “Mother should not have gone with them,” said Bayram.

  “Uncle Agabyzus was with her,” said Bahad. “He knows what he’s doing.”

  “He did get captured by the Teskilati for two years,” said Bayram.

  Kalgri paused at the top of the stairs, drawing a dagger from her belt in silence. She would slit their throats and leave their corpses against the front door. That would be a pleasant surprise for Damla and her brother.

  “There aren’t any Teskilati,” said Bahad. “That crazy Umbarian killed them all. Anyway, Mother will be safe.”

  Kalgri grinned behind her mask. She started to take a step forward, the dagger ready in her hand.

  “True,” said Bayram. “Lord Kylon went with her.”

  Kalgri froze.

  Kylon was in the city?

  “Do you think he is the same man as Kylon Shipbreaker?” said Bahad. “The one who destroyed the Imperial fleet?”

  “Probably,” said Bayram. “Mother seems to think so, anyway.”

  Kalgri considered what to do. She had known Kylon was with the rebel army. Come to think of it, his abilities as a stormdancer would let him get into Istarinmul undetected if he moved with enough speed.

  He would almost certainly have the valikon with him, and Kalgri was not stupid enough to fight him while he carried that damnable
sword. For a moment she considered killing Bayram and Bahad to send a message to Kylon but discarded the idea as idiotic. If she killed the two boys, Kylon would realize that her hand had been behind their deaths, and he would start hunting for her. With his ability to sense the presence of nagataaru, she would have to wear her shadow-cloak to conceal her presence from him, which would inhibit her ability to sense his presence.

  He was dangerous to her. More dangerous than Caina.

  Kalgri eased back up the stairs, returning the dagger to its sheath.

  She would not strike now. If she did, she would reveal her presence before she was ready, and in his rage, Kylon would find her and confront her. Rhataban might have been an idiot, but Kalgri was willing to admit that he had been a capable combatant, and if Kylon had killed him he could just as easily kill Kalgri.

  She would watch, and wait, and when she was ready, she would strike.

  A fresh smile spread on her face.

  Perhaps, this time, she would get to watch Kylon as Caina died in front of him. Or Caina as Kylon died in front of her.

  Either one would please Kalgri.

  Chapter 12: Weapons of Alchemy

  Kylon walked down the street of the metalworkers in the Cyrican Quarter, Agabyzus, Tomazain, and Damla following him. Usually, the Cyrican Quarter was one of the safest quarters in Istarinmul, well-patrolled by the watchmen, but even here Kylon spotted groups of thieves, ready to take advantage of the chaos to enrich themselves. Had Damla been alone, Kylon had no doubt they would have attacked, but one look at Kylon and Tomazain dissuaded them.

  The Saddaic mercenary seemed competent enough. He reminded Kylon a little of Laertes and Arcion of Caer Marist and the other Legionary veterans he had met. It took a hard man to survive a sixteen year term of service in the Emperor’s Legions.

  Of course, Kylon had killed a lot of men like Tomazain in Marsis, a memory that filled him with regret. That war had been a waste, engineered by his sister in pursuit of power that had destroyed her. Kylon did not feel the same regret about the soldiers he had killed in the Grand Wazir’s army.