She Who Has No Name tlt-2

by Michael Foster

  ‘Then at least open the door for a moment. I can’t stand it in here.’

  Samuel pulled back the heavy bolt that had been pushed into place, and it groaned as he eased it out of its rusty slot.

  ‘Thank goodness!’ Eric said and stepped out, stretching his arms wide as if to relieve his cramped muscles. ‘I thought I was going to be left in there forever.’

  ‘What of your wounds?’

  ‘Much better. The healers have been coming every day. They cannot use their spells down here, so they cover me in their vile ointments and make me drink some wretched concoctions. I must admitthough,they do seem to work quite well.’

  Samuel peered into Eric’s cell. There was a small bed, a bucket of clean water and a bucket for waste. It looked as though Eric had spent a lot of time on his cot, for it was littered with papers and notes.

  ‘At least you’ve kept yourself occupied.’

  ‘If it can be called that. I’ll go mad if I’m in here much longer. I need to get out and feel some magic! How much longer will you be?’

  ‘I don’t know. Not long,I hope. A few more days. This passage marks the end of the southern portion of the catacombs. I only have the eastern section remaining and I am hoping to find Balten somewhere there.’

  ‘Well,I hope so. What news from above?’

  ‘Don’t ask. Everything is going awfully, but if I can just get my ring,we can finally get out of here. I know where the Empress is and I’m fairly sure I can lure the Paatin Queen away from her wizards and overpower her.’

  Eric nodded. ‘Then don’t forget me. You may need all the help you can get.’

  ‘I’m certain of it.’

  ‘Well. What are you waiting for? Go,’ Eric said, strutting back into his cell. ‘Lock me in and go find Balten. The sooner you find him, the sooner you can get me out of here. Just don’t get caught! You’d better get going. The guards check on me quite often and they’re due back soon.’

  ‘All right then. I will see you soon,’ and with that he pushed the door shut and locked it tight.

  ‘Samuel!’ Eric called from within.

  ‘What is it?’

  ‘I heard something shuffling around out there before. There are strange sounds from the tunnels, and I also heard screaming. Have you seen anything strange?’

  Samuel immediately thought of the rumoured ghoul of the catacombs, but decided against frightening his friend. ‘I’m sure it is only the guards. But keep your lamp welllit, just in case.’

  He could already sense some guards approaching and just managed to dart aside as they came sauntering down the passage. He waited for them to pass and crept back out, guided by his memory and sense ofsight.

  He made his way along the deep passages where few ever ventured and was about toheadback towards the main tunnels, when he heard something ahead. He stopped, silent, and felt a wizard approaching, so he slipped into a narrow crevice in the wall of the tunnel, opposite a set of bolted doors. Someone had been moving around in one of the cells he had just passed and so he had to be careful, moving with complete silence to keep his presence unknown.

  The crevice was deep enough so that he could fit his whole body in and he wedged himself around a tight corner at the end so as not to be seen. Staying quiet, he poked his head out just a touch, enoughto see the telltale energies of the wizard approach, dangling like blue-green sparks in the air. Along with the normal points of energy, purple magic seethed and its stench burned into his nostrils. No natural light came to shine on the walls, so whoeverwas coming his waywas walking in perfect darkness. Either they knew these tunnels well, or they had some other means to find their way. He knew some of the Paatin had this traitbut,as the wizard approached, the vile energy grew denser until Samuel knew for sure who was coming.

  ‘Om-rah!’ he whispered softly.

  Hulking footsteps clattered along the passageway as the arch-wizard neared and Samuel could hear his loud and forceful breathing. It sounded like a horse labouring for breath after a hard ride. A strange,guttural clacking followed and Samuel had no idea how the man could make such sounds.

  He waited, perfectly still, and he could feel the enormous wizard’s steps reverberatingon the stone floor and hear his great bulk scuffing up against the narrow tunnel walls. The wizard had just reached Samuel’s hiding spotwhen, much to Samuel’s alarm,hestopped. Samuel could hear him standing there, still breathing heavily and shuffling about. There were some sniffing sounds, and he could hear the fiend moving around in front of the crevice.

  Something sharp was pushed towards him and Samuel could hear it scratching around just on the other side of the protruding stones. He was safe behind his corner,if only the wizard could not reach too far.

  He looked down, feeling a movement of air against his ankles, and noticed a hole in the wall by his feet. If it was deep enough he may just be able to push part of himself inside it. Still, he had no room to move and if Om-rah was looking intothecrevice, he would be seen as he manoeuvred himself into it.

  A voice sounded from inside the cell and the scratching sound withdrew fromthecrevice. Om-rah turned about with a huff of air. It was a Paatin within the cell and he called out from his prison in a querying tone.

  Samuel heard the bolt of the cell door clatter as Om-rah fumbled with it in the darkness. The prisoner continued to call out, more urgently, but the wizard did not reply. The bolt squeaked out of place and Samuel’s blood froze as he heard the great bulk of Om-rah hurry into the cell. The prisoner screamed, but his efforts were quickly cut short. Something wet slapped onto the floor and it was followed by a blood-curdling,crunching sound. Om-rah continued shifting about, slurping and munching frenetically, but the prisoner was ominously quiet.

  Very slowly and very carefully,Samuel edged onto all fours. Painfully aware of every scuff and sound, he eased backwards on his knees and elbows into the hole as the arch-wizard continued his meal. He had seen something of the wizard before and he knew Om-rah was not entirely human, but this showed how much of a monster he had really become.

  Thankfully, Samuel found that his hole actually continued deep behind him, forming a narrow tube that opened wide at the other end. Following it feet first, he found himself emerging from the hole, high up on a ledge that looked down on another twisting length of dark passage. Thanking his luck, he dropped down, leaving the horrendous sounds of Om-rah behind, and padded away to find his bearings. At least now he knew what had been killing people in the tunnels and would not have to waste any more time with thoughts of ghost stories.

  It was another week later still when Samuel felt the Queen’s magic at work. He went investigating, as the bursts were becoming more powerful and frequent. The crashing sound of walls tumbling sounded after each flash of power and he was sure she was sending spells down upon her own palace.

  Utik’cah was waiting outside her room, standing nervously,and Samuel hurried up to the anxious desert-man as carefully as he could. Already, he could hear Alahativa shouting and ranting inside.

  ‘What is she doing?’ Samuel whispered.

  ‘She is with your Emperor again,’ Utik’cah explained. ‘My Queen commanded that I bring him and she has been questioning him at length. So far, she has not killed him, but she has slain most others in the room. I don’t know what has affected her. She has killed most of her favourite servants. She is becoming more and more distressed with eachpassingday. I have the healers making potions to calm her, but today she will not take them.’

  ‘Let me see,’ Samuel suggested, but Utik’cah caught him by the shirt.

  ‘You risk death,’ he said grimly, but Samuel pulled away and strode inside.

  More servants lay dead than still remained, and those still living were all splayed on their knees with their foreheads to the floor, praying or shivering or blubbering with fear. The Emperor was standing defiantly before the Queen and she was shouting at him furiously. Magic ran from Alahativa’s fingers and dripped sizzling to the floor.

  ‘Samuel!’
she roared oncatchingsight of him. ‘How dare you come before me unsummoned!’

  The Emperor said something to placate her and Samuel managed to walk all the way tohisside without being struckdown by her spells.

  ‘The Queen and I have been having an insightful conversation,’ Edmond said.

  Alahativa looked greatly disturbed and she shook Samuel by the shoulders, staring at him as if crazed. ‘I have solved my dreams, Samuel! I know what they mean and so does he!’ she said, gesturing to the embodied Emperor.

  ‘Actually, I don’t understand what she is talking about, but she refuses to let me leave.’

  ‘Lies!’ the Queen hissed. ‘He ever lies! He knows my dreams! He is in them. All of them! He knows who he is!’

  ‘Calm now, Your Majesty,’ Samuel pleaded. ‘Please help me to understand what is happening.’

  ‘Each day, my memories return. I should have known when I first learned that the Emperor had survived-not only survived, but in a body not of his own. He, too, knows what it is like to be cast into the body of another. In another time,inanother life, we were lovers, but he refuses to admit the truth!’

  ‘I don’t deny it,’ Edmond said. ‘I do not deny that past lives are possible, especially given my present state, but I have no recollection of any life with you and I simply don’t remember any of these things you are raving on about.’

  ‘Why are you doing this to me, Thann? Is it because of her? Can you possibly love yourEmpress more than me? Or is it the boy? That’s it, isn’t it? I could never bear you a son and she has given you what you always wanted.’ For the first time, the Emperor looked rattled by what she was saying. ‘Then damn you, and damn them, too! Om-rah!’ she wailed and a heartbeat later the hulking wizard had alighted on the balcony outside. If it had not been so sturdy, it would have been torn asunder, for the room shook as he landed.

  It was amazing that Samuel had not felt the man’s presence until he had already alighted-but perhaps he had been too distracted by the Queen’s spells.

  ‘Go swiftly now to Yi’sit. Kill the Turian woman and her boy. Make sure this night is their last.’ No sooner had she spoken than the arch-wizard had vanished into the air with a snap of black cloth and a clatter of his wings. Alahativa turned about, her eyes wild with emotion. ‘You see? Perhaps when they are dead you will have reason to remember me?’

  ‘Don’t kill them! I beg you!’ the Emperor said and Samuel could see the genuine desperation in his eyes. He dropped to his knees. ‘Don’t do it! I implore you!’

  ‘It is done. Om-rah has gone to see to it and I could not recall him even if I wanted to. Get out of here, both of you!’ And she turned from them and returned outside onto her balcony, laughing hysterically as she overlooked her city.

  The Emperor immediately grabbed Samuel by the arms and pulled him towards the exit from her room. ‘Quickly!’ he said.

  ‘What is wrong with her?’ Samuel asked as they rushed past the confused form of Utik’cah.

  ‘I have no time to explain, butmy wife and sonmust be saved. Please, do whatever you can. You must reach them first!’

  ‘I cannot,’ Samuel protested. ‘That winged beast will get there in a fraction of the time I could. Without my ring I am powerless.’

  ‘Then get your blasted ring!’ the Emperor roared out.

  Samuel stood firm and looked the man level in the eye. ‘I have no way to get it or evenofknowing where it is unless I can find Balten. Of course I would gladly save the Empress, but there is nothing I can do! I can scour the last sections of the dungeons, but unless something miraculous happens it will just take too much time.’

  ‘Perhaps I can assist,’ came a third voice and both of them turned towards a hooded figure, shrouded in shadow and lurking outsidethe window.

  ‘Who is that?’ Samuel said, peering into the darkness,and the figure climbed in, into the light and threw back his hood. At first,Samuel thought it was one of the Paatin wizards for he was dark-skinned and surrounded with a veil of spells and magic of illusion. ‘Lomar. I should have known.’

  ‘I have been waiting nearby, but the Queen’s tantrum caught my attention and her wizards’ spells are in turmoil. The palace is in chaos and everyone is fleeing to be away from her, or else I would not have been able to enter at all. I have learnt where Balten is being kept. At least, I have obtained a set of directions. If you know the tunnels well, I can describe the way.’

  ‘Then let’s go,’ Samuel said. ‘Om-rah has the headstart.’

  ‘From what I understand, it is not far if you know the way, which fortunately, now I do. That Paatin beast can fly, but not quickly. He is fat and encumbered by his armour. If we move fast, we can still save her.’

  The Emperor’s eyes lit up. ‘Then quickly-go! Go, Samuel, and I will be forever in your debt.’

  Samuel turned to Lomar and nodded,and the two of them raced away, leaving the Emperor behind.

  These floors were populated only by the occasional quivering servants, but they met several wizards and scores of armed Paatin soldiers as they rushed towards the catacombs. Lomar felled most of them without hesitation, his magic strikingout furiously.

  Before the gaping main entrance, Lomar paused. ‘As soon as we break the barrier, they will know we are here,’ he said. ‘However, they will not know if we are breaking in or out, so we should still be able to avoid them for a time. I would guess few would ever have the desire to steal their way into such a place. It will only mean that we must make our escape quickly, before the tunnels are overrun with guards. There is no point in wizards coming in to find us as they would have no power while under the mountain. Unfortunately, we will also be powerless if we are found.’

  ‘Then let us be quick,’ Samuel responded.

  Lomar threw some spells of concealment over the two of them and they ventured in, sneaking behind the dozen guards who stood before the great entrance at the ready. Samuel tiptoed across the threshold first but,as soon as Lomar attempted to follow, a great wailing sound began from high above.

  The guards looked about in confusion as tothecause of the alarm, but no one came bounding out of the tunnel mouth towards them and they could not spy the two magicianspressedagainst the wall.

  As more guards came streaming out of the dungeons to see what had caused the commotion, Samuel and Lomar slipped in behind them and beganto movehurriedly along the main tunnel. They stepped into the first side tunnel they met, just as another group of spear-bearing soldiers came running by.

  Samuel moved confidently in the dark,andLomar trailed as best he could with his fingerstrailing alongthe wall. Occasionally, they caught sight of a guard station, where two or three of the brutish thugs stood waiting in the lamplight, alert for escaping prisoners. They could not move directly through these spaces and,instead,had to rush around to find alternative routes.

  They seemed to walk for a long time, deeper and deeper into the mountain, following Lomar’s directions, but Samuel knew it was the way of the stone to make time seem to pass so slowly.

  ‘Wait!’ Samuel said as they passed a familiar branch in the passage. ‘We need to free Eric.’

  ‘Of course,’ Lomar agreed and they started along the way that Samuel had directed.

  Luckily, they did not need to go far and they soon found the passage that held their friend. Eric stepped joyfully out of his cell, thankful he had finally been set free. They grabbed a lamp that hungnearbyand took it with them to guide their way. Samuel explained everything to Eric as they went, hurrying along as quickly as they dared.

  They had passed many doors and passages of varying types, diving deeper and deeper into the labyrinth, when they arrived at a sloping passage at the core of the mountain. The tunnel was long and straight, so tight in places that they had to squeeze through, and they continued on until it seemed to come to a dead end. Stooping, Lomar prised open a trapdoor on the floor, first unlatching the multiple iron bars that had kept it sealed shut. At once, Samuel felt the spark of magic lingering in
side. An awful stench of rot and filth also issued from the hole and it made the threeof themstep back to get their breaths.

  ‘We will be needing this,’ Lomar said, pulling a length of study rope from beneath his Paatin clothes.

  A narrow shaft led down from the surface and Lomar attached one end of the rope to the trapdoor and dropped the other into the darkness.

  ‘Balten!’ Samuel called into the hole, but no one answered his call.

  ‘We will go down. Guard our escape,’ Lomar instructed Eric.

  ‘How?’ Eric said, looking around himself for some form of weapon, but the others had no answer for him.

  Samuel started first and slid carefully down the rope, using hissightto guide him between the walls. Lomar followed with the lantern held firmly between his teeth. The shaft opened out after a short way and they found themselves descending into a widening pit.

  As they hopped onto the stone floor, the lantern light illuminated the crumpled figure of Balten leaning against the wall as if mummified. He was alive, but barely.

  ‘Balten!’ Samuel hissed, squatting down and holding the man firmly by the shoulders. ‘Wake up! We’re here.’

  They almost thought he was truly dead, when Balten’s eyes flickered open and he looked at Samuel serenely, as if waking from a pleasant dream.

  ‘Samuel?’ the withered magician asked. ‘It’s been quite a while. I was beginning to wonder about you.’ He moved one trembling hand, while the rest of his body remainedmotionless,as if pinned to the stone, and he dug into his shredded rags of clothes and drew out the Argum Stone. ‘I believe you have come for this.’

  Samuel took the ring and tucked it safely away. ‘By the gods! What have they done to you?’ he asked.

  ‘Nothing. Nothing at all,’ Balten responded coughing. It seemed as if his life was slowly coming back to him, pulsing out from his core towards his extremities. ‘They left me here, perhaps hoping I would get bored and perish, but I really found it quite peaceful. Some more water would have been nice, but it turned out the stones were moist enough for my needs. I find it quite ironic that the mountain they sought to finish me with ended up sustaining me. I sometimes felt as if the stone itself had thought me worthy of survival and had granted me the blessing of its juices. It’s strange, what passes through one’s mind in times of such solitude.’