The tunnel door burst open and a flash of light erupted from the darkness within. Automatic weapons fire? Here?
Jessnee, Ren Fa and R.J. ran out, took a knee and pumped off round after round. The hlisskan fell, and a dozen around it. Thedarra and Callyglip sprinted over to Shoroko, pulled him out from under the massive carcass and dragged him toward the tunnel.
Melissa landed and sprayed the area with the fire of her rage, and the jummaxes stepped back. When their leader recovered from the bullet wounds, it rose and bellowed for an attack.
Mirrorwing took up position to her left. Above they heard the rumble of Claws galloping down the hill. The hlisskan wouldn’t wait. It bounded toward Thedarra and Callyglip and cut them off. The men were out of bullets, so Melissa prepared to face the monster herself. “Fight me! I lead the fight to preserve the Census Stone!”
“Jumaar eats what Jumaar pleases!” shouted the jummax. It batted Callyglip aside, grabbed Shoroko in his claws, and raised him high.
“No! Jumaar does not!” whinnied the voice of one who commands.
Melissa’s heart pounded. Could it be? Was Fear coming to rescue its master?
Terror lit the face of one jummax after the other, and they shoved apart to form a wide aisle. In single file and in all their magnificence, they marched. White, black, bay, paint, mottled or smooth they walked, unhurried, heads high, tails bobbing, stepping in unison. It was most definitely not Fear.
Jumaar dropped his victim and shuffled back. The first dozen unicorns formed a circle about Shoroko, with horns pointed outward in warning.
Jumaar bellowed. “This one threatened me! With one of your horns! I claim him!”
A white unicorn with a garland of flowers about her neck stepped forward. It was their queen. “You live, unharmed. You have no claim.”
Melissa expected an argument, but the jummax bowed and retreated without another word. She remembered her first talk with Shoroko about unicorns. The Lissai were angry about something having to do with these mysterious creatures. She knew the reason now. The animals obeyed the unicorns, and not the Lissai. She calmed her breathing. When she almost killed Shoroko, a unicorn saved them both. They were gentle with Shorassa, creatures of grace and healing. The door behind her was open. Jessnee and the others made it safely. Her wings glowed faintly.
“I once had a name,” said the queen of the unicorns. “My name was my name, and that name wanted to shine in glory. I gave that name up long ago for another. It is not my name, and I do not gain personally by serving it. Another will claim it when I am gone, and another after it. Justice brings joy to the oppressed, but when it touches our friends and their beloved, it is a burden. My name is Justice. Shoroko, show me your knife.” She bowed her head and pointed her horn directly at his chest.
Melissa gasped. She watched him reach for his klafe, only to change his mind and withdraw the other buried under his tunic. Shoroko held it out for the unicorn to take.
It extended its snout, but instead of opening its mouth to receive the knife, it pushed Shoroko’s hand away. “Shoroko, what you did cannot be undone by so simple a transaction. That knife is yours until you die, and you will use it. The knife belongs to you, and you to us.”
Fear marched past the line of unicorns. Shoroko mounted and followed the horned entourage. As the last equine passed by, the jummaxes closed ranks.
The lover and the leader collided in Melissa’s brain. The leader won. “INTO THE TUNNEL!”
The Claw cavalry swarmed down the hill, splitting into two streams above the tunnel entrance, covering Melissa and the Hands. She led the charge into the hill. The passage came quickly to a chamber capable of holding fifty Claws. She stood there and waved them into the tunnel beyond and counted. Besides the Hands, three hundred Claws made it into the tunnel and chamber before the jummaxes cut the rest of her force off. Jessnee sealed the door and the pounding resumed.
Three hundred? Just like the Greeks versus the Persians. Their tiny force was able to defend a narrow pass because the enemy could only send in a few at a time. It went great until one of their countrymen betrayed them. “Jessnee, where is Genereef?”
“Behind a thicker door than this one,” he said. “With our equipment.”
“And Poonrapi,” said Thedarra.
“Orokolga,” said Melissa. “Can you destroy the inner door before Jumaar shatters the outer one?”
“The door will be no problem,” said Orokolga, “if I can fit through this Claw-sized tunnel.”
“The tunnel widens halfway to the portal chamber,” said Jessnee.
“The jummaxes are larger than I,” said Orokolga. “Now that we are in here, I see no threat, except Poonrapi.”
“We will not be facing jummaxes,” said Mirrorwing. “I saw rigrashes and taggers swarming this way. Size will be our disadvantage, not theirs.”
The pounding intensified, and the door braces crackled.
“Orokolga, Mirrorwing, Hands, follow me to face Poonrapi,” said Melissa. “The rest of you, guard the entrance. Your bravery will either be the future of our world, or its final shining memory.”
* * *
The narrow path wound through a forest of scales and furry faces. Fear twitched and pulled its head away, refusing to be scratched behind the ears. Ahead loomed a hill topped by a single spreading jiss tree, compassed by a spike of unicorns, his judges. No axe was sharp enough to chop down a jiss. Did anyone have wits sharp enough to prevail against unicorn justice?
Shoroko wished he hadn’t looked back. Melissa was trapped under the hill behind him, cut off from her army, which lay dead on the plain or pushed back up the hill and surrounded. By saving the Hands he’d sealed her doom. My knife did that. Death will be a mercy. He held his head high and rode on. At the summit, he dismounted and knelt before them.
The white unicorn called Justice walked in a circle and tapped horns with each member of the spike before facing him. “You are not acquainted with our ways. If you believe you are about to face a trial, your point is dull. If you believe you are about to face punishment, your hooves are split. Trial and punishment are one, and you shall execute them with your own hand. Produce the knife.”
Shoroko stood and unsheathed his weapon.
The spike members drew close, leaned in and simultaneously touched their horns to his horned blade. Energy pulsed through their horns, into the knife, and up his arm. He willed his fingers to spread and drop it, but they refused to obey.
After the unicorns stepped back, Justice spoke. “This knife is for killing, and you must kill. Before the next sunrise, you will wield it, or it will wield you. You can kill for food, and prove your god is your stomach. You can slay an enemy, and prove your heart is filled with vengeance. You can pierce your own heart, and bind cowardice, guilt and despair to your name. Choose with care.”
The meeting was over. They were going to trot off and leave him, famished after days of struggle, surrounded by enemies, and conscience stricken over the situation in which he left Melissa. Even if he imagined something noble to do with his knife, he’d never get the chance.
“Medic! Medic!” A woman’s voice sailed over from the back side of the hill. When no one responded, she shouted, “Fine. I’ll get it.”
Shoroko and the unicorns stood transfixed. A minute later, a mop of curly red hair flounced into view, followed by a light blue buttoned shirt and flimsy blue slacks. The feet were well muddied, and clad in… sneakers?
“Unicorns?” said the redhead. She pointed backwards over her shoulder with her right thumb. “Awesome. I have a downed dragon back there. I set his bones and smeared jiss-paste all over, but he’ll bleed out unless – are you listening?” She shook her hands vigorously to get a sticky mess off. “Look, where I came from, I had to take an oath; don’t you people have something like that here?” She shifted her gaze between Justice and Shoroko. “Come on, I know you understand me.” She shook her head back and forth and made a blubbering sound mixed with donkey snickers and purri
ng neighs. “Don’t make me keep this up or I’ll dislocate my jaw.” She rubbed her neck and shivered her shoulders to loosen up. “Cornish is murder to master and Pinky needs my help, so if you’re not going to help I’ve got to get back.”
“How?” said Shoroko.
“How what?” She put her hands on her hips and blew a wisp of hair from her mouth. “Look, I was shot down, ruffed up by smelly soldiers, and dumped in a mineshaft to drown in oil. It’s been a wretched month, I awake on a strange world teeming with dinosaurs to play nursemaid to mythical creatures, and you think it’s strange I can speak gibberish to pointy-headed horses? The only strange thing is how I got that gooey liosh out of my hair.” She bounced her long curls with the back of her hand, forgot her complaints and grinned. “I know I was born like this, but I can’t get over this red hair. I mean, it’s all overcast but look how it shines!” Then it was back to a scowl. “Why is my skin turning green? I think I swallowed some weird plant along with all that oil.”
“Sherry?” said Shoroko.
“Hey, how’d you guess my name?”
He pointed his finger at her. “You’re one of the nurses who was flying with Melissa, right?”
“You know Dr. Long?” She spun around, cupping her hand over her eyes. “Where is she? Is she okay?”
“She thought you died like…”
“Poor Dr. Kozi. Only flew to Africa so he’d notice me, but he kept after Melissa.” She eyed him head to toe and purred. “Mmmmm. Black curls, dark complexion, muscles, yep, definitely Melissa’s type. But we were talking about me. As they say, reports of my death were greatly exasperated.”
“Don’t you mean ‘exaggerated’?” said Shoroko.
Sherry waved her finger in his face. “I never exaggerate, and I’m not exaggerating about needing help back there. I don’t have many friends here, and since Pinky pulled me out of the muck and saved my life, I owe him.”
“Pinky?” said Shoroko. “Do you mean K'Pinkelek?”
“Does it matter? He is fried crispier than the Colonel’s recipe and needs help stat.” She extended an upturned hand to the queen of the unicorns. “Are you coming, Snow?”
The brash, red-headed force of nature was too much for the unicorn. She began to follow Sherry, but stalled and protested, “I have no name but Justice.”
Sherry kept walking. “Well you sure look like Snow to me. Tell you what, you heal Pinky and I’ll call you anything you want. After that, I want to offer you a deal.”
When his shock wore off, he followed. If K'Pinkelek was here, K'Fuur and Melidessa must be near. With every step, the knife in his hand resisted with greater force. So much for freedom choosing my target. Shoroko turned and followed the prompting of the knife. The sight of it made every creature before him retreat. I am cursed, and someone else out there is too. All he had to do to save their life was take his own. Maybe it’s Poonrapi or Genereef I’m supposed to slay. I’d be okay with that.
The knife led on, until he was back at the door. Jumaar’s head looked flatter every time he saw it. The hlisskan halted his pounding to sneer at Shoroko, but made no move to harm him.
The force of the blade grew. Shoroko grabbed the hilt with both hands and braced one foot against a rock. If the pull got any stronger, it would rip his arms from their sockets. It did get stronger, but his arms didn’t give way. Maybe that jiss-paste did me some good after all. Only two things remained that could give way. Gravity vanished as Shoroko hurled through the air, and the rock split, submitting to his knife.
When he collided with the tunnel door, he prayed for death, but it did not come. After the door split, a wave of creatures bent on destruction collided with Kibota’s final line of defense.
Shoroko awoke to the echoes of battle deep underground, and its stench made his eyes tear. He stood in a pool of blood, relieved he could sheath his knife. That accursed blade had drawn him this far; now his determination to save his love powered his feet. Melissa, if I have to slay ten thousand with my right hand to reach your side and so forfeit my place in heaven, I will. Though God curse me, I will bless you forever. He limped down the tunnel, past the corpses of the mighty and the low growls of carrion gnawing at their flesh.
* * *
Glowing ceiling crystals illuminated the stone door. At two lisstai high and wide, Orokolga would have no trouble entering. Vertical grooves marked its surface. To the right of the door were seven paw-sized, hemispherical knobs with holes for claws to be inserted. The knobs were arrayed in a vertical line, each set within a foot long horizontal track. An identical arrangement of seven knobs was found to the door’s left. Along the left side of the passage a stair climbed to a ledge attached to the top of the door.
“Explain the door,” said Melissa.
Mirrorwing pointed to the knobs. “You slide these left or right into position to unlock it, then climb to the ledge to oppose the counterweights. The mass of one Claw is enough to sink the door into a recess in the floor.”
“Fourteen knobs,” mumbled Melissa. She slid a knob. It moved with little resistance. “Two raised to the fourteenth power… Sixteen thousand possibilities… Test one combination every one to two seconds.” She turned to Orokolga. “Your skull is safe, Orokolga. We don’t need a battering ram. We can have this open by dawn.”
“We don’t have that long,” said R.J., who jumped at a scream echoing from far down the hall.
“I could knock,” said Melissa. “Maybe Poonrapi will invite us in.”
Jessnee grabbed R.J. by the arm. “You know how to count in binary. Help me with the switches. Thedarra, give us a nice, even count. And Cally, stop braiding her hair or she’ll start messing up.” R.J. took the knobs on the left side of the door, while Jessnee took the right.
Thedarra started chanting, “One, two, three…” Mirrorwing climbed the stair and sat on the ledge while the pair of Hands flipped switches.
Melissa peered into a glass circle in the corner and saw an eye looking back. “They know we’re here.”
The owner of the eye walked away, providing a glimpse into the room beyond. The peephole lens shrank and distorted the view, but by concentrating Melissa was able to harness her lissine eyes and gain a clear perspective. “I see Genereef, Poonrapi and two others.”
“We’re not outnumbered for a change,” said Mirrorwing from the ledge. “What are they up to?”
“I’ll read their lips,” said Melissa.
“Twenty… Twenty-one…” Thedarra began to sway in time with the count. Callyglip put his arm around her waist and rocked back and forth with her. Ren Fa scowled and sat down with his back against the wall.
Melissa relayed the Green’s conversation. “Genereef says he admires Poonrapi’s passion, but Silverthorn will never accept her. Like that’ll work. ‘Hey villainess, look at me! I’m available.’ Evil queens never marry their mindless minions. Now she’s saying she’ll rewire the census gear to make Silverthorn love her. Genereef counters that the rest of the klatches won’t support it. She says that’s great. She’ll hide and make Silverthorn send useless search parties all over Kibota to arrest her, while the two of them have secret trysts. Hey, Mirrorwing, is this what Kibota is normally like?”
His tail hung from the ledge, swinging back and forth. “The hlissak disgraces her office and our people.”
“Three hundred ten…”
Jessnee waved at Thedarra. “Stop! Stop the count! R.J., you’re falling behind. Keep up or we’ll miss a combination and add another six hours to our safe-cracking job. I don’t want to hear any more Claw soap opera than I have to.”
R.J. leaned his body into it and the knob came unstuck. “Don’t blame me! This one was wedged.”
Ren Fa watched in amusement and drew in the dust on the floor.
Melissa described what she saw the Greens doing with the apparatus. The gateway to Nehenoth was a circular pedestal composed of four concentric disks stacked into a short stair. The Claws methodically opened wall panels and swapped out parts with
the ones Jessnee fabricated. Meanwhile, Poonrapi stood at a table glowing with colored lights that held a cradle for the intricate sphere R.J. copped from the Reds. She flipped toggles and switches until a wall screen lit with a map of the world. After she swiped her claw against the table the image zoomed to show the neighborhood of the Census Stone. Moving icons shaped like animals appeared.
“This is serious,” said Melissa. “She has a fix on Jumaar’s location. And K'Pinkelek– he’s alive! She’s drawing a line. I think she’s programming the orb to make the jawmaxton hlisskan attack K'Pinkelek.”
“He destroyed her army,” said Mirrorwing. “Her instructions won’t take effect until she installs the orb in Nehenoth.”
“They closed the last panel,” said Melissa. “I see a colored dot on the floor before the dais.”
“One thousand and ten…”
“The power indicator,” said Jessnee. “They’re charging the gate. Ugh. Now my knob is stuck. We’ve got to hurry this up!”
When Jessnee said ‘stuck’, Ren Fa scribbled again in the dust. Melissa reported seeing a second light blink on before the dais.
When the count reached one thousand twenty-four, both Jessnee and R.J. struggled with sticky knobs at the same time. Ren Fa stood, wiped the dust off his pants and strolled over to the door. He tapped them each on the shoulder, then deliberately reversed several of the bottom five knobs on each side of the door.
R.J. tried to wrestle him back. “You’re screwing up our system, man!”
“Leave the bottom five alone!” Ren Fa shook R.J. off and walked back to his seat.
Jessnee patted Thedarra on her shoulder. “Start over at one. Just do what he says, R.J.”
After a few more sticky nobs, Thedarra reached sixteen, and Ren Fa got up. He fiddled with a few knobs then stepped back. “When enough pins are in position, the weight on the remaining pins makes them stick. Take them in opposing pairs now, one on the left, and one on the right. Flip them at the same time. Whichever position makes them more sticky is the one.”
A Most Refined Dragon Page 42