Bodann turned slowly as he gazed around the yard. “Well, it looks like we have quite a crowd here today.” He looked over his shoulder at Seryn. “Do you really think it will help? Your fate is sealed. Why drag all of these others into it as well?”
Seryn stepped forward. “No one is here against their will,” she said. She looked at the men and women around the yard. “Any who wish to leave now may do so. No one need stay unless they wish it.” When no one moved, she turned back to Bodann. “You see? We do not fear you. We will do whatever is necessary to protect Lore’s Haven and those who live within its walls.”
“Well, that’s very noble of them, but I wonder if they really understand what it is they’re gettin’ themselves into.” He scanned the yard. “Just to be clear, any who stand against me today, will not see the sunset. Now, would any of you like to reconsider your decision?”
Reyga felt both pride and dismay as no one moved. Their willingness to defend Lore’s Haven was a testament to the courage of those present. But if their countermeasures were ineffective, everyone here would be dead soon, regardless of their bravery. For the Circle, there was no choice; Bodann would not allow them to avoid this. The rest, however, did have a choice. And they have chosen to stand in defense of what they hold dear. He gritted his teeth and squared his shoulders. Today, he would embrace his pride in these gathered here. Dismay had no place, and he would no longer acknowledge it.
“No?” Bodann shrugged. “All right. Then that’s how it’s to be.” He looked at Regor. “Do what you need to do.”
Reyga braced himself as Regor took a step toward Nyala and Nivek. “Son,” Regor said. Then he and Nivek disappeared.
“No!” Nyala shouted, and then she disappeared as well.
Bodann looked at Airam. “I trust you can handle the rest of this? I need to have one more chat with Jason.”
“Of course,” Airam answered, as both of her eyes shifted to a piercing blue.
“You remember what we discussed?”
“I will do precisely as you instructed.”
“Good.” A slight smile twisted his lips as he turned to Jason. “Well, lad, are you ready? I promise this will be the last time.” He started toward Jason, but Lenai jumped forward, slashing at him with her dagger.
“You will not touch him!” she shouted. “Not while I draw breath!”
Bodann leaned back as the first pass of the blade sliced through the air below his chin, then he raised his hand and Lenai froze in place, wrapped in sickly yellow power. Reyga could see her struggling to get free, but the dimsai held her fast. Bodann cocked his head as he watched her fight against his grip.
“Well, I suppose,” he said. “If that’s truly the way you feel about it.”
“Let her go!” Jason stepped forward, his dimsai flaring to life. “I’m the one you want. Let her go.”
“I’ll deal with you in a moment,” Bodann said. He flicked his free hand, and Jason flew back, landing by the wall. “This little lass is becoming an annoyance.” Before anyone could react, his power raised her into the air, and then slammed her against the ground at his feet hard enough to send cracks through the packed earth of the yard. When he released his dimsai, she did not move. A small trickle of blood ran from the corner of her mouth, matched by a small pool slowly spreading out under the back of her head.
“No…” The words came out of Reyga’s mouth in a whisper. Lenai. There was not enough air left in his body to say more. He watched, too stunned to move, as Jason scrambled across the dirt to Lenai’s still body.
“Lenai?” Jason seemed almost afraid to touch her. Then he lightly stroked her cheek, whispering her name over and over, telling her to wake up again and again. Then he grabbed her shoulders and shook her. “Lenai! Come on, wake up!” Dimsai erupted around his hands and flowed across her body. “Seryn! Help me!”
Seryn started forward, but a gesture from Bodann knocked her back like she had run into an invisible wall. “No,” Bodann said. “There’s nothin’ for you to do.”
Finally, Jason’s power faded, and he sat hunched over Lenai, his breath coming in harsh gasps. The sound of his breathing was the only sound in the yard.
“She’s dead.” He looked up at Bodann, and Reyga was shocked at the fury in his eyes. “You killed her!”
“Everyone dies, lad,” Bodann answered. “Now you know how I felt when I lost everythin’ I ever cared about. But, unlike me, your sufferin’ won’t last long.”
With a strangled cry like an enraged animal, Jason launched himself at Bodann. Then they both vanished.
Airam looked around at them, a cold smile crossing her face. “Well. Shall we begin?”
*****
Regor looked out over the vista below, his back to Nivek. He had taken them to the top of the mountain where Nyala always came to brood. It seemed fitting that it should happen here.
“Do you remember,” he said to Nivek, “when I asked you to stand beside me against Bodann? You refused, as I recall. And I warned you that you wouldn’t be given another chance when the inevitable happened.”
“I remember,” Nivek replied. “Nothing’s changed. I’m still not going to join you.”
“I’m not asking you to,” Regor said turning to face his one-time son. Both had discarded their Altered appearances for the moment. “That time has passed. Now it’s time for the inevitable to happen.”
He threw a blast of dark power, and smiled to himself as Nivek staggered backward. He could feel Bodann’s borrowed dimsai coursing through him. If he’d wanted, Nivek could have already been nothing more than a memory. Sometimes, though, it’s better to savor the moment. Nyala would find them soon, and he wanted her to be fully aware that even she and Nivek combined stood no chance against him. No need to mention that it was not just his own power they would be facing. Let them meet their ends wondering how they had underestimated him. The thought of their confusion in their final moments brought another smile to his face.
Nivek regained his balance and sent a bolt of dimsai hurling at him. He brushed the power aside, and his smile widened at Nivek’s puzzled expression over the ease with which he’d dealt with the attack.
“Today, you and Nyala will both see the error of refusing me. Unfortunately for you, that will be one of the last things you ever see.” He threw another bolt of force at Nivek, a little stronger than the first, and nodded in satisfaction as Nivek staggered again. With his augmented power, he sensed Nivek was about to flee.
“Now, now,” he said, wrapping dark power around Nivek. “This is no time to go running away. Nyala should be here at any moment to help you.”
“I’m already here!”
He swayed as a bolt of iridescent force exploded against his side. With his borrowed power, it felt like little more than a gentle shove. He turned to see Nyala, her Altered guise fading away, throwing another blast of power. He started to brush it aside, but then had another thought. Why not have a little fun? When the dimsai struck him, he pretended to stagger backward and released his hold on Nivek. He won’t leave while Nyala is here. And even if he did, it would be simple to find them again using Bodann’s power.
As expected, Nivek moved to stand beside Nyala, and joined her in attacking him. He continued moving back, allowing them to believe they were overpowering him. He retreated until he was swaying at the very edge of the precipice. He wavered there for several moments, fending off their attacks, and then threw a wave of dark force that knocked both of them off their feet.
“That’s enough. I’m bored now,” he said, enjoying the shocked looks on their faces as he calmly stepped away from the edge. Again, he sensed their imminent retreat. Nyala was always good at reading situations and reacting quickly. He couldn’t keep another smile from stealing across his face. Not fast enough today, my dear. Not with the additional power he was getting from Bodann. He enveloped them in shadowy dimsai, watching patiently as they struggled, and waiting for them to realize the inevitability of their situation.
> Finally, they stopped fighting. Nyala glared at him. “So, you have us. What now?”
“Now,” he said, “I must rid Teleria and Bodann of the unending distractions you would cause.”
“And how do you plan to do that?”
“I would think that would be obvious.”
“By killing us. You would kill your own son?”
“Ah, ah. Let me remind you of a conversation we had not too terribly long ago. ‘There is no more Kevin. Nivek is not Kevin.’ Does that sound familiar?”
“Mother?” Nivek looked at her as if he’d never seen her before. “You said that?”
Nyala gave him a guilty look. “I said it,” she admitted. “But I never believed it!” she added before he could reply. “Not in my heart. I just… I felt like you didn’t need me anymore. It was the only thing I could tell myself that made it hurt less.”
“Not need you? You’re my mother. I’ll always need you.”
Regor yawned. “How very touching,” he said. “But I’m afraid I have to correct you on at least one point.”
“What’s that?” Nivek asked.
“You don’t need your mother anymore.” Nivek’s cry of pain cut off almost before it began as he vanished in a silent explosion of shadow.
“What did you do?” Nyala shouted.
“Like you said,” he answered, “there is no more Kevin. Although I didn’t realize it at the time, you were right. And now there is no Nivek to remind you of what used to be.”
“NO!” A scream of anguish tore from Nyala’s throat, as, with a concussion of iridescent rage, she managed to break free of his hold. Even with his dimsai augmented by Bodann’s, her furious attack drove him back a few steps, the continuous assaults feeling like much more than gentle shoves now. Leaning into her attacks, he braced himself long enough to call upon more of Bodann’s power and envelope her once again in a shadowy cocoon. In spite of himself, he was impressed by her display. It was just as well that her end was at hand. She might have become more than a mere distraction, given enough time and the right circumstances.
“I can’t believe you would kill your own son!” she said, her words rasping between clenched teeth as she fought to break free.
“I didn’t,” he replied. “Kevin died fifteen centuries ago. As did Alayn. As did Roger. They died, to be replaced by beings who were no more like what they had been, than the humans now are like the bugs they step on.”
“You are truly demented if you really believe that,” she said. “So, I guess now you’re going to kill me?”
“I’m afraid so,” he said with a nod. “But I want you to understand, I’m actually doing you and Nivek a favor.”
“A favor?” She gave a bitter laugh. “You call killing us doing us a favor?”
“Yes,” he said. “Trust me, there are two things that you would not be able to live with in the world that is coming.”
“Which are?”
“Teleria under Bodann’s thumb, and how much he would torture you, and especially Nivek because of you, before he decided to kill you. At least this way, it’s quick.”
“That’s not why you’re doing this,” she said, shaking her head.
“Really?” He crossed his arms over his chest with a smirk. “Enlighten me.”
“We remind you of what you once were. And every day under Bodann’s rule, you would see us and know that you aren’t half the man you used to be, no matter how much power you may have. And you would kno—” Her words cut off as she shattered into a fountain of sparks and shadows.
He stood looking at where they had been for several long moments. Now that they were gone, he could admit, at least to himself, that part of what she said was true. They would serve as a reminder of what had once been. And he had no interest at all in remembering that.
I wonder how Airam is doing? With one last glance at the empty peak, he stepped back to Lore’s Haven.
*****
Seryn watched Airam carefully as the Altered’s eyes shifted from one color to another while she studied them.
“You do not have to do this,” Seryn said.
Airam’s shining eyes turned to her. “Even if that were true, this moment would have come eventually.”
“Why is it not true?” Reyga asked. “Are you not an Altered? Do the Altered give orders, or take them?”
“To such as you, we give orders,” Airam said, as her eyes flared scarlet. “But from Bodann, we take them.” Seryn thought she detected a note of irritation in Airam’s voice on that last statement. Perhaps she could use that to avoid an ugly confrontation. She looked at Elam, who was watching her intently, awaiting her signal, and gave a tiny shake of her head. Then she looked back at Airam.
“So you do not agree with Bodann?” she asked.
Airam began to answer, and then hesitated, glancing around the room as if expecting to see someone or something appear. Her eyes narrowed as her gaze came back to Seryn. “I would never dream of disobeying Bodann,” she said.
“But you do n—”
“Enough!” Airam said, cutting Seryn off. “Your attempts to avoid your fate are futile. Bodann has decided the Circle’s time is over. I am here to enforce his decree.”
Seryn sighed and nodded to Elam.
“Now!” Elam shouted.
As one, the nasaiken slashed open the sides of the sacks they were holding and threw them toward Airam. The Blood Iron ore scattered across the ground around her feet.
Airam looked down at the scattered stones and laughed. “Rocks? Is that your plan to save yourselves? By throwing rocks a—” She stopped suddenly, and a puzzled look replaced her amusement as she examined the rocks again. “Wait. What is this?” Seryn could see the edges of Airam’s robes beginning to shimmer and waver, as if looking at them across the burning ground of the Scorched Plains.
Elam stepped forward and leveled the staff at her. “Today shall not be our end, Altered. It will be yours!” Instantly, the end of the staff began glowing as Seryn saw a faint stream of dimsai power flowing from Airam to the gemstone.
Seryn felt hands on her shoulders as the Loremasters moved into position. She glanced to her sides. Reyga had taken up position on her right, Brin on her left. The other members of the Circle lined up beside them, each one’s hand on the shoulder of the one toward the center. Toward Seryn. She would be the focal point of their power.
At the same time, Lenara moved to the first of the stands and ran her hands over the crystal mounted at the top. A beam of power shot around the room, from each crystal to the next, until all of the crystals were glowing like the red diamond on the Blood Iron staff.
Seryn watched, waiting for Airam’s wavering form to dissipate into nothingness, or at least to a point where the Altered was weakened enough for the Circle to act. Just a little more. Instead, the Altered’s form solidified, while the colors of Airam’s eyes and the trim on her robes grew brighter and more intense.
Airam’s shining gaze jumped from one glowing crystal to the next, from one face to another. Then she threw her head back, sending peals of laughter toward the sparse clouds overheard.
“No! How can this be?” Reyga asked.
Seryn felt her hope fading. “Bodann gives her his power,” she answered, her voice thick with frustration.
Airam looked back at them as her laughter faded. “So, you think to take my power?” she said, a cruel smirk twisting her lips. “Let’s see how much you can handle!” The brightness of her eyes and clothing continued to intensify until Seryn had to squint against the glare. Streams of force radiated from Airam’s body to the crystals around the yard like spokes on a wheel. The crystals continued to absorb the dimsai until they were shining like small stars. The Blood Iron ore scattered across the ground began skittering and jumping as Airam’s power filled the yard.
“Archers, release!” Seryn looked up at Commander Revin as he shouted orders from his perch on the walkway. Instantly, dozens of arrows streaked toward Airam, but a blazing corona of power
erupted around the Altered, turning the arrows to ash as soon as they hit it. With a sweep of her hand, Airam sent a volley of dimsai streaming along the walkway. The stone shattered and threw the archers not quick enough to retreat sailing into the air, until they landed with sickening thuds on the ground along with the falling rubble.
A loud roar jerked Seryn’s attention back to Airam in time to see Calador’s massive form crash into her, sending her sprawling in the dirt. The giant warrior raised his axe and leaped toward the fallen Altered. Seerka and Gatlor rushed in from either side, weapons drawn. Just as the warriors swung their weapons, an ear-splitting concussion sent all three flying across the yard and crashing into the wall. Gatlor and Seerka fell to the ground and did not move, but Seryn saw Calador struggling to push himself up out of the dirt. She glanced at Airam and saw the Altered looking up, gesturing toward one of the flags still flying along the parapets of Lore’s Haven. The metal post holding the bright pennant ripped from the stone and came hurling downward, where it pierced Calador’s back, pinning him to the ground. A few more weak struggles, and the huge warrior became as still as his companions.
Seryn had no time to mourn their courage as another shattering explosion ripped the air to her side. She put up a shield and turned in time to see Elam sink to the ground, the tines in the Blood Iron staff twisted and broken. A shard from the remains of the red diamond had buried itself in his forehead.
We are lost. The thought had barely registered when another explosion rocked them, and then another, and another. Through the sparks and flashes attacking her shield, she could see the crystals in Lenara’s stands rupturing, one after another. The pieces of ore on the ground were also exploding. Splinters of stone and crystal filled the air like hundreds of miniature daggers. The nasaiken around the room tried to protect themselves as best they could, but several of them had already been wounded or killed, their bodies falling to the ground as more of the deadly shards flew over them or embedded themselves in the unmoving bodies.
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