Chainer ran his tongue over his teeth, perturbed. He expected the First to tell outrageous lies and convenient half-truths to save his own life, but here the old viper actually seemed to be telling the truth. At least, he was telling the truth about the death bloom, because it was having almost no effect on him at all.
"So you're immortal?"
"In a sense."
"Then I really can't kill you."
"No. You can't."
Chainer sent a sharpened weight flying toward the First's face. It buried itself in the patriarch's forehead, and Chainer watched the
First's corruption crawl back along the links toward Chainer's hand. Chainer dropped his end before the toxic patina could reach him, and the First actually fell to his knees, clutching feebly at his wound.
"I can try, however." Chainer returned his hands and the Mirari to their position in front of his stomach. The First slumped to one side, groaned, and then got back to his feet.
"We need to settle our account, Chainer. This city… the Cabal itself may not survive an all-out conflict between us. I suggest we come to an understanding." With as much poise as he could manage, the First pulled the sharpened weight out of his head and let it clatter to the floor.
"Very well. You ordered Skellum's death. In return I demand yours."
"Your price is too high and can never be paid. I have a counter offer."
"Name it."
"Cabal City is yours," he said, "if you give me safe passage. The manor, the arena, the pits, even the Mirari."
"And where will you go? Do you really expect me to believe that you'll just disappear?"
"I will go south. Our… my stronghold in Aphetto City. The Parliament of Knives is weak and ineffectual. I have been ignoring them of late, and they could use a firm, guiding hand."
"And in five years you will come back at the head of an army of mages to retake Cabal City by force." The First laughed. "That would be wasteful and unnecessary. In fifty years… less, given your recklessness… you will be gone, and I shall return unopposed. The Cabal is here, and everywhere. I will take it with me, and it will be here when I come back for it."
"You think so."
"I know so."
Chainer grunted. "I accept your terms. Here are mine." Chainer raised his arms over his head. The Mirari stayed between his hands.
"You will use the city-wide grapevine to announce that you are leaving the City under my control. The Cabal still runs things, but now I will run the Cabal."
"No one will follow you, Chainer."
"Everyone will follow me. I am the Cabal's response to the Order crusat, as you always intended. The entire city knows and fears me. And I intend to keep everything running smoothly. The anniversary games will happen as planned. People will come from all over Otaria to claim the prize. And I will destroy them all in one fell swoop."
"I agree to your terms," the First seemed sullen, angry, and Chainer wondered how long it had been since he had been at a disadvantage during negotiations.
"I'm not finished yet. My personal representatives will be sent ahead to Aphetto to prepare it for you. To clear the road before you and to keep an eye on you once you arrive."
"Spies, dementist? That hardly seems like a warrior's style."
"Not spies. Cabalists. They do not report to me, but they are loyal to Kuberr. You may lead them, if you can. But they will be harder to dominate than the Cabalists you're used to."
"What do you mean, 'will be?' " The First sounded as if he already knew and dreaded the answer.
"I mean they will be. Observe." Chainer put his hands out in the casting position with the Mirari between them. His eyes went black, and he shuddered. From between his hands, a long tendril of smoke curled outward, growing thicker at the front end. There was an implosion and a flash, and Chainer's new Cabalist stood ready before him.
The creature was a huge, ten-foot serpent as long and heavy as an alligator. It sat on a coil of its own body, propped up by two small hornlike claws where the coil rose off the floor. It had thin, flexible arms that collapsed against its body for quick strikes or rapid motion. Its head was big enough to swallow a cannonball without dislocating its jaw. It appeared to be a rattlesnake man, complete with a warning shaker on its tail and venom dripping from its fangs.
"I've been thinking about snakes recently," Chainer said, "and I've decided I like them better than.people. A snake only strikes to hunt or defend itself. It specializes in graceful motion and deadly accuracy. Nature designed them to be elegant killers. I, in turn, have designed them to be perfect Cabalists."
There was another shudder and another flash, and a second snake-person appeared. This one was longer and broader, rippling with muscle. It had no rattle, and its fangs were dry.
"The constrictor caste is especially good at stealth killings. Once it embraces you, you can't even scream. You should get along famously with these, Pater. You have so much in common."
Another shudder, another flash. "And the king snake. Bigger brain, stronger arms, and deadlier venom. They will be the ones who give you the most trouble as you try to take over."
"What are you talking about, Chainer? How many of these things have you made?"
Chainer grinned. "All of them." The final flash blew the First against the wall, and even drove Chainer back a step. The entire building shook. When the First had recovered, there was no one else in the room. No snakes, no attendants, only Chainer and the First.
"My serpent Cabal is now on its way to Aphetto. Scores of them, hundreds. They will hunt and kill and feed and fight on the way. Those that are successful will become real-indistinguishable from things that were born instead of conjured. They will breed and spread throughout Otaria. Who is running Aphetto City for you now?"
"The Parliament of Knives," the First said warily.
"Within a week of their arrival, my snakes will have overthrown the Parliament. If I were you, I'd get down there quickly, before everyone who knows you is killed or driven out."
The First nodded, angry but resigned to his defeat. He was staring at the Mirari as he spoke to Chainer. "Well done, my child. I can't help taking pride in-" "Shut up," Chainer said. "The only thing I want to hear out of you is your announcement to the city. And then, Calchexas, you will leave. If I ever see you again, I will make it my life's work to cut you to pieces, burn the remains, and scatter the ashes. I may not be able to kill you, but I can make you wish I had." Chainer closed his eyes, the Mirari glowed, and the First was once again bathed in black light. This light did not harm him, however. It merely cascaded around him.
"Speak clearly, Pater. All of your children are listening, and you won't get a second chance."
The First folded his arms into his sleeves. After one final glare at Chainer, he began to speak. "Attention, my children. This is the First…"
Chainer tuned him out as his mind sizzled and sparked from one topic to the next. First, he would honor his agreement with Laqua-tus, who had been instrumental in pinning down the First's secret name. Then, Chainer would crush all who came for the Mirari, including the Order and Burke and Kamahl, if they were foolish enough to compete.
And then, he would devote the rest of his life to punishing the First. If he couldn't kill the patriarch, then he would take the one thing from him that mattered most, the Cabal itself. With Chainer's snakes in Aphetto and the Mirari in his hand, it was only a matter of time before all of Otaria danced to Chainer's tune. In fact, he noted with a laugh, the music for the dance had already started in his head.
CHAPTER 24
From inside the Otaria Chasm, Veza watched the conflict between Llawan and Laquatus escalate toward civil war. Since the water portals only worked from surface to surface, the two sides were forced to grind out a victory the old fashioned way, face-to-face on the battlefield.
Llawan's first move was to send an armed force large enough to blockade the gorge, but not to storm it. Laquatus mocked her for not coming in person, and concentrated all of h
is mercenaries and undersea monsters at Llawan's end of the chasm. There were frequent skirmishes as the imperials tried to press in and the mercenaries labored to keep them out. The two forces continued to grow stronger and stronger as the days wore on.
Veza had never witnessed a full-scale military engagement before, though she had heard vivid stories from her grandfather describing Aboshan's predecessor's rise to power. Where her grandfather described noble duels and magnificent noble beasts, Veza saw ambush and sniper attacks alongside the hideous spectacles of razor rays tearing into leviathans. Massive orcan warriors surged out of the chasm to engage the empress's troops, and though each was driven back, each took its toll on the imperial guard with their massive fists and powerful jaws. Laquatus's mercenaries were unwilling to fight hand-to-hand. They preferred to pounce from the shadows in overwhelming numbers, or to not leave the safety of the chasm.
The ship-to-ship combat was even worse-giant, graceful, deep-sea creatures roaring and tearing at each other like wild dogs. Llawan's troops took heavy losses to the razor rays until they began using a school of electric eels that cooked the giant fish in mid-battle. Huge, paddle-footed beasts with long necks grabbed guards like fruit from a tree and were in turn choked by sargassum blasts or poisoned by lances coated in lethal puffer-fish extract.
When she wasn't watching the endless stream of carnage and patrol ships, Veza spent her time sifting through the survey data she'd collected. She couldn't reconcile what she'd seen in the chasm with what she reviewed. The data indicated gemstone deposits, precious ores and metals, and a freshwater underground river that could easily be tapped for drinking water. Laquatus was delighted, and the more value she discovered, the more troops he brought in to hold it.
Veza also had duties assigned to her by Laquatus. With the ambassador's armed guards by her side, Veza inspected the canyon walls for stability. Under their careful watch, she enchanted a series of blue crystals and affixed them to the walls along the entire length of the chasm. They crystals could relay magical impulses to one another. Veza used them to transmit data up and down the length of the flood zone. She also knew Laquatus intended to use the crystal arrays as a weapon. If he were forced to quit the chasm, he would send a signal to the crystals that would bring the walls crashing down around whoever was inside. He smiled when he told Veza of his plans, but he made it clear he did not fully trust her yet. He made sure that she was not allowed to alter the spell that powered the stones, so they could only transmit magical impulses, and only within the chasm. If anyone but Laquatus tried to use them in any other way, they would shatter.
Finally, Llawan herself arrived at the head of another flotilla of ships and leviathans. Laquatus had sent Burke to collect Veza and politely forced her to sit and watch the show.
Beyond the front, safe from the fighting, sat Llawan's private yacht, a smaller, slower version of her transport leviathan. Laquatus made sure the empress was indeed on board, and that Veza had an excellent view before he rolled out his surprise. The long, familiar shape of Llawan's transport leviathan streaked out of the chasm and plowed through her forces on a direct line of attack for the empress. Laquatus had not in fact slaughtered the empress's transport vessel, he had commandeered it and sent it into battle against her. Veza almost wept when the empress's troops were forced to strike the leviathan down with spell blasts and giant ballista bolts.
Hours after the destruction of her transport, Llawan unleashed a squadron of heavily armed cephalids. Just as they came into range of the mercenaries' weapons, the squadron vanished from sight. The invisible squadron did a lot of damage to their unsuspecting foes before the enchantment wore off, and they were only captured and killed when they tried to storm Laquatus's command ship. After the initial exchange of hostility, the front stabilized just outside the chasm and each side settled in for a long siege. Not in the strictest sense of the word, Veza knew, because either side could abandon the battle any time they pleased by simply turning around and swimming away. Veza had been close enough to both Laquatus and Llawan to know that neither of them were going to do that. The entire empire was watching this conflict, and whoever came out of it victorious would have enough political and popular support to claim the imperial throne.
Meanwhile, Veza continued to watch and research, Laquatus stayed safe in his canyon, and Llawan stayed safe in her luxury vessel while their troops tore each other to bits at the mouth of the canyon.
*****
Kamahl strapped on his broadsword and took a few tentative steps across his tiny room. He was nowhere near full recovery, but he could walk. If he could walk, he could fight.
Kamahl was sensitive to the Mirari, and he could feel the powerful forces gathering around it. He was uncertain but unafraid. Unknown challenges were a barbarian's stock in trade, after all, and the promise of a good contest was more than enough incentive for Kamahl to meet this one.
Kamahl left the public house and joined the crowds of people heading for the Cabal City pits.
*****
Cabal City's anniversary games drew more spectators and more combatants than any event ever before. Everyone in and around the city either wanted to take a shot at the Mirari or wanted to watch others do so. From his vantage point high above the arena floor, Chainer watched the crowds and the fighters buzz and vibrate like a huge hive of wasps.
Chainer looked around at the former First's private box. It was a luxurious, round, floating platform with all the amenities visiting dignitaries expected. The First often watched important games from here, or rather, watched the crowd watching the games. Among the First's finery, with the Mirari safely hidden in his chambers, Chainer understood what Skellum meant when he spoke of the good things in life.
Chainer leaned over the side of the platform with a dizzy grin on his face. All of the contestants had been assembled in the main pit below, and it was literally full of hundreds of humans and monsters crammed together under Chainer's box. Down there, they were waiting. Up here, he simply was, and would be until he decided to start the action.
"Ladies, gentlemen, and others!" The announcer's voice was much louder up here than it was at ground level. "Welcome to the Mirari Games." A small cheer went up through the crowd.
"Today we have something truly unique in store for you. The largest collection of fighters in the world has gathered for the right to claim the Mirari, the sphere of wonder. There will be only one winner. There-" A bolt of lightning shot up from the floor into the magical apparatus that amplified the announcer's voice, and his introduction sputtered and choked. Intrigued, Chainer peered more closely at the tall figure standing alone at the center of the only clear space on the arena floor.
"Murderer," the figure cried, his voice echoing like a gong. "Destroyer of the innocent. The Order is here for retribution."
"I know, justicar," Chainer said softly. "I've been counting on it."
Justicar Gobal's hood and robe had been burned off by his initial blast, and he stood sparkling and crackling in his polished armor. Beside him, three more robed figures cast off their outer garments to reveal terrible, white-winged angels armed with flaming swords. All around the arena, other fighters began to unsheathe their weapons. Others who were wiser, or perhaps more cowardly, quickly tried to exit the arena.
"Your attack on our hospital killed more than healers and wounded soldiers. It killed the angels. In their place, Angels of
Retribution have arisen. Your end comes now, Cabalist." The jus-ticar pointed his hand at Chainer, and the angels took wing. The justicar sent another bolt of lighting up toward Chainer's platform. The platform was thoroughly warded against all types of attack, however, and the justicar's bolt faded into nothingness before it ever touched Chainer.
"Oh, no," Chainer said dramatically. "Angels and justicars! The Order has come for me! Whatever shall I do?" He focused on the Mirari back in his chamber, concentrated, and every door in the huge arena slammed shut and melted into the wall around it. His eyes were long gone, a
nd his voice boomed out louder than the announcer's. "Come one, come all. The Mirari awaits. Who is strong enough to take it from me?"
*****
Veza was poring over a scroll when Burke entered her chamber. The gel man wore a small, circular hand mirror around his neck, and from it came Laquatus's voice.
"Please follow my jack," Laquatus said. "There is something! want you to see."
Burke kept pace as Veza swam through the ship. She noticed that his hands and feet became flatter and wider when he swam, and he stayed by her side easily no matter how fast she went. She stole as many glances at his expressionless face as she dared, searching in vain for some flicker of recognition, or at least independence. Burke was as inscrutable as a mask.
Laquatus had taken to filling his command ship with air, both for his mercenaries and in case anyone tried to teleport in. A cephalid assassin would find himself floundering on the floor as soon as he arrived, and they would drown without so much as touching Laquatus. Veza and Burke stepped into the chamber, and Laquatus greeted Veza with a warm, loud call.
"Hello, Director. I'm about to contact the former empress to discuss terms of her surrender."
Veza's eyes darted to the viewscreen, which showed the exact same standoff she had seen for the past week. Laquatus nodded, Burke gently nudged her forward, and Veza took the seat Laquatus offered her. "Get Llawan on the scrying screen," Laquatus said. He took out his own hand mirror, and Veza watched him whisper into it. She could see a thin man with braided black hair, but she did not recognize him and could not hear his voice. Finally, Laquatus said, "Done. A pleasure doing business with you, as always. And may I add, congratulations on your recent ascension." He paused while the other man spoke. "After today, you will be able to offer me similar sentiments." The mirror went dark, and he put it away with a smug little smile.
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