The Questing Game

by James Galloway

  "That's monstrous," Sarraya said sharply.

  "World domination is not a neat and pretty venture, Faerie," Jula said mildly. "It can't be done without sacrifices."

  "And you've become one of them," Tarrin told her flatly.

  Jula lowered her head. "I knew what I was getting into when I joined them," she said honestly. "I knew what kind of people they were."

  "Why did you do it, Jula?" Dolanna said with sudden emotion. "Why did you turn your back on the Goddess? Why did you serve such a dark cause?"

  "Power," she replied simply, looking at the small Sharadite woman. "I had power in the ki'zadun. I was important, respected."

  "And look what it got you," Tarrin snapped at her. "A chain around your neck. When you play with snakes, don't be surprised when you get bitten." He loomed over her. "Speaking of snakes, the last time we talked, you offered to tell me who the traitor was in the Tower. Who is it?"

  Jula stared at him for a long time, then bowed her head. "Her name is Adrenne," she said meekly. "She's one of the older Sorcerers. She's been at the Tower a long time. She's highly respected."

  "Adrenne?" Dolanna said. "Adrenne is dead, Jula. She died nearly a ride before Tarrin disappeared from the Tower."

  "That's impossible," Jula protested. "I received instructions from her the day Tarrin attacked me! In person! She couldn't be dead!"

  "She is dead, Jula. I was there when she fell from a balcony. I assure you, it was Adrenne, and she did die."

  "That just can't be! It had to be someone else!"

  Tarrin stared at her. Her emotion was so strong that he felt it through the bond. She wasn't lying.

  "Perhaps you were receiving them from someone you thought was Adrenne," Dolanna said clinically. "An expert in Illusion, or someone strong in Mind weaves could have convinced you that she was someone else."

  Jula glared at Dolanna a moment, but said nothing.

  "So, the traitor even deceived her minions," Camara Tal said calmly. "That's not a very bad idea, judging from the activities of the ki'zadun."

  "Maybe this traitor knocked off Adrenne," Sarraya mused.

  "I doubt that," Dolanna said. "It would be foolish of her to kill the woman she was impersonating. But it does narrow down the possible suspects. This had to be someone who did not know that Adrenne had died. Someone away from the Tower when it happened, and who does not mingle enough to hear the story."

  "Since we're about done on that subject, let's get back to the other matter," Camara Tal said. "Do you know who here in Arak are agents of the ki'zadun?" she asked Jula.

  The female Were-cat shook her head. "Not by name. I do know that they have a stronghold somewhere in the trades district. I know the signs of the organization. I could find it easily enough."

  "And we know that they are all searching for the Book of Ages."

  Jula nodded. "They know it's here. They've been looking for nearly four months, but they haven't found it yet. Or so I heard before I was flown down here to stall Tarrin."

  "Flown?" Sarraya asked.

  Jula looked down at the small sprite. "The ki'zadun uses trained Wyverns for fast messages and important people, Faerie. When Kravon decided I was more useful to stall Tarrin than to amuse him," she said with a slight shudder, "he had me trussed up and tied to a Wyvern. They gave the rider orders to bring me to Dala Yar Arak and drop me in a poor neighborhood. It took me nearly two days to unchain myself." She closed her eyes and hugged herself slightly. The pain he felt through her bond was sharp. The memories of what she did while she was insane were torturing her inside, though she said nothing and pretended that it didn't matter. Jula was a very good actor.

  "How did they know we were coming here?" Dolanna asked.

  "Agents," she replied. "They can't track Tarrin with magic, and they don't know enough about the others to track them, so they rely on agents to gather information. Once they found out you were hiding with the circus, it wasn't hard to keep track of you."

  "That doesn't explain Jegojah," Tarrin said. "How did it know where I was all the time?"

  "Jegojah is not normal magic, Tarrin," Jula replied calmly. "They had your hair from the fight with the Wraith, and they used it to give the Doomwalker the power to find you. It could point right to you at any time and tell someone exactly how many longspans away you were. There is no hiding from a Doomwalker." She laughed ruefully. "But that's probably a moot point now."

  "What do you mean?"

  "I was there when Kravon raised its spirit and interrogated it, after Tarrin killed it again," she replied. "I was kept chained up in Kravon's lab, and that's where he did all his real business. Anyway, it refused to come after you again, even after Kravon threatened to permanently destroy its soul. That's not a small complement, Tarrin. Kravon will certainly raise Jegojah again and send it after you, but not immediately."

  "Why not?"

  "Doomwalkers are very powerful," Jula replied. "If Jegojah resists, there's a chance that he'll break free of Kravon's control. If that happens, he'll turn on Kravon so fast that the heartless bastard will never know what hit him. Kravon has to force it to agree to being raised, either by talking it into it, or torturing its soul to force its cooperation for the raising. Either way, it won't be quick. Jegojah is an unusually strong-willed soul. Kravon will have to work at it to wear him down."

  "Thank the Goddess for small favors," Tarrin sighed.

  The tent flap opened, and Phandebrass stepped in. "I say, Dolanna, do you happen--" he began, then he got a good look at Jula and stopped. "Dear me, I didn't know you were entertaining a relative, Tarrin, I didn't. Do you want me to come back?"

  "That's alright, Phandebrass," Tarrin said. "In fact, why don't you come in and take a seat? Your ability to ask good questions may come in handy."

  "I say, if you want me to, lad," he said, closing the tent flap. "May I be introduced to your friend?"

  "Friend?" Sarraya said, then she laughed.

  "This is Jula, you old coot," Camara Tal said sharply. "The Jula."

  "Jula? I say, you're not dead? Tarrin must be feeling ill."

  Dolanna smiled, and Tarrin blew out his breath. "Jula here is spilling her guts about her former employers," Sarraya told the mage. "So far, she's been very helpful."

  "I say, I didn't know Jula was a Were-cat."

  "They didn't know about that, Master Phandebrass," Jula said dismissively. "Let's say that it was a rather foolish accident on my part."

  "So, you're explaining the ki'zadun, are you? I say, I'm sorry I missed the first part."

  "It's nothing we can't repeat to you," Camara Tal told him.

  "True, true," he agreed, sitting down on a chest by the table.

  "Anyway, like I said, right now they're concentrating on the Firestaff," Jula told them. "I don't know the details of what's going on here in Dala Yar Arak, but I do know that every agent they have is searching anywhere they can think of. They've even sent thieves into the Imperial Library's private vaults to see if it was there. Every other operation has been suspended. They even have the agents in the Emperor's court looking for it. That made some of the courtesans very unhappy. The only work they like to do is the kind where they lay on their backs."

  "I doubt they have found it since she heard that," Dolanna said. "If they had, they would not still be looking. And they would probably turn and try to kill us."

  "Why not do it now?" Sarraya asked.

  "Because we're another set of searchers," Camara Tal answered. "If they know we're here, then there's no doubt they're watching us. So if we find it, they can just move in and try to take it from us."

  "Precisely," Jula agreed. "Until the book is found, anyone is useful to them, even you. After someone finds it, that's when the real war is going to begin. After all, you and them aren't the only ones looking for it. Half the foreigners in Dala Yar Arak are here looking for that book, or the Firestaff itself."

  "How did they know to come here?" Tarrin asked curiously.

  "Because yo
u are here," Jula told him plainly. "They know who you are, Tarrin. If you're here looking for something, they're going to look here too. Even if they don't know exactly what you're looking for."

  "How could they know that?"

  "Information has a way of spreading, no matter how secret it is," Phandebrass told him. "I say, there's little doubt the ki'zadun itself is infiltrated with agents of other powers."

  "Most likely," Jula nodded in agreement. "Every man or woman sent here by someone else was sent here because you came here. They hope that they can get lucky and find whatever you're looking for before you do."

  "I find it hard to believe that so many people know about me," Tarrin snorted.

  "Tarrin, you're probably the most notorious man alive," Jula told him. "You're not even a rumor anymore. You're reaching mythic proportions."

  "What do you mean?"

  "You shake the entire world every time you take a step, father dearest," Jula said with a little smile. "Stories of you are flying everywhere. Stories of Sheba, stories of Zakkites, stories of your fights with Jegojah and Triana. The people who've seen you fight spread those tales, as do many of the people in this circus. There's a trail of legendary stories laid out behind you, spreading from every port you've visited. You're reputed to be a hundred spans tall and have gods brush your hair every night before bed." She leaned back slightly when he scowled at her. "That reputation actually works in your favor," she explained. "The people who've heard the rumors are afraid of you, so most of them won't directly interfere with you. Your power and your ruthlessness are universally known. They're afraid they'll just be added to the list of enemies you've destroyed. The only ones that will try to directly interfere with you are the strongest ones. The ki'zadun, the Zakkites, the Wikuni, the Arakites, Sharadar, Shu Lung. Groups with that much power and influence."

  "I say, she makes sense, lad," Phandebrass agreed. "I've heard some of those rumors myself, I have. They're very flattering for you."

  Tarrin crossed his arms. "Silliness," he grunted. "But I'm not going to gainsay it. If people are too afraid of me to get in my way, those are people I won't have to kill."

  "Something like that," Jula agreed. "Only the ki'zadun and the Zakkites know the truth about you, so they're your greatest adversaries."

  "What truth?" he demanded.

  "That you are the Mi'Shara," she replied. "Not just any mi'shara, the Mi'Shara. They know that means that you're the greatest threat to their own plans, but they also have to work around you in case you succeed where they do not. That means that they'll try to stop you. That's what Kravon's been trying to do for over a year. But if it becomes clear you're going to get the Firestaff, they'll stop trying to kill you, let you get it, then try to take it from you when you succeed."

  "This is something we have discussed before, dear one," Dolanna reminded him. "It fits with what we already know."

  "I know," he grunted, leaning on the table. Sarraya walked over and patted him on the forearm, looking up at him with her blue eyes and a light smile.

  "Well, unless you want some specifics, that about covers what I know," she said. "That's the plan, as far as I remember."

  "So, what do we do about it?" Camara Tal asked.

  "Simple," Tarrin said, looking right at the Amazon. "We do nothing."

  "What?" Sarraya demanded.

  "We do nothing," he repeated. "Jula said they're not going to interfere with us, because we may find the book. If we do, they intend to take it from us. Right now, that's the most important thing there is. If we stop looking for the book to get into a running war with the ki'zadun, we'll be wasting precious time. We let them be, at least for now. We kill any agents we come across and discourage them from following us, but we don't crusade."

  Dolanna looked at Tarrin sharply. "That is what I was going to suggest," she agreed. "I do think that we should locate their hidden places, in case we are the ones who must attack them to gain the book. It is only wise."

  "We'll take care of that," Tarrin said, looking at Jula. "She can find them for us. It'll give us something to do during the day."

  "Us? We?" Jula asked curiously.

  "Let me make this clear to you right now, woman," Tarrin said bluntly. "Until I release you, you're not getting out of my sight. You are going to be right beside me. You are going to eat with me, sleep by me, and you will even bathe with me. If you find yourself away from me without my permission, you will come and find me. If you don't, I'll consider you a runaway, and I'll deal with you like any other Rogue. I'm not joking about this, and I won't give you any warnings. Do you understand me?"

  Jula paled, then nodded fervently.

  "Good." He turned to Dolanna. "We may want to consider moving to an inn, Dolanna," he said. "I carried Jula through half the city. Alot of people saw us, and some of them are going to connect Jula with the killings."

  "Killings?"

  "I, I've been here nearly a ride," Jula said slowly. "I was a wild animal dropped into a city full of defenseless prey."

  "I, understand," Dolanna said, her eyes softening.

  "There are other reasons," he said. "The circus is too tempting a target to anyone who wants to get at us. They know we'll move to defend it if we're here. We should leave them, if only to protect them from our problems. These tents just aren't secure enough. One fire, and we'd be done for."

  "No argument there," Camara Tal nodded. "I'm getting tired of sharing my tent with a bunch of jabbering girls, anyway. Kids talk endlessly."

  "I say, I think Tarrin's right," Phandebrass nodded. "We're too open here, too vulnerable, we are. And too many people know where to find us."

  "Then I will look into renting an inn," Dolanna told them. "Just as it was in Shoran's Fork. If we control the entire inn, then we reduce our vulnerability."

  "Something as close to the center of the city as you can, Dolanna," Sarraya said. "Do you have any idea how far I have to fly to get to my search area? And it's even worse for Dar and Camara Tal. They have to travel over an hour just to get to where they can start looking."

  "That reminds me of what we were talking about before Tarrin dumped Jula on the floor," Camara Tal said. "You'd better be very careful out there, Tarrin, Sarraya. There's a Demon in Dala Yar Arak."

  "A Demon?" Tarrin said in surprise. "I thought they were all banished from Sennadar. I didn't think even a Wizard could summon one anymore."

  "Wizards can summon a Demon, my boy. They're just not stupid enough to try," Phandebrass said. "A Demon would make Jegojah look like an apprentice's conjured shade. No living Wizard has the power or skill to contain such a monster. And to even be able to summon one, the summoner has to know the Demon's true name. You can't find that information anymore."

  "Why not?"

  "Such information is commonly written in spellbooks, and they were destroyed in the Breaking," Phandebrass told him, pulling a bit at his robe. "I say, no Wizard before the Breaking would have dared write such a thing in anything but a spellbook. The consequences would have been utterly disastrous."

  "What do you think this Demon wants?" Tarrin asked Camara Tal.

  "I have no idea. I didn't see it, I only saw a pack of Hellhounds."

  "What are those?"

  "I say, Hellhounds are denizens of the Lower World," Phandebrass replied. "They're special creatures, servants of Demons. No Wizard can summon a Hellhound, because they don't have true names. Only Demons can summon them from their evil dimension, so if you see a Hellhound, then the Demon who summoned it must be somewhere nearby."

  "What would a Demon want here?"

  "The same as us," Sarraya grunted. "A Demon could use the Firestaff just as easily as anyone else."

  "That's a pleasant thought," Camara Tal grated.

  "Fighting the ki'zadun or the Zakkites is one thing, but a Demon is an entirely different game," Jula said hotly. "I don't want anything to do with that."

  "You'll do what I tell you to do," Tarrin whirled on her, his eyes boring into hers like dag
gers. "If I tell you to attack a Demon with a soup spoon, you'll do it, or I'll kill you myself. Do you understand me?"

  "I understand, Tarrin," she said after a moment of silence. "But you wouldn't do that to me, would you?"

  "Probably not, but I won't tolerate any defiance out of you. You'd better get that in your head right now. I've killed men for less sass than you just gave me."

  "They're not me," she said with a small smile.

  "No. I'd enjoy killing you, witch. Don't forget that."

  Jula paled visibly and averted her eyes. "No, I won't forget that."

  The tent flap opened again, and Allia stepped in with Dar just behind. The Selani took one look at the seated Jula, and she reacted instantly. With such speed that the humans in the tent couldn't even track her movements, Allia drew one of her hidden swords and lunged at the Were-cat female. Jula stared at her in incomprehsensible shock, and had Tarrin not intercepted her, grabbed her by her wrist and pulled her to the side, she would have impaled Jula through the face with her sword. Allia writhed and squirmed in Tarrin's grasp, trying to free herself and attack the startled Jula. "Have you lost your mind?" Allia snapped hotly at him in Selani. "Let me go!"

  "Not until you put your sword away," Tarrin replied sternly. "Jula's not here as an enemy."

  "But she--"

  "That's overwith," he stated. "Believe me, she was already punished for what she did, more than I could ever have punished her. Honor has been satisfied."

  "Never, in my life, have I seen someone move so fast!" Dolanna said reverently to Camara Tal.

  Allia resisted against her brother, but he had her firmly around the waist and her back against his stomach. But then her writhing eased, when she realized that he wasn't about to let her go. "Honor won't be satisfied until she is dead!" Allia declared with a vicious glare at the female Were-cat.

  "Trust me, deshaida," he said soothingly. "I don't much like it myself, but she did suffer for what she did. You can see that she's Were now. Well, she went mad."

  "She did?"