What Lies Within (Book 5) (23 page)

   Baron Ang's booming voice snapped him back to awareness. 'What-- what is it?'

   'This presence that you describe . . . tell me of its nature. From where has it come?'

   'It is . . . I don't know. A death rapture of some form has been placed upon you and your castle, perhaps. Or it may be random. A seepage from within Enchantment, a gout of magical energy discharged for no known reason, which has descended upon this place. Is there a natural force
here, that attracts such energy and prevents it from dissipating? Or even, do Enchantment's energies linger here through some strange attraction, when Enchantment itself diminished beyond this point, allowing the formed world to manifest long, long ago?'

   'Diminished? Linger?
The formed world?' Baron Ang shook his head. 'Of what do you speak? Are you mad? And why do you talk of Enchantment?'

   Leth realized he was talking of things unknown to ordinary folk: the secret of Enchantment's nature, revealed to him by Orbelon when he stood before him in the blue domain.

   'I am speculating, perhaps wildly, trying to seek an answer to what has befallen you,' he said, crossing the chamber and staring again into the wide mirror. As he did so it seemed that the surface of the mirror shifted.

   Leth gave a start, stared again. The mirror was as before.

   'Tell me, Baron Ang, is there something that keeps you tied to this world?'

   'I do not understand what you mean,' replied the Baron, but his voice faltered slightly.

   'There is a force of some kind that keeps you here, though I am convinced you died long ago. Tell me, then, during your lifetime did you, for instance, engage in a pact or make any attempt to manipulate unnatural forces?'

   Ang shook his head, though his uncharacteristic silence seemed to say as much as words ever could.

   'I am merely curious as to the success with which you for so long plied your criminal trade unapprehended,' Leth continued.

   'I am no criminal!' objected Ang. 'This is my territory!'

   Leth chose not to argue. 'Also the fact that the location of your castle has never been discovered, though it was long searched for and many clues were followed. It is as though you and it were protected.' 

   Baron Ang's faced had taken on a greyish tinge.

   'There is something, isn't there?' said Leth.

   'No, you have it wrong, Clun. I was simply too clever for the Queen's troops.'

   Ang was no longer convincing. It seemed to Leth that he was thoroughly unnerved.

   A movement at the corner of his vision caused Leth to turn back to the mirror. His eyes widened. The surface of the mirror was in motion. It shifted, swelled, slowly, like viscid, mercurial sludge, as if something within it was disturbed.

   Instinctively Leth stepped back. As he did so the liquid silver glass gathered; a fluid form burst out of the mirror, a huge grasping hand formed of liquidized crystal. It reached out, and with a wet snapping sound its fingers closed upon the space Leth had just occupied.

   Leth staggered back as the hand reached for him again. He heard Baron Ang cry out in a guttural bellow, but did not make out his words. The silvered hand flew for him again. He darted away, seeking Galry and Jace, who stood huddled across the room.

   'Baron, what is happening here?' Leth shouted. 'What is this?'

   But Ang seemed in
a frenzy, robbed of his mind. He was roaring and clutching at his throat as if in great pain, or terror, or both. And though his big form twisted and writhed he appeared to be rooted to the spot.

   Weaponless, Leth retreated, trying to avoid the mirror's hand but fearful that if he proved too elusive it might turn upon his children. He glanced frantically about him, seeking a weapon, though he was not sure that any normal weapon would be effective against so bizarre a foe.

   But the hand veered suddenly away. Extending further out of the mirror now, it turned and reached for Baron Ang, plucking him effortlessly from his place behind the table. He vented a terrible scream as he was dragged across the table, scattering goblets, plates, food and cutlery.

   'Help me! Oh no! Oh please, Clun, help me!'

   In Leth's ear - or was it in his mind? - a voice more urgent than any he had known hissed, 'Smash the mirror! Now!'

   Baron Ang was drawn blubbering into the mirror, his plump legs kicking wildly. Leth looked around desperately for something to smash the mirror. Beside the fireplace he saw a set of sturdy black irons. He threw himself across the chamber, grabbed one of these, spun and hurled it just as the great hand clasping Baron Ang melded back into the liquid glass. Baron Ang vanished entirely into the mirror's troubled surface at the same moment that the fire-iron flew. The mirror lapped murkily, settling quickly to stillness. As the iron smashed into it the mirror shattered with a strange clattering, sucking sound, into a million semi-liquid droplets. The weird glass disintegrated, falling to the floor in a shower of bright shards, gobbets and shimmering dust. Its golden frame also dissolved. Where the mirror had been was a shocking emptiness. And from somewhere deep within that emptiness came the sound of Baron Ang's stricken scream, diminishing into a terrible and unknowable distance until there was no sound at all.

   Leth stood, frozen, breathing hard, disbelieving. For a moment he was seized by a sensation of utmost dread, for he was staring, as he had stared before, into Nothing. He was cast back into Orbelon's world, where he had stood upon the Shore of Nothing, gaping numb and disbelieving into the vast, ungraspable emptiness that was the End of the World. And he felt again as he had felt then, that that terrible void had somehow entered him, that he would never again be free of it.

   He could barely breathe. His heart hammered, he felt nauseous, the air burned in his lungs. And then as he watched, the wall where the mirror had hung began to reappear. Within moments the rough grey stones had reformed and there was nothing to indicate that they had ever been absent.

   Leth turned, haggard and distraught. The cold flames in the great fireplace had gone; the hearth was empty. Galry and Jace stood beside it, watching him with saucer eyes. They were holding each other, pale with shock. He walked over and took them in his trembling arms. 'Come, brave little ones. We must leave this place.       

NINE

i

   Castle Ang was now deserted. Leth had seen a full complement of men-at-arms and household staff when he had arrived with Galry and Jace, but none of them remained. They had not fled, nor hidden themselves; they had simply vanished. Whatever dread numen or malign force had resided in that place had held more than Baron Ang himself in thralldom within the domain of the living.

   Leth was anxious to be gone quickly but he nevertheless made a swift search of the castle. In a sidechamber he found weapons, and availed himself of a good longsword, dagger and hunting-knife. Another dagger and belt he gave to Galry. He found strong, waterproof capes and warm clothing, cloaks and blankets. In a pair of wooden chests beneath Baron Ang's bed he discovered a hoard of coins, precious gems and jewellery, and took more than enough to meet any expenses he might reasonably expect to incur over the coming weeks. The kitchen and pantries revealed an excellent choice of foodstuffs, and other sundry items of equipment he found in a storeroom.

   Though Castle Ang's personnel were gone, their livestock remained, including cattle, pigs, sheep and, in the stables, more than forty horses. Leth gave the mare he had bought from Jalibir to Jace to ride, then chose a strong black gelding for himself and a roan mare for Galry. He loaded their donkey with the provisions and equipment he deemed essential for the journey and tethered it to his mount. The other beasts he set free to roam as they would.

   As he rode out of the castle with his two children Leth turned in the saddle and looked back. Castle Ang revealed itself as a lowering three level donjon of grimy black stone, guarded by four squat, barrel-shaped towers and a high fortified curtain wall. White mist still clung about its mass, but overhead Leth glimpsed pale blue spaces and a hazy sun burning through.

*

   They rode for an hour, with Leth keeping track of the sun in the hope of determining their direction. He observed the orientation of moss and lichen growing on tree-trunks and rocks, comparing this to the position the sun now occupied, and soon arrived at a confident assessment of north, south, east and west. Still, the landscape lacked familiar features, and having ridden here blindfolded Leth had no notion of which course to take to bring them back onto Angsway. Therefore they were obliged to cut out across country in a generally western direction, in the hope that within a few days they would find themselves in the vicinity of Ghismile Tarn.

   Looking back Leth had seen that Castle Ang, though secreted in a swale, remained visible from numerous points for almost half a league. From higher vantage points, he had calculated, it would be seen from further away. Hence he concluded that Baron Ang's hideout had previously been concealed by magical means; there could be no other explanation for Queen Fallorn's failure to locate it. The uncanny force that rendered it invisible must logically have been the same force that bestowed the semblance of life and consciousness upon Baron Ang and his followers - the force that issued from within the strange mirror. Had that force also been responsible for taking their lives in the first place? Leth turned away, shaking his head. He would probably never know.

   The land they were in was lonely and wild. Sparse forest half-clad rugged hills and high crags, with, opening before them as the mist cleared, a tract of bleak moorland dotted with granite tors.

   The day was chill. The lightest breeze began to gather, filtering down from the heights and dispersing the last remnants of mist. In a sheltered declivity they came upon a small blue lake, and Leth decided to rest for a while and eat.  He built a fire at the back of the shore and toasted some fillets of pork, which he and the children ate with slabs of bread, soft white cheese, olives, mushrooms and nuts. As they finished their meal Leth sat gazing out over the tranquil water. The air in front of him gathered and shifted, and Issul stood there upon the sand. She looked uneasy, taut with concern. 'Thank the spirits, you are safe!'

   Leth jumped to his feet as the children, at first startled, ran to her. 'Iss, what is the matter?'

   'We lost you. The castle you entered has powerful magical defences. I could not get to you. I was so worried.'

   'What kind of magic, Iss? What was happening there?'

   'It is indefinable, but of Enchantment. Orbelon thinks it residual, that something of Enchantment lingers here. He terms the castle a Place of Power. A tremendous battle was fought over it long, long ago between various of the Highest Ones. Something still remains. The whole area is affected. You must get away from here quickly. Look, the water.'

   Leth peered again at the lake. At first nothing struck him as unusual, and then he gave a start. The lake itself was surrounded by rugged hills, rising to mountains on its southern side and the high moor towards the west. Yet reflected in the water's surface was another landscape, superficially similar yet far from being a mirror-image. Where mountains should be was cloudless blue sky; trees reflected boulders, or images of another species, or gave no reflection at all; the rising moor was not visible.

   Leth's skin prickled. He wondered at the warmth and tranquility of this place. He had become almost seduced by it, without considering that, away from the lakeside, the air had been cold and almost bitter. He called the children, who were again tearful and complaining loudly at their mother's inability to take them in her arms. He quickly gathered their belongings and smothered the fire with sand. 'Iss, where do we go now? We are lost.'

   Issul pointed. 'A little over a league in that direction you will come upon Angsway again. Follow it westerly, as before. Another three days or less will bring you to Ghismile Tarn. Take care. I can stay no longer.'

   She was gone. Galry and Jace cried. Leth tried to calm them but they could not understand what was happening, nor why their mother should leave them again so abruptly. He put them both upon their mounts, still weeping, and led them away.

   They skirted the lower reach of the moor, plunged back into the forest, rode a trackless way between the great trees with their sprawling boughs and branches and slowly tumbling leaves. An hour passed, and another, and then at last they broke out upon the sinuous, partially overgrown track that was Angsway.

   Along this the three travelled as the dusk gathered and eventually darkness came and the stars appeared in profusion. A gibbous moon, on this night unobscured by fog or cloud, shed a delicate glow upon the path, but Leth soon halted, suspecting that they were unlikely to find human habitation or shelter. He built a fire in a sheltered hollow, and with the children gathered armfuls of bracken and grass for a bed. They spread their blankets, ate a quick meal, and lay down, huddled together for extra warmth. For some time they watched the stars in their gradual drift, vast milky white clouds and numberless bright pinpoints of white fire. Soon Leth grew aware of the children’s deep even breathing, and knew they were asleep. In a short time he too became drowsy; his eyelids closed and he slept soundly until the dawn.