What Lies Within (Book 5) (3 page)

   Leth contemplated reaching out to grasp the Noeticist's throat and throttle the life out of him. It was a hopeless notion, and Urch-Malmain smiled as if aware of it.

   'Leth?'

   At that moment there was an outcry from behind Urch-Malmain's back. Elements of the Portal's apparatus had begun to glow, and the voices of several entities cried out at once, 'Fluctuations! Urch-Malmain, there are fluctuations! There are tamperings!'

   'What?' Urch-Malmain spun around and lurched towards the arch of the portal. 'Fluctuations? Tamperings? What do you mean?'

   'Someone or something is aware of the Portal's tail. They are trying to influence it?'

   'How? To what end?'

   'That may be why we have had such difficulty!'

   'What are they doing?  Where are they?' yelled Urch-Malmain.

   'We do not know!'

   'Who are they? What do they want?'

   'We do not know that either. We cannot identify the source, we are merely aware of its presence.'

   Urch-Malmain stamped and swore. He threw his good arm above his head. 'Does someone know I am here?' He turned and glared at Leth. 'I will deal with you later. Harg, take the Swordbearer back to his chamber.'

TWO

i

      Leth was trapped. It had been plain from the outset that to rely upon Urch-Malmain's word would be unwise, hence Leth had spent each hour
of each day anticipating duplicity in some form. But the greater horror - greater even than the fear of death - had, for him, always lain in his awareness of the Noeticist's talent for altering the minds of others.

   Now the horror was upon him and he lacked the option to resist. He no longer possessed a reliable weapon, and was a prisoner in Urch-Malmain's stronghold. The possibility of allowing the unformed
miscreant god into his mind turned him cold with revulsion. No matter the Noeticist's silky reassurances, Leth would be changed forever, reformed as some new creature, blindly and unquestioningly obedient to Urch-Malmain's will, capable of wickedness of any magnitude. And he would not even know it.

   As he watched his children and his anxiety deepened. Their joy at his return had been effusive, and as is a child's wont, they were utterly oblivious to the weight he carried.

   'Dadda, when are we going home?' Jace wanted to know.

   And Leth could only murmur, 'Soon, my precious.
Soon.'

   His words sounded dull and hollow.

   In his mind, as he sat on the edge of the bed, he went over and over all his previous conversations with Urch-Malmain, seeking there a hope, anything that might buy him a reprieve. He had to make the Noeticist believe that he was more useful to him now, as he was, rather than in some altered state. Somehow he had to dissuade him from entering his mind.

   Or he had to find a way of escape.

   But escape to where? Back into the bleakness of Orbelon's world? It was here, in the Tower of Glancing Memory, that the only hope of returning to Enchantment's Reach lay.

  
Orbelon, Orbelon, why have you abandoned us here? Why have you made us suffer all this, only to fail now?

   Or was your sole purpose in bringing me here simply to have me slay Ascaria, with no regard for my subsequent fate or the fate of my children?

   That thought had come to Leth in recent days: that Orbelon had brought him to this world only to rid himself of Ascaria and the malign influence she exerted upon and within him.

   But had Orbelon actually been responsible for bringing him here?

   Leth recalled, days earlier, as he had journeyed with Lakewander towards the Shore of Nothing, he had heard a voice. Orbelon's voice, he had been all but certain. Distant, as though carried on a wind, though there was no wind - calling him:
'Be strong, Leth. I am seeking you.'

   Had it been real? Lakewander had heard nothing. 'A sound intended for your ears alone?' she had wondered aloud, when he spoke of it. 

   So might it have been his imagination? Was his need to find Orbelon, the Creator of this strange world in which he found himself, so overriding that he had allowed himself to be deluded into believing Orbelon had spoken directly to him?

   It struck Leth that he had come this far without Orbelon's assistance. Why should the god intervene on his behalf now?

   And again the taunting thought: Had Orbelon abandoned him here? Or could there be something else afoot? Was it possible that Orbelon was himself prevented, for reasons unknown, from doing anything to help him?

   Despite his recent sleep, Leth was bone-weary again. He allowed himself to sink back on top of the bed. As he did so he experienced a momentary disturbance of his senses. There was a feeling of the air close around him having shifted. He thought of the stirring of unseen wings.

   Twice in recent days he had experienced something similar. The first occasion had been when, with Galry and Jace, he had traipsed the empty blue domain that, as far as he was then aware, was all that comprised Orbelon's World. He had had the impression that something ghostly had brushed against him, the briefest flicker just whispering past his ear.

   Later, as he was about to set out with Lakewander from her home (which, uncannily, she and her people called Orbia – the same name as Leth's own palace in Enchantment's Reach) he had experienced it again. He was waiting on his sleek black stallion, Swiftwind, clad in the sapphire armour. This time the sensation had been more pronounced.

   Now he blinked and peered into the air before him, trying to make out something that was not there.

   The impression had already passed. He gave up and lay staring at the ceiling.

  
Orbelon! Orbelon! We are lost and afraid. We need you, as your world needs you too. Why aren’t you with us?

ii

   Urch-Malmain returned to Leth's chamber as dusk was gathered outside.

   'Have you given the matter more thought, Leth?'

   'I have thought only that what you propose is unnecessary.'

   'I am sorry, I do not see it that way.'

   'I am no threat to you.'

   'You are a wild card, potentially disastrous.'

  
'How so? Surely you intend to make your presence known in Enchantment anyway?'

  
'At the proper time, but not before.' He slid around a little, his dark eyes intent. 'It will be painless, Leth. I can assure you of that.'

   A servant had entered a few moments earlier and lit candles and a lamp, which now cast faint, slowly wavering shadows about the chamber. Galry and Jace sat to one side, sharing a single carved ebony chair. They listened, silent and attentive to the exchange between their father and the ugly, misshapen man in the black robe, though they understood little of its true import.

   'Think of your children, Leth.'

   Again Leth could barely contain his fury.
But a pair of Abyss warriors stood alert inside the door, and besides, he knew that if he was to have any hope at all he must remain calm and in control.

   He swivelled slightly, towards the window, for Urch-Malmain was again trying to place himself in his line of vision.

   'You want to go home, don't you, Leth?'

   'There are things I wish to discuss.'

   'Hmm. I had not considered debating the issue, heh-heh-heh. But if it amuses you, why not? I have a little time to spare while those incompetent entities endeavour to put themselves and the artefact to rights. What did you wish to know?'

   'When you first brought me here, you spoke of someone having been brought here through the Portal, in your own words, someone who might be of interest to me.'

   'Ah yes, I had quite forgotten!'

   'Is this person here now?'

   'As far as I am aware. Certainly, there has been no opportunity for escape. Would you like to meet?'

   'Very much,' said Leth, deeply intrigued despite his agitation. A little of the tension slipped from between his shoulderblades at the realization that, at least for the moment, he had gained himself a respite.

   'It might prove an interesting diversion, though I fear you will find this person rather unforthcoming' commented Urch-Malmain, and turned to hobble from the room. 'Leave your brats here, though.'

   Urch-Malmain, with his two guards in tow, led Leth along the corridor then down a short narrow stairway, along another short passage and up a flight of twisting stairs. They air was chill. They ascended two levels and at length paused outside a low, dark iron portal. Urch-Malmain motioned to one of the Abyss warriors, who took down a key from a hook in the stone wall and unlocked the door. With a lamp in his hand the warrior pushed the door open and led them inside.

   They entered a small, bare chamber which Leth at first took to be empty. Then he saw, in the gloom in one corner, a figure lying upon a rude litter of straw and sacking.

   Urch-Malmain crossed the room, hailing the person. 'Come along now, ruffian, rouse yourself! I have brought you a visitor.'

   He bent over the prisoner, prodded with a short staff, bent a little further, then straightened, frowning. 'Oh. He appears to be dead.'

   Leth strode to Urch-Malmain's side. He looked down. Lying on its back, staring sightlessly at the ceiling, was the body of a
Karai. The open eyes, once bright as gems, were now lifeless and dull. Leth noted the insignia upon his padded leather jupon: he had been an officer of some rank.

   'What did you do to him?' Leth growled.

   'I? Nothing!' Urch-Malmain replied, his tone offended. 'But it is queer. After he arrived here, he was as I said, most unforthcoming. I could get barely a word out of him. All he would say, no matter what questions I put to him, was "I am the dead". I thought him rather foolish, if not actually feeble-minded.'

   'You did not 'alter
’ his mind'?'

   'I had other things to think about. And as I say, with so much else going on I had all but forgotten him until you reminded me.'

   Leth considered. He had heard tales of the Karai, their extraordinary pride as warriors. It was said that they believed themselves incapable of defeat or capture by an enemy. Hence, a defeated Karai was not a Karai, but a non-thing, shamed and humiliated beyond tolerance. In his own, his former comrades' and his people's eyes, once bested he was already dead.

   Leth recalled that under such circumstances of capture or defeat individual
Karai - specifically those of the warrior caste - were said to be capable of inducing their own death. He had never before encountered this phenomenon, and had deemed it a probably spurious tale devised to augment the aura of mystique that surrounded the Karai. In fact he had never before been face to face with a Karai and he looked upon the fissured white features and lustreless eyes with some fascination. The death was a waste, but Leth could at least accept that Urch-Malmain's surprise and declaration of innocence were probably genuine.

   'When did this
Karai arrive here?'

  
'Oh, just weeks ago.'

   'Exchanged for whom?'

   Urch-Malmain seemed for a moment to weigh his reply. 'I told you before, for some young man I employed to test the portal.'

   'Employed?'

   'Perhaps utilized is a more accurate term, heh-heh.'

   Leth mulled upon this. If it was so recent, the chances seemed relatively good that this
Karai officer had been plucked at random from the ranks of the force invading Enchantment's Reach.

   'Ah well, alive or dead, it makes little difference to you, does it Leth?'

   'Had he lived he might have provided me with useful intelligence.'

  
'Of course!' Urch-Malmain grinned slyly. 'For you to make use of when you return. For these people invade your kingdom even as we speak. Well, his passing cannot be remedied, but we should do all we can to speed your return, should we not?'

   Leth felt the Noeticist's gaze, cunning and intent upon him
again, and quickly turned his head away. Urch-Malmain toyed with him, taking pleasure in it. Leth's anger grew, along with the dreadful acceptance that he could do nothing about it.

   'The longer you remain here, the greater your jeopardy at home, Leth.'

   'How much do you know of what is happening at Enchantment's Reach, Urch-Malmain?'

   'I feel no urge to divulge that information.'

   'Do you know who it is that aids the Karai? And why?'

   'Perhaps I do, and perhaps I do not. Now, Leth, I will say nothing more. Come, we must attend to changing your mind, heh-heh. Your stubbornness can only work to your disadvantage.'

   Leth felt desperation upon him. He had nothing to barter with. Nothing he might propose would sway Urch-Malmain, for what could suit the Noeticist more than someone moulded to perform his every wish? And if that someone was King of Enchantment's Reach . . .

   'Look at me, Leth.'

   Leth kept his eyes averted.

   'Leth . . .'

   Leth thought desperately, his nerve-ends raw.

   'It does no good, Leth.'

   There had to be something he could do. Something . . . There had to be!

   'Think of your children, Leth.'

   At those words Leth's fury burst from him. With a sudden roar he spun around and hurled himself at the two Abyss warriors who stood just inside the door. Both were taken unawares. Leth rammed his fist into the face of the nearest, and at the same moment reached out with his other hand and drew free the warrior's scimitar. He wheeled, and hacked down the second warrior as he struggled to unsheathe his own blade.

   The first warrior, recovering from the blow to his face, lunged empty-handed at Leth. Leth sidestepped, raising the scimitar, and sliced viciously across the warrior's breastbone. Then he turned on Urch-Malmain.

   With unexpected nimbleness the Noeticist had retreated to one corner of the chamber. He was grinning, showing no fear.