What Lies Within (Book 5) (6 page)

   She glanced across at Shenwolf. He had his sword drawn and was peering about him, wild-eyed and unsure of himself. Her gaze returned to Orbelon, then scanned the chamber. She realized immediately what it was that had changed.

   This time there was no vaporous globe containing and constraining her. She stood freely upon the uncertain floor.

   And Triune was not present.

   'It’s all right, child,' said Orbelon softly, sensitive to her disquiet. 'We have passed through safely.'

   'But where is Triune?' queried Issul. 'And what of the Reach Rider?'

   'This is what we must discover. Stay close to me at all times. You need my protection.' Orbelon glanced at Shenwolf. 'Are you all right?'

   'I feel no ill effects, bar a gut feeling that all is not well,' Shenwolf replied.

   'Then the talisman is effective, as I had hoped. Tell me immediately if you feel any change.' Orbelon seemed to study the tower chamber. 'Something extraordinary is happening here. I do not know what it is, but it is not quite what I had anticipated.'

   'Are we in danger?' Issul asked.

   'We should remain alert and expect the unexpected. Now, before we go further, tell me something. Does Triune know that you are Queen of Enchantment's Reach?'

   'I- I don't know. I did not tell her as much, nor did she indicate that she was aware. But I did make plain my concern over Enchantment's Reach. Is it important?'

   'I do not know, but for the present let’s keep it to ourselves.'

   He turned to Shenwolf, who nodded. 'Very good.'

   Orbelon raised his voice and spoke in sonorous tones.
'Triune! Are you here? Show yourself if you are. Triune! I am Orbelon. I have returned.'

   There was no response, no sense of the tower being occupied. The air eddied and surged outside. Issul thought again that she heard a faint crackling sound, as if improbable energies seethed.

   'I don’t believe Triune would willingly have deserted this place,' said Orbelon. 'And . . . no, the evidence in the underground chamber was that a Reach Rider was preparing to break through. And there is a Reach Rider close by. I sense it. But . . . Something . . . I cannot grasp it.'

   He moved a little way across the chamber. Issul kept pace with him. Shenwolf went the other way, examining the walls, for there was no obvious sign of a way out. Issul glanced back; the Farplace Opening through which they had come shimmered, pale blue and cloudy grey, much less dazzling than in the
Karai bunker.

   Orbelon spoke again.
'Triune. Are you here?'

   Again there was only the sound of the air outside. To Issul Orbelon said, 'You are in no
doubt, this is the place that Triune told you was hers?'

   Again Issul sent her thoughts back to that fear-filled time when she had first entered this chamber. 'No. As I recall she made no specific reference to the tower itself. She said she had acquired the Farplace Opening from the god who aids the
Karai.' Another thought came to Issul. 'She said . . . she said she was giving me something, though I do not know what. She told me I could dream and bring her forth.'

   'Then perhaps it is you, rather than I, who have the power to summon her.'

   'I don’t know how.'

   'Call her, in her three separate forms. Call her and see what happens.'

   Issul did so. 'Triune, it is I, Issul, who came here from the formed world, from the Reach. I upon whom you bestowed a gift. You said you could be with me. If you hear me, come forth now.'

   A sixth sense made Issul look behind her. Blinking in the blur of the Farplace Opening was a triad of
Karai warriors. They were momentarily dazed, but their bright gem-eyes focused quickly. Two of them advanced immediately upon Shenwolf, whose back was turned. The third came towards Issul.

  
'Shenwolf!' Issul yelled. She swiftly stooped to put down the blue casket, then with sword drawn met the third Karai.

   He came at her, swinging his blade, lunging. She darted back, parrying the blow. From the other side of the chamber she heard the clash of steel against steel as Shenwolf met the other two, but she was too hard-pressed to see how he fared.

   The Karai drove forward, grim-faced and determined despite his disorientation. He stabbed and slashed with a flurry of rapid, powerful blows. There was little space to maneuver. Issul, using the long, unfamiliar sword she had taken from Tracker in the woods, found herself disadvantaged. She deflected his thrusts, but the force of his blows jarred her arm and she was unable to gain the offensive.

   Her heel came up against the stone wall of the chamber. Reflexively she bent her knees, lowering her centre and slipping to the side as the
Karai struck. His blade slammed into the stone, raising sparks. Issul brought her own sword up, slicing near-vertically as she ducked free. She heard him grunt as her blade opened his arm. She pulled away, stepping around and to the side. Two-handed, she hefted the sword and swung as the Karai wheeled about to face her. Her blade caught him hard in the neck, liberating a stream of bright blood. He staggered, marvellous eyes widening in pained surprise, then fell, clutching his neck.

   She spun around. One of Shenwolf's assailants was on the ground, blood seeping beneath him. The other, as she watched, was forced against the wall, his sword knocked from his hand, the point of Shenwolf's blade pressed to his throat. He should have yielded. Instead his gaze met Shenwolf's, darted to Issul and Orbelon, then met Shenwolf's once more.
He nodded slightly, without emotion, seeming to make an acknowledgement of some kind. Then he drove himself forward so that the blade pierced his windpipe, passing through his neck to protrude briefly at the base of his skull.

   Shenwolf cursed and pulled back, drawing the weapon free. The
Karai sank to his knees, gurgling, choking on his own blood. He turned his pained eyes to Shenwolf again, and reached out for the sword.

   Shenwolf looked disconsolately to Issul. 'He is dying. We cannot save him now.'

   'Then help him die.'

   She sighed. The ghastly wet sound of the
Karai's breathing ceased. Resignedly she crossed to the other one and with Shenwolf's help rolled him onto his back. He was alive, but unconscious and barely breathing. Shenwolf's sword had penetrated deep between his ribs. He would not last long.

   Issul looked back at the Farplace Opening. 'The others will come, from the camp.
As many as fifty or more. We can't hope to fight them all.'

   She realized at that moment that they were no longer alone in the high chamber. Standing beside the table at the far end were three slender children of indeterminate gender. They were identical but for slight variations in height. They were motionless, near-expressionless, their hair long and pure white, their eyes glowing a fabulous, unnatural, deep lapis blue. Each wore a long loose garment of resplendent silver-white.

   'Triune.'

ii

   The three children blinked in perfect synchrony, looking from one to the other of their three visitors. Their gaze lingered on Orbelon.

   'Orbelon, is it truly you, after so long?' enquired the middle child.

   Orbelon leaned heavily upon his staff. 'Aye, it is me.'

   'Yes, and across the eons you have not altered. Are we surprised by this? Perhaps not. But we see that you come with our visitor from the Reach. Now that intrigues us. And who is this other who fights alongside her?'

   Shenwolf came forward to stand at Issul's side. 'I am Shenwolf.'

   'That has no meaning for us.'

   'He is a warrior who shares our hopes and aspirations,' Orbelon said.

   'Hmm. Well, explain to us, Orbelon; inform Triune, what are these hopes and aspirations? Why do you come here, now?'

  
'In part to speak to you, to seek your advice and aid. Why did you not answer my summons?'

   'Our first response was that you were of insufficient interest.'

   Orbelon spluttered, plainly affronted.

  
'But our visitor from the Reach, now that is another matter.' The three children smiled at Issul. 'But tell us, why did you not inform us? Why did you not dream and bring us forth, as we told you to do? We seek our reunion and you could have assisted us.'

   'I
’m sorry,' said Issul. 'I did not know how. You did not make it plain.'

   'Ah.'

   'She is mortal, Triune. Of the Reach,' Orbelon said. 'You place too much upon her. She can’t fully grasp what happens here.'

   'Perhaps it is so,' said the tallest child.
'A pity, then. But no matter.'

   'Triune, I must warn you of the
Karai,' said Issul with urgency. 'They will be pouring through here in moments, investigating the fate of these three.'

   The smallest of the three Triune-children walked forward and raised a hand. The Farplace Opening seemed to gather itself, forming into a semi-transparent blue globe. At virtually the same moment four
Karai warriors appeared within, their swords drawn. Their faces, initially fierce, showed sudden surprise. They gaped at their unexpected environment and its occupants. They pressed, then struck at the enclosing membrane, to no avail.

   'What is to be done with them?' said the smallest child.

   'Do we wish them here?' the middle child asked.

   'No. They are of insufficient interest.'

   'Send them back, then,' said the taller.

   'Yes, send them back.' The smallest child motioned again with a hand and the four
Karai vanished, leaving only a billowing misty blue globe in their wake.

   The three turned, standing side by side once more, and smiled as one at Orbelon, Issul and Shenwolf. 'We are broken, but not without strength. And here we are strong.'

   'Triune, what is happening here?' demanded Orbelon.

   'We guard the Opening.'

   'Against whom?'

   'You are not aware? It is she who engineered our downfall, yours too.
She who sundered us.'

  
'Strymnia?'

   Triune nodded.
'Strymnia.'

   Orbelon mulled on this. 'It is no great surprise. And is it also she who aids the
Karai and marches against the kingdom of Enchantment's Reach?'

   'It is.'

   Orbelon turned to Issul. 'There at least is an answer to one of your questions.'

   'Why does Strymnia march against us?' demanded Issul. 'We have given her no cause. Nor, as far as I am aware, has she been provoked by the southern Mondane Kingdoms, yet with the
Karai she has crushed them.'

   Six s
light and slender shoulders lifted in an indifferent shrug. 'Perhaps she was bored. Or perhaps not. We do suspect a particular motive, for her efforts have been intense and methodical. But we do not know what it is.'

   Orbelon said, 'On the other side of the Opening I was conscious of a Reach Rider preparing to break through. I sense its presence still.'

   'Yes, there is a Rider,' replied the taller child. 'It almost succeeded in breaking through. It is below, now. We have it contained, at least for a time.'

   'Is it yours?'

   'Ours? By all the powers of Enchantment, no. It is Strymnia's, of course.'

   'The resources and energies required to beget and empower a Reach Rider are immense. It will have cost her. Or
is her cost - and her burden - shared? You know that when she bested me, and subsequently yourself, she had others working with her?'

   Triune's three pale heads nodded. 'She deceived Urch-Malmain and caused him to vanish. We are not sure how.'

   'Deceived Urch-Malmain?' mused Orbelon. 'That is no easy feat.'

   'He was surely distracted by his joy at your defeat, for it was at that time that he disappeared. Strymnia's other co-conspirator was Bartacanes. But he, noting Urch-Malmain's abrupt absence, grew mistrustful and quickly withdrew himself from her company. We are reasonably sure that Strymnia now operates alone.'

   At the mention of Urch-Malmain Issul and Shenwolf exchanged weighted glances. Issul sensed Shenwolf's apprehension, even moreso that of Orbelon who in recent days on the journey towards the Karai camp had spoken several times of Urch-Malmain. It was Orbelon who had identified the strange ivory carving which Shenwolf had passed to the Legendary Child. He had recognized it as a talisman commonly used by Urch-Malmain in the distant past. Furthermore, Orbelon now claimed to have become uncomfortably aware of Urch-Malmain's presence, 'as though he watches me'.

   'Do you know what became of Urch?' Orbelon was asking.

   'Now that is interesting,' replied the tallest child, and all three faces broke into identical, bright-toothed smiles which conveyed nothing more than did the smile upon a mask. Six glowing blue eyes stared.