Devastating Hate (55 page)

I: I think it's safe to say you two have had a bit of a rollercoaster ride on your journey to Tark Draan. But let's go back to the beginning. You two were once enemies—how did it feel to be told you would have to work together to find the demon—and what did you think when you succeeded?

S (trying the wine): What, by the infamous gods, is this? It looks like wine, but it tastes appalling!

C (raising his eyebrows): I'd say they haven't found the best of vintages. We should make the butler drink it until his guts burst.

S (moves the wine away): To start with, being bound together with Caphalor like this was a shock. We have different ways of thinking.

C: Very different. And I'd be lying if I said we understand each other now.

S: Well, we understand each other, we just don't agree. Still, we got the job done.

C: That's certainly true.

I: So you could say you're frenemies?

S:—

C:—

I: Let's move on then. Sinthoras, it is widely known that you offered the metaphorical olive branch to Caphalor. What made you change your mind about working with him?

S (taking a paint brush from his pocket, dipping it in the wine and beginning to draw on a napkin): Well, sometimes you need some support to achieve really big goals.

C: We both know opposites attract, and they're at their best when they overlap—in certain, limited ways. (Looks at the picture and addresses Sinthoras.) You're not as good as you were.

S: I'm a little out of practice and, anyway, this isn't blood, just bad wine.

I: You have both lived through enormous tragedy: Caphalor, you lost your life-partner and your daughter, and Sinthoras, you were betrayed by Timanris, then both of you lost Dsôn to a river of acid. Do you think this has informed your actions since and shaped the älfar you are today? Has it brought you closer?

S: It has showed how hard you have to work to achieve your goals. Hard, and fast, because you never know what the future will bring.

C: It's made me tougher. Or, let's put it this way: I rarely show mercy now. Firstly because I do not want to be seen as weak, and secondly because if you offer mercy to your enemy, you often find yourself facing them again.

S: At first I thought he'd [Caphalor] lost the will to live [after these events], which would have been a real problem for
me
.

C: I like his sympathetic ways (he says sarcastically). He's always thinking about other people.

S: Of course! Other people only turn into problems.

I: If you
had
to live with humans, elves or dwarves, which would you pick?

S: I'd choose . . . suicide. Nothing else would be bearable.

C: I'd take humans, because they're so easy to influence. I'd get those silly souls to start a war with the elves and the dwarves, and then I'd live in peace.

I: If you were the Inextinguishables for a moment of unendingness, what would you do?

S: Build myself a nicer palace. I find the design dated, personally.

C: I'd bring in order and unite Comets and Constellations. We can't get lost in political games again—that was our undoing. Whoever looks too closely at the inside of his fortress, isn't watching the outside world.

I: Do you think you have made each other better people?

S: Even better?

C: What my friend is trying to say in his inelegant way is that we learned from each other what we each lacked. That's probably the best way of putting it.

I: Sinthoras, you were accused of murder and banished to the west. Do you have any comments on the matter? And Caphalor, what was it like not having Sinthoras to watch your back?

S: I did and do certain things to reach my goals. I don't see anything wrong with that, as long as the goal is a worthy one. And I'd never try for a goal that wasn't worth my time.

C: I missed him a bit. And then just as I was getting to enjoy life without him, he came back. Tragic.

I: Caphalor, you have been accused of being a closet Comet—and since you invaded Tark Draan, the Constellations have been slowly declining in popularity. Do you have anything to say to those who think you betrayed them?

C: Sometimes you start out as a star, but only following a comet can show you new goals and new ways. After my short time on the ground, I now know the way to become a star once again.

I: You're both seen as leaders, not just in war, but in matters of beauty too—art, music, and especially, these days, fashion: so what are your fashion hates?

S: I hate all that fake jewelry the barbarians wear. It makes them look rich, when they aren't at all. It's just painted sheet metal! What's the message: “Look at me, I'm a faker and can't afford anything nice, but I pretend to be someone of standing”? It's embarrassing. For everyone. When I meet someone like that on the field of battle, they're the first one I kill.

C: Most people have completely forgotten everything they learned about color pairings. Green and blue, for example, is a terrible combination—and yet you see clothes in these colors all the time. And
barbarians
! They try to wear as many colors as possible. It's an assault on the eyes.

I: If you could choose to make art or wage war, what would you pick?

S: War is the best way to find opportunities for new art. Think of what you can do with blood, with bones, with all these things you can make into new artworks—including the organs of the dead.

C: And waging war is an art in itself, to my mind. Barbarians charge blindly into battle, without any kind of foresight. That's why our people remain undefeated—because no one else has our skill.

S: (Sinthoras nods) Mostly, yes. But I do like staying by my easel, peacefully. That way I paint very calm, controlled pictures. After a battle, my blood is still up and my hands are wilder.

I: And, finally, a bonus question for our readers: what's next for the two benàmoi?

S: Oh, we have a few little jaunts left.

C: There are things to discover and examine, before we commit to new battles. Let's not kid ourselves: the Hidden Land will be ours before long.

S (laughing): Who can stop us? A dwarf? (signals for more wine)

I: (Sinthoras hands me the napkin)

S: Please. A gift. A brilliant portrait in bad wine. That was the best I could do with it.