Dragon Ultimate (40 page)

Now the golemoid was still while the Dominator raised his strength, summoning energy from the turbulent skies of Xuban. After a few minutes there came a crescendo of lightning bolts striking down from the clouds upon the golemoid. For half an hour or more they continued to strike and then finally petered out.

The Intruder stood behind the pinnacle, raised its hands toward the ruined ankles, and became still. A tearing, shrieking vibration built up in the ground beneath the pinnacle. The rock shuddered and leaped as if in torment, and the scene disappeared in an enormous flash of green light. The heavy air quaked and shuddered. The ground heaved and Havilden erupted skyward with red-hot sparks trailing from the ruined legs. The golemoid was blown backwards by the eruption, staggered several steps, and fell with a crash in the crystal forest.

Havilden soared, then fell back to land with another great noise aslant the chasm, spanning it with a somewhat wobbly bridge.

The Intruder slowly struggled up, molten metal dripping from its elbows, which had been driven deep into the ground. Flashes of red light were coming from various sections within its awesome bulk, indicating damage wrought to its internal mechanisms.

Stepping cautiously past the blasted pit, it found the pinnacle now stretched across the chasm of Huth with the legs resting on one side and the head and shoulders lying on the other. Carefully it tested the statue with a foot. There was a wobble, but it seemed to hold firmly enough to risk an attempt at crossing. Cautiously the Intruder climbed up on to the scorched and ruptured legs of Havilden and began to make its way across.

With desperate haste the Sinni joined their thought to concentrate upon the material of the fallen pinnacle of Havilden. After a while they found the frequency required and soon the pinnacle began to glow from within.

The Intruder noticed the glow within Havilden and was forced to hurry, which caused the statue to rock. The glow intensified, the Intruder increased is pace. The statue shifted under its weight. The Intruder gambled; it sprang forward, set down one foot, and leaped onward even as the glow consumed the material of Havilden and its cinders fell into the chasm.

The Intruder was left clinging to the edge by the hammer hooked over it. A slip and a fall was certain to destroy the golemoid, since it was more than five hundred miles straight down into the chasm.

Painfully, slowly, it hauled itself up to the edge. Its difficulties were compounded by the friable nature of the crystalline material of the cliff. The hammerhead slowly sank into the rock and eventually would cut right through the cliff face and fall free. The gigantic Intruder looked down and saw the ash of Havilden sparking in blue fury as it fell endlessly into the chasm's hot depths. It resumed its desperate efforts to climb the hammer's handle back to the top.

Slowly, even as the hammerhead continued to slip through the cliff rock, the Intruder climbed, until it got one arm over the edge. It brought up the other arm and levered itself to the top with a mighty effort and rolled over and lay flat on the top.

The Sinni were still trying to convert the material of the hammer to energy as they had done with Havilden. However, the material of the hammer was imbued with magic that protected it from their skill.

Their efforts caused the hammer to emit a cry, and so it warned the Intruder, which rolled over and thrust its arm into the cavity into which the hammerhead had sunk. Deep in the rock it found the hammerhead, moaning as it twisted in the fields generated by the Sinni.

Waakzaam's Intruder roared in anger. Slowly it heaved the hammer up, back through the cavity it had torn through the cliff top. Green fire flickering over its shoulders as it made the effort, the golemoid hauled the hammer to the surface, got both hands on it, and tore it free of the cliff.

Once more the Intruder roared its defiance of the High Ones.

Count your hours now, children of Los, for your doom is nigh!

The water hole lay in a deep swale below a row of hillocks. Bazil and the others hid themselves behind a screen of shrubs with black leaves. As the day progressed the huge red sun slid to the horizon, and their hiding place was obscured in deep shadows.

Animals of many kinds came to the water hole as the dusk drew on. First there were groups of large, four-legged beasts whose horns projected from their mouths and curved upward in wicked-looking tusks. They had shaggy coats of dun gray and fierce red eyes and they drank with frequent pauses to look around.

"These beasts are often hunted here," said Bazil softly. Relkin nodded.

"Do you think they detect us?" said Mirk.

"No. We are downwind. They check the air by the ground, perhaps smell traces of us, but this dragon think they fear some other enemy."

Relkin nodded.

The herd of tusked bison drank for a while longer then suddenly departed, spooked by nothing discernible to the watchers. Shortly afterward a trio of ungainly creatures with long necks and massive limbs projecting from barrel-like bodies appeared. Their hides were a dirty white, with patches of black and brown here and there. Their forelimbs were considerably longer than their chunky hind legs and equipped with claws. Relkin thought he'd never seen anything more peculiar, not even on the dark continent.

He was about to say so, when something else moved on the periphery of the scene. A darker mass crept closer.

"He over there," whispered the dragon. Mirk had already noticed. Lessis turned her head.

The dark blotch had moved to a clump of much-chewed-over spine bush. The barrel-chested beasts drank, looked up. There was a snort and several harsh braying cries as the beasts stood back, then withdrew.

The blotch of darkness remained in hiding.

After a while a herd of small four-legged animals, perhaps thirty in all, came to the water. They had the shape of deer or antelope and were decorated with white stripes on their flanks. They were joined by other herds and groups. Some heavyset piglike beasts appeared among them.

The dark mass hidden in the spine bush suddenly exploded into view and rushed toward the nearest of these huge hogs. The hog ran for its life, its feet scrabbling for purchase on the loose gravel, while behind came a squat, powerfully built beast with a toadlike head that split open to reveal twin rows of daggerlike teeth. It sprang after the hog, and both departed into the darkness, while everything else at the water hole also stampeded for safety.

In a moment the scene was empty. They listened carefully but heard no death struggle.

"This dragon think he missed the prey."

"I have never seen a beast like that."

"This is Lygarth, Mirk, not Ryetelth," murmured the Lady.

The dust settled. Soon other creatures came down to drink. Some were remarkably like horses, only half the size, while others sported clusters of horns on their heads. A few two-legged things also appeared, reminding Relkin and Bazil of small pujish from Eigo. All drank peaceably together.

Later some more of the piglike things appeared. The sun had almost completely set by then, and the light was poor. Mirk and Relkin crept close enough to shoot one. It went down with a thud as one shaft found its heart, and the other entered its throat. The others ran, and Bazil came forward to help drag the carcass away.

They built a fire out of the poor spine bush and augmented it with more dry wood they found close by in the grass. There had once been some trees here. Meanwhile, Mirk butchered the creature and cut it into roastable chops and haunches. Lessis sharpened some of the straighter pieces of wood and started broiling the meat as the fire burned down to a hot mass of coals.

While Relkin filled all the water bottles Bazil waded out into the water, drank deeply, and splashed himself all over.

The tantalizing smell of roasting meat soon drew other interested parties. Eyes glowed orange in the dark until Relkin tossed rocks, and they departed. Then came something larger, a shambling form on four legs that could also stand on two. It roared a challenge as it moved toward the fire and the delicious smell.

Bazil got up with a slight groan. At the sight of the big wyvern dragon, the creature's features split open in a baboonlike snarl. Bazil roared and rushed at it with his arms high.

The thing jammed to a halt, then retreated fifty paces and stopped. Bazil charged again. This time the beast kept going and vanished into the murk.

The roasted meat reminded Relkin of beef, though perhaps more like venison. He ate heartily, aware that it might be the only food he'd get for a long time.

More scavengers appeared, and Mirk hurled bones out into the darkness, which were snatched up and borne away by growling packs of smaller animals.

And then three huge four-legged brutes, shovel-shaped heads bristling with curved teeth, came bounding out of the dark. Since each of them stood ten feet high there was an immediate menace from them. They approached without hesitation, making loud booming cries, swinging their heavy front paws and snapping their huge jaws.

Everyone had already taken up their weapons. Now, Mirk and Relkin put arrows into the brutes with little effect. Bazil stepped out with Ecator swinging loosely in his hand. The creatures paused, circled for a few moments, then attacked in a group.

Bazil bent at the knees and swung the sword at their legs. He came around smoothly and took down the first one, one of its front legs severed above the knee, then jammed his foot into the mouth of the next before bringing the sword up and over to finish it. The third one grappled with him and tried to bite into his neck, but Relkin was already on its back and had his sword jammed into its mouth.

It snarled in frustration and pawed at him, while Mirk stabbed it from behind. The beast emitted a cry like a steam kettle on the boil and sprang back, dislodging Relkin, who tumbled to the ground. Bazil swung around with Ecator in hand. The beast moved back, still squalling.

The beast previously reduced to three legs staggered to the edge of the brush and was almost instantly taken down by the toad-headed predator that had returned unseen. It dragged the still-thrashing victim back into the darkness of the brush and ate it alive.

The other staggered up to the top of the hillocks and lurched away, still bleeding. To everyone's surprise other toad-heads soon followed, appearing out of hiding places here and there around the water hole. The wounded beast's final mournful cries came not long afterward.

"I hope that's enough to keep them busy for the night," said Relkin.

Back at the embers of the fire they finished their own roasted meat and rested their limbs. Relkin checked Bazil's back and neck for cuts, found a few scratches that he cleaned and dressed with Old Sugustus from his kit bag. Mirk proposed that they take turns at the watch, and they rolled themselves in their blankets for sleep.

"And remember to keep an eye for those toad-headed things. Don't want one of them sneaking up on us."

Before sleep claimed him, Relkin turned on his side to face Lessis, who was taking the first watch.

"You said we would be tested at the temple. Why is this?"

"The Temple of Gold houses the maze, which is a gate to the entire Sphereboard of Destiny. Every world in the Mother's Hand is connected there. And so it is guarded by the Order of the Pure and Holy."

"I have heard you mention this order. Who are they?"

"They are the children of Erris, who infused life into the air of the worlds."

"Gods?"

"No, my dear, they are as the Sinni: High Ones, children of the seven spirits, but not gods. There are no gods; I thought you understood that. But there were seven great ones, who were created to infuse themselves into the worlds. Los it was who brought the qualities of light. Cerule brought the sky and others. Waakzaam was supposed to bring the grounding of the worlds. His refusal opened them to the dreadful sorcery that grips them."

Lessis continued, "The Order of the Pure is from Erris. Erris is both female and male in characteristic. The order are similar in that respect."

Relkin looked blankly back at her.

"They are of both sexes at once, is what I mean."

He swallowed, somewhat troubled by this idea. "Apart from that, though, they are like the Sinni?"

"Yes."

"Did Waakzaam make such beings for himself?"

"No. In his pride he retained all his strength to himself. The wizards and mage lords grew up in his shadow. They are his only children."

Lessis did not mention that she, herself, was one of the children of Cerule, the Queen of the Sky and a close ally of Erris.

"What do the order look like?"

"They are a beautiful people, tall and fair with grace and a love of life. Even-handed in their judgment, but fierce and implacable in pursuit of purity. If they find the stain on the character of a person who wishes to travel through the maze, they rend that person to pieces. Thus do they keep the passage between the worlds safe from wizards, malcontents, and other harmful ones."

"How does our enemy travel between worlds then?"