Dragons on the Sea of Night (26 page)

‘Of course we did business.' Bjork fingered the ring, turning it over and over. ‘That was why he had come here. I had no illusions about that. But it did not matter because he chose to stay for very different reasons.'

‘Did he …?' Moichi felt an unpleasant pressure in his throat. ‘Did you sell him White Lotus?'

‘Your father was a trader, Moichi, not a criminal. White Lotus is a dangerous drug. He knew nothing of it until he came here.' Bjork looked up into Moichi's face. ‘But by the time he left he knew more about it than he ever wanted to.'

‘What do you mean?'

Bjork stared up at the blue slopes of the Mountain Sin'hai. ‘I said before that every action has its consequence. And, like ripples in a pond, those consequences may have effects that echo on and on.' He raised his hand, leading Moichi down, out of the protection of the tree castle. They went across a field of blue-green grass that sloped steadily down to a stony embankment beyond which rippled the swiftly flowing river that snaked through the savannah toward the slopes of the looming Mountain Sin'hai.

Bjork sat on a pink granite rock, throwing a handful of pebbles one by one into the river. Perhaps a hundred yards away, Ouwlmy cropped contentedly at the grass. ‘When I was a boy,' Bjork said, ‘I used to come here. That was a long time ago, when the Syrinxians thought they ruled the land. We let them cling to that belief; it was easier that way.' A pebble plunked into the water, vanishing. ‘It was so peaceful here, just the sound of the wind and the water, whereas elsewhere the eternal bustle of the ever-industrious Syrinxians was unavoidable.'

He cast the last pebble into the river, then brushed his hands. ‘Now even this peace is no longer granted me. Perhaps that is as it should be. I – like all Shinju – have done terrible, questionable things.' He glanced up at the wreathed summit of the sacred mountain. ‘Something is dreadfully amiss up there.'

‘How do you know that?' Moichi asked.

‘Because of the Makkon. The Chaos beast you encountered. It had no tongue, isn't that correct?'

‘Yes.'

‘It came down from the Mountain Sin'hai, and when it tried to come here to get White Lotus, I cut out its tongue to teach it a lesson. And I sent the tongue on a long journey as proof of my continuing control over the beasts of Chaos.' His head swung around, the eyes catching Moichi in their gaze. ‘Because, Moichi, there are those among the races of man who have allied themselves with Chaos in order to further their own power. These people, too, must be taught a lesson.'

‘Listen, Bjork, it isn't that I disbelieve you, but I know what I know. I saw what that maimed Makkon did to my first mate. It did the same to my sister. And where my first mate died, a berserker on White Lotus had trashed the place. My brother Hamaan believes it was a member of Al Rafaar. He captured your friend Yesquz in Mas'jahan. He was in possession of White Lotus, so I know–'

‘What you say is impossible.' The bear looked at Moichi, his liquid brown eyes curiously sympathetic. ‘Yesquz had no interest in White Lotus, and he never got any from me.'

‘You have ceased to harvest the drug, then?'

Bjork said, ‘Ouwlmy already indicated to you that White Lotus is still being manufactured. Is that not so?'

‘It is. But I thought it prudent to see what you would say.'

Bjork turned to Ouwlmy. ‘Do you like this fellow, or what?'

The Shakra gave him an enormous grin. ‘Quick on his feet.'

‘So you
do
harvest it.'

‘Strictly speaking, no. Ouwlmy and her Shakra harvest the root. They pluck it and chew it into a pulpy paste. Something in their saliva activates enzymes otherwise locked in White Lotus. Then they turn it over to me.'

Moichi said, ‘Now that we have established the existence of the harvest, who do you sell it to?'

When Bjork hesitated, Moichi added, ‘It was wise not to have allowed my brother, Hamaan to come here. He is not an understanding man. You are selling the root to Al Rafaar. This is why we have come. If he finds you he will kill you the first chance he gets and I am not certain that I will stand in his way.'

‘I do not believe that. But, yes, Hamaan is another matter entirely.' Bjork looked up. Ouwlmy had come over, silently high-stepping through the blue-green grass. Now she put her muzzle against his side until he bent over and kissed her between her ears. ‘Yes,' he whispered, ‘I know. But, you see, I must. I have no choice. And he is the right one, the only one.'

Putting his arm across the Shakra's croup, he said to Moichi, ‘My client – my
sole
client for White Lotus is Chaos. All Chaos feeds on it. I promise you that neither I nor Yesquz has had any dealings with Al Rafaar.'

‘I do not believe you,' Moichi said. ‘I saw what the Makkon did to my first mate. The manner was absolutely consistent with how Sanda was killed.'

‘You saw her, then.'

‘No. Her corpse was described to me by a member of the Fe'edjinn.'

Bjork stared silently at Moichi for a long time. ‘The Makkon did not kill your sister, of that I have no doubt. For expediency's sake, her death was made to look like the work of a berserker.'

‘You mean Hamaan was right? It
was
Al Rafaar?'

‘Did not her death galvanize the Iskamen populace? Did it not bring even the most recalcitrant into the Fe'edjinn's fold?'

‘Yes. It was like a lightning rod.' He stared at Bjork, his mind numb with the implications. ‘Are you implying that the Fe'edjinn had my sister murdered?'

‘It is the only answer that makes sense, Moichi. The Fe'edjinn were the only ones to benefit from her demise. She became a rallying cry, a martyr the Fe'edjinn could take into the final battle for which they all ache.'

‘What of the Makkon? What was it doing in Ala'arat? Why did it trek all the way across the Mu'ad to Mas'jahan?'

‘For this.' Bjork held out Sanda's ring. ‘I gave this to your father when he left here as a keepsake. But it also had a far more significant purpose. It is my talisman. The being that possesses it has the power to summon me wherever he or she might be.'

He stared at the ring as he turned it around between his fingers. ‘Perhaps it was weak of me. I suppose that only proves I, too, am human.' He gave an ironic laugh. ‘Your father meant so much to me I could not endure the thought of never seeing him again. So I manufactured this ring and he took it with him. Before he died, he gave it to Sanda but never told her of its power. She thought of it only as one of his most prized possessions.'

‘How do you know this?' Moichi asked.

Bjork smiled. ‘Your father summoned me one last time. Just at the point of dying.'

‘But I was there? I was with him!'

‘Yes. I know.'

And then Moichi remembered that he seemed to have fallen asleep at the moment his father had died. Sitting by his bedside Jud'ae had been alive one moment, dead the next and Moichi had no memory of what had transpired in between.

He looked at Bjork. ‘Yes. I believe it possible you were there.' He thought a moment. ‘One thing I do not understand. Ouwlmy told me she knew Sanda was dead because I had the ring. Ouwlmy said she would not have given it up otherwise.'

Bjork heaved a long sigh. ‘Strictly speaking that is true. However, not in this case. Do not think ill of Ouwlmy; she omitted the truth only to protect me.'

Late afternoon light played off the facets of the ring as he turned it. ‘Moichi, your father …' His voice drifted off. ‘How shall I put this? How
can
I put this? There are many things about me that make me unique, that other races would find strange and, perhaps, abhorrent.' He took a breath and, as he did so, the outline of the bear shimmered and collapsed in upon itself.

Moichi blinked, for in the bear's place was sitting a beautiful golden-haired woman. ‘I know what you are thinking,' she said in a soft, melodious voice, ‘but I assure you this is not an illusion. The truth is I am both male
and
female. And when your father arrived here he saw not the bear, not the male, but I, Bjork, the woman.'

Moichi felt a brief constriction of his heart. ‘And you fell in love.'

Bjork nodded. ‘That is why he stayed so long, why I felt such pain at his leaving.'

‘Why you gave him the ring.'

The woman's eyes closed briefly. ‘I think he might have stayed had I asked him to, but I had no desire to imprison him here. Besides, his family needed him.'

‘So you did the next best thing. You were able to come to him whenever–'

‘Oh, do not think ill of him, Moichi.' She leaned over, touched Moichi's wrist. ‘He was such a wonderful man, and he loved his family so. He spoke of his children so often that I felt I knew them.' She looked away for a moment, out across the brilliantly lit savannah. ‘And he did not call me often. It was painful for both of us, you see.'

After a long while, Moichi said, ‘Yes, I think I understand.'

She bowed her head. ‘Thank you for that.'

‘So the Makkon was after the ring.'

Bjork nodded. ‘I had maimed it and it wanted revenge.'

‘Then it would seem logical it killed Sanda.'

‘No. Sanda had long before given the ring to Yesquz.'

‘But why?'

Bjork rubbed her forehead. ‘They were in love, of course. But the marriage never should have been. Yesquz made sure to tell me only after the fact. I flew into a rage and, finally, I convinced him to tell Sanda the truth. You see, their marriage was an abomination. He was her half-brother.'

Moichi sat in stunned silence for some time. When he was able, he said, ‘Yesquz was your son?'

‘Yes.' She could only manage a whisper. Her liquid brown eyes pleaded silently with him for understanding.

‘And my father was …'

She nodded. ‘Yesquz's father.'

Moichi put his head in his hands. He heard the purling of the water, the calls of the birds overhead as if from a great distance. There was a roaring in his ears he could not control. He gasped once, then said, ‘I want to hear the history now.'

‘Moichi–'

‘No!' He pulled away from her. ‘No more of this. Tell me about the Shinju.'

Ouwlmy made a sound deep in her throat and Bjork shushed her.

‘Consequence, Moichi. In the end, it all comes down to that. You may wonder why I am the last of the Shinju. What happened to my people, if we were so long lived?'

She waited for a response, but when none came, she went on, her heart heavy, ‘Legend has it that the Syrinxians killed us off, but legends are often simply common knowledge distorted to serve the common good, to assuage the fears of mankind. But they are just as often lies. You see, uncounted millennia ago the Shinju made a pact with Chaos. We would provide them with White Lotus if they would extend our longevity.'

‘How is any of this possible?' Moichi lifted his head. ‘Chaos is not of this world. In fact, all the Makkon I have encountered, save the one in Ala'arat, were not even fully in the world of man. They belong to Chaos and their incursions here are for the purpose of expanding Chaos – a dimension inimical to man – into our world.'

Ouwlmy made a high keening sound and Bjork kissed her again. ‘I know, but all must be told now. It is fated.

‘Moichi,' she said, ‘I make it known that I am breaking the most sacred vow of the Shinju. I do it now because I must. Because the Makkon came down from the summit of the Mountain Sin'hai. Because I am the last of the Shinju and as such my one desire before I die is to expunge for ever the sin committed so long ago by my people.'

She stood up and they began to walk by the side of the river. ‘Remember what I said about the common good. It is mankind's most widely held belief that Chaos is its most implacable enemy, that all Chaos desires is to invade the world of man and make it its own. In a way, this is true. But it is also untrue.

‘Once, the dimension of Chaos did not exist. Then, this world of man was eclectic enough to encompass all of God's children – mankind and Chaos creature alike. Together, they dwelled here, if not in complete peace, then in a kind of balance.

‘But the ends of mankind and those of Chaos are different. Mankind must constantly change. It is a relentlessly restless creation, warlike, possessive, territorial. Whereas the Chaos beings are more like us – they prefer stasis. Chaos does not change – it is enough that it abides. Mankind could neither understand nor tolerate this, and so a war ensued in which the mages of mankind managed to banish Chaos, sealing it in another dimension.'

Moichi said, ‘I still cannot imagine mankind and Chaos living in one world.'

Bjork said, ‘If you understand that man and Chaos were born as one being then all becomes clear.'

‘What are you saying?'

‘I think you know perfectly well,' Bjork said. ‘Ouwlmy tells me your meridians are in alignment, therefore deep down you understand. Give it time; let it surface.'

She scratched the Shakra's head as they walked along. ‘It has probably occurred to you that the Shinju are both more advanced and more primitive than most of mankind. Certainly your father understood this in the most primal way. That is, I believe, what drew him to this place – and to me.'

They paused on a knoll that overlooked the savannah. There, all manner of wildlife could be seen dwelling in natural balance under the shadow of the Mountain Sin'hai.

‘This is where the last ancient battle was waged, close to where the mages of mankind created the Portal into Chaos and sealed it for what they believed was all time. I know this because the Shinju are closer to Chaos – to the way things used to be – the integration of man and Chaos, the light and the darkness, a whole that is now unimaginable – than any other race.'

She turned to Moichi, those liquid brown eyes boring into his brain. ‘And, even more unimaginable, a fundamental shift has recently occurred in the dimension of Chaos. It advocates change. In short, it wants back what was taken from it.'