Ice Phoenix (44 page)

The grandmaster ignored his question and, instead, directed his next words to Nashim. "No doubt you used the pendant to escape."

Nashim smirked. "Correct! You didn't banish me far enough. Using the pendant, I was able to materialise at some point not far from Pa Gumpina's orbit. There I waited, and it was only a matter of time before the
Dark Star
appeared. I hitched a ride with you. I concealed myself in the sleep sphere until one of your crew members kindly roused me from my slumber."

For the grandmaster and Quempa, it was the worst news Nashim could have told them. Only they and Master Drummik knew that Terrana had been sleeping in the incubation room.

"What did you do with the crew?" growled Quempa.

"Still alive but under a mind thrall.
It would have been far easier to kill them, but that would have invited your attention — something I didn't want. The weaver who had remained on board was trouble enough. He nearly killed me, but he had a problem — he worried too much about the girl."

Everyone listening to Nashim knew he was talking about Master Drummik. He had been the only weaver on board.

"What did you do with Drummik and the girl?" demanded the grandmaster.

"Oh, a few things.
None good, of course."

"Enough of this!" snapped L-Master Hadrick. "I don't understand why you're even speaking with him, Deitrux, when we should obviously be disposing of him."

Nashim snorted. "He's not concerned about the girl. You didn't tell them, Grandmaster?"

"Tell us what?" growled Hadrick.

"About Terrana of course. Why the grandmaster is so concerned about her. Didn't you know he hid her in the sphere aboard your ship?"

He was mocking them, knowing too well that Grandmaster Deitrux would not have imparted information about Terrana so readily. The L-Masters glanced at the grandmaster, their expressions demanding an explanation.

"What aren't you telling us, Grandmaster Deitrux?" asked Eliksha from behind him.

Grandmaster Deitrux clenched his fists, ignoring her question. He glared at Nashim. "What did you do with Terrana, Nashim?"

Nashim laughed. He turned to the others, clucking his tongue. "I guess he didn't wish to share all that power and knowledge, so he kept the truth a secret. The young girl you've been travelling with, the reason why she was brought from Sector Thirteen to UWIB ... she's feiyed."

There was a stunned silence as the others tried to process this new information.

"Terrana is feiyed?" uttered L-Mater Hadrick. "That's impossible! Only animals are feiyed!"

If what Nashim said was true, then Terrana's existence would have far reaching ramifications; it was no secret that UWIB had been trying to capture a feiyed animal to study its powers. It irked the UWIB Council that the queen had passed a law in her sector to prevent anyone from capturing a faar. But if Terrana was truly feiyed, then all they had ever wanted was sitting right on their doorstep. The L-Masters could barely contain their excitement, combined with wrath that was aimed towards the grandmaster.

"Grandmaster Deitrux, please tell us that what he's saying isn't true," said Eliksha.

Grandmaster Deitrux shut his eyes and sighed. "We didn't know she was feiyed at the time. The Ancients of Olden Kartath told us."

Eliksha sucked in her breath, stunned by this revelation.

"There's more!" called out Nashim. "If the girl is allowed to mature to a ripe age, she'll be the only person capable of destroying the Dream Walker."

Again, shocked silence. L-Master Hadrick looked towards the grandmaster. "Terrana is capable of destroying the Dream Walker? Deitrux, do you realise what that means? You've been hiding a feiyed human girl with power beyond belief! Power that we've been trying to understand for years!"

The more L-Master Hadrick spoke, the angrier he became. He started shouting. "How dare you try to keep this information to
yourself! I knew it! I knew you were hiding something, and that there was a reason for the girl's presence aboard the ship! You will not get away with this! I will lodge a complaint with the UWIB Council of your deception. Consider this the end of your career!" L-Master Hadrick was too angry to pay any attention to Nashim. Compared to what he had just learned about Terrana, the Valpuri suddenly seemed insignificant.

"Is Terrana the reason why the Valpuri attacked Pa Gumpina?" asked Eliksha, feeling the same way as L-Master Hadrick. "Were they looking for her?"

"Yes," answered Grandmaster Deitrux in a heavy voice.

"For what purpose?"

"To kill her. The Ancients of Olden Kartath told us that she would be our only hope if the Dream Walker ever broke free of his prison. Without her, there would be nothing to stand in his way."

"So all that carnage and destruction — it was just for Terrana?" Eliksha could not believe what she was hearing. "And Baneyon, did he know?"

"Baneyon loved Terrana — he died protecting her. He died before he learnt the truth," said Grandmaster Deitrux, "and I will not let his and the others' deaths be in vain." He could feel Eliksha trembling behind him. Grandmaster Deitrux sent a chilling look towards Nashim. "You are too late, Nashim! The door to the Dream Walker's prison has been sealed. Not even the power of
two
pendants will help you free the Dream Walker. Now tell me, where is Terrana?"

When Nashim answered, his voice was heavy and cruel. "I flung her into the void. She should be floating about somewhere."

"
No
!" screamed Grandmaster Deitrux. His anguished cry took everyone by surprise, but they were even more shocked when he rocketed towards the ship without any warning. Nashim suddenly appeared in front of him. The demon fired his weapon and Grandmaster Deitrux barely avoided the blast. It flew past him to strike the shield.

"You're not going anywhere," Nashim snarled. He fired off a few more shots and the grandmaster realised he could not escape so easily.

Quempa!

I'm on it!
Grandmaster Deitrux created an opening in the shield and Quempa slipped through it, speeding towards the ship. Eliksha followed him.

"Eliksha!"
Quempa said in surprise. He noticed she carried a gun in her hand but, compared to the weapon that Nashim possessed, Eliksha's seemed a mere toy.

"Is it true? Is Terrana really feiyed?"

"Yes, but the grandmaster was telling the truth when he said we only learned this from the Ancients. We believed Terrana was a human child with an unusual ability to control qi —
that's
why we brought her to our world. There was no hidden agenda to her presence. We witnessed her feiyed power in Si Ren Da. Eliksha, her power is terrible. If she ever turns in your presence, the only thing you can do is run."

"She can't control it then."

"No, she cannot."

Quempa came to a sudden stop and his heart climbed into his throat when he spotted Terrana's limp, bloated form floating in the void.

"Nooo!" he cried hoarsely. The propulsion jets on his boots flared up and he shot towards Terrana. Within seconds he was cradling her decompressed body, sobbing behind his helmet. "No, no, no, Terrana! You can't die. You have to live!" Eliksha reached his side and he looked up at her with tearful eyes. "We're too late. We're too late."

Eliksha took one look at Terrana and would have fallen had gravity existed in the In-Between. "How could he?" Her voice was barely above a whisper. "How could he throw a defenceless child into the void?"

Quempa wailed his anguish, and his thoughts and emotions were projected through the void, where they reached the grandmaster. The leader of the Imeldors closed his eyes briefly, the only sign of his grief. As soon as Quempa had left, Grandmaster Deitrux and the others had begun attacking Nashim. They were all inside the shield because, within its walls, they could use their qi.

"I'm deactivating the shield!" Grandmaster Deitrux shouted.

"That would be to my favour!" Lakara shouted back.

Grandmaster Deitrux had to concur. Lakara was currently being incredible in her battle with Nashim, and with the shield
removed, she would be able to use her unique suit to its full potential. She glided like a liquid knife in the In-Between, transforming into an iron butterfly to cut into the Valpuri with her wings and insectile legs.

The soundless blasts from Nashim's gun glanced off her c
asophynite armour harmlessly, and it was becoming clear that he was no match against Lakara's natural attacking form combined with her superior armoured suit. Grandmaster Deitrux glanced towards L-Master Hadrick and Lady Skiss, and was relieved to find them both alive. L-Master Hadrick had lost his right tentacle and part of his abdomen to Nashim, and would have died had not Lady Skiss transformed into her natural form, plastering herself like jelly over his open wounds.

Grandmaster Deitrux decided he needed to end this fight quickly. Without the shield, the others would not be able to weave or lace, but because he carried the pendant, that limitation did not apply to him. He deactivated the shield.

He focused on an area close to Nashim, but as he tried to draw on his qi, something felt very wrong. No matter how much he tried, he could not weave a gravitational singularity. Seconds ticked by before he came to the horrifying conclusion that his qi was being drained. He emitted a low groan and slumped forwards. The others watched in horror, before they, too, collapsed.

Down — they were all down and helpless. As the grandmaster lay floating on his side, he sensed Nashim approaching. "How?" he croaked when the demon finally reached him.

Nashim did not answer as he leant forwards to pry Skra's pendant from the grandmaster's fingers. Then, he hurled the pendant into the darkness, and Grandmaster Deitrux watched in disbelief as it sped away through the void. It would have continued forever had it not collided into the piece of asteroid that was spinning above the Dream Walker's gate.

Grandmaster Deitrux forced his mouth to move. "I've told you already — there's nothing you can do to free the Dream Walker. He's sealed for all eternity."

Although his face was hidden by his helmet, Grandmaster Deitrux felt the cold gaze the demon sent his way.

"I never said I wanted to free the Dream Walker. In fact, I
allowed
you to complete the sealing." Nashim may as well have told the grandmaster that rocks were actually mushrooms. What he had just said did not make sense. Nashim smirked, clearly enjoying the grandmaster's confusion.

"Allow me to explain. All I wanted, besides the tonien and the pendant, was the girl. For a while, it suited my purpose that she remained at the school while I searched for the two things that would take me through the
Voron Cloud. But, as you know, things didn't go exactly to plan, and so I had to improvise along the way. You acquired both the pendant and the tonien, and I needed to bring the girl into the void. When you believed that I was trying to kill her, I was actually attempting to kidnap her. Eventually, I sent Meldogan to fetch her. If he failed to acquire her, I expected he would probably scare you into removing Terrana from Pa Gumpina. And that's what happened. You played right into my hands. "

"
For what reason, Nashim?" gasped Grandmaster Deitrux. He was struggling against the invisible force that was draining his qi, but no matter what he did, it seemed to have the upper hand. Grandmaster Deitrux was helpless. "If you didn't want the Dream Walker free, why did you assassinate all those Imeldors and L-Masters? What is your reason for bringing Terrana here other than to awaken him?"

Nashim sighed and flew back several paces.
"Several reasons. Had you discovered what my plan was, then, without a doubt, you would have organised the L-Masters and Imeldors to capture me. By eliminating the top ranks, I reduced potential headaches.

"Secondly, the unravelling of the Dream Walker's prison was
really
a problem. I had to drop clues here and there so that you would learn of the Dream Walker's existence and his disintegrating prison. Killing off Imeldors and L-Masters was just a way of gaining your attention quickly, and it forced you to look deeper into the
real
history of UWIB.

"Was I worried that I was killing off the only people capable of sealing the Dream Walker? No. The ten people who sealed the Dream Walker five thousand years ago weren't Imeldors or L-Masters — they were just ordinary
weavers and lacers who understood their powers well. Basically, anyone could have done the job – they don't need a special ranking to qualify."

Grandmaster Deitrux still couldn't make sense of what Nashim was telling him. "If you needed help sealing the Dream Walker's prison, why didn't you just tell us?"

Nashim laughed. "You are so naïve, Grandmaster Deitrux. Why didn't I tell you indeed?
I did tell you
, just not in the manner you would have expected. The Valpuri have a history with the citizens of UWIB — a violent one. We've always been the masters, and you the slaves. I merely used you to get what I wanted."

"You, used us?"

"That's right. I used you. All this time you believed you were chasing us, trying to stop us from retrieving the pendant to free the Dream Walker, but what you didn't realise was that you were my backup team. If I failed to capture Terrana, your team would have been the next one to enter the arena. If you succeeded, then I merely had to take the prize off you."