Issola (22 page)

I held it up.

Verra said, "Vlad!"

I remember her saying it, and maybe I was just concentrating too hard to permit myself to be distracted, or maybe I decided that this was a good time to ignore her. In any case, I reached into the stone, and into myself, and cut loose the moorings that held reality anchored to time that passes and the space that uses time, tried my best to give it some focus, and let it go.

I suddenly had the attention of all four Jenoine.

I smiled at them. "Hi there," I said.

The two who were sitting rose to their feet far quicker than I'd have thought they could. I moved Spellbreaker, which was still spinning, a little to the side so it would be out of the way of whatever I was about to do, if I could do it. Something seized hold of the unreality between my fingers, and I felt it start to dissolve. The two Jenoine moved toward me. I concentrated on them, imagined them dissolving into the raw, eternal, basic matter-or non-matter - of the universe, all coherence vanishing in light and shadow and formlessness.

"Vlad!" said Verra. "Don't!"

So far, so good.

Suddenly, Aliera and Morrolan were free again - and I don't know what had been done to them, but they didn't like it much, because they both jerked back suddenly, as if simultaneously kicked in the chest. Morrolan sprawled on his back; Aliera managed to stay on her feet, but, to the extent that I could spare any attention for them, they didn't seem happy.

Verra had stepped back from the one she faced, and was looking at me; Teldra emitted some sounds that I knew to be in the language of the Jenoine - her voice was even and level as it chirped and croaked and squeaked. Verra's hands were up, and she was making gestures in my direction and Aliera and Morrolan were charging in again, and things got even more confused, as one of the Jenoine who had just risen said something in its own language, though it was hard to hear over the roaring sound that I realized had been steadily growing, and was coming from between my fingers, which was also the source of the reddish-golden light that was streaming out toward three of the Jenoine, who held their ground, their hands clasped together in front of them in a gesture of supplication, though no doubt it meant something else to them, and in the confusion, now that my little purple stone was entirely gone, and the light and the sound were fading, I drew the Morganti dagger to give them something else to worry about, but two of them were worrying about Verra, who seemed to have taken all the light into herself or at least she was glowing, and she seemed taller as one of them lifted its hands toward her, and another, who was still holding that odd tube, lifted it until it was pointed directly at the Demon Goddess, who said, "That was stupid, little Easterner; she couldn't have hurt me with that thing."

"What was stupid?"

"You okay, Boss?"

"What the-?"

"Welcome back, Vlad," said Aliera.

"Back," I repeated, at which point things came into focus, and I said, "Sethra! What are you—?" Then, "How did I get back to Dzur Mountain?"

"Over my shoulder," said Morrolan.

"Damn," I said. "I missed it, didn't I? And I'll bet it was fun, too."

"It was successful," said Aliera. "That is, we're here."

"How long has it been?"

Aliera said, "About an hour," at the same time as Sethra said, "A week and a day." They looked at each other, both started to speak, then looked at me.

I managed to say, "Never mind. My fault. I—what happen to my arm?"

Sethra hesitated, then said, "We aren't exactly sure."

"My arm doesn't seem to be working," I explained.

"I know," said Sethra.

I felt my heart start to pound. Now was a hell of a time for it to start that. I took a deep breath, reminded myself that I shouldn't, then realized that it was all right after all. I made myself speak evenly. "I don't know if I'm more frightened that my arm doesn't work, or that Sethra isn't sure why."

"I hope to find out," said Sethra.

I nodded. "Well, why don't you tell me about it."

Of course, Aliera and Morrolan started speaking at once, glared at each other, and so on. I waited patiently. Finally, Aliera said, "Do you want the short version, or the long version?"

"Just tell me what happened, all right?"

"We attacked them. There was a skirmish. You unleashed pre-Empire sorcery, which succeeded in freeing Morrolan and me from whatever was holding us, and also, it seems, broke whatever was keeping us from our gate. No one was hurt except you -
"

"None of them?"

"No."

"Hmmm," I said. "They're pretty tough, aren't they?"

"Yes," said Morrolan.

"Okay. What happened to me?"

Morrolan and Aliera looked at Lady Teldra, who nodded and said, "Yes, I saw it. You went forward toward one of them, holding the dagger—"

"—the Morganti dagger."

"Yes."

I nodded. "I don't remember ... wait ... yes, I do. I remember drawing it and moving in."

"Yes. Then one of them aimed some sort of weapon at Verra. You interposed yourself, and—"

"I
what?"

"You interposed yourself between Verra and the weapon of the Jenoine, and were struck by it somewhere high on the left arm or shoulder."

"I didn't really."

"You did, Boss."

"You did, Vlad," said Teldra.

"Why?"

Verra chuckled. Morrolan said, "I'd give my summer palace to know."

"You don't have a summer palace," I said.

"True, but I'd like one."

"I'd like my left arm back. I can't believe I did that."

"None of us can," said Morrolan.

I glanced at the Goddess, who was looking at me with an unreadable expression. I'm tired of unreadable expressions. I said, "Is that what you said was stupid, Goddess? I thought you meant my use of the Elder Sorcery."

"That too," said the Goddess. "You could easily have destroyed us all before I could contain it."

"I have confidence in your Godlike abilities," I said.

"You—"

She didn't finish the thought. I had left a Goddess speechless. I wondered how that would count when I reached the Halls of Judgment. I said, "Spellbreaker didn't help?"

"It isn't that kind of magic," said Verra helpfully.

"Then what kind is it?" I asked, more because I was annoyed than because I wanted an answer; which was just as well because the only answer I got was a slight smile from Verra. I turned to Sethra. "You don't know what happened?"

"Not exactly. Are you in any pain?"

"No."

She nodded. "I suspected you wouldn't be. It probably works directly on the muscle." Verra said, "They had something like that when I knew them, for use on test subjects. But it was larger and clumsier."

"Test subjects," I repeated.

Aliera said, "Any idea how to effect a cure?"

"Not yet," said Sethra.

"I see."

After an uncomfortable silence, I said, "All right, then what happened?" Morrolan said, "At about the same moment you went down, Aliera and I struck at two of them." He glanced at Aliera, then said, "I cannot speak for my cousin, but I put a great deal into that attack."

"Heh," said Aliera.

"They were able to avoid physical contact with our weapons - I'm not certain of the nature of their defense - but our attack that time nevertheless appeared to discommode them."

"Heh," I said.

Aliera shrugged. "At any rate, they were not able to paralyze us as they had the first time. We had both struck them once before, a coordinated attack—"

"I remember that," I said.

"1 don't know what happened next," said Morrolan, "except at it was Verra who did it." The Goddess said, "I did little enough. The Easterner's foolishness destroyed the devices that were keeping us on their world; I merely transported us off it, which you or Aliera could have
done. I did take the opportunity to give them a few things to keep them out of the way. They still fear me," she added.

"I imagine they do," I said. "Then what?"

"I picked you up," said Morrolan, "as the gate began to open. That was, perhaps, an hour ago."

"An hour. That's all?"

He nodded.

I rubbed my left arm. There was no sensation in it, but neither did it feel cold or especially warm to my right hand, for whatever that was worth. It is odd touching a lifeless limb. My fingers felt my arm, but my arm couldn't feel my fingers. It's a strange sensation. Try it sometime.

"A very respectable escape," I ventured. "Well done."

"And yourself," said Aliera. "I must disagree with Mother; I believe your attack was worth the risk. At least, I don't know how we'd have gotten away otherwise."

"I do," said Verra, giving Aliera a stern look that made me want to giggle. Aliera shrugged. "Well, we managed it, and without much harm. That's the important thing." I glanced at my injured arm, and started to object to the "without much harm" business, but didn't.

"No," said Morrolan. "The important thing is that Vlad, however well intentioned, invoked powers he does not understand, and cannot control, and nearly got us killed."

"Sorry about that," I said. "It seemed like a good idea at the time."

"It was a good idea," said Aliera. "It was also necessary, after my cousin made such a clumsy strike at the Jenoine-"

"It was hardly clumsy," said Morrolan. "It was quite sufficient, or would have been, if the Jenoine had not succeeded in blocking it, as, in fact, he blocked yours. More easily, I suspect."

"Not likely," said Aliera. "In fact, as I recall, you were late in your—" The worst part was, I was too weak to get up and walk away.

"I was hardly late," said Morrolan. "If anything, you—"

"Oh, stop it," I said.

They ignored me.

"If anything I
what,"
said Aliera. "Pathfinder was—"

"Stop
it!"
I said, and for an instant they stopped. I rushed into the void like Sethra rushed her reserves into the breach at the Battle of Ice River Crossing (actually, I know nothing about the Battle of Ice River Crossing except that there was one and Sethra was there; but it sure sounded knowledgeable, didn't it?) I said "Can you two, just one time, give a tired and injured man a little peace? Besides, your arguments, as always, are stupid to begin with. Morrolan goes out of his way to be contentious toward Aliera because he idolizes Adron and therefore believes his daughter ought to not only be his equal in all matters, but ought to do and say everything exactly the way Morrolan imagines Adron would; and Aliera, of course, idolizes her big, powerful brave cousin Morrolan, and so has a tantrum whenever he fails to live up to the Morrolan she's manufactured in her head. It’s infernally stupid, and I've been listening to it for more years than a short-lived Easterner should have to, and I'm heartily sick of it. So shut up, both of you." I ran down at last.

"My goodness, Boss."

I was a bit surprised myself; I hadn't known I knew most of that stuff until I said it, and wouldn't have believed I'd have said it if I knew it. And now I got to sit there and wonder if, after all of Teldra's remarks about how tactful I was, I had finally stepped over the line.

I risked a look at the pair of them.

Morrolan was looking down, a self-conscious, maybe even embarrassed smile trying to fight its way past his facial control. Aliera was
blushing.
Actually blushing. This was as remarkable as having astonished the Demon Goddess. I don't know, by the way, how the Goddess reacted to my outburst, because I carefully avoided looking at her. Morrolan cleared his throat, started to speak, then didn't. Eventually, Sethra filled the silence with, "Well, my friends, It is certainly the case that Vlad could use a little quiet. Or, at least, less volume." Morrolan grunted something that sounded like agreement; Aliera looked down and nodded. They hadn't even looked at each other. I hoped I hadn't made things uncomfortable for them. Except that part of me hoped I had. Before anything else could happen, I turned to Teldra and said, "I'm glad you survived."

"I did," she said. "Thank you."

"What was it you were saying to them, right when I was doing whatever I was doing that created such a fuss?" Teldra chuckled. "I suggested that it would be easier for them to resist the effects of the amorphia if they were to release Morrolan and Aliera."

"Oh. Was that all?"

"Almost."

"Oh?"

Lady Teldra blushed. "I'd rather not say, if you don't mind."

I felt my eyebrows rising. Aliera, and now Teldra. What was the Empire coming to? Morrolan chuckled and said, "A well-timed, properly delivered insult can unsettle anyone. I don't know exactly what she discovered that a Jenoine might find so offensive as to disrupt its concentration, but I am not astonished that Teldra knew."

"Teldra," I said admonishingly. "Was that polite?"

"It was," she explained, "appropriate."

Morrolan snorted.

"In any case, we're alive, and free. It's over," I said hopefully

The Demon Goddess gave a small laugh. "Over? Do you really think so? Do you imagine that your escape has foiled what ever campaign the Jenoine have begun? Or that I will be satisfied letting them continue their mischief without making any sort of counter?"

I sighed. "No, I suppose not. But I'm injured; whatever you do won't include me, will it?" I looked at Morrolan, Sethra, and the Demon Goddess, and sighed. "Well, can we at least have a decent meal before we do whatever it is we're going to do?"

Sethra nodded. "I think that is an excellent idea. I'll see to it."

She left to have food prepared, and my stomach growled and rumbled at the idea. I closed my eyes. I heard the sounds of people sitting, and, wounded arm or no, enjoyed the feeling of being momentarily safe. The muscles in my shoulders and neck relaxed, and I took a big lungful of normal air that I didn't have to think about breathing.

Presently, a rough, high-pitched voice said, "Wine, my lord?"

I opened my eyes, saw Tukko, and closed my eyes again. "Yes," I said. And, "please," I added, because Lady Teldra was nearby. I sat up, discovering that it was harder than I'd have thought without being able to use my left hand, and took a glass of something red and sipped it. My tongue liked it - it was faintly nutty and had a bit of tang to it - but my stomach complained that it wanted something solid before I got too involved in this whole drinking business. I caught Teldra looking at me, I lifted my glass to her. "To survival," I said.