OrbSoul (Book 6) (24 page)

   Without further word he raised his staff. Leth found himself back in his bedchamber, the blue casket on the floor beside him and the glowing Orbsword lying nearby. He looked up and smiled inside his helm as the worried, bespectacled face of Pader Luminis appeared around the door.           

ELEVEN

i

   But it was far from over.

   Prince Anzejar was dead; the Karai were gone, as were Strymnia and her projected entity, Olmana. In Enchantment equilibrium was being restored. The ancient conflicts would continue, as they had always done and must continue to do, for it is in chaos that the dynamic hidden order resides, the higher laws and unformed, un-realized patterns out of which the perceivable order flows. Within chaos is potential and the striving to become, the urge to be realized in the formed world. But with the ancient knowledge of the true nature of their struggle regained - and those who would abuse or ignore it restrained - the mighty denizens of Enchantment could maintain their conflict and survive.

   The dream could continue, even if some dreamers were not aware that they dreamed. And now none could rise beyond themselves again.

   With balance restored and old conflicts renewed, and with the new knowledge that this restoration had brought, Enchantment would no longer threaten to overwhelm the formed world. From time to time it might still bring magic or strange gifts, tests or trials into the lives of humankind, and always mystery and the impenetrable would hover on human horizons, to tantalize and bring wonder, fear and enquiry. At night the weirdlights would continue to both beckon and repel. A brave or foolhardy few might still go forth, never to return; others might, by luck or talent or a combination of both, succeed in bringing back knowledge and understanding through which their kind might grow; but Enchantment would always sit at the far reach of their lives, and its mightiest denizens would remain aloof, as they had done before.

   But this was for the future. Now was time for re-evaluation and final measures. All was not yet over; the balance could still be upturned. Unseen menace lingered on in Enchantment's Reach, for there remained a mystery that had yet to be solved.

*

   The day had waxed in strength then begun its slow decline towards evening once more, and the snow fell in light gusting showers and the warriors of the
Karai, in their thousands, filed slowly out of the great city-castle. An uneasy calm had settled upon Enchantment's Reach. To Leth, as he watched from the Palace windows, it seemed not quite real.

   He had made the decision to remain inside the royal apartments in Orbia Palace while the
Karai evacuated, and had given no broadcast of his return lest it provoke some new reversal of Karai intent. The Karai, in silence and order, relinquished their positions throughout the city-castle. Slow snaking columns of horse-troops and infantry filed with neither pomp, ceremony nor any sign of complaint back through the streets they had so recently taken, flowing into the wide boulevards like tributaries into great rivers which themselves all converged at the city's perimeter, the great gate, and were disgorged as one onto the causeway leading out onto the scarp. As the Karai went, the bemused survivors of Enchantment's Reach moved equally quietly to take their places, none quite believing, wondering whether this was some kind of twisted game, half-expecting that at any moment all would be turned around again and some new, savage and ever more bloody Karai storm would descend upon them.

   Midway through the morning slooths were seen beating their way in straggled groups away from the capital, towards the far southwest and the hidden mountains of Enchantment. Uncommanded, they plied their way through the heavy air with no discernible formation, sometimes as lone individuals, obeying only the primordial instinct to return to the distant peaks that were their home.

    Inside the city-castle groups of war-trolls became a hazard. Like their companion slooth's they were, with Anzejarl's death, cut suddenly adrift, abandoned within the great maze of Enchantment's Reach. They turned with brute, fearful savagery upon humans and Karai alike. But though deadly, they now lacked discipline and coordination, and were relatively few in number. In all they were much reduced from the devastatingly effective military shock-force they had been only hours ago.

   As the
Karai departed, the units of special forces that Pader Luminis had ordered under cover when he had announced the capital's surrender stole forth. Swiftly and efficiently they moved against the soldier-fanatics of the True Sept who had revealed themselves in the conflict and who, still above ground, now found themselves like Enchantment's brutes, lost and exposed as their former allies deserted them.

   In the meantime Pader Luminis, Sir Grenyard and other close and trusted advisors brought Leth up to date on all that had transpired in his absence. Thus he learned not only of the
Karai infiltration and assault, but of Mawnie's murder, the disappearance of her infant daughter Lir, and the subsequent vanishing of the traitor, the Lord High Invigilate, Fectur, who had gone, as he had put it, 'below', and of whom there had since been no sign.

   Had he been taken by the True Sept? Leth wondered. Plainly he had had no pact with Anzejarl, but could he, by some extraordinary arrangement, have joined ranks with Grey Venger's fanatics? It seemed improbable.
Incredible. So was he in hiding somewhere within Overlip or elsewhere in the city-castle, awaiting a moment to strike or escape?

   Leth thought of Orbelon's sentiments, of a secret that lay beneath Orbia, of magical apparatus and a link between his world and this one, and he was not easy in his mind.

   Leth shook with cold rage at the thought of the betrayal that had been visited upon him and his realm in his absence. To his mind it made little sense that Fectur should act with such vicious irresponsibility at a time when he was himself as threatened by the Karai menace as any other inhabitant of Enchantment's Reach. Fectur could have no secret compact, for surely if he had he would have shown himself in his true colours when the Karai and the True Sept first emerged triumphant? And his Security Cadre - would it not have turned against the King's loyal troops? This had not happened. The Security Cadre, by all reports, had fought unerringly alongside the men of Enchantment's Reach and had incurred major losses. The implication was that their overall loyalty to Sovereign and Crown was not impaired, which brought much relief to Leth. But, if Fectur was to command otherwise now, would the Cadre rise against Leth?

  Leth reasoned not. Without support Fectur could hardly hope to overthrow the throne by such direct means. Subterfuge and deceit were his customary and most effective weapons, but he had now been undone and exposed in the employment of these. So was he simply seeking to absent himself entirely? Or had he intimations of the secret that lay hidden beneath Orbia?

   'Do you suspect him of murdering Mawnie and kidnapping Lir?' he enquired of Pader. 'But why?'

   'I am far from certain that that is the case,' said Pader. His look was deeply troubled.

   'Is there something you are keeping from me, Pader?'

   'I have had thoughts. I would rather discuss them with you at another time.'

   Leth regarded him curiously, but did not demur. 'I would have said it is possible, Lir being the mischievous imp that she is, that she has simply hidden herself away in some nook. Yet you say days have passed now. She would surely, if she were able, have shown herself.'

   He looked enquiringly at Pader, who remained strained and uncomfortably silent. Leth shook his head. The situation was complex and utterly
perplexing. But he determined that he too must now go below, to seek out this secret.

   He was equally anxious to send a force to find and rescue Issul. His heart ached with fear for her, but he did not know where she was. No word had come from Triune. Issul could be anywhere in the cold wilderness, in the hands of Grey Venger and the Legendary Child.

   Leth feared too for
the wellbeing of his children. He had to assume they had been taken back to Triune's tower. At his earliest opportunity he intended to journey to the Karai camp and step through the Farplace Opening again, to bring them home. But too many immediate concerns demanded his attention now. Moreover, the region, as well as the camp, would still be rife with hostile Karai, for word of events here would take days or longer to penetrate to the furthest flung elements of Anzejarl's army.

   By mid-morning Orbia Palace was wholly free of
Karai. The few trolls that remained had been isolated and contained by Palace troops. There were losses among Leth's troops, for the brutes fought to the bitter end, but one by one they were slaughtered. By mid-afternoon the Karai withdrawal from the city-castle was more than two-thirds complete. Still visited by a sense of the unreal, Leth retired to his study where he locked the door, then opened the lid of the blue casket to enter the blue domain.

   'Orbelon, has Urch-Malmain's Portal been dismantled and the entities dispersed?'

   'It has and they have.'

   'Then this world and yours are no longer under threat from the Portal?'

   'Its unnatural energies have been harmlessly dispersed throughout the Unity of Dimensions.'

   'Then we succeeded.'

   Orbelon nodded solemnly.

  
'And Urch-Malmain?'

  
'Returned to Enchantment.'

   'What of Issul, Orbelon? Do you know?'

   'Alas, Leth, we lost her. I am sorry. Triune's seeking-eye was spotted and destroyed by the Child.'

   Leth winced, numbed by the thought of what Issul might now be undergoing. 'Is there nothing you or Triune can do?'

   'Without knowing where she is? Triune is wholly involved with Strymnia and Urch-Malmain. She cannot divert herself. But do not give up hope, Leth. Issul is strong and resourceful. I believe in her.'

   Leth hung his head,
then said, 'The children?'

  
'Are safe with Triune, waiting for you.'

   Leth cast his eye
above, to the far black writhing thing that was Strymnia's projection.

   Orbelon followed the direction of his gaze. 'It is good, I think, that a little of her is within me now. I can learn from this, and so must she. And now, perhaps, we each have ample time to do so.'

   'Orbelon, I must go below, beneath Orbia, to find the link that you spoke of between our worlds, and whatever else lies there. An enemy has gone before me: Fectur, who was responsible for my overthrow. I know he harbours great ambitions. He may have knowledge of what lies there. Can you guide me? I do not know where to look.'

   'I will do what I can. I must unearth memories that have long been buried.
And . . . Leth. Leth. Leth.' Orbelon turned to face him, his arms half-raised, then suddenly stepped forward and embraced him. 'Leth, take heart! A surprise awaits you.'

   He raised his staff, returning Leth to his study without another word. Leth secreted the blue casket in its hidden cavity and left. He stepped into the passage outside and closed the door. Turning to leave, he halted abruptly, choking back a sob as his eyes fell upon the figure resting in a window seat a short way along the passage.

Throwing wide her arms, Issul rose and ran to embrace him.

ii

   She fell into his arms and they kissed and clung to each other as if to life itself. And when at last they drew back, they looked into each other's eyes, and both saw the strain and hardship reflected there, both recognized that, in essence, they had in so short a time become immeasurably different people. At once they both began to speak, then halted, and Issul said, 'No, my love, you first. Tell me all that has happened since we were parted. Did you succeed? Did you find the Souls? What of the Karai? It is too fantastic!'

   She was incredulous as Leth told of the recovery of Triune's Soul and the tri-partite god's subsequent transformation, then his journey onto the Shore of Nothing and into the End of the World that lay beyond, through the World's Agony into the Orb of the Godworld, where Orbelon's Soul was hidden. Finally he came to his return to Orbia, and his extraordinary encounter with Prince Anzejarl and Olmana.

   'And he had ordered his troops to withdraw? Without provocation?' asked Issul incredulously.

   'There was provocation, but not from us,' replied Leth. 'He spoke of his enemy, but it was she who had controlled him all this time who he truly wished to strike at. He considered himself defeated but believed, rightly, that withdrawal was the means to thwart her intentions, for she was not powerful enough to stand alone. As it happened, he had underestimated her capacity to influence him still. We were lucky; he was not. Except . . .'

   'Except what?'

   'Except that he gave me the clear impression that death was what he most desired.'

   Issul, recalling her liberation of the Karai camp and the two prisoners who had died in her custody, said, 'Karai have an innate ability to induce their own deaths.'