The Nemesis Blade (62 page)

“I intend to, but not by blurting it out in one torrent of
words
no one
will
understand now. A nudge here … and there …” And he burst out
laughing. “Gods, I wish you could see your face!”

Torrullin
swore under his breath. “Get something to eat; we are moving off
soon.”

He started
dumping packs onto the deck, ignoring Elianas.

Perhaps he
should tell Saska and Caballa to reveal Elianas as the sentient
part of the Throne.

Maybe that
would be the stupidest thing he ever did … for Elianas was not the
Throne.

The way was
narrow beyond the cavern, but the water calmer.

The channel
through the mountain was deep, abyss deep, and thus the destructive
current had lost some of its power.

It was also
pitch dark.

Torrullin
affixed a globe to the mast; it shed encompassing light, thus they
were not at any point surprised by the rock face.

Sound would
alert them to another waterfall.

Fortunately
there were none. They went on in murmuring companionship, rowing
and steering as the need arose, ate on deck as no areas for rest
came forth, and were not as cold and wet as before. Grotto followed
cavern and cave, and tunnel preceded wide expanse. The day wore
on.

After a few
hours they realised they were not alone.

“There’s
something in the water,” Tianoman whispered, his voice hushed with
disquiet.

“Giant eels,”
Dechend murmured. “Like sea serpents.”

“Strong enough
to dunk us,” Teighlar added. “Make no sudden splashes.”

Rose
whimpered.

“And no noise
either.”

Silence was
absolute and oars cautiously raised. Tension was palpable.

They drifted,
once using an oar to push away from the rock. Everyone stared at
the water. Darker shadows moved in the dark depths; huge, elongated
shadows.

Rose clamped
her hands over her mouth.

They entered a
new cavern. This one was filled with yellow glows akin to sunlight
and blinded them initially after the gloom of hours. The water was
translucent as terrestrial lakes were in sunshine, and a host of
eels swirled and danced the depths.

They did not
appear threatening at all.

“Like the
painting,” Quilla murmured.

“Then the
abyss is nearby,” Torrullin said. “Teighlar?”

“There, look.”
Teighlar pointed at the far side of the cavern.

The water
seemed to vanish into the rock entirely, and above the point was a
painted symbol.

“Well,” Declan
said.

“A dragon, a
bloody dragon,” Teighlar muttered. “Elixir, I believe the way is
marked for you.”

A massive,
blue dragon cavorted in stasis within an enclosing circle. The same
leaping dragon as Vallorin’s carried on their chests for aeons.

Neolone,
Kallanon Dragon.

Torrullin’s
gaze fixated there. Instinct shivered over his skin.

“Steer right,”
Elianas said. “To the inlet.”

Where the
water vanished, there was a small harbour. It was of stone, with
jetty, mooring rings, and steps leading up and away into the rock
above.

“Is that
Luvan?” Dechend asked, amazed.

“I doubt it,”
Teighlar muttered.

“It is
Valleur,” Sabian said. “And very old.”

Yes, instinct
was present. Torrullin forced his gaze aside.

They had no
need to steer. Eels popped from the water and laid hold of the raft
with sharp teeth to push them to the ancient harbour.

“It’s as if
they know we have to go there,” Teroux murmured, looking over the
side. Like everyone else, he kept his hands from the edge.

“Ancient
memory, maybe,” Quilla said.

“That means
others came here in the past,” Tristan frowned.

“Luvans,”
Dechend said.

“To a dragon
symbol?” Teighlar snorted. “Wave symbol, yes. Not some fucking
alien dragon.”

Elianas hissed
through his teeth.

Sabian started
to laugh.

“How can this
be Valleur?” Tristan again.

“Ask the
Animated Spirit,” Teighlar said. “Have you not noticed how quiet he
suddenly is?”

Elianas hissed
again and Sabian laughed harder. Maple cuffed him.

Torrullin
remarked, “Do you want to have this out now, High King?”

Dechend
swerved around to stare at Torrullin.

Teighlar
glared over his shoulder. “No.”

“Then shut
up.”

Dechend was
pale.

Sabian held
his stomach as mirth overcame him; Maple threatened to throw him to
the eels.

Rose’s head
was a ball on a string. “What’s going on here?”

“Games,” Saska
muttered. “Ignore them.”

The raft
steered into the quiet of the stone harbour. The eels retreated,
but did not go away.

Maple tossed
Sabian onto the jetty and then marched him to one side to tell him
succinct truths. Quilla had to grin; yes, the Tracloc certainly had
his uses. Tristan was next and tied off. The women disembarked and
the packs were given over. Finally the others clambered out and the
raft was empty.

They gazed in
the general direction of the steps wondering where it led, with
Elianas also marking the dragon symbol with intent, and then a loud
crunching sound pulled them around.

The eels had a
hold of the raft again and were now attacking it with sharp teeth
and muscled sideswipes. Within minutes nothing of their wooden
transport remained. It and the eels vanished.

“Well, I guess
we go up,” Declan murmured without expression.

“We knew this
was a one-way trip,” Tristan muttered. “No need for them to rub it
in.”

“Crikey,”
Teroux croaked.

Torrullin’s
orb of light bounced through the surface and exploded. Both he and
Elianas flinched.

“Gods,”
Caballa whispered.

Elianas
gripped Torrullin’s elbow. “The abyss lies yonder.” He began
walking, pulling Torrullin along with him.

Together they
set foot to the stairs.

“How do you
know that?” Teighlar shouted, digging in.

Elianas said,
“We have stared into other voids together, Emperor, he and I. We
know when one is before us.”

Torrullin
pulled him onward. “You reveal too much.”

“He reveals
too little!”

“Let it go,”
Quilla said to Teighlar. He now understood confronting Elianas was
no simple task.

“Are you to
allow a man to be your woman now, Torrullin?” Teighlar called out,
his patience with the strange situation leaving him.

Quilla shook
his head. Nobody listened to him anymore. Stupid bloody Senlu.

Saska and
Caballa glanced at each other.

Elianas
grabbed at thin air as Torrullin stalked back. Grey eyes sparking
with fury, he pushed Teighlar roughly. “You spoiling for a
fight?”

Teighlar
muscled forward. “Yes!”

Torrullin hit
him, hard.

Rose screamed,
and Sabian doubled over in laughter.

Teighlar hit
back, snapping Torrullin’s head to the side. They squared off.

Elianas
stepped between them, facing Torrullin. “Unless you seek to create
an irreparable rift, I suggest you back off.”

Torrullin
snarled and pushed Elianas out of the way … and found himself flat
on his back, seeing stars.

Elianas bent
over him. “You need not rise to every baiting, Elixir. Reserve this
fury for the trials ahead. Ignore him; he is jealous.”

“You
hit
me,” Torrullin blurted.

“He hits
bloody hard,” Teighlar said admiringly. Then his voice changed.
“What do you insinuate - jealous?” He collared Elianas.

“You are. You
and he, the special bond of enchanters. One nobody here could share
… until now.” Elianas remained limp in that grip.

“Call yourself
an enchanter?” Teighlar hissed into his face.

Torrullin, on
his feet again, jerked Elianas from the Senlu’s grip. “Elianas, let
it go.”

The
dark-haired man gave a nod, and headed up the stairs without
looking at anyone.

Torrullin
stared at Teighlar. “This was unnecessary.”

The Senlu
inclined his head. “Agreed, but soon we must play it through … or
go mad.”

Torrullin
murmured, “I hear you, but find your calm, my friend. We are not at
that point yet.” He set off after a swiftly climbing Elianas.

“Is he an
enchanter?” Teighlar called out.

They did not
answer.

Teighlar
swirled his tongue in his mouth as his instincts assailed him.

Saska stood
before Teighlar. “You bloody fool! Anything you say against Elianas
will only drive him closer.”

Teighlar
frowned at her. “I have the distinct feeling you know more of this
mysterious ‘brother’ than you let on, my lady.”

Caballa sighed
somewhere.

Sabian
chortled with laughter.

Saska stalked
over and slapped him. “Shut up or you will be eel bait in a minute!
I don’t know why you find this amusing, you, the mild mannered
master historian.”

“It is all
new, my lady, so very new, and there are so many undercurrents
here, one could write a thesis.”

Maple inserted
himself between Saska and the fair man, and dragged Sabian to the
pile of packs. “I will sort him out, my lady.” He shoved at Sabian.
“Man, I do not get you. I do not sense darak and yet I swear you
can manufacture it with these undercurrents. Beware, or you fall
into the same trap you did before - Agnimus.”

Sabian hissed
and shouldered his pack. He tossed Maple’s at him. “Let us climb,
shall we?”

They set
off.

Dechend closed
an open mouth with a snap. “Emperor, I thought you and Elixir are
friends.”

“We are,
Dechend. Ignore us,” Teighlar said. He found his pack. “I merely
hate the thought the Valleur were here before the Luvans.” He
stalked off then, before he said too much.

Dechend stared
at the dragon symbol and shook his head.

One by one
they climbed, with Tristan, Teroux and Tianoman trailing
behind.

“I saw
Torrullin in Digilan returned from a fight,” Tianoman murmured. “He
was like that, ready to kill … and no apology.”

“Who is this
Elianas?” Teroux asked. “He pops up out of the ether, someone known
to Torrullin, and no one else? Weird. Something about him sets
Torrullin off. I say be wary.”

Tristan said,
“Folk say I am like Torrullin, but that can never be me. I cannot
hold such anger.”

“I can,”
Tianoman muttered.

His cousins
stared at him then, but he added no more. He shouldered ahead.

Chapter 46

And then there
was the dark …

~ Awl

Abyss

A
t the top of the worn stairs a
tunnel veered left directly behind the dragon symbol.

In fact, the
symbol was rendered inside the tunnel also, which caused Teighlar
to snort loudly. Dechend was heard to sigh.

The tunnel led
into darkness.

A point of
light drew everyone swiftly together. Torrullin had created a new
orb.

The space they
encountered was like to no other any there had encountered.

First, an eternity of space lay before them. There was no
other side, nor was there discernible ceiling … or floor. They
stood balanced on a what was a ledge leaning over an infinity of
nothingness. Second, it
was
a void, but it was also an entity, for it
possessed marked presence. The cold, deadness of emptiness lay
below and above, and yet it was as solid as rock in what it
projected into their realities.

“The Abyss,”
Dechend murmured, awed.

“Grinwallin,
Final Abyss,” Teighlar stated. He stared down. “Now I understand
this city is ever balanced on the brink. This is why she is named
as she is.”

“This could
suck in worlds,” Declan declared.

“We are to go
in there?” Teroux asked.

“I wonder if
we will ever actually find the Luvan records,” Teighlar mused.
“Perhaps just knowing they are here is enough. The past is ever
with us, is it not?”

Pointedly,
neither Torrullin nor Elianas said anything. Both stood at the
edge, arms folded, legs braced, but stared across, not down.

Quilla
wandered over. “I assume by your gazes we are to cross, not
descend.”

“What? How?”
Rose squeaked.

Torrullin gave
Teighlar a fleeting smile. “Emperor, I do not think you will be
eating horse dung.”

Teighlar
grinned. His inner tension receded somewhat. Ah so, not even the
might Elixir could retrieve the Luvan records.

“We halt here
until we figure it out,” Torrullin added.

“Here? On a
cliff?” Rose breathed. “No.”

“Horse dung?”
Teroux muttered.

“Rose is
right,” Caballa said. “We take rest down on the jetty.”

After a
moment, Torrullin agreed. “Fine. Elianas and I will remain
here.”

Elianas had
not yet moved from his intent perusal of the darkness beyond.

Sabian
drawled, “What we have here is the divide between known time and
realm time. This void is the bridge. When we have spanned it, we no
longer affect what lies in the time of our combined histories.”

Teighlar
stared at him. It seemed Sabian had a contribution to make other
than troublemaker.

“You need me
to get across this,” Sabian added. “I shall stay here with
you.”

Torrullin
nodded at him.

“I stay as
well,” Teighlar said. “You three could decide to go wandering
across without us.”

Elianas’ head
moved slightly. All there had the clearest thought he intended
exactly that. To leave them behind.

Saska swore.
“We all stay.”

“No,” Rose
whispered.