The Seedbearing Prince: Part I (57 page)

“They want the Seed that badly?” Dayn
whispered.

“It appears so, Shardian. Or else Moridos has
gone mad in his quest for vengeance.”

“But I don't even have it now!”

“Only because peace still shines upon us.
This is the deepest part of the tower. Voidwalkers could search for
weeks and not find you here.” Nassir beckoned him into the
crawlspace. Dayn obeyed hesitantly, wondering how long they would
hide there. The grate came back down with a metallic sound.

“Wait, you can't leave me! I―”

“Hold your wits,” Nassir hissed. “I will
return soon. The weep cannot pursue us through here. I mean to end
this, now. This voidwalker will hunt us no longer.” Dayn nodded
nervously as the Defender crept away, moving deeper into the
tower's core.

Stillness stormed in on Nassir’s quiet
retreat. Dayn could hear his heart pounding in his ears. He took
deep, measured breaths, attempting to calm himself. It did not
work. He strained for any hint of the fleshweep's strange call.

He’ll return soon,
he thought.
The
Prevailers will come looking for the transport, too.
Dayn clung
to that thread of hope.
They’ll capture the voidwalker, and the
weep. Then we can leave this place.

He counted two hundred breaths and calmed
somewhat, feeling his heart still as he took in the tower's stale
air. He immediately noticed a familiar, putrid smell.

His prior calm evaporated instantly. No sound
or movement came from above the grate.
Sand and ash, the
voidwalker could be locked in here with me! I should have at least
seen where this space goes instead of just sitting here like a wart
on a toad!

Without warning, the room above him
disintegrated in a roar that knocked Dayn flat on his back.
Fragments of the ruined wall crashed down on the grate above him.
The metal groaned, but held firm. Powder fell everywhere. Dayn
fought his throat not to cough out loud in the dust.

Above him, a dull amber glow gradually
replaced the darkness. Hollow thumps shook the room and Dayn felt
more than saw a sense of mass fill the narrow space. He could smell
the voidwalker somewhere above, and something else, so vile it made
his eyes water.
The fleshweep. It’s right above me!
The
amber light lurched into his vision and Dayn beheld a nightmare
given birth.

In the belly of the creature, an old man with
matted tufts of hair floated in a strange glowing liquid, appearing
to sleep. Mottled and sickly skin covered him. His eyelids
fluttered as though he strove to wake from terrible dreams. The
barest of rags floated around his body, and his long hair billowed
in the amber wash. Bubbles spilled from the old man's mouth as the
mass moved around him.

The man stirred. One of his hands squeaked
against the translucent underbelly of his monstrous prison. His
fingernails were long and curled, nearly longer than his fingers.
Peace protect me, how long has he been in there?
Dayn could
not tear his gaze away as the weep moved slowly through the room,
toward the corridor where Nassir had vanished. Dayn could just make
out the cruel outlines of four angular limbs, like blackened bones.
They reminded him of the barbed claws of a begging mantis, but
there were strange folds of flesh draped around them. He could not
see if the voidwalker rode upon it, nor could he make out the
fleshweep's head.

The man inside shifted again. His legs ended
in two ragged stumps, well above the knees. Completely overwhelmed
by the horror of the sight, Dayn opened his mouth to scream.

The churning motion of the weep's legs
stopped. Dayn’s cry stopped short of his teeth as the Defender
clamped a hand around his mouth, appearing from the shadows at the
last instant. Dayn trembled, tears leaking from his eyes.

The misty residue of a voidwalker's skin
floated down past the fleshweep's limbs. Ghostly tendrils of
reeking vapor slid over the chunks of broken wall and through the
grate. He would have gagged on the voidwalker's stench but for
Nassir's hand covering his mouth. If the voidwalker saw that the
floor was not solid …

The weep spun around, vanishing back through
the damaged wall. The sleeping man sloshed inside its amber belly
as the creature turned, but he did not wake.

Nassir tapped his free hand questioningly on
Dayn’s chest. At Dayn's nod, the Defender released his mouth.

“That man,” Dayn's voice shook. “What in
peace's reach is it
doing
to him?”

“Feeding. Hear me keenly, Shardian.” The
Defender's whisper was urgent. “Better to go limp against a weep,
understand? You see what happens if you struggle. His legs.”

Dayn’s mouth went dry. “He’s been in there
for years. His hair...”

“Yes. The rider is a bondleader. But the
advantage is still ours. Every minute they hunt us, more Prevailers
surround this tower. Stay here.”

“Where are you going?”

“To kill him.”

“But you said if we wait long enough, we’ll
be free!”

“No, Shardian.
You
will be free, and
safe. My duty allows no such comforts. I will come for you. You
will know by the deathscream.”

With that the Defender disappeared. Dayn
wanted to shake the Ringman, but he could not argue with Nassir’s
reasoning. A Defender who hid from a fight would not be much of a
Defender at all.

Dayn sought calmness, checking the talons
left in his pack. He counted out the moments, this time allowing a
thousand breaths to pass.
We’re going to be alright.

Measured footfalls rang out on the metal
grating above the hiding place.
A Prevailer?
Dayn looked
upward expectantly.

Moridos snarled down at him. The voidwalker
tore the grating away in a single, powerful motion. Chunks of stone
from the broken wall flew aside as easily as a child’s play
blocks.

Dayn crawled away on hands and knees in the
direction the Defender went. “Nassir!”

“He’s dying, whelp. All of you are
dying!”

Dayn groped ahead in the darkness. There had
been no deathscream. The crawlway abruptly widened, allowing him to
stand. A distant light beckoned to him, promising escape, but he
did not run to it. No one else could stop the voidwalker, he alone
remained.

Dayn lifted his chin and turned, clutching
reflexively for the Seed in his pocket, forgetting for just a
moment that it was not there. Moridos dropped heavily in front of
him from some unseen shaft. He did not even have time to lift his
hands before the voidwalker took his throat, lifting Dayn off his
feet in triumph.

“I don’t care what Raaluwos says about you,”
Moridos whispered. A zealous light shone in his eyes. “My brother’s
slayer belongs to me!”

Moridos squeezed. Dayn panicked, beating
weakly at the monster’s pale face. His efforts did little more than
stir the vapor pouring from the voidwalker’s skin. Dayn’s hands
brushed frantically against the armor, still showing cracks from
the Seed’s strange power.

Dayn focused all of his energy on clawing
into that gap. His fingernails splintered, but found purchase. The
armor began to peel away. Moridos grimaced, and put both hands on
Dayn’s neck. His vision dimming, Dayn grabbed tightly, pulling with
his last remaining strength.

The voidwalker screamed, his harsh voice
echoing down the corridor. He dropped Dayn, who still held a piece
of armor wide as a plate. Vapor poured from the green, bloody
wound. Moridos clutched his chest, staggering back.

Dayn hopped up with new purpose and grabbed
his pack. Hope sprang to life as he backed slowly away from
Moridos, toward the distant light.
If he wants me that bad,
he’ll chase me outside. The Prevailers can finish him, they have to
be out there!

The world lurched on his next step. He
tumbled down a metal chute, with no handholds to stop his
slide.

“No!” Somewhere above him, he heard Moridos,
but a massive rumbling sound drowned out the voidwalker’s
shout.

“Clusterthorn!” Dayn slipped out into a huge
vertical shaft. The space looked to stretch the height of the
entire tower. Hundreds of spans below him lay the blades of a
massive fan. Each a hundred feet wide, the metal blades whirled
fast enough to cut him in two. He plummeted straight for them.

Dayn dug for his wingline. One good throw was
all he needed. Plenty of ledges stood within reach of his talon. He
twisted his torso, giving his back to the spinning blades
below.

Moridos spilled out of the chute above, chest
shattered and bleeding. The voidwalker fell after him. His eyes
blazed with rage as he watched Dayn’s toss.

The talon struck true, latching onto another
of the shaft’s crawlspace openings in a shower of sparks. Dayn’s
wingline pulled taut. He swung sharply to one side, and smashed
into the wall of the shaft. His ribs quaked with the impact, but he
managed to cling to the edge of a rusted panel, though the metal
sliced into his fingers.

The voidwalker flipped himself in the air
like a cat. His hand reached out for a metal ledge just in time to
catch himself, howling in pain. The voidwalker began to pull
himself up and into another crawlspace.

Dayn eyed the wingline above him. His talon
clutched near another vent, but he did not climb for it. He let go
of his handhold and pushed off the wall. The wingline held him as
he swung back across the shaft to where the wounded voidwalker was
pulling himself up.

His boots smashed into the voidwalker’s
carapace right at the ribs. Pieces of shattered armor flew
everywhere, and Moridos lost his grip. The voidwalker swept
downward, screaming. Dayn held on to his wingline and looked in
time to see Moridos hit the spinning fan below.

“Shardian!” The entire tower shuddered. The
fan continued spinning, but sparks flared as Moridos continued to
descend, striking more blades beyond the first. The tower pounded
the voidwalker’s armor relentlessly, grinding him to gibbets.
Moridos screamed and screamed. Dayn averted his eyes. When the
voidwalker’s deathscream finally rushed over him, he could not help
but mutter peace’s prayer over the monster. It was a horrible way
to die.

He began to climb his wingline, exhausted. A
clatter of boots jerked his eyes up. Nassir appeared, clutch held
at the ready. “Shardian! Peace be praised. I felt the scream and
thought the worst.”

The Defender pulled him up. “He said you were
dead,” Dayn rasped. “I believed him.”

“No, the bondleader fled the tower. There are
Prevailers everywhere outside.” Nassir examined Dayn closely, then
clapped him on the shoulder. “The evidence of a slain voidwalker in
the bowels of their own tower, and the Seed still to show. When the
worlds learn of this, they will finally be forced to accept the
truth. One way or another, Shardian, you’ve completed your
task.”

The Defender’s words finally penetrated
Dayn’s exhausted thoughts. He
means it. I can go home.
“We
did everything, didn’t we? Everything the Lord Ascendant
asked.”

“Everything and more. No reason to stand
around talking. Let’s leave this place. There’s still the Consuls
to consider.” Nassir led him back into the tower. “After this, the
Regents will no doubt join them. Your deeds will be on every tongue
in Montollos by week’s end. Dayn Ro’Halan, Seedbearer. The Binder
of Worlds, the Beltbound will call you. The Regents are fond of
naming things.”

“I’m sure you’ll be around to remind me that
I’m just a farmer.” Dayn allowed himself a small smile. The fear of
being chased, of Moridos’s vengeance...all of it was finally gone.
More than anything, he just wanted to rest.

Nassir glanced back at him, a touch of warmth
in his eyes. “We’re nearly to the other side of the tower.”

Dayn felt like weeks had passed since he
first staggered out of the Rain Shoppe. He was filthy, his
once-fine Aran clothes caked in dust.

“I'm surprised it isn't crawling with
Prevailers by now.”

Nassir snorted. “The Regents do not watch
over all of Montollos equally.”

Up ahead Dayn spied red lights, flickering
dully. “The way out,” he exhaled in relief. “I can see it up
ahead.”

He walked full on into the Defender’s back.
Why did he stop, we’re...
Squinting, Dayn suddenly
understood. Those were red eyes glowing, blinking in the dark. A
flash of amber near the ground confirmed his fears. The
fleshweep!

The Defender drew his sword and rushed into
the dark, angling to Dayn's left. The eyes blazed red, as they
swung to follow him, leaving streaks across Dayn’s vision. He heard
a voidwalker snarl right before a crash of metal on cold stone.

“Run, Shardian!” Dayn found himself moving,
willing his legs toward the sounds of struggle. “The entrance is
behind the weep!”

Dayn veered away from the red eyes as they
whipped back and forth, holding his hands straight out before him
so he did not kiss a wall running at full speed. The fleshweep
roared, a terrifying sound like cartilage being rent from the bone.
It stood to his back now. He heard metal crash again. The Defender
shouted in triumph.

A cool surface embraced Dayn's fingertips. He
followed the wall away from the fight. Indistinct gray in the
distance led him away from the darkened room. The outline of a door
revealed itself, and he ran for it, ashamed of his own fear.

Finally his hand felt an edge, a handle that
must be part of the larger portal.
Almost out!
The
voidwalker shouted behind him in what sounded like
frustration―Nassir was getting the best of him.
We're going to
make it, we are
―

Something slammed into Dayn from behind and
sent him sprawling. He blinked dully as his eyes strained to adjust
to the Montollos sky, nearing twilight. A huge hole stood in place
of the tower portal, and steel-banded chunks of stone lay all
around him, strewn about like a child's blocks.