The emerald queen, p.33
The Emerald Queen, page 33
part #7 of Legends of Ansu Series
“Go,” Cille said, pushing him again, this time toward a door which had emerged through the steam. Tam saw a dull green light lining the edges.
“The Piper was right,” she said. “The portals are closing, and you must stop my sister; in doing so you will save the one you love.”
“I don’t understand,” Tam said.
“You will in time.”
Cille and the steamy room had disappeared. Instead, Tam was looking down a length of endless corridor, lit on either wall by flickering sconces, the flames dancing on the surface of mirrors alongside.
“Cille?”
“Take the third door on the left,” her voice sounded far away. “Don’t hesitate—time is limited as we approach the nexus. That door will lead you to the Castle of Lights. Once there you must—”
“Cille!”
“Ahh, they are back,” Cille’s distant voice faded and was replaced by a heavy scraping sound, followed by a long wail that trailed off into a scream of agony.
Cille?
Silence. Torches flickering, mirrors reflecting their flame, and a cold tunnel breeze lifting his hair. Tam wondered if he were back in the mines and this just another an illusion. Or else Seek had him tripping on rogue weed.
He paced the corridor at speed, focusing on the torches far ahead, and ignoring those he passed. Each sconce and bracket resembled the arms of some hideous beast. They creaked into life as Tam brushed past, reaching out and singeing his hair and shoulders with their brands. Another illusion. Shut it out. Tam started to trot, and glancing back, saw the sconces join together into one great flame and rush behind him.
He ran, forcing back panic. The corridor resonated menace, a feeling that he was not alone, that some cruel entity or malicious spirit was stalking him. Tam tried not to look, but occasionally his eyes were drawn to the mirrors lining both sides of the passage. There were faces in there, staring back out at him. Cold, cruel faces. They watched him pass with hungry eyes. Burn, those eyes said. Burn. Behind and closing, the lone sconce flame crackled and leaped.
A door appeared on the left, from it a pale hand reached out and beckoned him inside. Tam tripped as the hand grabbed his jacket. He shoved it aside, gasping at the coldness of that touch. Unlike Cille’s, that touch felt like death. Tam staggered to his feet. Ran on.
A second door loomed on his right, high-arched and archaic, the stone lintel crumbling. A man stood there. A giant encased in steel, his head hidden by a barrel helmet, hollow slits hinting where the eyes should be.
“I’m waiting for you,” the metal giant said as Tam skirted past. “You cannot escape me.” Tam left giant and door behind.
Ignore everything. Third door on left. I’ve got this.
Tam passed two more doors, both on his right. Guardians stood there but Tam ignored them, refusing to accept their existence. A second door emerged on his left, more like a crack in the wall. A woman’s voice called out to him.
“Lord Tam—love me; it’s been so long.”
He glanced inside briefly as he passed. A woman stood there, naked save a robe she had draped across her shoulders. In horror Tam saw her long finger nails were dripping blood, and crimson pooled the dirt beneath her feet.
“I need flesh!” the woman shrieked as Tam rushed by, dreading what the third door would reveal. The corridor turned, twisted, and if he’d had any sense of direction he’d have lost it by now. It was hotter here and the air cloying as though he were inside the belly of some huge serpent. The walls pressed in on him and those mirrors clinked and split asunder as Tam sped past.
A wall loomed ahead. The corridor dead ended! Cille had lied to him.
No way out. Tam saw a long mirror hanging from that wall. As he approached, he glimpsed his reflection, and something else—another figure, much larger, looming over him. Tam turned, sword slicing. Nothing there.
Trapped!
He looked back down the corridor reflected by its own mirrors, the torches flickering faster as the gathering flame swelled large toward him, the mirrors exploding as it rushed past. Tam heard the sound of crunching feet and saw the metal giant emerge through that flame, a huge mace swinging in his steel fists. The giant’s mass filled the corridor, and the flames caressed and licked that armor, as his steel-shod feet crunched closer, the metal mace scraping the floor and filling Tam with terror.
This isn’t real. Hold it together–-there’s a door here somewhere. Has to be!
The giant was closing fast, his metal head sparking off the corridor ceiling as he stooped. Tam looked around, the panic tearing him open. No door, and no alternative except going back, and that meant facing that giant.
“Do something!” Tam heard his voice echo down the corridor.
Something . . .something . . .something . . .
You are close—don’t fail now. The voice was Cille’s and came from the mirror on his left. Tam saw a man’s image within. A man he knew, but hadn’t seen in years. A creature from his past. A cruel man, and in his hand a bloodied knife.
Who are you stalking, Sulo?
But Tam knew the answer and cried out in pain when he saw Teret standing alone in a hall of glass, her face stricken with terror. She hadn’t seen Sulo creeping up behind her, the knife raised high.
“Teret!” Tam’s fist struck the glass of the mirror and it exploded into a thousand shards, blinding him in the glare and cutting open his face. Tam blinked through blood and tears. The giant rose over him, the mace already falling.
Tam leapt forward into the gap where the mirror had hung. That had vanished, replaced by a gaping hole. The third door on the left.
Tam had found it at last, but was he too late? He jumped through as the mace swung wide over his head, and flames soared behind it.
A rough hand grabbed Tam and pulled him out into cold salty air. “Got him!” A familiar voice said. Tam blinked; the air crackled behind him. He turned, saw a fissure of light closing like a clam at returning tide. Within it Tam glimpsed the corridor and flames shrinking and dwindling, and then disappearing. He heard a chuckle, staggered to his feet and someone punched him lightly. Tam swayed, tried not to spew as he steadied himself. He opened his eyes, saw the sea crashing to his left and heard the cry of gulls overhead. “Where?”
“Don’t ask,” Stogi said leaning over his friend.
Tam blinked up at him, seeing the Shen woman, Tai Pei, standing behind, her expression slightly curious. “We’re out of time,” Tam said, taking quick stock of this new situation. He stood on a beach, the sea just yards ahead, and huge breakers crashing upon pebble, sand, and rock. It was warm and sunny.
“Am I outside the Hall?” Tam’s face hurt, and his eyes stung, and he could see nothing but sand, sea, and sun for miles and miles, broken occasionally by the triangular lumps of rocks spilled from the hills crumbling away into distance. A seashore unlike any he’d seen.
“Where . . .?”
“No idea,” Stogi said, staring at the ocean as though it were a nest of serpents. “We just arrived here.” Stogi looked confused and edgy. “Been walking this . . . beach for hours with that . . .water . . . trying to soak us every step.”
“He’s scared of the ocean,” Tai Pei said, curling her lower lip.
“This isn’t the sea that surrounds Graywash Hall,” Tam muttered to himself. “That’s a cold sea–-a gray desolate region. This is different.”
“What’s he talking about?” Tai Pei said.
“He does this,” Stogi said. “Smoked too much weed for too long, distorted his mind somewhat. Always off on trips.”
“That would do it.”
“Shut up and tell me where we are,” Tam said.
“What makes you think we know where we are?” Stogi said. “I’ve just told you we arrived here from that . . . doorway? Whatever it was in the mines.”
“A portal, bridging space and dimensions,” Tai Pei said. “Such phenomena are commonplace at a time like this.”
“A time like what?” Both the Tam and Stogi stared at the girl.
“A conjunction,” she curled a lip. “The nine planets in a line—makes it easier for things to cross. Astrology versus cosmology. When you study the stars for long enough, a pattern unfolds—like a road map. Common sense,” she said.
“Well, I’m impressed,” Stogi told her, receiving a slap for his trouble.
Tam heard a soft chuckle and looked up. He wasn’t overly surprised seeing Jynn the Piper standing behind Stogi. Tai Pei saw him too and lashed out with a clawed hand. The Piper laughed and deftly jumped back out of reach.
“She’s quick that one,” Jynn said. “And bright. Schooled in lore—a Shen thing. A keeper I’d say.” He winked at Stogi who was staring at him with an expression blending anger, amazement, and distrust.
“Where the fuck did you come from?” the Tseole said.
Tam pushed Stogi aside. “Where’s Teret?” Tam squared on the small man who smiled up at him, the pipes stowed neatly in his belt.
“You're close,” the Piper said. “But you need to hurry—she is in grave danger.”
“Sulo, I know,” Tam said. “I saw him with a knife. He was—”
“Yes, your enemy is there too.” Jynn waved a dismissive hand. “And others, more dangerous than him.”
“Is Teret—?”
“She lives, for the moment, but the minutes are counting.”
“Where is she?” Tam reached forward to grab the Piper by the throat, but he’d vanished from sight, and instead Tam stared at empty sky and beach.
“How did he do that?” Stogi asked.
“A magician,” Tai Pei said, matter-of-factly.
“Oh, you think?” Stogi said. Then Tam saw his friend had turned to look at something behind him. “That wasn’t there a minute ago,” Stogi said scratching his head. Tam and Tai Pei turned to look at what Stogi had seen.
A lone tower stood like an accusing finger on a remote rock about a mile ahead of where they were, a paved road leading up to was flanked by iron lanterns lining the way, their silvery lights piercing bright, despite the midday sun surrounding them. The tower gleamed like a wet luminous shell. The sight dazzled Tam as he tried to focus.
“The Castle of Lights,” Tam said, blinking at the apparition.
Teret’s in there.
“I’ve heard tell of it.” Tai Pei looked impressed for the first time since Tam had been acquainted with her. “But never believed in its existence.”
“Rundali,” Stogi said. “Excellent. We’re where you wanted to be then? Tam—?”
Tam ignored his friend as he started running for the road that led into that distant floodlit tower.
***
For Teret the vision was different. What lay ahead was a castle unlike anything she had imagined. A huge cluster of sparkling towers, thrusting up like brittle needles into a deep viridian sky, their color ranging from rose-pink, through ultra-marine, to deep violet blue, the bright sun dazzling off the polished surface of its multifaceted walls.
The sky surrounding the castle was a vivid green, the water below sparkling like summer with tints of turquoise. She saw beasts sliding through those waves, and exotic birds circled high above the lofty pinnacles, swooping specks of orange, blue, and gold, their shrill cries reaching her as she walked beside Carlo Sarfe, a cautious smile finding her lips.
It was three days since they’d left the left the forest. A walk through fertile warm lands, filled with beasts and wonders during day, the nights noisy with their cries as predator stalked victim. Teret’s first sight of the Castle of Lights had been at dawn, it emerging as a shimmering beacon surrounded by waves. Throughout that day they’d hastened their steps, both eager to discover what awaited them there.
Teret was nervous, her mind caught in a cage of fear that pressed down on her, hurting her head. But she was excited too. She would see Tam soon, and somehow be able to save him. The point of all this. But she was sorrowful too. The days with Carlo had had their own magic. The warmth of his companionship, that sunny smile. Carlo Sarfe was a good man and easy company. She would miss his support.
But Carlo had his own destiny to pursue, a country to find, and a family to save. Teret wished him luck with that, but her heart sagged at the thought of never seeing him again. Theirs had been a brief joining of lost souls in a wide and empty wilderness.
But Teret loved Tam and missed him, despite the last troublesome months when the drugs and drink had worked wickedly upon him. Tamersane was still the best of men; he had only to look inside himself and reclaim the warrior he’d once been before that terrible day in the dungeons below Wynais Castle. The day he’d killed his brother and changed forever. And changed Teret’s life too.
The road led down onto a beach, forked left and ran parallel with the sea for a couple of miles, the gleaming castle dominating the horizon ahead. As they got nearer Teret saw banners and gonfalons trailing from those pinnacles. A huge fortress—she hoped an army didn’t wait for them inside.
“Wonder what we’ll find there,” Carlo said gripping her hand briefly, his brown eyes warm and probing her reactions.
“We’ll know soon enough,” Teret smiled back at him. “I shall miss you Carlo Sarfe.” She squeezed his hand quickly then pulled hers away.
“Ha,” he laughed bitterly. “’Tis ironic. We both desperately seek something that will prize us apart forever. Part of me hopes we will fail, and I get to spend out my days moping along this empty beach with you.”
“I’d have to knife you then, to save you from yourself,” Teret said, a tiny smile tracing her lips.
“Maybe not my best idea then,” Carlo said, looking hurt for the briefest moment before his easy smile returned. “You are a hard woman, Teret of the Rorshai.”
“Reason why I’m here.” They were getting close, and the castle rose like a wall of glass ahead, its bulk sprawled square on a large plateau of rock. A long ridge of stone separated that from the cliffs ranging out behind. “I daresay you’ll forget me soon enough once you’re homebound.”
“Certainly shan’t,” Carlo said, giving her a frank stare. “I’ve never met a woman like you before. It breaks my heart we’ll be parting soon.”
“That’s if we survive what awaits us in there,” Teret said, pointing at the glittering walls filling the skyline above.
“Good point.”
“Elerim will help us,” Teret said.
“Wish I had your confidence in that witch.”
“Just a hunch,” Teret said. “And I wish you’d stop calling her that. She’s our ally.”
“For now . . .”
Teret ignored that as she picked up her pace. “What a magnificent sight,” she said. “I’ve never seen such vivid colors—it’s like the castle is alive and breathing.”
“And maybe it is,” Carlo’s voice hinted irony behind her. Again, Teret ignored him.
Almost there. The Castle of Lights rose up before them, a glistening wall winking down upon two tiny figures, impostors approaching its gates along the sea road.
“So, what do we do?” Carlo said. “Just walk on up and bang on the doors?”
“First we have to find the doors,” Teret said. “Can’t see anything in this dazzle.” As Teret shielded her eyes she followed the road up towards the base of the castle, but the light was so intense she couldn’t see where it led. “Must be a tunnel or barbican leading inside.”
“And guards,” Carlo said.
“No doubt.”
But as they approached all they saw was a vast opaque wall of glass that hurt the eyes and distorted vision. The road angled up then disappeared inside a shimmering fusion of light. A tunnel? Hard to tell.
“What do we do now?” Teret saw Carlo screw up his eyes as he tried to make sense of the distortion of lights ahead.
“Walk on through,” Teret said. “We haven’t come this far to fail at the first challenge.”
“I’m with you,” Carlo said. “Just asking the question.” He thrust out his hand. “Come, let’s embrace our destiny, Teret of the Rorshai.”
“I’m ready,” she said, grasping his hand, and together the pair stepped up into the light.
Chapter 30 | Reflections
Garland made his way along a stone bridge high above crashing waters. A narrow twisting causeway washed by flat featureless sea, and far away the sound of a woman’s voice calling out at him, beckoning him forward.
Find Tamersane, bring me the bow . . .
Cille’s voice drumming through his head. So many questions and so few answers. The Bruhan? His men? What has happened to them? Again, Garland saw Kargon’s dead face staring up at him from that pit. Were they all dead? Was it just him alone in this desolate place, a victim of sorcery and deception?
No matter, he’d a task to do and moping would not see it done. Got this far, so no holding back now. Ahead, the Castle frowned down at Garland, a gray stack of stone piled on stone, flanked by churning waves on one side and pebbled beach on the other. Garland wondered whether this was just another part of Graywash Hall–-a side he hadn’t seen. A mirror within the mirror, or perhaps a trick of the light? But the atmosphere was different here, warmer, and his instinct hinted a return to Ansu. Garland clung to that small seed of comfort, hoping it would grow.
He walked, sword slung over shoulder, negotiating the long stone path leading from the bridge over to huge iron gates. Garland saw no guards, which struck him as odd. Focus on the positive—one less barrier to cross. He stopped before the gates and looked around. Stone and sea, crashing waves, and not a soul in sight.
Someone’s inside . . .
Garland felt a draft along his neck. Not caused by the weather. Something waited for him in that castle. Expected him. He might be alone, but company would find him soon enough. Again—the silent voice warning him make ready.
So be it. Garland chewed his lip. Time to resolve this business and then return home if he could.
Here we go.
Once inside, Garland saw a courtyard of stone flagged by slate, the walls dripping water from somewhere high above.
