Empress of Wolves (11 page)

The bird on his shoulder squawked an agreement.

As they awaited the wolves' return, conversation turned to the realm of Xibalba itself. Having gotten over any initial fear, Manny, and Amaterasu alike, were bursting with questions. Kalla smiled as she watched Araun. The Lord of Xibalba was relaxed, taking great pleasure in indulging their curiosity and Kalla knew she had done well to visit. After a while the wolves returned and the group made their farewells.

Peace be with you, Lady Amaraaq. Return whenever you wish.

“Peace be with you, Lord Araun. I'll be sure do so.” she said. As she had in Arkaddia, Kalla approached the Master of Xibalba and slipped her arms around his neck. She was surprised at how warm he felt. The spectral form looked as if it should have felt cold. Araun leaned against her, returning the affection. A deep, happy rumble bubbled up from his chest

They stepped back onto the spiral and the world shifted around them. As soon as they were back at their campsite, Kasai and Vander shifted.

“Thank you, Dashkele,” Vander said softly. The War Mage looked thoughtful, but cheered by the meeting with his father.

Yes, thank you for inviting us. I learned much.
Amaterasu said.

“
Yes, I'd certainly say we
all
learned a great deal,
” Aleister murmured.

Kalla chuckled, a broad smile creasing her face as she erased the great spiral.

The ships made Port Dubrathi in good time and refueled, taking on new supplies. From there they had swung out over the Tezac, skirting the coast. Given the instructions that the Hounds had imparted, Kalla guessed that the serpent's mouth was the Ruz River, which emptied into the ocean from the Talysh Mountains. More specifically, it emptied into the ocean from between the peaks of Aganna and Fangul.

“There we are,” Aleister said. Before them, the mouth of the Ruz opened out into the Tezac. Fog and low clouds obscured the mountain peaks. The Fox angled the ship and headed into the fogbank, frowning as he checked the ship's instruments. Lights in the cabin flickered on, registering the growing darkness. Turbulence shook the
Stymphalian
and Kalla felt her magister's growing alarm as they lost altitude. There was a yelp from the crew quarters and then the clicking of claws as Vander slunk up to the front. The wolf's ears were flat. He pressed against her leg and Kalla reached down, placing a comforting hand on his head. Aleister grew more alarmed a moment later, when the instruments went haywire.

“I'm flying blind here!” he said in a tight voice. He switched the controls to fully manual and struggled to control the ship. Muffled static came over the radio as the
Heracles
attempted to contact them, then fell silent.

Kalla tried not to let Aleister's growing fear get to her. She had full confidence in both his abilities to fly the ship and the fact that Ganysha would let them through. She just hoped that extended to her companions flying with them. The Healer didn't think she'd be able to forgive herself if something happened to them because they had tried to follow her.

Her fears were assuaged a moment later when the
Stymphalian
broke through the clouds and into a bright snow-covered valley. Kalla let out breath she'd not realised she was holding as, to the left and above them, the
Heracles
shot through, followed by the two wyvern. Aleister reengaged the ship's computers and let out a shaky sigh of his own as he picked up the radio to contact the other ship.

“Come in,
Heracles.
How fare you?”

“
A bit shaken up, but otherwise fine. I don't care to go through that again anytime soon.
” Lukas replied. “
How are things over there?
”

“We're all fine here.”

“
Glad to hear it.
”

Kalla chuckled as she watched the
Heracles
take up a position slightly behind the
Stymphalian.
Amaterasu settled into place beside the ship, giving Kalla a wink when the mage looked out the window at her. Thiassi looped around the ships, seeming exultant at the sight of the snow. The fire wyrm gave him a tolerant look which caused Kalla to laugh.

Small specks dotted the valley floor below and when Aleister took the ship lower they resolved themselves into the shapes of shaggy-furred elephantine creatures. Their sheer size took her breath away. Not even the mammoth of Nu Ramerides were so big. The herd moved lazily along, cropping the long tundral grass as they went. A few looked up as the shadows of ship and wyvern passed over them before returning to their grazing.

“Look there,” Aleister said.

Kalla turned her attention to where he pointed. There on the side of Fangul was a beautiful temple with soaring spires.

“That must be where we need to go.”

Aleister banked the ship and made for the temple. He landed at the far edge of the temple's enormous courtyard, which could have held a whole fleet of small strike-fighters such as the
Stymphalian,
joined shortly by the
Heracles,
and the two wyvern.

A ruffled looking Kasai slipped from Thiassi's back. The frost wyvern fair shivered with contained excitement as the hawk quickly and efficiently undid the clasps to the soft, simple saddle. Kasai slapped the wyvern on the side of the neck in a playful gesture and watched as Thiassi sprang into the air and flew back towards the valley. Aleister went to help his brother and together they stored the saddle in the
Stymphalian's
hold.

It is cold here.
Amaterasu grumbled in her mind.
We won't get in trouble if we hunt in the valley, will we?

“I don't see why you would, Amaterasu. I doubt that Lord Ganysha would have let you through if there was nothing for you to eat. Just be respectful of his kin in the animal world.”

Yes, Lady Kalla.
The wyvern butted her head against Kalla, then sprang into the air herself and followed after Thiassi.

Kalla turned her attentions to the building before her. Graceful spires rose from a squat, domed center. Lesser domed towers were interspersed among the taller spires. The buildings look to have been crafted from blue granite, yet there were no seams to show where the stones sat.

Aleister returned carrying the case with the Quill of Ma'at within it. The Fox had finally convinced Kalla to leave the feather with the ship, in the secret vault hidden beneath the floor of the storage compartments. With all of the shields both magi placed on the ship regularly, it was well protected. Kalla's accepted the case, settling it over her shoulders.

The group crossed the courtyard and went up the steps to the broad crystalline doors. To either side immense statues rose, a matched pair of the elephantine creatures poised on their hind legs, with the world curled in their trunks. The tips of their long, curving tusks interlocked one another above the entryway. Kalla raised her staff to tap against the door, but it swung open before she could do anything.

Enter and be welcome, Lady Amaraaq. Enter and be welcome, those who bravely travel with the Wolf that Sleeps.

Kalla gently edged through the door, the other trailing behind her like baby geese. The inner chamber was much warmer. Here vines crept flourished, forming a leafy net across floor and walls. Other plants grew out from the floor, plants such as Kalla had never seen and which quickly attracted Manny's fascination. The young Healer's secondary skills lay in Earth Wardenship, those who could work with the living earth.

A small path cut through the leafbed and Kalla followed it to the room's exit. Passing through the door, she found herself in an even larger atrium, this one mostly blanketed in soft grasses. An amber skylight cast golden shards about the room.

In the far corner of the room sat a being hunched over a small desk. Slightly taller than the average man, he was considerably heavier than any mere human. Thin red fur covered his body, so far as they could see. Large ears tufted in a light red fanned the air for a moment, then a slender trunk rose up to reach for something on a shelf above where he worked.

Kalla stepped closer and the being stood to face her and there was no doubt that this was Ganysha, the Elephant Lord. Ivory tusks jutted from his mouth, slightly curling inwards. His trunk coiled into a thoughtful gesture and he gave the Healer a warm smile and a slight bow of his head. Kalla returned the gestured, well aware of the fact that the others had sank to their knees and now knelt before the deity.

One is All.

“All is One,” Kalla responded with a smile. They completed the greeting quickly. So often had she used it thus far that it had become a rote memorization ritual.

You may rise, fellow travelers.
Ganysha looked to Kalla.
You have brought the Quill, yes?

Kalla nodded, slipping the case from her back and presenting it to the Elephant Lord. Ganysha opened the case and reverently drew out the long white Quill.

“Can you recreate the binding parchment, Lord Ganysha?” Kalla asked.

Oh, I can. I can. But will that do any good, I do wonder. No, no. You need something more powerful. A spell of destruction rather than imprisonment. That I can do as well. That I can do, but it will take a few days of proper planning. Please make yourselves at home here in our realm.
Ganysha said, then added almost as an afterthought.
Worry not about the wyvern hunting. The herds need to be kept on their toes and there are only the sluggish snow wurms to hunt them.

“Thank you for the offer, my Lord. Tell me, is there anything you wish me to do for you while I am here?” Kalla asked.

Ah, you wish to know how to free us, yes? For that you must speak to my Lady Laeksheen. If you go through the right hand door and take the next two lefts you will find her. My Lady can also provide you with rooms and food, should you so wish.

Kalla bowed and thanked Ganysha, though the deity had already turned his attentions back to the scribe's table, tapping the Quill against his trunk.

* * *

Kalla and her companions followed Ganysha's instructions and found themselves in another vine-wrapped room. A small brook ran through this one, passing through arched recesses in the walls. Across the way a lady tended a small bed of flowers. She rose as they entered. The lady was tall and willowy, with the looks of an Ishkaran. Kalla bowed and exchanged the proper greeting to Laeksheen. When she was finished, she repeated her request to the Lady.

Welcome, Lady Amaraaq. Welcome, travelers. Come, follow me. I will take you to where you may rest and I will tell you what you need to know.

The group obediently followed Laeksheen through the Temple complex. As with the other rooms, each new one they passed through was a wonder to behold; a veritable treasure of plant-life from the world 'round and from ages past. They ended up in a small rounded terminus with a series of small chambers branching from it. The rooms looked out onto the valley below and Kalla could see the faint specks of the two hunting wyvern.

The Healer turned to find Laeksheen behind her. The Lady tapped the surprised mage on the forehead. Kalla's face went slack as hauntingly beautiful
sarisrima
music filled her mind. Laeksheen handed her a wrapped bundle, which proved to contain one of the delicate instruments
.

And now you know how to free us, though you will not be able to do so until you leave our realm. I would ask that you go to the nearest temple so that the Priests may hear you play and remember the Song.

Kalla bowed. “I thank you, Lady Laeksheen. I will do so as soon as I am able.”

Laeksheen left them to their own devices, telling them to wander freely through the Temple. If they wished anything, they merely had to ask it and it would appear in their rooms. They passed the rest of the day exploring the many rooms with all their exotic plant life. As evening approached they returned to their own quarters and ate.

The next few days passed in utter contentment. Laeksheen spent time with them, patiently answering the questions that Kalla and Manny peppered her with in regards to the flora. Vander disappeared several times for hours on end. Kasai as well, though they discovered that the hawk had often been out flying with Thiassi. A few times Kalla had gone out with him, to fly with Amaterasu.

During one such excursion Kalla had the fortune to see a hunting polar wurm. She and Amaterasu had been perched on a craggy cliff-face watching the herds below when the snow-covered ground seemed to
roll,
rippling out in waves. The herd panicked and stampeded as a giant, tripartite maw shot from the turf, snaring a helpless beast and swallowing it whole. The wurm's head swayed lazily, a forked tongue occasionally flickering out.

The polar wurms were far distant kin to the wyvern. Massive creatures that lived solely underground, they had thick, horny muzzles whose lower parts were split in twain. Stubby spikes adorned the polar wurm's muzzle, helping it to burrow through the frozen landscape. Thick scales armored the long, limbless body. Being subterranean dwellers, wurms lacked eyes. Instead, their muzzles were pitted with pockmarks called heatpits. Those and the flickering tongues helped the wurms to find food, though they did not often have to seek it. Wurms could go weeks between meals.

While most dragon-kin were relegated to the continent of Su Ramerides, wurms were found on Inkanata and Ne Ramerides. The desert wurms were smaller than the polar ones, with finer scales and no spikes about the muzzle. Kalla had heard stories of great oceanic wurms far bigger than even the polar wurms.

Satisfied that there was no other food nearby, the wurm slowly disappeared back into the earth from whence it had come, leaving a great gaping hole that filled itself back in as the wurm moved beneath the surface. Kalla and Amaterasu took off from their perch a short time later and returned to the temple. The wyvern dropped the mage off and departed once more, heading back to the crags for the night.

Lady Amaraaq, will you please join me in the main Hall?
Ganysha's soft voice sounded in her mind. Kalla made her way back to the Elephant Lord's Hall. She approached and gave him a small bow, which he returned. His ears fanned the air as he regarded her for a long moment, then his trunk uncoiled and dropped a bound scroll into her hands. Delicate script filled the thick parchment. Kalla ran her fingers along the edges, before looking to Ganysha.

“This will destroy Al'dhumarna? For good this time?” she asked.

That it will. That it will.
Ganysha sighed.
Though it pains me to do such a thing. It is hardly the Nagali's fault that he was created thus. Yet he will destroy all if he is not stopped.
The Elephant Lord handed her a slender case and she slipped the scroll into it, stashing it within the hidden compartments of her robes.

You must seek Grael's Fang next. That weapon is the only one capable of piercing the Nagali's scales. Laeksheen and I have tried to descry the spear's whereabouts, but have been unable to do so. Last we knew, it was held in the lands of the dragon, far to the west of here.

Kalla nodded. She, too, had tried to seek the spear and likewise been unable to sense it at all nor glean any hint of where it might be. All she had to go on was the last known location. Perhaps the dragons would know where it was if it was not still with them.