Heights of the Depths (22 page)

Karsen felt jolted, as if someone had just slammed a spear into his backside.

Meanwhile the Merk continued, “Black haired? Lovely, if you believe that human females are capable of loveliness?”

“Yes! Yes, that’s her! I can’t believe it!”

“Nor can I,” said Eutok dubiously. “You realize it might easily be some other human female…”

“Who matches Jepp’s description and is in the company of Travelers? Impossible! Or at least insanely unlikely.” He hesitated, almost afraid to ask. “Do you know which way they went, Merk? Or remember?”

“They were heading to the Spires.”

“The Spires! Are you sure?”

“One of the Travelers said as much to another.” He smiled wryly. “Mentioned it in conversation. They have a very curious language, the Travelers do, when speaking to each other. You’d probably hear nothing but whispers. But Markene have far sharper hearing.”

“You’re a Merk,” Karsen said uncertainly. If he had to remind this creature of his own race, he was starting to wonder just how dependable anything he was saying was.

“I’m aware of that,” said the Merk, sounding not a little amused. “But a Markene was with me, and followed the vessel for a bit. He returned to me and told me what they had said. Markene are accustomed to being able to hear under the waters, you see. Very little that can be said in their presence that—”

“Wait…their vessel? They were on a ship?”

“Of course,” the Merk said reasonably. “Walking to the Spires isn’t exactly practical.”

Karsen felt a sense of helplessness welling up. “How the hell are we supposed to follow them to the Spires?” With fading hope, he said to the Markene, “Do you have a boat we can borrow? Or keep?”

“We’re Sirene. What would we need with boats? Besides, has either of you sailed?” When they shook their heads, he said, “So you don’t know where you’re going, and you have no experience with the means to get there. If I did have a boat to give you, I would be condemning you to a slow death.”

“Better that,” said Karsen morosely, “then living with the knowledge that Jepp is in their hands and we remain helpless to do anything about it.”

“Oh, please!” Eutok shook his head in disgust. “She’s a Mort, Karsen. When all is said and done, she remains a Mort. How much melodrama do you require?”

Karsen glared at him. “I’m not like you, Trull. I’m not so cold hearted that I can just shut my mind off to the needs of a female I love. Do you even understand the concept of love?”

“I understand more than you think. Don’t presume to know my mind.”

Rage began to surge in him, but just as quickly it subsided, overwhelmed by a sense of despair. “Forget it. Forget it, Eutok. You’ve exceeded your obligation to me, real or imagined. I have no way of reaching the Spires, and Jepp is going to be in the hands of the Travelers, and I can’t get her back, and there’s nothing you can do about it. If you want me to come with you to try and rescue Clarinda, I will do so. If you don’t, then you’ll receive no judgment from me. I’m really in no position to sit in judgment on anyone.”

They sat there upon their whores, no words passing between them. Eutok seemed as if he wanted to say something, but was hesitant to do so.

“There is, of course, the Crossing.”

It had been the strange, floating Merk who had spoken. Karsen looked at him in confusion. “The what?”

“The Crossing.” He said it so matter-of-factly that Karsen unaccountably felt stupid for not knowing what he was referring to.

“And what would that be?”

“I shouldn’t have to tell you that. He can.” He nodded toward Eutok, causing his boat to bob slightly.

Eutok looked stunned. “How do you know about the Crossing? You’re not a Trull. Only Trulls know of the Crossing.”

“What’s the Crossing?” said Karsen.

“It goes under the water,” said the Merk.

“So?” said a clearly irritated Eutok.

“What’s the Crossing?” Karsen repeated.

“So anything that goes under the water is going to be known to the Sirene,” said the Merk.

“What’s the Crossing!?”

Eutok shifted uncomfortably on the back of his whores. “It’s a tunnel. A Trull tunnel that runs under the Vast Waters. There’s even a Truller track, although I have no idea whether it’s functioning or not.”

“Why did the Trulls build an underground tunnel from here to the Spires?”

“We didn’t.”

“But you just said—”

“We built it from the Spires to here.”

Understanding began to dawn. “When we first arrived here, you wound up in the Spires.”

“Not me personally,” said Eutok. “It was long before my time.”

“As it was before mine.”

“When the Spires was made the home of the Overseer, our then-leaders decided that the wisest course would be to put as much distance between the Trulls and the Overseer as possible. My understanding is that the Spires is situated on a vast continent, but our ancestors felt that it was better to leave it to the Overseer and his minions.”

“They felt the Overseer needed an entire continent?” Karsen shook his head in astonishment. “How much power does this one individual have, anyway?”

“It is said his power is limitless. He can destroy you with but a look. With a wave of his hand, he can command the elements. Annihilate you with lightning, blow you away with a vast wind. He can turn back the hands of time, and emit blasts of force from his eyes.”

“I accept that it’s all said. But has anyone ever purported to see it himself?”

“None have survived,” Eutok said gravely.

“Really. None.”

“None.”

“Then how,” said Karsen, “would anyone possibly be able to report the specifics of what the Overseer can or cannot do? And whie we’re at it, why did you say there were no Trull tunnels to other lands?”

Eutok started to reply but fell silent.

The odd Sirene was continuing to float there as if he were enjoying watching a show of some sort. When both of them fell silent, he prompted them. “So what are you going to do? I’m just interested, mind you.”

Karsen hesitated and then said, “The Crossing isn’t guarded, you say?”

“I didn’t say that. I said it wasn’t maintained.”

“Why?”

“Why would it be?” he said with a shrug. “It’s not as if my people would have the slightest interest in heading back to the Spires. We focus our resources where they will do the most good. It seemed ridiculous to have maintenance crews involved in a section of tunnel that we never intend to travel.”

Karsen had to admit that it made sense. “So we should be able to take this tunnel, this Crossing, to the Spires.”

“If the Trullers are functional, yes.”

“And if they’re not? Can you repair them?”

“I have absolutely no idea.”

Karsen considered that and then said, “All right. Fine. That’s enough for now. Do you know which direction this Crossing is?”

“Yes. The entrance is in a city called Porto, in the country of Espan.”

“Minosaurs run rampant through Espan, and they can be notoriously territorial.”

“I know. One of several reasons I lied earlier. So let’s not go.”

“But we have to!”

“Make up your mind!”

“All right!” He put his hand to his head. “If you’re willing to guide me, then I’m willing to follow you. And you,” he turned to the Merk who was continuing to float there. “I am in your debt.”

The Merk did not seem particularly concerned. “You owe me nothing. The truth is that I have been floating around for quite some time with not much to occupy me. I have to depend on passing Markene to feed me. It is not much of a life, really. But we can only make so many choices in our lives, and the rest is left to blind chance. It is what it is.”

“At least tell me your name so that I can offer prayers of thanks to the gods on your behalf.”

“Ruark.”

“Ruark.” Karsen rolled the name around in his head. “I seem to recall the Sirene have a ruler by that name.”

“Yes. Yes, we do. And he brought destruction and damnation down upon his people, and will likely be paying for that for the remainder of his life.” He smiled lopsidedly. “Poor bastard.”

The currents seemed to shift on their own, and the bobbing Merk drifted away from them. “Best of fortune to you,” he said. “May you receive the destiny that you desire, if not the one you deserve.”

They sat atop the whores and watched him float away.

“What is that supposed to mean?” said Eutok. “And do I even want to know?”

“I strongly suspect you do not. I know I don’t.” With that he wheeled his whores around and the two of them galloped off on the path to Porto.

upper and lower reaches of suislan

I.

Pavan’s thoughts flew back to
 those times when Akasha had warned him against the dangers of wishing too hard for things. 
The gods have a way of giving us that for which we’ve wished in such a way that we wished we’d never brought it up in the first place.

In that regard, he thought about the times when he had looked down, down from the upper reaches of Suislan and gazed in fascination at the magnificently structured castles far down in the lower reaches. There weren’t a lot of them, at least not from where he could see. But they were certainly majestic things, and he would wonder what it would be like to reside in such a structure. The Lodge was perfectly serviceable and had been a decent home to him, but it certainly wasn’t a castle. The Ocular were said to live in a castle. Why not the Serabim?

Well, the answers to that were fairly obvious, actually. The Serabim were hardy enough to survive anywhere; indeed, some preferred the lowlands, especially forests. But for the most part, and certainly in the case of Pavan’s tribe, they were more comfortable in a chillier climate. And so the magnificent castles remained something that were nothing but a distant, unfulfilled longing for Pavan.

Until now. Apparently Akasha had been right yet again, and the gods had provided Pavan’s wish in such a way that his newest wish was never to have wished for the previous wish.

Now he was gazing out the small window of his small room, looking longingly toward the Upper Reaches that now seemed so astoundingly far away. He thought about the unfettered freedom he had there, and of Demali’s soft caresses, and even Seramali’s boisterousness that he considered so annoying at the time and for which he was now incredibly nostalgic.

The room in which he was being kept was five stories high. Normally that would not have presented a problem for him. He could easily climb down the side of the castle, his claws either seeking out nooks and crannies in the wall or even sinking their own grips when necessary. Unfortunately, there were half a dozen Mandraques on the ground standing guard to make sure he didn’t do exactly that. And there were several more outside his door. He didn’t know how many, but he heard exchanges of conversations, and knew there were several.

The door suddenly burst open and Pavan whirled to face whatever threat it was that was coming through the door. A Mandraque sauntered in, and Pavan growled low in his throat when he recognized him. There was another Mandraque visible standing guard.

“I trust you are enjoying your stay with us?” said Thulsa. He gestured toward the Mandraque outside. “Belosh has been tasked with attending to you. If you have any needs, you have but to inquire.” The one he called Belosh made an irritated expression.

Pavan said nothing; he just glowered at him.

“Ah. You are annoyed with our actions. I understand.” Thulsa was walking back and forth with his arms draped behind him, looking like the king of all he surveyed. Were Pavan of a bellicose nature, he would have taken the opportunity to launch himself at Thulsa and try to tear his head off. It likely would not have gone well, though, because not only was Thulsa clearly a warrior-born, but several more Mandraques were visible through the open door, glaring in in a manner that was doubtlessly intended to be threatening. Since Pavan felt threatened, it was obviously working. “This must be daunting for one such as you. It is my understanding that Keepers, by nature, are pacifistic. Not for you are the ways of war. Such emotions would make you useless to the Zeffers. Am I right?”

Pavan considered continuing his silence, but was starting to get bored with it. Thulsa was far too in love with the sound of his own voice and wouldn’t stop talking whether Pavan responded or not. “You know you’re right,” he said. “Then again, I am of no use to the Zeffers when I’m down here in your clutches.”

The Mandraque took a step toward him and there seemed to be genuine curiosity on his face. “What is it like?”

“I’m sorry?”

“What is it like when the Zeffers feed on you?”

I have no idea from personal experience. I know what Akasha has told me. The sense of communion. The fact that yes, they are taking something from you, but they are giving something back to you as well. You are providing sustenance for them, without which they would wither and die. In turn, you become part of something greater than yourself. Something primal. But I have no first-hand awareness or means of describing it because I have never done it. Which you don’t know, you moron, because you thought you were stealing the Keeper and instead you simply took an apprentice. And I’ll be damned if I tell you that, lest you return to the Upper Reaches and try to find and take Akasha.

Pavan made a face of disgust. “They don’t ‘feed’ on you. It’s not like that.”

“Then what is it like?”

“Why do you care?”

“I don’t care. I am simply curious. Are Mandraques not allowed to display curiosity?”

“You’re not exactly renowned for it, no. Not as much as you are for your displays of cruelty and wanton destruction.”

“We do not destroy,” said Thulsa without the slightest trace of anger. If anything, he sounded proud. “We take what should be ours. By force of our personalities when possible; by force of arms when necessary.”

“And who decides what should be yours?”

“We do.”

Pavan chuckled softly. “And here I had heard it was the Firedraques who kept you on their leash. Who decided what was yours, and what was not, and endeavored to keep the lot of you from tearing each other to pieces like the monsters that you are.”

Thulsa lurched toward him for a moment and then caught himself. He forced a smile, which looked all the more appalling because of its blatant insincerity. He waggled a finger scoldingly and said, “You are trying to provoke me. Perhaps you think you can get me so angry that I will kill you. That, my friend, is not going to happen. Your cooling corpse will be of no use to us.”

“I am not quite certain how my living, breathing body is of use to you.”

“Yes. You are. Because whatever else you may be, you are not stupid.”

“Thank you,” said Pavan, and thought, 
Which is more than I can say for you, you idiot.

“You have already figured out that you are being used as a hostage. Sooner or later, the Zeffers will indeed wither and die without their Keeper. That is obviously not a situation that the Serabim wish to experience. And so they will do whatever they need to do to make certain that doesn’t happen. They will use the Zeffers to accomplish what we want to accomplish.”

“And what would that be?”

“Again, you are not stupid. You have already intuited what it is. You need merely put the pieces together.”

It took Pavan only moments to realize. “The Firedraques.”

Thulsa nodded. “We wish to break our leashes.”

“You would not dare. The authority of the Firedraques to keep the peace stems directly from the Overseer. You would not dare his wrath.”

“Would we not? We, with our reputation for cruelty and wanton destruction?”

“Listen to me—”

“We are not children!”

The outburst of fury was unexpected, but Pavan fought the impulse to back away. “I did not say that—”

“Yes, you did. “ He was restraining his anger, but barely. “With your gestures, with your tone, with your expression. You think my kind to be nothing but petulant children, fighting for toys in a box of sand, and the Firedraques are benevolent adults who are trying to keep us in hand. You are going to discover that you are wrong. The Firedraques will discover they are wrong.”

“And the Overseer?”

He bared his teeth. “Bring him on.”

ii.

“Akasha? Are you within?”

Seramali, walking with a pronounced limp and a tentative air, stuck his head into the mouth of Akasha’s cave. “Akasha? I have no interest in your games of making yourself unseen, or springing out and surprising visitors.” He paused and then said more loudly, “Akasha!”

There was a stirring of shadows from within and then Akasha emerged. He seemed older than he had before. His gaze flickered to a leather strap with a short sword dangling from Seramali’s shoulders. “Armed? How very unlike you. Or us.”

“Regrettably, it has come to that. I have grim tidings, Akasha…”

“We were attacked by Mandraques, much of the Lodge has been destroyed, and Pavan has been kidnapped. Did I leave anything out?”

Seramali was unable to keep the astonishment from his face. “How did you know?”

“Your daughter.”

“Demali?”

“Have you another of which you are unaware?”

“No! I just…I mean, I had no idea that she had come to you.”

“Poor thing was distraught. She felt I should know what transpired with Pavan. I was, after all, his mentor, so naturally I have some interest in his fate. Besides, she had many things to say on the subject.”

“She could have said them to me.”

“Indeed. But there was much going on to which you needed to attend, and I imagine she didn’t want to be a further burden to you. Besides, do you feel that this is the best time to worry about being territorial in regards to your daughter? Certainly there are matters of greater moment to worry about.”

“Yes. Yes, there are.”

“Which is why you have come here.” His voice was grave.

Seramali hesitated, concerned over what Akasha might be thinking. “It is.”

Akasha nodded and then spoke thoughtfully, as if he were addressing himself rather than the chief. “She spoke to me woefully of things.”

“Woefully?”

“Yes. She was saddened that I was not present at the gathering. As I recall, you repeatedly asked me to attend. Indeed, you were expecting me to, were you not?”

“You had left me with the impression that you would be attending.”

“Of course I did. You would not leave me in peace until I intimated that I would come. It was more a matter of self defense than anything else.”

“Well!” Seramali blustered. “I…I do not think it appropriate that you lied to me over such a—”

“Had I been there, I would have been the one taken instead of Pavan. They grabbed the wrong individual. Am I correct, Seramali?”

“They took who they thought was the Keeper—”

“For obvious reasons,” Akasha said mildly. “Our crest marks us. Had they seen Pavan and me together, they naturally would have taken me since I am obviously the elder. But they saw Pavan by himself and just assumed. Mandraques are notorious for that…for assuming. It tends to get them into trouble and yet they go ahead and do it repeatedly. And now…what? They are demanding our cooperation?”

“Yes.”

“They want to use the Zeffers for war.”

“That’s correct.”

“Against who? The Firedraques? The Ocular? Minosaurs, maybe? Or just other Mandraques?” Seramali was about to answer, but Akasha waved it off. “It matters not. War is war. The Zeffers should not be used for war. It will destroy them.”

“Zeffers cannot be destroyed. No missiles can harm them, no—”

“Zeffers are living creatures, my chief, and anything living can be made unliving. There is more than one way to destroy something. It can happen at the spiritual core. The stain will spread within the Zeffers and bring them down far more effectively than any missile ever could. It matters not who you would bring them into war against. It will garner you results you neither expect nor desire.”

“You may well be right, Keeper—”

“I may well be right?” Akasha seemed amused. “How generous of you to make that allowance. And how generous of you to allow us this time to converse. To put matters of importance off long enough.”

“I have no idea what you’re talking about…”

Akasha was no longer amused. “Yes. You know exactly what I am talking about. Do not waste my time and do not pretend, because you may be able to fool the others, and even your own daughter. I was supposed to be at the gathering because I was supposed to be taken by the Mandraques. No one ever has a proper estimation of the Mandraques, it seems. Those who count on them to properly execute even the simplest plans overestimate them, and those who expect them to be allies tend to underestimate them. You have already experienced the former, and I suspect an eventual betrayal by them will underscore the latter.”

“They are not my allies, Keeper.”

At that declaration, Akasha gave him a faint look of contempt. “Oh. Of course not. They are merely your tools, to be used to suit your own ends.”

“My own ends. And what might those be, Akasha?” He was dripping with sarcasm. “What nefarious deeds have you attributed to me?”

“Aside from culpability for Pavan’s kidnapping and the destruction done to the lodge?”

“Keeper, with all respect…a respect that you apparently feel no need to accord me…”

“You want war.”

“How dare you—?”

Akasha waved off the protests. “Save your indignation for those who might be impressed by it. I am not among them.”

Seramali made an impatient grunt, but then said, “Speak your mind, then, Keeper. You have earned that right with your many years of service.”

“Gracious of you, my chief. The fact is, Seramali, that your smiling face has always served as a mask behind which a would-be warlord has hidden. I have watched you bridling against the more ethereal nature of our people.” He slowly approached Seramali as he spoke. “Oh, you hide it well. Most could not perceive it. But I know what to look for. Little tones of voice, certain postures, that way you force your patience since it does not come naturally. You do not wish to be above it all. You want to be down at the ground level, with the taste of battle in your mouth. You are a Mandraque born into the body of a Serabim. I have always sensed that about you, but I have kept my own council over that because it has never interfered with your abilities to carry out the duties of your office.

“The Mandraques intended to kidnap the Keeper to force our hand. But they do not have the Keeper. They have my student. Which means their leverage is severely lessened. I still have a good many years left to me; plenty of time for a new heir to surface…as heirs have reliably tended to do in anticipation of their need. They could, of course, return to try and kidnap me as well. But they would have to mount a return, and you would likely have to lead them here because they could not find their way with both hands and a torch. And besides, why go to all that effort when there is a much simpler means of solving the problem?”