The Mage's Limits: Mages of Martir Book #2 (8 page)

“Very well,” said Valumor. He then returned his attention to the scroll. “Even so, that does not mean we must execute them right away. Although Durima and Gujak are criminals of the worst order who have forfeit their right to life by taking the life of a goddess—an unspeakable crime that has never been committed by any katabans in the history of Martir—to execute them right away without giving them a fair hearing would, in my opinion, be a perversion of justice, and we Council members love justice more than anything else.”

“This is a waste of time,” said Kaxu, shaking her head. “Grinf gave us specific orders to capture these two and bring them to justice. We already know they did it. Why bother listening to their pitiful defenses?”

“I already said why,” said Valumor. “It is a part of our justice system. Every accused person has the right to explain himself or herself to the Council. Not that it will do anything to change our minds, but I feel it is only fair that we do so.”

“I'll kill 'em myself if I must,” said Kaxu. “They've been running free for a year. That is far too long for any criminal to run free, especially criminals as wicked and evil as they.”

“I am the Head of the Council,” said Valumor. “And I say they get a chance to speak. It won't be very long—as you said, Kaxu, they've gone unpunished for too long—but it must be done in accordance with what Grinf commanded us many years ago.”

Kaxu folded her arms, while the other two Council members remained as silent as always.

“Now, who wishes to speak first?” said Valumor, addressing Durima and Gujak.

Durima held up her chained hands. “I do.”

Valumor sat back in his seat, looking slightly offended, probably because Durima had not called him 'Sir Council Member.' That had been intentional on her part. She held no respect for the Council, not after what they did during the Katabans War. She would address them as she wished, not how they wanted; after all, if she was going to be killed anyway, she had little reason to be polite.

Beside her, Gujak was still quiet. She hadn't even sensed him about to speak, but that didn't matter. Durima knew better than to let Gujak get an opportunity to blubber. In his current state, if he talked to the Council, he'd likely break down completely.

“Fine,” said Valumor. “Durima the Demon, wasn't it? Didn't we offer you a position as a Soldier of the Gods shortly after the end of the Katabans War for your bravery and expertise in battle?”

Durima nodded curtly. “Indeed you did. And I rejected the offer because I did not want to obey you.”

“A shame,” said Valumor with a sigh. “I remember how well you fought in the War. You went to work for the Ghostly God after that, didn't you?”

Durima frowned. “I did. May I ask what our former Master is doing now?”

“That is irrelevant to our current discussion,” said Valumor. “Anyway, this is not the time for conversation. It is the time for you to defend yourself and Gujak from our accusations, even though there is clearly no way for either of you to do that.”

Durima drew herself up to her full height. “All right. Although the accusations thrown against us—that we killed the Spider Goddess—are correct, there are many nuances of that action that you Council members are probably unaware of.”

“What is there to be aware of?” said Kaxu. She pointed at them accusingly. “You two murdered a goddess. That is proof enough that you deserve nothing more than the harshest punishment imaginable.”

“You still don't understand,” said Durima. She looked at all of the Council members with disgust. “None of you understand the most important thing about what we did: Context. Nothing, not even the worst crime, happens in a vacuum. By ignoring context, you are going to commit a great injustice by putting us to death.”

“Tell us, then, Demon, what this 'context' is,” said Kaxu. “I am interested in hearing you justify your murder of a goddess.”

“It wasn't murder,” said Durima. “We didn't go to Bleak Rock intending to murder the Spider Goddess. We went there because our former Master, the Ghostly God, ordered us to get the God-killer. We didn't even know what it was at the time and only used it out of self-defense, because the Spider Goddess was going to eat us if we didn't.”

“A likely story,” said Kaxu with a sneer. “Why would the Ghostly God ask you to get the God-killer? That makes no sense.”

“Because he was being manipulated by Uron,” said Durima. “You know who Uron is, right?”

The entire Council shifted uneasily in their seats at the mention of that omnicidal being's name. Durima took that as a yes.

“The Ghostly God was manipulated by Uron as part of Uron's plan to destroy the gods,” said Durima. She looked around the chamber, “which as far as I can tell has not gone anywhere, considering how I have not felt the deaths of any other gods since Uron murdered the Avian Goddess a year ago.”

“Uron is irrelevant to this trial,” said Valumor, although he glanced at the ceiling as if he thought Uron might be hanging there, listening to their every word. “You have no proof that Uron even manipulated the Ghostly God, so how can we accept your claim?”

“The proof is in the fact that Uron has the God-killer,” said Durima. “And yes, Uron actually is relevant to this 'trial,' if you want to call it that. We wouldn't even be here if it wasn't for his manipulations. Have the gods found him yet?”

“That is none of your business,” said Valumor, giving her a firm look. “Now are you quite finished feeding the Council crazy, unfounded stories about Uron manipulating the Ghostly God or are you done?”

“I'm not done yet at all,” said Durima, shaking her head. “Why isn't the Ghostly God here? Call him. He can back up everything I just said.”

“C-Call a god?” said Valumor with a gulp. “Durima, I hope you understand that not even the Council has the right to summon any god or goddess unless it is an emergency of the highest order. Besides, Lord Grinf told us that we didn't need to summon the Ghostly God anyway.”

“Why would Grinf tell you that?” said Durima. “Surely he must know about what is actually going on here, shouldn't he? By allowing you to execute us, a great injustice is being wrought in the House of Grinf, as this place is sometimes called.”

“There is no injustice being wrought here,” said Valumor, speaking quickly. “Lord Grinf's orders were as clear as day: Execute the criminals who dared to kill one of his sisters. It is the only just punishment for scum like you.”

Durima shook her head. That didn't make any sense. Every god or goddess in Martir had to know by now the truth about what happened on that night at Bleak Rock a year ago. Grinf had had plenty of time to find out the truth. It made little sense for him to order their deaths when they didn't actually murder the Spider Goddess.

Then Durima felt someone tugging at her arm hairs. She looked to her left and saw Gujak looking at her. His eyes were full of despair, as if he was resigned to their inevitable execution.

“What?” said Durima. “Can't you see I'm busy?”

“Durima, I just wanted to say that it's no use,” said Gujak, his voice flat and hollow. “The Council's not gonna listen to us. They're just going to kill us. We might as well go with whatever they're going to do to us.”

“Defeatist nonsense,” Durima snapped. “I don't have time for any of it. Don't you see all of the holes in their logic that I do?”

Gujak hung his head again and sighed. “I don't know. I just don't think it matters.”

Loser,
Durima thought, shaking her head as she returned her attention to the Council and said aloud, “I know this is true. We are innocent. There is no reason why Grinf would tolerate, much less order, a trial unjust as this in his House. Where is Grinf right now?

“Lord Grinf is with Lord Skimif, of course,” said Valumor. “They are tracking down Uron, as all of the gods have been doing for the past year.”

“If you knew we were guilty right from the start, then why did you wait so long to arrest us?” said Durima. She gestured with her head toward the Chamber's exit. “And this is probably actually irrelevant to the discussion, but where did all of those battleships anchored off World's End shore come from? Are you expecting another Katabans War?”

Valumor looked flustered by Durima's questions, although Kaxu leaned forward and said shortly, “That is none of your business. Now that you've been given a chance to defend yourself, I believe it is time to bring this trial to a close.” She sat back and looked at her fellow Council members. “Is everyone in agreement?”

“Why are you avoiding my questions?” said Durima before the rest of the Council could respond. “Is it because of Uron? Are you afraid he'll attack World's End, so you set up all those battleships to stop him if he attacks from the sea?”

“No one here is afraid of Uron,” Valumor snapped. “The gods assured us that Uron is no threat to World's End. He'd be a fool, even with the God-killer, to attack World's End.”

“Would he?” said Durima. “I don't think so. Last time I saw Uron, he wasn't afraid of anyone, not even Skimif. There's no one else you would need to defend World's End from anyway, considering how the only other possible threat—the Sleeping Beast—was killed decades ago.”

“Soldiers, kill them now,” Kaxu ordered. “Then dump their bodies into the sea. It is the only fate that murderers like them deserve.”

Immediately, the Soldiers turned on Durima and Gujak, holding their weapons above their heads as they prepared to strike them. Durima crouched defensively, while Gujak just stood there with his head hanging as usual, like he hadn't even noticed that they were about to get hacked into pieces by a bunch of murderous Soldiers. Seeing the looks of eagerness on the Soldiers' faces and the way that the light above gleamed off the blades of their weapons, Durima felt about as depressed as Gujak looked.

Then Valumor held up a hand and said, “Wait. Soldiers, hold your positions. Do not kill Durima and Gujak.”

The Soldiers stopped where they stood, each one of them frowning like they had been told to jump off a cliff and sprout wings on the way down. Durima didn't know what Valumor was planning, but she was grateful that, for the moment at least, she and Gujak were going to live.

“Sir Council Member?” said Erich, looking up at Valumor. “May I ask why you ordered my men not to kill the murderers? I thought that that was the punishment for murder, according to the Laws of Grinf.”

“He contradicted me,” said Kaxu. She was glaring at Valumor. “The Council is
supposed
to stand as one united face, Valumor. Why did you order them to halt their attack? Don't you think they deserve nothing less than death?”

“Don't get me wrong, Kaxu,” said Valumor, tapping the tips of his fingers together he looked down on Durima and Gujak. “I believe that death is exactly what they deserve; however, I do not believe that this is the right way to execute them.”

“Why?” said Kaxu, slamming her fists on the arms of her bench. “We agreed to make this trial and execution as swift as possible. I think that having these Soldiers hack them into pieces is the swiftest way to kill them.”

“Swift it may be, but it is also inappropriate,” said Valumor. He glanced at the Council members on either side of him. “Fellow Council members, don't you think that Durima and Gujak deserve a special kind of execution for their crimes? They have committed a unique crime in katabans history, that of murdering a god. Executing them like ordinary murderers is not, in my opinion, appropriate. The punishment must be more severe than that.”

“Oh?” said Kaxu. “Then how, Valumor, do you think we
should
kill them?”

“I am glad you asked,” said Valumor. He looked at his fellow Council members again. “With the approval of the rest of the Council, I suggest that we banish Durima and Gujak beyond the Void, into that place where no katabans—or anyone else—has ever returned from.”

Durima gasped. Even Gujak broke out of his depressed rut long enough to look up in shock at that suggestion.

The other Council members, on the other hand, appeared to be giving Valumor's suggestion serious thought. Huju was smiling and chuckling like he thought it was a brilliant idea, while Namusa wore a thoughtful, intrigued expression. Even Kaxu no longer looked as angry as she previously had, though she seemed annoyed at the fact that she had not been the one to come up with that idea.

“The Void,” said Kaxu. “Why the Void?”

“It's simple,” said Valumor. “To my knowledge, there is no crime in the law books that results in banishment beyond the Void for the criminal who committed it. The Void is not very far away from World's End; just a quick boat trip from the southern end of the island to the edge of the world.”

“What's to stop Durima and Gujak from passing through the Void back into Martir?” said Kaxu, casting a quick, hateful glance at Durima and Gujak.

“They won't be able to,” said Valumor. “Remember when Lord Skimif banished Hollech beyond the Void years ago? He likely sealed it from the other side, making it impossible for anyone to return to Martir. And just to make sure, we can set up an armada of ships to patrol the waters near the Void to keep Durima and Gujak from returning, should they be foolish enough to try.”

“Val, that's pretty brilliant,” said Huju, rubbing his hands together eagerly. “I've always wanted to use the Void as the consequence for breaking some law or another, but I didn't really know for sure which law until today. I approve.”

“I approve as well,” said Namusa. “I can think of no more appropriate punishment for divine murderers than to be banished where they can harm no god.”

“Exactly,” said Valumor. “Let's see, according to my count, that's three to one, unless you've changed your mind, Kaxu?”

Kaxu sighed reluctantly. “Fine. I approve as well. I suppose it doesn't matter how we kill them so long as they die.”

“That's the whole Council,” said Valumor with a wolfish grin. “That makes it official. Erich?”

Erich stood at attention. “Yes, Sir Council Member?”

Valumor leaned forward to look at the Commander better. “The Council wants you and your Soldiers to take Durima and Gujak beyond the Void. Make sure that they actually enter the Void and that they do not escape en route.”