World's End (20 page)

The men crouched and murmured around a diagram of the tower Blain scratched into the ground. When something moved in the long grass of the paddock directly across from Far Gaze, he knew at once it was Siel. ‘Where do you go?' Fithlim demanded when he stood.

‘The grass,' said Far Gaze. ‘If that does not displease our new Friend and Lord.'

‘Mind your cheek,' said Tauk distractedly. ‘Go watch him shit, Fithlim, if it eases your mind.'

Far Gaze crouched alone in the grass, facing away from the men.

‘I can put arrows in three of them before they see me,' Siel whispered from nearby.

‘Don't. They wear armour given by Valour. Anything could happen.'

‘Just the traitor, then.'

‘Kiown? Leave him. The group forms a new alliance. Why remove a traitor from their group? It would be a service to them. Blain thinks he may earn my loyalty with kind deeds and words. They speak of forming an empire. With Tauk it's not impossible and Blain knows it. They're best watched – I'll watch them. And pretend to join their cause, perhaps.'

‘What is the charm Kiown has? He won't stop staring at it.'

‘Dragon-make. Powerful.'

‘Another!'

‘They come, Siel. It can't be long now. They involve themselves more and more openly and their Parent does not seem to stir. Sooner or later a Spirit will cross the boundary. Probably Valour. He is roused. The other Spirits may hold him back awhile, but not forever. Then something big will come
here.
The worlds themselves are at war, whether we befriend the new people or not.'

‘The haiyens want no war.'

‘They must teach us of Levaal South's gods. Ask them to do this. And to teach us of its dragons, if dragons are there.'

‘What do these men plan to do now?'

Far Gaze scoffed. ‘To attack the haiyens, of course. When all you possess is a hammer, everything seems a nail. All these men know are swords and spilled blood and comparing their cocks in taverns. Are you among the new people?'

‘Yes. But I've not spoken to them. They're very nervous of us.'

‘Why?'

‘Because they see how we treat each other. I think they watched me in secret, to judge my character. Domudess kept me on the tower's middle floor. The haiyens are on the upper level. I don't know if they're the same ones who healed me. Four remain up there. Others go about the land, doing work. Lots of them move about the lands in secret.'

‘What work?'

‘Making things which purify the airs. Cleaning away foreign magic which spilled into ours. They don't use that kind of magic, the kind mages see in the air. They know other arts. They would
teach us, if we could be trusted.' She laughed quietly and bitterly. ‘Domudess tells me little of them. But the haiyens are not here for war, he says.'

‘Does the wizard know this group is here?'

‘Yes. Blain and Kiown have been here for days. Domudess sent me to learn what they intend.'

One of Tauk's men called over: ‘Hurry, soup-blesser.'

‘I broke that one's ribs,' said Far Gaze. ‘Valour healed him. See Tauk's arm? Healed. It doesn't mean the Spirit is on their side. The men think so. The haiyens had best be cautious. Go, tell them. I hope the water boils when these men cross it. The mayor reneged on his debt to me. I'll eat his soul. I'll slay his offspring, and
their
offspring. I mean it. All of them, if it takes all my remaining days.' He stood, adjusted his pants and went back to the men. He was careful not to look, but he heard the whisper of grass moving and knew she'd gone back to the tower.

Some minutes later, she returned, this time walking in plain sight. Beside her was Domudess, oddly tall, his poised gait like that of a lord. Blain wheezed in shock to see him, glanced about like a cornered animal. Several paces behind the tall wizard, four of the haiyens came.

‘We have learned you wish to fight,' said Domudess as he neared the fire. Indeed the men had drawn their swords and stood. ‘We came to speak, so there need be no bloodshed. You are not permitted in the tower. The balance of energies there is presently delicate. You would upset it.'

‘Be seated then,' said Blain.

Tauk snapped, ‘Quiet,
advisor.
Don't forget your place. Hail, wizard. We wished not to fight, but to talk. We prepared for a
fight in case one was needed. Do your companions speak our tongue?'

‘Of course they do,' said Domudess. ‘But I shall speak for them. They wish to cause no accidental offence with clumsy words. Swords come so easily to hand in this place. They have taught me some of their arts, and revealed some of the events soon to happen. Challenge or disbelieve their claims as you like; it hardly matters. They have done us much service already.'

The haiyens stood motionless behind the wizard, careful it seemed not to look at anyone directly. All were of slender build, all the same height but for a taller one, who had a coin-sized hole or indentation like a smudge of shadow between his eyes. They wore cloaks of dusty brown. Domudess turned to them. ‘Before you, before the mayor. Are not the words I'll now speak sufficient to be your own words?'

‘They are,' said one. Its voice was like a loud breath.

‘Have I learned enough of your ways and history to speak on your behalf, in these past months? Have I proven my intent is the same as yours?'

‘Yes,' said the same haiyen.

‘Are you content with this?' said Domudess to the mayor.

Tauk looked suspiciously around the abandoned village as if for ambushers. ‘Are they too busy, or perhaps too regal, to speak with a mere mayor of these northern lands?' he said.

‘Too busy,' said Domudess. ‘They must depart. The existence of both our peoples depends on their work. There is much to be done.'

‘What is wrong with their voices? They sound weak and sick.'

‘They long ago ceased using verbal speech among their own kind. They speak with their thoughts. They sound as they do because they are unused to speech.'

One of the haiyens uncurled his long two-fingered hand, pointed at Far Gaze. A shiver went down his spine to be acknowledged directly. ‘Shall you come to learn of the way dragons may be slain?' said the haiyen. ‘Your friend has accepted the invitation. You will return and tell this realm's lords what you have learned. To inform their course, for choices they must soon make.'

‘What choices?' Tauk demanded.

‘Not all haiyens are of the same purpose,' it said, still addressing Far Gaze. ‘Our history is long and complex, like yours. Our history may be longer, for now haiyens are divided in only two ways, while your divisions are many, and harder to understand. Those of us who have come to visit your realm are all of one purpose. But the lost haiyens have other designs. Your survival does not interest them. They are far to the south in our realm – none of them shall come here. They have scattered us far and wide, and we hide from them. They shall make your lords promises pertaining to the dragons who shall soon be here, among you. They shall offer to slay them. This they can do. But they will reveal only part of what else they intend. Will you come with us? Your friend will come.'

‘Do you mean Siel?' said Far Gaze.

Domudess nodded. ‘I learned much of you both, when you stayed in my home. I recommended you both to the haiyens.'

Far Gaze stood, his heart beating fast. He felt an intense sense of honour, as if he'd at last been thanked for a lifetime of difficult service. He shook the feeling off, in case it was the effect of some enchantment. He doubted it was. He said, ‘I'll go with you,' and bowed low. The haiyen who'd spoken mirrored the bow slowly, as if he feared the slightest mistake in the gesture would cause the swordsmen to charge at them.

‘One of them stays here,' Tauk said. ‘I wish to hear whatever is said from your own mouths, foreigners, not from a wizard's. I represent not just my city, but now my people.'

The haiyens stared at him without answering. Their silence was confused rather than angry, Far Gaze judged. But he felt a flare of anger at the mayor, made worse when Tauk unsheathed his sword. ‘One of you will stay and speak with me or I will deem it the act of an enemy. And deem your presence here an invasion.'

One of the haiyens said, ‘Think of raindrops sliding across a slab of stone. The drops merge, join a stream. A few drops sit alone until the stone is dry again, and then they are gone. Some drops are flung in the dust beyond the stone floor, and immediately lost.' Awkwardly the haiyen bowed.

Tauk and his men looked at each other, baffled.

Domudess said, ‘What you just heard was an agreement: one of them will remain here, although this saddens them. Do you see now why it is better that I speak for them in this business? They do not know you, Mayor. So their words are extremely cautious. Already you have reached for your weapon after mere speech.'

‘We encountered these people before,' said Vade testily. ‘We have seen how easily they can kill. One of them produced “mere” sounds, and one of our friends fell dead as stone.'

‘It would take but your arm and blade moving sideways through the air for the same result,' said Domudess.

‘Are these before us the men of their kind?' said Fithlim.

‘They have neither men nor women.'

The men were taken aback. ‘Elementals adopt the form of male or female, but they are neither,' Tauk ventured as if offering a fig leaf of understanding. ‘I thank this – has he a
name? – I thank him – I say
him
for convenience – I thank him for staying.'

Domudess nodded. ‘It is well that you thank him. Being here makes them ill. There is something about our time which is harmful to them. Harmful to us too, but we are accustomed to it. They come to do us a great service, Tauk. The bad airs are going to be cleansed. And we will learn much.'

‘Do they slay the Tormentors too? We have seen many dead ones.'

Domudess looked at the haiyens. Silent communication passed between them. ‘They do not come here to do that work,' he said.

‘That does not answer it. Did not the beasts come from their lands?' Tauk pressed.

‘The beasts did not. They resulted from a mingling of poisoned airs. The Tormentors are our own people, Tauk. Our own people, warped horribly by poison, fusing them in several realities at once. Do not blame the haiyens. Those who ruled our lands created an army of the creatures quite deliberately.' For the first time Domudess looked at Blain. ‘Is that not so?'

Blain shrugged, winced. ‘We made some mistakes, I admit it.'

Domudess's stare lingered on him for a while, more damning than any retort. ‘It is time for you to leave,' he said, turning to Far Gaze.

The haiyen with the mark on his forehead gestured for Siel and Far Gaze to stand together. A pulse of cold came from the mark in the haiyen's forehead, sweeping over all three. A tunnel which seemed made of wind and light opened before them. The mayor's men cringed back from it. Siel stepped into it. Her body became a speeding, twirling blur of itself unwinding into a
spiral of colour, then was gone. Two haiyens went in after her. Their bodies vanished almost instantly.

Far Gaze hesitated. This was nothing he'd seen or heard of before.

‘Go now,' said Domudess sharply.

Far Gaze stepped in, felt himself unmade like a garment pulled by a loose string in its sleeve. It was painless but unpleasant. All was cold. He forgot who he was, what he was – he was aware only of fast swirling motion. Consciousness slowly returned with the sound of running water.

Said Tauk the Strong, ‘You say the dragons will be free, that they will make war upon us. You say those haiyens you call “the lost ones” will offer to slay the dragons for us. Tell us why we shouldn't accept their offer.'

‘There is a better way to deal with dragons than fighting them at all,' said Domudess. ‘It will require new thinking from you. The good news is that if you can accept this new way of thinking, the solutions are easy. Persuading you – and others – shall be the most difficult part.'

‘I am listening, wizard. Speak.'

Without interrupting, Tauk and Blain listened to what Domudess said. Tauk's men fidgeted, now and then grumbled under their breaths, shaking their heads in disbelief at what they heard. It was clear that only their mayor's silence kept them from walking away in disgust, or perhaps even drawing their weapons. The haiyen met eyes with no one and kept his gaze carefully on the ground, not even looking at the fire.

When Domudess had finished, Tauk sat dumbstruck. At last he said, ‘You are surely joking.'

‘It is the best way to deal with them,' said Domudess. ‘As I said, convincing you that this is so will be the hardest task.'

‘And how do
you
know, wizard?' Tauk roared. The haiyen flinched. ‘It seems you take many things on faith. Have you tried this practice upon the dragons yourself? Suppose I accepted what you say. How do we spread your message to the cities? How do I explain this to my generals and my fighting men?'

‘The cities should all be evacuated,' said Domudess. ‘As for the rest, we can discuss how after we are agreed this is what must be done.'

‘Evacuated?' Tauk laughed, shook his head. ‘You mean
surrendered
! Let me make sure my ears don't deceive me. You say that by being good, gentle people who lay down their arms …'

‘Don't make it so simple,' said Domudess, the first hint of anger showing in his voice. ‘It is not about being “good”. We are all made of energy, not unlike the energies in the airs. What appears solid is in fact energy condensed, all vibrating at a slow rate. The more positive we are, the faster our energy vibrates. It begins with good thoughts and deeds, with positive emotion behind all we do, instead of fear, anger, hate. To banish all negativity from one's mind and actions moves one to a different energy vibration, where the dragons cannot perceive us. In a way, it is a kind of magic, Tauk. And one need not be a magician to use it. This world is designed so that many things block our moving to a higher state. Once we step back from trying to change the external world and clear the blockages within ourselves, this particular magic becomes effortless.'

‘We know how to banish our fear. We destroy that which causes it.'

‘This change is a hard one to make. I am a master of the old magic ways, but a mere student in these new ways. The journey is one we could share. To hear the lesson is easy, to practise it
is less easy. Could you watch a beast eat your children before your eyes and still love it? Could you?'

‘Of course not.'

‘Now you begin to see how much work is ahead of you. Take the vilest poison-spitting monster that ever was. Could you look at it and, say, admire the cleverness of its design? Could you understand that it is simply doing what it was created to do, the same way a fire burns whatever wood it touches, with neither innocence nor guilt? And could you honour its rightful place in creation? Could you watch the monster belch flame over your city, Mayor, over all you've held dear, then approach it with no hate, no envy of its power, no desire for revenge for what it did?'

‘This is madness.'

‘If you could, the dragons would literally not see you. You would occupy a different state of being, as one looking down upon the dragons from a high place they are unaware of. If all of us could do this, the great dragons would see none of us. We would no longer exist in their perceptions. We would know them, but they would not know us. Do you ever wonder where the dark-skinned peoples went? Why there are nowadays so few of them? It is because they know a version of these same arts. They can come back and forth into our perception as they wish. When the dragons come, they shall not see them.

‘I share your doubts – it will not be easy to teach masses of people this knowledge, people who for generations have known only war. Perhaps it is impossible to teach them. But those who learn shall survive the times when dragons are again free. It is unknown how much time we have.'

Tauk and his men were laughing now. ‘I see,' said the mayor,
wiping at a tear of mirth. ‘So, we shall lay down all our weapons, abandon our cities, love our foes and let come what may.'

‘You do not understand,' said Domudess.

Blain had watched and listened in silence. Now he said, ‘I heard what happened, off east. A fight, with the mayor's men and the new peoples. Eh? You know of it? One of the mayor's men died, slain by a haiyen. Was it love that killed him?'

‘I never said the haiyens knew no ways of combat,' said Domudess. ‘Nor did I say that positive force could not be dangerous, if it were attacked. But we are discussing a way to deal with dragons. Not with angry men.'

‘Who will teach us in these ways?' said Blain, plucking at his beard.

‘You shall never learn,' said Domudess. ‘Not you, Blain. I know your mind. Even if we wished desperately to teach you – and we do not – even then, you could not learn.'

Blain scoffed. ‘These sword-molesting imbeciles could learn a new science, but not I? I who helped create a god?'

‘Your mind is a container of the wrong shape for the knowledge, that is all. If the dragons come, you will have to hide.'

‘If all you say is true,' said Tauk, ‘could dragons not still see our cities? The buildings we use for homes? Answer that! Could they not burn those buildings with their breath? And burn all those inside the buildings, whether those people “love” the dragons or not?'

‘As you were told. The cities must be evacuated. All of them. New cities can be built later. But they must be built with love in the hearts and understanding in the minds of those who build them. Such cities will be safe from the dragons.'

‘What is wrong with our cities now?' demanded one of Tauk's men.

‘They are places of war. They are prizes men warred over. They were built to farm wealth and breed soldiers, so that men could play as lords, and wage wars as if playing games upon a board.'

‘So all our history is without any honour to you, wizard? Each time our city repelled attack, we were committing a crime. This is the most absurd thing I have ever heard.' Tauk rubbed his eyes and looked around as though to ensure he wasn't dreaming. He pointed at the haiyen. ‘These people have advanced magic arts. If they aren't willing to share them, why are they here? They came to our lands uninvited. Lay down your arms, they tell us. Cease using the magic you know. Leave your cities free for anyone to take. If I had the ear of an enemy, and I thought him stupid enough to do those things, I'd say the same. At best, it's madness.'

‘They do not tell you what to do,' said Domudess quietly. ‘They present a choice for you to consider.'

‘How soon till the dragons come?' said Blain. He caught the mayor's eye with a look which seemed to say:
Give them a little more rope.

‘It may be another year, or it may be days. Fearing them is the worst thing you can do. Be aware of them, but do not fear. The next worst things are to worship them, and to fight them. It is not a fight you can win. You may slay a few Minor dragons – at great cost – but all men in the world together could not slay one of the Eight. No matter what the dragons do, you must understand and love them.'

‘Have you wasted my time for your amusement? My city is under siege. It could fall at any—'

‘Your city won its battle,' said the haiyen. It was the first time it had spoken since the others had departed. The haiyen's oval-shaped
eyes were on the mayor, its hands folded before its chest. Tauk froze, his eyes wide. His two men leaned forwards eagerly. ‘If that gives you peace, know it to be true.' The haiyen said no more.

Domudess smiled. ‘I shall explain. In the tower I have ways of observing some faraway events. I took it upon myself to examine your city, when we learned you had come here. It seems a half-giant – you may know him, his name is Gorb – visited Tanton, Mayor, with the guidance of a groundman. He arrived a little after the castle army arrived. The siege began and unfolded as you would expect. Gorb brought with him a strange kind of Otherworld weapon, along with one of Tanton's own Engineers, who knew how to make them.

‘It seems Gorb told your generals that you are a man of the highest honour, that you had ridden through many perils and battles to fetch the aid your city needed. He showed the generals the weapons. With great haste they summoned the other Engineers, who built many more. Some of the weapons worked. Most did not, but there were enough. Gorb taught a group of your soldiers how to use them. The siege force scattered rather quickly when their officers were picked off and slain from a long distance away by something able to punch through armour. Your city is safe, and so is your place there. A hero's welcome awaits you – the half-giant has seen to that. Something you did must have impressed him.'

Tauk and his men were lost for words, unsure whether to believe or not. Blain said, ‘If that pretty tale's true, it won't be worth a cup of drake piss when the dragons come. Otherworld weapons, are they enough to deal with dragons? I'll venture not. So tell us how the beasts can be slain.'

‘No! Enough of their comedy,' said Tauk. ‘Whether they speak
truly of my city or not, my decision is made. I make it on behalf of all peoples of this realm. We will not lay down our arms and bare our throats. We will not abandon the cities we have shed so much blood to defend. There is one reason you would school us to do things leading to certain defeat: you are our enemy, not those “lost” haiyens you speak of. You, wizard, are a traitor to Levaal North, and to its people. You are now our prisoner, along with this invader.'

A look passed back and forth between Domudess and the haiyen. There was something sad in it, also something which said:
As
we expected.
Then the pair of them vanished before Tauk's men had risen to their feet to detain them.

Blain noticed for the first time that Kiown was no longer with them. He had no idea when the Hunter had slipped away.

‘To the tower!' Tauk said. He and the men ran there fast; Valour's armour gave them no need to pause for breath. From the tower came loud breaking noises. A crack appeared up one side and spread like a hatching egg. There were sounds like thick stone slabs being crushed. The top parts of the tower broke away and fell into the waters and onto the small platform beneath. Domudess stood motionless at its base as slabs of wood, brick, and a rain of dirt fell all about him.

It took only a minute or two for the whole tower to become a mound of rubble, shrinking in on itself, dissolving. The moat's waters retracted. Soon there was just a mound of sand in the structure's place, no more than two cupped hands could hold. Domudess crouched, scooped it all into a small leather bag, careful to get every grain, before tying the bag's string, putting it in his pocket, and vanishing again from their sight.

‘Where's the haiyen?' said Blain, hobbling fast to catch up with the others.

At that instant something swooped over their heads, causing a rush of wind which knocked all four of them to the ground. A heavy
thud
sounded on the grass close by.

Blain was the last of them to get back to his feet. He rubbed his eyes, hardly believing what he saw. A dragon was before them, its long tail lashing the ground. Light glittered from its eyes and many colours flashed over its long slender body.

Kiown was sitting aboard its back with two women. ‘Get off,' he told them. Evelle leaped to the ground, a sad pout on her face.

Stranger begged: ‘Don't take him away from me, don't take him—'

Kiown pushed on her chest with one boot and she fell back onto the grass. To Evelle he said, ‘You know what to tell them. I'll return later. Up, Dyan. Fly.' To Blain's utter astonishment, the dragon obeyed him. The Strategist lowered himself back to the ground and tried to steady his hands.

Evelle crouched beside him. ‘Kiown spoiled our fun,' she said. ‘Anyway. He said to say, this is one of the things his charm does, in case you were wondering.'

Tauk and his men just stared as Dyan became a dot on the horizon's sky. Blain swallowed. ‘He … he can command dragons?'

‘Only Dyan,' said Evelle. ‘It's Dyan's punishment for being a bad dragon and playing around with women, instead of doing what he was sent down here to do. They made him a slave to humans. Kiown said a white dragon told him about it.'

‘There's a second dragon free …?'

‘Yes, a girl dragon. She looks different from Dyan. When we came near, she turned herself into a woman. So, Dyan has to obey whoever has the charm. O, Blain, another thing. Kiown also said to say that you're
his
advisor now, not the mayor's.
And that the mayor's not a mayor any more, he's the general of a new army. But he can call himself Mayor for a while. We'll be using the men of his city as our army until we recruit more, if the mayor's willing. If he's not, we'll use them anyway. It will be easier if he goes along with it. If he doesn't …' She laughed. ‘Well, guess.'

‘Where'd he go?' said Blain weakly. It was just beginning to make him numb, it had not even begun to hurt yet: that he'd had the opportunity to take that amulet and out of caution he'd chosen not to. Command of that dragon could have been his. He thought, I'll have it yet! That fucker knew all along, he was waiting for the dragon to come near enough for him to bring it under the amulet's spell. Maybe back when we fought, he could've slain me with ease, but instead he kept me around for my usefulness! I'll play along for now, but when he drops his guard, the charm's mine …