CHAPTER THIRTEEN

Palace of Aqhat, Tyranny of Isembaard

T hey rode back to the palace in silence, save for an odd comment about the strength of the river current or the evening chill of the air.

Once at the palace, Isaiah led the way at a brisk walk to his private chambers, waving aside the murmurs of courtiers and servants. He brought Axis to the large airy room that served as his dining and living chamber, checked to make sure all the windows were shuttered, then turned to Axis.

“Well?” Isaiah said.

“It spoke to me.”

Isaiah drew in a deep breath. “Ah.”

“You are not surprised.”

“No. It has spoken to me, as well. Mumbled words at first, but now far clearer. What did it say?”

“It tempted me with the Star Dance…you know what that is?”

Isaiah shook his head. “Not truly. I have heard of it, but…”

“The Star Dance is the music the stars make in their dance through the heavens. That dance creates patterns, and those patterns can be manipulated by those with the ability—among the Icarii race it was the Enchanters—to achieve various ends. The more powerful the Enchanter, the more powerful the end.

The Star Dance filtered into Tencendor via the Star Gate.”

Axis thought back to his first sight of the Star Gate. Buried deep underground, the Star Gate had initially looked like a pool of blue light. But when Axis had looked deep into it he had seen the universe, the real universe, not the poor reflection that chased across the night sky. Galaxies and solar systems of rich, exquisite colors had chased each other through multihued stars…and the Star Dance, the music of the stars, had rushed out at him, engulfed him…

In a few quiet words Axis described the Star Gate for Isaiah. “It was astounding, Isaiah. The power it contained, its beauty…its allure…unbelievable. It was dreadful and frightening and irresistible, all in one.

And it was our only connection to the Star Dance. The moment the Timekeeper Demons destroyed the gate, we lost the Star Dance. DarkGlass Mountain—or whatever it is that lingers in there—promised me the chance to touch the Star Dance again. Ba’al’uz said the original Magi who created DarkGlass Mountain made it as a gateway to Creation.” Axis gave a small shrug. “There is no reason not to suppose that DarkGlass Mountain could not also be a gateway to the Star Dance.”

“But—”

“But can you imagine what would happen to the Star Dance as it filtered through DarkGlass Mountain?

Stars, it is a nightmare! It is so…corrupt. Darkness and filth.”

“Axis, what does your gut tell you about DarkGlass Mountain?”

“What? Darkness and filth isn’t enough for you?” Axis gave a small shrug. “It is toxic and dangerous beyond belief. And that…” Axis paused, thinking.

“And that…?”

“I think that whatever is wrong with DarkGlass Mountain is far older than the pyramid itself, although that damned pile of glass is cursed enough. There’s something there, Isaiah, something beneath the pyramid, a part of the very soil on which the Magi built. It is very ancient and very powerful. I don’t know what it is, or what manner of thing it is: whether object or cavern or spirit or potential or sheer damned memory, but there it is. Isaiah, tell me what you know. Why do you go and sit inside it?”

“To test myself. To know my enemy. To try and discover his movements and his plans.”

“His plans?”

Isaiah waved Axis to a low chair, poured them each a goblet of strong fortified wine, then sat down himself in a nearby chair.

“Let me tell you what I know of that pyramid, Axis. I agree with you. I think something dark and malignant lives far below the pyramid. For centuries DarkGlass Mountain was nothing but a great mound covered by sand, some rough grasses, and the odd scrap of rubbish. Then—”

“It regrew, Ba’al’uz said.”

Isaiah gave a hollow laugh. “Yes. It uncovered itself, and then reclothed itself in its gown of glass. It fed on the bleakness waiting below it, and it just…regrew.”

“That did not terrify people?”

“Terrify? For a year or so, when this first began to happen, the Tyranny of Isembaard was paralyzed.

Ezela, the tyrant at that stage, did not know what to do. He had his army try to destroy it—instead, the army was crippled. Any soldier who touched it with intent to damage it was, oh gods, turned to stone.

Fortunately no one lived in this area at that time, so there were no loose tongues to waggle, and Ezela himself made sure that not one of the soldiers who survived ever spoke of what had happened.”

Axis winced, imagining only too well what Ezela must have done to those men.

“Ezela could not destroy it,” continued Isaiah, “and he could not stop the pyramid’s self-regeneration. So he did the next best thing. He watched it for years, until he was certain it would do little more than merely regenerate. Then, ever the innovator, he built the palace of Aqhat directly across the river from DarkGlass Mountain, settled himself inside, and claimed that Dark-Glass Mountain was a testament to the power of the tyrant and that the tyrant himself drew great power from it and that it was a great talisman for the Tyranny. Nothing to be afraid of at all.”

Now it was Axis’ turn to produce the hollow laugh. “And thus for centuries the tyrants have sat in their palace listening to the damn thing whisper?”

“The ‘damn thing’ only started to whisper twenty years ago, and only a very few can hear it. Like you, I believe that something waits below the pyramid. That the pyramid itself, while noxious enough, is also being used by something far more powerful. Something ancient.” He gave a slight shrug. “I refer to it as a

‘he.’ Somehow it helps to be able to personalize the nightmare.”

Axis had every suspicion that Isaiah was not telling him everything he knew, but Axis also knew Isaiah well enough to understand that he could not be pushed. “For all the stars’ sakes, Isaiah, you have this ancient monstrosity sitting directly across the river from your palace, stirring into gods-know-what witchery, and you’ve decided to invade the north in the meantime? Don’t you think this is a somewhat bad time to abandon your realm to…whatever that thing is…and go invade somewhere else?”

Now Isaiah laughed more genuinely. “You can’t think of a better time?”

“Isaiah…”

He sobered. “I have little choice, my friend. I told you about the Eastern Independences campaign.”

“Yes,” said Axis. But you have not told me why it was you failed.

Isaiah met Axis’ eyes. “I have been living on borrowed time since then. My generals plot among themselves. If I do not manage a successful show of strength, of war, of invasion, within the next year or two, then I am a dead man. Lister offers me that chance. With my army, and his Skraelings, the kingdoms above the FarReach Mountains are ours. Then I can deal with DarkGlass Mountain, or whatever that nightmare really is.”

“Isaiah, leaving that thing at your back—”

“What do you want me to do, Axis? If I stay here, if I stay actionless, then I die. But if I have the success of the invasion behind me, as well as the resources of the kingdoms to the north, then maybe I will have the strength and the chance to deal with whatever DarkGlass Mountain is plotting. Besides, the north has something I want,” Isaiah added, almost as an afterthought.

He moved away to a map table, indicating Axis should join him. As Axis walked over, Isaiah unrolled a parchment map. It showed the full extent of the Tyranny of Isembaard, as well as the kingdoms to the north and Coroleas to the west.

Isaiah’s fingers moved upward, tapping a drawing of a massive mountain. “This mountain is called Serpent’s Nest, home to a rather vile little order of psychic murderers. It is fascinating. I have heard such intriguing rumors about it.”

Axis waited, but Isaiah’s silence forced him to ask the question. “What rumors?”

Isaiah gave a small smile. “Oh, treasures-buried-in-its-dungeons kind of rumors. You know the sort of thing. Just—”

“Just the usual thing that makes a man uproot a million of his people and invade a foreign land.”

“It is just something I’d like to see, Axis. Perhaps something to obtain before Lister gets there, eh?”

And with that Isaiah rolled up the map and turned away.

“Why does Lister need to ally with you?” Axis said. “Why not just invade the north without you and take all for himself?”

“Because he and I are fools, Axis, and we cannot live without the other.”

And to that Isaiah would not add any more.

[ Part Four ]