The sea chariot hurtled across the rambling waves. The tethered bodies of the nep’gii rhythmically appeared and disappeared as they pulled the chariot across the Sea of Mists. The speed at which they were moving astounded Jehenna. She had no idea the creatures could move so swiftly. Their graceful, effortless movements reminded her of the ballet performances that had so entranced her as a young girl back in Elidor. The nep’gii moved in perfect syncopation, alternating their dives beneath the waves so that half the team was always visible whilst the other half was powering their way under water.
‘I didn’t know the Sea of Mists was so wonderful,’ sighed Sela. She had expected it to be a lonely, cold stretch of water where white banks of mist silently sat upon the ocean’s surface, but the place was anything but white and it certainly wasn’t silent. The vagabond mists surrounding them were in a constant state of flux, their colour slowly changing, moving up and down the spectrum so gently it was impossible to detect the moment of transition.
Accompanying this delicate visual display, the strains of strange yet beautiful music could be heard floating across the waves. It was music unlike any Sela had ever heard before. The music of her homeland was percussive and intricately structured, each instrument having a highly specific role. This music was free of such constraints. It was chaotic yet harmonious, a contradiction that Sela’s brain ignored as she closed her eyes and let the notes float over her, like a cool breeze blowing in from the east. She did not know what made the music, nor did she care. After the horrors she had witnessed in Tamu and Amasis, the opportunity to be soothed by something so gentle and fulfilling was more than she could have hoped for.
At the front of the chariot, Claudia and Jehenna shared the reins. ‘We sometimes heard the song of the sea in back in Amasis,’ Claudia said dreamily. ‘When the wind was northerly, this music would roll across the beach like the surf.’
Her voice faded as her mind drifted off to a recent memory. It wasn’t hard for Jehenna to imagine what she was thinking of. She could picture her mother and father sitting on the beach, staring out to sea listening to the ethereal euphony. She could see Jonas holding her mother’s smooth hand in his callous fingers and smiling that disarming smile that Simeon had inherited. Pangs of sorrow poked at Jehenna’s insides. She missed her father and brother terribly. She considered how alike they were. Both were playful and garrulous among family, but steadfast and disciplined around their respective crews.
‘Did you bury Simeon at sea?’ Claudia asked Jehenna.
‘Yes. It seemed appropriate.’
‘Your father would have wanted a sea burial.’
‘I know,’ Jehenna said softly.
‘The best I could do was a shallow grave in the garden inside the facility,’ Claudia said sadly. ‘I even carved a little headstone out of a piece of The Silhouette’s decking.’
Jehenna threw her arm around her mother and gave her a hug. ‘Really? What did it say?’
Claudia turned to her daughter a smiled. ‘Here lies Jonas Kallady. A man of many words, and true to every one of them.’
Jehenna gritted her teeth, trying not to give herself to tears. ‘You wrote that?’
Claudia shrugged. ‘I’m not too sure about it. I was…’
For the second time in as many minutes, her voice trailed off as she spoke. She turned from Jehenna and focused on the bobbing heads of the train of sea snorses before her.
‘It’s perfect, Mumma,’ Jehenna said.
Lilith Cortese looked at the pair from her seat at the rear of the chariot. She watched as their hands met on the reins and clasped together. It seemed that nothing could tear them apart. But Lilith knew better. Things were rapidly going to get much worse.
Suddenly the mists parted and like a theatre curtain revealing a spectacular scene, their destination was revealed. The ethereal beauty of the mists and the music were an appropriate precursor to the splendour of the collection of islands known as Cephalonia. The archipelago stretched out across a shining sea of gold. It was not the reflection of the sun off the water that gilded the water. Just as grass was green and the sky was blue, the ocean around Cephalonia was gold.
The islands themselves were equally impressive, rising steeply out of the burnished ocean. The verdant land was clad in glass poplars and pink orchida. The latter lay upon the green grass like sequins on a ball gown. Here and there thin threads of waterfalls ran down the isles’ shoulders to disappear in mists high above the ocean surface. Flocks of gillygulls and kestra floated about the archipelago’s crown like clouds in an otherwise clear sky.
‘Welcome to Cephalonia!’ said Bormanus with an uncharacteristic hint of pride. His straight white hair streamed back from his head as the sea chariot sliced across the gleaming waters. He showed no sign of being troubled by the injury done to his hand, an injury he continued to hide under the bloodied sleeve of his shirt. With his other hand, he pointed to a large island to the north-east. ‘The city of Cibola lies on that island,’ he called to Jehenna and her mother. ‘Head for the wide bay on its eastern side.’
Jehenna’s skin was tingling. At times, Cephalonia seemed so far away she thought they would never make it. But despite the attacks of the Ghul and three of the Cabal’s worst monsters, they had arrived at their destination, ready to finish the fight.
She looked down at the swag she had taken from her mother’s research facility: a glass-steel sword, a pair of vambraces and a small collection of explosives. It seemed a rather pitiful arsenal when compared to what they faced, but it was backed her indomitable will and that would be the thing that made the difference.
‘How far do we have to go, Bormanus?’ asked Jehenna. ‘Is Cibola far?’
‘We aren’t going to Cibola,’ he answered. ‘The breach is about twenty-five leagues from the city but if we can land on the east coast we can head to it directly. It’s not far. We will be there in half a day.’
It was mid-morning when they set off from the beach. The day was warm. Shutterbugs and flutterflies hovered in the air, adding to the buzzing noise made by countless insect hiding amongst the orchida. The company made their way up an old path that cut its way up the steep, lush slopes of the hills surrounding the day.
Lilith walked slowly at the back of the group, deep in her own thoughts. Her death loomed somewhere in the hills above. She had seen it so many times over recent months that the surrounding landscape took on a distinctly familiar feeling. Up above her, where the path switched back on itself Jehenna walked at the head of the procession. As she made her way up a particularly steep section, she occasionally leaned on her glaive as if it were a walking stick. It felt strange to see the glaive being used in such a way. Lilith felt her chest tighten as the golden blade shone in the brilliant Cephalonian sun.
And yet, she didn’t fear Jehenna. She had never feared her. At first Lilith thought this reflected her own preparedness to die after such a long life, but as the days passed and the vision of her death became a regular occurrence in her mind, Lilith somehow believed that Jehenna was deserving of her trust, despite the mystical evidence to the contrary.
Deep in thought, Lilith failed to be fully cognizant of her surroundings. As she clambered over a fallen log that lay in her way, she snagged her foot and tumbled into a thick clump of wild pink orchida.
‘Can I give you a hand?’
It was Jehenna, standing over her leaning on her glaive. She had seen Lilith fall and had raced down to help her. She stretched out a hand to assist. Lilith took the proffered hand and then everything went awry. Her mind folded in upon itself as a barrage of images pushed their way into it.
She was flying. Below her a massive waterfall shot out into the night air. There was no mistaking where she was – the Skyfall. Its waters fell away but rather than them being lost in the darkness below, they were consumed by a blazing forest of flames. The Myr, it seemed, was on fire.
Sapphyrro made their way up the cliffs surrounding the great waterfall. There were hundreds of them and they were dying. The blades of Ghul soldiers hacked at the Sapphyrro’s limbs until the gentle creatures had no choice but to let go of the rock face.
‘Is it really so hard to die?’
It was Jehenna. She was falling through the night sky, her black hair streaming behind her as her momentum built up. Her face was dispassionate, showing no sign of concern for her own well-being despite the fact that she was falling so high above the world.
Then the darkness faded into white. Blinding white. Jehenna was standing in the middle of a field of ice, surrounded by Ghul. She stood back to back with a tawny-headed Moraen who was casting spells with inspiring ease. Though they were surrounded, Jehenna’s eyes gleamed defiantly. She smiled…
And for a moment Lilith thought she was smiling at her.
Lilith collapsed into Jehenna’s arms. She was weak and could do nothing but allow herself to be lifted up by the Acoran. Jehenna found a small patch of grass at the side of the trail and lay Lilith down. ‘Morgai, you had a vision didn’t you?’
Lilith nodded.
‘Can you tell me what it was about?’
Lilith lifted her head and scanned the immediate area. Their companions had moved further up the steep path and were well out of earshot. She took a deep breath and spoke. ‘Skyfall Town was under siege. Countless Sapphyrro were being killed.’
‘When?’ Jehenna exclaimed. ‘Can you tell me when this takes place?’
Lilith gazed into Jehenna’s eyes and saw deep concern. There was something significant there – perhaps an emotional tie to either the Sapphyrro or Skyfall Town. Looking into those dark, beautiful eyes, full of compassion and duty, Lilith could not refuse the Acoran the information she sought. ‘Usually, it is difficult to interpret my visions in such a precise way, but this one was particularly potent and there is no mistaking the timing of it. It takes place tonight.’
Jehenna’s face dropped. ‘Tonight?’
Lilith did not have to peer into Jehenna’s mind to know what was going through it. She was in a quandary. She had fought long and hard to get them to Cephalonia, to find a way into the Endless, and now she had been informed of the mass slaughter of the gentlest beings to grace the world.
‘Even if I could get there in time,’ she mused, ‘I could do nothing to stop what you have seen.’
Although it was a statement, it seemed like a question, begging for a response. ‘No,’ said Lilith quietly. ‘You will find a way. You will survive this and see tomorrow. I cannot say the same for me.’
Jehenna’s face dropped. ‘You’ve seen your future haven’t you? You think you’re going to die?’
‘My dear, I know I’m going to die. As do you. It’s only the timing that separates us.’
‘But you seem resolved to your fate,’ Jehenna observed.
‘I am,’ Lilith said casually as if discussing the weather. ‘I know the manner of my death and I know who kills me.’
‘Tell me,’ Jehenna whispered. ‘I can protect you.’
Lilith smiled appreciatively. ‘Strong you are, sweet girl, but not so strong that you can subjugate fate to your will. My passing is inevitable.’
Jehenna clasped the old woman close to her. She held her so tightly that Lilith could feel the Acoran’s beating heart against her own.
The sun was high overhead when they reached the top of the trail. They found themselves on the crest of a high domed hill that gave them a commanding view of the island. Shatterbugs, gillygulls and kestra flew joyfully in the sky above. A herd of long-haired barga slowly sauntered across meadows filled with tall orchida. Here and there glass poplars stood proudly, their limbs bedecked in the transparent fruit that gave them their names. To the north, Jehenna could make out the tall, silver towers of the city of Cibola.
‘Look!’ cried Sela in a voice soaked in happiness. ‘Peg’ii!’
She pointed out to a pink clad hill about half a league to the north-west. Even though they were far away there was no mistaking what she could see – the sky snorses of Cephalonia. Like their sea-bound cousins, they had tails that coiled around in a loop under their bodies, but instead of a dorsal fin on their backs they had a pair of brilliant white, downy wings. Shaggy brown manes hung over their long, furry faces. Almost as tall as a common snorse, sky snorses were slightly larger than the nep’gii but just as beautiful to watch.
It was a large flock, numbering over two dozen. They rolled about in the sky, occasionally darting down towards the ground only to quickly swoop upwards before landing. Sela squinted her eyes, intrigued with their odd behaviour.
‘They’re teasing the Asari!’ Bormanus observed.
‘The Asari?’ Jehenna asked.
‘Asari are small, vicious yet highly intelligent creatures that dwell in the dells of Cephalonia,’ he explained. ‘They are incredibly agile and fleet of foot. Although they stand little more than two feet tall they possess surprising strength and stamina. You wouldn’t want to meet one.’
Claudia shaded her eyes and gazed at the hill above which the peg’ii were flying. She could see the small, grey-skinned Asari and they looked just as vicious as Bormanus described them. Their bald heads were dominated by long, sharp teeth fixed in a manic grin. They also had large ears that made them look slightly comical, but there was nothing funny about their behaviour. ‘The Asari… they have whips. They are trying to strike the sky snorses with them.’
‘They are flails actually,’ Bormanus corrected, ‘dipped in sticky sap. They use them to snag any peg’ii that come too close.’
‘Why would they want to do that?’ Sela said, perplexed that such beautiful winged creatures could be subjected to such cruel treatment.
‘The Asari eat peg’ii.’
‘What?’ exclaimed Sela.
‘They crave peg’ii flesh. It’s quite interesting really. The Asari will not eat anything else. When they catch one of the beasts, they keep it alive as long as possible whilst they feed on the tender meat of the animal.’
Sela blanched. ‘That’s disgusting.’
‘No, it’s quite tasty actually,’ Bormanus said casually. He flicked his white bangs back away from his face. His expression was unreadable, but Jehenna thought she could see something behind his eyes. Something wicked.
‘You eat peg’ii?’ Sela said abhorred by what she had just heard.
Bormanus gave no indication that he understood her revulsion. ‘Why not Sela?’ he asked. ‘It is the way of the world, for the strong to eat the weak. Just because something is pretty or gentle does not grant it the right to escape the natural order of things.’
‘What are you talking about?’ said Claudia warily. Like her daughter, she was beginning to suspect there was more to the Cephalonian than met the eye.
‘I’m talking about the arrogance of Myrrans. You will fight to keep life the same when all the signs dictate it should change. You will travel from one end of the world to the other to preserve what you have, ignoring the fact that you have nothing.’
‘I don’t like the sound of these riddles, Bormanus,’ Jehenna said as she stepped in front of her mother. Her grip tightened on her golden glaive.
The lithe, white-haired figure before her gave a shrill laugh. ‘Jehenna Canna, you can’t abide anything you can’t control.’
Jehenna brought the glaive around so that Bormanus understood her clearly. It glimmered under the midday sun. She pointed its tip at his chest. ‘You were responsible for the Ghul ambush in the Acoran Way, weren't you?’ She took a step closer so the blade was only inches away from Bormanus’ heart.
Bormanus did not look the least bit intimidated by Jehenna’s approach. ‘Look at your small mind trying to comprehend that part I have played!’ He gazed nonchalantly at the semi-circle that had gathered around him. Claudia had pulled out her weapon – a long, thin knife that hummed ominously when drawn – and stood beside her daughter. Sela had extracted two particularly long and pointed quills which she held in each hand. Lilith did not draw a weapon nor did she take an aggressive stance. The only thing she brought to the tense gathering was an air of sadness.
‘Look at you all clambering to avoid the inevitable, unable to see the futility of your own small actions,’ Bormanus scoffed. ‘All I have done is magnify your deluded sense of self-importance.’
It was then that a horrible truth dawned on Jehenna. ‘There is no breach on Cephalonia is there?’
‘Of course not!’ Bormanus groaned. ‘Sad, isn’t it? Here, at the end of your quest, you’re as far away from Caliban as you were at the start. It has all been in vain.’
Jehenna’s face was livid. ‘You betrayed your own kind!’
Bormanus waved her anger aside. ‘You have no idea what my kind is. Your contempt is wasted upon me, Acoran. It is... invalid. Betrayal is a matter of perspective. I do not act in your interests. I act in mine. I am no traitor.’
She edged her glaive forward so that the tip of it pressed in against Bormanus’ chest. ‘I think Kali, Tawhawki and my brother would disagree with you.’
He glanced down at the golden blade she had pointed at his heart. He then lifted his head and held her firmly in his gaze. There was no fear in his eyes. ‘You should look closer to home if you want to find traitors.’
‘What do you mean?’ she said slowly, struggling to control herself.
‘Your husband is the greatest traitor of this age.’
She could not hold herself back any longer. With a cry of fury and despair, she thrust the glaive forward. It sliced through Bormanus’ skin with ease, cutting in twain his heart. She pushed forward and the blade pierced Bormanus’ back, clad in blood that dripped onto the pink orchida at his feet. He grunted but did not scream. She released the glaive with a contemptuous shove.
Bormanus fell to his knees with the weapon still embedded in his chest. He continued to stare at Jehenna; defiance burned like brilliant stars in his grey eyes. His thin, feminine hands rose from his sides and wrapped around the glaive. He pulled at the weapon, sliding it out of his torso as if he were pulling a splinter from his finger.
The incredulous look upon Jehenna’s face was mirrored by Claudia and Sela. Only Lilith seemed unsurprised by what she had just seen.
‘The eyes of the Acora may be sharp but you did not see this coming, did you?’ Bormanus sneered at Jehenna. ‘Did you think I could be killed so easily?’
Then with a speed beyond comprehension, he whipped the glaive around and slapped her across the face with the flat of the blade. She went sprawling across the grass, lucky not to have lost her head. Claudia dropped to her daughter’s side, fearful that the savage blow had killed her.
Sela leapt forward with her quills held high but Bormanus was too fast. He merely stepped aside and let her fall to the ground. She landed on her face and her moment of disorientation was all Bormanus needed to pluck the spines from her hands and drive them into her wrists. Her scream was so loud it startled the peg’ii she had seen on the distant hill. She was pinned to the ground by her own quills. The pain in her wrists was so strong that Sela’s mind caved in on itself. All sounds, smells and sights faded – she was left all alone in darkness with nothing but pain to inform her that she was still alive.
Claudia clung to Jehenna, terrified of the monster that had been revealed in their midst. Bormanus eyed her curiously. He knew her fear was not for herself but for her proud daughter. She picked up the black buckler Jehenna had taken from Amasis and held it before her.
‘Move away from your daughter,’ Bormanus demanded. He gave a flick of the fingers and the shield went flying away across the grass.
‘No!’
‘Stand aside Dr Kallady,’ Bormanus said softly.
‘She is a threat to all we stand to accomplish.’
‘I won’t let you touch her.’
‘Perhaps you need persuasion.’ Bormanus placed the glaive upon the ground, then calmly lifted his right hand and extended it in Claudia’s direction. Her eyes widened as a most unique pain spread throughout her body.
Bormanus stepped closer. ‘I will explain to you what is happening so you can understand your own death. Perhaps you will carry that knowledge over to whatever realm exists beyond this mortal plane and thus avoid making the same mistake twice. I am raising the temperature of your blood. Cooking you from within. Soon your internal organs with fail you and your life with be little more than a pungent vapour.’
Although the pain of speech was excruciating, Claudia managed to articulate her defiance. ‘It is not a mistake to defend your children.’
Bormanus dropped his hand and thought about this, giving Claudia a momentary respite from the pain. ‘You could be right Dr Kallady. I wouldn’t really know. I don’t have any children.’
‘Stop.’ Although Lilith spoke quietly, her voice carried great weight and conviction.
Bormanus swung around to face the old woman. He put his hands to his temples and gritted his teeth. ‘Are you trying to get in here Lilith?’ he said tapping his forehead. ‘You will find that my mind is not so easily penetrated.’
Lilith said nothing. Her every thought and ounce of energy was centered upon Bormanus’ psyche. It was not a skill she liked to use, but her desperation compelled her to try. She intended to shut down his mind. She could see the landscape of his thoughts, caught fragments of his past and glimpses of his future. It was a most inhospitable domain and it sickened her to traverse it.
In a howling gale of snow and ice in a dark city, a tall Acoran man pounded on the door of a drab, iron house. The door opened to reveal a Sessymirian woman with a birthmark across one eye and a spike where her left hand should have been. The Acoran entered the house and the scene faded.
On a platform being lowered into a mineshaft, an old man stood guard over an old leather satchel that rested between his legs.
Suddenly there was an explosion of ice and rock. Hundreds of Ghul came pouring out of a gaping hole in the mine floor.
The man with the satchel walks down into the breach in the mine flanked by Ghul soldiers.
The landscape changed to a cottage made out of the remnants of wrecked ships. An old woman stood before a man whose diseased skin proclaimed his identity – Caliban. The old woman’s shape changed to that of the Sessymirian woman with the birthmark and Caliban nodded as tears welled up in his eyes. The woman with the birthmark presented him with a large, leather bound book which glowed with a ghostly blue light. Caliban’s expression changed to one of glee.
The landscape shifted yet again. In a silver tower overlooking a golden sea, a young, white-haired man turned to face someone who had entered his room. It was the old woman again. The man was Bormanus.
With a look of absolute shock Bormanus fell to the floor with a knife buried in his belly. The old woman studied his face closely before assuming his shape.
The silver tower faded to be replaced by a taller one. Bormanus sat on a bench in the Cloud Chamber eyeing the familiar figure of Remiel Grayson. Then the blue skies above the dome of the Cloud Chamber faded to black.
A handsome Arnakki man sat drunkenly on the sill of a window high in a tower. A stunning-looking Kompiran sat beside him with her arm draped over his shoulders. She took the arm away and the young man toppled from the window sill.
The scene changed but the darkness stayed. In the fading light of a dying bobug, Bormanus smiled as he surveyed the area below him. Kali was there. A Ghul soldier stabbed his knife down on the Kolpian’s broad hand as Bormanus looked on.
The dim glow of the bobug is replaced by the warm radiance of a binnacle light and the soft lambency of the moons. High above white sails billowed in the strong wind that blew across the ship. Bormanus stood at the stern and closed his eyes. Suddenly a thick fog enveloped the vessel and the wind died.
‘Get out of my head Cortese!’ The thought rolled across his mind like a fierce storm tearing apart anything in its way. Lilith had to retreat to the confines of her own head.
Claudia Kallady had no way of understanding what had just transpired. She could see Bormanus and Lilith frozen still, concentrating hard with their eyes tightly shut, occasionally grimacing as though some unseen battle was being fought. Suddenly Lilith grunted and fell back amongst the orchida.
Bormanus opened his eyes and glowered at Lilith. ‘Did you see enough Lilith or would you like to see some more?’
‘I have seen enough to know what you are,’ Lilith snarled, panting heavily.
‘Oh really?’ he said. ‘And what am I?’ He stepped forward and her features metamorphosed into those of the old woman Lilith had seen in his mind. ‘It seems your gift for shape-shifting is not as unique as you thought Lilith. Whereas you squandered use your skill in an act of vanity, I have used mine to achieve many things.’
‘You killed Bormanus in order to take his place at the Assembly of Nations?’
‘I wouldn’t waste any time grieving for Bormanus Cole. He was an idle youth.’
‘You knew him?’
‘I should think so,’ the old woman said coldly. ‘He was my son.’
Claudia was mortified. ‘You killed your own child?’
‘Better the mother kills the child than the child kills the mother.’ She turned to face Claudia and shifted her form as she did so into someone much taller, much younger and much more beautiful – Jehenna.
Claudia had to turn away. The sight of her daughter standing before her with a wicked grin on her face was too much for her to bear.
‘My name is Addison Cole,’ said Jehenna’s facsimile, ‘and, as you may have guessed, I am Morgai.’ She stepped closer to Claudia who instinctively clutched her unconscious daughter even tighter.
‘Stay away from her!’ barked Lilith, getting up on to her knees with a supreme effort.
‘Stay where you are!’ snapped Addison. She gave a wave of her hands and the orchida around Lilith wrapped themselves around her legs and wrists. One of the tallest plants wound itself around her face, making speech impossible. The plants felt more like steel coils. Lilith knew there was nothing she could do to break their grip.
Addison turned back towards Claudia. ‘I apologise Dr Kallady. Now I believe we were discussing the threat your daughter is to the new age Caliban will usher in.’
‘I’ll die before I let you touch a hair on her head,’ Claudia snarled.
‘I know,’ said Addison relishing in the ambiguity of her reply.
Suddenly Claudia’s left arm struck forward and out from under her sleeve shot a steel dart. Even with the reflexes that had seen her dispatch hundreds of shakku with ease, Addison had no time to avoid the dart. The small, metal object speared into her open eye, sending a spray of blood and vitreous humour out into the air.
Addison screamed. Her nervous system was thrown into chaos as she tried to shift shape to mend the gruesome injury. She dropped to the ground and writhed amongst the orchida as Claudia lifted her daughter’s body and attempted to escape.
‘Not so fast!’ Addison sneered.
The orchida surrounding Claudia swooped around her legs and stopped her from taking another step.
Addison stepped forward, her teeth bared and the desire for vengeance plastered across her borrowed face. Her injuries were gone and in their place was an eye as dark and beautiful as Jehenna’s.
‘That actually hurt,’ she growled as tore Jehenna from Claudia’s hands. She dumped the unconscious body on the ground and kicked it spitefully. She turned back to face Claudia.
Lilith struggled against her bonds but could do nothing but look on helplessly. She knew what was to come. She had seen it in her dreamscape but this didn’t make it any easier to watch in the real world.
Addison Cole took Claudia’s head between her hands. She eyed her piteously. ‘You are about to learn that there is a price to pay for such abject defiance, Dr Kallady. What you are about to experience will make you wish that Lilith had not come to your aid before. Boiling your blood will seem like an act of love compared to what you are about to endure.’
‘Let us go,’ Claudia pleaded. ‘We are no threat to you.’
‘But you are, Dr Kallady. Even you. Especially you. I have seen the weapons you have created. Armed with your wonderful inventions, the Myrrans could actually mount a defence against the hordes of Caliban. I can’t risk it. I won’t allow this world to stagnate any longer. It is time for change.’
She paused to let her comments sink in, but Claudia was so terrified that she could barely associate any meaning to the words she was hearing.
‘Dr Kallady, let me explain I am proposing for you,’ Addison continued. ‘Your flesh will become stone and your mind will be wrapped up in this prison. In this mystic cocoon you will dwell and the laws of time won’t apply to you. Around your statuesque form, the world will move through its iterations but you will stay the same and each passing second will feel like an eternity to you. Trapped inside your shell, you will have ample time to consider the folly of your ways. Until you go mad.’
‘But why would you do such a thing?’ Claudia spat. ‘Even to your most hated enemy...’
‘Empathy, Dr Kallady. I want someone to experience what I feel every day – time dragging its heels.’
‘Your long life has driven you mad,’
‘As yours will make you,’ Addison retorted.
It only took a moment. Claudia Kallady’s flesh lost its colour and her eyes lost their sheen. If not for the horrified expression upon her face, she would have looked like one of the statues found in Mine One before the Ghul despoiled it.
Suddenly the orchida around them parted as the Asari made their way to Addison’s side. The Asari were small but they were many. Their lipless mouths were fixed in a maniacal grin that seemed appropriate in light of their cruel intentions. Tiny, beady eyes stuck out like buttons on either side of their heads. These cold, nasty orbs peered out from under ragged ears that hung like flaps of discarded cloth from the tops of theirs heads. Their bodies were small, dark and unremarkable except for the tattoo that each had carved across their bellies. Although the embossed designs were crude, there was no mistaking what they were – the unique shape of a sky horse.
Sela was just coming to when the Asari arrived. Her vision was blurred and all sounds were muffled under the blanket of grogginess that enveloped her head. Before she could do anything, countless tiny hands with fingers like nails wrapped around her limbs. Struggling was pointless – there were too many of them.
The Asari also seized the unconscious body of Jehenna and took her away. A number of them gathered around the bound body of Lilith. ‘No, leave her. She’s mine.’
Just as quickly as they appeared, the vicious little creatures vanished into the tall orchida atop the hill.
Addison turned to Lilith and with a small gesture of the hand removed the gag across her mouth. She remained bound by the orchida around her hands and feet, but it did not concern her. She knew what was ahead and had prepared for it. She was, however, pleased she had the opportunity to speak.
She closed her eyes and spoke: ‘A little breath to say goodbye. Remember Jehenna: magick fades in time.’ Like a child blowing away the delicate white bracts of a fairylon flower, Lilith blew the words across to where Claudia Kallady stood in her prison of stone.
‘One last spell before you die, Lilith?’
‘Something like that.’
Addison looked down at the form she had assumed and smiled. She ran her hands over it and gave a satisfied groan. ‘I can’t tell you how good it feels to assume a shape like this after months of wearing a male’s body. Jehenna Canna is a gorgeous creature, is she not?’ She lifted her hand to her face and felt the scar Jehenna had acquired in the battle on board The Fortitude. ‘Except for this ugly mark. I can do without this blemish.’ In the blink of an eye the scar faded from her face.
‘You do not deserve to wear such a noble form.’
‘Lilith, you are far more adept in the art of foresight than me. You have witnessed this moment before, have you not? You have seen your death?’
‘Many times.’
‘Jehenna Canna kills you – is that correct?’
‘You kill me.’
‘But in this form. In your visions, you saw Jehenna kill you.’
‘Yes.’
‘I am intrigued to know one thing. You saw all this but you continued to trust her. I don’t understand how you could do that.’
‘Perhaps that is the thing that makes us different Addison. I can see into people’s hearts.’
Addison Cole laughed coldly. ‘What a romantic notion Lilith, but completely untrue. You failed to see into mine.’
‘Perhaps,’ Lilith said enigmatically.
‘What a sad race we Morgai have become! You are but a husk of your former self and as for Remiel Grayson – he does not even deserve to assume the mantle of Morgai. The witless fool was there in the Cloud Chamber and he failed to see the camarilla of enemies Caliban had gathered before him: Maeldune Canna, Lokasenna Hagen, Porenutious Windle and others.’
‘What others?’
‘Lilith, forgive me for not wanting to devote your final moments to telling you all don’t know. I’m afraid we do not have the time.’
Lilith remained composed despite Addison’s acerbic manner. ‘You saw Remiel Grayson?’
Addison could not resist another opportunity to indulge herself. ‘Yes, he joined the forum of fools Chamberlain Llyr had gathered around him in the Cloud Chamber that day. He was pathetic – disguised as a priest from Nessa. I recognized him immediately. He sensed my presence too, but was too unsettled by his own part in the entire sad affair to find enough focus to draw me out. It has been a hopeless venture for the Myrrans right from the start.’
‘There is always hope.’
Addison sneered. ‘They cannot win and for all your talents, you lack real vision. The Myrrans are totally dwarfed by the powers that are arrayed against them. Even their own kind has turned on them.’
‘With your assistance. You gave Caliban the Incanto.’
‘Yes, and now he has an army of Pryderi bloated with enough power to rival the Morgai.’
Lilith smiled at Addison. ‘And yet, for all your arrogance and influence, you have not perceived your own demise? I have seen your future Addison. You would not take this route if you knew what will befall you.’
Addison looked at her scornfully. ‘It is a cheap tactic you employ now, Lilith. I do not believe you.’
‘It matters not whether you believe,’ Lilith replied with solemnity. ‘The river will run its course regardless. At the height of summer, you will die on the frozen plains of Usnach, put to death by the very Pryderi you have empowered.’
‘You are lying.’
‘Her name is Arinna Brine. She will make you feel more pain in your dying breaths than you have ever known. Is that specific enough for you? Do you still believe I am making this up?’
‘I can change it.’
‘The future is not so simple and you know it. In trying to avoid your fate, you may just create the means by which it is achieved.’
‘Enough!’ she snarled. She reached down and picked up Jehenna’s glaive. ‘You’re about to die Lilith. I’ve no doubt that the vision of your death has been with you for some time. And yet here I am designing it as we speak.’ She leant upon the glaive as she considered it. ‘What a delightful paradox! I could spend years just thinking about it.’
Lilith looked out across the sunlit sea before her. The islands resembled emeralds set in a golden crown. She could see a flock of peg’ii gliding across the waters with grace unmatched by any living creature. Her heart was so full she thought it would break her chest. Words floated up from her past.
‘It’s such a beautiful world, Morgai. I’d hate to lose it.’
Addison stood above her, the glaive poised above her chest. It caught the sun on its shining surface and for a moment Lilith was blinded by the light.
The Asari made one mistake. They let go. It was only for an instant as they prepared the ropes with which they would bind their prizes, but it was all Sela needed.
When Jehenna came to, she awoke to a startling sight. Sela stood surrounded by a bloody pile of dead Asari. Every small corpse had at least one quill embedded in it. Behind Jehenna hovered a flock a sky snorses, silhouetted against the blazing sun. The image of the Tamuan surrounded by the host of peg’ii was almost religious in its beauty.
Jehenna put a hand up to the side of her head and winced but quickly decided that being alive and feeling pain was preferable to the alternative. ‘Where’s Bormanus?’
‘He’s not Bormanus,’ Sela said cryptically. ‘In fact, he’s not even a he now. He looks like you.’
For a moment, Jehenna thought she had lost all her senses, but then the pieces fell together and formed a most unexpected picture. ‘Morgai!’ Jehenna exclaimed. ‘Just like Lilith. The females can change shape.’
It seemed so obvious. It explained how Bormanus had single-handedly repelled an entire pack of shakku. It also explained the fog and the dead calm on the Arion Ocean the day the Ryugin had attacked. Her instincts were right – Bormanus was not one to be trusted.
It was at the moment that Jehenna’s mind swung to her mother.
‘Mumma? Where is she? And where is Lilith?’
‘I… I don’t know,’ Sela said apologetically, scanning the hills for some sign of their companions.
‘We have to go back.’
Sela gestured to the peg’ii hovering behind her. Their angelic wings flapped back and forth, gently flattening the orchida around them. Their docile eyes were fixed upon Sela. ‘They wait for us,’ the Tamuan said.
Sela put a hand on the muzzle of the nearest sky snorse. It snorted affectionately and tilted itself forward so that she could mount it. She climbed up on the beast, sitting herself at the base of its neck just above the wings.
Jehenna looked at her curiously. ‘I thought you were afraid of heights.’
‘People change Jehenna,’ Sela said brashly. ‘Come on.’
Jehenna smiled and pretended not to notice just how tightly Sela clutched at the sky snorse’s mane.
Jehenna’s howls of despair rang out across the hills. There was no sign of the Morgai that had betrayed them so completely but what she had left behind was worse than anything Jehenna could have imagined.
Lilith was dead. She lay amongst the orchida with the golden glaive buried in her chest. The sight of the old woman covered in so much blood was crippling and Jehenna could not bring herself to look at her for more than a few seconds.
As shocking as Lilith’s death was, Jehenna found it far more difficult to accept the fate of her mother. She stood atop the hill, her face frozen in fear, her body fixed in a state of supplication. It was clear no mercy had been given.
Jehenna gazed upon the stone figure and screamed. Those screams embodied all the heartache and frustration she had endured since setting out on the mission. She had lost everything. She had failed absolutely. She was emptied of whatever it was that had driven her to fight. She slumped down against her mother’s stone form and despaired.
‘Now is not the time to give up.’
The voice was familiar but it was not Sela’s.
‘Mumma?’
Jehenna thought she was going mad. She lifted herself off the ground and looked into her mother’s frozen face.
‘There is always hope.’
Jehenna jumped back a step when the stone lips moved. Everything else was still but Claudia’s mouth. It was disturbing and wonderful at the same time.
‘Mumma? I don’t understand.’
‘Listen to me Jehenna. I have not long to speak but an eternity to think. Lilith Cortese’s final act was to give me breath to speak to you. I am trapped inside this prison but I still live.’
‘I will find a way to release you!’ Jehenna cried, her heart tearing with sorrow.
‘No! You will finish your mission. You must stop this corrosive evil from overtaking the entire Myr.’
‘I can’t leave you Mumma. I have left too many people behind.’
‘Jehenna, remember: magick fades in time.’
The lips closed and Claudia Kallady spoke no more.
It was another hour before Jehenna picked herself up from the base of the stone figure of her mother. She had cried, she had screamed and she had retreated into herself, leaving Sela to endure the difficult silence.
‘Skyfall Town was under siege. Countless Sapphyrro were being killed.’
Jehenna knew what she had to do and with the peg’ii at their command, she had the means to do it.
She looked at Sela who was standing beside a sky snorse stroking its mane and scratching under its jaw. ‘Sela we must get to Skyfall Town as swiftly as possible.’
The Tamuan nodded but did not make any movement to go. Instead she walked up to Jehenna and wiped away the tears that had stained her bruised face. ‘Jehenna, perhaps when all this is finished, we should return here. Magick fades in time. Perhaps when all is done, your mother may come back to you.’
‘Perhaps,’ said Jehenna with a smile as she spied the black buckler she had taken from Amasis lying amongst the orchida. She picked up the shield and strapped it to her right arm. ‘There is always hope.’