The Echolone Mine (83 page)

He tracked the
shiver for an hour wondering how far behind he was for it to be
that muted, and wondering also how it was possible. The time
between entrances had been a matter of seconds.

Then he
wondered why the mist did not thin.

In the past,
en route to the Warlock’s stronghold, it never lasted more than
twenty minutes - thirty at most. Something was clearly a-foot, a
plan now in action, and he swore Tymall would know his displeasure
before this was finished. His son had planned in advance.

Another hour
later the mist came to an abrupt end, a wall between blindness and
sight, a decided line drawn in perception and place.

Beyond it was
something new. He came to regard Digilan as a circle of mist, in
the centre of which rose the mighty Warlock palace, and now that
was disproven.

It was an
amphitheatre, the kind found in ancient tales where gladiators
fought for their lives at the whim of a crowd. A mighty stone
edifice squatted in the clearness of Digilan’s alien atmosphere. It
appeared unattended.

Inside was a
shiver of energy.

Torrullin
entered through crumbling arches, making no sound, and then did not
care who heard him.

The centre of
the gladiatorial ring was shorn grass, patchy in places. Here
Digilan’s worst did fight to the death at the whim of onlookers.
Dear god. In this day and age. But it was not that understanding
which caused him to throw caution to the wind. It was what lay in
wait in the centre of the ring.

A stone
sacrificial platform purple with old blood.

Around it were
six huge men, giants from another realm, hairy and crude, leering
grimaces.

Tymall with
staff and cloak, the Warlock accruements, stood at the foot, his
expression one of intent.

And Elianas,
staked naked face down.

The
sacrifice.

Clearly, a bit
of sport would be had first.

Torrullin’s
blood ran cold, and then hot as wildfire.

He tore across
the space summoning Destroyer in the distance covered. By the time
he reached the scene his eyes were black and murderous resolve had
settled into every pore. Two giants had their necks cracked in
moments and fell dead to the stained grass. Two more were wounded
and crawled from the field groaning.

Tymall’s staff
lifted and he hurtled backward. Torrullin clambered to his feet and
closed in again.

“Father. If
you value anything, I suggest you stop.”

Tymall’s voice
held not a trace of pity. He was now Warlock.

“How did you
get here fast enough to do all this?”

“I planned it.
The path was swift.”

“Why?”

“This thing
fouled your reputation, your body, your power, and thus he befouled
me also. To right this wrong, he must be sacrificed.”

One of the
remaining giants closed in, thinking himself unseen. and died an
instant later. The other gave the whole affair a disgusted once
over and trundled off, collecting his injured comrades on the way
out.

Good
riddance.

“What do you
care about right and wrong, Tymall?” Torrullin dipped his bloody
sword, but did not relinquish his hold.

“There are
standards even a Warlock must apply.”

Torrullin
stared at his son, seeing wells of darkness he until now
overlooked, and then shifted his gaze to Elianas.

His blood ran
cold again.

The man was
drugged.

That explained
the lack of strength in his energy signal and it meant he would not
be able to help himself.

He reached out
…

“Touch him and
I trigger the spell inserted into his skull.”

Torrullin
pulled his hand back. “What have you done?”

“It does not
matter. Know he will not be as pretty after.”

“You cannot
kill him.”

“But I can
degrade him and I can take from him dignity and pride, and his
pretty face and body.” Tymall’s grey eyes glittered manically. “If
you want him whole, swear you will forsake him into eternity.”

“Touch him,
and I shall tear Digilan from every mooring until it is collection
of atoms and you are divested of all power.”

Tymall smiled
and laid a hand on Elianas’ thigh.

Torrullin
yanked it up. “This is the only time I grant you a free ride. Touch
him again, and I shall do as I say.”

“You would
unleash Digilan’s creatures of nightmare on your reality?”

“Yes.”

“For him?”

“For him.”

Tymall tore
his wrist free. “Then you are not worth of any standard I manage to
hold to.”

“You call
these standards, Tymall? Elianas did nothing to you. What is
between us is not your business, and it certainly does not impact
on Digilan or your power as Warlock.”

“Wrong. I hear
them sniggering behind my back. I hear this contender Adam raising
an army and the Mor Feru as support to usurp me, and he whispers
about Elixir fucking a man for pleasure, not for torture. It
impacts on me daily, hourly, and then I hear Nemisin tell of the
past, a time you two were thick as thieves, and every bit of
Valleur history as we know it is a fat lie. My existence here as
Warlock depends now on sacrifice. His.”

“I will not
allow it.”

“What will you
do? Kill the army gathering outside this coliseum? Kill me? His
face will be a bloody mess before you get a step closer, and not
even the healer you are can fix him. Father, you cannot be healer
and Destroyer simultaneously.”

Torrullin
inhaled deeply, and released Destroyer, banishing him. Tymall was
right, and he would rather be ready to help Elianas than be
helpless in destruction. A moment after he deliberately sheathed
his sword.

“I do not need
Destroyer to deal with a gathering army, and I do not want to kill
you. Let me take him, and I walk away without meting out justice
upon Digilan.”

Tymall pursed
his lips, and shook his head. “I require the sacrifice.” He lifted
his staff and flung his father around akin to a rag doll, bringing
him to a stop at the head of the sacrifice platform, there to
freeze him in position.

It happened so
fast Torrullin did not have warning, or time to react. He was
paralysed in position.

“That will not
hold you long, I realise,” Tymall murmured, “but it will be enough
to bear witness.” He lifted his staff again, and two giants rushed
in from the opposite side of the ring. “Just long enough for two, I
believe.” As they halted expectantly nearby, he said, “Do him
hard.”

Torrullin
exerted every pressure known to him, but the Warlock enchantment
held fast. His eyes moved, throwing hate and the promise of every
kind of revenge, but it availed him nothing. His tried to move his
lips, but no sound emerged. As the men dropped their breeches, he
screamed inside and, as the first one clambered up to kneel over
Elianas, he employed every shred of power he possessed, and felt
something give inside.

His mind
shattered … and then his lips moved and he screamed,
“
Danae
!”

The man
collapsed dead on top of Elianas.

The other fell
over bleeding from his ears, nose, mouth and eyes.

The Warlock
staff exploded and the cloak went up in searing flame.

The old stone
of the coliseum shattered and blasted outward in every
direction.

Tymall fell to
his knees.

Mighty screams
erupted from outside the crumbling building.

Torrullin
moved.

He shoved the
dead man from Elianas, tore his bindings off and flipped him over.
When Tymall rose gargling, he thrust the Warlock aside and placed
his hands on Elianas’ head, drawing the spell out and into himself,
before destroying it, damaging something intrinsic as he did so.
Perhaps memory, perhaps compassion, perhaps the ability to tell
right from wrong, and perhaps all of that and more, but he did not
have the capacity to care then. He functioned and had one goal.

Get Elianas
out.

Tymall rose
with a scream of rage and hurtled nearer, convulsively touching the
blue stone on the circlet manifesting around his head.

“Attack!” he
screeched, and grabbed roughly at his father, jerking him away from
Elianas, who tumbled to the blood stained grass groaning in
returning awareness.

Mor Feru and
others rushed into the debris that was the coliseum. Torrullin
lifted his hand, sending them hurtling back. They came again, and
this time he disintegrated every living cell in a radius of a
sal.

Utter and dead
silence descended.

Tymall hauled
Elianas away, dragging the waking man over sharp rock.

Torrullin
stalked him, caught up and took Tymall by the hair to drag him
aside. “I said,
do not touch him
!”

Tymall fought
back. “This isn’t over!”

“It is! Cease
now or Digilan is sundered!”

The blue gem
on Tymall’s forehead fired, and a beam of power hit Torrullin
squarely in the eyes, and he stumbled back.

“It isn’t over
until I say it is!”

Tymall used
the gem to liquefy the ground under his father, felling him to his
knees, and then he jerked at the buttons on his breeches.

“He healed me!
Nemisin healed what Margus took!” He yanked his breeches open and
hauled a hard shaft out. “Seems I must do my own dirty work.”

He kicked
Elianas over onto his stomach and fell on top of him.

Elianas
started fighting, his movements sluggish.

Torrullin
surged to his feet, drawing his power close. His blood coursed and
sang loud, screaming the Lorinin song into the spaces.

Elianas felt
it as a tingle, and then it washed over him, bathing him in
strength. He pushed up with power renewed and threw Tymall from
him, but Tymall’s gem flashed, garnering the blackness of the dark
to give him more, more and more, and he smashed back into Elianas,
throwing him down, thrusting at him.

“
Danae
!” Torrullin shouted again, and the remnant stone of
the amphitheatre shattered anew, the ground transformed to fluid as
it heaved, and Elianas jerked to him, and then took hold of Tymall
by the throat, exerting pressure with full intention.

Tymall threw
himself back, breaking the hold. “He destroys Digilan for you. He
must love you beyond all else. Today you will both pay for the
insult.”

The gem shot a
beam …

… and
Torrullin rolled through it, taking the brunt. A burn seared across
his torso, and then he was on his feet. He crashed into Tymall and
hit him in the mouth.

“Today you are
the insult, my son. Today I shall end your miserable life.”

Elianas hauled
him off. “No.”

Torrullin
jerked free, and Elianas hit him.

“No,
Torrullin.”

Tymall,
laughing, collided into Elianas from behind, throwing the man at
Torrullin, and they landed in a heap on the heaving earth. He
clawed at Elianas and started thrusting again. Elianas snarled, and
shoved upward to dislodge the man, suffering a searing burn across
his back that collapsed him onto Torrullin.

“Then you kill
him,” Torrullin said.

Dark eyes
bored into grey. “We walk away without this death on our
conscience.”

Tymall
screeched renewed laughter, hauled Elianas off, pulled him around,
and started applying the gem as weapon of torture. Gritting his
teeth, Elianas leaned into the pain, and hit Tymall in the nose,
breaking it. Blood squirted.

The Warlock of
Digilan lost all control. Beams of power shot from his hands and
the circlet gem, driving Elianas back, back until he reversed into
Torrullin. His father moved to stand before Elianas, hands lifted
and traded beam of power for beam, driving Tymall back by
degree.

Elianas swore
and spoke words to add to the fray. Tymall tumbled over, arched,
and lay there heaving.

An instant
later Elianas took hold of Torrullin. “Let us go.”

Torrullin
stared down at his son.

“Torrullin, we
seal this piss hole from the other side. Let us
go
.”

“He had six
men ready to rape you. He called two more while I was frozen as
witness. He must pay.”

“He will.
Digilan will eat him from the inside out. But we must get from here
to minimise the damage in our reality. Torrullin, please, let us
leave this place behind now.” He exerted pressure on the arm is his
grip and then, thank the gods, Torrullin moved with him.

They had taken
barely two steps when Torrullin was pulled around and felled to his
knees.

Elianas
flipped down and was pinned. Both were frozen in position.

Tymall
sauntered closer, wearing his battle scars like a badge of honour.
He smiled coldly, slowly pushed his breeches down and kneeled over
Elianas. He prodded at Elianas groin.

Elianas
reached out, took Tymall’s head in his hands, snapped his neck …
and threw him aside.

Torrullin rose
to his feet with Elixir ascendant and destroyed everything in
sight.

Then Elianas
was with him. He took his face in his hands, hands that had just
killed this man’s son, and forced him into stillness.

“We must
leave. Do you hear me, Torrullin? We have to go now.”

Torrullin
nodded. “Take me away, Elianas.”

Elianas’ heart
broke. Torrullin was shattering, and it would not be long now
before he was beyond the point of return.

“Follow me,
brother. Set your foot on the bridge and I will lead you home.”

Part
VI