Reunion (16 page)

Finally Anguis grumbled, “It's another trick. Grab him.”

But Corwin had now had time to examine the ceiling. There was a niche where the great oak ceiling beams, round and thick as tree trunks, met the wall, and Corwin deftly tossed the shell into the niche. Two guards lunged for his legs. They were blown backward as Nia held out her hands and sent a blast of air at them. Two other guards lunged for her, and she rolled under the trestle table.

Corwin jumped up and shimmied along the ceiling beam, hoping to distract the guards from Nia. Even better, two sets of guards ran to the center of the room, colliding with one another.

The wizards were chanting noisily in one corner of the kitchen, next to the great hearth, and Corwin wondered if they could actually do real sorcery. He reached out and snatched the shell again, whispering into it, “Gobaith, can you stop whatever the sorcerers are doing?”

Black smoke rose out of the hearth fire and flowed over to the three wizards. They began to cough and choke in the acrid smoke, quite unable to speak. They stumbled away from the hearth, blundered blindly into another set of guards, and nearly knocked over the king.

“Good work,” Corwin said. “Now what do we do?”

But Nia had the next idea. Under cover of the smoke, she crawled over to the hearth and grabbed a hooked iron bar from a rack. She then clambered back onto the trestle table. Using the iron bar, she reached out and snagged the lip of the cauldron on the fire and tipped it over. Scalding, steaming vegetable soup flooded the room.

The nearest guards screamed as the boiling broth soaked through their leather boots. King Vortigern and the wizards fled to the far end of the room. “Enough of this nonsense!” the king cried. “Grab them, or I'll have the whole lot of you thrown into the dungeons!”

Three guards, more afraid of the king than their scalded feet, ran to catch Nia on the table, as she was clearly the easier target. Or so they thought.

Nia beat their swords aside with the iron bar and then nimbly leaped to the side table where the bread dough lay. As one guard approached, she threw the dough in his face, where it stuck. He staggered back, knocking the other two guards to either side of him.

Meanwhile, another guard ran beneath Corwin and poked at him with his lance, trying to dislodge Corwin's arms from the beam.

“Be wary of the talisman,” Anguis warned. “Don't damage the shell!”

“You should listen to him,” Corwin said to the guard. Looking toward the main door, Corwin saw that, thanks to the smoke and the soup, there was a way clear—if the guards could be distracted. Corwin whispered into the shell, “Gobaith, can you fly? Go to your other Avatar, then.” Corwin threw the shell to Nia.

Everyone in the room seemed to hold their breath as the shell sailed through the air. But Nia caught it deftly and held it up. “Here is the Talisman of Godlike Power!” she cried. “Who will dare take it from me?”

“Stupid girl,” grumbled the guard nearest to her as he reached for her. Corwin wasn't sure exactly where Nia struck him with the iron bar but he screamed in a great deal of pain. The rest of the guards surged toward her, but the kitchen wasn't
that
big a room and all the guards rushing at once did more damage to one another than to Nia.

Quick as a spider, Corwin scuttled along the beam, dropping close to the door and hurrying out under cover of smoke. But Nia was still at the far end of the kitchen. Reluctantly revealing his location, Corwin cried, “Nia! To me!”

The wizards came boiling out of the room. “You bothersome cretin,” Anguis growled. “You aren't carrying your precious talisman now—”

“Oh, shut up,” Corwin growled back, and he sent a blast of air, just as Nia would do, at the three wizards. It blew them back against the wall, knocking the wind out of them. He glanced back through the kitchen doorway. “Nia! Hurry!”

What he saw next amazed him. Holding the shell aloft, Nia seemed to run through the air, her feet bouncing off of helmets and lance points and, as a final insult, the head of the king himself. She landed gracefully beside Corwin. “Gobaith liked learning how to fly,” she said. “But it has greatly weakened us.”

“Then we shall have to fly on foot. C'mon,” Corwin said, taking her arm.

They ran down the hallway, through the door, and down the stairs leading to the cistern. They heard the guards coming after them, not far behind, as they pounded down the first flight and then the second, and then discovered that the portcullis that had been up was now down.

Their way was blocked.

Corwin slammed into the portcullis but it didn't budge. He grabbed the bars and tried pushing it up, but it didn't move. He tried using his sorcerous powers to push the gate up, only to discover that Nia was right—they had been weakened, for any spell that one of them did drew upon the strengths of all three of them now. Corwin searched frantically for the drawing mechanism to raise the gate—

“You won't find it,” said King Vortigern from the top of the nearest flight of stairs. “The winch is two floors up.”

The guards flowed down the stairs, lance- and sword-points aimed straight for Corwin's and Nia's hearts.

“Well fought, I must say,” the king went on. “Perhaps I will make it hours, not days, that you will be tortured. But really, you should have stayed in the exposure cage, you know. Your ends would have been far more merciful.”

Corwin felt his heart pounding in his chest. He looked at Nia.
Can you blast them
? he thought at her.

Nia shook her head. “Too weak,” she murmured.

The emboldened guards stepped closer and closer. But Corwin noticed there was still uncertainty and fear on their faces.
They don't know what we can still do
, he thought.
I have to try something . . . something that will drive them away.

Fenwyck's voice echoed in his mind then. Words he had spoken long ago.
Always make things bigger, grander than they seem to be, lad. As outrageous as you can. People are far more willing to believe illusion than the truth.

The most frightening thing Corwin had seen in recent days was the kraken. Surely no one could be brave in the face of that horrible scarlet serpent.

“Beware!” Corwin cried. “As my last deed, with the last of my strength, I shall summon the kraken—a creature more terrifying than any you have ever known. It has a million mouths, which will devour you bit by bit. It has a scream that will curdle your blood!”

The guards paused for a long second.

“Oh, not again,” grumbled one of the wizards from the back. “You've learned showmanship well from your Master Fenwyck's knee, lad, but we've heard enough of your blather. Just give up the shell.”

Corwin looked at Nia and she nodded. She understood what he had to do. She put her hand on his arm and gave him what energy she could. Corwin bent over the shell, his eyes tightly closed.
Gobaith, this is what you must help me show
. He imagined with all his heart and memory what the kraken had looked like—the seawater turning red, the serpent rising from the waves, its great maw gaping. He imagined all the tiny sea creatures that made up its skin screaming at once in that horrible, sickening shriek.

Suddenly the stair passageway resounded with the powerful scream of the kraken, louder and more soulshaking for being in such a small space. Corwin's ears ached with the noise, and he trembled. The kraken's cry was soon followed by the screams of the guards and the wizards and the king, and the pounding of their feet as they all fled up the stairs.

Corwin heard the rumble of the portcullis as the gate opened behind him. Finally he dared open his eyes. The stairway was clear, except for the swords and lances dropped by the fleeing guards, and one of the wizards' soft leather shoes. “We did it,” he said softly. He turned to Nia. “We did it!”

But she wasn't looking at him. She was staring behind him, wide-eyed with fear.

Corwin turned, slowly, afraid of what he would see. And there it was—the real kraken, rising out of the water of the cistern, its maw hanging open, great eyes staring, reeking of the sea. Swimming beside it were two dark-haired mermen and a full-grown Farworlder leviathan with glowing golden eyes.

Chapter Ten

Corwin's heart nearly stopped in his chest as the kraken towered higher, foul-smelling water dripping from between its fangs. “Did . . . did I . . . summon it?”

The older of the mermen came closer. “Don't think so highly of your powers, landling,” he said with an accent much like Nia's. “You are only three, whereas I am multitudes.”

“Ma'el,” Nia said softly.

“So this is your evil king,” Corwin said.

“Joab, the Farworlder you see there, is the king,” Ma'el said smoothly. “I am his Avatar.”

Corwin could see cold malevolence in the golden eyes of the Farworlder leviathan, and he could feel Gobaith's fear of Joab. “I don't understand—how can you speak my language so well?” Corwin blurted to Ma'el.

“My Atlantean spies have been visiting your land for years,” Ma'el answered. “I have gained my knowledge through them, and through my newfound powers. But you must ignore Nia's words that Joab and I are evil. She's young. She doesn't understand how empires are won.”

“With treachery and murder?” Nia demanded.

“Nearly always,” Ma'el replied with a smile that seemed almost sad.

The other merman rose higher out of the water, and Corwin felt a jolt of recognition as he realized that this was the young man from Nia's painful memories.

“Nia,” the merman purred, “it's wonderful to see you again.”

Corwin could sense Nia's tumultuous feelings. “Who's he?” he asked.

“Cephan. A . . . former friend.”

“Friend?” asked Cephan with a hurt frown. “Is that all you think we were? Do you always share kisses with your friends?”

Corwin felt his hands ball into fists, and he was about to launch himself into the water. But Nia put a calming hand on his arm. “He wants you to attack,” she said softly. “He's taunting us.”

“I, too, am happy to see you, dear Nia,” Ma'el said, “because it means this ridiculous battle is over. I hope that you can finally understand that opposing me will only hurt you, along with your friend and the new Farworlder king. However, if you give the little fellow to me, we may all live in harmony and increase our powers together.”

“Why would you let us live?” Corwin asked, as he eyed the kraken warily. The creature simply stared back at him, hunger in its eyes.

“Simple. Because I will have more power that way.”

“You didn't let the other kings and Avatars live,” Nia argued, the sadness in her voice again.

“Well, they weren't about to give me their . . . gifts willingly, were they? I had no choice but to take them by force. It leads to lesser quality, but the quantity makes up for it.” Ma'el held out his arms, which were covered with strange bumps.

Nia gasped. “The oculae . . .”

Corwin could feel her disgust and horror wash over him. “What . . . what is . . .”

“Each of those bumps,” Nia explained, “is the organ of magical power taken from a Farworlder. For every bump, a Farworlder was slaughtered.”

Gobaith screamed with sorrow in his mind. Corwin closed his thoughts against the echoed pain. “Does Gobaith . . . have one?”

“Of course. So do I.”

“You do?”

“Of course she does,” said Ma'el. “I gave it to her as a birthday present when she was very, very young. That is why she's as skilled as she is.”

“I was your experiment,” Nia growled.

“Don't take it personally,” Ma'el said. “You were only one of many. As for you.” Ma'el turned his gaze to Corwin. “You are a rather interesting case yourself. It would appear your Gobaith got somewhat lucky. Should I call you a landling or . . . something else?”

“What are you talking about?” Corwin demanded, his face flushing.

“Ah. You are unaware of your parentage. Never mind. I expect it will likely not matter.”

“My parentage?” Corwin's body tensed up. “What do you know about my family?”

“Corwin!” Nia said, squeezing his arm. “Don't let him bait you.”

“Bait?” Ma'el echoed, with mock hurt pride. “I was able to give you proper information on
your
father, Nia, wasn't I?”

“What do you know? Who is my father?” Corwin yelled, barely able to restrain himself from lunging at the mermyd.

“Well, it certainly isn't me,” Ma'el said. “And you aren't in much of a position to make rude demands. You see, if you decide to turn down my generous offer, I
will
have to destroy you three. And whether you believe it or not, I really don't want to. But I must do what's necessary for the good of Atlantis.”

Corwin felt as if he could explode. He had just done all he could to drive away one madman, and now he was faced with another. He tried to reach Gobaith's mind.
What can we do?

Do not surrender
, was all Gobaith would send back.

“I know what you're thinking, young fellow,” Ma'el said, “for my power is tenfold greater than yours, and I can perceive the unis in its entirety. You know the speed of my helpful assistant here.” He indicated the kraken beside him. “You can't possibly escape. And while your sorcery is impressive for a new Avatar, you have expended most of your energy. You're young. Why waste such promising lives?”

“Indeed,” Cephan chimed in, gazing at Nia in a way that made Corwin's blood boil. “I would be heartbroken, Nia, if Ma'el were forced to hurt you. The loss of such beauty, intelligence, and talent would be a criminal waste. My offer to you is still open. Let us rule Atlantis together.” He held out his hand to her.

“You murdered my cousin,” Nia replied coldly. “You helped Ma'el murder the rest of my family. Do you think I would ever want to be by your side? I would rather die.”