She Who Has No Name (The Legacy Trilogy) (70 page)

He could already sense some guards approaching and just managed to dart aside as they came sauntering down the passage.  He waited for them to pass and crept back out, guided by his memory and sense of
sight
. 

He made his way along the deep passages where few ever ventured and was about to
head
back towards the main tunnels, when he heard something ahead.  He stopped, silent, and felt a wizard approaching, so he slipped into a narrow crevice in the wall of the tunnel, opposite a set of bolted doors.  Someone had been moving around in one of the cells he had just passed and so he had to be careful, moving with complete silence to keep his presence unknown.

The crevice was deep enough so that he could fit his whole body in and he wedged himself around a tight corner at the end so as not to be seen.  Staying quiet, he poked his head out just a touch
, enough
to see the telltale energies of the wizard approach, dangling like blue-green sparks in the air.  Along with the normal points of energy, purple magic seethed and its stench burned into his nostrils.  No natural light came to shine on the walls, so whoever
was coming his way
was walking in perfect darkness.  Either they knew these tunnels well, or they had some other means to find their way.  He knew some of the Paatin had this t
rait
but
,
as the wizard approached, the vile energy grew denser until Samuel knew for sure who was coming.

‘Om-rah!’ he whispered softly.

Hulking footsteps clattered along the passageway as the arch-wizard neared and Samuel could hear his loud and forceful breathing.  It sounded like a horse labouring for breath after a hard ride.  A strange
,
guttural clacking followed and Samuel had no idea how the man could make such sounds.

He waited, perfectly still, and he could feel the enormous wizard’s steps reverberating
o
n the stone floor and hear his great bulk scuffing up against the narrow tunnel walls.  The wizard had just reached Samuel’s hiding spot
when
, much to Samuel’s alarm,
he
stopped.  Samuel could hear him standing there, still breathing heavily and shuffling about.  There were some sniffing sounds, and he could hear the fiend moving around in front of the crevice. 

Something sharp was pushed towards him and Samuel could hear it scratching around just on the other side of the protruding stones.  He was safe behind his corner
,
if only the wizard could not reach too far.

He looked down, feeling a movement of air against his ankles, and noticed a hole in the wall by his feet.  If it was deep enough he may just be able to push part of himself inside it.  Still, he had no room to move and if Om-rah was looking into
the
crevice, he would be seen as he manoeuvred himself into it.

A voice sounded from inside the cell and the scratching sound withdrew from
the
crevice.  Om-rah turned about with a huff of air.  It was a Paatin within the cell and he called out from his prison in a querying tone.

Samuel heard the bolt of the cell door clatter as Om-rah fumbled with it in the darkness.  The prisoner continued to call out, more urgently, but the wizard did not reply.  The bolt squeaked out of place and Samuel’s blood froze as he heard the great bulk of Om-rah hurry into the cell.  The prisoner screamed, but his efforts were quickly cut short.  Something wet slapped onto the floor and it was followed by a blood-curdling
,
crunching sound.  Om-rah continued shifting about, slurping and munching frenetically, but the prisoner was ominously quiet.

Very slowly and very carefully
,
Samuel edged onto all fours.  Painfully aware of every scuff and sound, he eased backwards on his knees and elbows into the hole as the arch-wizard continued his meal.  He had seen something of the wizard before and he knew Om-rah was not entirely human, but this showed how much of a monster he had really become.

Thankfully, Samuel found that his hole actually continued deep behind him, forming a narrow tube that opened wide at the other end.  Following it feet first, he found himself emerging from the hole, high up on a ledge that looked down on another twisting length of dark passage.  Thanking his luck, he dropped down, leaving the horrendous sounds of Om-rah behind, and padded away to find his bearings.  At least now he knew what had been killing people in the tunnels and would not have to waste any more time with thoughts of ghost stories.

It was another week later still when Samuel felt the Queen’s magic at work.  He went investigating, as the bursts were becoming more powerful and frequent.  The crashing sound of walls tumbling sounded after each flash of power and he was sure she was sending spells down upon her own palace. 

Utik’cah was waiting outside her room, standing nervously
,
and Samuel hurried up to the anxious desert-man as carefully as he could.  Already, he could hear Alahativa shouting and ranting inside.

‘What is she doing?’ Samuel whispered.

‘She is with your Emperor again,’ Utik’cah explained.  ‘My Queen commanded that I bring him and she has been questioning him at length.  So far, she has not killed him, but she has slain most others in the room.  I don’t know what has affected her.  She has killed most of her favourite servants.  She is becoming more and more distressed with each
passing
day.  I have the healers making potions to calm her, but today she will not take them.’

‘Let me see,’ Samuel suggested, but Utik’cah caught him by the shirt.

‘You risk death,’ he said grimly, but Samuel pulled away and strode inside.

More servants lay dead than still remained, and those still living were all splayed on their knees with their foreheads to the floor, praying or shivering or blubbering with fear.  The Emperor was standing defiantly before the Queen and she was shouting at him furiously.  Magic ran from Alahativa’s fingers and dripped sizzling to the floor.

‘Samuel!’ she roared on
catching
sight of him.  ‘How dare you come before me unsummoned!’

The Emperor said something to placate her and Samuel managed to walk all the way to
his
side without being str
uck
down by her spells.

‘The Queen and I have been having an insightful conversation,’ Edmond said.

Alahativa looked greatly disturbed and she shook Samuel by the shoulders, staring at him as if crazed.  ‘I have solved my dreams, Samuel!  I know what they mean and so does he!’ she said, gesturing to the embodied Emperor.

‘Actually, I don’t understand what she is talking about, but she refuses to let me leave.’

‘Lies!’ the Queen hissed.  ‘He ever lies!  He knows my dreams!  He is in them.  All of them!  He knows who he is!’

‘Calm now, Your Majesty,’ Samuel pleaded.  ‘Please help me to understand what is happening.’

‘Each day, my memories return.  I should have known when I first learned that the Emperor had survived—not only survived, but in a body not of his own.  He, too, knows what it is like to be cast into the body of another.  In another time,
in
another life, we were lovers, but he refuses to admit the truth!’

‘I don’t deny it,’ Edmond said.  ‘I do not deny that past lives are possible, especially given my present state, but I have no recollection of any life with you and I simply don’t remember any of these things you are raving on about.’

‘Why are you doing this to me, Thann?  Is it because of her?  Can you possibly love your
E
mpress more than me?  Or is it the boy?  That’s it, isn’t it?  I could never bear you a son and she has given you what you always wanted.’  For the first time, the Emperor looked rattled by what she was saying.  ‘Then damn you, and damn them, too!  Om-rah!’ she wailed and a heartbeat later the hulking wizard had alighted on the balcony outside.  If it had not been so sturdy, it would have been torn asunder, for the room shook as he landed. 

It was amazing that Samuel had not felt the man’s presence until he had already alighted—but perhaps he had been too distracted by the Queen’s spells. 

‘Go swiftly now to Yi’sit.  Kill the Turian woman and her boy.  Make sure this night is their last.’  No sooner had she spoken than the arch-wizard had vanished into the air with a snap of black cloth and a clatter of his wings.  Alahativa turned about, her eyes wild with emotion.  ‘You see?  Perhaps when they are dead you will have reason to remember me?’

‘Don’t kill them! I beg you!’ the Emperor said and Samuel could see the genuine desperation in his eyes.  He dropped to his knees.  ‘Don’t do it!  I implore you!’

‘It is done.  Om-rah has gone to see to it and I could not recall him even if I wanted to.  Get out of here, both of you!’  And she turned from them and returned outside onto her balcony, laughing hysterically as she overlooked her city.

The Emperor immediately grabbed Samuel by the arms and pulled him towards the exit from her room.  ‘Quickly!’ he said.

‘What is wrong with her?’ Samuel asked as they rushed past the confused form of Utik’cah.

‘I have no time to explain, but
my wife and son
must be saved.  Please, do whatever you can.  You must reach them first!’

‘I cannot,’ Samuel protested.  ‘That winged beast will get there in a fraction of the time I could.  Without my ring I am powerless.’

‘Then get your blasted ring!’ the Emperor roared out.

Samuel stood firm and looked the man level in the eye.  ‘I have no way to get it or even
of
knowing where it is unless I can find Balten.  Of course I would gladly save the Empress, but there is nothing I can do!  I can scour the last sections of the dungeons, but unless something miraculous happens it will just take too much time.’

‘Perhaps I can assist,’ came a third voice and both of them turned towards a hooded figure, shrouded in shadow and lurking out
side
the window.

‘Who is that?’ Samuel said, peering into the darkness
,
and the figure climbed in, into the light and threw back his hood.  At first
,
Samuel thought it was one of the Paatin wizards for he was dark-skinned and surrounded with a veil of spells and magic of illusion.  ‘Lomar.  I should have known.’

‘I have been waiting nearby, but the Queen’s tantrum caught my attention and her wizards’ spells are in turmoil.  The palace is in chaos and everyone is fleeing to be away from her, or else I would not have been able to enter at all.  I have learnt where Balten is being kept.  At least, I have obtained a set of directions.  If you know the tunnels well, I can describe the way.’

‘Then let’s go,’ Samuel said.  ‘Om-rah has the head
start.’

‘From what I understand, it is not far if you know the way, which fortunately, now I do.  That Paatin beast can fly, but not quickly.  He is fat and encumbered by his armour.  If we move fast, we can still save her.’

The Emperor’s eyes lit up.  ‘Then quickly—go!  Go, Samuel, and I will be forever in your debt.’

Samuel turned to Lomar and nodded
,
and the two of them raced away, leaving the Emperor behind.

These floors were populated only by the occasional quivering servants, but they met several wizards and scores of armed Paatin soldiers as they rushed towards the catacombs.  Lomar felled most of them without hesitation, his magic str
iking
out furiously. 

Before the gaping main entrance, Lomar paused.  ‘As soon as we break the barrier, they will know we are here,’ he said.  ‘However, they will not know if we are breaking in or out, so we should still be able to avoid them for a time.  I would guess few would ever have the desire to steal their way into such a place.  It will only mean that we must make our escape quickly, before the tunnels are overrun with guards.  There is no point in wizards coming in to find us as they would have no power while under the mountain.  Unfortunately, we will also be powerless if we are found.’