The Deadwalk (19 page)

Shouts drew her eyes downward in spite of her vow to keep going no matter
what. There ground swayed precariously below her. Framed by her booted feet, she
caught a glimpse of black-uniformed Haelians arranged in a neat line. The army
of the dead poured through the gates like putrid swamp water overflowing. A
modest number of Kanarekii poured in after them. The dead came to an abrupt
stop. For several seconds they seemed to hesitate. Then, as she watched
helplessly from above, they turned on their Kanarekii masters.

No! The entreaty echoed in her mind.

Groping fingers located the ledge above. She dug in her nails and hung there.

“Hey!”

Hauling the rest of her body up behind her, Riordan lunged, getting an arm
and one leg across the ledge before a handful of Haelians descended upon her.
She flung herself across the ledge.

She rolled, hitting the stone floor, wedging her feet beneath her. In one
fluid movement, she tore the Sword from its scabbard. It whistled through the
air as she brought it down in one sweeping arc.

The first soldier tumbled headless to the stone.

No time for the Sword to savor its kill, she cut up and out, taking down the
next. He fell to his knees, clutching his abdomen. Boots sounded on the stone
behind her and she whirled, catching yet a third through the heart.

Bodies, souls poured into the Sword and vanished. Jumbled dying thoughts, ran
together in her mind. From further down the balustrade black-clad warriors
rushed toward her.

Riordan dove for the shadow of a doorway. Leather boots slid against the
smooth stone stairs beyond. She caught the doorway, righting herself even as she
skidded down the stairs.

So where is it, Rau? Somehow she'd expected him to be waiting at the gate to
greet her personally. Oh Gods! Please don't let him have been there when Nhaille
came through.

The stairway led into the bowels of the castle. Inward. She was certain the
Amber's hiding place lay at the center of the fortress. Rau would never trust
his treasure to an outer wall.

Shouts bounced off the stone walls, overlapping, until she couldn't tell if
they came from above or below. Boots thundered on the stairs. She ducked into
another corridor, relieved to find it empty. Flattening herself against the
indentation of a doorway, she held her breath as a troop of Haelian warriors
rushed past, weapons drawn.

She glanced out into the corridor. All the action seemed to come from the
square beyond. Riordan continued down the hall, away from the stairs that
belched a continuous stream of warriors into the stairwell.

“Invader in the castle!”

Shouts echoed in the passageways above her. Riordan crouched in another
doorway.

I don't have time for this. Are you still there, Nhaille?

A sideways glance around the doorframe showed a lone Haelian soldier scouring
the passageway. She hugged the wooden door, pressing herself flat against the
rough wood. Footsteps came closer. Her hand tightened on the Sword's cool
crystal handle.

He drew even with the doorway. Riordan raised the Sword. Another thought
occurred to her and she drew the dagger from her boot instead. Soft footsteps
whispered against the tile.

Riordan leapt into the hallway.

He brought his sword up in a last ditch parry. She blocked the blow with the
Sword and cut in with the dagger. Blood bubbled up over the soldier's collar. In
her mind, the Sword screamed in fury at having been denied.

She bent over the still body, tearing at the black jacket and helm. The
soldier moaned once, then was still. Cursing, she wrestled his arms from the
jacket. His helmet was an even worse fit than Penden's, but she took it anyway.
Stuffing the soldier's arms into her own jacket, she crammed Penden's helmet on
his head and fled down the hallway.

At the far end, another flight of stairs led downward. She scurried toward
it. A stampede of soldiers rushed by, heading for the lower floors. She hung
back, waiting as they passed. Taking up the rear, she followed them. Surely Rau
would put extra men around the Amber's vault.

I'm running out of time!

Linking minds with the Sword's cold consciousness, she sent her thoughts
outward. Dangerous. Rau would know where she was. Out of options. Nhaille's
favorite turn of phrase echoed in her memory.

Flames licked the inside of her mind.

Close. Far too close. The Amber recognized a Shraal mind, called to its
sister sorcery.

An invisible chain of fire led to the Amber's vault. Just as the Sword led
her to its hiding place in the crystal caves, the Amber sensed her Shraal mind
and called out to her. Riordan closed her eyes, following the flaming highway in
her mind.

Down another flight. Turn. Straight. Down again. She opened her eyes to find
herself in the shadows of a doorway that led to a hall more fortified than the
rest.

Iron hinges secured the doors. Through the stone window frames, she could see
the masonry was even thicker than the higher floors. She sighted down the hall.
At the far end lay a door with iron hinges.

But barring her passage stood a fence of Haelian soldiers.

Riordan jumped back. Her heart pounded hard in her chest as she waited for a
battle cry that she'd been seen. Can't just run in there. Or can I? That's what
they'd be least expecting. And they certainly wouldn't be expecting a soldier in
Haelian uniform to come barreling in swinging the Sword of Zal-Azaar.

Surprise is our ally, as Nhaille would say.

Nhaille, are you all right? Through the Sword, she felt for the pulse of his
command over the Amber. But like one voice swallowed by the wind, she could
sense nothing beyond the storm of the Master Stone's power.

In that moment she would have gambled her kingdom for the assurance of
Nhaille's safety. And he'd kill her for it when he found out.

Damn, that was the worst part of caring for someone. They distracted your
attention at the most dangerous of times. Riordan yanked her thoughts back.

None of us will be safe if I don't get moving.

Riordan tucked a strand of silver hair into the loose helmet. No sense in
broadcasting her presence. Cautiously, she peered around the corner. It's now or
never. Time had chiseled her options down to a single action. She drew in a deep
breath and stepped into the hall. Soldiers snapped to attention, then relaxed as
they saw what they assumed to be one of their own moving toward them. Riordan
straightened to her full height, putting as much authority into her stride as
she could muster.

Precious feet of corridor disappeared beneath her feet. She quickened her
pace. A few feet more. The leader saluted. Riordan returned the awkward Haelian
salute. Her pulse pounded loudly in her ears. Beneath it, she felt the Sword's
hunger stir.

“You have orders to report to the command post.” A poor excuse, but the best
she could do on the spur of the moment.

“On whose orders?” Skeptical eyes bored down at her from beneath his
visor.

Riordan reached for the breast pocket of her stolen uniform jacket. “I have
them right here.”

Faster than the eye could track, her hand flew downward, fastening instead on
the Sword's hilt. It sailed into the open air with a clear note of defiance. In
the last instant, the soldier spied the deadly blade aimed for his heart. One
heartbeat too late. Blood spattered the marble hallway. The Sword drank in his
life force with insatiable thirst.

Shock and horror reverberated through her mind as she sent his soul to
oblivion. The metallic hiss of swords being drawn snatched her attention
away.

She hauled the Sword from the unlucky soldier's chest. His body liquefied.
The Sword sucked up his life force like a straw. Steel whistled past her ear.
Out of instinct alone, she parried. Blade met crystal. Riordan pulled back
sharply and lunged into her next attacker.

He fell toward her, his scream of terror echoing in her ears even as it
tumbled through her mind. Another soul sent to the corridors of Al-Gomar, the
deepest hell. She whirled, took down another. She swung again. A pair of
terrified eyes peered at her above the Sword. He hesitated, just a fraction of a
second, but long enough for her to get under his guard. He swung. Riordan
countered. The Sword knocked the blade from his hand. And while he moved to
scramble after it, she plunged the tip into his chest.

Blood bubbled up over his lips as he opened his mouth to protest. She yanked
the Sword away, not even stopping to watch as the body shimmered and vanished.
Another soul sacrificed to the Sword.

Riordan hauled on the iron hinged door. It creaked open. She threw her weight
behind it and nearly tumbled into the room.

Diffuse, golden light drew her eyes to the center of the room. Like a giant
egg, the Amber sat on its golden perch.

“So,” said a voice behind her. “It comes to this.”

She whirled, coming face to face with that penetrating sapphire gaze. Holding
the Sword before her like a talisman, she stared him down.

“Doan-Rau. I see you made it home safely.”

The forced levity took him off guard. He stared back at her, his eyes crazed.
His shirt hung in a multitude of creases. His pants fared only marginally
better. He hadn't thought to don his armor. Not even his helm. Tendrils of brown
hair hung down about his face, the few strands still in his braid spoke of days
of neglect.

“A fool you are,” he growled back. “To wander in here.”

“Give it up, Rau. Kholer is lost. And Kanarek is at your door.”

“Are you now?” His smile was not at all pleasant. “Well, what would you say,
Your Majesty, if I told you the army you so kindly returned to me is now once
again under my command.”

“I'd say that was a temporary situation.”

Harsh laughter echoed off the walls of the chamber.

“Did you really think you could wander in here and challenge the Master Stone
itself?”

She had to admit it wasn't the best of strategies.

“Did you think I wouldn't know it was your henchman, Nhaille at the
gate?”

Nhaille. Her heart skipped a beat.

“His feeble mind is no match for my power.”

Touch him, Rau and I'll kill you. Kanarek and the war be damned.

Rau moved to stroke the Amber's alabaster smooth side. “Wouldn't it be a
tragedy if that Power Stone he carried was to slip and pierce his withered old
brain.”

Riordan inched toward him, Sword ready. Rau's eyes snapped up at the
movement. “What is it that you see in him?”

“You really don't understand, do you?”

“Oh, explain it to me, Your Majesty.”

She moved closer still. Secure in his power, he made no move to stop her.
“How is it that you came of age without any insight to the concepts of loyalty
and love?” Then answering her own question, she added, “Perhaps such things
don't matter here in Hael.”

His eyes hardened. He was dangerous in this mood. She knew it but continued
anyway. Anything to keep his attention from Nhaille and what was happening at
the gate.

“One cannot rule without compassion, and greed is plainly the only concept
you do understand. Did it never occur to you that is why your father denies you
his kingdom?”

Fingers curled against the Amber. His eyes flashed in anger. He leapt across
the space between them, stopping just short of the Sword's range.

“You think you know it all, don't you, Your Majesty? You with your talk of
compassion and loyalty. It was useless concepts like those that led Kanarek to
her doom. I had expected something just a little more original from a
legend.”

Riordan measured the distance between herself and the Amber. Too far to cross
in one leap. And there was Rau still to be contended with.

He noted the quick sweep of her eyes and smiled.

“What are you going to do, Your Majesty? Sever my throat with that crystal
blade? Or did you merely come to talk?”

She let out her breath in a rush. “You're right, Rau. I am a fool, I keep
holding out hope for you.”

“Did you really expect me to surrender?”

Keeping the Sword trained on his breast, she threw up her other hand in
frustration. “No, of course not.”

“Have you no inkling of my power?” He stood stone still, studying her as if
he truly did wish to understand her.

“On the contrary, Doan-Rau, I take your power most seriously.”

“Then surely, you must realize you've lost.”

Words sincerely spoken. As if his retreat from Kholer had never happened, as
though the Kanarekii army were not battering down his gate. That was what kept
Rau going, Riordan realized. He simply refused to acknowledge defeat.

“I do not intend to lose,” she snapped. “Too many people depend upon me.
Obligation. Another of those useless concepts.”

“One of the concepts that will be your undoing.”

“I don't think so.”

“I do.”

He strode back to the Amber. Spreading his palms flat against it, he looked
up at her in defiance. “I'd wager that if that Captain of yours were to find
himself under the sudden compulsion to plunge that Power Stone into his right
eye, you give up the fight in an instant.”

A bluff. Could be. It would be just like Rau to use the exercise to see just
how fast she'd crumble.

“Ah, ” Rau whispered. “You don't believe me.” He gazed into the Amber's milky
depths. “Behold, Your Majesty.”

Within the swirling golden depths of the Amber, Nhaille's image began to
form. In horrified awe, Riordan gazed at the tiny scene that appeared in the
Master Stone.

Shouting, Nhaille issued orders to the men around him. It wasn't going well,
she could tell that by the way his mouth drew sternly downward at the corners.
Men thundered past him. Haelian warriors followed in close pursuit. The tide of
battle was turning against Kanarek. The dead turned their attention from the
Haelians to their Kanarekii masters. In horror, she watched command slip through
Nhaille's fingers like so many grains of sand.