The Five Elements (37 page)

Like catapults wound too tight and finally released, the hounds sprang forward, their long strides sending them past Aaron to close the distance between themselves and Erlek in less than a second. Though suspended in mid-air, Erlek was not so high that powerful and otherworldly canine muscles could not propel the hounds within reach of him. The first dog snapped at empty air. The second, into the meaty flesh of one leg. Erlek howled in pain. Fire culled from the burning embers of Wildemoore Manor lanced across the distance to strike the hounds. The force of the druidic attack scattered some, but not all. A second hound locked its teeth on Erlek's robe, then another bit down on the man's ankle. Erlek's mouth opened in a silent scream as the combined weight of the three hounds started pulling him down. The others were not content to wait for him to touch ground. A pair leaped at the savant, barreling into him so that both man and dogs fell into a pile upon the earth. One thin arm of Erlek's reached heavenward, then the sight was blotted from Aaron's vision by the remainder of the hounds piling on. They gnashed and tore, ignoring Erlek's screams and calls for mercy. Then, in response to a silent command, the dogs left off and withdrew. Krosus stepped past Aaron, his sword lifted. For one moment Aaron thought to stop him, then it was too late. Erlek's struggles ceased.

Aaron fell to his knees, retching. He coughed and choked, remaining on all fours until a moan, come from Erlek, sounded. Aaron lifted his head to see Krosus's sword raised, ready to deliver another killing blow. This time Aaron found his voice. "Stop!" He spit vomit from his mouth and tried to stand, managing to gain his knees only. "Stop! Leave him alone!"

Krosus's stare swiveled round to pierce Aaron's soul. Aaron could not stand such a look and he fell back, unable to speak. But the houndmaster obeyed, sheathing his sword as he withdrew.

Aaron stood on wobbly legs. Stumbling, he moved to stand over Erlek.

The man was a shamble of bloody, torn robes and mangled skin. Crimson ringed a mouth full of broken, false teeth, and his one, good eye stared out wildly. The other side of his face was a meaty smudge. A moan escaped from between swollen, torn lips. The sound rose, then fell, until it was not a moan at all, but a laugh bubbling forth.

"You've killed me, boy. Five hundred years could not stop me, but you… . You would have the Elements for yourself. I see it in your eyes."

"The Elements?" Aaron shook his head. "I don't want them. I never wanted them." Aaron looked for the Element of Water. It took a moment, but there it was: the urn was broken, shattered, the liquid inside emptied out onto the earth. Aaron told Erlek as much.

Erlek coughed out a splash of blood. "It is… returned to the earth then." The man's one eye closed. His breath, visible as small bubbles of blood, lessened. Aaron thought that, finally, he might die. But then his eyelid flashed open, revealing a steel gray spark. "I saw it in
her
eyes, too. From the moment… I first saw her. She will finish… what I have started." He swallowed. "When… not return, she will know… I am dead. Returned to… the earth. She will sense… . She will finish it…" Erlek smiled a wicked grin with the half of his mouth that still worked. "…for all of you."

Aaron narrowed his brow, but not at the threat in Erlek's words. He narrowed his brow in puzzlement. "Who is 'she'?" Ansanom had referred to Erlek's apprentice as 'Erlek's boy'. He'd said nothing about a girl.

"A waif, a hellion. A prisoner, until Fate showed her to me. She is… filled with darkness. Surrounded by it. From the hair on her head… to the depths of her soul. She will do no good."

"Who? What is her name?"

The light was dying in Erlek's one remaining eye. He said only, "Return… to your home. Perhaps you will recognize her. Return… to Norwynne." The last word faded to a whisper, then silence. He was gone.

Aaron turned away to find Ensel Rhe and Serena regarding him in silence. The dogs were quiet now, sitting on their haunches or lying down, waiting for whatever task Aaron set them on next. Except there were no more tasks. Aaron almost ordered them away as Ensel Rhe had suggested earlier. Words of Erlek's distracted him as he turned his look upon the burning house, as if the flames might give him answers.
Return to Norwynne.
She doesn't know what she is about to unleash. Aaron shook his head. Always more questions. Aaron doubted he'd ever find all the answers.

A hand on his shoulder caused him to turn and face Ensel Rhe and Serena. It was Serena who'd reached out to him.

"We have to go back to Norwynne," Aaron said. "Something bad is going to happen there."

"But Erlek is dead," Ensel Rhe said. Blood and bruises crisscrossed the eslar's face, his clothes were torn and dirty, and his sword, still unsheathed, was held in a grasp so loose it appeared it would slip from his hand at any moment.

Serena spoke before Aaron could answer. "It might not matter. Erlek had an apprentice. Another descendant of Tarn Galangaul. Norwynne, like this place, was built over a Nexus, though the one over your home is much more powerful. If Erlek was coming here for the Element of Water, then he already had the other three." Though she did not say it, she was with them now. There was nothing left for her here.

"The urn," Ensel Rhe said, gesturing at the broken crockery.

"Erlek said it had returned to the earth," Aaron said.

Serena shook her head. "I don't know what that means. But I do know that even with only three of the Elements, Erlek's apprentice might still try to carry out his plan."

"Which is?" Ensel Rhe asked.

"Mastery over the Elements."

"No," Aaron said. "I mean, yes, but Erlek has been after something more from the start. I think what he's been after all along is the Fifth Element."

No one contested it, for they all knew it was true, though not a one of them knew a thing about it.

"It's very possible Erlek's apprentice is already on his way to Norwynne," Ensel Rhe said. "He might even already be there. It took us many days to get here. It will take us many to return. There is the flying machine Erlek came in on, but it is only big enough for one." He shook his head. "I don't see how we are to do anything about this."

It was a dilemma, true. A problem with no easy answer. Aaron looked past the both of them, at the only structure of Wildemoore Manor still standing: the wagonhouse. Then he looked at the pack.

"I have an idea."

T
HE WALK FROM VALACIA TO the
Griffin
sapped the anger from Shanna, leaving her tired—exhausted, really—and plagued by a numbness that nibbled away at her spirit. Her hands had started trembling halfway to the airship. Clenching them into fists halted such nonsense for a time, but only until the sensation spread to her arms. She clasped her arms across her chest, but such measures also proved temporary as she then had to fight to keep her entire body from trembling. Shanna wasn't sure how she made it up the rope and onto the airship's deck. She thought perhaps one of the crewmen—Tom perhaps—had helped her up the last bit. But, thinking back, her memory was spotted with so many holes the only thing she remembered clearly at all was what had happened in the ancient city of the Empyreans. Engus Rul was dead. While the dwarf had never truly been on her side, he'd also never really been against her. Of all the dwarves, he'd been the only one. That was why, as she gained her balance on the ever-shifting deck, she was not surprised at the reception waiting for her.

The remaining dwarves stood on deck with naked steel in their hands. Opposing them, and keeping them from grabbing Erlek outright, were the sitheri, their own weapons brandished. Around them all, standing at a safe distance, a handful of mates wearing high altitude gear fingered the hafts of pikes better suited to repelling boarders than quelling a riot. Still others kept hands close to clubs and knives. A riot was just what Shanna expected to break out at any moment when, instead, one of the dwarves stepped forward to ask what had become of Engus Rul. Erlek opened his mouth to respond, but a quick outburst from the dwarf silenced him.

"Shut yer mouth, bloodsucker!" the dwarf said. "I'll hear it from the girl."

As all eyes turned to her, it was not the sudden attention which kept Shanna's voice quiet but a sudden rash of shame at her inability to keep Engus Rul alive. She'd been handed more than one opportunity to end Erlek's life, yet she'd not taken advantage of a single one of them. She could have prevented Engus Rul's death. Instead, she'd contributed to it. In the end, her prolonged silence was answer enough for the dwarves.

Chaos ensued as dwarf traded blows with sitheri. Only interference from the pike-wielding airmen kept the scuffle from breaking out into a full-scale war as they leveled the hafts of their weapons between the conflicting parties. From there, the confrontation ended as quickly as it had begun, but only after bitter pledges of retribution from the lips of the dwarves. Their threats were not only for Erlek. Threatening glances were leveled at Shanna too. A wave or two of an axe was meant to signify her head coming off. Still, she longed to tell them that she, too, mourned Engus's passing, that he'd been a sort of friend, and that she'd tried to stop Erlek from killing him. She knew the futility of speaking such words though to ones who hated her as much as they hated Erlek, so she said nothing. It was all she could do to keep her trembling from showing, anyway.

Shanna left the dying commotion of the main deck behind, floating down into the comforting half-light of the
Griffin's
hull. With relief, she tore off her mask and heavy coat. Erlek trailed her all the way to her room. Sighing, Shanna turned to see what he wanted rather than lead him into the small confines beyond her door.

"I go to meet a powerful sorcerer to barter for the Element of Water," Erlek said.

"Barter like you did for the Element of Air?"

A smile just turned the edges of Erlek's lips. "You will remain behind. We cannot risk the Elements we already have falling into the hands of this man."

Shanna's hand went to the satchel still hanging from one shoulder where the three Elements were stowed. A spark of defiance still sheltered within, she half-hoped Erlek asked for her to surrender them so she could refuse him, but he did not. He intended to leave immediately, alone upon one of the gyros. He ordered her to stay in her room until his return.

"The crew and my sitheri will see to it that you are kept safe from the dwarves," Erlek said. "The captain of the
Griffin
owes me much more than they ever will. Perhaps it is best if Mirna alone is allowed access."

Shanna, who was of a mind to agree after their reception, offered no resistance.

She stayed in her room the remainder of that day and most of the next. The
Griffin
descended to a more hospitable elevation, but remained mostly stationary as they waited for Erlek's return. She spent most of her time lying in her cot, sleeping and too often dreaming of cloud cities and the pillars of swirling smoke that guarded them. Each time, she was awoken when the column gripped her in its smoky essence, twirling her around before sucking her into oblivion. The first time, she woke screaming, crying, and near convulsing until gentle, firm hands gripped hers, drew her near, and stayed with her until the episode had passed. Mirna came to her often, sometimes to bring food, sometimes just to talk. She mentioned Tom, telling Shanna the boy had asked after her more than once. Shanna would have liked to have talked to Tom, but not having the energy to receive him she let Mirna's comments about him go unanswered.

She left the Elements in their satchel, never once taking them out, though she kept them close. She had tried hanging them from a hook on the wall opposite to where she slept, but somehow they always ended up next to her. She fell asleep embracing the satchel. Never once did she feel any stirring from them. Before, her mere proximity had elicited a response, almost as if waves of interference passed between them. Now, there was none. They were in tune with one another, the Elements' energy rising and falling with each breath she took and every beat of her heart. Still, it created a sensation deep within her, a feeling that, finally, she belonged.

Toward the end of the next day, after Shanna had spent all of the afternoon alone, wrapped in her melancholy, Mirna came to her. Her soft knock was so familiar she hadn't even the need to ask who it was or look to see who came through the door unbidden. Mirna, who for all her quietness and subservience, had proven the most steady thing of all since this madness had begun. Mirna drifted to Shanna, who lay upon her cot. Gently, the woman brushed at Shanna's long, dark hair as she hummed a soft tune. The sound of it lulled Shanna into the beginnings of sleep. Only Mirna's voice, the words spoken softly, as if words in her melody, kept her from fading altogether.

"It is done now," Mirna said.

Shanna, whose mind was drifting amongst the clouds, almost did not register the words. "What is done?" she asked, her voice a whisper.

Mirna, still standing, leaned closer as she made to wrap an arm about Shanna's shoulders. The cot swayed from the motion. While the Elements were safe at Shanna's other side, the motion was enough to shift the satchel. Shanna half-turned, to settle the bag before it fell. By the time she saw the knife it was already buried to the hilt in her belly.

Her gut was filled with liquid fire. Shanna opened her mouth to give voice to the explosion of pain, but the only thing to pass across her lips was a silent scream that Mirna made certain stayed silent as the woman's hand closed over her mouth. A burning sensation hotter than the molten rivers of Cauldron Mountain lanced through every part of her, dulling her senses and immobilizing her so that even breathing took more effort than she was able. She swayed and fell to the floor. The jolt sent such a blast of pain exploding into her head that she almost blacked out. Then Mirna was there, running one hand across Shanna's forehead with the gentleness of a mother while her other grasped the hilt of the knife still jutting from Shanna's stomach. With a quick exertion, Mirna ripped the blade free. Shanna's breath left her and she did wail then, screaming, but so faintly no one heard. Mirna laid the bloodied knife across Shanna's throat, then she lowered herself bodily on top of her to whisper into her ear and to keep her from moving.