WINDDREAMER (24 page)

Suddenly, the light dimmed, almost going out. Conar spun around. A fine mist rose from the ground, swirling around his legs, rolling over the cavern floor in cresting waves. The walls soared upward hundreds of feet, their glistening sides damp with moisture, shining as though inlaid with millions upon millions of diamonds.

In the center of the vast cavern, the source of the vibration throbbed out a warning. Conar clearly saw the thing, his mind reeling with the implication. He took a step forward, his eyes on the vibrating source, and drew in a long, slow breath.

A giant chasm yawned into the core of the mountain, dripping away from a ragged cliff only a few feet from where he stood. Water swirled out of the center of the chasm and sprayed the sides of its rim, wetting the floor and pushing back the fog as though the vapor feared the water.

Conar had heard tales of this place, but the chasm, with its horrible secret, could wait. He had to find Liza's talisman. He turned his back on the evil thing and pounded the door again.

"Open it, Tohre!" He kicked the wood, shoved against it with his shoulder. Anger saturated his mind, driving away the pain.

"Conar..."

He spun in the direction from which the soft voice had come, but saw no one. Only shadows drifted amidst the rolling fog.

The same voice came again, from another direction. "Do you know where you are?"

"Aye, I know where I am!" he bellowed, taking a step from the door, his head swinging in each direction, trying to locate the speaker. As a boy, he had learned the lessons of the Domination well. Tohre had seen to that. Kaileel had taken great pleasure in telling him about this place.

"It is the Chasm of C-a-s-i-s," the sorcerer had said, spelling out the name, "but we never speak that god's name, Conar. That one is dedicated to the foulest of evils. So evil is He that whenever His name is spoken, calamity befalls the speaker. Not even during the time of His festival when the young girls are brought to be sacrificed to Him, do we call His name. So horrible is His vengeance, even His name can bring tragedy to those who even think it. Be careful--never utter His name. When you speak of His abode, you must call it the 'Maelstrom,' for it is the entranceway to the Abyss."

Conar shuddered, remembering that long-ago conversation. The chasm, feeding downward into the deepest part of the ocean, had become the final unresting place for the lost souls thrown into its surging waters during the festival of the Nameless One.

"Conar...Conar...Conar..."

He turned his back to the chasm, searching the rocks, the shadows. "Come out, Tohre!" he ordered to the disembodied voice. "You wanted me, you bastard? Well, come and get me!"

A low laugh.

"Where is my woman, Tohre?"

"Conar..."

"Damn you! I want my wife!"

"Is this what you're looking for?"

Conar stiffened, then turned toward the chasm.

Conar couldn't believe what he saw. Near the cavern's ceiling on a narrow ledge that jutted precariously over the chasm, stood Duncan Cree. In his hand he held something metallic, shining, dangling from his fingers, swinging back and forth, catching the glow from the eerie blue light--Liza's talisman.

"Oh, I'm not Kaileel's man." Duncan laughed, swinging the chain until he could drop the talisman into his palm. He closed his fist over it with a finality that caused Conar to grunt his frustration. "But he's been quite a help to me, though. Haven't you, Holiness?"

Conar saw Tohre striding from the shadows. his thin face split in a grin of indulgence. He was wearing the red robes of the Domination's Consecration and around the loose flesh of his neck dangled the symbol of Raphian, the Stormbringer, the Destroyer of Men's Souls. He carried a black crystal goblet, which he extended toward Conar.

"Are you ready to fulfill your obligation to me, sweet Prince?" he crooned, his smile loathsome.

Conar turned his steady gaze back to Duncan. "Where is she? What have you done with Liza?"

The eerie blue light from the churning waters lit Duncan's face, making him look brutal and supremely evil when he threw back his head and laughed. His booming voice echoed through the cavern, an eerie sound, a sound filled with mirth. "Where you can't get to her, little brother. Rest assured I'm taking good care of our little darling."

"Where is she, you bastard?" Conar yelled, his face hot with fury.

"Such rudeness does not become the Heir Apparent to the throne of Serenia." In his eyes glowed the reality of a hatred long festering. "You, of all people, beloved Prince of the Wind, should know how to deal calmly and righteously with your subjects!" He spat the last word from between clenched teeth.

Duncan reached into the darkness beyond. He drew a struggling Liza to the rim of the ledge and forced her toward the yawning chasm with its swirling vortex of water far below. A heavy band of hemp secured her wrists and ankles, and a cloth had been jammed between her lips, silencing her. She stared into the waters below with terrified eyes.

Conar's heart plummeted. "Liza!" he called, the pain of the situation in his voice. He wanted to scream when she raised her head and looked beseechingly at him. "Oh, Liza," he whispered, feeling the cut of that stare to his very soul.

Duncan held a length of rope, attached to Liza's wrists. He pulled her against him, snaking a long arm around her waist. With his free hand, he threw the end of the rope toward the ceiling, where it looped over a crossbeam anchored from one side of the chasm to the other. Liza tried to pull away, but he tightened his grip on her waist.

"She's a handful, isn't she, little brother?" Grinning, Duncan placed his hand over her left breast, caressed her through the fabric of her gown. "So soft."

"Keep your hands off her!" Conar reached down to his thigh and pulled out his dagger.

"She's a hot-blooded woman, Conar. If she's as fiery in bed--"

"
I'll slit your throat!
"

"You're in no position to make threats, dear boy." Kaileel smiled as Conar faced him. "It's quite a climb, don't you think? By the time you make it, Duncan will have finished his task."

Conar's breath came in shallow gasps of fear. "What task?"

"You'll see."

Conar reluctantly tore his gaze from Tohre and looked up. Duncan had stepped back from Liza. He jerked on the rope and laughed as he dragged Liza's arms above her head. He pulled until her toes left the security of the ledge.

"Duncan, no!" Conar shouted, rushing to the chasm's edge.

"Your days of telling me what to do are long gone!" Smiling, Duncan drew on the rope again, lifting Liza higher. Coiling the hemp around his massive forearm, anchoring it, he tugged until he suspended Liza a good three feet from the ledge.

The rope that held Liza's wrists lurched sideways. Her feet swung over the chasm as the rope slid farther across the beam. Duncan had swung her completely away from the ledge and she dangled helplessly over the Maelstrom.

Conar started to go around the side of the chasm, but Kaileel's shout made him falter.

"Stay where you are or Duncan will cut the rope!"

As though to underline Kaileel's promise, Duncan drew a dagger out of his boot and put the blade on the thick column of rope traveling to the crossbeam. Conar recognized the dagger--one Occultus had forged for him in Chrystallus.

Conar stared at Kaileel. His hands trembled on his own dagger. "Kaileel, please!" he begged in a tortured voice.

"Throw down the dagger!"

Immediately, Conar tossed away the weapon. "Tell me what you want."

"You only have to do as I bid you." He held the vessel he carried toward Conar. "Drink."

"I won't."

"Do you think to bargain with me?" Kaileel asked in a humor-filled voice.

"If I drink that potion, I will cease to exist."

"Not true." Kaileel smiled. "You will exist--in me."

A burst of disgust shot through Conar. He looked up at the terrified eyes of his woman, swinging over the gaping hole. He looked at Duncan, saw the hate blazing in his amused face, and knew Liza was as good as dead.

"You can save her. You have it within your power to do so."

"Tell him to bring her down, Tohre."

"Not until you drink the potion."

"Let her go, then I'll do whatever you want."

"No,
first,
you drink the potion. Then we will discuss your whore."

The pain in Conar's voice had deepened, making him hoarse. "Once I drink the potion, I'll have no say in what you do to her. I'll have her down from there, now, safe, out of Duncan's reach, before anything is finished between you and me."

Kaileel's smile faded. "You seem to think you have bargaining power, my Prince. Let me assure you, you do not! Drink of the cup and I give you my word the bitch will live to see her children once more." He walked toward Conar, holding the cup in front of him. "Drink or there
will
be reason to mourn at Boreas Keep."

Angrily, Conar shook his head. "I have firsthand knowledge of your word. It has as much worth as dog shit!"

Kaileel looked up at Duncan. "Cut the rope."

"
No!
" Conar stared at Liza. Terror etched her sweet face, and he could feel her desperation like a tangible force, could sense her begging him to leave, not to do as Kaileel ordered. She shook her head in denial, as if willing him to give her up rather than suffer what Tohre had planned. He tore his gaze from hers, unwilling to see the self-sacrificing love so plainly stamped on her beloved face.

"Such a tender sight, Conar," Kaileel cooed. "She's willing to die for you."

"She's going to!" Duncan called, laughing.

Conar stared into his brother's face, wishing with all his heart he had the man's throat in his hands.

"I'll kill you, Duncan," he said so low only Tohre could hear him, but Duncan seemed to understood the look on Conar's face.

"She's as good as dead," Duncan said. "If I die, it won't matter. She'll already be a thousand fathoms below the sea."

Conar's heart ceased to beat. His life passed before him on a wild spin of pain and misery, fear and shame, with only a minute particle of joy flying among the debris. His only real happiness in life was connected to the woman staring at him with such loving forgiveness in her beautiful face, a face he would not see floating beneath the waters of the Maelstrom. He would take his own life before he'd allow hers to be snatched away.

"Let her go, Kaileel," he said, his shoulders sagging. "I'll do whatever you ask. I give you my word I won't fight you."

"You'll do as you're told?"

"You want me on my knees, I'll go to my knees. You want me to crawl, I'll crawl on my belly like a whipped dog. Just let her go."

Kaileel came to him. He placed the chalice in Conar's hand and closed his stiff, blood-streaked fingers around it. "Drink now. Until you do, she remains where she is. I have given my word I will not harm her. She means nothing to me. Duncan could care less what happens to her, but he will do as I say. Once you drink, once you are a part of me, she'll not want you anyway."

Conar flinched.

"Without you as you are, she is no threat to me. I have no reason to kill her. She will be powerless once you are beyond her reach."

Conar looked at the chalice's vile contents. "I will see her free or you know what you can do with your damnable potion! Let her go!"

A muffled shriek sounded high above.

Conar's head snapped upward. Duncan had moved backward off the ledge. He stomped on the narrow rock until it splintered with a sharp crack that echoed throughout the cavern like a snap of lightning. Stepping back, he loosened the rope around his left forearm and began to lower Liza, all the while grinning at Conar.

"Oh, Alel!" Conar whispered. The horror on Liza's face as water rushed up to soak her cut him to the core of his being. "Don't do that to her!"

"She's as good as drowned if you hesitate much longer," Kaileel warned.

Looking at the chalice, Conar trembled so violently the liquid sloshed within, flowed over the top and splashed onto his hand. He glanced at Tohre, seeing the gleam of triumph lighting the skeletal face. Staring into Kaileel's insane eyes, Conar divined the chalice contained a deadly poison that would render him paralyzed in a matter of seconds, his body engulfed in agonizing pain. His mouth watered at the rancid smell, and his breath drew in the strong vapors.

"The ancients called it Maiden's Briar," Tohre said. "It is made from a sea creature's secretions. A horrible death, I am told, but one necessary to what has to be accomplished."

Even above the roar of the Maelstrom, Conar heard Liza's garbled sobs. He tried to blot out the sound, tried only to concentrate on the vile brew in his hand.

Kaileel shook his head. "It will do you no good to beg. My days of being lenient and tolerant with you are long gone. Drink."

Conar took one last look at his lady, begging her with his eyes to understand, ignoring her muffled denial through the gag covering her mouth. He scanned her beautiful face, mentally touched its contours, kissed the eyes, the cheeks, the hidden lips. He let his gaze wander down her precious form, trying to memorize the exquisiteness of her beauty.

At last, he looked away from her and at his tormentor. "You won, Kaileel," he said, heartbroken. "I tried, but you won."

"Go on," Kaileel cooed, licking his lips. "Do it." He put a gentle palm on Conar's scarred cheek. "Become One with me." He caressed the hot flesh, then withdrew his hand. "I am waiting, Beloved."

Willing his mind to blot out Liza's cries, Conar brought the chalice to his lips, seeing the triumph, the final revenge on Tohre's face. He closed his eyes, placed the goblet against his lips, and tipped it.

"Good," Kaileel whispered. "That's right. Drink it. You must drink all of it. Down to the very last drop of blood!"

As the liquid entered his mouth, as he tasted its vileness, the thick, mucous spread of it over his tongue, as he swallowed the first mouthful, he felt the evil invading his very soul. He paused, squeezing his eyelids together to the unholy taste, and was about to take another swallow when he felt a sharp sting along the back of his forearm. The chalice flew from his suddenly numb hand.

"No!" Kaileel bellowed in rage, pushing Conar aside.

Conar turned to see Raja de Lyle in the doorway, an arrow nocked in her longbow. Even as Kaileel charged her, she let fly the deadly missile, missing the advancing sorcerer by only a fraction of an inch. But it was enough to make him stop his headlong rush.

"Put down your bow or Conar's whore dies!" Kaileel turned his furious glare up to Duncan. "Sever a strand of the hemp!"

"Raja, please!" Conar shouted, rushing forward and standing side by side with Tohre. "Do as he says or he'll kill her!"

"Think you I care what becomes of her?" she snarled, her lovely lips drawn back over white teeth.

"For me, Raja. Do it for me." He held out his hands. "I beg you!"

"I don't give a damn about her! Let her die! She is unimportant. I saved your life. You are mine, now. Step aside and I will rid you of that lecherous filth standing beside you!" She jerked another arrow from her quiver and nocked it, sighted the bow, pulling the bowstring taut to her right cheek.

Unnoticed by the three people below, Duncan nicked the fiber of the rope before he flipped over the dagger, his thumb on the hilt. Bringing his arm over his shoulder, he started to throw the wicked weapon at Raja.

Suddenly, with stunned disbelief, he looked down to see the protruding shaft of Raja's arrow and fletch buried in his chest. He turned a shocked expression to his attacker.

"I am your Sentinel, my lady," he whispered. "I love you."

"You would have killed your brother, and that I would not allow," Raja said, though her lips never moved.

Blood dribbled from a corner of his mouth. "Conar deserves to die."

"You will die for thinking so!"

Duncan opened his mouth to speak, but blood poured out, bubbling down his chin and onto his wide chest. He stumbled backward, dropping the dagger. When he collapsed, the rope around his forearm snaked down to his wrist, jerking his arm upward. His fingers loosened on the hemp.

Liza's body jerked, pulling Duncan away from the wall. His weight acted as a counterweight to keep her from crashing into the chasm, but her body still lowered well past the rim.

"Liza!" Conar screamed. He pushed Kaileel out of the way and ran to the edge of the chasm.

Kaileel spun around to face Raja. A malevolent grimace stretched his thin lips. "You won't have him either!" He put up his hands, palms outward and flung a rune at her. "
Jatel nyiat!
"

The force of the cosmic blow slammed Raja against the doorframe. The arrow she had started to nock slipped out of her grip, spiraling uselessly to the floor.

"Damn you!" She drew the last arrow from her quiver. Bracing her arm, her thumb jammed into the fistmele of the bow's curve, she resighted the arrow in its rest and drew the bowstring taut.