Authors: C.S. Friedman

Wings of Wrath (62 page)

BOOK: Wings of Wrath

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. . . and memory.

His strength will never be measured,
Ramirus had told her,
but he will test the strength of others. He will attend upon death without seeing it, change the fate of the world without knowing it, and inspire sacrifice without understanding it.

Kostas had understood the power of such a pregnancy. That was why he had baited Danton into raping her, and had used his own sorcery to guarantee conception. As long as the High King's son was wedded to her flesh she could not manifest her full potential as
lyra
. Oh, the vile creature couldn't possibly have known how important Gwynofar's unique heritage would turn out to be, but on the eve of the Souleaters' return, any
lyr
who might be neutralized was one less enemy to worry about later. The fact that her poor innocent child now held the fate of the world hostage was something none of them could have foreseen.

Don't ask this of me,
she begged silently. But the offer had already been made, and could not be recalled.

Pain lanced through her abdomen as the trap door slammed open. With a cry she doubled over in pain, as her body struggled to protect the child it had nurtured for so long. But the power of the throneâor the godsâwas stronger. A rough hand grabbed her arm as her womb convulsedâ

And then something bright and terrible exploded inside her. Power, raw and unfettered, surged through her with such unexpected force that it drove the air from her lungs. The hand that had grabbed hold of her arm fell away, and from somewhere in the distance she heard a man's cry of pain. But she could not focus on anything outside her own flesh now. A firestorm had taken root in her soul and molten power poured through her veins, agony and ecstasy combined into one terrible conflagration.

Just when she thought that her body could not contain it any longer, the power burst out of her, flooding the world beyond with its fire. It surged through the souls of the men surrounding her, then into the guards who waited below, and into all the inhabitants of the Citadel . . . she could feel it as it swallowed each new soul, spitting out those very few who had no northern blood in their veins, claiming all the others. Into the Alkali Protectorate it surged, where thousands cried out in fear and pain as the power suddenly claimed them at their tables, at their work, in their beds. Into the other Protectorates it rushed, and beyond them. Into the High Kingdom and past it, to all the continents beyond, claiming every man, woman, and child whose heritage bound them to the
lyr
. Gwynofar could sense the moment when the power first touched Salvator, and she could taste his terror. She could feel it envelop her other children in rapid succession, and then each of her grandchildren in his turn, down to the tiniest newborn babe in his cradle. Each one taken by surprise as the mystical fire poured into them, engulfed too swiftly to protest or resist it.

And then the power paused, and for a moment it seemed to Gwynofar that she sat at the heart of a vast burning web that covered the whole of the earth, whose fiery strands bound each new
lyr
into a vast and complex pattern. She could sense the anchor cords that connected her soul to each of the seven founding bloodlines, perfectly balanced in strength and tenor. Had it been unbalanced, she realized, the forces involved would have torn the whole construct to pieces, and her along with it.

But how perfect a construct it was! Each new bit of soulfire that the throne's power absorbed fed its strength into the greater whole, be it borrowed from the spirit of a true
lyr,
born and bred for power, or from some long-forgotten descendant with only the faintest echo of northern blood in his veins. All of them were bound together now in a vast metaphysical conflagration, as if their souls had joined hands together for strength and support.

And then the images came. Rushing into Gwynofar's head with a force that threw her back against the throne, traveling down the lines of inheritance to every other soul in the burning web, drowning them all in a flood of memory so powerful that every other thought was extinguished, leaving onlyâ

âWingshadows passing low over the farmlands, fertile fields made barren by abandonment. A young boy sleeps by his plow, perhaps forever; his body twitches as the demon's shadow passes over him. In the distance his family gathersâwhat is left of his familyâfor a meal of dried tubers and rotten berries, the best they could gather from fields long since gone wild. Rats in the corner have eaten their way through the burlap bag that guards their stores, but no one notices. No one has the energy to notice. The war with the rats cannot be won because they are stronger than men now; the winged demons have reordered nature to suit their hungerâ

âWinter's cordwood running out and all there is left to burn for heat is furniture, artwork, books. Why mourn their loss? There is no need for such things anymore. An ax lies unused by the door, for none have the strengthâor perhaps strength of willâto wield it. The child in the cradle shivers in his sleep, but will not awaken. The strength has been sucked out of its soul, and all that is left now in an empty shell, too weak to dream of its mother's lost milkâ

âGolden cities stripped of their burnish by time and neglect, overgrown with weeds. Proud stone temples robbed of their marble for building supplies, for projects abandoned in their turn. Ebony idols broken apart for fuel. Priceless tapestries torn to pieces when all other clothing is gone, or else perhaps laid out whole upon the earth to serve as bedding, until time and damp rot them awayâ

âStaggering across the dying landscape, a handful of survivors struggle to find others of their kind before it is too late. A lone demon circles high overhead, picking at their souls like a carrion bird tearing at rotting meat, but it cannot devour these spirits as quickly or as easily as it does the souls of other men. A gift of the gods? Or merely a quirk of nature? One of the survivors falls and does not get up, but the others are stronger. More determined. They expend enough energy to build him a cairnâitself an act of defianceâand then persist in their journey. Somewhere there must be others like them, resistant to the power of the demons, perhaps even a few who are wholly immuneâ

âWeaker ones left behind in the towns they pass through, stronger ones invited to join them. North they travel, seeking the comfort of cold skies and snowbound fields, in the sunless lands that the demons despise. Men and women of different colors, different shapes, different languages. Sometimes a handful from one town, sometimes only a single traveler, desolate among strangers. Children among them as well, running to keep up. Gaunt faces, haunted eyes. Some of the young ones have left their parents far behind, while others drag them along behind them like oversized dolls, not understanding that the spirit within them has long since expiredâ

âWitches screaming out their power to the skies, sculpting vast illusions with their final breath. Monstrous images with cobalt scales and stained-glass wings, ten times larger than the invaders, driving them fearfully northward. Clouds of witchery blotting out the sun in all directions but one, herding the demons northward. Always northward. No spell can last long when crafted on such a scale, but as each witch falls another rises to take his place, for all know the cost of failureâ

âMarking the anchor points for what will be man's final defense, a curse so fearsome that no living creature can cross it. But who will protect the natives of the ice fields that live beyond this point once that final spell is cast? Alkali answers: they cannot be saved. Let us mourn their sacrificeâ

âBlood on the ice, broken wings in the snow, the scent of demons: these things mark the way for the hunters who will follow. For the enemy is wounded now, and the cold skies offer them neither comfort nor healingâ

âWitches mutter prayers as they craft the cylindrical walls of their own tombs, laying brick upon brick themselves, scribing from the inside of their mausoleums the song of their final sacrifice. Thus do we die, so that the world will not have to. Remember our courage. Remember our sacrifice. Treasure the gift of freedom which we bequeath to all the generations that follow us, and do not let it flounder, lest our suffering be in vainâ

As quickly as they had come, the images vanished. For a brief moment it seemed that Gwynofar could sense all the other
lyr
souls she was connected to, and she knew that the strongest ones had shared her visions in their entirety, while all the others had felt only a brief and terrifying rush of power that left in its wake fragmentary images, as if from some half-remembered nightmare. For a moment Gwynofar could sense them allâtheir confusion, their fearâand the image of a burning web that was burned into her brain. And then all that vanished. The firestorm was over.

Silence.

Shivering in pain, she forced herself to open her eyes and look about the chamber. Near her feet lay a body that might once have been human, but its head was a mound of shapeless flesh, as if it had exploded from the inside. Beyond that stood two of Anukyat's Guardians, clearly rendered speechless by what they had just experienced. Drawing in a deep breath, she gathered her strength and rose to her feet, calling upon all her years of professional majesty to look stronger than she felt. In fact her legs were shaking so badly they could hardly support her; she wished she had a woman's gown on to hide their trembling.

She should be talking to these men. Establishing the proper context for their visions. Telling them that it did not matter whether a gift of the gods was in their blood or simply a quirk of nature. The end result was the same. The northern bloodlines were resistant to the Souleaters' power. They must work together to combat the coming invasion.

But her child was dead within her and she could not find her voice.

On shaking legs, she stumbled to the trap door. Neither man moved to stop her. One even backed up a bit, getting out of her way. Their eyes were wide.
They think that I did this,
she realized.
That it was my power that reached out to them and showed them the truth
.

The hand of one guard opened, and his sword clattered noisily to the floor. He hesitated for a moment, then lowered himself to one knee before her. The other followed suit, laying his own sword before her in offering.

She knew that some kind of acknowledgment was called for, but she was too numb with sorrow to offer it. She could focus on only one thing right now.
Rhys.
Shaking, she backed down the ladder to the observation chamber.
Must find Rhys.
Bodies littered the floor, puddles of blood slick beneath her feet as she made her way to the head of the great staircase. An Alkali guard was still standing, and he stepped quickly out of her way. What a ghoulish sight she must be right now! Her body covered with dust and her face streaked with tears, her clothing soaked with blood from her various offerings . . . little wonder he moved out of her way so rapidly.

Three turns down the staircase. Four. She passed the place where she had parted with her half brother to sneak out through a narrow window, half a lifetime ago. Five turns. Six. Stepping over bodies as she searched for her brother among the living and the dead. The warriors who were standing were so dazed that they hardly noticed her, still stunned by the power of the nightmare visions she had channeled. Dare she hope that Rhys might be alive as well? With increasing urgency she stumbled over fallen bodies and forgotten weapons, seeking the one person who mattered most.

And she found him. Lying diagonally across the stairs, his head resting against the base of the inner wall. His eyes were shut almost peacefully, as though he had only just fallen asleep. She knelt down beside him with a sharp sob and stroked his cheek, calling his name. “Rhys! Rhys!” But his chest was not moving and his eyes did not open. As his head lolled to one side in response to his touch she could see the deep gash in the side of his neck and the pool of blood beneath it. Still warm. By the gods, he was still warm . . . !

The final dam let loose then, and she wept. Lowering her head to his unbreathing chest, allowing all the sorrow and fear that had been building up inside her to pour out at last, unfettered. There was no reason left to hold it back. Rhys was gone. Her child was gone. Nothing was left that mattered.

And when the local guards finally came to bind up the living and gather up the dead she would not let them take Rhys away, but she curled up against his side, shivering uncontrollably. Until finally, mercifully, exhaustion claimed her and all the world slipped away into darkness.