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  Reaching the bar, Ty signalled to the closest of three barmen, and when he approached said, ‘I’m looking for Anton.’

  With a jerk of his head, the barman indicated a door off to the left. Pushing through complaining customers, Ty and Hal reached the door, masked by an ancient curtain. Pushing it aside, they found themselves looking down a dimly lit hall at the far end of which stood the largest man either of them had ever seen.

  They were forced to look up to address him. As both Ty and Hal were over six feet in height, they judged this human mountain to be approaching seven feet tall. From the size of his shoulders and arms, he probably weighed close to three hundred pounds. His skin was coffee-coloured, so much of his ancestry would be Keshian, but his eyes were a vivid blue. His shaved head reflected the light from the one open lamp that hung halfway down the hall.

  ‘What?’ he asked in a voice so deep it almost rumbled.

  ‘We seek Anton,’ said Hal.

  ‘Who sent you?’ asked the human barricade.

  Ty paused for a moment, then said, ‘Jim Dasher.’

  The man nodded once, turned his back and opened the door. He leaned in and said, ‘Someone looking for you. From Jim Dasher.’

  Somehow the monstrous guard stepped aside enough to allow Ty and Hal to enter the room. Inside they found a tiny desk behind which sat a slender man with the oddest hair Hal had ever seen. He was balding, but had a fringe of dark hair which he had allowed to grow, and which he swept up and forward to cover his pate. He used some manner of pomade or oil to keep it in place, so it looked as if he was wearing a strange, shiny helm. His clothing was ostentatious and he wore earrings and several necklaces. Only his thumbs lacked rings.

  ‘Jim Dasher?’ he said, rising. He moved around the desk, but did not offer his hand or bow. He just appraised the two young men silently.

  Hal started to speak, but Anton cut him off with an upraised hand. ‘I do not need to know many things, and do not want to know almost as many. I’m in Jim Dasher’s debt, so tell me what you need and I’ll do what I can to help.’

  ‘We need to reach Prince Edward,’ said Hal.

  Anton winced. ‘That tells me too much, but you had no choice. That way could prove dangerous.’ He fell silent for a moment, tapping his cheek. ‘I can get you safely to Salador. From there you must find your own way.’

  ‘Salador would be a good start,’ said Hal.

  Anton went to his desk and removed a parchment, ink and quill, and began to write. ‘Our lord, the Duke of Bas-Tyra, has remained neutral in the contestation for the Crown. He’s a wise man, our duke, who will wait until he’s certain which way the wind is blowing, at which point he will declare for the winner.’

  ‘A practical man,’ observed Ty.

  Anton shot him a dark look. ‘Now,’ he said, holding out the parchment. ‘Take this to the servants’ entrance to the palace. Ask for a man named Jaston, no one else. Someone at the gate may argue they’ll take the message, but do not permit it. Just keep insisting and eventually they’ll send for him.

  ‘You do not need to know who Jaston is, so do not ask. You do not need to know why he will do me this favour, so do not ask. More importantly, he doesn’t need to know anything more about you than I’ve written down here, so do not answer any of his questions, no matter how affable the conversation may be. Do you understand?’

  Both Hal and Ty nodded.

  ‘Do what he says, however, and he will get you to Salador.’

  Hal took the parchment and turned without remark, Ty a step behind.

  The massive guard stepped aside as much as he was able, allowing the two travellers to squeeze through the door.

  Within half an hour, Ty and Hal were at the servants’ gate to the palace arguing with a guard about summoning Jaston. Eventually, as predicted by Anton, Jaston was sent for and appeared.

  By his dress, he was a man of some rank within the ducal household. He read Anton’s letter and then looked at Hal and Ty. ‘Come,’ he said brusquely, and led them through the gates.

  They walked around the massive castle’s side yard, past some flowering gardens, and to the rear marshalling yard. There a company of horsemen was gathering. ‘Captain Reddic!’ Jaston shouted.

  An officer of horse, dressed in the black tabard of Bas-Tyra, with a golden eagle spreading wings embroidered over his heart, turned and replied, ‘Sir?’

  Jaston indicated Hal and Ty. ‘These two gentlemen are to accompany you to Salador.’

  ‘Sir?’ said the captain again, this time his tone curious.

  ‘They are men of rank, but their identities will remain unknown to you. Should there be cause to speak to them, keep it brief and to the point. Ask no questions. Should anyone question you, they are mercenary swords attached to your patrol – nothing more, nothing less.’

  The man named Jaston turned and walked away without waiting for an answer. The captain didn’t look pleased with his instructions, but after a moment turned to Hal and Ty. ‘Ask the lackeys inside to fetch out two sturdy mounts. We’ve a very long ride ahead and we’ll be weeks on the trail. We leave in a half-hour.’

  They walked towards the stables and when they couldn’t be overheard, Ty said, ‘I never understood just how far Jim Dasher’s reach went.’

  ‘I had no idea,’ said Hal.

  In less than half an hour, a patrol of thirty cavalry with two mercenaries tagging along left the palace of Bas-Tyra and wended its way through the second busiest city in the Kingdom, moving slowly towards the western gate and the road to Salador.

  • CHAPTER SEVEN •

  Journey II

  MIRANDA SCREAMED.

  The frustration of finding herself in what appeared to be an endless maze of tunnels somewhere underground had brought her to the brink of unleashing destructive blasts in all directions. Despite her enraged state, she realized the best she could hope for would be to vent some rage, and the worst that could happen would be to bring the tunnel crashing down on her. Not that she feared for her safety, but digging herself out from under tons of earth would be even more tedious than wandering lost. At least she wasn’t wandering blind, as she was able to use her magical abilities to light a path.

  Her magic worked here, though as in the last place she had tried a spell, it was amplified. She was as adept at willing herself to new locations as anyone she had met, far better at it than Pug, and perhaps still better than Magnus, but even she had to have a rough idea of where she was headed. And despite her prodigious ability, even she didn’t wish to risk discovering she had transported herself into solid rock, or off the face of the planet.

  The tunnels were not commodious, but large enough that she didn’t have to stoop or squeeze through narrow openings, but they were seemingly endless. She had come tumbling out of the vortex to land hard on her face, and since then her mood hadn’t got any better. She had lost track of how long she had been walking, but she knew it was at least the better part of a day.

  She had tried a technique used in mazes: to keep turning in one direction, then turn back when hitting a dead end, go to the last intersection, turn in the other direction, then again keep turning in the original direction. It was tedious and likely to be anything but swift, but lore had it foolproof for eventually finding a way out.

  At last she heard a sound. It was faint, as if echoing down corridors from a great distance away, but she heard it. A light, trilling sound, which she almost recognized. It stopped. She paused, and a moment later she heard it again. She hurried first one way, then the other, moving from one end of her tunnel until she was certain where the sound was louder, and almost ran to the first intersection she had found. At a crossroads she turned her head this way and that, until she was certain again which way the sound was loudest.

  After fifteen minutes of tracing the source of the sound, she realized that what she was hearing was music – a pipe of some sort, playing a simple refrain over and over.

  After another ten minutes, she was certain where
the music was coming from. She closed her eyes and used her magical senses to locate the source. Trusting there wasn’t some evil joke by Kalkin, God of Tricksters, at play, she willed herself to the source.

  She found herself in a cavern where dozens of tunnels met, and above was a series of stone ramps leading to other tunnels. A pit in the centre of the clearing showed more tunnels below. A single large rock sat at the edge of the pit, upon which sat a young man, barely more than a boy, playing a simple wooden pipe.

  He was dressed in leggings vertically striped in yellow and green and a matching green tunic with yellow piping. He wore slippers of green with silver bells at the toe, and a flop cap of green with a dyed yellow feather held by a silver buckle.

  ‘A jester,’ said Miranda, wondering if some mad god had conspired to drive her to lunacy.

  The boy stopped playing. ‘I’m Piper,’ he corrected her. ‘And you are a demon called Child, or Miranda. Which do you prefer?’

  After a moment’s hesitation, she said, ‘Miranda.’

  ‘Predictable,’ answered the youth.

  ‘Who are you?’

  ‘I don’t know,’ said Piper. ‘Until a few moments ago, I didn’t exist, or if I did, I lack memories of that existence.’ He leaped nimbly from the rock, rose en pointe and flexed his knees slightly. ‘Everything feels new. No creaks, aches.’ A quizzical expression crossed the youth’s face. ‘Lacking experience, I wonder if I would know what creaks and aches are. And then, how do I even know to speak of them?’ A bright expression was followed by, ‘Then again still, how do I even know to speak?’

  Miranda was not amused. ‘Where is this place?’

  ‘We are in the last bastion of a dead race, where they futilely attempted to resist chaos. They were obliterated so many years ago that no sign of their existence remains save these ramps and tunnels.’

  ‘How do you know me?’

  Again, a bright expression was followed by one of wonder. The boy had a perfectly round face save for a slightly pointed chin. He had vivid green eyes and wisps of reddish-blonde hair stuck out under the hat. ‘I don’t know. I just know.’

  ‘What do you know?’

  The brow furrowed for a moment. ‘I am your guide.’

  Lacking patience even in the best of circumstances, Miranda barked, ‘Then guide me!’

  ‘Very well,’ said Piper. ‘We need to go up there.’ He pointed to the dark top of the cavern.

  ‘Give me a moment,’ said Miranda, focusing her concentration on that gloomy destination. She cast a spell of distant vision and her view passed through several levels of lightless tunnels and caverns, only her magic senses giving her a vision in the darkness, until she saw a large hole beneath an open sky hundreds of feet above them. Darkness above indicated a massive cavern above the one in which they found themselves. ‘Very well,’ she said. ‘Do you need my aid?’

  Laughing, Piper said, ‘Would I be sitting alone in this godsforsaken pit if I didn’t?’

  Miranda found the youth’s penchant towards good humour irritating, and realized that was felt from both her demon half and her human half. With a single step she grabbed Piper around the waist and willed them to the indicated destination.

  She found herself on the lip of a vast crater, and letting go of Piper, she used her demon’s vision to pierce the darkness. The landscape was desolate, without a hint of any living thing. Glancing skyward almost gave her vertigo, for there was no cavern above.

  The sky was empty.

  Where stars should have abounded, only a vast expanse of emptiness sprawled overhead. Miranda felt something akin to panic rising as she pushed her senses outward. Farther and farther she reached and finally she retreated back to where she stood, almost overcome by the experience. There were no stars. There were no comets. No worlds, or any other object of size as far as she could perceive. Instead a fine dust with occasional rocks ranging from the size of a man’s thumb to this slab of granite she stood upon.

  ‘Where is this place?’

  Piper said, ‘You believe it to be the Fourth Circle. A battle of consequence was fought here in ages past.’ He waved a hand lazily at the sky. ‘This is the consequence.’

  ‘Nothing is left?’

  Piper smiled and in the magical corona surrounding Miranda, she couldn’t tell if he was being ironic or sad when he said, ‘There’s a great deal left, but it’s just been ground down to a fine powder in most places.’

  ‘Why am I here?’ she turned to ask, but Piper was gone. In his place stood a young woman with ebony skin, eyes of piercing black, hair tightly gathered in rows that flowed down her neck to her shoulders. She wore a similar costume, but of red and beige rather than green and yellow. ‘Where’s Piper?’ asked Miranda.

  ‘I am Piper,’ said the young woman in a voice as melodic as one could imagine. She picked up the exact same pipe Miranda had seen before and blew the same annoying melody.

  In the span of two lifetimes, one as a human and the other as a demon, the merged being of Child and Miranda had seen many things, shape-changing and conjured illusions being among them, but there was something different about this creature. ‘You change your body at will?’

  ‘Yes, don’t you?’

  ‘Not lately,’ said Miranda, deciding to ignore the body shift. She remembered something Pug had said about one of Kalkin’s visions. Suddenly she realized she didn’t know if it was something he had said to her on Sorcerer’s Island as Miranda, or something since Child had come to this world with Miranda’s memories. ‘I’m losing one of my selves, aren’t I?’

  Piper shrugged. ‘I don’t know about such things. I only know what I know.’

  Miranda was intrigued by that statement. ‘Isn’t that true of everyone?’

  Piper smiled, her teeth brilliant against her dark skin. ‘Some people know things they don’t know they know. But I only know what I need to know. I was formed for a task, nothing more.’

  ‘Formed?’

  ‘I was of the Bliss, at one with the Source, and now I am here with you to provide what you need.’

  Miranda saw something behind Piper’s shoulder and said, ‘What is that?’

  Piper turned and saw a speck of light. ‘An energy adjustment.’

  Suddenly the pinpoint of light blossomed into a cascade of sparkling lights that rapidly blinked out of existence. ‘Despite seeming empty from your perspective, there’s a lot going on here,’ observed Piper. ‘The Fourth Circle is contracting. In … time is a difficult concept … some years, many years, few …? In some amount of time the Fourth Circle will be gone.’

  ‘One of the Circles will be gone?’ Miranda thought of the ever-expanding void in the centre of the Fifth Circle and asked, ‘Will the Fifth Circle vanish?’

  ‘I do not know,’ answered Piper.

  ‘What am I doing here?’ asked Miranda.

  ‘That I know,’ said Piper. She pointed behind Miranda. ‘Look!’

  Miranda turned and where a void had been moments before, a panorama of a massive arc of heaven stood revealed, as if some incredibly large curtain had been drawn aside. A vista of stars was visible and for a brief moment Miranda had a touch of vertigo as the sun rose above it and moved at noticeable speed.

  ‘This was once a place like those to which you’ve travelled, realms of countless worlds, stars, comets, planets teeming with life,’ said Piper, and hearing a new voice, Miranda turned to discover Piper had changed bodies again. A tall, handsome man of middle years, with a neatly trimmed beard just lightly shot through with grey stood wearing a similar outfit as the last two incarnations had, but this one was in a sable black that looked like velvet, trimmed with gold lamé. ‘Will you stop that?’ said Miranda.

  ‘Why?’ answered Piper in a deep, melodious voice. ‘Bodies are fun.’

  ‘You never had one before?’

  ‘I may have, but I don’t remember. We who are spun out of the Bliss know only what we need to know; whatever pasts we may have experienced are part of the Unity
with the One.’ He shrugged and grinned. ‘Makes everything new.’

  ‘Wonderful,’ muttered Miranda. ‘The gods send out curious toddlers to save the universe.’

  ‘Watch and learn,’ said Piper.

  A massive storm of energies erupted across the panorama before Miranda, and Piper said, ‘The Sundering.’

  ‘What is it?’

  ‘When the heavens and hells split. Behold the demon host.’

  A swarm of creatures flew out of the rip in space and Miranda’s eyes widened. Instead of the seemingly endless variety of shapes of horror Child had known since her birth, this was an army of incredible beings, roughly human in form and beautiful in a way she could barely comprehend. There was not the slightest resemblance between what she knew from her short tenure in the Fifth Circle and what she now observed.

  Soon another figure emerged, a being so brilliant she could barely look at it. ‘Who is that?’ she asked.

  ‘Hell’s first king,’ answered Piper and she saw he had reverted to the form she had first seen, the youth in the green-and-yellow garb.

  ‘He … is beautiful.’ Both Child and Miranda found him an object of stunning form and elegant grace. ‘What is his name?’

  ‘Name?’ Piper blew a shrill note. ‘That could be his name. “Name!” He has a different name for every race of being that encounters him. Some worship him as a god, and others fear him as the ultimate font of evil. He is, or was, or will be a force of nature. Does calling air that stirs “wind” make it different to when it goes unnamed?’ Piper pointed with his flute. ‘The Shining One, Light Bringer, Fallen Star, First of the Chosen, Accuser, Defiance, so many names in so many languages.’ He gripped her arm lightly. ‘There was a first cause. But this was the second. Remember that. Your father and Pug witnessed the First Cause. You are seeing the second. He was first among those created by the First Cause, Most Beloved, but he challenged his creator, and became the Opponent!’