"We need to get this off me," River said. "The three of them will be useless once the bond fully forms."
Talen returned his attention to his sister. "Are you ready?"
She nodded. Her eyes shone with determination.
He held her chin still with one hand and p.r.i.c.ked the collar again. Immediately the two created twisted and writhed in their battle.
River"s face screwed up in pain, and she began to pant. Tears formed in the corners of her eyes.
"Do you want me to take it out?" he asked.
"No," she grunted, but moments later she sagged to one side, and Talen quickly removed the tooth to avoid stabbing her.
In spots the coloring of the collar had turned ash gray. Yet he could see other parts were still very much alive, undulating as if it were taking long, slow breaths.
River panted, the thing still about her neck.
Talen saw specks of light. He blinked and looked down at the hag"s tooth. Had it affected his vision? He rubbed his eyes with his free hand and looked again.
A handful of shining flecks were floating in the chamber. They looked like dust motes, except they shone with their own light. What"s more, they seemed to be floating lazily towards Da.
"My eyes," he said.
"Not your eyes," said River. "The crown."
There were more sparks now. Talen couldn"t tell where they were coming from.
The Creek Widow, Uncle Argoth, and Ke stepped back.
"The crown bestows its wearer great strength," said the Creek Widow, "but it also calls forth a mantle of incredible might. It is said that the Creators seeded the world with power to be given to those of their choosing. And to those who respond to their call, the powers distill upon them like the morning dews. Until then, the powers remain locked up within the earth and sea. It is almost finished. A few minutes more."
This didn"t make complete sense to Talen. Didn"t the Divines wield great powers as well? And this monster was not something to be ignored. Obviously, the power wasn"t all locked up.
The sparks floated in through both entrances, but more seemed to simply spring forth from the rock about them. Talen caught a twinkle in the dust at his feet, and then the fleck of light floated free to join the rest.
The sparks coalesced into thin, whirling streams that were drawn to Da like water is drawn to the center of a lazy whirlpool. Da knelt in his chains as the bits of light flowed and clung to him. The shining flecks began to acc.u.mulate thinly in his hair and eye brows, upon his nose and arms, between the very fibers of his clothing. Specks of light tinged ever so faintly with blue and yellow.
River put her hand to the still living collar about her neck. "She"s coming," she said. "I can feel it."
Sugar couldn"t help but marvel at the tiny sparks that suddenly glimmered and glittered in the stone ceiling, walls, and floor. Each would build in intensity only to break free and float purposefully toward Zu Hogan. Soon he was shining with them.
He was drawing the very might of the earth to him, but it was clear he wasn"t ready. For one, he still stood in chains. She looked at the others, stooped with weariness, and realized they were in no shape to fight, which meant she was the only thing standing between the others and whatever was approaching.
Her heart pounded in her chest. Things to act, and things to be acted upon. Now was her moment to stand, and she was not going to quail. She had the tooth. She had seen its power work on man and weave. She was going to face this enemy, just as Mother had faced that mob only a few days ago. She turned to the entrances. Whatever came out was going to feel the bite of Purity"s daughter.
A slight breeze blew through the room, carrying a strong whiff of sulfur and pine. And then another whiff even stronger. She turned towards the black entrance that was the source of the breeze. She realized she wouldn"t have much time once the creature entered the chamber.
She heard one heavy footstep, and then the monster burst from the blackness.
She should have been more used to the sight of it, but the creature was even more horrible to behold than it had been in the vale. Its enormous ragged mouth. Its dark pit eyes. Her knees quivered.
The monster gave her one look and, in an enormous stride, flashed past. It swatted the Creek Widow aside and grabbed Zu Hogan by the throat.
Ke and Zu Argoth staggered back, the crown still working its effects on them.
The monster grasped the crown and began to tug. The flecks of light flowing to cover Zu Hogan slowed their movement.
It was going to rip it off. And then it would kill Zu Hogan just as it had the Skir Master.
She thought of Legs and Mother and the tooth in her hand.
The tooth in her hand!
Her courage returned even if the fear remained. She cried out and charged, the hag"s tooth held high.
The monster turned, shot out an arm, and stopped her in her tracks.
It felt as if she"d run herself onto a post. She gasped, and the monster wrapped its huge hand, hard as stone, round her waist and squeezed like it was going to crush her in two.
She cried out, tightened her grip on the hag"s tooth, and then brought it down, stabbing deep into the monster"s ragged forearm.
The monster looked down at the tooth.
The tooth bucked like a fish and disappeared into the monster"s flesh.
The monster reeled back from Hogan, releasing both Sugar and the crown, and frantically clutched at its forearm.
Zu Hogan spoke a word, and the sparks in the room grew thicker, flowed more quickly to him. A low thrumming began. It built in intensity. The volume and pitch rose, vibrating through her, through the very rock about them. The sparks multiplied until the air was thick with them. The thrumming turned into the sound of rushing of waters.
Zu Hogan stood, his chains still binding him to the wall, and stretched his arms wide. His face shone with fierce knowledge. The whirling streams of blue and yellow sparks picked up speed, converging on him. The volume built to a roar. Sugar covered her ears.
Then came a concussion, an enormous slap of air that forced Sugar to stagger back. It was followed by a blinding flash as all the remaining sparks in the room rushed to Zu Hogan.
Immediately the roar ceased, and Sugar"s ears rang in the silence.
Zu Hogan stood shining from head to toe with a thin skin of blue and yellow light. Joy suffused his face. And when he moved the very air about him seemed to bend and blur.
He took hold of his chains and pulled them apart like a child might pull apart a braid made of clay.
Talen looked on with awe. And then the entrance at the far side of the chamber began to flicker and illuminate. A moment later a ribbon of blazing violet flame flew into the chamber. It was followed by another and another. Each stretched a yard or more. Each undulated like an eel swimming through water. The ribbons of light sped about the room, hissing like the wind through dry weeds. One circled Sugar with blinding speed, but she didn"t seem to notice it.
Another came to him, pausing momentarily, regarding him, the hot white of its core fading to tongues of violet flame. It seemed to be whispering.
Fear gripped him. What were these?
The light in the pa.s.sageway grew brighter. And as it did a thick knot of the creatures blazing their oddly tinged light swam through the opening to the chamber. Some were shorter, some very long. They moved like a school of shining eels, hither and thither, wrapping themselves around something at their center.
The school of light shimmered to one side, parting ever so briefly, revealing a woman wrapped in undulating, living segments of light.
Da turned toward the woman. In his right hand he held a long length of the thick chain that had bound him, but the chain wasn"t dark anymore, for the light that covered him had extended down the chain.
"Whatever you are," Da said. "Your time is at an end." Then he stepped toward the knot of light. As he did so the school of shining serpents turned toward him, and then the woman whispered something. Her command reverberated inside Talen, making him take a step back. And then the ribbons of light surged forward in ma.s.s. One struck Da"s throat. Another for his cheek. Then the great ma.s.s swallowed him like a storm, biting, jerking, tearing.
Da stumbled back. He flailed his arms, tried to pull and swat the creatures away, but there were too many, attacking as if in a feeding frenzy.
Talen expected Da to fall to a knee, but he stood tall instead and yelled something in a tongue Talen didn"t understand. A flash of light exploded from him, hurling a number of the creatures back. Those that still clung to him, bit in fury. Da reached up and grasped the one clinging to his eye.
Talen fully expected to see some grotesque remnant of his eye pull away with the eel, but when he yanked it off and flung it to the ground, he saw that both of Da"s eyes were exactly where they should be-perfect, whole, and gleaming with purpose.
The creatures had not penetrated the mantle of power.
Da pulled another knot of the creatures from his neck and took a step toward the shining woman. She sang, holding her arms out. And Talen almost sunk to his knees. She was beautiful. Far more beautiful than anything he could ever imagine.
Da ran at her, shining chain in hand. He brought the weapon around like a ma.s.sive whip and struck her full force in the head.
The woman stumbled back.
The blow would have killed a bull, but the woman steadied herself.
Da swung the chain again, but the woman dodged back. With a roar, Da charged into her, taking her to the ground. She turned and struck him, but Da took her by the throat. He struck her in the face. Struck her again. Then Da reached down and grabbed a large stone off the floor.
Talen"s mind was reeling. Da was going to brain her. Cave her head in. But part of Talen didn"t want Da to strike her.
"Talen!" Sugar yelled.
Da was going to kill her! He should save the woman.
But no; that wasn"t right.
"Talen!" Sugar yelled, and she was right there holding her hand out for the tooth.
He looked at her.
"The tooth! What"s wrong with you?"
Talen didn"t know, but something indeed was very wrong.
Sugar ripped the tooth out of his hand and turned back to the monster.
The creature held the arm she stabbed high in the air. With its other hand, it appeared to have caught something deep in the flesh of its shoulder. It stood with all the concentration of a surgeon, its fingers deep in its arm.
"Maybe you can contend with one," Sugar said. "Let"s see what you do with a second!" Then she hurled the second tooth like a knife. It spiraled, end over end, its sharp point flashing in the unearthly light of the chamber, and buried itself deep in the monster"s belly.
The tooth gleamed once, then wriggled and disappeared into the monster"s gut.
The creature looked down, gasped horribly, and stumbled back.
47.
Master of the Harvest HUNGER FELT THE second worm burrow in. His panic rose. His arm was breaking apart like dried out dirt. At one time he"d wanted dissolution, but not now. He saw his daughter, wife, and remaining son before him, caught in a stomach. The Mother would not spare them if he failed.
He was their only chance.
The second worm burrowed deeper, burning, burning, burning as it went.
He resisted the urge to clutch at it. If he released the one in his arm, he knew he"d never get it back again. They were slippery as a fish, these worms. And strong.
The Mother ordered him to attack the shining Koramite. But he dared not move, dared not let go.
"How do I stop the worms?" he cried to her.
There was no answer.
His mind raced. Why could he not pry the worm open? It was intricate and oddly familiar, but he couldn"t place it. It was like no beast he"d encountered before.
The worm in his arm curled and another piece of him tattered. A clump of soil fell to the cave floor.
No! He had to stop it. He could not bear to think of his little girl being eaten.
The worm in his belly quickly slithered up toward one of his stomachs.
Creators, he prayed in his mind, if you have any mercy at all- And then he realized where he"d seen the weave before: he"d seen in deep within himself. This thing was woven with some of the same patterns as he.
Yes, he listened to the song of the worm in his arm, its trilling and thrum. He knew this weave. And with that knowledge came the knowledge of how to break it.
With a great tug he yanked the first worm out of his arm.
The second worm was not hard to find. It was moving towards one of his stomachs and the life there. He speared a hole into his gut with the tips of his fingers then pushed deeper and grabbed the second worm. It fought him, wriggling with violence, but he knew its secrets now and withdrew it from his body. In moments he held both teeth in front of him.
The weaves were beautiful, curling in the light. Beautiful and deadly. He grasped them tightly, found their weak points, and attacked. They resisted, but he was stronger, and in a moment they were unraveling like a spool of thread. Their curling slowed, their song wavered. And then it stopped altogether.
The Mother commanded him to her.
"I"m coming," he said. But he was talking to his wife and daughter, deep in the Mother"s cave, still caught in his stomach. "I"m coming."