“This was always planned?” Ishbel said.
“Yes,” Inardle whispered.
“In concert with the One? You have always been in league with the One?”
Inardle’s head came up at that. “No. Not I, nor the Lealfast, not always. They . . . we . . . Ishbel, I did not want to betray Maximilian, or Axis. I did nothing to —”
“You did nothing to warn us.”
Inardle dropped her eyes once more.
“Inardle, I do not believe that you actively worked to betray Maxel, or else you would now be spattered with his murdered blood. But your silence itself is a form of betrayal.”
Inardle said nothing, still looking down.
“Are you prepared to help us now?” Ishbel said.
“Yes,” Inardle said.
“Betray your fellows, your blood, to help us?”
Inardle hesitated for a heartbeat. “Yes.”
“I wonder,” Ishbel said, “if either Maxel or Axis will believe that, now.”
“Was Ravenna part of your machinations against me?” Maximilian said, coming to a halt just behind and to one side of the servant. “Was she your creature? If so, then you miscalculated, my friend. It appears that Elcho Falling has decided it needs to be more cautious of any who claim my blood.”
“Is he a traitor, my lord?” the creature said, turning his head a little toward Maximilian, but not moving his eyes from the One.
“Does he wear my murdered blood over his flesh?” Maximilian said in a low tone. “Is not Elcho Falling filled with my murderers?”
The One took another half pace forward, his entire form quivering with power. He raised his hands, preparing to strike, but both Elcho Falling’s servant and Maximilian ignored him.
“Should we —” the creature said.
“Reject them,” Maximilian said, one hand now resting on the servant’s shoulder as he stared at the One.
StarHeaven cried out, and even the guardsmen stumbled in surprise, their movements finally crashing into discord.
As one, the Lealfast appeared to have been grasped in a gigantic fist and hurled against the stone walls of the chamber.
There, instead of striking the stone, they vanished, and a heartbeat later StarHeaven heard someone by a window cry out that the Lealfast had reappeared far distant in the sky.
In the stairwell, just below the ground floor of Elcho Falling, Maximilian watched as the One suddenly vanished.
“Where has he gone?” Maximilian murmured.
“A very, very long way away,” Elcho Falling replied.
In the very deepest subterranean chamber of Elcho Falling, the Dark Spire that Eleanon had placed there a day or so previously continued to throb with power.
The One was gone, but it was not perturbed. There was another close who could direct the spire and tell it what it needed to accomplish.
Chapter 5
Elcho Falling and the Twisted Tower
“What happened?” Axis shouldered his way past the first few guardsmen in the chamber where the Strike Force had been attacked. His jaw tightened as he looked beyond the Lealfast bodies in the centre of the room to the Icarii bodies piled up at the margins of the room.
“I am not sure, StarMan,” one of the Emerald Guard said. “We were fighting the Lealfast, then . . . ”
“Some power forced the Lealfast out,” Egalion said, now pushing his way through to Axis, “but not before we whittled their numbers down satisfactorily. They are outside, now, I believe.”
Axis managed to work his way to one of the windows. Egalion followed, muttering orders to the guardsmen that most of them should depart the chamber.
“Gods,” Axis muttered as he stared out the window. The Lealfast, some eleven thousand of them, were now riding the winds beyond Elcho Falling. Every so often one or two made a foray closer to the citadel, but some fifty paces out it appeared as if they hit a barrier beyond which they could not fly.
“Elcho Falling has raised its defences,” Egalion said.
“And yet the One is inside,” said Axis. “Maximilian had gone to deal with him . . . Egalion, I have no idea what is going on. And —”
Axis broke off, muttering a curse.
“What is it?” Egalion said.
“Insharah!” Axis said, suddenly remembering that the Isembaardian army was camped on the shores of Elcho Falling’s lake. He’d heard a whisper that Ishbel had somehow negated the general, Armat, and that Axis’ once-friend Insharah now led the army. “Does he know what is happening? And all the Isembaardians . . . they are vulnerable to the Lealfast . . . I have no idea what is happening, Egalion. What did Ishbel do earlier? I know she went to see Armat and Ravenna, and that she did something, but what?”
“Armat and Ravenna are negated,” said Ishbel from behind them, making the two men turn to look at her. “Lister is dead. Insharah now controls the Isembaardian army. And you are right, Axis, they are in danger. We need to get them inside Elcho Falling.”
Axis’s eyes narrowed in suspicion. Invite them in? Only an hour or two ago the entire Isembaardian army had been their enemy. “We have just repelled one lot of invaders and traitors, Ishbel. I do not want to invite a new lot in. And where is Inardle? Were you not supposed to be guarding her?”
“Do not worry about Inardle,” Ishbel said. “She is waiting in the command chamber. She will do no harm for the moment. When this situation is a little settled we all need to speak with her, but there are more important matters to worry us.”
“The One,” Axis said.
Ishbel’s face relaxed a little. “He is gone. He went at the same time the Lealfast were expelled. Elcho Falling drove them out. The One must have been marked with Maxel’s murdered blood as well as the Lealfast. For the moment those within Elcho Falling are safe, Axis.”
“Unless we have further traitors among us,” Axis muttered. “Maxel?”
“He is well. He said something about the Twisted Tower and Josia needing to speak to him. I think he has gone there for the moment. You and I, Axis, need to see Insharah and determine what to do about the Isembaardian army.”
Axis nodded, but he turned in to the room, now almost emptied of the Emerald Guardsmen save for a score of so standing as sentinels.
For a long moment Axis just stared. It was a disaster. Bodies of Strike Force members, almost their entire number, lay strewn about the edges of the chamber, while in the centre of the chamber lay the bodies of the Lealfast members the guardsmen had struck down. Those Icarii who had survived were struggling to their feet, aided here and there by Emerald Guardsmen; others lay moaning on the floor.
The physicians Garth Baxtor and Zeboath had entered the chamber and were moving among the wounded Icarii, bending down briefly to assess severity of injury before giving instructions to their assistants and then moving on, prioritising the injured as quickly as possible.
Lealfast corpses covered the major area of floor. There were, Axis estimated, probably about a thousand dead.
No Emerald Guardsmen lay among the dead or injured.
They had done a remarkable job, Axis thought and, like StarHeaven before him, his estimation of their worth as a fighting force rocketed up to vastly greater heights than previously.
“They came from the Veins,” Ishbel murmured at his side. “Who knew what they learned down there? They had to fight with the blackness itself to survive.”
“They closed their eyes to fight.” It was StarHeaven, moving quietly over to Ishbel and Axis. “They fought instinctively. It was . . . extraordinary.”
StarHeaven paused, taking a deep breath that trembled. “They shamed us.”
Axis rested a hand on StarHeaven’s shoulder. “You were attacked by those you trusted, and attacked invisibly. You did not for a moment expect that —”
“Damn it,” StarHeaven said, “we should have expected it! And now . . . ” She looked about, her eyes glistening with tears. “Now so many are dead, and BroadWing among them.”
“You shall ne
ed to take command,” Axis said.
“No!” StarHeaven said. “I cannot! I am not good enough! I —”
“You are all I have right now,” said Axis. “You shall need to be good enough. We can discuss a permanent arrangement later, when we have the luxury of time and breath and the ability to sit down and sort everything out. For now, you take command. Find those who can still fight, and await my orders. Ishbel and I may need the Strike Force against the Lealfast outside. So, gather yourselves together, patch yourselves up and be ready. Yes?”
StarHeaven gave a nod, straightening her back, and Axis gave her a smile, pleased. Then he looked at Ishbel.
“Insharah,” he said.
Maximilian stepped inside the Twisted Tower, and stopped immediately, staring at Avaldamon, recognising him from the time he had called Avaldamon’s and Boaz’s shades back from the dead.
Then he took a pace forward and touched the man’s chest. “You are flesh!”
Avaldamon nodded. “Yes, and there is a tale to it, Maximilian, but not one I think I need waste time with here and now. The One?”
“Gone,” said Maximilian, explaining how Elcho Falling had expelled the traitors marked with his blood. “To where, I do not know. Avaldamon, what are you doing here? How did you get here? Why the Twisted Tower?”
“He came,” Josia said, in an ironic tone, “to destroy the Twisted Tower, apparently, and me with it. And he came as a cat.”
Maximilian’s eyebrows went up. “A cat?”
“It is part of the long and twisted tale,” Avaldamon said. “I took the form of a cat and became the One’s companion, and learned some of his secrets and vulnerabilities.”
Maximilian’s mouth dropped, just slightly. “You became the One’s companion? You —”
“All this can wait,” Avaldamon said. “You and I, Maximilian, and Ishbel too, shall have time enough later to discuss it. But for now . . . I take it Elcho Falling is relatively secure?”
“Relatively,” Maximilian said. “The Lealfast have been expelled, along with the One. I cannot think of anything else within Elcho Falling that may prove an imminent threat.” His mouth twisted a little. “Although, I have been wrong before. Avaldamon, why do you need to see me?”
“You and Ishbel,” Avaldamon said, “need to retrieve something from within the heart of DarkGlass Mountain — the Infinity Chamber — and you have to destroy the pyramid. We need to get there within the day, before the One can get back to DarkGlass Mountain himself.”
“We can’t get to DarkGlass Mountain within the day,” Maximilian said. And destroy it? How?
“Yes, we can,” Avaldamon said. “There is a small trick you appear to have forgotten, which is not surprising given everything that has been happening over the past few weeks. Elcho Falling can aid us. I will remind you later how this can be done; it is something you learned on your way up through the Twisted Tower, but which you put aside to concentrate on raising Elcho Falling. But — ah yes, there is always a but, isn’t there? — we cannot return so easily. I am afraid your days on the road are not yet over, Maximilian Persimius.”
Chapter 6
Elcho Falling
What has happened? Bingaleal cried into Eleanon’s mind as Eleanon hovered with the rest of his fighters some hundred paces away from Elcho Falling. I have felt something terrible!
Where are you? Eleanon asked his brother, who had been commanding the other twenty thousand members of the Lealfast fighting force further south in Isembaard.
Perhaps half a day’s flight away, maybe a little more. Eleanon? What has happened? The One has been expelled from Elcho Falling, as have we.
But —
The One was not as prescient as he had thought. He has been outwitted.
Eleanon?
Eleanon could not for the moment respond any further. He was furious, the fury driven and deepened by the humiliation of what had happened to him and to his fighters. They should by now have been in control of Elcho Falling. Instead. . .
We have been tricked, brother, Eleanon finally responded, and whether by the One or by Elcho Falling or by one among those inside I do not yet know. But once I know . . . once I know . . .
The One? Where is he? Is he with you? What does he say?
Eleanon sent his power ranging out, searching for the One. For a long moment Eleanon could not feel any sense of the One, then he cursed as he realised where the One was. He has been expelled by Elcho Falling! He is back in Isembaard!
What?
Ah, what a rout, Bingaleal! What a catastrophe, and none of it ourfault! We should never have trusted the One so implicitly. We had every advantage. Every advantage. Our enemies should be lying slaughtered and Elcho Falling ours by now. Instead here we are, trapped beyond Elcho Falling, and the One in Isembaard!
Eleanon suddenly realised that the Lealfast fighters were milling about uncoordinated and unsure in the sky. Gods, what a nightmare! Axis must be standing at some window laughing at him.
He shouted orders, grouping his fighters once more into their squads and setting them to patrolling the skies above Elcho Falling.
Once they were organised, Eleanon flew a short distance to a low hill just north of Elcho Falling. Here he alighted, standing with wings and arms folded, regarding Elcho Falling as Bingaleal still asked questions in his mind.
What happened to the One? Bingaleal said. I do not understand how he could have —
He has been oufoxei, Eleanon said, as have we, and that only because we were so stupid as to place ourselves under the One’s orders.
You can’t be implying that . . .
I am implying that perhaps we’d be better off looking after our own fortunes.
The One is a dangerous enemy to make, Eleanon.
Eleanon gave a little snort.
Eleanon . . . we are pledged to him.
He has broken his pledge to us, Eleanon said. I doubt he can deliver a single one of his promises to the Lealfast, nor, perhaps, did he ever have any intention of doing so. Look, Bingaleal, we will be careful. We will not overtly alienate him, nor overtly disobey him. But I tell you, I no longer trust him nor his promises of Lealfast home and glory. I don’t think he has the wit for it. Yes, he is powerful, but he is like the running-to-fat bully in the schoolyard, able to push around those too weak to resist, but toppled unceremoniously by the first opponent who knows what the word “tactic” means.
And what do we have, Eleanon?
Eleanon realised for the first time that it was he who was the natural leader. Not Bingaleal.
What do we have? We have our cunning, we have the Lealfast Nation winging its way to join us, we have our command of both Star Dance and Infinity and we have the Dark Spire. We don’t need the One and his promises to attain Elcho Falling and Infinity. Not now.
Eleanon turned to look back at Elcho Falling. “Elcho Falling’s destruction lies in its basement,” he murmured, not sharing the words with Bingaleal. “Waiting for that word from me.”
Where are the Isembaardians? Bingaleal asked.
Lost in his contemplation of the Dark Spire, Eleanon did not immediately know to what Bingaleal referred. What?
The Isembaardian army. Is it still camped at the lake?
Eleanon turned his regard to the sprawling encampment on the western shore of the lake.
His mouth curved in a slow smile.
I think they might provide us some fun, Bingaleal. Maybe I can retrieve something from this day, after all.
Chapter 7
Elcho Falling and Sakkuth
“What has happened to Lister, Armat and Ravenna?” Axis said. He and Ishbel stood just inside the great arched entranceway of Elcho Falling, staring along the causeway that stretched over the lake toward the Isembaardian encampment. It was close to dawn now, and the lightening sky revealed the massive sprawl of tents and horse lines. Above them, the Lealfast rode the thermals high in the air.
They were biding their time. Waiting.
“Lister is de
ad,” Ishbel said. “Slaughtered in the same manner as the many men he sent me to slaughter as Archpriestess of the Coil. Armat has become a witless puppet, with Insharah his master. I thought he might prove useful in that capacity, given that the general Kezial is still out there, somewhere. Ravenna . . . she I cursed with Maximilian’s blood. Her child has been disinherited, and Ravenna condemned to wander friendless and alone.” Ishbel paused. “I would have killed her, save for the child.”
“Is she dangerous?”
Ishbel gave a small shrug. “Less so than formerly.”
Axis grunted, wishing Ishbel had not left Ravenna alive. He could see movement in the Isembaardian camp now and, with his excellent Icarii vision, could see Insharah standing by one of the tents closest to Elcho Falling’s lake. Axis didn’t know how to feel about Insharah. For a long time he had been a close and trusted companion of Axis. When they were in Isembaard they had travelled and fought together. Axis had liked him immensely.
Then Insharah had decided to abandon Maximilian for the rebel general Armat, taking with him the majority of Isembaardian forces who had been with Maximilian.
It had been a foolish decision, and had lowered Insharah in Axis’ estimation.
Now Insharah had command of Armat’s army. Three hundred thousand men, give or take a few ten thousand.
Axis did not know if he could trust Insharah, yet at the same time neither did he want to abandon him to possible — probable — attack from the Lealfast.
He glanced up again, more nervously now. StarHeaven? Axis said, sending out the query with his power.
Yes, StarMan, the Enchanter replied.
What strength are you?
Perhaps two hundred who are fully fit, StarMan.
Axis winced. Two hundred only left? What a disaster this treacherous night had been! You are ready to fight? Axis asked StarHeaven.
There was no hesitation. Yes.
She sounded strong and in control of herself, and Axis found some satisfaction in that. Elcho Falling is encircled by a defensive cordon, perhaps fifty paces or so. Stay within it. With your numbers there is no means by which you can take on the entire Lealfast force, but you should be able to shoot through it.