Broken World Book Four - The Staff of Law (28 page)

The Mujar
appeared at her side, placed a hand on her shoulder and forced her
to meet his eyes. “He will not die.”

“
He’s dead!”

“
No.”

“
He has no pulse, he’s not breathing!”

“
He’s not dead. He cannot die, his Mujar blood will save
him.”

His calm
insistence alleviated her fear somewhat, but her anguish knew no
bounds. “What will happen to him?”

“
I told you, he will change.”

“
Into what?”

“
Take him to his bed. Kieran will help you.” He summoned the
Prince with a curt gesture, waiting until the staff’s resounding
boom faded and Dancer read next law. He spoke in the brief silence
between the laws, and Kieran nodded, slid his arms under Travain
and carried him out. Talsy trotted beside him, clinging to her
son’s hand.

Wind and dead
leaves filled Travain’s room. She slammed the window shut, denying
it entry, and knelt beside the bed in the ensuing calm. Travain lay
as still as the dead, his skin pale. She held his hand to her cheek
and wept.

In the chaos,
a herd of manhorses that galloped through the wind crumpled,
ploughing into the ground as their lives were snatched from them.
Manbulls fell where they stood in the cities, slumped at their
labours and sprawled in the fields. Their death was instant and
painless. Manants plunged from the skies, dead long before they hit
the ground. Entire colonies died where they stood, turning their
vast mud citadels into tombs. The law shimmered overhead, and
bear-wolves, wolf-cats, pig-sheep, lizard-birds, goat-cows,
dog-cats, and all those whose ancestry was lost in time, died. They
fell in the forests and on the green-furred plains. They dropped
from the sky and turned belly up in the sea, surrounded by the
sprouting of new life. Timid purebreds walked amongst the fallen,
twisted bodies of those who should never have been born, and knew
their folly.

Talsy knelt
beside Travain’s bed. The staff’s booming shuddered the walls, and
the sheets of golden fire flashed through the room as each law was
read. That which she had put into action, and would save the world
from destruction, would also rob her of her son. The wind howled
and rattled the windows, demanding to be let in. She ignored its
plaintive whining and held the cooling hand of her dead son.
Already he seemed to rot. His cheeks had sunk, his eyes had become
hollow and his flesh melted away. A white substance, like cobweb,
formed on his skin, and she brushed it away.

“
Talsy.”

She turned at
the sound of Chanter’s voice. He stood in the doorway, and Kieran
sidled out.

“
He’s dead,” she sobbed.

“
No, he only seems dead. Mujar can’t die. Come away now, you
must leave him in peace.”

She leapt up
and flung herself at him, pounding his chest. “He’s dead! He’s
already rotting! You lied! Look at him!”

He gripped her
wrists. “No. I’m not going to keep saying it. He’s not dead, nor is
he rotting.”

Talsy wept
while he held her close and stroked her hair. He turned and pulled
her outside, closed the door and locked it. Kieran waited in the
corridor, and Chanter pushed her into his arms.

“
Look after her. I must return to Dancer.”

Kieran nodded
and led her to her room, where he persuaded her to lie down and sat
beside her. The wind howled outside, and had invaded the room to
litter the floor with leaves. Talsy wept until she fell asleep,
exhausted, and Kieran kept vigil at her bedside.

For three days
and nights, Dancer read the laws, and the staff boomed ceaselessly
against the floor. The golden fire hissed through the walls and out
into the world. The wind howled and hammered at the windows and
doors, and burst in to scatter leaves over the floors. At times, it
rose to screaming fury, then died away to a breeze. The clouds
raced overhead, torn and twisted by the winds of change. The land
shivered almost constantly now, as its fabric reformed and adjusted
to obey the laws.

Towards the
end of the third day, Kieran urged Talsy to get up and go
downstairs to witness the last laws. Though many people had left
during the reading, requiring food and sleep, most had returned for
the final laws, which ordered things so small that most would not
have imagined there were laws to govern them. The golden fire spat
from the base of the staff, and the floor was cracked and worn into
a depression beneath the pounding of its metal-shod foot.

Talsy stared
at it, numb with grief. Dancer intoned the laws quietly now. The
fire reached the last few lines, then finally, the very last one.
The staff rose, the golden words changed, and Dancer read the last
law. The staff struck the ground, and golden fire spat from the
lowest line of writing, hissing away as the boom shuddered the
building. The golden lines of writing vanished. Dancer stared at
the empty air, then released the staff and stepped back, staggered
and collapsed. Chanter caught him, lowering him into a chair.
Dancer’s eyes closed and his head drooped, his hands curled in his
lap.

Talsy was
puzzled, for Mujar never tired. Her interest sparked, she went over
to the young Mujar. “What’s wrong with him?”

Chanter looked
up and smiled. “Nothing. He’s been wielding Dolana for three days.
He’s a bit numb.”

Dancer sighed
and straightened, his dazed expression fading as he looked around.
“It’s over?”

“
Yes,” Chanter said, “it’s over.”

“
Good. I’m starving.” The youngster jumped up and headed for
the door, darting past the people who filed out. Talsy contemplated
the room where history had been made. The great staff hung above
the hollow it had worn in the floor, its lines of law glowing
faintly. Every now and then a line brightened, then dimmed
again.

She glanced at
Chanter. “Why does it do that?”

“
It’s keeping the world in order. Even now, men are discovering
that mating with animals is fruitless, and animals are turning away
from those they should not breed with. Somewhere, rain is falling
as it should, trees are growing, and streams are running downhill.
The earth blood is sinking deep into the earth, new Kuran are
coming into being, flowers are opening to the bees, fish are
spawning, night is falling, and all is well in the
world.”

Talsy watched
the flashing lines. Mostly, the ones near the bottom of the staff,
the minor laws, brightened and dimmed. The topmost line seemed
brighter than the rest, glowing steadily.

She pointed at
it. “Why is the first law active?”

“
Because it’s being broken, even now.”

“
By whom?”

“
Travain.”

Talsy swung to
face him. “How? Tell me!”

He sighed. “A
part of him is dying, the rest is still alive. The staff is doing
its best to kill him, but it can’t.”

“
What’s happening to him?”

He ran a hand
through his hair. “I told you he can’t die, but he must change. The
law will not tolerate a crossbreed, so he must become pure.”

“
Pure what?” she demanded, already knowing the
answer.

“
Since that’s the part of him that can’t die, he’ll become pure
Mujar.”

“
You knew!” she accused. “Why didn’t you tell me
before?”

“
I didn’t want to upset you.”

“
I want to see him.” She swung away, but he grabbed her
arm.

“
No, you must not. It will only upset you.”

She blinked
back tears. “What will he be like?”

“
Like me, like Dancer. When he wakes he will be Drummer, not
Travain.”

“
But he’s still my son. He’ll always be my son!”

“
Yes, you bore him, so he’ll always be your son.”

“
But he’ll be Mujar.”

“
Utterly,” he agreed.

“
Will he know me?”

“
I don’t know.”

“
You do!” she said. “You don’t lie, but you evade. You know
what he’ll be like, tell me!”

“
I would say that he won’t know you. Mujar don’t remember their
birth.”

“
Until they return to a flower.”

“
Yes, that’s true. I’m only guessing, but be prepared. No pure
Mujar has ever been borne by a woman. He may not know you’re his
mother, but I’m not sure, which is why I said I don’t know. It is
neither a lie nor an evasion, but the truth.”

She glanced up
at the staff. “So when his transformation is complete, that law
will dim?”

“
Yes.”

“
Why can’t I see him?”

“
He’s not a pretty sight. His Trueman flesh is dying. I’ll take
care of him, he’s my son too.”

Her heart
warmed at his claim, but she knew that he was only saying it to
make her happy. Still, it sounded good. “How long will it
take?”

“
I don’t know.” He smiled at her suspicious look. “How could I?
This has never happened before. A week, maybe two, I would
guess.”

Talsy became
aware of the stillness around them. The wind had died, leaving a
strange hush that seemed quieter for the lack of its howling.
Outside, stars twinkled in an inky sky, and two guttering torches
shed soft light in the vast chamber. She regarded the ancient staff
with its glowing lines.

“
How long can it remain here?”

“
Not too long.” He bent and scooped sand from the floor,
holding it out. “See? Already it starts.” The sand in his palm was
blood red.

She nodded.
“So you’ll send it back where it belongs, then what?”

“
Then we journey to the Lake of Dreams, and beyond that, the
plains where the wingless sliver bird fell from the
sky.”

“
That’s where we’ll be tested?”

“
No, they will be tested in the Lake of Dreams, but not you.
You’ve already passed the tests they’ll face.”

“
In the lake?” she asked, puzzled. “Underwater?”

“
No.” He chuckled. “There’s no water in the Lake of
Dreams.”

“
Then why is it called a lake?”

He shrugged.
“Because the gods call it that.”

“
So what is it?”

Chanter went
to a chair and settled on it with a sigh, inviting her to perch on
his knee. When she did, he asked, “Have you ever wondered where the
creatures of this world have gone to? Did you see any in the
chaos?”

“
No. Where did they go?”

“
There are secret places on this world. Places you can neither
see nor enter, but the creatures of this world, including Mujar,
can see and enter them. They are called Jasha, a god word that,
roughly translated, means lake. They are part of this world, yet
not, for they are in another dimension parallel to this one. The
gods created them to protect their creatures from Lowmen. It would
be better to call them planes, portions of another dimension that
dissect this one. There are many Jasha, and they all have names.
Some have special purposes too.” He paused, looking
thoughtful.

“
The Lake of Renewal, for instance, is where most of the
creatures of this world go to procreate, give birth and raise their
young. There are several used for this purpose, the Lake of Birth,
the Lake of Life and so on. Then there is the Lake of Joy, a place
of great bounty, where the creatures of this world go to relax and
play. You may also have noticed that you never see a dead creature
of this world, and that’s because they go to a lake to die, and
that’s the Lake of Dreams.”

Talsy
shivered, and he held her tighter. “It’s not a place to fear, but
rather one of great beauty. It’s also called the sacred land of
Antanar, by Mujar. That’s where all the souls of your people dwell,
and mine, awaiting rebirth. The chosen will be tested there by the
souls of Mujar, Truemen, and other creatures of this world. The
tests will be visions of the dead, but those they meet in the Lake
of Dreams won’t be the ones killed in the gods’ retribution. Their
souls are still trapped by the Hashon Jahar, and will only be
released upon the Plains of Redemption, after the final test.
Unfortunately, after a delay of seven years, we’ll have to detour
to enter the Lake of Dreams. The lakes drift, moving slowly around
the world, though they stay on land. The Lake of Dreams is no
longer on the way to the Plains of Redemption.”

“
How will we get in?”

“
With me.” He smiled. “I’ll open a doorway for the chosen. I’m
not sure, but it’s possible that the gods will see fit to reward
the chosen with a key to the lakes, since those who survive the
testing will be no threat to their creatures. I think this will
happen, for the gods are trying to make you their own, and
therefore no part of this world will be forbidden or hidden to
you.”

“
But I’m not to be tested again?”

“
No, you’ll see the Lake of Dreams as it really is. The others
will see visions.”

“
And what will happen to those who fail?”

He shrugged.
“They’ll stay there.”

Talsy shivered
again and wound her arms around his neck. “Even Kieran?”

“
Kieran will pass, of that I’m certain.”

“
How do you know?”

“
Because he’s as good as you.” He scrutinised her teasingly.
“Maybe even a little better.”