Dark Sun: Prism Pentad 5 - The Cerulean Storm (6 page)

Cybrian glared at Sadira, but did not object. He had used the same technique too many
times to cry foul. “By all means, tell us,” he sneered. “I'm certain my fellow advisors
will appreciate a good jest.”

The templar's tactic was an effective one, playing on the crowd's skepticism to such an
extent that the wrab raised its black wings as if to leave Sadira's hand.

“Perhaps you would waste the council's time on a jest, Cybrian. You've certainly wasted it
on many things just as trivial,” Sadira said sharply. “But I assure you, I would never do
such a thing.”

The wrab folded its wings and pushed its tiny head down into her fist. Seeing that she had
won the assembly's support, at least for a time, Sadira laid her free hand on Rkard's
shoulder. The boy stood straight and tall, looking out over the volatile throng with an
unflinching gaze.

“This mul boy is the son of Neeva, whom many of you will remember from her days as a
gladiator, and of Caelum, son to the late
uhrnomus
of Kled,” Sadira said.

“Ten days ago, Rkard was visited by a pair of dwarven banshees, Jo'orsh and Sa'ram,” the
sorceress continued. “Those of you who are familiar with the
Book of the Kemalok Kings
will recognize the names as those of the last two dwarven knights, who died before they
could avenge the Dragon's destruction of their city.”

“And they told the child to do what they could not- kill Borys?” asked Charl, incredulous.

“Not exactly,” replied Sadira. “They said that he
would
kill the
Dragon.”

“And who heard them say this?” asked Lady Laaj.

“I did,” Rkard replied.

This prompted the noblewoman to give Sadira a patronizing smile. “My dear, since you have
no children, you may not realize that young boys create make-believe friends,” she said.
“Why, when my own sons were his age-”

“He did not make up Jo'orsh and Sa'ram,” Neeva reported. “I also saw the banshees.”

“And we have another harbinger as well,” Sadira said. She raised her hand, displaying the
ring on her finger. “Last night, a messenger arrived bearing my husband's signet.”

“Which husband? Agis, Rikus, or someone we haven't heard about yet?” mocked Cybrian.
“Maybe that dwarf?”

The comment drew a few crude laughs from the same pedants who always thought ill of Sadira
for loving two men, but it failed to shake the crowd's interest enough to dislodge the
wrab.

“The signet is Agis's,” Sadira said patiently. “With it came the message that he had found
the Dark Lens.”

For the first time that day, the room fell completely quiet. Despite the efforts of Sadira
and her husbands to keep the nature of the Dark Lens secret, they had spent five years
searching for it and word of what they were seeking had eventually leaked out. By now,
most of the advisors knew not only what the lens was, but why Sadira was seeking it. She
intended to kill Borys, thus ending his practice of collecting a thousand slaves a year
from each city of Athas. If the sorceress and her friends succeeded, not only would they
save untold numbers of lives, they would also eliminate the greatest danger to Tyr itself:
that the Dragon would attack the city for refusing to pay his gruesome levy.

It was Rkard who broke the astonished silence. “Jo'orsh and Sa'ram said I will kill the
Dragon.” The boy addressed the advisors directly, utterly composed and confident. “But
they also said I would need an army-an army of humans and dwarves.”

“Kled's militia is prepared to fulfill this prophecy,” Neeva said. “After I learned of
Rkard's destiny, I summoned them to guard against attempts on his life. Even as we speak,
they are at the Astides estate, preparing to march.”

“And that's why you have commanded Tyr's legion to stand ready for action?” demanded
Cybrian. “To give it to a child?”

“The legion will remain under Rikus's command, as always,” Sadira replied.

“Speaking of Rikus, where is he?” asked Lady Laaj. I'm sure that all of the advisors want
to hear his opinion of this plan before voting."

Sadira took a deep breath, knowing that her answer would send the council into an uproar.
Still, she did not even consider concealing the fact that there were giants in the valley.
The advisors had a right to know about any threat to Tyr, even if it meant it would be
harder for her to get what she wanted.

“Well?” Cybrian asked.

“As they were returning to attend this meeting, Rikus and Magnus happened across some
rampaging giants at our newest relief farm,” Sadira explained. “I've trapped the invaders
for now-”

The chamber broke into a tumult as astonished advisors began yelling questions across the
packed floor:

“You mean half-giants?”

“How many?”

“What do they want?”

The wrab slithered completely into Sadira's hand. The sorceress felt confident that it
would rather have retreated to its lair in the ceiling alcoves, but it was too well
trained to flee while a speaker had commanded such rapt attention.

“Quiet, please!” Sadira shouted. “We can't accomplish anything like this!”

The furor slowly faded to a drone.

As soon as it was possible to speak without screaming, Lady Laaj asked, “How many giants
are there, and what are they doing so far from the Sea of Silt?”

“There are eight of them, and they want the Dark Lens,” answered Sadira.

“Then I suggest we tell the giants where to find it- before they destroy us,” said Cybrian.

“I can't do that,” Sadira said. “Not only would that endanger Agis-”

“Agis would be the first to sacrifice himself for the good of Tyr,” Lady Laaj interrupted.
“Every noble knows that.”

“True-if his sacrifice would save Tyr,” Sadira agreed. “But it wouldn't. Unless we kill
the Dragon-”

“We won't discuss such nonsense!” declared Cybrian.

“Would you rather let him destroy the city?” Sadira countered. “Or are you willing to
sacrifice a thousand lives a year to him?”

“Your scare tactics won't succeed here,” Cybrian said. “We have nothing to gain by
attacking the Dragon. He hasn't been to Tyr since Kalak died.”

“That's because Tithian has been paying the levy in secret,” Sadira replied.

“With what?” scoffed the templar. “His personal staff?”

“With men, women, and children kidnapped by his slavers,” said Neeva, stepping forward to
stand at Sadira's side. “They attacked our village less than four months ago.”

“How dare you speak such a lie!” Cybrian stormed. “King Tithian freed the slaves. He'd
never-”

“He did, and I can prove it,” Sadira interrupted. She looked down at Caelum. “Open the
box.”

The dwarf obeyed. A shriveled, ash-colored head with sunken features and cracked lips rose
out of the box. It hovered in the air for a moment, its sallow eyes roaming over the
assembly, then floated up to Sadira's level.

Gasping in disbelief, the advisors pressed close around the sorceress's podium, craning
their necks to peer up at the disembodied head. Though many of the councilors had heard
rumors that King Tithian kept a pair of disembodied heads as companions, few of them had
ever seen one in person.

“Some of you may recognize the king's confidant, Wyan,” Sadira said. “He's the one who
brought Agis's signet ring to me.”

Wyan regarded the assemblage with a sneer, then rotated around to face Sadira. “What do
you want?”

The sorceress nodded toward the crowd. “Tell them about Tithian's slavers.”

Sadira did not worry that the head would disobey or lie. Wyan was one of the Dragon's most
ancient enemies, for Borys had separated him from his body more than a thousand years ago.
Since then, the head had been condemned to a miserable existence where his sole physical
pleasure was the drinking of warm blood. The sorceress had no doubts that Wyan would do
whatever it took to destroy the Dragon, even if it meant betraying one of Tithian's most
carefully guarded secrets.

When Wyan did not speak up quickly, Sadira reminded him, “The sooner you talk, the sooner
we can attack Borys.”

With a weary sigh, Wyan looked out over the advisors. “The king was only thinking of Tyr,”
he said. “Anyone who thinks the Dragon would be denied his levy is a fool. Tithian did
what was necessary to protect the city.”

The chorus of outrage that followed came mostly from the free citizens, but many of the
guildsmen also added their voices. The nobles looked more frightened by Wyan's admission
than angered, while the templars quietly exchanged whispered comments of concern.

Wyan cautiously floated higher in the air, apparently fearing that one of the free
citizens might try to hold him responsible for Tithian's acts. j “Let me see if I
understand this correctly,” said Lady Laaj. “You want the council to give you the legion
so you can go off to battle the Dragon-leaving Tyr to defend itself from eight full
giants?”

At this, the wrab crawled out of Sadira's hand and launched itself into the air. For a
moment, the sorceress didn't understand why it had abandoned her, since everyone in the
room seemed to be interested in the same thing. Then she realized that it was a matter of
emphasis. Lady Laaj was talking about the defense of Tyr, while Sadira was still trying to
convince the advisors to kill the Dragon.

Hoping the wrab would return to her, Sadira kept her hand in the air. “As I was saying
earlier, I have the giants under control for now,” she said. “Before we take the legion
out of the valley, they will be under control permanently-one way or another.”

The wrab settled on Lady Laaj's finger. “And what if there are other giants?” the
noblewoman asked. “The Dark Lens must be very valuable to them. Surely, they'll send more
warriors when these don't return.”

“We should be back by then,” Sadira said, reluctantly lowering her hand.

“That's not something you can guarantee, my friend,” said Charl, the guildsmen's speaker.
He shook his head sadly.
“I'm
sorry, but what Lady Laaj says is right. It's foolish to worry about the Dragon when angry
giants are about to storm the city.”

The noblewoman smiled. “We'll put the matter to a vote,” she said. “All those in favor of
telling the giants where to find the Dark Lens-”

“There's no need to vote,” Sadira said. With the other three orators supporting it, the
sorceress knew without a doubt that Lady Laaj's motion would pass. “I won't reveal the
location of the lens-none of us will. You'd be condemning Agis to death.”

“You'd defy the council for the sake of your husband-the same husband who has lectured
this body so many times on the importance of lawful rule?” asked Cybrian.

“How dare you speak to me about the law!” Sadira spat. “You're only doing this because you
hope to see Agis and Tithian dead. You want control of the council.”

“Maybe that's true of them, but not of me,” said Chart. “If you defy Lady Laaj and Cybrian
on this matter, you're defying the entire council. You, more than anyone, should know that
when someone of your power does that, the city is on the path to despotism.”

Tyranny of the many is tyranny nonetheless.“ Sadira hissed the words, spewing wisps of
black shadow over the heads of those standing between her and the guilds-man. ”If this
council betrays Agis, voting to do it together makes the act no less wicked."

“We have already discussed the matter,” said Lady Laaj. “Your magic is powerful enough
that the council cannot compel you to obey, but we
can
strip you of citizenship. Will you comply with the council's wishes or not?”

When Sadira replied, her throat was tight with anger. “No.”

The sorceress stepped off the podium, motioning for Rkard to follow.

“What are you doing?” demanded Caelum.

“Leaving Tyr,” Sadira replied, starting for the door.

“But what about Rkard's destiny?” asked the dwarf. “Jo'orsh and Sa'ram said that he would
have humans as well as dwarves in his army.”

The sorceress cast a cold glance over the council chamber. “Apparently, those humans will
not be from Tyr,” she said. “We'll gather them somewhere else.”

“There isn't time to find another army!” snapped Wyan. The giants won't be the only ones
searching for the Dark Lens. Every day we delay increases the chance that the
sorcerer-kings-or Borys-will find it before we arrive!"

Sadira turned around and faced the head, who was still hovering high over the free
citizens' podium. “We can't have Tyr's legion,” she said. “You can see for yourself we
don't have the votes.”

Wyan ignored her and glared down at the advisors.

“The city was better off under Kalak!” he yelled. “We will have our legion!”

The head floated closer to the ceiling, placing himself directly in the sun's rays
streaming through the window. His shadow fell in the center of the chamber floor, covering
the heads of more than a dozen councilors, and began to expand. Crying out in alarm, the
advisors pushed their way into the gallery seats. As the floor emptied, the black shadow
spread across the granite blocks like an ink stain.

“Wyan, no!” Sadira commanded, hardly able to believe what she was seeing. She had known
for some time that the head could communicate with the shadow giants, the nebulous beings
of the Black, but she had never before seen any evidence that he could summon them to
Athas. “Stop!”

When Wyan did not listen, Sadira pulled a glass rod from her pocket and pointed it at him.
The head's eyes went wide. Before she could begin the incantation to her spell, he left
the light and flew up into the murky alcoves of the ceiling.

It did not matter. The shadow on the floor had taken on the shape of a tall thin man with
ropy limbs. A pair of sapphire eyes began to shine from the head, and a blue gash opened
where the thing's mouth should have been.

Sadira pushed Rkard toward his mother. The sorceress did not need to utter any warning,
for both women had seen such creatures before. Neeva had fought a shadow giant named Umbra
during the war with Urik, while Sadira had visited the shadow people's home in the
Pristine Tower.