Hemlock And The Dead God's Legacy (Book 2) (26 page)

Hamiltus frowned. “Julius, you sound impetuous.  The people are more patient than you are.  They have accepted my rule for over forty years.”

Julius turned toward the west and his arm swept across the collection of dilapidated hovels that made up the majority of that half of the City.  “And look at your accomplishments.”

Hamiltus reddened and Julius turned toward him with a conciliatory expression
. “I did not mean to offend.  It’s just that I want the people to expect more from their ruler and from themselves.  Someday I will take you into the mountains to see the model of the City there.  Though my father was misguided, the City was magnificent under his rule.  We must be careful not to set our sights too low.  This will be a great City once again, my friend!”

The old wizard did not respond immediately.  Julius began to worry that the man might have to be discarded for lack of vigor, but finally Hamiltus turned toward him with a smile of resignation
. “You know, when you talk like that, I actually believe it.  I’ve become jaded after all of these years, but, truth be told, I want to believe you.  I want to believe in your vision.  I will fight for you!  But make sure you survive this fight.  If you don’t, then the entire City might fall to the Light Dancers.”

Julius hadn’t considered what would happen if he perished in the battle.  He didn’t have time for thoughts of defeat.




Later that evening, Hamiltus’ daughter, Ornella, burst into Julius’ chamber.  She stared at him angrily without saying a word.

“What?” asked Julius, and then he guessed the reason for her anger. “So, you’ve heard of the plan for the coming battle?  Do not worry yourself with these details.”

“
Details!” she spat, and then ran her hands up and down in the air beside her body. “And you—don’t worry yourself with these details either.  If I am not to be concerned with your details, then neither should you concern yourself with mine.”

Julius found that her spirit only made her more desirable.  He did not want to dishonor her father, but he felt himself losing control.  He feared that he might be moved to take the woman then and there.

Against his better judgement, he approached her and stood close, reveling in the intoxicating perfume that emanated from her golden skin.  Her brown hair looked lustrous in the lantern light and her eyes shone with anger.  He reached out and took her hand.  She did not resist.

“Let us end the
games between us.  We are meant to be together, you and I.  Will you be my wife?  Then you will be privy to all of my details, and I yours.”

Her head lowered slightly and the anger in her eyes diminished by a notch, but she withdrew her hand, turned away and strolled to the other side of the room.

He was entranced by the elegance of her form as she moved sinuously in her golden bodice and white lace skirt.  The angles of her hips suggested an abundance of children to him and ecstatic pleasure in their making.  He noticed only fleetingly that the clothes she wore were the finest he had ever seen beside his golden robe.

She turned toward him and flashed a coquettish smile as she began to undo her bodice.

He was speechless as she undressed and then stood before him, unclothed and pristine.  If her clothed body had suggested perfection, its nakedness revealed it in its fullness.

“I must be a God to witness such beauty,” he thought
. His first instinct was to approach her and lay greedy hands on her, but the expression on her face gave him pause.  She was assessing his reaction.

“Good,” she said.  “No man before you has passed that test. 
But son of a God or not, you are still a man.  I can see that.  Now that I have your attention, I must reveal something to you and then you must make a decision.”

Julius strained to keep his lust in check as he listened.  Bestial thoughts ran through his head
. “I could take her now and none would be able to hold me accountable.  I can make her mine.”  He realized that she was still talking and he struggled to focus.

“…first thing.  I have been with other men.  You will not be my first.  If this is an affront to you
, then you must find another.  I am not a young maiden on the doorstep of womanhood—you must understand that the years I’ve spent waiting for one worthy of me have been long and lonely.  Second, if I am to love you, then know that my mind is just as sharp as my father’s.  In order to be loved by me, you must love my mind as well as my body. 

You must now make a decision.  I can see the lust in your eyes.  If you choose to give in to your lust now
, then you may take me as your wife, but I will never respect you.  I will know that you married for lust—like an animal—and not for love.  You will have my body, but not my mind or spirit.  On the other hand, if you leave this room without touching me, then I will love you for as long as you are worthy of my love.”

She stood there watching him with a hopeful look in her eyes.  But the angles and curves of her body were calling to him.

“You are a God!  Do not regard the mutterings of this woman.  Take her as your Father would!” cried the voice of his lust, which seemed to gain strength as he looked over her breasts and the bewildering grace of her lower half.

“She’s unworthy of you!” cried the voice of his pride.  “Take her now and then find another who is innocent and pure!”

He took a step toward her, and he saw the hope in her eyes turn to fear.  The memory of his Father’s crown returned to him in a flash.

“NO!” he shrieked, raising his hands to his eyes and stumbling from the chamber into the hall beyond.

He knelt on the cold stone and his hands trembled.  Leaving that room had been the second most difficult thing he had done in his life—paling only in comparison to removing his father’s foul crown.

In a few moments
, he felt warm hands on his shoulders, and he stood up with the help of Ornella, who regarded him after having dressed herself hastily but effectively.

“What happened in there?” she said.

“You tempted me.  It reminded me of something…terrible.”

“I’m sorry,” she said.

“It’s…It’s OK.  I see the wisdom in it.”

She touched his cheek.  “Yes, I think you do.  You pass the test, Son of a God.  I will be your wife—in every sense of the word.”

She kissed him tenderly, and the oasis of joy he felt was made sweeter by the desert of turmoil that he had passed through to reach it.



The afternoon shadows grew long as Julius walked cautiously through the eastern half of the City.  The stone buildings that surrounded him were in disrepair: their white paint had faded and worn clean away in many parts, and all that remained of wooden doors and shutters were shards of wood and hinges.  The Imperial spell he had cast to allow him to move freely had been difficult.  The Wand had helped him, but while using it he had felt a fraction of the disgust he had felt when the Imperial crown had rested on his head.

The hour that would mark the commencement of the attack was imminent, and Julius increased his pace a bit to ensure that he would be in position on time.  Even though his strike would be the signal to attack, he did not want to delay for fear that an unexpectedly prolonged fight might spill over into the hours of darkness, which would strengthen the Light Dancers.

The shadowy doorways of the buildings he passed seemed pregnant with threat, and he tried to move as silently as possible.  The wind shifted and the stench of the buildings wafted into the street, nearly causing him to retch—but he was able to cough softly and continued his brisk walk toward the southernmost obelisk.

He thought he saw motion inside one of the buildings as he neared the corner beyond which the final obelisk awaited.  He stopped in the middle of the street, thinking that the best way to avoid detection
, since moving closer to either side of the street would bring him closer to the buildings.  The Light Dancers were thought to have poor eyesight, and Julius hoped that this was true.  He heard the shuffling of feet across sand and then a guttural grunt—then silence.

His breathing seemed thunderous as he waited quietly for several minutes.

Hoping that the threat of detection had passed, he started to walk slowly again.

He wasn’t scared of the scores of enemies that surrounded him, but he was nervous about his plan—and the impact early detection would have on his plan.  He briefly thought about the hundreds of warriors preparing to invade the northeastern part of the City.  He feared for them, and he knew that many of them would perish during the battle.

He reached the corner and turned in the middle of the crossroad.  The obelisk he sought stood a block to the south, at a distance of about fifty yards.  It was jet black and surprisingly slender at its base, rising to greater thickness at its height.  Its shape was similar to the Tower of Law that he had seen depicted in miniature in the mountains.  He could feel the magical emanation from the obelisk, and the Wand felt warm in his grasp.

He briefly looked inward to verify that his chaos magic still felt strong, and then focused his attention on the apex of the obelisk.  He raised his right arm and forks of lightning leapt toward the obelisk, impacting the dark stone with a crack.  The earth shook as a concussive force shattered the silence of the afternoon.

Julius was thrown to the ground and a column on a building crumbled and fell at some distance down the street.  He wasn’t stunned, and as he rose to his feet, he saw the obelisk had shattered and a strange, luminescent substance like molten rock was pouring from its top.  The fiery rock looked similar to the glowing rock inside the Wand that he held.

Julius ignored the howls of surprise that erupted from all around him as he watched the
lava pour down the side of the obelisk.  As it passed over the black stone, the molten rock took on the former’s appearance.  The obelisk looked something like a black candle burning at an abnormally fast rate, the viscous material streaming downward until it met the ground.  When it reached the dirt, its color and texture changed again, and it took on a sandy appearance until it seeped into the earth and was gone, leaving no trace of its passage on the obelisk or the ground below.

“Amazing!
  What could a man do if he could control such a substance?” he thought excitedly.

Pale, emaciated figures appeared in the doorways around him, howling raucously.
Their hands were hideously deformed and bore irregular, long claws that were sharpened and vicious. The brown-stained teeth in their mouths were sharp like fangs.  It seemed that his Imperial spell was working, because, as he scanned their gaunt faces and milk-white eyes, he didn’t think they noticed him.

There was a break in the chorus of howls, and the sound of distant battle reverberated from the north.  The Light Dancers started to shout something then, and their numbers swelled as the creatures that were still in the shadows pressed those in front of them out of the buildings. 
When they emerged into the afternoon sun, they covered their eyes and their skin smoked.  Those so affected shrieked and jumped for the cover of shadow, often jumping through windows or even climbing to upper floors to avoid the teeming throngs that undulated around the doorways, anxious to escape, but mindful of the light.

Julius heard footsteps approaching him from behind.  Turning, he saw a Light Dancer dressed in a tattered robe and a wide brimmed hat.  He was taller than the rest, and he used the
clothing to shield himself from the light.  His eyes bore the same white mark of blindness as his comrades, but he was sniffing loudly and coming straight for Julius.

Julius took six steps toward one side of the street as the Light Dancer approached.  The creature appeared to be focused on the obelisk, and it walk
ed until it reached the point he had been standing moments before.

T
hen two things happened simultaneously.  The Light Dancers in the buildings cried with a primal delight and burst into the street from every direction, running toward the north at great speed.  The robed creature near Julius jumped at him unexpectedly and knocked him to the ground as it tried to lacerate his throat with its claws and bite.

Julius tried to use the shaft of the Wand to parry the creature
’s raking swings, but he feared that it might break under the strain.  The robed creature managed to score a hit on his abdomen, but Julius’ golden robe deflected the blow without effect.  Julius concentrated on defense and avoiding being trampled as the Light Dancers surged around the two wrestling figures.  The wiry Light Dancer shaman was stronger than it looked and just as tenacious as its appearance suggested.

Suddenly the shaman took a kick in the ribs from one of its kind as the
y ran by carelessly.  This gave Julius the opportunity to break free. He rolled away, dodged several running creatures, and then rose to his feet.  He stowed the Wand in his backpack and drew his sword.

“I need to get to that next obelisk!  This is taking too long!” Julius thought.

As if in answer to his concerns, the robed figure charged him and leapt a full six feet into the air at the last second, hoping to jump over his sword strike.  But Julius was too swift for him: he took a step forward and ducked, then turned and stabbed upwards, catching his opponent in the back with a cruel thrust.