Incarnation: Wandering Stars Volume One (35 page)

Now flying up
slope inside
a wider
gulley
, he
was heading straight for the peak of
Murakszhug
and the general direction of his rendezvous point
with the Myndarym.
  Glancing behind, he saw no signs of pursuit. 
But when his eyes returned to their forward position, he noticed two
more
Iryllur
ym
moving
rapidly
across the floor of the
canyon
,
rising to meet him
head-on
.  With hardly a moment to think, Sariel pulled his wings inward and dropped into a roll.  As he passed between them, his
compressed form pushed
itself through the tangle of limbs and feathers, cracking something in the process.

Spinning through the fray, Sariel opened his wings and gained altitude, looking behind him as he made his escape.

One of the
Iryllur
ym
was
dropping
toward the canyon floor, spinning out of control with
a
broken wing.

The remaining
Iryllur
banked to the west and came around into pursuit.

Sariel pumped his wings faster and recovered some altitude just as he approached the
pinnacle of the Mountain of Watching
. 
Passing
by its eastern face, he
circled around
to the west
and came
to a landing on a wide platform of rock
above a sheer cliff face.
 
His feet touched the mountain at a run and he quick
l
y retracted his wings and stooped to pick up a jagged rock from the scree that covered the entire area.

The
Iryllur
pursuer
was only seconds behind.  He
dropped quickly from the air and hit the ledge at a run
, as well
.

Spinning around to face the attacker, Sariel
waited,
holding the
fist-sized rock
behind his back.

The attacker was armed with two
v
aepkir
and advanced without any hesitation.  As soon as he was within range, he threw his right arm forward.

Sariel
pivoted to the right and
dodged backward, bringing the rock up into the blade
,
deflecting it just enough to miss his face.  Then
,
he
quickly
dropped and
continued spinning as the carpal joint of the
Iryllur
’s wing passed overhead, also missing its mark.

Sariel
pushed
to his feet and sidestepped the backhanded slash of the angel’s other
v
aepkir
.  Then he moved in quickly and swung the rock for the
Iryllur
’s face.

But the blow only glanced off the angel’s forehead as he dodged to the side of the
assault
and
tackled
Sariel
who was now too close for weapons.

Both soldiers fell to the ground in a tumble.

S
ariel suddenly found himself on his back with the attacker pinning him to the ground. 
Pushing his
wings
outward
across the
rough
gravel
,
Sariel used the added stability to quickly bring his legs underneath the
Iryllur
.  With one power
ful
thrust, he plowed his feet into the angel’s chest and sent him flying through the air.

As they both str
uggled to their feet, a massive, hairy
shape
lunged
from
the rocks to the right and plowed into Semjaza’s soldier
.  In a flurry of wings and
teeth
, the two
creatures
rolled across the rocky terrain.  A
sharp
growl cut through the air and the arms and legs that were flailing
abruptly
stopped.

Sariel
r
o
se
from his crouching position
and walked
slowly
over to Batarel, who remained still
.

The Myndar’s powerful animal form stood on top of the other with his m
assive jaws clamped on the angel’s throat. 
A pool of blood was quickly forming beneath the
head of the
defeated soldier, whose wingtips now quiver
ed with residual nervous energy.

He was already dead.

“It’s done,” Sariel said softly.

Batarel released his grip on the enemy, then
s
haped
to his
angelic
form. 
In the harsh silence, he stood up on two legs and looked down at the soldier.
  “I’ve never done
this
before.”

“Killed?”
Sariel asked
quietly,
after a pause.

“
I’ve hunted, but never o
ne of
my own
.”

Sariel
put his hand on Batarel’s shoulder.

“There was another group
f
a
rther
to the east, but they didn’t see anything,” Tamael
growled
, climbing down from the rocks above
in his animal form
.  When he reached the ledge, he came over and
sniffed the
dead
Iryllur
, then looked up at Batarel, whose angelic form was marred by the blood that covered his face and chest. 
“
I suppose your meeting could have gone worse,
”
he said to Sariel.

“
He
takes great pride in having abandoned all the principles that he used to
live by
.  There’s no reasoning with him.”

“
I told you
as much
,” Tamael
snarled
.  “
So
,
what are you going to do
now
?”

Sariel breathed
deeply
for a moment,
trying to clear his mind so that he could think through
his options.  The only bargaining tool he had was his own freedom, but that would defeat the purpose of rescuing Sheyir.  He wanted to be with her,
and
trading his own freedom for hers wouldn’t accomplish that.  He would do it if only to save her, but that was a last resort.  No
.  B
argaining with Semjaza was pointless.  Sariel had met his type before, but usually among the
Marotru
. 
As he looked out at the western horizon, now illuminated by the moon, he admitted to himself that
Semjaza
was right about one thing.  T
he only effective tool in this world
was l
everage. 
And this left him with only
one option.

“
Why did the Myndar
ym come here?”

Tamael turned his
feline
head, clearly not expecting such an esoteric question at a time like this.  “
Uh
…
f
reedom, I guess
,
”
he answered finally.

“After your obligations to Semjaza, what did you hope to do with your earned freedom?”

“Whatever we want
ed
,” Batarel mumbled.

“I suppose that’s the point,” Tamael answered.  “I, for one, spent
a great
many hours
shaping
this world.  And I rather enjoy roaming the land in
one of the forms that I
s
haped
.”

Sariel nodded.  “And the others?  I assume they would have similar answers?”

“What are you getting at?” Tamael asked finally.

Sariel put his hand on his chin and exhaled.  “How will you ever have your freedom when Semjaza sits on his throne?  He doesn’t even try to
hide
his aspirations.  He will continue to expand
h
is kingdom until it covers the earth.  Any freedom you have by running will only end eventually.”

Tamael raised his eyebrows.  “You want us to go war against him?” he asked.  The expression on his face was
something
between
fear and amusement.

Sariel remained silent.

“
The Myndarym are not
going
to risk
their
lives
for your woman,” he stated bluntly.

“I’m not asking you to go to war for a woman.  That’s my reason,” he said
. 
“I’m only stating the obvious—Semjaza stands in the way of what you want.  So, the question is, what are you going to do about it?”

Batarel now looked up from the body of
the dead Iryllur.

Tamael was silent for a moment.  “We’re not soldiers like you.”

Sariel nodded to the angel lying at their feet.  “It seems to me that in all your time with Semjaza, helping him build a fortress and prepare his defenses, you learned something.”

“They outnumber us three to one,” Batarel pointed out.  “And they’re trained for this sort of thing.”

Sariel nodded.  “True.  But what if you fought alongside someone who was trained in war?  What if you outnumbered Semjaza?”

“The
Amatru
?” Tamael asked
.
  “
They want us dead as much as Semjaza
does
.”

Sariel held up a finger.  “It’s not a question of what they want, but what they are willing to accept.  Granted, none of us are on good terms with them any longer.  But I suspect that the reason they haven’t destroyed Semjaza yet is that they don’t have the resources
,
or
confidence that the outcome will be as they hope.”

“You’ve gone mad,” Tamael concluded.

“Have I?  The Myndarym and the
Amatru
now have a common enemy.  What I’m proposing is actually quite sane.”

Batarel looked straight at Sariel, his fearless eyes unflinching.  “How
is
an untrained group of Shapers and an under-resourced army going to defeat Semjaza?”

Sariel smiled at the angel’s practical observation.  “
Y
ou and the other Shapers know more tha
n
you realize.  Your inside knowledge of Semjaza’s fortress, capabilit
ies
, and strategy is critical intelligence for the
Amatru
.  W
ith your involvement, the resources would be allocated.”

“Are you saying that you will go before the
Amatru
to make this proposal?  Because none of us are that stupid,” Tamael stated.

Sariel smiled again.  “I’ll try not to be offended
by
that.  And yes, I’ll handle the coordination.”

“Very well,” Tamael replied after a moment’s pause.  “We’ll take this before the Myndarym and see if they
are
willing
.”

“We don’t have any more time to waste,” Sariel replied.  “Semjaza grows stronger by the minute.  You must convince the Myndarym while I
do the same with
the
Amatru
.”

“
They will not like us making th
is
arrangement
on their behalf.  What if they refuse?” asked Batarel.

Sariel stared hard into the unwavering eyes. 
“
Then your freedom will be short-lived.
”

Batarel looked
down
to his fellow Myndar
as he considered Sariel’s words.  Then his eyes returned and he nodded his agreement.

“Don’t tell the
Amatru
where we live,” Tamael
growled.
  “Whatever agreement you come to, don’t betray us to them.”

“Of course,” Sariel agreed.  “And you…travel quietly.  Semjaza knows we’re working together.  The only reason he let me go was so that I would lead his soldiers to the Myndarym.”

Tamael nodded.