The Tower of Endless Worlds (17 page)

“Liam.”

Liam whirled, drawing his Sacred Blades. Ally shrieked and took a step back. 

“Did you hear that?” said Liam. The glow from his swords made the walls gleam with a pale blue light.

Ally shook her head, tangled hair falling over her forehead. “I didn’t hear anything.” 

Liam looked around the dim corridor. “No. Perhaps not. Let’s…”

“Liam, Liam.”

Liam’s head snapped around. “What?”

“I don’t hear anything!” said Ally, stamping her foot. 

Liam caught a glimpse of movement at the end of the corridor. His lips tightened, and he raised his Sacred Blades. “Marugon’s caravans, no doubt. Stay behind me.” He undid the straps of his shoulder harness. “And hold the King. We may need to run.” 

“Wait,” said Ally.

“I need you, child,” said Liam. “Guard the King for me, please.”

Ally nodded, and took Lithon in her arms. She staggered a bit under his weight, but hopefully she could carry the King long enough for Liam to deal with the threat. 

Liam set off down the corridor at a loping run. He would spring into the next chamber, perhaps take down two or three of the unseen enemies before they recovered from surprise…

Liam leapt into another of the domed vaults he had seen throughout the Tower. Crimson marble gleamed in the emerald glow. 

His swords flashed up in a guard position and froze. He blinked, unable to believe his eyes. “Annemarie?” 

Annemarie Scepteris, Queen of Carlisan, stood in the center of the room. She wore a black gown that hid all but her hands and pale face. Liam lowered his swords, his hands trembling. Lithon’s mother had died at Carlisan. At least, he had hoped she had died in the fighting, that she hadn’t fallen into the cruel hands of Marugon’s soldiers before her death…

“Liam,” said Annemarie. “It’s so very good to see you again.”

“But,” Liam’s croaked, “but the Scepteris Palace…the explosion…”

Ally padded to Liam’s side, Lithon in her arms, and glared at the Queen. 

“I escaped,” said Annemarie. 

“Impossible,” said Liam. “The King sent Lithon and Anna with me. He said he couldn’t find you. You…you had been at the gates when they fell, the soldiers would have killed you…”

“The escape tunnel beneath the old gate,” said Annemarie, her dark eyes wet with tears. “I ran through it and came out just as the palace exploded. I knew you would try to come here, so I…”

Liam’s swords fell to the floor with a great clang. He ran forward and engulfed the Queen in a great hug. “I thought had lost you!”

Annemarie kissed him. “I’ve followed you for the last year, Liam. I thought you had died a thousand times. But I’ve finally found you.”

“Anna died,” said Liam, his face against her hair. “I…I tried to save her, love, but I couldn’t. There were too many gunmen. They cut her down. I tried…I couldn’t…”  The old Knight stifled a sob. 

“I know,” whispered Annemarie. “She saved Lithon. She was very brave, our daughter.”

Liam looked away, his jaw working. “I…always swore to tell the King what had happened between us, one day. Now I shall never have the chance. He is dead, and our daughter Anna is dead.” 

Lithon began to wail.

“But Lithon is still alive,” said Annemarie. “You saved him, Liam. You saved my son.” 

“I had to,” said Liam, looking into her eyes. “For my sake, for your sake, for Anna’s sake, and for the King’s sake, I couldn’t let any harm come to him.” 

“He is our son, Liam,” said Annemarie.

Liam flinched. “How? That's impossible. We…we didn’t…”

“Do you remember that night after the Feast of the True Gods four years ago?” said Annemarie. Liam managed a nod. “My husband shared my bed the next night. No one ever suspected.”

“Ally,” said Liam, turning. “Come here and bring Annemarie her son…my son.”

“No!” said Ally. She took a step back. “He’s not your son!” 

“Ally!” said Liam. “This is the Queen of Carlisan! Show…"

“Hush,” said Annemarie, her warm fingers brushing his lips. “The poor girl has been through a nightmare. We all have. I can understand if she fears a stranger.” 

Liam nodded. “Very well.” Ally gave him a sullen, frightened stare.

“Why have you come here, Liam?” said Annemarie.

“I had to,” said Liam. 

“Why?” said Annemarie. “This is not a place for mortal men. This is Marugon’s place.”

“Because,” said Liam. “Alastarius told me I must.”

Annemarie flinched. “The Wizard? I thought he died at Castle Bastion.”

“He did,” said Liam. “But he Prophesied before he died, Annemarie.” He smiled. “He said that Lithon was the hope for our world. If I could but keep him safe, then the King’s son would return one day to restore our world from what Marugon has done…” Liam's voice trailed off.

“What?” said Annemarie.

“It had all been for naught,” said Liam. “The deaths, the slaughter, Sir Arran’s fall…nothing. Lithon is not the King’s son. He is my son. Alastarius’s Prophecy was wrong. We have lost so much, and it has been for nothing!” Liam’s voice rose to an enraged shout, echoing over and over through the looming corridors. 

“No,” said Annemarie. “There is still a way.”

“What?” said Liam. “What can we possibly do?” 

“We have lost so much,” said Annemarie, “but there is still a way we can lose nothing at all.”

“You speak nonsense,” said Liam.

“No!” said Annemarie. “I have wandered the corridors of this Tower waiting for you. Its doors open onto many worlds, perhaps even all worlds. Listen to me. The doors do not only open to different worlds. They open to different times.”

“Different times?” said Liam. "You mean...the future?"

“Other times, Liam.”  She took his arm in a firm grip. “Times past and times to come.”

“What good does that do us?” said Liam.

“Think about it,” said Annemarie. “If the doors of the Tower can reach the past, then we can go back and stop what has happened.”

Fear and hope churned in Liam's mind. “But how?”

“I saw Marugon’s birth,” said Annemarie with a shudder. “It was foul. A demon, a voidspawn from the black places between the worlds, was his father. He is a soulless man.” Her grip grew tighter against his fingers. “But we have the power to stop it, my love. Think of it! You can go back and kill Marugon in the cradle. You could kill his mother before he was even born.”

Liam nodded. “Then none of it ever happens. Marugon does not go to Earth. He does not bring guns to our world.”

“Yes,” said Annemarie. Her eyes glimmered. “Think of it, my love. You saw Carlisan burn. You saw Anna die. We can keep it all from happening.”

Liam licked his lips. “Which way?” 

He knelt and scooped up his Sacred Blades. 

“Here,” said Annemarie. She led him down a high corridor carved with images of strange buildings with spiked crowns and glass walls. Ally followed, Lithon clutched in her arms. Another of the black holes into nothingness gaped in the wall. An icy  breeze blew out of its depths. Shattered chunks of crimson stone lay strewn across the floor, obscuring Marugon's sigil upon the floor. 

“Here,” said Annemarie. “This corridor leads to the doors to Earth, the world where Marugon found the guns. Yet from here you can go into the past of our world.”

“Where is the door to a different time?” said Liam.

Annemarie pointed into the nothingness. “There.” 

“What?” said Liam.

“The corridors of time wind through the black places between the worlds,” said Annemarie. “It is there that you must go. Step through the breach and think of your destination. The strength of your will shall carry you to the time and place of your choosing.” 

The breach in the wall looked like a great black eye. “ I am unsure…”

“Unsure?” said Annemarie. She took a step back from him. “Liam, my love, listen to me. This is our last chance. Our world lies in ruins. My husband is dead and almost all my children are dead. Marugon murdered them. This is our last chance to undo it. It is our last chance to save them. Please, Liam.”

Liam looked into the void. He felt a deep chill radiating from the blackness. It took all his will to keep from looking away. He thought of the ruin of Carlisan, of Anna’s death, and all the horror and carnage that he had seen. His jaw tightened. If had a chance to undo it all…

A small hand seized his belt. Liam glanced down, and saw Ally next to him.

“Don’t,” she said. “You’ll never come back.”

“I have to,” said Liam, shaking free from her grasp. “It’s the only way…”

“Why?” said Ally. “How do you know?”

“Because it leads to the corridors of time…”  

Ally hit him in the gut. It hardly hurt, but Liam blinked with surprise. “Why did you do that?”

“You’re being stupid!” said Ally, her face crinkling.  “How do you know this is the way?”

“Because…because Annemarie told me,” said Liam. “I love her. I trust her.”

“Liam,” said Annemarie. “This is our last chance.”

“How does she know?” said Ally. “How does she know?”

“Child,” said Annemarie, her voice soft. “Your poor thing. What horrors must you have seen, to so shatter your trust?”  She reached for the girl.

Ally hopped away, Lithon clutched in her arms. “The most horrible thing I’ve seen is a woman who’s supposed to be dead!”

“Child!” said Annemarie, her voice a whip. “Peasant! Show some respect to your elders!”

“Annemarie!” said Liam. “I don’t know what terrible things she has seen. Show some gentleness, I pray.” 

“How does she know?” said Ally, her voice rising to a shrill yell. 

“I saw it,” said Annemarie, folding her arms. 

Ally pointed at the darkness. “Do you even see anything?”

“No,” said Liam.

Annemarie spun away with a scowl. “Your wits are addled! Are you drunk?”

“Drunk?” said Liam, stunned by her rage. “No, I…”  He blinked. “Drunk…”

He remembered. 

He had sat and watched Annemarie together with the King during the Feast of the True Gods four years past. Glass after glass of wine had been placed before him, and he had drunk it all as he watched the love of his life sit with his lord and king. Afterwards, Liam had staggered off to his own chambers in the Tower of the Knights and had fallen asleep. The next morning he had had a dreadful hangover-but he had awakened in his own chambers. 

He had not awakened in the Queen’s bedroom. 

Liam looked at young Lithon. The boy had the features of his father, Annemarie’s husband, the fallen King of Carlisan. 

A finger of ice brushed Liam’s spine.

“You’re lying,” he said.

“Liam, no,” said Annemarie. Her voice shook with pain. “She’s just a child. Don’t listen to her.” She reached for him. “You must…”

“You lie!” said Liam. He jerked away from her touch and moved to stand before Ally and Lithon. “Lithon is not my son. I never had a son. My only child was Anna, and she lies dead on the battlefields of Carlisan. You are lying.”

Annemarie shook her head. “Liam. Make it easier on yourself. Just go through the hole and into the void. You will have an end to all your sufferings. Just go. Two steps. That’s all.”

“No,” said Liam. Something in Annemarie’s face made him lift his Sacred Blades. 

“Then throw the girl and the child through the breach,” said Annemarie. “You can yet save yourself. We will let you go, if you just give us the boy and that wretched girl.”

Liam’s Sacred Blades began to glow brighter. “Who are you?”

Annemarie smiled. “Why, I am Annemarie Scepteris, Queen of Carlisan and the love of your life. I am who you believe me to be, whom you truly wish to see.”

“No,” said Liam. He raised his swords, the steel flashing with blue light. “Annemarie Scepteris was a kind and gentle woman. She would never demand that I throw any child, let alone her own son, through some hole into nothingness! And you said ‘we’, you deceiver, trickster who wears my beloved’s form! Who are you, and where are your confederates?” 

Annemarie laughed and looked at the floor. “So petty, so small. Typical of mortals.”

She looked up. Annemarie’s lovely dark eyes had become pits into the void, yawning pools of black shadows.

Much like the hole in the wall. 

“Who are you? Answer!” said Liam. 

“We were there before you,” said Annemarie. Her melodic voice became deep and whispery. “The worlds were ours long before you mortals lived.” She hissed. “The Divine cast us out, threw us into the black places between the worlds, and built this wretched Tower to keep us out. The Divine left us to scream and gnaw on the nothingness between the worlds. And for what? For the sake of you crawling, mewling, dying little mortals?” 

“What are you saying?” said Liam. His Sacred Blades pulsed brighter. Flickers of white flame danced across the steel as the cold breeze from the hole grew to an icy wind.

Annemarie shook her head. “Liam Mastere of the Two Swords. You fear Marugon so much. But what are his little powers? They are nothing. We are everything. The worlds are ours. The seals crumble, and we can now walk the corridors of the Tower. Soon they shall fail, and we will come forth and all the worlds shall be ours once more.”

“Thing of darkness,” said Liam. “I know not or care not what you are, but do not stand in my way.”

Annemarie shrank back, seeming to sink into her black gown. Lines of darkness blurred the edges of her form, and wings of shadow rose from her back. Shadows flowed from her bottomless eyes and crawled down her body. 

Her gaze snapped to meet his as claws of darkness grew from her fingers. “You will not leave this Tower!”

The creature lunged at him, moving with the speed of shadow.

The wind howled.

Liam spun, his Sacred Blades flashing in an azure blur. The shadow-thing hissed and reared back, flinching from the magical fire of the steel. Liam settled back into a guard position, waiting for the creature to strike.

Annemarie’s face leered at him beneath the swirling darkness. Then the creature twisted and lunged for Ally and Lithon. 

“No!” said Liam. The creature’s claws swiped for Ally and missed, and Liam chopped down with both swords. The Sacred Blades burned through Annemarie’s body. The creature wailed in agony, blue fire flashing through its eyes and mouth. The shadows fell from its body and crawled back to the breach in the wall.