Darkness Weaves (30 page)

For now looping from the pool were the immense black tentacles of an Oraycha. Somehow the boneless monster had passed through the vast tunnel along with its masters. Like a giant scythe, the tentacles swept across the chamber--smashing dozens of men to the stones in each blow, catching them up in its suckered grasp. The lamps were hurled to the floor, spilling oil in spreading pools that blazed briefly across the bare stones.

Kane gained the stairway, followed by Arbas and several of the others. Behind them the subterranean chamber dissolved into a nightmare of screaming men and feasting black shapes.

Darkness swallowed up the entire chamber and all those who were in it.

From the deck of the Ara-Teving, Kane watched the ruin-haunted coasts of Pellin drop from sight.

He had escaped from the carnage within Dan-Legeh only to find his forces on the short end of the battle. The heavy losses that resulted from the fight with Lages's men--and the horror in the subterranean chamber--had dealt a mortal blow to his plans. With all of Prisarte raised against Kane, the battle with the Pellinites was going against him. Fighting his way clear, Kane had gathered together as many of his followers as escaped on the Ara-Teving. With ship and crew, Kane set sail, leaving behind him the chaos of his own creation.

"What was it that happened to Efrel there in her chamber?" asked Arbas from beside him, finding pause at last to reflect. Even the assassin's irreverent tones were tinged with a note of awe.

"The tales of Efrel's demon parentage were true," Kane answered pensively. "Somehow, by some dark sorcery--who knows what Pellin Othrin intended to achieve that night--Efrel was the offspring of an unhallowed coupling of human and Scylred. No wonder her mother went insane that night in the sorcerer's chamber.

"Efrel was beautiful, certainly--appeared completely human. But that's not uncommon among were-beasts--which is roughly what Efrel was, although she couldn't change form at will. I often wondered how she could communicate so well with such alien creatures--her bond with them was a deeper one than any had guessed. Her half-demon heritage explains a lot of other things, now that I think back on it. As to what took place in the end--like a werebeast, Efrel assumed her true form in death."

Kane spat into the water in the direction of the vanishing coastline. "So it seems as though no one could achieve his ambition in this game. And this region is too hot for me to linger in now. After all that has happened, it would be impossible for me to raise another army large enough to consolidate any strong position within these islands.

"No, I think I'll head on south and see what's happening around the more civilized part of the world. It has been quite a while since I tried my luck in the Southern hands. With a trireme and a good crew, there's no telling what I might find to do."

He grinned at his companion. "Care to come along, Arbas? I'll show you lands where a man can carve out a kingdom."

"No, thanks," decided Arbas. "Just drop me off somewhere where I can get a ship back to the Combine and the alleys of Nostoblet. I have a feeling that my calling is to be an assassin, not a soldier of fortune. And anyway, I've noticed that people who come in contact with you don't live long lives."

Kane laughed. "Perhaps another time."

Two weeks later, in the southern port of Castakes, Arbas watched Kane sail away on another voyage of his eternal wandering. The sun was just beginning to rise, and perhaps it was only his imagination that colored the dawn skies so deep a red.