The Citadel Read online

  Too late. The mists swallowed up his adversary, rewarding Tyros with nothing but a face soaked by the storm.

  “You see him?” Bakal demanded, joining Tyros.

  “He’s gone. Probably a mile up by now. I wanted him alive!”

  “And how by Kiri-Jolith was I supposed to know that? Besides, I doubt that thing would’ve let itself be captured!”

  “It doesn’t matter now. It’s gone.”

  The captain tried to shake the rain off. “I don’t see how it could’ve even gotten up in the air! Not with that belly wound!”

  “How much do you know about gargoyles?”

  “Good point.”

  They were startled by a heavy thud just a few yards from them. The two turned, Bakal’s blade ready and Tyros with a spell on his lips.

  The mangled form of the gargoyle lay sprawled in the street. Tyros swallowed. Although suffering a gaping wound, it had clearly made it to a considerable altitude before succumbing. The results of the drop were not at all appetizing.

  “You can forget about questioning him,” Bakal remarked.

  Despite the horrific condition of the gargoyle’s corpse, Tyros approached the still form, his mind racing. “What do they want of me? If only I could have questioned it.”

  The drenched soldier joined him. “You might be asking the wrong question, boy.”

  “What do you mean?”

  “I came out just after you, mage. I got a little curious about your intended love there and thought I’d join the pair of you before you made too big of an ass of yourself.”

  “Your point, Bakal?”

  “My point, mage,” the graying warrior returned, poking a thick finger in the spellcaster’s chest, “is that the gargoyle landed with his back facing you. He wasn’t after you. See?”

  “Not after me?” Tyros replayed the moments prior to the leathery beast’s appearance in his mind. “He was after her?”

  “That would be my guess. Your hot blood got in his way.”

  Tyros looked in the direction that the woman had gone. If she had heard the struggle, she had chosen to ignore it, and in such weather it would be impossible to find her now.

  “I don’t know about you, mage, but I’m heading back to the inn. I need to dry my outsides and wet my insides while I think what reason these gargoyles have for trying first to snatch you and then a cleric of a god like Bran!”

  “Bran?”

  “The woodland god, boy! You know, Branchala.…”

  Chapter 4

  Castle in the Sky

  General Cadrio had spent many a night on the battlefield, sleeping to the mournful moans of wounded and dying men. Yet here in the silent walls of Atriun, a sense of unease had assailed him all night. The lanky commander didn’t blame the castle for his restlessness; that fault lay with Valkyn. Few people other than Ariakas or the Blue Lady had ever unsettled the vulpine-visaged soldier as much as the deathly cheerful spellcaster did.

  Now, dressed and impatient, Cadrio departed his chambers. Two sentries outside his door stood at attention. Even in the sanctum of a so-called ally, Cadrio took no chances.

  “The pig was just here, sir,” one guard informed him, meaning Lemual. “You left orders not to be disturbed before this hour, so I sent him away, General.”

  “You did quite right, Syl.” Cadrio’s alert eyes took in his surroundings. “And what did that poor excuse of a cleric want?”

  “To tell you that the wizard wants to see you in the courtyard.”

  “The courtyard?” The general had expected to finally see what lurked below the castle. “Curious.”

  His guards flanking him, Cadrio made his way to the courtyard, wondering what Valkyn had in mind. The commander wore his helmet but kept the visor up. Outside, the rest of his men awaited him, weapons at attention. They filed into place as their general passed, creating a small but efficient fighting force ready to react at his command.

  As they emerged into the courtyard, Cadrio noted Valkyn at work on a tripod with two small gems at the top. The wizard was being aided by two gargoyles, which had to be Crag and Stone. The pair reminded him that there were other creatures about, probably watching his group from above.

  “Valkyn! Another delay?” He had the satisfaction of seeing that his arrival had slightly startled the robed figure. Good! Let Valkyn see how it felt.

  The wizard, of course, recovered quickly. “By no means! You are just in time, my general.” He turned his attention to the gargoyles. “This is ready now. Take it out to the spot marked. Position it carefully. Understand?”

  The pair nodded. Crag tried to shove Stone aside and take hold of the device, but the other gargoyle would have none of it, snapping at his larger counterpart. The two might have fought, but Valkyn suddenly reached into the confines of his robe and pulled out a dark red wand with a small golden sphere made of crystal set at the end. Stone saw the wand first and immediately subsided. Crag, intent on his rival, yelped in sudden pain as the bearded mage touched one of his wings with the sphere.

  “I will brook no more of this. Go!”

  Chastised, the two gargoyles quickly lifted the device.

  “Gently! Gently!”

  Now more cautious, Crag and Stone fluttered into the air, the tripod between them. Cadrio watched the creatures vanish over the wall, curious as to the item’s function but determined not to ask.

  “Always fighting with one another,” Valkyn remarked. “They can be like children.”

  Children? These monsters? The general recognized deadly rivals. Those atop the castle were a different band than those lurking in the wooded garden. Only the wizard’s power kept the groups at bay, but Cadrio wondered if that would someday prove insufficient. As with so many things, Valkyn played a risky game when it came to mastery of the creatures.

  “Lemual should be done soon, I think, and then we can all ride out to the safety point and begin.”

  Interest replaced concern. “You’re certain you can deliver what you promised? You can give me the weapon I need?”

  Energetic blue eyes gazed his way in amusement. “I would stake my life on it, my general … and I do, don’t I?”

  Some of Cadrio’s men shifted uneasily, all too familiar with their commander’s preferred method for punishing failure. No doubt they imagined Valkyn’s head on a pike. “We’re allies, Valkyn, a precious commodity in this war.”

  “The war is over, my general. This is for our own personal gain. My research and your empire …”

  The statement led General Cadrio to ask a question that had nagged him since Valkyn had first materialized in his tent shortly after the emperor’s death. “Why me, mage? I know why I agreed to this alliance, but why did you choose me? You could’ve sided with the Blue Lady, Kitiara.” Cadrio imagined her lithe body, a tool used to entice so many to her banner. “She would have rewarded you handsomely … in more than riches.”

  Valkyn’s countenance momentarily darkened. “I’ve no interest in such pleasures, General. My work is my life now.”

  “But still—”

  “I chose you, Cadrio, because you once served another general, however briefly. Do you know the name Culthairai?”

  Culthairai. It rang a distant bell. A region as obscure as Atriun, overrun early in the war. He had served under a general born in Culthairai … a General Krynos, a giant of a man at about seven feet. Ambitious, once thought to be the next Dragon Highlord, Krynos and nearly all his command had been wiped out by a singularly effective plague rumored to have been spread by a dying Solamnic knight. “You speak of Krynos?”

  “You survived. He did not.”

  Cadrio remembered his good fortune. “Ariakas needed to fill a position left by the death of another general. Krynos had recommended me before. I left with three men. The next I heard, he and most of his force had fallen.”

  “My brother, had he lived, would have been my choice, General Cadrio. I’ve decided that you, who knew his ways, will do.”

  Krynos’
s brother … Cadrio could see some of the dead general’s manner in the wizard. What sort of land had Culthairai been that it would groom for the world such a pair?

  Valkyn clasped his gloved hands together, his tone once more exuberant. He seemed to switch emotions readily, either a sign of madness—in the soldier’s opinion, common among wizards—or a hint that the faces he wore were all masks. “And here comes Lemual! We can begin!”

  The pig-faced cleric ran toward them. One of the gargoyles perched nearby took a swipe at him as he passed, and although the creature clearly could not reach him, Lemual ducked in terror.

  “Come, come, Lemual! Try to put on a brave face in front of General Cadrio!”

  “What, by the emperor, is wrong with him? I’ve never known a cleric to cringe so! What’s happened to his backbone?”

  “Lemual suffered an accident of faith, or perhaps the lack of it. Happened during one of my earlier experiments. He proves useful, especially now that the grand experiment is at hand.”

  “Useful … as a cleric?”

  Instead of answering him, Valkyn turned to the oncoming figure. “Well, Lemual, shall we begin?”

  “Yes … I suppose so.”

  Narrow blue eyes shrank to slits. “Are you absolutely certain? Everything must be in place.”

  Lemual swallowed. “Yes … yes, I’m certain, Valkyn!”

  “Excellent!” The wizard looked toward the castle, then clapped his hands twice. “Go!”

  The gargoyles abandoned Atriun en masse. Cadrio doubled his estimate of the number of gargoyles at Valkyn’s beck and call. Two hundred or more.

  When the last had flown clear, Valkyn looked up at the central tower. Cadrio expected to see nothing up there save perhaps a lingering gargoyle or two, but instead he noticed a cowled figure, nearly a shadow, gazing down at the party.

  The wizard pointed the wand at the murky form. Cadrio blinked as the mysterious figure drifted back out of sight.

  “Who was that? Who else is here, Valkyn?”

  “No one of concern, my general. Now, come! Let us get our mounts!”

  “But where are the other mages and clerics? Shouldn’t they be with us, to chant the proper spells together?”

  “I don’t require such things.”

  “But Lord Ariakas’s design—”

  Valkyn waved off the late emperor’s work. “Crude, time-consuming, and inefficient. My design eliminates much of the potential for costly mistakes, my general. Lemual and I will be sufficient for the task. Now, we really must be going!”

  Two of Cadrio’s men brought forth the soldiers’ steeds. Lemual retrieved a pair of mounts for Valkyn and himself. The cleric’s horse looked as nondescript as its rider, but the spellcaster’s animal proved to be a furious white devil that stood at least a hand taller than even the general’s massive stallion. The other horses shied away from the beast, who snorted when anyone other than his master or Lemual drew near.

  With Valkyn leading, the band departed for a hilly field to the south. It stood atop a ridge that gave them an excellent view of the entire domain.

  Stone and Crag awaited them there. Valkyn dismounted and quickly inspected the tripod. “All is in place. Good.”

  The wizard pulled his hood up, then brought forth the wand. He looked at General Cadrio and the rest, who remained near their horses. “Come, come, General! Surely you will want to see this!”

  “Damon, watch the horses. The rest of you, come with me.” The wary commander led his guards to where Valkyn stood.

  The cheerful wizard pointed at Atriun. “Watch, my general! Watch as I give you your victory!”

  He took the wand and touched the sphere at the end to the ones on the tripod. Beside him, Lemual flinched, almost as if he expected the crystals to explode. Instead, both the one on the wand and those on the tripod began to sparkle with magical energy, growing more golden. Even when Valkyn pulled the wand back, the glow about the spheres increased until it became almost blinding.

  Cadrio felt the hairs on his neck rise. His entire body seemed charged. He glanced at his men, saw that they, too, experienced the unsettling sensation.

  “Lemual! Do your part!”

  “Valkyn! Reconsider what you have in mind.”

  The dark mage thrust the wand toward the cleric. “Do it!”

  To Cadrio’s shock, the trembling cleric placed a hand on each of the crackling globes. Lemual screamed, but a single look from the wizard kept him from removing his hands. The general sniffed, noting the all too familiar smell of burning flesh.

  “Now, Lemual!”

  “She has abandoned me, I tell you!”

  “Your faith abandoned her! She’ll give you what you want in this case, if only you believe!”

  Whether the suffering cleric had truly regained his belief in Takhisis or simply feared Valkyn more, somehow Lemual summoned power. Cadrio saw his lips move, perhaps an incantation or prayer. Pain clearly wracked the man, but he did not stop.

  Valkyn began to mutter, his eyes now fixed upon the wand’s crystalline sphere. The mage’s complexion had grown parchment white, but unlike Lemual, Valkyn’s expression was filled with anticipation, not dread.

  The general stepped beside the spellcaster, his gaze on the immense castle. From up here, Cadrio could admire its size better, a fortress that spanned the length of several dragons. How massive an army Cadrio could station within the walls, how many months of supplies could he store in its depths …

  The earth beneath his feet started to tremble.

  The horses, all save Valkyn’s monstrous beast, struggled against their reins. The two gargoyles took to the air, hovering a few feet above the ground. Even the lanky general had to struggle to keep his footing as the tremor grew stronger. Only Valkyn and Lemual seemed immune, but the latter lived a terror of his own, his hands black from the heat. Now the cleric looked as if he wanted to remove them from the spheres but could not.

  A sound like rolling thunder came from the direction of Atriun.

  Valkyn and the cleric continued to mutter. The mage looked more undead than human, his flesh colorless, streaks of gray spreading through his hair. General Cadrio had never personally witnessed so harsh a spell.

  The rumble grew to a roar, and cracks began to materialize in the landscape surrounding the castle. The tremor wreaked havoc on the rest of the countryside as trees collapsed and hillsides broke in half. Birds shrieked, and although the day had only been slightly overcast before, a dark, threatening cloud cover now formed above the building. Thunder from those clouds vied with the terrifying roar from the earth below.

  “Do it!” the general muttered. “Do it!”

  Slowly Castle Atriun and the land directly around it rose. Only a few inches, but it rose.

  Valkyn shouted a single word, then returned to his muttering. Lemual, slumped over the tripod, said nothing.

  The great fortress rose a little more. A raging storm now spread far beyond the confines of the outer walls, stretching toward Cadrio and the others. Lightning set ablaze a small wooded area to the north. A mad wind drove Cadrio’s men back. Even the gargoyles found it impossible to maintain their positions. Only Cadrio, Valkyn, and Lemual remained at the very top of the ridge.

  Valkyn shouted once more, his words stolen by the wind.

  Lightning assailed the outskirts of Castle Atriun, striking the already crippled ground again and again. Tons of earth flew into the air, moments later bombarding the surrounding earth. The area below resembled the worst of battlefields. Cadrio almost expected to hear the cries of the dying.

  The bolts continued for one minute, two, then three. Cadrio knew of the power needed to fulfill this spell, but nothing had prepared him for this. It amazed him that the man at his side had managed this much success. Yet it would mean nothing unless Valkyn followed through to the end.

  The ebony-robed mage fell to one knee. Anxious, Cadrio reached for him, but even though Valkyn could not have seen him, the wizard shook his head, clearly reje
cting any assistance.

  And then a sound that made even the striking of a hundred bolts seem mute in comparison sent the general sprawling. For a horrible moment, he saw only blackened sky. Somehow, though, Cadrio struggled to his feet and refocused on the castle.

  He saw a gaping hole where the citadel had once stood. The hole sank some great distance, a chasm vast enough to hold a lake. In fact, he could see some of Atriun’s moat draining into the tremendous abyss in a futile attempt to fill it.

  Above him, thunder rumbled.

  Heart pounding, General Cadrio looked skyward … and witnessed the culmination of his voyage to this backwater province.

  High above, the storm gathered around it like some mad cloak, floated Castle Atriun. A corona of lightning revealed the full extent of the dark castle, including the massive island of earth attached below. As Cadrio watched, great chunks of rock and dirt broke free, dropping to the ground below with catastrophic consequences. Here and there he could also make out open passages in the earth that no doubt led to some of Atriun’s lower levels.

  Valkyn had proven as good as his word; he had brought forth unto Ansalon a new and terrible flying citadel. The eager commander had only to gaze up at the unsettling storm raging around the fortress to know that this citadel was different from its predecessors. Surely Valkyn had filled Atriun with many, many surprises.

  Recalling his erstwhile ally, Cadrio turned around, only to see a figure in black sprawled nearby. Fear momentarily took hold of the vulpine officer, fear that he would be left with no one to explain to him how to control the flying citadel. Then Cadrio realized that the body belonged to the insipid Lemual.

  Valkyn materialized next to the cleric’s limp form and bent over him. After a minute’s examination, the mage rose. “Poor Lemual. Still, he served his function.”

  “He’s dead?”

  “I was fairly certain it would happen, not that I thought to worry him with that knowledge.”

  The storm had abated somewhat and withdrawn to the near vicinity of the hovering castle. Lemual forgotten, Cadrio eagerly asked, “Will it do as you said it would?”