Reaper's Gale

‘The Holds, witch. They clash, clumsy as crones. Against the young ones-the Warrens. Only a fool would call it a dance of equals. Power was robust, once. Now it is…’ he smiled, taking another step closer, ‘gracile. Do you understand? What I offer you, witch?’



She was scowling to hide her fear. ‘No. You stink like a refuse pit, Consort-you are not welcome here-’



‘The tiles so want to play, don’t they? Yet they clatter down in broken patterns, ever broken. There is no flow. They are outmoded, witch. Outmoded.’



A gesture with the hovering hand, and Feather Witch’s eyes flicked past the Errant.



A faint voice behind him. ‘Do not do this.’



The Errant turned. ‘Kuru Qan. She summoned youV He laughed. ‘I could banish you with the blink of an eye, ghost.’



‘She was not to know that. Heed my warning, Errant; you are driven to desperation. And the illusion of glory-do you not understand what has so afflicted you? You stood too close to the ice. Assailed by a storm of desire from the trapped demon. Its ambition. Its lust.’



A sliver of doubt, stinging, then the Errant shook his head. ‘I am the Master of the Tiles, Elder. No pathetic well-spring spirit could so infect me. My thoughts are clear. My purpose-’ He turned again, dismissing the ghost behind him. And reeled slightly, needing a step to right himself.



The ghost of the Ceda spoke. ‘Errant, you think to challenge the Warrens? Do you not realize that, as the Tiles once had a Master, so too the Warrens?’



‘Don’t be a fool,’ the Errant said. ‘There are no tiles describing these warrens-^’



‘Not Tiles. Cards. A Deck. And yes, there is a Master. Do you now choose to set yourself against him? To achieve what?’



The Errant made no reply, although his answer whispered in his skull. Usurpation. As a child before one such as myself. 1 might even pity him, as I wrest from him all power, every drop of blood, his very life.



1 shall retreat from this world no longer.



Kuru Qan continued, ‘If you set the Holds to battle against the Warrens, Errant, you will shatter alliances-’



The Errant snorted. ‘They are already shattered, Ceda. What began as yet another march on the Crippled God to exact brutal punishment-as if the Fallen One commits a crime by virtue of his very existence-well, it is that no more. The Elders are awakened, awakened to themselves-the memory of what they once were, what they could be again. Besides,’ he added as he took another step towards the now trembling Letherii witch, ‘the enemy is divided, confused-’



‘All strangers to you. To us. Are you so certain that what you sense is true? Not simply what your enemy wants you to believe?’



‘Now you play games, Kuru Qan. Ever your flaw.’



‘This is not our war, Errant.’



‘Oh, but it is. My war. Rhulad’s war. The Crippled God’s. After all, it is not the Elder Gods who so hunger to destroy the Fallen One.’



‘They would if they but understood, Errant. But they are blinded by the lure of resurrection-as blinded as you, here, now. All but one, and that is the maker of the Warrens. K’rul himself. Errant, listen to me! To. set the Holds against the Warrens, you declare war upon K’rul-’



‘No. Just his children. Children who will kill him if they can. They don’t want him. He was gone, but now he walks the realms again, and drags with him the Tiles, the Holds, the ancient places he knew so well-there is the real war, Ceda!’



‘True, and K’ruls idiotic nostalgia is proving a most virulent poison-although he is yet to realize that. 1 am dead, Errant-the paths I have wandered-’



‘Do not interest me.’



‘Do not do this. This is all the Crippled God’s game!’



Smiling, the Errant reached out, the motion a blur. Grasped the Letherii witch round the throat. Lifted her clear of the floor.



In his other hand, a knife appeared.



Blood. Mortal’s gift to the Elder-



She held something in one hand. Thrashing, struggling against his life-stealing grip, her eyes bulging, face darkening, she lashed out with that hand.



And stabbed a severed finger into his left eye.



The Errant bellowed in shock, a spear of incandescence lancing into his brain.



His knife bit into the woman’s body. He flung her away, then lurched, flailing at his own face-where blood streamed down, where something dangled at the end of a thread against his cheek. Got her, never mind what she did to me-got her, that foul creature-her blood-my blood-Abyss take me, the pain!



Then she was back. Clawed hands gouging against his face-grasping something, tearing it away-pain! And her vicious snarl, close-‘I’m collecting.’ Twisting away, even as he slashed again with the knife, cutting into flesh, the edge rippling along bones.