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I remember my pride. Such a small triumph, yet it seemed so great. And all the while, surrounded by a limitless number of portals which executed the same function with far greater power and finesse, yet oblivious to my insignificance among such vast designs. It is, I believe, the secret of great genius, to see past the insignificance of oneself. And the secret of great foolishness.

I stepped into the portal, the eyes of the room on my back from Lex's departure, thought briefly of my lodgings, and was there, rapt with joy. Lex stood before me, fading sparks of colour licking the air around him. I wished I could see his eyes.

Lostra screamed.

"Skyrie!"

Lex fell to the floor.

"Skyrie! Friend Skyrie! This man... he... appeared. Just as you entered. Just the moment before." Lostra's mouth worked on, but had no more words to say. I touched a hand to his shoulder, letting a gentle flow of reassurance seep through my fingers and into his skin.

"I know. I sent him here."

"You did this?"

I nodded. Lostra's stared, his eyes and mouth three gaping holes in his drawn, sun-beaten face. And then he fell to his knees at my feet.

"You are no mortal sorcerer! You are a spirit! You have been sent! For what purpose? I have always honoured my lives before this one! I have always strived..."

I pulled my legs from his grasp and hauled him to his feet. "Yes, yes, you are, Lostra, an honourable and worthy friend. But I am no spirit. I am mortal as any other man." Yet even as I spoke, I felt the mark of Ehwan on my forehead begin to itch, and a certain stiffness through my legs. And, with my pride already engorged, I felt, perhaps, the first flickers of wondering.

Was he right...?

Lex groaned. Lostra stared.

"This is Lex. He is the man I told you of. He will lead us, though the route may be long, to the Well of Shadows. And to your Death Pirates, so we may destroy them and free your people."

His eyes remained full of wonder. "And you, friend Skyrie. What do you seek in the Well?"

"I seek power."

For a moment, the veils behind my eyes lowered themselves. For a moment, Lostra caught a glimpse of the empty space behind them, for the wonder in his eyes drained into cold and dreadful fear.

And then the veils rose again, the dread faded, and he was himself once more.

"This is the man you spoke of?"

"Yes."

"But he is a sorcerer."

"I know."

He drew close, huddled himself to my side, his voice dropping to a whisper. "He is a sorcerer! A sorcerer of the Bone Empire! They are not to be trusted!"

"Even so, I have given him my word."

"Then take it back."

"I cannot."

Lostra gulped. "Friend Skyrie, I know you to be a man of integrity. But this man is not. He is a sorcerer of the Bone Empire. He will betray us both."

"You friend is right," murmured Lex. "Save that I have already betrayed my fill of men for one lifetime. I have betrayed my Emperor, my Empire, my brothers and my friends. There is little left, and could hope for little reward for adding you to such a list. But I have never betrayed my beliefs."

I smiled, feeling Lostra quiver against me. "Perhaps we are more akin than I thought."

"You will show me, I hope, how to perform this new sorcery of yours."

"Perhaps. But we have a difficult enough bargain ahead of us already. When we reach the Well, perhaps we will have more to say to each other. For now, I would know as much as you have to tell me of these portals and their operation."

He frowned. "What need have you of that, when you can simply draw a place and take us there?"

"I must be at the place to draw it."

He shrugged. "I am unconcerned. All I wish is to leave the citadel."

I smiled my pity for him. "This was the first."

Lostra pointed to the picture on the floor. Before my eyes, it crumbled to dust.

"And they don't last."

For three days, while Lostra found food and water for our guest, I wandered the citadel, searching for a way out, ever more desperate. Convinced though I was that the power I had stolen from the Emerald Wizard would suffice to break whatever wards this place possessed, my every attempt to create a picture gate to a place that I knew failed. I felt the powers hovering mere inches from my grasp, but without being already at the place I wished to draw, I could not bring them down from their taunting dance and confine them to parchment. And all the while, Lex grew more and more impatient. I watched soldiers pass to and fro between portals, some of them returning drenched in rain, their boots covered in mud, yet when I mustered the power to peek into their minds, to try and learn how they were known to the citadel, how it knew to allow them to the outside, I found only an endless fog, clouding their minds beyond my reach.

"It is the citadel," Lex said. "It mutes and stifles all magic other than its own. You will find nothing from them." His words were shot through with tones of anger and disappointment, Though he would not say it - yet - I saw the impatience to be gone in his every movement.

"I have asked them," said Lostra. "They will not tell me. All I hear is that I will be allowed to return to my people - and you to yours - when the time is right."

"They will not let anyone leave until they have me," said Lex.

"Why? Surely they must concede defeat in time? Why not wait them out?"

Lex shook his head. "You do not understand this place. This is the Empire of Bone, and the Emperor himself has decreed I am to be found. Though half the citadel may starve, and the other half perish of plague, they will not open their gates until the Emperor tells them they may do so. And since it is the Emperor himself I have offended - or those who control him - such trifles will barely concern them. The Precursor, they say, threatens the very end of the Empire. And they will only find the Precursor if they find me."

"But to sacrifice their people?" Lostra's face spoke for him. Beyond comprehension. Yet if Lex's words were true, I would do the same, I knew. If I ruled this place...

If...

I had to wait for another three days before I found Vann, the fortmaster. By now, if there had been a way to do so, Lex would have left us, spared me the disgust in his face every time he saw me. "Fortmaster!"

Vann peered at me, pausing for a while before recognising my face.

"Ambassador. If that's what I should call you."

I bowed. "You honour me beyond my desserts."

We stood in a long and narrow room - a corridor, perhaps, though too wide. A hallway. All around, soldiers floundered into heavy armour, pegged to the walls.

"I trust you are finding your accommodations to your taste?"

"Indeed." I favoured him with the humblest smile I could manage. "Though I find myself quite unable to perform my duties here. How would I speak to..."

Before I could even finish, he waved me aside. "I am needed. You must excuse me. And I am not the one to speak to about such matters."

I forced the smile to remain, though I felt my hand twitch for a sword. "I quite understand. With the Precursor loose, you must be quite busy."

He gave me a sharp look. "You should not speak about such things."

"I most humbly apologise. I was hoping to leave the citadel and..."

Vann nodded, and made to push past. I blocked him with my arm, let him feel my strength; for a moment, we glared fire at each other, faces almost touching.

I whispered: "What if I were to tell you where he was?"

His look of anger phased into incredulity.

"What?"

"What if I were to tell you I know where the Precursor is?"

He pushed his face closer into mine, nose to nose. "Then I would say you were lying."

My hand fell away from him. I took a step back, submissive. "A pity. I will have to find someone else then. For I have no use for such knowledge, except to gain an audience with your Emperor."

He snorted, but I saw the doubt in his eyes, there for a moment. While his soldiers mustered themselves around the portals dotted throughout the hall, he made no move to join them.

"What have you heard."

"I have heard of a man, who claims he can lead you to the Precursor, who you hunt, and yet who evades you. He has obtained shelter. He does not use the portals. Others provide him with his basic needs, and he waits."

"He will wait a long time, then."

"He knows. Fortmaster, you will not find him. None of you will find him."

"Who shelters him?" He stepped quickly forwards.

I raised a finger and kept my distance. "Ah ah ahh... but what do I get for this information?"

"You get to live."

"Fortmaster, that is not a very amicable offer. And I after I have gone to such lengths to find you, specifically you, because I thought we had begun to develop an understanding."

"Soldiers!" The guardsmen snapped to his attention. He pointed out two of them. "You and you, take this man into custody."

They nodded.

My sword flashed into my hand. "I would not kill your men, for preference, fortmaster. But I will if I have to."

He laughed. "Take him. Alive."

The two drew their own weapons and advanced carefully. Vann backed away, folded his arms, an amused expression on his face. As though a father overseeing a nervous son. I turned to the two soldiers, as they began to separate, to take me one from each side.

"I am sorry."

And lunged. And slashed.

Two swords clashed tot he floor. One of the soldiers clutched his hand and whimpered. The other made no sound at all, but gaped in open-mouthed astonishment. And then fell dead to the floor.

I turned again to Vann, snarling, all pretence gone. "I did not have to take his life. I did so because your arrogance has angered me."

He hesitated. Before he could speak, I had crossed the space between us.

"Raise a weapon, or order any of your men to do so, and your life will be next."

"It will not matter. Yours is already forfeit." But his face was ashen.

"I will give you your Precursor. You will give me my audience. You will gain power, prestige and fame. These to men will have died in his capture. We all get what we want."

He nodded.

"I have your word?"

He nodded again.

"Then say so. Tell me I have your word."

"You have my word. But if you do not lead me to him, one way or the other, your life will as worthless as his. You cannot kill all of us."

I grinned. "Perhaps. Perhaps not."

"Where is he?"

"Follow!" And I stepped into a portal.

The horror in the Precursor's eyes, when I entered the room, and a dozen soldiers appeared behind me, is a memory I savour always. Poor Lostra and his blind honesty, his naivety, I'm not sure he ever quite understood. But Lex - Alexiun, of course, who did so little to hide his name, and even less to hide his manner - did. I had no way to lead any of us out of the citadel, except to take away their reason for closing the doors. It curdles my blood to think of the curse he would have laid on me, if the chance had been given; I am quite sure, at that moment, he despised me more than any man, before or since. And who can blame him?

The content of this page is © copyright Stephen Deas 2001 and is used here with permission.
It may not be reproduced in any form whatsoever without the permission of the author.