Tricksters Touch

holovespa, Po. Think about it. She's been stung and survived it. You can bet on it.» There was a short silence. «Okay,» agreed Po. «So what's your plan, then?» he asked Himayat. «I assume you have one.» Himayat shook his head. «I'm still thinking about it.» Po swore. «Look. We ain't got time for a conference here. We gotta kill this Suxonli maniac before she kills us!» Himayat glared at Po. «Patience.» Po threw up his hands and walked away. He stopped a few feet away, his hands clasped at his back. Himayat and Kelandris could hear him cursing under his breath. Kelandris took the opportunity to speak to Himayat more privately. «Hennin draws power from the land itself. I can turn it on her. We'd have to do it at Revel Rock. That means we'd have to get there without being stopped. What are our chances?» «Depends on Zendrak, I should think.» Kelandris again joined her consciousness with Zendrak. We have a plan, she told him. You have to help me reverse the draw. Kelandris received no answer. Zendrak? Zendrak lifted into the air, his blue-black Mythrrim wings catching snow as it fell softly in Speakinghast. Akindo craned its head, watching Zendrak carefully, his eyes again belonging to Elder Hennin. Fortunately for Kelandris, Po, and Himayat, Hennin's complete attention was on Zendrak. When Kelandris got no response from Zendrak, she and the two men started toward Revel Rock, the site of her defeat so many years ago. Zendrak was aware of her decision and lauded it in his heart. At the moment, however, he knew that the safety of Kelandris and the Mayanabi men depended on his ability to confound Hennin. He did not want Hennin to become aware of the three people breaching her psychic fortress. He did not want her to feel him reaching out to Kelandris and therefore telegraphing her whereabouts to Hennin. Let Hennin think she could affect him with her will. This would be a first- rate distraction. Zendrak smiled, his large Mythrrim mouth pulling tight over his enormous teeth. He began to cackle hyena fashion. The sound echoed weirdly in the streets and alleys of Speakinghast. Passersby looked at the sky and widened their eyes. No one had seen a Mythrrim for several thousand years. Zendrak beat the air with his wings, as he did so, he said: «In the name of the Presence, we begin. In the ancient of days when the world was new The Firstborn race spoke the spell of Once Upon. The words fell teasingly from our tongues And what had been real became more than real: It became True. «I am a Firstborn, I speak the spell. I call the truth: The land is ill, I make it well. Words that twisted And cursed the draw, Now be removed, Be free of this flaw. Be returned to the Presence From this moment hence, Be returned to your primal state Of pristine innocence.» Akindo's mouth slowly closed and disappeared in its smooth face. It raised its hands, its claws tearing at the sky. Then it fell to its knees in the snow. It let loose a mournful cry. Again it raised its hands at the sky. It seemed to be desperately trying to open something. Zendrak watched with interest. Was this some directive of Hennin or some unexpected emotion from Akindo? Zendrak didn't know. Again Akindo howled. The sound of it shook the foundations of the city. An earthquake started. Zendrak snapped at the air. Did Greatkin Mattermat intend to destroy the city if he couldn't have his way? Was he having a temper tantrum in Eranossa at this very moment? Zendrak didn't know this, either. But he suspected Akindo might well be drawing power from Mattermat. Okay, thought Zendrak. Okay, big boy—you want to play rough? Fine. Zendrak rose in the air higher. Then, diving like a bird of prey, he screamed at Akindo, all seven sets of his vocal cords splitting the air. Thunder and lightning crashed around him. Calling on the power of Trickster and Themyth both, Zendrak fought Mattermat on the earth plane with the power of the spell of Once Upon. He began telling the creation story of the Greatkin that the Mythrrim had recently told Rimble in Soaringsea. With each word, he reminded Mattermat and all of creation that everything answered to Great Being. Nothing acted in opposition to that great will. Anything that attempted to do so would fail in the end. And that end was now, he told Mattermat. Lightning struck the ground. Snow exploded as if it had just been knocked free by a blast of dynamite. Again and again, the lightning struck. Thunder pummeled the air. Buildings shook and crumbled. People screamed. Some ran out into the streets. Others ran into the archways of stone buildings. Animals bolted. Pandemonium increased as the battle raged. Akindo clawed the air more urgently now. A bolt of lightning hit the monster in the face, boring into the middle of its forehead. Akindo screamed in agony. Suddenly a whirlwind started in a wide circle around Akindo. Zendrak smiled. Kelandris was turning at Revel Rock. No sooner had Kelandris started to spin in the center qf the monoliths that circled the sacred area known as Revel Rock than Elder Hennin realized she was in Suxonli. Like an ancient fury, the renegade Mayanabi ran out of her house. She grabbed the first saddled horse she found and galloped up the path called the Long Revel Trail. It was steep, the mountains that bordered it sheer and treacherous with snow. Hennin beat her horse mercilessly, forcing it to climb faster and faster. Just as she turned the corner that opened into the large standing-stone circle, she was confronted by an enormous blue-black horse. This was the beginning of Elder Hennin's nightmare—so to speak. Further, for it was Further, commanded Hennin's gelding to stop. Glad to do so, the gelding stopped cold. Hennin was so surprised by the sudden cessation of motion that she lost her balance and fell off. The gelding moved away, leaving Further to deal with the woman's cruelty. The mare snorted, her glass eyes wild. Power surged and crackled around Further. Summoning the forces of Neath, the mare stood her ground. Hennin tried to gauge the extent of Further's power. Sensing suddenly that Further drew from Neath and not Eranossa, Hennin began to laugh quietly. Neath was the underworld where all things nefarious were born—so she thought. This was home territory. Feeling more confident, Hennin prepared to do battle with the Fertile Dark. Without warning, Further charged the Tammirring woman. Striking out with her hooves, she reared and attacked. Hennin concentrated her attention on the emotion of fear. She grabbed at the mare's heart with doubt and horror. The mare whinnied fiercely, still attacking. Hennin jumped out of the way. Then she saw who was riding Further. It was the Greatkin of Death, Troth. Staring in shock at Troth—she had always thought he was on her side—Elder Hennin was momentarily caught off guard. Further connected with her skull. And pulverized it with her hooves. Bones caved in, making a sickening sound. Blood and brains spilled into the snow. As this occurred Kelandris spun to the right. Raising the old bull-roarer she had long ago left in this place, Kelandris sent it sailing in a wide circle above her head. It whined and droned. Calling on Zendrak to steady the power from the land, she brought down the power of the heavens. Kelandris was immediately hit by lightning. Unlike last time, sixteen years ago in Suxonli, Kelandris did not lose control of the draw. Himayat and Po grounded her. As Zendrak pulled the power through Kelandris and used it to finish Akindo, Hennin died, her psyche shattered by the innate goodness of the Fertile Dark. In Speakinghast, Akindo lost its form. Like a ceramic dish suddenly hurled against the floor, Akindo solidified then cracked into a thousand pieces. The diabolic consciousness of Akindo rose in the air to meet Zendrak. Zendrak took a deep breath and blew out the word, «whoooooo» at Akindo. This was the sound Great Being had made when It first released its dreams. The divine sound penetrated and reconstituted Akindo's will with Its own. Forming Akindo into a new pattern, the sound dispersed Hennin's intentions that drove the monster. Suddenly directionless, it hesitated. During that moment of hesitation, Zendrak ate Akindo's consciousness. Greatkin that he was, he absorbed his mistake into himself. Freed of the evil of Hennin's desires, Akindo did not harm him. Now Zendrak spoke to the land, healing it. He sent that healing back to Kelandris. She spun it into the earth at Revel Rock. The door that Hennin had opened sixteen years ago lost its edges and was reabsorbed into the whole of the draw of all Mnemlith. There was no scar. Hennin was defeated. Troth jumped off Further. He slung the body of the Tammirring woman over Further's withers. Jumping back on the mare, Troth returned to Neath. Hennin would find herself in unpardoned service to him for a long time. Her first task would be to treat Cobeth like the son she pretended he was to her. This time, however, she'd have to muster up the genuine feelings. If she couldn't do it, Troth decided Hennin could clean the stables of Neath for a while until her temper improved. If her temper didn't improve, Troth would make her write the following until it did improve. «All things begin in the name of Presence.» If this took eons, so much the better, thought Troth. The stables of Neath were quite dirty. He'd be glad of a drudge in his service. *24* As soon as Zendrak dispatched Akindo, everyone in Speakinghast who had been affected by the steady drain of despair was freed. Through Akindo's death, Hennin's foul desires were thwarted forever. Those who had been stung by the holovespa and lived, now died—with the single exception of Yafatah, who had been saved from Hennin's intentions by the roving univer'silsila breed of wasp. So Rhu passed away quietly in her home. She joined Cobeth in Neath and was surprised by the change Kelandris had wrought in him. It took much longer for Rhu to forgive Kelandris for making Cobeth unrecognizable to her than it had for Kelandris to jump in the River of Memory and save Cobeth's soul. Rimble- Rimble. In the city street, all that remained of Akindo was its long gray robe. Faces peered out of the windows of the Kaleidicopia. When Rowenaster and Janusin saw that Akindo was dead, they told the others hiding under various archways and desks in the house. A ragged cheer resounded. People climbed out of their earthquake fortresses and assembled in the living room. Barlimo immediately started checking the walls for cracks. Finding several, she swore. Guildmaster Gadorian laughed at her continued concern over the Kaleidicopia. «You don't live here. Remember? You just signed the papers.» The rest of the Kaleidicopians, all of whom had been terrified by the earthquake and the sound of Zendrak's Mythrrim screech, just stared at the Saambolin official, everyone too dumbfounded by his lack of compassion to even reprimand him. Finally Mab broke the silence. Glancing about herself, she asked, «Where's Tree?» No one knew. Looking worried, Barlimo went off in search of the twiggy