Black Halo

their minds. I tore them apart until I could taste their thoughts on my tongue.’

Gariath recalled the great ravine, the greater skeleton that lay within it, and the massive hole split open in its skull. He recalled how Grandfather had crawled into that hole and vanished, as he seemed to vanish now, growing fainter with every breath.

Suddenly, he sprang into full, bitter view with a deep, unpleasant laugh.

‘And still, I am obsessed with death.’

‘How did you die, Grandfather?’

The ancestor’s body quivered and grew hazy with the force of his sigh.

‘When I crawled out of that skull, when I stopped hearing the screaming, I looked and saw I was the only one left,’ he said. ‘The dead were everywhere: the demons, the humans, but I was the only one concerned for the Rhega, the only one concerned for the dead. The mortals had moved on, pushing Ulbecetonth back to her gate. I was left alone.

‘So, I cut the earth open around the Elder and I dragged their bodies back, finding every piece.’ He paused, glancing into the water. ‘Almost every piece, at least. But the Rhega came back … not born again, as they should have been, but as I am now. They still wanted to fight, they wondered where their families were, they had so many reasons and they were all so tired …

‘And so, one by one, I bade them to sleep. Then I watched them sleep. I watched for so long I forgot the need for food, for water … and when I came back, there was no one left to bid me to sleep.’

He turned and stared hard into Gariath’s eyes.

‘When you are gone, who will bid you, Wisest?’

Gariath met his concern with a scowl.

‘You think I’ll die?’

‘We all die.’

‘I haven’t yet.’

‘You haven’t tried hard enough.’

The dragonman offered the ancestor nothing more than a snort in reply, his hot breath causing the spectral form to ripple like the water at their feet. Gariath returned his stare to the water. Through the obscuring azure, he could feel their gazes. In the earth, he could smell their final moments.

But in the air, he couldn’t hear their voices, not even the whispering sleep-talk of the skull. They all rested soundly now; staring, dead, utterly silent.

‘What is it you feel, Wisest?’ Grandfather asked. ‘Hatred for the humans for drawing us into this war? A need for vengeance against the demons?’

‘You can’t read my thoughts, Grandfather?’

‘I have been inside your heart,’ the spirit replied coldly. ‘It’s not a place I want to go back to in the best of times.’

‘Take your best guess, then.’

After a long, careful stare, the ancestor obliged him. His prediction was manifested in his great, heaving sigh. The accuracy of it was reflected in Gariath’s unapologetic grunt of confirmation.

‘What is it you plan to do, then?’

‘The skulls are silent. Their scent is nothing but death,’ Gariath said, folding his arms over his chest. ‘This earth is dead. It has nothing to tell me.’

‘The earth is dead, yes, but those that walk upon it still live.’

‘I agree,’ Gariath replied.

Grandfather’s eye ridges furrowed, a contemplative look rippling upon his face.

‘That is why I am going to find the Shen.’

And when the ripples settled, there was fury plain upon the spirit’s face.

‘The Shen?’ Grandfather snarled. ‘The Shen are a people just as obsessed as we were … as you are.’

‘Good company to keep, then.’

‘No, you moron! The Shen are what dragged us into the war!’

‘But you said-’

‘I said we had a thousand reasons, and none of them mattered. The Shen were the original one, and they matter least of all.’ Upon Gariath’s confused look, he sighed and raised a hand. ‘Shen, Owauku, Gonwa … all descend from a single ancestor, born to serve Ulbecetonth. In them, we saw people who could not hear the rivers or smell the rocks. We were moved to sympathy. We gave our lives for them.’

‘And they pay it back. I have seen them. They are brave; they are strong.’

‘They are dead. They just don’t know it yet.’ Grandfather’s lips peeled back, his teeth stark and prominent despite the haziness of his form. ‘We killed for them. We died for them. And what have they done? They continue to kill! They continue to die!’

‘For what they believe in.’

‘What do they believe in, Wisest?’

‘They are Shen.’

‘That is not a reason to live-’

‘And I am Rhega!’ Gariath roared over the ancestor, baring teeth larger, sharper and far more substantial. ‘I remember what that means. No Rhega was meant to live alone.’

‘Then don’t!’ Grandfather said. ‘There may still be more out there, somewhere. Go with the humans. Even if you never find another Rhega, you will never be alone!’

Gariath’s expression went cold, the rage settling behind his eyes in a cold, seething poison, a poison he all but spat upon the ancestor.

‘This is what it’s been about, isn’t it?’ he hissed. ‘This is why you told me to find Lenk. This is why you did not lead me here, why you tried to keep me from coming here. You would have me run into the arms of humans, like a fat, weeping lamb.’

‘I would have you live, Wisest,’ Grandfather snapped back. ‘I would have you find more Rhega if you could. If you couldn’t, I would have you die and have no need to come back. Amongst the Shen, you cannot do that.’

‘Amongst the Shen, I can learn more. Do you know what it was like to hear the word Rhega instead of “dragonman”? Do you know what it is to smell things besides greed and hate and fear?’

‘I know their scent, pup. Do you?’

‘That’s not important.’

‘It is. You know what’s important; you just won’t admit to it. You know that the humans are important. You know that without them, you would have died long ago. After your sons-’

‘Never, Grandfather.’ Gariath’s voice was cold, his claw trembling as he levelled it at the spirit. ‘Not even you.’ Waiting a moment, challenging the ancestor to speak and hearing nothing, he snorted. ‘I kept myself alive. The fire inside me burned too bright to be contained by death.’

‘Fires burn themselves out. The humans gave you purpose, gave you direction.’

‘Stupidity.’

‘Then why did you try to kill the shict when you knew she was going to kill the silver-haired one? Why did you go to save the two females you claimed to hate?’

‘To kill, to fight’

‘To what end? Because you knew that if they died, you would, too. In some ugly part of you, Wisest, you know it. Follow the humans. Live, Wisest. The Shen can give you nothing.’

He paused for a moment before turning and stalking away.

‘They can give me answers.’

‘They cannot,’ Grandfather called after him.

‘We’ll find out. I am going to find the Shen, Grandfather. If I return, I will tell you what I’ve learned.’

‘You won’t return, Wisest,’ the spirit shrieked. ‘Wisest!’

He did not turn around.