day on which he was a warrior, but that hardly matters. He has used new words this time, and it is better. The result of a millennium more experience.
'You understand, don't you?' he says, speaking to someone who is not there. 'You understood why it was necessary. I saw it in your eyes as I raised my pike for the final blow. You forgave me.
'You were a warrior. You understood.
'I wonder where you are now. Has your soul been reborn again? Many times over, perhaps. I remember.... something that prophetess said. You remember her, don't you? The woman we found... ah, where was it? Tai'Kondaroga? No, no.... Beiridein? No, not there.
'Delphis! That was it. She was in that temple at Delphis. I remember now. She said the two of us had.... a karmic link. Our souls would be bound to each other through countless lifetimes. You scoffed afterwards, and so did I. What matter past lives, or future ones? We were warriors. The present was all that mattered.
'I wonder, my friend.... Have you been alone in all the lifetimes since then? Lost, and damned? My soul is trapped here, while yours has been reborn. I remember what you said as you died.... You were wrong.'
He pauses, and looks out past the shrine into the deeper cavern beyond. He knows what is there. The voice that spoke to him before. He fled from it. It will not be there now.... this is a world of his own making. Surely the immortal voice will not be there now....
Or maybe it will be. Shaking, for the dead can feel fear just as the living can, he turns and heads back the way he came. He is not afraid any longer, and as he thinks about the ancient wisdom in the remembered voice, he thinks again of Valen.
'What did you know?' he snaps. 'I would have beaten you. You were a coward.... too cautious, too heedful of life. We are warriors! We are trained to kill, and to die. Death is.... should be.... nothing but the release from our obligations. Who said that? My tutor, Durhan. That was his name. Just as his trainer was Durhan, and his.
'Yes, Durhan said that. It was carved in the stones outside our temple. 'Death is nothing but the release from our obligations.' I wish it was a release for me.... but then I betrayed my obligations, didn't I? Perhaps I do not deserve peace.
'Damn you, Valen! You did not understand us. You betrayed us all a thousand times over before I ever turned against you. I was better than you in every way, all I had to do was prove it to you.
'If only Derannimer had known that.'
Sorrowfully, he shakes his head and carries on. The lakes of fire are up ahead, so similar to the ones where he died. Wait! They are not in Z'ha'dum, they are.... somewhere else.
Oh, what does it matter? He will return to the fire, and be refreshed and reborn in the terror of his death.
He does not know it, but someone there is waiting for him.
'Why do I have to say this? Why exactly do I have to warn you to be careful? Why do I have to point out the risks of meeting strange people we don't know in a strange location after receiving an ambiguous message?
'Why do I even have to ask these questions?'
'Karma?'
'What does that have to do with anything?'
'Maybe you did bad things in a past life? Maybe whatever you did was so bad as to merit being stuck with me.'
'I don't believe in reincarnation. Hmm.... so what must you have done in a past life then? To end up here, I mean.'
'Oh, probably nothing. I've done all the bad things in this life. I'm going to be reincarnated as a Pak'ma'ra or something.'
'I've met a Pak'ma'ra. They're.... decent enough, I suppose, as aliens go. Just don't try reading their mind or watching them eat and you'll be fine.'
'Well, in my experience of dealing with alien races I'll put messy eaters a long way below those who try to blow me into little tiny pieces.'
'Yes, I suppose I can see the reasoning behind that. I can't of course see the reasoning behind this meeting.'
'Oh, come on. You always try to read my mind.'
'I'd really rather not take the risk. Besides, it is.... uncomfortable doing that at the moment.'
'Yes? This has something to do with what happened in that compound, hasn't it? You could try talking to me about it.'
'No.... that is.... not a good idea at the moment.... However, I could point out the unfairness between what happened to me and what happened to you.'
'What do you mean?'
'Oh come on! I get.... well.... I have various nastiness happen to me and you get stuffed full of orange juice and offered a job.'
'It wasn't quite like that. But yes, it was.... strange, which for the record is why I'm here. Whoever sent us the message promised us information, remember. I don't know about you, but I'm willing to take the risk. I'm tired of being led around by the nose.'
'And I notice you didn't read the rest of the message.'
'What rest of the message?'
'The part that says, 'P. S. This is a trap.' And our mysterious visitor is late. I hate people who don't show up on time.'
She suddenly started, and straightened at the sound of movement just up ahead. 'I'm sorry for being late,' said a polite, if slightly strained voice. 'Punctuality is a lost art these days. However, I was.... unavoidably detained.'
'Yeah, you and the rest of the solar system. So, who are you?'
'My name is Welles. You have probably heard of me. You, sir, certainly have. I remember meeting you two years ago. I could of course have gone for the whole cloak–and–dagger business and done a 'Deep Throat', but frankly I don't have time.
'I'm come to put a deal to both of you. Normally I wouldn't take this risk, but I don't have time to play safe. I've been following you two for quite a while, and I'm fully aware of what you've been trying to do here. You more than anyone else might be willing and able to do what I need.
'So, Dexter Smith, former Earthforce Captain and current social crusader, and Talia Winters, telepathic saboteur and secret agent, otherwise known as Mrs. Tamara Winter, Lieutenant T. Stoner, Bridget O'Shaughnessy, Anne Elizabeth Clements, among others....
'I need you to do something for me.'
'What?' asked Smith.
Welles smiled slightly. 'Steal something. Or rather someone. An individual I am sure you have both heard of.
'Her name is Delenn.'
'I was killed in fire, you know. It is said that is the worst way to die, slowly, in agony. I did not mind so much at the time. I wanted to die, in any way possible.... but there was a moment, as my skin was crisping, my clothes alight and only my will kept me conscious, that I changed my mind.
'I could still live. There was one moment of clarity just before I died, when I realised I could still live. I could do so much. I could seek forgiveness, seek redemption, return to the man I had been.
'But of course I could not. I died, and my last sight was of the figure standing watching me, humming softly and cradling a globe in his outstretched hands. I realised what he was, and I started to scream.
'Everyone should remember their death, don't you think?'
Marrain stood on his precipice, looking out at the sea of flames erupting all around him. He raised his arms, and the flames rose higher and higher. Sinoval stood watching him silently from a nearby rock ledge.
'I am not dead,' he said softly, after a long pause.
'Oh? I was sure....' Marrain shook his head. 'I forget. How much time has passed since you last spoke to me?'
