Song of the Dragon

its abdomen. The mad creature screamed horribly, and its arms-still gripping the blades in its hands-twisted angrily in the air. Soen held firm to the staff, his arms shaking with the effort. The glowing blade at the head of the staff was now against the ground, Soen using its force for leverage against the chimerian as the creature continued to writhe, now suspended over the staff in the air.

Soen looked up, his black elven eyes fixed on the chimerian. “I am Iblisi; I am the Emperor’s Will. . you are commanded to obey!”

The chimerian fixed his hateful gaze on the Inquisitor and then, screaming, slashed at the air with all four of the blades in his hands. “Death to the Emperor! Death to his dreams!”

Soen’s eyes widened.

The chimerian’s back arched impossibly backward, and then its entire body suddenly contracted and thickened. The tall lithe form was replaced by a stocky short one. “I’m awake now!” the creature said with a dangerous edge in its voice. “I won’t sleep ever again. . not for you or any of your bastard brothers!”

Soen nodded, then yelled, “Death to the Emperor! ”

Assesia Wreth gasped.

A shocked silence filled the space around them. Jukung stepped forward, an angry frown on his face but Phang placed a restraining hand against the young elf’s chest.

“Death to his dreams!” Soen shouted. His eyes were fixed on the chimerian above him.

The mad warrior suddenly relaxed.

“What is your name, friend,” Soen asked quietly.

“My. . name?” came the whimpering reply.

“I’ve come to end your dreams, friend,” Soen said in even tones. “But I must know your name.”

The chimerian blinked at him, unsure.

“What was your name in the dream?”

The chimerian curled his lips back in loathing. “Chentas-that is what they called me.”

“And your House, Chentas,” Soen’s voice was calm, his eyes fixed on the chimerian. “What was your House in the dream?”

Chentas began giggling, blood running down from the corner of his mouth. “I won’t tell you! You’re going to put me back to sleep-send me back to those dreams!”

“No, Chentas, I can’t do that,” Soen replied. “I’ve come to end your dreams.” The Inquisitor was beginning to sweat with the effort of keeping the chimerian suspended above him in the air. “I promise you. . tell me your House in the dreams, and I will end them for you forever.”

“Forever?”

“Forever.”

Chentas shuddered.

“TELL ME!” Soen yelled at the chimerian hovering ten feet above him in the air.

“I dreamed of a slave named Chentas, of the House. . of the House of Acheran,” the chimerian sneered. “Now keep your bargain, Iblisi!”

Soen frowned and then nodded. The magic holding the chimerian collapsus at the Inquisitor’s command. Chentas fell, but before he reached the ground, Soen whirled with the Matei, the scythe blade flashing through the air. In a single deft stroke, the wheeling Soen drove the long, mystical blade across the neck of the chimerian.

Chentas’ head rolled a few feet across the ground, coming to rest at the feet of Assesia Wreth.

Four swords rang against the ground, falling from the limp hands of Chentas’ body just as Soen finished his turn, planted his feet in a wide stance, and swung the blade down from above his head, driving it through the back of the chimerian and out the front of its chest.

Only then did Soen hear the thunderous shouts of the Impress Warriors around him. The Tribunes were quickly sorting them back into their units and regaining order, as Soen knew they would. He whispered to his Matei, and the glowing blade vanished, leaving only the blood to emerge from the wound.

“Master Inquisitor,” Qinsei spoke as she approached him. “What does it mean?”

Soen knelt next to the body, considering it for a time, and then stood up, shifting his gaze to the fold portal at the other end of the marshaling field. We have not even crossed the Ibanian borders, he thought. It is worse than the Keeper believes. . worse than even I could imagine.

Soen turned back to his First. “It means that the trouble has found us. We will not be camping here or, I suspect, anywhere else tonight. Phang, have Assesia Yarou make a sketch of the Devotional tattoo on the chimerian’s head-he’s got a talent for that sort of thing-then prepare the Quorum for battle.”

“Battle, Master?” Phang asked in surprise.

“Yes, battle, Phang,” Soen said, placing his long hands on his hips as he thought. “We’re going to follow the trail back to its source, and if this Chentas is an example of what we have ahead of us, our best course will be following a trail of murderous, insane slaves attacking everyone in sight to their source.”

Qinsei’s eyes narrowed. “Back to this. . this House Acheran?”

“Yes, if there is such a House,” Soen said. “Have you ever heard of it?”

“No, Master.”

“Phang?”

“No, Master.”

“Neither have I,” Soen said, fingering his Matei staff as he thought.

“It must be a minor House nearby,” Phang said. “Some Fifth Estate fool who lost control of a handful of slaves.”

“No, Qinsei,” Soen said, looking down at the body of the dead chimerian. “The Keeper tells me this trouble started in Icara-and that more than a dozen Houses are involved.”

“Icara!” Qinsei’s voice rose in tone. “That’s at the edge of the Western Provinces. . it would take us another day just to get there.”

“Longer if we have to fight our way through some of the marshaling fields,” Soen agreed, “which we almost certainly will have to do. But it is the Will of the Emperor. . the Will of the Keeper. . and my will that we find this-this House Acheran or whatever House is responsible- and secure its truth for the good of the Empire and the glory of our Order. Gather the Quorum-we leave at once.”

“Aye, Master Inquisitor,” Qinsei said as she straightened her back with pride.

Soen watched his Codexia as they moved back to instruct the rest of the Quorum. He reflected for a moment that Jukung would no doubt find some way to report back to Ch’drei and he wondered what the old woman would think of all this.

He turned and gazed once more toward the fold portal at the far end of the hollow

House Acheran, he thought, struggling to recall anything in his vast memory about the name. Who in all the gods of the Void knows ANY House Acheran?

CHAPTER 19

Loose Ends

“Is this all of them?” Soen demanded of the manticorian warrior standing next to him.

The evening breeze was rising behind the elven Inquisitor as he surveyed the scene. He would have enjoyed drinking in the freshness of the air as it flowed around him, still damp from the sea beyond his sight to the south. The sunset was deepening into a rich, vibrant salmon color, marred only by the black smoke still curling up from the ruin on the hilltop, its pall rising to join those of a number of surrounding Houses. He would have preferred to turn his back on the carnage, bask in the rays of the setting sun, and breathe deeply of the fresh evening. Such luxuries, however, would have to wait.