uncharacteristically incensed that his whole body was shaking. Calling the craft, he arduously settled his nerves, then gave the Oraculum a seething look.
“You have made a grave error, Gracchus,” Matsuko said. “Why did you order Khristos and his servants to wait inside the Caves rather than attack theJin’Sai aboveground? Tristan has but two phalanxes with him. By allowing this you have granted him a great advantage, it would seem. Every step he takes brings him that much closer to Shashida.”
The Oraculum smiled again. “Things are unraveling on you, Gracchus,” she said. “It would seem that the leadPon Q’tar cleric is not as invulnerable now as during the heady days of yesteryear.”
Gracchus paced the floor, fuming. He would not tell her why he had allowed theJin’Sai to enter the caves, even though there had been no other choice. He could not let her know that Khristos’ servants were starving for lack of endowed bodies on which to feed and that the only way to sustain them in such multitudes and simultaneously augment their powers was to send them into the caves to devour Nicholas’ glowing eggs. But as he considered the situation further, he again took heart.
Khristos still had the element of surprise. Moreover, theJin’Sai ’s forces would be heavily outnumbered. Despite the Oraculum’s grim pronouncements, Gracchus’ plan still had the edge. He could of course commune with Khristos and call off the attack, but that would allow theJin’Sai to reach the sea unimpeded.
No, he realized. It would be better to let things stay on course even if Tristan did bring two ships with him. But the Conclave would have to be stopped at all costs, for Gracchus could not fathom the troubles that would ensue if theJin’Sai crossed the Azure Sea. Even now he could imagine Khristos employing the spell that he had ordered him to use, causing the sounds of the sea to reach the first chamber of the caves and draw theJin’Sai near.
“Tell me, Gracchus,” the Oraculum said, interrupting his thoughts. “Does the Blood Royal know how badly things have gone awry on the other side of the world? If he does, I can only imagine how angry he must be with you. And if not, there must be some facet about all this that you hide from him. Either way, the future does not bode well. You are playing a very dangerous game.”
The sudden combination of the Oraculum’s bad news and her growing insolence caused Gracchus’ anger to finally reach the boiling point. Deciding to teach her a long-awaited lesson in humility, he raised his arms and called the craft.
At once the Oraculum began writhing in exquisite pain-the same pain that Gracchus had used when she had first tried lying to him so long ago. She had not felt such agony for aeons, and it came as a total shock. But this time she was not being punished for lying, because her words had been true. Instead, Gracchus wanted only to reestablish his personal brand of terror.
As Gracchus continued to torture her she felt hot, searing pains burn along her nerve endings like blazing fires running amok through a tinder-dry forest. She screamed as Gracchus’ wicked gifts continued to pass through the cube-the cube that had been enchanted in such a way that his spells could reach her, but inside of which only her ability to see what the Orb of the Vigor saw was of use to her. She had tried for aeons to secretly unravel Gracchus’ manipulative spell that enforced this one-sided effect, but to no end. And so she hung helpless in the azure mist, her body jangling like a marionette manipulated by a cruel master.
Gracchus finally stopped the spell, and the Oraculum crashed to the floor. He hadn’t killed her-that would be unthinkable, even for him. He needed her alive, at least until his secret plans involving Vespasian, the campaign, and the Viper Lord had come to fruition. But when that day arrived, he would relish watching her die.
As she lay sobbing on the cold stone floor he called the craft and ordered the glistening azure cube to again retreat into the far wall. Pulling up the hood of his well-worn robe, he ordered the doors to open and briskly exited the Oraculum Tempitatum. There were new things to be done, including communing with Khristos as soon as possible.
When the doors closed, Matsuko slowly raised her head. She felt broken, used, abandoned. Tears filled her eyes, their coming as much a result of having to tell Gracchus the truth as of the intense pain he had inflicted on her. The physical pain would go away, she realized, but the psychological torment of continually having to help Gracchus defeat her Shashidan countrymen would remain, just as it had done for countless centuries.
Suddenly she could again sense Gracchus’ unique application of the craft, suggesting that this strange new prison in which he was now housed had once more become invisible. Her fellow Shashidans might soon be looking right at it and not know that it existed or that she was imprisoned inside. That thought pierced her being more painfully than any torture the lead cleric might inflict on her.
How clever, Gracchus, she thought as what strength she still possessed slowly returned. But the lead cleric had said too much, she realized. Unless she missed her guess, she and this strange new temple would soon be in Shashidan territory. For what reason, she still did not know. But one thing was certain.
If there was a way to escape this new prison, she would find it and take her sweet, long-overdue revenge.
CHAPTER XXVIII
“HEAR ME, KHRISTOS,”GRACCHUS ORDERED.“YOU MUST COMMUNE with me, even if the battle has started! What I have to tell you is of the utmost importance!”
Waiting among some of his many servants in one of the dark tunnels facing the Azure Sea, Khristos immediately sensed the cleric calling out to his mind. His lead vipers had returned, saying that theJin’Sai was nearing the cave entrance. It would only be a matter of time now.
Cloaking his blood while also forcing the ocean sounds through one of the many tunnels was severely taxing his gifts, but he would prevail. As Khristos patiently waited he hungered for Failee’s killer to come nearer so that he might personally avenge her. Since learning that it had been Tristan who murdered his love, his need to face theJin’Sai had become overpowering. Clutching his silver staff in one hand, he fell to his knees and closed his eyes.
“I am here, Gracchus,” he answered silently.“The battle has yet to be joined.”
“Good,” the lead cleric answered. “TheJin’Saibrings with him prizes that must be destroyed at all costs. Two of his Black Ships have been shrunk by a craft device called subtle matter. He means to use the ships to cross the Azure Sea. I understand how badly you want to see the Jin’Saidie, for I share the same dream. But destroying the ships and the subtle matter is of equal importance. Destroy them, Khristos, and do not fail! ”
For a moment the Viper Lord was dumbfounded that the ships could be so radically transformed. Even Failee would have not dreamed it possible.
“We will not fail,” he said. “Consider the ships destroyed and theJin’Saias good as dead. ”
As he sensed Gracchus’ ken slipping away, Khristos opened his eyes and came to his feet. Knowing that time was short, he started urgently whispering new orders to his lead vipers, then concentrated again on sending the ocean sounds through the length of a nearby tunnel-the one theJin’Sai and his traitorous Vigors worshippers would soon exit. Then the Viper Lord smiled.
The game was afoot.
THREE HOURS LATER, TRISTAN STOOD JUST INSIDE THEentrance to a rough-hewn tunnel that looked out onto a sandy beach. The Azure Sea, white-capped and restless, lay beyond. On Tristan’s orders, no one had ventured outside the tunnel. Unlike the times before, this trip had been uneventful, something for which the prince and the First Wizard were grateful.
Sword in hand, Tristan could see and hear the waves strike the sandy shoreline about fifty meters away. Because of the ongoing ocean sounds, reaching the sea had been a far simpler matter than first assumed when the Conclave discussed this journey in the Redoubt. But that was not to say that the trip hadn’t been a confusing one.
Many intersections loomed along the way, most of which were unfamiliar even to Tristan and Wigg. The haunting ocean sounds whirling through the connecting chambers were confusing, forcing Wigg and Jessamay to use the craft to decide down which of the various tunnels they should travel. The last time Tristan and Wigg had come here they had been forced to descend a narrow circular stairway that hemmed them in on both sides. Tristan feared no man or the blade he carried, but tight spaces bothered him greatly. He badly wanted to leave
