Leading them all, assassin, mage, and solider alike, King Korox punched, kicked, slashed and fought. His crown had long ago fallen from his head. His armor had lost its shine. The edge of his blade had gone dull, slamming down onto the invaders who would dare take his home.
His breath was labored, his muscles sore, his burden heavy. But it seemed that the fight might be turning in their favor. The tide of black beasts was at a standstill. All they needed was one final push, just one thing to fall in their direction, to change the momentum and balance of this war. They could defeat these invaders, send them from this land and regain what rightfully belonged to them.
That's when the king spotted Quinn at the edge of the battlefield.
The king's assassin approached Xeries's army from the back of their line. He struck down the invaders with each step he took, moving with a purpose toward Korox. His long sword came down with one hand, his bladed gauntlet with the other, and he cleared a path like a farmer harvesting a field of ripe wheat.
This is what they needed, thought the king. Quinn would turn the tides in their favor. Victory was at hand. All they needed was to reach out and grab it.
With a few more strides, the king's closest ally, his bodyguard and personal assassin reached his side. Korox reached out his hand and grabbed his friend by the shoulder.
'You have returned!'
'Yes, my lord,' replied Quinn.
'Is it done?'
Quinn nodded. 'Xeries has your daughter I turned her over as instructed.'
Korox pulled back, confused. 'He has Mariko? Then why are you here?'
'Xeries was just too powerful.' Quinn shrugged. 'I turned over your daughter and begged for my life.'
Korox felt the world grow cold. 'That monster has my daughter.' His desire and fight drained from his body as if it were blood spilling from a massive wound. His knees went weak, and he dropped to the ground. 'He has my daughter.'
'Xeries was merciful and gave me back my life,' continued Quinn. 'He let me go in exchange for Princess Mariko. He said I was a good servant, and that her sacrifice would please him.'
Korox looked up at Quinn. The bodyguard had a smile on his face, as if he were enjoying the pain that the king now felt. 'Mariko is gone.'
Quinn nodded. 'She is out of our teach. Xeries has won.' Then he turned and headed away from the battlefield, bypassing the beasts and assassin, heading for the dead trees lining the easternmost buildings of the palace.
Chapter Thirty-Five
Quinn had never been much for waiting. He was more of a man of action. Sitting here trapped while Xeries was out there masquerading was maddeningly difficult. Every few moments he would get up and pace the floor. He would examine the cracks in the walls. He would scan the faces of the decrepit women-the past wives of Xeries.
Each of the women had been placed in a fabric-lined coffin. Those in turn had each been set inside small, carved-out recesses in the black stone wall. And each of those had been equipped with a heavy door, all of which were open at the moment, giving Quinn a spectacular view of something he wished he'd never seen.
Not one of them moved. Not an inch. They were like life-sized dolls, displaying their tortured existence for the amusement of any who happened to gaze upon them. Quinn wasn't able to look for more than a few moments. He shuddered every time he thought about Mariko being turned into one of those helpless, terrible creatures. It was too much to bear.
Finishing his latest rounds through the small room, he sat back down beside Mariko.
'I have failed you,' he said, not looking at her.
'You haven't failed,' she said through the mimmio. 'I'm not gone or dead yet.'
He smiled. 'You never did know when to give up, did you?'
Mariko shook her head. 'Never will.'
Quinn took her hand in his and sat beside her in silence. Since the Obsidian Ridge had arrived over Llorbauth, this was the most time they had spent together.
He turned, lifted his eyes to hers, and looked into them. 'Well, if you're not ready to give up, then I have a question for you.'
Mariko smiled. 'What's that?' asked the furry creature in her hands.
'Will you marry me?'
She cocked her head to one side, as if she were trying to figure out if he was joking or not. Then, apparently satisfied that he wasn't, she nodded.
'Yes, Quinn, I will marry you.'
From high up on the wall, a noise caught their attention.
Quinn stood and stared up at the inhabitants of the room. A chill ran down his spine to think that one of them might be creaking around in her final resting spot, not quite dead, watching him propose marriage to the woman who was likely going to occupy the last empty place on the wall.
The faces of all the decrepit old bodies stared down on him as he examined them. Then one of them moved.
Quinn felt the pit of his stomach drop out, and his skin went cold. The suffering that woman must have endured- and continued to endure. He looked away.
Mariko stood beside him, and she pointed at the space on the wall.
'It's the coffin. Something is moving the coffin.'
Quinn pulled his eyes back up. She was right. It wasn't the wife moving, but the coffin that held her. It shifted side to side, very slowly at first, but then it grew more noticeable, until finally it started to shake quite violently.
The coffin jerked forward, and the body of the woman inside flopped out, tumbling past the open door and falling head over heels onto the floor, three coffin heights below.
The body landed with a thud, and Quinn had to cover his face. The coffin came down right behind the woman, shattering as it impacted. Both Quinn and Mariko jumped back to avoid the flying debris.
'Do you know how long it took me to get that thing to break free?'
Above, where the coffin had been inside its recessed cove, there was now a large crack in the wall. Through it, Evelyne stuck her head into the room.
'I've been listening to you two lovers make cooing sounds for far too long.'
'Nice of you to let us know you were there,' said Quinn, beginning to climb up past the other coffins to get to Evelyne. 'I guess this means you've found another shortcut.'
'You bet,' she replied. 'Got free rein of the whole place.'
Jallal Tasca skulked out from an alcove, blending in with the black stone of the surrounding walls as he moved. He had followed Quinn and his two companions inside the floating black volcano when they had first arrived on horseback. None of them had seen him. None of the hideous beasts or even their master had noticed a fourth person enter the floating fortress and hide amongst them.
He had been patient, he felt, stalking through the halls of the citadel, waiting for the right moment to strike. He had seen Quinn escape the throng of black beasts. He had followed through the corridors and passages as the king's assassin executed Xeries's pets.
He had been wrong about Quinn all this time. Watching him work as he did, there was no doubt in Jallal's mind that the man known for so long as only 'the Claw' was capable of terrible, terrible things.
Jallal rather admired that quality. It was too bad Quinn had to die.
Crossing the throne room, Jallal pounced on the four beasts standing guard outside Xeries's private chamber. His exotic blade bit through their flesh and bone with no more effort than a knife through water. It cleaved their obsidian claws from their limbs, took their heads from their shoulders, stole their souls with little more than a
