Unholy

19 Kythorn, The Year of the Dark Circle (1478 DR)

'And my faith was not misplaced,' the lich concluded, 'for here you are.'

Bareris laughed. It was the first time he'd done so in ninety years, and it hurt his chest. 'Yes, here we are. But unfortunately for you, we're not as credulous as you hoped. Even if we were, we wouldn't believe your story, because some of us watched Malark die.'

Unruffled by his foe's jeering attitude, the lich said, 'I assume you mean during your siege of the Dread Ring in Lapendrar.'

'Yes,' Samas said, satisfaction in his tone. 'I killed the wretch myself.'

'Bravo,' said Szass Tam dryly. 'I'm not terribly surprised, for I ordered him to Lapendrar. But we all know of magic that allows a person to be in two places at the same time. As you likely recall, if I make the proper preparations, I can appear in several places simultaneously.'

'Still,' Bareris said, 'your story's ridiculous. Malark's immortal and wants to murder the whole world, himself included, just because he loves Death and thinks it will bring him a moment of ultimate joy? I knew him for ten years and never saw a hint of any of that.'

Aoth frowned. 'But you know, I always sensed that he had his secrets, didn't you? And wild as it is, this story does explain why he would betray the southern cause, even though we were winning at the time.'

'It would take someone as formidable as Malark to imprison the lich,' Mirror said. At the moment, he was a shadow of the warrior he'd been in life. 'And someone with a cunning mind and, most likely, a knowledge of sorcery to keep anyone from realizing Szass Tam was missing. Which his captor plainly has. Otherwise, we would have run into search parties.'

Bareris clamped down on a surge of fury. Told himself that his friends weren't really betraying him, even though that was how it felt. 'How can you believe a single word that comes from this liar's mouth? He'd say anything to persuade us to set him free.'

'Of that,' Lallara quavered, 'I have no doubt. Still, Captain Fezim and Sir Mirror make a legitimate point. Preposterous as this tale may initially appear, it hangs together rather well.'

Nevron threw up his hand in a gesture that, like nearly everything he said or did, conveyed contempt. Bareris caught a whiff of the brimstone smell that clung to the zulkir's person. 'Fine. Let's say it's all true. Springhill isn't really dead. He's running around up in the Citadel wearing Szass Tam's face, and he intends to perform this 'Great Work' himself. That means we need to go kill him and make it stick this time.'

The big man sneered at Szass Tam. 'But it doesn't mean we need you. We came here prepared to butcher the master, so I'm sure we can handle the apprentice.'

Szass Tam smiled. 'You'd think so, wouldn't you? But ask yourselves this: Suppose you meant to perform a lengthy ritual that every entity in the cosmos would want to stop if it understood what you were attempting. What would you do to keep others from interfering in your work?'

Lauzoril narrowed his eyes and cocked his head. It made him look even more like a priggish scholar. 'I'd do my conjuring in some hidden sanctuary with potent defenses to fend off anyone who found me despite the concealment.'

'Exactly,' the necromancer said. 'Malark's on the roof of the Citadel, except not really. He's in an artificial worldlet, a Chaos realm, that I created. He's attuned himself to the place and is more or less its god, so my menagerie of guardians will obey him.'

'Hang on,' said Aoth. 'You're telling us that Malark has already gone into this stronghold?'

'By my estimation-it's difficult to judge the passage of time when you're sitting alone in a crypt-he entered and started the Unmaking a couple of days ago. Luckily for us, the ritual takes considerable time. But I imagine the first wave of annihilation will race forth in the not-too-distant future.'

'It's all nonsense,' Bareris insisted.

'None of us,' said Szass Tam, 'is quite the diviner Yaphyll was. But if you exercise your mystical faculties, you may detect a profound disruption building.'

The zulkirs exchanged glances. Then Lauzoril and Nevron murmured charms. Their eyes became unfocused and their features slack as they gazed at something beyond physical reality. Meanwhile, Mirror breathed a prayer, evidently asking his god to grant him a glimpse of the unseen.

Then the ghost cried out as he had never done even when some undead horror was clawing him to tatters of ectoplasm. His murky form smudged beyond recognition.

'What did you see?' asked Aoth.

'Something fouler than I've ever seen before,' Mirror answered. 'Something truly unholy. I understand now what drove Fastrin mad. Why he was willing to slaughter us all to keep that… force from ever coming into existence.'

Szass Tam sighed. 'I meant to create paradise. Perfection. But now that Malark's perverting the purpose of the magic, I won't dispute your assessment. Now there's nothing to do but stop him.'

Lallara glowered at Szass Tam. 'Go ahead and tell us how to free you,' she said. 'It will save time later if we actually decide to do it.'

'No!' exploded Bareris. 'He's manipulating you! Drawing you deeper with every word!'

'Of course he is,' Lauzoril said, blinking. 'But unfortunately, that doesn't mean there's no validity to what he says.'

'Which is that you'll never reach Malark without my aid,' Szass Tam said. 'Not in time.'

Aoth looked at the figure under the gleaming pyramid. 'Tell us how to transport ourselves to this 'Chaos realm.' What to expect and the passwords that will get us past whatever guardians there are. Afterward, we'll take it into account that you helped us.'

Szass Tam laughed. 'Of course you will! We zulkirs were always known for leniency and forgiveness.'

Aoth scowled. 'I'm not a damn zulkir.'

'And you're not capable of keeping four of them from dealing with me however they desire, not even with the ghost and the griffon to help you.'

'Curse it, if the eastern lands die, you die with them.'

'Is that all you think will happen? You're mistaken, but never mind. The only real way to settle the question is to let the experiment proceed, and we all agree we'd rather not. Yet even so, I won't surrender my secrets.'

'Because if you're going to die, you don't care what happens to anyone else.'

The lich shrugged his narrow shoulders. 'Believe what you like. But the fact of the matter is, there's no point in telling you anything if you're going to leave me in the Seat. Because you'll still fail. You need my knowledge and my power.'

Aoth turned to Lauzoril. 'Can you make him talk?'

'No,' the zulkir replied. 'Only the first rune is in place. It binds him to Thakorsil's Seat, but it would take all nine to divest him of his free will. In addition to which-'

'If you tell me no,' said Aoth, 'then I believe it. So I say we free him.'

'I agree,' Lallara said.

'Much to my disgust,' said Nevron, 'so do I.'

'And I,' Samas said.

Bareris raised his sword. 'I'll kill the first person who tries.'

Nevron snorted. 'This situation grows more farcical by the moment.' He swept his left hand through the start of a mystic pass, and the sapphire ring on his middle finger glowed.

Aoth grabbed Nevron by the wrist and yanked his arm, spoiling the gesture before it could unleash the demon or devil that would otherwise have sprung forth to attack Bareris. Plainly astonished that his former underling would dare, the zulkir gaped at him.

'Just wait, curse it.' Aoth let go of Nevron and came closer to Bareris. He lowered his voice when he spoke again: 'You can't do this. They'll only kill you if you try.'

'The dream vestige already killed me.'

'Don't play word games.'

Mirror came to stand beside Aoth. 'I understand how you feel,' the phantom said. 'But thousands of lives are at stake. Maybe even the life of the whole world, just as Szass Tam says.'