The Gods Awaken

And her voice seemed even more distant.

Iraj, commanding Safar's body, squeezed Leiria's hand. And, speaking in Safar's voice, he whispered,

'Let me feast them on you tonight, Leiria.'

Leiria gave Safar/Iraj a startled look. Then, to Safar's dismay, her eyes flashed gladness and she smiled warmly, asking, 'Are you sure, Safar?'

And Iraj replied, 'Yes, I'm sure.'

Then he sent a mental command back to Safar, saying, Cast the spell, brother. Before this damnedmachine gets the better of us!

Despite the growing danger, Safar hesitated. Somehow he had to regain control of his own body.

Sensing his conflict, Iraj said, Do you want to bargain with me over your friendsa€™ lives, brother?

And even if I agreed, considering our past history together, do you trust my word?

Just then Eeda gasped, swooning in her saddle. Coralean steadied her just in time. His big booming voice shattered Safar's indecision. 'You must act, Safar!' he said. 'Before it's too late for my Eeda!'

Iraj said to Safar, You see how it is, brother? Now, quickly, tell me what to do.

And so Safar told him to get out the little witch's-dagger, which was hidden in the right sleeve of his cloak. Then he told him to cut a large imaginary circle in the air. Iraj followed his instruction-a little clumsily since he was unused to such actions. Then Safar fed him the words to the shielding spell he'd used so successfully in the Blacklands during the march to Caluz.

In Safar's voice, Iraj chanted:

'Sever the day,

Shatter the night.

Keep at bay,

All sorcerous plight.

Bedevil the devils

Who speak in flame

And dance and revel

In the Goddess's name.'

There was no outward sign of the spell's effect. Only heaving sighs of relief from Palimak and the others as the shield slid silently and invisibly into place-folding the entire Kyranian contingent into its protective cloak.

Queen Yorlain had turned her little ostrich chariot around and was coming back to see why Safar's column had stopped. Iraj leaned forward in the saddle and Khysmet obediently trotted forth to meet her, snorting at the strange feathered steeds drawing her onward.

Iraj gloried in the strong, easy movement of the stallion. A man born and bred to Esmir's Great Plains, there was nothing he loved more than a good horse. But Khysmet was more than just a horse-he was magical. Using his mental voice, Iraj said to Safar, I once dreamed I was riding Khysmet. Now thatdream's come true.

Safar remembered the dream, which he'd experienced too in that mysterious spiritual connection he seemed to have with Iraj. He said, Never mind the dream. Let me have my body back. Or I swear I'llmake you suffer for stealing it.

Iraj's answer was a sarcastic laugh. Then he reined Khysmet in as they came up to the queen.

'What is the trouble, Majesty?' Yorlain asked.

Iraj gave her a sardonic look. 'You didn't mention the spell,' he said, a tinge of accusation in his voice.

Yorlain's beautiful eyes widened in surprise. 'But I thought you knew,' she said. 'Did not the great Lord Asper warn of the killing spell? And propose the protective shield that is its answer?'

Safar whispered to Iraj, Asper only mentioned the Blacklands and Caluz. He said nothing aboutHadin. Tell her you were not informed of the killing spell, but still knew how to counter it whenyou came up against it.

Although he was desperate to turn the tables on Iraj and retrieve his body, Safar realized that under the circumstances he had to cooperate with his old nemesis. And as long as Iraj was in control, Safar would have to guide his fingers as they pieced together the dangerous puzzle that was Hadinland.

Iraj gave Yorlain his most charming smile. And although it was Safar's mouth he was stretching and Safar's teeth he was flashing, his potent personality blazed through.

'I must have missed that part,' he said to the queen. 'At the time there were some very nasty fellows on my heels. So I only read about the shield, then ran like the Hells for cover.'

Then he leaned closer, murmuring, 'Visionary that he was, poor Asper must have been a very old demon. For he didn't mention you, my queen. A vision above all visions.'

Swept away by Iraj's dash, Yorlain blushed and tinkled musical laughter. 'Be careful, Majesty,' she said.

'Or I might get a false idea about your intentions.'

Iraj bowed low in the saddle. 'How could I be false,' he said, 'when confronted with such truly wondrous beauty?'

Meanwhile, Palimak and the others had caught up with them. Leiria overheard the flirtatious exchange and was wounded to the quick. Jooli caught it as well and placed a sympathetic hand on Leiria's shoulder.

'Pay it no mind,' she whispered. 'He's just sweetening her up because we have need of her.'

Leiria shrugged off the hand and straightened-shoulders squaring like the warrior she was. 'Safar doesn't say things like that unless he means it,' she whispered bitterly.

Jooli said nothing in reply, but only watched with growing disappointment and sadness for her friend as a Safar she'd never seen before preened and postured for Yorlain as if he'd suddenly gone into heat.

Palimak stared at his father, wondering what he was up to. It must be part of his plan, he thought.

Meanwhile, Gundara and Gundaree were chattering in his ear: 'Beware, Little Master! Beware!' But he was still feeling shaken and a little dizzy from the effects of the killing spell and found it hard to pay attention.

He gave a cursory glance around, sending out weak magical probes that encountered nothing. Assuming the Favorites were still worrying about the spy, he muttered for them to be quiet until they had privacy to talk.

Once again, Iraj bowed low in the saddle and bade Queen Yorlain to lead the way. Then, just as the queen cracked her little whip for the ostriches to proceed, he glanced over at Leiria, catching her eyes.

He grinned hugely, then shrugged, as if to say, Life has its strange little twists, doesn't it, dear?

Safar saw Leiria's hurt through Iraj's eyes and struggled madly to regain control of his own body. But Iraj was beginning to learn the ways and weapons of his new position and shot a searing inward blast at his prisoner.

Safar jolted as if he'd been struck by lightning. When he recovered, he tried once again to free himself.

And the answer was another hot bolt of punishment.

He withdrew into the nest Iraj had once occupied. Nursing his wounds, while his mind ran wild with hate and half-formed thoughts of revenge.

An hour later the castle gates clanked open and Yorlain escorted the Kyranians across the bridge through the cheering crowds of her subjects.

And they all shouted, 'The king has come! May the Gods save us and the king!'

Then she took them to the castle keep and Safar had recovered enough to marvel as the huge, iron-bound doors yawned wide to admit them. These were the very same doors, he thought, that Asper had said he'd knocked on without reply.

The old demon wizard's words echoed in his mind: '… Know that Asper knocked at the Castle Keep,But the gates were barred, the Gods asleep.'

The first thing he saw when the doors swung open was a wide courtyard. Straddling that courtyard was an enormous stone turtle. Flames exploded from its horny mouth. There was a great open grate in its belly and heavily muscled slaves were shoveling whole cartloads of fuel into the furnace within.

Safar noticed that the fuel was similar to the magical stuff the airship's engines used. But just then wild magic suddenly blasted through and he was forced to quickly repair, then strengthen the shield.

One part of his brain noted that he could act without Iraj's cooperation-perhaps even without his knowledge. But the other, larger part focused on a hellish emanation from the Keep itself.