The Echolone Mine (61 page)

Then Torrullin
stepped into Elianas and found his mouth unerringly in the dark.
The man felt good in his arms, familiar, welcome, whole … and his
senses exploded.

Elianas,
beyond sanity, wrapped a leg around Torrullin, urging him nearer …
and his senses exploded.

A mighty light
dived between, bright and pulsing, strong and hot like fire.

Teighlar was
there. He placed a hand on a shoulder each and, with bizarre
strength, gently disengaged them. When both looked at him without
understanding, eyes dilated, he said, “This is the line of
sorcerers. Look.”

He pressed his
fingers into them, hard.

They saw the
great light pass through him, and only then felt the burning.

Elianas gasped
as agony hit him full-fledged and nearly lost his footing. His
clutched at himself, thinking his flesh was on fire.

Torrullin
checked his skin, his face stretched and ashen.

“Stand firm,”
Teighlar said. “It is in your minds; the failsafe to separate equal
powers, to prevent mingling. Here it collides and here lies the
choice. This glow is the light of souls that have learned, those
who transcend all realms. This is unfettered magic. This, my
brothers, is the Goddess within.”

Torrullin
stilled to watch the pulsing river of light, and gradually the pain
receded. He looked at Elianas, who stared back at him, his face
unmoving, as if a mighty abyss lay between them. Both turned to
Teighlar.

“The Luvans
discovered this in enforced seclusion. Man slept with man here, in
every way, found this and became entranced with it. The pain,
rather than dampening desire, fuelled the flames, as it does to
you, and to me.” Teighlar was mightily erect. “But the Goddess of
Souls is not merely the light of knowledge, and neither is she an
aphrodisiac. She is the choice in all of us, every man, woman and
child. We, as men of power, as enchanters, we are fortunate in that
we may consciously make our choices; we alone see her.”

Torrullin
said, “To make a conscious choice, we need be aware of what awaits
such choice.”

“This is why I
stay as your guide. What happens here is what happens anywhere,
even in ethereal form. A coupling of the spirit is as binding and
as overflowed with these desires between you now in physical form.
You will feel the same pleasure, and the same pain.”

“What lies
beyond choice?” Elianas asked. “Beyond this line?”

“Cross it as
brothers of the soul, and you retain all you are. Cross it as
lovers, and you retain the same.”

“Where, then,
is the danger?” Torrullin asked.

“In what we
lose,” Elianas whispered.

“Indeed. Cross
it as brothers and you lose your desire for each other. You learn,
you transcend. But cross it as lovers, and you lose each other. It
is a soul’s loss, not form. The Luvans chose both, and those that
did so as lovers … well, they could not stop. Every desire was
heightened and the release of fulfilment was always out of reach.”
Teighlar’s erection pulsed. “It is a powerful and dangerous lust,
and hard to deny.”

Elianas
swallowed, his gaze on Torrullin. “And finally?”

“Yes, there is
a finally. Another choice comes eventually, but it is a choice you
may discover only after this one.”

“Must we
choose here?” Torrullin asked.

“You may wait
until you achieve ethereal form. I simply seek to give you the
proper guidance. I believe you would do the same for me.”

“I would, yes.
One more point, if a choice is made here, can it be changed in
ethereal form?”

“No.”

“I have
another question,” Elianas said. “What if our choices are
different?”

“Then betrayal
is implicit.”

Elianas
blanched.

Torrullin
closed his eyes.

“If only one
chooses brotherhood, the other feels betrayed. If he agrees to the
crossing, yet does not choose it himself, he betrays himself also.
If the lover option is exercised, the same applies. However, it is
in the forcing of will where the real betrayal lies. If Torrullin
forces you, Elianas, to choose as a brother and you do so coerced,
the choice is without form. If he forces you into a sexual act,
which you wish to deny, then the betrayal is complete. The line
will not leave you; it will drive you on and on and on until it
smothers you. Both of you.”

Silence once
more.

Teighlar took
his hands from them and stepped away. “I have no more to say. Now I
witness only. May you choose wisely, and in unity.”

He retreated
until the shadows swallowed him.

With the bright
river of light between then, they knew they were divided.

Elianas
addressed it first. “We are at odds in our choice. We dare not make
one here.”

“We shall
remain at odds, even in ethereal form.”

Elianas
stepped closer so that the light surrounded them. “Then there is
only one choice to make.”

Torrullin
stepped in and drew Elianas to him. They cleaved together without
the heat of a minute past, yet it lay waiting to be stoked.
Torrullin stroked a hand down Elianas’ back, marvelling at the
man’s smooth skin, and Elianas put his lips to Torrullin’s
shoulder, tasted there. He cupped his rear with gentle
pressure.

“The only
choice is not to choose,” Torrullin murmured, his mouth in Elianas’
neck.

“Not to cross
the line,” Elianas agreed, and bit down.

Torrullin
arched, pulled Elianas’ head back by his hair and then his mouth
crashed down in answer to the challenge.

Teighlar,
somewhere sighed.

What happened
next stunned him.

The light went
out, plunging the cave into darkness.

He understood.
As they had no intention of crossing the line by any choice, it had
left. Yet he could hear them; they pushed the limit to the very
edge.

Teighlar
crashed into them. “Stop it! This is not the answer. It is
no
answer, damn it!”

Torrullin
swore. “Leave us.”

“Idiot, you
cannot leave without me, and I will not sit in a corner while you
two fuck each other in every way besides actual penetration. All
you will achieve is to make disparity greater and you will hate
each other more in the light of day.”

“Put a light
on,” Elianas said.

“No light in
here,” Teighlar snapped.

Torrullin
threw a globe up.

Elianas found
his sarong and tied it tight. He pointed a finger at the Emperor.
“You stopped nothing, for intention is as valid as the act. In my
mind this now happened.” He bent, retrieved Torrullin’s pants and
threw it over. “Am I right, Valla?”

Torrullin did
not bother covering up. “Too right, Danae.”

“You have
desecrated this space,” Teighlar said.

“By the time
two others find themselves drunk on power and desire and in this
place battling the unholy demons of lust, all three of us will be
long beyond every realm in Reaume, Ariann and Lethe. And, Emperor,
this place was desecrated before we came here this night. Others
lay here and others shot their seed here, and my light has served
only to illuminate that twisted time.”

“You are the
twisted one.”

Torrullin
inclined his head.

“You insult
him,” Elianas said.

“
You
insult him!” Teighlar shouted.

Torrullin
growled and both jerked to him. “We stop now or we end
friendship.”

Teighlar
paled, and he nodded.

Elianas
smiled. “My brother in the shadows, they are mighty wings
indeed.”

There was a
decided flapping sound.

“Damn,”
Torrullin said, sounding surprised. He looked behind him and took
note of the massive shadow wings soaring out.

He drew
breath, and they furled inward until they vanished at his back. He
faced forward again and speared Elianas with silvery eyes.

“We enter
Lethe as ourselves, with Elixir and Alhazen, and we fight for
Reaume. We dare not choose, come together, cross a line or separate
power, do you see that? Do you know why?”

Elianas bowed
and two wings soared out behind him. “Of course I know. Am I not
Danae? Is my blood not older than yours?” He straightened and his
wings folded away and vanished. He bent, picking up the Medaillon
and ring, and closed in. He took a hand, placed the items there,
and pressed Torrullin’s fingers over it. “I know why, and I know it
better than you.”

“Yet you push
us to the point, my brother.”

“You brought
me here, remember? How am I to blame? But I will not push again.”
He released his grip on Torrullin’s hand. “Glorious wings,
Torrullin, and tonight mine do match yours in size.” He glanced at
Teighlar. “Get dressed. We are leaving.”

Teighlar was
frozen. “What the fuck is going on?”

Torrullin
looped the Medaillon around his neck, slid the ring onto his finger
and flexed it, spoke and was dressed in his usual black garb, with
cloak, sword and scabbard. The pants lay trampled on the cave floor
and vanished in a cloud of threads.

Elianas licked
his lips, intrigued by what he would do next.

Torrullin
approached him. He leaned in to suck Elianas’ neck for long
moments, and when he retreated there was a wine stain on his skin.
He smiled deeply into Elianas’ eyes. “Don’t mess with me again. You
will lose.” He shouted, “
Danae
!”

One end of the
cave burst open and air and dawn light flooded in. The nearest peak
in view exploded in spewing rock. The entire range shook and
Grinwallin suffered the first earthquake since the night Rixile
rejoined Elixir years ago.

Torrullin gave
Elianas a mocking salute. “It did not work. Your name still
destroys.”

Elianas bowed
with a flourish. “Excellent.”

Torrullin
laughed. “You will regret this. Tonight, the crucible?”

“Absolutely.”

Torrullin
swirled his cloak theatrically and was gone.

“What the
fuck
?” Teighlar snarled.

“Brinkmanship,
Emperor, at an entirely new level.” An instant later he was
similarly clothed in black. “Go get dressed.”

“How, why,
wings, what?” Teighlar was garbled in his confusion.

Elianas went
to fetch the man’s clothes. “I told the truth about my race and
Kalgaia, but what you do not know is that Torrullin and I have been
in this position before, with your Goddess of Souls between us.
That was betrayal, the one still between us now, as you explained
succinctly.”

Teighlar
dressed hurriedly. “My help was not needed.”

“It was, for
it achieved something more. You see, Emperor, we may be in fourth
cycle, but there have been countless others for the two of us, in
parallels and alternatives, and we have fought each other from
opposite sides as Darak Ors and we have fought together as Shadow
Wings. Tonight he realised I had not forgotten, and I know now he
still keeps score. When you tally it up, we are enemies, and now
the war begins.”

Elianas gave a
tight smile, bowed, and left the Emperor there in the cave long
kept from the light.

Ah, family.
They are family.

Tattle

Grinwallin

M
ore snow fell and avalanches thundered down
mountainsides as an earthquake shook Grinwallin.

Senlu tumbled
from their homes into the icy cold.

In the Great
Hall the pillars buckled like liquid, and Senlu shouted warning.
Caballa clutched at Tristan, her eyes wide with shock, and their
breakfast crashed to the floor.

Then it was
over. The pillars did not break, the mountain did not collapse and
dishes and ornaments shattered were the only items broken.
Everything stilled as a city awaited an aftershock, and when it did
not come folk returned indoors to pick up the pieces. They spoke in
hushed tones about how unusual an event it was.

Caballa and
Tristan knelt to set about cleaning up the wasted meal, gathering
together broken pieces. Both wondered who caused the earthquake -
for it was a who, not a what. Neither gave voice to their
suspicions.

When Teighlar
entered a few minutes later he was haggard and pale. He halted to
confer with Dechend and then came over. Righting a toppled chair,
he sat.

“We must stop
them, and we must stop them today, before nightfall.”

Caballa pushed
her collection of pieces aside and rose. She sat. “Who did
this?”

“Torrullin,
using the word of power.”

Tristan popped
up. “Gods, why?”

Teighlar’s
eyes slid away. “A long story, and the quake does not matter now.
We must stop them entering Lethe.”

Caballa was
calm. “Tristan, sit. Leave that. Teighlar, why must we stop
them?”

“I need a
fucking drink,” Teighlar snarled, and shouted for one.

Caballa and
Tristan glanced at each other in alarm.

“They are
going in as they are, power, form and every piece of baggage with
them. Ariann will track them in an instant and Lethe will do god
knows what, and never mind that a surge of energy could annihilate
Reaume. We must stop them.”

“What
changed?” Caballa asked.

“They did!” he
said and grabbed the drink as it was brought to him. He swallowed
it back without pause and slammed the glass down. “Noble purpose,
my arse. Those two will destroy each other before they find any
purpose.”

“Teighlar,”
Tristan said, “start at the beginning.”

He shook his
head and called for coffee.

Caballa leaned
forward. “They need to cross the line to separate their power for
Lethe - that’s it, isn’t it? They didn’t know.”

Teighlar
laughed. “Oh, they knew! Therefore ethereal form!”

Tristan glared
at him and then at Caballa. “I think it’s time you tell me about
the line.”