The Fifth Dawn (27 page)

“And naturally, you were next in line,” Glissa said.

“The men—all of us, after the fall of the home den—needed a leader. A
sane
leader. If Raksha is not dead, he might as well be. He is beyond redemption for his act.”

“Sounds to me like there’s plenty of blame to go around,” Glissa said. “All right, I’ll accept that Raksha’s out of the picture. I’ll even accept that you’re the Queen—”

“Khanha,” Lyese interrupted.

“Khanha,” Glissa said. “And I’ll accept Taj Nar’s gone. But how did you find me? What—well, what have
I
been doing all this time?”

“A year ago,” Bruenna said, steering back to the subject, “I figured out a way to work around the vedalken’s dampening fields. They communicate telepathically, now, entirely. It’s tied to the serum.”

“I figured,” Glissa said. “Yert reeked of serum, too.”

“Really?” Bruenna asked, genuinely surprised. “You must have gotten close.”

“Too close,” Glissa agreed.

“How’s the neck?”

“Sore.”

“Sorry. Anyway, the vedalken are saturated in serum,” Bruenna said. “When Memnarch changed them, made them more ferocious, I think their serum production
and
intake increased exponentially. You haven’t seen it yet, Glissa, but when the suns go down, there are hardly any stars left in the sky.”

“But the stars—they’re blinkmoths,” Glissa said.

“The vedalken are using them up. Yert too, I guess. Whatever the reason, they can communicate over any distance now at the speed of thought. Their attacks of late have been flawlessly executed. And if Yert reeked of serum five years ago …” Bruenna stood and turned to Yshkar, who Glissa still had trouble thinking of as the Kha. “That confirms it, Yshkar. The nim and Memnarch’s vedalken armies are attacking at the same time in a coordinated effort.”

“Indeed,” The Kha growled.

Bruenna turned back to Glissa. “I brought up vedalken telepathy because I found that an enterprising mage with a grudge and a scrying crystal can sometimes hear their thoughts as plain as day.” The mage grinned. “It’s not pleasant, and Dakan knows I can’t understand more than a quarter of it—but I did find a way through the teleportation shield that seals off Lumengrid when one of the vedalken became trapped outside, in the Tangle, I think. He had to have the shield opened to get back in. They’re not very creative. It was pretty pedestrian magic once I took a good look at it.”

“You broke into Lumengrid?” Glissa asked.

“Teleported in, but to do it I did have to break through some auras,” Bruenna said. “That was how I eventually confirmed you were still alive. The vedalken are fanatical about keeping records and archives, and I popped into their central library. My father used to work there as a servant.” Bruenna her mug of oily leonin pseudonush and refilled it in one fluid movement. “Even now that the vedalken don’t speak, they still write everything down. It’s compulsive. There were records of everything—troop dispatch orders, complete lists of every last artifact beast in Memnarch’s army, maps of secret tunnels into the interior …”

“Tell me you took one of those maps,” Glissa interrupted.

“Yes,” Bruenna said, “And orders about moving a precious cargo from the Dross to the interior.”

“Me?” Glissa asked.

“You,” Bruenna said. “So, to make a short story long, I figured out when they were moving you, and made sure I was in a position to pull you out as soon as there was an opening. It wasn’t easy, but you know the rest.”

“And at last we arrive at the point,” Yshkar replied.

“Patience, my Kha,” Bruenna said. “Glissa, we could spend all night filling you in on everything. It’s been a long five years. But what’s important is what you’ve learned. The Mephidross has grown, and Yert now controls over half the surface. The nim and the vedalken and worse surround us. I’ve figured out how to break into the vedalken’s line of communications. And I found something in the ’grid that might show us a chance to turn our fortunes around.”

Bruenna rose and plucked a roll of wide foil parchment from a pouch on her belt and spread it on the table in front of Glissa, pinning down the corners with goblets and cups. “We know that Yert’s surging strength has something to do with Memnarch, his part in your abduction. I’ve found something. It’s a talisman that might also be a weapon, if you can get your hands on it.”

“A weapon against what?” Glissa asked. The leathery parchment bore a painstakingly colored and labeled coalstone sketch. The sketch depicted a simple round design with angular shapes sliced from the edges, making the shape resemble an asymmetrical sawblade. A pentagon was etched into the center of the object, and at each point on the shape a differently colored gemstone had been mounted.

“I’ve seen that pattern before,” Glissa said. “On Kaldra.”

“This might be even older. According to this, it may actually be as old as the Guardian himself,” Bruenna said. “It gives the
possessor power over the mindless and soulless,” Bruenna said. “It’s called the Miracore, and Yert’s got it.”

The mage held her hand about eight inches apart. “It’s about so wide in either direction. And heavy. According to this document, it’s forged from some alloy I’ve never even seen. Even Dwugget said he’d never heard of it, and none of the goblin blacksmiths think it’s even real. But I saw it. I saw it around his neck when I escaped five years ago.”

“So it ‘controls the soulless.’ How? What does that mean, exactly?” Glissa said.

Bruenna launched into a long technical explanation of the talisman, much of which went sailing over Glissa’s head. But the gist of it was that this Miracore could channel the wearer’s willpower and force anything without a sentient mind—such as the simpler animals, zombies like the nim, or constructs—to do his bidding. Its origins were unclear, though the angular, geometric vedalken script confirmed the talisman’s antiquity.

Geth’s head volunteered that
he
hadn’t need any such talisman to get the nim to do what
he
wanted.

“That’s actually a good point,” Lyese interrupted. “What the head said.”

“Yert was and still is an amateur,” Geth continued from his bag after prodding the flap open with his temple. “He’d be nothing without that Miracore. Now me,
I’m
a wizard. The greatest necromancer this plane has ever known.”

“Was a wizard,” Glissa corrected. “Don’t get any ideas, or I’m giving you to Yshkar.” The elf girl returned to Bruenna. “So I get this Miracore away from Yert and the nim lose their controller.”

“And then most of the forces allied against us become easy pickings for our troops,” Yshkar said. “With this talisman in our possession, we could control the nim ourselves and seize the silver beasts from the vedalkens’ grasp.”

“With luck, we won’t have to,” Bruenna said. “There’s something more. It was in a separate record. When I located you, I was also able to track down Memnarch. It was dumb luck. I didn’t expect to find anything, but I had the time, so …”

“What did you find?” Glissa asked.

“Five years,” Bruenna said. “Five years, and no one has seen him. His armies spread over the surface, but Memnarch himself? Nowhere. I found out why.”

“Bruenna, Glissa is tired. She should rest before we get into this,” Lyese said.

“No, my Khanha. I must disagree,” Bruenna said. “I looked into the serum transfer records. I found that most of the supply was being diverted to one place. The Panopticon. I dug around a bit more and found out that the serum was for Memnarch. He’s hibernating. Burning away some kind of ‘taint.’”

“Taint?” Glissa said. “He’s making himself sane?”

“It’s a contaminant,” Bruenna said. “He was being consumed by flesh. He’s using half the serum the vedalken can produce to rid himself of it. Memnarch is converting himself back into pure metal.”

“Why?”

“He believes it will allow him to ascend,” Breunna said. “But he made a mistake.”

“If he’s metal, I might be able to hurt him,” Glissa said. “Maybe—maybe kill him.”

“Exactly,” Bruenna said. “But there is a catch.”

“Of course there is,” Glissa said.

“I retrieved you from the interior early,” Bruenna said. “There are five days until Memnarch will emerge.”

“Perfect,” Glissa said. “I can take him out while he sleeps.”

“Glissa, you cannot touch him until the cleansing process is complete,” Bruenna said. “Like you, he is outside of time in the
Panopticon. Inside some kind of machine. But when he emerges, he will be a different being. One you can destroy. On the fifth day, the suns will rise as one, and you have to be in the Panopticon.”

“You will take an honor guard of my finest troops,” Yshkar said.

“No. No commandos, no skyhunters, no honor guard,” Glissa said. “I’ve got four days. When I do this, I do it alone, with no one to slow me down. Give me supplies, and I’ll take a pteron if you’ve got one to spare. If not, Bruenna, I’ll need transportation.”

“Are you sure?” Lyese asked. “We just found you, Glissa.”

“And when this is all over, I’ll find you again,” Glissa said. “First, I have to find Yert, and quickly. Bruenna, maybe teleportation magic—”

A huge rumbling suddenly shook the cave and sent goblets tumbling and chairs toppling. A breathless leonin guard bolted into the dining room and momentarily grabbed the table to keep his balance, something the elf girl had never seen a leonin do before. Glissa struggled to keep her own footing, scooped up Geth’s head and slung it over her shoulder, then drew her sword. A weapon might not stop this sudden a quake, but it made her feel more secure.

The harried leonin soldier headed straight for Yshkar and shouted over the thunderous din. “My Kha! The nim have breached the southeast perimeter! They’ve brought—my Kha, the nim have vampires among them!”

“To arms!” Yshkar bellowed, clutching a small amulet that was apparently enchanted to send his voice rumbling through the tunnels and over the roar of the ongoing quake. “The enemy has entered Krark-Home!”

“Sounds like Yert’s coming to you!” Geth’s head shouted, only audible to Glissa because of his proximity to her ears. She suspected the head was right.

Not one of them noticed the myr creature clinging to the high ceiling, concealed by shadows and its own chameleonic metal skin. As the elf girl continued to speak animatedly to the mage, the myr’s master decided he had learned enough. The small, agile creature scuttled into a ventilation shaft and disappeared.

Glissa was amazed at the coordination and cooperation on display between leonin and goblin soldiers as they scrambled this way and that, setting up defensive positions. The rumbling had subsided, through she suspected it might start up again at any minute. Yshkar barked orders, keeping a level head amidst the organized chaos. Lyese, Glissa observed, was strapping on a sword belt.

The elf girl examined her own ancient sword in the orange firelight. There still wasn’t a nick or scratch anywhere on it. Elven weapons were made to last.

“Bruenna,” Glissa said, “None of this is going to work if I don’t get to Yert.”

“And the guard said ‘vampires,’ I know,” Bruenna replied, fumbling with one of the pouches on her belt. “He’s here. I can sense him.”

Glissa closed her eyes, attempting to reach out to the energies of the Tangle. “I can too,” the elf girl said with surprise. “He’s like a void. And something else. Constructs. They’re making my spine tingle.”

Bruenna nodded in agreement. “Focus on Yert. The Miracore should lead you right to him.” The Neurok mage produced chain strung with a trio of different colored gemstones, and placed it in the elf girl’s hand. The mage explained that each
one was infused with a specific magic and keyed to Glissa’s voice—Bruenna had prepared them that morning. The green one would transport her instantly to any location she named three times while holding the stone to her lips. Using the same method, the red one would return Glissa to Krark-Home, and the blue one would give her the ability to fly for a short time. Alone among the three stones, the blue flight gem could be used as often as Glissa wished, Bruenna explained with a hint of pride. Glissa thanked her, wrapped the chain around her forearm like a bracelet, and tucked the valuable stones up the long sleeve of her silver leonin tunic.

“I need to stay and defend Krark-Home, or this may all be over before it begins,” Bruenna added. “And you must leave for the interior as soon as you retrieve the Miracore. You
must
retrieve the Miracore. I shall help you with Yert as much as I can, but then you must go. Use the stones.”

“Oh, I’ll get the Miracore,” Glissa said, still gazing at her sword. “If I have to take Yert’s head off to do it.” She placed a hand on Bruenna’s shoulder and looked over at Lyese, who was still preoccupied with weapons and armor. “Afterward … tell her I’ll be back soon. No time for a long good-bye.” Glissa didn’t add that she wouldn’t be able to make herself leave, despite the dire circumstances, if her sister was fighting for her life at the same time. Yshkar had already joined the battle, and Lyese would not be able to avoid it.

“I shall. But now, we go,” Bruenna said quietly. “Remember, Yert is the goal. Until you have the Miracore, only fight whatever’s blocking your way.” Bruenna turned and headed out one of the dining room’s many exits. Sparing one last glance at her sister, so changed in such a short period of time, Glissa followed without a word.