Judgment

CHAPTER 15

Laquatas squinted up at the noon sun and cursed. "Norda's fins! I hate the plains. How can people live so far from water with that ball of fire staring at them?"

As usual, Burke did not answer. He merely stood beside the mer lord quietly, waiting for his next command. "I need shelter from this blasted sun, Burke," said Laquatas. "Find the nearest farmhouse, and make it vacant." Following a wooden fence, the mer and his jack made their way toward the manor of the local landowner. "Clear the stables, Burke. I will rest in there while you cleanse the rest of the manor."

As Laquatas and Burke approached the buildings, two large, blond farmhands came out of the stables and spotted the odd duo.

"What d'ya want old man?" asked the first as he grabbed a pitchfork leaning against the doorframe.

"Shelter from the sun," replied Laquatas, smiling. "Burke?" With a mental command the mer sent his fighter forward to greet the farmhands.

"What in the spheres is that thing, Root?" asked the second worker as Burke approached.

Root lost some of his bluster as he looked at Burke. Turning to Laquatas, he said, "This land is protected by the Order, mister. You'd better leave, and take that thing with you."

As Root finished his little speech, Burke, who was still fifteen feet from the farmhands, shot out his arm. It stretched and hardened, hitting Root in the chest and breaking several ribs. The appendage just as quickly withdrew back to its normal shape and size, leaving Root gasping for air on the ground.

Pushing himself up on one hand, Root threw the pitchfork as hard as he could at Burke. The tines speared the jack in the groin, but the featureless humanoid merely reached down and pulled the makeshift weapon free, and the marks disappeared.

Burke then strode up to the gasping Root, stuck the pitchfork into large worker's torso, and raised the burly farmhand up over his shoulder as if his body were nothing more than a bale of hay.

Root's friend turned to run. Burke whipped the pitchfork forward, tossing Root's body through the air at the fleeing worker some thirty feet away.

Hit in the back by a two-hundred-pound missile, the farmhand tumbled to the ground, his arm shattering as he landed, pinned to the ground by the dead weight of his former friend. Burke strode over to the prone worker and drove the pitchfork through Root into the neck of the second man. Burke then looked back at his master, waiting new orders.

"Secure the house. I do not wish to be disturbed. I will wait in the stable for your return."

Burke nodded and then turned and strode toward the house. Laquatas entered the stable. Inside, the mer found horses and farm equipment but no more residents.

"Good," he said. "Now to find out what has been happening while I've been traveling."

The mer pulled the enchanted mirror out of his pack, passed his hand over its surface, and concentrated on Talbot. A moment later, the disheveled face of Laquatas's ambassador to the Cabal appeared in the mirror.

"Is this how you appear to your lord?" asked Laquatas. "At least run a comb through your hair, Talbot."

"Sorry, my lord," groveled Talbot. "I was somewhat indisposed when your call came in."

"Ah, I see," said Laquatas, smiling at his advisor. "I, too, liked to partake of the pleasures of the Cabal. I do hope your recreation hasn't impeded your mission."

"No, my lord," said Talbot. He reached out and produced an ivory comb to run through his fine, silken hair. "I have much news to impart to you, sire. News I have learned from my sources here in the Cabal."

"Excellent, Talbot," said Laquatas. "Havelock and his troops are proceeding on to Krosan. I have come topside to check on our allies and make sure the rest of the plan is proceeding apace. What can you tell me about the Cabal and Order forces?"

"Nothing good, I'm afraid, sire," said Talbot. "Braids has failed to either secure the Mirari or force the barbarian to leave the mountains. Her death squad lies dead in a Pardic village, and she has left the mountains."

"Is that all?" asked Laquatas. "That is but a minor setback. I never expected the summoner to succeed on her own."

"There is more, sire," said Talbot. "Llawan has convinced the First to send a raiding party out to deal with the Order forces and safeguard the return of the orb to the Cabal. Braids has joined forces with these raiders, and it would appear that a battle between the two armies is imminent."

"So the Empress knows more than you had been led to believe by Veza, I see," said Laquatas. "She has taken an active role in thwarting our plan. What of her own troops? What do you know about Llawan's own battle plans?"

"I was informed that she could not spare any of her own troops to protect the orb," explained Talbot, "because she is embroiled in border disputes with the pirates who are plaguing her trade route through the portals."

"Good," said Laquatas, smiling. "She is still too worried about her empire's economics to tackle the real problems. I wouldn't worry about the Cabal and Order forces, Talbot. The more they fight each other, the fewer of them will remain when they reach the forest. What I need to do is scare that barbarian out of the mountains so one side or the other can grab the orb. Manipulating the Cabal and the Order will be easy. It is making that blasted, chaotic barbarian do what I want that is tough."

"What can I do to help, my lord?" asked Talbot.

Laquatas thought for a moment, then snapped his fingers. "Go back to the First and tell him that 7 will commit troops to safeguard the orb against Order attack. If he asks you why we would do this, tell him it is because we have his best interests at heart and wish to win him back as a trusted ally against the empress. But we need his raiders to secure the orb, so he must push them back up into the mountains."

"Yes, sire," said Talbot. "I will request an audience with the First at once."

"And I shall go handle the Order forces personally," said Laquatas. "I must ensure they do not become overzealous once they have the orb and try to destroy it right away. Ah, I see Burke has returned. I must sign off now, Talbot. I will head out this evening to locate the Order forces. Inform me before then of your progress with the First."

"Yes, my lord."

Laquatas looked up at his jack. "Is the house securer?" he asked.

Burke nodded.

"Then find the well. I wish to spend the day in a bath."

That evening, Laquatas mounted one of the horses in the stable and rode off toward the foothills of the mountains. Talbot's report had not been encouraging. It seemed the Cabal forces were planning to slip out that night, which meant not only would they not be going after the orb, but apparently the Cabal was no longer subject to the ambassador's will. He would have to use the Order to get the Mirari now.

"Burke, raze this place to the ground," said the ambassador from atop his horse. "I do not wish to leave any proof of our passing here. Then catch up to me. 1 will have need of you again this evening."

While Laquatas rode out into the fields surrounding the homestead, the evening sky lit up behind him as fire engulfed the wooden structures. Not long afterward, Burke came running up behind the mer, easily catching up to the trotting horse, for the jack had stretched his arms and turned his hands and feet into hooves to gallop like a horse. Pushing his steed to match the jack's pace, Laquatas and Burke galloped off into the night toward the mountains.

Guided to the Cabal camp by Talbot's information, Laquatas and Burke arrived in the foothills a few hours after the moon rose over Otaria. The mer's horse had been pushed to its limits to keep up the pace and wouldn't last the night, but Burke seemed tireless.

As they neared the secluded camp, Laquatas could hear the sounds of battle and knew the Cabal forces had not been able to slip past the Order troops. Laquatas reigned in his steed and dismounted, mentally commanding Burke to halt beside him.

"We must not be seen to take sides in this battle Burke," said the ambassador, "but we also cannot allow the Order to lose.

They arc the key to Mirari now that I can no longer control the Cabal. Go and aid the Order, but leave no Cabal witnesses. We may yet have need of them."

As Burke transformed back to his humanoid shape, Laquatas crept to the top of a hillock where he could view the battle without being seen. Order infantry filled the valley between the hills leading into the secluded bluff, completely trapping the Cabal raiders within their camp. Above the battlefield, aven mages strafed the Cabal front lines, reinforcing their warriors with defensive magic while eliminating any troublesome beasts the Cabal mages summoned.

From his vantage point, things looked bad for the raiders, but Laquatas knew a little about Cabal battle tactics and realized this part of the battle was merely a diversion to give the Cabal summoners enough time to mount their true offensive. Moments later, the mer saw explosions rock the Order troops just behind the front lines, killing troopers and expelling huge amounts of smoke throughout the Order ranks.

Laquatas commanded Burke to skirt the Order camp and make his way toward the front line to help the infantry against what he knew was coming next. From within the ever-widening void of smoke, Laquatas could hear the screams of dying Order warriors and the snarls of Cabal horrors. Unable to see through the smoke, Laquatas focused on the aven mages, who seemed at first confused by the explosions but quickly rallied together to create strong winds that began blowing the smoke back into the Cabal ranks, exposing the imps, ghouls, and shades that were tearing through the front ranks of the Order troops.

Laquatas knew this was a mistake even before the inevitable happened. Unable to see the Cabal dementia summoners, who were now hidden behind their own vale of smoke, the aven mages were caught unaware as wispy blue creatures with long claws and razor-sharp teeth rose up out of the smoke and attacked them from below.

The tide of the battle was turning. The foul dementia beasts on the ground tore through the overmatched Order grunts, using their claws to catch swords and spears and their strength to first disarm their opponents and then disembowel them. Above the battle, the aven mages could no longer protect or heal their warriors, for they were fighting for their lives as well. The blue horrors strafed the mages, shredding aven wings with their vicious claws as they passed or ramming into the flying warriors and sinking their claws and teeth into aven flesh as they pulled the Order mages down to the ground.

Glancing back down, Laquatas saw a new horror enter the melee as Burke pushed his way into the midst of the fighting. The Order guards fled from him, which only made Burke's job easier, for it opened up a passage to his real target: the Cabal demons. The first imp he met seemed confused by the large creature's presence, for it offered no resistance as Burke grabbed its small head in his huge palm and squeezed until it popped.

The nearby demons did not hesitate after that, piling on top of the lumpish creature and raking at his rubbery flesh with their claws, teeth, and barbed tails. In a moment, Burke was completely covered with a squirming pile of deadly creatures, but Laquatas was not worried. The summoned creatures could not hurt Burke. Nothing could. And the smoke obscured his jack's handiwork from the dementia summoners, so there was no chance they could see or recognize Burke as he single-handedly dismantled their summoned army.

Looking back to the skies, though, Laquatas was disappointed by the effectiveness of the aven mages. They were flying to and fro, merely trying to evade the horrors when they should have been mounting their own offensive against this airborne threat.

"Must I do everything in your little war?" he asked no one.

Laquatas pressed his forefingers against his temples and gathered the mana needed to complete his spell. Azure energy licked at his fingertips, arcing back and forth across his forehead.

Laquatas concentrated on the closest horror until the energy leaped from his fingers to fly through the air and engulf the dementia creature. The creature fell for an instant as it lost control of its body, control that traveled back down through the energy beam. As the mer took control, he righted the creature's flight and gave it new instructions.

"Kill the horrors," Laquatas said into the beast's mind.

Laquatas watched his new warrior for a moment to make sure it understood the simple directions. It flew off toward a battling aven, and the mer worried that these beasts might be uncontrollable. But then he laughed at his own doubt when the horror interposed itself between the aven and another demon. Flashing its claws and teeth, the controlled beast ripped through its brother's wispy wings and body, sending large gobs of gauzy, blue matter floating toward the ground.

Satisfied with his beast's performance, Laquatas looked again for Burke, not worried about his jack but worried he might need new instruction after killing the Cabal's summoned ground troops. He needn't have worried, for the jack had just emerged from the pile of demons, which Laquatas noticed had shrunk considerably.

Surrounded by summoned demons, many of which were still clawing at his legs and body, Burke calmly grabbed the nearest two ghouls by their necks, one in each massive hand, and smashed their heads together. As the ghoul bodies dissipated back into dementia, Burke pulled an imp off his leg and impaled it on the extended finger of his other hand, which had grown six inches and ended in a needle-sharp point.

The jack next grabbed a shade in both hands, its hazy body difficult to hold. Spreading his lump of a body into a large blue-black net that enveloped the summoned creature, Burke oozed around the shade, squeezing the beast as if it were a bunch of grapes in his fist. Burke finally released the creature, leaving its broken body to return to its dementia space while he reverted back to his normal, featureless form.

Laquatas enjoyed watching his jack work, but he knew that Burke needed no help while the aven mages were still in trouble. His controlled horror had destroyed three of its fellows, but another three had banded together to handle the rogue beast, grabbing it by its wings and head and ripping its body into pieces.

Laquatas began to tap into his mana once again to control another horror, but as he looked for a creature to control, he saw one of the smoky, blue creatures loop up and over an aven mage, landing on its back. The Order mage tried desperately to reach the enemy on her back, but the horror grabbed the aven's wings and ripped them off her body, then pushed off the falling mage and flew away from Laquatas.

As the mage fell, she cast a spell, creating a white glow around her body. Laquatas watched her fall, streaking through the night sky like a shooting star. She landed on the hillside of the bluff, far behind the Cabal lines, and Laquatas was astounded by what he saw the instant before the mage's protective spell went dark: a barbarian and a dwarf picking their way around the rear of the Cabal camp.

They ducked behind some rocks as the illuminated mage hit the ground, but Laquatas knew in that instant that Kamahl had come to him. All thoughts of helping the Order win this battle vanished as Laquatas saw his prize within his grasp at last.

"Burke, come to me," commanded the mer. "Our quarry is near, and we don't have much time." Laquatas crept down the hill and began to make his way around the battle toward the fallen aven, trying to stay in the shadows and out of the battle.

One of the blue horrors must have noticed the movement and dived toward Laquatas. As the beast came out of the black sky, Laquatas thrust his arms up at the beast and unleashed the built-up mana he had prepared for the control spell. This time, though, when the blue light enveloped the beast, it didn't fall. It merely winked out of existence, returning to the dementia space from whence it had been summoned with nothing more than a faint popping sound.

A short while later, Laquatas neared the edge of the frontline battle, and Burke rejoined him. But a trio of dementia summoners blocked their way as they followed their prey.

"Hold," said the first. "You're not Order or Cabal. Who are you?"

"I don't have time for this," said Laquatas. "Burke, kill them."

The jack moved so fast the first dementia summoner had no time to react before Burke grabbed his head and chest and snapped his neck, dropping the Cabal mage to the ground before turning to face the next. The second Cabalist shot a stream of magically created daggers out of his palm at Burke, pelting the jack in the chest, head, and arms with dozens of blades while the third mage began to shape a piece of dementia space.

Unfazed by the daggers sticking out of his body, Burke leaped atop the second summoner, pushing him to the ground and landing on his chest. With a quick kick to the mage's head, Burke crushed the man's skull and stepped off the unbreathing chest to face the last Cabalist.

The third mage finished his summoning and stepped back behind the creature he'd called out of his dementia space. The eight-foot-tall monster towered over Burke. It had a huge, misshapen head with bull horns and a double row of vertebrae sticking out of its hunched back. Its arms hung down to its knees and ended in razor-sharp pincers instead of hands.

As the horror stepped forward, it swung its arms out, almost daring Burke to come close enough for a death hug. Timing his lunge to slip inside the creature's arms as they swung around, Burke grabbed the horror's jaw in one hand and a horn in the other and began to pull its mouth open. The creature closed its arms around the jack and cut deeply into Burke's back with both pincers, spearing him with one while the second tried to cut him in half.

Oblivious to the monster's attacks, Burke continued to pry the creature's huge mouth open, finally ripping its jaw off and dropping it to the ground. As die huge horror continued to hack away at Burke widi its pincers, the jack punched up into the roof of the monster's mouth, easily smashing dirough the cartilage, ramming his fist into the beast's brain and out dirough the top of its skull.

As the summoned horror dropped to the ground, Burke pulled its pincer out from his side and jammed it into the chest of the surprised mage standing behind the dead monster, piercing the summoner's heart with die appendage.

Not even waiting for Burke to deal with his wounds, Laquatas ran off toward the hills rising up behind the Cabal camp. When Burke caught up widi him, he still had numerous daggers sticking out of his face and arms, but the deep gashes from the horror had been repaired.

Seeing the injured aven ahead, Laquatas dashed up the slope and frantically searched for signs of Kamahl or die dwarf. Hearing the mage moan, Laquatas dropped to his knees and questioned the aven.

"Did you see a barbarian and a dwarf after you fell. Do you know which way they went?" he asked.

"No," replied the injured and wingless aven. "I blacked out when I struck the ground. Can you help me? Did you come to save me?"

"Blast!" uttered the mer. "Useless aven." Laquatas held his hand over the aven's forehead and concentrated, forcing the Order mage to relive the battle in her head so Laquatas could see everything she saw. Right before the end, he saw in her mind the rear of a horse moving north into the brush.

"Thank you, my dear," said Laquatas. "You have been very helpful. For that I will spare you a painful death at the hands of my jack." Pressing a little farther into the aven's mind, Laquatas found a particular spot deep inside and snapped his fingers, quickly and painlessly cutting the link between life and death within the bird warrior's brain.

"Come, Burke," said Laquatas as he stood up. "Kamahl has gone this way."

Never looking back at the battle that still raged behind them, the mer and his jack headed north, picking their way through the rocks and brambles of the foothills of the Pardic Mountains.