Siege of Stone

CHAPTER 44

After Nicci was swallowed by the silvery sliph and pulled down into the well, Nathan stared uneasily into the darkness, smelling the metallic dampness in the air. He glanced at Elsa, who was amazed at what had happened.

“Perhaps it’s a good thing I am unable to travel in that manner,” she said.

Nathan turned back toward the daylight outside, confident in Nicci’s abilities. “I’m sure she will be safe, my dear. But while Nicci is off to save the rest of the world, we have the far simpler task of protecting only one city.”

Elsa’s full lips turned down in a frown. “I never know when you’re joking, Nathan.”

“I insist on looking at difficult challenges from a certain perspective. It helps me consider extraordinary solutions, and it’s preferable to wallowing in despair, don’t you agree?”

Elsa gave him a wan smile as she followed him out of the enclosure. “My Derek was always a cheerful person, too. It was infectious.”

“Then let me infect you.” He extended his elbow, and Elsa slid her arm through his. He could see how beautiful she must have been as a young woman. He corrected himself: she was still beautiful now, as well as admirable and intelligent. “Now let us find a weapon powerful enough to destroy the army of General Utros.”

Elsa brushed against him. “That sounds awfully ambitious.”

“Since you helped me restore my gift, how can I be anything but ambitious?” Nathan suddenly winced with a flicker of unexpected pain as his thumping heart tripped over a beat. He rubbed his breastbone, feeling the long thin scar there.

Elsa looked at him with concern. “Is something wrong?”

“Just a bit of indigestion.” He wondered if a faint remnant of Chief Handler Ivan remained within the muscle of his new heart. Before she could press further, he said, “Come along. I have an idea I’d like to show you.”

Elsa would undoubtedly be alarmed by what he intended, and his suggestion was extremely dangerous, but he thought his idea was their best chance to hit General Utros hard.

They passed the huge combat arena and the larger noble homes, heading toward Fleshmancer Andre’s mansion. Giant sandstone blocks lay strewn about the streets where city buildings had been brought down. Workers had cleared some of the rubble since the night of the rampant destruction, but debris still clogged a few streets. Stonemasons loaded the broken rock in carts and wheeled them down to the outer wall, where the sentries used them as missiles to pelt the enemy warriors below.

Elsa paled as she realized where he was taking her. “This is a terrible reminder of what happened that night. And how you saved me.”

Nathan patted her arm. “Saving you from that gigantic Ixax was exactly the right incentive for me to find my gift again.” He led her up the street. “Just keep an open mind.”

She held his arm more tightly. “For you, I will.”

He took her through the piles of rubble, collapsed columns, and fallen walls of the fleshmancer’s studio. She looked around in concern. “Do you expect to find some of Andre’s chemicals or writings still intact? How can they possibly be helpful to us now?”

“Not his writings or chemicals.” Smashed stones rattled underfoot as they worked their way through the collapsed entryway toward the rear wing. “I believe these two may save Ildakar after all.”

He stopped in front of the Ixax warriors.

Elsa’s eyes went wide, and she withdrew her arm from his. “You saw what one of them did to our city! That thing almost killed both of us.”

“Almost, Elsa. Remember that word—‘almost.’” He looked up at the towering brutes that had once been human. From what Andre had told him, those starry-eyed young men hadn’t been coerced to become the Ixax warriors. They had volunteered themselves, offering everything to save Ildakar.

Elsa appeared nervous as she stared at the colossal warriors. “But the fury they contain,” she whispered, gesturing toward the rubble all around. “When Mirrormask awakened only one of them, it killed our most powerful fleshmancer and brought down this entire villa, wrought havoc in the streets of Ildakar, tried to kill both of us.”

Nathan turned to look at the pair of motionless warriors. “Remember what Andre did to those poor creatures. He held them frozen here in maddening boredom for centuries upon centuries. He taunted them, drove them to murderous rage. But they still know why they were created. I believe they still have Ildakar in their hearts.” He lowered his voice. “We just need to help them remember.”

With her expression of consternation, Elsa reminded him of Prelate Ann, with whom he had spent so much time after the two of them had escaped from the Palace of the Prophets. He had at first resented Ann because she was responsible for holding him prisoner all those centuries. She had been his nemesis, but he’d gradually come to respect her, even love her.

He knew that Elsa was special from the start, though. Among all the gifted duma members, she had been the most compassionate, the most understanding of his plight, and she had helped him get his gift back.

Elsa made him remember how he had fallen in love with Ann, who was killed by Sisters of the Dark in service of Jagang. Before that, he’d been smitten with young Clarissa, another romance that ended tragically. Love had left Nathan with many scars, and by now he should have been embittered by the capriciousness and pain associated with it. But that was the thing about love. It was always accompanied by hope and the confidence that next time would turn out right.

“I have been coming here for days, just talking to them, reading to them, keeping them company. They are quite an attentive audience.”

Nathan took a few steps closer to the titans. He raised his voice and spoke directly to them. “I’ve come to tell you more stories from history, and some of my own exploits. I’m sure you are not familiar with the Imperial Order and the Emperor Jagang. Let me tell you what the world has been doing since Ildakar vanished beneath the shroud.”

Speaking in a raised voice, he explained about the evil dream walker who tormented and controlled people through their nightmares. “Jagang was a brutish man who enslaved the Sisters of the Dark, including Nicci herself.” He smiled. “Ah, let me tell you about Nicci. So many stories, we could talk for hours.” Nathan stroked his chin and glanced at Elsa. “In fact, I think I will. You’ll find it a welcome diversion.”

He sat on a toppled column. “Afterward, I’ll need to tell you about Richard Rahl, his D’Haran Empire, and how he defeated not only Darken Rahl, but Jagang as well. He even sealed the veil to the underworld and ended prophecy for all time.” He chuckled. “I wish dear Richard were here now. He would certainly help save Ildakar.”

Nathan studied the glowing yellow eyes of the armored warriors. “You both were created to do just that, to save Ildakar.” Had the hatred begun to dull? He seemed to have their attention. “I know how terrible it has been for you to be trapped like this, unable to serve your purpose, but the time may soon come, I promise.”

Elsa blurted out, joining the conversation as she primly took a seat beside Nathan, “I am Elsa, one of the duma members. I just…” She shook her head. “I want to say I am sorry for what Andre did to you.” She gestured with her open hand toward their towering forms. “I honor your sacrifice. I am proud of you, and I deeply apologize in the name of Ildakar. Andre is dead now. Please don’t hold it against all of us.”

The colossal figures remained unable to move, unable to speak. Nathan continued in a congenial voice. “There’s so much more to tell, and I can keep coming back to entertain and enlighten you. Just before I traveled to the Old World, our most recent war was against the resurrected Emperor Sulachan. You might have heard of him, because he used Ildakar as one of his bases during the wizard wars three thousand years ago. He led a huge army of half people from the Dark Lands. They surged out of the Third Kingdom to destroy D’Hara.”

He mused, his eyes twinkling. “I wish we could have turned you two loose to fight on that battlefield. You’d have smashed thousands of the undead. Just look at you!” Nathan was sure the blazing light in their eyes was softening. Soon, he might consider them ready to be unleashed.