The Dark Lord

CHAPTER FIFTY-THREE

Off Sicilia

Freezing winds roared and lashed around the vast shape of a byakhee, forcing Dahak to crouch low against the stupendous body. A forest of black, frond-like tentacles gripped him on either side, keeping the sorcerer from being flung from the monster's back as it turned, bifurcate wings cleaving the air in a sweeping arc over a glimmering bay. The sight of so much water-so much seawater-wheeling below him made Dahak's lean fingers dig deeper into plush, thorny fur.

The placid, sun-dappled face of annihilation yawned up at him, stretching from horizon to horizon, a sheet of sparkling glass. Only the enormous, sloped cone of Aetna offered him any hope of survival. The mountain dominated the island landscape, rising thousands of feet above the rumpled hills and sharp ravines spread at its foot. No other mountain on Sicilia, or even in Italia, matched the height of the volcano. Snow covered the truncated crown, white mixed with streaks of dark gray. Steam boiled away from the summit, though the throb of the mountain's heart-perceptible even here, at such a great height-was steady and quiet.

Down, the sorcerer commanded and the byakhee slewed sideways with terrific speed, plunging towards the curving tan line of a beach barely visible below. Dahak swallowed a scream, worming his way into the living, writhing fur, shutting his eyes against the blaze of the setting sun upon the water.

The creature boomed across the bay, wheeling like a kite, and landed on a broad, white beach. Sand billowed up in a great cloud and a line of trees a hundred yards back from the surf line creaked and bent, battered by a tremendous gale. Talons crunched in loose gravel and a dark mist of tendrils descended onto hard-packed sand, searching for food.

Staggering and weak with reaction, Dahak tumbled from the monster's back and fell heavily onto the hot sand. Long shadows stretched from the nearest trees and the air took on a golden quality as the sun settled towards the western rim of the world. Shaking himself, Dahak turned away from the waves lapping on the shore and staggered into the cover of a thicket of witch hazel.

"Go," he growled at the byakhee, which had found a colony of clams under damp sand below the high tide line. Thin, prehensile tubes distended from the rugose, insectile body, digging into the beach. A wave of dull hatred radiated from the thing's mind at Dahak's command-hunger… eat-yet it could not disobey his will or the compelling sign he raised in the hidden world. With a vast rushing sound, the ground trembled and a whirlwind of grit and sand and gravel clattered against the trees. The servitor leapt into the sky and was quickly gone, only a dark speck against a cerulean sky and then nothing.

Hiding in the thicket, glossy green leaves tickling his neck, the sorcerer waited, his own rage and fear simmering. He did not like this place. But then he turned his attention to the bright sea and calm relief fell over him. The bay was filled with white and cream and brown sails. The Persian fleet arrived, driven by unseasonable winds, covering the sea from shore to shore. They could not miss their landfall, not with the vast cone of Aetna rising towards the heavens, visible for a hundred miles in clear weather.

The lead wave of galleys surged towards the shore, white spume leaping from their bows, sails taut with vigorous zephyrs. Three enormous grain haulers advanced in the center of the fleet, dwarfing their companions as a bear might tower over her cubs, black hulls rising like mountains from the blue sea. Already, as the sorcerer watched, the lead merchantmen were lowering longboats filled with men.

My Huns and faithful C'hu-lo, Dahak saw with relief, recognizing their top-knots and darker skin, their black armor and furred cloaks. He remained in hiding, tense and alert. For the moment, it seemed, he was alone on the beach, but Roman patrols-if there were any on this placid stretch of agricultural coastline-would not have missed the thunderous arrival of the byakhee. Or my great fleet, he thought smugly. Sleek galleys nosed towards the shore, brilliant eyes shining in the setting sun; round-bellied merchantmen leaned with the wind, anchor chains rattling into the deep, sailors shouting commands as they turned painted sails; everywhere there was busy industry as the fleet entered the broad, white bay.

A high deck rode above gleaming green water, the depths below thronged with striped fish, then shining white sand and fluttering strands of kelp and sea grass. The sun was almost on the mountaintop, letting the last lucid rays plunge down into the beckoning sea, brilliant on burnished shields and helms, casting a forest of stars against the darkening shore. Two great chairs were moored to the deck under a canvas shade, and a terrible king sat in one, a beautiful queen in the other, flowers and gold wound in her raven hair.

Every eye aboard was turned to the shore, a long band of white between deepening blue and the lush green and brown of the forest. Water meadows glinted beyond the foaming strand, filled with vineyards and planted fields ripe with summer grain. Stands of black poplar clustered along streams rushing down from white-capped mountains and even at sea, on the great-hulled ships, the lowing of kine and the bleating of countless goats carried on the evening wind.

A rich, lush smell reached out from the shore and those living men on the ship were minded of home and family and the turning of the seasons.

No one marked the jackal-headed king's cloak-gray on gray, fine linen and silk-sprawling loose across the arms of his chair. The jackal himself sat with his bronzed arms on the seat, his mask staring at the shore. A pocket in the fabric jumped and twitched, yielding a square of gleaming black cloth that fell onto the deck behind the throne. For a moment, the material lay still, then-with dizzying speed-the square unfolded into a rectangle, then again, then again, then again. Man-shaped, the dark, lustrous material soaked up the last rays of the setting sun and split open, head to toe, a powerful hand wrenching the cloth aside.

Mohammed sat up from darkness, then rose from the deck, naked save for a tall staff of fig wood held in one hand. Wind gusting from the white-capped sea tangled the glossy cloth into an unruly wad. Fluttering, the scrap of black silk lifted from the deck, whirled past the feet of the Queen's guardsmen and disappeared over the side of the ship.

The Arab, chest covered by a flowing white beard, took in the vista of ships and sea and mountain, keen eyes counting masts, gauging the seaworthiness of the fleet. He saw many ships flying the twin-palmed flag of Palmyra and more with a familiar green banner snapping in the wind. He saw two thrones facing away from him, surrounded by hard-faced men in desert robes. No one was looking in his direction and Mohammed regretted the fate that had brought him here. I am among the enemy, he realized, though many names and faces are familiar to me.

Someone called from the foredeck and Mohammed's eyes flickered in recognition. Our young Eagle.

Turning, he stepped to the railing, looked down into the darkening sea, and dove-pale body flashing into the water with an abrupt slap-and he was gone. Ceaseless waves rolled past, obscuring the trace of his passage.

Wind tangled in the Queen's hair, rattling jewels and gold. The Asura pitched in a heavy sea, her rigging and mast creaking in gusting wind. She turned her head to look upon the dark, still shape of the Jackal sitting beside her in gray and gray, with a torc of silver around his neck and iron bracelets upon well-muscled arms.

"My lord?" she said quietly. The passage of time and many days spent in close company-both in Pharoah's court and upon the fleet beating up from Egypt to this abandoned shore-had dulled a little of the pain his visage brought, but not all. The Queen found the jutting ears, the snarling muzzle entirely repulsive, the mockery of a man lacerating her heart. But now the signal had come from the shore-hundreds of Huns arrayed on the beach, the black banner rippling with ringed serpents raised high-their master had reached the isle and commanded their presence. "We must go ashore."

Her entreaty was met with silence and a strange, half-felt emptiness. Forcing herself, the Queen touched the jackal's hand and found the brown flesh cold and inert. She stiffened, rising halfway from her seat and a fierce young voice spoke sharply in her thoughts.

Let me see him! Zoe surged forward, swelling in Zenobia's suddenly crippled thoughts.

The girl forced white hands to touch the cold, mottled iron of the mask, then press against a broad, muscular chest. The scars and puckered wounds under her fingers yielded nothing, neither life nor the dreadful semblance imparted by the sorcerer's will.

He is gone, Zoe said, voice sighing in wonder. He has escaped!

No! Wailed Zenobia, cringing away from fate and the dead, now truly-lifeless corpse of her lover. No! He cannot leave me alone! I waited for him, I waited…

Drums boomed across the water, interrupting the Queen's despair. Both minds turned, the body's eyes mixing blue and brown as they both struggled to see. On the shore, men poured forth from longboats and skiffs, galleys grinding to a halt in the shallows. The dead were waking, crowding the decks of every ship, sightless eyes turned to the beach. A long arc of the beach was dotted with companies and regiments gathering, the banners of Persia and Nabatea and the Decapolis snapping in the stiff, offshore wind.

Zoe made their body rise, hand rising to shade brown eyes. There will be fighting! The Romans are here!

Already? How can… Zenobia stirred, quick mind canvassing the fleet-still so many ships waiting to land, more than half-and then the wooded fields. The last ruddy rays of the sun gleamed on metal-helmets, spears, marching shields-and instinct and long-held command carried her to the fore.

"We must disembark," the Queen cried, striding forth from her throne. The guardsmen turned, faces brightening with the thought of battle. Khalid was first among them, and he too had spied the Huns running towards the trees, bows already lofting arrows into the ranks of the enemy. "Launch every barge and boat! Let the dead walk or swim ashore-they've no need to breathe-battle is swift upon us!"

Is the Roman prince here? Zenobia demanded of Zoe, though the girl was still focusing the bright core of her perception, preparing to enter the hidden world. Can you feel him?

No, Auntie, Zoe snapped, I've only just started!

The Queen restrained a curse, struggling for patience.