Judgment

CHAPTER 2

Laquatas, former mer ambassador to the now-defunct Cabal City, former advisor to the now-dead Emperor Aboshan, and former failed usurper of the still-ruling Empress Llawan, was not a happy merman. He floated in a circle around his chamber, looking at velum-coated maps tacked onto sea urchins, flipping his tail methodically to move precisely from one map to the next.

"Nothing!" roared the angry mer as he ripped a map off the wall and flung it toward the corner of the room. As the ambassador slumped into his chair, the torn map floated to the floor next to the stoic Burke, the mer's jack. Burke was a bruise-black lump of a humanoid, with no eyes, no nose, and no mouth. Completely featureless, he looked like nothing more than an unfinished statue standing in the corner.

Yet at a mental command from Laquatas, Burke stooped over, retrieved a crumpled-up map from behind him, swam effortlessly to the wall, and tacked the map onto the urchins.

Laquatas watched Burke and thought hack to the day that Chainer had created the jack for him, back before the Mirari destroyed the young dementia summoner, and with him the ambassador's chance to take over Llawan's throne. On that fateful day, just weeks earlier, Chainer had dispatched dementia creatures to aid in the ambassador's civil war, but those reinforcements disappeared at a crucial moment. Laquatas had felt the surge of power and subsequent shift in the Mirari from Chainer to Kamahl and had deduced what had happened to his mercenaries.

Now I am stranded in this damnable chasm by that sea witch's trickery, thought Laquatas as he slammed his fists on the table, dislodging the snails that held yet another map spread out before him. That was what galled the ambassador the most. He had been outmaneuvered, outwitted, and outsmarted by the Empress-a cephalid. A female cephalid!

"I will kill her!" screamed Laquatas as he slammed his fist down on the nearest snail, smashing it into powder and sludge.

Now the ambassador spent most of his days in this chamber, waiting for word from one of his subordinates that somebody had found a way to get his armies past the magical barriers that Llawan's sorcerers had created to trap him in this large, worthless, underwater prison.

Laquatas altered his tail into two long legs with a thought and plopped his legs up on the table. He began contemplating the horrible tortures he would inflict upon Llawan once he had tracked down and killed that brutish barbarian and taken the Mirari from his cold, dead hands. A knock at the door broke Laquatas out of his favorite reverie. "Come," yelled the ambassador, looking up at the door.

The door slid open slowly, and a crablike creature scuttled into the room. "I have news for you, sir, from your royal mages."

As soon as Laquatas saw the crab enter the room, he knew she bore bad news. Her name was Simone, a minor bureaucrat who had joined his rebellion only when it looked as if he would win. Nothing more than a bean counter during her days in the empire, she had no real value in the chasm.

Laquatas only remembered her name because she had the annoying habit of wearing her abacus on a long chain on her back. The fact that his senior advisors had sent Simone in to deliver the news told Laquatas to expect the worst. He wasn't disappointed.

"The council of mages has determined that levitation is not a viable alternative. The constant winds that assail the cliffs of Onara are simply too treacherous, and they cannot control the ascent long enough to reach the top…" Her voice trailed off as Laquatas flipped his legs off the table, transformed them back into a tail, and floated up from the chair.

"Go on," smiled Laquatas. "I'm sure you have more to report."

Simone scuttled back a step before continuing. "The mages say they have lost fully two dozen subjects in their trials, and they are hesitant to continue the experiments lest they severely deplete our forces."

"Is that all?" asked Laquatas, gliding toward the back of the room.

"N-no, sir," replied Simone, her voice quivering even more.

"I didn't think so," said Laquatas, smiling once again at the crab. "Please, tell me everything. I need to know."

"Your mages have also finished their research on the portals that have sealed us in the chasm," continued the crab. "They report that it is impossible to destroy the portals from inside the chasm, and that even if we had some way to escape, they would not have enough power to destroy the portal generators, even from the outside."

Laquatas flipped his tail violently, spinning around to face the chittering crab. "How am I to destroy an empire when 1 can barely get a frog out of this prison alive, let alone unleash my army on Mer City?" bellowed the mer as the silver-tipped horns on his head began to glow.

Simone tried to scuttle out the door, hut before she even got a claw on the latch, the water around her began to seethe and roil as the liquid's temperature rose sharply. The water around Simone reached a boil, and bubbles appeared all over her reddening shell. They floated up to the ceiling where they created a growing pocket of air. Simone turned to face the ambassador, her face contorted by the pain of being boiled alive. Before she could speak again, her heart burst from the heat, and her claws sagged.

Laquatas continued to boil the crab for several minutes, watching her body tumble in the heated water. Some of the heat made its way to the back of the room where the ambassador floated, but he had enjoyed saunas during his decadent days amongst the land walkers in Cabal City and knew his limits. He ended the spell long before he was in any danger.

The report finished and his anger soothed for the moment, the ambassador decided to return to his maps once again to look for some means of escape. As he turned, Laquatas noticed the torn map still on the floor near Burke, and his horns flashed again as the anger welled up at the incompetence surrounding him.

The lanky mer quelled his temper quickly, though, for he knew of no way to actually punish a creature that had no bones he could break or organs he could boil. So he simply picked up the map, intending to put it back himself. But as the ambassador turned toward the wall, he noticed that where there should have been a bare space, there was, in fact, a map.

"What is this?" asked Laquatas as he swam over to the wall. The map Burke had retrieved showed little more than a large, blackened-in representation of the chasm.

"Veza's map," sneered the ambassador. "Her little joke come back to haunt me again."

The black map had materialized within the barrier only a few days after his defeat, along with a message from the empress's pet mer, Veza. Laquatas had tried to turn her against Llawan, but in the end, the mer bitch had turned on Laquatas. This was her final barb: a blackened-in survey map of the trench with the words "Loqar's Folly" scrawled across the top. Laquatas had crumpled the map and tossed it into the comer of the room, vowing vengeance against Veza and her cephalid ruler.

Laquatas looked back at where Simone floated by the door. "You see this he said to Simone. "She is the one I should boil. She and her precious empress. The gall of that mermaid to help trap me here and then send me a featureless map as a present."

Laquatas ripped the map off the wall and floated over to show it to the dead crab.

"A picture of my prison, you see?" he said. "I squirm in this black hole like a tuna enveloped in squid's ink while they sit out there, in my throne room, and laugh at me."

Laquatas stared at the map as the anger welled up inside him again. Completely featureless, just like the huge prison cell he had been tricked into, the map was useless except to fuel his anger.

"Not like these other maps, no!" ranted the mer as he turned to survey the room. "These show me everything and nothing at the same time. They show me a prison that I can leave anytime I wish, for I have the power to escape by myself, just not the power to destroy the walls and unleash my army."

Turning back to Simone, Laquatas tossed the map onto the crab's still-hot shell.

"And what is a ruler without his army?" he asked jetting around the room and preaching to the walls. "I'll tell you-a dead ruler. So here I stay, a prisoner of my own making in a cold, black cell."

As the map lay on Simone's heated shell, an inky cloud began to rise, turning the water above the crab black. Irritated that the blasted map would not go away, Laquatas swam back over to rip it to shreds and be done with it once and for all. But as he swished his hand through the cloud to clear the water, Laquatas noticed that the black ink covering the map was liquefying from the heat and lifting off the velum, showing details underneath the inkblot.

The mer began to rub the map lightly to clean away the black area. Underneath was a complete topographical survey map of the chasm and the surrounding area, just as Veza had promised in her note. Whether by design or by accident, the empress's mer had given Laquatas a more detailed map of the trench than even his own squid engineers had been able to produce.

Laquatas scanned the survey lines closely. Much of the detail was lost on the mer, for he was no cartographer. But one feature-a system of underground canals marked on the inland portions of the map-he instantly recognized.

The mer empire had long used subterranean canals to spy upon and stage raids within the towns of the dry landers. Some of these water-filled canals went as far inland as the foothills of the Pardic Mountains. Laquatas had never seen the canals shown on Veza's map before. They must be long forgotten and rarely used, although it appeared they connected to the entire subterranean system. More importantly, one of the canals marked on Veza's map came quite close to the cliffs of Onara.

"Loqar's Folly?" muttered Laquatas. "I would call this Veza's Folly, for you have given me the key to my cell, you stupid girl. The key to my ultimate victory over you and your empress."

Turning to the door, the ambassador yelled, "Talbot!" The door opened, and a merman swam into the room. Not as tall as the former ambassador, and with horns and scales tinted a metallic greenish-blue instead of Laquatas's more regal silvery-blue, Talbot was, nevertheless, one of the few noble mermen left in the seas surrounding Otaria. He had come to the rebellion very early on and had risen quickly to sit at Laquatas's right hand.

"Yes, Lord Laquatas."

'Talbot," said Laquatas as he pointed at the canals on the map, "I believe your old friend Veza has given us a valuable gift-a permanent route out of this Norda-forsaken pit."

"Really?" said Talbot, cocking his head to look both at the map and at Laquatas. "That is very unlike her."

"I agree," said the mer, smiling. "And we shall definitely repay her for her many kindnesses as soon as we find a way to access the canals on this map. I want you to take the map and a team of squid engineers out to the cliffs of Onara to determine if we can open up a tunnel to the canals."

"Yes, my lord," replied Talbot as he took the map and rolled it up. "Shall I dispose of this refuse for you as well, sir?"

"Simone?" asked Laquatas. "Heavens no. We owe this fine subject our debt of gratitude. She has shown us the route to freedom. No. Simone will be my guest for dinner tonight as a reward for her loyal support."

As Talbot left the room, Laquatas grabbed the chain draped across Simone's shell and pulled her lifeless body over to his table, letting it settle onto the map. Changing form into a legged mer once again, Laquatas sat in his chair and mentally called for Burke. As commanded, the strong, yet viscous creature extended and slid an arm up into Simone's shell, breaking open the carapace, so Laquatas could feast on the succulent pink flesh underneath.

"In honor of the great service you have given to us, Veza, we would like to give you a little gift," purred Empress Llawan as her tentacles undulated around the arms of her throne.

That is not necessary, my Empress," replied Veza kneeling before the throne, her legs covered by a long, shimmering gown. The tailless mermaid could almost feel the stares of the nobles in the gallery upon her. Try as she might, she had been unable to change back into her tailed form since Burke had broken her ankle during the battle, and she knew she had become the talk of the court.

Now, surrounded by the denizens of the deep-the cephalids, the crabs, the prawns, the sharks-all the noble houses of Empress Llawan's underwater kingdom, she felt very much alone. Not only was she the lone mer in the empire, but she wasn't a proper mer at all. She had no tail! Polite applause from the gathered nobles startled Veza from her reverie.

"Veza?" called Llawan.

"Yes, Empress?" asked Veza, still kneeling.

"I said, 'You may rise, Ambassador Veza.' " repeated the empress.

"Thank you, Empress," replied Veza as she regained her feet. Ambassador, thought Veza? What just happened here? Veza followed the empress's entourage out of the royal hall, down a luminescent, shell-like corridor, and into the royal dining room.

"Sit next to me, and we shall discuss your first assignment, Ambassador," called the empress from the head of the procession.

"Yes, Empress," replied Veza automatically. But her mind was already racing ahead, trying to deduce the meaning behind her appointment as ambassador. It's obvious, actually, thought Veza. I am to be outcast once again. Emperor Aboshan sent all of the mer away out of distrust, or fear, or loathing. That's how Laquatas became an ambassador to that backwater Cabal City, and that's how I ended up as a lowly harbor master.

Veza took her seat next to the empress and continued pondering as she worked her way through the kelp salad and krill sauce. The empress came to me because I was an outsider to both courts, thought Veza. She knew she could trust me. I had no power base of my own. Now that the civil war is over and Laquatas's forces are imprisoned, Llawan has no need for my loyalty, so she's sending me away again.

"I suppose you are wondering why we have made you an ambassador, Veza," began Llawan as her attendants cleared the salad orbs to ready for the main course.

"The question had crossed my mind," replied Veza.

"Yes, we could tell you were lost in thought," remarked the empress. "You do tend to chew on your lower lip when you are pondering a difficult problem. I'm surprised you have any skin left on that lip after all the problems you have solved for us."

Thank you, Empress. You are too kind," said Veza as she thought to herself, here it comes. Damn with faint praise to soften the blow, and then lower the boom.

"We have a very important mission, actually two very important missions for you. But, unfortunately, to accomplish these missions, you will have to leave us… for a time," continued Llawan. "I need you go to Aphetto and be my ambassador to the southern Cabal. You leave tomorrow."

"Another mer ambassador to the Cabal, Empress?" said Veza as she took a sip of jellyfish wine from her bulb to bolster her courage. "Aren't you afraid that I will turn on you as Laquatas turned on Aboshan? Are you that ashamed of my presence here that you would risk that?"

"My dear, we would keep you by our side always if we could. Yours is the best counsel we receive. This is not a punishment. We need your loyalty again, Veza. We need you to be our eyes and ears within the Cabal. We hope that the First does look upon you as another Laquatas. For if he does, he will greatly underestimate you."

Into the awkward silence that followed, the attendants brought forth the main course for Veza's farewell banquet, stuffed sea cucumbers and steamed anemones.

"Veza," began Llawan again after taking a few bites of the twin delicacies. "My dear friend, Veza. We… I need you in Aphetto now. But you will return and stay by my side when all this it finished."

"Yes, Empress. But must I leave so soon? I am still having some trouble with my… ankle."

"Yes, Veza," replied the empress. "Laquatas's forces will not remain trapped in the prison we have fashioned for him forever. We know him too well. And when he does escape, he will try to reestablish his contacts in the Cabal. It is vitally important that we get there first."

Laquatas once again floated near his desk, scanning the map that lay there. Only this time it was a map of all Otaria.

"We are nearly there, Burke," the ambassador said to his stoic companion. Laquatas knew Burke would not answer- could not answer. He had neither vocal cords nor lungs to push air past them. But that made Burke the perfect companion. Burke listened to all of the ambassador's ideas and never once contradicted his master.

"The engineers should break through today, and then we will be free," continued Laquatas. "But what is freedom without power, hmmm? The canals will give me access to the mainland, but I cannot launch my attack on the empress until I can destroy her portals."

The ambassador pointed to a lobster claw placed in the middle of the map. "There is where the power is," said the mer. "I can feel the Mirari moving toward the mountains in the hands of that blasted barbarian. With that power, my mages can destroy the portals, and I can seek my revenge on those who imprisoned us."

A knock came at the door.

"Come," called the ambassador. The door opened, and Talbot floated into the room.

Ah, good news at last, thought Laquatas, seeing his senior advisor enter.

"My lord," said Talbot. "The squids have broken through to the canals. The chief engineer reports it will take several days to shore up the tunnel, but we have access to the mainland at last!"

"Excellent news, Talbot," exclaimed Laquatas. "Now it is time to retake that which is rightfully ours."

"But, sire, our forces are still no match for the empress's army!" cried Talbot, cringing immediately as he realized what he had said. -

"Relax Talbot," smiled Laquatas. "I do understand the need for more power before we can challenge the empress. But I have a plan." Laquatas gestured to Talbot to come closer. "Take a look at this map."

As Talbot swam closer, the ambassador pointed to the red claw again. "Here is the Mirari headed for the Pardic Mountains. You will notice that our canals do not reach past the foothills. A problem? No. An opportunity."

Laquatas traced his webbed hand southeast from the mountains to a small square printed on the map that Laquatas had surrounded with black pearls.

"This is Aphetto, site of the southern pits. If we can trust what little information we have been able to gather, we know that the Cabal First was exiled there. By now, he will have cemented a power base that we can use to launch an attack on the mountains."

"I see," grinned Talbot. "You will use the Cabal to get the Mirari out of the mountains. A cunning plan, Sire."

"Not quite cunning enough, I'm afraid, Talbot," replied Laquatas. "The First is a powerful ally but also a chaotic and fearsome enemy. He will want the Mirari back as the prize in his new arena, and I cannot just take it from him. For that, I will need the help of a more orderly and less powerful ally."

The ambassador traced his fingers north, past the Pardic Mountains, past the Krosan forest, to a large rectangle-the Order Citadel-surrounded by a circle of white pearls.

Laquatas swam around the desk to Talbot. "You will go to phetto as my ambassador to the Cabal. Request an immediate audience with the First, and take a scrying mirror with you so that 1 may lay out my plans to him personally."

"But wouldn't a personal visit carry more weight with the First?" asked Talbot.

"Perhaps," replied the ambassador, "but it cannot be helped. 1 must set the rest of my plan into motion as well, and that 1 must do in person. You know how the Order loathes the use of artifacts."

The ambassador ushered Talbot to the door. "Now, go!" he said. "This must be done with all due haste. The empress may be a cephalid, but she is not stupid. She will eventually establish a relationship with the Cabal to further cement her power base. It is vitally important that we get there first."