Wulfston's odyssey

Chapter Seven

Wulfston moved toward Norgu, who was obviously in shock. Ashuru brushed past him. “Ill care for the boy. It’s his mind that needs healing.”

She was right; people injured physically needed Wulfston’s skills. He spared a glance at the corpse to confirm his expectations; it was Sukuru.

Then where were Chulaika and Chaiku? And where was Lenardo? Why had the Master Reader not given a mental call for help?

Traylo and Arlus ran out of the main hall, then back to Wulfston, coaxing him to follow. Unable to Read anything to guide him, he accepted the dogs’ direction through the corridors and down a stair that narrowed as it wound into darkness. For the first time, he experienced the Readers gift of movement without hesitation when there was no glimmer of light to see by.

Norgu’s dungeons stank of agony and death. By the time he came to the bottom of the stairs, Wulfston was holding his breath. Why had Traylo and Arlus brought him to this empty place?

He could Read no one there… alive.

The dogs, though, whimpered and fussed. Wulfston concentrated on a rushlight on the wall, until it burst into smoky flame. In the dim light he saw two bodies on the floor.

Chulaika and Chaiku, mother and son wrapped in one another’s anus.

No spark of life-?

They were breathing! He could see no injury; they appeared merely to be unconscious. Then why couldn’t he Read-?

Wulfston grasped Chulaika’s shoulder, intending to turn her over.

At the touch, — something grabbed at his mind! The more he fought, the more he was dragged into seething chaos. His mental shout to Tadisha and Kamas for help was swallowed up in the maelstrom, along with every thought, every memory, that made him a separate being!

Chulaika, Chaiku, and Sukuru stood before Norgu. Sukuru was defeated, Chuklaika controlling Chaiku’s powers to hide her thoughts. Norgu must not find out how much power his half-brother had, or he would either kill the boy or take him from her to use as his own weapon.

For Chaiku was Chulaika’s weapon, carefully crafted to use against Z’Nelia. No one was going to take her son from her before the time was ripe!

“I don’t care what you do, Sukuru,” Norgu was saying. “You’re worthless to me. Shall I kill you? You have been of service to me, even though you did not intend it. You might have brought Lord Wulfston, but you also brought me the hostage who will deliver him right into my hands. Wulfston’s coming here, thinking to take Lenardo from me as easily as I took him from you.”

The young Mover turned his attention to Chulaika. “What do you think, dear aunt, betrayer of my mother? You chose this stranger from a distant land to be your champion. A fine champion! The only way you could get him here was to kidnap his brother. Are your charms fading, Chulaika? Couldn’t you seduce the Beast Lord as you did my father?”

Chulaika stood impassively. Let Norgu reveal just how much he knew of her plan. “You’d never help me,” she said.

“Why should I share the throne of the Zionae with you and your bastard?” Norgu demanded. “You pinned your hopes on that poor little baby-you thought he’d have my father’s powers. But he’s just like you, without power, a weakling. He can’t even talk! That’s the kind of offspring you produce, Chulaika.”

Norgu lounged back on his throne in an attitude of disrespect, waiting for Chulaika’s response. She refused to give him one. Finally he prodded, “Should I let you go with Sukuru? You’d make a good family. Bunch of weaklings. Maybe I should make you marry him. “

Suddenly Norgu sat up straight. “What-?”

His servants were running in the corridor outside the main hall, men dashing up the great staircase toward the room where Lenardo was kept.

Chulaika Saw with Norgu, Lenardo on his feet, braced for the onslaught. The white man had some minor Mover’s powers, certainly enough to handle those servants.

But not Norgu! From the young Mover’s mind, the command to sleep struck the stranger lord. The man fought it easily until Norgu backed it with his Mover’s powers, physically overpowering the Seer. The white man slumped into unconsciousness. The servants entered the room, and began to carry Lenardo out-

Where? Why?

Norgu had seemed surprised when the servants appeared. Yet it must have been on his order.

Chulaika stared at Norgu, and suddenly he turned, fixing his eyes on her.

It wasn’t Norgu!

Chulaika’s Seer’s powers were very dim; she had recognized only the overlay of Norgu up to that moment, but in those eyes she recognized the look, the madness.

Norgu’s hand rose clumsily, still fighting the force within his body.

Chulaika screamed and flung herself behind Sukuru, shielding Chaiku with her body.

The thunderbolt struck Sukuru, killing him instantly.

“No!” Norgu howled, fighting the demon in possession of his body.

Chulaika slithered out from beneath Sukuru’s charred body and ran, dragging Chaiku by the hand. The boy began to wail in fear. “Quiet!” she hissed, and his sounds stopped, although tears still rolled down his face.

Where could she hide?

Thunderbolts were striking randomly throughout the castle as the witch possessing Norgu improved her control.

Hangings burst into fire, and servants dropped in their tracks.

Chulaika scurried into the kitchen, where a number of Norgu’s staff cowered, waiting for orders. “Under the table!” Chulaika told them, diving beneath it herself, clutching Chaiku close. The servants crowded in around them, their terror providing a psychic shield. Chulaika took Chaiku in her arms, calmed him, and entered the mother/son bond in which she could brace her son’s Movers powers. It made them nearly invisible to Seers.

But their attacker had firm control of Norgu’s powers now, and was methodically destroying his castle.

The kitchen fireplace was large enough to roast a buffalo. When the fire leaped from it to the table, the servants scattered, Chulaika and Chaiku with them.

Carrying her son, Chulaika ran with the servant who spilled out into the hall, until they came to the stairway leading down to the dungeon.

Praying desperately to Shangonu that the intruder had not been able to follow her, she fled down the winding stairs, stumbling in the darkness, catching the rhythm until the stairs ended abruptly and she hurtled into darkness, falling onto a damp stone floor.

Breathless, she clung to Chaiku, making him enforce the Mover’s shield with all his strength, a strength amazing for a child so young, but still a child’s strength. In moments, the effort dragged them both into unconsciousness.

“Lord Wulfston! Wulfston, come out of it!”

The voice came from a great distance, calling somebody she vaguely knew.

“Let go! Come out of the woman’s mind, Wulfston!”

He gasped with the mental anguish of releasing memories that for long moments had been his, but Tadisha’s mind was there to support him.

He was kneeling, frozen, with his hand on Chulaika’s shoulder. Tadisha’s warm hand touched his cold one, lifting it from the contact.

The weakness of relief flooded him as he forced himself up on legs gone numb. “Thank you. I’ll be all right now.”

“What happened?” Tadisha asked. “We couldn’t find you! Finally the dogs led me down here.”

“The woman is Chulaika,” Wulfston replied, staring down at her. She was not veiled now. He had seen that face before, in Barak’s vision. “Z’Nelia’s twin sister.”

Tadisha used her Seeing power to examine the woman and her child. “They’re just unconscious. We’ll take them upstairs and put them to bed. Which is where you belong, too.”

“No.” he insisted, “I’m all right now. But Z’Nelia has Lenardo.”

“Z’Nelia!”

“She took over Norgu’s body, used his powers to destroy his own castle, and put Lenardo into Adept sleep. Apparently she used Norgu’s servants to carry Lenardo away-I don’t know where, because Chulaika doesn’t. But Norgu had the power to do Z’Nelia’s will, as your body didn’t, Tadisha.”

“But what was he doing out of body? Norgu has never shown much interest in expanding his Seer’s powers.”

“He was not out of body,” Wulfston replied. “Z’Nelia has learned to take over a Mover who is awake.

That’s why

Norgu was in shock when we got here. He couldn’t fight her off. It was a harsh lesson, Tadisha, to have his own powers wrested from his control.”

“Mother finally brought him out of shock,” said Tadisha, “and he is sleeping.”

By this time they were up the stairs. Wulfston drew deep breaths of clean air, then asked, “Where is my help needed?”

“We’ve put the worst injured in the main hall.”

There were the usual casualties of Adept attack: burns, broken bones, shock. Within hours, all were in healing sleep, and those uninjured had already buried the dead, as was the custom here. Wulfston, Tadisha, Kamas, Barak, and Ashuru met around the dining table.

When Ashuru heard what Wulfston had learned from Chulaika’s memories, she said, “We are in grave danger indeed. Z’Nelia’s powers grow daily. Perhaps she is now stronger than all of us together. Yet if we do nothing to stop her, she may learn more and yet more, becoming ever more powerful.”

“She seeks a confrontation with me,” said Wulfston, “or she would not have taken Lenardo. She must think I’m here to take her throne. If only she understood that I don’t want it! If we had found Lenardo here today, he and I would have helped you against the Savishnon, and then gone home. Now I must fight Z’Nelia for Lenardo. I ask your aid.”

“You have it,” said Ashuru. “Z’Nelia made herself my enemy when she attacked my daughter.”

But Chulaika and Norgu were another matter. Z’Nelia’s sister and her son were awake the next morning, and Wulfston confronted them with all he had learned from the unexpected mental contact. “You were the real force in the plan to bring me to Africa,” he told her, “not Sukuru. You merely used him to keep my attention from you, so I would not find out that you are Z’Nelia’s sister.”

“Since I have no powers of my own,” Chulaika replied, “why would I try to oppose Z’Nelia?”

“Ah, but you have a power,” Wulfston told her, “a unique power in my experience, and, I suspect, that of the Movers and Seers here as well. That is why you have been able to hide… your ability to direct the powers of others!”

Pure fury burned in Chulaika’s eyes. Wulfston saw her glance at Barak. Now her secret was a part of history.

He, too, looked to the Grioka, asking a silent question. “Go on,” the old man said. “I think, Lord Wulfston, that you have something of the Grioka’s talent yourself.”

“If so,” said Wulfston, “I haven’t known how to use it. I should have known you were lying, Chulaika, that day on Freedom Island. You made us all think the man with the knife was attacking Chaiku. But no matter how drunk he was, why would he publicly attack a little boy? He was just drunk enough to See and yet not think. Yes, a minor Seer, who suddenly Saw through your veil the face of his enemy, Z’Nelia!”

Chulaika stared defiantly, refusing to acknowledge Wulfstons analysis.

” Death to the mad witch Z’Nelia,’ ” he quoted, taking grim pleasure in watching her eyes widen in frustration. “You lied to me about what he said. And you let me think that I misjudged my powers and killed him-but you killed him, with Chaiku’s power.”

“That’s nonsense,” said Chulaika. “My son is only three years old. “

“The age I was when my powers first manifested,” Wulfston replied. “A three-year-old could not direct his small strength to kill, but a well-practiced grown woman could. I should have recognized what was wrong with that picture. By maternal instinct you should have shielded Chaiku with your own body, as you did yesterday against Z’Nelia’s attack. But you held him in front of you, using his powers against that man who was too drunk to realize that it couldn’t possibly be Z’Nelia he perceived beneath your veils!”

Wulfston studied Chulaika’s face. “Did you really think you could take over my powers, direct them as you pleased? That was your plan, wasn’t it? The latest of your plans to steal the throne from Z’Nelia.

First you seduced Matu, knowing that the people loved him better than Z’Nelia. You thought you might get him to kill her, and marry you.

“But before you dared propose that plan, you became pregnant with Matu’s child. That gave you something to hold over him-a rival to Z’Nelia’s son, and a potential Mover to protect you if your plans for his father failed.

“Then came the Savishnon. What really happened on Mount Manjuro, Chulaika? Z’Nelia knew about your treachery and Matu’s, and pushed you into the volcano. She didn’t count on Norgu’s love for his father, did she? I wonder if either you or your sister knows anything about love.

“Norgu saved your life. Matu alone could not have saved both you and himself. You found yourself not only with the man you wanted and his unborn child-but with Matu’s son by Z’Nelia! That must have been a happy family group.

“You pretended it was, didn’t you? But Matu and Norgu became closer as Matu trained his older son.

You decided to get rid of them both. Wasn’t that your plan, the day the three assassins attacked? You let everyone assume Z’Nelia sent them. Did you perhaps pose as your sister, so that the assassins themselves thought Z’Nelia directed them?

“No matter. Matu was killed, but Norgu revealed the strength of his powers. He never suspected you; he always assumed Z’Nelia killed Matu. You knew he would eventually seek to depose his mother, but you felt that Chaiku, as Matu’s son and with Mover’s powers, had the right to the throne.

“But Norgu was far older and stronger; to use Norgu and Z’Nelia against one another, you had to move when

Norgu did, long before Chaiku was old enough to be effective in battle. Then you heard the story about me, hired Sukuru. And we know the rest.

“Except,” he added slowly, distastefully, “that you have used your child’s own powers to keep him from learning to talk, to keep that poor little boy from accidentally telling someone of the games you play with him, the things you make him do. “

Chulaika’s skin grew ashen with shock as her secrets were revealed. She clutched Chaiku, but she did not try to attack. What use would it be?

Ashuru spoke. “Chulaika, as a mother I cannot but abhor you. Yet we have in common the desire to depose Z’Nelia, for her powers are combined with madness. We cannot trust you-so what are we to do about you?”

“We could,” said Wulfston, “simply turn her over to Norgu, with the evidence that she, and not Z’Nelia, killed his father.”

Chulaika’s eyes widened. “No! He would kill me, and my baby, too. Or else he would use Chaiku horribly-”

“Worse than you have used him?” Ashuru demanded.

“I’ll help you!” Chulaika pleaded. “I know Z’Nelia-we are twins. Loving her, Matu had no choice but to love me. And our powers-she has the power, and I have the control. If I can only get close enough, I can control Z’Nelia! I can make her turn her powers against herself. Just don’t betray me to Norgu!”

For the moment Wulfston agreed with Ashuru: it was best not to tell Norgu of Chulaika’s treachery. He and the Karili queen shared the same misgivings, but, “Despite how Chulaika has used him,” Ashuru said,

“Chaiku is better off with his mother than with Norgu. If that boy were to gain further power now, before he has learned to use wisely what he has…” She shook her head sadly.

“You are right,” said Wulfston. “Besides, we need Norgu’s help against both Z’Nelia and the Savishnon.

When all is over, something will have to be done about Chaiku. He cannot be left unprotected once his powers are recognized. But for now-”

Ashuru nodded. “His best protection until we have somehow dealt with Z’Nelia is the one his mother has given him: silence.”

So Wulfston was left to approach Norgu, who had already recovered his physical powers, like any other Adept who had used them to the limit. Emotionally, though, the boy was a seething cauldron. “I will never forgive Z’Nelia! I will kill her!”

Wulfston tried to hide his concern at Norgu’s agitation. “We will all fight Z’Nelia together. Consider what happened here: alone, you are no match for her. But you can join your powers to mine and those of the Movers Ashuru has brought. Let the Seers use their powers of mind to aid us against Z’Nelia. Only by working together do we have a chance to defeat her.”

“I want to kill her with my own hands,” Norgu said. “I will drive my spear through her heart!”

Wulfston curbed his exasperation, and said reasonably, “She will not allow you that close. Think, Norgu.

If you approach her alone, with only your own people, she will do exactly what she did here: take over your body and turn you into a weapon against yourself. Our only possible safety is in numbers, Movers and Seers attacking her together.’

Norgu’s face was wrenched into a pouting scowl. “She is my mother. I have the right to her throne. I am her heir.”

“Then act like the heir to the throne, a leader among men,” Wulfston suggested. “Take the opportunity to gain strong allies. Let us go ahead of you,” he added, lest Norgu should decide to lead the attack, “while you remain as the secret weapon. We will approach Johara first, Movers and Seers attacking Z’Nelia with all our powers. When she is distracted, you launch your attack, and allow me to go in and rescue my brother under cover of your unexpected powers.”

“Z’Nelia is not in Johara,” Norgu said flatly.

“What?”

“She is in our ancestral home in Djahat, ancient seat of the Zionae nation, just three days’ journey from here.”

“I thought the Savishnon held Djahat.”

“They did after they drove my ancestors out, until my mother defeated them. My father and Chulaika and I fled through those Savishnon-held lands after the battle at Johara. With Savishnon between us and Z’Nelia, we felt safe in the lands of the Warimu, but with the Savishnon weakened other peoples moved into those lands, driving the remaining Savishnon northward. A short time ago, Z’Nelia took those lands into Zionae power once more. Now I know she knew where I was, and wanted a common border between our lands.”

“Then,” Wulfston wondered, “has she taken Lenardo to Djahat?”

“Yes,” Norgu replied, “or at least that was her plan when she stole him from me. I must take my revenge, but you are right. Alone I would have to wait until my powers grew stronger. With your help, I can seek revenge now, before Z’Nelia’s madness does any further damage!”

Wulfston refrained from commenting further; he had what he wanted, and could only hope that with the help of Ashuru, Tadisha, and Kamas, Norgu could be kept to their plan.

When he told Ashuru and Tadisha the news, Ashuru said, “I did not think anyone could talk Norgu out of his revenge.”

“He still plans revenge; he is just facing the fact that he doesn’t have the strength to fight Z’Nelia alone.”

Ashuru shook her head. “I had hoped to take him beyond mere acceptance of facts. I failed to heal the wounds left by his mother’s treachery-and, of course, his father’s. Norgu is obsessed with Z’Nelia’s power-madness, yet incapable of recognizing his own.”

“But… you have the capability to heal such madness?”

“I have the knowledge,” Ashuru replied, “but not the time. Norgu needs years of care to counteract his terrible childhood. He is in desperate need of the teaching his father was giving him when he died. If we succeed against Z’Nelia-”

“-Norgu will expect jto take her throne,” said Tadisha. “How are we to prevent him?”

“Wait,” said Wulfston. “Queen Ashuru, can your Seers not work together to heal sick minds quickly, as our Master Readers do at home?”

“Quickly?” she asked. “If you mean weeks or months instead of years, yes. But if you mean that I should attempt to heal Norgu before-”

“Not Norgu,” said Wulfston. “Z’Nelia.”

“What?!” Both women spoke at once, two pairs of green eyes fixed on him.

“We have all been assuming,” he explained, “that if we win the upcoming battle, it will mean Z’Nelia’s death. That would create a power struggle between the Karili Assembly and Norgu over rule of the Zionae lands, with the Savishnon ever available to take advantage of any weakness. But what if we do not kill Z’Nelia, but heal her?”

“How do we control her in the battle, so that we can have the chance to heal her?” Ashuru asked.

“Tadisha will be a powerful Seer one day, but she has neither the power nor the training to help me with Z’Nelia now.”

Wulfston looked into the lion’s eyes. “Lenardo has both.”

“Can you speak for him?”

“If he is conscious he will be Reading. The moment he knows what you intend to do, I know he will aid you.”

Ashuru nodded. “Yes-from what I have Seen of Lenardo in your mind, I know that you speak truthfully. But can you give a promise for him, and bind him to it?”

“What do you mean?” Wulfston asked warily.

“Suppose we win the battle, and free Lenardo. Will he stay in Africa as long as it takes to heal Z’Nelia so that she can be trusted on the throne?”

If only I could ask him! Wulfston thought, remembering Aradia, pregnant-but surrounded by Readers and Adepts.

“Perhaps,” Tadisha answered his thought, “I can reach along the road to Johara out of body. Men on horseback couldn’t have ridden that far yet. If Lord Lenardo is conscious-”

“I doubt he’s being taken to Johara,” Wulfston remembered, no longer startled at having his thpughts overheard. For the hundredth time he wished he had the Reader’s training to decide when he wanted to be Read and when not, without having to concentrate on it.

He told Ashuru and Tadisha what Norgu had told him. “Djahat,” said Ashuru. “That is much closer than Johara. Tadisha, Lord Lenardo knows you, but I fear to allow you to leave your body after what happened in the temple.”

“And I fear,” said Wulfston, “that Z’Nelia is keeping Lenardo unconscious. We know he can Read over five days’ distance. If he hasn’t contacted us, I do not think we can contact him.”

“Then I must ask you again,” said Ashuru, “will Lord Lenardo abide by a promise you give for him?”

“I believe he will,” Wulfston replied, “if you will release him from it the moment your own healers can handle Z’Nelia.”

“Agreed.” Ashuru smiled, the first true smile of friendship she had given him. “I know you are concerned about your sister and the child she carries. If we succeed in our endeavor, you and Lord Lenardo should easily reach home in time for the birth of his daughter.”

When Ashuru went to supervise the continuing preparation for war, Tadisha lingered beside Wulfston as they left their conference room. Karili and Warimu troops were arriving daily, and Norgu’s castle overflowed with people.

Structural repairs had been made quickly, as Z’Nelia’s firestorm had not lasted long enough to destroy stone walls. New doors and window frames were already in place, and workmen pounded away with hammers as they replaced the wooden shakes on the roof of some areas. Where the roof was tiled, it might be blackened, but it remained sound.

There was a singular lack of furnishings, however; chairs, tables, and chests had gone up in flames, along with hangings, cushions, linens, and clothing. To Wulfston it was a sadly familiar situation. Fire was a favorite Adept weapon; he had spent many a day in similarly fire-stripped castles and villas.

He had hoped, he told Tadisha, that he had seen the last of such damage.

She shook her head sadly. “How can it ever end, except through some person of great powers eventually ruling all, destroying his enemies?”

“Is that what you would wish for?” he asked.

“No! No-the stories you tell of your lands, where Movers and Seers live together in peace… if only we could do the same.”

They left the castle, Traylo and Arlus at their heels. The town was busy; they cut through a side street, out into what ought to be the countryside, but was now the campgrounds of a growing army.

“Peace is possible-with vigilance,” Wulfston said. “But it didn’t happen in a day. We are still building trust among our people, and there are those along our borders who think us weaklings if we do not seek to conquer further. Every so often we have to fight off those who try to conquer us. Armies like this are not as common a sight as they once were in the Savage Empire, but there are still times when we must gather them.”

“We,” said Tadisha. “Us. I wonder if our Karili Assembly will ever have that kind of unity, when even among families we see such conflict. Z’Nelia, Chulaika, Norgu- deadly enemies despite being of one blood.”

“One blood,” Wulfston said flatly. ” My blood.”

An apology leaped to Tadisha’s eyes. “I didn’t-”

“I know.” He smiled, silencing her with a gentle finger on her lips. “I needed to say it aloud. A part of me knew I would find such answers, long before I was forced to journey here and ask the questions. Even before Chulaika’s ship entered the harbor in my land, that part of me was waiting for her… with dread.

When she stood before my throne, I didn’t need Seeing powers to know that she and I were related.”

Tadisha stared at him. “How could you know? You said she was veiled, that all you could see were her eyes.”

“Yes,” he remembered, “her eyes. My memories of my mother are vague, but I remember her eyes.

Deep, penetrating, sad-just like Chulaika’s. Somehow I knew before I even reached Africa that Chulaika’s hatred was toward blood kin.”

He glanced at the dogs, who were playfully wrestling with each other, growling and barking. “It’s why I named those two Traylo and Arlus, without recalling where the names came from. It was a story Nerius told Aradia and me, one time when we were fighting worse than usual.

“I was about twelve, and my powers were taking that leap at puberty that’s also accompanied by lack of control. Father had determined that my powers were likely to become as great as his and Aradia’s… and she resented it. At the time, I thought that was all she resented, but now I realize that Father was spending much more time with me than with Aradia.”

“Kamas and I went through just such a situation not so long ago,” said Tadisha.

“I suppose siblings always do,” said Wulfston, “but your mother didn’t let it get to the stage at which you did something unforgivable, any more than Nerius did. He separated Aradia and me-sent her off for a month with Lady Lilith, and me to an ally of his named Hron. Of course we discovered how much we missed each other, but when we came home the first thing Father did was to sit us down and tell us the story of Traylo and Arlus, brothers of equal powers who fought all their lives over who should hold power in their lands. In the end they killed each other. Nobody won, and their people were left leaderless.”

“We also have such cautionary tales,” said Tadisha.

“There are others,” Wulfston agreed. “The reason the tale of Traylo and Arlus had such impact, though, is that it came with the object lesson-after being separated for a month, Aradia and I knew that we loved and missed one another and Nerius, and no power struggle was important enough to tear a family apart.”

He thought for a moment, and then added, “Our alliance is like a family. Lenardo became family when he married Aradia. Julia became family when Lenardo adopted her.” He turned to look at Tadisha. ”

I wish…”

But he could not complete the thought-it was the wrong time and place.

“I wish I could be a part of such a family,” Tadisha completed it for him. “But that family is far away, and I have obligations here. Your family here-”

Wulfston shuddered. He still did not feel related to Norgu, Z’Nelia, Chulaika, or Chaiku, no matter what Barak said. “If you insist that blood will tell,” he replied, “then you can never trust me. I couldn’t trust myself if that were true!”

Tadisha grasped his hand. “Oh, no-I didn’t intend- Wulfston, I only meant that you have family here, and thus responsibilities.”

“I have responsibilities because I have given my word, not because I share some ancestors with the people who have attacked you. I will discharge those responsibilities, just as you will discharge yours, Princess of the Karili.”

They looked into one another’s eyes, they held hands, but they might as well have been standing on different continents. Her future lay here, in Africa, while his lay far across the sea, in the Savage Empire.

“If we defeat Z’Nelia,” Tadisha murmured, “who will rule her lands? Norgu is not to be trusted, nor Chulaika, nor Chaiku if his mother raises him. Wulfston, you are of that family. Take the throne. The Karili Assembly will support you. Form an alliance here. Bring peace to Africa. We need you-”

“No, you don’t,” he told her firmly, easily identifying the strong temptation he felt as a desire to stay with Tadisha, not any rightful claim to the throne of the Zionae. “Your mother has already sown the seeds here with the Karili Assembly. I saw that Assembly stand up to Norgu. He will undoubtedly take Z’Nelia’s throne; as her son he has a rightful claim to it. And you, your mother, your brother, and all the Movers and Seers of the Assembly will pool your strength to force him to use his powers for good… until it becomes a habit.”

Reluctantly, he pushed Tadisha’s hand aside, then turned and walked away from her toward where the troops were quartered who would be under his direct command in the battle to come.

Part of this army would be moving out in a few hours, and they were gathering supplies, packing wagons, and preparing tack for the ride.

Through the camp some boys pushed a cart with barrels of water from the town’s wells, and men came forward to fill their water-bags.

Wulfston saw Zanos join the queue, his white skin and red hair a beacon even though his large frame was not unusual among the Warimu. He was glad to see the gladiator, and farther down the line the Night Queen crew members.

Zanos reached the head of the line. The boy turned the tap, and water poured into Zanos’ water-bag until it was about half full; then he twisted off the flow.

“Fill it,” Zanos said in broken Warimu. “I’m strong enough to carry it full.”

Wulfston recognized that the water boy was Karili. He shook his head and said in his native language, “It cant be filled any further.” Seeing that Zanos didn’t understand, he tried Warimu with an accent even worse than the gladiator’s. “I can’t fill it further.”

“Of course you can!” Zanos insisted. “Turn it on again!”

Wulfston half-saw, half-Read the mixture of annoyance and mischief in the water boy. He resented this strange white man trying to tell him his business, so he opened the tap again, more water tumbled into Zanos’ bag-

The water-bag swelled, and then burst at the seams, drenching Zanos and rousing a hearty roar of laughter from the men behind him.

Zanos face flushed with momentary fury, and he raised his arm as if to strike the boy. But before Wulfston had need to stop him he pulled his own punch, looked down at the limp water-bag, then up at the boy on the wagon, and burst into laughter.

Turning the threat into a clap on the buttocks that almost knocked the boy off the wagon, Zanos said,

“You’re right, boy! I should have listened to you. You go on doing your job right, no matter what anybody tells you!”

Wulfston recognized the skill of a man who had spent a lifetime performing in public, who dared not appear a poor sport. In fact, had he not been able to Read that the reaction was habit rather than feeling, he might have thought the old Zanos was returning. As it was, he sensed melancholy beneath the forced good cheer.

The Night Queen crew did not, however; they threw jeers and japes at Zanos, who fended them off with what appeared to be easy humor.

Zanos was obviously in control of himself. Wulfston decided not to approach him, and instead went on to inspect the troops assigned to his command.

These were not his people; he would command their respect only after they had fought together.

Wulfston found the officers had their men’s respect, so he merely introduced himself, gave them a straightforward idea of what they could expect from his powers, and told them to follow their officers’

orders.

When they moved out the next day, Ashuru told him, “Your troops are impressed with you.”

“How could they be? They don’t know me.”

“Nor do you know them… and you know it. I gave you experienced warriors, and you wisely left them to the leaders they know. By showing your respect for them, you gained their respect, Lord Wulfston.”

She eyed him speculatively. “I do not know why it should surprise me anymore to find you a wise and skillful leader.”

On the road, there was no chance for Wulfston and Tadisha to be alone-or at least none came naturally, and Tadisha showed no inclination to create such an opportunity. A few hours’ ride from Djahat, Tadisha and Ashuru began to See ahead, Norgu, Kamas, and Wulfston letting the women’s stronger powers focus on Z’Nelia’s lands. Barak was told what they Saw.

The setting was almost identical to that in the Karili lands: a strong-walled castle surrounded by a city.

But no armies gathered here; it appeared that Z’Nelia had left herself undefended.

“She has to know we’re here,” said Wulfston.

“Of course she does,” agreed Ashuru. “She cannot think that a single Mover’s powers can combat an army!”

“There are guards in the castle,” Tadisha pointed out.

“Not enough to defend against us,” said Norgu, “or against the Savishnon. She is so mad she thinks she can defeat our army and the Savishnon, all alone. But this time she has no volcano to unloose!”

Wulfston said, “I agree that she is mad, Norgu, but not in that way. Ashuru, Tadisha, can you See to the northwest of Djahat? Can Z’Nelia’s armies be stationed there against the Savishnon?”

They did find some troops to the northwest, but still far too few for the oncoming threat.

Ashuru sighed. “We have no choice but to ride on. Norgu, keep your troops behind ours. Lord Wulfston, take Chulaika and Chaiku with you. You can resist Chulaika’s attempts to use your powers.”

They rode on, separate but united through Reading. As the hours passed, Wulfston felt himself grow more tense, the hair on the back of his neck prickling.

The road curved over the top of a hill, and Djahat appeared in the valley below. No army opposed them.

No troops rushed to shut the city gates.

Wulfston looked out over the valley, the ancient and graceful city, the castle, the villages-

Villages? Dozens of villages so close to the city? There was not enough farmland here to support so many, and why house people in primitive huts when the city was right-

“It’s a trap!” Wulfston exclaimed mentally. “Ashuru, Tadisha-focus on one of those villages!”

Sure enough, the cluster of huts was not a village at all, but merely empty shelters manned by armed troops!

“Spread out!” Ashuru broadcast.

“No!” Wulfston told her. “That’s what Z’Nelia expects. She knows you are powerful Seers! She’s got her troops scattered, expecting us to scatter ours to attack them. But Z’Nelia’s army is not our goal!”

They understood at once.

Commands were broadcast mentally. Commands were shouted.

Their combined army rode straight down the hill and along the road toward Djahat.

They tore along the road at a gallop. Soldiers from the nearest huts ran to fend them off, but the Karili troops cut them down.

There was almost no Adept activity!

Spears and arrows were flung and deflected, but no thunderbolts roared, no chasms opened at their horses’ feet.

The gates of the city swung closed before they were halfway across the valley. For Wulfston it was child’s play to set afire the wooden gates he could plainly see, sending the guards behind them scattering, hair and clothing singed.

Once the people were safe, he sent the intense fire of a funeral pyre, and the gates evaporated.

Wulfston lost track of Chulaika as the army galloped forward, right up the main street to the castle.

He did not ignite these gates, but added Adept force to the muscle power of the men and horses shoving against them as Z’Nelia’s guards, outnumbered, tried to swing them closed. Sheer force triumphed, and they rode into the courtyard.

Wulfston jumped off his horse and ran up the steps to the entry, trying to Read inside. “Lenardo?”

“Wulfston?” The mental reply was weak, but his brother was alive and conscious.

Tadisha fought her way into the courtyard and joined Wulfston.

Zanos, Telek, and the rest of the Night Queen crew struggled with the guards at the gates.

“Keep them open till Ashuru gets in!” Wulfston shouted. “And Kamas and Barak!” He turned to Tadisha.

“Where’s Norgu?”

“He held his armies back,” she replied, letting him See with her. Then, “Wulfston!”

From the northwest, where they had been waiting just outside of normal Seeing range, the Savishnon hordes swept toward Djahat!

Norgu and his troops would be caught on the open highway, the Savishnon attacking from the west, Z’Nelia’s army from the east!

“I hope Norgu uses his powers wisely!” was all Wulfston could offer.

Ashuru was inside the courtyard now, herding Chulaika before her. Kamas pushed his way through to make a path for Barak, then shielded the old man as he helped him down from his horse.

“Close those gates!” Wulfston shouted.

“Our army-” Tadisha protested.

“No army can help us in here, but they might be used against us. Tadisha, See inside. Lenardo’s alive, but there’s something wrong with his Reading. Where’s Z’Nelia?”

Tadisha had no need to answer. A thunderbolt shattered the air, and only Wulfston’s instincts snatched her out of the way of death.

He couldn’t Read Z’Nelia because she was braced to use her Mover’s powers, of course.

“Read for Lenardo!” he told Tadisha. “Ill protect you.

“I can’t- Wait-he’s in the tower. Come on!”

Tadisha ran inside. Wulfston followed, Ashuru hard on his heels, dragging Chulaika. Kamas swept up Chaiku and followed, Barak trailing.

Suddenly the walls and floor were afire! Heat blazed from all sides; smoke suffocated them.

Wulfston turned his powers to putting out the fire-and couldn’t! It blazed on, choking them.

Coughing, eyes watering, he fell to his knees, mustering all his force to beat back the flames-

“Lord Wulfston, no!”

Barak stooped beside him, grasping his arm. “It is a vision, not real! Z’Nelia is making you waste your powers.”

He couldn’t breathe. And yet… nothing was consumed. The flames licked at their clothing, but it did not catch fire. Their skin burned painfully, but it did not blister.

“Ignore it!” Wulfston choked out. “Come on.” And he started forward again.

They stumbled through the blazing corridor into a connecting hall, where the conflagration ended. The moment they stepped into the clear air, guards charged them with spears.

Veteran of many Adept battles, Wulfston knew he had to conserve his powers. It might have been impressive to stop the spears, perhaps even turn them in midair. But it was more practical to stop the throwers. A mental tug at the knees, and a man dropped in a heap.

Kamas Saw, laughed, and invoked his limited Mover’s powers to do the same to two more.

But others emerged all along the hallway, too many to take one at a time.

Ashuru sidestepped a spear and caught it in a neat combination of physical strength and limited Mover’s power. She turned and flung it at the astonished man who had thrown it-a deathblow.

More guards came, seemingly out of nowhere, determined to fight to the death. Knocking a man down meant only that he bounced up again, grabbed any fallen weapon, and came at them once more.

Wulfston sent many into Adept sleep, but even that use of his power was draining. There were too many!

In the crowded corridor, the battle was both physical and mental. Wulfston could not stop to Read. He struck at what he saw.

Three men charged him. He put one into Adept sleep, stopped the second one’s heart, but as he was turning to the third, a spear caught the man in the gut, and he doubled over with a scream of agony.

Tadisha stepped from behind Wulfston, pulled the spear from the slowly dying man, and drove it mercifully through his throat.

Even as she took the time to grant a swift death, another guard was on her, knife raised.

Wulfston dropped him in his tracks with hardly a thought, just as rough hands grabbed him from behind.

He lost sight of Tadisha as he went down in a heap of bodies on the bloody floor. But when he fought his way out he heard yells of triumph from the direction of the courtyard.

Zanos and Telek had found them.

Fighting as if they were partners rather than rivals, the two huge white men flung Zionae guards right and left, dealing death as casually as they might pick apples.

Z’Nelia’s guards scattered before them-but only for a moment.

It seemed as if hundreds more poured into the corridor, blocking their way as they struggled toward the entry to the tower. Chulaika had somehow reached the bottom of the steps, where she cowered, holding Chaiku before her.

“The gates?” Wulfston panted to Zanos when the two came together in the melee.

“They’ll hold!” the gladiator assured him, punching a man’s face inward to a crunch of mangled flesh no longer horrifying in that corridor of death.

On they fought, working step by slow step toward the tower stairs, until at last no more guards appeared and they stood gasping, blood-covered, but alive.

Tadisha was limping.

Barak leaned on a spear to steady his steps, but he was only exhausted, not injured.

Kamas cradled a broken arm.

Ashuru had a cut on her cheek and a blackening eye.

Chulaika held Chaiku, his face hidden against his mother’s shoulder.

Zanos and Telek showed numerous scratches and bruises, but no serious injuries.

“Kamas,” said Wulfston, “I must set your arm.”

“Don’t put me to sleep!” the boy said.

“I won’t,” he assured him. “Tadisha, Ashuru, See what’s happening. We don’t want another surprise attack.”

Kamas gritted his teeth as Wulfston pulled the bone ends back together, then invoked the healing fire to knit them. It would take a day of healing sleep to knit completely, but for the time being Kamas would not damage it merely by moving around.

“The gates are still closed,” Ashuru reported. “Except for the dead, there is no one but us in the castle…

and Z’Nelia waits for us in the tower.”

They climbed the stairs.

The door to the tower room swung open as they approached.

Lenardo was standing by the window, looking pale and drawn. But he was alive!

Wulfston took a step toward him, crying his name. Z’Nelia stepped out of nowhere, into his path.

Chulaika’s features. His mother’s eyes… burning with madness!

“Welcome, Beast Lord!” she said.

Suddenly his every nerve was aflame with pure pain!

Wulfston screamed, vaguely aware of the screams of his companions.

“Wulfston!”

Lenardo’s voice.

“Wulfston, open to Reading!” the Master Reader gasped.

Their minds met-and although Lenardo did not have his usual power, he showed them that the pain was not real. Had Z’Nelia actually seared their nerves, they would be dead.

As the Seers’ minds joined, the pain eased. Even Barak and Telek broke free.

Z’Nelia cried, “Seers you may be, but I am the greatest Mover of all!”

This time she caused real damage!

With no defenses, Telek fell dead.

Wulfston fought, felt Zanos’ powers joined to his, and Lenardo’s Adept power, small though it was-

“Tadisha! Ashuru! Kamas! Join your Movers’ powers to mine!” he cried.

They did, but against Z’Nelia’s strength, hoarded while they fought their way through her guards, their power was insufficient.

Z’Nelia’s mad laughter floated around them. Wulfston gripped Lenardo’s hand on one side, Tadisha’s on the other. Ashuru grasped Tadisha’s other hand, and the rest joined the circle until Chulaika stood alone with Chaiku, Barak and Kamas reaching toward her-

She thrust her son into the circle and closed it.

Renewed strength flowed around the circle until thunderbolts rained on them, too many to deflect-

Looking across the circle at Zanos, feeling the man’s desperate fury at being defeated in his revenge on the woman who had murdered his wife, Wulfston suddenly remembered Zanos and the burst water bag.

The scene seemed significant-but why?

Then he knew.

“Stop fighting her! Support her!” he gasped through pain. “Feed… energy back to her! Flood her!”

Ashuru stared, but she and Tadisha together joined their strength to Wulfston’s, directing their energy to Z’Nelia as if it were healing power. Lenardo joined them at once, giving what little strength he had.

Kamas did his part, and Barak stood transfixed, maintaining the circle.

Z’Nelia drank in the energy. Their pain diminished as she greedily soaked up the pure power.

Wulfston urged more on her, and his plan began to take effect!

From reveling, Z’Nelia’s feelings turned to faint discomfort, confusion-and then fear as more energy flowed into her!

Chulaika realized what was happening, as did Zanos, and they added their force, Chulaika focusing Chaiku’s power on her twin sister.

The Zionae queen’s nerves seared, her own energy overflowing her control. They broke the circle, reformed it around her, preventing her from casting the energy away.

Z’Nelia fell to her knees, keening in agony. Chaiku stared at her, then up at his mother, terrified to find his mother’s face on this stranger.

The witch-queen’s pain and terror grew. She fell, her body twitching grotesquely.

“Don’t kill her!” Wulfston exclaimed. “We’ve won. Lenardo-Ashuru-?”

It was Ashuru who replied, “She is helpless. There is no need to kill her.”

Ashuru had stopped pouring forth energy to See Z’Nelia. Lenardo was too weak to do more; Wulfston, Tadisha, and Kamas stopped together-

“No!” screamed Zanos. “She must die!”

Zanos and Chulaika refused to stop!

Wulfston turned, intending to knock them unconscious with his greater powers, when the stink of burning flesh filled the small room, and Z’Nelia’s death-screech shocked through their already-battered nerves.

In the white-hot fire of a funeral pyre, Z’Nelia’s body was consumed.

There was silence. Lenardo slumped to the floor.

Wulfston turned on Zanos. “Why?” he demanded.

“She killed Astra,” the gladiator replied. “She had to die.”

“And now this land will be torn apart-” Wulfston began, when suddenly a scream erupted behind him.

He turned, saw Chulaika on the floor, writhing-

He opened to Reading, and with the Seers observed the unimaginable.

Z’Nelia’s spirit was fighting for possession of her twin sister’s body!