Guardians Of The Flame - The Sleeping Dragon Part 27

Walter raised his hands. "Look, Ladya"instead of telling us what isn't enough, why don't you just tell us what you want? You want gold? I'll go steal you a few tons. You want diamonds? I'lla""

"Be silent." The Matriarch raised her hands to her face, the first motion they had seen her make. "The one who spoke of you, Karl Cullinane, was correct. You are not terribly bright. But this one, this Walter Slovotsky, is worse." She lowered her hands. "Then again, that is hardly your fault. You are, after all, merely a human."

And what are you, old lady? Karl thought. G.o.d? Or is it just that you think youa"

"No. And yes. It's simply that..." Her voice trailed off into gibberish. She sighed. "But you do not understand the High Tongue, and that is the only language in which I can clearly explain myself. My requirements are so necessary and so obviousa" but this Erendra and this English of yours... the words do not cover the territory. So I shall speak as simply as I can, so that you each can understand what I require of you, if not why I require ita"

"Aristobulus."

The wizard shook himself. The voice was somehow different now, less... diffuse?

"True. I speak only to you, wizard. Only one of the others can hear me, and will know if you decline to offer your portion of the payment."

Aristobulus nodded. Very well, he thought. You don't want what my spells can do for youa"what do you want?

"Your magic. All of it. Your... Aristobulus-ness. Your portion of the payment is to be but Louis Riccetti evermore. An ordinary human, unable to even read a worda"to even see a worda"in that book you clutch so tightly. Agree to that, and Ahira may live again. Decline, and he will surely stay dead."

How could she be sure of that? Certainly, the Healing Hand wasn't the only sect in the world; possibly there was some other cleric, somewhere, who could raise the dead.

"No. There is not. And soon, there may be none at all who can."

His aura wrapped him tightly, seething. For James Michael, could he give that up?

"Your reasons don't matter to me. It's... the distance between us that makes our communication so difficult, just as you could never teach your cat to fetch. You may give up your magic for whatever reason you wish. Or not." She sighed. "But I see that you will not. You do not see enough worth in your other self, in that engineering nonsense you used to almost wors.h.i.+pa"''

"Nonsense? Listen to me, you: There's more magic in a suspension bridge than in all these books, anda""

"Then you agree?"

To h.e.l.l with her. "Engineering nonsense" indeed. "Yes," he snarled. "I'll give it up." And I'll build bridges, here. I will. And horsecollars, and steam enginesa"

"As you wish." She gestured lightly with one hand, murmuring words that could only be heard and then forgotten.

He changed. Aristobulus' slim form bulged out, the old, dry skin of his body becoming once more firm with youth. It dizzied him; he stumbled...

...and Lou Riccetti, clad in works.h.i.+rt and blue jeans, picked himself up off the floor to glare at the Matriarch, He crossed his arms defiantly over his chest. And, to his own surprise, found that he was grinning from ear to ear.

"Andrea."

"Yes?" Why was she first? That didn't seem fair. After alla"

"One of the others has the same reaction. Curious."

Andrea tried to turn her head, to see which one of the others the Matriarch was talking about, but she couldn't move.

I'm not even breathing. She tried to force her lungs to draw in air, and couldn't. Panic burned her throat.

"Be still. Do you need to breathe?"

Well, noa"and that was strange. Why didn't she need to?

"You stall. Which is typical of you. You lack commitment, Andrea Andropolous. You wait, and you see, and you never decide until you absolutely have to. Your payment is this: You must agree to decide about something important. Yes or no; in or out; together or apart."

Fine. But what "something important"? I have to say yes without knowing?

'"No. You neither have to say yes, nor commit yourself without knowing. But an important promise will be made here, perhaps. Your payment is to agree to partic.i.p.ate, or to reject partic.i.p.ation in that promise. Without hesitation; without time for contemplation; without stalling. Will you make payment? Or will Ahira remain dead?''

She shrugged mentally, irritated at the way her shoulders refused to move. I can't see that that's such a big sacrificea"and I can't see what you're getting out of it.

"True. Will you make payment?"

Yes. buta"The thought cut off as she heard the Matriarch and Walter.

"Walter Slovotsky."

I'm first. I knew I'd be first.

The Matriarch chuckled. "You are always first, are you not? The center of your pitiful little universe. Your portion of the payment will be that egotism, that idiotic notion that everything centers on you, that as long as all is right with you, all is right with the worlda"and that always, all is right with you."

He wanted to reach up and scratch his head while he puzzled that out, but his arms hung limp by his sides. No, not limpa"unmoving, that was all.

"Time works somewhat differently around me, when I so command it. Your mind is free, but the nerve impulses won't reach your arms until we have finished our conversation."

Well, then, we can finish it quickly. I gave up on seeing myself as some sort of superman back in Lundeyll. I'll tell youa"a knife in the shoulder can do wonders for your perspective. Is that what you wanted to hear?

"No. That is what I wanted to know."

Karl's ears buzzed with the sounds of the Matriarch carrying on three conversations at once; with Riccetti renouncing his wizardry, Andy her indecisiveness, and Walter his self-centeredness. But it was as though Karl had three separate sets of ears, three separate minds: The words didn't jumble together; each word, each thought, stood out from the others, with crystal clarity.

"Karl Cullinane," the Matriarch said. "It is your turn to offer payment. Or not."

Payment? How was all this payment? What possible benefit could she get from this? I just don't see what she's gaining froma"

"True. You do not see. And, quite probably, you never will. Are you prepared to make payment, or will Ahira remain dead?"

Of course he was prepared to do something for hera"but what did she want? Some of his possessions?

"No."

The sacrifice of some of his abilities, like the way she had made Arisa"

"No."

A portion of his psyche, as with Walter?

"No."

That left some sort of commitment, like the way she had made Andy agree to decide about something or other. Does that have something to do with this?

"Correct. And what will you commit yourself to?"

What do you want. Lady? Why don't you just come out and ask?

'"Because I have limitations that you can never understand. I am far wiser, far more intelligent, than you can ever hope to be, but the perspective... limits me."

Wonderful. Power doesn't just corrupt, it limits, too. Eh?

"You stall, dilettante. You delay. Answer my question."

There was something strange about this whole payment business, as though the other three had gained, instead of losta"

"True."

Lou Riccetti had always been sort of an oddity, a misfit. No real self-respect, back in the days when he used to trail around behind Jason Parker, like some sort of obedient spaniel. But that had changed when he was transferred over to this side, when he became a wizard.

No. It hadn't. Aristobulus was just the other side of the same coin, seeing himself as worthwhile through his magic. Only through his magic.

And that was it. Lou Riccetti hadn't seen himself as worthwhile until the moment that the Matriarch had required he give up his wizardry, turned him back into a normal human being.

"Again correct. Go on."

Now, Walter was a different case. Slovotsky had always seen himself as worthwhile, perhaps too much so. Until Lundeyll, Walter hadn't understood his own mortality, his own limitations.

And the Matriarch wanted Walter to know that mortality, to see those limitations.

But what did that imply? So what if Walter knew he could hurt?

"Perhaps he can now truly understand that others can hurt, as well."

Karl nodded mentally.

And then there was Andy-Andy, who forestalled committing herself. Which sounds a lot like me, actually. Psych major, soc major, bridge player, gamer, et cetera and ad nauseam. If she's got a mild case of indecision, then I'm close to terminal.

"Precisely."

Then what do you want me to decide to do? I can see that you want me to agree to do something, but what?

"That which you have enjoyed most. That one thing which has made you feel most alive. To agree to do that, for the rest of your life, is your payment."

Karl let his string of former majors and hobbies run through his head. No, none of those. The Matriarch had hardly gone through all of this to get him to agree to finish his acting degree.

But she said that I have to take upa"what was it?a""that one thing which has made you feel most alive."

And then, it all clicked into place. Normality. Commitment. Lack of self-centeredness. The commitment to understanding that there were others out there, that they had feelings, and that those feelings counted.

Jefferson's words swam in his brain: "We hold these truths to be self-evident, that all men are created equala""

And in this world, they didn't hold that self-evident. Ellegon was a person, if not a human, and he had been left chained to a rock in Pandathaway just for the convenience of the rulers of that city. And in the slave markets, whips cracked and flesh parted. Ohlmin and his slavers had chained and abused them, because people were property here.

And the last piece: The two things in my life that I enjoyed most were the time that I freed Ellegon and when I got us away from Ohlmin and killed those b.a.s.t.a.r.ds.

Matriarch, that's to be my payment. Free all the slaves. But how? Slice up all the slavers? Break all the chains? How?

"That is your problem, Do you commit yourself?"

"Of course." Karl tried to spread his hands, and found to his surprise that he could. "But that isn't a sacrifice."

"But it is payment, in the only coin I will accept."

The others stirred around him. Andy-Andy glared up at the Matriarch. "And you can count me in on it, too. Is that a quick enough decision for you?"

"Yes." The Matriarch's voice held a hint of amus.e.m.e.nt.

Lou Riccetti, arms crossed over his chest, smiled. "I'm in."

Walter Slovotsky raised his hands and shrugged. "You'll probably get us all killed trying, but..."

Karl threw an arm around the other's shoulder. "But he's in, too. Now, about Ahira...?"

"We have accepted payment. It will take slightly more than a year to effect his revivification.''

Walter shook his head. "We can't hang around here; there's a price on Karl's head, at least, and the Pandathaway Guilds' Council has already managed to nail him with a Location spelt oncea"''

"That could not happen here. This preserve is... defended. But," the Matriarch sighed, "I could hardly have the four of you within the tabernacle for that length of time, making noise anda"ahh. Of course. Length of time, indeed." She gestured, and spoke, the words vanis.h.i.+ng as they left her mouth.

Through the window beyond the throne, night fell, the darkness only momentary as the sun rose like a glowing balloon across the sky.

And darkness, again. And light, and darkness. And light and darkness. Andlightanddarkandtightandark as the days strobed past.

And then it slowed, until a brilliant sun hung motionless, casting bright light into the hall, with its empty throne.

Karl brushed a year's acc.u.mulation of dust from his shoulders. "Is everyone alla""

"I'm fine, in case anyone's interested," Ahira's voice rasped behind him.

Ahira?

Karl turned. The dwarf glared up at him, hands on hips, head c.o.c.ked to one side. "Well," Ahira said, "don't I get a h.e.l.lo?"

"James!"

It was physically impossible for all four full-sized humans to hug the same dwarf at the same time, but they tried.

"And I have arranged some company for you.''

Karl turned to look at the empty throne. He had heard her voice, but the Matriarch was nowhere to be seen. "Nor will you see me again."

"Now waita"" he started, "What if we need some help? Won't youa""