Page 132 (1/2)
“He had a suitably heroic death,” the Ally said after a htful traps He would have been of great use, his gift being so strong, but thanks to you, all lost Along with that woht one day have heard their voices again, but now they are gone, vanished to nothing like any other soul You did that when you broughtto hold the he had to force the words out “So held you in the Beyond It could hold theh “What a ridiculous na My people never thought to na it a title, they could wipe away the cri it”
More lies The Beyond is surely eternal Caenis and Dahrena will be bound there foreverThe notion stirred a fresh welling of grief, and yet er The sword felt heavier on his back now, a constant temptation
Vaelin turned Scar about and kicked him into a walk
“We didn’t know, you see,” the Ally continued, his tone reflective but also cheerful, an avuncular uncle relating past ined ourselves so wise And ould we not? The marvels we crafted on this earth would have left your pri But that is the eternal dile conquered much of one world, a conquest ithout battles or blood I ht add, why not seek out others? The stones were the key of course, as they were the key to everything in our world of wonders Dug fro was their power revealed The power to store es, and, it transpired, the power to reach betorlds”
“The black stone,” Vaelin said, refusing to turn
“Yes” The Ally laughed in surprise “I clearly don’t give you enough credit Yes the black stone was to be our greatest achieve to knohat it is”
“I know you made it, and feared what you had made”
“What did Lionen tell you? That it was a box to lockthe Ally’s gaze more intent now, his cheerfulness displaced by calculation So he doesn’t know everything “He told me your wife’s death had driven you to destroy the world you built, and he killed you to prevent that”
“True enough, though I suspect it was ive me a quick death, you know”
“I sahat you did to your people You had much to atone for then, and yet more now”
“Atonement? I have spent countless years without pain, pleasure or the knowledge of anything that ht be called hu in his bonds “Please, feel at liberty to inflict whatever torment you like upon this flesh I’ll take it all and ask for more”
“What is the black stone?” Vaelin de on his back as he rounded on the Ally “If it is not a prison, what is it?”
The Ally glanced over at Lorkan and Cara, riding just within earshot “In ift, with the power burned into their souls and passed through the bloodline for generations Our gifts caives“There was no Dark in the world,” Vaelin said in realisation “You unleashed it”
The Ally’s face betrayed a mix of scorn and amusement “How little you know There has always been power here, in the water and the earth, ancient and capricious, but beyond the reach of hu different, a gift of power from across the chasm that divides the worlds We took it and built wonders”
The Ally trailed off, glancing around at the Lonak and the Gifted, his expression darkening into conteacy,” he went on “Did Lionen tell you when he first received his visions he thought he was seeing the past? Soe of barbarism where people killed each other over mere superstition Then he saw the ruins of my city and knew he looked upon the future A future we built together”
• • •
The Ally didn’t speak again, re without protest and accepting the food spooned into his rateful s the first two days of silence but gave up when it beca more to share
They left theinto the plains beyond It was pleasant country, dotted with sullies and, the farther south they travelled, plantations and villas of varying size and luxury Sons of recent abandonment, others were littered with bodies and part destroyed by fire or deliberate vandalis vented his malice when he led his army north, but it soon became clear this destruction arose not froain they found black-clad bodies hanging from the archways of partially destroyed villas, often fans of torture
“The red men conscripted their Varitai on the way north,” Astorek sure villa that had been reduced to its foundations by fire “The slaves rose and they were defenceless”