Lost Empires - Faces Of Deception Part 20

"It says, 'Luck and Happiness to all creatures. May the Serene Ones spreadtheir grace over the world,'" explained Seema. "The ancient monks filled the stones with their voices, and now the walls are ringing their chants back to us."

"The walls?" grumbled Yago. "It sounds like ghosts."

Seema whirled on the ogre. "You mustn't say such things," she said. "Not here!" Yago's orange cheeks darkened. "Sorry," the ogre apologized. "I didn't know they was listening."

Atreus led the way down the aisle. The chanting continued to swell, but as theygrew accustomed to it, it became almost calming. They soon found themselvesdroning along, "Omna lo renege ge suun, song tse ngampo ge lung pa.. . omna lorenege ge suun, song tse ngampo ge lung pa..." The chant seemed to free their minds from all awareness of time and s.p.a.ce, sothey were all taken by surprise when the sparkling stream suddenly narrowed and became a fan-shaped cascade spilling down yet another stone stairway.For a moment, Atreus just stood there, too mesmerized by the hypnotic rhythminside his head to realize what he was seeing. His gaze began to rise, followingthe stream up a long series of steps to the summit of a pyramidal dais.

On top sat a pair of golden yaks, kneeling across from each other and facing a great alabaster altar inlaid with a thousand-spoked wheel of gleaming silver. At oneend of the altar sat three elegant vessels: a bronze brazier with incense smoke stillrising from its heart, a gla.s.s b.u.t.ter lamp with a tiny flame still flickering on its wick,and a jade vase with a single hibiscus blossom still rising from its mouth. At theother end sat three plain objects: a loaf of steaming rice-bread, a tin caster filled with fresh cinnamon, and a sandal-wood lute still resonating from the touch of itslast player.

In the center of the altar, resting on its side between the two groups of sacredobjects, lay what Atreus had come so far to find, a platinum cup rimmed insapphires and rubies, from whose mouth spilled a perpetual stream of glittering silver water.

Rishi clutched Atreus's arm and whispered, "Good sir, your wisdom and faithare the measure of all men!" The Mar glanced over his shoulder. "If I may suggest a small precaution, we should see to Seema with every haste."

Atreus tore his eyes from the altar and scowled down at Rishi and said, "See to her?"

Rishi winced, then held a finger to his lips. "Quietly, good sir," he cautioned. "I amsure it will only take one scream, and then the Dweller will come running."

Atreus glanced back at Seema, who was standing at the base of the dais asawestruck as he. "Why would she do that?" he asked.Rishi raised his brow, genuinely surprised. "Is it not obvious?" he whispered. "YourG.o.ddess sent you here to steal the Fountain of Infinite Grace . . . that is how youare to return the shining water to Erlkazar."

The Mar's sly logic stunned Atreus. It was an elegant solution to an otherwiseimpossible problem, but for the one detail Rishi had overlooked.

"Sune would never want such a thing."

"Want what thing?" asked Seema, finally drawn out of her reverie.

Rishi glanced at Yago, then c.o.c.ked his head meaningfully in her direction. Atreusscowled and shook his head. Getting no answer to her question, Seema stepped to Atreus's side and asked, "What is all this whispering?"

"Nothing for you to worry about," Atreus replied.

He was careful not to look in the direction of the alabaster altar, but Seema's suspicions were already raised. She glanced at the toppled cup, her eyes lit in understanding, and she grabbed Atreus's arm with surprising strength.

"You would steal Langdarma's beauty?"

"No," Atreus said, and covered Seema's fingers with his hand. "Sune would not want me to. The last thing she would want is to spoil a place like Langdarma."Yago rolled his eyes and quickly looked away, but his skepticism was not lost onRishi.

"What do you think, my friend?" asked the Mar. "Is this Sune not a jealous G.o.ddess,who might very well resent this stream of beauty pouring forth from her ancientrival's temple?"

The ogre gave a grudging shrug. "She's fickle enough," he said. "I wouldn't put anything past her."

Seema paled, turning to call the Dweller.

Atreus pulled her back, clamping a hand over her mouth. "You have nothing to worry about," he a.s.sured her. "Even if Sune did want the fountain, how could we get it pastthe Dweller? I'm sure it would frown on us stealing the source of its shining pool."

"How would it know until it was too late to stop us?" asked Rishi, smiling.The Mar bounded up the dais and s.n.a.t.c.hed the cup off the altar, eliciting a m.u.f.fledscream from Seema. "Put that back!" Atreus ordered.

"Have no worry, I am not stealing the cup," said Rishi. "I am only demonstrating howsuch a thing might be possible, in case the good sir should in his own judgmentconsider it necessary."

"I won't"

Rishi paid Atreus no attention, began to descend the dais, and said, "You see?" TheMar stopped two steps above, holding the cup sideways so that the water continued to pour out at an even rate. "In this manner, we could advance all the way tothe stairs above the Pool of Gems, where we might wait until the Dweller wanderedaway on its business. Or perhaps we would send someone to distract it while theothers fled with the Fountain of Infinite Grace."

"How do we escape Langdarma before the Sannyasi catches us?" Atreus asked,more to prove the impossibility of Rishi's plan than because he was really interested.Or so he told himself. "From what little I recall, the Pa.s.sing was something of a challenge."

Rishi's smile grew confident "Langdarma is difficult to enter, but easy to leave," he said. "Yago and I learned of many exits while we were searching for the fountain."

Seema's body stiffened. She began to struggle in Atreus's arms, going so faras to bite his palm. He winced, then pointed his chin at the altar.

"Put it back," Atreus said, feeling Seema's chin grow slick with his blood. "Sune didn't send me here to steal the fountain or anything else."

Rishi's eyes hardened and he demanded, "Do you never think of anyone beyondyourself?" He glanced back toward the alabaster altar. "I am sure that any two of those treasures would make me the wealthiest bahrana in the Five Kingdoms!""I'm tired of telling you." Atreus caught Yago's eye, swung his chin toward the Mar,and said, "Feel free to break an arm if he doesn't give it to you."Instead of rushing to obey, the ogre asked, "You sure about that?" "What?" Atreus gasped, astonished by Yago's disobedience. "You can't be with him!"

Yago scowled, clearly insulted. " 'Course not!" he said. "I'm just trying to figure outwhy you want to stay ugly for the rest of your life." The ogre glanced at Rishi andadded, "He's right about Sune. You know he is. I didn't come all this way to see you go home empty-handed."

Atreus fell silent, weighing the ogre's opinion and hating himself for it. To evenconsider the possibility that Sune had sent him after the cup was a betrayal of Seema's love, yet the way she continued to struggle in his arms made it clear thatshe believed he had already forsaken her. He glanced down and noticed his blood drops falling into the stream of sparkling water and turning into little beads of gold.Everyone but him, it seemed, knew exactly what the G.o.ddess expected.

"On my heart," Atreus growled. "How I wish I could stay."

"But the Sannyasi will not permit it, and so he deserves what he shall receive." Rishismirked, then started back up the dais. "Come along, Yago, and help me retrieve the rest of the treasure."

"No," Atreus said, closing his eyes. "Don't do it."

Seema stopped struggling, astonished, and Rishi spun on his heel, spraying her andAtreus with a stream of shining water.

"What?" the Mar demanded.

Atreus opened his eyes again. "We came to fill the vial." He pointed his chin towardthe cup. "Put it back."

Rishi glared at Seema icily, clearly blaming her for the loss of his fortune. A craftygleam came to his eye.

"You are very clever, good sir. If the water loses its sparkle again, we ca.n.a.lways return for the cup in the morning. But how will you pay me with all your gold lost in the river? Even the clothes on your back are not your own."

Seema tensed at Rishi's words, but she did not resume her struggle. Though evenAtreus could not say what he would do if the water lost its sparkle again, he sensedthat Seema hoped as much as he that he would not have to make the choice. Heglanced in Yago's direction and nodded.

"Give me that!" Yago's gangling arm lashed out, ripping the cup from Rishi's handsand inadvertently turning it upside down.

It was as though the ogre had punched a hole in the bottom of a lake. A ragingtorrent of water poured from the mouth of the chalice, instantly sweeping the legs out from under Atreus and Rishi and sweeping them down the aisle.

Fearing the Mar would take advantage of the situation, Atreus released Seema andgrabbed Rishi instead. They tumbled a dozen paces down the aisle, before Yagofinally thought to right the cup. The torrent ended as swiftly as it began, depositingAtreus and his captive among the moldy-smelling rugs on a meditation platform.

"There is no need to crush me," Rishi wheezed. "You are the ugly one. If you do not want to steal the fountain, then I am as willing as you to leave it behind."

"I'll believe that when we're back in the Five Kingdoms," Atreus said.

He glanced up and saw Seema across the aisle, wiping the moldy remnants of acarpet off her cloak. The flood itself had spent its fury washing onto the meditationplatforms and was slowly draining back into its main channel. Yago stood near the bottom of the dais, holding the cup upright and staring at its gem-studded rim asthough he were clutching a live cobra. In this position, the fountain looked much thesame as any other chalice. There was no water spilling over its rim and only a faintaura shining up from its interior.

Atreus dragged Rishi over to Yago's side, exchanging the indignant Mar for theplatinum cup.

"Keep an eye on our thieving friend."

"Why do you insist on insulting me, good sir?" Rishi protested. "Did I not give youmy word? I have completely forgotten the Fountain of Infinite Grace. If you cannot seethat Langdarma has nothing to fear from me, then you are certainly the fool they took you for in Queen Rosalind's court!"

"I've been called worse than a fool." Atreus glanced back at Seema, who waswatching him with veiled emotions, and added, "Perhaps rightfully so."

Atreus climbed the dais and laid the cup on the alabaster altar, restarting the flow ofshining water. Though he had reached the end of his quest, he experienced noexultation or relief, only a queasy sort of guilt that made him feel hollow and coldinside. He removed the empty vial from his cloak and held it beneath the falling water and, as the flow spilled over his fingers, took no joy in the sweet tickle of its magic.

When the vial was full, Atreus corked it, carefully wrapped it inside a cushioning rag, and began to descend the dais. "Ain't you gonna take a drink?" asked Yago, oblivious to Atreus's remorseful mood."I'd kinda like to see you handsome." "Yes, drink," sneered Seema. "If the magic here is as potent as you hope, you willbe handsome forever."

Stung by the sarcasm in her voice, Atreus started to decline, then realized shewas right. Whether the magic lasted or not, he stood to lose nothing by drinking,and it just might be what Sune had intended all along. Anything as worth a try, if itmeant avoiding the decision of whether or not to steal the fountain.

Atreus knelt beside the altar, then opened his mouth under the cup and let theshining water pour down his throat. He experienced the same airy giddiness as before, save that it was a hundred times as strong, so strong that he felt its radianceshining inside every part of his body, filling him from head to toe with a sweet burninghe swore would turn him to smoke.

A terrible thought occurred to Atreus then, and he turned to see if he couldread any sign of betrayal in Seema's face. She grimaced and looked away in disappointment, but Yago smiled broadly.

"Now, if that ain't a wonderful sight!" said the ogre. "I wish they could see you backin the Church of Beauty!"

"Yes, he is as handsome as a prince," drolled Rishi. The Mar twisted around to lookup at Yago. "Now, perhaps we should turn our concerns to the real danger in ourmidst. Seema certainly knows whether or not the magic will last, and even as we speak, she is most likely plotting to set the Dweller upon us."

"Rishi, how can you say such a thing?" Seema asked. She appeared more amusedthan affronted. "Even if the Dweller were mine to control, to do such a thing wouldbe to kill... and you know I would never kill, not even to protect Langdarma."

Chapter 17.

Atreus stood with his companions at the temple exit, staring down the granite stairs intothe cloudy brilliance below. The Dweller was still down there, calmly sloshing throughthe Pool of Gems with its long tentacles. Though the dam had obviously survivedYago's flood, there was no telling what the monster had made of the change in flowor if it had noticed at all. Atreus suspected it had. As alien as the creature was, it struck him as anything but stupid.

"Are you worried the Dweller will sense your guilty conscience?" Seema asked.

"My conscience is clear," Atreus replied. "I have taken nothing but water."

"Today, but what of tomorrow?" Seema said as she stepped around Atreus andstarted down the stairs. "The Dweller knows me. I will go down first and watch how it behaves."

When Atreus made no move to stop her, Rishi cried, "Are you mad? She will run andsound the alarm and perhaps leave us trapped in here with the Dweller!"

Atreus caught Seema's shoulder and asked, "Is he right?"

"Why should that matter?" Seema asked. "If you are taking nothing but water, no one will try to stop you."

"Maybe I'll go first."Atreus pulled her gently back up the stairs, then descended into the aura. Thesloshing sounds ceased, and a few steps later he saw the monster's amorphous bulksilhouetted in the brilliance below. It swung its head in his direction, fixing its trio ofred eyes on him and clacking its beak. Atreus averted his gaze and continued down the stairs, his heart hammering in his chest.

When he reached the edge of the pond, one of the scaly tentacles, swollen andlumpy with gems, rose to flit over his body. He waited and allowed it to inspect him. Thefinger-tendrils squeezed the pocket containing the vial, apparently trying to make out the shape of the container beneath his cloak. Atreus remained as still as a statueuntil he felt the tiny mouth nibbling at the cloth.

"Hold on!"

Very gently, he removed the vial and unwrapped it, displaying the shimmering contents within. The finger-tendrils danced over the gla.s.s briefly. Then the monster seemed to lose interest and returned to searching for its gems. Atreus finally exhaled and went to stand by the marble bench where they had left their emptypebble buckets.

"It's okay to come down," Atreus called, returning the vial to his pocket, "but don't be surprised if it inspects you."

As Seema descended the stairs, Atreus stood across from the Dweller, trying to keep an eye on the monster without meeting its gaze. Of them all she seemed theleast likely to be attacked, but he did not want to take any chances with her safety.Even without getting her injured or killed, he felt vile enough. He still did not know whathe would do if the water's sparkle faded, and he hated himself for being such a weakand wicked person.

The Dweller let Seema pa.s.s with only a cursory examination. She came to standnear Atreus on the dam, just out of arm's reach. He did not try to apologize or speakto her. There was nothing he could say she did not know already.Yago and Rishi came next, the ogre clasping the Mar's shoulder and carefullysidestepping to fit his huge feet on the wet stairs. As they neared the bottom, the Dweller swung a tentacle over to inspect the pair as it had Atreus.Rishi stared wide-eyed at the approaching appendage and forgot to watch his footing,missed a step, and tumbled screeching into the pool. Yago tripped over the fallen Marand splashed down on top of him.

Atreus's first thought was of the Dweller. He s.n.a.t.c.hed a bucket off the bench and raised his arm to throw, but the monster remained on its side of the pool, tentacleshovering above the frothing water as Yago and Rishi struggled to untangle themselves.Rishi seemed particularly confused, clutching at the ogre's heavy cloak while at thesame time pushing him off. Yago simply tried not to crush his panicked companion,holding himself up over the Mar on splayed limbs.

Atreus stepped into the pond to help. The water was only waist deep, but the loosebottom made moving difficult. Though the distance was a mere two paces, it tookseveral moments to catch the Mar's arm and haul him out from under Yago.

As soon as Rishi's head cleared the water, he cried, "A thousand blessings onyou!" He glanced back at Yago's sprawled form. "Had you not rescued me, I wouldcertainlyhave drowned beneath that great buffoon."

"Hardly," Atreus said, dragging Rishi toward the edge of the pool. "All you had to do was stop panicking."

Atreus demonstrated by standing the Mar on his feet.

As soon as his boots touched bottom, Rishi's face flushed with embarra.s.sment.

"Oh, what an ox I am!" He turned to the ogre and said, "My apologies, as profuseas the luxuries that once filled this palace. First I trip you, and then I blame you formy own clumsiness."

As the Mar spoke, Seema's jaw dropped. "Yago!" she cried. "Watch your*" A wet slap sounded behind Atreus, then Yago bellowed in pain and splashed into the water.

So astonished was Atreus that he did not instantly comprehend that the ogre wasbeing attacked. By the time he spun around, the Dweller had turned the surface ofthe pool into a churning ma.s.s of froth, and he could see nothing but flailing arms and lashing tentacles. Rishi was already wading into battle, one hand thrust downunder the water, struggling to pull something from his boot.

Atreus stepped toward the fight, demanding of no one in particular, "What happened?"

Yago bellowed and screamed, pummeling the Dweller's head with his boot heels.One arm was wedged down inside the tentacle, but the other was clutching the tip of the scaly appendage, struggling to keep its waving finger-tendrils away from his face.

Rishi's hand came up holding a long, thin knife. The Mar hurled himself into theattack, stabbing madly at the black coil wrapped around Yago's chest. On the thirdtry, the blade finally slipped between two scales. A whistle trilled from the monster's beak, and the tentacle loosened. Atreus wrapped his arms around the appendage andbegan to pull, half blinded by the dazzling gleam of splashing water.

A second tentacle came up beneath the Mar, heaving him out of the pool. Rishi criedout and arced away over the dam, releasing his hold on the knife. There was a dullthud as he struck the wall, another as he fell to the floor, and after that only silence.At last, Atreus opened enough s.p.a.ce for Yago to free his trapped arm. The ogre lunged for sh.o.r.e, releasing his grasp on the tentacle to grab the marble bench. Thescaly tip shot toward his face, its powerful finger-tendrils digging his eye from thesocket. Yago howled in pain, but s.n.a.t.c.hed the bench off the dam and smashed theedge down on the Dweller's head. The tentacle slackened, and Atreus stumbledbackward, pulling the coils open as he moved. The ogre took advantage of the opening to twist around and slam his makeshift club into the Dweller's face.

The bench cracked in two, and the tentacle went limp. Atreus fell, landing up to hischin in water. The Dweller's body seemed to sag and spread, and for a moment themonster appeared unconscious. Yago dropped his broken weapon and raised ahand to his mangled eye, roaring in pain.

"No! You must not touch it," cried Seema. To Atreus's surprise, she was in thewater beside him, reaching out to take the ogre's arm and guide him to the bank.

Then the Dweller lurched forward, heaving its bulk onto the dam and thrusting itshead completely into the pool. The resulting wave washed over Atreus's face, fillinghis eyes with dazzling sparkles of silver light. He heard Yago bellow, then there camea tremendous splash and another surge of water. Atreus stood and reached towardthe sound. Through his spotty vision, he could barely make out the ogre stretchedacross the water, surrounded by lashing tentacles, flailing his long arms in a madattempt to keep his head above the surface.

Atreus wiped the water from his eyes and the image grew a little clearer. He sawthat two of the monster's tentacles lay over Yago's shoulders, trying to pull him downunder the water. A third tentacle lay floating just beneath the surface, the handle ofRishi's knife protruding from its flesh. The rest of the appendages, about half a dozen,were sticking up out of the water, ringing the ogre's wailing figure.

Seema dodged forward and grabbed Yago's head, holding it up so the ogre couldbreathe. A tentacle wrapped itself around her waist and tossed her against thedam. Atreus slipped forward and grabbed Rishi's knife, plucking it from its scalysheath and unleashing a gush of brown blood. The murky syrup turned instantly tosilver and dropped out of sight in the magic water.

A tentacle slithered around Atreus's waist He hauled it out of the water and brought the knife down. Though hardly as powerful as Yago, he was much stronger than Rishi, and the blade shattered the thick scale, sinking deep into theDweller's flesh. The monster flailed its other tentacles, but slipped one around Atreus's waist, and began to lift He brought the knife down again, burying it to the hilt. When the Dweller still did notrelease him, he twisted the blade, working it back and forth, slashing muscle and severing tendons. The tentacle fell limp, and Atreus stepped to Yago's side, grabbinganother appendage and driving his weapon through the six inches of scale andsinew. The Dweller beat the water again and drew its bulk off the dam, pulling bothYago and its own head out of the shining pool.

What Atreus saw made him wish the monster had stayed in the water. The thing had caught Yago's leg in its beak and was frantically snapping its way up his thigh.Long sections of bone lay exposed to the open air, and the ogre's blood was pouringinto the pool and sinking to the bottom in a steady cascade of golden nuggets. Atreusgrabbed a handful of Yago's cloak, then swung around and slashed at one of the monster's red eyes.

The orb exploded in a gout of frothing bronze blood. Yago screamed as the beakclamped down on his leg. Atreus reached over to slash another eye, when a thicktentacle slapped his neck and began to tighten around his throat, fluttering itsfinger-tendrils before his eyes and pulling him away from the Dweller's face. Atreuslashed out at the monster's head but felt no telling cascade of hot blood.

He glimpsed Seema stepping in beneath him with a bucket of shining water. He tried to call her off but could not force the words past his throat. His vision began todarken, and the last thing he saw was Seema flinging the bucket at the monster's eyes.