These weapons are not of Sunside, he said. No, and neither are they of Starside. And so, if they are not of this world .. .? The hell-lands? And he saw in Nathan's dead-speak mind that he was right.
'That first time I was here -' Nathan let his thoughts fly back in time - 'you told me I was a Necroscope. Well, and so was my father before me. I discovered his world, his people, their weapons - the means by which to save my people! Now I'm back, and I've brought those weapons with me. For the first time the Szgany can meet the Wamphyri on their own terms - with blood and fire!'
Rogei drew back from the pictures in Nathan's head, which were a tumult. For deadspeak often conveys more than is spoken or visualized, which in Nathan's case meant all of the pent up hatreds of his young manhood. 'I saw my tribe decimated and my home destroyed,' he growled. 'It was a miracle that anyone survived, a miracle called Lardis, our chief. Well, now I have to see if he still survives, and do what I can to even the score.'
For a moment Rogei was silent, his empty eye-sockets gazing blindly on Nathan where he stood. But then he said: And is this the youth who came wandering into the desert to die, only to find purpose in the Cavern of the Ancients?
The same youth,' Nathan answered, 'and the same purpose. It has always been the same, I suppose, but I lacked the drive and the means. Life seemed hopeless, even pointless; I thought I'd lost everything; I was wrong, much had been saved. And now at last I've found the means - all thanks to you, Rogei.'
Tome?
'You gave me a reason to live, showed me the way. Through you I met Shaeken, and through him sought out Ethloi the Elder, who knew numbers. It was Ethloi who told me that if one day I could find a way to control the numbers vortex and show it ordered in my mind, as pictures upon a tapestry, then that I might discover a key. Well, he was right and I did discover it, not in this world but in the hell-
lands. But how would I ever have got there in the first place if not for Thikkoul the Astrologer, who read my future in the stars? And so you see, it was you who set my feet upon the path.'
Should I be proud of it? Rogei sounded gloomy now.
'You were proud of me, upon a time.'
I still am. Indeed, 1 love you! But with all of this blood and thunder in your heart, what will be the end of it? You seek to destroy the Wamphyri, you say. But is that possible? Or have I found my lost son only to lose him again in a great and terrible bloodwar?
'Am I a son to you, then?' It was an incredible honour.
I wish you could have been. You felt like one, when you were here and working among the Thyre.
Then ... you won't lose me,' Nathan promised, and hoped he could keep his word.
But before anything more could be said: