Ghost in the Winds (Ghost Exile #9) - Jonathan Moeller Page 0,139
kill them all. A few Hellfire explosions here and there would throw the rest of Istarinmul into chaos, and he could depart the city. Grand Master Callatas would disappear, leaving ruin in his wake and he would take up the work in a new land with a new identity.
He would start by killing Caina Amalas.
She had brought this disaster upon his head. His other enemies had done him great harm, true, Nasser and Annarah and Prince Kutal Sulaman, but Caina had been the one who had catalyzed them, and he would start his vengeance by killing her.
That, and she and her Kyracian lover both carried valikons, which were the only weapons capable of penetrating his wards. Once they were dead, he could slaughter the rest of his enemies with perfect safety.
He raised his hand, golden fire flickering around his fingers, and suddenly agony filled him.
CALLATAS.
He had heard the voice of Kotuluk Iblis many times before. He thought he had grown used to the horror of it, the malicious and alien contempt, the bottomless fury and rage.
Never before, though, had the full rage of that terrible voice been directed at him.
Callatas fell to his knees, in too much pain to continue his spell, too much pain even to stand.
OUR PACT IS BROKEN.
Blood poured from his nose and mouth, and he struggled to stand, struggled to work a spell, but the voice came from inside of his head and was beyond all his defenses.
YOU PROMISED ME THIS WORLD. YOU PROMISED HOSTS TO HOUSE MY VASSALS.
His vision was turning black, blood leaking from his ears.
YOU HAVE FAILED!
“No!” said Callatas. “This is just a setback, only a setback, I will begin the Apotheosis anew in…”
YOU HAVE FAILED, AND OUR PACT IS BROKEN! YOU PROMISED ME YOUR WORLD, AND YOU HAVE FAILED! NOW I SHALL EXACT MY PRICE FOR YOUR FAILURE.
“I have not failed!” said Callatas. “I shall work the Apotheosis, I…”
Ribbons of shadow burst from the plume of darkness, wrapping around him and lifting him off his feet as they dragged him towards the Mirror of Worlds.
YOUR WORLD IS LOST TO ME, BUT YOUR UNENDING TORMENT SHALL BE AN AMUSING DISTRACTION.
The chains of shadow wrapped around him, dragging him to the gate, and Callatas screamed.
###
Caina stumbled back as the nagataaru dragged the screaming Callatas towards the Mirror of Worlds.
The plume of shadow collapsed, the nagataaru pouring through the gate and into the netherworld. Without any wraithblood addicts to possess, the nagataaru were being pulled back into the netherworld, and the gate was the easiest way back. Callatas vanished into the swirling darkness, and Caina heard him screaming and pleading and shouting empty threats. She didn’t know what would happen when he passed through the gate and into the netherworld. Perhaps she should pursue him and kill him there.
“No!” said Samnirdamnus. “He has broken his pact with Kotuluk Iblis, and the lord of the nagataaru does not forgive failure. I suspect the Grand Master will rather wish you had killed him. Brace yourself!”
Callatas’s voice rose in a terrified scream, and then the nagataaru, all of the nagataaru, vanished into the shimmering gate of gray light.
An instant later the Mirror of Worlds shattered with a thunderous cracking noise, and a gale of hot air howled through the Court of Justice. The wind knocked Caina from her feet, but Kylon caught her, and she shielded her face from the wind and the debris. For a moment the howling wind continued, and then died away.
Silence fell over the Court of Justice, shocking after the sounds of combat.
Hundreds of wraithblood addicts looked around in confusion. The Kaltari warriors and the Imperial Guards regained their feet, watching for new foes, but there were none. The Mirror of Worlds was a twisted wreck, the frame broken, shards of glass piled upon the ground. All trace of Callatas’s spells had vanished.
The Apotheosis was over.
Caina turned and saw Sulaman and Mazyan approaching, Morgant and Annarah and Nasser following. Sulaman looked at his father in his chair, and then at Caina, his face pained.
“I’m sorry,” said Caina.
She seemed to hear something inside of her head, a dull throbbing sound. Perhaps it was her own pulse.
“He asked it of you, I know,” said Sulaman. “You did what he could not, for he knew that his sacrifice would save our people.”
“Yes,” said Caina, blinking.
The throbbing sound seemed to get louder and louder, like a beating heart.
“The shadow,” said Samnirdamnus. “I did not lie to you. The shadow was your choice to accept me, cast backward through