Midnight Tides & The Bonehunters - By Steven Erikson Page 0,80

Qan pushed his wire-bound lenses further up the bridge of his nose and peered at Brys. 'This is a journey of the mind, King's Champion, yet the risk to you is such that you might as well travel into the netherworld in truth. If your mind is slain, there is no return. Extreme necessity, alas; the king wills that you proceed.'

'I did not imagine that there would be no danger, Ceda. Tell me, will my martial skills be applicable?'

'Unknown. But you are young, quick-witted and resilient.' He turned away and scanned the cluttered worktop behind him. 'Great flux, alas. Leaving but one choice.' He reached out and picked up a goblet. A pause, a dubious squint at its contents, then he took a cautious sip. 'Ah! As suspected. The flux in the composite is due entirely to curdled milk. Brys Beddict, are you ready?'

The King's Champion shrugged.

Kuru Qan nodded. 'I was going to have you drink this.'

'Curdled milk will not harm me,' Brys said, taking the goblet from the Ceda. He quickly tossed it down, then set the silver cup on the table. 'How long?'

'For what?'

'Until the potion takes effect.'

'What potion? Come with me. We shall use the Cedance for this journey.'

Brys followed the old sorceror from the chamber. At the door he cast a glance back at the goblet. The mixture had tasted of citrus and sour goat's milk; he could already feel it bubbling ominously in his stomach. 'I must now assume there was no purpose to what I just drank.'

'A repast. One of my experiments. I was hoping you'd enjoy it, but judging by your pallor it would seem that that was not the case.'

'I'm afraid you are correct.'

'Ah well, if it proves inimical you will no doubt bring it back up.'

'That's comforting knowledge, Ceda.'

The remainder of the journey to the palace depths was mercifully uneventful. Ceda Kuru Qan led Brys into the vast chamber where waited the tiles of the Holds. 'We shall employ a tile of the Fulcra in this effort, King's Champion. Dolmen.'

They walked out across the narrow causeway to the central disc. The massive tiles stretched out on all sides beneath them.

The roiling in Brys's stomach had subsided somewhat. He waited for the Ceda to speak.

'Some things are important. Others are not. Yet all would claim a mortal's attention. It falls to each of us to remain ever mindful, and thus purchase wisdom in the threading of possibilities. It is our common failing, Brys Beddict, that we are guided by our indifference to eventualities. The moment pleases, the future can await consideration.

'The old histories we brought with us from the First Empire recount similar failings. Rich ports at river mouths that were abandoned after three centuries, due to silting caused by the clearing of forests and poorly conceived irrigation methods. Ports that, were you to visit their ruins now, you would find a league or more inland of the present coast. The land crawls to the sea; it was ever thus. Even so, what we humans do can greatly accelerate the process.

'Is all that relevant? Only partly, I admit. As I must perforce admit to many things, I admit to that. There are natural progressions that, when unveiled, are profoundly exemplary of the sheer vastness of antiquity. Beyond even the age of the existence of people, this world is very, very old, Brys Beddict.' Kuru Qan gestured.

Brys looked down to where he had indicated, and saw the tile of the Dolmen. The carved and painted image depicted a single, tilted monolith half-buried in lifeless clay. The sky behind it was colourless and devoid of features.

'Even seas are born only to one day die,' Kuru Qan said. 'Yet the land clings to its memory, and all that it has endured is clawed onto its visage. Conversely, at the very depths of the deepest ocean, you will find the traces of when it stood above the waves. It is this knowledge that we shall use, Brys.'

'Nifadas was rather vague as to my task, Ceda. I am to awaken Mael, presumably to apprise the Elder god that it is being manipulated. But I am not a worshipper, nor is there a single Letherii who would claim otherwise for him or herself – why would Mael listen to me?'

'I have no idea, Brys. You shall have to improvise.'

'And if this god is truly and absolutely fallen, until it is little more than a mindless beast, then what?'

Kuru Qan blinked behind the lenses, and said nothing.

Brys shifted uneasily.