thousands more Undying have risen in the centuries since. I imagine this Malik Rolukhan, the current Lieutenant of this evil place, has thrown hundreds if not thousands of victims to be raised by the spell upon the Halls of the Dead.” She shook her head. “If there was a way to free them from the enslavement of the bloodcrystal, I would do it.”
“The enslavement?” said Caina.
Something started to rattle in her thoughts, her mind putting pieces together.
Free the slaves, Samnirdamnus had said.
Do what you always have done, Sulaman had told her.
“Wait,” said Caina. “Bloodcrystal. What do you mean, a bloodcrystal?”
“A bloodcrystal is a tool of Maatish necromancy, made from the blood of a murdered victim,” said Annarah. “A necromancer can use it as a reservoir of stolen life force, and they can be created to serve other purposes as well…”
“I know,” said Caina. “But a bloodcrystal powers the spell binding the Undying?”
“I believe so,” said Annarah. “Most likely one of the greater Maatish bloodcrystals, probably a Subjugant Bloodcrystal.”
“I’ve never heard of that kind,” said Caina. “I’ve encountered an Ascendant Bloodcrystal, but not a…”
“You encountered an Ascendant Bloodcrystal and you’re still alive?” said Annarah, stunned yet again.
“Not important right now,” said Caina. “Tell me about a Subjugant Bloodcrystal.”
“It was one of the greater forms of Maatish bloodcrystal,” said Annarah. “The Great Necromancers wrought them to aid the Kingdom of the Rising Sun’s wars of conquest. Any living mortal slain within the reach of the crystal’s aura rises as an Undying under the command of the crystal’s bearer.”
“I see how that would be useful in a battle,” said Caina, though the thought revolted her.
“Likely Kharnaces left a Subjugant Bloodcrystal here to defend the fortress,” said Annarah. “I’m sure the College of Alchemists would have loved to have claimed it, but the undead kill anyone who approach the crystal.”
“Why didn’t the loremasters of Iramis destroy it?” said Caina. “Your powers can ward away the undead.”
“We should have,” said Annarah, “but other concerns held our attention, and then the Padishahs claimed the Inferno as part of their realm, and the Prince had no wish to provoke war with Istarinmul.”
Caina nodded, her mind racing. Kylon and the others could not hold out against Rolukhan and the Immortals for very long. Even if she and Annarah rejoined them, they would be overwhelmed.
Unless they had help.
Caina looked at the undead filling the stairs and took a deep breath.
“This,” she said to herself, “is probably a very bad idea.”
“What do you mean?” said Annarah.
Caina drew back her shadow-cloak’s cowl and stepped to the very edge of the light.
“Balarigar!” said Annarah with alarm.
The undead flinched away from Caina.
“Who am I?” said Caina, staring at the undead, watching the ghostly images writhe over their bones. “Look at me!” Her voice echoed through the stairwell. “Look at me and tell me who I am!”
For a moment the dead remained motionless.
“The Bloodmaiden,” croaked one, the ghostly image of a Maatish soldier in kilt and cuirass playing over his bones.
“The Bringer of Dust,” rasped another.
“The Queen of Crows.”
“The Destroyer.”
“And what did the Destroyer do?” said Caina.
“She destroyed the Kingdom of the Rising Sun,” said one of the ancient Maatish soldiers.
“She threw down the Undying pharaohs from their thrones and ground them into the sand of the desert,” said another.
How Jadriga would have laughed.
She had tried so hard to recruit Caina as a disciple, and Caina had refused her every time. Now Caina was about to pretend to be her. Perhaps she had earned that right. Both Andromache and the Sage Talekhris had mistaken Caina for the Moroaica, and that had nearly gotten her killed several times.
“If I am to be the Destroyer, then I have come to destroy the Inferno,” said Caina. “I know you are bound, enslaved to a Subjugant Bloodcrystal. Take me to it.”
The undead did not answer.
“What are you doing?” said Annarah. “This is madness.”
“Probably,” said Caina. She raised her voice again. “Take me to the Subjugant Bloodcrystal! Take me to it, and I shall use it to rip down this Iron Hell. Take me to it, and I vow that will destroy the crystal and free you from this endless nightmare!”
“No,” whispered one of the undead, the ghostly image of a terrified young woman playing over yellowed bone and mummified flesh. “No, it is not…it is not possible…”
“Look at me!” said Caina. “You see the marks of the Destroyer upon me. Take me to the Subjugant Bloodcrystal, and I shall end this. Some of you have been imprisoned here