The Wraiths of Will and Pleasure - By Storm Constantine Page 0,89

pulled his arm away, walked out of the room.

After locking the door once more, Thiede followed him. ‘I knew you wouldn’t, just as I knew that Ashmael would ask you to.’

Seel stopped and faced Thiede. ‘Would you have stopped me if you’d been wrong?’

‘Of course, only I knew there was no danger. It was necessary, this visit. It will prove to the Hegemony I’m right. I bear no malice about the incident. In Ashmael’s place, I’d have done the same, as I would in yours. I never underestimate my most valued hara. It is what makes them special.’

‘I couldn’t kill Pell, but that doesn’t make it right, what you’re doing.’

‘Save your opinions until you have witnessed his return,’ Thiede said, ‘then you may talk to me of whether I’m right or wrong.’

‘But why let him die only to do this? Why didn’t you just take him from Saltrock with you and train him yourself?’

Thiede laughed softly. ‘Oh, Seel, do you seek to pry my secrets from me? I’ll tell you this. I incepted Pell, and he became part of me because of it, but not a big enough part. I was prepared for his death…’

‘Because you arranged it?’ Seel snapped. ‘That’s barbaric.’

Thiede didn’t respond to the question. ‘I was able to net the essence of his being in… let’s call it transit. You must appreciate that I have access to advanced technology, the like of which has not seen on this world before. The sedim, for example. The incubation pod you saw in Pell’s room is from the same origin. It will take time, but eventually, Pellaz will be in the condition to accept more of my life essence, not through blood, or through aruna, but something more. He will become more than any other har.’

‘More than you?’

‘I wouldn’t go that far. Wraeththu need something, or somehar, to bind them. They need a figurehead, a divine ruler. I am making one for them.’

‘Did Pell have a choice about it?’

‘Unfortunately, no. He will resent that for a time, I expect.’

‘I’m weak. I should have killed him when I had the chance.’

‘Don’t delude yourself,’ Thiede said in a sharper tone. ‘Pellaz wants to live, as all living creatures do. He just can’t help it. It’s a biological imperative. Thankfully, he’ll retain no memory of your murderous impulses. He will never know you saw him in that state.’

‘Take me back to Saltrock,’ Seel said. ‘You’ve got what you wanted.’

‘Indeed I have. You will visit Immanion soon to see the house I’ve had built for you. I expect you to move in within a month. You will be pleased to know I’ve allocated a sedu to you. Your training in controlling it begins in two days’ time. I’ll send a teacher to Saltrock with the animal.’

‘We’re all your puppets,’ Seel said angrily. ‘We are all hanging in pods, hooked up to pipes, breathing fluid. I can’t fight you, Thiede, but I have your measure.’

‘Good. I wouldn’t expect anything less of you.’ Thiede put an arm around Seel’s shoulder and began to lead him up the corridor.

Seel glanced back once at the door. He felt numb.

Chapter Thirteen

The gods came to Flick at any time of day or night. He would be walking in the hills, and a name would come to him. One time, as he watched a flight of birds erupt from the canopy of trees and spiral, screeching, into the sky, he heard in his mind the name Miyacala, and an image came to him of a tall, white-haired har, whose eyes were milky blind, but whose forehead burned with a silver star. Flick knew then that Miyacala needed no physical eyes to see, for his sight was of the psychic kind. He was a god of initiation and magic, and those hara who studied and honed their skills walked in the prints of his sacred feet.

One night, as Itzama lay beside Flick, breathing softly in sleep, and Flick��s body ached for a release that Itzama could never give it, he saw a black deity, with serpentine hair, whose eyes were burning red. He was a fearsome god, and he reigned over life, aruna and death. His name was Aruhani and he could smite as quickly as he could bless.

The third god that came to Flick was Lunil, a creature of the moon, whose skin was blue and whose hair was a smoke of stars. These were the dehara, harish gods.

Sometimes, Flick dreamed of returning to the world of Wraeththu, coming like a