The First nodded, angry but resigned to his defeat. He was staring at the Mirari as he spoke to Chainer. "Well done, my child. I can't help taking pride in-" "Shut up," Chainer said. "The only thing I want to hear out of you is your announcement to the city. And then, Calchexas, you will leave. If I ever see you again, I will make it my life's work to cut you to pieces, burn the remains, and scatter the ashes. I may not be able to kill you, but I can make you wish I had." Chainer closed his eyes, the Mirari glowed, and the First was once again bathed in black light. This light did not harm him, however. It merely cascaded around him.
"Speak clearly, Pater. All of your children are listening, and you won't get a second chance."
The First folded his arms into his sleeves. After one final glare at Chainer, he began to speak. "Attention, my children. This is the First…"
Chainer tuned him out as his mind sizzled and sparked from one topic to the next. First, he would honor his agreement with Laqua-tus, who had been instrumental in pinning down the First's secret name. Then, Chainer would crush all who came for the Mirari, including the Order and Burke and Kamahl, if they were foolish enough to compete.
And then, he would devote the rest of his life to punishing the First. If he couldn't kill the patriarch, then he would take the one thing from him that mattered most, the Cabal itself. With Chainer's snakes in Aphetto and the Mirari in his hand, it was only a matter of time before all of Otaria danced to Chainer's tune. In fact, he noted with a laugh, the music for the dance had already started in his head.
CHAPTER 24
From inside the Otaria Chasm, Veza watched the conflict between Llawan and Laquatus escalate toward civil war. Since the water portals only worked from surface to surface, the two sides were forced to grind out a victory the old fashioned way, face-to-face on the battlefield.
Llawan's first move was to send an armed force large enough to blockade the gorge, but not to storm it. Laquatus mocked her for not coming in person, and concentrated all of his mercenaries and undersea monsters at Llawan's end of the chasm. There were frequent skirmishes as the imperials tried to press in and the mercenaries labored to keep them out. The two forces continued to grow stronger and stronger as the days wore on.
Veza had never witnessed a full-scale military engagement before, though she had heard vivid stories from her grandfather describing Aboshan's predecessor's rise to power. Where her grandfather described noble duels and magnificent noble beasts, Veza saw ambush and sniper attacks alongside the hideous spectacles of razor rays tearing into leviathans. Massive orcan warriors surged out of the chasm to engage the empress's troops, and though each was driven back, each took its toll on the imperial guard with their massive fists and powerful jaws. Laquatus's mercenaries were unwilling to fight hand-to-hand. They preferred to pounce from the shadows in overwhelming numbers, or to not leave the safety of the chasm.
The ship-to-ship combat was even worse-giant, graceful, deep-sea creatures roaring and tearing at each other like wild dogs. Llawan's troops took heavy losses to the razor rays until they began using a school of electric eels that cooked the giant fish in mid-battle. Huge, paddle-footed beasts with long necks grabbed guards like fruit from a tree and were in turn choked by sargassum blasts or poisoned by lances coated in lethal puffer-fish extract.
When she wasn't watching the endless stream of carnage and patrol ships, Veza spent her time sifting through the survey data she'd collected. She couldn't reconcile what she'd seen in the chasm with what she reviewed. The data indicated gemstone deposits, precious ores and metals, and a freshwater underground river that could easily be tapped for drinking water. Laquatus was delighted, and the more value she discovered, the more troops he brought in to hold it.
Veza also had duties assigned to her by Laquatus. With the ambassador's armed guards by her side, Veza inspected the canyon walls for stability. Under their careful watch, she enchanted a series of blue crystals and affixed them to the walls along the entire length of the chasm. They crystals could relay magical impulses to one another. Veza used them to transmit data up and down the length of the flood zone. She also knew Laquatus intended to use the crystal arrays as a weapon. If he were forced to quit the chasm, he would send a signal to the crystals that would bring the walls crashing down around whoever was inside. He smiled when he told Veza of his plans, but he made it clear he did not fully trust her yet. He made sure that she was not allowed to alter the spell that powered the stones, so they could only transmit magical impulses, and only within the chasm. If anyone but Laquatus tried to use them in any other way, they would shatter.
Finally, Llawan herself arrived at the head of another flotilla of ships and leviathans. Laquatus had sent Burke to collect Veza and politely forced her to sit and watch the show.
Beyond the front, safe from the fighting, sat Llawan's private yacht, a smaller, slower version of her transport leviathan. Laquatus made sure the empress was indeed on board, and that Veza had an excellent view before he rolled out his surprise. The long, familiar shape of Llawan's transport leviathan streaked out of the chasm and plowed through her forces on a direct line of attack for the empress. Laquatus had not in fact slaughtered the empress's transport vessel, he had commandeered it and sent it into battle against her. Veza almost wept when the empress's troops were forced to strike the leviathan down with spell blasts and giant ballista bolts.
Hours after the destruction of her transport, Llawan unleashed a squadron of heavily armed cephalids. Just as they came into range of the mercenaries' weapons, the squadron vanished from sight. The invisible squadron did a lot of damage to their unsuspecting foes before the enchantment wore off, and they were only captured and killed when they tried to storm Laquatus's command ship. After the initial exchange of hostility, the front stabilized just outside the chasm and each side settled in for a long siege. Not in the strictest sense of the word, Veza knew, because either side could abandon the battle any time they pleased by simply turning around and swimming away. Veza had been close enough to both Laquatus and Llawan to know that neither of them were going to do that. The entire empire was watching this conflict, and whoever came out of it victorious would have enough political and popular support to claim the imperial throne.
Meanwhile, Veza continued to watch and research, Laquatus stayed safe in his canyon, and Llawan stayed safe in her luxury vessel while their troops tore each other to bits at the mouth of the canyon.
Kamahl strapped on his broadsword and took a few tentative steps across his tiny room. He was nowhere near full recovery, but he could walk. If he could walk, he could fight.
Kamahl was sensitive to the Mirari, and he could feel the powerful forces gathering around it. He was uncertain but unafraid. Unknown challenges were a barbarian's stock in trade, after all, and the promise of a good contest was more than enough incentive for Kamahl to meet this one.
Kamahl left the public house and joined the crowds of people heading for the Cabal City pits.
Cabal City's anniversary games drew more spectators and more combatants than any event ever before. Everyone in and around the city either wanted to take a shot at the Mirari or wanted to watch others do so. From his vantage point high above the arena floor, Chainer watched the crowds and the fighters buzz and vibrate like a huge hive of wasps.
Chainer looked around at the former First's private box. It was a luxurious, round, floating platform with all the amenities visiting dignitaries expected. The First often watched important games from here, or rather, watched the crowd watching the games. Among the First's finery, with the Mirari safely hidden in his chambers, Chainer understood what Skellum meant when he spoke of the good things in life.