"All clear, Empress." Veza anxiously counted the seconds. Once more, Veza spotted the flow of the shield defenders' transparent bodies as they positioned themselves in front of the chasm. "The shield is in position."
Llawan clicked, and her shield defenders formed their barrier, larger and thinner than they had ever created before. It sparkled like a sheet of ice, and Veza could even see a ghostly reflection of the empress's troops in it. Olsham reached out and traced a huge circle in the water before him, and the huge convex shield tilted slightly, sparking at its edges and reflecting the light back upon itself.
At last, a huge silver-white plane of energy flickered across the transparent shield. The energy flowed past the empress's servants and continued out to cover the mouth of the chasm. It was almost a mile across, wide enough to overlap the chasm opening by several hundred feet on both sides. It stretched from the ocean floor to the water's surface, and Veza knew it would stretch across the entire chasm, the magical impulses relayed by the crystals she herself had installed, to enclose the entire flood zone in a huge tunnel of mystical energy. A cheer went up among the bridge crew.
Olsham and Llawan opened their eyes. Olsham smiled and said, "Behold, Empress. The largest water portal ever created. Or rather, the largest portal barrier ever created. Nothing outside the chasm can get in, and-"
"Nothing inside can get out. As always, Olsham, you exceed our expectations." Llawan turned and noticed Veza's wound. "All hail the noble sacrifice made by our comrades, warriors and defenders both. And captain, get a medic to the bridge," she snapped. "Our valued sister is injured. Are you blind?" "Sorry, my empress."
Llawan floated down and gathered Veza up in her forelimbs. "Is the damage permanent?"
"No, Empress. I think it's a simple fracture." She flexed her tail and winced. "A very painful one, but a simple one."
"Veza," Llawan said softly. "Are you sure that Laquatus and all his troops were inside the chasm when the portal was created?" "Yes, Empress."
Llawan smiled. "Then we have won." She handed Veza to the medic, then began floating back toward the view screen.
"Empress," Veza called. "You planted the survey data that proved the chasm was valuable, didn't you?"
Llawan smiled. "Olsham altered the recording device before he teleported off the ship."
"So you used me."
"Not at all. We employed you. We assigned you a task, and you performed it. It is the right of the empress to demand service from her subjects."
"Service, Empress, or sacrifice? Your leviathan, its crew, your soldiers and shield defenders. Even me."
Llawan scowled. "What is your point, Veza? Laquatus would have sunk the entire empire into economic warfare and decadence. This is why civil wars are fought. To preserve that which is worth preserving, at any cost."
Veza nodded, then floated quietly as the medic examined her tail. "Forgive me, Empress. My wound has made me light-headed."
"Of course. When you are healed," Llawan said, "you will join us in the palace as our Imperial Counsel. We have risked much together, and we do not refer exclusively to our personage. You and all of our loyal subjects either made us empress, or welcomed us as empress. Now that we have earned that title fairly in combat, we will not forget those who made it possible. We expect a steady flow of consistently good advice from you, Counsel."
"Yes, Empress." Veza felt herself being taken away, and though she didn't know exactly where she was going, for the first time in months that wasn't something she had to worry about.
Chainer sent three separate chains screaming at Kamahl's sword. The first two locked and held onto the blade, while the third snared Kamahl's wrist. Chainer hauled with all his might, but he could not pull the sword loose or Kamahl down.
Annoyed, he sent another chain coiling around Kamahl's foot. With a brutal tug, he finally hauled Kamahl off his feet. Kamahl dropped his sword as he fell, and took hold of the chains himself. When he hit the ground, he yanked hard to pull Chainer toward him, but the chains vanished before Kamahl could bring his superior strength and weight into play.
A rounded weight broke Kamahl's jaw before he could get up. "Guess you'll have to learn how to fight without teeth now too, won't you barbarian?" Chainer's voice was high-pitched and grating. Kamahl sneered and spit blood at Chainer. He reached for his sword, but Chainer struck it and sent it skittering across the floor. "I'm getting bored now." Chainer sank a sharpened weight into Kamahl's thigh, and another into his shoulder. "I can stand here, twenty feet away, and whittle you down to nothing. I told you. The sword is useless against the chain."
Kamahl stood firm, his breath ragged and blood streaming from his wounds. "You should just kill me now, then. There's no audience to be disappointed by a short bout."
Chainer wagged a finger at his partner. "Now, now. We both know you're not that weak." He slashed another chain at Kamahl, but the barbarian ducked under it. "Not yet, anyway."
Kamahl conjured an axe and hurled it down the corridor at Chainer. Reflexively, Chainer threw out his hand and released a large, gelatinous mass which absorbed and muffled the explosion.
"I thought you said no magic."
Kamahl shrugged. "I was just trying to clear us some space."
"Now you've done it," Chainer said. "You've made me angry." He jutted both arms out in the casting position, but instead of the death bloom or a nightmare casting, ten sharp chains exploded out of his hands, streaming and curling in twisted spirals as they flew toward Kamahl. The hallway was not wide enough for him to dodge them all. Six of them found their way into his body, linking his sword arm and both legs to Chainer. Kamahl stiffened but did not fall. He couldn't move, but he would not go down.
"The best man wins. That's what you said, isn't it?" Chainer walked casually toward the immobilized barbarian. He waved his hand, and the Mirari appeared in it. "I think I'll do something really special for you, Kamahl. You rejected my gifts once. If I remake you from the bones out as one of my snakes, however, you won't have any choice but to accept it." Chainer stood less than an arm's length from Kamahl. He reached out his metal arm and daintily flicked Kamahl in the chest. The nudge sent Kamahl teetering backward, and he began to topple like a great tree. Before he fell, however, Kamahl reached out and grabbed on to Chainer's metal arm.
"Let go of me, you lump of rock." Chainer jerked his arm back, but Kamahl didn't let go. He clamped onto the artificial limb with the other hand and steadied himself on his feet.
"I'm sorry, Chainer," he said, and channeled a withering blast of heat from his own body into Chainer's arm.
The metal limb instantly became red-hot, and Chainer screamed. He dropped the Mirari and drew his dagger, stabbing it into Kamahl's forearm, once, twice, a half dozen times. Kamahl grimly held on through it all, pumping more heat and more energy through his hands.
Chainer's arm melted into slag with a wet, angry hiss. He fell backward and lashed his foot out at Kamahl, finally knocking the barbarian onto his back. "That was a gift from Skellum," Chainer hissed. "Can't you barbarians lay off my thrice-damned arm?" He kicked Kamahl in the ribs as he stepped over his prone body to retrieve the Mirari. He took the sphere in his remaining hand, closed his eyes, and concentrated. The smoking end of his stump started to swell, and a new arm began to unfold like an inflating balloon. It wasn't Chainer's arm, or any human's. It was a thin, segmented claw like an insect's, and Chainer looked at it in confusion.