"Because she commands it!"
"She? Who?" His temper exploded into fury.
"My mistress! She who has given me the power to heal, to feed-even to love you," she cried. "It is the price she exacts, now."
"Tell me the mistress you serve!" Ariakas demanded furiously.
"You will know soon," the lady said. "But it is not for me to tell you. Now, I command you-in the name of your promise to me-kill me! It was a promise you made freely, and remember, Lord Ariakas-you pledged that you would carry it out without question!"
"Wait," he said, his own tone softening, grasping for some shred of sanity. "Forget that I suggested we go to Sanction. We'll stay here all summer-for all the sum shy;mers to come, and we'll be happy. I… I can't do what you ask!"
"You must!" she insisted. Almost scornfully she tore the bodice from her dress, exposing her breasts in a brazen challenge. "I command you, Lord Ariakas-in the name of the pledge you have made! Slay me!"
A furious passion took possession of him then, lower shy;ing a kind of blood-fog over his mind, numbing the sen shy;sations of grief that nevertheless racked him. He knew that she was right; he had made his pledge, and he would honor his word.
He stabbed her through the heart, his blow powerful and true, the blade penetrating her rib cage and emerg shy;ing from her back in a shower of blood. With an agoniz shy;ing yank, he pulled the weapon free, and waited for her to fall.
Thick liquid spurted from the wound, splashing onto Ariakas's boots and quickly pooling onto the floor. He reeled in shock; the blood that spilled down her belly was verdant green in color. It pooled between her legs, a surreal puddle of false paint. Ariakas gagged in shock and revulsion.
The lady kept her dark eyes upon him, and he stared into them with anguish in his heart, waiting for his vic shy;tim's vision to glaze with the fog of death he had seen so many times before.
But she didn't fall!
"Again!" she commanded, her voice as strong as ever. Sickened, he thrust once more, chopping at her throat and releasing another shower-but this time the liquid was bright blue. Unquestioningly he hefted the blade, thrusting it through the center of her torso in another surely fatal blow. This time crimson blood showered forth, quickly gushing into a pool on the floor. His next thrust cut her deeply across the stomach, and blood of pure, midnight black spilled forth.
"Die! Why don't you die?" he choked.
He attacked again, slashing wildly with the great sword, chopping her head from her shoulders with one brutal slice. The bright white liquid erupting from the wound like thick milk was a final, grotesque horror. Overcome, he turned away and retched the contents of his stomach over the floor.
Yet still, as her head thudded to the flagstones and his heart broke within him, her body did not fall. Instead, it seemed to shrink, as if the multicolored blood had inflated her skin, as if the very stuff of her body flowed outward from the gaping wounds.
Ariakas stumbled backward, noticing that the blood flowing around her was no longer liquid, no longer col shy;lecting in sticky pools on the floor. Instead, it became like smoke, swirling upward into the air, forming serpentine columns, coiling into five great snakes. Each slinking form was the color of one shade of her blood.
The sword fell from his nerveless fingers as the snake-like shapes writhed, spreading and encircling him in their coils. He saw wicked heads take shape at the end of each snake, each with a pair of eyes that glittered wisely at him. Five horrific mouths gaped, and the smoky snakes thickened in the air until they seemed solid and real. Yet he sensed in the depths of his soul that these things were not real, that he beheld a presence that came from beyond Krynn. It was only the sacrifice of his lady that allowed this grim creature to appear, to reach out and speak to him.
"Tell me, Lord Ariakas," commanded one of the snakes-the red one-in a voice that was sibilant and heavy with might and power. "Do you know, yet, whom you serve?"
He could only shake his head.
"Take up your sword, warrior," commanded the crim shy;son serpent.
Numbly, he reached down and raised the weapon. He noticed, with distant surprise, that the blade was a clear, unblemished white in color.
"Do you know that I have been with you for many years, Lord Ariakas?"
He nodded, believing it. "When I woke in the night and knew someone had been through my camp.. had stolen the locket…?"
"Yes, it was I who awakened you," hissed all the dragon heads. "And I have been testing you for years, and you have measured full to my standard."
"Testing?" demanded the human boldly. He gestured to the place where the lady had finally fallen. "This … this was butchery!"
"This was the final test, warrior-and once again, you passed. Know this, Ariakas: I shall give you power beyond your dreams … make you strong, stronger than you have ever imagined! You shall have women-all the women you want or desire! And you shall serve me well for all the years of your life."
Ariakas listened mutely, holding the great sword against the ground.
The voice took on an iron edge. "But remember, war shy;rior-you were to obey without question!"
Racking pain seized Ariakas by the bowels, constrict shy;ing his insides into an agonized mass of tortured flesh. With a cry of pain he slumped to the floor, sobbing and thrashing as the pain worked its way through his veins, upward into his neck, pounding like a great warhammer against the inside of his head. He knew that he was dying-no man could hope to survive such pain. And then, as quickly as it had begun, the agony ceased.
"Remember well, Lord Ariakas, the cost of disobedi shy;ence."
He nodded weakly, gasping as he climbed to his hands and knees. The pain was gone, but sweat still rimmed his head, and the memory of the punishment was nearly enough to send him cringing to the floor.
"Now rise," she continued. Her tone was no longer harsh, and, slowly, he obeyed.
"Take that blade as my talisman," continued the voice. "You have passed my tests and proven yourself worthy. For many months you have known the wealth of my beneficence-and now, today, you have learned the depths of my determination."
He could only listen, his heart pounding in over shy;whelming awe.
"You will go to Sanction, and there you will work in my name. You will be my servant, as this woman was my servant-as the moneychanger Habbar-Akuk is my servant, and a thousand others who are my agents.
"And you, of them all, shall sit at my right, Lord Aria-kas-this I know, and I pledge."
"But-why did she die? Why did you make me kill her?"
"Fool!" The fury of the retort sent him reeling back shy;ward, flailing for balance. "She was a tool-her purpose was to find you and to begin your training. Know this, Lord Ariakas: for as long as you live, as the gift of my generosity and the price of my favor, you shall have any woman you want-but each woman who gives herself to you shall perish within the year! As with this lady-her purpose will be done, her time past. But for you, Lord Ariakas-your time is just beginning!"
Ariakas tried not to succumb to his awe. His mind reeled between dark visions of horror, and wild fantasies of erotic fulfillment. She would offer him one and make the other her price… and yet, he knew that he would be willing to pay.
"Why do you send me to Sanction? What do you expect of me?"
"In that great city you shall go to my highest temple. They will know you there, and teach you. … In time, you shall become my exalted-first among my high-lords! But you have much to learn first, and they will teach you in the temple."
"They already expect me?" wondered the warrior in disbelief.
"You carry my talisman in that sword," replied the five-headed serpent with a hint of rebuke. "That blade will be the key to your teachings and the tool of your success. It shall serve you as faithfully as you serve me."