After settling his house purchase with the formerly impoverished seller, Ariakas had enough money left over to purchase several fine horses, and then to hire a dozen servants, contracting them through the year. Tonight he had eaten a splendid meal cooked in his own kitchen, and then he retired to the garden for a stroll. For the first time since leaving the tower, the frantic pace of his travels had eased, and he found himself with no clear task before him. At the same time he felt profoundly rest shy;less, agitated. Looking across the valley to the highest temple, he knew without question the source of his dis shy;comfort.
Takhisis, Queen of Darkness, awaited him.
At times he had come close to convincing himself that his sojourn in the tower-and especially the memories of his last hours there-were the products of some delu-sionary dream. Of course he knew the truth, but a part of him had urged during the long hike to Sanction that he abandon the calling cast his way. He hadn't chosen any test-and why should the plans of others matter to him?
Yet never could he rationally embrace this urge. The events in the tower had been branded into his mind and his soul. He had made the vow and slain the lady, had witnessed the vision of a goddess he'd thought long dead. A destiny had been laid upon him there, and it was a fate he could not think of avoiding.
He felt he deserved a certain sense of pleasure and accomplishment after his arrival in this great city. His brief forays had shown him taverns, casinos, brothels, and smoking dens aplenty. Yet now he was completely disinterested in such common entertainment.
Still, across the wide valley loomed the Temple of Luerkhisis. It was positioned on a gentle slope, a com shy;manding yet contained presence. Resembling the half-submerged head of a crocodile, the structure leered from the heights like a huge, monstrous reptile, its serpentine snout pointed straight at Ariakas. Two vast cave-nostrils led into entry halls, and round temple buildings perched like bulging eyes on the ridge above the maw. On dusks such as this one, the rays of the sun penetrated the ash cloud, illuminating the sinister bulk of the temple with a surrealistic glow.
Ariakas stood, and again his memory drifted back to the tower … to the lady. He missed her still, though not so much as he had during the long, bleak trek to Sanc shy;tion. While climbing among the peaks, he had recalled each detail of her perfect body . . . every smell, every nuance of each meal she had served. Gradually the memories had faded into a sort of gentle background, pleasant to recall but irrelevant to the matters at hand.
Now, when he saw that great temple on the mountain shy;side, staring down at him like some gargantuan dragon regarding an ant, the full force of the Dark Queen's will stormed within him. He knew an awful sense of failure, of abject unworthiness to serve her. Ariakas staggered backward, falling against the brittle branches of a with shy;ered yew. Cursing the sharp pain, he bit back his com shy;plaints, bowing to the rekindled awe he felt before the Queen of Darkness.
As if it had lain dormant like these steaming volca shy;noes, the full force of her will swept through him. He would serve her! He already bore the talisman, the white-bladed sword, and now he would go to her temple and take up service in her name. What kind of greeting to expect, he didn't know, but that concern meant less than nothing. All thoughts of freedom vanished. The desires of his goddess now known to him, he left his house, hurrying through the streets of Sanction to reach her temple.
With sunset, the city came to life around him. Streets that had been empty an hour earlier thronged with people, and he pushed his way through crowds to ap shy;proach the great stone bridge in the city center. He wore his sword visibly. Since the huge blade was too long to wear at his waist, it rested in a scabbard strapped to his back, with the two-handed hilt jutting upward over his left shoulder. The sight of the weapon encouraged even armed men to give way.
Tavern keepers threw open their doors and numerous customers quickly gathered, further blocking the streets where Ariakas tried to pass. Most of these hearty social-izers seemed to be seasoned mercenaries like himself. Curious, he wondered who they served. He had seen no standard of any army posted around the city, and as a free trade center Sanction had little need for its own mili shy;tia. The uncommon number of men-at-arms, he pre shy;sumed, were drawn to the city by its numerous exotic delights, and the great value of imported coins.
The road opened into the Fireplaza, where the crowd thinned. Ariakas looked across the broad courtyard, intrigued by the strange monument at the far end: three stone ships, appearing to float some distance off the ground. It had caught his eye before, but he had yet to find out what it was. Now, however, he was too intent on reaching the temple to detour for a closer inspection.
As Ariakas climbed the gentle lower slope of the mountain, the activity of the streets fell away behind him. He moved over a broad, flat shoulder of the massif. It was an empty space, but his soldier's mind suggested that it would be a perfect site to marshal a huge army. The location, he noted, offered the protection of the lava rivers to the east, south, and west.
Even this broad plateau fell behind, and the twin entrances to the temple loomed overhead, resembling even more the nostrils of some great, half-submerged reptile. The roadway opened onto a broad plaza below the arched temple entrances. Ariakas was alone as he walked across the wide, smoothly paved yard. Before him, the entrances yawned ink-black, but orange lamp shy;light gleamed overhead from the two great windows that served as the 'eyes' of the colossal beast. He had the feeling that something watched him from within those sinister chambers, though he could see no silhouette, nor sign of movement. He knew beyond doubt-this was where he belonged. Youthlike vigor infused him, and unconsciously the pace of his walking increased.
Pure darkness screened each of the twin approaches, like a film of ink laid across the air itself. Quickly he advanced to the left arch. Passing through, Ariakas was swallowed by utter blackness, and immediately embraced by a sense of warmth. Breezes wafted against his face, and he realized that some vent in the bowels of the volcano brought hot air swelling upward, creating this comfortable warmth.
"Lord Ariakas … welcome to the Temple of Luerkhi-sis." The female voice, spoken with a pleasant, adoles shy;cent tone, reached his ears through the impenetrable blackness.
"Who is that?" the warrior demanded, surprised that anyone could be so close without his sensing her pres shy;ence.
He took another step forward and suddenly emerged into light. A huge chamber opened around him, and though he had passed through no physical obstacle the boundary between the darkened anteroom and this brightly lit chamber broke as clearly as if it had been a velvet curtain.
The girl who had welcomed him knelt and bowed deeply at his feet. He guessed her to be no more than fourteen, yet she carried herself with the serenity of a well-trained priestess. Her long hair was black and dili shy;gently combed. She wore a silken dress of deep blue, and carefully kept her eyes lowered from his as she stood. Ariakas noticed that a white leather collar encircled her slender neck.
All around spread a huge chamber, rectangular in shape, occupied by many small pockets of conversing people. The vast hall stretched for a length of at least two hundred feet, and was half that in width. Dozens of oil lanterns hung from wall sconces, creating the bright light that washed every corner of the marble walls-except for the magical screening darkness of the entryways.
He noticed other young priests and priestesses in the hall. Some gathered around gray-haired elders, males and females both. Others sat in solitary and silent medi shy;tation, surrounded by a wide circle of emptiness on the floor. The priests young and old wore a variety of gar shy;ments, including trousers, robes, and skirts. Many of these garments were white, but he saw others of red, green, black, and blue. These priests also wore collars, mostly of white, though the tutors more often displayed leather bands of black or blue.