The morning saw many of the slaves complaining of aching joints and tiredness. Greel was nowhere to be seen. There was no outcry over the missing warrior, and Haddad wondered if Latulla was covering for the monster. Several of the livestock had died as well during the night, and Haddad thought it amusing that the death of the animals was marked with swearing and questions while the disappearance of a man was ignored. Haddad wondered if Greel was connected with the animal deaths as well.
For several days they had been drawing closer to a cluster of hills surrounding a mountain. As they came closer, Haddad noticed that the mountain was surprisingly regular. Finally, he realized that the mountain was the Keldon Necropolis, city of the witch kings.
Latulla was marching on the center of religious, political, and military power of the Keldon nation. Each great building that they passed was merely a gatehouse to galleries under the earth. They passed an empty sealed barrack that waited for the witch king's armies. It reminded Haddad of the badlands. It lacked life, and the column's presence seemed an intrusion. The landscape dwarfed mortal men, and Latulla's supporters grew fewer the closer they came to the Warlords' Council. At last the entrance to the Council Hall appeared. A mighty fortress with walls thirty feet high, great towers supported the corners of the wall, and the gatehouse sat at the bottom of a steep ramp leading to the central keep. The heart of the fortress jutted directly out of the mountain rock, as if the mountain had half swallowed the building. Latulla stopped. No one was visible, and the gates were closed. She advanced, looking for someone to announce her.
"I seek an audience with the council!" she yelled, and her voice echoed, the sound mocking.
Slowly, a sally port opened and out stepped a woman. She wore a gray cloak with the hood thrown back, her dress a faded red. At her breast was the sign of a cradle mistress that Haddad could see as she moved forward. An iron-shod staff was in her hands, its haft covered in runes. Her face appeared unlined, and only her voice hinted at her age as she spoke.
"I, Gorsha, greet you. As a servant to the Witch King Council, I await your reasons for intruding."
Latulla's servants and allies drew away, leaving her isolated.
"These are the final days," Latulla declared as all eyes locked on her. "Keld is failing! The warriors who should carry on our legacy die in the cradle houses. The armies and navies of lesser nations thwart us. The legacy of heroes is being stolen, and we are locked in futile argument! My own house is torn with fights over when the hour of the final days will occur."
There was a long pause. Gorsha showed nothing except a slight frown.
"It is time to march! Time to take control of our destiny and wake the witch kings of old!"
Latulla's supporters began shouting. "Wake the kings! Wake the kings!"
Gorsha raised her staff and brought it down on the stone cobbles. The resulting noise screamed right across the mind and sanity. Haddad could almost hear his bones wincing at the sound.
"Very impressive," was Gorsha's measured response to Latulla's oration. "But shouts will not wake the kings, or they would have risen long ago. The final days cannot occur until the witch kings rise. The council finds you unpersuasive and foolish." She shook her head from side to side as if chiding a child.
"Then you shall have proof that I can do what I have promised," Latulla answered. "Many of the witch kings are shattered in body and must be healed before they can rise. I present Lord Druik to prove that such miracles are possible."
Druik's brave actions in saving the ship on its way to Keld had expanded until he was a mighty hero in many Keldon eyes. The fact that he suffered grievous wounds only increased his stature. All held their breath as the covers on Druik's wagon lifted, and the giant walked out.
The war leader wore heavy armor and surveyed the crowd. Haddad wondered what trick was being played as Druik came closer. He heard the light whisper of sliding cables as the warlord turned, sweeping the Keldons with his gaze. Druik was as crippled as ever, but somehow Latulla had created a set of armor that he could pilot. Haddad's eyes focused on a raised blister on the armor's breast. Haddad knew where the powerstone was, and more details on Druik's armor flooded into his mind. Haddad knew now that he had woken and helped Latulla construct the armor. Glimpses of weeks working on Druik played through his mind. Latulla had crushed his memories, and only now did Haddad realize how deep her control over him ran.
Gorsha stepped away from the gate and approached Latulla. An uneasy muttering broke out, and Haddad wondered if this signaled some break in tradition. Each step she took raised the tension, and he could see Latulla bracing herself for battle. Gorsha stopped, and when she spoke, only the closest could hear her.
"A masterful performance, but I am not impressed by your puppet," Gorsha said coldly. "I will not allow you to pass, and if you force your way through, the council will destroy you and your allies."
"I will not back down," Latulla said softly. "The kings will rise under my hands." Her eyes shone at the idea.
Gorsha's distasteful grimace told Haddad that Latulla's quest was hopeless. The council servant stepped back and called to the crowd.
"Latulla's demands are rejected!" Gorsha cried. "Her mad schemes are to be opposed by all true sons and daughters of Keld. I challenge her now." Gorsha spoke more quietly. "Win and the council might hear your plea, but lose and your cause falls with you. Your supporters will depart, and never again will a crowd cry to 'wake the kings.' "
"I accept!" Latulla yelled. "Let the strongest prevail!"
Though the day was drawing to a close, the entire party turned and followed the two matriarchs as the pair walked down the path. Still there was no sign of the council, and more warriors and women were leaving Latulla's entourage. Haddad could see his master growing more and more angry at each defection. Fumash won free of Yacuta and hurried over to Haddad.
"It is a contest of magical strength," he told Haddad. "When they find a large enough space the combat will begin. I have heard other slaves describing the fights."
"You think there would be a ring or formal arena," Haddad said as the company turned toward an open area.
"Too much damage for it to survive," Fumash answered and then stopped. The rest of the crowd stood still while Latulla and Gorsha continued on. Mages and wizards who followed Latulla began chanting and focusing their power to protect the crowd. Gorsha had no seconds, and Haddad wondered if she was a fool. Could Keldon honor be so powerful that cheating was impossible? Who would enforce the rules of the duel?
Latulla struck while the pair was still walking. A bolt of flame flared from her hand and enveloped Gorsha. The council servant was hidden from view, and Haddad could hear the rocks around her pop as they heated. Then the flames guttered and contracted, shrinking into tiny wavelets of flame that danced along Gorsha's staff.