Foreword:
Ladies and gentlemen, just a word before this starts. The story I´m writing features Ariakan, son of Ariakas and leader of the dark forces in "Dragons of Summer Flame", a book by Margaret Weis and Tracy Hickman. It will show some parts of his life, from his imprisonment by the Solamnic Knights to his death in the Chaos War, and, as it´s possible, how those parts of his life were irremediably entwined with the history of Krynn. Since it will undoubtedly be very long, I have decided to divide it in four thematic cycles, each one with a number of chapters, and this one is the first posting of the first thematic cycle (called "The Canker"), about his stay with the Knights of Solamnia. I hope my pains served to produce something even remotely interesting and/or pleasurable for someone.
Last, but not least, I have to say that this story (not the chapter or the thematic cycle, the story) is dedicated to Margit Ritzka for...hmm, ok, let´s see...for beta, alpha, gamma and all that, for brainstorming, for illuminating discussion, for evil and not so evil ideas, for encouragement, for occasionally in-topic (or not) haikus, for getting inside other people´s (and other characters´s) minds at such a speed ;), and, of course, for her birthday, which was last month.
Disclaimer: The characters belong to Takhisis, Weis, and Hickman.
Ariakan Part I: The Canker
Chapter One: Blood and Water.
Water...
It was under his feet. He could feel it, it caressed him with gracious indifference as he lay in the sand, oblivious of his surroundings for just a single moment of truce. Maybe it even spoke to him, but his ears did not fully comprehend the meaning of the words.
If they had a meaning.
"Ariakan!" he heard a much better known voice far away.
The young man did not move.
* * * * * * * * * *
They were going to die*. At least that was what everybody was shouting while the raging gale threatened the masts, tearing the black sails; and towering doom in the shape of ferocious waves attacked the already weak flanks of the fated ship.
"My lord!"
"What's the matter now?" Ariakas shouted, trying to hear his own voice in the middle of the deafening noise. He did not care about who was there, if he ever remembered his name; though the face looked somewhat familiar to him. The captain of the ship, he guessed.
"My lord, there...there is a breach in the starboard wall of the ship. The men are trying to block it, but many have despaired already... I believe..."
"Despaired!" Enraged at their cowardice, Ariakas growled and pushed the man aside, watching him fall to the floor with an animal satisfaction. At the same time, a great wave crashed against the prow of the ship, and swept them both in a turmoil of salt water. "I will make you despair!" he cried while regaining his stance. "Save the damn ship or I promise you that you will meet a more horrible fate than just to be drowned!"
The wretched captain crawled aside. His salty hair was all over his face, covering his expression, though he was evidently frightened, and more of his passenger than of the Sea, as the first recognised with a brief smile of satisfaction.
"I...I'll return with them, my lord" he said, in a low voice that for some strange reason could be heard rising above the screams of the sailors in the other side of the ship. "I'll do what I can. But it's Zeboim herself who is having fun with us, and she's pitiless. We tried to avoid the Sea of Istar taking this course, but she..."
"Zeboim!" The eyes of Ariakas flickered dangerously at the mention of the goddess´s name.
"She never forgives", the captain muttered, backing away a bit more but without actually leaving. The sudden spark in the other man's eyes held him entranced, as if he was watching a serpent.
"Zeboim." Ariakas repeated more slowly. The name sounded resolute, firm, that time. With vehemency, a hand slipped under the black armour of the servant of Takhisis, tearing apart the clothes, and grasping avidly something dark and ominous that seemed to eat the faint unearthly gleam of the few lights that still remained on deck. As he held it, that man seemed an alien creature, a vision from the Abyss.
" That petty goddess! The terror of weak and ignorant people!" he shouted in a potent voice to the deafening turmoil that was about to engulf them, unaware of the sudden alarm of those who surrounded him. The captain cowered in horror, unable to believe his ears.
"My lord, no!"
But Ariakas went on, unstoppable.
"Leave the ship in peace and return to your deep dwelling place, Lady of the Seas! Or, if not, attack me and tear this away from me, and face the wrath of your infernal mother!"
"Watch out!" the captain shouted. Too late; for the gigantic wave that had been rolling towards them stayed immobile for a second, and then fell over them with a loud crash, covering them with oblivion. A horrible, ringing laugh tortured their ears for a long second.
And then, everything was quiet once more.
* * * * *
"Takhisis..."
He couldn't feel it at first. He was floating in darkness, driven by some mysterious force that he was no longer able to control, and the only thing he could do, even if that made him seethe in anger and humiliation, was to let it happen to him.
"Queen of Darkness, come to my aid" Ariakas prayed, his lungs about to explode. After all, it had been for her service that he had ventured to cross the sea to get help from the Minotaurs who lived in the isle of Mithas. It was only fair that she helped him now against her capricious daughter, or wasn't it so?
A wave made him roll in the sand, shaking his limbs pitilessly. All of a sudden, his prayer stopped, and he caught a hungry breath of air as a shiver crossed his damp, exposed body.
Sand. Air. Life. He was alive.
Somewhere...
* * * * *
After some time lying flat on the ground, Ariakas did manage at last to open his eyes and look around him. It was dead night, but no cloud covered that sky that had been threatening to fall on top of their heads when he last had seen it. On the contrary, the gentle light of the two moons, silver and purple, shone over the small beach where he had been thrown by the angry waves, only kept in check by the impenetrable darkness of the third, which only he could see of all his companions.
That brought the first urgent and immediate thought to his mind. Where were they? After his prayer to Takhisis, and his defiant challenge to Zeboim, the Sea had engulfed them all, and now there wasn't any sign of life to be seen anywhere. Not even the remnants of the wreck.
Perhaps I will find some trace of them if I explore this strange land, he thought, gathering forces to get up. Or, in any case, I'll find out something more than if I stay here mulling and whining.
Strengthened by the thought, the servant of Takhisis struggled to his feet and saw with satisfaction that he was not wounded. He uttered then a deep, concentrate whisper of "Shirak**" to make an arcane light began to glow in the palm of his hand, and, under its flicker, he found his way past the beach and through a desolate rocky landscape that seemed to belong to a nightmare, searching for a light or a voice. There should be someone else, they should have survived. There should be a village around, some houses of fishermen..
However, in the end, he was forced to stop abruptly by the waves crashing on another beach similar to the first one, disheartened. An island! It was a desert island in the middle of the Sea, and he was alone. Ariakas kept shouting for a sign of life for another while, but only the echo answered him until he grew tired of his own voice, and his last hopes soon became too fragile and faded.
Nothing. What could he have expected?
The dark cleric sighed. There was no one out there. It was evident that his men had perished, as he would have if he hadn't been protected by the Queen of Dragons, and as everybody would have indeed after trying Zeboim's short temper while crossing the sea or simply calling for her attention. In spite of his brave words, he knew she was no petty goddess, and that her wrath was often deadly for those who, unlike him, could not count on the protection of the only being that she feared more than her own life, her mother. The Giant Turtle loved to wreck ships, to see helpless sailors sinking and drowning, their desperate struggles until the end came for them.
Fine. So now I'm stuck in this island, and there was no time to lose already when I left Sanction. Takhisis! This does not suit your plans.
Irreverent in his anger, Ariakas swore to finish the short prayer, and voiced an enchantment to build a fire. He did not like magic fires, as they weren't half as effective as real ones, but there wasn't a single piece of wood in this gloomy place. As there wasn't any food. He would have to execute tiring and consuming spells to create some, and in the end it would hardly compensate, for his efforts would increase his hunger.
I hope you're happy now, Zeboim! he growled.
Suddenly, as if it was an answer, a noise was made right behind him. Ariakas grasped the hilt of his sword, cursing his carelessness for having let his guard down.
"Who is there?" he asked defiantly, in a commanding voice.
It was a turtle. A big, lazy, emerald turtle, that answered his request by crawling towards him with a strange smile in its grotesque mouth.
So mocking, me, huh? was the first thing he managed to think. However, a moment later he had already had time to laugh at himself for that nonsense, for that turtle was evidently no deity, but a simple animal of the same species as the rest of sea turtles that lived in that zone. Probably it had been attracted by the fire, and would be excellent food once he had killed it.
"Come here!" he said with a grin, unsheathing a dagger and slowly getting up. Turtles were easy prey, since they could not run.
But, to his surprise, this turtle was different. As if she was really laughing at him and his tired state, she seemed to eye him attentively for some moments, and then fled at a prodigious speed, leaving a stunned Ariakas behind.
"Oh, you want to play!" he growled, while he felt the new frustration that made him forget the pain and weakness in his legs. Clenching his teeth determinedly, he began to run through the treacherous rocks, decided to kill the obnoxious turtle for food even if that meant throwing himself in the water and swimming after it. After all the things that had just happened to him, this was just too much.
"Oh, that.. that damned beast...But...what? In the name of Takhisis..."
He had been running for some minutes when, just in time, he stopped dead in his tracks and grasped the hilt of his sword. The accursed turtle had disappeared in a small crevasse between two damp rocks continuously attacked by the waves, though not before bringing him to a really strange place. Several edgy rocks were disposed in the shape of a semicircle in that small lonely beach, which the Sea furiously tried to enter in vain, and the light of the full red moon fell over them like fresh blood, colouring water and rock ...and the skin of a woman.
Ariakas soon overcame his involuntary and shameful shudder, and he decided to face whatever danger could be waiting for him in that wild and damp space. Without thinking twice, he prepared some defensive spells, grasped the medallion of Takhisis and walked into the semicircle, to stand before the creature who was lying inside.
"Who are you?" he asked. She opened her eyes for a brief second, and smiled maliciously.
Ariakas had seen many a strange creature in his life, even including dragons and a powerful goddess, both of them things that the great majority of the population of Krynn deemed nothing more than creatures of fairy tales. This had turned him into someone not easy to surprise with wonders, but it was also true that he had never known much about the creatures of the Sea. His life had been spent inland, in unhealthy tunnels and terrible cities of fire and oppression, and this was the first time that he saw something like the woman that was lying there before him.
She was pale. Not pale like the lovely women of Solamnia, but pale as someone who has just survived a deadly illness. Blue veins covered her arms, her body, even her face, so thin that the cheeks seemed swollen and the eyes oversized, too open, disproportional. Her long greenish blue hair fell completely dishevelled over her naked body, entangled with several sea plants that smelled of putrefaction.
"I have asked you a question!" Ariakas repeated in a tone full of warning, just after swallowing to bring a strange knot in his throat down. As she remained silent once more, he unsheathed his sword, which only reflected the darkness of Nuitari after the Dark Queen's blessing, and pressed it to her throat. Just then it occurred to him that the peoples of the Sea were said to have the ability of changing shape, and that theoretically she could have escaped, but that only served to increase his uneasiness, and with it his ferocity.
"A sword..." she muttered, with a voice as deep as the raging gale...or maybe just hoarse. Her scintillating blue eyes scrutinised him for a brief moment, and then, without minding the blade at her throat, she extended a thin slimy arm and pointed at his medallion.
"Cleric***. Warrior." she said, as a child trying to pronounce strange words for the first time in her life. Immediately, she smiled and threw him a look of admiration. "You are high in her favour indeed."
"Who are you?" Ariakas repeated once more. "You are no Sea Elf. You are no strange being with a fishtail instead of legs, like those in the legends of the sailors."
"Take that thing away from me." was her answer. Suddenly, her eyes were gleaming dangerously. "And then I'll tell you."
"I'l take it away when I'm sure about you," he said. "and I'm not."
"Fool!" she hissed, grabbing the blade with her unprotected hand and pulling it away. Ariakas was not able to do anything against her move until it was too late, for he would never have expected her to try something like that, so, cursing in a strong voice, he retrieved it and saw it was all smeared with viscose green fluid, like the blood of dragons. Then he looked at her again: there was a look of pain and fury in her eyes as she cradled her hurt hand, but she still did not move.
" You survived a shipwreck, didn't you?" she asked after a few moments of silence. When he nodded in assent, she laughed, and her laugh made him shiver. He had heard it before.
"Takhisis protected me."
"No."
Ariakas was startled.
"What?"
"Takhisis did not protect you", she explained, looking at him with eyes wide open, of the colour of a thunderstorm.
Suddenly, Ariakas heard a soft noise behind them, and, as he turned his head, he saw it was the turtle again, this time crawling towards the woman. Gently, with slow motions, it crawled at her feet, and she began to caress the head of the animal. That image stunned him for some reason, perhaps because it resembled strongly a painting he had seen somewhere in the temple of Luerkhisis in Sanction.
And then, finally, it dawned upon him.
"Takhisis protected me!" he insisted, biting his lips to suppress the uncontrollable shivers that he did not want her to notice. "I worship no other deity."
"But," she objected, after a few moments of seemingly trying to put her sudden emotions of urge and frustration in order, "what if the deity worships you?"
Ariakas inhaled deeply, and wisely ceased pretending to prevent her from seeing what she was able to see anyway.
"Worship me?" he stammered, falling to his knees with a strange feeling of nausea overwhelming him. He tried to grasp the medallion once more, but Takhisis was strangely unresponsive.
"I saw you first when you began your journey to the lands of Sargonnas", she went on. "You seemed to me handsome, strong and daring, and powerful among mortals. You were not afraid of the Sea, that brings terror even to the bravest of hearts, and, while a victim of the thunderstorm, you dared to defy me. I want to have you now, and I know she won't deny me that, even if your soul belongs to her and your heart to your own ambition. "
Ambition...
The full implications of what he had just heard swept over his mind like an intoxicating wave. He looked at her, and her hair suddenly seemed to gleam with the light of a hundred pearls. Her smile was sweet as the scent of blood, and her fragile naked body called to him with the lure of a desire as strong as the might of the tempest, whispering into his mind delightful songs of black power. He suddenly wanted to embrace that power, to taste it, to make it his.
A power of thousands of years. A power of the unleashed currents and of the dark maelstrom where sailors were forever lost . A power of hate and destruction, a power of freedom and fury, the force of Nature among the gods of Evil, the seed of Takhisis and Sargonnas. She wanted him, and the feeling was so joyous as when he had come to know that Takhisis had chosen him over his father, and that she was going to help him to drive his dagger home in that other dark night, long ago. She wanted him as her consort, she, a goddess.
"Ambitious I am indeed" he muttered "and thus, I bow before you and you will have me. For your power can be my glory, Zeboim daughter of Takhisis."
The goddess embraced him and laughed, and her laughter now rang melodiously in his ears. Ariakas laughed too, burying his head in her arms to kiss her slippery skin, and then both rolled to the place where the turtle was watching them with an inscrutable smile.
Far away, but also very near, another voice, deeper and terrible, was laughing with them.
* * * * * * * * *
"Ariakan!" The voice had turned more insistent and strong, so much that it began to bother him seriously. With a deep sigh, he opened his eyes, to see a stern face looking down at him.
"I was addressing you."
"I think I heard something", Ariakan replied, shrugging his shoulders. The face became sterner. "But I had things to do."
"Speaking with your mother?" the knight of Solamnia ventured. His face was somewhat relaxed by a wry smile as his finger pointed to the calm waters, and Ariakan suppressed a sigh.
He did not believe him. No one believed him, and he could not blame them for that. In fact, he had serious problems to find it plausible himself, and his doubts had been even increasing throughout long years of silence.
"I was trying to concentrate, sir Thomas****", he said instead.
"Get up."
"She will drown you."
"Oh, really?" There was no sign of fear in the knight's eyes as he scrutinised the horizon in search of a decent wave. "You're reckless, by Kiri-Jolith!"
"And you're persistent, by Sargonnas!" Ariakan answered with a smile. Both were silent for a while, looking at the Sea for some moments more, and then the youngest of the two got up at last, shaking the sand from his clothes.
"You're behaving quite annoyingly since sir Gunthar decided that I was under your responsibility."
"But you know he would never have let you come with us otherwise", Thomas reminded him. "Now let's go. They have nearly finished packing, and lord Michael will be angry at me if we do not return " he grumbled.
Ariakan grinned back, and followed him. All thoughts, desires and wild ideas had to be left behind; they wouldn't bring anything else than harm upon him at large. His father had said yes, his reason had said no. And she, she hadn't said anything.
Suddenly, as he walked towards the encampment of Solamnic knights that held him captive since the end of the War of the Lance, something came to his mind. It was not the first time, but it did not happen often that his self control was cheated this way by those sinister thoughts that he had tried to keep hidden in the most secret place of his heart.
...and Mirena fell to the stone floor with a painful cry. Her right hand went first, instinctively, to the place where the knife had pierced her lung, but she had not the strength anymore to take it away. Then, her eyes focused in the small form that was crying frightened next to her, and, with tears in her eyes, she embraced him protectively, as if her dying body could keep the dark shadow apart from her.
"No! "she shouted, choking with her own blood. "He will never be yours! A child of Light...never a child of Darkness...never!"
Mockingly condescending, the black robed personage that had stabbed her pushed her aside without rudeness, and took the struggling child in his arms.
"Mother!" the boy called, stretching his arms to her and redoubling his cries. "Mother!"
"Leave her now!_She cannot take care of you anymore"; the cleric laughed, throwing a quieting spell on him. "But I am your father, and I will. You will grow to be my pride, a sovereign of Darkness, and she will be forgotten soon. Come with me, my dear, my son, Duulket Ariakas.*****"
(To be continued)
Notes:
*This happens in 332 post Cataclysm.
**"Light" in the language of magic. (see Brothers In Arms, by Weis and Perrin)
***Caught in the middle of a tangle of unexplainable contradictions about Ariakas´s clerical status, I´ve chosen to follow Niles´s statement that he was, since it seemed strange to me that he had the greater communication with the goddess in all Krynn without being a cleric.
****About the fact of Thomas and Ariakan being friends, see "Dragons of Summer Flame", by Weis and Hickman.
***** For Ariakas´s family story, see "Dragons of Spring Dawning", by Weis and Hickman.