Disclaimer: Anything you've not heard of, I own. Capice?
A/N: ^^; Sorry this took so long. My muse was apparently comatose for a while. One thing – my logic on the muskets thing was that if they had cannons, they had muskets. And I really couldn't see something like the six-Carthaki-war-cannon salute happening. ^^ Even at the behest of our dearest emperor mage.
Chapter Fifteen: Wings of Steel
Rikash was circling high above the docks when he heard it. It wasn't even a sound so much as a sudden overwhelming feeling of panic and claustrophobia that made him gasp. Dizziness wracked him, and as he took a nose dive he heard the screams from the docks below as several of the crocodiles that had been sunning themselves surged awake and up the bank, snapping at the humans above them and each other. The sea birds that milled in the air around him turned on the fisher folk they had been pilfering bait from; dogs and cats snarled viciously at their masters; caged finches shrieked shrill defiance. Then the humans began to respond, overturning birdcages, flinging previously mild-mannered felines into the streets and bludgeoning their snarling canine companions. Rikash looked on, horrified, before his mind clicked onto an explanation. Only a massive disturbance in the realm or a wild mage could have caused so much chaos so swiftly. That suggested one of two things: something very bad had happened to the realm around him, or...
"Zircah..." He beat his wings furiously, not particularly caring if mortals saw him as he raced for the Imperial Palace. Since the execution of the mage Salmalín, the peace talks had quite obviously ceased. This left Rikash with time to burn, most of it spent mulling over the futility of the situation. Veralidaine had vanished and was of absolutely no use. Zircah was out of action (Dying... don't try to fool yourself, Moonsword...) and Rikash himself was as good as useless with little to no idea of what the gods wanted here. All he was really interested in was the death of Ozorne, and with the power of the emperor mage increasing every passing moment, that did not seem likely to occur soon.
Rikash slowed as he neared the Immortal menagerie, and was glad he had done so when he saw Ozorne there. For a moment he was tempted to simply bear down on the emperor with all the leaden weight of his wings, teeth and talons, but a stray strand of reason held him back and made him land silently on the roof outside the menagerie. He heard Ozorne speaking softly to himself.
"Such a shame. Such a dreadful shame that you must sleep forever, Dragonling, for one of your kind could easily dissolve these wards."
"I hope her people find you." Barzha's velvet tone was slick with venom. "It would amuse me greatly to see what they would do to you for imprisoning one of their kits."
Ozorne laughed, low and sinister. "You would do well to hold your tongue, my dear. You would not believe the ways in which we can make your consort suffer."
Barzha must have done something Ozorne found displeasing, for Rikash heard a muffled cry of agony from Hebakh. Even though his chest burned with fury, he dared not move, for any sound might alert the emperor to his presence. Ozorne made a dismissive sound.
"We tire of your antics. The day will come soon when you will cease to amuse us. It will be the same day we destroy you." There was a pause, then the opening and closing of heavy doors. Barzha's voice, speaking softly to her mate.
"Hebakh. Are you badly hurt? …my love?"
Rikash bit his lip. He hated to intrude on their privacy, but… he had to know what the animals on the docks had been reacting to. He beat his wings once, twice and floated down to the bare space beside the cage of the three Stormwings. Barzha glanced at him, looking both younger and older in the same moment with surprise and something no one ever wanted to see in their leader – fear.
"You shouldn't be here. He comes often, now." She chided briefly, then returned her attention to her mate. Hebakh's teeth were clenched as he struggled to regain his feet. Rikash scowled.
"Forget the plan; I'm going to kill him myself." He vowed. Zircah shifted with an oddly soothing tinkle of feathers and Rikash looked at her. It was almost painful to see her now. Skin as pale as ice stretched taut over her cheekbones, her filthy hair a ratty ebon to contrast her pallor. "Did anything happen to her? Just now?" Sudden dark thought. "Did Ozorne hurt her?" Thoughts of murder. Barzha shook her head.
"No. It wasn't her, for all that she felt it. As did you, I imagine. She was sympathising, though with whom I don't know." She said softly.
"Did she… say anything?" The only one she could have been sympathising with is Daine, particularly with the reaction of the mortal realm's beasts…
"She said 'caged'," Hebakh muttered, his mood having taken a dive since Ozorne's spell. "Mistress of stating the obvious."
Rikash frowned. If she was sympathising… "Yes." He murmured thoughtfully. "I… believe I have things to see to. My queen, my lord, if you will excuse me? I hope to return at dusk." He took several running steps and flung himself into the skies above the menagerie. In her sleep, Zircah began to cry.
The Banjiku had felt the surge, and had systematically called to all the creatures of their kind to be certain of what they had felt. Tano recognised Zek among the wards of the monkey girls Rin and Kulu. At his request, they spoke with the marmoset for a few minutes. Eventually Rin stood, scratched his chin with a reassuring chirp, and walked over to speak with Tano.
"He is frightened for the god-child. He says… the emperor took the dragon. I think he might know where the god-child is." Rin said. "Hard to tell. He is different monkey than we are used to."
Tano frowned and called to Chirp. The cheetah male padded over curiously. Tano chattered at him, explaining. "Take Zek to where god-child is. Take keys."
The cheetah licked Tano's hand. I will take littleZek to the allspeaker. Come, littleZek. I promise I will not hurt you. The tiny marmoset scampered up the cheetah's leg with many screeched misgivings. Chirp yawned, showing his fangs, and moved off at a slow walk with Zek flattened against his neck.
Rikash had flown all over Carthak, trying to determine where Daine could be held most effectively. He had not had much luck, and was flying back over the University of Carthak when he saw her, sitting in the midst of the campus graveyard, feeding the rats and the ravens that had gathered around her. Rikash scowled as he saw her and went into a stoop. She wasn't going to escape him. He scared the ravens as he landed, but the Graveyard Hag did not look in the least surprised to see him.
"I suppose you're going to complain at me, too." She grumbled, tearing large chunks of raw meat with her fingers for the ravens.
"Wouldn't dream of it." Rikash drawled, bitingly sarcastic. The Hag snorted and dusted her fingers of the beast flesh. "I want to know where Veralidaine is, and what you're doing to give her some assistance."
"Help her!" The Graveyard Hag sputtered indignantly. "Do you think she raises the dead on her own? As for where she is, well, you'll find out soon enough, as will all of Carthak. You would do well to get back to your prophet, bonehead, because she certainly won't survive this without you." She raised a gnarled finger to the darkening sky and the blood red seeping across the scant clouds as the sun crawled to hide behind the horizon. "Dusk is here, and I have children to call. You… you have your own gifts." She added cryptically, and vanished with a wild cackle.
Rikash took off, winging his way back to the palace as fast as he could. In Carthak, the Graveyard Hag's word was law – or at least, that was the way it had been. He wasn't going to risk any problems with Zircah's state by tarrying around the University. He passed over Ozorne, reading in the last vestiges of sunlight, and scowled. Soon your reign will be over, he thought viciously. Soon you will conform to Stormwing justice.
As he swept down towards the menagerie of the immortals, he became aware that the palace was practically silent. He could see no animals within the palace walls. It was as though the place was dead. He landed beside Ozorne's Stormwing captives. Hebakh peered at him.
"What's happening? It's quiet."
"You'll be out soon, I'm given to understand. I think it's starting." Rikash murmured. He glanced at Zircah. "She must reach a healer the moment we escape."
"Yes. You'll have to take her. Hebakh and I will be busy cleaning up the corpse of the emperor." Barzha agreed quickly. "You might have difficulty getting through the gates."
Rikash smiled humourlessly. "If the Graveyard Hag herself doesn't open the gates for her, I will be very much surprised." And also very much inclined to kamikaze in an attempt to do the Hag some damage. "Zircah is important to a lot of people, I've found."
Barzha shot a sideways glance at Hebakh. "You don't say?"
They waited. In the distance they heard screams and crashes, which came closer and closer over the next half hour. Loud animal cries came next, and Rikash's eyes widened as the door to the courtyard was smashed by the bony, burning horns of a… Rikash didn't even know what to call it. The creature collapsed, the stench of its charred boned flooding the area. Behind it came more of the great skeletons, gathering around the cages and straining at the bars of Kitten's prison.
"What in the name of the gods?" Barzha wondered aloud. "What are they doing here? The age of dinosaurs ended… long ago." The skeletons turned to eye them. Rikash thought about everything the Graveyard Hag had said and decided to take a chance.
"We're on Daine's side." He said. "Sort of. You'll not get through those bars." Empty eye sockets stared at him, then filed quietly out of the room even as the hurrok and the griffin screamed challenge. He heard the dinosaurs smashing their way through more walls, and then an eerie hyena cackle. Rikash cleared his throat. "It might be nice to know what's going on." He said. "I'll be back as soon as I find Daine. I'll be fast."
She certainly won't survive this without you.
Rikash lifted into the air and coughed at the smoke in the air. He stared around him with watering eyes, shocked at the damage that had been wrought. The smoke was from nearby sections of the palace that were in flames. The mortal creatures from the common menagerie were fleeing in a great, multi-raced herd from the flames, seemingly deciding that in this dangerous outside world, their best chance was to stick together and run.
But there were creatures pausing to sniff the air. Spotted creatures that let out wild whoops of eerie laughter as they milled together. There were only three of them. Hyenas. The children of the Graveyard Hag. They howled together briefly, a sound that chilled even the silver blood that ran through Rikash's veins. They ran off in the opposite direction to the other animals, searching for something. Someone. Daine. He followed them.
It was hard to trail the hyenas through the smoke and the rubble, but finally their well-camouflaged bodies converged on the path of a phalanx of skeleton beasts and a gigantic furred elephant. Rikash breathed in, relieved as in spotted Daine astride the mammoth's shoulders, and coughed his way to the ground as the smoke choked him. He managed to recover himself as he neared Daine, and landed on one of the more stable pieces of rubble – a balcony hand rail propped between a chunk of marble and a broken column. He resisted the urge to pull a face at Daine; the girl was gaping at him, eyes so wide open that they were practically bugging out of her head.
"I believe she felt you might require assistance," He drawled, feeling that Daine should know what he was talking about instinctively. "You might want to know, a company of dinosaur skeletons opened the menagerie cages and dumped trees into the pits so the animals could climb out."
Daine seemed to shake herself out of her shock. "Kitten? My dragon? I dreamed she was in the immortals' menagerie."
"You dreamed truly. She is there under a sleep-spell. Your friends tried to break into that collection, but failed. The spells on the gate and the cages are keyed to Ozorne. They won't give way until he dies."
There was a pause as the hyenas had their say with Daine. Not for the first time, Rikash wished he could hear the wild mage and the voices of her friends. It got irritating when the only person who could speak to you was staring at a dog beast and nodding sympathetically. Then Daine tapped the shoulder of the mammoth that was carrying her. "Lift me down please?" The mammoth complied, while the wild mage's newest pet – the marmoset – squeaked in protest. "I want to shapeshift and become one of you. Then we can hunt the emperor together, if you're willing." One of the hyenas yipped in something that sounded like amusement. Daine smiled, then her eyes travelled back to Rikash. "It just occurred to me – what in the name of all the Horse Lords are you doing here?"
Rikash tried to look unworried, ruffling his feathers calmly. "I was paying my respects to my true sovereign, Queen Barzha, and her consort."
Daine scowled disbelievingly. "Rikash-"
He resisted the urge to laugh. "Well, as it happens, I'd heard that tonight would be an interesting night for Carthak."
"You mean the Graveyard Hag told you."
"Perhaps." This time Rikash did smile. Not bloody willingly, let me tell you, mortal. "There's a chance that the emperor might feel the need to use the gift that I gave him. I wanted to be here to see the fun." I wanted to stand guard and see him die.
Daine frowned. "If he has any sense, he's run off."
"Ah, but a man with sense would never have ignored so many warnings. I doubt he has fled."
"He killed Numair." Daine said hoarsely. Rikash looked up at the girl, recognising at last the symptoms of grief. He had not stopped to think of how it had affected her. It had been selfish of him, but he had only thought...
"I know. I'm sorry." He was sorry. She believed him.
"Me too." She rubbed at her eyes, turning back to her skeleton army, perhaps to hide her tears. "Will you go on tearing things up? I don't know if you can follow where I'm about to go, and I really want to leave this place a ruin." Rikash looked about him. I think you're well on the way to that. He watched as Zek leapt from the back of the mammoth onto Daine's shoulder, as the girl farewelled her army with fond pats. Finally, she turned back to Rikash.
"Would you look after Zek, and see that he comes to no harm?" She stroked the marmoset's head gently. Rikash frowned, but nodded and jumped from his balcony rail. As he landed he said,
"If he does not object, I will place him in the dragon's cage."
Daine looked into his eyes, and he could tell she was wondering the same thing as he was – why was she trusting him with this? "I'd hate for anything to happen to Zek. Mithros knows why, but I trust you." She kissed the top of the marmoset's head and placed him carefully on Rikash's shoulder. Rikash winced as the creature grabbed fistfuls of his hair and made a mental note to never do this again. Once the little monkey-thing had stopped pulling at his hair, he took to the air and hovered there for a few moments.
"Good hunting." He told Daine, and flapped his way higher. Zek's claws scraped the back of his neck and he grit his teeth. "Stop pulling. I'm hardly about to fall out of the sky, and you've got a tight enough grip that a dragon couldn't pry you out of my hair." Zek chattered angrily, and Rikash sighed. "If I wasn't already heading to the menagerie, I wouldn't bother taking you." He sneered in annoyance, making the best use he could of the cooler night air to give him speed through the smoky skies. It was much harder to keep himself aloft, though the heat from the fires was helpful, he supposed.
Rikash landed above Kitten's cage in the menagerie and said, "Last stop. Get off my hair." Zek scrambled down his chest and into the dragon's cage to chitter worriedly at the dragon on the pedestal. Rikash hopped across the top of the remaining cages to peer down at Zircah, Barzha and Hebakh.
"Shouldn't be long now. Daine is hunting."
"Oh, that's a shame." Barzha commented. "I really did want to watch him die… I don't suppose you could go and watch for us?" She asked Rikash. He gave her a look.
"With all due respect, my Queen, there is simply no way in the realm of Chaos that I am leaving this cage until Ozorne is well and truly dead. And then I am taking her to the Green Lady." He said pointedly. Barzha sighed.
"I thought as much. Waste of fireworks, if you ask me."
Rikash refrained from comment. Barzha and Hebakh waited below him in silence, but Zircah seemed to be getting restless. He glanced down at her from time to time at the clank of her feathers against each other. He looked up again into the dark night sky and watched the black billowing smoke, tinged golden with reflected firelight.
Zircah stirred again. "And clay feet are given wings to fly…" She murmured. Rikash peered down at her curiously, then froze as the shattered remnants of the great doors were pushed aside. Prince Kaddar entered the menagerie, looking about him worriedly. He stood at the bars of the griffin cage, appearing not to have noticed that there was an extra Stormwing perched atop the cage that held his monarchs. Kaddar glanced back over his shoulder, and Rikash closed his eyes, sensing the rising fear. Delicious fear. He drew on it and grinned wickedly.
The fear errupted into all new heights as the door was battered aside by four of the spotted hyenas. Kaddar flickered, and Ozorne stood there instead, his normally dark tanned face lily pale in comparison. Rikash's grin widened. This would be fun to watch. The hyenas would tear the human apart, so weak was he without his magic. He glanced down at Barzha.
"Well, look at that. Front row seats."
A hyena launched itself at Ozorne, only to be repelled by the man's magical shield. Two of its brethren snarled and beat themselves against the sheild, sparking weak flares of light as they impacted. The last hyena leapt, and this time the shield barely flickered. Two of the beasts began to circle, laughing eerily. Rikash had to stifle a shudder - no wonder these beasts were favourites of the Graveyard Hag.
The real Kaddar burst in, followed by a blond mage and... Rikash blinked. Numair? The blond mage, Lindhall, cried "No!" and threw out a magical barrier to encircle Ozorne. The hyena standing directly in front of Ozorne snarled furiously, cheated of her prey. Kaddar looked tired.
"You'll have to choose, Uncle. Abdication and imprisonment - or the hyenas. You must give in. Your Gift is almost used up. We can see you're taking it from your own life force, now." He sounded almost unhappy. Rikash couldn't understand why.
Ozorne swayed, his eyes wild. "Abdi-? Never!"
Kaddar slumped. "Then it must be the hyenas, just as the Graveyard Hag promised."
Barzha beat a wing against the bars of her cage. "Give him to the animals! They have worked hard for his flesh - let them have it! Let them feast, so we can sup on his fear as he has supped on ours!" The hyenas let loose a series of hollow yips that made Ozorne shiver with terror. One stalked up to the barrier, lowering its head and eyeing him with disturbing intelligence. Ozorne's eyes darted feverishly from the hyena to the Stormwing Queen and her mate. His eyes suddenly brightened.
"Promises, is it?" He said, sounding as though he were about to laugh in relief. "Well, I have a promise in reserve!" His hands raised to fumble through his hair, where something silver glinted. Barzha and Hebakh shuffled around Zircah to stare at the emperor with frightening intensity. Rikash clenched his claws around the bar and tried not to laugh as the poor, foolish mortal brought out Zircah's feather. "See! I have this promise!" With a hysterical laugh, he stabbed it into his arm, just as a hyena lost patience and hurled itself at the barrier.
There was a bright flash of light and a yelping snarl. The hyena staggered back, bleeding, and a Stormwing with the face and shoulders of Ozorne stretched his wings. The air was filled with musical chimes as the spells on the cages shattered, releasing the griffin, hurroks, and all the other immortals. Lindhall raised his hands and released a foggy magic to immobilise the more dangerous creatures until they could be dealt with.
Zircah coughed several times, but already he could see the blood flowing back into her limbs.
Rikash couldn't help it. He started to laugh. Barzha and Hebakh cowled their wings about them and then opened them fully, stretching each feather and letting them fall back with muted clicks like teeth striking bone. "Humans, stay out of this. Now he is in our form he must answer to Stormwing justice." She sounded distinctly pleased about this, stepping slowly forward and into striking range.
Ozorne's face paled once more, as though he had only just realised. "No! I am the Emperor Mage, lord of Carthak-"
"No immortal may hold a throne. Wake up, Emperor Mage." Hebakh taunted coldly, voice filled with sadistic amusement. "Do you see now the trap that was laid for you?"
Rikash felt it was time to add his two coppers. "No immortal may rule over humans, or use human magic." He drifted calmly to the ground beside Zircah and looked up, eyes glittering, and teeth bared in a grin that was not. "Go ahead - try it."
Ozorne croaked something and was instantly blown backwards to crash into a wall. He lay, stunned. Numair said, "You forgot your earliest lessons, Ozorne. Once you take immortal shape, you can never change back." He sounded disgusted.
Barzha shrieked a laugh. "He is mine! First I take payment from him, and then from that motherlesss worm Jokhun!" She beat her wings and rose into the air with her mate close behind. She circled twice above the menagerie and did a quick twirl, apparently quite glad to have full mobility back.
Ozorne struggled to stand up, having trouble with his awkward new talons. "I-I have magic! I have Stormwing magic!"
Rikash smirked. "Of course you do, sweetheart. Do you know how to use it?" He was perfectly happy to let his queen defeat this worm. It wasn't worth the effort doing it himself. As though to back up this thought, a bolt of lightning edged with scarlet struck the ground just in front of Ozorne, sending dust and chips of stone all over the new Stormwing. Ozorne looked hopeless, as though he were about to break down and cry at last. Rikash sneered. "You'll get the hang of it in a few days or so. If you live that long. There is a reason the former King Jokhun didn't want to fight Barzha Razorwing on her terms." Another bolt struck the flagstones behind Ozorne, spraying him with marble chips. He swore viciously and leapt clumsily into the air, pumping his wings too much and in the wrong direction. Rikash rolled his eyes. Barzha, now you're just being silly. Why miss on purpose? Hit him with bolts that hurt, but don't wound. It's more fun, I promise.
He sighed as he saw another bolt streak past Ozorne. "I must go after him. I wouldn't like him to lose interest, not after it took so much work to get him into the proper claws." He told the humans. He saw a faint smile tug the corner of Numair's mouth. He glanced at the hyenas. "Is one of you Daine?"
The most agressive one trotted forward. Rikash looked down at her. "If it counts for anything - though I'm not sure that it does - you have my gratitude." He winked at Numair. "And things aren't as bad as you think. You might look around." He spread his wings and took a few waddling steps back. "Now, move back. I need some more room."
As Daine obeyed, he flapped twice at the air in front of him. Zircah rose several feet off the ground, her hair falling back behind her to graze the floor with metal feathers. He raised her a foot more, then formed a golden net around her carefully. It would be too much effort to levitate her all the way into the Divine Realms. He nodded to the humans, then took off, dragging the net behind him. As the mortals watched the night sky, there was a crack, and a silvery fog bloomed above Carthak. Rikash flew into it, and was gone.
~*~
A/N: I had to change that scene a little bit, or it wouldn't quite have worked. :) Next chapter... Goddess, but this isn't far from ending! I never thought it would, and now it's closer than I ever dreamed it would be. Thanks to Wyrren, because she pesters me as much as I do her about fanfics. ^^ Please review and let me know what you think.
Next chapter... Rikash finally gets poor Zircah to some decent medical help. About time!