Part VIII (Tetei)
I curl around my pillow, shifting uncomfortably in the darkness. For the first time in weeks, there are no fresh bruises on my body but, of course, that doesn't mean I can sleep. Biting my lip, I resolutely take to counting my breaths.
He left yesterday morning – well, noon, really – to make sure that thing, that Titan, they are building is never completed. Of course, he's going to eviscerate anything that crosses his path and perhaps level a few villages in the process. By now he has probably found someone to share his bed as well. I'd be a fool to think that he didn't. He might even bring them back here. Not likely, perhaps – as of yet he hasn't shown any sign of losing interest – but it's a distinct possibility.
I sit up. It's no use. Apparently my obnoxious body has decided that it won't fall asleep without his ... presence. Well, if that's the case, I might as well get something done. Sooner or later, once I'm exhausted enough, I will have to sleep. I hope. I reach for a long rectangle of linen cloth, quickly draping it around my body. Absent-mindedly, my fingers pet and crumple the fabric, noting its resilience, its softness. Better than anything I've ever had.
With a sigh, I turn to my desk, pausing only as I notice a strange movement outside in the gardens. Suddenly grateful that I didn't bother to light any of the lamps, I peer out of the window. Yes, there are several shadows moving across the lawn and as one of them steps into a patch of moonlight it is easy to identify them as ... human? Azeel. Instinctively I take a step back. Gods beyond.
Suddenly I realize that I'm on the verge of panicking. I force myself to retreat into the shadows. Gerumu. I have to find Gerumu. If this is an attack – and really, how could it not be? – we have to mount some sort of defense. Or rather, he will have to. This is one thing I have no idea how to approach. But first I have to reach him, or at least a part of the palace they have not yet infiltrated.
The halls are quiet, too quiet. My mind is reeling. Do they know? Do they know that he is gone and most of the fighters with him? But how could they know? Perhaps they just thought they could win. I somehow manage to keep myself from running. Are they everywhere?!
Gerumu is still in his room, asleep even. I groan inwardly. At least he is immediately wide awake, eyes bright and dangerous in the darkness. It takes seconds to explain the situation and even less for him to grab his clothes and weapons. Gerumu's voice is a whisper, low and urgent as he pulls me back to the door.
"This is bad. We don't have any defenses for this place. Hell, I am only here because we're still having problems organizing the periphery.
I ... I guess it makes sense. So long as the Emperor isn't here, this is nothing but a heap of stones. And after all who would have thought anyone would be stupid enough to try something like this? Only somehow, we have to stop them. I'm not gonna die here. And then I know what to do. We need someone powerful; powerful enough to deal with this ... situation. Well, we've got such a one.
Now I am running, ignoring Gerumu's questions as I mouth the incantations to focus my powers. The little door, the garden, is right where I remember it and, lips trembling, I step in front of those glowing pillars. I will set him free. Of course he won't defend us – after all he has no reason to – but they won't care about that. No, once the Azeel will sense his power, they'll attack him and if he's even part demon, he will kill them for it. And then ... well, it depends on what he's like. But better him than the Azeel.
Fingers weaving an intricate pattern, I throw my power against the Human's prison, searching, finding, the telltale flaw where it has been sealed shut. Gerumu shouts his protest but I ignore him and then he is gone from my sight. Zadei will kill me for this. If I'm still alive when he comes back. If he ever comes back. Perhaps they already killed him. But they couldn't possibly kill him. He's too powerful. More powerful than anyone else.
A flare of energy and a shadow falls across my faces. I look up. The Human – and there seems to be precious little human about him – is crouching on the roof of the temple, long, dark hair rippling over white skin and whiter marble. His eyes pierce me, pin me, and I watch helplessly as he drives his long, blade-like fingernails into the stone.
"How long?"
I don't answer immediately and he narrows those eyes. It is all I can do to stand my ground.
"Five years."
He draws his lips back in a feral snarl and at the same time an unearthly scream breaks the silence. The air crackles with power, scorching my lungs and slamming me to the ground. As I am able to look up again the Human is standing in front of me, glaring at the fallen bodies of several attackers. He smiles humorlessly.
"I see. That's why you let me out. You're in trouble. Does Zadei know?"
I cannot speak. I can't even move. My left wing hurts. I fell on it, crushed it beneath my body, and quite probably broke a few bones. The next wave of attackers spills into the garden and suddenly I am glad I am not standing. I could take one, perhaps two, of them and that's only so long as I'm uninjured and able to move freely.
This time they are more careful, running and dodging rather than trying to attack. Not that it does them any good. They are picked off and, one by one, hurled aside, an array of broken bodies littering the once pristine garden. One of them is lasting, though, parrying, using the others as decoys as he comes at the Human again and again. For all that, he doesn't look particularly impressive: tall, yes, supremely confident and handsome in a rather conventional way, but there's no stir in the atmosphere, no marks of power one would expect in a demon. But, of course, he is no demon.
Soon, only the two of them are left. There's no talk, no preambles. One moment they are looking at each other, and in the next, waves of power are coursing through the air, crashing into each other and anything else in their way. The earth itself seems to groan and, for a moment, I imagine I can actually feel it tremble beneath me. I close my eyes.
It still isn't over. How can he be standing, fighting, when the very air should be poisoning him? But they probably wouldn't have attacked if they hadn't found a way around that. Suddenly the world explodes into pain. I haven't been paying attention. My chest hurts so much I can't breathe. It is a tree. One of them must have blundered and hit it and now the pieces are everywhere, long, viscous shards, and I still can't breathe! The next blast of power sweeps me away.