78. Martin.
Ubel, not without a reason, expected to face something horrifying, a chain of awful visions intended to sap his will and shake his sanity. With the sword that housed Martin's spirit in the paws of his actual body, Ubel was going to have a great advantage in this dream. No longer Martin held the edge in, so to say, brute force, which he used before to banish Ubel from that worthless rat's dreamworld, and also almost give him a stroke in the real world. Now the stubborn rodent could no longer just blow him away, so he was bound to try scaring and disorienting him into submission instead. Yet before Ubel's dream self opened his eyes, he felt strange tranquility instead.
He found himself standing on a wide sunlit glade, soft moss under his paws and blue bellflowers around him. He reflexively squinted, and it took him a few seconds to realize that light of the setting sun, only warmed his body, instead of searing his eyes. Gentle wind brought clear, fresh scents of early autumn forest to him as he looked around.
"If you hope to befuddle me, or make me lower my guard with this cheap trick, your hopes are sorely misguided, mouse."
The mouse stood up from the old stone on which he was sitting. This time Martin did not appear as anything like the terrible wraith from the grave that Ubel saw during their meeting in Ezri mind. Just an aging mouse, bigger than average for their species, but not outstandingly tall, dressed in a worn-out green habit. But a look at his unflinching black eyes still made Ubel apprehensive, so he continued: "Please do not tell me that your will and power are so feeble that you are surrendering without a fight."
The mouse shook his head slowly. "You misunderstand so many things, Ubel. I pity you. You brought your…"
"You? Pity me? What a stupid and pointless ruse! Am I, Ubel, not the very image of evil to your miserable prey kind? Do you not know very well what I am and what I did?"
"I do. Truly, for most of my breathing days I would have hated, despised and loathed a creature like you with all my heart. But in the days before leaving the mortal coil, I've left such feelings behind. My mind was full of compassion for all beasts when my heart stopped beating. It remained so ever since. No matter what you've done, I can't stop myself from pitying you. You do not grasp the nature of immortality you seek, Ubel. It is not everlasting life. It is being trapped at the moment of your death. Suspended outside of time, tangled in the web of fate."
Calm voice of Martin had an almost hypnotic cadence. Ubel remained silent, not interrupting him. The words were ominous, of course, but he found himself wishing to listen some more. He did not feel so well in ages. Pains reminding of his recent tribulations and aches of his aging body have all disappeared without a trace…
Ubel clenched his fists so hard, that claws pierced the skin. "Shut up! So, this is your attack, sapping my strength and resolve by lulling me into inaction!"
Ubel focused his will, and trees surrounding the dream glade burst into roaring flame. Acrid smoke blew away the scents of moss and first fallen leaves, and Ubel's sensitive eyes filled with tears of pain again. "What you are even trying to scare me with, fool, staying forever in a world like yours is surely better than staying frozen forever in the ice of Hellgates!"
But Martin waved his paw, and drenching rain poured from the sky, extinguishing flames in an instant. Albeit heavy, the shower of water was warm, and seemed to refresh, rather than to beat down. Martin stepped closer. "Short-sighted Ubel. This world, where we can breathe and talk, where time flows and one word follows another, exists only within your mind, and exists only because you are still alive. You can no more comprehend how I feel in reality than a creature born blind can imagine colors. As our spirits touch, your mind is coping with that. It turns my goodwill into pleasant sights, sounds and smells."
Ubel laughed, and great wind blew, turning the rain into a vicious icy storm that lashed at the small mouse and make Ubel himself shiver. "You are lying, and your lies are pathetic. When you had the power, there was nothing pleasant in your presence, you mendacious grave-wraith. But your naive trickery will not work on me."
Martin's expression became solemn, and the rain and wind abated. A rainbow glimmered as warm sunrays shone through the breaks in the clouds. "The first thing about sorceries of mind and dream Zarfayn taught you was that they only work on creatures you consider "real beasts", foxes and rats, weasels, stoats and ferrets, and a few other species. Try to get into the mind of a woodlander whose mind is strong enough to remember her own name, and even without realizing what's going on, very quickly she'll sense that something is wrong, and then throw you out, making your magic backlash. Even I cannot do more with a woodlander who doesn't trust me beyond giving a brief moment of alarm and warning at a great cost."
"That is because lowly woodland creatures like you were in life lack higher awareness of the invisible reality." Even as he spoke, Ubel realized that there was no firm confidence in his words, and, worse, that his opponents may well know that already.
"That's what you often said to yourself. But you had your doubts about this hideous mutilation, this open path into your head, which you must carefully guard at all times, if you don't want others getting inside. I can use this path, but when I do, when I force my way into minds of your kind, when I appear in visions or dreams before them, I can only invoke dread, misery, and, if repeated, madness, no matter my intent. For it was made by the spirit older than me, for his own use, and he brooks no rivals! You know who I'm talking about."
"He whom the greatest of seers call the King of Fate, Master of Hellgates, and whom lesser ones call Vulpuz," Ubel believed that he was only thinking that to himself, but suddenly found that he's saying the words aloud. "Wait, what is this, I cannot hide my thoughts?"
"Of course you can't, naïve Ubel. We're inside your mind, but by your own paw and will, you've sent your mind out of your body, into my presence, where my power is greatest. Your heart and soul are laid open before me. And that thing, the ruler of wicked dead, who guided and nudged you for almost your entire life, cannot reach you for now. So his malice no longer warps anything in your mind, including your perception of myself."
"That's not how it was supposed to work! I was guided by no creature and nothing, but my own ambition!" Ubel tried to clasp his paws to his mouth, but for a moment they refused to obey. Then with an enormous effort of will he regained his composure, straightened and shook his head. "So. Congratulations. You almost got me with your finely crafted lies. I should not have expected you to be simple, after so many seasons of making beasts dance to your tune."
As Ubel spoke, remnants of rain clouds evaporated in a moment and earth dried to dust and ash, as merciless desert sun shone from above. Even though its rays felt as if they stabbed right into his brain, Ubel kept staring right at Martin. "But you overdid it. I know better than anybeast – what you are saying and implying is impossible. I can send subtle dreams and visions that ignorant creatures mistake for true omens from beyond, or products of their own limited minds, and so I can fool them for my own ends. When I have no reason to fear revealing myself, I can plague others with nightmares, and force obedience out of them by sheer terror. A creature with talent for that also can hypnotize the mind of another to sleep while the body stays awake and obeys simple commands. But no sorcery, no necromantic art has the power to alter thoughts, to tamper with a beast's heart directly! Even if that would be possible at all, that would just break a beast, split his mind, make him into a useless, insane wreck! Even if I too am vulnerable to sorcery in theory, I was trained well to control my thoughts and empty my mind as defense. My will and ambition are my own. Neither Master of Hellgates, nor you, have any sort of power over me!"
There was sadness on Martin's face and the blazing sun descended towards the horizon, its rays painting the desert sky ruby-red instead of scorching the earth. Ubel's heart skipped a beat. When he was small, he mostly preferred cool and dark tunnels of the Abyss to scorching heat or freezing night cold of the sandy plateau above. But he loved to watch sunsets and sunrises in these distant seasons. In other parts of the world they never seemed half as beautiful, but then again, after escaping from his old home he had more important things to do than to enjoy good views.
Then Martin spoke. "You are half-right. Your prideful will and evil ambition are your own in every sense. And if one forcefully twists a beast's mind, will and heart, those are going to shatter. But what if one slightly pushes instead, shows a ferret just the right visions to inflame his desires, eggs him on just a bit at the right moment, stokes resentment and malice within him just in time to turn dark thoughts into dark deeds? Such things are beyond your power, because you cannot watch another creature from birth, cannot see his every dream for long seasons, cannot know his desires and weaknesses better than he knows them himself. But an undead shade of Hellgates can do that. Or even more, when a beast foolishly offers his own mind to be toyed with. Arrogant Ubel, you're confident that at thirteen seasons of age, trying to speak with the dead for the first time, in secret from your teacher, who believed that you are not ready, you obtained more knowledge than he ever did and got away without harm. But look into yourself, here and now, when nothing is clouding your mind! Is that something you truly can believe without doubt, or just something you always liked to believe for the sake of your own pride?"
Ubel recoiled, unable to keep himself from shivering. "No! Lies! Lies and deceit! Confusion and misdirection to break me, nothing more!"
"Look into yourself. See the goal you've chased your entire life for the phantom, the trick, the bait dangled before a greedy fish that it is. This is your last chance!"
"Last chance of what?! Dying like a worthless common beast? Feeding worms or freezing in Hellgates for eternity? Never!"
"There is more beyond death than misery of sorcery-bound ghosts. I cannot go through the Dark Forest myself, but…"
"More lies! Oh, I see it now! Feigning compassion for me, Ubel! Luring me with your words! "Nothing is clouding my mind?!" How cunningly you clouded it with doubt, doubt and fear! But enough is enough! Oh how I wish for you feel pain, to shred you with my own claws for your trick!" With each word, Ubel was growing larger and larger, claws on his paws lengthening, until Martin started to seem so tiny that it seemed like one paw would be enough to crush him.
But then Martin changed too, no longer an old mouse in simple robes, but a much younger warrior in gleaming armor, with the shield on his left paw. There was, however, no sword in his right. And there still was no anger in his firm voice. "Not as a curse, but as a prophecy, I'm telling you: stay on the path of evil, and there won't be a day in your life without pain, fear and regret. But if you choose this, come, see how far fear and rage can take you against a former warrior's will."
Author's notes: Well, I guess I was unable to think of the way to conclude the story in a wholly satisfactory fashion just with this book, and this particular chapter I think is the point where the sequel hook had to begin becoming obvious or be abandoned altogether. I just hope to retain enough persistence for another fic. As for now, you, readers, can expect final chapters of Weaves somewhere in January.