Wizards At War

“Glory to the great King! Glory to the One in the King!” the crowd shouted.

“The One in our King commands that we allow the attackers to cross the Great Ravine,” the Arch-votary said. “When enough of them arrive on our side, we will attack and destroy them. Their flesh will feed our King, and be the beginning of thousands of new children. Those children will grow into mighty warriors and fertile handmaidens, who will labor until their breath fails them for the destruction of the Other!”

“Let the Other be destroyed forever!” the crowd cried in anger and joy. “Death to the enemy of the One!”

“Go now and prepare the Other’s death,” said the Arch-votary, “and the glory of the One!”

“We go for the One’s glory!” cried the assembled masses.

The warriors stepped away from the dais, leaving that huge bloated shape lying there tended unendingly by its handmaidens. The assembled Yaldiv began streaming out the many entrances to the heart of the hive.

So there you have it, Dairine thought. Not just a declaration of war on the other hive, but on all the other “Others” in the universe, everything that’s not the Lone Power’s … or the Lone Power Itself.

What now? she heard Filif say to Kit.

We follow everybody out, I guess, Kit said. Ponch, did you scent anything we’re looking for while they were all in here?

I got something, Ponch said. The scent was familiar. He sounded uncertain, though.

Which tunnel did they go out?

I think—Ponch sniffed the air for a moment—I think that one. Ponch indicated one of about ten tunnels off to their right. I’ll be more certain when I get closer to it.

Okay … let’s go.

As the crowd in front of them lessened, the wizards started heading in the direction of that tunnel: first Kit, with Ponch close behind him, then Ronan, Filif, and Roshaun and, bringing up the rear, Dairine.

So now what? Ronan said.

Well, Kit said, we can spend some more time looking around here. If Spot’s saving data to help us find what we’re looking for, we should get some more.

You won’t need that much more, Ponch said. I should be able to bring you to where we can find what we’re after.

Assuming, Filif said, that the one Ponch is tracking is located in a place warriors are allowed to go.

So far, that’s been everywhere, Kit said. But his tone of thought suddenly sounded strained. Dairine looked ahead to see what the problem was.

Until now, there’d been only intermittent traffic through the doorway for which they’d been heading. Now, though, there was no traffic there at all. That doorway was completely blocked by warriors with the same kind of markings that the Arch-votary had worn. And between the group of wizards and the door, the Arch-votary itself stood and waited, watching them.

Suggestions? Roshaun said.

Just play it cool, Kit said.

They walked in line up to the Arch-votary. Kit stopped. Dairine, watching him, broke out in a sweat. The Arch-votary lifted those huge claws, but the gesture was not immediately threatening. It was more like the gesture it had used when calling the assembly to order. “This one is commanded to bring these before the King,” the Arch-votary said.

Oh, God, it knows! Dairine thought, and sweated harder. Kit merely said, “These obey the command.”

The Arch-votary led them across the rapidly clearing hall toward the dais. Dairine was having trouble looking at it steadily. The closer she got, the more she felt that vast glowing mass on top of it was somehow sucking her toward it—sucking her attention into it, maybe even sucking out her will. But then the thought occurred to her that the sensation might have something to do with the mochteroof. And I’m still me in here, she told herself fiercely. No refugee from a dime-store ant farm is going to make me forget that!

The feeling of ebbing will backed down a little bit, but as they got closer, Dairine found she had to expend more effort to stave it off. If we don’t have to be here too long, I’ll be okay. But if it knows what we are—