fortress, which guarded the entrance to the Salamaan Pass in the FarReach Mountains.
Once they”d left the Lhyl, water was hard to come by, and they needed to carefully plot
each day”s travel to ensure that they reached the next water source alive. The travel was a strain
on both men and horses, and Ba”al”uz was heartily relieved to finally reach the fortress at the
dusk of a particularly hot and uncomfortable day.
The fortress of Hairekeep had been built almost three centuries ago by one of the
Isembaardian tyrants to control travel through the Salamaan Pass, which connected the lands of
the Tyranny to the kingdoms north of the mountains. For travelers—apart from braving the
treacherous sea passage between Coroleas and the Tyranny, or sailing down the Infinity Sea to
the east (and in both cases there were no large ports on the Tyranny”s coastlines at which trading
vessels could dock)—the Salamaan Pass was the only dependable passage between the north of
the continent and the south, and the soldiers stationed at Hairekeep ensured that it remained
closed to all but the very few who had the necessary permissions.
Ba”al”uz thought the fortress resembled nothing less than a massive stone block rising
vertically out of the rock-strewn landscape. For almost twenty paces from ground level there
were no windows in those walls, then only slits for a further ten paces, and only after forty paces
did windows punctuate the stone to allow light inside. The walls continued vertically for another
fifty paces to parapets that commanded magnificent views, not only of the pass to the north, but
of all the surrounding countryside. Despite its forbidding aspect, the fortress was stunning: built
out of the sand and rose-colored stone of the FarReach Mountains themselves, it glowed with an
almost unearthly radiance in the twilight, reminding Ba”al”uz of the small glass pyramids Lister
had given him and Isaiah.
The fortress commander was expecting them, and treated them to a good meal and the
promise of an evening of good company.
But Ba”al”uz was tired, and impatient to retire to his quarters, so he made his excuses as
politely as he might, and made his way to his chambers set high in the fortress.
Here, having fortified himself with a glass of wine and washed away most of the grime of
his journey, Ba”al”uz unwrapped his own rosy glass pyramid that he”d carefully stowed in his
pack.
Ba”al”uz sat, fingering it for some time.
He didn”t like Lister. He was a complication in Ba”al”uz” life. No one had been more
surprised than Ba”al”uz at the arrival of Lister”s offer to ally with Isaiah. Ba”al”uz was even more
surprised at the gift to himself, from Lister, of one of the rosy pyramids.
Beautiful things they were, and powerful. Ba”al”uz had thought initially they were
connected in some manner to DarkGlass Mountain, but use demonstrated that they were different
entirely. The power associated with Lister”s pyramids was colder, and far more horrid, than that
which Dark-Glass Mountain radiated. Ba”al”uz didn”t particularly like using the pyramid, but it
was useful, enabling him to discover what Lister was about and also to aid Lister”s and Isaiah”s
plans to invade the kingdoms north of the FarReach Mountains.
There was nothing more Ba”al”uz wanted than to see Isaiah out of Isembaard.
So Ba”al”uz pretended to be Lister”s ally, for at the moment it suited Ba”al”uz” purpose.
He wondered, at times, if Lister thought he might use Ba”al”uz against Isaiah, and would smile at
the thought of everyone plotting against everyone else.
Life sometimes could be so much fun.
Ba”al”uz took a deep breath, settled himself more comfortably on his bed, and wrapped
his right hand about the pyramid.
As with Isaiah”s pyramid, Ba”al”uz” glowed first a radiant pink, then red, then flared into
sun-bright gold before subduing to a soft yellow.
Ba”al”uz removed his hand and there, waiting for him as arranged, was Lister, the Lord of
the Skraelings.
“Where are you?” said Lister.
“Hairekeep. Well on my way to the north.”
“You will need to negotiate the FarReach Mountains yet, my delightfully crazed friend.”
Ba”al”uz grinned. “You know you can depend on me.”
Lister laughed. “Yes, I know that. Now, tell me about Isaiah. He is hiding something. I
felt it the last time I spoke with him.”
“He has a new friend. Axis SunSoar. Perhaps you have heard of him?”
There was a brief silence, and Ba”al”uz could almost feel Lister”s surprise, but then Lister
spoke calmly. “Surely. The Skraelings curse with his name. But I thought Axis was long dead,
sunk beneath the waves of the Widowmaker Sea along with his land. The Skraelings drank themselves silly with jubilation the day that happened, I can tell you.”
“Some months ago Isaiah made a weekend foray down to Lake Juit. He took a punt out
into the lake, and from its waters dragged forth Axis SunSoar. Remarkable, eh?”
“I imagine that you must have aided him in this,” Lister said.
“I did not. Isaiah managed it all on his own. Do you know how he did it, Lister?”
“Me? How should I know? I cannot begin to imagine what Isaiah could want with the
man.”
“Surely you can work that one out, Lister. Isaiah doesn”t trust you, and who better to tell
him how to outwit the Lord of the Skraelings than Axis SunSoar.”
Lister managed a small smile. “Then he is sadly mistaken if he thinks Axis can better me.
I have far more secrets than the Skraelings to batter at Isaiah should he think to outwit me.”
“Really? What? Do tell. You know you can trust me.”
Lister waved a hand, dismissing Ba”al”uz” question. “Tell me, beloved friend, how goes
DarkGlass Mountain?”
Ba”al”uz frowned. What did Lister know? “What do you mean?” he said.
“Just curious. I find myself fascinated with the mountain. It doesn”t…chatter to you at
all?”
“No! Never! Have you lost your senses, Lister?” Ba”al”uz wondered if Kanubai was
whispering to Lister as well, and felt a knot of jealousy in his belly.
Again that dismissive wave of the hand from Lister. “So. You travel north to create havoc
and mayhem in order to prepare the way for Isaiah and myself?”
“Yes. Much havoc and mayhem.”
“You are a good lad, Ba”al”uz,” said Lister, “and in the new order, once Isaiah and I have
succeeded, you can be assured of many and mighty rewards.”
Fool, thought Ba”al”uz. In the new order you can be assured of a swift and bitter end.
“We shall keep in touch,” said Lister, “just to let each other know what is going on, yes?”
“Of course,” said Ba”al”uz.
Lister put his pyramid on the table in the central chamber of his castle of Crowhurst deep
in the frozen north and looked at his companion. The man lounged back in his chair, snowy
wings spread out to either side of him, one foot resting on the seat of another chair, frost trailing down one bare shoulder and arm to where a hand rested on the tabletop, and regarded Lister with
gray eyes alive with amusement.
He was a strange creature, at first sight an Icarii, but at second…some-thing else. His
form was not completely solid, but made up rather of shifting shades of gray and white and
silver, and small drifts of frost. Even his eyelashes were frosted, and when he lifted a hand from
where it had rested on the table it left a patch of icy condensation, which quickly evaporated in
the warmth of the chamber. He was of a race called the Lealfast, and they had, for their own
reasons, closely allied themselves with the Lord of the Skraelings.
“Did you hear?” Lister said.
“Yes,” said his companion, Eleanon. “DarkGlass Mountain has begun its infernal
whispering, as much as Ba”al”uz tries to deny it.”
“And caught Ba”al”uz in its clutches,” said Lister. “The question is, my friend, do we
continue to use the madman, or dispose of him here and now?”
Eleanon gave a small shrug. “He is moving away from DarkGlass Mountain. He should
still be malleable. Besides, you need him in the Central Kingdoms. Isaiah has to invade, and none of us wants to have an army waiting to meet him at the other end of the Salamaan Pass.
Ba”al”uz can create the chaos to prevent that.”
“True,” Lister said, his fingers tapping on the table. “We will need to keep an eye on
Ba”al”uz, though. One never knows which way his loyalties will dart next.”
“I loathe it that he has one of the spires,” said Eleanon, speaking of the glass pyramids.
“If I”d known you would give one to that vile creature, then none of us would have consented to
give them to you.”
“He does not know what it is,” said Lister. “He has no means at all to comprehend it. But
to the real news. Isaiah has brought Axis SunSoar back from the Otherworld. All on his own.”
Lister gave a little laugh. “I”d never thought Isaiah would have the initiative to do something like