‘How can you help?’
‘Release me, and you will know.’
Talisman’s hand crept to his knife scabbard, but it was empty. Reaching out, he pulled Gorkai’s knife clear of its sheath. The woman turned her dark eyes on him. ‘He means to kill you,’ she told Nosta Khan.
‘Do not speak – either of you!’ warned the shaman. Turning to the woman, he began to chant. She winced, then her lips drew back in a bestial snarl. One word of power she spoke. Nosta Khan was hurled from the bed, striking the wall just below the window. He rolled to his knees, but her voice sounded once more and, flung back, his head cracked against the window-sill and he sank to the floor, unconscious.
The woman looked at Gorkai. ‘Release me,’ she said. On stumbling legs Gorkai tottered forward.
‘Stand where you are!’ ordered Talisman. Gorkai gave a cry of pain, but he forced himself to halt. Sinking to his knees, he groaned and fell face forward to the floorboards.
‘So,’ she said, looking at Talisman, ‘you are a man of power. Your servant obeys, despite the pain he feels. Very well, you may release me.’
‘Did you not love Oshikai?’ he asked suddenly.
‘What? You question my devotion, you ignorant peasant?’
‘It was an honest question.’
‘Then I shall answer it: Yes, I loved him. I loved his breath upon my skin, the sound of his laughter, the glory of his rages. Now release me!’
‘He searches for you still,’ Talisman told her.
‘He died a thousand years ago,’ she said. ‘His spirit is in Paradise.’
‘Not so, lady. I spoke with him, when first I came here. I summoned his spirit. The first question he asked was, “Do you bring news of Shul-sen?” I told him there were many legends, but that I did not know what had happened to you. He said: “I have searched the Vales of Spirit, the Valleys of the Damned, the Fields of Heroes, the Halls of the Mighty. I have crossed the Void for time without reckoning. I cannot find her.” And as for Paradise, he said: “What Paradise could there be without Shul-sen? Death I could bear, but not this parting of souls. I will find her, though it take a dozen eternities.”‘ She was silent for a moment, and the feral gleam faded from her eyes. ‘I know you speak the truth,’ she said, ‘for I can read the hearts of men. But Oshikai will never find me. Chakata drew my spirit to the Dark Place, where it is guarded by demons who once were men. Chakata is there, but no human would recognize him now; he taunts me and tortures me whenever he wills. Or at least he did, before I made my escape. I cannot go to Oshikai, Talisman. If I died here I would be drawn back to the Dark Place.’
‘Is that where you have sent Zhusai?’ he asked her.
‘It is. But what is her life compared with mine? I was a queen. I will be again.’
‘Then you will leave Oshikai searching for an eternity, risking his soul in the terrors of the Void?’
‘I can do nothing there!’ she shouted. By the window Nosta Khan was stirring, but he remained silent. Gorkai too lay very still, scarcely breathing.
‘Where is this Dark Place?’ asked Talisman. ‘Why can Oshikai not find it?’
‘It is not a part of the Void,’ she said tonelessly. ‘Do you understand the nature of the Underworld? The Void is set between two levels. In the simplest terms, it sits between Paradise and Giragast, Heaven and Hell. The Void is the place in between where souls wander, in search of final rest. Chakata chose to trap me in the dark centre of Giragast, the pit at the centre of the lakes of fire. No human soul would travel there voluntarily, and Oshikai would know of no reason why I would be there. He trusted Chakata. He would never have guessed the depth of the man’s lust, nor the heights of his treachery. But if he were to know, then he would die the second death, the lasting death. There is no way a single warrior – not even one as mighty as my Lord – could pass the demon-haunted passageways. Nor conquer the creature Chakata has become.’