Michael Foster - She Who Has No Name

Eric was also red-faced with anger, enraged by the comments of their host. ‘Why would you do such a thing? Why are you saying this to us?’

Cang’s gaze shifted back to Eric without any change in his visage. ‘What’s this? Still a little fight left in you, Master Pot? That won’t last much longer, I’m sure. Why did I do all this? To save the world, of course. You have all been made aware of the impending end of this Age, yet all of you chose to ignore my call. The time has come for us to shore up our defences and ready for the return of the demons of legend. Yet, they are not legend,they are real and they will be here very soon to devour the world and everything you find precious. I could not make you believe me, and so I have brought each of you here to see for yourselves what will happen if we do not take action.’

‘Here? To this god-forsaken corner of the world?’ the Emperor said with disdain. ‘Why bring us all the way here to tell us this?’

‘To let you see for yourself. To let you believe. I can conspire and contort your fates all I like, but I can never force you to believe what I have to say. You must make that choice for yourselves. And the things that will decide your minds are here, in this temple and in this valley. You have already seen some of them.

‘The desert itself is the result of the demon’s birth, so many years ago,as all deserts are the results of man’s foolishness, in one way or another. Once rich with forest and pasture, this land has been made inhospitable since that first day when hell was literally unleashed. This valley was the birthplace of the Demon King, Lin, himself, and the violence of his making formed this sunken canyon. With your help, we plan to lure him back here. Those first few moments when he returns to our worldareour only chance to strike. Only then is he vulnerable. Only then can we destroy him. Only then can we be free of this infernal cycle of decimation.’

‘You think that between us we can destroy a god?’ Samuel asked.

‘No. I am not so imbecilic, but I have a plan to destroy him. He must be lured here and we must have our weapons ready. Your roles are to assist with this.’

‘Why should we help you? Why should we even believe you?’ Eric asked.

Cang cocked his neck from left to right, andhisbones played a crescendo of cracks each time. He took his time and seemed more comfortable when it was done. When he was ready, he continued with his explanation. ‘Did you see those temples as you entered the valley, each crumbling and fallen into dust? In each Age since the demon was born,a temple has been built, of varying shapes and design-all built to weather the years, but similar in contents. In each temple is the recorded history and wisdom of mankind. When theDemonKingreturns, almost the entire population of this world will perish, but the temple remains-its knowledge carved into stone, waiting to be found. In this way, the wisdom of the Circle of Eyes is passed along and the Circle can remain unbroken. This is our only hope, that one day the Demon King can be destroyed. Each Age, a new temple is built with the contents of the last painstakingly copied across, and the results of the current Age appended. This temple is now complete and contains all the knowledge of the past Ages and this. The time has come and our hope is preserved. If we fail, we will all die and be consumed, but this temple and the unbroken and ever watchful Circle will be our continuing legacy of hope.’

‘Do you mean to say that those ruins out there were once like this?’ the Emperor asked.

‘Oh, yes. Each temple was once new and complete. Around the circumference of this valley, there is room for twelve such buildings, and this temple you are sitting in is built on the ruins of one before it.’

‘Thirteen thousand years?’ the Emperor said with disbelief, calculating the sum of each building.

‘I presume it is actually much longer, for some Ages are much longer than others. We really have no idea how long this dreaded cycle has been repeatingitself. It is possible that the temples have been built upon each other many times over. We have no way to know with any certainty for,although the knowledge we passonis immense, some is always lost. We only know that some three thousand years ago, the then members of the Circle came up with a plan-or perhaps they,in turn,had found it from somewhere else, we will never know-to kill the Demon King. For that plan to work, we had to find two unique relics that had been created in the time of the Ancients,two sources of power that, when coupled together, act to call the Demon King into being. My servant, Ash, was responsible for finding the first such item.’

Samuel’s thoughts immediately turned to the ring in his pocket. ‘Is that why Ash was sent to Tindal?’ Samuel asked.

‘Partly, yes,’ the bony magician replied knowingly, ‘but he almost destroyed the relic in the process. Luckily, despite Ash’s treachery, we now possess the first precious thing we need.’ And he gestured towards Samuel.

Samuel was horrified that his secret had been given away, but there was little he could do about it now.

‘What is he talking about, Samuel?’ Eric asked.

Desperately, Samuel struggled against his magical bindings, until he finally managed to get his hand into his pocket. On contact with the cold metal of the ring, the spell around his arm seemed to slip free. He gently drew the Argum Stone out of his pocket and held it up for all to see, to which Cang only smiled smugly.

‘So you have found one of the objects then. What of the other?’ the Emperor asked.

‘I know where the second relic now sits, but I am not capable of taming such a force. Despite my knowledge, I am not capable of putting the two together. The secret of such things is beyond me and is something we have yet to discover. This is not just a matter of brute force. If it were, I could have dealt with the matter myself long ago, or summoned the Lions to see to the task.’

‘You’re suggesting the Lions were also involved in your schemes?’ the Emperor asked, incredulously. ‘Ridiculous!’

‘Not directly, my good friend, but they served me just as well as they served you, in one way or another. Very few are actually ever in the knowledge that they are serving the Circle. As you have seen, I have the ways and means to set people to my needs, despite their own intents.

‘Now, the final part of my plan is not far from realisation. Once you arrive at the heart of the desert, you will surely find the second relic in the hands of the Desert Queen herself. I charge you to go there and face her. Then, you must return the two devices back to me in readiness for my plan. Accomplish this, and the people of the world will live. Fail, and everyone will die. This is the only possible way.

‘We magicians do not father young, but we have a very different burden to bear-the very well-being of humanity. The lost souls of the Ages before this have been calling for this moment and now we, for the first time, have the chance to accomplish the impossible. I know you have all been brought here under false pretences, and no doubt you all have grudges to bear, against me and my servants, but there are no choices from this point on. We must act, or perish.’

‘But what about my ring?’ Samuel asked with concern. ‘Are you allowing me to keep it?’

‘Of course. You will need to keep it. I cannot send you out defenceless and you seem to have become rather dependent on the thing.’

The Emperor had been listening intently, but now spoke up. ‘But you said we are supposed to keep these infernal relics apart at all costs. If we go there with the very thing we are supposed to keep separated, won’t we be risking the return of the demons ourselves?’

‘The relics must be put together in a special way. They cannot be forced or coerced so easily. I doubt even the Paatin Queen couldcompel them together, and she is an expert in such convoluted and difficult tasks of trickery. No, it is a subtle secret that requires time and great care. You must go before her and face the trials of her city. Then, before you can return to me, you must wrest her prize from her grip and return with the two devices safe and sound.’