Paul Kemp - Shadowbred

"All of the members of the Old Chauncel have arrived already, Lord Talendar," Thriistin said. He had not shaved and a day's worth of whiskers speckled his face. "They are gathered in the main conference room."

"Very good, Thriistin."

Vees hurried up the limestone stairs and through the flagged hallways, his bootsteps echoing off the walls. Thriistin struggled to keep pace with him. Torchlight flickered on the portraits of past Hulorns.

Ahead, the doors to the conference room stood open. The thrum of conversation carried through the doors at the end of the hall. Vees rehearsed his words as he walked. He reminded himself not to appear too decisive. Vees Talendar, after all, was a fop and dilettante.

The moment he entered the high-ceilinged, wood-paneled chamber, all eyes turned to him and the room fell silent. The patriarchs and matriarchs of Selgaunt's leading families regarded him with questions in their eyes. Few wore the jewelry and finery typical of such a gathering, though all wore gowns or jackets. Vees saw the tension in their faces. Recent events in Selgaunt, in all of Sembia, had left the nobility on a blade's edge. They appeared as if they expected a killing stroke to fall at any moment. They soon would get it, Vees thought.

"What is afoot, Vees?" asked the bearish Rorsin Soargyl. His jacket was too small, his head too large.

Vees moved to the head of the table and pressed his palms on the surface.

"I will not waste your time, for there is much planning to do after tonight. I have received word from Ordulin that Mirabeta Selkirk has seized power with the backing of the army and declared Selgaunt and Saerb her enemies."

The table exploded in shouts.

"In Sembia!"

"What nonsense is this?"

"She is mad! This will not stand!"

Vees did not try to shout over the tumult. He waited for the table to quiet. When it did, he said, "You all know of the recent events involving Endren Corrinthal. The overmistress believes that Selgaunt was involved in the assassination of her cousin and Endren's attempted coup."

"Endren attempted no coup, Talendar," said the elderly Thildar Foxmantle, with surprising heat.

Vees acceded the point with a tilt of his head. "I know only what has been repotted, Lord Foxmantle."

"What has been teported is a lie," Thildar said, his gray beard shaking. "I know Endren Corrinthal. He is incapable of what he has been accused of."

Vees waved away the objection. "Be that as it may, I wanted this body to be aware of events."

"The Hulorn is riding to Ordulin," said Kelima Toemalar. Diamond pins held her hair up. Her fleshy arms stuck out of the sleeves of her red gown like sausages. "I was planning to leave soon myself. We must send word for him to return. He is in danger."

Vees nodded. "Captain Onthul is assembling a force of cavalry to catch the hulorn's party and escort him back to Selgaunt. They will leave tonight and ride until they find him. We can only pray that they reach him in time. Magical means will not avail us."

"Well done," several of the Old Chauncel said, nodding around the table.

Vees tried to appear humbled by their praise.

Glowering, red-bearded Ruttel Luhn rapped his fist on the table and stood. "How can Mirabeta Selkirk suspect Selgaunt to be involved in Endren's treachery? We have done nothing." He glared at Vees. "Or have we, Talendar? Now is not the time for secrets."

Vees almost laughed at the choice of words. Before he could answer, Thildar Foxmantle stood and glared at Ruttel. The scene was almost comical. The thin elderly Foxmantle stared daggers across the table at the much larger Ruttel Luhn.

"I will not repeat myself, Luhn. Endren Corrinthal committed no treachery."

"So you say," Luhn answered, his deep voice booming. "But you know no more than the rest of us. I will ask again, Talendar: Has the hulorn put the city at risk through some ill-conceived alliance with the traitors in Ordulin? That is something the Uskevren's father would have done."

The table erupted in shouts and epithets. Vees held up his hands for peace and the room settled. "The Hulorn has done nothing to merit Mirabeta Selkirk's suspicion. Perhaps you have, Luhn? You protest the loudest."

"You are a fool, Talendar."

"And you are dividing this council, this city, when it must stand united."

Nods from around the table. Luhn muttered inaudibly and lowered his head. Vees said, "I am certain we will clear up this matter soon enough. Meanwhile, it is imperative that Selgaunt speak with only one voice-the hulorn's voice-and that matters be kept quiet from the rest of the city for now. Let us keep the rumors at bay as best we can. This council will meet daily to stay abreast of events while we await his return."

Heads nodded agreement.

"Thriistin will see to the details and communicate them to you." Vees looked around the table, from one worried expression to another. "There is nothing more to be done tonight, lords and ladies. Return to your homes."

With that, the gathering broke into small, chattering groups. Vees did not linger. He ensured that Onthul's riders had left the city, then journeyed alone to Shar's temple on Temple Avenue. He spent the night offering praise to the Lady and repeating the supplication.

The next day, an edict from Ordulin reached Selgaunt through magical means. Vees and every member of the Old Chauncel received the missive. Vees chuckled as he read it. He knew that no Selgauntan forces had attacked the Saerloonian delegation.

Mirabeta Selkirk had created a war from lies.

No, he thought, and corrected himself. The Nightseer had created a war from lies, and done so in Shar's name.

"In the darkness of night, we hear the whisper of the void," he said, and crumpled the edict into his fist.

The whisper soon would become a scream.

I pick my way through the forest for what feels like hours, or maybe days. I have no way to mark the passage of time. The red glow in the air never changes and the crystalline sky is as still as stone. I keep my eyes away from the dark things that live on the other side of the sky.

I stay along the bank of the brook. As other brooks join it, it turns to a stream. As other streams join it, it turns to a rapidly flowing river that roars over frequent cascades.

Through breaks in the trees, I sometimes catch a glimpse of the wall ahead. As I draw nearer, its dark bulk fills my vision, demarcating the border of the world. A smell in the air grows stronger as I draw closer, a smell like rotten eggs, like sulfur, like…

Brimstone.

The voice at the wall returns, mocking me with laughter.

I steel myself by recalling my duty, my promise to Courage. I tighten my grip on my glowing yellow mind blade and continue on. I see no animal life. I am alone in the thought bubble. Or almost alone. I look up at the sky, to the crack, to the black wriggling things that lurk on the other side. I feel them watching me, hungering for me.

Has the crack lengthened? I am not certain.

I push it from my mind and press on. The stink of brimstone grows ever stronger. A haze of black smoke forms in the air and a dark film covers my skin. I tear a strip of cloth from my shirt, dip it in the cool water of the river, and tie it around my nose and mouth to help chase away the smell. The moment I cinch it, a crack like snapping bone sounds from above me. I whirl, stand, and look up.

The crack in the sky has opened into a gash. Wriggling, faceless black forms squeeze through and rain down through the hazy air. Terror seizes me-blind, irrational fear. My heart thunders; my breath leaves me. The mind blade sags in my hand.

"And the sky shat its fears," says the voice at the wall.

I know the voice speaks the literal truth. The things falling from the sky are fears given form, dark and obscene. They can be nothing else.