David Gemmell: Echoes of the Great Song

The door of the hut creaked open and Anu moved slowly and painfully into the light. He was carrying several rolls of papyrus. 'Thank you for waiting,' he said.

'We must be going, Holy One,' said Yasha. 'I will carry you.'

'I am not leaving, Yasha. But you can carry me.' With a trembling hand he pointed to the pyramid. 'Take me there. To the peak.'

The ladders were still in place and Yasha lifted the old man and carried him across the open ground. Then he took Anu on his back and slowly climbed to the top of the pyramid. The peak was flat, for Anu had insisted there be no capstone. Yasha found this strange, for the pyramid was perfect in every other detail.

Anu sat down on the golden stone and together the two men looked around the valley.

'A long time ago I made you a promise, Yasha,' said Anu. 'I said that this pyramid would not be just for the Avatar, but for the world. When it sings its song it will deliver us from evil. The enemy will be no more.'

'It is a beautiful building,' said Yasha. 'It will stand for eternity.'

'No,' said Anu. 'It will stand for less than a year. The Music I have made is very powerful. Once begun it will eat away at the blocks, turning them to dust. The winds will scatter that dust over the earth. Nothing will be left.'

'Why, Holy One?' asked Yasha, appalled.

'We sit upon a vast and wondrous source of power, Yasha. And as with all power it can be used for good or evil. If I had left it standing there would have come a man — or a woman — who could reshape the Music.' He smiled sadly. 'As it is there will be many attempts in the centuries to come to duplicate what we have achieved here. Perhaps one will succeed. I am not so arrogant as to believe I am the only man who will ever be blessed by the Source.' He patted Yasha's arm. 'Now, time is slowing down, Yasha, and there are matters we must discuss.

There are few Avatars left in the cities and control has passed to a Vagar council. With the terrible destruction they have suffered they will not feel inclined to honour an Avatar promise. Especially one that would empty the Treasury. The workers will arrive back in the city to discover there is no payment for them. My man, Shevan, is telling them this even as we speak. He is also telling them that you will see to their payments. That you will honour my promise.'

'And how will I do this, Holy One?'

Anu passed him the two scrolls he held. 'The first is my will, and I bequeath all that I have to you. It may be that this also will not be honoured. I cannot say. The second is a map, showing where I have buried twelve chests full of gold coin. Enough to pay every man who worked here. And every whore who still carries tokens.'

'You would be a fool to trust me with all that gold,' said Yasha. 'Why did you not give it to Shevan?'

'I have been foolish in my life, Yasha. No man who draws breath can say otherwise. But in this I am right.

You are a proud man and an honourable one. I might not trust you with my wife or my daughter, but this is only gold. You will see it paid, and you will do it with scrupulous honesty.'

'Aye, I will,' admitted Yasha. 'I will do it for you, Anu.'

Tucking the scrolls into his shirt he sighed. 'Why is it that you wish to remain here?'

'I must. I am the capstone. I am the last of the Music. And now you must go, Yasha. Leave me.'

The big foreman rose, then leaned forward and kissed the old man's brow. 'You will not be forgotten, Holy One.'

'Yes I will,' said Anu, with a smile. 'All men are. Go now!'

Yasha moved to the ladder, took one last look at the white-bearded old man sitting on the stone, then climbed back to the valley floor.

Talaban, his zhi-bow completely discharged, leapt from the boulder into a group of Almecs. His sword slashed out, slicing through the neck of the first man, his dagger plunging into the chest of a second. Touchstone ran from hiding with several Anajo warriors and together they tore into the Almec ranks.

The suddenness of the attack dismayed the Almecs, who fell back down the trail. Talaban swept up a fallen fire-club and discharged it into the fleeing group. Then he flung it aside.

Glancing up at the sky he saw dusk was approaching. They had held the Almecs for almost a full day and a night. Only three Avatars remained alive and fifteen Anajo. The defenders had been pushed further up the mountain and almost forced out of the narrow trails. One more push and they would be on the exposed flank where they would be swiftly overrun.

Blood was running into Talaban's left eye, seeping from a cut on his brow. He wiped it away and moved forward to the line of boulders that marked the end of the trail. As he peered round them several shots rang out, smashing into the stone close to his head. Talaban swore and ducked back. 'They are massing again,' he told Touchstone.

One-Eyed-Fox moved alongside them. He spoke to Touchstone. 'What did he say?' asked Talaban.

'Need hold till dawn.'

'Dawn is a long way off.'

Time for new plan,' said Touchstone.

Talaban gave a grim smile. That's true. What do you suggest?'

'Attack!' said Touchstone.

Her words were a dagger in his heart and he slumped to the rock wall, his head in his hands.

High on the southern flank of the mountain Sofarita pulled herself over a wide ledge then sank to her haunches. Ro hauled himself up alongside her. The wind was bitter here and he wrapped his cloak around Sofarita's shoulders. They were finally above the towering black wall stretched across the land, and Ro could see the lights of a distant city flickering in the distance.

'Can you feel her power?' he asked Sofarita.

'I can feel it.' Throwing back the cloak she stood and stretched her arms out wide. It seemed to the Avatar that she began to glow. Within moments he could feel heat radiating from her. Her limbs stiffened. She was like a statue now, her skin gleaming as if coated with ice. He reached out for her, but her voice sounded in his mind.

'Do not touch me, Ro. This is my destiny. I will die here.'

With a hundred men Cas-Coatl stood at the northern edge of the mist barrier. His engineers were working furiously to find ways to break through. All had failed.

Cas-Coatl waited calmly. The army besieging Pagaru had been evacuated to twelve golden ships, which were now heading back across the ocean, their holds packed with chests full to the brim with charged crystals. Once these had been fed to Almeia her strength would return and she would sever the spell that sought to drag them back to an icy doom.

The setbacks here in the east were temporary. When next he came there would be no Avatars to destroy his supplies. But first he must capture Anu and force him to reverse the magic of the pyramid. Failing that he would destroy the pyramid itself. He glanced back at the score of wagons containing the last of his powder.

A cool wind whispered across the valley. Cas-Coatl shivered. His face always ached with the cold. Lifting his hand he stroked his fingers across the smooth hard glass of his cheekbones.

Crystal-wed.

He had been horrified when the disease took hold. His parents had taken him to Almeia's resting place and had prayed for him throughout the day. Almeia herself had appeared to him in a dream, promising to save him.

The promise had been kept and, with joy in their hearts, his parents had sacrificed sixty slaves to the goddess.