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me. I had meant to offer you life
in a different sense-in the sense of living forever."
Agis narrowed his eyes. "Now is no time for games," he said. "And you should
know me better than to think you could buy me with such tactics."
A crooked smile creased Tithian's thin lips, and he clucked his tongue at
Agis. "So suspicious," he said. "It's no wonder our friendship has always been
strained."
"Our relationship has been strained because you're a liar and a thief," the
noble countered.
"And a murderer, as well," Tithian added. "But I've never betrayed you."
"How about when you abandoned your duties to the citizens of Tyr?" Agis
replied.
Tithian rolled his eyes. "You've always placed too much value in the banal
tools of appearance," the king sneered. "I speak of life without end, and you
are more concerned with a few promises we made to a bunch of ex-
slaves and paupers."
"That's right," Agis said, without hesitation. "And with bringing you to
justice."
"That'll be enough arguing," said Kester. She looked up at the green hues
glimmering through the crystal ceiling. "Think about the job at hand. If we're
going to open those gates before Mag'r sinks my ship, we'd better make this
try a good one-or hope Sacha and Wyan find a tunnel down below." She glanced
at Sona and pulled her muzzle back in a defiant snarl.
The trio waited in silence as Fylo completed his climb, then Kester directed
the giant to wait near Tithian. Agis pressed a fingertip to the pit's
translucent cover and closed his eyes, tracing a wide circle. A black line
appeared on the shimmering quartz, outlining the pattern he had traced.
Kester nodded to Tithian, who closed his eyes and swept his hand across the
pit. A plank of psychic energy appeared where he had gestured, anchored
directly into the base of two massive crystals. The platform was about as
broad as the king was tall, constantly changing from one translucent color to
another.
Fylo eyed the platform cautiously, then advanced one foot onto its surface.
The plank sagged beneath his weight, crackling and hissing blue sparks beneath
his heel. The giant retreated to the crystals to which he had been cleaving.
"More solid!" he ordered.
Tithian opened one eye and glared at the giant. "I will-but you must be fast.
I can't support your bloated carcass for long." The king returned his
concentration to the platform, which settled on an opaque, granite red color
and ceased to shimmer.
At the same time, the circle Agis had traced above his head began to fill in,
darkening to jet black. Wisps of cold fog trailed beneath it, writhing about
like street dancers in the Elven Market.
"Now, Fylo!" Agis gasped, already growing pale from the effort of holding his
circle's form against the tides of mystic force flowing through the crystal
cover.
Casting a wary eye at Tithian's face, the giant stepped onto the platform and
squatted down with his hand next to his hip. There was a great rush of air as
he filled his lungs, then he fixed his eye on the black circle Agis had
created. Inside that circle, there would be none of the magic that flowed
through the rest of the crystal lid and made it impossible to break.
Fylo gave a mighty shout and drove his knuckles straight to the heart of the
circle. A terrific boom echoed through the pit, and the half-breed's hand
bounced away from the cover. The platform beneath his feet did not waver even
slightly, nor did the lid break.
"You coward!" Tithian yelled, opening his eyes. "Is that as hard as you can
hit it?"
Fylo scowled and started to say something, but Kester cut him off. "Pay him no
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attention," she said, noting that
Agis's body was starting to tremble from the effort of keeping his circle
open. "Try again, Fylo. This time ye know the plank won't sink, so ye can hit
even harder."
The giant looked away from Tithian, then closed his other fist. "Fylo break
lid!" he promised.
The half-breed's knuckles crashed into the crystal. sharp pops and cracks
echoed off the shaft walls, followed by a victorious bellow from the giant.
Shards of crystal rained down on Fylo's head and shoulders, then tumbled
toward Kester and Tithian. The tarek covered her head and felt several
fragments bounce off her forearms, opening a series of sharp cuts in her
leathery hide. A moment later, the pit was filled with a lyrical chime as the
jagged pieces bounced into the darkness below.
Kester felt a cool breeze descending over her body and looked up. She saw a
star-shaped fracture centered in the black circle above the noble's head,
easily wide enough for a man-or a female tarek-to slip through. Ragged shafts
of predawn light streamed into the pit, illuminating Agis's weary face in a
sickly green glow. To her distress, Kester could also see a few yellow
tendrils of morning sunlight streaming across the sky.
Castoffs began to leave their perches on the yellowed skulls. They streamed
out of the crack in a wild flock, chortling and screaming loudly in mad
delight as they escaped into the open air. Even through the crystalline lid,
the
morbid and spiteful tone of their muffled voices made Kester's hide prickle.
"Once more, Fylo!" she urged, climbing toward the exit. "That's wide enough
for us, but not for you."
The giant glanced down at Tithian, who now had a steady trickle of sweat
dripping from the tail of his long auburn hair. The king gave the half-breed a
reassuring nod and returned his eyes, bulging with strain, to the platform.
Fylo drew his hand back for another blow.
A pair of familiar voices spoke from the area beneath his feet. "You're not
leaving without us!" declared Wyan.
"You should know better than to play games with us, Tithian," added Wyan. "We
taught you everything!"
The sallow faces of Sacha and Wyan rose from beneath the platform. They
drifted up past Fylo's fist and hovered near his head, causing him to hold his
blow.
"Get out of the way," Tithian said. "We weren't going to leave without you."
"Don't lie to us!" Sacha hissed.
The head clamped his teeth down on one of Fylo's dangling earlobes and began
to pull, drawing a pained howl from the giant. Wyan bit the other one, also
tugging on it. To avoid having his ears ripped away, the half-breed was forced
to turn in a circle.
"What do you think you're doing?" Tithian demanded.
"Stop at once!" Agis commanded.
The only answer the heads offered was to pull harder. Blood began to stream
down the sides of Fylo's head, and he had to spin on his heels to keep up with
his attackers. The giant slapped at the pair madly, but succeeded only in
battering his own head more than theirs.
Although Kester did not understand the reason for their vicious attack, she
did not let that deter her from responding. She pulled a dagger from her chest
harness and flung it at the bloated head. The blade hit its target in the
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