The Ivory Star

Chapter 36

The sun was a scarlet coal in the flaming west, glowering like a cyclops's bloody eye across the silent battlefield. Silent as death, strewn with the wreckage of war, the field stretched grim and still and sullen in the lurid rays. Here and there amidst the sprawled, mangled corpses, crimson pools of congealing gore lay like calm lakes reflecting the scarlet-streamered sky. Dark, gaunt, furtive shapes moved among them in the deepening dusk. Their ugly, dog-like snouts marked them as farracs, the carrion-eaters of the Armondian grasslands. This would be their banquet. Carrion birds wheeled and circled in the flaming sky like silent ghosts. The grisly kites settled to earth with the rustle of dusty wings

But for these, nothing moved.

* * *

Lord Valerion lay in bed like a corpse. His face tinged with a ghost's pallor. His breath wheezed like an old bellows. A fever burned hot on his brow, and sweat ran from him in rivers. Only his iron constitution had sustained him thus far. Nessa sat holding his hand at one side of his bed, Valerion II at the other. Gerion and Angus sat quietly on stools along the back wall. The door opened and a man Nessa had never seen before entered the room. His black raiment was torn and stained with blood.

Capian traded his gaze between them all, saying nothing.

Valerion's eyes opened, and he spoke, "Capian, come here, my son."

Nessa's mouth fell open, and Val simply stared.

"Valerion, Nessa," the lord said, addressing his children, "this is your older brother, Capian. Capian, meet Nessa and Valerion II."

Capian came forward and reached for Val's hand to grasp it. "I am honored, Brother," he said, smiling.

Val was speechless as he stared at his elder brother in awe.

Capian then circled the bed to Nessa. She stood up and embraced him. "I'm happy to finally meet you, Brother."

"It's good to meet you, too."

They released each other, and Lord Valerion said, "The battle, Son?"

"It's over, Father."

"Well, what happened?"

"It seems hard to explain ..."

Valerion's hoarse voice was sharp with anticipation. "Well, explain!"

"The Slayers ... they just ... they just stopped fighting."

Valerion propped himself up on his elbows, clenching his teeth in pain. He echoed Capian, "They just stopped fighting?"

Capian nodded. "Just stopped. One minute the battle was fierce, and the next minute they stopped and simply stood there. No amount of screaming by the Slayer officers could make them start again."

"What happened then?"

"After they became more certain it wasn't a ruse of some kind, the Tyberians and Alhaqris took their weapons away, and stripped them of their armor."

"I'll wager they're quite a sight indeed without all their armor on."

Capian shook his head. "They're just men under all that. Their eyes are the most frightening. All the tales told of how Uhr stole their souls must be true, because their eyes are as empty as glass."

Nessa asked, "But why would they just stop fighting?"

"Without souls they have no life of their own outside serving the will of their Master."

Valerion interrupted, "Then if they are no longer being controlled, that must mean ..."

Capian said, "Uhr is dead."