Stoneweaver

Stoneweaver - Chapter 42

Gliding around the front of the table to perch there with apparent nonchalance, Narvon never moved his gaze from Welden. "Do you really think you can actually achieve anything here? That you can use the device?"

"Well you obviously do or you wouldn't have arranged my escape."

His eyebrow rising in a question, Narvon's face remained unreadable.

"Oh, come on, from the way the books were so casually left to be easily found, I can only assume your previous puppets must have been complete imbeciles."

Barely a flicker, but his smile did dip slightly. He was still trying to judge his options, and whether anything could be salvaged here.

"Don't worry, I'll activate it. Even knowing the cost."

"The cost?" At least he'd given up trying to feign confusion. Now he just seemed to be fishing for how much Welden knew.

"Your histories obscure it well, but I'm an... I was, an archaeologist. I'm used to filling in what was left out of the history books. From what I read, and what I can infer by your manipulations, I think I have a fair idea of the truth."

"Please, illuminate me."

"This is the device which flooded the world," Welden glanced at the stone table. "It had only been intended to counter the drought which threatened the world, but your ancestor saw in it the possibility of gaining power." Had there been a flicker of something there, satisfaction that one of his secrets remained so? "He wouldn't have been the one to activate it though, because to channel this much power... The user doesn't survive, do they?"

No response, and his face remained determinedly fixed.

"I'll take that as confirmation. So with the world flooded, thanks to your original dupe, your family established this safe haven, you waited until society had broken down so much, with yourself in such a position of power, that when you recover the world, you're able to take control of what remains of civilization. How long ago had your family planned to put everything right?"

Again nothing, but his face seemed to darken.

"You couldn't sacrifice yourself to activate it, obviously, because what would be the point. I haven't been able to work out exactly what it needs that any old Stoneweaver can't provide, otherwise you'd probably have had one of your Stoneguards do it. Would you care to educate me?"

His face had turned stony by this point. "I thought you were intending to use it?"

"I will. Because the world needs to be fixed. But I can't leave it for you to take over. Not after all you've done."

"So you arranged for your army, which even now tramples and destroys irreplaceable crops, to attack mine?"

"An unavoidable consequence. But for the greater good."

"The greater good!?" Narvon snarled. "Do you know why there was a drought? Because those who originally built the device used it frivolously, to ensure they always had good weather. It never used to take so much to control it, but the amount of change to be undone were so great as to take the sacrifice of the user. Even then it was difficult to control. It was never intended to cause this damage, or to last this long. Yes, we wanted to wash away the mess society had become, but the water should have receded within decades." He didn't seem to realise his slip, and hopefully wouldn't.

"Yet here we are, centuries later."

"Yes, here we are," Narvon said, his tone controlled once again. "So what is it you now intend?"

"First of all I need an answer."

"Ask your question."

"Is she still alive?"

The confusion on his face appeared genuine this time.

"Zienna," Welden said, managing to keep his voice even.

"Your woman? Why would she be?"

He didn't bother suppressing his sigh. "I thought that if you needed to manipulate me, her death may have been faked, so you could coerce me if needed." It had been a faint hope, and one he'd tried to abandon, but even so, seeing the denial of it so bare, left him feeling the loss all over again. He had to remind himself it wouldn't last long.

"Ah, that would have been a smart move, I agree. Unfortunately it wasn't until after her death I learned you could be of use to me. You kept your abilities quiet."

Because Stoneweavers only became weapons of oppression in society. But Narvon didn't need to know that, and wouldn't care anyway.

"Anything else I can do to speed along your sacrifice?" A hint of impatience entered Narvon's voice.

"No, now it's simply a matter of waiting until your forces are beaten and you're taken prisoner."

Anger taking his face, Narvon stood and moved towards the door, only to halt as Welden moved threateningly towards him.

"Come on," Welden said. "If you survive this free, I've no doubt you'd make an army of whoever's left standing out there. And that I won't allow."

A moment of calculation went on behind those eyes, before Narvon snarled. "Fine. Then I'll just have to wait for the next one to come along." With that he reached for the wall, muttering something Welden couldn't hear.

The stone in here must not be protected, then, so he'd need his own stone avatar in these close quarters. Rummaging in his pouch as he moved towards the wall, he stopped dead as he realised Narvon wasn't animating the stone. It didn't flow onto him, along the hand touching the wall, gradually covering him over his clothes. Instead his body became stone, his skin shifting in a wave that spread under his clothes, until the stony face glaring at Welden actually was.