The Codex Lacrimae: The Book of Tears

Chapter 35: A Lore Master's Moment: The Burning Hospitaller

I WILL NOT DIE JUST AS I BEGIN TO LIVE, the Codex Lacrimae roared as it fully awakened and tried to bind itself to Servius Aurelius Santini. In that moment, the tome protected the young knight from the initial blast of dragon-fire. I'VE SAVED YOU, NOW ACCEPT MY PRICE.

The flames erupting past Fafnir the Dragon's rotting fangs passed over and around the Hospitaller knight, but did not touch him.

Santini recalled the words of Mimir when the Seer had first encountered the Codex at the Well of Fate. Identify me, the young knight thought, stepping back from the onslaught of the dragon's fire. The Codex must have shielded him, though, because he felt no heat.

YOU'RE A PATHETIC, WOULD-BE MONK WHO'S NOT LONG FOR THIS OR ANY OTHER WORLD, CHURL. I'VE SAVED YOU FROM DRAGON'S FIRE TO SAVE ME, BUT YOU'VE EARNED ONLY A MOMENTARY RESPITE.

"Identify me, Codex Lacrimae!"

I NAME YOU A DONKEY'S ASS AND CHURCH RENEGADE, STRUTTING PROUDLY FROM A FAMILY OF TRAITORS WHO SOLD YOU INTO SLAVERY RATHER THAN SEE YOU FULLY TRAINED BY THEIR ENEMIES.

COUNTLESS ARE THE HELLS I'LL DRAG YOU THROUGH, SANTINI. ABBADON COULD ONLY DREAM OF THE CESSPOOLS I'LL THRUST YOU FACE-FIRST INTO AFTER THIS MOMENT. HOW DARE YOU TRY TO TRICK ME INTO THIS ACTION. HOW DARE YOU—

"Enough!" Santini shouted, raised Dietrich's image of the flaming wall in his mind.

This time, that action not only partially severed his connection with the Dark Book, but also lost him its protection. He shouted in pain as the flames on the ground touched him.

WAS IST DAS, SANTINI? YOU CAN'T GO UNSHIELDED HERE! YOU'LL DIE, THEN I'LL NOT BE AWAKENED. COME BACK HERE.

"Identify me, or go to hell," he said through gritted teeth as he tried to endure the sudden exposure to the area burned by Fafnir. He felt as if he'd stepped onto the surface of the sun.

SANTINI, DO NOT DO THIS.

"Then ... identify me!"

The heat of the dragon's fire was a study in pain, and he started to succumb even before he could frame another plan. But there was no plan here, only molten death. He stood at the epicenter of a dragon-strike whose flames still rose high into the air. His clothing began to smolder, his eyebrows singed, and pain flared throughout his body as his hair began to burn.

SANTINI, YOU WILL PAY MY PRICE.

"No, it's you who will identify me, Codex Lacrimae!"

Santini fell to a knee, but even touching the seared ground sent a jolt of pain up his leg. He was vaguely aware that the dragon was roaring—aspetta, he thought wildly, is Fafnir laughing?—and then he saw the beast rear backward again, preparing for another exhalation of fiery death.

Buon. I was going to ask him to finish me, anyway. This ... is ... too much pain.

SANTINI, THIS IS SUICIDE. YOUR CHURCH WILL NOT FORGIVE THIS. YOU'RE A COWARD, CHOOSING DEATH INSTEAD OF ME. YOU'LL BURN IN HELL FOR THIS MORTAL SIN.

"Together ..." he croaked. "We'll burn together, bitch."

YOU ARE INSANITY ITSELF, HOSPITALLER.

"You will ..." he began, then choked on sulphur as his throat and lungs began to burn, "... identify ... me."

NEVER. NOT ON A MORTAL'S TERMS. I AM THE CODEX LACRIMAE, MIGHTIEST OF THE CODICES OF FATE, AND IN COMMAND OF THE RUNEPORTEN THAT BIND THE MULTIVERSE. BETTER A RETURN TO ETERNAL SLUMBER THAN SERVICE TO A MADMAN SUCH AS YOU. ACCEPT MY PRICE, OR DIE NOW.

"So be it," Aurelius whispered, his throat raw. He fell sidelong to the ground as Fafnir rushed toward him, his jaws wide and the fires starting to erupt again.

As death came, the knight croaked a laugh at the enormity of his mistake, wondering how he could have misplayed this gambit so badly.

This end was his reward for believing the respective counsels of Perceval and Dietrich, but he'd never thought that he'd meet an entity more stubborn than himself. Obviously, the Codex Lacrimae was quite willing to let him die, and perhaps never return again to the Nine Worlds.

No, Servius, it'll just find another Santini. He thought to himself, recalling the long game played by Old Nick and the Huntsmen, but also Perceval's admonition. It's not moral cowardice to let someone else have this burden, Perceval. It was arrogant to think that I was the one it wanted. That they wanted. Paolo or Roberto will probably serve them better, anyway. The Codex won't mind waiting a few more years. After all, it's already been dormant for six hundred ...

As he fell to his side on the molten ground, Aurelius prayed that his friends would forgive him. He'd failed them, as well as all the knights and civilians in the Krak.

More pain lashed through his arm and hip as the chain-mail shirt began to sear into his skin.

Clarinda, I wanted to see you one more time. Mi dispiace tanto. I'm so sorry.

As his eyes dimmed, he saw Fafnir breath fire again, laughing in full mirth as he spewed flaming death upon Santini.

NEIN. WE WILL NOTDIE TODAY, the Book of Tears intoned suddenly, its voice devoid of all emotion. I IDENTIFY YOU AS LORE MASTER SERVIUS AURELIUS SANTINI,CODEX WIELDER OF THE CODEX LACRIMAE, CODEX REGIUS, AND CODEX VINDICTA. BESIDES SAVING OUR LIVES, WHAT IS THY BIDDING?

Aurelius felt a coolness envelop him as the dragon fire passed through and around him again. The blisters on his skin and damaged eyes were healed, as the rest of his body was restored to full health. He felt a part of, yet distant from, the entire battlefield of Hisn al-Akrad, as if he lay both in and out of time. He somehow knew that the dragon could no longer touch him.

He pushed up from the ground, and stood shakily before Fafnir. Was he imagining it, or was the dragon slightly inclining his head toward him, with a cast to his maw that looked like a smile? "Fafnir," he rasped, his voice still gravelly from the fires and smoke. "Thank you for your fire."

"Well come are you, Lore Master Santini," Fafnir rumbled. "That was quite a risk you took."

Aurelius smiled weakly. "E, you too, I think. When you came at me a second time, you almost lost your chance for a new life."

"If you didn't prove to be master of the Codices, your promise was meaningless, anyway."

The knight shook his head, but winced in pain. He nodded at Fafnir. "We'll meet again, Dragon. I promise, I'll find you after I've found the Codex Scientiae."

"I know you will, Lore Master."

"I don't know how long it will take," he added.

"Then you'd best begin your efforts now,"Fafnir advised, directing his baleful eyes in the direction of the smoke-covered ramparts where the Huntsmen stood.

"Make it so, Codex Lacrimae," Aurelius said hoarsely, "primo, the Niflheim Gate to shut down Hela's Death Ship; secundo, the battlements to rescue my friends; terzo ... and primo, take me to Clarinda Trevisan."