‘Corien?’ Antsy said.
‘Yes?’
‘I’m coming to you. Don’t move.’ Arms out, Antsy edged his way towards Corien’s loud breathing. His hand brushed a blade and Corien gasped in surprise. ‘It’s me.’
‘Yes. Sorry. Where’s Orchid?’
‘Don’t know.’
‘You have the lantern?’
‘Yeah. In my bags. I’ll try and light it.’
‘Okay. I’ll cover you — though I can’t see a thing.’
Antsy knelt and yanked off his bedroll and bags. Rummaging, he found the small metal box then dug out his tinderbox. ‘Pray Oponn’s with us,’ he murmured, and readied the flint and iron.
He tapped down into the gathered tinder and kept at it until a glow betrayed itself. He blew gently, hands cupped. Between blows a tiny flame climbed to life within his hands. He held the wick to the tinder, turning it slightly to catch the fibres. A yellow-orange flame grew to life. Antsy carefully handed the box over to Corien then repacked.
‘Well, at least there’s no wind,’ the lad offered, his smile bright in the strengthening light.
‘Just like a gods-damned mine,’ Antsy grumbled, drawing a single long-knife. He took the lantern. ‘Let’s have a look.’
The weak flickering flame hinted at an immense room. Fat pillars of black stone serried off into the distance. He could just make out an arched ceiling. The polished stone of the floor appeared to be inlaid with what looked like a near infinity of gems. An unguessable fortune — yet none have claimed it.
He didn’t want to find out why but was afraid he was going to anyway.
Carefully advancing, they found Orchid standing motionless at the far end of the chamber. She stood before a chair — a huge seat carved from black stone. Antsy raised the lantern to see her staring upwards, seemingly enraptured.
‘Orchid,’ he whispered. ‘Are you all right?’
Blinking, she glanced at him as if not seeing him then smiled, motioning all about. ‘Isn’t it wondrous?’
‘Orchid,’ he began gently, ‘we can’t see a damned thing.’
‘Oh. I’m sorry …’ She clapped her hands and gave a command, a single word in Tiste Andii. An ice-blue glow arose from the gems at her feet and expanded in all directions. The inset gems blossomed to life all about the huge chamber, on the floor, the pillars, even the ceiling, until it was as if they stood suspended among an infinity of stars.
Antsy and Corien turned full circles, stunned. Antsy blew out the lantern.
‘The Sacristy of Night. Perhaps,’ Orchid supplied.
Most of the lights were mere tiny diamond-like pinpricks. Just like stars at night. But some were large pale-blue balls suspended overhead like moons. The room was now fully lit, but it was the cool silvery light of a full moon on a clear starry night. There was no sign of any sun anywhere in the sky.
‘It is said that this is a representation of what one would have seen from the homeland of the Andii,’ Orchid explained. ‘Perhaps. I don’t know for certain, of course.’
‘And this?’ Antsy motioned to the seat. ‘Is this … some kinda throne? Is this like a throne room?’
‘I don’t think so. More like a temple to Mother Dark, I should think. Sacred-’ She broke off.
Antsy had seen them as welclass="underline" shapes approaching. Like rippling cloths of pure black darkness. They’d seen one just like them before: the guardian who’d tried to kill them. He moved back to back with Corien. Damn it to Trake! What could they do against these?
One addressed Orchid in a whispered breathless version of Andii. She answered, then translated: ‘They say we are polluting sacred ground and that they will cleanse us.’
‘Ask for the way out and tell them we’ll go right away.’
She spoke again and the same one answered. Orchid translated: ‘It says the way out is the way we came in.’
‘Perhaps there is a back door?’ Corien asked, raising his sword and gauche.
The shapes were crowding very close now, almost a solid sheet of impenetrable black surrounding them. Orchid spoke again and was answered.
‘What did it say?’ Antsy asked.
‘You don’t want to know,’ Orchid said, her hands falling.
‘Try that incantation thing again,’ Antsy told her.
‘That won’t work here. We really are trespassing.’
The scrap of elemental night gestured then, an unmistakable sign of dismissal or end of debate, and Antsy wondered whether munitions would have any effect upon them.
Suddenly a new voice rang out in the Andii tongue, loud and firm. A man stepped through the ring. He was obviously Tiste Andii with his night-black skin, but there were differences from other Andii Antsy had seen. His eyes were the same almond shape but more lifeless-looking, being black on black. His hair was dark as well, and very long. He wore it loose, hanging to his shoulders. His clothes were dark yet rich: a shirt, vest and open robes all of a velvety cloth. He was also rather heavier-set than most Andii Antsy had met.
The man faced an amazed Orchid, looked her up and down, and smiled. ‘I was meditating … saying my goodbyes if you will … when whispers reached me through the night of the True Tongue spoken by a young woman. At first I could not believe it. All were sent away. Yet here you are speaking the Noble Language. I cannot tell you how pleasing it is to me to hear it once more.’ He bowed, smiling even more broadly. ‘Forgive me, but it has been a very long time.’
One of the shades spoke and the man frowned. He gave a curt answer but the shape replied firmly. The man turned from Orchid, crossed his arms. He spoke again, and while his tone seemed light enough Antsy sensed the iron beneath the words. It also seemed suddenly rather cold in the chamber. Antsy edged away from the man and noted that the gems beneath his boots no longer gave off light. It was as if they were dead, or had had all the light sucked from them.
Then, raising the hair on Antsy’s neck, the entire ring of shades bowed to the man, murmuring. Orchid paled, a hand going to her throat as if to cut off what she almost blurted out.
The shades withdrew and the man turned once more to Orchid. ‘My apologies. They have their duties. One mustn’t blame them for being true to their assigned tasks.’
Antsy sheathed his long-knives. ‘Well, thanks for intervening. Do you know if there is another way out of this place? If there is, we’ll be on our way.’
It was as if he’d not spoken at all. The man continued to study Orchid, his chin pinched between his fingers. ‘What is your name, child?’
‘Orchid.’
‘Orchid? In truth? That is an Andii name. Did you know that?’
Orchid’s face darkened even further in a blush. ‘No, sir. That is, no. I did not.’
‘And what’s your name?’ Antsy asked loudly. Corien set a hand on his elbow.
The man’s unnerving black eyes slid to him. ‘You may call me Morn.’
‘Morn? Right. Well, you just point us in the right direction and we’ll leave you in peace.’
The eyes slid back to Orchid. ‘Perhaps you should remain here. You would be safe and welcome.’
If anything the girl paled even more to a sickly near-grey. ‘We must be moving on.’
‘What is it you seek?’
‘The Gap. We just want to get out of here.’
The man frowned almost as if hurt. ‘Really, child? Don’t you wish to remain? To learn more of your inheritance?’
Swaying, she barely whispered, ‘What do you mean?’
Morn spread his arms wide to indicate the entire chamber and perhaps also everything beyond. ‘I mean, Orchid … welcome home, Child of the Night.’
Her eyes rolled up then and she fainted. She would have smacked her head on the stone floor had not Antsy jumped forward to ease her fall.
*
The place wasn’t so bad, Antsy reflected, once you got used to the wraith-like beasties occasionally wafting forward to look you over — perhaps searching for the best place to bite. In any case in terms of his own personal philosophy he couldn’t complain: he wasn’t dead yet.