A giant boulder smashed into Larby's chest, flinging him to the ground. More stones bounced and skittered on top of him.
Edeard was dancing about on the slope, trying to avoid the lethal barrage, smacking at the stones hurtling at him, deflecting them. Then the biggest boulder of all, nearly twice his height, slammed into the bottom of the gulley, shaking the ground. Momentum sent it spinning right at him.
He held it. The incredible weight was nothing. He just grabbed it with his third hand and stopped it dead in the air. It hung there, three feet off the ground as his lips twisted savagely with the effort. A shower of smaller stones from the avalanche smacked into it. Edeard held fast. One of the other original boulders rolled past, then teetered on the slope and skittered back down to the bottom of the gully.
'Ladyfuck! someone's frantic longtalk shouted.
'How's he doing that?
'Kill him. Kill the little shit.
The rapid-fire guns began shooting. Bullets thudded into the boulder hanging in front of Edeard. He could hear strange whirring pings as ricochets twirled off in all directions. The reverberations of falling rock grumbled away as the avalanche slithered to its end.
Edeard lifted the boulder high, above his head, higher, three times his height. Higher still. It drew level with the caves on the other side of the gully. Seven bandits were crouched down on a long ledge running in front of the dark openings. They gaped in disbelief at the massive rock that was now curving through the air towards them. Accelerating.
It struck the first one, knocking him away into the gully. The impact didn't even slow it down. Everyone on the ledge tried to run, but there was no room and no time. The boulder hammered into them, crushing their bodies to pulp or sending them spinning off into the chasm. Then Edeard brought it down very precisely on the last bandit.
After that, he simply stood there. Arms by his side. Staring numbly at the great swathe of shingle which the avalanche had created on the other side of the gully. He started to shake. Arms first, then his legs trembled and his muscles gave out. He dropped to his knees.
'Dinlay? he called with mind and voice. 'Dinlay? Macsen? Topar? Anyone?
He sensed the fastfoxes coming, slinking along the bottom of the gully, hurrying to do their masters' bidding. To bring death to the intruder. Without even thinking, he shoved his third hand into their skulls and tore at the soft brain tissue. They fell silently, sprawling over the stony ground.
The remaining bandits followed stealthily. Creeping along under concealment, rapid-fire guns held ready. Edeard let them come close, then killed them. Pulling them from where they crouched and crawled, and snapping their spines. They were discarded one after the other, dropping out of the night to lie broken beside their fastfoxes. He felt nothing. No sorrow. No anger. Nothing.
Dinlay's shredded body was sprawled on the slope above him, where he should have been safe. Where he would have been safe after Edeard dropped him there, if he'd just stayed down. But Dinlay would never cower behind a rock while his comrades were under attack. Not Dinlay.
Edeard focused his farsight down the slope. Macsen's bloody corpse was staring up at Odin's Sea. Defiant to the last, he'd even got off a shot after the first swarm of bullets had struck. Fresage and Topar were buried below mounds of stone. Boloton had been pinned down by a rock landing on his legs. Other stones had battered him while several bullets punctured his chest and head. There wasn't much left that was recognizable. And Verini hadn't got more than half a dozen paces back up the gully before the rapid fire guns had found him. Larby's arms and legs protruded from underneath one of the large boulders; there was nothing left of his torso but a mangled patch of gore soaking into the earth.
Edeard started crying. 'Why do you do this to me? he yelled at Odin's Sea. 'Lady, why? What have I done that's so evil to be punished like this. Why? Why? Tell me you stinking bitch. He sobbed relentlessly. 'Why? Then he was curled up on the ground, helpless. Wanting this monstrous life to end. Wanting to die.
'Edeard.
The voice was spoken from a very long way away.
'Edeard, this is not over.
He wiped a hand over his face, smearing the mud and tears and blood that were clinging to him. 'Who… oh.
'Edeard.
Through his grief he sighed in understanding, and extended his farsight to where he thought the voice was coming from. Concentrating as best he could. 'The Master of Sampalok himself, he said with bitter affection.
Macsen's soul smiled down at his friend. 'The briefest reign ever.
'The most memorable. Edeard's farsight switched to Dinlay, who stood beside Macsen. 'I'm so sorry.
'There's nothing to be sorry for, Dinlay said. 'You tried to save me.
'I failed.
'But you tried. That's what makes you the Waterwalker.
'Can you hear the nebulas? Can you hear the songs?
'Yes, Macsen said. 'They're very strong, very beautiful. It is hard to resist their call, they promise such a glorious future within the Heart. But we will stay with you for now, we are pledged to do that, no matter how difficult it is to linger. There is one task we are honour-bound to help you with, Edeard, defeating whoever was behind this ambush. You will deliver us justice.
'I will, he said miserably. 'I promise that. And thank you so much.
Macsen smiled sadly. 'Edeard, can you see them?
'See who? He sent out his farsight, thinking some bandits might have survived.
Macsen and Dinlay drifted towards him. 'Beside us, Edeard, Dinlay said. 'Try, Edeard, try to see them. They're so weak now, so fragile. But they endure. For you. Dear Lady, they have lasted for over a decade and a half. You'll never know what that costs until you die.
'What?
'Focus, Edeard, Macsen insisted. 'The same way you see us. But go further.
Edeard attempted to do as they asked, extending his farsight, not lengthening it, but deepening the perception. There, right on the edge of his ability, he discerned two figures. They were incredibly faint. A man and a woman, badly enervated compared to the souls of Macsen and Dinlay.
'I know you, Edeard said in wonder. 'Your faces. I remember them. His thoughts went tumbling back through the years. Back to a time when he'd run through that grand old farmhouse outside Ashwell. Laughed and played all day long. Gone running happily to… 'Mother? he gasped incredulously. 'Mother, is that you? And Father?
The tenuous souls smiled in unison. They linked hands.
'Son, his father said.
It was a voice so frail Edeard was immediately afraid. 'You stayed? the tears had returned as the revelation sapped his physical strength.
'Of course we stayed, my beautiful boy, his mother said.
'You watched out for me. You! It was you all those times. You warned me.
'You are all that is left of us, his father said. 'We had to protect you. To make sure you were safe.
'Oh, dear Lady. What about the songs, the call to the Heart?
'We love you, that's what's truly important.
'But, you're so… small.
'It would be the same if we had followed the songs, his mother said with a gentle smile. 'They are so far away. I tell myself so few souls will ever reach the Heart.
'Go, Edeard said. 'Go now. I want to meet you again on the other side of Odin's Sea. I want to tell you all I've done with my life. I want you to be safe.
'Too late for that, son, his father said. 'This has been our blessing, seeing what you have become. Seeing you grow to this stature. I'm so proud, so very proud, I would never exchange this for another lifetime in the Heart. Not if I had this same choice a million times over.
'My beautiful son, his mother said. 'I could never have dreamed for a child so splendid. You have led this world out of darkness.