" The Lord isn' t a concern any longer. He will never again trouble you." The mechanical seemed inclined to doubt. Lan was too tired to argue. " But Silvain is another matter. He poses even more of a threat."
" Impossible."
" With Claybore backing him, the threat is incalculable," continued Lan. He fought blacking out, wondered if it were worth the effort not slipping into darkness and sweet oblivion. " Claybore conquers entire worlds. As he regains his body' s parts and reconstructs himself, his power grows. The Lord of the Twistings was a powerful mage. He blended magic with the mechanical wondrously well, but Claybore is more powerful. He controls energies we cannot begin to comprehend." Darkness came over him. Lan succumbed to the warmth of that embrace.
When he awoke, he heard Inyx and Knoton arguing.
" Silvain is mine," the woman shouted. " I took care of the Lord, I want Silvain, too. He robbed me."
" Robbed you? Of what?" asked the mechanical.
" Revenge! I was going to kill Luister len- Larrotti for all the humiliation he gave me. Silvain killed him first. For that, if nothing of the other crimes he' s committed, I want to see him skewered on the tip of my knife!"
" This world is returning to laws," said the mech. " Real trials, not the mock ones the Lord delighted in televising for the populace. Silvain will be the first, since you' ve relieved us of the possibility with the Lord."
" I' d toss Silvain right in there next to him, if I could." Then Inyx' s voice quieted a little. " No, not that. Execute him, yes, I' d gladly do that. But punishment such as the Lord got should be reserved for the truly evil. Alberto Silvain is a pawn, a cunning one, in Claybore' s game, and he poses only a minor threat."
" Is the subjugation of all the worlds along the Cenotaph Road a minor threat?" asked Lan. He felt little better for having been unconscious, but some measure of strength had trickled back. He survived on the edge, but that was better than being an inch beyond and cast into the dark abyss of unconsciousness.
" I' ll not debate philosophy with you. The man' s not to be found."
" He is still within the palace," said Lan. " Where, I can' t say. But he' s waiting for something."
" The cenotaph," spoke up Krek. " You remember the one we ' felt' yesterday?"
" Yesterday?" Lan sat upright, momentarily dizzy. " I' ve been asleep for an entire day?"
" A bit less. The cenotaph opened and closed. Perhaps he waits for it again."
" Where' s the graveyard?" Lan demanded of Knoton. " I sense the openings and closings, but I' m too weak to pinpoint the exact cenotaph he' ll use."
" I know where it is, friend Lan Martak. I have not been slumbering away my life while desperate characters like this Silvain rush about uncaptured."
" Take me there. Let' s all get there. Don' t waste time!" Lan cursed to himself all the way out of the palace and toward the back lawn. Inyx had to give him more support than he' d have liked. He vowed that the first thing he' d do when all this was behind them was rest for a week, then spend another week with Inyx in more enjoyable pursuits.
Afterward:
They made their way out into the neatly cropped lawn, down the path, and toward a small stand of trees. This close Lan " saw" the cenotaph- cenotaphs. No fewer than eight clustered in this minuscule graveyard.
" I' ve never seen so many in one place."
" Nor I," agreed the spider. " This is a world of strange contrasts. Obviously great courage is possible. Perhaps that goes with great evil, also."
" What are these cenotaphs?" asked Knoton. " You humans speak of them as if they were the most marvellous things in the world."
How could flesh and blood ever explain the concept of death to a mechanical? Or was it possible that mechs recognized disassembly in the same way? Lan didn' t have the energy to explore the topic at the moment.
" They open gateways to other worlds. Claybore walks the Cenotaph Road at will now, collecting hidden body artifacts. Silvain and others aid him; we oppose them."
" Succinctly put," came Alberto Silvain' s words. Lan spun, reaching for a death tube at his belt. His hand froze halfway there when he saw that Silvain aimed one of the weapons directly at Inyx' s head. The commandant laughed, saying, " So it' s as I surmised. You' d face your own death willingly enough to stop me- and Claybore. But you won' t risk hers. Claybore will find that interesting."
" You know what he' s trying to do," said Lan, trying to find the most convincing words. " Join us, oppose him."
" I side with the winners."
" Like the not very lamented Lord of the Twistings?" asked Krek.
" I had no choice in his case. Claybore ordered me to support him. Given the chance, I would have removed him permanently. I see that our lovely Inyx did that and more. She has a ruthlessness in her that I admire."
" I' d rip out your liver and stuff it down your throat, if I could," the woman said, her tone low and menacing.
" See? Such an admirable display of courage. Too bad I must kill you all, before joining Claybore."
" He' s not doing too well regaining his tongue." Lan made it a statement, not a question.
" How' d you know-? Ah, a trick. There is no way you can know what happens on that world. You don' t even know which world he' s on. But as you have already learned from me, yes, progress is much too slow. I am now free to aid him. Then I shall return to this world and make it my own personal domain. He' s promised me."
" The cenotaph opens," said Krek.
Alberto Silvain jerked slightly in his eagerness to leave behind the world of his defeat. Inyx ducked, then rolled behind a gravestone. The death beam lashed out and blew the marker to tiny stone fragments. Silvain poised for a second shot when he saw Knoton, Krek, and Lan simultaneously starting for him. The odds were too great, the need to escape this world too binding.
He dived into the already opened crypt just inches under Lan' s death beam.
Even as they approached, Lan Martak knew they were too late to stop the transition. Krek made a tiny choking noise, then sat down, legs akimbo around him.
" He is gone," lamented the spider. " He has walked the Cenotaph Road."
" It' ll be a full day before we can follow, too. Curse the luck!"
" You would follow?" asked Knoton, in surprise. " But if the other side is like this one, why can' t Silvain post a guard who will kill you as you emerge?"
" No reason in this world- or any world. We have to try to stop him, though. Claybore' s evil makes the Lord of the Twistings look small in comparison."
The mechanical said nothing, studying the two humans and arachnid.
" Let' s return to the palace," suggested Inyx. " We can prepare for the journey tomorrow."
As they walked back, illusions began popping up on the lawn. By the time they made their way into the audience chamber, Jonrod the Flash stood in the center of the stage, gesticulating wildly.
": and further, I promise you the most elaborate illusions known to magical conjuration. Your faith in me as your newly appointed Lord is not misplaced."
" What is this?" yelled Knoton. He glanced around. The other mechanicals stood silently along the walls. Humans crowded in close to the stage. " What right do you have to declare yourself Lord?"
Jonrod blinked, as if not believing his own eyes.
" You' re a mechanical," he said. " I don' t have to answer to you. But I will," he said hurriedly, when he saw the angry surge in the mechanical army. " I have spoken with the others who ran for the position. They agreed unanimously I am the best choice. Jonrod the Flash is new Lord of the Twistings!"