The Seventh Gate by Tracy Hickman;Margaret Weis

Author:Tracy Hickman;Margaret Weis
Language: eng
Format: mobi
ISBN: 9781417661091
Publisher: San Val
Published: 1994-01-01T10:00:00+00:00

CHAPTER 19

SAFE HARBOR ABARRACH

"MY LORD!" A PATRYN ENTERED XAR’S LIBRARY. "A GROUP of what appear to be Sartan have arrived in Safe Harbor. The scouts believe they are going to attempt to seize the ship."

Xar knew, of course, what was transpiring. He had been with Marit mentally, following events through her ears and eyes, although she had no idea she was being used for such a purpose. He made no mention of this fact, however, but looked up with interest at the Patryn making the report.

"Indeed. Sartan—native to Abarrach. I heard rumor of this before our arrival, but the lazar led me to believe all the Sartan were dead."

"They might as well be, Lord. They are a ragged, wretched-looking lot. Half starved."

"How many of them?"

"Perhaps fifty or so, My Lord. Including children."

"Children ..." Xar was nonplussed. Marit had made no mention of children. He hadn’t figured them into his calculations.

Still, he reminded himself coldly, they are Sartan children.

"What is Kleitus doing?"

"Attempting to destroy the rune-magic protecting the ship, My Lord. He appears to be oblivious to all else."

Xar made an impatient gesture. "Of course he is. He, too, is half starved—for fresh blood."

"What are your orders, My Lord?"

What indeed? Xar had been pondering this ever since he had known, from Marit’s whispered conversation with Alfred, what was being planned. Alfred was going to attempt to wrench the soul from the lazar’s body. Xar had a great deal of respect for the Serpent Mage—more respect for Alfred than Alfred had for himself. He might very well be capable of ending the lazar’s tormented existence.

Xar didn’t care a rune-bone what happened to the lazar. If they all turned to dust, if they fled Abarrach—it was all the same to him. He would be happy to be rid of them. But once Kleitus was destroyed, Alfred would be free to take over the ship. True, he had told Marit he intended to destroy it. But Xar didn’t trust the Sartan.

The Lord of the Nexus made his decision. He rose to his feet.

"I will come," he said. "Send all our people to the Anvil. Have my ship there, ready to sail. We must be prepared to move ... and move swiftly."

Out beyond the New Provinces, directly across from Safe Harbor, stood a promontory of jagged rock known —for its black color and distinctive shape—as the Anvil. The Anvil guarded the mouth of a bay created eons ago when a tremor had caused part of the rock peak to crack and break off. It had slid into the sea, creating an opening in the cliff that permitted the magma to flow into a low-lying section of land.

This created a bay, which was named Firepool. The lava, fed continually by the Fire Sea and surrounded by sheer rock walls on all sides, formed a slow-moving, sluggish maelstrom.

Around and around flowed the viscous magma, carrying chunks of black rock on its glowing surface. A person standing on the Anvil could pick out a particular rock and watch it being carried inexorably to its doom.

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