Page 126
Elric takes a breath and climbs onto the windowsill, then out into the cold night, clinging to the wall of Urynwud.
The climb is tricky. He almost falls several times. He knows a slip or a misjudged handhold would send him tumbling to his death on the stones below, but it matters little. He gets to Lukas or he dies getting to Lukas. There are no other paths he can take.
He reminds himself of this over and over as he descends, slipping once or twice when a vine he grasps comes loose from the wall, or a jutting stone he stands on crumbles. His heart is beating harder than he thinks it ever has when his feet touch cobbles and he is on the ground.
He crosses the silent courtyard to the zhilvar. He takes a breath at the mysterious threshold. Will the mist sting his skin? Again, he tells himself, it matters not.
He is not surprised in the least when the mist parts to let him through.
It is only a wall of mist. Elric passes through it in a couple of paces. He finds himself beyond it and in the dark and silent zhilvar, among the trees. He slips the ring from his finger and lets it drop into the undergrowth.
Then, he sees him.
Lukas is sitting at the base of a tall upright stone, shirtless, smoking his pipe beside a small fire. The flames from the fire dance on his face — hair hanging down, shadowing features sharp as knives. He stands up as Elric steps from the shadows into the dancing orange firelight.
“Lukas?” Elric says, voice shaking.
“You call me Lukas now?” It is his lover's voice. No taint of the demon.
“Bastard Prince? S-silverhand?”
Lukas smiles, strangely wide. “My own Lordling. Welcome to the lair of your one-handed demon.” He is not wearing his hook, or its brace.
“Is it you? Are you still yourself?” Elric says. His legs shake. He curses the nerves that fail him now.
“Do I not seem like myself?”
Elric steps closer, heart beating hard. “The demon took you because you are older than Damon. The exact date of your birth was confused or hidden by your father. But you were born during the moon of Mar, just like Damon. Earlier in that moon’s turn. You have a great claim to the throne of Azuria.”
Lukas laughs. It echoes in the dark. “Indeed. Except that I am possessed by a demon and my brothers will have to kill me.”
The air is cold. Elric shudders. He would be warmer nearer that fire. “No one has said they will kill you. The demon was inside Harok and it left.”
“It left Harok because it wanted to. I know that. It’s in here with me. I see all of it. I know all the demon knows. More than Harok ever did. It only left Harok because its plan was to possess Selim. It will not leave me. It will make me open that vault. It has told me so.”
Elric takes another step towards the fire. The warmth of it on his shins is sweet. “Harok says you will have control of it, at first. He managed to keep it suppressed within him for so long because his mother made a special symbol.”
Lukas shakes his head. “If you are hoping to do the same for me, that symbol did nothing. Harok managed to keep Ur-Durik suppressed because he had nowhere he wanted to go. He did not have the power needed to open the vault. He only got that when he was Emperor of Azuria, the Empire that worshiped him. He is far more powerful now than he ever was. It will not be long before he can override my will completely.”
Elric nods. He sits down beside the fire.
“So how long do you have? Before the demon takes control of you and makes you open that vault.”
“Until morning.”
“Until morning then,” Elric says, as Lukas reaches out, takes hold of Elric by the chin, and kisses him.
51
JEMEL
Jemel is in the library of Urynwud, he has been there all day and all through the night. Dawn must be coming soon. Xan sits by the fire, watching him. Baby is stretched out at his feet.
He has not stopped studying to eat or drink. He is sore. His eyes ache and his head throbs. But he will not stop until he finds something. He is the Scholar.
The words are swimming before his eyes. He grunts a little as a wave of dizziness takes him and he almost loses himself, narrowly stopping himself from collapsing, face first into his books.
He takes a deep breath.
