Legacy of the Darksword - Margaret Weis [105]
“We will not have this!” Eliza was angry. “You have insulted Father Saryon for the last time, Enforcer—”
“No, child,” Saryon said. Looking about, he found an outcropping of rock and sank down upon it. “Mosiah is right. Don’t tell me, Daughter,” he added with a smile for her, “that you yourself are not curious about what we will find when we reach the dragon’s lair. I could use the rest. We must not be long, though. We must reach the dragon’s lair before night falls, while it is still sleepy and lethargic.”
“Amen to that,” Mosiah said.
What I write now is Father Saryon’s story, in his own words.
I have sometimes wondered what would have happened if Simkin had not tricked Menju the Sorcerer into sending him to Earth. I think matters might have turned out much differently. Had Simkin been here, I am certain that he might have saved Joram’s life. Emperor Garald does not agree with me and I must admit that I see his view. There is no doubt that Simkin set Joram up for the ambush, for it was Simkin who suggested that Joram find help for your poor mother in the Temple of the Necromancers. And it was there the Executioner waited for him and killed him.
I will never forget that terrible day.
I had gone to the Temple with Gwen and Joram, at his request, though I feared traveling to such a dreadful place. Joram was desperate. Gwendolyn was drifting further from us every day, it seemed. She spoke only to those who were dead and gone. She had no care for the living, not even for her own husband, whom she had once dearly loved. Her parents were sick with grief. When Simkin told us his fool story about having a little brother who was cured by the dead, Joram grasped it as a drowning man grasps at a bit of wood.
I tried to dissuade him, but he refused to listen. Simkin told us to be at the Temple at noon, when the power of the Temple would be greatest. The Emperor believes that Simkin knew in advance that the Executioner would be there waiting for Joram, but I don’t think so. I think Simkin merely wanted Joram out of the way, so that he—Simkin—could pretend to be Joram and so travel to Earth, which is exactly what he did.
I don’t suppose it matters now, one way or the other. Your father and I went to the Temple . I remained with Gwen, who Was exceedingly troubled by the voices of the dead. Joram stood by the altar. I heard four sharp, distinct cracks, one after the other.
I was paralyzed with fear, not knowing what dread fate these awful sounds portended.
The cracking sounds stopped. I looked about and saw nothing amiss, at first. I was about to take Gwendolyn into the Temple , where she would be safe, when I saw Joram slump against the altar.
His hand was pressed over his chest and blood welled from between his fingers.
I ran to him and caught him in my arms. I lowered him to the ground. I did not know then what had happened to him. Later I learned that he had been killed by a heinous tool of the Dark Arts, a weapon known as a “gun.”
All I knew then was that he was dying and there was nothing I could do except hold him.
“The Darksword . . .” he said, his voice coming in painful gasps. “Take it, Father. . . Hide it ... from them. My child!” He clasped my hand with his dying strength, and I believe that he willed himself to live the few moments longer it took him to impart this message. “If my child is in need . . . you must give the sword. . .”
I had not known then that Gwen was pregnant. Joram knew, and that was another reason he had wanted so desperately to find a way to help her.
“Yes, Joram!” I promised, through my tears.
He looked past me, to Gwen, who stood above him.
“I am coming,” he said to her, and closed his eyes and slipped away to join the dead.
She reached out her hand, not to the body, but to his soul. “My beloved. I have waited for you a long, long time.”
You know what happened after that. The forces of Menju the Sorcerer attacked Thimhallan. Our armies were crushed, utterly defeated. If Menju had had his way, we would have been exterminated