Legacy of the Darksword - Margaret Weis [70]
“Yes!” Mosiah was frustrated, angry. “I revealed myself to him. He recognized me and he didn’t seem all that surprised to see me. We didn’t have much time. I could hear the D’karn-darah coming. I asked him to give me the Darksword. Til take it away!’ I promised him. ‘I’ll keep it safe!’ “
“How could you?” Scylla asked. “Its null-magic would have destroyed the Corridors.”
“We had designed a special sheath for it,” Mosiah said. “Once the Darksword was inside this sheath, we could have transported it easily. Joram refused, of course. He wouldn’t give me the sword. I thought ... I thought he was being stubborn, as usual. I didn’t know that he couldn’t give me the sword. I didn’t know then that he knew or guessed who had taken it.”
Mosiah raised his head, looked at Eliza. “If he had trusted me. If he had told me the truth—I know. Why should he? It was obvious at that point that I’d been spying on him.
“After that, there’s not much to tell. Within moments three D’karn-darah entered the bedroom. We could hear more inside the other parts of the house. Then another came to us, dragging Father Saryon. He was all right,” Mosiah reassured me, and he smiled slightly. “He is a tough one, Reuven. The first thing the good father said when he saw us was, ‘Don’t give it to them, Joram!’
“The D’karn-darah demanded the Darksword. Joram refused. They told him to give them the sword or he would see those he loved suffer. They had seized hold of Gwendolyn. What was Joram to do? He couldn’t give them the sword even if he had wanted to, because he didn’t have it.
“ ‘Take me.’ He tried to bargain with them. ‘Let my wife and Father Saryon go. Take me and I’ll tell you where the sword is hidden.’
“I doubt if they would have ever agreed to such a bargain, not when they held all the cards, but we’ll never know. At that moment a teddy bear, which had been lying on the bed, flew up and struck the D’karn-darah who was holding Gwen captive.”
“Good old Simkin,” Scylla said, smiling.
“Yes, good old Simkin,” Mosiah echoed dryly. “The D’karn-darah was taken by surprise, as you can well imagine. The bear struck the Technomancer on the forehead. The blow was not a hard one, but it rocked her back on her feet. In her astonishment, she let go of Gwen. The bear continued to pummel the D’karn-darah, smacking her on the face, buffeting her head, and eventually ended by clamping himself over her nose and mouth. He appeared to be trying to smother her. At that moment Gwendolyn disappeared.”
“Disappeared?” Eliza repeated, bewildered. “What do you mean—disappeared? Did my mother run away? What happened to her?”
“I don’t know,” Mosiah said, angry at himself, at his own impotence. “If I did, I would tell you. She vanished. One moment Gwen was there. The next she was gone. I thought at first that perhaps some of my people had taken her into the Corridors, but later investigation revealed that they knew nothing of what happened to her.
“But Joram thought the worst. He assumed the D’karn-darah had taken Gwen. He went wild with rage, flung himself barehanded at the D’karn-darah. He caught them off guard. They had not been expecting an attack by a stuffed toy, nor one of their hostages to disappear. Joram’s lunge carried two of them to the floor. I took out the fourth.”
Mosiah smiled grimly. “You’ll find a charred spot on the bedroom floor. By that time, however, more D’karn-darah arrived. They subdued Joram . . . and took him away.”
“Subdued him,” Eliza said, noting that Mosiah had averted his gaze once more. “How? Tell me. What did they do to my father?”
“Tell her,” Scylla said. “She needs to understand the nature of the enemy against which we fight.”
Mosiah shrugged. “Very well. They struck Joram over the head, dazing him. Then they inserted the needles. You may have read of a practice known as acupuncture. Needles are inserted into specific areas of the body to produce regional anesthesia. The D’karn-darah have developed the reverse. Each needle is charged with electromagic. The stimulus it produces