Realms of Infamy - James Lowder [92]
"Lanaxis, you are too kind." The wood giant's voice was as bitter as sapwood.
The titan smiled, then looked toward the three cavernous archways leading into the interior of his palace. "Julien, Arno!" he yelled. "Come here, I have a task for you!"
As Lanaxis called for his servant, Dunmore spun and hurled himself at the magical ice orb, smashing into it with a tremendous crash. The sphere shattered into a hundred pieces, releasing a howling tempest of wind and snow. Blinded by the raging blizzard, the Sons of Annam bellowed in surprise and began to stumble about, filling the air with crashes and grunts as they collided with each other.
Lanaxis dropped to all fours and crawled toward the center of the room, sweeping his hands back and forth through the accumulating snow. A heavy foot came down on his wrist, and when he jerked his hand free, a giant crashed to the floor beside him. The titan ignored the fellow and continued to sweep his hand across the floor until he found a shard of the ice orb. Taking the fragment in hand, he spoke the sphere's command word, this time backward. The raging wind died away, and the snow began to settle on the floor in a thick blanket. As the confusion faded, a pair of legs kicked through the snow and stopped beside Lanaxis.
"You called?" asked Julien's smooth voice.
"We come, fast!" added Arno. His voice was a stark contrast to Julien's, gravelly and harsh. "What need?"
The titan raised his eyes and found himself looking at the contrasting faces of his two-headed servant, the ettin. Julien's features were swarthy and handsome, with curly dark hair and a cleft chin. Arno was a pale-skinned brute, with a pug nose and double chin encrusted with reminders of his last several meals. Their necks descended to a single point, joining atop a broad-shouldered body that, at Julien's insistence, they kept reasonably clean.
Lanaxis rose, looking around the veranda for the thane. The only sign he found of the wood giant was a set of half-buried footprints leading to one entrance of Bleak Palace.
"It seems Dunmore has left," observed Nicias. "No doubt to do as you feared and tell Othea of our intent."
The giants were silent, for they all knew how great the Mother Queen's anger would be when she heard of their plan.
"I'll go," said Masud. The khan started for the archway. "It won't take me long to stop that runt."
Nicias caught the smaller giant's shoulder. "The Sons of Annam do not fight each other."
"Nor do they betray the confidences of their brothers!" Masud raised his fiery eyes to seek support from Lanaxis. "For that, I say we throw him in the smelter!"
"There's no need to incinerate him," replied the titan. "Just bring him back, and the ettin will hold him here."
"No! There will be a struggle when Masud captures him." Nicias continued to clutch the shoulder of the fire giant. "Dunmore will be injured-perhaps killed."
"Better that than let him go!" boomed Lanaxis. "If Dunmore tells Othea of our plans, none of us will ever set foot on the Great Glacier, and Ostoria will be lost!"
"If we attack our own brother, or even hold him prisoner, we have lost it already," said Nicias. "I will not stand for that."
"And I will not let the glacier scour our empire from the world!" Lanaxis fixed an angry glare on Nicias.
The cloud giant returned the stare. In Nicias's eyes there was no anger or fear, only determination, and Lanaxis knew his foe would never concede the argument. The titan's anger grew hotter than Masud's forges, and his fists burned with the urge to strike, but he locked his arms at his sides and kept them there. Many other giants held Nicias in high esteem, and to strike the dynast would be to cast Ostoria into a carnage that would destroy it as surely as the Great Glacier.
Vilmos laid his hand on Lanaxis's shoulder. "I am sorry, my brother," rumbled the storm giant. "Perhaps Nicias is right. To move against Dunmore is to destroy Ostoria's spirit-and I'm sure none of us wants any part of that."
With that, Vilmos turned to leave the veranda, as did Nicias.