Vanity's Brood - Lisa Smedman [91]
Just as Arvin himself was.
The realization hit him like an ice-cold blast of wind. He sat, utterly motionless, water dripping onto his shoulders from his wet hair. Aside from the feelings Karrell stirred in him, when was the last time he'd been utterly passionate about something? He could count the number of true friends he'd had in his life on one hand. If he was brutally honest, they narrowed down to just one: Naulg, who had defended him at the orphanage when they were both just boys. After Arvin had escaped from the Pox, he'd set about trying to rescue Naulg and had eventually succeeded-but just a little too late to save his friend's life. If Arvin had been a little more zealous in his efforts, a little more passionate about his friend's welfare, might Naulg have survived? Was a lack of strong emotion the reason why Arvin had been so reluctant to take up the worship of Hoar, god of vengeance, as the cleric Nicco had urged?
Was Arvin, indeed, as cold-blooded and dispassionate as any full-blooded yuan-ti?
No, he told himself sternly. He wasn't. There was Karrell. He loved her. The need to rescue her burned in him, not just to rescue her, but to save the children he'd fathered. They mattered to him.
The fact remained that he was part yuan-ti. He couldn't deny it any longer, even to himself. It explained so much: why it felt so natural to morph into a flying snake, why his psionics were so powerful. Yuan-ti had a number of inborn magical abilities that mimicked psionic powers. Their ability to charm humans, for example. That was one of the first powers Arvin had learned. It had just come naturally to him.
Because he had yuan-ti blood.
He squared his shoulders. So what, he told himself. It doesn't change anything. I'm still the person I've always been. I just understand myself a little better now.
He turned, saw Ts'ikil watching him. "Were you listening to my thoughts?"
No.
"Thank you." He stood. "Tell me about the Circled Serpent. If I'm going after the Dmetrio-seed, I'll need to know as much about it as he does."
It is ancient-it was made at the height of the Mhairshaulk Empire. It was one of several keys, the rest of which have been lost in the intervening millennia. The sarrukh, creators of the yuan-ti and other reptilian races, erected a series of gates to other planes of existence. The keys could be used to open any of them.
"How?"
Ts'ikil ignored the question. You think you can survive in Smaragd.
"Karrell has for six months, pregnant and alone." Not alone. Karrell is one of the k'aaxlaat. Ubtao watches over her.
"Even in Smaragd?"
Even there. Ts'ikil's eyes bored into Arvin's. You, on the other hand, have yet to choose a god.
Arvin touched the crystal at his throat. "I worship Tymora."
When it suits you.
"That's as much as most mortals can say."
That is true, but the fact remains: you are not a cleric. You will have no protection in Smaragd.
It took Arvin a moment to realize what Ts'ikil had just said. Hope surged through him. "You… you're going to let me do it, aren't you? Enter Smaragd." He tilted his head. "What changed your mind?"
I have not changed my mind. The Circled Serpent must be destroyed. A key that can release Dendar-that can bring about the destruction of this world-can not be permitted to remain in existence. She lifted her unbroken wing. Feathers hung from it in tatters. I am injured; my part in this has diminished.
She lowered her wing. Fortunately, so has Sibyl's. She was equally weakened by ourbattle, and she does not know thal Zelia's seed has the key.
It has come down to a race between yourself and the Dmelrio-seed. If he reaches the door first and opens it, I fully expect that you will follow him inside. You must, if you are to save Karrell's life.
"That much is obvious," Arvin said.
Yes, but the course of action you must pursue is not. You will be tempted to rush to find Karrell first.