The Stone Heart's Lament
Sunbathing

Climbing out of thepool proved an ordeal Rashari had little desire to revisit in memory. Anexpeditious exit became a priority when the quantity of broken trees in thepool created a very real danger of being crushed. Clambering over the logs andtrunks to reach (relatively) dry land was awkward and unpleasant but eventuallyRashari, Madame Chimera and Smith found themselves on solid ground once more. Theypromptly collapsed in water logged heaps on the grassy veldt of a seeminglyidyllic valley.

Radiating miserySmith scuttled off into the grass a few feet away, clearly wanting to be alone.Rashari could feel his anxiety scratching at his brain. Water and metal jointsdid not mix well and Smith feared imminent rusting. Fully aware of just howannoying Smith in a sulk could be Rashari let him go without a word.

The pool was soclogged with wood and filth – with a constant flurry of more of the samepouring down from the cliff above – that the water was invisible. Rashari eyedthe waterfall (or more aptly the ‘mudfall’) with some scepticism. Given thesheer quantity of water required to drown an entire forest there was nopossible way the pool could contain it all. Still the deluge was alreadyslowing. The waterfall thinned out from a solid curtain of water obscuring therock-face to a wide ribbon of liquid mud. In minutes even that slowed to a merepersistent trickle. Now Rashari could appreciate, on a purely hypotheticallevel, that things worked differently out on the Steppes, the laws of physics givingway for the chaos of raw magic and what-have-you, but this was all a bit much.

“You can’t mean totell me this is normal?” He said aloud as he stripped off his sodden coat (itclung to his skin like plate-armour, and came away with a wet sucking noise).His fitted waistcoat squeezed his chest like cement and his shirt itchedagainst his slimy skin. His trousers were stuck to his legs like an icy cast andhis boots each held several inches of muddy water. He did not even want tothink about the state of his hair. He attacked the laces of his boots, sighingin relief when he was able to yank off the boots and liberate his poor numbedtoes from the confines of his dripping socks.

Above their heads thesky was deceptively clear, bright and blue, the sun shining down on themcheerily. There was no hint of miasma, not even a dark cloud on the horizon. Infact they seemed to have pitched up in a rather idyllic little meadow, frontedby the short cliff and waterfall on one side and stretching out in gentlerolling hills at their backs. The grass was long and sprinkled with purple andwhite flowers, which Rashari eyed suspiciously, but for the moment they did notappear to have violent intentions. He was not fooled. The whole thing seemed alittle too pleasant, a little too perfect, especially in comparison to the darkand impenetrable forest they had woken up in. The radical contrast produced asort of mental whiplash effect. It jarred the senses. He refused to believethat this constant and violent changing of scenery was what passed for normalout here. In fact he knew it wasn’t. This was not the first time he had everset foot out onto the Battlan Steppes, and while his memories of his firstsojourn out here were – incomplete – to say the least, he liked to think thathe would remember if the DeLunde expedition he and his father had travelledwith back then had experienced anything like this.

“What happened backthere?” Turning to face Fantel Rashari waved one arm and pointed vaguely to thetop of the waterfall, in the direction of the now extinct forest. “Forgive meMadame, but when you said were going to summon the stream I didn’t think youmeant to drown us.”

Fantel, who had saidnot one word throughout the whole ordeal, now seemed unwilling to meet hiseyes. She too had stripped off her long coat and boots, and now sat with her legslifted toward her body and her hands clasping her shins. Her chin rested on herknees and her gaze flitted over the pool, the waving stalks of grass at herfeet and out to brush the top of the waterfall before falling back to theground once more. “This was not my doing.” She said softly. Rashari frowned,suspicion racheting up another notch. While it must be said that Madame Chimerawas not given to a great deal of excessively animation in tone or cadence whenspeaking, Rashari did not think he had ever heard her sound quite so subdued.

“What do you mean?” Nowhe would be the first to admit that he had next to no idea what had justhappened (actually, no he wouldn’t. He rarely admitted ignorance – even whenhis staggering lack of understanding was palpably obvious) but he had been fairly sure that he had understood in principle ofwhat Madame Chimera had been attempting to do. “Are you saying you didn’t causethe river to...” - words failed him – “...do whatever that was?”

“I would not do sucha thing.” Madame Chimera looked up at him sharply, her amber eyes intent. She seemedhurt by the suggestion. Rashari just stared back at her, at a loss.

“Did you see anythingbefore the waters came?” She asked him, her tone disturbingly hesitant and hergaze still furtive.

“See what? You had mehide behind a tree.” He shook his head, swiping his hand through his hair, hishand came away covered in lumps of mud and gods only knew what else. Hegrimaced and wiped his hand over the grass. Madame Chimera just stared at him.He was still learning to read the minute subtleties of her expressions, but hethought she seemed surprised, sceptical, even disbelieving. He frowned andconsidered what he remembered of the moments right before he’d turned back tothe stream and seen Madame Chimera fall under the rush of oncoming water.“Miasma,” He said. “I saw nothing much of anything –as per your request I’dturned my back on you and the streambed – then suddenly, while I was standingthere like a right arse, this thick white mist came down from nowhere.” Hisfrown deepened into a scowl at the memory. “I admit I wasn’t too thrilled. Thelast time I walked into the miasma I fell off a cliff and ended up almost eatenby a giant plant.” He shook his head to dislodge any unpleasant memories of that incident. “I turned back to thestream, realised I couldn’t see you and broke cover. I’d not taken more than ahandful of steps when the miasma cleared like a dream. That’s when I saw allthe water everywhere and a single ruddy great wave headed right for you.”

“That is all?” Sheasked him, clearly incredulous. “You saw and heard nothing before the waterscame?”

“No,” Rashari said,somewhat stung by her disbelief. “What is it that you think I should have seenor heard?”

Madame Chimerastiffened, her gaze jerking away from him then. “It is of no consequence.” Shespoke almost too softly for him to hear. “I was a vain fool to think that Icould call upon the spirits of nature after so long. What happened...happenedbecause I was arrogant.” She looked up then look of meek apology he saw in hergaze disturbed him immensely. “I am sorry.” She said. “A poor guide I have madefor you so far. You would do better to secure the services of one of theogdegre when we replace their camp.” She looked in that moment both remote andsad. Her gaze rested forlornly on her bare toes (which were long and equippedwith delicate claws). “I fear that I will be of little use to you as guide,navigator, or protector. The Steppes are not my home anymore. I am not welcomehere. The land has shown me this.”

Rashari was alarmed,approaching actual distress. He had little idea what had occurred to shakeMadame Chimera’s confidence to such a severe degree (beyond their neardrowning, and given the number of times he’dalmost gotten them killed he was a little miffed that she would think he wouldhold a near miss against her). He did know that he very much did not like thedirection of this conversation. The thought that Madame Chimera might leave himconcerned him deeply and not just because he was absolutely certain he’d nevermake it out of here alive without her aid.

“Pfft,” he scoffedwaving one hand in the air as if he could sweep away her sudden melancholy.“Nonsense.” Madame Chimera just stared at him. He realised he had a piece ofriver weed stuck to his index finger and peeled it off before continuing. “Iadmit that I usually prefer to bathe in somewhat more sedate manner.” He beganbecause there really was no way to avoid alluding to their near drowning. “However I am at least no longer coveredin dead plant blood, and we are free of that bloody forest. Therefore I wouldsay that you have delivered admirably on your word so far, Madame.”

Fantel stared at him,her gaze keen and assessing and just a mite suspicious. It was a look he hadbecome familiar with in their brief acquaintance. Just knowing that she wascurrently questioning his sanity as well as his integrity was immenselyreassuring. “You mean this? You are not angry?” She asked him. “My folly couldhave killed us both.”

He laughed out loud,partly at the notion that he would be ‘angry’ at her, but mostly at the sheerabsurdity of their situation. Madame Chimera twitched a little, and he thoughtshe looked just slightly affronted. Waving his hand again he tried to get hisbreath back. “Madame,” He hiccupped. “In the past week I have been shot andalmost killed by my ex-captain –whom I then shot and killed – escaped a slaversden with a stolen scion stone possessed of unimaginable destructive power. Ihave survived two crash landings, been beaten up at least twice and arrested once.I then broke into a heavily fortified barracks and proceeded to causeconsiderable damage to property and personnel, before escaping in a stolenglider out to the Steppes, arguably the most dangerous place in all Aldlis.” Hemet Madame Chimera’s eyes directly, hoping she could read the sincerity in his.“Honestly, Madame, if that was your best attempt to kill me you are going tohave to up your game considerably. A spot of white-water rafting is not eventhe most harrowing thing to happen to me since we arrived. Or need I remind youthat I may start sprouting petals at any moment?” He held out his left hand,peering distastefully at the swollen, purplish skin on the outer side of hispalm where the Alraune had stabbed him.

As he had hoped hisdistraction worked. “Let me see.” Madame caught his hand, tugging it (and byextension the rest of him) closer so she could inspect the wound. Deft andgentle she touched the wound site, pressing down on his swollen flesh. Rashariwinced. The inflammation in his hand disturbed the filaments of quicksilvermaking up the web of his technomancer’s glove. Normally he didn’t feel anydiscomfort resulting from the network of cobweb fine metal fibres crisscrossingunder his skin from fingertip to wrist, but now, thanks to the Alraune’spoison, his whole hand felt hot and tight. The tracery of the glove flexed andpulled against his swollen skin making the throbbing worse. Fantel studied hishand, turning it over palm up and staring down at the fragment of scion stoneembedded into the centre of his glove, as if seeking to read his fortune. Herfingers encircled his wrist. She checked the jump and beat of his pulse and thecolour of his skin further up his arm.

“It does not seemworse.” She said eventually, completing her inspection and releasing his hand. Shesat back. When she met his eyes this time she seemed more herself, the ghost ofher earlier doubt exorcised from her expression. Rashari was pleased. “Thewound is inflamed, but the swelling is localised. It does not seem that thepoison has spread.”

“So I should hold offon replaceing myself a nice plant-pot then?” He asked lightly. “Pity. I’d heardthe ogdegre were quite the artisans.”

Madame Chimera shothim another keen, knowing look. “We should still seek out the ogdegre. Theywill know better than I if you have been infected by the alraune curse.” Shepaused a moment, thinking. “They will also have food and supplies.” She studiedhim. “If you still seek to travel north towards the Adaline Fault we will needprovisions.” It wasn’t a question, but a hint of doubt echoed the last wordsanyway.

“It’s not what I want, it’s what I must do,” Rasharisaid, resisting the urge to reach for his coat and check that the Heart ofAnoush was still securely hidden away in his inner pocket. “Everything I havelearned since stealing the bloody stone has convinced me that destroying it isthe only option.”

Fantel nodded slowly.“And what of the DeLunde scientists LePortail told you were already out on theSteppes? You said that they too would stop at nothing to get the Heart if theyknew you had it. Do you not fear encountering them on our travels?”

“Very much,” He saidsimply, not bothering to deny it. “I’m almost sure DeLunde is mixed up in thismess somehow. Aluhahn Bashi was in bed with DeLunde and the Dha-hali both,using his phantasma mine to experiment on the stone. I don’t think it’s acoincidence that we’ve been hounded out here. I just can’t make the pieces ofthis puzzle align.” He plucked at a few stems of grass with his right hand thenmade himself stop casually vandalising the environment just in case theenvironment decided to retaliate in kind. “The Dha-hali; Suluman Anoush;DeLunde; Veridree; LePortail and the Banaborra sect; every last one of them isa thread, coming together like a noose around my neck. I can feel ittightening, and yet I can’t see what connection brings them altogether.” It wasgalling knowing he was being played like a fiddle and not being able to do abloody thing about it. Even if he had the means to cut the strings he did notknow where to make the first cut.

Madame Chimera wasquiet as was her wont. She raked her long fingered hand over the grass at herfeet. The sun was warm and the breeze pleasant, drying their clothes withoutleaving them chilled. “Perhaps it would help to discuss what we do know?” Shesaid after a moment. “Perhaps in revisiting what facts we have we will discoverthis hidden connection?”

“I suppose we doappear to be in a lull between near-death experiences,” Rashari laughed shortly,“Why not? Although I’m not sure anything we have could be considered a castiron ‘fact’. Most of what I thought I knew a week ago has been roundly provedfalse.” He couldn’t help a little bitterness from creeping into his tone. Moreoften than not the only weapon he had against his enemies (and he had so manyof those) was his brain. It stung (a lot) to know that someone out there hadrobbed him of his hard earned intellectual superiority. If he wasn’t smarterthan the violent scum he associated with then he was no better than said scum –and that thought made him almost glad he was probably going to be producingchlorophyll and courting passing bumblebees within a week.

“You told me that theSuluman of Bhuvam sold the Heart of Anoush, the scion stone that had been inhis family for generations, to Aluhahn Bashi for a stake in his phantasmamine.” Madame Chimera said, shaking him loose of his downward mental spiral.

“To dissuade him fromselling shares of the company to a rival nation,” Rashari nodded snatching holdof the conversational like the lifeline it was. “When Suluman Anoush discoveredthat Bashi was not so easily bought, that he was in fact still intent onworking with both the Dha-hali raiders and the Adran Empire, he sought help to takeback the stone.”

“You,” Madame Chimeramurmured, nodding slightly, as if reminding herself of details that had escapedher mind, which was entirely possible. They had known each other less than afull week, after all, and during that time there had been several more pressingconcerns for them to think on than providing the other with a complete list ofall known associates. “You made a deal to rob Bashi during the Dha-hali slaveauction and return the stone to the Suluman in exchange for protection from yourformer master Remus.” She looked at him. “I am curious. How did you come tomake the deal? Did you do so after you already knew Remus would be attendingthe auction; how did you know Bashi would be there?”

“Well to start with,I’d been on the look out for a way to get out of my indenture with Remus forsometime. Wherever we went I tried to make as many favourable connections as Icould. Not that easy to do, either. Remus wasn’t stupid and the nature of our‘work’ precluded the making of too many friends.”

“Pillage and mayhemwill do that, I imagine.” Madame Chimera agreed drily.

“Hardly mayhem,” heshot back. “I hated the bastard, but to give him his dues, Remus was aprofessional. We were less about the pillage and more about kidnapping, grandlarceny, extortion and racketeering. That requires a little more finesse andorganisation than your average smash and grab.”

“You seem almostproud.” Madame Chimera studied him curiously. “You stole people from theirhomes, stole their possessions and swidled them. That is not admirable.”

“No, but it’sprofitable. And it also requires skill. I am a raider, Madame Chimera. I’venever claimed to be anything but. I might not have chosen the profession, but Iwon’t pretend I didn’t enjoy the challenge. It’s easy to break the law, butit’s harder to do it over and over and get away with it.”

“How did you arriveat your deal with the Suluman?” The Madame asked, pullingt he conversation backon course.

Rashari sighed. “Wordgets around. The Suluman needed a thief. You replace a lot of those in theraiders. He sent agents to raider strongholds, Veridree, Banaborra - Iencountered one of his agents in Danitz, as it happens. I didn’t make a deal atthe time. This was before I knew about the auction. I was also in company I didn’ttrust. But I kept the line of communication open. Like I said, I was on thelook out for useful acquaintances. Making friends with the Suluman’s peopleseemed prudent.” He frowned. Danitz had not been fun. Remus had been sniffingaround that damned harpy Ruthy like a randy tomcat. It had given Rashari alittle breathing room but left him on edge. He’d learned to be suspiciousanytime anything seemed to be going his way. Ruthy put him doubly on edge. Thewoman was dangerous. There was something about her he couldn’t put his fingeron. More than any other raider affiliated with Veridree he was most wary ofRuthy. When she looked at him he felt exposed. She had a way of flaying a manalive with just her eyes.

“You made the dealeventually.” Madame Chimera prompted him.

“Yes.” He nodded.“The Dha-hali had been causing trouble for Veridree for a while. The SvalinStrait became contested territory. Einar’s auction was supposed to be a raidersummit, as well as a slave market. By forcing Veridree to the negotiating tableEinar could show off his wealth and influence and cement the Dha-hali’sreputation as a force to be reckoned with. I don’t know why Nylous demandedRemus go as his representative.” He frowned. “Remus was out of favour. Therewere others Nylous trusted more. That should have been my first clue thatsomething was up. Instead I saw the opportunity to escape, made the deal andlike a blind fool ran into a world of trouble.”

“You weren’t troubledby the stone?” Madame Chimera asked. “You have told me much about the danger ofthe Heart of Anoush poses. I had thought perhaps you acted to stop theexperiments into deific power.”

Rashari shrugged. “Ido now. But back then I thought if I gave the bloody thing back to the Sulumaneverything would be well. Hannick Anoush would lock it up in his treasury, andthe Heart would be safe gathering dust for the next decade or so.” He metMadame Chimera’s eyes. “I didn’t know about the experiments then. I certainlydidn’t know DeLunde were involved.” He scratched at his right cheek – he neededa shave – and sighed. “When I found out that Remus knew about the stone–meaning that someone else knew about it and had told him – I realised Icouldn’t give it back. It wasn’t safe. LePortail’s little tale about DeLundeand Einar’s alliance with Veridree simply convinced me that I needed to get ridof the Heart for good.”

“I am troubled by onething,” Madame Chimera said.

Rashari snorted,“Only one?”

She frowned at him.“Remus shot you with a necromantic bullet. If you were anyone else but who andwhat you are, you would be dead now. Yet when you revived, Remus was notsurprised.” Madame Chimera frowned. “I remember he called you a monster createdby the Empire. How could he know that?”

Rashari felt his jawunhinge in surprise, “Bloody hell. I’d forgotten that. How in all the hells didhe know that?” He scrubbed at his jaw again, scrapping both palms over hisface. He’d been working off adrenaline and panic during his fight with Remus.Afterward he’d tried hard not to think about what it had felt like to pull thetrigger and end Remus’ life. Rashari had done any number of questionable,likely immoral, things during his indenture. He wasn’t foolish enough to believethat his actions had never caused harm. He knew they had. He’d been indirectlyresponsible for loss of life and probably one or two maimings. But he’d nevershot a man at point blank range before Remus. He’d never watched a man die. Anydeath he may have contributed to before the auction was purely hypothetical.He’d never been right there to see the incontrovertible proof. (He didn’t countScarria. The scorpion’s crimes were not his, even if the scorpion had used hisbody as its murder weapon.)

“Before he died,Tomah gave you a name. The name of the one who had conspired against you,”Madame Chimera looked at him. “Who is Ruthy?”

Rashari hissed,sucking in a sharp breath of air through his teeth. “I’m a bloody idiot.” Heslammed his right palm into the ground, abruptly and completely furious withhimself. How could he have forgotten that? What was wrong with him? Was thispart of the Alraune curse, was he becoming a complete imbecile on top ofeverything else?