Ebook series scifan tad williams otherland 02 of 04 river of blue fire

DAW BOOKS PRESENTS THE FINEST IN IMAGINATIVE FICTION BY Tad Williams TAILCHASER’S SONG MEMORY, SORROW, AND THORN THE DRAGONBONE CHAIR (Book 1) STONE OF FAREWELL (Book 2) TO GREEN ANGEL TOWER (Book 3) OTHERLAND CITY OF GOLDEN SHADOW (Book 1) RIVER OF BLUE FIRE (Book 2) MOUNTAIN OF BLACK GLASS (Book 3) SEA OF SILVER LIGHT (Book 4) OTHERLAND Volume Two RIVER OF BLUE FIRE TAD WILLIAMS DAW BOOKS, INC DONALD A WOLLHEIM, FOUNDER 375 Hudson Street, New York, NY 10014 ELIZABETH R WOLLHEIM SHEILA E GILBERT PUBLISHERS Copyright © 1998 by Tad Williams All Rights Reserved Jacket art by Michael Whelan For color prints of Michael Whelan’s paintings, please contact: Glass Onion Graphics P.O Box 88 Brookfield, CT 06804 DAW Book Collectors No 1090 DAW Books are distributed by Penguin Putnam Inc Book designed by Stanley S Drate/Folio Graphics Co., Inc “Ancient Egyptian Protective Charm” copyright © 1966, 1978 by Barbara Mertz, from RED LAND, BLACK LAND by Barbara Mertz Reprinted by permission of the author All characters and events in this book are fictitious Any resemblance to persons living or dead is strictly coincidental First printing, July 1998 123456789 DAW TRADEMARK REGISTERED U.S PAT OFF AND FOREIGN COUNTRIES —MARCA REGISTRADA HECHO IN U.S.A This book is dedicated to my father, Joseph Hill Evans, with love As I said before, Dad doesn’t read fiction He still hasn’t noticed that this thing is dedicated to him This is Volume Two—let’s see how many more until he catches on Acknowledgements As always: huge book, much to say, lots of blame (almost entirely mine), but also lots of credit, herewith tendered The ever-swollen Roster of Gratitude carried over from the first doorstopping volume was: Deborah Beale, Matt Bialer, Arthur Ross Evans, Jo-Ann Goodwin, Deb Grabien, Nic Grabien, Jed Hartmann, John Jarrold, Katharine Kerr, M.J Kramer, Mark Kreighbaum, Bruce Lieberman, Mark McCrum, Peter Stampfel, Mitch Wagner It must now be amended to include: Barbara Cannon, Aaron Castro, Nick Des Barres, Tim Holman, Nick Itsou, Jo and Phil Knowles, LES , Joshua Milligan, Eric Neuman, Michael Whelan, and all the friendly folks on the Tad Williams Listserve Still starring in their long-running, long-suffering roles as my Esteemed Editors, a bazillion thanks should also be rendered unto Betsy Wollheim and Sheila Gilbert Author’s Note I’ve received an awful lot of mail, electronic and old-fashioned-with-a-stamp both, about the first OTHERLAND volume Most, I’m pleased to say, has been extremely nice and very favorable The only note of discomfort has been from some readers who were upset by what they felt was the “cliffhanger” nature of the first volume’s ending I understand and apologize However, the problem with writing this kind of story is that it’s not really a series—it’s one very, very long novel, which should be under one cover except that 1) it would take so long to write that my family and pets would starve, and 2) they couldn’t make covers that size, unless they were adapted from circus tents That means I have a difficult choice to make: end each part in more abrupt fashion than some readers find ideal, or create artificial endings for each volume which I believe would change the overall shape of the book, and perhaps even adversely affect the structure of the story Thus, I can only ask for the indulgence of kind readers I’ll the best job I can not to end volumes in mid-sentence—“And then she discovered she was oops, The End”—but please understand that what you’re getting is a part of a larger work, and may reflect that I’ll still the best I can to find some kind of closure for each individual volume Thanks For more information, visit the Tad Williams web site at: http://www.tadwilliams.com Contents Acknowledgements Author’s Note City of Golden Shadow: Synopsis Foreword THE SECRET RIVER Deep Waters Greasepaint The Hive In The Puppet Factory The Marching Millions Man from the Dead Lands Grandfather’s Visit Fighting Monsters The Hollow Man Small Ghosts Utensils The Center of the Maze VOICES IN THE DARK The Dreams of Numbers Games In The Shadows A Late Crismustreat Shoppers and Sleepers In The Works The Veils of Illusion A Day’s Work The Invisible River In the Freezer GODS AND GENIUSES Inside Out Beside Bob’s Ocean The Most Beautiful Street in the World Red Land, Black Land Waiting for the Dreamtime The Beloved Porcupine Darkness in the Wires been somewhere on the other end, they had missed the connection A rush of noise erupted from the glow, a roar so sudden and immense that Renie could not hear her own shout of astonishment Several shapes fell out of the gateway in a tumbling mass and knocked her and !Xabbu to the ground The noise dropped away, and as it did, Renie saw the golden rectangle flare, then die She could see little else, because something very heavy and spiky and sharp was lying on top of her, pressing her face into the unfinished ground “Martine?” she shouted as she struggled to squirm out from beneath the painful mass “Is that you?” T4b, the Goggleboy robot in his attack-armor, rolled away with a bellow of surprise He landed on his backside and sat for a moment, staring at her, as though she were something quite impossible to believe One of the other shapes detached itself from the tumble of bodies “Renie! My God, it is you!” The sim was still a nondescript Temilúni woman, but the accented voice was unmistakable “Martine!” She scrambled to her feet, ignoring the bruises she had gained cushioning T4b’s landing, and caught the other woman in such a powerful embrace that she lifted Martine Desroubin’s feet from the ground “Oh, Jesus Mercy, how did this all happen? We thought we’d lost all of you forever! Is Orlando with you?” Florimel’s voice cut across everything like a buzzsaw “William came through with us, Martine.” Renie took this to be good news “He has hit his head on something, though He is unconscious.” “Thank God,” Martine murmured, and then astonished Renie by asking, “Do we have something we can use to tie him?” “Tie him?” said Renie “You mean, tie him up? Are you talking about the same William ?” “Yes He is I not know what he is,” Martine said “But he is not what we believed He tried to kill Quan Li.” “I don’t understand.” Renie shook her head, helpless before this onslaught of strange new information “Who all is here? What has happened?” This new world, preternaturally still only moments before, now seemed a hive of activity T4b had regained his feet and was wiping his handspikes clean of not-ground—several of them were darkly streaked He was also examining Emily 22813 with interest, although Emily looked at the armored man in turn as though he might be some kind of huge and particularly unpleasant insect Quan Li and Florimel (it took a moment to recognize which was which, since Renie had not seen them in a while, and both still wore similar Temilún bodies) were crouched over Sweet William, whose long limp figure, dressed in the familiar black, lay near the spot the gateway had opened A rill of blood seeped from under his hood and down across his pale face Florimel was tearing strips off her ragged peasant blouse to bind him; Quan Li was doing the same, somewhat angrily, as though she resented the other woman’s help and would have preferred to tie the prisoner herself Renie wondered how badly William had hurt her, to make retiring Quan Li so fixed and militant in her purpose There was no sign at all of Orlando or his friend Fredericks !Xabbu climbed to his feet, still holding the lighter He watched all this activity with a kind of bemused detachment, as though in a shallower version of the trance he had summoned earlier “Did you find us, or did we find you?” Martine asked She seemed quite ragged, able to keep on her feet only with Renie’s support “It was all so confusing There is so much to tell!” “We found something,” Renie explained, “a key or a remote trigger, something like that An access device of some kind, anyway—it looks like a lighter, see? !Xabbu used it to open a gate Two gates, now! We think it belonged to one of the Grail people, but this other man stole it ” She realized she was babbling with relief and happiness “No, forget it, I’ll explain all that later But I don’t understand this bit about William He attacked Quan Li? Why? Is he mad?” “I fear he is a spy for the Grail Brotherhood,” Martine replied “When we were in the Place of the Lost—but I forget, you not know where we have been, what we have done.” She shook her head and laughed a cracked little laugh “Just as we not know what has happened to you! Oh, Renie, how odd it has all been!” She wagged her head in exhaustion “And this place! What is it? It feels very bizarre to me.” Emily’s sudden shriek startled both Renie and Martine so badly that they jumped “Is he dead?” the girl squealed “There’s so much blood!” Renie turned to look While attempting to put some space between herself and T4b, Emily had almost tripped over Sweet William, but the girl was not the only one caught by surprise Kneeling beside him, Florimel held up her hands and stared wonderingly at the scarlet that slicked them both to the wrists Quan Li’s hands were also streaked in blood; she shrank back from William with her eyes wide “He does have a head wound,” Florimel said, but she sounded uncertain “They bleed very badly ” Renie reached them in a few seconds, and with Florimel’s help turned the long figure over As William flopped onto his back, Renie let out a gasp of surprise His black outfit was in ribbons across his belly, and all the creases were awash in blood A puddle was forming beneath him on the oddly-colored ground, changing color where it had lain for more than a few moments, swirling with pale blues and greens and sickly grays in those places, but still bright red in the wounds and on his garments “Jesus Mercy.” Renie felt sick just seeing it “How did this happen? It looks like an animal got him.” !Xabbu bent close “He is still alive We must make more bandages and wrap him quickly.” He squatted, then took strips of cloth from Florimel and Quan Li that had been meant for use as restraints and began to pull them tight across the ugly wounds T4b stood over them, absurdly out of place beside the monkey and the two peasant sims, like some offshore-factory children’s toy dropped into a classical painting Nothing on his costume would make suitable field dressings, that much was obvious Renie felt a tug on her arm, and allowed Martine to draw her to one side Instead of asking for reassurance, Martine brought her mouth close to Renie’s ear Her whisper was so quiet that at first Renie was not sure she was hearing correctly, because the blind woman’s words were shocking “One of them did it,” Martine said “I’m sure that one of them must have tried to kill him Something else could have attacked him in the cavern—the place where we were—but I felt some act of violence occur just as we entered the gateway, and we were all bunched in a group by then I cannot tell who is guilty, though—which one of our number is only pretending to feel shock and sadness Something in this new simulation, some distortion, is blurring my senses.” Martine was talking as though she could read minds, and Renie had no idea what that was about In fact, she had very little idea what any of this was about “I don’t understand.” She took a breath, then forced herself to speak quietly “William is a spy, but one of us tried to kill him?” “One of the people who came through with me,” Martine replied “I believe that to be true— whatever the cause, it must have happened there, just before we went through the gateway I am frightened, Renie.” “What can we do?” She stole a quick look Everyone except Emily seemed actively concerned for William’s life, whatever he had done And how could they be certain that Martine was right—that the blind woman’s other senses were reliable? Just days ago she had been so overwhelmed by the network that she had been almost catatonic Martine abruptly turned to the others and said in a loud, shaky voice, “I know that one of you has done this to him.” Everything stopped Florimel and Quan Li’s hands halted above Sweet William, still holding bandages torn from one of their shrinking garments, so that they seemed arrested in some staged tableau of mummification T4b also seemed surprised, but his expression was hidden by his buglike mask Emily had been backing away from the bloody scene, hands clutched protectively over her stomach, but the girl from New Emerald City froze like a rabbit at Martine’s shout “I didn’t anything!” she howled, then bent double as though to get between the accuser and her unborn child “Not you, Emily,” Renie assured her “But, Martine, we can’t just ” “No.” Martine shook her head “What we cannot is live with doubt If I am wrong, I am wrong, but I not believe it And in a moment I will have an answer.” The small woman marched toward the startled group like a sheepdog trying to intimidate a pack of its feral cousins by sheer force of personality “You know that I have ways of seeing things that you others not—those who traveled with me know that, anyway.” “What, because something attacked William, and you think it is one of us, you are to be the judge and jury?” Florimel shook her head in disgust, but there was a strange hint of fear and anger in her eyes as well “That is madness!” “It will not take much judging,” Martine snapped back, showing an aggressive force Renie had never seen from her “It must be either you or Quan Li—you are the only two who have blood on you, and whoever did this would not come away clean.” Florimel only scowled her contempt, and Quan Li made a weak protest, but Renie had a sudden flash of memory “Martine, I saw him ” she pointed at T4b, “ cleaning those spikes of his right after you all came through.” “Saying what?” T4b bellowed “That’s far crash—calling me duppy? Sixes, gonna be sixes on everyone!” He raised his armored fists and flared his body-spikes like the spines of a blowfish, making himself a truly frightening package Renie was forced to consider the fact that without Orlando and his barbarian sim, they would have trouble defending themselves against the Goggleboy if it did come to a fight Martine was unswerving “Then T4b is a suspect, too If the rest of you not trust me, let Renie judge.” “Zero be judgin’ me,” T4b warned “Far-scanning, you think that You not, nobody not !” “Stop!” Renie bellowed as loud as she could, desperate to keep things from running out of control “Stop it, all of you!” In the near-silence that followed, !Xabbu’s quiet voice cut through everything, startling as a gunshot “He is trying to speak,” the baboon said Everyone turned to look; all saw Sweet William’s black-painted eyes flutter open Then, in that instant of expectant stillness, a figure abruptly leaped across William’s body and attacked !Xabbu The attacker was one of the Temilúni sims, but at first Renie could not tell which—was not even sure for a confusing second or two that it was an attack, since assaulting the baboon made no sense The whole thing seemed to unfold in slow time, without obvious logic, like some kind of drug experience Only as the dark-haired woman raised herself to her knees, unpeeled !Xabbu from her arm, then flung him aside with surprising strength, could Renie see that the aggressor was Quan Li Something shiny had bounced away from the scene of their struggle and come to rest only a step away from Renie It was Azador’s pilfered lighter As she belatedly realized that Quan Li had only attacked the baboon so she could snatch the device, Renie bent and grabbed it, then squeezed it tight in her fist Quan Li climbed to her feet, rubbing her bloodied arm “Damn,” she snarled, “that little bastard can bite!” She saw Renie’s bulging hand and took a surprisingly quick step toward her, but when T4b and Florimel moved up to take defensive positions on either side of Renie, Quan Li stopped Her first flash of rage abruptly mutated into a disconcerting, lazy smile that stretched the features far more than seemed natural “Why don’t you just give me that and I’ll be on my way, no harm to anyone.” The Hong Kong grandmother’s voice and posture had both changed dramatically, but the metamorphosis of her familiar face was even more terrifying Some new soul had sparked to life inside her—or had finally been set free !Xabbu reappeared, limping back to stand near Renie’s feet Reassured that he did not seem seriously hurt, she had just opened her mouth to demand answers when Quan Li sprang with terrifying speed to one side, grabbed Emily, then jerked the girl close to her body in a single, continous movement as lithe and deadly as a snake strike The grin widened “If any of you takes another step toward me, I’ll snap her neck That’s a promise Now, let’s talk about that lighter, shall we?” “Emily’s a Puppet,” Renie said desperately “She’s not even real.” Quan Li raised one eyebrow “So you wouldn’t care if I pulled her apart right here in front of you, is that right? Bones and strings everywhere?” “Tryin’ it, and you six-meat,” growled T4b “Well, dang it, podner.” The harsh new timbre made Quan Li’s imitation cowboy-drawl sound even more bizarre “Guess we got us a Mexican stand-off, then.” Despite this person’s matter-of-fact tone, the entire situation felt fatally unstable to Renie She struggled to keep the panic out of her voice “If we give you the lighter, then you promise you’ll let her go?” “Happy to Plenty more where she comes from.” “Answer some questions first That will be part of the bargain.” If we can keep whatever or whoever this is talking long enough, Renie thought, perhaps one of the others will think of something Her own mind was churning, but nothing useful was coming She was furious with herself for being tricked, furious with Emily for being captured She did not want to risk the girl’s life any more than necessary, but they could not just let the lighter go: the idea of giving up that precious device, when they had only just discovered it, was devastating—unthinkable “Questions ?” “Who are you? You can’t be Quan Li.” “You are a clever girl, aren’t you?” said the person in the peasant sim “So clever you think you can convince me that you wouldn’t care if I skinned this child alive.” Emily yelped and struggled a little, but was silenced with a squeeze “But the truth is, you don’t know much about anything—like what’s happened to your brother, just for instance Well, I do, and it’s pretty bloody funny, in a sickening kind of way.” “Do not listen!” Martine put a hand on Renie’s shoulder “She is lying—she is just trying to hurt you, to make you angry!” Staring at the contorted, hateful face that had lurked inside a shape they trusted, Renie felt sick It’s the Wolf, she thought All that time, it was the Wolf dressed up like sweet old Grandmother “Lying, am I?” The Quan Li thing abruptly turned and hissed a warning at T4b, who had moved a step closer, and pulled the arm around Emily’s neck tighter For a moment the girl’s feet lifted from the ground, kicking “Why would I bother? Why on earth would I care what a gang of hopeless losers like you lot thinks or doesn’t think?” The lupine smile crept back “But since you’re asking for the latest news and sports, you might be interested to know that your original Chinese grandmother is very definitely dead Atasco guested her in—that’s how I got onto her line Granny Quan pretended to be a hacker, but I’m sure some Hong Kong contact got her onto the network And wound up getting her killed, for that matter.” The laugh was febrile, excited The monster was enjoying this “Are you working for the Grail Brotherhood?” Renie asked “Is that why you have been spying on us?” “Spy for the Brotherhood?” the creature said slowly “Do you really think this is about you? You don’t know anything.” The expression changed again, slackening into a cold emptiness which was somehow more terrifying than the demonic grin Emily appeared to have fainted in the stranger’s arms “Enough talk I’m calling your bluff, bitch Either give me the lighter or I start taking pieces off her.” Renie could not doubt it—the eyes that glared back at her out of Quan Li’s face were as untroubled by human scruples as those of some elemental spirit—like the Hyena of !Xabbu’s stories She badly wanted someone else to make the decision, to take some kind of control, but none of her companions moved or spoke It was down to her, and she could keep one or the other—little whining Emily, only debatably human, or the key to a universe, and perhaps to her brother’s life She handed the lighter to !Xabbu “Open a gateway.” “What are you up to?” the stranger snarled “I’m not just going to hand it to you,” Renie said scornfully “God knows what you could to us with it When !Xabbu opens the gateway, you release Emily and we hand over the lighter Then you step through and leave us alone, like you said.” Florimel was astonished “You are just going to give it to this monster?” “I wish we had a choice.” Renie turned back to the Quan Li thing “Well?” It hesitated for a second, then nodded “Right But no tricks Things will get very ugly very fast if you try anything.” !Xabbu had closed his eyes in concentration, and was paddling his fingers atop the lighter’s shiny surface For a moment Renie was afraid he would not be able to make it work again, but then a glimmering curtain of fire kindled in the air behind the stranger The Quan Li thing maneuvered back toward it carefully, keeping Emily outward as a shield, until the golden rectangle was only a step away “Toss me the lighter,” it said “Let go of the girl” “It’s not your call any more.” The flat, emotionless tone was back “You could even kill me and I’d just drop offline, which is more than you can do-I’m not stuck here the way you are But I’d rather have the lighter, so throw it to me.” Renie took a deep breath, then nodded to !Xabbu, who pitched it to him The stranger caught the lighter and examined it quickly, then smiled as it took another step back to the very edge of the golden light, dragging Emily along The mouth that had been Quan Li’s puckered; the spy leaned and placed a kiss on the unconscious girl’s cheek “Come on, sweetness,” it said to her “Let’s go find ourselves somewhere to play.” “No!” Renie screamed Something leaped onto the stranger’s leg and clung The spy shouted in anger and pain, then Renie and Florimel and T4b were all wading in together, slapping and gouging and trying to drag Emily and her abductor back from the shimmering gateway Quan Li’s Puppet was slippery and shockingly strong, and even with superior numbers they might not have been able to save the girl, but the Quan Li thing could not hold her and pry !Xabbu’s teeth out of its thigh as well With a screamed curse it let her go, then thrashed its way free from the confusion of clutch and tumble It paused, the gateway so bright that the stranger was little more than a silhouette as it pointed a trembling finger at Renie and the others, but when it spoke, the tone was eerily calm “Now it is bloody personal I’ll see you lot again, every one one of you.” “Too right you will,” Renie muttered It brandished Azador’s lighter as if to mock their loss, then stepped backward into the light A second later the gateway went out like a snuffed candle For the space of several heartbeats, the silence and stillness seemed to have choked everyone Renie suddenly thought of something: “Where’s !Xabbu? He was holding onto that thing!” A small hand took hers The baboon stood by her knee, looking up, his muzzle scratched and bloody “I am here, my friend When Emily came free, I let go.” “Oh, thank God.” Renie’s legs had been threatening to give way, and now they did She sat down with a bump beside !Xabbu “Twice in one day.” Martine and Florimel were kneeling beside the pregnant girl, who appeared to be regaining consciousness T4b stood over them, his arms outstretched, his gloved fingers clenching and unclenching, helpless once more after his brief moment of heroism No one remembered William until he coughed and spat out blood “Is there any water?” His voice was as scratchy as wind in leaves Renie crawled across the ground to his side, quickly joined by the others Her momentary hope evaporated William’s eyes were wandering, unfixed, and his breath made a terrible bubbling sound “We have found no water in this place, William,” !Xabbu said “I am sorry.” He hesitated for a moment “Have this water from me,” he said, then bent close and let a stream of saliva run from his mouth to William’s The pale, bloodied jaw clamped, then the gorge rose and fell as the injured man swallowed “Thank you,” he sighed “You should save your strength,” Florimel told him sternly “I’m dying, Flossie, so belt up.” He took another liquid breath “You’ll be rid of me soon, so the least you can is hear me out.” For a moment William opened his eyes wide; they lit on Renie, then he winced and let the lids fall shut again “I thought I heard your voice So so you’re back, are you?” She took his hand “I’m back.” His eyes opened again at a new thought “Quan Li! Watch out for Quan Li!” “She’s gone, William,” Martine told him “She tried to kill me, the miserable old bat Didn’t want me comparing notes with anyone about that night in Aerodromia I told her I heard someone come back.” He fought for breath “She said she did, too, but she said it was Martine.” The blind woman leaned close to him “Is that why you came to me for that strange conversation? Why you told me all those things?” “I wanted to see how you responded I told you the truth about me, though I thought you would know if I lied.” He laughed a little, a horrible sound “Granny played me like a frigging violin, didn’t she?” His face contorted, then relaxed “God, this hurts It’s slow, though Feels like I’ve been dying for days.” Renie didn’t know anything about the night he was referring to, and it hurt her to see him struggle for speech Martine could explain it all later “It doesn’t matter, William Quan Li’s gone.” He appeared not to have heard her “Guess this answers any questions about dying online, eh, Flossie? No one could fake this feeling You drop off the perch here, it’s for for real.” Florimel’s face was still set in its usual hard lines, but she was clutching William’s other hand in hers “We are all with you,” she said “Martine, I didn’t tell you the whole truth,” the dying man murmured His eyes were again open, but now he seemed to be the blind one, unable to find the Frenchwoman “I told you that friends of mine, online friends that some were in comas But, you see there was one in particular I was I was in love with her I didn’t know that she was so young ! I never met her in real real life.” William’s face contorted with pain “I never touched her! Never! But I told her how I felt.” He moaned, and there was a terrible harmonic from his punctured lungs “When she got sick, I thought it was my fault I came here because I wanted to find find her and tell her I was sorry Because I thought she was a grown woman, truly I did I would never ” He gasped and then fell silent but for labored breathing “It is all right, William,” the blind woman said He shook his head weakly He opened his mouth, but it was a while until the words came “No I was a fool Old fool But I tried to be a good man .” He went on breathing raggedly for a time, hitching and gasping, but no more words came At last he shuddered and went still Renie looked at his stiffly unoccupied sim, then pulled a corner of his black cape over his face and sat up She blinked away tears and wiped her cheeks with her hands Long moments passed in silence before she said: “We have to bury him After all, we may be here a while.” “Have you no decency?” Florimel demanded angrily She still held William’s hand “He is only just dead!” “But he is dead, and the rest of us are alive.” Renie stood Have to be cruel to be kind, she thought They had lost William and they had lost the access device It was important to have something to donot just important for her, but for everyone Even a funeral was better than nothing “And the thing that killed him might come back any time We have a lot of other things to talk about, too.” She pointed to a spot where the strange landscape had moved a little closer to normality, its gray, protoplasmic color at least formed into shapes that resembled rocks and earth and grass “If we pick one of the solid spots, like that, we won’t have to keep looking at his empty sim for however long we’re here You don’t really want to that, you?” “Renie, we are all very tired and upset ” Martine began “I know.” She turned in a slow circle, surveying, taking stock of things “Which is why there are some things we have to now, so we don’t wind up in this situation again.” She heard herself sounding imperious and softened her voice “By the way, Martine, I was impressed with the way you went after everyone You can be a bit of a bulldog when you want to.” The Frenchwoman strugged awkwardly and turned away !Xabbu came to stand beside her “Tell me what I can to help.” Emily 22813, awake again, but deserted by her rescuers, sat up “That woman tried to kill me!” “We know,” Renie said “!Xabbu, if there is any way to make a fire in this place, I think it would be a very, very good time to have one.” “I will see what I can do.” He loped away up the patchwork hillside “She tried to kill me!” the girl howled “Me and my baby!” “Emily,” said Renie, “we all know what just happened, and we’re sorry about it Now, we’ve got a lot of problems to solve, so just for once, would you please shut up!” Emily’s mouth snapped closed !Xabbu found some of what Renie could only think of as non-wood-wire-framed deadfall, like tree branches made of stiffened fishnet He stacked them in a careful pile, and managed by dint of hard work to induce frictional sparks to ignite this fictional kindling, resulting in a remarkably healthy noncampfire The flames shifted color and texture in some very disconcerting ways, and sometimes became holes which seemed to show depths not present in the environment, but whatever it looked like, it was a campfire: it persuaded the environment to supply them with a node of warmth and a focus for their attention, which was what Renie had wanted It’s like what !Xabbu said about finding your story, she thought as she looked around at the dazed, fretful faces If you can’t have a real fire, you have to agree on a fire She fought off another great wave of exhaustion There was work to that was more important than sleep In any case, they would need sentries now, which meant she would have to pull first shift, even though she was so tired she felt she might collapse like a wet sack any moment If you want to be the hero of the story, she told herself—and apparently someone has to be—then you have to the work T4b, glinting with the light of the strange flames; Emily, small face full of self-absorption, far more mysterious than she appeared; !Xabbu, his brown eyes warm in his monkey face as he watched her; stubborn Florimel, her own sim features set like a mask, but her shoulders slumped in weariness; and Martine, face lifted, listening to something no one else could hear—Renie looked at each in turn, considering “Right,” she said at last “There’s a lot to talk about, and a lot of frightening things have happened We’ve lost at least one of our company, and Sellars hasn’t reached us—may never reach us, for all we can tell But we’re here, we’re alive, and we know more than we did Am I right?” The nods and murmurs were not stirring votes of support, but they were a better response than she would have received an hour earlier “We managed to find each other across the network, and not all of that was because of the Grail people’s access device—!Xabbu and Martine both had a lot to with it, yes? Isn’t that true?” “Are you trying to make yourself the leader, Renie?” Florimel asked There was a touch of her normal belligerence in the question, but only a touch “I’m trying to tell you what I think Everyone else is welcome to talk, too But am I going to stand by, listening to people bicker while we fall apart? No No, I’m not.” Florimel smiled a little, but said no more The others nodded and murmured, sad but not hopeless Everything seemed alloyed in this place, in this gray hour; even the smoke rising from the alien fire was a shimmering combination of solid and unsolid “There are things we can do,” Renie went on “Listen to me! Good things, starting here, starting now We can go forward But first we truly have to talk.” She looked at them all once more, feeling for the word, the tone, that would bring them with her She had a direction now she could sense— perhaps what !Xabbu had meant by “seeing with the eyes of the heart”—but the endpoint was as faint and theoretical as a distant star, and without help she would lose it again “And we can’t have any more secrets from one another,” she urged “Do you understand? More than ever, our lives are in each other’s hands No more secrets.” Fire could be made to burn, in that unfinished land, but night could not be made to come They spoke and argued for long hours, even laughed and wept a little, then lay down to sleep with the light still unchanged As she sat through her sentry shift, Renie watched the oddly neutral sky and thought about her brother Stephen I’m coming, my little man, she promised him Her silent declaration was not just for Stephen, but for herself, too, and as a warning for all those things and people which still stood in her way I’m coming to find you From now on, she swore, she would keep her eyes wide open Afterword HE found himself on a beach, face down in pale sand After the long, long night of Venice, it was strange to feel the sun shining on his skin again, especially this bright sun that bleached the sand pale as snow and turned the blue ocean into a shining enamel plate Paul stood, muscles aching, and looked up and down the deserted beach Even the sky was empty except for a few ragged tufts of clouds, and the monogram silhouettes of seabirds wheeling slowly from the cliffs to the sea and back again A vast, low house stood high atop the headlands, a thing of stone and wood, surrounded by a gated wall Shepherds, tiny smears through the heat haze, were driving their flocks out of its gates and down the hill paths and a wagon piled high with earthenware jars was being wheeled in past them into the courtyard Paul looked along the beach again, then out at the sun-painted ocean, then turned and began to walk toward the house on the cliffs Something even whiter than the sand caught his eye He squatted to examine it and found the halfburied skeleton of a bird, translucent bones disarranged by wind or scavengers Paul felt a dim empathy That was how he felt inside-bleached, scoured, dry There would be worse things to than lie beneath the sun and let the sand bury him, the tides wash him If he had owned a coin, he would have tossed it to decide his fate, caring so little whether he went on or lay down that he was willing to let the gods choose for him But the rags that clothed him held nothing but salt and sand fleas Not drifting any more, he told himself, making a bleak joke He continued up the beach, toward the bottommost of the hill paths None of the sandaled, bearded men at the gates tried to stop him entering, although several made rude comments about his filthiness and age Incapable of caring what anyone thought, especially shadows like these, puppets unaware of the strings that made them dance, he trudged past Goats and a few pigs nuzzled his tattered robes, searching for food, but none of the human inhabitants paid him even that much attention until he stopped in the shadow that lay along the threshold of the great house to look back at the wide, flat blue ocean A woman in a hooded garment, her hands cracked like leather and twisted by age and hard work, offered him a bowl of wine He thanked her and raised it to his lips, still watching the endless flight of seagulls out over the water as they circled, dipped, then rose to circle once more The old woman seemed very taken by his face Paul watched with a certain sense of detached curiosity as tears came to her eyes, and then the gnarled hand which a moment ago had been reaching for the dipper took hold of his own hand instead “My lord,” she whispered, voice as rough as her skin, “my lord, you have come back!” Paul nodded wearily If that was the game, then so be it, but he could not become excited at the acting out of yet another scenario He had done what he had been told Nandi had said that the Wanderer and the Weaver would be found in Ithaca, and so he was here “Come,” she said, “oh, come!” She smiled broadly, excitement making her almost girlish “Follow me, but not speak a word The house-your house, my lord-is full of evil men I will take you to your son.” He frowned He knew nothing about any son “I was told to look for the Wanderer’s house I was told that I must release the Weaver.” The serving woman’s eyes grew wide “Has some god put a spell upon you? You are the wanderer, my lord, and this is your house.” She looked around worriedly, then turned her teary gaze back to him “I will take you to her-but please, my lord, on your life, you must go quietly, and speak to no man!” He allowed himself to be led around the wall of the great stone and wood house, then in through a side door and into a smoky kitchen The women working there eyed his rags with distaste and shouted ribald questions at his guide, who seemed to be named Eurycleia He was beginning to suspect what story he inhabited When an old dog rose from its place near the hearth and limped toward him, growling, then sniffed his hand and began avidly to lick his fingers, he was certain “Odysseus,” he said quietly “King of Ithaca.” Eurycleia turned to him in alarm and made a terrified warning gesture at her lips She sped her pace to lead him through a great hall whose walls were with spears and shields Outside the hall’s open doors, a score or more of men lolled in the shadows around the courtyard, their clothes and weapons clearly those of nobility They seemed to be having a party Meat was being roasted over pits full of coals, and servants too slow to serve were being cursed at and kicked and smacked with fists One of the guests was singing an obscene ballad, his bearded chin jutting toward the sky, the object of his attention a darkened window overlooking the central yard “Hark how sweetly Antinous sings, Lady!” one of the others yelled hoarsely, a man drunk before midday “Will you not let him up to sing to you privately?” Nothing moved in the window The men laughed and returned to their amusements Paul was numb inside Even as he followed the old woman up the creaking ladder to the upper floor, moments away from something he had sought for a very long time and through at least a handful of different worlds, he was finding it difficult to care They killed the child The thought had been there, wordless, since his eyes had opened, but he could not keep it at bay any longer The memory of the boy’s limp body, and of his own helplessness, had burned inside him until there was nothing left to burn He had led the boy to his death He had sacrificed him like a pawn, and then he had escaped He was empty Eurycleia stopped at the chamber door She pushed aside the hanging and gestured Paul to step through As he did, she caught at his hand again and kissed it, then pulled the knuckles against her forehead in a gesture of willing servitude The Weaver looked up at his entrance Her loom, from which she was even now plucking threads, undoing a picture which she had all but finished, stretched before her like a harp made of colors The tapestry was all birds-birds of every sort, doves, crows, lapwings, and all in motion, walking, pecking, flying with wings outstretched Their feathers were of every hue, furiously bright The woman at the loom stared back at Paul He had half-suspected the face he would see, but even with his heart a bleached bone inside him, it still made his breath quicken She was older here than in her other guises, but she was also somehow startlingly young Her thick, glossy hair spilled on her shoulders and down her back like a dark curtain Her eyes were as deep and haunted as the stares of dead strangers in old photographs But she was no stranger-she was something much less explicable She knew him And although he could not name her, he knew her too, in every cell of his being “You are here,” she said, and even the voice was like coming home “At last you have come.” She stood and spread her arms, her robes billowing like wings As she smiled, her face suddenly seemed that of a young girl “There is so much that we must talk about, my long-lost husband-so very much!” Click here for more books by this author DAW BOOKS PRESENTS THE FINEST IN IMAGINATIVE FICTION BY Tad Williams TAILCHASER’S SONG MEMORY, SORROW, AND THORN THE DRAGONBONE CHAIR (Book 1) STONE OF FAREWELL (Book 2) TO GREEN ANGEL TOWER (Book 3) OTHERLAND CITY OF GOLDEN SHADOW (Book 1) RIVER OF BLUE FIRE (Book 2) MOUNTAIN OF BLACK GLASS (Book 3) SEA OF SILVER LIGHT (Book 4) Table of Contents Cover Also by Tad Williams Title Page Copyright Dedictaion Acknowledgements Author’s Note Contents City of Golden Shadow: Synopsis Foreword THE SECRET RIVER Deep Waters Greasepaint The Hive In The Puppet Factory The Marching Millions Man from the Dead Lands Grandfather’s Visit Fighting Monsters The Hollow Man Small Ghosts Utensils The Center of the Maze VOICES IN THE DARK The Dreams of Numbers Games In The Shadows A Late Crismustreat Shoppers and Sleepers In The Works The Veils of Illusion A Day’s Work The Invisible River In the Freezer GODS AND GENIUSES Inside Out Beside Bob’s Ocean The Most Beautiful Street in the World Red Land, Black Land Waiting for the Dreamtime The Beloved Porcupine Darkness in the Wires BEDLAM’S SONG Imaginary Gardens Death and Venice The Voice of the Lost Feather of Truth An Unfinished Land Afterword ... OF GOLDEN SHADOW (Book 1) RIVER OF BLUE FIRE (Book 2) MOUNTAIN OF BLACK GLASS (Book 3) SEA OF SILVER LIGHT (Book 4) OTHERLAND Volume Two RIVER OF BLUE FIRE TAD WILLIAMS DAW BOOKS, INC DONALD A... BY Tad Williams TAILCHASER’S SONG MEMORY, SORROW, AND THORN THE DRAGONBONE CHAIR (Book 1) STONE OF FAREWELL (Book 2) TO GREEN ANGEL TOWER (Book 3) OTHERLAND CITY OF GOLDEN SHADOW (Book 1) RIVER. .. master of several online domains, and because of a serious medical condition, spends most of his time in the online identity of Thargor, a barbarian warrior But when in the midst of one of his