Read Online What Lies Within (Book 5) by Martin Ash - Free Book Online
Authors: Martin Ash
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thought again of her children.
'Issul?'
Shenwolf's voice snapped her back to awareness. 'Yes.'
'May I call you that?'
She nodded.
'You were lost in thought.'
'I have much to occupy me.'
Shenwolf hesitated, then said, 'Perhaps this is not the best time, but I feel I must say what is on my mind.'
'Speak, then.'
'It has to do with what we spoke of, in the forest on the way here. About my past.'
'There is something you have not revealed?'
'No, not that. I am shaken by what I have discovered about myself - that is to say, that there is so much that is unknown. I feel fear, therefore, where before I did not question. Fear of what may lie within me, that I harbour something that I cannot know or trust.'
Issul managed a small smile. 'In many ways I would say that fails to mark you out as being so different from the greater mass of humanity, myself included.'
'In the forest you mentioned the name 'Urch-Malmain'. You say that it is he who has done to me whatever has been done. Now Orbelon and these Triune children speak of him again, as though he were one of their kind, yet at the same time also their enemy.'
'I said only that we suspect Urch-Malmain's involvement at this time. But we do not know, Shenwolf. We simply do not know.'
'But what, or who, is he?'
'I can tell you only what I have learned from Orbelon. Urch-Malmain was a creature like Strymnia, one of those beings we term the Highest Ones, and with Strymnia he worked to overthrow Orbelon. He was powerful and given to turpitude. He drew perhaps his most formidable powers from his ability to alter the minds of others. He has not been heard of since Orbelon's defeat, yet now Orbelon feels him close by and strongly suspects his influence in this dark affair, at least in part.'
Shenwolf stayed silent for some moments, then said in a low voice, 'I am afraid. I will admit it. I have fought men and beasts and monsters and known the fear that such combat carries with it. But that is a good fear, a worthy fear, a fear that can almost be relished. But this . . . the fear of what may lie within me, that I may not be the person I believe myself to be, that my greatest enemy may yet be myself . . . this is a fear like nothing I have known.'
'But at the moment it is a fear of what could be, not of what is,' said Issul.
Shenwolf shook his head. 'I have come from Urch-Malmain, that much is virtually beyond doubt.'
'It may be. But you have proven yourself to me again and again.'
'But tomorrow, or the next day, or even five minutes hence, might be the time that you learn I am your enemy.'
Issul took his hand. He turned to her and she saw again the pain in his young blue eyes, and felt within her the throb of some powerful emotion which she could not, or did not wish to, admit to. 'We will fight this thing,' she whispered. 'Together.'
The air before her flickered. For a moment she thought Shenwolf had vanished, then she realized that he in fact almost certainly remained where he was and that it was she who had been transported from the chamber.
She was in a long, vaulted gallery. Further back a fine mesh of some sort of greenish gelatinous substance was strung from wall to wall, floor to ceiling. Behind it something huge and monstrous thrashed.
The air was highly charged. Issul felt the hairs on her skin prickling. She recoiled involuntarily as the thing behind the mesh threw itself towards her. She could make out no distinct form. The creature - if creature it was - was huge but seemed to lack true substance, for she could see through it to the wall behind. But as it struck the mesh, as though with solid mass, the mesh bellied out. Issul saw the suggestion of grotesque limbs, a confusion of changing heads and faces or facial features. It was gargantuan, inhuman, repellent, brutish - all these things and more. No one feature remained constant for
'Issul?'
Shenwolf's voice snapped her back to awareness. 'Yes.'
'May I call you that?'
She nodded.
'You were lost in thought.'
'I have much to occupy me.'
Shenwolf hesitated, then said, 'Perhaps this is not the best time, but I feel I must say what is on my mind.'
'Speak, then.'
'It has to do with what we spoke of, in the forest on the way here. About my past.'
'There is something you have not revealed?'
'No, not that. I am shaken by what I have discovered about myself - that is to say, that there is so much that is unknown. I feel fear, therefore, where before I did not question. Fear of what may lie within me, that I harbour something that I cannot know or trust.'
Issul managed a small smile. 'In many ways I would say that fails to mark you out as being so different from the greater mass of humanity, myself included.'
'In the forest you mentioned the name 'Urch-Malmain'. You say that it is he who has done to me whatever has been done. Now Orbelon and these Triune children speak of him again, as though he were one of their kind, yet at the same time also their enemy.'
'I said only that we suspect Urch-Malmain's involvement at this time. But we do not know, Shenwolf. We simply do not know.'
'But what, or who, is he?'
'I can tell you only what I have learned from Orbelon. Urch-Malmain was a creature like Strymnia, one of those beings we term the Highest Ones, and with Strymnia he worked to overthrow Orbelon. He was powerful and given to turpitude. He drew perhaps his most formidable powers from his ability to alter the minds of others. He has not been heard of since Orbelon's defeat, yet now Orbelon feels him close by and strongly suspects his influence in this dark affair, at least in part.'
Shenwolf stayed silent for some moments, then said in a low voice, 'I am afraid. I will admit it. I have fought men and beasts and monsters and known the fear that such combat carries with it. But that is a good fear, a worthy fear, a fear that can almost be relished. But this . . . the fear of what may lie within me, that I may not be the person I believe myself to be, that my greatest enemy may yet be myself . . . this is a fear like nothing I have known.'
'But at the moment it is a fear of what could be, not of what is,' said Issul.
Shenwolf shook his head. 'I have come from Urch-Malmain, that much is virtually beyond doubt.'
'It may be. But you have proven yourself to me again and again.'
'But tomorrow, or the next day, or even five minutes hence, might be the time that you learn I am your enemy.'
Issul took his hand. He turned to her and she saw again the pain in his young blue eyes, and felt within her the throb of some powerful emotion which she could not, or did not wish to, admit to. 'We will fight this thing,' she whispered. 'Together.'
The air before her flickered. For a moment she thought Shenwolf had vanished, then she realized that he in fact almost certainly remained where he was and that it was she who had been transported from the chamber.
She was in a long, vaulted gallery. Further back a fine mesh of some sort of greenish gelatinous substance was strung from wall to wall, floor to ceiling. Behind it something huge and monstrous thrashed.
The air was highly charged. Issul felt the hairs on her skin prickling. She recoiled involuntarily as the thing behind the mesh threw itself towards her. She could make out no distinct form. The creature - if creature it was - was huge but seemed to lack true substance, for she could see through it to the wall behind. But as it struck the mesh, as though with solid mass, the mesh bellied out. Issul saw the suggestion of grotesque limbs, a confusion of changing heads and faces or facial features. It was gargantuan, inhuman, repellent, brutish - all these things and more. No one feature remained constant for
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