Pathway - Chapter 194

“You’re awake,” Ongara said when Chang Chang reached them. “How are you feelin’? We were worried when you didn’t wake up right away.”

“How long have I been asleep?” Chang Chang asked anxiously. She touched Ingara’s arm. The woman hadn’t spoken or greeted her. A haunted expression lingered about her eyes. “What’s happened? Is it Arngam?” she asked.

Ongara managed a small smile. “He’s well,” she said. “A little bit of smoke won’t slow him down.”

Chang Chang swallowed and nodded, but her relief was tempered by a terrible knowledge that filled her as she looked around the temple and failed to see Joya’s familiar presence there. “Your sister,” she said. “She didn’t make it, did she?”

Ongara shook her head. Her eyes shone. “We found her near the bridge. Not a mark on her—she was just … gone. Father thinks the grief was too much, that it was time. came for her. And it wasn’t in vain. At least a dozen dwarves are alive because of her.”

“I’m so sorry, Ongara.” Chang Chang closed her eyes and let the grief come.

They had lost Druya, and Chang Chang had let the sphere slip away from her. Yet Chang Chang had heard the artifact call out to her, the memory of Mystra. Was it in yaomo hands now? Or had it moved on, freeing itself? She hoped and prayed it was the latter.

“Where is Ju Feng?” she asked.

“He’s with the king in his cavern along with Abron, Orban, and the weaponsmaster, plus the regency council,” Ongara said. “You were summoned too, but we didn’t want to wake you. The council’s decidin’ what’s to be done.”

“Done about what?” Chang Chang asked. “Is the king all right?”

Ongara glanced at the direction of the door. “You’d better go,” Ongara advised. He held out a hand to help her. When they exited the temple, Chang Chang was able to take in the full extent of the damage to the city. Fully half of it had been destroyed, buried in piles of rock and debris from wrecked dwellings. Fresh grief seized Chang Chang at seeing the devastation.

“They got the nine doors closed,” Sull said, following her gaze. “Whatever yaomo didn’t get out in the retreat got trapped, and the soldiers took care of them. They weren’t expectin’ the explosion, and they were too slow reactin’ afterward.”

“It cost the dwarves, too,” Chang Chang said. “I wonder how many of them were also caught in the blast. But it was the only way, wasn’t it? The yaomo won’t risk attacking again.”

“Don’t see how they could,” Ongara said. “They lost half their force and their mistress.”

“What happened to Gallazza shrugged. “The king was going to let her go free, but she disappeared during the battle—probably killed in the explosion too.”

They entered the hall, and a pair of guards escorted them to the king. King Laggarma sat on his throne, his hands resting heavily on the stone arms. A shell of what he had been, pale, his once silvery beard flat gray, the king nevertheless stood when Chang Chang entered the hall.

“Thought you were going to sleep the winter away,” he said gruffly. “Are you all right, then?”

“I’m fine,” Chang Chang said, “just a little bruised.” Ju Feng, Abron, and Orban stood off to the side, behind the council members. She nodded to father and son. They acknowledged her by lifting their weapons. No words needed.

“My thanks to you all,” King Laggarma said, directing the words to the council. “You know what to do, and I trust you t o do it.”

“My king,” the council murmured. One by one, they bowed low and left the hall. When the doors closed behind them, King Laggarma said to Abron, “Well, old friend, I’m leaving you a fine mess, that’s certain.” The king held out a gaunt hand to the runecaster. “I wish it could be otherwise. I truly do.”

“We’ll be all right, my king,” Abron said roughly, clasping the king’s forearm. “When you reawaken, the city will be built anew.”

“You’re going back to the stone,” Chang Chang said. Of course. Magical essence had exacted its own price from the divine dragon. Before the war, he had been using illusion to maintain his dwarf from. Mighty King Laggarma would have to sleep a very long time to recover from the battle. Longer than her life, and Ju Feng’s, maybe longer than Abron’s. Judging by the look on the runepriest’s face, he knew it too.

King Laggarma turned when Chang Chang spoke. “The sphere is gone,” he said. It wasn’t a question.

Chang Chang nodded. “I’m sorry.”

The king waved her off. “It’s for the best,” he said. “It’ll find its way into better hands than the people of Arkhat. Their kamic sins knew no bound.” King Laggarma beckoned Chang Chang closer and leaned in to speak. “Will you think less of me, girl, if I admit to being afraid?”

The statement surprised her, but Chang Chang immediately said, “Not at all. I understand.”

“Do you? I’m afraid for my people, but it’s more than that. I haven’t felt safe in so long, and I see an uncertain future before me.” King Laggarma smiled ruefully. “You’d think, at my great age, the fear would go away.” His voice dropped. “But it never does. It shames me to say it, but it never does.”

Chang Chang hesitated. What could she possibly say to him? She reached out to touch the king’s shoulder. If he was surprised by the gesture, King Laggarma didn’t show it. Chang Chang remembered her dream, the voice in the dark. “You have to let go,” she said. “No one can be certain of the future. Trust in your people. They will watch over you and think of you every day of their lives.”

King Laggarma looked at her for a long time in silence. Slowly he nodded. “I’d forgotten what it’s like to be so young, to have so much belief,” he said. “My thanks.”

He turned to ascend to his throne, and Chang Chang could bear it no longer. She looked at Ju Feng pleadingly, and he nodded. Together, they left the chamber to give Abron and Orban one last moment of privacy with their king.

Outside the hall, the three of them stood silently in the middle of the ruined cavern. Chang Chang felt as though she’d just attended the first of many funerals for the days ahead. She wiped her eyes and tried to smile, but she couldn’t manage it. She found herself thinking of the library suddenly. What would happen to the Lochal while King Laggarma was gone to the stone? Would she carry on, alone, guarding the tomes of dwarf lore? How many of them had been lost, damaged beyond repair in the explosion?

“They’ve lost so much,” Ju Feng commented, echoing Chang Chang’s thoughts. “But it’s worth it.”

This time Chang Chang did manage to smile. “Don’t tell me you’re becoming an optimist about life too. I’ve had one too many shocks today. I might expire from this one.”

She’d intended it as a pure jest, but she hadn’t thought about how the words might affect Ju Feng. Glancing uneasily at his face, she saw humor alight there. He gave her a nod. “Being in your company as long as I have, I suppose it was only a matter of time,” he said.

He smiled at her, and Chang Chang’s heart warmed. It’s going to be all right, she thought. We will heal from this.

“We should be leaving soon,” Chang Chang said. “I’m ready to see the sky again.”

“You have a destination in mind?” Ju Feng said, raising an eyebrow at the young blood.

“Well, I’m all for this adventurin’ life, but I’m goin’ to need to go back home at some point. But yes, I have a place in mind. Before you return to your world, I think I know where to get the Undying Twin fruit that the king said you’ll need for your impending death.”

“Really? Adventurers, then?” Ju Feng said. He looked at Chang Chang. “That’s what you want?”

“I think so,” Chang Chang said. “My parents embraced the life, and it brought them happiness. In truth, I think it doesn’t matter where I go or what I do. I have what I want most right here, within reach.”

***

Gallazza emerged from the shadows of the, past the last remaining outpost of the Myria. No one hindered her. No one was left alive to do the job. Still, she moved cautiously, using instincts honed from years of stealth training—training that had happened only in her mind. Gallazza’s lips curved. Even a false personality had its uses.

Those false memories slipped into her conscious mind, whispering to her, trying to assert themselves over the other, true memories that were just coming back to her. Gallazza leaned against the wall and pressed her forehead to the stone, concentrating. Suddenly, she slammed her head against the stone on a curse.

Pain erupted behind her eyes, and Gallazza slid limply to the floor. Shivering, Gallazza clutched her shoulders as if she could hold herself together by sheer force of will.

“I am Gallazza,” she whispered to the darkness. “I am Gallazza.”

The vast expanse of the Underdark loomed before her, but it offered no answer. She’d considered going back to her home place. With Fizzri gone, she could assert a place for herself in the temple of Arkhat. She’d once held great power in the city. Whatever story Fizzri had made up in her absence could easily be denied or altered. If she wanted to, she could …