Echoes of the Great Song Read Free Page B

time?”
    Talaban shrugged. “They will or they won’t.”
    “Buy a big house, farm maybe, with all that gold,” said Touchstone. “Big waste.”
    Talaban found it hard to disagree. Driving gold rods into the ice was an expensive exercise, and so far it had achieved little. “These nomads,” he said. “Will they fight us?”
    Now it was Touchstone’s turn to shrug. “Who knows? Them’s tough boys. They’ll fight if they see the gold. They don’t believe in Avatars no more. They know your magic is dying. They know the ice killed the empire.”
    “Wounded it,” corrected Talaban. “Nothing can kill the empire. We are too strong.” The words were spoken by rote and even Talaban had long since ceased to believe them. “And you shouldn’t verbalize such thoughts. I don’t want to see you lying upon the crystals.”
    “Straight talk?” asked Touchstone. Talaban nodded. The tribesman leaned forward. “You Avatars are like elk surrounded by wolves. You still strong, but the wolves will tear you down. They know it. You know it.”
    “Enough straight talk, my friend. And now I have work to do. Come back in an hour, and bring the Questor with you.”
    Touchstone rose. “I bring food first,” he said. “And more coal.”
    “My mother took less care of me than you do,” said Talaban.
    “Keep you strong,” said Touchstone. “You die and promise not be kept.”
    “I always honor my promises,” said Talaban. “And I have not forgotten.” Touchstone looked at him for a moment, the green eyes locked to Talaban’s dark gaze. Then he left the cabin.
    Talaban took up his pen and opened the log, carefully detailing the day’s work. As dusk deepened he lit a lantern. The beautifully painted walls of the cabin had been soiled with carbon deposits from lantern flame and coal over the years. Idly he wondered whether the ship felt a sense of shame at the loss of her power and prestige. You are a romantic, he told himself.
    With the log entry completed Talaban stripped off hisclothes and moved through into the small sanctum beside his bedroom. He removed the three crystals from the velvet bag hanging by the window and placed them on the rug. Then he knelt facing the window and opened his arms wide. Taking a deep breath he drew on the power within. With his eyes closed he reached for the first crystal. It was pale and clear, like glittering ice. Lifting it to his forehead he slowly chanted the Prayer of One. His trance deepened and he felt his body relaxing. He became aware of knots of tension in his shoulders and neck. Gently he eased them. Completely relaxed now he laid the crystal down and reached for the second. This was a blue gem the size of his thumbnail. He held it to his chest, over his heart. The power of the blue seeped through his skin, entering the heart, invigorating the blood and flowing through his arteries and veins, filling them with strength. Lastly he took the green crystal, the largest of the three. This one he held against his belly as he chanted the Prayer of the Avatar Prime. This time the power flowed with more urgency, revitalizing his organs, healing and renewing them. The shock to his system was great, and pain flared from his kidneys and liver. But it passed and Talaban rose and placed the crystals once more into the black velvet bag.
    The green was coming to the end of its energy, he knew. How long had it been since he renewed it? And what was stopping him? Pushing the thoughts aside he lit a second lantern and carried it to the full-length mirror in his bedroom. Leaning in close he examined himself. The skin of his face was tight and glowed with health. His body was lean, the lines of muscle sharp and clear in the lantern light. Only the eyes were old, he thought, dark and somber, brooding. Gazing into his own eyes discomfited him and he turned away from the mirror.
    From the closet he took fresh leggings of black wooland a shirt of silver satin. Then he pulled on a dry pair of boots and