A Gathering Of Stones dost-3 Read online

  A Gathering Of Stones

  ( Drinker of Souls trilogy - 3 )

  Jo Clayton

  Jo Clayton

  A Gathering Of Stones

  Impetus: The Drive Toward Rebirth Begins:

  The Chained God looked at h/itself and found little to like in what h/it saw. Even as h/it watched, cells died and h/its intelligence diminished by that much. Wits LIFE diminished. Time is, h/it thought. The harvest is due. Bring forth the Tools. Draw in the Catalysts. Let the Rebirthing commence.

  Bring Forth The Tools:

  COME THE GENIOD

  THEY-

  (plural in the limited sense that there were many discrete units and in the fuzzier sense that there were a number of agglomerations of these units with varying degrees of self-awareness)

  THEY-

  were hunger and desire in a self-created void. They were fierce with life but already beginning to die, turning in a frenzy on each other, the stronger devouring stray units and smaller agglomerations. They had been too greedy here, had eaten life with an appetite never satisfied, breeding and breeding, splitting and joining until the reality they occupied was filled with them, the geniod, a name they’d swallowed with some long-forgotten life-form and adopted along with the knowledge of NAMING.

  THEY-

  knew despair as their numbers dwindled.

  A LIGHT appeared in the darkness, a pinpoint, then a fire.

  THEY-

  drew back, frightened; density increased, desire rose and drowned fear.

  A VOICE called: COME AND FEED.

  THEY-

  hesitated. They had been stung before, their units, their ogienowad, were trapped and consumed by the creatures they were grazing on, food rebelling against its destined role.

  The LIGHT expanded to a shimmering oval.

  IT screamed: LIFE! ENERGY! COME AND TAKE.

  THEY-

  milled about a second longer, then the largest geniod leapt for the GATE and swept through it, the rest swept along behind it, exploding into a new reality-dropping into a forceweb that closed around them, the trap they’d feared.

  I HAVE A BARGAIN FOR YOU, GENIOD: AGREE AND LIVE: REFUSE AND DIE.

  We agree. We agree. We agree.

  What do you want?

  We serve better when we work for ourselves as well. What do you want?

  LISTEN.

  We hear. We hear. We hear.

  ASSEMBLE. COLLECT. DELIVER

  .

  What do we deliver?

  THE STONES.

  What do we get for doing this?

  FREEDOM. FOOD. A WORLD TO GRAZE ON.

  You can promise this?

  I CAN.

  We accept.

  ##

  These assemblages of ogienowad merged and grew larger, took the forms of men and women and traveled about the World, dining on the sly, their greed constrained by fear-fear of the GOD who’d summoned them. He told them where to go and what to do, he found them a place to rest and ruminate, a cavern of crystals like the inside of an immense geode where they could hover and glimmer and wake in those crystals fantasies of light and color.

  These are the tools the Chained God used to break the stonebearers loose and send them out to acquire the Stones, these are the geniod

  – First among the assemblages, the strongest in will and skill and power:

  PALAMI KUMINDRI geniod Who took the form of a Jorpashil courtesan

  – Her servant and Housemaster:

  CAMMAN CALLAN geniod Who took the form of a Temueng wrestler

  – Another Courtesan, not so intelligent or powerful as the Kumindri:

  TRITHIL ESMOON geniod Who took the form of a Phrasi courtesan

  – The last of the named geniod (unimportant, except for his effect on Settsimaksimin):

  MUSTEBA XA geniod Who took the form of Settsimaksimin’s teacher and master

  – Numerous others, unnamed but very busy at the Chained God’s work.

  Draw In The Stonebearers: They Are The Chosen-By The God And By The Stones Themselves.

  1. BRANN

  2. YARIL and JARIL

  3. SETTSIMAKSIMIN

  4. KORIMENEI

  5. TRAGO

  6. DANNY BLUE

  1. Brann, The Drinker Of Souls, affinity: Massulit

  Called (by friends and those fond of her), Bramble, Bramble-all-thorns, Thornlet.

  She was born in the mountain valley called Arth Slya, her father a potter of genius, her mother a weaver of tapestries. When Slya Fireheart thought up a plot to get at some Kadda witches who were too powerful for her to touch directly, the god reached into the realities and plucked forth two juvenile energy beings, JARIL and YARIL; Brann was changed so she could feed them and in that changing became DRINKER OF SOULS and effectively immortal. In the course of Slya’s plot, she rescued her people from slavery, opened a Gate for Slya who came stomping in and destroyed her enemies. Then she was turned loose to live how she could, an elevenyear-old girl in the body of a woman in her twenties.

  She wandered about the world for a hundred years, settled for another hundred years as the Potter at Shaynamoshu. At the end of that time another God-the Chained God-meddled in her life and drew her into his scheme to acquire the Great Talisman BinYAHtii, using as instruments KORI PIYOLSS and the sorceror/king SETTSIMAKSIMIN along with the sorceror Ahzurdan and the out-reality starman Daniel Akamarino. In the final battle between Brann and Settsimaksimin, the God acquired the Talisman, Settsimaksimin’s heart gave out and he nearly died. Because she’d found much that was admirable in her enemy-disregarding a little thing like repeated attempts to kill her-Brann healed the wounds BinYAHtii had inflicted on him and the weakness in his heart; having saved his life, she carried him off to a lovely island (Jal Virri) in the heart of the Myk’tat Tukery where they spent the next ten years in friendship and peace.

  2. Jaril And Yaril, The Changers, affinity: Churrikyoo

  Petnames: Jaril called Jay; Yaril called Yaro

  Juvenile energy forms drawn from one of the layered realities.

  Their base forms were lightspheres (at first just big enough to fit within a man’s circled arms, later larger), Yaril’s slightly paler than Jaril’s, but they could take many shapes and appear convincingly solid in them though the eyes they saw from were clear crystal and marked them as demon. At first they were completely dependent on Brann; she drained life energy from men and beasts and fed it to them to keep them from starving. In the course of the action against Settsimaksimin, Brann won their freedom from the Chained God; he changed the Changers so they could once more feed directly on sunlight and similar energy sources. They were still linked to Brann by strong ties of affection, but they were no longer her nurslings. The two hundred years on the World have brought other changes; they passed through their equivalent of puberty and acquired sexual drives and needs that they could not satisfy without others of their kind and age. After Brann took Settsimaksimin to the island Jal Virri, Jaril and Yaril ranged restlessly about the World, trying to work off the energies that threatened to destroy them.

  3. Settsimaksimin, affinity: Shaddalakh

  Called (by friends and those fond of him): Maksim, Maksi, Maks.

  He was born in Silagamatys the chief city of Cheonea, sold into slavery at the age of six, a child-whore until he was ten, bought out of the pleasurehouse by the Sorceror Prime Musteba Xa who wanted to use the boy’s Talent to enhance his own.

  After releasing himself from his apprenticeship by killing his Master, he studied and practiced and became one of the four Primes among the sorcerors of the World. Around this time he came upon the Talisman BinYAHtii; this sparked his ambitions for his homeplace. He returned to Cheonea, kicked the corr
upt and feeble king off his throne and took the reins of power into his own hands. It was a long struggle, but he broke the power of the Parastes (the local lords), put the land into the hands of the folk who worked it, outlawed slavery, hung some slavedealers, burned the ships of some slavetraders and began setting up a new sort of government where the peasants and the so-called lower orders would have some say in the circumstances of their lives. To do this he had to keep BihYAHtii fed (the life of a child a month was the price for access to the Talisman’s power) and alternately cajole and compel the god Amortis to act against his enemies. Being warned (as part of the Chained God’s scheming) that Brann Drinker of Souls would be drawn into the fight against him, he struck first and sent Tigermen demons to kill her. The Changers arrived just in time to save her and the battle was on-a battle Settsimaksimin lost after a haid struggle that cost him much, including his hold on Cheonea.

  At the end of ten years on Jal Vim he was growing restless, tired of living without ambition or effort.

  4. Korimenei Piyolss, affinity: Frunzacoache

  Originally her name was simply Kori (which could mean either Maiden or Heart), but when Settsimaksimin put her in school and compelled her to remain there for ten years, she took the name Korimenei (which meant Heart-in-Waiting).

  The Finger Vales of Cheonea had served the Chained God since the time when the Wounded Moon was whole, which meant essentially forever, but when Kori was thirteengoing-on-fourteen, the soldier-priests of Amortis came to Owlyn Vale, tied the Chained God’s priest to a stake and lit a fire under him. Then they declared the folk on Owlyn Vale must serve Amortis instead. A few months later Kori’s youngest brother (the closest to her of all her kin) came to her with the Chained God’s mark on him, chosen for the new priest. Once that was out her brother would be burned also. She was the several times great-granddaughter of liana Hazani who carried a promise from the Drinker of Souls: She or any of her descendants could call on Brann in time of trouble and Brann would come to give whatever help she could. Kori looked into Harra’s Eye, located Brann and sent a cousin to summon the Drinker of Souls to fight Settsimaksimin and help her keep her brother alive.

  Some months later she was in Silagamatys for the Lot (where three children, were chosen, a girl to serve in the Temple as teacher or priestess, a boy to serve as a priest or soldier and another-either boy or girl-to be fed to BinYAHtii, though only Settsimaksimin knew this, the people thought the third child was sent to Havi Kudush to serve in the Great Temple of Amortis); during this time, Settsimaksimin became aware of the strong Talent she had in her, plucked her from her people and sent her off to school in Sitill, half a continent away from Cheonea, getting her out of his hair and keeping her safe at the same time he liked her and was proud of her spirit. To keep her in school he imprisoned her brother in crystal and informed her only she could set him free. All she had to do was go to the Chained God’s altar in the mountain cavern where she’d found Harra’s Eye and set her hand on the crystal. No one else could wake her brother; if she got herself killed, he’d sleep forever in that spell-crystal. At the end of the ten years, when her training was finished, she could leave with his blessing; if she tried to leave before that the Mistress, one Shahntien Shere, was instructed to punish her at the first attempt and kill her at the second.

  The ten years passed pleasurably enough, she, enjoyed her schooling after she’d got used to the constraints on her and she’d proved an excellent student, beyond even Settsimaksimin’s expectations (he kept an eye on her from Jal Virri, sent his eidolon to talk to her every few months), but as the time for her passing-out ordeal approached she was getting more and more anxious about her brother, more and more eager to go release him from his enchanted sleep.

  5. Trago Piyolss, affinity: Harra’s Eye

  Called Tre by friends and family.

  A six-year-old boy used as a pawn, by the Chained God first to bring Brann into play against Settsimaksimin, then by Settsimaksimin to keep his hold on Kori Piyolss, he slept under enchantment in the Altar Cave of the Chained God.

  6. Danny Blue, affinity: Klukesharna

  Danny Blue was one man, two men, three men. One man, because he had a single body. Two men because he was made from two men and their memories and personalities lingered within him. Three men, because Danny Blue had developed a life of his own, a personality that was both more and less than a blend of his two half-sires with memories that belonged to him alone.

  He was born in the body of the Chained God (an ancient starship) where the flesh of his two sires was merged into one man by the power of the God, where Brann Drinker of Souls was midwife to the birth of his personhood as well as his fleshbody.

  AHZURDAN was once a student/apprentice of Settsimaksimin’s. When he met Brann and was drawn into the Chained God’s scheme, he was a second rank sorceror of considerable ability but regrettable habits, being addicted to dreamdust and in flight from reality. He was born into a Phrasi merchant family of considerable wealth and social ambition; his mother belonged to the minor nobility and impressed into her son all her attitudes toward lesser beings. He was a momma’s boy and didn’t get on with his older half-siblings at all well, though that was not entirely his fault, they were an intolerant lot. He was also an unsatisfactory son, being totally uninterested in the family business. When his talent came on him, he nearly burned down the house and did singe a spiteful older brother. By this time his father was quite happy to pay the fees and bond him to Settsimaksimin’s service for the usual seven years. He worked hard and learned fast, but he never managed to match his Master and left his service at the end of those seven years resenting Settsimaksimin, jealous of other apprentices, angry and unhappy.

  DANIEL AKAMARINO was born in a reality where magic was fraud and wishful thinking; he made his living on assorted starships as Communications Officer, Propulsion Engineer or Cargo Superintendent/Buyer, having a Masters Rating in all three. He was a man not bothered by much, seldom felt the need to prove anything about himself or his beliefs; impatient with routine, he drifted from job to job, quitting when he felt like it or because some nit tried to make him do things that bored him like wearing boots instead of sandals and a uniform instead of the ancient shirts and trousers he got secondhand whenever the ones he had were reduced to patches and threads. He had no plans for settling down; there was always something to see another hop away and he never had trouble finding a place on a ship when he was done with groundside living. The Chained God snatched him in mid-stride and transferred him to the World, landing him in a road in Cheonea.

  He joined the Owlyn Valers as they went to Silagamatys for the Lot, met Kori, through her linked up with Brann and Ahzurdan and went with them into the Chained God’s pocket reality, where he and Ahzurdan became DANNY BLUE and went with Brann to fight the final battle with Settsimaksimin. When that battle was finished and Brann was concentrating on healing the sorceror, he picked up the Talisman BinYAHtii-and was snatched back to the Chained God’s body.

  That was how the Chained God acquired BinYAHtii.

  Danny Blue roamed about the ancient rotting starship and struggled to relearn Ahzurdan’s magic; all the sorceror’s WORDS and mindsets had to be reconfigured to suit the new personality. When he felt strong enough, he tried to attack the God, but was seized and slammed into a coldsleep pod where he spent the next ten years in stasis.

  Draw In The Catalysts: These Are The Stones Of Power, The Great Talismans:

  BinYAHtii Held by the Chained God. Manifests as a rough circle of reddish stone pendant on a massive gold chain, set in a heavy ring of beaten gold.

  Churrikyoo Held by the Servants of Amortis in her Temple in Havi Kudush, the holy city in central Phras. Manifests as a small glass frog, battered, chipped, filled with thready cracks.

  Frunzacoache Held in the essence pouch of a shaman of the Rushgaramuv Temuengs. Manifests as a never-withering berry leaf pressed between two thin round layers of crystal set in a ring of tarnished silver cable, pendant from
a silver chain.

  Harra’s Eye Held in the secret, sacred Cavern of the Chained God. Manifests as a sphere of crystal about the size of a large grapefruit Not known as one of the stones of power because it is a new focus; it has lain dormant in the Cavern, waiting. None of the first rank sorcerors has learned of it or used the power locked in it.

  Klukesharna Held by Wokolinka of Lewinkob in the Henanolee Heart, in the island city Hennkensikee. Manifests as a small rod of black iron melted off a meteor, cooled in the shape of a clumsy key.

  Massulit Held by the Geniod in the chamber of crystals sunk within the, white cliffs of the Lake Pikma ka Vyamm, the inland sea in the heart of the Jana Sarise. Manifests as a star sapphire the size of a man’s fist, the color of the sky at the zenith on a clear spring day.

  Shaddalakh Held by Magus of Tok Kinsa in the holy city of the Rukka Nagh. Manifests as a spotted sand dollar made of porcelain.

  THE REBIRTHING: PHASE ONE

  The stonebearers are set in motion

  I: Brann, The Drinker Of Souls

  Jal Virri in the Myk-tat Tukery Brann and Settsimaksimin

  In the tenth year of their habitation within the Tukery, they are restless.