copyright 1995 by Deb Atwood
Chess is a fascinating game of strategy. Each player has several pieces, like an advancing army, with which to capture the other player's king. Half of those pieces are pawns, the front line, going to slaughter for the sake of a gambit.
While chess is a good game to play, it is never quite so good to find yourself a pawn.
It was after our first encounter with Baal, during the time when we were hoping to keep him from returning to his Pattern. After a short period, however, I left Random and Trystan there, returning via Random's Trump to Jan, in Amber. Magic was still in working order, and I hoped to use the time to try and locate Bleys and learn some more about my skills at drawing energy from alternate sources. And first, I needed my books from Devane.
After some persuasion, Jan finally provided me with four small sketches -- two of the dungeon in Amber, one of Ygg, and one of himself. Tucking the other three into a pocket, I used the one of Ygg to go to that barren land. Although the outland was dead around me, I suspected it was close to my home and woiuld only be a short transport from there, requiring little magical energy. I was already exhausted, thanks to the fight we had had over Martin, and wished only to get home and take a nap, and then hopefully study. I sat down and prepared the spell carefully. And once again, the last thing I remember is saying the final words that would activate the spell. Then blackness.
I awoke to a faint strange feeling inside my head, as if someone were crawling into my mind. Shaking my head to clear it, I pulled myself to my knees, then pushed up until I stood. By then I recognized the feeling. A Trump contact. I opened my mind to it, accepting the small invasion, and waiting until a picture formed. It was a large man, much like Gerard, and I remembered him from Amber. Ajax was his name, and he was Gerard's son. He was also quite small in mental power. I tried to smile, a friendly gaze.
He held out his hand. "Come here."
I certainly wasn't about to leave Ygg on my own ability, it appeared, since I suspected it was my spell that had knocked me out. "Of course." I held out my hand and clasped that of Ajax, stepping forward carefully on still unsteady feet.
The mental blow that caught me, knocking me unconscious once more, only added to the headache I had when I awoke. I was rapidly starting to feel as if my mind had been pushed through a strainer. It wasn't at all a pleasant feeling.
Not only did my head ache, but it was a remote feeling, almost as if I were riding in my brain with someone else there. I couldn't tell who else it was, but I had no control over the movement of my body, or of any actions I might take. Only my thoughts were my own.
Ajax and Gerard were there as well, and standing to my left was the man we had identified as Baal. He placed a Trump in my hand. It was Trystan, and as I automatically began to concentrate on it, I knew I was supposed to have him join me there.
He opened up the contact, and I spoke cheerfully, sounding completely myself, even to my own ears. "Trystan! Can I talk to you?" I held out my hand. "Come here?"
I realized a moment too late that he had been standing in the center of Baal's Pattern as he was suddenly there before us, the contact dropped in surprise as he used the Pattern to tranport himself to where I stood. He looked surprised, and instantly wary.
Gerard drew his sword, striking Trystan, who ducked away. He pulled something out of his pocket, a Trump skittering across the ground as Ajax's foot struck him strongly in the stomach. Trystan regained his balance, trying to pull another Trump from his pocket. Gerard and Ajax advanced on him, not giving him time to activate the Trump. Trystan decided against using it then and scrambling to his feet, ran as if the demons chased him. They were all quickly out of view, my last sight of Trystan of him as he pulled out a crossbow, aiming it quickly at Gerard and Ajax as he ran.
During the fight I had been trying to move my hand to my pocket and hide the Trump, but something kept my muscles still. Instead I stood there, silent and unmoving, until Gerard and Ajax returned. The Trump was then plucked from my fingers and replaced with another. I concentrated on the picture of Angel. There was no response from the Trump at all, and after a few moments of fruitless staring, the Trump was removed and again replaced, this time with a picture of Jan.
He opened up immediately. "What can I do for you?"
"Can you come here?" I asked politely. "I need to talk to you."
"Sure." He started to step through, then stopped. I could feel mental waves riding through my brain, passing between Baal and Jan, their battleground my own mind. The pain started to rise, crashing over me, until blessedly it dissolved into blackness and I crumpled to the ground.
When I awoke, I was again standing, my head throbbing, a Trump of Martin in my hand. Somewhere in the back of my mind I noticed that Magic was no longer active. I could not use it, though, and instead concentrated on the Trump.
"Martin, I need to speak with you." It seemed to me I spoke mechanically, although the tone seemed normal. "Can you come here?" I held out my hand.
"Can't you come here?" he asked calmly.
I hesitated, "No, not right now."
"Can I get back in touch with you?" he asked, looking as if he were somewhat busy.
I blew out a breath between clenched teeth, unsure if what I was thinking would make it past my lips. "That might be kind of difficult. I've been having some problems lately."
"What kind of problems?" he asked.
"I cast a spell." It was the first thing that came to mind that I could actually say, not a word about Baal slipping out.
"So?" Martin didn't seem impressed.
"I've had some problems," I repeated, my eyes slipping toward Baal in the only indication I could give of his presence. "Can you come here?" I held out my hand again. "It's important."
"Can't I call you back later?" he persisted.
"I'd rather not talk about it like this," I motioned towards the air, the contact between us. I wanted nothing more than to step towards him, but could not prod my legs to move.
"Okay," he finally agreed.
He stepped towards me, then an expression crossed his face of confusion, then anger. A pain flashed through my mind as the contact slammed shut. Baal didn't seem upset, merely trading the Trump in my hand for one of Flora.
I considered resisting, in the back of my mind, wanting to stare at the Trump without concentrating on it to use its magic, but I couldn't. A moment later, Flora was greeting me cheerfully. I asked her to join me, and she merely asked back, "Is it safe?"
I nodded. "Yes." It was the only possible answer.
"Okay." She smiled and stepped forward, collapsing at my feet, and expression of surprise on her face. And then the Trump was slid from my hand and I stood there silently again.
I felt the tickling of a mental contact in the back of my mind. I avoided glancing at Baal, knowing it wasn't him since he stood right by me. I tentatively tried to accept, and as I felt my mind sliding open, I relaxed into it. I saw Martin before me, and as I opened my mouth, the words, "Can you come here?" slid out before I could stop them, my hand automatically raising to reach towards him.
"No." He was short and sharp, and the contact was gone before I had hardly had a chance to notice. Whether I use the Trump or someone else did, it appeared that I had no choice what I said. I was Baal's pawn, my only function to draw in more pawns. I was growing more and more angry as time passed, and I had no way to channel that anger, so it bottled up inside me until I fairly seethed.
Gerard and Ajax left after a time, returning with Lucretia held between them. Flora sat off to one side, her eyes as dazed as I felt my own must be. And Baal seemed to have tired of giving me Trump.
I felt another contact begin and opened gladly, hoping for rescue. A woman I didn't recognize stood before me, eyes and hair the color of jade. I smiled, reaching out, "Come here?"
"No!" The voice was certain, her hands reaching out to grasp my wrist. Baal held me on one side, the woman on the other. Minds seemed to surround me, as I felt the woman, Baal, and suddenly Trystan was there as well. The hold was released suddenly and I fell to the ground, my arms wrapped around my knees, tucked up into my chest. Above me I saw Serge strike Trystan across the side of the head and he crumpled to the ground. Both the stranger and Serge relaxed then.
I managed to uncurl myself slightly, and rolled over so I could look up at the others. I wasn't about to stand, my stomach aching to match my head, and nausea rising whenever I moved. "Lucretia's there," I announced softly. "And Ajax, Gerard and Flora."
Reggie stared down at me, "What happened?"
"I answered a Trump call from Ajax, and then I was knocked out," I said honestly.
"Are Ajax and Gerard good or bad?" he persisted, squatting down to look me in the eye.
I straightened up ever so slightly more to stare right back at him. "Reggie, I don't know if they are good are bad. However, since I had little choice in what I was made to do, they might not have either. Especially considering that Ajax's mind is the size of a pea!"
In the background, Serge chuckled. Reggie smiled. "Then we'll put them on the good side."
I began to take some stock of the room around me. The woman who had dragged me back to Amber was named Llewella, and she was another of Corwin's siblings. Jan was off to one side, looking not much better than I felt, holding his head. From the looks of things, he had received some injury, which I suppose had happened in keeping him from Baal's clutches. Trystan was waking up as well, although he looked far better than I felt. I felt used, as if the energy inside of me had been drawn out and used for another purpose. The anger was still burning, beneath the pain and nausea, and I made a silent vow. Baal had used me as much as any other man I had killed for that crime. And for that I would eventually kill him as well.
"Was Benedict there?" Reggie turned back to me.
I shook my head. "Nor Julian."
"This may not be the best place to be," Llewella announced.
"I think a bed would be the best place for me," I muttered. Then something occured to me. "What happened to the dead fellow? Random, was it?"
"He disappeared a while back," Angel told me.
Llewella was shuffling through her deck. "We're going to the Logrus," she said softly. "Its probably safest." She was pushing people to go through a Trump contact, and Angel scooped me up from the floor to carry me through. My stomach was completely unsettled, and woozy, and Angel handed me off quickly to the person on the other side. I was received by a short man, who immediately settled me on the ground again.
We were in a large cave packed full of demons, as well as many other people. All were clustered in various areas of the room, all avoiding a strange and shifting glowing area in the center. I curled up on the floor, settling in to watch the events unfold.
As Reggie stepped through, he turned to the man on our end, and gestured at the glowing and sparking shifting sigils. "Is that good?"
The man shrugged, reaching out to pull Llewella through. "Don't know yet. Its new."
A path cleared in the room, and Llewella took Reggie's arm. He started to protest, but she said softly, "No, it can't wait."
He was led to a group of people dressed quite formally, in purple garb. He bowed his head slightly, as an ornate crown was placed on his head. With a slightly bewildered expression, he accepted the pledges of everyone in the room, save my friends, to the king of Chaos.
He was still close enough to hear me as I muttered, "I certainly hope you get your cancer taken care of before it claims the king."
"That is the next step." A man turned to him. Reggie looked briefly uncertain. The man who had brought us through now joined Reggie and touched him on the shoulder. Reggie disappeared, replaced by a silvery puddle on the floor. A moment later he was his own shape again, looking, if anything, more bewildered.
"This should hold you temporarily."
"Thank you, Suhuy." Reggie glanced over to where we all still were clustered. "There are a few others here who could use some help."
"None are so bad as yourself," Suhuy answered mildly.
And then we began to explain to the Chaosite what had happened with Baal. From what I could determine, the others had been attacked by Julian and Benedict recently, in a far more physical manner than I had been capture by Baal.
"He's wearing the Jewel," Trystan offered as information concerning Baal.
"Its not the right one," Suhuy corrected. "And to brief my liege, Random, Corwin, Merlin and Bleys are dead."
"What happened to Random?" I asked loudly.
"He's been dead for years," Suhuy told me calmly.
"He came back."
Suhuy looked at me as if I were hallucinating. I felt ill, but not that ill. Suhuy, however, did not believe me. "No, he did not."
"Then who was that?" I persisted. "He looked like Random." I explained about how he had arrived with Fiona, but Suhuy still seemed unimpressed.
Discussions ensued again over the proposed rescue of Gerard, Ajax, Flora and Lucretia. I was bored and more than that, I was exhausted. Words washed over me as I laid my head on my arms, closing my eyes and falling into sleep in the noisy room.
I awoke to the disctinct sound of Lleuad being drawn from the scabbard on my back. It sounded as if it were talking, and I looked up to see Serge regarding it with some amusement. I rolled over and pushed myself to my feet, gaining steadiness as I stalked over to him, hand held out. "Give it back."
He looked slightly disgruntled, but agreed, handing over the sword.
"No! No! No....!" I silenced the sword's cries by sheathing it again. If anything, the sheathe at least seemed to muffle the sound. I had had the sword for several years without ever knowing it could speak, and now it only seemed to do so when t'would be most inconvenient. Apparently it had been petitioning Serge to feed it.
"I, and several Logrus masters, are going to Amber to take a look around," Reggie announced, standing tall amid a group of mixed human looking figures and demons. "Anyone else is welcome to come along, or you may stay here if you stay out of trouble."
I took a quick stock, deciding that my head and body seemed to be in far better shape. And I owed Baal for what he had done to me. I agreed to go along.
We were stepping through a Trump into an empty bedroom in Amber. My guess, since it was Llewella's picture card, was that it was likely her own room. We walked out of the room into the hallway, making room for those who followed us.
Out in the hallway was Lucretia, wandering aimlessly. Reggie concentrated on her, discussing something with the Logrus master nearest him. Then he ordered one of them, "Get rid of it." And suddenly Lucretia looked coherent.
We all greeted her, and Reggie tried to question her on how she had come to be wandering in Amber. It indicated to us that Baal might also be in Amber, and we went to search the castle for him. Most of the others had Trumps in their hands, concerned more with escape than attack. I had one hand on my sword, ready for trouble in my own way. Even Angel seemed to prefer to Trump away than defend herself.
As most of us, save the Logrus masters, headed down towards the Pattern room, Lucretia turned and went back upstairs. "I'm going to my room," she protested, finding herself rising an inch above the floor. Then she slowly was lowered to the floor.
Reggie turned back to surveying the stairs down to the dungeon, Lucretia walking away the moment his back was turned. I mentioned it, but he resolutely ignored her. "She is on her own, now."
The Logrus masters were positioned at the tops of the stairs, and the rest of us headed down the stairs. As we passed through the dungeon area, on our way to the Pattern room, we found Lucretia and Trystan, somehow having gotten ahead of us. "I got lost," was her only explanation.
"That's not physically possible," Reggie protested.
"She probably walked through a portal or something," I muttered. It seemed the most logical explanation to me.
We continued on, making our way to the Pattern room, leaving Reggie questioning Lucretia in the hall. There was no sign of Baal, or any of the others, there, and we rejoined Reggie as he turned to follow Lucretia who was heading resolutely up the stairs, trying to get to her room.
We followed Lucretia to her room, exactly where it was supposed to be. She seemed puzzled at this, surprised that it hadn't moved.
"You couldn't find it?" Reggie asked slowly, as if speaking to a child.
"No." She shook her head, confused.
"They are obviously not here," Llewella announced suddenly, having lost patience in this searching as much as I had. "They could be in one of a few places. Perhaps where you were held," she turned to me, "or perhaps at Baal's Pattern." She then turned to Trystan. "You had a Trump of that location?"
He nodded. "Yes."
Reggie peered at a picture. "I'd like to get a few more people, preferrably good with swords." He glanced briefly at the Logrus masters surrounding him. "Are any of you good with a sword?" They all shook their heads, looking at him warily. Reggie turned back to the card. "No. Send me a few guys who are good with swords." There was a slightly hard edge to his voice, and more men soon joined us.
And then we used Trystan's Trump to go to the Pattern.
The sight was unpleasant. We could see Baal in the distance, standing in the center of his Pattern. Between him and ourselves stood an army, and fighting against all those men was a tall, thin man, with straw colored hair and a lanky build. I later learned that was Benedict, the eldest of Corwin's siblings. Gerard, Julian and Ajax were there as well, fighting with the troops against their brother.
Off to one side, Reggie disappeared to be replaced by a pillar of flame. A slight smile barely had time to flicker across my face at this confirmation of his identity in Brand's Amber as I turned to the troops. They fought for Baal, and although Gerard might have been under Baal's control, he did fight for him then, and against his own brother. T'was time for any revenge I might care to take against Gerard's treatment of myself. I raced forward, Angel and Serge by my side. I plowed through the troops, Serge settling in against Julian. I found myself at Benedict's side, face to face with Ajax. As I swung at him hard, his hand settled around the hilt of Lleuad, grasping my wrist and the sword and throwing me roughly down, into Benedict's knees. We both fell, hard, against the ground. I rolled away, trying to give Benedict room to stand.
I thought I might have a vantage point from so low to the ground, swinging the sword around at Ajax's ankles. I caught him, slightly, at the back of the heel, but did little damage. Grunting slightly, I moved back from the fray, trying to regain my balance and stance.
And then I had to defend myself against the troops, while Benedict fought next to me against his brothers. After a time, Ajax suddenly disappeared, reappearing nearer the Pattern. Reggie had cut a swath through the troops, scattering them burning from his flames, but new troops arrived, led by Flora who then moved safely away from the fighting. She doesn't seem much like her daughter in that respect.
Angel was doing well for herself, off to one side, and Serge seemed to have squared off in a wrestling match against Julian. I only saw snatches of all this, as most of my attention was focused on the men before me, not to mention Benedict and Gerard.
Out of the corner of one eye, I saw Trystan moving around the battle to the right. Ajax moved forward to intercept him, coming away from the Pattern. I barely had time to notice as Benedict suddenly raced by me, followed by Gerard. I never had time to react, the troops closing in around me so I could only see what had happened and not affect it at all.
Benedict reached Trystan before Ajax did, picking him up and hurling him towards Baal on the Pattern. There was a flicker of expression on his face, and he braced himself, pulling out a crossbow and following Trystan's flight with three quick bolts, aimed sure and true for Baal. He could have avoided what happened next, but he chose to sacrifice himself to attack Baal.
We could all hear the sickening crack as Gerard struck Benedict's back. The elder brother crumpled to the ground, the younger not even seeming to notice as he returned to the battle, about the come back towards me.
And then suddenly, it was over. As Trystan struck Baal, shortly after the bolts sunk into Baal's chest, he was suddenly gone, Trystan left in the center of the Pattern looking somewhat surprised. Reggie and Angel moved the rest of the troops quickly away, as they fled in fear. And Gerard turned slowly to see his brother on the ground, remembering what he had done.
Benedict was dead. Llewella announced it and I confirmed it. Reggie dragged someone through a Trump contact, pushing him to Benedict's side. A moment later, the stranger shook his head. There was nothing he could do. Gerard looked a little surprised, and more than a little upset by the turn of events.
I was suddenly tired. Trystan appeared nearby, Trumping away from the center of the Pattern. We all agreed that locating Baal was important, but none of us knew how. Given time, I felt that I might be able to. And importantly, magic was once more a part of the universe. With rest, I might be able to cast, and might be able to develop the set of spells that would allow me to locate Baal somewhere among the outlands, scry on him, and then perhaps, return him to us. Should my magic work against him. But first, I needed rest. Some of the others returned to Amber, and some to other places. I found myself a quiet area slightly away from the Pattern and rested there. The magic was high in that outland, and I wished to take myself to Crystal Tears once I had rested. And then, the pawn intended to use the player.
Tears of Crystal is copyright 1995 by Deb Atwood. Hardcopies are limited to a single copy for personal use only.
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