Into the Labyrinth by Margaret Weis, Tracy Hickman Read Free Book Online Page A

Seventh Gate?”
    The countenance of the corpse twisted; the body shook. The phantasm peered out through the lifeless eyes with a sort of terror. “I will not …” The blue lips of the corpse moved, but no sound came out. “I will not …”
    “You will!” Xar said sternly, though he was somewhat at a loss. How do you threaten one who feels no pain, one who knows no fear? Frustrated, the lord turned to Jonathon. “What is the meaning of this defiance? You Sartan forced the dead to reveal all their secrets. I know, because Kleitus himself told me this, as did my minion, who was here previously.”
    “This man’s will was strong in his life,” the lazar answered. “You raised him too quickly, perhaps. If the body had been allowed to remain quiet for the requisite three days, the phantasm would have left the body and then the soul—the will—could no longer have any effect on whatthe body did. But now the defiance that died with him lives still.”
    “But will he answer my questions?” Xar persisted, frustration growing.
    “He will. In time,” Jonathon answered, and there was sorrow in the echoing voice. “In time he will forget all that meant anything to him in life. He will know only the bitter hatred of those who still live.”
    “Time!” Xar ground his teeth. “How much time? A day? A fortnight?”
    “I cannot say.”
    “Bah!” Xar strode forward, came to stand directly before Samah. “Answer my question! Where is the Seventh Gate? What do you care now?” he added in wheedling tones. “It means nothing to you. You defy me only because that’s all you remember how to do.”
    The light in the dead eyes flickered. “We sent it … away …”
    “You did not!” Xar was losing patience. This wasn’t turning out as he had foreseen. He’d been too eager. He should have waited. He
would
wait the next time. When he killed the old man. “Sending the gate away makes no sense. You would keep it where you could use it again if need be. Perhaps you
did
use it—to open Death’s Gate! Tell me the truth. Does it have something to do with a citadel—”
    “Master!”
    The urgent cry came bounding down the corridor. Xar jerked his head toward the sound.
    “Master!” It was Sang-drax, calling and gesturing wildly from the end of the corridor. “Come swiftly! The old man is gone!”
    “Dead, then?” Xar grunted. “All for the best. Now let me be—”
    “Not dead! Gone! He is gone!”
    “What trick is this?” Xar demanded. “He couldn’t be gone! How could he escape?”
    “I do not know, Lord of the Nexus.” Sang-drax’s sibilant whisper shook with a fury that startled even Xar. “But he is gone! Come and see for yourself.”
    There was no help for it. Xar cast a final baleful look at Samah, who appeared completely oblivious to what was going on. Then the lord hastened down the corridor.

    When the Lord of the Nexus had left, when his voice could be heard rising strident and angry from the far end of the cellblock, Jonathon spoke, quietly, softly.
    “You see now. You understand.”
    “Yes!” The phantasm peered out of the lifeless eyes in despair, as the living man had once peered out of his prison cell. “I see now. I understand.”
    “You always knew the truth, didn’t you?”
    “How could I admit it? We had to seem to be gods. What would the truth have made us?”
    “Mortal. As you were.”
    “Too late. All is lost. All is lost.”
    “No, the Wave corrects itself. Rest upon it. Relax. Float with it, let it carry you.”
    The phantasm of Samah appeared irresolute. It darted into the body, fled out of it, but could not yet escape. “I cannot. I must stay. I have to hang on …”
    “Hang on to what? To hatred? To fear? To revenge? Lie back. Rest upon the Wave. Feel it lift you up.”
    The corpse of Samah remained seated on the hard stone. The eyes stared up at Jonathon. “Can they forgive me … ?”
    “Can you forgive yourself?” the lazar asked gently.
    Samah’s