A door at the front of the line of guards opened and the red cloaks marched out. Corvan brought up the rear as the troop spread out along the wall behind the priests, leaving him standing outside the door, directly beneath the toe of the statue’s boot. Each of the guards ahead of him carried a long pike with a double barbed metal tip. Corvan’s was only a lumien light pole with two flaps of leather attached to the end. The man standing next to him gestured for Corvan to close the door, showing him that he had the key on a cord around his neck. Corvan did as he was told and stood at attention with the rest of the guard. He could only hope the cloak worked as well with a full stadium of people and the keen eyes of the Chief Watcher.

“The palace guard is here to protect you,” the Chief Watcher announced. “If the priests are part of this conspiracy, they may try to break over the wall and harm you. As we have seen with Tarran, what begins as lies and deceit will eventually turn to murder.”

The black curtains behind the lizard parted, and the leader of the Rakash slipped in behind the Chief Watcher. The sightless face stooped low to whisper in the lizard’s ear. The lizard nodded and the bony creature slipped away.

The Chief Watcher left his control pillars and advanced to the front of the stage.

“People of the Cor, in the past it has always been the self-proclaimed Cor-Vans who have been the source of the problems that have plagued Kadir. Whether among the rebels or our own priests, these charlatans have led good people to destruction. Now, even our own High Priest and his family have succumbed to the wiles of one of these masters of deception.” The lizard pointed down that the pier. “As you just heard Tarran shout, he was not the Cor-Van, there was someone else. Yesss, and we have finally caught the one he referred to—the priest, Jorad.”

Corvan could hear the excitement as the Chief Watcher’s pronounce lisp briefly returned. The curtain at the back parted, and the four Rakash appeared with Jorad between them. A gag was stuffed in his mouth, and he was bound with a long blue krypin rope. The rope was forked at the end, and the separate strands spiraled down each of his legs. The Rakash leader moved in behind the priest, manipulating the krypin to force Jorad to walk forward like a puppet on its strings.

As the Rakash guided Jorad to the front lip of the platform, the Chief Watcher pointed at the priest. “This deceiver was using Tarran to take control of the palace through his army of priests.” His dark eyes turned toward the lower stands full of green robes. “So, we will first test the priests in this conspiracy. If they are guilty, then Jorad also stands judged.”

The lizard lifted his arms. “Answer us, gods of the water. Expose the liars and eliminate the lies so we might worship in truth.” Stepping back the Chief Watcher dropped its arms back onto the pillars. A surging waterspout momentarily obscured the pier, then thundered back into the rapidly rising water.

As the swirling currents overflowed the edged of the karst, a few people in the crowd stood and chanted, “Death to traitors. Death to the priests!”

The crowd did not join them. They were intently watching the priests, the guards, and the swirling water, but Corvan’s eyes went to the Chief Watcher. The lizard was pulling on his pillars with hooked claws and looking anxiously at the narrow window cut into the left boot of the statue. Inside that window Corvan caught a glimpse of the man floundering about the control room, frantically tugging on levers. The Chief Watcher’s pillars shifted about of their own accord and the lizard struggled to keep his balance between them.

The Chief Watcher pulled back hard and finally regained control. The water overflowed into the priest’s section of seats, and they all scrambled higher to the dividing wall. From between the pillars the Chief Watcher looked on with the same bloodthirsty anticipation Corvan had seen when he devoured the lumien heart from the mother plant.

Someone on the far side of the Chief Watcher turned to Corvan. Jorad was glaring at him, his face seething with anger. Corvan quickly lowered his head to hide his face within his hood, but he knew it was too late. Jorad was now certain he was in league with the Chief Watcher and the palace.

Just over the wall at his feet, the speed of the circling water was increasing. A deep whirlpool was forming, sending waves of water even higher into the priest’s section. A few tried to climb the wall behind them, but they were met by pointed barbs. One fell back, slipped on the wet seat and toppled headlong into the swirling water. His gurgling cries circled around with his body until he spun into the center of the vortex and disappeared.

The chanting ceased as all the spectators stood and watched in mute amazement.

“They may call upon the gods,” shouted the lizard, “but they will be answered only with judgment, for the priests are guilty of treason.”

The water swirled higher and climbed over another step. One more rise and all the priests would be drowned or impaled by the guards.

Corvan edged towards the door. Tyreth had be somewhere up by the stage unless she too had been captured along with Jorad. He stole a quick glance up at Jorad and found the man intently staring at the stage floor next to the control pillars.

What appeared to be a green spider, trailing a long thin web from under the black curtains, was circling the feet of the Chief Watcher. Once, twice, and then it climbed up one of the pillars. Tyreth was sending in the krypin in to tie the Chief Watcher to his post.

Along the wall beside him, the guards were jabbing at the defenseless priests but they would open the door under the boot and swarm and up the tunnel to rescue their leader from the rope.

Pulling out his last piece of fire stick, he quickly uncapped it and jammed it into the keyhole. Molten rock flowed down, sealing the door shut as his heart sank. He had just locked himself outside with the guards.

A hand thrust out of the sealed door’s small window and flipped the hood off Corvan’s head. Corvan jerked back as Gavyn’s smiling face appeared in the opening.

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“Where’s Madam Toreg?” Corvan asked urgently.

The boy shrugged.

“Where’s Garek and the gray men?”

The boy shook his head.

Panic rose in Corvan’s chest. “Then where’s the hammer?”

Gavyn stuck his hand through the window and held the hammer out in plain view, its blue light throbbing like a lighthouse beacon. Corvan quickly pushed Gavyn’s hand and the hammer back inside the window but as the light surged out the small opening, he was certain every eye was now focused on his back. He turned to check.

There was only one pair of eyes bearing down on him.

The eyes of the Chief Watcher.

Corvan looked back into those murderous dark orbs and his blood ran cold. “Gavyn,” he whispered hoarsely towards the window, “go up the tunnel, find Tyreth and give her the hammer. Now! Run!” He heard the boy scamper away.

Time slowed as if Corvan were in a trance. In slow motion the whirlpool churned one revolution as the Chief Watcher rotated in counterpoint to the face the leader of the Rakash and then its arm swung back in a measured beat, like the second hand of a clock, to point at directly at Corvan.

Just as his long claw clicked onto Corvan’s location, the green rope bulged, its coils tightened, and the black lizard was lashed tight against the stone post.

The whirlpool resumed its frantic raced around its track.

“Treason,” shouted the lizard, its muscles twisting as it strained at the rope. “The priests are all guilty and resort to trickery.” The lizard pulled against his bonds and the water began to slow down as it released the pressure on the pillars.

“Listen to me,” shouted the lizard. “I speak the truth.”

“Then you shall be judged by the truth,” a woman called out.

Tyreth stepped through the curtain, her white gown shimmering against its velvet blackness. Everyone below froze in place and stared up at her.

“Another deception,” cried the lizard. “More lies!”

Tyreth strode toward him. “No one can lie when they are holding the hammer.” She lifted both hands over her head, the hammer clearly visible in her grasp. Blue light from the handle enveloped her as she towered over the Chief Watcher.

“You say you have told us the truth, Chief Watcher. So now you shall be judged by it.” She lowered the hammer toward the claw lashed to the top of the post. The lizard writhed and tried to pull away, but he was held fast. The water below grew still as Tyreth pushed the handle into the bound claw.

In the silence, the lizard sagged down between the posts, a grimace on its face. Its head fell forward onto its chest as its breath was released in one long hiss.

Tyreth reached for the hammer and the Chief Watchers head snapped up, a devious smile spreading across his face. His thick tail whipped at Tyreth, knocking the control end of the krypin from her hand. The lizard drew up to his full height, the ropes stretching out freely as his claw raised the hammer off the pedestal. “Old superstitions do not work anymore. This hammer will not harm me, I am the only truth the Cor needs to hear!”

His words echoed across the water just before a brilliant explosion of electricity erupted from the hammer, wrapping around the creature, and throwing Tyreth to the ground. Sparks shot out from around the base of the pillars as blue light blazed through the loops of the krypin. Lightning arced about the thick black band on the lizard’s neck as the Chief Watcher’s head reared back. The light in its eyes faded away, and the creature slumped forward within the tangles of blackened rope, leaving the hammer perfectly balanced on top of the pillar.

The Rakash leader moved past Jorad, reaching for the hammer, but in its haste, it released the priest from the control of the blue krypin, and in that instant the black blade was in Jorad’s hand, slicing through the air. The severed hand of the Rakash leader fell twitching to the floor, still holding the handle of the krypin rope. The handless Rakash leader staggered forward and slammed blindly into the pillar, knocking the hammer to the ground as the pale creature toppled off the balcony and vanished into the whirlpool.

Jorad leapt forward to stand before Tyreth, his blade extended toward the three remaining Rakash.

Short yellow krypins appeared in their hands and on the end of each rope, a glistening point emerged. The Rakash played the krypins like whips around Jorad’s body until it seemed there were a dozen barbed heads seeking to get past his blade.

Jorad slashed at one and sliced it almost in half, but another yellow whip sank its point into his forearm. The priest yanked it out and stepped back, but his hand shook and the black knife faltered.

The three Rakash stood down and waited until Jorad’s hand slid down to hang limply at his side. The knife clattered to the ground. Now the three fanned out wider, their whips closing in like venomous snakes. The yellow ropes flowed through the air, their poisonous stingers hovering near his head as the three Rakash drew closer to both Jorad and the hammer lying on the ground.

“Tyreth!” Corvan shouted. Her head twisted to look at him. “The hammer!” He pointed to where it lay. Tyreth scooped it up, plucked the black knife from the ground and leapt in beside Jorad, the blade singing through the air and slashing the yellow ropes into pieces that fell twitching at Jorad’s feet.

The Rakash did not retreat. They spread out along the front of the stage to surround Tyreth and each pulled out its own long blade. Could they still see? Each one appeared to be fixated on the hammer in Tyreth’s hand.

Subtle movements at the far edge of the stage caught Corvan’s eye. On that side of the platform, one of Madam Toreg’s gray men was threading a fire stick into the stone floor. There was another gray man in the middle and one more close to the curtain on Corvan’s side.

The three simultaneously gave their sticks a sharp twist and a muted thump shot a fracture clean across the balcony, separating the three Rakash from Jorad and Tyreth. The crack widened as huge slab tipped forward and the three gangly creatures stumbled backward as Garek appeared, pulling Jorad and Tyreth back to safety.

With a resounding crack, the two pillars snapped off the broken stage, taking the body of the Chief Watcher with them into the water below. The broken half of the stage tilted even farther. The Rakash slipped off but managed to cling to the front edge. The entire slab now hung only by the sturdy metal rods that had connected the pillars to the control room.

The Rakash were pulling themselves upward onto the slab and for a movement it appeared they would succeed but thick tentacles shot from the water and wrapped around the legs of the three white creatures, stretching their already long bodies to an impossible length.

An eerie, terrifying sound filled the amphitheater as the Rakash cried out. With two loud pops, the knuckles of the control rods split apart and the stone stage fell into the pool with a colossal splash.

A towering wall of water slammed the priests against the wall and dropped them back into their section of seats.

“Save those men,” Jorad cried out.

The palace guard looked about in confusion before some began to use their hooks to pull the priests to safety. Others from the stands jumped forward to help pull them out of the water.

As the priests were being lifted over the wall, Corvan looked down into the karst. Through the ripples, he could make out the broken section of the balcony lying on the bottom of the pool. The only sign of the Rakash was a severed hand trailing a long blue double headed krypin, its ends swirling around the submerged body of the Chief Watcher.

Corvan looked closer. The lizard below was small and green.

That wasn’t the Chief Watcher. It was Tsarek!