A Malazan Book of the Fallen Collection 4

the debate ended with everyone losing. The clash
of intractable views produced no harmony, just exhaustion
and an ache in the back of the skull. Clip, seated with his
legs propped up on the back of the next lower bench, in the
gloom of the uppermost tier overlooking the absurdly
named Disc of Concordance on which stood five glowering
Onyx Wizards, struggled to awaken his mind as the wizards
turned as one to face Silchas Ruin.
    Ordant Brid, Reve of the Rock, who had sent Clip to
retrieve these fell wanderers, was the first to speak. 'Silchas
Ruin, brother of blood to our Black-Winged Lord, we know
what you seek.'
    'Then you also know not to get in my way.'
    At these cold words, Clip sat straighter.
    'It is as I warned!' cried Rin Varalath, Reve of the Night,
in his high-pitched, grating voice. 'He arrives like a
leviathan of destruction! Which of the brothers was gifted
the greater share of deliberation and wisdom? Well, the
answer is clear!'
    'Calm down,' said Penith Vinandas.
    Clip smiled to himself, wondering yet again if the Reve
aspects created the personalities of their masters – or, in the
case of Penith, mistress – or was it the other way round? Of
course the Mistress of the Root would advise calm, a
settling of wild wills, for she was so assuredly . . . rooted .
    'I am calm!' snarled Rin Varalath. He jabbed a finger at
Silchas Ruin. 'We must not yield to this one, else all that
we have achieved will be brought down upon our very
heads. The balance is all that keeps us alive, and each of
you knows that. And if you do not, then you are more lost
than I ever imagined.'
    Draxos Hulch, Reve of the Dark Water, spoke in his
depthless baritone. 'The issue, my fellow wizards, is less
open to debate than you would hope. Unless, of course, we
can explain to this warrior the nature of our struggle and
the uneasy balance we have but recently won.'
    'Why should he be interested?' Rin Varalath asked. 'If
this all collapses it is nothing to him. He will move on,
uncaring – our deaths will be meaningless as far as he is
concerned.'
    Silchas Ruin sighed. 'I am not insensitive to the battle
you have waged here, wizards. But your success is due
entirely to the inevitable disintegration of the Jaghut's
ritual.' He scanned the faces before him. 'You are no match
for Omtose Phellack, when its wielder was none other than
Gothos. In any case, the balance you believe you have
achieved is illusory. The ritual fails. Ice, which had been
held in check, held timeless, has begun to move once more.
It falters in the warmth of this age, yet its volume is so vast
that, even melted, it will effect vast change. As for the
glaciers bound in the highest reaches of the mountains of
Bluerose – those to the north – well, they have already begun
their migration. Unmindful of the distant ocean's assault,
they draw power from a wayward flow of cold air. These
glaciers, wizards, still hold the spear of the ritual, and soon it
will drive for your heart. The Andara is doomed.'
    'We care nothing for the Andara,' said Gestallin Aros,
Reve of the Air. 'The balance you speak of is not the one
that matters to us. Silchas Ruin, the Jaghut's ritual was of
ice only in the manner that fire is of wood – it was the
means of achieving a specific goal, and that goal was
the freezing in place of time. Of life, and of death.'
    Clip's gaze narrowed on Silchas Ruin, as the albino
Andii slowly cocked his head, then said, 'You speak of a
different failing, yet the two are linked—'
    'We are aware of that,' cut in Ordant Brid. Then, with a
faint smile, 'Perhaps more so than you. You speak of a spear
of ice, of Omtose Phellack's very core, still living, still
powerful. That spear, Silchas Ruin, casts a shadow, and it is
within that shadow that you will find what you seek.
Although not, I think, in the way you desire.'
    'Explain.'
    'We will not,' snapped Rin Varalath. 'If you wish to
understand, then look to your kin.'
    'My kin? Are you then able to summon Anomander?'
    'Not him,' replied Ordant Brid. He hesitated, then continued.
'We were visited, not so long ago, by an ascendant.
Menandore. Sister Dawn—'
    If anything, Ruin's voice grew even colder as he
demanded, 'What has she to do with this?'
    'Balance, you ignorant fool!' Rin Varalath's shriek
echoed in the chamber.
    'Where is she now?' Silchas Ruin asked.
    'Alas,' replied Draxos Hulch, 'we do not know. But she is
close, for reasons that are entirely her own. She will, I fear,
oppose you, should you decide