The Crippled God

incompleteness, overwhelmed me many times. But now I stand with you, my brother, and I will fall in your stead if I can in this battleto come. Oblivion does not frighten me – I see only its blessed release.’
    Silchas Ruin studied him. Then he sighed and reached for the sword. Hand closing on its plain grip, he slid the weapon free.
    The Hust sword bucked in his hand, voicing a deafening shriek.
    Tulas Shorn was driven back a step, and he stared in shock as enormous ghostly chains appeared, writhing from the sword’s patterned blade. Those chains seemed to be anchored deep into the ground, and suddenly the land beneath them was shaking, pitching them about as if the world was rolling its shoulders. From below, a rising thunder—
    A blast of dirt and stone lifted skyward off to Tulas Shorn’s left, and he bellowed in shock upon seeing a dragon clawing its way free of the steaming earth. And then, off to the right, another erupted in a shower of debris, and then a third – each one chained as it rose from the ground, wings hammering the dust-filled air.
    Their roars – of release – ripped across the plain.
    Silchas Ruin stood, both hands now on the sword, as the ethereal chains snapped taut, scissoring wildly above him like the strands of a wind-whipped thread.
    Eloth. Ampelas. Kalse .
    Tulas Shorn staggered forward. ‘Veer! Silchas Ruin – veer! We have our Storm! He has given us our Storm!’
    Screaming, Silchas Ruin blurred, pungent clouds roiling out from him. Sword and chains vanished – yet the three dragons held close in the air above them.
    Veering, Tulas Shorn launched himself into the sky.
    Eloth’s voice filled his skull. ‘ Brothers! It is as Cotillion promised! We are freed once more! ’
    ‘ Only to die! ’ cried another voice – Ampelas – yet there was nothing of frustration in its tone.
    ‘ Should we prevail – Silchas Ruin, will you vow to break our chains? ’
    And Silchas replied, ‘ Eloth, I so swear .’
    ‘ Then we have a cause worth fighting for! He bargained true. He is a god with honour! ’
    The five Ancient Dragons wheeled then, climbing ever higher as they winged southward. The shadow cast down by one talon slash in the heavens above them marked their path, true as an arrow into the heart of the battle.
    ‘ My leg! ’ Telorast shrieked. ‘Curdle! I am crippled! Help me!’
    The other skeletal lizard halted so quickly it fell over, rolled once, twice, and then leapt back to its feet. ‘Aaii! See the shadow? It hunts us! It chases us! Webs across the sky! Telorast – you are doomed!’
    ‘I see Eleint! They are coming for us! This was a trap! A lie! A deceit! Betrayal! Bad luck! Help me, Curdle!’
    Curdle leapt up and down as if eating flies on the wing. ‘They only pretended! Those two usurpers – they are venal and vicious, selfish! Not-Apsalar was their servant, was she not? She was! This has been planned from the very start – Telorast, I will weep for you. My sister, my lover, my occasional acquaintance – I promise, I will weep for you.’
    ‘You lying bitch! Carry me! Save me! I would save you in your place if I was you and you were me and I wanted to run because that’s the smart thing to do – except when I’m me and you’re you! Then it’s not smart at all!’ She clawed furiously at the ground, one leg kicking, trying to reach Curdle, her small hands clutching the air, her serrated jaws clacking in a manic frenzy. ‘Come closer, I beg you!’ Snap snap snap . ‘I only want to say goodbye, I swear it!’ Snap snap snap snap .
    ‘The shadow!’ Curdle shrieked. ‘I’ve waited too long! Help!’ She began running, leaping over tufts of dead grass, dodging boulders and small stones. Her rush startled a grasshopper into the air and she bit it in half in passing. ‘Did you see that? Telor—’
    Both creatures veered. Chains cracked like lightning, lifting them skyward.
    ‘ Storm! Five Ancients – now seven! ’
    ‘ Eloth greets you, betrayers! Telorast Anthras! Kerudas Karosias! ’
    ‘ Eloth! Ampelas! Kalse! They still hate us! Telorast, look what you’ve done! ’
    Korabas, the Otataral Dragon, was being driven earthward as dragon after dragon crashed down on her from above, their talons raking through her hide, flensing her wings. She had killed hundreds, but now, at last, she was failing. The land beneath her loomed, every detail a bitter language of death. She could no longer give voice to her fury, her crushing frustration, and