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desperately tried to save himself.
"I call you now," he shouted, "to join with me in the slaying of these apostates of our
Darkest Majesty. And do you not, I promise you such a death as will live on in the memory of
men when the stones of this castle are sand 'neath the feet of all true believers!"
He would have said more had I not interrupted. I'd stepped to the fore of my stalwarts,
bidding them hold while I went on. Twelve paces I took, then stood, feet planted, to stare into
the eyes of the two acolytes and the ten remaining lords. I said simply, "Throw down your
swords, else give your souls right now to Ormon's hell!"
Their faces drained of blood, their legs all trembling, the ten lords kept their swords,
but fled behind the wizard. I let them go. Only the red-robed acolytes remained. They raised
their weapons against me. But their hearts weren't in it; their faith was gone. I reluctantly
killed the two of them with a whistling blow to right and left. There was then no one but the
priest-wizard himself. He stood to oppose me. The bubble was still there, as a giant inverted
flshbowl upon his shoulders. I sheathed my faldirk, taking the greatsword into my two hands
as would a first millennia Terran Samurai. My blade, despite its weight, had a cutting edge
to halve a pillow. I'd honed it to that perfection myself. The wizard screamed and whirled his
greatsword clumsily...
And I did exactly what I'd told my stalwarts I would do. I simply stepped in, went to one
knee-and laid open his middle to the very spine. In effect, I'd killed him in a way that no one
who witnessed it would ever forget...
As he fell forward into the instant puddling of his own intestines, I sheathed my sword
and held up my arms in a plea for all to watch. Upon which I lasered both the bubble and the
head inside it so that all disappeared in a crackling blueness replete with an ozone smell to
burn one's nostrils.
And should I say that already the laser beam seemed weaker?
The ten lords who had foolishly kept their swords were then killed by any Omnians
who could get at them first; among these our quite delighted young Sernas. Needless to say,
I would not have had it so.
I'd risked the depleted laser beam for one reason only-to impress them with my
magic where the Dark One's had failed. I'd already won them with the contradictory promise
of power and freedom. Now they would fear me too; long enough; I hoped, for me to do what
had to be done.
Around us bedlam had claimed its own. How else can one describe the effect of the
destruction of the emissary of an incarnate god, evil or otherwise, upon his erstwhile
worshipers?
The atmosphere was mass insanity; directionless, purposeless-dangerous. They
would not cease their shouting, their paeans of praise for me and mine; nor did they cease
their drinking.
We returned to our seats at the high table first to drink deeply and then to rinse our
faces and hands of blood and sweat while the bloodied corpses of the wizard-priest and his
supporters were being dragged from the makeshift arena. At that point Lord Akin Sernas
asked me the one question I had hoped to avoid.
"My Lord," he queried bluntly, "when your princess slew Lord Gol-Tais, thinking he'd
killed you, she was heard by all to shout: 'You've killed the Collin!' What, sir, did she mean by
that?"
I looked at him querulously, hoping still to put him off. "Does it really matter?"
He frowned and bowed his head obsequiously.
But a second lord intervened. He was smiling but the challenge behind his eyes was
hardly veiled. He said, "Tis that we've heard of the Collin, sir."
A large group of the most important lords of Om had now joined us at the high table.
Their splendor in dress, their poise, their demeanor, all suggested that here, whether I liked
it or not, was the only general staff I'd have to work with in the coming hours. Sernas'
question had been their question, actually; it demanded an answer.
I sensed my seven swords going all tense again around me. Murie'd placed her hand
lightly upon my forearm. Since they were in the most part standing, we too arose.
I said, "I am also known by the name of Collin."
"What then of the other?" Sernas asked-"that you are a prince of the Selig Isles?"
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