PALE REIGN OVER GESHEM - CHAPTER 26
     "Marik."
     His name on the Pale Man's lips very
nearly scared the bandit leader right off the
parapets.
     "Dread Lord I did not see you emerge from
the throne room..."
     "No.  You did not.  I have certain
arrangements to make.  Assemble the men, and
have them ready to guide the preyers out into
the city."
     "They won't like it, Lord.  At the best of
times, the preyers are like rabid dogs."
     "I care very little for what the bandits
like or dislike, Marik.  I require the preyers
to go down into the city.  Remind them who they
pledged their souls to, if they need reminding."
     "The preyers will massacre the townspeople
and the refugees, dread lord."
     "Exactly, Marik.  Your men may join in the
fun if they so desire."
     "As you command, Dread Lord."
     The bandit leader turned towards the inner
bailey and drew a small crossbow from a sheath
at his hip.  A bolt was already loaded, and he
launched it into the air.  It shrieked like an
eagle at the hunt, and every bandits eyes were
drawn to the weapon-clad figure standing on the
walls.
     "Form up," Marik shouted into the
courtyard, " Halberds and spears, double file on
the main doors... Now, hades take you all! 
Now!" 
     He turned back to see if his lord required
more, but there was no one standing there.  A
shiver passed through the man's spine.  He
hadn't heard the Pale Man depart, but the air
vibrated with something in his wake.  Death.
             *      *     *     
     " It's getting brighter down here."
     The rock of the tunnel had begun to glow
slightly.  Increasingly, veins of crystal,
transparent, but so facetted as to be too
complex to see through, had begun to appear in
the walls.  The crystal was the source of the
luminescence.
     "Indeed, Cyclops.  Witch, where are we?"
     "I tire of you calling me that, Hunter,
and I know not.  We are deeper than any of the
thieves tunnels run, and being guided by a
madman under a geas."
     Cyclops peered ahead into the brightening
gloom of the tunnels.  The other Scott....
easier to think of him as Scott..., had stopped
walking.  He stood in place, at a point where an
intricate arch of winding stone lined the
tunnel, letting them catch up.  When they did,
the reason for his delay was obvious.
     The two Scott Summers' stood before an
archway.  Cyclops was saved from blindness by
his visor, and Scott had to shield his eyes with
his hand. Cyclops had seen the Crystal Wave that
had seemed ready to wipe out reality... he had
been psychically inside the M'Kraan Crystal when
Phoenix had repaired it.  He had been to the
singing crystal gardens of Kythyri on the Shi'ar
home world... and still he was awed by this...
     They heard Lustre gasp as they walked into
the cavern.  Stephanie was more vocal in her
awe.
     "It's... beautiful."
     The cavern was as wide as half a football
field, and its walls were a dark rock broken by
multitudes of veins of intricate crystal.  In
the centre of the cavern the floor dropped into
a pit that filled most of the centre of the
place, and rising from the pit, stretching
upwards so high that they could barely make out
the top, was a pillar of pure diamond. It's top
was lost into the distance of the cave roof, not
into darkness, but sheer height.  It's base was
equally lost to the abyss below.
     "The power of it..." Lustre's voice was a
whisper, yet it seemed to echo. 
     Energy was everywhere.  Flashes of
lightning, every colour of the spectrum, played
along the length and breadth of the gem.  Some
jumped across empty space to flow into the stone
walls of the cave.  Into the Land itself.
     "There."
     Scott Summers pointed.  Cyclops looked to
where he indicated, but it must have been a
point far above.   There was nothing but the
massive gem sprawling upwards as far as the eye
could see.  
     Cyclops turned to Scott.
     "What do you see?"
     "Not see... I feel... something up there
is calling me."
     Lustre looked at the man as if she saw
something Cyclops could not.  Her hand reached
towards him and made a gesture like fanning a
deck of cards.  When she spoke, her voice held a
trace of awe.
     "Never have I seen the like.  There's a
channel... the Flows are moving through him like
a river.  Small wonder he was near madness..."
     Cyclops thought it through.  Something
called his other here... and something
Sinister... the Pale Man, was doing, was messing
with the force this massive gem channelled.
     "Hunter," his voice took on a tone of
command "look for a way up."  Stephanie nodded
once and began to circle the area.
     "Lustre, can he tap into this?"
     "I think not, outworlder.  He is not of
the land... he has no Sight, no way to see the
flows... unless..." She walked quickly to the
dazed man's side.  "What do you see?  What calls
you?"
     "I... I don't know..."
     Lustre turned to Cyclops.
     "The geas that calls him is tied to the
Heart somehow."
     "The heart?"
     "This..." she indicated the gem, "It can
only be the Heart of the Realm... the lifesource
of all magic... it could be nothing else.  A
select few, we who can manipulate magic, can
channel its force.  The royal family, of which
only the Queen Rain and her unborn heir remain,
are the key to keeping its force tame.  Without
the link to humanity, the magic would run wild." 
Her voice held a reverence few priests could
touch.
     "But why would it call to him...
unless..."
     "Less the Heart struggles against the Pale
Man's enchantments... Hades... the power of the
fiend..."
     "What do you mean?"
     "The Pale Man is manipulating levels of
magic no human should be able to... it would
burn the life from your body and your soul from
existence.  To be doing this, he must be near
invincible... or mad."
     "Apparently, the Mage agreed with you." 
The Hunter's voice broke in.  Cyclops and Lustre
turned to look at her.  Scott Summers remained
where he was, staring at the Heart.  The Hunter
continued.  "The Mage's last command to me was
to find the Basilisk Mask.  It is only now that
I understand why."
     "Explain."  Cyclops asked.
     "Soon.  Now is time for haste.  There is a
pathway along a rock crevice running up the
wall.  Narrow, and treacherous..  But it
ascends... and I believe that is where we must
go... and quickly."
             *     *     *     
     *I must be crazy.*
     Prelate Summers crouched along the stable
wall.  A horse whickered softly as he passed. 
There had been no guards, or rather, there had
been, and they had all suddenly left.  He could
see them from his hiding place.  They had formed
two lines in the courtyard, stretching from the
huge double doors at one end to the portcullis
that sealed the gate.  
     As he watched, spears and other long edged
weapons were handed out.  He couldn't truly see
the bandit's faces... only their glowing red
eyes stood out beneath the hoods they all wore.. 
but they shuffled and fidgeted like nervous men. 
Whatever was happening, they weren't thrilled
about it.
     There was one man directing them all.  A
tall, long-haired man whose full-body chainmail
bristled with weapons.  He stood at the
ramparts, yelling down at the assembling
bandits.
     One final glance confirmed all their
attention was focused on the doors.  Prelate
Summers looked at his target, a small wood shack
with no windows and a bolted door.  Staying
close to the wall, he studied the space between
him and it.  
     A silent prayer to whatever gods this
world had, and he was ready.
                      *       *         *
     The sleeper couldn't open her eyes... she
couldn't move in the slightest, yet suddenly,
she knew she wasn't asleep any longer.  There
was the briefest moment of panic, and then the
voice of her teacher set in.
     *Remain calm... the queen of Geshem can
ill afford to be a panicky little girl.  Keep
your mind clear... the body tires, but the mind
remains sharp as a blade.*
     She remembered her lessons. 
     Drawing into herself, collecting the
energy of her soulself within her as the Shaman
had taught her, Rain, Queen of Geshem reached
out for the power of the Land that was hers by
birthright and bloodtrial... and hit a wall of
pure, vile force.
               *         *         *
     He walked once more down the long stairs
towards the chamber he had so carefully
prepared.  As he descended, his thoughts reached
above.
     *Marik.*
     *Yes, dread lord.*
     *I believe it's time to release the
preyers.*

END CHAPTER 26