Free Deathstalker 07 - Deathstalker Return by Simon R. Green

his arms, in Lionstone's Court. It doesn't seem right that she should be forgotten…
    "Let's talk about the Terror. There was a voice that came out of nowhere after the Recreated had been defeated and then reborn as the new Rim worlds. I never knew whose voice it was. It said the Ashrai were originally created for a purpose, not just to tend the metallic trees. They are old, the Ashrai, and they have forgotten much. Perhaps it is their purpose and their fate to battle the Terror. Perhaps you serve their destiny in coming here. You said you were outlaws, like Owen and his people. What happened? And why are you here?"
    "We're hoping to track down the missing Owen Deathstalker and Hazel d'Ark," said Jesamine. "Our dearest legend is that Owen will return to save us all, in the hour of the Empire's greatest need. If anyone knows how to stop the Terror, it's got to be him. No one else is going to. The Empire's a mess. A complete psychopath's running things, we were all outlawed for not going along with him, and the Golden Age is going down the toilet."
    "Nothing changes…" murmured Carrion.
    "So we're searching for any survivors of the age of heroes," said Lewis. "Hoping to find clues on where to look for Owen and Hazel. It's a sign of how desperate we are that we've started with you, Sir Carrion.
    No offense."
    "Legends," said Carrion, almost kindly. "The patterns never change, though centuries pass. But I was only a part of history, not legend, so all I have to offer you is the painful truth. Owen Deathstalker is dead. He died long ago and far away, saving us all from the wrath of the Recreated."
    For a long moment, no one said anything. They were all hit hard, even Lewis and Jesamine, who'd been told this before. But it was one thing to hear it from Shub and the Dust Plains of Memory, machines who might or might not have their own agendas, and quite another to hear it from a contemporary of Owen—someone who'd been there when it happened. Brett saw something in Lewis and Jesamine's faces.
    "You knew, didn't you? You already knew this, and you said nothing!"
    "We have been given reason to believe that Owen will yet return to us," Lewis said carefully. "And no, I don't understand how. Sometimes… you just have to have a little faith."
    "What about Hazel d'Ark?" said Brett, almost glaring at Carrion. "Is she dead too?"
    "I don't know," said Carrion. "She left Haden, after learning of Owen's death. Perhaps John discovered what became of her. But he's gone. Your only chance for answers is to go to Haden, and pass through the Madness Maze. There are many answers and many mysteries to be found in the Maze."
    "You've been through it," said Jesamine. "What's it like, really?" There is nothing else like it, in all the Empire," said Carrion. "It's almost alive. It breathes and sweats and knows what moves you. It changes everyone differently. Or perhaps it helps us change ourselves. It is a thing of power and miracles, and it is very old. And there's something else; some deeper secret, hidden in the very heart of the Maze. John and I were never allowed close enough to find out what.
    We weren't considered worthy. Only Owen was ever allowed to penetrate the heart of the mystery."
    "Only Owen?" said Lewis, frowning. "What about Hazel d'Ark?"
    "Only the Deathstalker," said Carrion. "There is some unknown connection between the Deathstalkers and the Madness Maze." He broke off abruptly, looking up at the opaque shimmering sky above them.
    "Well, this seems to be Unseeli's day for unwanted visitors. Five Imperial starcruisers have just dropped out of hyperspace and are moving into orbit around this world. Just like old times…"
    They were all looking at him. None of them doubted what he was saying. There was something about Carrion…
    "How do you know this?" said Brett, almost whispering.
    "The Maze," said Carrion. "I know many things now, whether I want to or not. Someone's trying to communicate with the Ashrai. I suppose I might as well