Free The Masque of Vyle by Andy Chambers

to show how it’s done with a tale that will freeze the blood of those who hear it.’
    +They mistake it for a chance to re-tell old horror stories,+Cylia whispered.
    +And that will serve our purposes perfectly,+Ashanthourus thought back.
    ‘It shall be as you command,’ Ashanthourus said, and bowed. ‘You may change your mind at any time if, having witnessed Yegara’s efforts for example, you should no longer wish to proceed.’
    ‘I begin to tire of your doubts, troupe-master,’ Vyle said coldly. ‘Be about your preparations without further delay.’
    Ashanthourus bowed again and backed away before stepping rapidly over to where Yegara now stood with Cylia and the grey-clad Solitaire. Beneath his domino mask Motley was grinning broadly.

Chapter Six
    Dawnrise / A Traitor’s Tale
    Stars twinkled coldly in the depths of the void, planets wheeled in their orbits. Ashanthourus stood before them now all clad in white, his golden staff in his hand as he sonorously chanted.
    ‘ In the dawn times our people arose,
    were led by the gods to claim their place,
    upon reality’s great wheel. ’
    Ghost-like children of light emerged from the ground all around the troupe-master. They gazed about with luminous eyes as they took in their surroundings, and silently expressed innocent joy in finding themselves not alone. Great, shadowy shapes moved against the backdrop of the stars and they were revealed now as the gleam of eldritch eyes, then as the glitter of crowns or the bejewelled folds of the garments the gods wore as they watched from on high.
    A clear, feminine voice sang out, calling the children together with a haunting refrain. It was soon joined by other voices: male, female, high and low, each of whom sang their own tune as they coalesced from the starry sky. Ashanthourus spoke the names of the gods as they appeared:
    ‘ Great Asuryan and his paramour Gia,
    wise Hoec and Cegorach the trickster,
    far-sighted Lileath, deadly Khaine,
    industrious Vaul, the crone Morai-Heg…
    and two that loved us best of all,
    two from whom we sprang;
    Isha of the harvest and Kurnous of the hunt. ’
    Cylia took the role of Isha, Lo’tos became Kurnous of the red moon. Some of the other gods were noble, some were savage, but all joined their voices together into a greater song that rose and fell through the hall as Isha and Kurnous danced together. Cylia’s creidann launcher spat tiny, star-like sparks that burst into scented clouds over the audience. These pre-programmed hallucinogenic gases were carefully designed to enhance and exaggerate the watchers’ perceptions.
    Meanwhile the children of the gods were swept into the wake of Kurnous and Isha like windblown leaves. They whirled before the majestic choir, growing less and less childlike as they followed in the steps of their creators. The children grew long-limbed and elegant, poised and confident as they danced.
    ‘ Time passed and the gods taught us,
    All that we could learn,
    in turn we learned why they had need of us,
    Death reached his mouldering grasp across the great wheel,
    Grim mortality smote down all that stood before it. ’
    The bony, skull-masked figures of Hradhiri Ra and his fellow Death Jesters rose from the darkness as if summoned by Ashanthourus’s words and the gods abruptly withdrew. The voices of the chorus became jagged and martial as the grim figures appeared on the scene. The Death Jesters began to pursue the children of the gods hither and yon, but the nimble dancers darted and weaved between their soughing scythes with laughter on their lips.
    Now some of the dancers wielded their own blades in defence, bright arcs of multi-coloured energy that dashed aside the dark metal blades of the reapers. The central conflict broke apart into a multitude of whirling pools of light and dark where frenetic, acrobatic forms fought on without pause. Ashanthourus spoke again, this time addressing the audience directly.
    ‘Against this time of deadly strife hear now