Read Empire of the Worm for Free Online

the floor, while
Alyssa lay trembling and bloody on the Altar, crying softly.
    Davril found the keys to her
manacles on Firhad’s body, released her and swung her into his arms.
    “Davril!” she cried. “What’s
happened? What have you done ?”
    Shocked, he said, “I saved your
life!”
    She sobbed and pressed her head
against his blood-soaked chest. He did not hear her if she thanked him.
    She’s
right , he thought. My own family!
Gods! But what else could he have done?
    Suddenly, the great hall—or
whatever it was—shook violently, and Davril and Alyssa looked at each other.
    An earth-grinding roar issued from
the darkness. Half reptilian, half alien, the sound obliterated all reason. Later
Davril knew he must have screamed in fear, but he could not hear it, nor did he
remember anything other than that awful, inhuman roar. The sound was made by something
massive, something vaster than a whale, or a pod of whales, something truly
gargantuan and Other. It was the roar of no beast, but of some terrible Thing
possessed of inconceivable intellect—all this Davril could tell in that one awful
sound.
    Alyssa clung to him tightly, likely
screaming in his ear though he could not hear it.
    This was It, Davril realized—Subn-ongath,
the Patron of Qazradan, the foe of the Worm. He’s real. Gods be good, he’s real. Davril had not only robbed It
of Its sacrifice but had slain Its chief worshippers.
    “Run!” Alyssa said. “For the gods’
sakes, run!”
    Davril ran, and all became a vague
confusion of screaming and fleeing. He carried a torch in one hand, a sword in
the other, and had flung Alyssa over his shoulder. The world shook around him,
and his vision blurred. Stars wheeled all about. He and Alyssa screamed all the
way back to the upper catacombs.
    Davril expected the Thing to charge
after them, to grind them to pulp beneath it, to swallow their flesh and bones
and souls, but it didn’t, and when Davril had time to think on it he realized
it must not be able to pass the Door. It remained, raging, in the darkness of
the deep earth, though Davril was slow to realize it.
    Somewhere in the upper catacombs, sanity
returned to him. He set Alyssa down and they faced each other, both haggard and
wan and panting.
    “What—was that— thing ?” she wheezed. “Was it really . . .?”
    “I don’t—”
    For the first time, he noticed the
blood on his hands, and his terror at Subn-ongath faded, if only a bit.
    “I killed them,” he whispered. “I slew
my father . . . my brothers . . .” He held up a trembling, bloody hand and
stared at it as if it didn’t belong to him. “What should I do?”
    “I—” A strange look came into her
eyes.
    He realized it then, too.
    “No,” he said, shaking his head. “That’s
madness.”
    “ It’s the only way. No one knows what happens on the Great Journey,
and all know that sometimes the Journeyers don’t return. No one will question
you.”
    “No!”
    “ Yes . You went, and for all they know, everything went as normal—save
this time only one returned. The only surviving male member of the Royal Family.”
In a lower voice she added, “The Emperor.”
    Davril felt tears burn his eyes.
    She took pity on him, running her
fingers through his hair. “My love,” she said. “I’m so sorry. You’ve lost
everything.” With a sigh, she added, “Everything but your duty.” She knelt
before him and kissed his hand. “All hail the Emperor! All hail Lord Husan!”

 
        

 
    The grand ceremony of the Crowning took place in
Sraltar Square , the
massive courtyard in the very center of Sedremere, and it was quite a show. It
had been here in ages past that the Avestines, the original builders and
occupants of the city, had conducted their human sacrifices, and a great
flat-topped pyramid stood in the center of the square for the purpose. Of
course that had been thousands of years ago, before Davril’s race, the Niardans,
had swept down from the north and sacked