Burning, Burning, Burning

You insolent little bitch! thought Belboz to Astra Transtrygia. The only reason I haven't killed them all at once was that I thought it would be more fun to toy with them. Belboz was only barely able to keep himself from letting slip the things he didn't want Astra Transtrygia to know. Try anything like that again, and I will fry all these heroes and then roast you alive and eat the flesh off your bones!

Astra stared at him defiantly. She felt stark despair at losing and at the fact that she couldn't get this other Astra (who she somehow felt connected to on a very deep level) to understand her, but felt a glimmer of triumph at the fact that she'd managed to anger him. Go ahead and gloat, thought Astra Transtrygia. You've shown that you can be tricked yourself. If the others had been only one second later, I would have strangled you. If one of them doesn't defeat you, I'll find some way to defeat your myself. I'll be more careful next time.

How dare you still defy me! thought Belboz. Rage coursed through him like dragon-flame, and as his rage burned brighter so dis his lust, as he remembered Astra's touch. You could join me, you know thought Belboz. Imagine how great your nation would become with a dragon as your consort! Opposing me, you are weak, but if you join together with me, you could be made strong! We could crush all the lesser nations beneath our feet! Soon, we would be able to crush entire worlds! You will be made a goddess! You have felt the heat of my passion, Astra. I have ways to make love-making even more pleasurable through magic, and these will be even more powerful when I become a god, and slay these other so-called gods who have come here to oppose me. Our lust will burn brighter than the stars! We will experience pleasures worthy of the gods we will become!

Never, thought Astra Transtrygia. You are a weak, cowardly, treacherous fool. All the things you promise are empty. None of them would give pleasure to me even if I were willing to turn my back on all I believe in. For you cannot love, nor will you ever be loved in turn. Even if you win and kill us all, it will be an empty victory. There will never be any true joy in your life.

Very well, then, thought Belboz. You are beneath my contempt. If you choose weakness over strength, I will let you wallow in it. And he left her mind, burning with bitterness and rage and frustration.

Meanwhile, the Eternal Champions huddled together apart from the others. "Well, what happens now?" said Ia'adoire. " This world's Astra will have to be disqualified for what she did. So who's going to judge when you're fighting?"

"I could appoint one of my elven analogs judge, such as Lueoth," said Astra 9. "Although it might be difficult to come up with a story that would explain why he would be qualified."

"I'm not so sure that Astra was just insane, after all," said Jarlath. "I've had a sense from the very beginning that this world's Belboz is hiding something. [27438] Perhaps he is aiding Minestus somehow?"

"I do not trust him any more than you do, and I suspect that as well," said Astra 9. "But my sister chose to let her passions blind her rather than finding a way to defeat Belboz in the terms of the contest. Perhaps it is indeed because Belboz did something horrible to her, but even if that is so, she is still clearly in no state to lead us. On the other hand, I might have grounds to disqualify Belboz as well. After all, he didn't tell us he had mind-reading ability of any kind, so the case could be made that he wasn't fighting fairly."

"Or it could be the case that mind-reading is a normal part of magic on this world," said Jarlath. "It is hard to understand the different ways in which magic moves on different worlds." He hoped that the others could not see how inwardly troubled he was. Based on what had happened to his wife, Belboz's magic seemed to work fine. So whatever had happened must have really been a problem with his magic. And had he really seen a figure on a horse in the shadows of the cave, and heard him speak a word of power? If he had truly seen what he had thought he had seen, then he had seen that Rider before. He had seen him in the heart of the tower of Ilxior, where he had first learned the ways of magic and made the greatest mistake of his life, on the day he had spoken the forbidden words and the fire had been kindled, the fire that burned his soul, and took away his sight, and gave him his othersight, and he sees the face of the Rider in the heart of the fire...

No. He dared not remember that day. Even now, especially now, he dared not remember that day.

1. Meanwhile, the Champions continue to deliberate.

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