Path of the Tiger, стр. 22
A shadow now crept across Mira’s features, spreading its darkness like squid ink billowing through water.
‘You don’t know, Aboubakar. No, you don’t know half of it, even. There are other forces at work here. More potent forces than you can possibly imagine. And I have started to understand the power of these new forces … a power that, if unleashed, could…’ She paused here, gazing into the distance, entirely absent for a few moments. ‘I’ll say no more,’ she eventually said.
‘What the hell are you talking about?’
‘I’ve said too much already,’ she hissed. ‘You only get to know what I need you to know.’
Abou smiled sourly and shook his head.
‘Vipers. Vipers, the lot of you! How can I trust a single drop of poison that oozes from those lips of yours, Mira?! How?!’
‘You have to trust me, because I’m all you’ve got right now. The Alliance project is currently hanging by a thread. Myself and two other Board members are the only ones keeping it alive.’
‘Wonderful! You’re keeping it so that your friends will just exterminate some of us then. I should be kissing your feet with gratitude, shouldn’t I?’
‘Stop being so obtuse!’ Mira shouted, finally allowing a surge of unchecked emotion to crack through her granite-smooth façade of calm. ‘You know what position I’m in! Damn you, I’m trying to create at least a semblance of a win-win situation here! If you really were as magnanimous and upright as you’re pretending to be, you’d be fighting with the Rebels against us! But you’re not, are you? You’re looking out for your own interests, not fighting in a war that cannot possibly be won.’
Aboubakar glared at her, his wrath simmering in silence, but he realised that he could not counter what she was saying.
‘Now listen to me for a moment, Aboubakar, and I mean really listen. While I did unfortunately fail to save your land and cocoa company, I can offer you a deal that won’t leave you completely empty-handed. The Alliance is planning to offer you their protection, as well as limited shares in the Zhong Lai mining project that will take place on your former land … if you can help us.’
‘Protection? I haven’t been actively targeted by Huntsmen for decades. Why do I need protection now?’
‘Trust me, you’ll need it. Things are going to change very soon. Since the Huntsmen have been so successful in crushing the Rebels over the past century, to the point that they’re hardly even considered a major threat anymore, the board has decided to set its sights back on the remaining neutral beastwalkers. So, full-scale operations are going to be launched against any of you who are not Alliance members. Rebel and neutral alike, you’re all going to be actively targeted for extermination. As you said, the Huntsmen’s policy has always been one of zero tolerance for the existence of any beastwalker. However, those of us who supported the Alliance understand the value of making use of certain key beastwalkers in furthering our goals – goals which are sometimes entirely independent of the Huntsmen organisation – and we have decided that you will be a most useful ally.’
‘When were they planning on approaching me?’
‘Officially, next week. Now Abou, I must point out to you just how important this is. The whole point of the Alliance project was to both use beastwalkers’ abilities to combat the Rebels, and to diminish beastwalker power by dividing you all, and turning you against your own kind. At this point in time, the board is not convinced that the success of the project, or more precisely, the lack thereof in recent years, can justify keeping it afloat.’
Abou shook his head, looking perturbed.
‘The aid of the Alliance was what enabled you to finally crush the Eastern Council. That was possibly the greatest blow struck by you Huntsmen yet in the entire history of the War, your finest victory. That single blow almost ended the War there and then.’
‘A victory we will not forget … but nonetheless, what remains important was that it was not the end of the War. Remember, a handful of members of the Eastern Council survived the cleansing, while others remained unaccounted for and may still be alive. And we know at least that one carried with him the key to the Eastern Council’s powers. As long as that power remains accessible in the world, it is a threat to us.’
Abou nodded.
‘William Gisborne … the ever-present thorn in your side.’
‘The Alliance has reached the end of its usefulness to us—’
‘Because,’ Abou said, ‘it has failed to eliminate Gisborne, and thus the latent threat of the Eastern Council’s power still lives. And those long-lost temples, which might still contain living Mothers, with all of their power … he may know where they are.’
She nodded, clasping her hands together as she answered him.
‘Precisely. While that little ember of power survives, as insignificant as it is in Gisborne’s puny hands, the threat remains. Remember, an all-consuming fire needs but a single spark to ignite it, and Gisborne holds that spark in his fingertips … especially if, in addition to his knowledge of the Council’s secrets, he knows where the lost Mothers are, and how to awaken them. But there is not only that to consider, there is also the new power. A rising power that will sow seeds of chaos. A power that I wish to ally myself with, because I have seen its potential. And if I could take what remains of the Eastern Council’s power, add the combined strength of the Alliance members loyal to me, and meld it with this new, dark power…’
Mira trailed off here, and a frightening glow entered her eyes. Her hands started to quiver, so she pulled them away from the table and tucked them under it, digging her fingertips into her