Then he rose and went to the grilled metal girdle that kept the Machine enclosed in its niche. He took out a strangely-wrought key and dangled it in his hand.
Engraven on the sides of the Machine were a series of symbols. Diamond-shaped, they were, with the tracery of a star surrounding each diamond. One of those diamonds was the lock that would restore to life the dead Machine. Flane hoped that the key he held would unlock the slumbering power of the Machine. If not--well, Vawdar and he were as good as dead, themselves.
He inserted the key in the slit-like hole of one of the diamonds and tried to turn it.
He whispered curses, attempting to move the key by sheer force.
Another failure, he thought bitterly. Just one of the hundreds that had failed since that day, over a quarter of a century ago, when the Machine had hummed madly, and stopped. Those others had not mattered; every _dular_ and _meknik_ who thought he knew the answer had tried it. There was no penalty for failure. But now, with the _mekniks_ hot after Vawdar who might still hold _mekniks_ and _dulars_ together, failure meant death if they should catch him.
Flane ran his fingers over the tiny hole. He saw the star pattern bordering the lock, like a frieze ornamenting it. He sighed. All the diamonds had holes.
Sound came to him as he stood before the machine, in the light of Klarn's three moons seeping in from the dome. He whirled, and half-drew his sword. Voices floated to him, riotous with laughter and derision.
"Vawdar! They got him at last. As he was trying to get out the Dragon Gate."
"Good news. Now if we could get the Princess' whelp, Flane!"
The man in the shadows showed his white teeth in a silent snarl of pure hate. His knuckles tensed on the sword-hilt until they threatened to burst the tightened skin.
"The _dulars_ would be leaderless, then. They'd have to obey us, or we'd pull in the Darksiders--let them loot!"
One of the men grumbled, "If we have Vawdar, what use for us to miss the celebration? Why stand guard at the Temple here?"
"The council thinks Flane might try once more to make the Machine work. If he succeeded--well, that would mean that Klarn will spring to life. The Darksiders, though they outnumber us all, will never dare attack. They remember too well the weapons of the Klarnva."