Chapter Thirty
The light grey powder formed a complete circle before the door. It measured a pace and a half across and was decorated at four evenly paced intervals, with each point bearing a symbol of one of the elements studied at the guild: earth, air, water, and fire. Fire, of course, had the dominant position, followed closely by earth. Air and water shared comparable levels of importance, each only present to round out the full power of the spell, power rooted directly in earth and fire.
As Korina looked on, Regecon began circumscribing a second circle about the first. He alone had to complete each ring. Only when a circle was fully completed could any of the other mages offer assistance. Aside from Regecon, Ambrisia was the only other wizard allowed to inscribe any of the dominant sigils. Be that as it may, there was still plenty of work for the remaining mages in the chamber. With a spell of this complexity, there was an average of eight minor sigils for every major one, and there were some two to four major sigils per circle. With the exception of divination, there was at least one mage present to help with every discipline. The talented wizard Methoin helped with fire, Burodon with earth, some water mage Korina didn’t know waited to add his art, and Jacindra herself was due any minute to help with the symbols of air. With sixteen concentric rings of binding, and the plethora of symbols and other chants required around each circle, the spell was going to take several days to prepare, even with the small army of mages working on it. Once completed, they needed to get the vampire to step inside the center—an interesting feat to witness, if it could be done. Granted, the circles lay right before the door, so as soon as he entered the chamber he was bound to step within. It was just that small matter of forcing the vampire to enter this particular room.
Korina shuddered.
A vampire. All the mages knew now. For herself, Korina had already suspected such when she had finished doing some of her own research the day before. An undead powerful enough to slay a full mage with ease, yet still retain a remarkably human form in appearance—that alone had nearly clinched it. With the bite marks she remembered seeing on Durek’s neck, there had been little room left for doubt.
It was an old one, too. A thousand years old, according to Ambrisia. Given the fact that one of the earth mages had failed to hold it with a hand of stone grown from the wall of the guild house, the earth sorceress’ estimation sounded accurate. According to several witnesses, the hand of stone which had successfully grasped the creature had been subsequently ripped from the wall by an exertion of sheer physical force. The amount of strength required to accomplish such a feat was totally unprecedented. It seemed all too likely that this vampire had been around since the time of Morgulan.
Lucian val Drasmyr, right hand of Morgulan and guardian of his sceptre.
For some odd reason, that name seemed to resound repeatedly inside Korina’s head. Although just the name of a vampire, a man who should have died centuries ago, it still tugged at some remote part of her brain. She wrestled with the notion a moment, trying to trace the odd feeling in her stomach, then decided it was unimportant. Hardly worth as much interest as Morgulan’s mystical sceptre. Now that was an object worthy of contemplation. Perhaps when all this was done, Korina herself could make a try to recover the ancient talisman. She would have to move quickly, though; once they defeated Drasmyr, Regecon would very likely move to recover the sceptre himself and have it destroyed. And that was something she could not allow.
Amidst his work, Regecon finally looked up and spoke. “You do understand what I want?” His eyes gripped Korina with a sudden fierceness and strength that the young woman found quite discomfiting. Her heart quickened in sudden fear, and she nearly choked from the dread that he could somehow sense her inner thoughts.
She forced the feeling down and cleared her throat before speaking. “Yes, Guild Master. A containment jar in which to confine your vampire so that he can be destroyed. I can handle it.”
“Good. That’s very good.” The fire mage completed the outline of the second ring and motioned Ambrisia to join him. Together, they began inscribing more symbols. Korina relaxed as the two mages returned to work, then sighed. They were using Ascerion Circles. There was nothing wrong with them, of course; they were just hopelessly antiquated and rather awkward for some particular uses. A comparable spell cast with the Rings of Denzer would take half the time and half as many circles; but only a demonologist would know that. Ascerion Circles would have to do.
Korina turned to leave, but before she took two steps Ambrisia spoke. “Make sure you find Toreg to help you, Korina. A jar based on earth alone won’t be sufficient to hold this vampire.”
Looking back, Korina forced a smile to her face. “Of course, Mistress. I was just on my way to find him.” That was considerably more polite than the remark the young woman diligently suppressed. She knew that earth alone wouldn’t hold this vampire, but she had other means at least as effective as anything mage Toreg might offer. All it would take would be some modifications of several demonic sigils: an alteration of the influence to encompass undead instead of demons. Of course, disguising the true nature of such sigils might be difficult, but surely she could think of something if necessary. Ambrisia might not realize it, but Korina could construct the entirety of the jar without Mage Toreg’s help. Be that as it may, necessity forced her to accept a smaller role.
Drasmyr (Prequel: From the Ashes of Ruin) Page 62