Chapter Thirty-Eight
The guardsman burst into the room, hurling the door wide and shouting for the sorceress. Startled, Coragan turned to face the man while Ambrisia motioned him to silence.
“A little decorum, please,” the Mistress of the Earth said, holding the man’s tongue with her stare. After he had regained his composure, she nodded. “Proceed with your news, guardsman.”
“The town, milady. It is marching.”
Ambrisia arched a brow. “Marching? What do you mean?”
“They are marching, milady. Several hundred men and women with torches are storming through the streets. They are working themselves into a frenzy chanting ‘Down with the guild’ as they go.”
Ambrisia’s eyes widened in alarm. For a moment, she seemed truly shaken; but then her composure returned and her sorceress eyes gave the guardsman a shrewd and calculating look. “How long before they get here?”
“I would say ten, maybe fifteen minutes. They’re marching through the merchants’ quarter right now and everywhere they go they gather more people. When they get here, we’ll have a bloody army on our doorstep.” Ambrisia’s frown brought a quick addendum. “Milady,” the guardsman said, swallowing uncomfortably.
“Go gather the other mages and have them meet me at the gate. This rabble will not dare to threaten us if we stand to face them.” A hint of anger tinged Ambrisia’s words and Coragan was once again reminded of her station. To her, this rebellion was a form of mutiny on a mass scale. The ignorant peasants had become agitated and were daring to defy her might.
By the Scythe-Bearer’s Sickle did he dislike nobility, be they mages or not. Their airs of superiority could drive a common man mad. For his part, he could not help but side with the peasants, although with respect to the vampire, the timing of the revolt could not be poorer. He repressed the urge to reach out and throttle the woman.
The earth sorceress turned to the bounty hunter. “Find Regecon and inform him of this happening.” The tone in her voice was clearly an order. As she headed for the door, she looked back a final time. “Have him meet me at the gate.”
Coragan ground his teeth together and briefly considered ignoring the woman. How dare she think she could order him about like that! He was not one of her guardsmen. The guild was paying him to find a vampire, not become an errand boy.
“You look like you’ve swallowed a lemon,” Galladrin said, walking up to his side. “I think I understand your dislike for these mages, at least some of them anyway.” The rogue reached up to pick at the white bandage on his neck. Through the thin tissue, two small circles of red were clearly visible.
“Never again, Galladrin,” Coragan said. “We will never again work for their kind.”
“They pay well.”
“I don’t care. Never again.” Coragan slowly regained his composure, but the anger still simmered beneath the surface.
Galladrin shrugged his shoulders. “If you truly feel that strongly, I won’t argue. But I will not promise to hold myself to your decision.”
The bounty hunter shook his head slowly, then headed toward the staircase. He took five steps then stopped and looked back to Galladrin. “Are you coming? We did promise to discuss Lucian’s lure with Regecon tonight.”
“Do you think he’ll be interested once he finds out the city is up in arms? No, I think I’ll wait here and let you play messenger boy.”
Coragan glowered at the rogue, then continued on his way. It had been over a week since he had last tread up these steps for that fateful audience, but it seemed much longer. He remembered that night distinctly. He had been reluctant then to do these wizards’ bidding, believing it was best to leave the mages to their own devices, and as far as he was concerned, this ‘investigation’ had done nothing but prove him right. Things were never simple when magic was involved. In his experience, it always brought more trouble than it was worth. And a vampire was more trouble than most. Compared to such a creature, a street riot was a trivial affair.
Coragan took several steps in a single bound and rounded the first turning in the stairwell. He nodded once in greeting as a guardsman strolled past. The man met his eye with a blank stare, his expression shielding troubled thoughts. Coragan suspected the man did not even see him.
The bounty hunter continued on, pondering the young guard’s reaction, or rather, his lack of reaction. He supposed these days must be trying for a guard; it must be difficult to remain loyal to your master when half of your fellows had abandoned hope; every day must be a burden.
The door to the guild master’s chamber loomed ahead. Behind it Coragan heard the muffled sound of voices and he cocked his head in surprise. As far as he knew, Regecon was supposed to be alone. Of course, one of the other wizards might have some problem which required the fire mage’s attention. Regardless, a marching army of townsfolk surely took precedence. Coragan raised his hand to knock, then thought better of it. He had put up with these wizards and their airs long enough.
Coragan grasped the handle and flung the door wide. “Sorry to disturb you, Regecon,” he said, “but it is urg—” The bounty hunter’s mouth went dry and his stomach lurched into his throat.
Lucian was here.
The vampire held the guild master’s arms at both his wrists, and splayed them back painfully to the sides at awkward angles. At any moment, it looked as if Regecon’s joints might snap and the fire mage’s face contorted with the pain. A brief flicker of hope surfaced beneath the agony as the wizard caught sight of Coragan. With his arms pinned like that, the master of the guild was all but helpless. If he couldn’t move his hands, he couldn’t cast his spells. Lucian was in complete control.
Drasmyr turned to the sound of Coragan’s voice, his eyes widening in surprise. As he did so, his torso twisted, and with it, Regecon’s elbow. The fire mage choked on a bitter, haggard gasp.
Coragan hesitated, then responded like a cat. His left hand came up in a blur, grabbing the silver dagger at his side and tearing it from its sheath. With a single fluid motion, his hand whipped forward and hurled the blade through the air. In the same instant, his opposite hand reached down to draw his sword.
The blade of the dagger tumbled end over end through the distance between them, and for once the startled vampire was too slow. The creature’s hand reached up to strike the weapon from its course but only grasped at empty air. The blade found its mark in the side of the vampire’s neck.
Six inches of pure silver drove deep into Lucian’s flesh. A brilliant burst of blue fire seared along his neck and jaw, and he stumbled backward, flailing wildly. Forgotten and discarded, Regecon stumbled to the side behind his desk while the vampire back-pedaled toward the wall.
Still clawing at his wound, Drasmyr snarled. “Mortal! I will rip out your heart for that!” He grabbed the glittering blade embedded in his neck, and pulled it free with a gasp.
Coragan dove to the side as the silver dagger hurtled toward him. The precious weapon drew a thin line of blood across the bounty hunter’s thigh, then smashed against the stone wall. There was a brief shower of sparks before the twisted dagger clattered to the floor. Quickly, Coragan glanced at his leg. It was a shallow injury but it stung bitterly; in spite of the pain, the bounty hunter rolled nimbly to his feet.
“Esthirion, deslak tiridien,” Regecon said, rising from the ground. The fire mage raised his arms above his head and coils of fire raced along his form.
Clasping his injured neck, Lucian glared at the guild master in frustration and fury. He took one step toward the mage, then seemed to realize his danger. Snarling, the vampire bolted toward the exit.
Coragan tried to step forward to intervene, but found himself shouldered to the side. He slammed hard against the stones, and gasped aloud as the wind was forced from his chest. He lost his balance and awkwardly stumbled to the floor.
“Morthius rellenem.” Regecon pointed both his hands at the fleeing vampire just as the creature reached the exit. There was a loud crack of thunder, then a hor
rendous explosion of heat. The further half of the room disappeared in a terrible conflagration, obscuring the whole wall from view. Coragan stared in amazement as the ball of fire erupted, destroying everything in its path. Even the stones and the mortar between them blackened in the blast.
When the smoke and dust cleared, the vampire was gone and in his place the door of the chamber stood, charred and cracked beyond repair.
“Bloody Curses,” Regecon swore, slamming his fist on the desk. “He shut the damn door!”
Coragan staggered to his feet. “How did he get in here?”
Regecon shook his head. “I don’t know. All I know is one moment I was alone, the next I had him leaning over me.” He turned to the bounty hunter. “Your timing is exceptional, my friend. I am forever in your debt.”
“Forget it, let’s just get moving. He can’t have gone far.”
Regecon muttered a word and a small ball of fire burst forth from nothingness, quickly filling the room with its incandescent light. He motioned Coragan toward the exit, then proceeded forward himself.
The door, blackened and cracked, was all too brittle. The moment the bounty hunter pulled it wide, it broke free of its hinges and crashed to the floor. They were forced to wade through a jumbled heap of debris.
Regecon sent the fire forward to illuminate the stairwell.
It was empty.
“Hurry,” Coragan said, rushing forward. “Galladrin was in the chamber below.”
Drasmyr (Prequel: From the Ashes of Ruin) Page 75