It seemed that the earth elemental had caught up with them.
###
Ariadne remained watchful, looking between the corridor where Caina had vanished and the narrow stairs spiraling back to the library floor ten stories below.
She tried not to look directly at it. It was a long way down. Ariadne did not have any particular problem with heights, but it was still a long damned way down.
Instead, she looked at Kylon. The stormdancer was as motionless as a statue, his expression calm, but there was something dangerous in his stance. It put Ariadne in mind of a panther waiting to spring upon its prey, a stillness that could explode into violence in the blink of an eye. It was a property both unsettling and fascinating. Ariadne could see why Caina had been drawn to Kylon. That was an inappropriate thought for a married woman of her age, but Ariadne had always liked men. Not like Rania, who regarded any pleasures not of the intellect with visceral contempt. No, Rania’s hungers could only be satisfied with power, and even controlling the Umbarian Order and ruling the eastern third of the Empire would never be enough for the eldest daughter of Hyraekon Scorneus…
“Patience, Kyracian,” said Markaine. “She knows what she’s doing.”
“Mischance can fall even on people who know what they’re doing,” said Kylon. “I’m counting to a hundred and twenty seconds. If she’s not back by then, then I am going after…”
A clang rang out from below, followed by two more in rapid succession.
The clangs were so loud that they echoed through the library over and over again. Ariadne hissed a curse under her breath. Almost certainly Talmania would hear that.
“What the hell was that?” snapped Calaver.
Ariadne took a long step to the balcony railing and peered over.
The elemental lord was climbing its way up the balconies. In the cramped confines of the spiral staircase, the creature’s sheer bulk had worked against it. The elemental’s power let it override and alter the native properties of stone to a certain degree, but Ariadne suspected the creature could not compress its volume, much in the same way that water could not be compressed. But in the open space of the vast library, that was less of a problem. The elemental sent its tentacles reaching up, and they curled around the iron railing of the third-story balcony with a clang. The creature heaved itself up, lifting its bulk with terrifying speed.
In another minute, it would reach the highest balcony.
“That thing’s really angry at you,” said Markaine to Calaver.
“The banishment spell!” said Ariadne to Calaver. “Quickly, quickly!”
She cast the spell, and Calaver followed suit. The blue sparks leaped from their hands and struck the climbing elemental, and the creature thrashed. Ariadne hoped the spells would knock the elemental from its perch and back to the floor, forcing it to start climbing all over again.
Instead, more tentacles of stone exploded from its bulk.
The creature began climbing up the balconies with even greater speed. Another fifteen seconds and it would reach the top level.
“Well,” said Ariadne. “That didn’t work.”
“Go!” said Calaver, gesturing with his sword. “Go, go, go!”
Ariadne followed the others as they ran for the corridor on the left. Rushing into a room with a sorceress of Talmania’s power was sheer folly. Ariadne didn’t think she could defeat her older sister in a duel of spells. But Caina and Kylon both had valikons, and those could penetrate any defense that Talmania raised.
It didn’t matter. If she and the others stayed here, the elemental would crush them.
Just as Ariadne reached the corridor, Caina burst out from around the corner, running at full tilt. She threw herself to the side, and a heartbeat later Ariadne saw a distortion in the air as someone threw an invisible hammer of psychokinetic force at Caina. The spell struck the iron railing with a resonant clang.
“Go!” said Ariadne.
“We can’t go that way. Talmania…” started Caina.
The elemental lord heaved itself over the railing and landed with enough force that the floor vibrated beneath Ariadne’s boots.
“We can’t stay here!” said Ariadne.
Caina changed direction and charged back into the corridor, and Ariadne and the others followed.
The room beyond the corridor looked like a smaller version of the main chamber. Rather than shelves, both the main floor and the balcony held rows of wooden and glass cases containing books. It reminded Ariadne of the Secret Library in the Motherhouse, which held rare and dangerous books that only the high magi could view. On the far end of the long rectangular room was another archway, and through it, Ariadne glimpsed a spiral stairway climbing up. Maybe Decius and Riona had gone this way, though Ariadne doubted it. Likely the First Magus and the renegade had taken another route to the Tower’s upper reaches.
Talmania Scorneus and another Umbarian magus stood in the center of the room.
Ariadne’s eyes met her sister’s, and she felt the shock of recognition. She saw the similar surprise go over Talmania’s features. Ariadne knew her older sister. Talmania had the same cold intellect and a keen eye for observation that all the daughters of Hyraekon Scorneus possessed. Unlike Rania, Talmania was capable of understanding the emotions of others. But like Rania, she had no regard for anyone but herself. Talmania usually conducted herself with cold, clear logic, but if someone thwarted her or annoyed her, she had a vindictive streak as deep and violent as the Inner Sea. Seb had abandoned Talmania and Ariadne had taken the boy in…so in vengeance, Talmania had murdered Seb’s wife years later.
That was the kind of woman that Talmania Scorneus had become.
Talmania’s eyes narrowed, and Ariadne saw the question go over her sister’s face. Then Talmania’s eyes widened in surprise as she read the alarm on Ariadne’s expression.
It was annoying that Talmania knew Ariadne better than all three of her husbands, that they could have a conversation entirely without words.
“What is chasing you?” said Talmania.
“An earth elemental lord,” said Ariadne.
“Unbound?” said Talmania.
“Yes.”
“Pentarion!” snapped Talmania, her voice one of absolute command. The pretty young man next to her turned. “The ward against elemental forces. Cast it across the entry to the corridor. Now!”
“Do as she says!” said Ariadne to Calaver. “Else we’re finished!”
Caina hesitated, looking from Talmania to Ariadne. She lifted her valikon, preparing to strike at Talmania.
Then the earth elemental thundered around the corner and raced towards them, a rough-hewn giant of living stone that moved with terrible speed.
“Now!” said Talmania. “The ward!”
Ariadne began the spell, and Talmania, Calaver, and the handsome young magus followed suit. The elemental surged forward, and Ariadne finished her spell, throwing all her power into the ward. A hazy wall of gray light appeared across the corridor, a wall that brightened as Calaver and Talmania and the young magus threw their power into it. For an instant, Ariadne feared that the ward would not be enough, and then the elemental slammed into it. She felt the psychic pressure inside her skull as the elemental strained against her ward, but the defense held.
At least for now. Already Ariadne felt it crumbling like a levee of sand in the face of a torrent.
She looked at the others. Caina and Kylon had their valikons ready. Markaine had raised his scimitar and dagger, ready to strike in any direction. Sophia was pointing her crossbow at Talmania. Calaver was looking at Talmania in confusion.
“Well,” said Talmania, a faint smile on her sharp face. “This is unexpected.”
###
Caina braced herself to attack or to dodge if Talmania or the young man next to her worked spells. Yet while Talmania was backing away, her full attention was on Ariadne. For her part, Ariadne glowed with the light of waiting spells, ready to unleash her full power at her older
sister. Talmania glowed with power to the sight of the valikarion, ready to meet Ariadne’s attack.
For a moment they stared at each other, everyone waiting for someone else to make the first move.
Then Calaver Aberon let out a scornful laugh.
“Vilus Pentarion,” said Calaver. “You used to be the First Magus’s pet. I wondered what had happened to you. Do you find the Umbarians more congenial?”
Pentarion only smiled. He was a strikingly handsome man, so fair of face that combined with his slight build he looked almost androgynous. If not for the close-cropped beard of pale blond hair, Caina would have wondered if Pentarion was in fact a woman.
And his aura was…off. Like every other sorcerer in the room, he held his power ready, but his aura looked twisted. Almost like he was sick, or if something had corrupted his power. Caina had never seen anything that looked quite like that. It made for a peculiar, unsettling combination with his grayish-pink eyes.
“And is serving as the First Magus’s thug more congenial, Calaver Aberon?” said Pentarion, his voice a smooth tenor. “Given that Decius Aberon discards his bastard children the way a drunkard casts aside his empty wine skins, I am surprised that you are still alive.”
“At least I am not a traitor,” said Calaver. “Or a…”
“Quiet,” said Talmania. “We have a more urgent problem.”
“Yes,” said Caina. “What are you doing here?”
Her aunt’s cold eyes turned to her.
“I would ask the same of you,” said Talmania. “I shouldn’t be surprised you have allied yourself with Ariadne. She shares your…sentimental streak.”
“Sentimental?” said Ariadne. “You sound like Father. Does opposing the path of murder and slaughter you and Rania and the Umbarians have carved across the Empire make me sentimental?”
Talmania’s eyes narrowed. “Father was a fool. He failed to understand the true nature of people, failed to understand that he cannot carve the human heart as if it were a block of marble. You make the opposite mistake. You think that people are better than they really are. How many times have you been married now? Four?”
“Three,” said Ariadne.
“Three? Well, yes, then, I’m certain that the third time shall be the charm,” said Talmania. Caina was surprised at the annoyance leaking through Talmania’s calm reserve. For all their power, for all their experience, Talmania and Ariadne were still sisters who knew each other well…and they detested each other for it.
Maybe it was just as well that Caina had grown up an only child.
“As if you would know anything about the matter,” said Ariadne. “I don’t kill my lovers when I’m done with them.”
“It is more efficient that way,” said Talmania. Her blue gaze swung to Caina. “How are you still alive, anyway? I had hoped you died in the fighting in Risiviri. Antonin should have been able to take care of you…but it seems you dwell beyond the boundaries of Antonin’s competence. I assume he’s dead, given that you’re carrying his sword.”
“He is dead,” said Caina, wondering if Talmania would try to take the Sword of the Iron King here and now.
“Mmm. Pity,” said Talmania. “Reliable hirelings are difficult to find. But I would have had to kill him myself one day. He always believed that I had not figured out what his sword really was. You have, though.” She put Maglarion’s skull away in a pouch at her belt. “Else you would not have carried it all the way from Risiviri.”
“Is that why you’re here?” said Caina, watching her aunt for the telltale glow that would indicate a spell was coming. “To find the other two relics?”
Talmania sighed. “Alas, the remaining two relics are not in the Tower of the Cataphract. The Cataphract was something of a fool, but even he was not mad enough to keep one of the relics of Rasarion Yagar in his Tower. No, I’m simply here to borrow a book.”
“It’s a long walk to Artifel just to borrow a book,” said Ariadne.
Talmania smiled. “I’ve been rather busy, sister. Not all of us have the luxury of wasting our time digging new sewers beneath the streets of Artifel.”
“A better use of time than trying to enslave the world,” spat Ariadne.
“You call it enslavement, but that’s only because you’re too thick to understand,” said Talmania. “The world must be brought to order. Why not me? Someone must do it.”
“You sound like Father,” said Ariadne. “Except less eloquent.”
Talmania’s eyes narrowed. “Father was a fool. I’m afraid you inherited all his folly and none of his virtues.”
Ariadne opened her mouth, her face darkening, and there was a flash and a thunderclap. The elemental hammered a stone fist into the ward, and the wall of gray light dimmed. The vision of the valikarion showed Caina that the threads of power were starting to unravel and shred beneath the assault.
“Provost,” said Pentarion, his voice still smooth and calm. “I suggest we put aside our differences for the moment and focus on the problem at hand. Once that elemental lord breaks through the wards, it will kill us all regardless of our allegiances.”
“I agree with the skin-changer,” said Morgant, smiling. “You can all quibble about your childhoods later.”
Sophia flinched at that, her breath hissing through her teeth. Skin-changer? There was an Ulkaari word for that, Caina could not quite recall it. One of the creatures that haunted their forests…
Pentarion gave Morgant a gentle smile. “What did you call me, sir?”
“Skin-changer,” said Morgant. “Or a rulkavak in the Ulkaari. Where did the provost find you? Locked up in some cellar somewhere? I thought the Temple and the witchfinders would have hunted down all the rulkavaki a very long time ago…”
“You are mistaken, sir,” said Pentarion, his gentle smile unwavering. “I am a loyal magus of the Umbarian Order. Though with some unique talents, I concede…”
There was another thunderclap, and the elemental drew back its stone fist for another blow.
“Whatever he is,” said Caina, still pointing her valikon at Talmania, “we need to decide what to do about the elemental right now. We can fight each other, and then the elemental will kill us all. Unless you think you’re strong enough to take an elemental lord by yourself?”
“I am not,” said Talmania. “What fool cast a summoning spell inside a building anchored partway within the netherworld?”
“He did,” said Morgant, gesturing with his scimitar at Calaver.
“For the gods’ sake,” said Calaver. “I didn’t deliberately…”
“Blame is irrelevant,” said Talmania. “We need a plan of action. This is what I propose.” The elemental hit the ward with another thunderclap, and the barrier sputtered, winking out for a second. “Myself, Ariadne, Pentarion, and the Aberon brat shall put our full power into the banishment spells.”
“That won’t be enough,” said Ariadne.
“Correct, dear sister,” said Talmania. “Which is why the valikarion and her husband shall strike with their valikons. Between the disruption of our banishment spells and the power of the valikons, that will break the summoning spell and dispatch the creature back to the netherworld.”
“That is risky,” said Ariadne.
“Do any of you have a better plan?” said Talmania.
Caina didn’t. Neither did anyone else.
“Very well,” said Talmania. “Those of you who can cast spells, gather your power for the banishment spell. Caina, use your valikon to break the ward. As soon as it goes down, we shall strike with the banishment spells.”
“If you wanted to see us dead,” said Kylon, “that would be an excellent time to do it.”
Talmania’s smile was cold. “You are correct, Lord Kylon. However, if I allow the elemental lord to kill you, then I shall join you in death a few seconds later. Killing you two would hardly be worth the cost of my own life. But you had better decide right now. That ward is going to hold for only a few more seconds.”
“
Fine,” said Caina. She didn’t see any other choice, but she did not trust Talmania even a little. “Start the spells and tell us when you’re ready.”
“The banishment spell!” said Talmania to the others. “Now!”
Talmania, Ariadne, Pentarion, and Calaver all started the spell. Caina saw the glow as they gathered arcane power, and the light around Talmania was by far the strongest. Ariadne and Calaver together had been only able to stun the elemental. Maybe the combined powers of the four magi would disrupt the elemental enough that Caina and Kylon could land hits with their valikons.
“Break the ward,” said Talmania. “We are ready.”
Caina took a deep breath and looked at Kylon, who nodded.
She jabbed her valikon into the shimmering field of gray light.
The spell collapsed, the threads of power unraveling into nothingness.
The elemental surged forward like a landslide, and Caina was sure that she had made a mistake, that Talmania had decided to let her die, or that the Umbarian provost simply did not have the power to keep the elemental lord at bay.
Then Talmania shouted, and a volley of blue sparks leaped from the four magi and slammed into the elemental. The creature rocked back and went motionless, standing as immobile as the rough-hewn statue it resembled.
“Now!” shouted Talmania, but Caina was already moving.
She stabbed forward, all her strength driving her valikon. Kylon moved even faster, his sword a blur of silver and white mist. Caina’s valikon sank into the elemental’s stone as if it had been made of butter, and Kylon’s sword ripped down its side. The elemental heaved, quivering like a rope under too much strain.
And then the creature simply fell apart.
The mass of stone dissolved into a wave of sand and dirt. The wave hit Caina in her chest and knocked her back several feet, and then the wall of dirt washed over her. She scrambled backward in terror, fearful of being buried alive, but the mass of earth only pinned her legs and stomach. It was damned heavy, though, and she saw Kylon go down as well, covered to his chest in the dirt.
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