“Emily, go,” Lady Barb said. “Hurry!”
Emily wanted to stay, but... she turned and ran. Void’s power reached for her as she left the chamber, only to fade away as Lady Barb slammed into him. Emily could feel their power billowing around them, fighting it out at knife range... she hoped and prayed Lady Barb would win. The school seemed to open up around her as she hit the stairs and fled upwards, back to the hall. Whitehall wouldn’t want to hurt her. Void might have some problems removing her from the wards completely. He’d presumably used some of her blood, if not the card itself, to take control.
She heard someone behind her and saw Lady Barb, tossing spells back towards the nexus chamber as she ran. Void had to be in hot pursuit... Emily saw him, reaching out with his magic to grab hold of Lady Barb and yank her down. Lady Barb spun around, sinister green light crackling around her hands as they clashed together. For a moment, Emily saw Void’s wards start to break under the spells and hoped... Lady Barb stopped dead, a pulse of green light bursting through her back. Emily stared in horror as Lady Barb screamed...
... And died, her body blown to bloody chunks.
Emily forced herself to keep going, even as the stairs started to collapse under her feet. She thrust out with her mind, trying to gain at least some control. The corridor was closing in on her... Void might not want her dead, but she was in deadly danger. Whitehall might be more than a little confused about which one of them was actually the real Emily. If it crushed her into a bloody pulp...
Lady Barb is dead, Emily thought. It had happened so quickly. She... she had no time to mourn. Lady Barb is dead and...
She drew on what power she could from the school and hurled herself up the stairwell, out into the great hall. The door slammed closed behind her, although she doubted it would slow Void for more than a second. Jan stood in front of her, trying to wake Master Lucknow. Emily ran past him, catching his arm as she cast a handful of revival spells. The ground shook as Void blasted through the door, pieces of debris flying everywhere. Emily yanked Jan out the far door and up the next flight of stairs, hoping the spells she’d cast would free the other sorcerers. Void would have to stop and deal with them, if he didn’t want them to escape. Hell, they might pitch in and fight him, too.
They can’t win, she thought, numbly. The wards were gathering power. There was no way the other sorcerers could stand against Void, not here. Void had turned the school into his place of power. Gordian had been locked out... assuming, of course, he hadn’t been killed in the crossfire. She hadn’t sensed his death, but that was meaningless. He’s too strong to fight here.
Jan pulled himself free as the ground shook again. “Emily! What’s happening?”
“Void’s gone crazy,” Emily said, curtly. She could sense flashes of magic from below. She hoped the other sorcerers would have the sense to flee. “We have to stop him.”
Her mind raced. She was no match for Void, not in raw power or magical skill. He wouldn’t give her a free shot at him, not now. He’d already killed Lady Barb. And he owned the nexus point. Given time, she was sure she could undo whatever he’d done - her link to the nexus point dated back nearly a thousand years - but he wouldn’t give her the time. Of course not. Void was no fool, whatever else he was. He was certainly not a necromancer, who’d let her lead him into a trap. She couldn’t think of anything that would slow him down, except perhaps... her fingers lingered on the bracelet. Death Viper venom might kill him...
The thought pained her, even after he’d killed Lady Barb. She didn’t want to kill him. He was the closest thing to a father she’d had, a father who actually cared... she didn’t want to kill him. She really didn’t want to. And yet, she might not have a choice.
“Emily,” Jan said. “The wards are shifting.”
Emily gritted her teeth. Void wouldn’t be foolish enough to confront her personally. He was controlling the wards, shifting the school’s interior to keep them both confined until he was ready to deal with them. She couldn’t sense anything from down below, not any longer. She hoped that meant Master Lucknow and the others had escaped, but she feared otherwise. There had been too many entranced people for her to free them all...
She looked at the stone above her head. The students were trapped, too. Perhaps entranced, perhaps simply confined to their rooms... she knew she couldn’t get to them. Frieda was up there, somewhere, and... Emily cursed under her breath. She’d have to leave her friend behind.
Jan stumbled back, crashing into her. “I think...”
A stone wall turned into a doorway. Void stepped through, looking more annoyed than angry. The wards boiled around him, ready to defend him against anything. She was locked out completely. Emily felt a flash of pure rage, even as she knew there was no hope of fighting. Lady Barb had died in a desperate bid to stop him, yet she’d died for nothing. There was no hope of escape, no hope of...
“Emily,” Void said. “It’s time to come home.”
“No,” Emily said. She grasped Lady Barb’s amulet in one hand and reached for Jan with the other. “I... this isn’t going to work.”
“I can make it work,” Void said. “And so can you.”
“You’ll create a state that is entirely dependent upon you... upon us,” Emily said. She knew she was stalling, but she owed it to herself to try - one final time - to talk him out of his insane plan. “There is no way you can micromanage every last detail or step in every time there’s a problem. The sheer weight of detail you’d have to handle would crush you effortlessly. You would never be able to step away from ruling. And the moment you did, the whole edifice would come tumbling down.”
“There’s no choice,” Void said. “If I do nothing, there will be chaos. Those selfish bastards would lay waste to the entire world, if they thought they would be kings and masters of the wreckage. They have to be stopped.”
He held out a hand. “Join me.”
Emily braced herself - she could sense the wards growing ever-stronger around them - and triggered the amulet. The world turned white, then black. Pain - white-hot pain - flared through her. She sensed immense power churning around her, as if she’d been caught in a thunderstorm; she heard the wards screaming as they tried desperately to cancel the spell. Void had done a good job, she reflected as time seemed to stretch into an endless abyss of agony, but Whitehall’s wards were powered by a nexus point. She might just have condemned them both to a painful death.
The world snapped back to normal. Emily hit the ground hard enough to knock the wind from her body. Her nose smacked against something solid and broke. Something else landed on top of her, then rolled over and lay beside her. It took her far too long to realize it was Jan. He stumbled to his feet and cast a hasty lightspell.
Emily staggered to her feet. Her nose hurt. She was grimly aware she was bleeding. It took her last traces of magic to stem the bleeding and cut the link between her and her blood. She leaned against Jan, who looked to be in shock, then stumbled down the road. Void might hope - or fear - that she’d atomized herself, but he was hardly likely to take it for granted. He’d check the oubliette at Whitehall, then come looking for her. And she was in no state for a fight.
Jan held her, gently. “Where are we going?”
“Sergeant Miles,” Emily said. She forced herself to walk faster. She had to tell the sergeant about... her heart clenched in pain. Lady Barb was dead. She didn’t know how she was going to tell him that, or how he’d react, or... she didn’t know anything. He’d lost his lover and... “ We have to move.”
She glanced at Jan. “I missed you.”
“I missed you, too.” Jan frowned. “Emily? What happened?”
“It’s a long story,” Emily said. “I thought” - she swallowed - “I’m sorry I didn’t write to you.”
Jan looked pained. “He wasn’t too pleased,” he said. Emily knew who he meant. “But he had too much else to do to worry about me. I thought...”
He shook his head. “A problem for later, right?”
“Right,” Emily agreed. She had no idea if Master Lucknow had escaped or died at Void’s hands. “We have far too many other problems.”
She felt her blood run cold as the first glimmerings of sunlight appeared over the distant mountains. How long had it been? It felt as if it had been midnight only a few short seconds ago. She knocked on the door and waited. It felt like hours before Sergeant Miles threw the door open and beckoned her inside.
“Emily,” he said. His eyes lingered on Jan for a long moment, then looked past him. “Where is she?”
“I’m sorry,” Emily managed. She honestly didn’t know what to say. If the sergeant ran to the castle, in a bid to get revenge... she didn’t want to think what he might do if he blamed her for his lover’s death. “I’ve got bad news.”
Chapter Forty
“WE CAN’T STAY HERE,” SERGEANT MILES said, when Emily had finished her explanation. “He’ll know where to find us.”
Emily winced, inwardly. Sergeant Miles had taken the explanation surprisingly calmly, but... she knew him well enough to sense something roiling beneath his dispassionate expression. Lady Barb and he had been lovers for years. Emily found it hard to believe he didn’t care about her, let alone that he wouldn’t mourn her death. And yet, she was selfishly glad of his focus. She was too stunned to think straight.
“Aiden, go to the inn and hire a horse and coach,” Sergeant Miles ordered. “Emily, can you get into your house?”
“Yes, but I don’t know if he left any surprises behind,” Emily said. She made a mental note to check everything before she risked touching it, just in case. “It might be too dangerous to risk.”
“Then leave it for the moment,” Sergeant Miles said. “Wait here. I’ll go fetch my bag.”
He stood and hurried out of the room. Emily watched him go, fighting the urge to just close her eyes and sleep. Sergeant Miles was right. They had to put some distance between themselves and Whitehall before Void came for them. And yet... she cursed under her breath. She didn’t have the power to teleport herself, let alone the whole group, and Sergeant Miles was in no state to do it. Given time, she could craft a handful of teleport amulets... she shook her head. They didn’t have the time.
“You don’t have to come with us,” she said, to Jan. “If you want to head elsewhere...”
“I’m not going to abandon you now,” Jan said. “Besides, if we can stop him before it’s too late, it might just convince my master he was wrong about you.”
“We can hope,” Emily said. She’d have to make the same offer to Aiden. The broadsheet reporter hadn’t asked to be dragged into a struggle between magicians, even if her struggle had been part of a greater conflict. She cursed Nanette under her breath. Given her skill, power and training, she could have thrown enough gas on the fire to ensure a colossal explosion. “If he made it out...”
“I’m sure he will,” Sergeant Miles said. He entered the room, a massive rucksack crammed with useful tools slung over his shoulder and another one resting in his arms. He grimaced as he passed the second rucksack to Jan. “He’s like a cockroach, that one. Smack him down and he’ll bounce back before you know it.”
He muttered a handful of spells to protect his house as he led the way onto the road. Emily hoped the wards would slow Void long enough to buy them time, if Void didn’t simply hook a battery to a valve and blow them down by main force. Aiden was already driving a simple horse and trap towards them, looking strikingly pale in the early morning light. Emily wondered if Sergeant Miles had seen through her guise or not, then scowled. She’d have to tell Jan, before they reached the first inn... or wherever they wound up sleeping. He’d be upset if she shared a room with another man.
She snorted, despite everything. Of all the times to be thinking about that...
Aiden stopped the cart and scrambled to the ground. “Where are we going?”
“Away,” Sergeant Miles said. He beckoned. Buzz walked up and stood beside the cart. “Right now, that’s the main thing.”
Emily nodded as she motioned for Aiden to join her. She didn’t know where they could go, not yet. Zangaria was the closest place that might be safe and yet it was several weeks away - if they were lucky - on horseback. Heart’s Eye was a great deal further away, while Kuching was on the wrong side of the mountains. She briefly considered trying to cross them anyway, perhaps by sneaking through Syaitan again, before dismissing the idea. The Blighted Lands were just too dangerous. God alone knew what might be waiting for them if they tried.
“I don’t know what’s happening to the north,” Aiden said, quietly. “The innkeeper said there were rumors of war and death, but nothing concrete.”
“You don’t have to come with us,” Emily said. Traveling through what remained of Alluvia wasn’t going to be easy, even without a councilor by her side. Whoever had won the Battle of Freedom City - or Jorlem City - was not going to win the entire country. “I think you’ll be safe, as long as you stay away from us.”
Aiden shook her head. “This is one hell of a story,” she said. “I’d never forgive myself if I didn’t go with you.”
“We don’t have any safe conducts now,” Emily reminded her. “The White Council revoked our credentials” - she wasn’t sure if the White Council still existed - “and I doubt anyone will pay any attention to them anyway. We... we could run into something we can’t handle and get captured.”
“I understand the risk,” Aiden said. “But where else could I go?”
Emily considered it, then nodded. Aiden didn’t have anywhere else to go. There was no way to know what had happened to her father, while the rebels - whoever was in charge - might want her dead too. She wouldn’t be safe, even if she buried her male identity and returned to her father. Emily couldn’t even give Aiden enough money to see her through the next few weeks. She’d been cut off from her resources. She was far too short of coins.
“We’ll drive around the edge of the kingdom,” Sergeant Miles said, as he took the reins. “It should give us a chance to sneak into Red Rose without being stopped...”
He cracked the whip. The horse jerked into life. Emily took a breath as they started to canter down the road. Void hadn’t appeared, which meant... what? Did he have too many other problems at Whitehall? Or... or did he have something else up his sleeve? She concentrated, muttering a handful of charms that should shield her from blood-linked tracking spells. It was hard to be sure. Void had had plenty of time to take blood from her and store it somewhere within the tower.
She frowned as they picked up speed. Dragon’s Den was coming to life, townsfolk moving onto the streets as if nothing had changed. For them, perhaps, it hadn’t. Not yet. The capture or murder of much of the White Council wouldn’t have any immediate effect on their lives. It would change, she was sure, when Void asserted himself... she scowled. How had he managed to fool her for so long? Why hadn’t she let herself wonder if he was behind the chaos?
Because I didn’t want to think about it, she answered her own question. Because I didn’t want to believe it might be true.
The horse passed a refugee settlement - it had grown larger, she thought - and headed across the border into Alluvia. Emily tensed, although there was no visible danger. They were on the run, cut off from their friends and allies. And... her heart twisted in pain. Lady Barb was dead. Emily had never realized just how much she’d come to love the older woman until she was gone. She’d been the mother Emily had needed...
She forced herself to think about the future as they drove further into the kingdom. Where could they go? Where were they needed? Going into hiding wasn’t an option. Her friends - Alassa and Jade, Markus and Melissa, Frieda and Jasmine - were at risk. They needed her and yet... ice crawled along her spine. Void wasn’t a necromancer. He had a plan and the power to carry it out... she’d be surprised if he didn’t have an army already. God knew hundreds of experienced men had been discharged after the end of the war. Void could have recruited them himself.
Deal with that problem when you come to it, she told herself severely. Until then, don’t waste time worrying about it.
The cart stopped outside an inn, on the outskirts of a mid-sized town. It looked surprisingly peaceful, although she was aware of eyes peeking at them, fearful of what their arrival might portend. Emily hoped they didn’t know who she was. It crossed her mind, too late, that they might know Aiden. She’d been a rebel councilor... Emily forced herself to wait as Aiden and Jan headed into the inn to buy food and supplies. It wasn’t going to be easy. Anyone who had food to spare wouldn’t want to sell. She was grimly aware they might have to start stealing, just to remain alive.
Aiden returned, carrying a broadsheet. “The good news is that we won the battle,” she said, holding it out. “The king is in retreat, his forces are in ruins and half the country has risen against him. The bad news...”
She swallowed, visibly. “Emily, the White Council has blamed you for everything and pronounced you outlaw,” she said. “They’ve put a price on your head, alive or dead.”
Emily felt her heart sink. Void...? No, Void hadn’t wanted her dead. Master Lucknow? Or someone else who’d escaped the trap? Someone had been devious, scattering broadsheets with the details along all the possible roads she could take. The locals might spot her and try to claim the bounty... even if they didn’t, the threat would force her to remain undercover. It would be harder to rally people to her side.
She put the thought out of her head as she glanced south. The road behind them was empty, but that would change soon enough. There was never any shortage of bounty hunters willing to risk all for profit. The bounty was big enough to tempt them into risking their lives trying to kill or capture someone who’d taken on necromancers and won. It didn’t matter, she supposed. Right now, the bounty hunters and whoever had put the price on her head didn’t matter. All that mattered was finding safety, then devising a plan to stop Void before it was too late. Everything else could wait.
The Right Side of History (Schooled In Magic Book 22) Page 38