Moz nodded and looked at the slowly dissolving scarf. Too close indeed.
“He knew someone would spot this tower and think exactly the way we did. Damn it! I should have known better.”
“Forget that. What do we do now?”
“The effective range for a blow gun is about twenty yards. He’s got to be close.”
“Sure, but as soon as we stick our heads out, they’re liable to get melted.”
“You don’t need to tell me. We need a shield.” Moz looked around the interior of the tower, but there wasn’t much beyond broken stone and rotten timbers. Nothing he could rig into anything resembling a shield. “I’ll charge him. Give me your scarf. After I’ve dealt with him, you can come out.”
“I told you I wasn’t letting you do this on your own and I meant it.”
“I know you did, but circumstances have changed.”
“Nothing has changed. If I can get close and he has any old wounds, I can end this instantly. If you charge, I’ll be right behind you.”
Moz grimaced, but she had that look, so he nodded. “At least stay behind me.”
“Deal.” Callie unwrapped her scarf and handed it to him.
When Moz was ready they backed as far away from the doorway as they could and charged. The dart had come in from Moz’s right. He turned that way.
No one was visible. He kept moving, his eyes darting everywhere, searching for any sign.
“Aww!” Callie fell behind him.
“Callie!”
She pointed left. “He’s there. Get him before he can reload.”
For half a second Moz was torn, but Callie could heal herself. He needed to make sure she didn’t get hit a second time.
Moz ran toward the pile of rubble she indicated.
He leapt over it. On the other side the assassin was dipping a needle into a vial of liquid. The blowgun rested on the ground in front of him.
Moz lunged and stomped, snapping the blowgun in half.
He barely recovered in time to deflect a dagger strike to the face.
The assassin gave him no time to collect himself. The twin daggers came in from every direction.
It took all of Moz’s skill to stay alive. His opponent was young, fast, and fearless. The man grinned as he fought, seeming to thoroughly enjoy the battle.
“Your friend is going to die,” the assassin said. “Her leg will melt off.”
Moz had no breath for banter. Besides, the assassin didn’t know Callie.
His opponent thrust at his chest and Moz braced himself, trusting the dragonscale armor to protect him.
He grunted at the impact, and the assassin staggered. It was a small opening, but Moz had no intention of wasting it.
Moz thrust with his left-hand blade, spun, and slashed with his right.
The assassin leapt back, landed, and sprang forward again. Fighting him was like fighting a wall of blades. The two daggers seemed to be everywhere at once.
Moz was forced back again. It was unbelievable. He’d beaten a giant with the ability to heal virtually any wound, and he was going to die at the hands of a normal man. The gods must laugh.
He deflected an incoming left-side slash and grunted when the hilt of the right-hand blade crashed into his temple. His knees wobbled and he went down.
The assassin’s daggers rose for a final time.
The man screamed and blood gushed out of his side.
Moz gathered himself and sprang, driving both sword through the assassin’s chest. A bubble of blood appeared in his mouth and popped.
The assassin grinned at him and slumped to the ground.
Moz ripped his swords free and turned to find Callie, pale and hunched over, standing behind him. “Took you long enough.”
“You’re welcome.” She winced. “That acid was horrible stuff. I’ve never felt pain like that. It was like my blood was boiling. My healing gift could barely keep up. If the dose had been even a speck larger I’d have died.”
“Well, I’m glad you didn’t.” Moz kissed her on the top of the head. “We’d best get back. Daylight’s burning.”
Chapter 22
“Shade’s dead and the enemy are getting close,” Jax said.
Leonidas rested his head on the back of the throne and blew out a long sigh. He’d told Shade to be careful, but it wasn’t in his nature. Now he’d paid the price. Worse, he’d compromised the final defense of the tower.
“What about the dark magic user?”
“Not here yet as far as I can see.”
“How long until sunset?”
Jax closed his eyes and concentrated on forces beyond Leonidas’s perception. At last he said, “I can open the portal in half an hour. The enemy will get here in ten minutes.”
Leonidas grimaced. “Prepare the trap. I’ll call in the black dragon. That should be enough to hold them off until dark.”
“As you wish.” Jax nodded and withdrew, leaving him alone with his morose thoughts.
Leonidas wanted to scream and rage in frustration. Why couldn’t the people of the world see that what he was trying to do was for the best? With humanity united, they could focus on the important things rather than their petty squabbles.
No matter. Once he crushed this dark magic user, there would be no one left with the power to oppose him. Though he was limited to the magic of only one tower, it was still enough to kill anyone that dared oppose him.
He was reminded of the first lesson his first master taught him. Those who reach for the sun tend to get burned. He’d countered that those who don’t tend to be forgotten.
Leonidas had no intention of either being burned or forgotten.
When five minutes had passed, he assumed Jax and the others would be in position. “Well, little one, let’s call a dragon, shall we?”
Ariel stared up at him. He’d framed his command as a question, so she didn’t obey.
“Call the black dragon. Have it land in front of the tower door.”
The viewing rectangle appeared in the air in front of him. Only a few seconds later the tower appeared as the dragon landed. So it was staying close. Interesting, given that he hadn’t ordered her to keep the beast nearby. The image shifted as it turned away from the tower to face the ruins. The dragon could only see one side of the tower, but since it was standing directly in front of the door, the enemy would have to approach eventually if they wanted to get in.
Ariel looked up at him again, but he had no more orders for the moment. Let the enemy show themselves. They could taste dragon fire.
It was closer to dark than Yaz would have liked when he arrived back at the ruined city. Everyone should be gathered near the tower by now. He’d stay high to have a look around.
Lucky for him that he did. The black dragon was standing directly in front of the tower door. Of course, he’d recognized the possibility that he’d need to deal with her, especially now that they had isolated the Dark Sages to this final redoubt. Still, he’d somehow hoped to avoid it. If he told someone that it bothered him more to hurt dragons than it did people, they’d think he was crazy.
You are crazy. Anything that gets in your way deserves to get hurt.
Mentioning that he heard a voice in his head wouldn’t help with the crazy diagnosis. Especially since the voice belonged to an aggressive cosmic entity.
First things first. He needed to find his mother and the others. They had to be close, but out of the dragon’s line of sight. He flew in a slow circle, studying the ground.
“Yaz!” He spun to find Tonia flying toward him. “Callie asked me to keep an eye out for you. Everyone’s gathered but we’re not sure what to do about the dragon.”
“Where are they?”
“I’ll take you. Follow me.”
Tonia led him to a badly leaning shack on the opposite side of the tower from the dragon. A pair of rangers along with Lucy were keeping watch. She nodded to Yaz as he passed and stepped into the building.
“Yaz!” Brigid ran over and hugged
him.
He sighed as her warmth washed over him. “I’m glad you’re all okay.”
“Not all of us,” Callie said. “Albert got killed on our way in.”
Yaz wasn’t sure which one that was but he said, “I’m sorry.”
“Me too,” Callie said. “Do you have any thoughts on moving that dragon?”
“I don’t think moving her will be a problem.” They all stared at him like he’d lost his mind. “As soon as I show myself, I assume she will try and kill me. I can lead her away while you all approach the tower. The barrier is down now that I’ve deactivated the outer towers. Mom knows how to open the door. I’ll give you, say, five minutes to get inside, do a quick reversal of direction, and zip back before the dragon can catch me. She won’t attack once we’re inside.”
“It sounds so simple when you say it like that,” Brigid said.
“Simple and easy aren’t the same thing. If anyone else has any thoughts I’m happy to avoid playing tag with a dragon, but since I’m the only one here that can survive a hit from her breath weapon, I figure it’s got to be me.”
He looked around from person to person, but no one spoke up. He hadn’t been kidding about being open to suggestions. Any other workable path would have been fine with him.
“Just be careful,” Brigid said.
“I second that,” his mother added.
Yaz smiled at the idea that there was a careful way to do what he was about to attempt. “I will be. Are you all ready to go?”
“We are,” Moz said.
“Okay. Let me get her at least a hundred yards from the tower before you move in.”
Brigid kissed him full on the lips. “For luck.”
Not that he needed more motivation to return safe and sound, but he wouldn’t turn it down either. “Thanks.”
Yaz led the way out of the shack and took to the sky. He flew high, planning to come down at a sharp angle, zip in front of her, and hopefully bait her into a chase. When he was about five hundred feet in the air, Yaz banked and powered down.
The wind screamed in his ears and the dragon grew larger by the second. He leveled out and buzzed right past her nose.
Yaz was a good fifty yards away before he realized she wasn’t following.
He stopped, turned, and stared at the dragon who stared back. What was she waiting for? Did they decide to just hunker down and hope Yaz and the others left? That wouldn’t work for long. A dragon her size would need to hunt to stay awake and soon. She could maybe maintain her position for a day, but after that she’d lose strength.
No, something else was going on. He glanced at the lengthening shadows. Maybe they thought she’d have a better chance of catching him at night. Since Yaz’s power allowed him to see in the dark as well as the light, he’d be fine at night.
Maybe if you blasted the beast it would try and kill you.
“Is blasting something ever not your solution?”
His question was met with silence, but he was forced to admit the presence had a point. He needed to get things rolling.
Yaz pointed and unleashed a weak blast at the dragon’s head. The dark beam skipped off her scales and deflected without doing any damage. She didn’t even flinch much less take to the air after him. He scratched his head.
Hit it like you mean to kill it, not like you’re playing patty-cake.
Yaz gathered a ball of darkness in his hand.
Before he could loose it, the dragon roared and beat her wings. Yaz released the magic and flew up and away.
The black dragon’s massive wings sent gusts of air rushing around him. It seemed she was finally serious.
Yaz glanced back. A few more yards and the others should begin moving in.
An incoming blast of black flames forced him to veer right. Okay, best worry about himself for now. He’d give them a couple more minutes. Hopefully that would be enough.
Moz watched the black dragon take off after Yaz and shook his head. Powers or not, the kid had guts. “Let’s move.”
Helena ran beside him toward the tower. It was only a hundred yards, but through the lengthening shadows the debris made it an obstacle course. Despite that, Yaz’s mother kept up well. He guessed they were around the same age, though if it was possible, she looked at the world with a more jaundiced eye than even he did. They’d had a chance to talk while Yaz was off deactivating the outer towers. She seemed to appreciate him telling her about her husband’s last days.
He hated emotional things like that. Still, he felt he owed her the explanation since he was the only one that could give it. The truth was, he preferred assaulting a position to such talks.
They were only a few yards from the tower when three shapes separated themselves from the shadow of the tower. He barely had time to react with one of them threw something.
The item shattered and a wall of flames roared to life. By the light he could see Rondo and another man and woman. The woman, he assumed, was Domina. The man he had no idea and given his dark cloak and deep cowl Moz couldn’t see his face anyway.
“Fire masters!” Moz shouted.
A pair of bards hustled to the front and began to hum. The flames wavered and trembled as they worked their magic.
Behind the wall, the mystery man spun in a circle and slammed his hand to the ground. Lines of darkness streaked out along the ground, ran up the side of the tower, and back down into the deepest part of its shadow. Moz didn’t know what just happened, but he recognized magic when he saw it.
“Ware left side!” His warning came just an instant before dozens of dark figures came boiling out of the shadow.
Some came on two legs and others on four. Still more flew. The only thing they had in common was glowing red eyes that glared with hatred at the people before them.
A human-shaped shadow surged at Moz. He made a crisscross slash that passed through its chest like smoke and did no damage.
The creature swiped at him.
Moz leapt back but failed to avoid the blow entirely. Its fingers grazed his chest and where they touched a chill unlike anything he’d ever felt ran through him. It felt less like cold and more like someone had gouged out a chunk of his soul.
The two fire masters trying to bring down the wall of flames fell screaming, surrounded by a mob of the creatures.
Lightning cracked and a blinding flash filled the darkness. Half a dozen of the creatures were burned away.
Silas stood, sparks still leaping off his fingers. “They’re shadow wights. You can’t hurt them with ordinary weapons. Everyone gather around.”
When it came to magic, Moz knew just enough to trust the wizards to handle it. He hurried over to Silas along with everyone else.
“Hold your weapons out,” the wizard said.
Silas chanted and lightning arced from his body to each weapon. A tingle ran through Moz’s hands, but it didn’t hurt. He looked over his shoulder. The wights were gathering for another attack.
Only half the weapons had been enchanted.
The creatures surged forward.
Yaz wove a chaotic path through the sky, avoiding incoming fire while staying far enough ahead of the dragon that her claws couldn’t reach him. When he figured enough time had passed, Yaz dropped straight down, spun, and raced back towards the tower.
When he arrived, he found the others fighting some kind of shadow creatures. Looked like they were losing too. A blinding flash made him wince. Silas’s lightning bolt had burned away the nearest creatures and made the rest hesitant.
Yaz pointed and beams of darkness lanced out, striking the creatures where they huddled. His power made them flinch but didn’t destroy them.
The shadow wights’ essence is very similar to my own. Attacking them is pointless, but you can buy your friends some time.
“How?”
Conjure a wall. They’ll destroy it soon enough, but it should last a minute or so.
A minute or so. Well, it was better than nothing.
At Yaz’s command
, halfway between the wights and his friends, a wall of darkness sprang up. Yaz flew lower. “Are you okay?”
“We can handle this,” Moz said. “Get inside and deal with the leader.”
Yaz looked from the wights to Moz. “You sure?”
“Go!”
It twisted Yaz’s guts to leave his mother and friends behind to fight those shadow creatures, but his new power was nearly useless against them. Besides, the sooner he defeated Leonidas Black, the sooner this nightmare would be over. That was what he needed to focus on. The others were skilled fighters and had Silas’s magic to back them up. They’d be okay.
He flew over the wall of darkness. On the other side the tower door was unguarded. Whoever was calling the wights had to be close, but the area around the tower was empty. He looked up. Every once in a while, he caught a glint of light flashing off the black dragon’s polished scales. She was still up there, circling the tower. They were probably too close to risk a blast of flame, thank the gods for little favors.
Yaz landed and tapped the rune pad. The door opened a fraction and he yanked it the rest of the way. Inside was one of the usual libraries. This one had fewer books and more large, comfortable chairs. A lone man was chained to the far wall. The moment he spotted Yaz he thrashed and moaned. He might be a prisoner or he might be a trap. Either way, Yaz didn’t have time to deal with him.
At the center of the room he found a glowing sigil with a hole in the ceiling above it. He hesitated, expecting an attack at any moment. This felt too easy.
It is almost certainly a trap.
Yaz clenched his jaw. Of course it was a trap. But there was no backing out now. He surrounded himself with a thick layer of darkness and flew up into the unknown.
Chapter 23
At the top of the shaft, Yaz found himself in a round, stone chamber. Directly in front of him was a golden throne with a little blond girl seated on it. She stared blankly ahead, making no reaction to his arrival. Behind the throne, slightly hidden by shadows, was Leonidas Black. The magic ring on his finger glinted with an inner light.
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