by C. A. McHugh
“That was a rather amazing, if not reckless display of magic.”
“What good is magic if we can’t help others,” he replied. His voice sounded harsh and guttural from the smoke, but his throat hurt less now.
“You know we shouldn’t be using magic that’s beyond our training or ability,” the master mage chided before placing a hand on his head. “After a good night’s sleep, you should be ready to face the day. That is, if any of us get a good night’s sleep after this.”
A healing spell washed over Aerrin, restoring some of his vitality and clearing his mind. He sat up a little straighter. “I. Am. The. King. The safety and welfare of my kingdom is on my shoulders. And I will continue to do what I can to protect them, even if it means risking my own life. Even when no one else will step forward to help.”
He didn’t miss the guilt that washed over Seroney’s face and pulled her away.
A guard ran up to them, his voice tight with fear as he gave Aerrin a piece of paper. “Your Majesty, you should have a look at this.”
The relief he’d known seconds before vanished with each word.
Those who thought my reign had come to an end, beware. I live, and I grow more powerful with each passing day. You will soon tremble and bow before me. Nothing will stop me.
At the very bottom was the image he’d come to dread.
The raven plucking the eyes out of a skull.
Leandros peered over his shoulder and managed to read the lines before Aerrin shoved the paper over to Nyssa.
“Oh dear,” she whispered after she read it, and lowered it so Seroney could read it as well.
But the other girl didn’t even look at it. Instead, she kept her attention focused on Aerrin as though she wanted to say more about it, but in privacy.
His singed throat tightened as he took back the note and reread the words over and over again. He took a deep breath and turned to the guard. “Where did you find this?”
“Attached to the main gate with this.” He held out a black knife, its twisted blade adorned with more skulls and ravens.
“Did anyone else see it?”
“No, Your Majesty.”
“Good. Let’s keep this silent for now. I don’t want to cause any more panic than there already is. Tell the other guards to keep an eye out for anyone suspicious.”
Aerrin took the paper from Nyssa’s hands and rolled it around the knife. “I want to talk to Master Binnius about this before anyone else, but it looks like I finally have the evidence I need to prove to the Privy Council that he’s back.”
Leandros looked at the pile of timbers that was once the keep. “Do you think this was another assassination attempt?”
“Of course it was, you dimwit,” Nyssa replied. “Buildings don’t burn up that quickly unless they’re made of dry wood, and it rained tonight.”
Seroney nodded. “Liquid fire. The assassin could have easily poured a trail of it around the hall.”
That explained the caustic smell. It was the same banned substance Raimel had procured from the alchemist. Aerrin needed to talk to Raimel, too.
Seroney and Master Taylind exchanged worried glances before she spoke. “Aerrin, there’s something else I think you should know. The keep was warded against demons, so whoever started the fire had to be mortal.”
“Or they could’ve just tossed the vials of liquid fire through the windows,” Leandros offered, ignoring the frown he received from Nyssa. “What? If we’re going to stop the bad guys, we need to start thinking like them.”
“One thing is certain.” Seroney grew so serious, she almost appeared dangerous. “Someone didn’t want you coming out of there alive, and I have every belief they were connected to the men the unicorn saw following us. That was why I wasn’t near when you went after the child. I was trying to track them down before their trail grew cold, and you almost died because of my neglect. Please forgive me.”
“You were doing what you could, and if you found anything else—”
“Nothing. I suspect they blinked as soon as they started the fire.” She focused her gaze on Aerrin. “Being on the road makes you an easy target. It’s time to learn teleportation.”
“Agreed. Next time, I won’t be caught off guard.” He cast one more glance at what was left of the keep he’d always stayed at during his journeys between Dromore and the Academy. Then he tucked the knife and note into his jerkin.
He’d almost died, but he finally had the one thing he needed to overcome his greatest obstacle in fighting the Raven Bringer. As an added bonus, he’d gained the courage to act and protect his people, no matter what the obstacle in front of him was. If he could face down a fire, he could do the same with the Privy Council. “And I will demand action.”
Chapter 25
Aerrin scanned the contents of the latest letter and crumpled it with a curse. It said the same thing all the other letters from members of the Privy Council said—that the matter was being looked into and until then, it was best to keep quiet. For what seemed like the hundredth time that week, he wished he could abolish the Privy Council altogether. They were completely useless as far as he was concerned. But until he became of age, he wasn’t allowed to rule without them.
Perhaps it would have gone differently if he’d appeared before them in person. Aerrin had sent the knife and the note from the Raven Bringer back with the Royal Guard to give to his uncle. Altos immediately called a meeting of the Privy Council to show them the evidence. One by one, the members of the council argued a possible alternative explanation for the fire and the note. Most of them believed it to be the work of a copycat. None wanted to admit that it could possibly be the work of the Raven Bringer. Even Altos was beginning to doubt if the real Raven Bringer still lived.
The only person on the council who believed him was Master Binnius.
The common room was empty at this time of night. The students had long since gone to bed, but sleep eluded Aerrin once again. How could he rest when he’d received word of yet another demon attack on his subjects in Edensdowne? By the goddess, what would it take to get those idiots to believe him? His death?
Aerrin paced in the front of the fire, trying to figure out what to do about the situation. Lady Sirona wrote that she was personally looking into the matter and had hired some “experts” to study the note left at the keep to see if the handwriting matched that of the original Raven Bringer. The Duke of Sauvegny had sent him a scathing letter, reiterating his objection to sending people into his duchy to investigate the reports of undead roaming the countryside. He wrote that it was a “sneaky and underhanded thing to do” and accused Master Binnius of putting the king up to it. Lord McCoolin insisted the fire was from nothing more than a stray spark from a kitchen fire and that some idiot thought it would fun to scare the townsfolk some more with a bogus letter from the “Raven Bringer.” Lord Moorghan asked for a sample of the burnt wood to test for traces of liquid fire, but even he claimed that would prove nothing about a connection to the Raven Bringer. And none of them seemed to care that the messengers he’d sent had all been killed, choosing to blame the King of Thieves as the City Guard had.
A cold wind blew in from the window, and Aerrin shivered. Arcana’s weather still deviated from the usual springtime warmth. Outside, a thick fog had rolled in from the river, leaving a damp chill in the air. He closed the window and fastened the latch before moving back to the fireplace. It was the one area of the room that still felt warm and dry at this time of night.
He reached for a fresh sheet of paper and a quill and ink to write a letter to Ceryst. Ire burned in his gut that one of the few actively investigating the rumors of the Raven Bringer’s return was the one man everyone was ready to blame. Of course, if the council actually did believe that the Raven Bringer still lived, they would immediately begin hunting Ceryst. They’d already made that clear.
After the fire, Ceryst had sent word that he and Raimel had been ambushed the same night and barely escaped from a wraith. Undead
in general were unnerving enough, but wraiths had a particularly fearsome reputation. They were spirits that could corrode a man’s soul from a mere touch, turning him into a wight. It was truly a fate worse than death. Ceryst and Raimel had no choice except to run.
Which gave the three men following Aerrin’s group the opportunity to strike.
Aerrin had already sent Ceryst a message with the details of what happened. He’d chosen to leave out only the part about Seroney and the unicorn. Ceryst still didn’t trust her completely, and hearing she’d talked to a unicorn would probably raise even more suspicion.
He dipped his quill in the ink and wrote out his request that Raimel investigate possible sources of the liquid fire. Then he added an update on the Privy Council’s continued refusal to believe the Raven Bringer had returned. It was still up to them to protect the kingdom.
And him.
He rolled the paper, sealed it, and attached the letter to a messenger bird. He cast the simple spell that told the bird who the letter was for, and then went to crack open the window to send it on its way.
The thickening fog now almost completely obscured the thin sliver of the moon that hung in the sky. There was something strange about the white mist. The hairs on the back of his neck stood on end, and his unease grew as he watched the bird disappear. The fog billowed in from the river like storm clouds.
A slight noise behind him made him turn, and he discovered Seroney tiptoeing down the stairs, fully dressed for the outdoors.
He moved from the window to the door. “What are you doing up?”
“I could ask you the same thing,” she replied as she hurried down the stairs, no longer trying to sneak around him. Bhasha, her black cat, hopped out from under her cloak and ran toward the door. “Tell Uncle Binnius,” Seroney instructed her pet.
“What is she going to tell him?”
“None of your business, Aerrin. Go to bed.”
He stretched out his arms to block the doorway. “You look like you’re about to go looking for something in that fog outside.”
She narrowed her eyes. “Maybe I am, and maybe I’m not.”
“I’m coming, too, then.”
“Oh, no, you’re not!” She grabbed him by the shoulders and tried to remove him from his post, but he refused to budge.
“Yes, I am.”
“There’s something dangerous out there, and the last thing I need is to be worrying about you getting hurt.”
“So you’ve been watching the fog, too?” The uneasiness he felt minutes earlier crept over him again. “There’s something unnatural about it.”
“Yes, and I’m going to check it out.” She pinched a spot on his neck that sent an electric shock down his arm and caused it to drop, allowing her enough room to squeeze past him. “You, on the other hand, are staying here.”
“I’m not letting you go down there by yourself. Besides, how are you planning on slipping past the guards?” The Privy Council had assigned a small company to the Academy. He sometimes wondered if they were here to protect him or watch him. “You know we’re not allowed to leave the building after dark.”
“I have my own ways of getting around. What makes you think you can slip past them?”
Aerrin held up the unicorn’s ring.
“It’s meant to protect you, not grant you invisibility.”
“But I know this place better than you, and there’s a secret exit in the north wing we could use.”
Seroney bit her lip, worry etching lines on her face. “Aerrin, don’t you understand? It’s not safe out there. I don’t know what I’m going to find, but I can sense the evil out there.”
“But Seroney, you don’t understand. I’m the king, and I’m not going to be some cowardly ruler who stays behind and lets other people risk their lives when there’s something I can do to help. I thought you would’ve learned that the night of the fire.” When he caught a glimpse of her softening, he added, “At least let me watch your back.”
She pulled her cloak tighter around her. “You promise to stay close?”
“Yes.”
“And will you promise me that you will run straight back here if anything happens?”
“But what if you get into trouble?”
“I can take care of myself, Aerrin. Promise me?”
“I promise,” he muttered. He hated that she was treating him like some overprotective parent. He was a mage, after all. He could defend himself, too.
“Get your cloak, then.”
“Don’t leave without me. That’s a royal order.” Aerrin ran up the stairs and fastened the clasp on his cloak, racing back down before she had a chance to slip away.
“Remember what I said,” she whispered before venturing out into the deserted hallway. “When I say run back, you obey.”
Everything about the Academy was deathly still except for the tendrils of fog that snaked through the open windows and down the walls. If he didn’t know better, Aerrin would swear that they were trying to ensnare him within their coils. Yes, this wasn’t an ordinary fog. It seemed to breathe malice, and cold droplets formed along his forehead as he slipped past the dazed guards. Their blank stares only served to increase the feeling of dread that was clutching at his heart. Had Seroney done this to them? Or was it the fog itself?
One look at her pale face confirmed she shared his fear.
He led her to the emergency exit that Master Binnius had shown him years ago and opened the door.
“Aerrin, I really wish you’d reconsider—”
“I’m going, and that’s final.” Now it was his turn to push past her, and he plunged into the thick fog that obscured everything more than three feet away.
He swallowed the fear that threatened to choke him and continued forward with his hand outstretched before him. If he kept moving in a straight line, hopefully he would bump into something. Even as he told himself that, his legs grew weaker with each step, and his resolve threatened to crumble.
A bright green flame erupted a few yards to his left, causing the fog to instantly recoil from it and its bearer. Seroney’s worried face appeared from the shadows.
A wave of relief washed over him. “You have no idea how glad I am to see you.”
The strange green flame in her hand did more than illuminate their surroundings and push the fog away. It warmed his soul and melted away the despair that had seemed to overwhelm him moments before.
She grabbed his arm. “I thought you said you were going to stay close?”
“I didn’t realize how far behind you were.”
She gave him a reproving look before she turned toward the river. The flame leapt from her hand and moved ahead of them. It parted the fog like a boat’s bow cutting through water, but then quickly filled in behind them. Aerrin pressed closer to her as she quickened her pace. He had no desire lose himself in the fog again.
“That’s an odd flame,” he mumbled to break the unnatural silence.
“This is an unusual fog, if you haven’t noticed,” she quietly replied. “You need a bit of odd magic to combat it.”
“What do you think caused it?”
Both she and the flame paused simultaneously. “That’s what we’re going to find out.”
The flame began to lead them once more through the fog. Its dim light bounced off the trees around them, their branches creating hideous claw-like shadows, but at least now he had some idea where they were. He’d lost count of all the times he’d met with Leandros and Nyssa in this grove over the years. Under the golden light of the sun, it was nowhere near as menacing as it was now.
The flame slowed to prevent them from tripping over the gnarled roots of the ancient trees before finally halting in the center of the grove. There, the oldest of the oaks stood sentry over a small clearing.
This was his favorite place to meet his friends when they wanted to be alone. During the day, the canopy of the trees allowed only the faintest amount of sunlight to filter through the leaves, making it the perfect place
to hide or hold secret meetings. Nyssa had even once claimed that she felt a strong power in the clearing and that perhaps it had held some significance to the ancient mages of Arcana.
Tonight, however, the clearing offered none of the comfort he felt when he’d been there with his friends. Tonight, everything was cold and dark, and if he felt any surge of power, it was not the comforting tingle he’d experienced before in this spot. Seroney was right—something evil was causing the dense fog. It radiated from the center of the grove. If not for the warm glow of the green flame, he would have been tempted to run.
Instead, he stepped closer to it.
The flame grew larger, illuminating the clearing. Seroney gasped and pointed to something ahead. The carpet of leaves that normally covered the ground had been brushed aside to expose the barren earth.
His stomach lurched, and he fought hard to keep from vomiting in front of her.
The flame highlighted a grotesque infant. Its head was large and misshapen, and in the center of the face was one lone eye that was already clouded over from death. His gaze traveled down its body, and he fought the urge to vomit again. The walls of the abdomen had been splayed open, and maggots were feasting on the bloated entrails that protruded from the opening. A pool of dark blood congealed around it, surrounded by a circle of bones.
“What is this?” he whispered.
“Nothing good.” She crouched a few feet from the circle of bones to get a closer look at the mutilated corpse. “They took his heart.”
“Why?”
She stood slowly. “It’s part of a ritual.” Her head jerked to their right, and she strained to hear something off in the distance. “Let’s get out of here. Now that we know the cause of the fog, we need to return to the Academy. It’s not safe for either of us to linger.”
The flame, which had to this point glowed with a steady light, suddenly flickered wildly. The air around them turned icy cold, and a lone groan came from just beyond the trees to their right.
Seroney snatched his hand and whispered a few words in Elvish. A similar green flame sparked in his own palm.