As if impressed with her determination, the clouds parted revealing a landing of sorts, really just a wider section of path. At the far end of the landing was a narrow gap between two peaks. That had to be her destination.
She tried to run, but her legs were so tired she stumbled and nearly fell.
Careful, damn it!
Marie-Bell hadn’t come this far only to go for a tumble with her goal in sight. Slow and steady had gotten her this far and it would take her the rest of the way.
On the far side of the landing, the opening proved wider than she’d first thought. She didn’t even have to turn sideways to fit through. Whatever she’d expected to find on the other side, it wasn’t a shining, golden palace.
It was made of pure soul force so dense it was more matter than energy. Onion-domed towers surrounded a central keep big enough to house a dragon. No wall protected it. Given its location a wall would have been pointless anyway. How would an enemy force get here to besiege the place?
The distances were deceiving and it took her nearly ten minutes to reach the doors to the keep. Marie-Bell looked all around, scratched her head and shrugged before knocking. The doors swung open and inside was a single, massive room. An empty massive room.
Where was the dragon?
It took every ounce of self-control she possessed to keep from screaming. Had the monks played a trick on her? That seemed unlikely. Feng and Ko had struck her as too serious for such a childish act.
So what then? Maybe it was some kind of test.
Marie-Bell reached out with her sorcerous senses and was instantly overwhelmed by draconic soul force. It was all around her in such a huge amount that she could feel nothing else.
All around her? That was it!
She hurried out of the keep and moved beyond the towers.
“Golden Dawn! It’s you, isn’t it? You’re the palace.” Marie-Bell was just as glad she was alone at that moment. Had anyone been with her they’d have thought she’d lost her mind.
She was starting to believe it as well then the palace started to shimmer. The towers grew indistinct and the keep misty. The whole process took half a minute then the palace was gone. But no dragon appeared to take its place.
Had she been mistaken? The palace was certainly a soul force construct, but was it not the dragon transformed?
“You did well to recognize the illusion,” a deep but still female voice said.
Marie-Bell snapped her head up to see a massive, gold-scaled, wingless dragon descending from the heavens. It took no great leap of imagination to believe the creature was kin to the angels.
“Why have you come to disturb me?” Golden Dawn asked.
“There is a grave threat to the world,” Marie-Bell said. “The Binder in Chains has been cast out of Heaven. He plans to take over the world. We need your power to stop him.”
The dragon encircled Marie-Bell with her body. She had to measure over a hundred yards long. “And why does that concern me?”
Marie-Bell blinked. Of all the questions she’d imagined on her long journey, that one had never crossed her mind.
“Humanity enslaved would be a terrible thing.”
“Would it? I have watched humanity grow from scattered bands of hunters to city-dwelling, earth-polluting vermin. I doubt anything Binder did would be worse than what you’ve done to yourselves.”
The true challenge became clear to Marie-Bell. She had to convince Golden Dawn to help them save themselves.
But, how?
Chapter Seventy-Eight
Sir Collin staggered and stumbled through the pine forest that covered the lower slopes of the mountains. Branches scratched his face, but he hardly noticed.
She was gone.
The warm, gentle presence that had been with him for almost as long as he could remember had vanished, abandoning him. After all he’d done to advance Heaven’s interests in this world his so-called partner cast him aside.
How dare she? He wasn’t some lower-ranking nobody. He was Grandmaster of the Order. If the angels could abandon him, then the whole order was built on false trust. They depended on forces that might leave them at any moment. He needed to warn everyone.
But the way they looked at him when he lost his angel…
No!
They didn’t deserve his warning. Let the fools continue to trust the self-righteous servants of Heaven. When they were abandoned then they could come crawling back. If they begged, maybe he’d allow them to be his followers once more. Maybe.
No one would follow him if he didn’t have power. Without his partner, Sir Collin was nothing but a normal man, weak and pitiful.
He stopped dead in his tracks. There was another angel that shared his power with his mortal followers. And it seemed he shared it more generously than the true agents of Heaven ever did. If Sir Collin pledged himself, surely the Binder would welcome him with open arms. After all, it wasn’t every day you gained a follower as wise and skilled as he. If you looked at it that way, Sir Collin was doing the fallen angel a favor by offering his loyalty.
With that thought firmly in mind, Sir Collin resumed his trek. He didn’t know where he’d find the chain fighters. Maybe if he wandered around long enough, they’d find him.
His thought proved prophetic as half an hour later he heard something rushing through the air. Sir Collin froze as five warriors landed all around him. They each held those strange swords made of fused chains.
He eyed them and they eyed him in return. No one moved. Sir Collin feared that if he did anything sudden they’d cut him down before he could explain that he was willing to join them.
Finally one of the warriors allowed his sword to vanish. “Why have you left the safety of the monastery?”
Since he spoke first, Sir Collin assumed he was the leader. Drawing himself up to his full height Sir Collin said, “I’ve come to offer my services to your master. No doubt when you’ve told him who I am he will accept and place me in charge of all his forces.”
The leader’s stony expression didn’t waver. “You’ve lost your power and now have come crawling to us in hopes of regaining it. Pathetic. What could you have to offer that we can’t do ourselves?”
Sir Collin bristled at the insult. How dare this nobody insult him. “You’re not exactly making much progress. I’d say anyone would be an improvement on you as leader.”
The sword reappeared in the leader’s hand. Sir Collin swallowed a sudden lump in his throat. Maybe he’d been hasty.
A woman stepped over to the leader and placed a hand on his shoulder. She whispered in his ear and he relaxed.
“Perhaps you’re right,” the leader said. “I may have been too rash in my judgement. My name is Shun and as you’ve no doubt guessed, I command this force in our master’s name. If you desire to join his service, you must prove your loyalty.”
Sir Collin cocked his head. “How would I do that?”
“Your future master has commanded that your paladins must fall. If you can get the monks to open the gate, that will prove you put the master’s needs ahead of your old loyalties.”
Sir Collin scratched his chin as he considered Shun’s offer. He held no great affection for his rebellious former followers. And only ten of them remained anyway. It wouldn’t be such a great sacrifice to assure his place at the Binder’s side. From there he could influence the course of the entire world, especially since without him there was no hope of gaining the dragon’s help. When you looked at it that way, there was really only one choice.
“Very well. If I return, no doubt they will allow me to enter. You’ll have to move quickly once the gate opens. There’s no way I’ll be strong enough to delay the monks.”
Shun finally smiled. “Have no fear, my friend. When the time comes we will be quick.”
Sir Collin didn’t approve of the familiar way Shun spoke to him, but that was a minor matter compared to assuring his future with the Binder. Now he’d show the others why they shouldn’t have disobeyed him
.
He’d show them all.
Chapter Seventy-Nine
The Golden Marlin was the most expensive tavern in Port Valcane. Jen shook her head. Trust Tosh to set up a rebellion in the fanciest part of the city. It showed guts, more than she believed he possessed. The tavern was smack in the center of the merchant district, Binder country if ever there was one.
She adjusted the collar of the tunic Captain Nick had found for her as she approached the tavern. Walking around in their uniforms was just asking for trouble. Jen would have liked to change, but everything happened so fast they just went with what they were wearing at the time.
She’d left the guys, also in borrowed civilian clothes and armed with less obvious weapons than usual, at the corner of each street passing by the place. If there was trouble, she’d have plenty of warning.
Now she just needed to talk to Tosh without punching his arrogant face in. That might be the hardest part of the entire job.
Jen pushed through the gilded door and stepped inside the immaculate common room. She’d chosen midmorning for the meeting, right between breakfast and lunch, and her thinking had been sound. The tavern was nearly empty.
She spotted Tosh right away, even dressed in regular clothes, if you could call a blue silk brocade tunic, navy velvet pantaloons, and polished black leather knee boots regular. At least he’d had sense enough to pick a table in the corner well away from the other parties sipping their coffee and discussing the latest shipping news.
Tosh rose as she approached and pulled her chair out for her. Ever the optimistic ladies’ man. As long as he kept his hands to himself, she’d stay quiet.
When he’d settled in across from her Tosh said, “I’ve missed you, Jennifer.”
“Liar. Tell me what’s happening in the city.”
“Straight to business. I see some things never change. Duke Carmichael arrived a day or so ago and settled into the lord mayor’s mansion. I assume because it’s in the heart of the city, unlike his own mansion. His people have taken over all guard business as well as the government offices. So far they’ve kept things running as usual. Most people don’t care who’s in charge as long as the coin keeps flowing. No one’s protesting in the streets, so the duke leaves everyone alone.”
“How many cultists are there?” Jen asked.
“No clue. A few thousand maybe, most of them lacking any real conviction. Worshipping the Binder is good business these days. As soon as it isn’t that number will drop to a few hundred true believers.”
Gotta love that Port Valcane cynicism. “Anything else?”
“If you plan to remove the leaders, they meet every night around eight at the mayor’s mansion. You could sweep them all up if you’re lucky.”
“How many people do you have to lend a hand?” Jen asked.
“All my rebels are clerks and ordinary guards let go for refusing to convert.” Tosh smiled a humorless smile. “I doubt any of them would be of much use against sorcerers and warlords. Duke Carmichael has at least five of the former and twenty of the latter. I hope you have more help than a single squad.”
She thought of her brother and smiled. “I think we’ll manage. I can hardly believe it, Tosh, but you’ve been useful. Keep your head down when the fighting starts and you might live through this.”
Jen rose and hurried out, leaving the grumbling Tosh to stew. The streets were unusually empty for this time of day. Maybe people were staying inside to avoid trouble. Having the streets to themselves suited Jen. She picked up the guys and headed for Captain Nick’s. They needed to plan tonight’s raid and get their weapons.
“Did he have anything interesting to say?” Edward asked.
Jen summarized the meeting as they ran. When she finished she added, “I’ll send a message to the archmage then we’ll get ready to hit them tonight. If we can take Nathanial and Duke Carmichael, we might end this with minimal bloodshed.”
“Let’s hope they share your distaste for bloodshed,” Talon said.
The team left the wealthy part of the city behind and entered the working-class district of Water’s Edge. More people were out and about here. When you were barely scraping by you had to work no matter the situation.
They drew an occasional look, but nothing that triggered her danger sense. The guys kept their heads on a swivel. Even alert as they were, the first strike took them by surprise.
A sphere of soul force came streaking in and detonated ten feet from them. The impact knocked the breath out of Jen and she went flying.
Her power surged, healing the minor damage, and slowing everything to a crawl. The guys ended up scattered by the blast, but all of them were scrambling to their feet.
Jen drew her dagger, a horribly inadequate weapon, and turned to meet the half dozen warlords emerging from the nearby businesses.
Another group came piling out on the opposite side of the street, but she didn’t have time to worry about them. She risked a glance skyward. A pair of blue-robed sorcerers hovered overhead. Soul force crackled around them, but they didn’t attack. They wouldn’t have been able to hit anyone moving at warlord speed anyway.
Jen took all that in over a handful of heartbeats then the battle was on.
She dodged a thrust spear, leapt a man trying to tackle her, and spun in midair to avoid a sword strike.
Jen caught the helmet of a fourth man on her way down and twisted herself down beside him, breaking his neck in the process. A hard kick sent the dead man flying into one of his comrades.
The five survivors rushed to surround her. Jen needed to break Damien’s call stick.
She had total confidence in her skill, but the enemy numbers were too great.
Her hand was halfway to her pocket when something froze her solid. She could move her eyes enough to see the sorcerers descending, their hands extended toward Jen.
“Warlords are much easier to stop when you know where they are,” one of the sorcerers said.
Jen grimaced but couldn’t speak.
“I wanted to kill you outright,” the man continued. “But Nathanial said you’d make a better hostage. With you in our possession, your brother won’t dare make a move against us. Without his power the former king has no hope of defeating us before our master arrives. I’m going to have to bind your powers.”
A shudder ran through Jen as the sorcerers’ combined soul force wrapped around her core and sealed it away. Her strength vanished and the world sped up.
“The—”
Whatever he was about to say got cut off when a severed head slammed into his face. Her captors’ concentration wavered for a fraction of a second, but it was all she needed.
Jen reached into her pocket and snapped the stick.
Chapter Eighty
Damien rested under a maple that had lost most of its leaves in a clearing five miles from Port Valcane. He tried to relax, but with Jen in the city with heaven only knew how many Binder worshipers, calm proved hard to find.
He sighed, hopped to his feet, and started pacing. He hated waiting. And what was happening with that blasted dragon? He hadn’t heard from Dreamer in a while. And Al Elan hadn’t mentioned how things were going with Marie-Bell. He felt like a blind man in an unfamiliar room, groping around and hoping he didn’t fall on his face.
You need to have faith that everyone else will complete their tasks. You can only do so much.
“Right now I’m not doing anything and it’s driving me crazy.”
That’s not true, you’re backing up your sister. She’s counting on you if something goes wrong.
“Yeah.” Damien scratched his head and resumed pacing. It was easy enough to say, but didn’t really help settle him down. Everything felt completely out of control.
He flinched when a burst of his soul force returned to him. That was Jen’s emergency call. She was in trouble.
Damien shot into the air with such force he left a crater in the earth behind him. He followed the trail of soul force and in ten seconds passe
d over the city wall.
A pair of sorcerers flew above Jen while a group of warlords surrounded her. Another group battled Jen’s squad, but he ignored them.
The enemy sorcerers noticed Damien an instant before his energy blast reduced them to ash. He landed beside Jen and released a second pulse of soul force that cremated the warlords.
“You okay?” he asked.
Jen nodded. “The guys?”
Jen’s squad was engaged at full warlord speed with another group of fighters. Damien couldn’t risk a blast into that melee. “I can’t do anything.”
“I can. Make me a sword.”
Damien conjured a weapon of pure soul force the exact same size as the sword he made for her. “There. Be—”
Jen snatched it up and vanished before he could finish his warning. The energy blade would have a different balance given its lack of weight. Not that he needed to worry about his sister; her skill was enough to compensate.
The fight ended seconds later with all the enemy warlords lying in pieces. The rest of the squad appeared unharmed save for a few rapidly healing scratches.
“That bastard Tosh sold us out!” Talon shouted.
Jen shook her head and Damien reabsorbed the sword’s energy. “I don’t think so. He might be an ass, but Tosh isn’t a traitor. More likely someone was keeping an eye on him and spotted us. I should have been more careful.”
“If it was a sorcerer watching through a spy bug,” Damien said. “You wouldn’t have known they were there regardless of what you did. What do we do now?”
“We need to collect our gear and hit the mayor’s mansion,” Jen said.
“I thought the meeting wasn’t until tonight,” Edward said.
“You think they’ll have a meeting after this?” Jen started walking and the others fell in beside her. Damien could have flown them wherever they were going, but walking would attract less attention.
On Blackened Wings Page 27