Wraith King 2

by Jack Porter

  “Why would I lie?” She spread her hands. “I am not hiding anything from you, which is more than I can say for the elves you seem to like so well. They are not your friends. However, I am to tell you that if you come along peacefully to the Black Mountains, you will be allowed to bring anyone you want with you.”

  “And if I don’t come peacefully?” I asked.

  “Then your friends will die at Blackwharf. Already, they have suffered losses. But if you agree right now, I can send word to halt the fighting. Immediately.” With that, she raised her hands, and a black crow burst from her palms. With a caw, it took flight and circled above our heads. “Just say the word, Jon, and I will save them.”

  “You’re lying.” But panic was rising inside me. What if I had made the wrong decision? What if they needed me there at Blackwharf?

  Maera smiled. “No, I have not lied to you at all. See for yourself.”

  She made a complicated movement with her hand, and the air shimmered between us.

  And instead of seeing the yellow plain beyond the road, I saw the city of Blackwharf. Fires burned everywhere, and then the image moved as if a camera was panning, to show a group of elves surrounded by orcs, fighting for their lives. I didn’t see Nya or Ilana, but the vision was brief. Maera waved her hand again, and it disappeared.

  “If you don’t come with me, they will die,” she said simply, and some of the seductiveness had left her voice. “They will die, and it will be your fault.”

  “You know,” I said, my anger bubbling to the surface once again, “I’m tired of getting blamed for the Wraith King’s killing sprees. If they die, it is because of him, and you. And in that case, I will hunt you all down until there are no more of you left.”

  Raising my hands, I shot a spell at Maera. She put out a hand to block it, and some rocks in the distance exploded.

  But I wasn’t done.

  I’d meant every word. I would end her, and then I would hunt down the Wraith King and kill him, too. It didn’t matter who he was, or who I was. But we couldn’t both live here in Hell. One of us had to die.

  As I thought this, I charged the sorceress, gathering my strength for a blow that would knock her back to the Black Mountains.

  Maera didn’t wait for me to attack again, but rather spun on her heel and fired a spell of her own. I dove out of the way, feeling the energy brush past me. As I landed, I twisted to fire more spells at her. But Maera parried every one of them.

  Scrambling to my feet, I snarled. “Fight me. Fight me now, dammit.”

  “If I fight you, I will kill you, Jon.”

  “Then do it,” I spat. “Because I won’t go with you to the Wraith King.” I shot a fire spell at her with both hands, like the one I had used on the wereserpent. The edge of her cloak caught fire, but she waved it away. I made use of her temporary distraction, however, and threw everything I had into another spell. It was the same one I’d used on the Salamander.

  It hit Maera in the chest, and she flew backward into the dust.

  56

  Not waiting to see if she was dead, I unsheathed my sword and rushed her. But before I could run her through, she created some sort of whirlwind around her body. I was momentarily blinded, and I spun around looking for her, half-afraid of feeling a dagger in my back.

  Because no matter what she said, I believed she would kill me if given the opportunity.

  The whirlwind stopped, and as the air cleared, I spotted a flash of her red cloak.

  “Fight me, you coward!” I shouted.

  Maera laughed, and I followed the sound. There, standing at the edge of the settling dust, was the sorceress. She had an infuriating look of glee on her face. But I wasn’t done yet, and before she could react, I swung with my sword.

  Her smile faltered, but she sidestepped my swing. I turned on my heel and cast another spell her way. And then I just kept at it, casting everything I could at her, not giving her a moment to think.

  To my surprise, Maera stopped laughing and started working to stay away from me. And that’s when I realized that although she might have had more knowledge about magic than I did, out of the two of us, I was the more powerful. Dropping my sword, I didn’t wait to feel the surge of power. Instead, I let it roll off me in waves. Soon, I was stalking toward Maera, my hands outstretched, with pure energy seeming to radiate from them.

  The sorceress backed away from me, and even though she was holding me back, I could feel her resistance falter.

  And then suddenly, she waved her arms and disappeared for a moment and reappeared again in the same spot. As if she had stepped into another plane and then back.

  But her spell didn’t stop there, and she began to split off from herself. One, two, three Maeras stepped away from the original. And then more, and they began to surround me. I concentrated my power on the one in front of me, but the sorceress to my right spoke.

  “A nice trick, is it not?” she asked in a confident voice.

  I tried casting a spell at the one that had spoken, but then another spell came at me from behind. It hit me squarely between the shoulder blades and I flew forward onto my face.

  When I looked up, I saw the trailing robes of no fewer than twelve copies of Maera circling me, holding out their hands as if to hit me with multiple spells.

  “So you’re more of coward than I thought,” I said, spitting dirt out of my mouth. Standing, I watched each Maera as she passed, looking for a tell, for a sign that one of them was the true sorceress. But the copies were so perfect that I couldn’t distinguish among them.

  There was only one option left that I knew of to get to her, and it would probably involve me dying.

  But that didn’t matter. If I got Maera, too, it would be worth it. So I let the battle lust consume me. Eat me totally and completely. I no longer fought it, no longer tried to keep my sanity.

  The second I gave in, I felt it roll over me unlike never before. And Maera must have seen it, too, because the look in the eyes of all the copies grew worried.

  At the last moment, just as I was getting ready to release the magic onto the plain, I heard a familiar shout.

  Coming back from it was a struggle, and I almost passed out trying to keep the magic at bay. But I found that although I thought I’d lost control, I had the power to stop it.

  And that revelation was a sort of power, too.

  Then I saw Sarina, with her flowing red locks, running toward us. She carried a sword and was charging the Maera nearest to her.

  Maera saw her too, however, and one of the copies raised their hand to stop Sarina mid-stride.

  “No!” I yelled.

  Maera raised her arm, and Sarina lifted into the air, her hands going to her throat as if she was being choked.

  I sprang for the sorceress, but another one stopped me with a spell that hit me in the head. Tumbling to the side, I fought off dizziness as I watched all twelve Maeras laugh.

  Sarina was struggling, kicking. I pushed myself off the ground and threw everything I had at Maera, but one of the copies swiped at me with her hand contemptuously, dealing me a staggering blow.

  And then the wind began to howl again, as if she was taking flight. “Come, Jon,” she said. “Let’s play a little more, shall we? I’m glad this one turned up. The Wraith King didn’t say anything about not killing her.”

  Then, the copy dropped her hand, and Sarina fell to the ground with a dull thud. She began to get up with fury in her eyes.

  And I saw them change.

  I yelled, scrambling to my feet, but it was too late. Sarina morphed quickly. Her eyes turned red and large, her head changed, the hump returned on her back, and her limbs grew into hairy wolf’s legs.

  Before me stood a snarling, menacing Hellhound.

  I ran toward her, but the hound growled and snapped. Maera laughed again.

  “She belongs to the Wraith King once again, Jon. And now that I see how much you care for each other, I think I’ll have her help me drag you back to him. Then, yo
u can watch while we tear her apart very slowly. For running away, of course.” Maera’s grin turned into a leer.

  “Sarina,” I said, looking the Hellhound in the eyes. “You don’t have to do this. You don’t belong to the Wraith King.”

  The hound’s hackles raised, and she began to stalk toward me.

  “Oh this is interesting,” Maera said. “Perhaps I’ll let you kill the Hellhound, Jon. Yes, I like that idea much better. It will be a fitting end for the runaway. Attack!”

  She said this last word to Sarina, and the hound’s eyes glowed red.

  “Sarina,” I said desperately. “I won’t kill you. See? I’m not raising a hand toward you.” I purposefully kept my arms at my sides. “Remember our blood pact? I will never hurt you. And you can’t hurt me.”

  Maera was still grinning, but I tried not to focus on the evil woman, only on Sarina. The Hellhound had halted, but she was still snarling. Her bared teeth were inches from my face.

  “I won’t hurt you,” I whispered. And then, I summoned my magic once again and spoke as forcefully as I could. “Come back to me.”

  The light in Sarina’s eyes changed. Behind her, Maera stopped grinning.

  “That’s it,” I said, reaching up to touch Sarina’s face. “You don’t have to be bound to the Wraith King anymore.”

  And, with a slow nod, Sarina turned on Maera and growled.

  The copies all looked worried, and each one raised their hands as if to ward off whatever I would throw at them next. I couldn’t use my plan to blast her off the plain anymore because Sarina was here, so I raised my hands, too, and got ready for a fight.

  And then, I heard more sounds behind me. The familiar sounds of armor and weapons.

  With a glance, I saw Ilana, Nya, and Syn step out of the dust, ready for battle.

  57

  Astonished and relieved, I turned to Sarina, and I swear the Hellhound gave me a wicked grin. Then, she bolted toward one of the copies and jumped on it. With a yowl, she brought it down. And as she did, the other Maeras vanished.

  She had found the real one.

  As one, the rest of us charged. Maera, however, raised her hands in surrender. But Sarina only latched onto one of them and bit down, and the sorceress screamed. I prepared to run her through right there, but she opened her eyes and looked right into mine.

  “You can’t run from your destiny, Jon!” she shouted. “Your father the Wraith King will always find you!”

  Out of the corner of my eye, I saw the surprise on Nya’s face, and Sarina was surprised enough to let go of Maera. The sorceress used it to her advantage and rolled away from us. She began to shoot spells one after the other, which Nya and I blocked. Ilana and Syn rushed the woman at the same time, and Sarina, having recovered from her shock, caught a part of Maera’s robe and swung her around.

  I hit her with my most powerful spell, and she flew backwards, nearly taking Sarina with her. When she landed on her stomach, the Hellhound pounced on the sorceress’ back to keep her in place while the rest of us rushed over.

  We had her. Nya and Syn grabbed Maera’s arms and hauled her to her feet.

  “We will let you pronounce judgement on her, Jon,” Nya said.

  I looked at Syn. “I think she should. What is the sorceress Maera’s fate?”

  Syn shook her head. “The honor is yours, Jon.”

  Syn and Nya forced the sorceress to her knees. Maera had turned paler, but she glared at me as she recognized her fate. “You can’t run from destiny, Jon,” she said.

  I picked up my sword and in one fell swing, beheaded the sorceress.

  The body slumped over, and Nya and Syn let it fall to the ground. The head rolled away to land at Sarina’s feet. She reached down, picked it up in her massive jaws, and flung it far away.

  Before I could thank any of them, however, the magical transfer from Maera hit me so strongly that it knocked me on my ass.

  58

  The girls rushed to help me, but I held up a hand. “Stay back!” I warned. I’d been expecting it this time, but the sensation still left me breathless.

  The power was too much, and already all I wanted to do was kill them. I didn’t move, didn’t speak, just closed my eyes and hoped it would pass. My magic had got another taste of blood, and it wanted more, but I didn’t want to risk going berserk and hurting anyone I cared about.

  I sought that thread of control that I knew was inside me and pulled on it.

  “I need my horse,” I croaked out.

  “Jon—” Ilana began.

  “Now!” I hated that I was shouting at her, but I couldn’t devote any more breath to talking. It was taking all I had to control the killing spree that was threatening to bubble out of me.

  Syn led my horse to a space not far away. Then she halted and released the mare to come to me on her own. The horse wasn’t afraid of me, and I was so thankful when I could grab her bridle and hop on her back.

  “There’s still a battle going on, right?” I asked, sheathing my sword. Sweat poured off me.

  “Yes,” Nya said.

  “Let’s go then,” I said. “I need to kill some slavers.”

  With that, I took off for Blackwharf, once again leaving my girls behind. But I knew they would be on my heels. In fact, Sarina, still in her Hellhound form, ran beside my horse. I didn’t feel the urge to kill her as I did the others and figured it had something to do with the Hellhound’s original alliance.

  By the time we arrived at Blackwharf, my head was clearer, but I didn’t dare use my magic. I was afraid of leveling the town. Instead, I unsheathed my sword and looked for the nearest enemy.

  There were ten orcs running around the side of the building, and without pausing to see who they were chasing, I dug my heels into my horse’s flanks and went after them. Sarina followed, and in a moment, we had caught up to the band.

  I rode down the first orc before it even turned around. It fell with a grunt beneath my mare’s hooves, and I heard Sarina behind me, finishing it off.

  The second orc went down with a swipe of my sword. Even though I wasn’t using magic, I felt stronger than ever, just like the last few times I’d killed a major foe. And what I lacked in skill with the blade, I made up for in sheer power.

  Three of the orcs turned on me at the same time, and I dismounted from my horse and sent her running off. With both hands on my sword, I met the first orc as it tried to cleave my head in two with an ax. I parried its blow and pushed the orc into the second one. Then I sliced at its unprotected belly. The orc recovered and blocked my swing, and we traded blows for a moment while I maneuvered away from the other two orcs. Finally, I stepped back and faced the three of them at once.

  They attacked together, not as a team but with three separate looks of death in their eyes. I blocked one and then in the same swing, managed to cut off the arm of another. It staggered to the side and hit the third orc. I used the time to follow my momentum back to the first orc, which had raised its ax for a killing blow. But I sliced through its belly, disemboweling it with little effort.

  Stepping sideways, I attacked the next orc with a battle cry and a swing meant to behead it.

  Indeed, the orc went down before me, its body twitching as its head rolled to where Sarina was savaging another with her jaws. I finished off the orc that had lost an arm, and then looked for more enemies. These ten were dead, but there were plenty of battle sounds to the north of town, toward the keep.

  “Make sure no one mistakes you for the enemy,” I told Sarina. Without waiting for her to respond, I ran toward the battle.

  59

  The slave market with its auction block were on the west side of the keep. A large statue of the Wraith King stood on a plinth in the middle of the square, its black face turned west toward the Black Mountains.

  Large cages had been set up, and they were crammed with people who were clamoring to be let out. Five of Nya’s elves stood guard in front of them, facing off against a horde of wraiths, orcs, and Hellhoun
ds.

  I had found the main battle. One of the cages at the far end was on fire, and the people inside screamed as they burned. Even though I had promised myself not to use magic, I ran around the battle and cast a fire repelling spell toward that cage. Then, I found an ax lying beside a dead orc and began hacking my way into the first section of cages I came to.

  The minute they were free, most of the people ran out, almost trampling me, but a few looked for weapons and ran to fight with the elves.

  I stopped a burly man as he went to join the battle. “Free the others!” I yelled over the noise. Motioning to the other cages, I handed him the ax. He nodded, and I ran toward the elves with my sword.

  Hacking my way through the first batch of wraiths, I let the battle rage flow over me, picking my targets by watching for the telltale signs of ragged black cloaks and gray, muscular brutes.

  More slaves joined every minute, so I knew the cages were emptying. Men, women, and even children joined the cause, using whatever they could as weapons.

  The Hellhounds were the worst, and they tore people down by the throat or arms, ending lives in the most brutal way imaginable. So I went after them, hunting for the monsters with gleaming red eyes and fangs dripping with blood.

  At one point, I saw that Ilana, Nya, and Syn had joined the fight, and I nodded to them from across the square. With the addition of the slaves and their efforts, the battle was turning our way, so I jumped up on the plinth in the middle of the square and looked around.

  Fires burned their way through the straw and mud huts on the south edge of town, and smoke even billowed out from a high window inside the keep. When I looked closer, I saw that the slaves had broken in there somehow and were rioting, bringing out some figures on their shoulders.

  It was a proper uprising, then.

  A gray and yellow Hellhound snapped at my feet, and I jumped off the plinth, over the hound’s head, and landed on the beast’s back. With a quick thrust, I severed its spine behind the shoulder blades, and the hound fell. After that, I cut its throat with my dagger to let it die and then turned my attention to an orc that was bearing down on a young woman. But a neighboring fight backed into me, knocking me to the side.