“Ask Miles,” he said. “I bet the Death King has more resources than we do, but he doesn’t like sharing.”
That, I could believe. “What resources?”
“I wouldn’t consider stealing from him if I were you,” he said. “He’s been an ally to the Spirit Agents in the past, but word says he’s losing his grip on his territory and that makes him dangerous. And his loyal Elemental Soldiers, of course. They likely know everything he says and does and would do anything to protect him.”
I thought back to his interactions with the Air Element. I hadn’t got that impression from their brief conversation, but it was hard to draw any conclusions when I knew so little about any of them.
“I doubt it would endear me to him if I admitted you sent me in here as a spy,” I said. “Clearly, you and your fellow spirit mages can get into the castle yourselves, which made this farce completely unnecessary.”
“There are some places that are out of bounds even for spirit mages,” he said.
“Like where?” I asked.
“The hall of souls.”
I frowned at him. “You mean the place the Death King’s liches keep their soul amulets? Why would you want to get in there?”
In order to become immortal warriors, liches took part in a ritual which involved binding their own soul to a magical amulet. As long as their soul remained bound to another vessel, they could be killed a million times and never truly die. If a soul amulet was destroyed, it was the one sure-fire way to kill a lich, but I couldn’t think of another practical use for one of them. Certainly nothing worth risking the Death King’s wrath over.
He glanced over his shoulder. “There’s a rumour going around… a rumour that someone tried to break in there recently.”
I made a sceptical noise. “I doubt that would end well.”
“The thing is, I think it’s true,” he pressed on. “The Death King—hell, the entire Court of the Dead is committed to a cover-up, and I think that contest of his is hiding some shady crap that has the potential to make trouble for the lot of us.”
I turned this over in my mind. “You mean I’m not the only spy.”
“Unlikely,” he said. “I mean, you might have gathered that it’s usually impossible to get inside the castle.”
“To do what, though?” The Death King was pretty much invincible. “I thought the Death King stayed out of most conflicts in the Parallel. Who’d have a grudge against him?”
“A lot of people,” he said. “Did you know he’s a supporter of the Houses of the Elements? A lot of people aren’t happy about that.”
That was news to me. “But he’s your ally.”
“Supposedly.” He pulled a face. “According to Miles, but the two of them were friends before he decided to turn himself into a lich.”
“What?” That couldn’t be right. The Death King stood apart from the rest of the magical world. He might have been a mage while he was still alive—spirit mages made the strongest liches—but that didn’t mean he, or Miles for that matter, supported the shitheads who’d captured Tay. Right?
“Look, it’s dangerous for me to be telling you this, but I want you to know the truth,” he said. “The Death King left the Spirit Agents behind a long time ago. He doesn’t give a shit about any of us. He won his position by slaughtering mages and conscripting them into his army. He’s well aware of the Houses’ habit of incarcerating mages, but he doesn’t care.”
“You know, you’re not doing a great job of convincing me to stay here,” I said. “I’d walk out right now if the swamp wasn’t crawling with monsters.”
“Don’t you want to know what fate the last Fire Element ended up facing?” he asked. “It shouldn’t be hard for you to get that information. The Elemental Soldiers would expect you to be curious about your predecessor.”
Fair point, though the other rumours worried me. The magical community at large had come down heavily on mages over the elemental war, even here in the Parallel. That the Death King didn’t give a crap wasn’t a huge surprise. To most people, the Houses were a necessary evil. And compared to my previous life, the House of Fire’s jail cell had been like a nice holiday at a luxury hotel.
“I can ask, but Tay might be in serious trouble,” I said. “Also, everyone here is so hellbent on cheating that the odds of me making it through to the next round of the contest are debatable even if I try to stay in.”
“Cheating, huh?” he said. “Maybe one of them will be up for helping you break into that storeroom and steal back the transporter. I’m sure you can think of a way to get past the security if you put your minds together.”
Good point. I could recruit someone else to help out. Maybe Sledge would be up for it, though I didn’t see that guy as being much use in the stealth department. Harper, though? I might be able to convince her.
“All right, but I expect a decent update on Tay’s location tomorrow.”
“Look for me in the morning,” he said. “I’ll try to get Miles to come along, too, but he has a habit of taking matters into his own hands lately.”
“Sure.” I might not have entirely made my mind up on where I stood with the Spirit Agents’ plan, but I was stuck here for now. The least I could do was figure out if any of the other contenders were spies, too.
5
Unsurprisingly, I didn’t sleep much for the remainder of the night. Shawn’s words circled my thoughts like a vulture hovering over a carcass. Was the Death King seriously in league with the House of Fire? Had he really been Miles’s friend? Well, that part would be easy enough to check, but it didn’t change the fact that the castle had more secrets than a thief’s treasure trove. Nor that I’d wandered into something that might link straight back to the past I’d tried to escape.
Somehow, no matter where I went, I always ended up running for my life even when standing still.
I woke at the first sound of movement from the other contenders. I dragged myself to the shower before they got too busy, then dressed in my new uniform, wishing I had my pendant back. The dorm was too crowded to approach Harper yet, so I waited until we both headed to breakfast and claimed an empty table.
“I saw you sneak out last night,” she said in a low voice. “What for?”
“My cantrips,” I muttered back. “I know where they hid the stuff they confiscated from us, but the door is rigged with a security cantrip and I couldn’t get in without being electrocuted.”
I figured I’d start with her, and then if two of couldn’t figure out a way in between us, we could recruit some of the others. The more people who knew our plan, the higher the risk of being caught, though. If all else failed, I could plead guilty and hope they didn’t lock me up for it. Sledge and the others had done far more egregious shit yesterday and hadn’t been arrested or conscripted into the liches’ army.
“Hmm.” She was silent for a moment. “I know a way to disable a security spell, but it needs a steady hand. And I need to know what type.”
“I can check.”
“What do you have in there, anyway?” she queried.
“Something I’d rather didn’t get stolen,” I whispered. “They didn’t just confiscate cantrips, they swiped our valuables, too. You don’t have to get involved, but I figured two heads were better than one.”
“You aren’t wrong,” she said. “Okay, I’m in.”
Sorted. Once I had the transporter back, I’d be free to leave here on my own terms. It wouldn’t hurt to have a look at the other confiscated cantrips, too. If the Spirit Agents didn’t have as big a hoard to share as I’d initially assumed, I’d get my hands on as many spells as possible that would allow me to go after whichever scumbag had taken Tay.
Firstly, I needed to see if the door was rigged with any other traps, and plan accordingly.
I took my chance to head down the corridor to the storeroom when the others were on their way to the arena. With a casual stride, I found my way to the door and gave it a nudge with my foot. Locked, of course. I knew
how to pick a lock, but I’d need to disable that cantrip first.
I peered through the gap in the door at the cantrip wedged there. Definitely a handmade job. Not something you could disable without magic, but I had a few ideas.
The murmur of voices caught my ear. With careful steps, I followed the noise around a corner, and halted out of sight when I spotted the Earth and Water Elements talking to one another.
“I realise he thinks we have it under control, but what happens if one of Davies’s allies comes back?” said the Water Element. “Why did he decide now was the perfect time to go swanning off and leave us to run the show?”
Who did they mean? Surely not the Death King?
“Because we do have it under control,” responded the Earth Element. “It’s only a group of fire mages who can’t hold a candle to any of us. Stop nit-picking.”
“I’m not,” the Water Element replied. “You know perfectly well that half those contenders are out to make trouble for us. I don’t care if the boss planned it that way—we can’t be in five places at once.”
“Let it go,” said the Earth Element in a bored voice. “Look at what happened with Davies. The boss had it under control.”
“Please don’t say that in front of Ryan. They nearly died.”
I backed up, my mind whirling. Had they implied the Death King had left them to handle the contenders alone—and that he was perfectly aware that some of them weren’t who they seemed to be? Did they include me in that number? Maybe. It seemed the Elemental Soldiers were less than thrilled at being left in charge of the trials, but it did leave me wondering whether this whole setup was an elaborate trap on behalf of the King of the Dead.
As the voices became louder, I headed back to the dorms, almost colliding with someone coming the other way—a certain spirit mage. Dammit. Of all the people to run into. Worse, the Air Element was with her, too.
“He actually let you stay?” Liv asked. I assumed she meant the Death King.
“Oh, it’s you,” I said, attempting a casual tone. “Turns out I performed well enough in the rest of the tasks yesterday to be worthy of a place in the trials.”
Liv wore an expression which suggested she thought I was talking utter crap.
The Air Element shifted towards the doors. “I’ll go and catch up to the others. Don’t forget you have to be outside in ten minutes… that includes you, Bria.”
“That’s your name?” Liv said. “Bria?”
“Yeah, why?” I gave her a challenging stare, wondering who’d shoved a stake up her arse. Maybe working for the Death King wasn’t all fun and games. Or maybe she was still pissed off at me about how I’d got int the contest after sneaking in behind her back.
“Some mages use aliases.” Her gaze followed Ryan as they left the corridor, and then the two of us were alone together. I tensed. She wasn’t about to attack me, was she? “C’mon. You have to join the others. What’re you doing alone in here, anyway?”
“Forgot my coat,” I lied. “Then I got lost. This place should come with a map.”
“The Death King doesn’t normally have visitors,” said Liv. “As you may have gathered.”
Was that an invitation to ask questions? Hey, it was worth a shot.
“What’s it like?” I asked. “Working for him?”
I didn’t expect a response, but she paused for an instant before saying, “A trial. Don’t tell him I said that.”
Huh. Maybe she was trying to undo the mistrust she’d evoked herself when she’d been so damn rude to me. Then again, she might be trying to probe me for information instead.
Two could play at that game. “I can see why it would be. I haven’t met the man himself yet. What’s he like?”
No need to let on that I’d seen him talking to his Elemental Soldiers the previous day. She must know I’d witnessed their tussle with Miles through the node from the bushes, but that didn’t really count.
“Dangerous,” came her response. “I mean, he’s an immortal lich lord who’s been in power longer than I’ve been alive, and then some.”
That, I knew not to be true. The guy had come to power a decade ago… which would make his former alliance with Miles and the Spirit Agents plausible.
I told her so, and she reacted with genuine surprise she tried her best to conceal. Weird, but maybe she hadn’t grown up here in the Parallel, despite her clothing and her obvious knowledge of the castle. How, then, had she earned this job?
“I guess if you don’t live here in the Parallel, you might have missed it,” I said to her.
I’d hoped to give her an opening, but she didn’t take the bait. I told her I wanted the job for the pay, to see her reaction, but she didn’t seem surprised.
“Pay isn’t everything,” she said. “There are risks, too. But I guess you knew that.”
“Meaning, the risk of getting killed by a phantom?” I said. “Oh, that’s old school. We get them everywhere back home.”
“Do you get liches, too?”
An interesting question. “Nah, they’re all conscripted into the Death King’s army, aren’t they? They can’t turn on us.”
She hesitated. “Actually, there have been a few incidents recently. It’s why I’m here.”
That, I hadn’t expected. Some of the liches had turned on their master, had they? “Really?”
“Just giving you a head’s up,” she said. “In case you end up getting the job without anyone telling you.”
“Thanks for the reminder, then.” I turned to the door Ryan had gone through. “Is that the way out?”
“Yeah, we should head outside before we’re late.”
She was definitely probing me for information, but she’d inadvertently given me a major clue about the Death King’s reasons for holding a contest for a new Fire Element. After all, if the liches had turned on their master, perhaps the Fire Element had, too.
The question was, where had he ended up? Locked up in jail, or turned into a lich himself?
Liv and I walked out of the exit and towards the arena, where I found Harper and the other contenders. I couldn’t tell her what I’d found out while we were surrounded, but I could at least confirm one suspicion.
“Hey,” I said to her. “I have a question… what was the last Fire Element’s name?”
“The last Fire Element?” said Harper. “Davies, I heard. Why?”
I thought so. So that’s who the Elemental Soldiers were talking about. They were worried the last Fire Element was going to come back here, along with his allies, and… and do what? Attack the castle? Take us all hostage? Kill his former master? Shawn was right to be suspicious about the situation in here, but the Elemental Soldiers must know they couldn’t keep the truth under wraps forever.
My gaze panned across the grounds and pinpointed Miles hovering a safe distance away with his hands in his pockets. He gave me a wave, and I narrowed my eyes right back. Now was not the time for me to get distracted.
I had a trial to win… and a castle full of secrets to unearth.
6
“The goals of today’s trials,” Ryan told us, “are to test your ability to improvise and act on your quick thinking to solve problems. Everyone who isn’t in the contest, I’d advise you to get out of range.”
That didn’t sound promising. The other Elemental Soldiers, along with Liv, climbed the castle steps until they stood at a safe distance away. The Air Element, meanwhile, approached the arena, hands raised.
A sudden whirlwind whipped over our heads, knocking most of the contenders off their feet. I hit the ground beside Harper and rolled upright only to be knocked down again. The others weren’t having much luck, either, except for Sledge, but it would take a steamroller to knock that guy down.
I looked up, dazed, seeing a number of baskets floating towards the arena courtesy of the Air Element’s magic. The baskets halted in the air above our heads.
“Your task is to catch as many discs as possible,” they said. “Everyone takes one bas
ket. One basket, Sledge, not five.”
Sledge dropped a handful of baskets with a scowl. Meanwhile, everyone leapt to their feet, grabbing for the baskets before the Air Element’s magic swept them away. My fingers closed on the edge of a basket and I held it protectively to my chest as the wind kicked up again.
“What’re those?” someone asked.
I looked up, squinting at the disc-like objects soaring towards us. Cantrips? Sledge was the first to catch one in his meaty fist.
“It’s blank,” he announced.
Not cantrips, then. Wouldn’t want us to use magic, would they?
In seconds, the air was thick with flying discs. Everyone jumped into the air, grabbing as many discs as possible. The shorter among us were at a disadvantage, in theory, but Harper compensated by climbing up someone’s back to grab discs while he struggled to dislodge her. Ryan, seeing, directed a current of energy at her, knocking her flat on her back. The Air Element looked positively thrilled to be able to use their power to its full extent. Nice to see someone’s getting some amusement out of our misfortune.
Before long, things got ugly. Sledge took every opportunity to swipe a disc from anyone who stood still for too long, while he resisted the wind’s attempts to knock him over better than any of the rest of us. I moved among the others, basket in hand, but someone always seemed to be in my way every time I got within reach of a disc. Harper’s new method was to hide behind the other contenders to protect her stash. That might work out for her, assuming Sledge didn’t knock her flat on her face first.
As for me? I decided to go with another approach. I found a corner of the arena as far from Sledge as possible, and I waited, watching the air. The swirling currents of the whirlwind must follow a certain pattern, because even a mage as powerful as the Air Element needed a certain level of control to keep the wind from inadvertently tearing up half the Death King’s territory.
Cage of Fire (Parallel Magic Book 1) Page 6