by N. P. Martin
"You’re the second person to tell me that," I said, hovering awkwardly by the door.
Iolas smiled very slightly. "What happened to your face?"
"I had a run-in with a vamp. You wouldn’t know anything about that, would you?"
Careful, don’t antagonize him.
"Why would I?"
I shrugged and shook my head. "There’s just been quite a few vamp attacks around the city lately. I thought you might know why they are happening."
"If I did, I wouldn’t tell you anyway."
I nodded as if I understood. "Well, I just came to apologize for running out the other morning. Having had time to think about it, I now realize that you did in fact have the right man. Arthur Cartwright is—was—my mother’s murderer, and I wanted to thank you for apprehending him, and also dealing with him." Aware that both of them were watching me carefully, I walked to the desk and held out the scroll tube to Iolas. "I brought you this as a token of my appreciation."
Iolas continued to stare at me with a serious expression for an uncomfortably long time, so long in fact, that I felt certain he knew that I was lying. But then he took the cardboard tube and took the scroll out from inside to examine it before nodding with approval. "Did Haknet provide you with this?"
"He did."
Iolas smiled to himself. "That little goblin knows me so well."
"Are we good then?" I asked him, also looking at Amelia, who nodded at me almost imperceptibly.
She’s ready.
"Good?" Iolas said, once again directing his penetrating gaze at me. "You’re either with me or against me, that’s all that matters."
"Well, I’m with you." It killed me to say it, but needs must.
"I’m glad to hear that. What do you want to do now?"
"Do?"
"Do you wish to resume your role working alongside Amelia here, or do you want to go back to being a slacker again?"
Cheeky bastard.
"Well, if it’s all right with you, and with Amelia of course, I’d like to resume working for you again."
Iolas nodded as he put the scroll in a desk drawer. "Good, because you really don’t want to be my enemy, Corvin. That would be very bad for you."
"Of course," I said nodding.
"You can go now," he said with a dismissive wave of his hand. "You’ll be contacted when you are needed."
"I’ll walk him out," Amelia said, getting out of her seat.
Iolas looked at her. "If you must."
As we went to walk out the door, Iolas called me back. "Yes?" I said.
"Thank you for the scroll. I’m sure it will come in handy."
I nodded slowly. "I’m sure it will."
Outside in the hallway, I took out my phone and sent Monty a text to get the show on the road. Then I went to speak to Amelia, but she hushed me as she walked on to check around the corner. When she was sure there was no one around, she turned to me. "The room you’re after is in the west wing. It’s the third door before you come to the dungeon door. It has elven script carved into it."
"Are the wards still down?" I asked her as we headed into the foyer.
"Yes, what do you take me for?"
"Just checking."
"The door is locked, of course, but I’m sure you can handle that."
"What, no key?" I said smiling.
She shook her head at me. "You seem very relaxed, considering."
"Believe me, I’m not. I feel like throwing up. I also feel like fucking you right here. Is that weird?"
She did her best to suppress a smile. "That’s the adrenaline talking."
"I thought it was my dick talking, but anyway."
"Crude," she said.
I made a face at her. "It’s the adrenaline talking, I can’t help it."
As we were about to emerge from the hallway, Iliphar suddenly appeared around the corner and stepped in front of us. More and more, he was reminding me of some creepy android—a being with no emotions and an agenda all of his own.
"Chance here is just leaving," Amelia said without missing a beat. "Though apparently he needs to pee first."
"I’ll direct you to the bathroom," Iliphar said looking at me.
"No," Amelia said. "He can find his own way. I need you to come with me upstairs."
"What for?" Iliphar asked.
"Must I explain everything, Iliphar?"
Iliphar looked at me, and then Amelia. "Of course not, Ma’am."
"Good. Let’s go then."
As Amelia headed up the grand staircase with Iliphar, I crossed the foyer into the West wing, looking over my shoulder just in time to see Iliphar staring down at me suspiciously before he disappeared from sight on the landing. He knows something is up, I thought. But even if he did, there was nothing I could do about it now. Besides which, when Monty and Dalia kicked of their magic show outside, Iliphar would definitely know something was up then. Although by that stage, I hoped to have the book in my hands.
The door to Iolas’ private room was easy enough to find, thanks to the elven script carved into it. Standing in front of the door, I ran my hands over it without touching it, trying to feel for any wards, but I sensed none, thanks to Amelia. The lock on the door was digital and required a hand print to open, though I wasn’t worrying about that. Looking either side of me to make sure no one was coming, I quickly used a spell to turn myself to vapor, and then floated right through the heavy door unhindered, turning myself solid again once I was inside.
The room itself was windowless and slightly cooler than the rest of the house thanks to the climate control that Iolas had installed. It was a large room, seeming to be two rooms knocked into one. One side of the room was almost entirely taken up by shelves, on which there was row upon row of old books. There must’ve been hundreds of them, combining to give of a familiar intoxicating smell that made me want to go to the shelves and run my fingers over all the tomes there. But I didn’t have time for that, especially since I had just picked up on noise coming from outside the house. First I heard an unearthly roaring that sounded like some monster was on the rampage, which knowing Monty, there probably was. God knows what abomination he had conjured up. The bigger the better as far as I was concerned. There was also much shouting and roaring coming from the orc security team outside as they probably rushed to deal with whatever Monty had conjured.
Not wishing to waste anymore time, I searched the room for the book of death magic, but couldn’t find it anywhere. Having handled such a book years ago when one briefly came into my mother’s possession, I had some idea of what to look for. It wasn’t so much the physical appearance of the book, but the feel of it. Death magic had its own unmistakable vibe to it, and the same went for the written spells. So I ran my hands over all of the books on the shelves, trying to sense that dark, dangerous vibe, but I felt nothing like it coming from the other books. Sighing with frustration, I searched the rest of the room as well, but there was no sign of what I was looking for amongst the other artifacts.
"Fuck!" I exclaimed. "It’s supposed to be in here!"
Maybe Amelia had been playing me this whole time. Maybe Dalia was right and I couldn’t trust Amelia after all.
I shook my head. "No…" I knew I could trust her. The book had to be in here in somewhere. It was probably just hidden.
"Yes, hidden…"
As I was about to use a spell that would effectively reveal anything that was hidden in the room, the door suddenly opened. I spun around to see Iliphar standing there, his usual easy-going expression now replaced with one of aggressive intent. "I knew you couldn’t be trusted, Mr. Chance," he said, his brow furrowed as he stared intently at me.
Staring back at him, I knew the time had come. Only one of us was going to walk away from this encounter. He knew it, and I knew it.
"Flat Fulgur!" I released a lightning bolt from my hand and send it zinging toward Iliphar, but he immediately raised both hands and blocked it, seeming to absorb or neutralize the electricity before it could do any damage. Then
almost immediately, he sent his own magic blast my way, a sphere of pure magical energy that thumped me right in the chest, taking me off my feet and sending me flying back into the wall behind me. As I lay half dazed, my chest feeling like there was hole in it, I watched Iliphar advance slowly toward me.
"I guess you know by now that I killed your mother," he said. "I expected more a fight from her, but alas, she died easily enough…"
I roared with rage as I sent a fireball hurtling toward him, but he again neutralized it before it could hit him.
"There’s no use trying to fight me," he said smugly as he stood just a few feet away. "Your magic is weaker than mine."
As if to prove otherwise, I began to recite the words to a death spell that would kill him on the spot, but before I had said two words, he used his much more powerful elven magic to somehow seal my mouth closed, thus preventing me from uttering even another single word. He laughed to himself as he watched me feel with my hands where my mouth used to be, no doubt tickled fucking pink by the look of shock on my face when I realized I no longer had a mouth, but instead just pure, seamless skin. Breathing heavily through my nose, I watched him fearfully as he crouched down in front of me.
"It’s difficult to cast spells when you don’t have a mouth to say the words with, isn’t it?" He laughed to himself once again. "How would you like to die, Mr. Chance? Oh, you can’t talk, can you? Oh well…" He placed both his hands on my head then. "I think I’ll just break your neck and be done with you. Say hello to your mother for me, won’t you?"
He was in close, so he didn’t notice me slip my hand inside my jacket. Then, as I felt him begin to twist my head so he could snap my neck, I whipped out the Druidic dagger and plunged it into his chest, making sure I was looking right into his eyes when the blade went in. The shock on his face was almost comical as I held onto his arm, pulling him into me as I pushed harder on the dagger. Within seconds, I felt him weaken and he soon sank to his knees, his eyes still on me, all traces of his former smugness now gone.
"How…" he said.
As the life began to leave him, so too did his magic, and after a moment the spell he cast on me wore off and I was able to speak again. "For my mother," I snarled as tears stung at my eyes and I twisted the blade in his chest. Then I pushed him back as I held onto the blade, making sure it stayed in him as he fell onto his back. "Fuck you…"
The shock never left Iliphar’s face until he died, and I made sure he could see the look on my face until the light finally went out of his eyes and his head rolled to the side. For long moments after, I just sat there as the shouting and roaring from outside filtered into the room. I was in shock myself, partly because I had actually just killed someone (vamps don’t count, being no more than animals), and partly because I had finally taken down the person who killed my mother.
But the fact remained, Iliphar was just a tool welded by his master. Iolas still had to pay. He was the real murderer, after all, and it was time to take him down next.
After pulling the dagger from Iliphar’s body, I wiped the blood from the blade on the dead elf’s suit and then put the dagger inside my jacket again. I couldn’t waste anymore time. I had to find the book and get the hell out of here before Iolas or his orc henchmen turned up.
Standing up, I cast the reveal spell, hoping it would reveal the book that had to have been hidden somewhere in the room. And indeed, once the spell was cast, I noticed a hole in the wall open up, and inside the hole was a large book. "That has to be it," I said, rushing over to it.
The second my hands touched the strangely cold leather cover, I immediately felt a chill go through me, caused by the dark magic emanating from the book and seeking to seep not just into my body and mind, but also into my very soul, so it could begin the process of corrupting and disfiguring, which is what dark magic does. One of the other artifacts was sitting on a muslin cloth, so I took the cloth and wrapped it around the book, which went some way toward dampening the effects of the book’s magic, although it didn’t stop some of the evil thoughts that had already formed in my mind, most of which involved gruesome ways to kill Iolas.
Fuck this, I thought. The sooner I get rid of this thing the better.
Cradling the heavy book under my arm, I left the room and made my way quickly into the foyer, half expecting to run into a load of orcs or elves, but there was no one. The closer I got to the front door, the louder the noise outside seemed to get, with the roaring of whatever creature was out there increasing in intensity. I also saw through the windows that it wasn’t light outside anymore. Instead, a dark gray fog seemed to hang in the air, billowing against the glass of the windows, courtesy of Dalia no doubt.
As I neared the door my pace quickened as I was anxious to get out of the house. But the second my hand reached for the door handle, I was gripped from behind by strong hands, and the next thing I knew I was being thrown backward across the foyer, landing several feet from the door as I skidded back along the marble floor, the book of death magic flying from my grip and sliding away from me.
Half dazed, I sat up to see who had thrown me so violently, and I wasn’t at all surprised to see Iolas standing there blocking the door. He shook his head slowly as though he was deeply disappointed in me. "I gave you a chance," he said. "A chance to be a part of something bigger, a chance to be a part of the new world order that I’m creating for this great island of ours. This country was once the seat of western civilization, and it will be again under my rule. It’s just a shame you won’t be around to see it."
He thrust his hand out then, and suddenly it felt like there was a million volts of electricity going through me. My whole body stiffened as I convulsed on the floor, and then went limp when the destructive energy flowing through me stopped as suddenly as it began.
Iolas was walking toward me now, though I could barely focus on him. "Under other circumstances, I would lock you in my dungeon and torture you for years before killing you. But since I have to go out and clean up the mess you and you’re friends have caused, I’m just gong to have to kill you now."
I laughed to myself. "Just like I killed Iliphar."
It was satisfying to watch Iolas’ face register his shock. "What?"
"I killed that fucker because he killed me ma." I laughed again, knowing the sound would grate on him. "I stabbed him in the chest with a Druidic dagger. That fucker is dead as—"
Another blast of electricity went through me, but this time it didn’t seem to be stopping. I could almost smell my insides cooking as I convulsed on the floor.
But then it did stop, and in the background I heard commotion and the squeaking of boots on the marble floor, and then my name being called.
"Corvin! Get up!"
As I managed to sit up, I saw Amelia standing there. Iolas was lying on the floor several feet away from her, seemingly recovering from an attack himself.
"Amelia…" I said as I struggled to my feet.
"Get the book and get out of here!" she said, alternating between me and Iolas. "Hurry!"
As quickly as I could, I went and picked up the book of death magic and ran for the door, just as Iolas shouted after me. "Stop!"
Amelia hit him with another blast of her magic and he shouted once more, but this time in pain. "Why Amelia?"
"You know why!" she screamed at him. "You killed my parents! Why?"
Iolas shook his head. "They meddled in my affairs, that’s why."
In a rage, Amelia blasted Iolas with more of her magic, sending him skidding across the floor into the wall. Then she turned her head to me. "Go!"
Opening the door, I looked at Amelia one final time, and she nodded at me before turning her attention back to Iolas, who was almost back to his feet now.
Then I rushed outside into the darkness and the chaos, slamming the door behind me.
28
I went through the door and stepped out in into the thick, dark fog that seemed to cover everything, and which made it hard to see more than a few fee
t in front of me. As I did my best to navigate along the gravel drive, I was patently aware of people rushing through the fog around me, shouting and in some cases screaming as they went. The reasons for their screams was the large creature that was haunting the fog, picking off orcs and elves as it found them. The creature sounded like it was off to my left somewhere, though because of the fog, I couldn’t see what it looked like. The only thing I saw was a massive dark shadow that seemed to rush through the fog at great speed, grabbing whoever it came across and tossing them up in the air like rag dolls.
Still hurrying, I almost tripped over the curb at the edge of the garden, and as I did, an orc seemed to fly over my head as something plucked it from the darkness. I followed the orc’s trajectory up and ahead of me, and then I saw what had gripped him, or rather who.
Dalia.
She was floating in mid-air, up above the thick fog she had created. Her own dark energy seemed to be holding her in place as it swirled around her, which she whipped down to wrap around the orcs and elves who were trying to defend the place. She lifted her victims high into the air before tossing them away far away into the gardens somewhere. As I stood staring up at her, I marveled at how awesomely powerful she seemed, and also how damn scary she was. I’d never seen her flex her powers to such an extent, and it made me wonder just what else she was capable of. At one point she spotted me from her high vantage point, smiling wickedly down at me as she tossed another screaming elf far into the distance.
At that point, a path opened up in the thick fog that led right to the front gates, and I nodded my thanks to Dalia as I started running through it. Before I reached the gates, however, a huge orc jumped in front of me, holding a spiked club about three times the thickness of a baseball bat. As the orc came running at me, ready to swing the club and take my head off, I thrust my hand out and shouted, "Ventum exquiris!"
A split second later, the orc was hit with a powerful gust of wind that sent him flying back onto the gravel several feet away. As I kept running, a thick tendril of Dalia’s dark energy swooped down and wrapped itself around the orc before lifting him up off the ground. The orc cried out in shock and fear as he was hauled over my head, about to be tossed away by Dalia like so much garbage.