by Cole Pain
The wizard came into view, long dark hair flowing behind him. “Where?” he asked.
A Druid pointed. “It’s a small craft, but it’s heading this way.”
The wizard shrugged. “We’ll be well away before they arrive. Hurry the sacrifice. Ista is expecting us.”
Ren’s chest constricted. The Druids were working with Ista? Ren shuddered at his foolishness. Ista hadn’t pursued him because she knew the Druids would. But if the Druids were working with her, he didn’t need to go behind the door.
Ren clenched his fists. Ista would be able to control him at whim if he was closed from the power. He would be an easy target.
The wizard walked past, shouting orders to the Druids. A small hope welled within Ren. If the Druids were working with Ista, Zorc was an imposter. The One was still out there, searching for him. Ren still may have a chance to save Aidan.
His eyes drifted to his sword, resting just below his bunk. Praise the Maker the Druids didn’t value weapons or it would have been left on the island. The Quy’s stones were in the dragons’ mouths. Their light shamed the bright of day.
A commotion came from the lower deck. Curses and a few hollow slugs drifted to him. Five gray-robbed Druids exploded from the ship’s hull with a tall figure between them. Ren felt a stab of betrayal when he recognized Morrus.
Morrus’ head whipped around before Ren had a chance to feign sleep. Their eyes met. Ren tensed, prepared to leap from his bunk, but Morrus turned away, a hint of a grin playing on his lips.
The Druids shoved Morrus forward. Chains bound his wrists. Why had they bound Morrus? The ship lurched to a halt and Ren tensed to keep from rolling off the narrow, wooden bunk. One Druid unleashed two hinges attaching a small section of the railing to another. He swung open the section and placed a long plank in the gap.
A large rock jutted out of the sea like the humped back of a huge sea creature. Ren had read about the small island a few times. Agger Point legally belonged to Fyl, but the Druids used it for sacred rituals. Because of that, everyone steered clear of it.
The wizard approached, scowling at the progress. The Druids picked up the pace. Morrus turned and fastened his gaze on the wizard.
“May the Maker send you to the lowest realm for what you have done and what you will do.”
The wizard released a loud guffaw. “Your own kind send you to your death and you condemn me? Have no fear, I’m already among the damned, but you may want to start condemning your peers. Or do you still think them worthy of a godlike body?”
Ren’s breath caught. To his death? Some of the Druids stopped and turned to the wizard with unreadable faces. The tension was high. The wizard sneered, unconcerned. Ren’s brow furrowed. One wizard shouldn’t debase a ship full of Druids. It was suicide.
The five Druids pushed Morrus ahead of them. The look on Morrus’ face was unmistakable. Ren’s jaw tightened. Morrus hadn’t betrayed him. Morrus had been unaware of the Druids’ intentions.
Morrus looked to the sea before he turned to Ren. His gaze settled on Ren’s sword. Ren didn’t miss Morrus’ silent entreaty. A ship was coming. Ren needed to fight his way free. Morrus sprung out of the Druids’ grip, shouting and cursing like a sailor, trying to distract them so Ren could have a chance of escape.
“Not without you, my friend.”
Ren jumped from the bunk just as some of the Druids started beating Morrus with flails. The first Druid didn’t see his attacker. The second didn’t know much more. The third had a brief glimpse of him just as the wizard screamed a warning.
Then there was bedlam.
Morrus yelled for Ren to flee. Ren impaled another Druid and shoved another off the plank to the jagged rocks below. The two Druids on top of Morrus turned to see what had caused the wizard’s alarm. It was all Morrus needed. Morrus looped his chains around both Druids and began choking the life out of them.
Ren felt a tenuous touch in his mind. They were trying to enter him again. Rage built inside him. He flung them off. Morrus grabbed his arm, and then they were running down the plank. A small ship had landed on the rocks. Neki was at the helm, waving his arms frantically.
Before Ren could take two steps down the plank, he felt the energy of the Quy being released and yelled for Morrus to drop to the ground. A bevy of swords sailed overhead, missing them both by a hair. Ren stumbled to his feet, dragging Morrus with him. A horde of Druids ran down the plank after them. With each step he felt their tentacles brushing against him.
A ripping sound assaulted the air. Ren turned to see a flail descending on Morrus’ back.
A sword appeared in his periphery, blocking the flail’s attack. The flail spun around it like a bobbin. Ren’s eyes flickered to a face he thought he should recognize. Fear gripped him. Had they taken his memories again?
“It’s a pleasure to make your acquaintance, my prince,” the man said, stabbing an approaching Druid and flinging the body over the plank with effortless grace. The man turned to meet Ren’s eyes and grinned. “My brother told me I would like you, but Ramie has always been perceptive. Now get to the boat.” The Black Knight winked. “This won’t take long.”
Ren watched in stunned silence as Nigel Augustus ran off like a blur of black death. Ren screamed after him. “No! Wizard!” But the Black Knight didn’t hear him. He merely struck down Druids as if they were straw and not flesh and bone.
Ren staggered to his feet, blocking the buzzing in his mind. It felt like a thousand bees were inside, not threatening, but causing a great amount of discomfort.
The wizard rose from the deck of the ship, eyes focusing on the Black Knight.
Ren pushed past Morrus and toppled Nigel before it was too late.
“Wizard,” he said through clenched teeth, “won’t harm me.”
He was taking a chance, but if Ista had gone through this much trouble to close him she wanted him alive. He held his breath, expecting something to happen, but when he looked back up the deck was deserted.
Ren caught a movement. He turned just in time to see the Druidonian rise above the ship, silver eyes filled with rage. The Black Knight jerked beneath him, throwing him off with little difficulty.
A familiar cry resonated in the air. Ren turned to see the kota prancing on a ship beside Galvin and Neki.
Ren hauled Morrus to his feet. The Black Knight was quickly beside him, taking half of Morrus’ weight. They hurried down the plank as the Druidonian bellowed a warning and released a blast of deadly flames.
When they reached the boat Ren dared to look back at the Druid ship. It was ablaze. The Druidonian picked entire bodies from the deck and enveloped them in its powerful jaws.
As their small craft moved away, all of them watched in stunned silence as the Druidonian took apart the Druid ship piece by piece.
Chapter 21
“A Druid?” Nigel asked, face twisting into something sinister.
Galvin ripped off Morrus’ shirt and applied a healing salve. Morrus stirred when Galvin touched the cool substance to his skin but didn’t wake. Ren was surprised Morrus had remained conscious for as long as he had. The flails hadn’t been kind. There seemed to be hundreds of small, deep holes in the Druid’s back
Ren turned to Nigel. The Black Knight’s eyes still conveyed their disgust, but his face lost its loathing when he saw the flail marks.
“He’s a friend,” Ren said.
Nigel raised an eyebrow but didn’t question.
Ren turned to the wizard. After a brief inspection, Ren felt foolish. Markum had described Zorc in explicit detail: the hair, the widow’s peak, and the kind but determined face. If Ren had looked a little closer he would have seen the slight differences between Markum’s description and the man Ista had sent to the Druids.
Nigel took off his cape and covered the wizard with his cloak. Ren leaned down beside him.
“How is he?”
“Not good, I’m afraid, although he is the first wizard I’ve ever examined.” Nigel grinned, blue eyes dancin
g with resonating vigor of the morning’s activities.
“Ren, I may have failed.”
Ren glanced up at Galvin. The guard stood behind him holding out his sword like it was a viper. “What do you mean?”
Galvin nodded to Zorc. “He told me to kill him if the Druids appeared to be closing his door. He enchanted my sword,” Galvin said, glancing down at the sword in his hand. “It was supposed to gain all of his knowledge, so as to tell you.”
Nigel glanced at Galvin with concern. “The Druid with the yellow eyes?”
Galvin nodded, a wave of disgust crossing his features. “When I pricked him, I saw images, thoughts. Zorc didn’t warn me the sword would take thoughts from anyone.”
Nigel and Ren exchanged glances. Neither wanted to know what Galvin had learned.
Nigel heaved a sigh. “You didn’t fail. It happened too fast. Even if you had reacted as soon as Zorc fell it would have been too late, but I don’t think he’s behind the door. No lone Druid would be powerful enough to put a century-old wizard behind the door.
“The High Priest tried to close me as well. Yes, he was powerful, but I don’t think Zorc would have been taken so quickly. Something else is wrong. We need to find a healer, preferably someone who knows something about magic.”
“No one knows anything about the power besides Ista,” Ren said.
Nigel blue eyes regarded him for a time. Their chill intensity was vastly different from Ramie’s majestic gaze. Ren could scarcely believe Nigel and Ramie were brothers.
“Presario. Since his accident he studies constantly. If any book on magic exists it would be at his home in Yor.”
“Why would he speak to us? No one has seen him since the fire.”
“I have,” Nigel said. “When I rode as the Black Knight I was once wounded to the point of death. I went to Presario. I was sure he would never reveal my true identity, but I took a chance he might turn me away. He did not.”
“And?” Galvin asked.
Nigel’s eyes became distant. “I was there for a long time. He tended me, fed me, even read to me. At times the drugs he administered to lessen the pain wore off and I saw him, but he also saw me, and has never breathed a word of my identity. I won’t defile his silence by revealing his mien, although it isn’t as horrible as he believes. But I’m biased. I wouldn’t be here today without Presario.” Nigel turned to Ren and motioned to Zorc. “Presario will help, I’m sure of it. We became friends while I was there. If anyone could help, he could.”
Ren bit his bottom lip. Yor was a long way from the threat he was trying to stop. “It’s too far from Zier. I need to stop Ista, not run away from her.”
“Presario is the only man I know who may be able to diagnose what’s ailing the wizard,” Nigel said.
Ren heard Neki humming behind him. “Grauss,” he said.
“Grauss?” Nigel asked. “No one knows where he lives.”
Ren turned to Neki. Neki was slouched against his pack, arms propped up behind him. Grauss’ hideaway was a little too close to the threat for Ren’s taste, but Yor was too far, and he would rather risk Grauss’ closeness verses the question of whether or not Presario could or would help.
“Neki, do you think Grauss could help?” Ren shouted against the wind as he pointed to the wizard.
Neki shrugged. “I’ve never found anything he couldn’t do. If anyone would know, he would.”
“Then after we get Markum and the horses take us as close as you can to his hideaway.”
Neki grinned and nodded. Ren turned back to Nigel. The Black Knight looked at him with a cocked eyebrow.
“Neki is Grauss’ grandson. He led us to the sage’s home once already.”
Nigel shook his head, mumbling about the oddity of the crew.
Ren had to agree: two former crown princes, a grandson of the most famous sage in history, a wizard, and a Druid. But when Morrus woke Ren didn’t know how cordial the group would be. Nigel was the sworn enemy of the Druid race, Galvin distrusted them, Zorc was sure to hate them, and although Neki could get along with anyone he had a way of stirring up trouble.
As Ren watched the sun send shivers of light on the water, the night on the Druid ship came back with vivid clarity. Everything seemed so obvious now. How could he have been deceived so easily? Then he remembered Fate’s command: You must destroy your soul. The Druid closing was the road Fate had ordered him to follow. But why?
Ren didn’t know, but he had carried out Fate’s command and escaped the Druids whole. Did Choice and Chance have another purpose as well? Was Aidan still whole? Was his mother?
The more he thought, the more convinced he became. The Oracle had told him what to do, but that didn’t mean what he had done had the outcome he feared. Ren thought of Aidan’s words: blind faith. A small smile touched Ren’s lips.
Someone sat beside him. Ren turned to look into Nigel’s piercing gaze. Ren was struck again by the vast difference in Nigel and Ramie, but there was something in the shape of Nigel’s face, the strong jawline and the dimpled chin, that connected the two.
“The Druids put you behind the door, but you didn’t say how you opened it.”
“It’s difficult to explain,” Ren said. “I had others helping me.” As he spoke, even Ren found himself questioning his memories, but when he glanced down at the sword the stones were still there.
“How did you block the Druids when you first went to the island?”
Ren recalled his barrier of belief and tried to put it into words. “A wall,” he said finally. “A barricade of my emotions, my beliefs.”
Nigel nodded. “What you did was what I did when the Druids attacked me long ago. You fought them with your own strength. What I do now is different, and you need to learn what I do so you can keep your power safe from an infinite number of them. I create what the Druids do, a door, and I can leave it shut at all times. Walls can fall down, but doors have to be unlocked. Beware though, you can’t use magic behind the door. All you can do is save your mind. To use magic you must crack the door open, and when you crack the door with Druids trying to enter, you could be lost.”
“And the Druids can’t unlock this door?”
Nigel smiled and leaned closer. “I don’t lock this door with a key. I lock it with my calling power.”
Ren lifted his eyebrows.
Nigel’s grin widened. “The calling power isn’t magical. It’s an ability. Therefore you can use it behind the door. You can hold the door closed so the Druids can’t reach you.”
“But the Druids have the calling power as well,” Ren said. “At least most of them. Why can’t they use it to open the door, thus getting to you?”
“It isn’t their mind. It isn’t their door. Druids can’t use the calling power outside their own mind. When they enter yours their only power is to lock something of yours away. Their other abilities stay with them. However, you are in you. You are you. You can hold a door of your own creation shut, and you can open it again.”
“This can be done by anyone having the calling power?”
Nigel glanced over at Galvin and Neki, who were talking at the aft of the vessel. “Yes, that’s why I can’t teach Neki. Even though Neki has the Quy and can bring things to him as you can with the calling power, it isn’t the same. He uses the Quy to do so. You, on the other hand, use your ability to sense things. You can hold the door shut with that strength. Neki would have to use the Quy, and behind your inner door you can’t use the Quy.”
Ren was about to reply when Morrus groaned. Ren hurried toward the Druid, Nigel following. Morrus’ eyes flickered open, and like a wave of light a long smile spread across his face. “No more Druids?”
Ren grinned. “No more Druids.”
Morrus struggled to rise. Ren clasped his shoulders and helped him to a sitting position. Morrus’ dark eyes flickered to the Black Knight. A look between fear and respect rippled across his features before he turned back to Ren. “I’m sorry. I didn’t know what they planned.”
Morrus shifted his weight so his shoulder rested against the side of the boat. Ren motioned the others over. Morrus’ eyes darted between Neki and Galvin with obvious apprehension.
“We all need to know what you know, Morrus. Please, you’re among friends.”
Morrus finally nodded and released an unsteady breath. “When the One came to us he claimed the Chosen would rebirth the power and become the most powerful man alive. When we learned it was you who had birthed the power, the threat was twofold. First, because you were a prince, if you became corrupt you could easily seize control of the Lands. Second, and most important, when magic was reborn the One claimed the spirit vacuity had been breached. When someone dies the Druids believe they go to this neutral vacuum until they are born again, either in a higher or lower realm. Because the spirit vacuity was torn the cleft acted like a slide. Powerful spirits could come through, spirits with magic.”
“Through the Red Eye?”
Morrus nodded. “Only spirits with the gift of magic would be able to use the Eye, but the One said the Eye acted like a gateway to the world.” Morrus paused to let the news sink in. “We couldn’t allow the spirits to enter those of the lower ranks of life.”
“You mean those not Druid.”
Morrus’ gaze settled on the Nigel. “Yes, those not Druid. When these spirits entered those of the lower ranks, the lower ranks would be unable to, shall I say, control themselves. Only those of the higher ranks would be able to contain them and use them to better the Lands.”
Morrus shifted, clearly uneasy, and avoided all eyes. “The One claimed he had another guarding the gateway to stop the spirits, but he didn’t know how long he could keep the spirits at bay. If a spirit came through and entered Ren … Well, Druids were unable to close Barracus when he was alive. They would be unable to do so to again. The Lands would be at risk.
“It was decided we would find Ren and close him. Then we would close others with magic, unless the One could find some way to block the spirits’ entrance.”