Death Mage's Nemesis (Death Mage Series Book 4)

by Jon Bender

  “You should never be without a weapon nearby,” Whisper said, humor lacing his voice.

  Harlow grunted noncommittally. “You could have simply knocked.”

  Whisper remained silent, letting the absurdity of the statement sink in for a moment and then sheathed his sword. “Do you have a more comfortable place we can talk?”

  Harlow nodded and rubbed at his neck. Whisper followed as he passed through a door into a small area where he cooked and ate his meals. Continuing up a flight of stairs to the next level, they entered Harlow’s home where he had lived all his life with his father, his mother having died when he was young from a coughing sickness. It had happened when Or’Keer’s forces where sweeping across the eastern kingdoms and had occupied Karadin – a time of strife, when the city was near bursting with refugees and food was scarce. With almost double the number of people that now lived in the city, many types of illnesses had spread with ease. The disease had been beyond his father’s ability to remedy, and he had said that she may have been saved if the priests of the old gods had still been around. When his father had realized that his wife and mother of his child would die without the aid of god, he had gone to the newly established temple of Or’Keer to beg them for help. He had been shunned, and told to pray to Or’Keer for salvation. If he was truly devout, the Dark God would answer and save her.

  Harlow did not know if his father had truly prayed, only that he had blamed them for her death, often speaking quietly and late at night about how it was their fault. If they had never come killing the priests of the old gods, or if they had simply offered to heal her, then she would have lived.

  Perhaps it was growing up hearing those things that had settled resentment and hatred deep into Harlow’s being, the venom in his father’s heart turning Harlow into a man willing to risk his life to fight against Or’Keer.

  Stepping over the threshold, he found the familiar and comfortable home he had known all his life. It was a simple place with a central room containing comfortable chairs, plainly made tables, and a small shelf laden with use-worn books. A small hearth in the corner provided warmth in the winter, but now sat cold with heat of summer’s approach. A hall off to the side led to three rooms, two of them empty. He sometimes wondered whether, had he not accepted Whisper’s offer, he would now be married with children of his own. He shook the longing away and pushed the regrets of a life he could have had to the back of his mind, though he could never truly be rid of them. What life could a family have under the constant threat of being dragged away to a temple? How could he bring children into a world where they would live as little better than slaves to a cruel god? As always, the thoughts helped to remind him that he had made the right choice.

  Taking a seat in his favorite chair, the one his father had always used, he expected that Whisper would sit also, but his faceless leader remained standing as he looked about the room. “You should really fix that board down stairs,” he said.

  Harlow was already put on edge. Whisper never spoke of trivial subjects unless he was procrastinating about getting to the matter at hand, something Harlow had known him to do only when something had gone wrong.

  “I thought you came here to tell me the whole plan. To tell me what we have been doing for the past year means and how it will free us of Or’Keer.”

  “I have. As part of that, I must tell you of the mistake I made last night,” Whisper said, his voice dropping even lower than its normal volume.

  In the time Harlow had known the man, he had never seen him make a mistake. Always calculating and careful, it sometimes drove the faction leaders to frustration at how slowly the rebellion moved. It was usually him that would have a plan to rectify a misstep of those within the resistance. Hearing him admit to a mistake caused Harlow’s mouth to go dry.

  “What happened?”

  “I learned that a man had approached the thieves’ guild to begin fencing stolen goods from Etear’a.”

  “I didn’t think there were any organized thieves that far north. Not so close to Or’Keer,” Harlow said.

  “My thoughts as well, so I looked into it. It turned out that the man was the shadow mage I told you of.”

  Harlow took a moment to process the information. Just hearing the words shadow mage sent a chill down his spine, but he could not allow fear to overwhelm him. He would need to think clearly if they were to survive the coming of this mage.

  “Do we have any links to the guild, or is he wasting his time?”

  “We do.” Whisper took a long pause before continuing. “One of the faction leaders is a member of the guild along with several others. The thieves have access to information that I wanted to tap into, so I found people like you amongst them who were willing to join us.”

  “Did the guild know about them?”

  “No. They were under instruction to carry on as normal, stealing and even conducting assignations if paid to do so.”

  That was a bit of a shock too. In the past, Whisper had been adamant that only those who served the Dark God were to be harmed. All effort was to be made to avoid involving the common people. Still, Harlow could understand the need to maintain their identities, just as he did as an apothecary. “So as long as they avoid direct contact, our people within the guild will now be able to watch him. If he starts getting close, they will be able to inform us of his vulnerabilities.”

  Whisper turned to face him, and even in the shadow of his hood, Harlow thought the man was grinning. “That is the reason I chose you to be my second. You have always had a knack for taking the information you have and turning it to an advantage. And looking back, that is exactly what I should have done. Watched and waited until we were ready and King Corin had arrived at Karadin.”

  His words were clear. It was what he should have done, meaning that he hadn’t.

  “You tried to kill the shadow mage, didn’t you?” Harlow stated.

  The hood bobbed slowly. “There was an opportunity to remove him as a threat, and I took it. The thieves’ guild created a test for him to prove himself as one of them. I informed the faction leader embedded amongst them to set a trap.”

  “S,o what happened?” Harlow said, his hands gripping the arms of the chair. “What went wrong?”

  “I don’t know. The people I sent to investigate found all of those involved dead except for one. We can assume that she was captured by the mage, and is being questioned even as we speak.”

  It felt like a lead weight had settled in the pit of his stomach. It was one thing to be killed by the servants of Or’Keer, it was usually quick and without malice. In their eyes, non-believers were like unruly animals that needed to be put down quickly. What was truly terrifying to all who resisted them, was being thought to have information they wanted. They all knew the stories of those dark chambers used to question and convert heretics. He could not help feel a sense of irony knowing the priests would heal their victims to keep them alive during the process, yet they had not lifted a hand to save his mother. He had seen the results of those who survived their time under the ministrations of the dark priests. The fevered look in the man’s eyes as he spoke of the Dark God after spending three weeks within a temple’s wall. The sight had been unsettling. Whoever it was the shadow mage had captured, they would not have the luxury of being converted.

  “Who was taken?” he asked.

  Whisper looked away. “Fulvia.”

  The lead weight in his gut turned to an acid that swept throughout his body. Images of the energetic and strong woman strapped to a bloodstained table flashed in his mind. He saw her spit defiance in the faces of the dark priests who surrounded her, the black-robed men holding wicked implements of torture, or wielding magic intended to cause unimaginable pain. The scene changed to one of Fulvia covered in her own blood, weeping as she begged them to stop. Pleading to tell them whatever they wanted so they would end her suffering.

  “We have to save her.” He knew the words were foolish as soon as they left his lips, a reaction
founded in emotion and based on a fantasy of living a normal life he had built around the faction leader.

  “You know we can’t. We do not have the power to assault a temple and be sure of success. Even if we did, it would expose us and our plans while costing many lives,” Whisper said.

  “You have people everywhere!” Harlow almost shouted. “Surely a few can sneak in and rescue her.”

  “I have already tried,” he replied calmly. “She is guarded by two priests and temple guards at all times, the command given by the shadow mage. Those I sent were not able to come close without discovery. Her capture and the deaths of those in the undercity are my fault, I know this. But we have to discuss our next move. Fulvia is strong, but eventually she will break and tell them everything she knows.”

  Harlow nodded stiffly and took a deep breath. It took more strength than he thought he had to push the emotions away. “How much does she know?”

  Whisper finally took the empty chair, still keeping the hood low to hide his features. “Each faction leader has been responsible for only a portion of my overall plan. You have been collecting and training men to be skilled in martial abilities much as you were trained.”

  “Yes, we have been conducting raids to weaken supplies intended for the army,” Harlow replied.

  “Those raids were meant not only to hurt Or’Keer’s forces, but to give you and those in your faction the chance to test yourselves. My intent was for you and your people to be our swords when the time came so that you would be prepared to face the soldiers of Karadin.”

  Harlow did a quick mental calculation of his numbers, and estimated them to be near five hundred trained and armed fighters – men and women he believed an even match for the soldiers. There was also another fifty or so still being trained, but could be called upon when needed. It was nowhere near enough to withstand the five thousand soldiers in the city. If Whisper intended to start a fight with just those numbers, they would not survive an hour. He had a momentary thought that perhaps Whisper was just a crazed man with no plan that would lead them to victory, but dismissed the idea quickly. In all the time he had taken commands from the leader, Whisper had never led them into a situation they could not win. It wasn’t his way, at least up until now with his underestimation of the shadow mage.

  “So, what was Fulvia’s purpose amongst the thieves?” Harlow asked, desperate to know how vulnerable they were.

  “With her slip a few nights ago, you know that she has mages amongst her faction. Casters who I managed to get into hiding during the first purge so many years ago. Since then, they have operated in hiding within the city; continuing to train their apprentices, and prepare for the time when they could strike back. As they grew in number, it became more difficult to conceal their presence. With her knowledge of a secret organization such as the thieves’ guild, she was skilled at hiding people, so I made her responsible for protecting them.”

  Harlow needed a moment to process all that he had heard. The sun had set completely outside, leaving only the falling light of dusk to illuminate the room. Standing, he moved to a shelf on the wall to fetch the lantern there. Hearing that they had more mages in the city than those loyal to Or’Keer uplifted his hopes. That advantage could do much to offset their lack of fighters if used correctly. Pulling a small, steel rod and flint from a box, he struck a spark to the oil-soaked wick. Staring into the flame, he considered the possibilities of having such power behind their cause. Then their current situation settled in. With Fulvia in the shadow mage’s hands, all those mages she was protecting were at risk. That knowledge led him down a dark path of despair, one that he had kept himself from traveling before. Seeing the odds and powers they were up against, he could not help but wonder at the point of it all. Even if they were able to overcome the soldiers, mages, and near one hundred priests in the city, what then? More would come from the north to subdue Karadin once more. It was a question he had never dared to ask himself before, keeping his mind only on the next step and the one after.

  “What happens even if we take the city back? What good would it do?” he asked, never looking away from the small flame.

  “At the start, my plan was never for a quick victory. Or’Keer’s power is near absolute. It could have taken all of our lifetime and that of the next generation to be victorious. What was important was to keep the idea of freedom alive.”

  Harlow felt his heart sink at hearing those words, even though he had known them to be the truth all along. He had just never allowed himself to see it.

  “But now we have another option,” Whispered continued, with renewed confidence in his low voice. “I expected Or’Keer to sweep across the rest of the fifteen kingdoms as he had done here in the east. I had never hoped that the remaining kingdoms would unite against him. King Corin and his alliance will be the instrument of our deliverance, and we must do everything in our power to help them succeed.”

  It was true. Help was marching toward them. They had only to persist until it arrived, and that meant he could not allow himself to become disheartened at such a crucial moment. Harlow picked up the lantern and placed it on the table before returning to his chair.

  “So, we must first move the mages to new locations,” he said, putting his mind back on task.

  “That is already happening, but it’s not the only problem,” Whisper sighed. “Fulvia had another assignment. She was to find weak spots in the wall that protects the southern half of the city.”

  “Weak spots?”

  “Yes. My current plan involves the mages in her faction attacking the wall while you and your fighters protected them. We need to bring down as many sections as possible, so that when King Corin arrives, they will not spend days or weeks battering at it. While that happens, the other faction leaders would be conducting other assignments throughout the city. Karadin is the doorway into the eastern kingdoms, and I would see that door open when the alliance arrives.”

  Opening holes in the wall would make things considerably easier for those attacking. They would still have to take the three bridges to get across the river, but perhaps there was a way they could help with that too.

  “When were you planning on doing this?” Harlow asked.

  “In a month. With the information we have gathered, I estimate that they will arrive by that time,” Whisper said.

  “That’s too long. If Fulvia knew about this, the shadow mage will prepare a defense against it.”

  “Which is why I am here tonight. We need to move our schedule forward and take down the wall soon. Or’Keer’s servants will have time to rebuild some of it, but that can’t be helped. We can only hope to do enough damage that they won’t be able repair it all.”

  “Okay, tell me,” Harlow said, now understanding that there was a chance they could make a difference. Not in two generations but within days.

  Whisper pulled a rolled piece of parchment from his cloak and spread it out on the table next to the lantern. He showed Harlow half a dozen locations where he believed the defenses on the wall were weakest, and where they would be best able to protect the mages as they worked. From there, he described what the abilities of the other faction leaders were, and what their parts would be during the attack. Most importantly, the mysterious man told him who they were and where they could be contacted. Harlow knew how valuable the information was and how much faith Whisper was placing in him. If he was ever caught, it would mean the lives of everyone who dared to resist Or’Keer’s path.

  Harlow was surprised to find out how truly organized they were. Whisper had formed the factions based on need. One was responsible for assassinations that were to look like natural causes or random violence, and Harlow could remember times that requests had been made of him to supply certain deadly herbs and mixtures. Some would mimic the heart failing while others, given over time, would make it appear as if a person had fallen ill and died of disease. This faction would stage murders of important and dangerous people across the city in one strike. The elimina
tion of these people would cause confusion amongst those loyal to Or’Keer. One of the faction leaders was deeply imbedded within the merchant’s guild, and had been supplying the weapons and armor to Harlow and others. They were not fighters, but because of their lofty positions, could access many parts of the city without seeming out of place. They would set fires, hobble horses, and try to draw as many soldiers and priests as they could to different areas of the city. What was most surprising of all was that a captain in the army and his men would be supporting Harlow during the plan. He would be attacking the temple’s soldiers where it would help the most to take pressure off Harlow. Whisper also hoped that being dressed in their uniforms might cause the city defenders to turn on each other, at least in small cases. The remaining factions would lend support to Harlow or help to create chaos where they could. In the end, it would come down to speed. How fast those loyal to the cause could bring down the wall amidst the confusion.

  “What do you think?” Whisper asked, once he was done explaining the facets of his plan.

  “When we bring down the wall, what then?”

  Whisper let out a long sigh. “If we can, we will take the city. But more likely we will have to flee or hide. Even with surprise, we are still outmatched.”

  Harlow nodded and stared down at the map of the city, the only home he had ever known. He wondered if he could bring himself to leave it. “When?”

  “Two days from now, during evening prayers. I would want it sooner, but I don’t think the faction leaders will have enough time to prepare.”

  Harlow agreed. It would take him at least a day to get word out to his lieutenants and the message to trickle down from there, then another day for all those who were to be involved to prepare themselves. Meeting places would have to be established for smaller groups. Those groups would then join together in larger forces to avoid detection until the last moment. Whisper wanted to attack six different sections, and that would take coordination to split his people up equally at those sites to defend the mages as they brought down the wall. Two days was just barely enough time to get it all done.