“I vote we kill the wraith,” Abigail said, “whatever that is.”
“I tend to agree,” Alexander said. “Unfortunately, we don’t have a banishing spell and the thing can’t actually be destroyed.”
“We may have a banishing spell,” Kelvin said, hefting the load of books he was carrying. “One of these books deals with combating dark magic. It will take some study to be certain, but I’m hopeful.”
“That would be a relief,” Alexander said. “The sovereigns believe that the wraithkin will be stripped of their powers if the parent wraith is eliminated.”
“What do we need to make the potion?” Isabel asked. Alexander could see the trepidation in her beautiful colors. It made him angry. Phane would pay for doing this to her.
“We already have a number of the ingredients,” Alexander said, thinking quickly. The sovereigns had told him to keep the existence of the blood of the earth a secret from everyone, and he was inclined to take their warnings seriously.
“We need nectar from the vitalwood tree and the tears of a dragon,” Alexander said, lying about the last ingredient. He hated lying to those he loved and trusted the most, but it was necessary. Phane had eyes and ears everywhere. Isabel was infected with his dark magic and, as much as he hated to face it, she might be turned against him. He couldn’t afford to let the secret of the blood of the earth slip, not to anyone, but least of all to Phane.
“What’s a vitalwood tree?” Isabel asked.
“How are we going to make a dragon cry?” Abigail asked.
“The vitalwood is an ancient tree that lives on the Reishi Isle,” Alexander said. “As for the dragon’s tears, I’m working on that.”
“Killing the wraith sounds like it might be easier” Abigail said. “Do you remember Tanis? We’ve faced a lot, but nothing like her.”
“I know,” Alexander said. “I’m hoping we can reason with Bragador, but it would be good to have a backup plan.”
“I’ll have Wizard Ely study these books immediately,” Kelvin said. “For now, I must return to my workshop to begin the task of creating another collar, and Lucky will need those bones to begin formulating the transference potion.”
They returned to the tower and made their way down to the Hall of Magic. Kelvin went to his workshop, sending one of the new wizards to find Wizard Ely, while Alexander went to Lucky’s workshop.
When they entered, Lucky was busy setting up glassware on a table. He smiled at Isabel and Abigail. “I’m glad to see you’ve returned. We were all worried about you.”
“I know, I’m sorry I left without telling anyone,” Abigail said, giving Lucky a hug.
“You should probably go find your mother,” Lucky said. “She was worried more than most, even if she tried to hide it.”
Abigail nodded, dutifully heading for the door.
“You should also find Jack,” Alexander said with a knowing smile.
She was blushing slightly as she left the room.
“I have Barnabas Cedric’s bones,” Alexander said, placing the bundle on the floor next to the table.
“Ah, excellent, I should have the potion complete by evening.”
“Good. We’ll be ready for him tomorrow,” Alexander said. “I expect him to make trouble at the war council.”
“I’m sure you’ve thought of this but I feel it needs to be addressed,” Lucky said. “You will have to kill his host in order to be rid of him.”
“I know,” Alexander whispered. “I wish there was another way, but he has to be stopped, no matter the cost.”
In the back of his mind, Alexander worried that Shivini would possess someone dear to him and feared he would be forced to make a terrible decision. Worse, he knew what his choice would be. He had to eliminate the shades. They were the greatest threat of all. If they succeeded, everything for all time would be lost. If Phane or Zuhl won out, the Seven Isles would suffer a thousand years of tyranny, but at least the world of time and substance would survive. The shades represented the end of all things. They had to be defeated.
“I don’t understand,” Isabel said. “How do you plan on killing a shade?”
“I’m not going to kill him, I’m going to put him in Cedric’s Wizard’s Den and close the door. He’ll be trapped forever. Unfortunately, whoever he’s possessing will also be lost.”
“Oh Alexander, what a terrible choice to have to make,” she said, putting her hand on his cheek.
He nodded, looking into her piercing green eyes and hoping selfishly that the price would be bearable.
Chapter 14
After a quiet lunch with Isabel, Alexander went back to his meditation room and sat down. He needed all the information he could get prior to the war council. It took longer than usual to reach the firmament. He was distracted by his worry for Isabel. After finally clearing his mind and acknowledging each stray thought, he was able to reach the place of empty-mindedness that led to the firmament.
He floated there, trying to absorb the mood of the world in the midst of such strife. People were afraid, many were suffering terribly. Their emotional distress was reflected in the infinitely complex music of the firmament.
He brought his awareness into focus over his head. With a thought, he shot high into the sky until he was floating many thousands of feet over the Seven Isles. He located the Isle of Fellenden and focused on a point over the Gate. The world rushed past as his awareness flitted thousands of miles in a blink. Two heavily armed legions were encamped around the Gate. Alexander made a mental note of their strength and rose higher into the sky.
From his vantage point, he could see the swath of destruction carved into the countryside by the passage of such an enormous army. They cut a straight line to the city of Fellenden. He had visited the city with his clairvoyance before and found it to be devastated. Now there were a few inhabitants but they lived in the dark places, taking shelter and picking the bones of the city for what sustenance they could. For all intents and purposes, the city was abandoned.
He followed the trail of Zuhl’s army as they made for the coast on the northwestern edge of the Isle of Fellenden. He found about half of Zuhl’s forces encamped around a massive shipyard on the southern edge of the Iron Oak Forest. They were busy falling the ancient trees and dragging them to the many mills set up nearby to cut the trees into boards for use in the construction of the giant ships for Zuhl’s fleet.
Zuhl had ten berths with the beginnings of a warship starting to take shape in each. Alexander moved in closer and saw the scope of what he faced. The ships would be enormous, easily capable of transporting a thousand troops each. The first ten were more than half complete. Alexander had no idea how many ships Zuhl planned to build but an armada of just ten of these ships would easily tip the balance of power in his favor, especially with such a massive army at his disposal.
Alexander spent some time surveying the operation and the defenses of the shipyard. He estimated about four legions held the area with at least as many slaves working in the giant operation. He rose into the sky again and went in search of the remaining soldiers in Zuhl’s army. He found them one legion at a time.
Each of the four remaining legions was systematically pillaging the entire island in search of supplies, slaves, and any magic they could find. The people of Fellenden were totally at the mercy of the marauding soldiers. They were suffering terribly. The corpses of thousands were scattered in the wake of each legion as they moved about the island searching for plunder.
The magnitude of the devastation sickened Alexander. Even Phane hadn’t caused such suffering. The wantonness of the scorched-earth war Zuhl was waging kindled a rage within him that nearly interrupted his connection to the firmament.
With a mental effort he calmed his mind and went looking for any other sign of activity on the island. A few streamers of smoke rose from deep within the Iron Oak Forest. With a thought, he was floating over the ancient trees. Their colors screamed of life and potency to his second sight. They were u
ndoubtedly descendants of the vitalwood trees that Alexander had only recently learned of.
He sent his awareness into the canopy of the trees and found extended camps of Fellenden soldiers and refugees. The people who had escaped Zuhl’s rampage across their homelands were preparing to wage what war they could against the invaders. Alexander felt a swell of pride within his soul. Even against impossible odds there were always those willing to risk everything to preserve a world worth living in. These people were his allies even if they didn’t know it. He decided that he would help them in any way he could.
He slipped back into the firmament and then focused on Jinzeri. The world rushed by in a blur and he found himself in a cave somewhere on the Reishi Isle. Jinzeri, in possession of Truss’s body, was still waiting near the Nether Gate. He looked bored as he cruelly tormented a doe that he had hogtied. He looked up at Alexander and smiled with malice.
Alexander drifted up through the stone of the cave and into the sky overhead. He spent several minutes searching the area until he found the entrance to the cave system that Jinzeri was holed up in. With a start, he realized that it was the same cave system that led to the grotto of the vitalwood tree. He went to the secluded little lake and descended slowly toward the tree.
It was a magnificent deciduous tree with broad limbs and wide, bright green leaves. Colorful flowers bloomed all over the outside branches. To Alexander’s second sight, the colors of the vitalwood tree were bright and pure, filled with life energy and ancient potency. Before he could get any closer, a being appeared and faced Alexander.
“I have been charged with protecting this tree against all trespassers,” he said. “I ask that you leave of your own free will.”
The creature stood ten feet tall and looked like a man, except he was made entirely of pure white light that pulsed softly. His aura was radiant, complex and powerful, easily surpassing that of Tanis or Ilona. Alexander surmised that this was Selaphiel and withdrew, not wanting to risk the ire of a Lord of the realm of light.
Next, he went to the Reishi Keep and into the master Gate Room. The tentacle demon was nowhere to be seen but there was plenty of evidence of its past presence. The walls and floor were scorched with demonic acid where its tentacles had touched. Alexander withdrew from the Gate Room and searched the Keep. It was an odd sensation. He found that he knew the layout of the Reishi Keep in the same way that he knew the layout of Blackstone Keep. Even through his clairvoyance, he was able to navigate through the fortress with unerring precision.
He found the tentacle demon suspended from the rafters of the throne room, lying in wait for some unknown prey. He floated up into the sky again and located the central volcano on the Isle of Tyr. With a thought he was there.
The caldera was bubbling and sputtering with bright red-orange lava. Acrid smoke rose into the sky, leaving a pall hanging overhead. He descended into the caves and caverns of the giant volcano and found the dragons. There were hundreds of the ancient magical beasts. They resembled Tanis, though not as large and their colors were different. Where Tanis had been golden brown, these dragons displayed a variety of colors from reddish black to deep green to bright red, all with a hint of iridescence in the hue of their scales.
Alexander searched through the maze of volcanic tunnels and chambers that permeated the mountain and found the Temple of Fire deep within. It was mounded with treasure all around and several very large dragons slept fitfully atop the heaping piles of gold and silver coins.
The temple itself was less impressive than he imagined it would be. It was a platform of stone fifty feet square with a single large pillar at each corner, easily five feet in diameter and rising fifty feet into the air. In the exact center of the platform was a pit of fire. It burned brightly as if it had been recently stoked with fuel. There was no other structure, not even an altar.
The cavern the temple occupied was huge, rising two hundred feet overhead and spanning five hundred feet at its widest point. Several large passageways led out, each big enough to accommodate a dragon.
Alexander searched deeper within the mountain and after nearly an hour, he finally found the chamber he was looking for. Far underground, accessible only through a winding series of passages fraught with risk from dragons and flowing lava was the tiny chamber where the blood of the earth accumulated within a crystal basin. The colors of the blood of the earth were so vibrant and powerful that Alexander had difficulty looking directly at it even through his clairvoyance. It screamed of power, deep and ancient. As he drifted toward the sky through the stone of the mountain, he thought that no one should have that kind of power. No wonder Balthazar had warned him to keep its existence a secret.
He sent his awareness to the southernmost island of Tyr and found the abandoned ruins of the Reishi Protectorate keep. After a few minutes of searching, he found a number of smaller, better-fortified castles built on higher ground that were still inhabited. They looked crowded and the people had the colors of fear about them. Everyone seemed on edge, though Alexander couldn’t discern why.
He searched out the surrounding smaller islands of Tyr and found them inhabited by petty pirate lords and brigands. The islands seemed to be a haven for criminals, thieves, and cutthroats. There was no government, save the whip of the powerful. The Old Law was nowhere to be seen.
At a narrow point between two of the islands, he saw a battle taking place between two small fleets, each flying different flags. Several ships were burning, a few were listing, and at least one was sinking.
He visited Andalia next. It was a nation of enforced poverty and tyranny. Those who served the King of Andalia lived well—everyone else paid for it. Lancers strutted through the streets of the capital city, sending anyone in their path scurrying for the gutter. Businesses were few and poorly stocked. Food for the people was scarce and of limited quality and variety while those in government ate well.
Alexander spent several minutes searching for the forge underneath the city. The sovereigns had told him that it was where the force lances were made. He wanted to destroy it, but it was very well protected and heavily guarded.
He found the Andalian king, wearing his jewel-encrusted, golden crown; it looked like the gaudy, ostentatious type of crown Alexander had read about in stories when he was a child. The king was obese and slovenly. A swarm of servants and sycophants surrounded him, attending to his every whim. He clearly enjoyed his comforts.
Alexander looked around the island at the force strength of the Lancers and estimated their total numbers to be around two hundred thousand, an army easily capable of destroying all of Ruatha if they could make it across the channel.
When he found the shipyard on the northern coast, he was shocked to see that they were building the exact same type of fast-attack boat that Kevin was building in Southport. They were also building over two dozen troop-transport vessels capable of moving Lancers along with their rhone mounts. These transports were of a different design. They looked like they were capable of running aground on the beach and unloading their cargo of Lancers into the surf very quickly. Alexander started to get worried. If the Andalians didn’t need a port to unload their rhone, they could make landfall anywhere. As soon as these ships were seaworthy, Ruatha would have another wave of Lancers to contend with.
He sent his awareness to Karth and searched the island for nearly an hour. He found an enormous army barracked all around the central city. Supplies flowed in from the outer territories to provision the massive number of soldiers. Along the coast, he found several shipyards busy building large, oar-powered ships capable of transporting a couple of hundred soldiers each. The scope of the preparations being made to destroy everything he knew and loved was daunting.
Alexander cautiously searched out the main fortress of the Reishi Army Regency. It was a huge, sprawling complex of fortified buildings surrounded by a giant stone wall. Unlike Blackstone and the Reishi Keep, this fortress had been built by men and not magic. At least there was that, Alexander tho
ught.
He searched deep under the fortress until he found what he was looking for. It was a set of three magic circles suspended in the air by heavy chains. Each was made of silver and inlaid with gold symbols. One was suspended horizontally and two were vertical, each at a right angle to the other. Within the sphere of magical circles was a creature of darkness that made Alexander’s soul squirm.
It had no distinct form. Instead, it was a haze of blackness staining the air. Its colors were dark and hateful, seeming to communicate a craving for the living energy of those who existed in the world of time and substance. Tendrils of dark power stretched away from it through the aether, reaching out across the Seven Isles to each of the wraithkin.
The room was accessible through a single series of passageways that were spelled and trapped and heavily guarded. Even if Alexander could get to Karth undetected and make his way into the fortress without being discovered, he doubted that he had the ability to bypass all of the security measures Phane had in place to protect his new pet. Alexander felt a little thrill of fear at the building certainty that he would have to risk using the potion to save Isabel, placing her life in jeopardy in the process.
Finally, Alexander sent his awareness to the Isle of Zuhl, where he saw an army of nearly a million battle-hardened and brutish soldiers sprawled out across the tundra surrounding the Gate. They were beginning to move some of their number to the crescent bay on the southwest coast of the island. Alexander understood immediately that Zuhl was putting his forces in place so he could bring them aboard his ships as soon as they were seaworthy. Once his navy was built, the Seven Isles would fall to him. Alexander was certain of it.
He faded back into the firmament and gently returned to his body, then sat staring at the wall for several minutes until Chloe buzzed into a ball of light and came to rest floating a few feet from his face.
“What troubles you, My Love?”
Alexander shook his head in dismay, unable to put words to what he’d just witnessed. He felt like a pretender. His enemies were well ahead of him in all ways. The feeling of defeat started to take root in his soul.
Blood of the Earth (Sovereign of the Seven Isles: Book Four) Page 13