The Three Swords (The Ways of Mages)

by Catherine Beery

  The kal’es chose that moment to launch itself into the fray. Ryan rolled out of the way with the baby tucked safely against him. The creature paid him no mind as it sought Salvo. Ryan made it to Duncan’s side.“I couldn’t agree more.”he said handing the baby to Altana who was also there. The priest who had been holding her moaned on the ground where Jason had left him. Tommy and Trevor backed toward them. Their wary eyes on the fight occurring not that far away between the servants of the enemy and the kal’es.

  “I also agree that it is time to go, but how?”Tommy asked. Ryan snorted and climbed to the other side of the tower wall. Tommy stared at him.“Jumping to my death is not my idea of escaping.”the lanky thief protested.

  Ryan rolled his eyes.“The only way out of here is to fly.”He said. With that, Ryan shimmered and grew in size. clutching the wall was a white scaled dragon with ruby red fringe and wings. Gold marked the dragon’s wing fingers and claws. Flaming gold eyes shimmered at the group.“GET ON.”Ryan said and stretched his neck so they could climb on.

  The kal’es turned its dark head toward them. Ryan hissed and pushed away from the tower wall. His ruby and gold wings flapping. His gold eyes turned black as he encouraged the lava to take the entire palace into its hold, but only the palace. The kal’es screamed and jumped over the edge, drawn to the energy of the heated rock. In the meantime, Ryan twisted and flew quickly away.

  ***

  “This is just wrong on so many levels.”Bendon snarled as he lowered his staff and blasted another group of dark sons down the corridor.

  “Which part?”Perela asked as she shielded their backs.

  “Do we have to choose?”Her father asked.

  Robert grunted as he cut through Perela’s shield and the dark sons beyond it.“I’m kind of in agreement with the old man. It’s just wrong that we are trapped in a rat warren with a bunch of snakes coming out of the wood work.”

  Bendon snorted.“Yeah, and it had to interrupt our tinkering. We are almost done too!”

  “Done with what?”His daughter asked suspiciously.

  Her father raised a bushy white eyebrow at her. “Let’s live through this, and you will see.”He replied.

  It is time. A familiar voice said to Robert. Robert blinked. Come, we are needed elsewhere.

  “Who are you?”Robert asked aloud. Perela and Bendon looked at him in surprise.

  Robert could feel exasperated humor in the voice. I am the sword you wield. I am the Catalyst.Robert stilled at the voice’s announcement.“The Catalyst?”He breathed and his companions stared at him and joined him in looking at the sword. Perela’s shield surrounded them to keep the dark sons at bay.

  Yes. But now we need to go.

  “We are needed here.”Robert said with a shake of his head.

  If we do not go now I will no longer kill dark sons.

  Not sure what to think Robert met Bendon’s gaze.“It says that we need to go somewhere and if we don’t it will stop killing our visitors.”

  Bendon’s brows rose.“Well, we can’t have it doing that. You go. Perela and I have this under control I think. We need to keep them off the soldiers after all and if the Sword stops working for you then there is little you can do to help us.”

  “Point taken.”Robert grunted. He looked down at the black sword in his hands.“Where to?”He asked. He felt a tug from the sword. Robert and the Catalyst cut cleanly through the dark sons as Robert followed the tugs of the sword. It led him out into the city to a park that people stopped caring for. In the middle of the park stood Ryan, Trevor, and Tommy. Duncan and who must have been Jason because he looked so much like a younger version of Trevor were kneeling next to a form on the ground. Robert ran over.“What has happened?”He asked.

  Jason looked up at him. There were tears in his eyes and a baby in his arms.“Please, help her.”the young knight begged.

  Robert frowned and looked to see who the woman was on the ground. His eyes widened.“Unless I am mistaken, that is…”

  “Yes.”Duncan said.“She has been changed, saved. Will you heal her?”

  Robert crouched next to the broken woman, noting the damage done to her body.“I’ll do what I can, but it looks like she has been through hell.”

  At his voice, Altana opened her eyes. Pain obscured them as she gasped.“I know I’m dying.”She looked closer at his face and gasped in recognition. She knew those gray blue eyes; the same as her son's.“My baby…”She breathed. She coughed“mhn…lived.”She panted. She reached for his hand“Please…my baby…care…”

  “Shh.”Robert soothed touching her brow. He did what he could to dull her pain.“We will care for him.”

  Altana smiled, her eyes growing peaceful.“My baby lived…”She breathed and died peacefully on the grass. Duncan bowed his head and prayed for her. Robert sighed and gently closed her eyes.

  There was a deep, groaning rumblein the distance. A flare of red light lit the dark sky. The palace fell out of sight. Ryan gazed impassively at it. Tommy and Trevor turned to him.“I’m just guessing, but you made Rageron?”Tommy asked.

  Ryan shrugged.“I have some anger management issues.”Trevor snorted at the understatement.

  “So are the Dark Kin dead?”Duncan asked.

  Ryan glanced at him before turning grim golden eyes toward the glowing place where the palace used to be. Softly he said.“Unfortunately, it takes more than a volcano to kill Dark Kin.”

  ***

  Salvo shook out his singed robes and glared to the south. Even from a distance he could see the far off glow of lava. Lava that had swallowed the Palace of Pershara whole. It had required the death of all of Maltacken’s priests to provide a portal to Mortia. Luck had been with them. The kal’es had been to excited by the out pouring of energy in the lava to care what they did. The portal had been easy compared to finding King Raymond and his many bastard children and getting them out of the foundering building.

  The royal group clumped together on the balcony. Shaken out of their minds with fear. Fear of what had nearly happened to them and fear of what was to come. They were right to fear. Salvo glanced up at the sky before meeting the black eyes of the child in his arms. Time was running out if they wanted to seal Maltacken’s essence to the body. The consequences if they didn’t would mean the end of the Child of Darkness, the husk rotting from the evil possessing it.

  Salvo gritted his teeth. They had had the perfect sacrifice, the Seeing Dragon Fieressen. But they lost him thanks to his crazy stunt. They also had Altana, but she had escaped with the other baby on Fieressen’s back along with the other captives. So that left them with a very poor substitute: Raymond and his many progeny. They were not of dragon blood. But they were of strong mage stock. And they were many. They would do in a pinch. And that was why they were afraid.

  “Raymond, quit your sniveling.” Salvo said without turning to the man. “You lived for the Dark. Now,” Salvo turned toward him with a smile on his face. Raymond and his children shrank back. “Now you will die for it.” Salvo’s and Maltacken’s dark sons appeared and grappled the terrified humans.

  Salvo set the Child of Darkness onto a cushion on the balcony. He then summoned a basin and gestured to the dark sons. They hulled the struggling humans forward as Salvo began the binding chant. Throats were cut and blood sloshed into the basin. The souls of the dead tied to the spilled blood. The useless bodies were given to the starving dark sons to devour in their messy way. Salvo picked up the Child, unwrapping it as he continued the chant. He held the child up to the darkness of the sky before dipping him into the still warm blood.

  The baby submerged and the pressure of the magic grew heavy on the back of Salvo’s neck. He then picked the baby out of the blood bath. Runes decorated the baby’s skin in sickly red-brown splotches. Salvo studied the marks and noted that they were not as strong as they could have been with a dragon’s soul powering them, but they would do. He chanted the final words of the spell and the pressure released.

  The wave of dark p
ower rippled out like a dark wave in all directions from Mortia. It sent chills of terror in the hearts of those who could sense it. It then swept out to the Barrier. The old construct writhed under this second assault before shattering, the last of its six anchors ripped apart. The Maelstrom howled as it spun its last.

  For the first time in two thousand years, the world was no longer sundered.

  The story continues in book five- The Ways of Mages: Reunited