by James Wisher
He, Jen, and Leah each wore one of the talismans pinned through their clothes so they had nothing to fear from the guardians. The remaining pins were safe in Jen’s belt pouch. That only left one question. “So what now?” He looked from Leah to Jen, but neither of them spoke. “Are we done?”
“No,” Leah said. “We need to hunt down Eleck and his final servant. We need all the talismans so another full circle can use the ritual to set the lines back in their proper place.”
“That might be tricky,” Jen said. “All your people think we’re the enemy. They may try and protect Eleck. If that happens some of them might get hurt.”
That was an understatement. Jen’s sword and Damien’s attacks weren’t especially discriminatory if it came to fighting in a crowd. They could kill Eleck easy enough. Damien had taken the measure of his power back in the central chamber. The black rings were strong, but nothing Damien couldn’t handle.
“What if we wait here?” Leah said. “Eleck’s bound to show up sooner or later.”
“I don’t think so.” Jen rubbed her face. “We have no food, no water, and no idea when he might arrive. The cave is a good defensive position, but with no supplies, it’s useless to us.”
“What about these idiots?” Damien asked. “They must have had something to eat and drink.”
“Maybe not.” Leah paced around the room. “The earth force from the ritual would have sustained them as long as they remained inside the circle. Still, it couldn’t hurt to take a look around.”
They crossed the walkway without attracting much interest from the guardians. The green glow from the ritual circle was slowly dying. Damien conjured a handful of lights and scattered them around the chamber. It was much bigger than he expected. Perhaps three hundred yards across and so high he couldn’t make out the ceiling. They spread out and searched the whole chamber.
Half an hour later they regrouped. Damien hadn’t found anything besides dust. Judging from the gray covering on her cloak Leah hadn’t fared any better. Jen on the other hand had six packs dangling from her hands.
“Anything in them?” he asked.
“Not much. Enough food and water to see us back to the village, but nothing beyond that.” They shared dried fruit and jerky and each drained a half-full water skin. Enough food remained for one more small meal and then they were out of luck.
“We need to get out of here and back to town,” Damien said. “Can’t the wise one announce that Eleck’s a traitor and we didn’t kidnap him?”
“He seldom speaks directly with the people,” Leah said. “Usually Eleck or I speak in his place. Since they all know I brought you to the village, no one would believe me if I spoke against Eleck. They might even think we’d forced the wise one to say what we wanted him to.”
“Great,” Damien said. “So we’re right back where we started. At least we have the talismans so no one can resume the ritual.”
“Actually,” Leah said. “Since Eleck still has two talismans, they can take turns crossing the path and tossing it back so the next pair can cross. I’m afraid as long as even one of the talismans is out of our control the danger remains.”
“That’s it! I’m going to hunt Eleck down and end this.” Damien spun on his heel and stalked toward the exit.
Leah chased after him. “Please, the villagers are innocent. I beg you not to hurt them.”
“I’ll do my best, but this needs to stop and the sooner the better.”
Jen poked one of the renegades with her toe. “What about this lot? They’ve certainly earned a quick death for their part in the quake.”
“Fine with me.” Damien took two more steps then paused, remembering his conversation with the wise one. “Without their talismans they’re harmless. Why don’t we just leave them for now?”
Leah offered him a smile, while Jen frowned. Damien knew as well as his sister that sparing the renegades’ lives went against their training, but in the end she followed them without commenting. Damien said a silent prayer that his generosity wouldn’t bite them in the ass later.
Chapter 39
Eleck tried to swallow and failed. The hulking presence of the black knight had his throat as dry as any desert. When he’d asked Master Connor for reinforcements he’d devoutly hoped for almost anything other than the unstable man in black. The four red-scales standing at his side seemed like wholly inadequate protection. A good ten feet from them Delia trembled like a leaf in a stiff breeze. He knew just how she felt. It was only with a great effort of will that his own knees didn’t knock.
They stood just outside the corrupted forest looking up at the cave that served as the entrance to Eleck’s base. He could remember a time when walking through the demon-haunted stretch of woods had twisted his heart and made him question everything he was doing.
Now the dead trees and ash served as nothing but a nuisance to be gotten through as quickly as possible. Eleck was damned and no amount of feeling sorry for himself would change his fate. It astonished him that he could still interact with the earth force at all. Not that it should have. The energy flow didn’t care who he was or what he had done. It had no will or sense of morality. It simply was.
“Where are the rest?” the knight asked. “I was under the impression there were more than two of you.”
“The others are up in the cave, sir. It’s necessary for the bulk of my acolytes to remain at the ritual circle to keep the power flowing.”
A hollow grunt from behind the mask. “Then they are most likely dead. Your enemies beat us here and one of them is very strong. I can sense his soul force from here.”
Eleck’s mind raced. If his acolytes were dead how would he complete the project? And if he couldn’t complete the project how would he convince Connor to spare him? The answer was as plain as the skull on the knight’s breastplate. He couldn’t.
“Can you complete the master’s task without your servants?” the knight asked.
“Of course, sir. But first we need to evict the trespassers.”
Delia tugged on his robe. “How, Master?”
“Shut up and do not speak again.”
“What is the worm mewling about?”
“Nothing, sir. She’s just worried about her friends.” Eleck prayed to any and all powers that the black knight would believe him. The helmed head nodded and Eleck’s heart slowed to something approaching normal.
“You are fortunate that I’m here.” The knight flexed the fingers on his scaled hand. “I’ve been looking forward to meeting this enemy again.”
Eleck blinked. “You know our enemies?”
“One of them at least. He cost me a great deal. Killing him will make this trip worth my time.”
Eleck tried to imagine who would be stupid enough to challenge the armored giant. Whoever it was must have a death wish.
Chapter 40
Damien, Jen, and Leah were almost to the mouth of the cave when he sensed it. A towering darkness he’d felt once before far to the south. Mikhail Santen was out there. Alone or otherwise Damien couldn’t say. His power overwhelmed everything else in the area.
“Stop.”
Jen had moved into the lead as he slowed. She paused and turned back. “What?”
“We’ve got company waiting for us outside.”
“Eleck?” Leah sounded both angry and nervous.
“Maybe, but if he’s out there he’s not alone. The black knight is here for sure.”
Jen reached for her sword. “Santen? What’s he doing here?”
“I suspect Connor dispatched him to kill us so Eleck could return to work, but that’s just a guess. It doesn’t make much difference, he’s here and there’ll be blood before we’re done. He isn’t the sort you can reason with.”
Jen had her sword clenched in one fist. “That’s the impression I got as well. How do you want to handle this?”
“Alone.” Damien raised a hand to forestall her argument. “It’s going to take everything I have just to stay even with him. I c
an’t spare anything to shield you two.”
Jen’s jaw tightened, but she didn’t argue. Damien knew she’d seen Mikhail’s power firsthand. That made a better argument than anything he could have said. “Let’s at least take a look before we make any decisions.”
They covered the last couple hundred yards and peeked out the mouth of the cave. Mikhail loomed large at the edge of the rocky slope. Eleck and a woman stood behind him, four red-scales flanking the druids. The woman cowered away from the black knight, a perfectly sensible reaction for a normal person to the monster that was Mikhail Santen. They ducked back inside.
“Who’s the girl?” Jen asked.
“Her name’s Delia.” Leah chewed her lip. “She must be the last member of Eleck’s circle. I know her. We studied the Green Path together as beginning druids. I can’t believe she’d betray us.”
Jen shook her head. “Eleck for me, Mikhail for you?”
Damien nodded. He hated to have his sister fighting Eleck alone, but he couldn’t handle the druid and his black rings at the same time as Mikhail. “Deal. Just be careful.”
Jen grinned. “I can handle him. Eleck might have power, but he’s no warrior.”
“I’ll talk to Delia.” Leah clenched her fists. “Maybe I can convince her to give up her talisman without a fight.”
“As long as she’s close to Eleck you need to keep your distance,” Jen said. “I can’t fight him if I’m worried about you.”
She didn’t look happy, but Leah nodded.
“You in there, boy?” Mikhail’s deep, booming voice echoed through the cave. “Thought we might have a rematch.”
“Stay out of sight until I draw him away.” Damien reabsorbed the power from the women’s shields and stepped into the cave mouth. He’d need every drop of power to fight Mikhail. He raised his voice. “If it isn’t the greengrocer. Found a new arm I see. Not exactly human, but better than nothing I suppose. No horse this time?”
Damien flew up into the twilit sky. If Mikhail had to fight from the ground it would give Damien a huge advantage.
It seemed it wasn’t going to be his day for advantages. A dark aura surrounded Mikhail and he leapt into the sky. Black flames gathered around his monstrous blade a moment before they streaked at Damien.
He dodged and cut them off at their power source with a blast of soul force before they snaked back at him. At least Mikhail hadn’t learned any new tricks since their last battle.
They zipped through the dim sky, Mikhail blasting and Damien dodging and countering. Damien had the oddest feeling of déjà vu. Did Mikhail imagine he could win this time fighting the exact same way as last time, when he lost? Damien hoped so. It would certainly make his job easier.
“Hold still, damn you!” Mikhail roared.
“That wouldn’t be very smart.” Damien blasted him in the chest with enough force to send Mikhail wobbling off course and dent his armor. That was an improvement over last time. It seemed his breastplate was weaker than last time. Either that or Mikhail wasn’t spending as much power on defense.
The thought barely crossed his mind before twin streams of black flame came pouring off his opponent’s blade, attacking him from left and right at the same time.
Damien dropped straight down, the rivers of fire roaring over his head, missing it by inches. Now that was a new trick. When Damien tried to sever the connection between flames and sword Mikhail repaired them before the blast passed all the way through.
Damien frowned. Maybe Mikhail had learned some new techniques after all.
He flew a zigzagging path through the sky, the flames never more than a foot or two off his heels. Thinking while flying for your life was harder than Damien had expected. He spun and flew straight at Mikhail. Damien wasn’t optimistic, but it would be great fun to burn the black knight with his own flames.
Damien whizzed past Mikhail. He did a split to avoid losing a foot to his opponent’s black sword. As he feared the flames simply separated and flowed around their master. Damien took the moment’s reprieve to blast Mikhail in his armored back to no effect. The back plate appeared stronger than the front.
A third stream of flames brought his train of thought to an abrupt halt. All Damien could think about now was not getting incinerated.
Damien spun around the third stream and winced when the talisman pinned to his tunic poked him through the fabric. He risked a glance at the ground. Jen was busy fighting Eleck. Good. The cave should be empty. Damien had an idea, but Leah wouldn’t like it.
Chapter 41
When the first blast shattered the silence Jen poked her head out of the cave. Damien and Mikhail raced through the sky, exchanging blasts and generally scaring the hell out of the poor mortals on the ground.
Speaking of which, half a mile away, Eleck was watching the aerial battle with rapt attention. If she was quick maybe she could cut him down before he was even aware she was there. Jen looked up at her brother battling in the air. Heaven’s mercy, she wished there was some way to help him, but she couldn’t fly and they were three hundred feet above the ground. All she could do was trust him and take care of her part of the plan.
The crunch of gravel brought her back to reality. Leah was climbing down the slope and easing toward Eleck and the girl. Damn the woman! She was supposed to wait until Jen had drawn Eleck away. Well, there was nothing for it now.
Jen drew power and accelerated toward Eleck and Delia. It would take Leah at least five minutes to cross the rough ground, maybe more. That should give Jen plenty of time to deal with Eleck. Boulders zipped by her as she ran at warlord speed across the desolate terrain.
She drew her sword back as she got close. Eleck must have sensed her. Just before her blade would have taken his head off he shoved one of the red-scales in her path. Jen cut the creature in half, skidded to a stop, and spun.
A burst of flames from one of the three remaining monsters forced her to sprint further away from her main target. When the torrent of flame stopped she kicked off and lunged, running the out-of-breath creature through.
Using her sword as a lever she twisted the dead red-scale between her and Eleck. Black flames disintegrated the monster while Jen raced away, her hopes of a quick kill dashed. Out of the corner of her eye she spotted Delia hiding behind the trunk of a twisted tree, the whites of her eyes showing all around her dilated pupils. The woman looked so terrified Jen doubted she could take a step.
She dodged flames from a red-scale and leapt over a blast from Eleck. She needed to take out the monsters so she could focus on the druid.
Jen put on a burst of speed and hacked one of the remaining red-scales from shoulder to hip. It fell in two pieces, but she didn’t stay still long enough to enjoy her partial victory. Flames, both black and crimson, filled the air. Only Jen’s accelerated perceptions allowed her to stay a step ahead of them.
Her break came when Eleck doubled over clutching his hands together and moaning. Jen slipped past the druid and sent the last monster’s head sailing off into the night.
She spun to face the druid. Eleck sat on the dead earth, his twisted black hands in his lap. It didn’t look like he had any fight left in him. Jen laid the edge of her sword on his neck. It would only take a flick of her wrist to cut his throat if he tried anything.
“You may as well kill me,” Eleck said, his voice strained with pain and fear. “I can’t use the rings anymore and the black knight will surely finish me in a much more painful way than you.”
Jen would have been happy to grant his wish, but first she’d wait and find out how her brother did with Mikhail. If they could get Eleck out of here alive he could tell them about Connor.
“No, Master!” The girl, Delia, finally gathered the courage to step out of her hiding place.
Eleck waved a hand and Jen pressed her sword harder into his neck. “Best keep those hands still.”
Eleck let his hand fall back into his lap. “It’s all right, Delia. I’ve earned death many times over. How did it al
l go so wrong?”
“How did you think it would end when you took up with a warlock?” Jen shook her head. “Did you imagine if you obeyed Connor would shake your hand and that would be that? You seem like a reasonably intelligent man so I can’t believe you were that stupid.”
Eleck barked a laugh. “I was exactly that stupid. Connor told me what I wanted to hear and I let myself believe it.”
“Why?” Leah had finally reached them. Tears streaked her face and her voice trembled. “You would have taken Grandfather’s place when his time ended. You would have led our people, been Wise One, if you had just waited.”
“I was sick of waiting. Sick of listening to your grandfather’s lectures and sermons. Sick of being told to be patient. I was sick of all of it.” He blew out a great sigh and held up his blackened hands. “Now I’m just sick.”
“Take off your rings and talisman,” Jen said. She looked to Delia. “You too.”
Delia clutched her hands to her chest, but made no effort to remove anything.
“Please, Delia,” Leah said. “If you don’t give it to her she’ll take it.”
Eleck tossed a silver pin on the ground at her feet, but when he tried to tug one of the black rings off it wouldn’t budge. The metal had fused to his flesh. “I’m afraid the rings aren’t going anywhere.” He held them out to prove it.
Jen’s sword swished through the air and the fingers on Eleck’s twisted hands clattered to the ground.
“Master!”
Jen leveled her sword at Delia. “Your talisman, now.”
“Delia, please.” Leah was crying openly. “No one else has to die tonight.”
Jen wasn’t entirely certain that was true, but she decided to give Leah a chance to persuade the woman. Eleck sat staring at his maimed hands. They didn’t even bleed, not really. A few drops of some black fluid oozed out to sizzle on the stones in front of him. Jen might have been doing him a favor if she killed him at this point.