The Sapphire Manticore (The Lost Ancients Book 4)

by Marie Andreas

  We walked in silence, until we hit a very well-marked road that the trail cut into. “I thought you guys were all about keeping secrets?” The path we’d been following the past week had been very well hidden. This was definitely a road leading somewhere.

  “Ah, our trick works,” the captain said from his place near the front. He nodded for the rest of the knights to keep moving forward and dropped back to walk alongside Alric and me. He even smiled. It was probably good that was the first time I saw that and he didn’t seem the type to do it very often—that was a killer smile. To be honest, all of the elven knights were good looking, but their dour disposition robbed some of it. It suddenly dawned on me that I was going into an entire kingdom of drop-dead gorgeous people.

  I’d never been one who thought much about my looks, but I found myself patting my hair and wishing my clothes were in better shape.

  “You see, this road leads the uninvited to a small human village. Thirty hardy souls, acting as traders and farmers.”

  When he kept walking, I prompted him. “And? What is really there?”

  The captain laughed and leaned a bit forward to look at Alric. “You are right, Alric, she can’t stand not knowing.” He smiled back at me. “There is really a working village. However, they are all elves in glamour. It is an honor to serve in such a way.” That was sent as a barb toward Alric. Nevertheless, he studiously kept looking forward.

  “The people selected to man the guardian village are heavy magic users, ones who feel comfortable enough with the outside world to interact with it. To be honest, not many travelers come down this far. Alric was the leader of the village for years.”

  “And I believed I could do more. Moreover, I have done more. Not everyone is content the way things are.” Alric continued to appear relaxed, and so did the captain, but tension bounced between them.

  I was stuck in the middle of a stare-off between Alric and the captain minus the staring. Both were looking straight ahead, acting as if everything was fine.

  Alric stopped and set down the tent satchel with the chimera in it. “Come, Flarinen, let’s have it out now. Why wait until we get home?”

  I stopped a few steps after they did. The rest of the knights did as well but moved further away. The captain said nothing, but he did set down his pack. I was pretty sure he was carrying the emerald dragon in it.

  I let the two men glare at each other for a full three minutes, and then stepped forward. “There is way too much testosterone out here right now.” I walked slowly between them, dropping my voice so that hopefully the rest of the knights couldn’t hear. “We have been attacked, spelled, slimed, you are both carrying part of what probably led to the destruction of an entire race of insanely powerful beings—and you two want to have a pissing match? Seriously?”

  They both looked at me in surprise. Alric had a slight smirk until I stabbed a finger at him. “Oh no, this isn’t a ‘isn’t she cute’ rant. You wipe that off your face.” I spun to Flarinen. “As for you, Flarinen, he’s your cousin, a relative. And you’ve treated him like the lowest thief? He could have broken away at any time. He didn’t bring your people that damn obsidian chimera relic that was magically super powering that beast out there because he was trying to save a few hundred lives. Isn’t that something a knight would do? Save people?” I stopped short of poking him in the chest—my using his given name was giving him a twitch already.

  “I am tired of things happening to me. I am going forward with these knights and these damn relics.” I darted forward to grab both packs and pulled them close to my chest. “I will be bringing them to the elven council for guidance. I will also be asking them about that damn sword that keeps popping up. If you two wish to follow us to your secret village, by all means, do so.”

  I faced the rest of the knights. “I advise you not to get in my way. I have two very powerful relics here, and I’m tired, pissy, and full of unspent magic.” Okay, so the last was a lie, but hopefully there were enough heavy magic users in the elven homeland that they might mistake me for one of them.

  I could still see Flarinen out of the corner of my eye. It would be a close call. If I embarrassed him too much, he’d order them to restrain me. He shook his head, and then gave a tight nod. The knights stepped out of my way.

  “If my lady does not mind, I will escort you to make sure the people in the village know you are with us.” One of the knights, a handsome, dark-skinned, and ebony-eyed elf stepped forward.

  “Thank you.”

  I heard muttering and saw Alric and Flarinen shake hands, more of a grab of each other’s wrists, but the effect was the same. The rest of the trip to the small, fake village was quiet and blessedly short.

  The village was extremely basic, with chickens, dogs, and a cat or two roaming around the narrow road. I had to give it to them; it really didn’t look like elves lived here. A closer look made me realize it didn’t look like anyone lived here. The animals could have always been allowed to roam, but every building we passed was locked tight, and there were no signs of larger animals, cows, horses, and things that would be needed to make this look real.

  “Shouldn’t your people at least be here?” I walked up to a shed that had a blacksmith’s anvil out front and pulled on the wide door. It didn’t budge and no one came out to question me pulling on it.

  The knight with me had been almost relaxed, but he shot to full attention. “Get behind me, my lady.”

  I adjusted both packs, one on each shoulder. “There’s no sign of foul play. Couldn’t they have just—” I cut myself off as my missing sword suddenly appeared in my left hand almost causing me to drop Alric’s tent pack. And it was glowing red.

  CHAPTER EIGHT

  I had never seen Alric’s sword glow any color. Up until ten days ago, I figured it was a normal sword that he seemed to lose from time to time. Or rather, with his tendency for sneakiness, to hide from time to time. The glow on mine only lasted a few seconds, then vanished. I’d have to ask Alric about it later.

  “Lady, get behind me.” The knight I’d walked in with was frantic now. I admit I was freaked out by the village, but his reaction was far worse.

  The rest of the knights and Alric jogged up behind us. With the noise they made, if there had been any of their own people hiding here, they would have come out.

  “The sentinel is missing. Run a recon.” The captain was definitely not smiling now.

  The knight I’d come in with started to speak. Then his eyes went wide and he grabbed his throat. Before anyone could move near him, a red mist appeared from nowhere and engulfed him. A moment later, he’d been reduced to a pile of bones in clothing and armor.

  “Back! Everyone back! Get in the buildings!” Alric yelled at the terrified knights. It took precious seconds for them to respond. I was already pounding on the blacksmith’s door, by the time they ran.

  “How is getting inside going to stop mist?” one of the other knights asked as they swarmed to our position. Alric had given up pounding and was now picking the locks.

  “Line of sight. I know that spell and it needs line of sight.” Alric growled and flung me inside the door the second he got it open. The rest of the knights followed and the captain slammed it shut.

  Alric was shaking as he slipped away his lock pick tools. Considering I know they searched him when they took us, I wondered where he had kept them.

  “What kind of spell was that?” I asked. His reaction was almost worse than the horror I’d just witnessed. I’d never seen him this disturbed.

  “One I won’t speak of out loud until we’re inside the shield.” He faced Flarinen. “How long have you been out?”

  Flarinen shook his head and pulled himself together. “Less than a month. We were sent out the day you, or rather whoever was meant to look like you, stole the gargoyle. However, they were here at that time. The entire village was here.” The knights stuck together in a tight clump but all of them looked terrified. For a race of magical people they didn’t h
andle magic well.

  Alric looked around at the empty building. “They could have been killed right after you left. But I doubt they’d lock the doors. Most likely whoever is behind that spell got a few of them and the rest went back home.”

  “Defense would be easier if we knew what that spell was.” Flarinen still stood near the door and I was almost afraid he was going to run out there and get answers for himself regardless of what Alric said.

  “I only know it from lessons with Siabiane. You would too if you had ever attended.” Alric held up his hand to deflect Flarinen’s defense. “It’s one of those used by the Dark. In the final battle.”

  Flarinen was already very fair, and he’d paled significantly when his man had been stripped to bones in seconds before his eyes. I really thought he was going to fall over at this point.

  I stepped a bit closer to Alric. “I take it that’s bad, very bad. What’s the plan?” I’d met two members of the Dark: Glorinal, who’d been born to them, and Jovan, an insanely powerful ancient elf who had betrayed the rest of the elves during the Breaking to join the Dark. Depending upon how many like him joined them, I could see the Dark coming up with that spell.

  Alric looked around the smithy and shook his head. “We need to shut those windows.” He pointed up above to the second floor where a grouping of six windows, each about three feet high, flanked the loft up there. “But we need to do it without actually being seen. The windows all have covers. One man per window. Keep the cover between you and the glass at all times. I’d rather wait until dark, but if they can fly or get in a tree or building they can get line of sight inside here.” He shook his head and picked out Flarinen and four of the tallest knights.

  I tried not to think about flying spellcasters. Whenever I’d asked Alric about a flying spell, he’d changed the subject. “Wait, what about me?” I really had to work on getting a better sense of self-preservation and stop throwing myself into more danger.

  “Actually, I need you to stay down here.” He looked around, but at least we’d picked a good place to hide in; aside from the second story windows, there was nothing else they could see through. It didn’t stop Alric. “I need you to do a low-level sealing spell on the doors and walls. Nothing heavy, just something to seal any cracks. If the bastard behind this modifies it, he could send it in blind. That mist could fit through anything.”

  Had I been twelve years old I would have thrown a good pout at that. I hated the sealing spell. Alric was fond of pointing out that had I known about it, and had been a magic user, when I was about to drown in the Ancient sarcophagus under the ruins of Beccia, I could have saved myself instead of needing him to save me.

  I still hated the spell.

  Alric ignored me and led the knights up the stairs. I started at the doors and cast the slow, boring spell to seal any cracks. For some reason spells all had a flavor and color for me. Something I’d kept to myself after my first casual mention of it to Alric got me raised eyebrows and a “she should be locked up” look.

  My flying satyr spell tasted like ale and had a dark golden color to it. The sealing spell tasted like glue and was murky gray. I much preferred the taste of ale to glue, but throwing things about wouldn’t help in this situation.

  The spell flowed slowly but never seemed to take much out of me, so that was a plus. The doors were sealed, and half of the wall to the right was done when I found a hole.

  It wasn’t really a hole, but a hiding place. However, the spell viewed it as a hole. I stopped casting the spell and peered down. There was a lot of straw on the floor, which was fitting, given what this building was supposed to be. The straw over here was immaculately clean and looked freshly laid, unlike that in the rest of the place.

  I pushed the straw aside. The floor here didn’t match the rest of the aged wood peeking out from the dirt and straw. There were three pieces, each about two feet long and half a foot wide, that were made of a light wood far more expensive than anything else around here was.

  The hole from my spell was definitely under there and I looked around for something to pry a piece up. A slim piece of beaten metal, a discard from something much bigger, worked. There was a hole under the wood, and dug into the ground was a long, carved wooden chest.

  I quickly removed the remaining two wood boards and pulled the chest up. It was far deeper and heavier than it first looked, and I had a hard time pulling it out of the ground. It was about a foot deep, and had some ornate marking on the top. I brushed it off. The wood hiding it might have been new, but this piece, and the dirt ingrained on it, was far older.

  It looked like the marks on both Alric and Flarinen’s faces. Theirs were unique to them, but clearly the same style. Whatever was hidden here belonged to a member of the elven elite—the high lords.

  I grabbed the edges of the chest and lifted up.

  A cache of ancient-looking implements and what looked like spell books were not what I expected. There was a note on them as well, but it was elvish. While I was getting better at picking out certain words, my skill with the language hadn’t advanced very far.

  Setting down the note, I picked up one of the dusty books to see the front. It also was in elvish. In fact, judging from the archaic script, very old elvish. Unfortunately, some of these words I recognized. Destruction, mayhem, and madness.

  “Um, Alric?” I couldn’t put the book down. I knew I never should have opened the chest. “I need you.” I was proud at how level I was keeping my voice, considering what I wanted to do was run away screaming.

  “We’re almost—” Alric cut himself off. “Don’t move!”

  The slamming of the stairs told me he was running down them; the darkening of the room told me the rest of the knights had covered the windows. The light from some hastily lit torches filled the space with an eerie glow. On the other hand, maybe it was just that everything looked eerie because I had an increasingly heavy book in my hands that I couldn’t put down and couldn’t look away from.

  “Like that’s an option.” I said it more to myself than to Alric, but since he was right behind me at that point, he heard it.

  “Good that you can still be a smart ass. I need you to concentrate on a shield between you and that book. I’m going to help.” I felt his hand clasp my shoulder and an odd warmth flowing from it. I hadn’t realized I was cold until that warmth hit, but I now realized my hands were frozen. The tingling that was preceding the slow flood of warmth from where Alric’s hand rested was disturbing.

  “What kind of shield?”

  “Anything, whatever you can muster. Don’t push at it. Imagine a thin wall between you and the book.” I felt him turn but he kept his hand on my shoulder. “Flarinen, you and your men need to get to the furthest corner of this place, and stay down.”

  “Are we under attack?” Flarinen’s voice indicated he’d recovered from his earlier worries and was back to his in-charge status.

  “Taryn is. Move and cover.” Alric’s tension was clear in his voice and the hand on my shoulder clenched for a moment.

  “What’s going on?” Part of me really didn’t want to know. I had a feeling it was going to be very bad.

  “That’s a spell book, a protected and fully armed Dark spell book. You triggered it when you picked it up and you weren’t its owner. It’s trying to figure out how to destroy you. How’s that shield going?”

  I ignored the fact that he’d given me some answers but not told me what was going to happen.

  “I can’t focus.” I was trying to imagine a wall, shield, barrier, anything between me and that damn book. I couldn’t even break my eyes away. If something didn’t change quickly I would be looking at my fate, probably a messy one at that, with open eyes as it hit me.

  I felt Alric drop to his knees beside me, but he kept his hand on my shoulder as he did it. “Focus. Think of your pushing spell, but without the push. You are approaching the book with your spell, slowly, very slowly, it is blanketing the book.”

  It wasn’t
working. I could feel the flying satyr spell building inside me, but I couldn’t control it. I had a feeling in my gut that my spell would cause the book to move all right, and take my arms, and possibly eyes with it.

  On top of my terror was the lingering taste of glue. Wait…sealing.

  I re-cast the spell I’d been using, but focused it on me, and sealing me closed. I felt it crawl across my skin slowly and glue filled my mouth, but I kept pushing.

  The warmth from Alric’s hands faded as the spell hit my shoulders.

  “You have to stop. I can’t get through.”

  “No-o-o.” My teeth chattered. “This will work.” I ignored Alric and in fact couldn’t hear him much anymore as the spell blocked my hearing. The last to go were my eyes and hands. The second I lost the ability to see, my hands dropped off the book and I was completely encased.

  I figured I needed to stop the spell, but it was actually quite soothing inside my cocoon. Things had been so hectic, insane, and deadly these last few months that settling in for a nap sounded wonderful. I was warm and sleepy and vaguely felt my body tip over. The world was soft and warm and sleep was almost upon me when a stray thought kicked in. Covey had once told me of a digger expedition trying to cross the Ghoplin mountain range to find a new path into the valley of the Spheres. They’d gone too late in the year and been trapped by the snow. Unfortunately, all of the members but one curled up in the snowdrifts and died.

  I was freezing to death.

  If there was a spell to seal things there should be one to unseal them, right? My brain was fighting sleep, but I envisioned myself actually covered in glue and then dissolved it.

  And exploded into a world of light, sound, and gloppy mess.

  My spell had worked in that I was now free, but I’d been a little too literal. I was covered in a sticky glue. Turning around, I was engulfed in an equally coated Alric’s hug.