The Kingdom of Eternal Sorrow (The Golden Mage Book 1)

by C. G. Garcia

  “From the moment of their birth, they were treated basically the same as you are now being treated—with much fear and uneasiness because bardic magic is a powerful force when cast in concert, and Seni only sends those with the ability to wield powerful magicks when great chaos is about to befall us and there will be great need for such magicks. Furthermore, a certain prophecy also mentions the birth of bardic-mages. They won’t look on you with fear since they have walked the same path you have begun.”

  Allison didn’t in the least like the way Aidric’s voice had tensed when he had spoken of this “bardic magic.” She suddenly had the strangest feeling that he had not told her the whole reason why he wanted her to meet the twins.

  She eyed him suspiciously and said, “Something tells me that there’s more to it than you just wanting me to meet them because everyone was as scared of them as they’re now scared of me.” The surprise in his eyes was all the confirmation she needed.

  “I thought so,” she thought-spoke to him. “All right, Aidric, what’s going on?”

  “No longer timid, are we?” Aidric replied lightly. The casual expression on his face never changed.

  “Not when I’m in the dark about something that concerns me,” she sent, “and don’t try to change the subject, Aidric. I want to know what you’re hiding from me.”

  “I’m not ‘hiding’ anything from you, Allison,” he said with a mental sigh that echoed throughout her mind and said volumes more than a normal sigh would have. “I only wished to confirm my suspicions before I spoke to you about them.”

  “What suspicions?” she demanded. “And what do those bards have to do with—oh—”

  Her eyes suddenly widened, and she felt all the blood drain from her face when she realized exactly what he had implied.

  Aidric nodded at her expression as Raya and Selwyn eyed them both curiously, and sent, “Exactly. Now do you understand why I didn’t mention this to you before? While you slept and your mind was free from torment, I took the liberty of probing your mind to view the extent of your abilities. I wanted to have a good idea of what exactly I needed to teach you before your first lesson tomorrow. That’s when I discovered that the section of your brain that houses the ability to control the greater bardic magicks was not dormant. I’ve asked Keldan and Aren to confirm this, and they have agreed to instruct you in learning to control this magic if indeed you possess the ability, for I have very little knowledge of bardic magicks.”

  Allison sighed audibly, feeling that she should be angry with him for probing her mind without her knowledge, but not able to feel even a hint of annoyance. I have enough to worry about without getting mad at every little thing, she thought, suddenly feeling weary to the bone.

  She sent, “To tell you the truth, Aidric, at this point, nothing you say will really surprise me. I swear, if it’s not one thing, it’s the other. Why me?”

  “Why you, indeed,” Aidric agreed sympathetically. “The burden that rests on your shoulders is more than any mortal should ever have to carry. If I could, little cat, I would bear this burden for you willingly.”

  Before Allison could reply, Raya suddenly stepped between them and demanded, “What have you two been talking about? I’ve been trying to get your attention for at least five depths now. What’s so secret that you have to use thought-speech?”

  “No one but I and the twins know of your possible bardic-mage ability, and it must remain that way,” Aidric warned. “If the people should get wind of this, it would cause a chaos that could only end in disaster. Reveal this to no one.”

  Even as he was thought-speaking her, he said cheerfully to Raya, “Nothing, nosy. Allison was only asking me about the bards and a few other things, and it was just more practical to use thought-speech than trying to make ourselves heard over the noise. And if you must know, I was also warning her about Keldan and Aren’s—hem—none-too-subtle attentions whether they are wanted or not.”

  Allison blushed as Raya turned to her, her eyes dancing with amusement, and said, “That’s advice I wouldn’t take too lightly. Believe me, with your beauty, they most likely will be circling you like two dogs in heat over a bitch!”

  Allison blushed even brighter at Raya’s bluntness as Aidric scowled at her and gave her a hard nudge with his foot.

  “Sel, how many times have I told you to keep a leash on that barbarian tongue of your wife’s? Hellsfire, her bluntness is enough to make me blush!”

  “If I’m not mistaken, wasn’t it you who brought up the subject in the first place?” Sel asked with a raised eyebrow.

  “Damn, so I did,” Aidric admitted sheepishly, “but that doesn’t change the fact that you still need to keep that blunt tongue of hers on a leash.”

  “Beast,” Raya growled.

  “Barbarian,” Aidric countered.

  “I warned you—” Sel threatened menacingly.

  “Try anything, and I’ll be forced to allow Allison to have a stab at you!”

  “Hey! Leave me out of this!” Allison retorted as she glared at Aidric in mock anger, her lips twitching as she tried to keep herself from laughing.

  “I thought you were on my side,” Aidric pouted, doing his best to look hurt, but failing miserably.

  “Well, I suppose I have no choice but to be on your side,” Allison said, her eyes bright with mischief. “If I don’t, then you’ll kick me out of your suite, and where would I live then?”

  “I hear Patrym still has room for one more in his harem,” Selwyn offered.

  Both Allison and Aidric glared at Selwyn who looked at them innocently for a split-second before he ruined the façade by bursting into laughter.

  As Aidric made to strangle Selwyn, a new voice suddenly said from behind Allison, “Always fighting—typical. What am I to do with you two?”

  Allison started at the unexpected voice, stifling a shriek, as she whirled around to face the new arrival. It was one of the twins, though she was not certain which. She stared at him with wide eyes, willing her racing heart to slow its hectic pace. He tilted his head to the side as he looked her up and down with his piercing blue eyes, smiling at her expression with amusement.

  As he stared at her, that little nagging thought in the back of her mind stirred, trying once again to surface. She shivered at the feeling and hastily shoved the thought away. She had the distinct feeling that she was better off not knowing what it was.

  “My pardons, milady. I didn’t mean to startle you,” the bard said with the most melodic voice Allison had ever heard, at least a hundred times more melodic than Raya’s. “I am Keldan, a friend of Aidric’s. You, of course, can be none other than the Golden Mage, Allison. It’s a real pleasure to meet you at last, and you are most definitely as beautiful as the prophecy says the Golden Mage would be.”

  Allison mumbled a greeting and fidgeted uncomfortably under his intense, certain that she was blushing scarlet by now. She suddenly wished that she was somewhere far away. This man intimidated her. And he’s supposed to be one of my prospective teachers!

  To her immense relief, Aidric came to her rescue by stepping between them and slapping the bard on the back in greetings. Allison used the distraction to slowly and inconspicuously inch herself as far away from him as she dared without being rude.

  “Where is Aren?” Aidric asked.

  “Getting us food and drink,” Keldan replied as he nodded his greetings to Selwyn and Raya. “At least he is supposed to be getting us food and drink. I wouldn’t be too surprised if he’s off in some dark corner right now entertaining some poor, unsuspecting maiden.”

  As if you should talk, Allison thought darkly.

  “I heard that,” a voice pretty much identical to Keldan’s called out above the noise, and a few seconds later, Aren appeared beside his brother as if he had conjured himself there magically, his hands loaded with plates of food and a wide bottle of what appeared to be wine balanced precariously underneath his arm.

  For all I know, he probably did conjure himself
up, she thought with an unpleasant jolt.

  “Now, now, you know I was merely teasing,” Keldan insisted innocently.

  “Bah! I doubt that, big brother,” Aren said dryly as he handed his brother one of the plates. “I shouldn’t even give this to you after such an insult.”

  Then he seemed to notice Allison for the first time, and Aren immediately ignored his brother and sauntered over to her, his eyes looking her over hungrily as if he planned to devour her instead of the food he had brought. It took every ounce of willpower she had within her to prevent herself from turning on her heal and running away from him.

  Allison groaned miserably to herself and thought, Just great. I thought Keldan was bad enough. Aidric was right—they are a curse. Why doesn’t he go bother someone else?

  “The prophecy doesn’t do your beauty justice, Milady Allison,” Aren purred sweetly. “Not too surprising, really. After all, what would a pious, dried out old Seer know about women anyway? It’s a real pleasure to make your acquaintance. I am Aren.”

  I’m sorry I can’t say the same about you. “It’s nice to meet you, too,” Allison replied evenly, careful to keep the annoyance she felt out of her voice.

  “Aidric, Aidric, you are one damned lucky bastard to have such a beautiful woman living under your roof! You must be careful lest you wear yourself out!” Aren said, grinning slyly at Keldan as Aidric flushed up to the roots of his hair, though in irritation, if the murderous gleam in his eyes was anything to go by, rather than embarrassment. Allison had frozen and could only stare mutely at Aren in shock.

  “And you accuse me of having a barbarian tongue!” Raya chided Aidric.

  “Come now, little brother, you’re embarrassing her,” Keldan said. “I apologize, milady. Aren loves to tease. We promise to behave from henceforth.”

  Ha, I’ll believe it when I see it, she thought darkly as she sent to Aidric, “Where in the world did you dig up these two—uh—gentlemen?”

  Although Aidric’s face remained passive, his reply was layered with laughter. “What, you don’t find them charming?”

  “As charming as a snake, perhaps.”

  Aidric choked when he heard her reply, and the twins suddenly eyed him suspiciously as he struggled to control himself.

  “What’s so funny?” Aren demanded.

  “Nothing,” Aidric replied casually. “Aidius, can a man not choke anymore without one getting suspicious?”

  “Not when the man in question is you,” Keldan said dryly.

  “You’re no fun,” he said with mock disappointment, and then to Allison, “Hisssssss.”

  Allison lost her entire composure then, doubling over with laughter as everyone eyed her strangely. Then all eyes turned to Aidric who gazed back at them innocently with eyes that seemed to say “who me?”

  “I was right,” Aren said accusingly to Aidric. “You were talking about us!”

  “Prove it,” Aidric challenged.

  Aren muttered a few words under his breath in a language Allison didn’t understand, but they sounded suspiciously like curses. She couldn’t recall a time when she had ever laughed so hard. And to think you didn’t even want to come to this celebration at all, she chided herself as she watched the twins advance towards Aidric, their eyes threatening all kinds of violence.

  Then, without warning, Allison was suddenly knocked to her knees by a mental blow that left her mind reeling in pain and utter confusion. She opened her mouth to scream, but no sound emerged.

  One gasp, two, and then just as suddenly as the blow had come, her mind abruptly filled with terrible images of what appeared to be countless soldiers being slaughtered by dozens of creatures straight out of her worst nightmare. They looked like enormous clouds of smoke, except for the fact that two very solid, very large fangs, at least a foot in length, were clearly protruding from within each of those hellish, swirling masses.

  Impossible—they are impossible—

  CHAPTER TWENTY

  Men and women were being disemboweled and decapitated everywhere, and to Allison’s horror, she could actually feel both the fear and the pain that was thick in the air. The creatures, it seemed, were trying to slash their way through the group of soldiers to get at what Allison knew was a village that had been the creatures’ main target all along.

  Vaguely, through the haze of the madness, she could feel herself retching, sickened by the bloodbath she had just witnessed, and trying to scream. She distantly heard somebody shouting her name as if they were a mile away, but she couldn’t answer while her mind was still lost within the tight grip of madness.

  It was only when Allison felt the sting of a sudden, violent slap across her face did she break free from those horrifying visions and come back to herself to find Aidric’s frightened, pale-violet eyes staring down into her own.

  “Aidric! My God, the people!” she cried frantically. “Those things—they’re dead—dear God in heaven—they ripped them to shreds—so much blood—blood—”

  “Damn it, she’s in shock!” she heard what sounded like Raya’s voice cry.

  “The people! You’ve got to help the people!” Allison shrieked over and over desperately, until someone slapped her face again.

  She immediately stopped her hysterical ravings and fell silent when she felt the shock of the blow. The sharp pain was something she could focus her mind on, and Allison soon found herself thinking more coherently and realized that she was freezing. At the same moment, a bone-deep exhaustion swept over her body, and her vision darkened alarmingly along the edges.

  “I’m cold,” she whispered, no longer having the strength to manage more than that.

  Immediately, Allison felt blessed warmth flow throughout her body, and a little corner of her mind that was still thinking rationally knew that someone was healing her. She could feel the familiar warmth destroying the unnatural coldness that had invaded her body, and as the healing wiped out the last bits of coldness, sense returned to her.

  She blinked up at Aidric in confusion and rising fear and whispered, “My God, what happened?”

  “Bless the Thrones, she’s making some sense,” Aidric said with a heavy sigh of relief. “I don’t have the time to explain now, Allison, but I need you to relax because I’m going to probe your mind for the images you saw. We may yet prevent whatever horror you’ve Foreseen from coming to pass.”

  Allison didn’t understand everything he was saying, but she obeyed him and tried to relax as best she could. She immediately felt Aidric’s now familiar presence probing around in her mind, a light feathery touch on the surface of her thoughts. A moment later, Aidric withdrew his probe, and when she saw the haunted look in his eyes, she knew he had seen what she had seen. His face had paled considerably, and he looked sickened.

  “It’s Roderick!” Aidric exclaimed in both horror and anger. “He plans to Summon a dyani swarm and release them on Idona!”

  Allison heard several gasps, and then it seemed as if everyone began to talk at once. She looked around and noticed that a large crowd now surrounded her and that she was lying flat on her back on the soft grass. A few familiar people—Aidric, Raya, the king and queen—and many not-so-familiar ones knelt or stood in a tight circle all around her.

  At Aidric’s revelation, King Diryan’s expression hardened, and then he stood up abruptly and ordered, “Someone find me the Lord Commander and General Caith, and send them here immediately!”

  “Majesty, I am here!” a gruff voice called out a split-second before a tall, brown-haired man shouldered through the crowd and presented himself before the king at strict attention. Allison noted absently that his face was covered with scars. This man practically screamed military.

  “Rally your troops as swiftly as possible to ride to Idona,” Diryan commanded. “The mages and healers will follow shortly after. I’ll have Aidric thought-speak the stables and have them saddle the horses.”

  “There’s no time to ride there completely by land,” Aidric protested. “We must
go by portal, for Roderick plans to attack within the sand-mark!”

  Diryan cursed loudly. “Very well. General Caith, have your men report back here when all is ready. Lord Pyrs will issue you further instruction then—if he ever gets here! Now go, and make haste!”

  General Caith bowed his head and disappeared into the crowd within the blink of an eye. Allison could soon hear him barking orders somewhere in the distance.

  “Everyone clear the way so that I may cast the portal spell!” Aidric shouted. He then turned to Keldan and Aren and said, “My friends, I need your assistance with the portal spell. I don’t dare risk draining myself too much before this battle. The Idonans, Seni help them, will need every drop of strength we mages can give them.”

  They both nodded solemnly. Allison was amazed at the twins’ transformation from the loud, obnoxious men who had teased her so crudely to these serious men. Aidric turned once again to King Diryan and began to silently confer with him. After a while, a man who was probably the Lord Commander the king had called for and a few more people joined them in the conference.

  Raya stayed beside Allison, helping her to sit up, and explained a little of what was happening. What she understood was that she had somehow been given a glimpse of the future, but Raya wasn’t sure how it had happened since Aidric had blocked all of her abilities ever since he had found her unconscious in the forest.

  Whatever it was that had happened to her, Allison felt as if she had been dragged facedown through the pits of hell. Her head throbbed painfully in sync with the rhythm of her heartbeat, and it took every last ounce of her strength just to sit up.

  “Raya, what were those—things?” Allison asked tremulously, shuddering at the memory.

  “Dyani,” Raya replied grimly. “They are demonspawn from the first hell of Ter-ob.”