Necromancer's Gambit (The Flesh & Bone Trilogy Book 1)

by A J Dalton

  'None have ever been able to rule the human heart, Guardian. The gods themselves are powerless when faced with such a challenge. Still, it sounds like you're worried this Saltar might be too old for your Kate.'

  The Scourge laughed despite himself. 'Perhaps!' Then he became serious. 'He is more dangerous than you can know. He has spent whole lifetimes on fields of battle, some of those in Lacrimos's realm. Every martial discipline is known to him. Now I think on it, the two guards posted to Savantus will not be enough should Saltar turn on us. We will have to make Savantus sleep in the centre of the eighty-nine, and give all of them orders to kill him should we be attacked by the dead. And from now on, he will have to march at our centre.'

  Despite the failing light, Constantus's face visibly paled. 'That means the dead will be marching on our heels!' He swallowed. 'So be it. Holy Shakri, mother goddess, save us all!'

  ***

  For a long time he'd been unable to find the troublesome bitch of a sorceress in the refuge that was her mind. Every time he'd entered a room where he thought he had her cornered, she'd reveal some new trapdoor or concealed exit through which to effect an escape. Invariably, she succeeded in bolting the way closed from the other side before he could follow her. Most rooms had nothing more to offer him than a faint residue of warmth or scent from her recent occupancy.

  Voltar had come to realise that he could not win this game of hide and seek when, compared to him, she always had a superior knowledge of how this place shifted, changed and varied. He would have to let her come to him.

  He knew she could not bring herself to stay away from her arboretum forever. Now, he crouched behind a tree as she moved gingerly towards the reflecting pool. She was as shy and naked as a fawn and his member hardened at the sight of her vulnerability.

  Voltar waited until she was crouched over the well of her magic and soul and then leapt at her. She looked up in panic and he backhanded her to send her sprawling. Then he was on top of her, pushing her down with his weight. He did not see where it had come from, but suddenly there was a dagger in her hand and she was stabbing it into his chest with a snarl of hatred and triumph. He looked at the twisted wire that gave the hilt of the dagger its grip, and the red, winking jewel that adorned the end of the main handle. Strange what details you noticed when you came close to dying.

  But the tip of the dagger had not even pierced his skin. It couldn't even make a depression into his flesh.

  He tutted at her. 'Surely you realise you cannot use your magical wiles to destroy the force that resurrected you! Oh, I see, you're just playing with me. It's foreplay that lovers engage in. Well, I'm sorry, my dear, but I just don't have the time for such frivolous games.'

  His hands tightened round her throat and he began to strangle her. At last, he would murder her spirit in just the same way as he had murdered her physical body, in order then to resurrect it and possess it totally. Idly, Voltar watched her eyes bulge outwards and her tongue become engorged. What delicate skin her spirit had! He saw that the delicate, pale tissue of it chafed and reddened with blood at the merest contact with her own. Well, now she would wear the red collar of his ownership for all eternity.

  The beating of her small fists against him became more and more feeble. At one point, she tried to claw out one of his eyes, but he cruelly bit at her fingers, almost severing one of them from her hand.

  Finally, she lay still. Moving quickly, he used her ruby-hilted dagger to cut her throat and let the dying flutters of her heart push its lifeblood out. He held her body over the pool so that a few crimson droplets fell into it and contaminated it. Throwing the body aside, he then conjured a knife of his own, nicked his left wrist and allowed the royal, purple ichor of his veins to co-mingle with the sorceress's blood in the pool.

  The world around them began to flicker and fade along with the life of the white sorceress's spirit. With a few necromatic words of power, Voltar quickened the sorceress's blood in the pool and kept it alive through the assertion of his will, magic and life. In response, the construction of the sorceress's world around them reasserted itself and looked as solid as it had ever been. The difference was that he had now made the place his own. He had succeeded in killing the body of her will while preserving the movement of the well of her soul. Now, her soul would answer only to his volition. Her magic was his alone to command.

  He shook as his ego thrilled within itself and experienced a masturbatory tingling throughout. He bent close to the well and breathed a sigh of contentment across it. It rippled and swirled in harmony with his heartbeat and shifting thoughts.

  'Give me Young Strap!' Voltar commanded, and she opened up her connection with the young Guardian.

  Young Strap jerked his head backwards and forwards as he searched for her in the quiet camp. He could sense her presence. His nostrils flared as he fancied he caught the ghost of her scent. He yearned to see her, to touch her.

  'Where are you?' he whispered.

  'I am still a captive in Corinus,' Voltar replied huskily in the sorceress's voice. 'Can you not see me?'

  Voltar manipulated the construct to create a naked image of the white sorceress for the Guardian. Young Strap gasped as his mind's eye beheld the object of his dreams and youthful ardour. His eye was drawn towards the soft down between the top of her thighs, and the image shifted to allow him his focus.

  'Soon, my love!' she murmured seductively. 'But first there are other things I must show you.'

  Young Strap stood stock still as he saw an image of the Scourge on one knee in front of the white sorceress. The Scourge was clearly proclaiming his love to the fey sorceress. She shook her head and refused him. She belonged with Voltar. The Scourge's face became dark with envy and malice as he swore to destroy his King so that he could have her. The sorceress begged him to relent and give up his obsession, but he was too insane with lust to listen.

  'No!' Young Strap breathed.

  'I'm afraid it's true,' Voltar said mournfully through her. 'You have seen it for yourself. He betrays the King so that he may steal me from him. I tell you this to warn you. The Scourge knows of your love for me and will allow no rival. Beware, my love, for he will seek to undo you.'

  Young Strap struggled to order his thoughts, but her proximity addled his wits. 'Why? Why did you deny the Scourge, when the King is the sort of monster to torture and imprison you?'

  'The King has become crazed with jealousy because of men like the Scourge. Irrationally, he blames me and visits vile punishments upon me. I will spare you the details, my love, for you would find them too hard to bear!'

  Young Strap's hands clenched into fists of rage and frustration. 'How could he?! How do you suffer it, my sweet sorceress?'

  'I suffer it for you, my fair champion. I hold on because I know you hasten with Saltar to release me. But you must hurry! And you must be careful of both the Scourge and Voltar – the Scourge in particular for he knows you well and will try to take you unawares.'

  'What must I do?'

  'You must kill the Scourge!'

  'Kill the Scourge!' repeated the bewitched Guardian.

  ***

  The men were hollow-eyed with fatigue, few of them managing to find sleep or untroubled dreams during the night, but they broke camp with a speed and efficiency that saw them ready to ride short minutes after dawn. They studiously avoided noticing the crowds of the dead swaying just beyond the camp and stretching to the horizon.

  General Constantus strode up to the group containing Savantus, Saltar, Mordius and Kate. 'High Lord, you will ride at our centre so that we may better protect you.'

  'Too kind!' Savantus answered groggily. His eyes filled with obvious pain. 'You do realise, General, such an order of march will slow us down considerably.'

  'Indeed, but we daren't take the risk of losing Your High Lordship. Are you well, High Lord?'

  'I lost a few of my host to foxes and wolves last night. It has caused me some discomfort,' Savantus winced, pinching the bridge of his nose b
etween his eyes to try and ease his headache.

  General Constantus shrugged unsympathetically. 'Occupational hazard, I imagine. Let's move them out.'

  Mordius spoke up: 'Savantus, it will only get worse. Once the fighting starts, how will you cope? You'll be in agony. You won't be able to keep a solid grip on the flows of your magic, surely!'

  The Accritanian general looked ill at ease. He clearly wanted nothing to do with the necromancer's dark magicks, but he could not ignore the potential loss to their entire force.

  'Mordius, isn't there any way you can help him?' Kate asked.

  Mordius looked around the expectant faces warily. 'I don't think so. My energies go into maintaining Saltar.'

  A cunning look crept into Savantus's eyes. 'You could help me once the fighting starts if you choose not to maintain this animee. He's just one amongst many after all.'

  'No!' Mordius and Kate said together, although the Guardian was more vehement of the two.

  Saltar interrupted them before they could continue. 'Savantus plays you. If he can successfully amplify his magic to maintain such a host, then he also has the strength to deal with the pain. Is that not correct, Mordius?'

  'I-I guess so,' the necromancer answered dubiously.

  Savantus started to argue, but General Constantus would hear no more. 'I'm satisfied with what Saltar says. We march now! Move out!'

  The Head Necromancer sought to pursue the General but Saltar caught the necromancer by the collar bone. 'Would you like me to strap you to your horse?' Saltar asked stonily.

  'You'll pay for this! All of you!' the manhandled Head Necromancer threatened, his eyes blazing with a murderous intent that was plain to all.

  Saltar gazed at Mordius for a few seconds, until the meek necromancer ducked away and went to his horse. What was it that troubled Mordius? He'd been acting strangely since his confrontation with Savantus on the balcony of the palace of Accros. Was it something to do with Dualor having been one of the six?

  General Constantus mounted at the front of the column next to the Scourge, raised his left arm and pushed it flat and forwards to signal the start of their march for Worm Pass. It did not take them more than half the day to reach the narrow path through the Needle Mountains, which was still blessedly free of snow. Constantus had sent outriders ahead and they'd confirmed that the way was unguarded at the Dur Memnos end.

  They made it through to the Only Inn with little incident, where General Constantus called a respite. Mistress Harcourt came bustling out to meet them and remind them all of her establishment's neutrality.

  'Oh! It's you!' she said disapprovingly as she recognised the King's Scourge. Her eyes flicked to the Accritanian uniform worn by General Constantus and she frowned but knew better than to ask any unwanted questions that might prove bad for business. 'War always makes for interesting bed fellows. Gentlemen, how may the Only Inn be of service?'

  'We will take all the animal fodder you have and food enough for eighty-nine men for several days,' General Constantus informed her crisply.

  'I-I'm not sure we can accommodate all your...'

  'Money is no object!'

  Mistress Harcourt smiled sweetly, '... your exotic appetites, but I'm sure we can provision you with all the basic stuffs you need. Because of the scarcity of supplies in the mountains, however, good sir, they can't be cheap.'

  'The palace in Accros will compensate you.'

  This was less to Mistress Harcourt's liking, as she calculated the delay involved in securing payment and then reprovisioning her outpost. 'A modest deposit would be...'

  'Listen to me, woman!' General Constantus growled from high upon his horse. 'You will either accept the terms I have offered or the supplies we need will be forcibly confiscated from you without payment.'

  Mistress Harcourt glowered at the General and then spat on her hand and offered it to him to shake.

  The army marched into the lowlands of Dur Memnos and made steady progress towards Corinus. The greatest obstacle that stood between them and their goal, however, was the mercenary enclave of Holter's Cross. Around a campfire, the Scourge briefed General Constantus, Captain Vallus, his Guardians the necromancers and Saltar on something of the history of the Guild and its relationship with the throne of Dur Memnos.

  'Can't we just bypass it and head straight for Corinus?' Kate asked.

  Captain Vallus shook his head. 'It would be unwise to leave such a force to our rear. We might find ourselves trapped between it and the Memnosian army, an anvil and a hammer.'

  General Constantus nodded. 'We either sweep down on Holter's Cross before they know we're coming or we seek to bargain with them.'

  'I'm not committing my host to a fight if it's not necessary!' Savantus stated and folded his arms.

  General Constantus ignored the Head Necromancer. 'What do you think, Scourge? Can we negotiate with them?'

  The Scourge rubbed his unshaven chin. 'Well, the Guild is always prepared to listen if there's money involved or the potential for securing the spoils of war. The main issue is that the crown of Dur Memnos is pretty much their largest client. It would take a considerable amount of leverage to persuade them to raise arms against Voltar. We'd be better off negotiating with them from a position of strength, which means catching them off guard.'

  'Very well,' General Constantus grunted. 'We hit Holter's Cross fast and hard. No arguments from you, my High Lord Necromancer! Yes, we need you, but I wouldn't be averse to torturing you into co-operating with us. Good, that's agreed then. You know, I'm quite looking forward to this!'

  As the command group went their separate ways for the night, the Scourge went to sit by Young Strap for a while.

  'You were quiet this evening,' the commander observed. 'Is everything alright?'

  Young Strap spat into the fire in front of them. 'I was wondering what Nostracles would have made of all of this.'

  The Scourge looked up at the stars. 'He would have suffered misgivings typical of a priest of Shakri. Should we attack Holter's Cross without warning, no doubt taking life in the process? But would such an action only save lives in the long run if it helps us end this war? Should we really be seeking the death of Voltar when in a way he creates life by resurrecting people? Does he commit sacrilege in using a power meant only for the gods, or is he virtuous in seeking to emulate Shakri's creation? Nostracles would be suspicious of his own desire to support the death of Voltar, fearing he was only succumbing to a secret and sinful desire for vengeance for his temple-master. In short, lad, I bet Nostracles wouldn't know what to think.'

  'Then what makes you so flaming sure, eh, Scourge? What makes you think you have all the answers, when a priest of Shakri does not? What secret and sinful desire is it that drives you? I know, Scourge, I know!'

  The young Guardian leapt up and moved round the fire from the Scourge, clearly wanting to put some distance between them. The Scourge could see Young Strap was hurting, though whether the loss of Nostracles or something else was the cause, he could not tell.

  Carefully, the Scourge said, 'Strap, I do not have all the answers. I wish I did! I am not at all sure of our chosen course of action either. What I do know is that we can only try to do our best and hope we make the right decisions. Even Nostracles would agree with that, I think. Voltar has betrayed us and brought us to the brink of destruction with this Incarnus-cursed war of his. I believe he must be stopped if any of us hope to have a life, don't you? I know I value my life enough to want to stop him. And I know I value your life enough to want to stop him. And Kate's. And Constantus's. Hell, I value the lives of people I've never even known. That's why I became a Guardian, damn it!'

  Young Strap stared at the Scourge with an unreadable expression. Was there confusion there, denial? Whatever it was, it didn't last long before Young Strap muttered a good night and left the Scourge alone by the fire. The Scourge shook his head and reached for his flask of devilberry spirit.

  ***

  'Their gates are closed and their wal
ls are thick with men, sir!' the outrider reported to General Constantus. 'They knew we were coming, is my guess, though how they did beats me, sir. I'd warrant none of my lads has ever been sighted by their patrols. These mercenaries only patrol close to home and don't display any sign of scouting craft.'

  'Very good, sergeant!' the General said, dismissing the man.

  The General cursed and turned to the command group. 'Well, your thoughts?'

  Few of them were practised in the strategic deployment of an army so allowed Captain Vallus to speak first. 'We cannot afford to lay siege to the place because that would simply give the Memnosian army time to march from Corinus to Holter's Cross. Hammer and anvil. Either we attack the enclave immediately or we parlay,' he opined, looking to the Scourge.

  'Savantus, let's bring your army within sight of the walls so that the Guild can see just what it is they're up against. Then we'll offer them the chance to talk. I propose the embassy we send include the three Guardians only,' the Scourge said.

  Saltar and Mordius were the only two not to protest the proposal.

  'Accritania must be represented!' General Constantus asserted.

  'This is my army!' Savantus complained. 'I should decide the ends to which it is used.'

  'Why can't Saltar and Mordius be there?' Kate demanded. 'If it weren't for them, we wouldn't have got this far.'

  'What use can Kate and I be?' Young Strap asked with what sounded like suspicion.

  'We cannot hand all negotiation over to Memnosians!' Captain Vallus added in support of his general. 'The men follow the General, not you. They still do not trust you.'

  The Scourge raised his hands above his head until they quietened. 'We can't all go! Otherwise, if the Guild were to kill all the members of the embassy, all would be lost. Savantus, we daren't put you within range of their bowmen.'