The exhausted champion realizes that he cannot argue the other man down and lying would only make trouble in the future. Pulling his shield out of his pouch, Delvin runs his finger around the winged stag and wonders if he can use it to call Nyx to the office. He decides not to bother her or risk damaging the artifact, which would earn him a lecture from the channeler. Placing the disc on Kevin’s desk, he leans back and puts his feet on what is either a footstool or an oddly shaped scroll cabinet.
“It has to do with an immortal named Baron Kernaghan and his war against the gods.”
*****
Standing with Fizzle on her head, Nyx keeps her eyes on the path of destruction that is now dotted with thick trees. Having been transformed, most of the ogres have retained faint outlines of their faces in the dark bark. The half-elf notices how the sturdy oaks and maples are still stretching toward the sky, their leaves having swiftly fallen to the winter chill. She wonders if the demonic knight’s army was really made of trees turned into monsters instead of the other way around. As her eyes become golden orbs, Nyx scans for signs of the spell and discovers traces of a potent aura. She finds a web of thin strands that are laced with a magic that is constantly crumbling and regenerating, her channeler instincts drawn to the curious residue. A familiar scent infects her nose, which causes her stomach to rumble in false hunger. Reaching out for one of the threads, her arm is yanked back by a hand of blinding light.
“My little brother is behind this,” Dariana says, sensing that Walter’s energy is trying to tempt her friend. With a blast of her own aura, the fatigued champion washes the threads away and drops to her knees. “His name is Walter and I fought him at the campsite. He looks to be no older than ten, but has the intelligence of our father. Seems to have the attention span of his mother too. I fear that his mission is to stop us from reaching Luke before he is broken. It could even be to ruin the ritual.”
“That is all the more reason for us to move quickly,” Timoran interjects as he joins his friends. Handing mugs of water to the others, the barbarian turns to watch the academy. “I have been listening to the stories and feel that Delvin can leave without worry. The students and teachers know that he has a journey to finish. Loyalty and honor are very important in this place, so they will support his departure.”
Nyx nods her head and wipes away a few tears, the sorrow making her wonder if she is sharing Luke’s emotions. “I say we leave for Freedom as soon as Delvin is ready. Sari and Kira already warned our friends there, so we shouldn’t keep them waiting. Besides, the Garden of Uli only has the guardian for us to worry about and Haven is in mourning. If the Baron’s son is on the loose then we need to focus on the places with more targets.”
“Kira and Sari will be arriving in Gaia shortly,” Dariana reports while timidly scanning for the two women. She finds herself worried by the uncontested contact and lingers for an extra second to be sure. “I don’t know what this means, but I no longer feel Luke’s pain or hear his screams. Before you get upset, Nyx, know that he is alive. It’s simply that my connection to him has either been weakened or removed. This may have been done by Walter to get a better fight out of me. The only other explanation is that I created a wall when I opened up more of my power. This is rather unsettling, so I hope our ride comes soon.”
“Fizzle want fix forest,” the drite interrupts as he flies to a branch. His crimson wings become hazy blurs and the creases between his scales glow with a prismatic energy. “Plimp dead and put to peace. Apologize no find tail. Now Fizzle guardian again. Bonding back to Visindor. Need use magic to heal. Animals need home back. Be long and tiring.”
“Excuse me for a few minutes,” Nyx says to the others with a small bow. Waving for Fizzle to return to her head, the channeler touches the nearest tree to feel its energy. “This is really something better suited for a follower of Tanki the Goblin God since he protects the trees. I think the best we can do is revive the aura of the fallen trees, which will help them grow back. Then again, I don’t know what you’re planning, so I’ll just leave my magic open to you. Never tried this before, but I think the concept is merely doing the reverse of what I normally do. Strange to be on the other end of a channeler connection.”
Grapping Nyx’s hair, Fizzle feels her aura seep into his body and coil around his own energy. He is frightened by the invasion and whimpers until the half-elf reduces the invisible flow to a trickle. Once the pair get their magic under control and are no longer afraid of a crippling backlash, they move closer to the edge of the path. Fizzle sucks in a long breath that puffs out his chest like a scaly balloon, his tail tapping Nyx to get her to do the same. The channeler is caught by surprise when her lungs bloat to the size of watermelons and expand her torso to disturbing proportions. A gust of icy wind whips from behind them as the pair exhale and release a flood of rainbow mist that churns throughout the destruction. Wisps of the enchanted breath stick to the damaged trees and burrow into the wood where they revive the dying pulp. The bulk of the fog seeps into the trampled earth to find dormant seeds that will rapidly sprout and grow within a matter of weeks. Feeling dizzy and confused, Nyx flops onto her back and focuses on getting her eyes to blink at the same time again.
“Perhaps it would be wise for us to avoid any future expenditures,” Timoran suggests as he offers Fizzle an apple. The fruit is snatched and devoured by Nyx, the half-elf belching a plume of rainbow mist. “I worry that such actions will weaken you. The ritual is taxing enough and the past has shown how fragile your aura can be. What if summoning Luke results in the Baron immediately attacking? We need you to be as strong as possible, so I think you should only use your power when necessary. This is not even considering that the final step of the ritual could be so difficult that you are removed from the battle entirely.”
“It is possible, but I still feel that my father wants us to go to him,” Dariana argues, frowning at a passing thought. Knowing that her expression has been caught, the telepath nervously tightens her ivory shirt. “I’m sorry, but I was thinking about the illusionary world that I created for all of you. The events you supposedly lived through were designed by your dreams and fears as well as me knowing what my father would likely do. Capturing Luke and trying to draw us to Shayd were unexpected. His plan should have been to arrive in Gaia and demand that we fight him in front of the citizens. Our defeat would help solidify his conquest. All of this makes me worry that I’m missing something. I really hope I didn’t wipe my memory of something important again and cost us an advantage.”
“Why Gaia?” Nyx asks in a slurred voice. As if she has been slapped awake, the channeler’s senses return to normal and leave her with a headache. “Apparently, my people don’t like being drained. I think I hear Casandra scolding me. Nice change from her telling me to breed. So, why would your father choose Gaia?”
Looking from Nyx to Timoran, Dariana blushes when she realizes that they are unaware of the city’s ancient history. “It stands on the site of his old fortress. I thought you knew since you retrieved the Compass Key from the ruins. The Great Cataclysm altered the landscape, but that was the center of his kingdom. My father will want it back. He needs something familiar to help him adapt to his new surroundings.”
“He’ll probably appear in the arena.”
“Yes, but that was already there when he built his fortress.”
“Then, how did the ruins get under it?”
“The Great Cataclysm involved a lot of shifting earth.”
“So, there wouldn’t be a clue there. Great.”
Having an idea, Timoran snaps his fingers before pulling the Compass Key out of its wooden container. The circular gems are pulsing with magic, which surprises the barbarian and causes him to hold it by the chain. Beams of light bounce off the orbs, half of them melting whatever plant they strike and the others causing rapid growth. The display ends when the emerald sparks and sputters, the jewel becoming darker than the rest. Timoran nervously taps at the central pearl and watches the arti
fact spin, the movement faster than it should be until it stops dead. Putting the Compass Key around his neck, the red-haired warrior chuckles at what he believes is the truth.
“This is not only the key to our temples, but to the Baron’s prison,” Timoran explains while patting the relic. The barbarian notices a glint of realization in Dariana’s ivory eyes, which briefly turn blue. “It is why you were able to use it as a bargaining chip to draw your father into the portal trap. Maybe Gabriel wishes to deny him an audience or reduce the loss of innocent life. Either way, we need to bring the Compass Key to Shayd for the final battel to happen. If we do not then the Baron will send more agents and use whatever influence he has to cause trouble from afar. I would like to discuss this idea with Delvin and see if there is a way to use this to our advantage.”
“We can talk about it on our way to Freedom,” Dariana says as she turns to the north and waves at the sky. A powerful gale erupts from the clouds and shakes the academy, causing the students to scramble onto the wall. “I knew we had to move quickly, but also that we needed to rest while traveling. So, I contacted Catarina Warrenberg to see if she could give us a ride. She was very excited and said something about testing a new ship.”
“And here I thought we’d go a day without risking our lives,” Nyx mutters while a large form emerges from the clouds.
9
“The front door is open.”
“Yup.”
“There’s a message saying hello to us.”
“I see it.”
“That rainbow shimmer reminds me of cheap perfume.”
“Probably a trap.”
“Over the wall?”
“Just follow the gypsy.”
Sari moves away from Rainbow Tower’s entrance and finds a long stick to cautiously poke at the wall. She feels a tremor repeatedly run up her arm, but it reminds her more of a physical blow than an attack spell. Once the gypsy reaches a spot that creates no reaction in her body, she waves for Kira to join her and clambers to the top for a view of the courtyard. Circling the base of the colorful caster tower is a beautiful garden that is dotted with ponds, none of which have the expected flocks of cold weather ducks and swans. Sari moves aside to let Kira up and notices that at least twenty shimmering hazes follow her movements. She squints to get a better look at the disturbances, but they are practically invisible in the bright daylight. Urgent tugging on her sleeve causes her to slap at the other woman’s hands until she is pinched hard on calf. The champion locks her lips to stop a scream and turns to speak when she spots the source of Kira’s panic.
Blending into the scenery at first, a passing cloud creates enough shadows to expose a pulsating creature. It resembles a giant grub with a coating of brown fur and at least twenty eye stalks that are pressed against the wall. The predator’s mouth is open and fastened to the entrance in the hope of prey blindly walking into its acidic throat. A pile of bones behind it tells the adventurers that at least two people have already stumbled into the trap. Curious about the sensation that followed the stick, Sari draws a dagger and leans back to throw the weapon at the street side of the wall. The impact causes all of the eye stalks to converge on the spot, the bulbous orbs using their solid lids to become blunt clubs. After a single blow, they return to their original position and the beast continues to wait, unaware that its targets are watching from above.
“Good thing we’re paranoid,” Sari whispers while she scans the rest of the garden. Faint hazes repeatedly draw her attention and make her feel like they are being hunted, but she can never see them for longer than an instant. “Invisible enemies are out there. Doesn’t look like they can attack until we go inside. If it’s an illusion then I can’t see through them since they disappear so quickly. Making a run for the tower means we’ll be trapped, but Willow and Cyril should be able to help us.”
“If they’re even home,” Kira points out as she draws her weapon. She carefully slides her foot toward the grub-like beast and holds her position to see if the nearest eye stalk reacts. “I don’t see any signs of a battle, which means there was no resistance. Unless the enemies attacked from the roof, but we’d still see something. A tower full of casters means a lot of magic would have been hurled around during an attack.”
Sari runs to her left and watches for the cloaked enemies to move with her, only half of them revealing their presence. She signals for Kira to join her and, as expected, the rest of the faint figures come into view. With an impish smirk, the gypsy waves for the heiress to keep moving along the wall. Crouching to allow her friend to jump over her and continue running, Sari is able to focus on peeling away the invisibility spells. She focuses on a single enemy, who is taking up the rear of the pack. Due to her target’s movements, all she can see is the brief glimmer of a multi-colored robe and the occasional fluttering of shriveled wings. Signaling for Kira to come back, the champion meets her halfway and turns her back to the garden. Pulling a single dagger out of her skirts, the gypsy mindlessly tosses it from one hand to the other.
“If I had to guess, I’d say we have some type of insectoid demon down there,” Sari says while looking down both sides of the street. She is concerned that nobody is in view, especially since it is late afternoon when people should be on their way home from work. “The citizens are being directed away from this area. Everything screams trap and not the kind I can undo with my tools or a charming smile. This might be more of a warrior situation than a thief one, so what do you think?”
“I can think of at least ten ways this could go wrong,” Kira bluntly admits, earning a small frown. Ignoring the champion’s disappointment, she jerks her thumb at the large grub by the entrance. “That thing reminds me of baby scarabs. So, I wouldn’t be surprised if it transforms once we come into view. I say we get rid of that creature first and then we can go inside to face everything else. At the very least, we’ll cause our invisible enemies to attack and reveal themselves.”
“When in doubt, set off the trap and pray to Cessia,” the gypsy retorts with a sigh. Facing the slimy grub, she chooses the nearest pond to use as a weapon. “I’ll try to make the attack subtle and see if that improves our chances. The benefit of fighting insects is that they don’t like the cold, so I’ll put more of a chill in the air. Watch my back because there’s a good chance that I’m wrong about something and this will end in disaster.”
Keeping her hands against her belly, Sari hides the casting that gradually turns the pond into icy vapor. The winter air is already cold, so it is fairly easy for her to lower the temperature of the unseen droplets and move them to the grub. Keeping an eye out for the distortions, the gypsy has the evaporated pond surround the monster to form a thick fog along the ground. She gradually pushes the freezing water into the creature’s slimy skin, which develops a thin layer of frost. Violent shivers threaten to break the thickening shell, so Sari creates hooked barbs on the underside of the ice. Unable to free itself, the giant grub can do nothing more than helplessly twitch and shiver. The gurgling beast’s breathing slowly stops as its body is frozen completely and begins to crumble under its own weight.
At the first sound of cracking flesh, a swarm of fireballs erupts from around the garden and sail toward the wall. Kira tackles Sari and rolls them into the courtyard as the deadly spells explode against the stone. Crashing into a patch of twisting vines, the intruders scramble to free themselves and dodge an incoming lightning bolt. Sprinting toward a pair of trees, they see twenty apprentices of Rainbow Tower materialize and glide over the earth in pursuit. The robed figures have vacant expressions and a clear liquid seeps from their milky eyes. Each person has been taken over by a flexible insect that coils around the host’s torso and has attached to the base of the skull. The bugs have useless wings that flutter whenever the apprentices cast a spell that narrowly misses the agile adventurers.
“I wasn’t completely wrong about our enemies!” Sari shouts as she creates an ice barrier to block a tight grouping of fireballs. She has the wall explod
e into a wave of frigid water that does nothing against the flame shields that envelope her targets. “Some kind of parasites that are controlling the apprentices. They don’t have to do anything other than aim because the bugs are doing the gestures with their own legs. Never heard of creatures like these, so I don’t know if it’s safe to kill them. Last thing I want to do is hurt the apprentices. Any ideas?”
“None whatsoever,” Kira replies as she leaps over a rising lance of stone. She sidesteps a blast of heat, the attack coming close enough to make her sweat. “What about freezing or heating them off? Though that could hurt the apprentices too. Maybe it’s smarter to get inside and find the masters.”
“I don’t want to get cornered.”
“Neither do I, but we don’t have any way to fix this.”
“Keep them busy!”
“Fine, but you better be the decoy next time.”
Kira watches the gypsy dive into a pond and sink to the bottom, the apprentices peppering the surface with freezing arrows. With the champion contained beneath a thick layer of ice, the casters turn their attention to the lone warrior. Attack spells fly through the air as the nimble heiress sprints through the garden. She notices that many of the plants regenerate soon after they are struck, each one releasing a noxious gas to fend off whatever caused the damage. Kira skids to a stop and ducks a blade of wind, her graceful dodge turning into a spin that swings her weapon at the apprentice. The blunt end slams into the Elven woman’s stomach and cracks the parasite’s shell, which causes the host to double over and vomit white ooze. Nearly cornered, the black-haired warrior darts between two trees and instinctively strikes one of her attackers in the knee. The young man goes down and convulses as the insect feels his pain, but it quickly forces him to stand on the shattered leg.
Ritual of the Lost Lamb Page 17