When we reached the top, we stepped onto a balcony that wrapped the room. The statue stood on the opposite end of the chamber and we made our way toward it. As the blue glow from our fey lanterns illuminated the room, the features of the statue came into full view. Its face was female, with slits cut into the eyes. When we got closer, I studied the eyes more closely. Five-pointed symbols had been carved into each socket.
I took a step back, feeling my heart race as I stared into the all-too-familiar face.
“It’s Theht,” I said, my voice hushed.
“You’re sure?” Kull asked.
“Positive. This is a temple to Theht. The well we saw down there wasn’t used for storing water.”
“Then what was it used for?” Rolf asked.
“Human sacrifices, most likely.”
“Human sacrifices?” Brodnik asked. “Are you sure?”
“Pretty sure.”
Heidel placed a hand on her hip. “I knew we shouldn’t have come inside.”
“Should we leave?” I asked.
Kull shrugged. “This place looks to have been abandoned for a while. The people who worshipped here have been gone for a long time. I see no reason to leave.”
“Except that we’ll be sleeping in a temple to Theht,” Heidel said flatly.
“Which makes this place dangerous somehow?” Kull asked.
“Of course it’s dangerous! It could be—haunted, or…or something.”
Kull smirked. “We’ll be fine.”
Heidel’s eyes narrowed. “I disagree.”
“You always disagree. I know, Sister.”
“Don’t sister me! For once, listen to me. This place is unsafe.”
“Heidel, this entire planet is unsafe. Sleeping outside won’t make any difference. In here, at least we’ll have a roof over our heads. Plus, if we’re attacked, we’ll have somewhere to hide.”
She narrowed her eyes. “Fine, but if we are attacked, I will never let you live it down.”
“I’ll add it to my list of everything else you won’t let me live down.”
Grace stood up straight, her ears pricked forward, and let out a low growl. Below us came the sound of something trotting across the floor. Our lanterns barely lit the ground, but something moved beneath us.
Chapter Six
“What is that?” Rolf whispered.
“I can’t tell,” Brodnik answered.
The two Wult men stood with Kull, Heidel, Grace, and me on a balcony in Theht’s temple. Something moved below us. Kull pulled out his sword, and the other two men did the same. Heidel unsheathed a knife from a scabbard at her belt. Its mother-of-pearl inlaid hilt and gold leaf glinted blue in the light cast from the fey lanterns. She’d gotten that knife from Maveryck. I’d wondered if she’d kept it after his passing.
I tightened my grip around the staff. Magic made my fingers tingle. Since Theht had intruded on my mind, my magic had been suffering, and I still had the problem of balancing Earth and Faythander magic. But I would use it if I had to—I only hoped it cooperated.
“It’s just a dog,” Brodnik said.
“You’re sure?” Heidel asked.
The creature circled the bottom floor. As it came under the light, the thing looked small, about the size of a terrier. Even from up here, I could see the thing was malnourished. Its sunken, furless skin clung to its protruding ribs.
“I don’t know—it looks dangerous,” Kull said. “Maybe we should leave. It certainly seems unsafe. That thing might bite right through our ankles.”
“Shut up,” Heidel snapped.
The dog made one more pass through the room, sniffing, and then trotted out of the building.
“No one relax just yet,” Kull said. “I know I’m certainly terrified. Really, I don’t know if I’ve ever felt as afraid as I did just now.”
Heidel’s cheeks reddened. “Brother, I swear as Odin is my witness, I will kill you where you stand this instant if you don’t hold your tongue.”
Kull’s mouth gaped as he feigned shock. “That’s a truly terrible thing to say to your own flesh and blood.”
“No, it isn’t. I could say much worse. I’m restraining myself because your fiancée is present.”
Grace whined, and Heidel scratched her head. “Now, can we please find a place to set up camp? I saw a nice sacrificial chamber down there that would make a cozy place to bed down for the night. You’d love it, Brother.”
He smiled a broad, teasing grin. “Yes, now you’re getting it.”
“And we could use the discarded skulls for pillows,” Heidel added.
We made our way down to the bottom floor as the two kept at it. I loved Kull—I truly did with all my heart—but this teasing-his-sister game was getting old.
We made our way to another chamber we hadn’t seen before. It led us outside to a massive structure of large building stones, some still stacked, but most toppled to the ground. Sagebrush and dried stalks of grass grew in some areas, some of it completely covering the stones. In one place, the roof was still intact. Beneath it, we located another amphitheater area with stair steps leading down toward a flat, circular area, like a stage, with thankfully no well at the bottom.
“We could set up camp down here. It’s dry and protected from anything that might come at us from outside. It’s better than anywhere else so far,” Brodnik said as we stood at the bottom of the amphitheater, his voice echoing.
“All right,” Kull said. “We’ll set up camp here, but I want two people on watch at a time.”
“Why?” Heidel asked. “We’ll be fine here. You said so yourself.”
“I never said we’d be fine.”
Heidel rolled her eyes and slung the pack off her shoulder. Everyone else did the same. Unrolling my bed, I placed it on the stone floor. I wasn’t sure what good it would do, as I was certain I would never get any sleep in a place like this. Maybe I should volunteer to take watch all night. But I could at least try to sleep, couldn’t I? Maybe I would surprise myself and sleep through the whole night.
Then again, probably not.
We placed the fey lanterns around the perimeter of our sleeping area. Kull and Brodnik worked on starting a fire. They gathered what little fuel they could, mostly sagebrush, and stacked it in the center of the space.
Kull and Brodnik got the fire going, and we pulled out a little food. Rolf offered me some of his wife’s dried meat, but I politely refused, opting for another granola bar. Dinner of champions.
Brodnik pulled out a flask of Wult ale, which I also refused. While we sat atop our packs surrounding the fire, eating, talking, and laughing, I almost forgot where we were.
“…married her a month later,” Brodnik bellowed, his beard quivering as he laughed. “You didn’t have time to find out what her mother was like, did you?”
“It doesn’t matter,” Rolf shot back.
“I bet it matters when you have children and she tells you what to name them,” Heidel said.
“She wouldn’t do that,” he said. “Probably,” he added sheepishly.
“Aye,” Brodnik winked. “We’ll see.”
“How could you not have known Bryn’s mother was the chieftain of the eastern clan? The woman is famous,” Kull said.
“Well, because…” Rolf stammered, “…because I was courting Bryn, you know. I didn’t have time to find out anything about her mother. Also…Bryn may have omitted telling me anything about her parents. Apparently, she’d scared away other suitors when she dropped that fact.”
Brodnik laughed. “Aye, she’s right smart. I’ll give her that!”
“But Bryn’s mother can’t be that bad, can she?” I asked.
Heidel gave me a hard stare. “Magwellan Vanderkut. Have you heard the name?”
I shook my head.
“She’s a war general with a reputation for being brutal, and she’s no less so off the field,” Brodnik said. “She’s been known for being mighty nasty to her daughters’ suitors. All eight of them. And our Rolf
here just happened to capture the heart of the woman’s youngest daughter, her baby, her most treasured child.”
“It doesn’t matter who her mother is,” Rolf shot back. After a pause, he added, “Except for the time she demanded Bryn return home during our honeymoon to finish the wash—that was a little annoying.”
Brodnik let out a deep belly laugh, his cheeks bright pink. Ale sloshed out of his tankard as he chuckled. “Finish the wash! On your honeymoon? You’re joking, right?”
Rolf scowled. “I was being honest.”
Brodnik slapped his knee as he laughed louder.
“It’s not that funny. It only took Bryn a day and a half to finish it, and then we traveled back to the Northland castle. Honestly, it wasn’t so bad.”
“I’d have pulled my sword on anyone who’d interrupted my honeymoon,” Heidel said, scratching Grace’s head.
“Yeah, maybe, but I would never attempt such a thing with Mags. She’s looking for excuses to kill me already.”
“Mags? Is that what you call her?” Kull asked.
“That… and other things.” Rolf couldn’t hold back a mischievous grin. “Mag Bags, Mag the Hag, Saggy Maggy… I’ll, eh,” he cleared his throat, “spare you from the other names.”
The fire crackled, sending a fountain of sparks shooting into the air. We grew quiet as a chill seeped into our camp. Outside, I heard only stillness—no crickets or night owls. Only silence. I wrapped a blanket around my shoulders and huddled beneath it.
“So…” Brodnik said, then took a gulp of his ale. “What can you tell us of this sword, Olive?”
“The sword?”
“Aye, the sword of Dracon. That’s why we’ve come on this accursed quest, isn’t it?”
“I don’t know too much about it. I know that it was a Madralorde weapon. It’s supposed to be able to kill Theht. It was last seen in the possession of Lucretian, and this staff is supposed to lead us to him. Still working on that one.”
I studied the staff, feeling the worn wood imbued with magic, the frail, gentle hum of its power calling to me, and the blue orb on top, wishing I knew how to control it. As I let my own magic flow into the staff, the power dissipated. The staff’s magic was too ancient and brittle, but I wouldn’t give up yet. Maveryck had controlled the staff, although he’d had an advantage since it had belonged to his brother—but still, if the thief could do it, then so could I.
“Who was Dracon?” Rolf asked.
I darted a glance at Heidel before speaking, but she didn’t meet my gaze. “He was a Madralorde brother who wielded the sword. We also had the opportunity to meet him, even though he had been given a potion that made him forget his identity. His name in this lifetime was Maveryck—he was the thief we worked with not long ago.”
“Yes, I remember,” Brodnik said. “The pretty fellow who dressed like an elf.”
“Yes, that’s him.”
“He carried that staff, didn’t he?”
“Yes, he stole it from the witch’s vaults. At the time, he had no idea it had once actually belonged to one of his brothers.”
“How much of his past did he remember?”
“Nothing. His memories had been completely replaced. He only remembered his true past when we reached the castle on Tremulac Isle right before he was… before his passing.”
Heidel stood abruptly and walked away from the camp. Grace trailed her until they climbed up the stairs and out of sight. Kull eyed her, then stood.
“If you’ll please excuse me,” he said, then followed his sister.
“I take it we’ve broached a sore subject,” Rolf said.
“Yeah, Heidel was in love with him.”
Brodnik chewed on a piece of dried jerky. “That poor girl has got the worst luck with relationships, doesn’t she? First Geth, now this thief. You think she’ll ever find anyone?”
“I don’t know. I hope so.”
I glanced back, but Kull and Heidel had disappeared. Fog snaked along the ground. I didn’t like that they’d left, but there wasn’t much I could do about it.
A long howl came from the direction Kull and Heidel had gone.
“Was that Grace?” I asked.
Brodnik shook his head. “Can’t be sure. I’ve never heard her howl like that, though.”
Another howl joined the first. This one sounded closer. Chills prickled my neck as the howl turned to a wail—human-sounding—but not quite.
The three of us got to our feet and raced to the top of the steps. Kull and Heidel stood in a courtyard littered with boulders. Both had drawn their weapons, staring out into the fog. We approached them. Grace stood at Heidel’s side, her hackles raised as another wail pierced the air, making the hair on my neck stand on end.
“Where’s it coming from?” I asked.
“There.” Kull pointed to the opening leading inside the temple.
A form emerged. Black, almost translucent tendrils of a cloak glided along the ground, stirring the fog. The wispy robes formed a humanoid shape, skeletal hands peeking from the tattered sleeves. The cowl hid the creature’s face, though I saw bits of a skull hiding beneath the cloak’s folds.
“Is that…?” I couldn’t finish the sentence as my blood ran cold.
“A Regaymor,” Kull finished.
The five of us stood close, and Grace growled as the creature glided forward. Red pinprick eyes glowed under the hood, focused on us. Its wailing broke the silence. Two more creatures followed behind the first.
“Don’t let them touch you,” Kull said.
In a blink, the first Regaymor appeared before us, and then lashed out with a magical whip. Kull sliced at the whip with his sword, knocking the creature back, but only for a moment. The other two monsters surrounded us. They dove for us, blasting out with their magic. I felt the taint of death in their power.
One of the whips caught Rolf around the wrist. He cried out, stumbling, the whip jerking him forward. Brodnik rushed to his side and struck out with his sword, severing the whip in two, but one of the Regaymor caught him from behind and lashed the warrior’s back.
Brodnik screamed and pitched forward. Kull rushed to his aid, but the Regaymor blocked his path. Their magical energy filled the air. I could taste its power, and it sickened me. They wanted our blood. My magic was a powerful draw too, and they wouldn’t relent until they’d drained it all.
I grasped the staff as I watched the Regaymor overpower my friends. They would die. Their weapons were no match for the dark monsters of this world—the creatures didn’t even exist on the same plane we did. Weapons wouldn’t stop them, but magic would. I prayed I could handle a banishing spell. This had worked last time. Sort of. And that was before I’d had Theht intruding on my mind.
I blasted out with my magic, striking at the Regaymor nearest me. The magic burned blue around my hands, glowing so bright it nearly blinded me. I managed to knock one of the creatures back, but as my magic dissipated, it came for me.
Its red eyes burned with fury.
I will take your magic. I heard its words in my head. All three Regaymor turned toward me.
Using my magic had been a huge mistake. Now, they all wanted me. But on the bright side, at least they’d stopped attacking my companions.
I raised the staff, not sure I could use it, but hoping I could at least scare them off.
“Stop,” I shouted. “Don’t come any closer.”
They ignored me and continued gliding forward. Even from this distance, I could feel their magic tugging at mine, trying to drain me of my powers. My knees felt weak, and I had to force myself to stay upright. Energy drained from my body. Every minute I wasted meant they gained more of my power. I couldn’t let that happen. They would kill me and then do the same to my friends.
“Stop!” I repeated. I forced my magic into the staff, but instead of using only my own powers, I siphoned more from the stones surrounding me, from the ground, and even from the air. I took every bit I could and fed it into the staff.
The
blue orb glowed.
Its power warmed my hands as it fused with my own energy. One of the Regaymor lashed out with its whip, but it wasn’t fast enough. I thrust the staff outward and blasted the magic in their faces, hitting them with the force of a tornado, so strong and potent that all three creatures screamed, howls of pain and fury, and then they disappeared in the glow of the magic.
Power hit my chest. I stumbled and fell on the ground, completely wasted. The air buzzed with the aftereffects of the magic. Clutching the staff, I focused on taking deep breaths. In and out.
“Olive,” Kull said as he raced to my side. He knelt by me and took my hand. “Thank the gods, you’re alive. How in Odin’s name did you manage to do that?”
After catching my breath, I focused on him. “I… I think I used black magic.”
He let go of my fingers. “You what?”
“My own magic wasn’t working against them, so I used the magic surrounding me, fed it into the staff. It worked.”
Heidel and Grace arrived at my side. “Are you all right?”
I rubbed my forehead. “I’ve got a headache. Other than that, I’m fine. What about Rolf and Brodnik?”
The two men stirred behind us. Rolf sat up first, clutching his wrist. Brodnik remained on the ground. Kull helped me to my feet, and we made our way to the two injured men. Kull and I knelt over Brodnik while Heidel looked at Rolf.
Brodnik moaned as I gently shook his shoulder. “Can you hear me?” I asked.
He groaned, clutching his mid-section. His face paled as the magic tried to snuff the life out of him. He wouldn’t live much longer with that poison in his body. Brodnik had a wife and nine kids at home—this man could not die. I refused to let it happen.
His breathing grew shallower. His eyes were unfocused as he stared overhead. I placed my hand atop his, feeling the taint of black magic worming its way inside him. I’d used so much energy fighting off the Regaymor, I wasn’t sure I had anything left to heal him with, but as I held the staff, I felt its magic stirring inside.
“I’m going to try to use the staff to heal you. Hold on.”
Closing my eyes, I focused on the magic within the staff. Black magic swirled within, moving fluidly and naturally, almost as if this staff were made to work with the darker powers. I focused on the energy inside the staff, then, with my hand resting atop Brodnik’s, let the power flow outward, into his wound, snuffing away the darkness.
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