He gave the order to Lrmeg. “Go back. Wait for me.”
“Where?” asked the troll leader.
“To the army.”
Lrmeg’s next sentence was too complicated for Will to pick out the nuances, but he got the gist. Lrmeg wanted to know how they would get back to Muskeglun if he died. Will answered, “Selene.”
Lrmeg nodded and shouted orders to the others. They started leaving, but once again, the little troll failed to understand. He remained by Will’s side. Will had to call out to get Lrmeg’s attention. “Hey! Take Stupid with you!”
Gan came back and took the hapless troll by the hand and led him away. The trolls wasted no time, and once they broke into a run, it wasn’t long before Will lost sight of them. At last, he was alone.
It wasn’t Will’s first time to walk into a lion’s den alone, but he’d gotten used to having the trolls around. Their sudden absence left him feeling more vulnerable than he liked, but there was no help for it.
He cast a camouflage spell over himself, then smoothed his turyn in the way Darla had shown him and started making his way toward the central square again. He was disturbed to see that it was rapidly filling up with even more demons.
The void turyn was becoming an issue for him as well. Not for his health per se, but the vast and constant flow of power around him made it difficult to maintain the camouflage and iron-body transformation spells. He could absorb any void turyn that reached his skin, but the energy was polarized in an opposing fashion to the turyn that maintained his active spells. The interference between the two served to constantly erode his protections.
Will moved sideways around the edges of the square to get a feel for the area since it seemed that if he got any closer, he might lose his camouflage entirely. After he had gone a quarter of the way around, he finally saw the reason why more demons kept appearing. On the opposite side of the pile of stone that the emitter stood atop, there was a wide circle fifty feet in diameter. It looked similar to the gate that Aislinn had created to bring herself and the other fae to Madrok’s location.
There were three key differences, though. This gate was much larger, it showed no sign of vanishing, and the other side was quite obviously connected directly to hell. Demons marched through in countless numbers.
Fuck my luck, Will swore silently.
He stood still for several minutes, thinking hard and studying his surroundings. Time wasn’t on his side. Eventually, he would get tired and make a mistake or lose control of his camouflage spell. Using Darla’s technique to remain unnoticed was also becoming exceedingly difficult.
I’m not going to have time to find a hidden chamber. Shit, shit, shit. To come so far and fail at the end wasn’t acceptable, and in a flash, he knew what the solution was. Staring at the pile of rubble, he could see a complex braid of silver, gold, and iron wire that led from the giant cube before disappearing below the surface. That’s the linkage carrying the void turyn to the emitter.
If he followed that, it would lead to the spell-engine underground somewhere. But it appeared to have been buried to protect it. It would take ages to unearth it and figure out where it led.
Recasting his iron-body transformation and the camouflage spell, Will began walking directly for the rubble pile, but after only thirty feet, his spells fizzled out completely, and the demons that stood close by in virtually every direction stared at him in surprise.
“Screw it.” Snatching at the power that lay heavily in the air, Will pummeled the entire area with sound. He was careful to direct all the sonic energy away from himself, but the reflected sound was enough to deafen him and almost knock him from his feet. Frozen bits of demon covered the ground, and the wind that blew across his face was so cold it made his nose and cheeks burn.
But more demons were still pouring through the gate. Some were confused, but a few were quick enough to charge in his direction. Will ignored them and began scrambling up the rubble pile. He needed to get closer.
Despite the intense turyn wind, his force spells worked normally. Will rapidly blasted the demons that had the temerity to follow him up the broken slope. His attacks killed some, and those that survived were sent tumbling to the bottom. It wasn’t easy to climb the treacherous ground while staring behind himself, but he did it anyway. The only alternative was death.
A new spell caster emerged from the gate, and Will was forced to start using his point-defense shield to block beams of black death. There were still dozens of others climbing up after him, so he needed to switch to offense to keep them back. In order to do that, he tried to smother the caster’s ability, but just then he felt the demon’s will counter his.
Their eyes locked for a moment, and the fiend smiled at him. Another demon-lord? Holy Mother, what else can go wrong? Feeling a surge of panic, he tried to use his talent again, hoping to disorient the demon-lord and buy himself some breathing room, but instead he discovered a will greater than his own, restricting his power.
When in doubt, he did what he thought Arrogan would have done. He made a pointed hand gesture in the demon-lord’s direction. Then he was forced to blast several oncoming demons with force-lances.
Naturally, when he did that, he couldn’t protect himself from the master demon’s black beams. One struck him square in the leg, and he felt an intense burning sensation, but his leg continued to support his weight. He finished blasting away the nearest demons and struggled farther up the slope.
The demon-lord was almost a hundred yards away. Too far to use a force-lance on, but Will felt grateful for the fact, since it was probably the reason the fiend was using other magical attacks. Another black beam struck him, and although it hurt, it didn’t seem to do him much harm.
Will ignored his primary foe after that and focused on getting closer to the emitter. He was just thirty feet from his goal when he saw multiple demons crest the top ahead of him. They’d been climbing the other sides out of his view. There were more closing in behind him as well.
He was surrounded and unable to use anything other than force-spells or magics that remained close to his body, and even those would be quickly eroded by the void turyn raging around him.
But that was all right. He was close enough. Will opened his mouth and shouted, trying to use his talent to amplify his voice, though he wasn’t sure how well it worked. “Surrender now and I’ll let you live!” The demon-lord gave him a puzzled look, then Will added, “Actually, that’s a lie. There’s no way I’m letting you bastards survive.”
Looking back up at the emitter, Will launched a force-lance at the spot where the linkage cable was connected. It took two shots to fully sever the link. Then he gazed back at his foes and laughed as a strange hum began to build in the ground beneath their feet.
Without the emitter to disperse the void turyn the spell-engine was creating, the dark energy was building up. Somewhere underground was a massive anvil of demon-steel similar to Will’s breastplate. It was already burning with black void flames, since that was the level it had to be at to function properly, but without the enchanted linkage, the energy being fed into it from the ley lines would only continue to build.
Will smiled and got some satisfaction at seeing the demon-lord start running back toward the hell gate. The demon’s will smothering his spell-casting eased up, and Will used the last spell he had prepared, shifting himself into the ethereal plane.
Chapter 63
It would have been nice if his day had simply ended there with a near-flawless victory and no serious injuries. All too often, Will’s encounters with demons or other monsters ended with his body covered in bruises, cuts, and far worse. Unfortunately, he had gone too far for that to be the case. In particular, he had gone too far in the vertical sense.
The ethereal plane matched the normal plane, with the exception of buildings and other temporary structures. The rubble pile Will had climbed up was an example of such a relatively new change to the terrain. Once he arrived in the ethereal, Will discovered that th
e ground there was at least a hundred feet beneath him.
Watching the ground rush at him, he couldn’t help but think, There should be a spell for moments like this. As it was, all he could do was cast an iron-body transformation and try to relax his legs. Someone had once told him that the best way to take a fall was to avoid becoming rigid and try to roll.
Too bad he’d never had any practice. He hit the ground with such force and speed that he lost consciousness without knowing if he’d managed to tuck and roll. There was a brief moment of pain, and then the world went black.
Surprisingly, he regained consciousness. Staring up at an empty gray sky, Will realized he must still be in the ethereal plane. Everything hurt, and when he tried to move, his body soundly rejected the suggestion. Ordinarily, his first course of action at that point would be to take a regeneration potion, but there was a more pressing need.
The spell he had used would only keep him in the ethereal plane for a maximum of five minutes. He didn’t know how long he’d been unconscious, but he was probably running out of time, and he was now roughly a hundred feet down from where he had been previously. That meant when the spell expired, he would shift back to his world in a place that was currently occupied by a large volume of stone.
In comparison to what he had done to Elthas, there would be even less of Will’s body left.
Panicking, he tried to move again, with substantially more determination—and quickly learned that both his legs were broken and possibly his back as well. His ribs also made sure to let him know that they were unhappy with the treatment they had received. Only his arms seemed uninjured, and they couldn’t do much given how much pain his back and ribs responded with whenever he tried to push or pull with them.
He started to summon a regeneration potion just as the spell gave out, and to his bewilderment, he found himself still alive after shifting back to his normal plane of existence. The massive pile of rubble had disappeared, replaced by an impressively large crater—and of course he was falling again.
There’s no justice.
Thankfully, this time his fall was only a distance of ten feet, which was more than enough to send a thousand jolts of agonizing pain through his already broken legs and cracked ribs. The pain lasted long enough to let him know he survived the fall, and then he blacked out again.
***
Someone touched his forehead with gentle fingers and Will slowly opened his eyes. Waking up while being uncertain if he was dead or alive was all too common for him, but he’d had enough experience that he was fairly certain he must have survived. His body felt whole, though he had been lying in the same position for far too long and he definitely had a crick in his neck.
A feminine figure was leaning over, and although the lighting was very dim, his eyes had already adjusted well enough, not to mention his nose would have been enough to identify the woman. Feeling mischievous, he feigned confusion. “Selene?”
Janice bolted up, doubtless remembering a time when she’d taken care of him when he’d been feverish in his dorm at Wurthaven. On that occasion he’d awoken similarly and kissed her by mistake. Will began snickering, unable to keep up the ruse.
“Cad! You were trying to scare me on purpose, weren’t you?” exclaimed his friend.
He nodded. “Where’s Selene?”
She pointed at the tent flaps. “Right outside. She only stepped out for a moment.”
Will laughed even more. “No wonder you were so scared.”
Janice gave him an angry glare. “A joke like that is probably worth more than my life. Remember who you married.”
“She’s not that bloodthirsty,” Will argued. “Besides, she likes you.”
“And I like her as well,” said Janice, “but she still frightens me, especially where you’re concerned. She was not pleased when she woke to find the trolls had returned without you.”
He saw Selene’s head enter the tent, but after hearing Janice’s last sentence, his wife backed out again to give them a moment’s privacy—or perhaps to listen in. It didn’t appear that Janice had noticed her. “You looked like you might be dead the last time I saw you,” said Will.
Janice touched her side and winced at the memory. “I couldn’t let you be the only one having all the near-death experiences. I managed to drink the potion you gave me before I bled to death. I missed the rest of the battle after that.”
“And Tiny?”
“Ask him yourself,” she responded. “He’s outside as well.”
“Where are we?”
Selene came back in, making more noise this time. “On our way home.”
“I’ll give you some privacy,” said Janice, bowing out quickly.
Will sat up on the cot and swiveled his head slowly from side to side. He definitely had a crick in his neck. “I have an army to run.”
“Not anymore,” said his wife. “Are you thirsty? Tiny already has a pot of water on the fire.”
He nodded. “Tea would be nice. Why don’t I have an army?”
“You’ve been demoted,” she answered primly.
His eyes narrowed. Only one person in the camp had the power to do that, and even then, it probably wasn’t legal. “On whose authority?”
“Don’t give me that look,” snapped Selene. “Your field marshal relieved you of command on orders from the king. You’re back to being just a duke again.”
“How did he send orders that quickly—oh.” Will realized the answer immediately. Mark Nerrow, like most sorcerers in Terabinia, was subject to a heart-stone enchantment. The king could control him whenever he wished, and more pertinently, he could communicate with him directly in the same way that Will had been talking to Selene.
Selene nodded. “More important is why, not how.”
“He’s already tried to kill me several times this year.”
“And now he needs you dead more than ever,” she agreed. “There’s nothing worse for a king than a victorious war hero.” She sat down beside him and began to knead his neck with her fingers. “Does this help?”
“Gods, yes,” he said gratefully. “How did you know?”
“You were holding your head in a funny position. You know it wasn’t just Father trying to kill you, right?”
“Technically your father didn’t try to kill me. He just looked the other way.”
She pulled him close, hugging his back and putting her chin on his shoulder before speaking softly beside his ear, “It won’t be long before he takes a direct hand in the matter.”
“A lot of people have tried and been disappointed,” said Will nonchalantly.
Her arms tightened around him. “He won’t fail, William. He never does. If you wait for him to make the attempt, we’ll both be dead.”
“He won’t kill you.”
She growled. “Attempted regicide carries a death penalty. I probably wouldn’t succeed, but if he kills you, I will certainly respond violently. If you want to keep us safe, we need to do something before he does.”
“I don’t want you involved in it.”
“Then you should have married someone else.”
Will sighed. “How long do you think we have?”
“Two years at best, so not waiting another year would be wise,” she replied.
He nodded. “Let’s figure out something within the next six months then. Where exactly are we?”
“On the road heading west to Klendon with Captain Barrentine’s company serving as our escort and honor guard.”
“Honor guard?”
“The ostensible reason for your removal was because you were wounded. Mark Nerrow is in charge now, and I suspect that Father intends to appoint him as governor of Darrow. Most of the other senior officers will probably reap similar rewards, particularly Hargast and Lambel.”
Both men had given excellent service, but Will was surprised that she singled them out. “Why those two?”
“They’re your vassals. If he gives them more land and greater titles in Darrow, they’ll h
ave to renounce fealty to you and swear to him. Father will reorganize everything you’ve been involved with to try and break up any power structures that may be overly sympathetic to you. Don’t worry, though. You’ll probably get a medal and a parade, just so no one suspects too much when you inevitably have a tragic accident.”
“Your father is really devious.”
“Pay attention. Cruel as he is, this is a valuable lesson. Many of the techniques he uses to retain power are built on kindness, so even if you don’t agree with his goals you can use the same methods yourself someday.”
“I don’t really like power that much,” he confessed.
She nibbled the back of his neck, sending shivers up his spine. “Get used to it. After you kill him, someone will have to take the throne.”
“I don’t want the job. Can’t we just leave after that?”
Selene remained silent for a while. “We could. I might prefer that, but I doubt it will work.”
The nibble had started a chain reaction within Will’s body. “Let’s talk about it later.”
His wife had other ideas, though. She pulled away, leaving a pout on his face. Then she put a finger over his lips. “Hold that thought. Your friends have a history of walking in at awkward moments.” Rising from the cot, she walked to the tent flaps and stuck her head out. Then she made a rather public announcement. “William and I will be engaged in some marital matters for the next few hours. Please see that we aren’t disturbed.”
Will’s expression was of shocked disbelief when she returned. “I can’t believe you said that.”
She smirked. “It was the truth. Besides, it was just Janice and Tiny.” Knowing how easily Tiny could be embarrassed, Will wished he had been watching, and Selene read his mind. Her eyes were full of mischief as she added, “You should have seen his cheeks!”
They didn’t talk much, but sometime later, after a short nap and some more mischief Will thought perhaps they’d be getting up to start the day. Faint hints of dawn were sneaking in through gaps in the canvas, but when he started to rise, Selene held fast to him, burying her head against his chest.
Disciple of War (Art of the Adept Book 4) Page 57