The God-Stone War m-4

by Michael G. Manning

  We were standing in a corridor running through the cellars and storerooms beneath Castle Cameron. One more turn and another short corridor would put us next to the hidden entrance to the Ironheart Chamber. “You have to draw him closer Walter. One more illusion and you’ll be done. Once that’s done, you can drop the spell hiding me.”

  “But… he’ll find you then!” said my friend.

  I shrugged, in what I hoped was a nonchalant and heroic fashion, even as I flinched inwardly at my deception. “Just do it! I’ll be hiding inside the chamber in a moment anyway. He won’t be able to touch me.”

  “You’re going inside? That makes no sense!” he protested.

  The time had come to reveal the rest; I only hoped it wasn’t too soon. Squaring my shoulders, I faced him. “I’ve kept some secrets Walter. The Ironheart Chamber isn’t meant purely for protecting the God-Stone, it’s also a weapon, and one that I think can stop Karenth dead in his tracks.”

  “But…,” Walter began before I interrupted him.

  “Hurry up! I’ll explain the rest in a moment, after you do the next illusion. There isn’t much time,” I insisted.

  The older wizard closed his mouth and gave me an irritated look, before closing his eyes to concentrate. His lips moved as he quietly whispered the words to give power to his illusions, and his forehead creased in an expression of pain, as the shining god grew ever closer. I watched him closely, with eyes that seemed woefully inadequate without my magesight. After a moment he began to twitch ever so slightly, and the veins on the side of his head bulged; I doubted he could hold out much longer.

  Suddenly his eyes went wide in fear and pain, while his mouth gaped, as if he were a fish dying for lack of water. His entire body went tense before it relaxed, and he fell forward into my arms. “Walter, are you alright?!” I asked worriedly. “Talk to me, did he find us?”

  A few seconds passed before the other wizard got himself under control. “Sorry, I almost couldn’t shield myself in time,” he explained.

  My eyes were locked on his face, reading every expression, searching for hidden signs. “Thank goodness you did. I’m going to leave you now. The hidden door is down that way,” I said pointing in the direction I would be heading. “I’ll use it to enter the Ironheart Chamber, while you make your escape. I don’t think he will be able to find you if you make yourself fully invisible. Just try to get as far away as possible.”

  He grabbed my arm, “Wait. You never told me what the chamber does. You owe me that much at least.”

  I sighed, “Fine, but make sure you are completely invisible to magic first, otherwise he might glean the secret from you.” I waited a moment while he complied and then continued, “The Ironheart Chamber is actually a gigantic enchantment I designed, to allow the user to fully absorb the power of the God-Stone. It will give whoever uses it, full control of Celior’s power.”

  Walter’s eyes were wide with disbelief, “Is that possible? Why haven’t you used it before?”

  I grimaced, “I wasn’t willing to take the risk. I’m not certain what it will do to a human being, to undergo that sort of transformation. It might kill me, or I might be overwhelmed by whatever remains of Celior’s mind. It’s only now that the risk is worth taking. It’s all or nothing.”

  Walter nodded, “I’m glad you never told me before, Mort.”

  “Why’s that?”

  “I might have been tempted to use it for myself if I had known,” he admitted.

  I clapped him on the shoulder, “Now you understand my secrecy. Go ahead and hide yourself, I’ll go the rest of the way alone.” Turning away I left him there, walking confidently down the empty hall. Inwardly, I feared that I might never make it to my destination. If I had miscalculated, I might be struck down at any moment.

  Rounding the final corner, I made my way to the spot that hid the secret door. The enchantment was such, that it was invisible to magesight, as well as mundane vision. Because of that, I had memorized the location I had to touch to open the door. The enchantment should recognize me even without my magic, just as the one guarding the Keystone room had earlier.

  I placed my hand upon the correct area and watched the door slide open, but before I could step forward a voice sent a chill of fear down my spine. “Did you really think you could make a fool of me and get away with it?” said the icy voice of Karenth the Just.

  “You never know if you don’t try,” I answered keeping my voice light, though my heart had leapt into my throat at his sudden appearance.

  “Kneel!” grated Karenth, in a tone that would brook no disobedience. Under normal circumstances it would have taken all of my power simply to resist his compulsion, and that would have been using every bit of my aythar. It had taken that and the strength of the earth to enable me to truly defy Celior. I had neither of those things now… and it hardly mattered, my mind was just as dead to his commands, as it was to magic.

  I kept my face passive. “You really should listen to yourself. You’ve been playing at being a god for so long, that you’re starting to believe yourself. You really did capture the essence of ‘authority’ there.” I made no attempt to genuflect before him.

  Karenth stared at me for a moment, “The magebane has made you resistant to certain things I see, as well as destroying your ability to use magic… how unfortunate.” Reaching out, his hand caught me by the shoulder and my world dissolved into pain as his power coursed through me. It seemed to last for an eternity, and through it I could hear nothing beyond the sound of my own screams. He did not relent until I had run out of air and I had begun to think I might die before I could draw breath again. When his hand let go of my shoulder, I collapsed bonelessly to the floor.

  Staring down he smiled, “Good thing the old standbys still work just fine. Pain is such an excellent teacher. It is almost a shame you won’t have very long to learn your lessons.” Turning, he looked over his shoulder at Walter, who had appeared quietly behind him. “Why did you ever serve this man?”

  Walter’s jaw clenched as he attempted to answer, but his lips would not move.

  Waving his hand, Karenth said dismissively, “Speak your mind slave, I would hear the truth from your lips,” and the tension in the older wizard’s face relaxed.

  “Because I believed in him,” said Walter in a dry voice, “because he saved me, saved my family… he gave me hope.” His words echoed with empty resignation, the tone of a man who knew his death was near, yet hoped it would not be too painful. “Forgive me Mordecai, I couldn’t stop him! His will was too strong for me…”

  “How touching,” commented the shining god, with mock sympathy. “Your tragedy is so poignant I can hardly bring myself to cut it short. But then I suppose I hardly need to do so… the poison will kill you slowly over a course of days.” He looked down upon me in pity.

  “How did you poison me?” I asked in sudden curiosity.

  “It was the wine, of course,” he replied succinctly, “I’m surprised your pet wizard didn’t drink it as well.”

  I frowned, “How did you get it into my cup… what of the tasters?”

  The god of justice smiled beatifically at me, “You think too small. It was in all the wine given to you by the King of Gododdin. It’s harmless to your tasters and other humans. Only those with the forbidden gifts of wizardry need fear its taste upon their lips. Frankly I’m surprised you waited till this celebration to drink it. Millicenth even thought you would sample some before today. Your patience is admirable, and it certainly made for a most dramatic day.”

  My lip curled, “He betrayed us?”

  Karenth laughed, and the music of his laughter echoed down the halls, until I thought it might drive me mad. “Fool! The men that attacked your king were a ruse, to draw attention from those that were tampering with the wine. Your petty kinglet is of no use to me. I have spies enough amongst your people. Now if you will excuse me, I have my brother’s mantle to claim.” The god moved to enter the Ironheart Chamber.

  �
��It’s a trap,” I told him. “You’ll never leave that room if you enter.”

  “Such a pathetic attempt,” replied Karenth, staring down at me. “You’ve told too many lies wizard. I’ve already drawn the information out of your servant’s mind, and honestly, I don’t care. If your enchantment works… wonderful! If it doesn’t… well at least Celior will be free again.” Without waiting for my answer, he stepped inside and drew the door closed behind him. The heavy iron door shut with a massive ‘click’ that carried a sense of finality.

  Lying on the cold floor, barely able to move from the recent magical torture, I still smiled as the Ironheart Chamber door sealed itself. “Can’t say I didn’t warn you,” I said quietly, fighting to control a giggle that probably would have been more frightening than reassuring. “You were the only one I told the truth to…,” I added with some satisfaction.

  Once the door had finished closing, Walter collapsed, much like a puppet with its strings cut. Shuddering, he looked over at me where I lay not far off. “I’m sorry, he was too strong,” he apologized, “I couldn’t fight him.”

  “I should be apologizing to you,” I said, returning the sentiment. “I used you badly.”

  “What do you mean?” Walter asked, but I couldn’t answer immediately, for that was when Karenth realized that the God-Stone wasn’t within the Ironheart Chamber.

  “What trickery is this?” came his booming voice, clearly audible, even through the massive iron walls. It was followed shortly after, by a deep note, as if someone had struck a giant bell. My guess, was that he had just attempted to exit after discovering that the magical stone within, was merely a decoy.

  “So it was a trap all along?” asked Walter with some confusion, as his mind hurried to fit the pieces together, “Then where is the God-Stone?”

  I tested my muscles to see if I could lever myself up to a sitting position. Karenth’s torture spell had left me feeling as though I had been thoroughly beaten and bruised, though I didn’t have a mark on me. Successful, I leaned against the wall and replied to Walter’s question, “That’s one secret I’m keeping under my hat. I’m sure you understand after what we’ve been through today.” A louder noise issued from the Ironheart Chamber… Karenth was probably beginning to test the strength of his new prison.

  The sound made Walter visibly nervous, “Can he get out of there? Should we be attempting to escape now?”

  I laughed, “There is a possibility. After all, I’ve never tested it before. I’ll wait ‘till I’m sure, before I tell you what I think might work for him.”

  “Why?” questioned the other wizard, as he began to bite his lip nervously.

  I lowered my voice conspiratorially, “Because I’m not sure how good his hearing is… let’s wait until it’s too late, before we give away the secret.” The noises from within were becoming louder and more consistent and they were joined by a scream of pure rage. “Can your magesight see anything?” I added curiously.

  “No, the concealing enchantment hides everything from my view,” he answered.

  I nodded, “I forgot about that. Well, if that wasn’t in the way, you’d probably be noticing the interior enchantment beginning to glow as it warms up. As the process continues, it will get more and more intense, until…” I let my words trail off.

  “Until what?!”

  I shrugged, “Well until Karenth runs out of aythar, or his power overloads the capacity of the iron vessel.”

  “Overloads…,” repeated my friend as his eyebrows went up.

  “Boom,” I said with an evil grin.

  “Let me help you up,” Walter answered, with newfound urgency.

  It hurt to laugh but I did anyway. “Don’t worry, there’s enough iron there to hold everything he’s got to give and then some. I did a lot of quantifying to see how much power Celior had. Assuming Karenth isn’t more than twice as powerful as his brother, that chamber should be able to manage him.” The ground shook faintly, and a roar came from within. The noises from the chamber had settled into a regular rhythm, as the shining god struggled to batter his way free.

  Walter started to ask me another question, but I shushed him as the sounds from inside grew louder still. Keeping a finger to my lips to signify silence, we waited long minutes as the power and volume of the god’s attempts to escape increased. After what might have been a quarter of an hour, possibly more, the volume and frequency of the sounds began to decrease. “I think we’re past the breakpoint now,” I said, restarting our conversation. “Now the easy part of our job is done. The difficult part comes next.”

  “Breakpoint? Difficult?” said Walter, with an expression that clearly said, ‘I want to go home now’. Unfortunately for him, we were already home.

  “Breakpoint… the chamber is absorbing the power he uses. The more he throws against, it the more powerful the enchantment becomes. The dangerous part was at the beginning, when the enchantment was relatively weak. If he had used all of his strength then, he might have cracked it before it could hold him,” I explained, before adding in a much louder voice, “but the so-called God of Justice was far too cautious for that!” The last part was meant for Karenth’s ears, and he responded with an inchoate scream. The pounding however only grew weaker.

  “So what is the difficult part?”

  I grimaced. “His brother Doron is still up there. We have one more god to deal with.”

  “Please, Mordecai!” came the voice of Karenth through the iron wall. “We can negotiate. I can see now that I was wrong to want to punish you.”

  “Negotiating is generally done before invading someone’s castle and attempting to murder everyone within,” I answered loudly.

  The god’s voice was desperate, “I can help you. There is an antidote for the poison. It could save your life.”

  I had been afraid he would say something like that. It was the most tempting thing he could possibly offer; a new hope of life for a dying man. If he was telling the truth, he held my life in his hands, just as I did his, trapped within the Ironheart chamber. It was effectively a stalemate. Even worse, without my power, I had no hope of controlling him or forcing compliance if I agreed to release him. If I let him out, he would undoubtedly renege on the deal, and all of my work would be for naught. Even if he kept his word, he would still be free to return at a later date. If my goal was to rid mankind of its spiritual parasites, I would be throwing it away for the sake of my own life.

  In the end, it really wasn’t a choice. “You can go straight to hell.”

  The god’s voice sounded tired now, “There is no hell mortal, but your life could be spent in paradise if you release me.”

  I could feel my anger rising again as I answered, “There’s a hell alright. You’re staring at it, an iron prison and nothing but your own conversation for eternity… or however long you last; and the best part, is that you put yourself in there.”

  “There must be something you want.”

  I ignored his plea and leaned on Walter, indicating it was time to start back up the hall toward the stairway. “Have fun,” I said, over my shoulder. I won’t bother to relate his response. It was ugly enough to make even me blush. It did put a smile on my face though.

  Chapter 27

  We climbed the stairs slowly. My nausea had almost completely passed, but either the poison or Karenth’s attack had left me feeling shaky, so my footing was unsure. Walter let me keep a hand on his shoulder, and as we neared the top he opened the conversation again, “So… about the ‘difficult’ part, I’m hoping you have a plan for this part as well, preferably one that doesn’t require using me as bait.”

  “Don’t worry,” I replied brightly, “I don’t have any plans involving you at all.”

  He stared at me suspiciously, “Somehow that doesn’t reassure me.”

  “Actually, I didn’t expect to live this long. I figured Karenth would kill one or both of us before he finally entered the chamber,” I elaborated with a shrug of my shoulders. I probably wouldn�
�t have been so flippant if I had been alone, but since I had an audience in Walter, I felt I should make the most of my limited time before the poison finished me off.

  Walter stopped, forcing me to come to a halt as well. “Earlier you said you had a plan.”

  I gave him an apologetic look, “Well, originally the Ironheart Chamber was the backup plan, in case two of them came at the same time. I figured I had a good chance of handling, one if I could just trap the other one. Obviously that isn’t possible now.”

  The other wizard gave me a serious stare for a moment before taking my arm firmly over his shoulder and changing direction. He didn’t bother uttering a word of explanation.

  “Where are you going?” I asked.

  He kept going, dragging me along without offering me a choice.

  I wasn’t in the best shape, but I had enough strength to fight him to a standstill. “Dammit! Will you stop!?” I protested, “I’m not going anywhere till you explain yourself.”

  “You just admitted you can’t fight, and you don’t have a plan. It’s time to leave and seek aid. There is still a chance Lady Thornbear knows of an antidote,” he answered stubbornly.

  “No!” I argued, “If Doron finds his brother, he’ll free him and we won’t have accomplished anything.”

  “If he finds you, he won’t leave enough behind to have a proper funeral, then he’ll search out his brother, and we will be even worse off without you to help when they come back to finish us next time,” returned Walter. Even I had to admit his reasoning was fairly sound.

  “Damn you! Stop making sense,” I said, conceding his point. “Let me think for a moment. I have something in the back of my head.”

  “Two minutes,” he said crossly. “Then I’m going to haul your obstinate ass out of here, even if I have to bind your arms and legs with magic and levitate you behind me.”

  “I’m your liege. That would be an act of treason,” I threatened.