“Are you sure that’s a good idea?” Jez asked.
Osmund rolled his eyes. “Jez, I spent almost six months with these people. Even if you’re not overreacting about Welb, he’s not going to hurt me.”
“That’s not what I mean,” Jez said.
Osmund cocked his head, but it was Lina who spoke. “He’s worried about Ziary getting control.”
Jez nodded. When he had first met Osmund, the other boy’s transformations had come against his will. Ziary had been an almost unstoppable force of destruction. The beast men had eventually helped Osmund gain a measure of control over his alter ego, but it wasn’t perfect, and in wild areas, Ziary hovered very close to the surface of Osmund’s mind.
“You don’t need to worry,” Osmund said, though his reassurance was mitigated by the fact that his eyes glimmered red and that he spoke in a voice just a little too deep to be his own. “Look, you know you want someone to watch Welb. That won’t be easy. Unless you can get one of the beast men to do it, I’m your best bet.”
Jez bit his lower lip. He wracked his mind trying to think of a better way before he let out a breath and nodded. “You’re probably right.”
The last word of his sentence hadn’t entirely left his lips when Osmund raised his sword and started practicing again. The three mages just stared at him for several minutes. Osmund, oblivious to their observation, went from one maneuver to another in a deadly dance. Finally, Jez sighed.
“If Welb does anything unusual, come find me.”
Osmund thrust his sword forward, and speared a single leaf hanging from a branch, disturbing its fellows only with the wind of his blow’s passage. He pulled back his weapon and stared at the leaf, seeming pleased with himself. He looked up at them and blinked, as if surprised to find them still here.
“Go,” Osmund said. “I’ll be fine.”
Jez nodded. Without another word, he and the other mages walked out of the woods, though Jez couldn't shake the feeling that he was abandoning his oldest friend.
CHAPTER 13
“Jez, are you sure you want to go that way?” Lina asked as Jez rounded a corner that would take him back to the manor.
Jez looked over his shoulder at her. She and Kilos had stopped in the shadow of a nearby building. “Why not?”
“Because every time we talk with the high lords, we just get into an argument. Last time, they came close to fighting. It’s even happening to Sariel. Did you see how he reacted to Raphlia? He’s not in much better shape than the rest. There’s a reason he said we should leave them alone. If we go back there, we’ll just be wasting our time.”
“Lina, they’re the high lords of the pharim. Sariel just wants to limit their involvement. Maybe I can only get them to help a little, but given who they are, a little might be enough.”
She sighed. “I just think we should be spending our time smoothing things over with Istar and Haziel.”
Jez shrugged. “Once the masters and the rest actually find Sharim, they’ll do what I say. If nothing else, Daziel will tell them to.”
“But don’t you think it would be better if Haziel did it because he wants to instead of having to be forced to it?”
Jez nodded once. “Probably, but I don’t absolutely need it as long as he does as he’s told.”
Lina stiffened and backed up a few steps until she stood outside of the shadow of the building and in the orange light of the setting sun. “Jez, you’re starting to sound like them.”
“Them?”
“The high lords. You’re putting yourself above those around you, even the king and queen.” She glanced at Kilos, and he could practically see her biting back her words in an effort not to reveal his secret. “You are still human.”
“I’m not just human,” he said. Lina’s eyes widened, but Jez shook his head. “I’m a mage, and things like this have always been under our authority. That goes back to the founding of Ashtar and the Carceri Academy. Haziel just sees me as a child. That’s annoying, but I also have a magical forest of beast men to the north and a manor full of the fallen high lords of the pharim. I don’t have time to deal with a king who should know better.”
Lina bit her lower lip and turned away. Jez stepped in close and took her hand. When she met his gaze, there were unshed tears there. Kilos looked embarrassed and took a few steps back, but Jez barely noticed. He just stared into Lina’s eyes.
“Lina, I am who I am. Think about my life for the last couple of years. Before the Academy was destroyed, I had met two high lords of the pharim, three afur, fought a demon general, and killed a demon lord. I had been Between and even to the abyss, but the one time I went to court, I messed everything up so badly that we almost lost the entire kingdom. Is it really so surprising that I think it’s easier to deal with the high lords than the king and queen?”
She pulled away. “I guess. We shouldn’t neglect them entirely, though.” She pursed her lips. “What if I go to them, like Osmund did with the beast men? I might be able to make this whole thing easier.”
Jez considered for a second before nodding. “That’s probably a good idea.”
She inclined her head and turned toward the army camp without saying another word. Jez watched her go for several seconds. Kilos cleared his throat, and Jez looked at him. The summoner was shaking his head.
“You handled that badly.”
Jez raised an eyebrow. “What are you talking about?”
“You were supposed to ask her not to go.”
“Why? It was a good idea.”
Kilos shrugged. “Maybe, but that doesn’t really matter. You were still supposed to ask her to stay.”
Jez let out a long breath. “I don’t have time for any of this. I’m going up to the manor to see what kind of afur have been going there.”
Kilos nodded. “I should probably go with you. The more I think about it, the more I’m sure we have to be missing something in Dusan’s lab. There has to be a reason no one found that working before.”
“No one liked going down there once they found out what Dusan was doing.”
“But some of the masters went. That working is too powerful to have remained hidden.”
Jez shrugged. “A lot of workings weaken over time. That’s probably what happened to the illusion it. The masters could’ve probably done the same if they had gone down there now.”
Kilos glanced toward the manor. The walls of the grounds were barely visible over the nearby houses. “Maybe. I just don’t know.”
“We could try to get Leziel to go down there and see if he can tell us something. The high lords aren’t supposed to interfere with mortal choice, but the Darkmasks tend to find ways around that rule.”
Kilos shook his head. “Maybe he could go down first, and I’ll check once he’s done. If it’s all the same to you, I’d rather not be alone in the same room as him.”
“Why not?”
Kilos shuddered then stared at Jez for a few seconds. His eyes widened slightly. “You’re not joking. You really don’t know?”
“Know what?”
“Jez, the high lords are terrifying. I mean we’re talking about the beings who command the primal forces of creation. They’re as old as the universe. They might have even made it. I don’t know how you can not be afraid.”
Jez shook his head. “That’s a mistake a lot of people make. The high lords didn’t make the universe. Pharim can’t actually create.”
Kilos looked over his shoulder at the forest. “You could’ve fooled me.”
“That’s not—”
“I know. Shanel just made the plants grow. She didn’t make them out of nothing, but that’s only a technical difference. If someone can make a forest appear overnight, does it really matter if she spun it out of thin air or just made a bunch of acorns grow? And Shanel is an afur. She doesn’t have access to most of her power. What could a high lord do?”
“You don’t really think Leziel would hurt you, do you?”
Kilos shook his he
ad. “It’s not about that. It’s...” He let out a breath. “To be honest, I don’t think I can explain it to someone who took out a demon lord in their first term at the Academy. I’m going to go into town. I got a room at Clont’s inn when the high lords arrived. Get Leziel to see what he can find today, and I’ll be back tomorrow.”
Kilos walked toward the center of the city, but Jez called after him. “Are you sure?”
Kilos gave him a half smile. “I’ll see you in the morning.”
CHAPTER 14
The garden was curiously empty. There were still insects, birds, and other animals. A few times, Jez thought he saw a beast man moving through the trees or among the branches, but they all moved too quickly to be sure. The pharim high lords were nowhere to be seen. Even the overwhelming sense of their presence was muted and was only a fraction of what it had been. Surprisingly, the lack grated on Jez’s nerves. Everything felt too quiet, and he kept thinking he smelled something rotten.
With neither Osmund nor one of the Lifebringers with him, he had to force his way through the plants, and it took him nearly an hour to reach the center. By the time he arrived, his clothes were torn, and he had several small cuts where thorns had caught him. Sweat had dripped into them, causing them to sting. With hardly a second thought, he stepped into the stream flowing around Aphlel. The water went halfway up his thigh and washed away some of his fatigue. He stood next to the lord of healing for a long time.
“Did I do this?” he asked the unmoving body.
“Don’t take this the wrong way,” a high-pitched voice said. An otter crawled out from between a pair of trees and stared up at him. “How could you possibly do something like this?”
Jez gaped at him, but after a few seconds, he shook his head to clear his thoughts. “R’Virdi?”
The otter inclined his head. “Of course, who else would it be?”
“Where are the high lords?”
R’Virdi stood on two legs. “I would never take it upon myself to question the high lords of the pharim. They left.”
Jez blinked at him. “All of them?”
R’Virdi chittered toward Aphlel’s form. “Well, maybe not all.
Jez rolled his eyes. “I mean all the rest.”
“It’s not impossible that Daziel is around here somewhere hiding behind an illusion, but as far as I know, they’re all gone.”
Jez sighed. “Fine, but why are you here?”
R’Virdi walked up to the water a few feet upstream of Jez and jumped in, throwing a spray of water in his face. As skilled as he was in aqua magic, Jez could have redirected it, but he allowed it to wash over him. For some reason, it made him smile.
“Because you have a nice stream going through your garden, and it’s so much cleaner than the rivers I’m used to.”
Jez raised an eyebrow. “I thought you liked living in the wild. Does this mean you’re going to move into the city when all is said and done?”
R’Virdi dove, keeping his head underwater for a full minute before resurfacing with a scowl on his face. “Now, there’s no need to insult me.”
Jez let out a bark of laughter. “You realized that I live in a city, right?”
“Well, that’s no reason for me to lower my standards. Besides, I would hate to have people gawking at me all the time.”
Jez grinned. “Sorry we left you. When we heard about Aphlel...”
R’Virdi looked at the high lord. “I can’t say that I blame you. It ended up fine. I think the people are getting a little more used to the idea of beast men, but that forest didn’t help.”
“Believe me, I know,” Jez said.
“I told you what I’m doing here. Now, you tell me why you came.”
“This is my garden.”
“Isn’t the whole city your city?”
“Well, yes.”
“So why did you come here, specifically?”
“To speak to the high lords.”
“That’s not why.”
Jez gave him a quizzical look. “It’s not?”
“Of course not. I’ve learned enough about you to know that you’re a skilled enough mage to know they weren’t here the moment you entered. You would’ve sensed their power.”
“Then why am I here?”
R’Virdi motioned to the still form of the lord of healing. “To see him.”
“Aphlel?”
R’Virdi turned and swam on his back. As he passed Jez, he raised an eyebrow, a gesture that looked entirely too human. “Are you going to tell me you didn’t know he was the only one here the moment you stepped into the garden? For that matter, I bet you could tell as soon as you were in the manor.”
The lack of magic in the area prickled around his skin, and he nodded. “Why did I want to see him?”
R’Virdi laughed. “What am I? A mind reader? Go talk to him.”
Jez gaped at him. “He’s unconscious.”
“As little as the pharim lords have been listening to you lately, I’d think you’d be happy to talk to one who couldn’t talk back.” The otter’s expression softened. “You’ve been wounded badly.”
“No,” Jez said. “Not for a long time, not since that last battle against Sharim.”
“I’m not talking physically. You still carry around the guilt for all the people that died when Mount Carcer exploded.”
Jez stiffened and shook his head. “That wasn’t my fault.”
“I know that, and, I’m sure, on some level, you know that, but there’s a part of you that doesn’t really believe it.”
Jez sighed. “Even if that were the case, and it’s not, what good would talking to Aphlel do?”
“He’s the lord of healing. It could be exactly what you need.”
“He’s unconscious.”
R’Virdi made exaggerated motions as he looked around at the overgrown garden, though in truth, it had started looking more like a forest than anything that had been cultivated. It had grown so thick he couldn’t even see the manor. “You know, you’re right. If he’s unconscious, there’s no way his power could affect you.”
Jez narrowed his eyes. “I see your point, but I don’t really need it.” He stepped out of the stream and started forcing his way through the undergrowth. “I should find the high lords.”
R’Virdi scurried in front of him. “There’s one over there.”
Jez sighed. “You’re not going to let this drop, are you?”
“I think it’s important. It’s not like this will hurt you, and it will only take a few minutes.”
For several long seconds, Jez stared at the downed pharim lord. He was so still he hardly seemed to be alive. Pharim didn’t breathe, so it wasn’t surprising that there was no rising and falling of his chest, but still, there seemed to be something indefinable missing, some important aspect that simply wasn’t there. He stepped back into the stream and moved right up to Aphlel. Jez put a hand on the pharim’s shoulder. He closed his eyes and tried to sense the working Raphlia had detected, but he felt nothing. Power emanated from Aphlel. Unbound by his consciousness, it made Jez a little dizzy and he pulled back.
“I’ve been having nightmares,” Jez said, feeling a little silly. “The Academy was all I had, and now it’s gone. If I had just been a little faster or a little stronger, I might’ve been able to stop Sharim. Maybe then, I wouldn’t see it every time I close my eyes.” He looked down at his hands and realized the scratches he’d gotten from forcing his way through the garden were fading. “You know, we’re opposites. Shanel was right about one thing. You heal. I only kill. I don’t even know how many died when Mount Carcer erupted. I couldn’t stand to find out. That’s not even counting the soldiers that died on the campaign or the mages that I led on that assault to destroy the library. Osmund said I’ve never killed humans, but he was wrong. Thousands have died because of me.” The garden seemed darker, almost like the shadows were pressing in on him. “They want me to lead them, to find some grand solution to dealing with Sharim once and for all, but I
can’t. He’s too strong. He knows too much. There’s nothing I can do.”
Something took a step out of the shadows, and Jez looked up. His blood went cold as he saw that it hadn’t exactly stepped out of the shadows. It was a shadow, a gigantic shapeless mass that stretched twenty feet in every direction. He could just barely make out the trees beyond it. Suddenly, it broke apart, the pieces taking the size and shape of men, though all were clearly wounded, missing limbs or heavily favoring one leg. There were even a few who lacked heads or had massive holes in their torso. There had to be at least a hundred of them, though the way they swayed made it nearly impossible to pick out one from the other. Jez took a step forward. He climbed out of the stream and called his crystal sword into his right hand even as he prepared to shoot a binding from his left.
“Jezreel.” R’Virdi’s voice was barely above a squeak. Jez looked down to see the otter man at his feet. “What are these things?”
“Living shadows. I’m pretty sure they came out of Aphlel’s nightmares.”
“Can you deal with them?”
Jez almost shook his head. Against so many, he wouldn’t stand a chance, but R’Virdi was obviously terrified. Jez tightened his grip on his sword and looked around. They had surrounded him. A few even floated above him. Running, in any direction, wasn’t an option anymore.
“We’re about to find out.”
CHAPTER 15
The shadows rushed forward, but as half a dozen drew within striking distance, burning spheres shot out of the trees. Only two of the shadows reached him, and those were swiftly dispatched by Jez’s sword. A dozen beings with flaming wings and burning swords rushed into the clearing, coming from both the trees and the sky. They mowed through the shadows with ruthless efficiency, fire and wind in solid form. In a matter of seconds, the living shadows had been destroyed. Jez dismissed his sword, having only banished one after the initial attack. He eyed the newcomers. With those swords and wings, these had to be Shadeslayers, the pharim of destruction, or more likely, they were afur who had once been a part of that order.
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