“Manakel?” Jez called.
“What happened here?” The lord of the Shadeslayers asked as he stepped out of the battle lines. His robes seemed more like flame than cloth, and the air around him shimmered with heat.
“Living shadows.”
Manakel sneered. “Yes, I saw that. Where did they come from?”
Jez looked in Aphlel’s direction. “They all looked sick or wounded. I think they came from him. It must be what’s in his nightmares.”
Manakel laughed. “Living shadows come from dreams, and pharim do not dream. They certainly do not have nightmares.”
“They don’t get knocked unconscious either.”
Manakel shook his head. “Even if he were dreaming, do you have any idea how much power it would take to draw something like that out of the mind of a high lord of the pharim? Something that strong would almost definitely spill over into those nearby and summon shadows out of every sleeping mind for miles.”
Jez’s blood went cold. “Randak?”
Manakel nodded once. “Certainly, if these really were from Aphlel but...”
Jez shed his human form and spread his wings. In moments, he was tearing through the air, heading for the city. The power burned inside of him as he drew deeper of Luntayary to increase his speed, but he didn’t care, and he forced himself onward. It didn’t take him long to hear the screams.
It was late in the day, though the sun had not set yet. As a result, few people were asleep who could provide a source for the living shadows. Still, the creatures could only be fought with magic, and most of the mages were out at the borders of the barony, watching for demons or other signs of Sharim. A few living shadows would be all it would take to tear through the city.
Beneath him, people ran out of Clont’s inn. Jez tucked in his wings and dove. He pulled up just enough to fly through the door. Inside, he found a pair of men he didn’t know. They were lying on the ground, and their skin was gray and clammy. Above them floated a shark made of shadows, swimming through the air as if it were water. It opened its mouth, revealing sharp teeth, but Jez didn’t give it a chance to act. His sword ripped through it, cutting it in two before its pieces vanished. As it died, Jez thought he heard screaming, but it was only in his mind. With the spirit destroyed, Jez headed back into town.
He kept hoping to find Osmund or one of the former Shadeslayers helping in the fight. He never did, though once, he encountered Captain Narva. Her sword, its blade inlaid with gold and crafted by Jez’s own power, wasn’t nearly as effective as his own weapon, but it worked well enough, cutting down shadows after a couple of strokes. It took nearly an hour for him to find all the shadows. Though there weren’t many of them, they had appeared in all areas of the city, leaving the gray dead in their wake.
Finally, he set down in the middle of town and returned to human form, utterly exhausted and burned by his power. The people gaped at him. They had, no doubt, heard of his abilities, but it was another thing entirely to have him transform in their midst. Whispers spring to life, and more than once Jez heard the words “Dusan’s apprentice.” He clenched his teeth but didn’t respond, and before long, he found himself regretting the decision to land here. Briefly, he toyed with the idea of transforming again and returning to the manor, but the look on the people’s faces told him that would do more harm than good, so he started to walk. Before long, Captain Narva came out of the crowd. She saluted Jez and fell into step beside him.
“My lord, what were those things?”
Jez looked around and sighed. There was no chance of keeping this private. “It’s hard to explain. Basically, they’re nightmares that got summoned into the real world.”
Again, Dusan’s name rippled through the crowd, and Jez had to force himself to unclench his fists. He had grown up with these people. They knew him. They should know he was nothing like Dusan, but the way they stared at him said they saw little difference between the two. Dusan put them to sleep, and now Jez called their nightmares into the world. He felt like he was going to be sick. He focused his attention on Narva, who at least still seemed to see him as a human.
“You did well.”
She inclined her head. “Thank you. My lord, about the forest, people are worried. They say they’ve seen wild animals in there.”
He waved off her concern. “You don’t need to worry about that. The beast men just needed a place to stay. Remember, they’re R’Virdi’s people.”
That seemed to calm the crowd, and Narva nodded. “Then, it’s safe?”
“You could say that. I mean, they’re not going to come out to eat anyone, but I wouldn’t actually go into the forest. They might see it as rude.”
Her head bobbed. “Yes, my lord, but don’t you think it would be better if it were a little farther from the city.”
“Probably,” Jez said. “Unless you know how to move miles of trees, though, there’s nothing I can do. I have Osmund watching them, though. They trust him.”
“Yes, of course, Baron.” She smiled. “That does make me feel better.”
Jez groaned and rolled his eyes. “I thought we’d gotten past all that ‘baron’ stuff.”
She grinned and inclined her head. “Only in private.”
Jez suppressed a smile, but it faded when he realized the people were still gaping at him. He stepped in close to her and spoke softly, though he had no real hope of not being overheard.
“Are they really so afraid of me?”
“A little,” she admitted. “They’re not used to magic on this scale.”
Jez nodded. “I guess I can’t blame them.” They reached the gate to his manor. “I want you to come back to the manor in the morning. Kilos is a little afraid of going in there, and given how well you’ve fought, it’ll probably make him feel better to have someone like you here.”
She nodded. “Of course.”
He gave the crowd one last look. “Try to convince them I’m not Dusan.”
“They know that.”
Jez looked back toward the city and sighed. “I’m not so sure.”
Then, he went back into the manor.
CHAPTER 16
Jez strode through the manor halls, heading in the direction of the garden. He turned a corner and almost tripped over his own feet as he saw Lina walking in the same direction. He grunted and caught himself by placing a hand on a wall. She turned and scowled.
“Jez, what’s going on? What did you do?”
He walked up to her. “What are you talking about?”
“Shadows attacked the king’s camp. We were lucky a dozen afur arrived last night or we would’ve never survived.”
Jez resisted the urge to scowl at her. “The same thing happened in the city. We lost over a dozen people. I’m going to speak to the high lords to see if they know what’s going on.”
“Haven’t they told you already? I thought that’s why you came here in the first place.”
Jez let out a breath. “I was a little too busy saving Randak to ask. Do you want to come with me or not?”
He didn’t wait for her to answer before setting off in the direction of the garden. They didn’t say anything as they walked. Jez kept wanting to speak up, but every time he came close, annoyance at her decision to go with the king rose within him. A part of him knew that it had been a good idea and remembered that he had agreed with it at the time, but he still couldn’t shake the feeling that she had chosen to side against him.
They turned a corner and stopped in their tracks. At the door leading to the garden stood a pair of scarlet-robed guards. They looked the same, not identical but as if they were brothers. Nearly six feet tall, they had pale faces and eyes that glowed red with their own inner light. They stood perfectly still, with every feature seeming just a little too well-defined to be human. The glass door to the garden reflected their burning wings. Jez recognized them as two of the afur that had helped him in the garden. As he and Lina neared, the one on the left, who was just a little taller and broader of
shoulder, drew a flaming sword and held it toward Jez. Lina hesitated, but Jez didn’t stop until he was so close he could feel the heat of the sword.
“You may not enter here,” the guard said, “save at the word of the high lords of the pharim.”
For a second, Jez just glared at the weapon. It singed his skin, but he ignored it. Anger bubbled up inside of him, and he met the guard’s gaze. Once, the sight of the flaming eyes would have made a shiver run down his spine, but the days when he might be intimidated by something like that were long past.
“Get out of my way,” Jez said as his crystal sword materialized in his hand, “or do you want me to move you?”
The other drew his sword as well. Their flaming wings sent orange lights dancing across the marble walls. Jez half expected his eyebrows to burn off. He swung his sword, sending a surge of power into it as it sliced through the air. He knocked one of the afur blades aside. The sword of the second one darted out, but Jez had been expecting that. A shield of shimmering blue energy materialized in front of him. He’d never been great at that particular working. It didn’t stop the sword so much as it stretched, slowing the weapon down, but the extra time was all he needed. His crystal sword slammed against the flaming one. He sent a surge of aqua magic through the blade, and the afur’s sword went out. Before Jez could turn his weapon to meet the other, a fist slammed into his wrist. By reflex, his hand opened, and his sword fell. The afur’s weapon pressed against his throat, searing his skin.
“Now, what will you do, child?”
Rage like Jez had never felt rose within him, and the ground trembled with his words. “I am an adjutant of the Carceri Academy. I battled Marrowit, Maries, and Andera himself. I am the Baron of Korand, and this is my home. You will not stop me from going wherever I want.”
He threw himself backward as his hands flew forward, releasing a stream of bubbles. They impacted the afur and spread, quickly forming a film around it and sticking him to the wall. Jez had originally developed this binding in case Ziary ever got out of control, and ever since he had encountered the evil afur Mirel, he had refined it. In his anger, he threw far more power into the working than he ever had before. Even pharim might not have been able to break out of that. An afur would have no chance at all.
The second guard had recovered his weapon, and Jez turned to face him, calling his sword and preparing to meet him blade to blade. They circled each other, each sending out pulses of power. The pharim lurched forward, his sword moving in a flaming blur.
A crystal sword, one a deeper blue than Jez’s weapon, intercepted the afur’s blade. For a second, everyone stared at the weapon, dumfounded. Jez heard the sound of waves crashing against the shore. It was as if the sword contained the power of the sea itself. Jez’s eyes wandered up the blade to see the sapphire-robed figure, with the glass door to the garden open behind him. Jez’s breath caught in his throat. He had heard Sariel threaten violence once before, but he had never seen the lord of protection with blade drawn, and the sight filled him with an almost primal terror. The fires of the afur’s blade died as the sword puffed out of existence.
“That was certainly foolish,” Sariel said.
He waved a hand, and the binding Jez had used to trap the other afur shattered. The guard landed gracefully and inclined his head.
“Lord Sariel, you have my thanks.”
Sariel narrowed his eyes. “What exactly did you think you were doing by denying him entrance?”
The guards exchanged glances. “We were guarding the entrance to the garden.”
Sariel clenched his teeth. “This is what we get for using attackers to defend. From whom were you guarding against?”
“Lord Manakel said to guard against any who may be an enemy.”
Sariel motioned to Jez. “And you thought to turn your blade against him?”
“He attacked first.”
“Only after they threatened me,” Jez said.
“Your actions were not much better. What possessed you to fight against two former Shadeslayers?”
“I told you,” Jez said, “they threatened me.”
“These are not demons, Jezreel, and you are not a mindless brute. I would have thought you capable of dealing with such a situation without resorting to your sword.”
Jez stiffened. “Maybe if you had told them to let me through in the first place...”
“Could you not have simply sent for me?”
“If I had known where you were, I would have, but you just disappeared.”
Sariel sheathed his sword, which caused everyone to feel a little more at ease. “Why did you come here in the first place?”
“Randak was attacked.” He gave Lina a sidelong glance. “So was Haziel’s camp.”
“Yes, I am aware.”
“You’re aware?” Lina asked. “And you didn’t do anything to stop it?”
Sariel looked down at her. “I was not speaking to you.”
Jez tightened his grip on his sword but almost immediately realized that was incredibly foolish. Instead, he dismissed the weapon and spoke softly. “Answer her.”
For a moment, it looked like Sariel might refuse and retreat back behind the stained-glass door leading to the garden, but after a few seconds, he inclined his head. “Very well. We received an influx of afur this morning. Each of us, save Aphlel, of course, spoke to those who used to serve under us. We needed to ensure they could be trusted.”
“So what you’re saying,” Lina said through clenched teeth, “is that you had former Shadowguard at your disposal, and you still didn’t send them to help. People died because of you.”
“Do not presume to speak to me in such a manner. We have more important matters to concern ourselves with than the camp of one king with a tendency to rise above himself.”
“He is the king! He and Istar are ready to launch an attack on the manor because he thinks you set those things against him.”
“What?” Jez practically shouted. “When were you going to tell me about that?”
Lina rolled her eyes. “Jez, it’s not like you’re in charge right now.” She pointed at Sariel. “It’s them and the king.”
“I’m still the baron. If there’s an army marching against my home, I should know about it.”
“Oh, you’re the baron? Since when? All you do is hide from your responsibilities. Why are you surprised that people aren’t coming to you to tell you these things?”
“Haziel and Istar are welcome to attack,” Sariel said. “They will find gaining entry to this manor quite a bit more difficult than they anticipate.”
“No,” Jez said, drawing out the word. “They’re not welcome to attack. There’s still a city between us and them, and aren’t we forgetting something a little more important?”
“Like what?” Lina asked.
“Like figuring out where these shadows came from.”
“That is no mystery,” Sariel said. “They came from the sleeping mind of the dreamers. Living shadows cannot exist any other way.”
“But to attack an entire town at once,” Jez said. “So many all at once couldn’t have come from just one person, but if they came from many, where did the power to summon them come from?”
Sariel stared at him for several seconds before turning to the afur. “Let them through.”
Without so much as glancing in their direction, Sariel passed between the guards and through the open door into the garden. Jez and Lina exchanged glances and followed the lord of protection. The afur let them through without another word as they entered the place that had become the center of the pharim’s power on earth.
CHAPTER 17
The garden seemed quieter, though, at the same time, the plants had grown wilder and more out of control. Once Jez and the others got a few feet from the door, the undergrowth was so thick that they couldn’t see the way out. In fact, the plants had hidden every sign that this had once been a cultivated garden. There was something else missing, and it took Jez a second to figure
out what it was.
“The beast men are gone,” he said, half to himself.
Sariel raised a hand, and the plants parted for him. He started walking without checking to see if they would follow.
“They have left for the forest that Shanel created.” Sariel kept his gaze forward as he spoke. “Aniel, too, has retreated from our council and has gone to increase the power of his children.”
“Aniel left?” Jez asked. “Why would he do that?”
“He fears an attack from the king, as well as from the forces loyal to us. He’s the strongest of us, now that he has absorbed the power of his crystal, and his presence alone may be enough to deter attack.”
Jez gaped at him. “Deter an attack? Just from the king, or from you too?”
“It was not our first choice, but the beast men are a significant power and one over which we had no direct control.”
“Except for Aniel, you mean.”
Sariel shook his head. “That is part of the problem. Aniel has spent millennia teaching them that they are beholden to no one, not even him. Andera would not respect that, however. We could not leave such a force out there where he could seize them. It would have been for their own good.”
“I think every tyrant in history has used those words when they conquer,” Lina said. “I wouldn’t have expected that from the pharim.”
Sariel turned to glare at her. After a second, she looked away, unable to bear the weight of his eyes. “We are fighting a war for our very existence, and for yours. You have never seen Andera’s full power. Last time, it took Manakel himself to banish him, and then he was not limited as he is now. If we are to stop Andera, we will need every advantage, including Aniel’s beast men.”
“What will you do?” Jez asked.
“Until we can convince Aniel to see reason, there is little we can do, but the fate of the beast men is not what brought you here.”
He continued walking through the garden. The plants kept moving aside for him, though not in the same manner they had with the Lifebringers. It took Jez a moment to see the difference. Before, the movement of the plants had been more organic, as if each one were choosing to move out of the way, though none at exactly the same time. Now, it was as if they were being forced aside. In a few places, Jez even saw crushed leaves and broken branches.
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