Shades Of Justice

by Justin Sloan

  Oh yes, she knew they were coming. She couldn’t wait for them to find her, actually, so she could be done with them once and for all. The man had been a paladin, and she knew first-hand how easy they were to pull to her side. Taland had proven that, though in the end he hadn’t been worth his weight in steel.

  “Don’t take this personally,” she told the man as her magic swept him up, engulfing him, streams of darkness pouring into his mouth and eyes and taking him over from the inside. “I like you, which is why you are the perfect sacrifice. And when this is over—when I have succeeded—I shall remember the simple man who warmed my bed. The only one who stayed with me until this moment. And then… Then my message will be clear. My empire will be strong. United, with no room for dissenters.”

  He couldn’t have responded even if he had wanted to. At this point he was a floating corpse. The magic faded, flowing out of him and back into her, and she felt her strength increase, her senses become fully aware. There would be no harming her now. She was certain of it.

  And the man had played his part fully.

  Then why did she still feel so annoyed? So much like her world was falling apart around her, like her heart was crumbling?

  She pushed aside her emotions and trapped them behind the steel doors she liked to envision whenever feelings or conscience tried to interfere with what she knew to be the greater good. Then she smiled, blew a final kiss at the corpse, and departed.

  The light and darkness continued to swirl above, a remnant of the magic she had called upon. Considering the power she’d used in this spell, it would likely stay like that for some time—more like a ripple that continued outward from a dropped pebble than the pebble itself. The signs of the magic were still there, nonetheless.

  Her goal now was to ensure everything was in place, that her trap was laid. Soon she would be done with these pesky followers, and then the world would be hers.

  CHAPTER SEVENTEEN

  The journey from the Lost Isles to the Kaldfell Peninsula hadn’t been as simple as they would have hoped. For one, though Andreas was skilled at making the boat move, he couldn’t keep it up for long without becoming exhausted. Second, they seemed to have gone off-course more than once, which made sense considering that none of them knew which way to go, exactly.

  So it was that when they saw something on the horizon they all started talking excitedly, and Andreas felt his heart leap in excitement. They were finally coming home. When they had been stranded long ago on Sair Talem, as they had later found out, they had hoped for rescue for about a month. Soon that hope had dwindled and they’d barely held onto sanity, each of them wanting to give up—and one of them actually doing so.

  But their perseverance had paid off. They had survived, and now they were returning home.

  As they drew closer, they saw that while there was indeed a land mass ahead, what they had first seen was only a small group of rocks, with the larger land mass beyond.

  “Keep us clear,” Lars advised. “I’d hate to see us make it this far only to end up stranded once again so close to home.”

  “We get stranded there,” Kim interjected, “and you can bet your pretty little water staff that I’m swimming the rest of the way.”

  Andreas laughed. “You and me both.”

  They moved past cautiously, eyes on the water to spot anything that could catch the hull. But as they rounded the rocks , a large ship caught their eyes. Its masts were gone and most of the ship had been scorched from flames, but it was there, cast up against the rocks.

  Lars glanced at it, shaking his head. “There’s no way there could be survivors.”

  “But…what if?” Andreas replied.

  A simple sigh was Lars’ response. After maneuvering the boat to a standstill with the wind Andreas focused his magic on the waves, rocking the boat to get close enough without causing problems.

  “Steady…” Kim called, looking over the side of the boat. “Hold!”

  He concentrated on getting the boat to stop right next to the burned ship. Parts of it were in good condition, but the majority had turned to ash, ready to crumble any minute.

  Andreas had the horrible feeling that he was wasting his time and that Lars had been right about there not being any survivors, but he’d had to try.

  “Hello in there!” he shouted. “If there are any survivors, you’re in luck. We’re headed home to Kaldfell, and we can take you with us!” A long silence followed and he could feel Lars’ eyes on the back of his head. “Anyone?”

  Another long silence followed. He turned back to Lars and shrugged in that way that said he’d had to try, at least. Then he moved back to his position at the bow of the ship, prepared to take her out of there.

  Something made a clicking sound, then another. A rock, and it plopped into the water.

  He spun, eyes searching not the wreckage but the rocks around it. There! He ran to the side of the boat to make sure he hadn’t imagined it. Something was moving like a shadow, and he pulled back with a shout.

  A flame was coming at him!

  “WATER!” shouted Kim, and instinctively Andreas shoved his staff into the bucket of sea water beneath him and willed the waves up. The boat rocked from the force, but the fireball sizzled as it met water, a large amount of smoke billowing above them.

  “Curse you, Storm Caller!” a man shouted, and then he came into plain sight. His robes flowed behind him as he thrust his hands forward, and fire once again shot toward them.

  “Get us out of here!” Lars shouted, tossing Kim her quiver of arrows as she went for her bow.

  Again Andreas met the fire with water, some of it splashing into the boat. His next move was to increase the amount of wind in their tiny sail, and he began pushing the boat free.

  “You can’t leave me here!” the crazy sorcerer shouted. “I will find you! I will!”

  A thud sounded, and Andreas broke his spell long enough to see that one of Kim’s arrows had hit its mark and lodged directly in the sorcerer’s forehead. The man stumbled for a moment, then reached out as if for a railing before falling over the edge of the rocks into the sea below.

  “What the hell was that?” Lars asked, gripping his battle ax as if it could have come in useful somehow. “I don’t understand what… Oh, no!”

  “What?” Andreas asked.

  Lars turned to him, eyes wild with worry. “Is it possible they’ve already reached our home? It’s been so long. What if Kaldfell had been taken over by their kind?”

  “It hasn’t,” Kim argued. “I simply won’t accept that idea.”

  Andreas glanced back, trying to process what had just happened. “Plus, he named me as ‘Storm Caller.’ If I had to guess, I’d say his group, whoever they are, are at war with the Storm Callers. As for who’s in charge at the moment… Only one way to find out.”

  The others nodded. They needed to hurry home as fast as possible.

  “Make it happen,” Kim said and they moved to the stern, giving Andreas room to concentrate.

  As the sea raged around him their tiny boat pushed forward, moving at full speed for Kaldfell.

  His mind was racing. What had become of his old friends, his family? If sorcerers had taken over, it could be worse than he could possibly imagine. What if they were connected to this Lady Mowain character, to her cult, and all of Kaldfell had already been infested?

  If that were the case, it might already be too late.

  Either way, they were going to find out.

  CHAPTER EIGHTEEN

  The group worked their way over the ledge and down into the maze below. It wasn’t an actual maze, but the fallen rocks and carved walls and tunnels, along with various unnatural obstacles that had been created along the way, certainly made it seem like one.

  “Think they put this here in case they were ever discovered?” Estair asked as they passed the first wall of the maze, going left as Alastar had been able to see from above. “Or maybe this is part of some weird ritual?”

  “I
think we’ll be lucky to make it out of here alive,” Rhona said, then covered her mouth and glanced back at the kids.

  Lannis and Kia stared back at her with wide eyes, but soldiered on.

  “One thing about us in a maze,” Alastar said with a smile, “is that we can cheat.” With that, he waved his hand and focused on his light spirit. She appeared, zipped forward, and began moving along the walls of the cave.

  In the distance the swirling light and shadow was still visible, inadvertently leading them to their goal. As they walked deeper they heard chanting, then a scream. Alastar picked up the pace without saying anything, and the others followed suit. They didn’t need to be told that someone was being hurt and they were the only ones who could possibly do anything about it.

  Soon the rocks took on more of a red shade, and it was almost enough of a distraction to cause Alastar to miss the thin string that had been tied across the passage there. He noticed the reflection from his fairy glint off the string, then paused with his hands out. A glance around showed a wall with holes in it.

  “Darts?” he whispered.

  Rhona nodded, moving on, then said, “Let’s not linger to find out.”

  They almost stepped on a spot that, in retrospect, was clearly a trap in the floor, but the closest they came to being discovered was when they rounded a corner and found two guards moving their way. They seemed as surprised as Alastar had been.

  Estair was quick to act, taking down one with an arrow while Lannis sent his wind spirit to circle the other man like a ghost. That was enough distraction for Alastar to move in and get rid of the guard.

  “Smart thinking,” Rhona said to the boy, and he beamed.

  “Look for opportunities to do that again,” Alastar interjected. “It could be useful as a distraction.”

  “Got it,” Lannis replied, a look of determination washing over him. It was better than the terror that had been there moments before.

  They didn’t hit any dead ends, not with the fairy leading them, and soon emerged into an open chamber where, at the far end, they found their objective. Lady Mowain was there, along with a group of people in robes and a few regular soldiers.

  As soon as Lady Mowain saw them, she smiled.

  “We’ve grown so lonely here,” she stated. “Come, let us play.”

  At a nod of her head the others turned on them, ready to attack. The guards came first, but as Alastar and Donnon went to meet them it quickly became apparent that they were there only as a distraction. Rhona hadn’t bought it, though, and used the shadows to take out the sorcerers who had started to cast their own spells.

  One of the survivors kicked a lever that caused jagged stones to be tossed into the air. Wind then burst into the cavern and pushed the stones like darts so that they swooshed through the air at Alastar and his companions. He had time to turn and cast a shield over the children and Estair, but he, Rhona, and Donnon were hit by the small rocks, which lodged in their skin. The projectiles hadn’t been moving fast enough to go right through, but it had certainly been enough to cause a damn lot of pain.

  “Get them out!” he shouted, already working a healing spell.

  Kia, meanwhile stepped up and shouted, “Dad,” then pushed fire. Even against the winds being thrown at them, the flames surged toward the sorcerers. More wind tried to send them back, but then Lannis did his part and created a wind tunnel that flowed beneath their pushes so that when Donnon and Estair joined in to strengthen the flames they flew forward and hit the group in the middle.

  Shouts of surprise rose from the enemy as some rolled on the ground, and one ran straight into a wall before falling backward to be consumed by the flames. Now it was Rhona’s turn. She stepped up and swiped with both hands, causing the shadows to move across her enemies and tear them to shreds.

  On her second strike, however, another shadow hand collided with hers and the force of it sent her stumbling back. Lady Mowain leered at them, then turned and made her way out of there.

  “Don’t let her escape!” Alastar shouted and ran after her while the others turned on the remaining sorcerers. This time the attack came from a wave behind them, in the form of what appeared to be water but smoked when it hit the ground. The sorcerers must have mixed something with the water, Alastar figured, dodging a second strike from the liquid and watching Rhona move the group out of harm’s way below.

  He glanced after the goddess, debated, and then decided he had to be sure that none of his group was injured. He couldn’t just leave them there.

  Darting back, Alastar cast a spell upon his group that gave them greater stamina and agility, then headed for the sorcerers. A strike came and he whipped his cloak around as he put up a shield. Good thing, too, because half the cloak melted in a burst of smoke. He quickly tore it off and ran forward.

  They didn’t have time for a second strike, not once he and his sword were among them. With quick thrusts and parries, along with a secondary attack from his companions and their magic, the sorcerers and the few soldiers were soon taken care of.

  “After her!” Alastar shouted, and they charged.

  The chase led them up now, along a slick cavern floor that wasn’t so much a path as an obstacle course. Stalagmites and jagged rocks covered the floor, and in places there were human bones and the like. How many sacrificial ceremonies or other strange practices had occurred in this place? The thought made him sick.

  “Stay close,” Donnon said, though it wasn’t clear if he was saying it to his daughter or Rhona. Alastar had to smile, considering that both were more powerful than he—though not as experienced, he supposed. Still, Donnon might do better being sure to stay close to them than worrying about it being the other way.

  Light appeared ahead and the form of the goddess disappeared through it, and soon they piled out as well.

  Once they reached the top they found that they were in a bit of a sunken area surrounded by ledges. On the ledges, hooded sorcerers stood at the ready. Lady Mowain took her place at the far end and turned with a smile.

  “Now,” she commanded, and the real chaos commenced.

  Ice erupted from the ground and assaulted them from above at the same time, and a crack of lightning would have hit Alastar if not for the protective field he had cast the moment he saw the trap. All of the magic was bearing down on him though, and he could feel it like a thousand punches striking his chest. He shouted while the others prepared counter-spells, and then Donnon called, “Let it go!”

  He did, and immediately a retaliatory attack shot out from his friends, fire and shadow striking at the sorcerers, but Lady Mowain did her part to keep the attacks at bay. Both sides continued to assault the other with waves of spells, only to throw their own canceling waves up at the last minute each time.

  Lady Mowain shouted in frustration and swirled her hands. The light and darkness around them did her bidding, and the sorcerers joined in to amplifying her powers.

  The ground began to shake as the air vibrated and then rocks jutted from the ground. Even the sorcerers weren’t all safe. Some fell over, and others were lost in newly created fissures.

  Both sides pushed their magical powers to their limits, and it only got worse. Then, with a mighty crack, the island split in two. One part slid one way, while the other moved back as it partially collapsed into the sea. Rhona and Alastar found themselves on the former, the rest on the latter.

  Alastar ran to the edge and nearly fell into the water, but caught himself at the last minute. A barrage of ice spears came at him from Lady Mowain’s closest sorcerers, but Kia appeared from the opposite island’s tree line, hitting the ice and then the sorcerers with a barrage of flames. The sorcerers fell back, some hit, others countering the flames with walls of ice that served as temporary defenses.

  “Rhona!” Kia screamed as the two halves of the island drifted farther from each other. Donnon caught the girl as she tried to build up enough speed to jump. Estair stood at the edge of the island, shooting arrows at the sorcerers on
the other side—the side that now held only bad guys plus Rhona and Alastar. But there was nothing they could do about the split lands.

  The land shook again, this time trees were toppling over and rocks being dislodged as Kia and the others disappeared from view.

  The siblings were on their own.

  CHAPTER NINETEEN

  The shaking and splitting earth had left Alastar and Rhona alone with the goddess on the other side, but many of the sorcerers were still on the same land mass as she was, Kia realized as her eyes slowly opened.

  A groan escaped her as she sat up and rubbed her head. She had apparently been knocked down during the chaos, had maybe even lost consciousness. They were moving past her, several of them, not even noticing that she was there.

  Typical.

  She was glad the groan hadn’t been loud enough to catch their attention. Inching her way back, she found shelter at a point where vines curled over a rock and grew plentifully, giving her plenty of cover.

  Where were the others? Careful not to give herself away, she adjusted her position, leaning forward to try to spot them. Rocks jutted from the ground at crude angles, trees had toppled over, and the dust was still settling, creating a haze that sparkled in the light.

  One of the sorcerers shouted and moved his hands as if to create a spell.

  That likely meant he had spotted one of her friends, and she couldn’t have that. At risk of giving herself away she focused on creating fire in front of him, thinking it would at least distract him.

  Except that nothing happened.

  The only way she could figure it, she had exhausted herself already. She needed time for the energy to come back so she could cast her magic. And this might have been the worst possible moment.

  Sparks began to form around the sorcerer’s hands, and she decided she couldn’t just sit here hiding while someone she knew was attacked, even if she was outmatched.