Eternal Palace (Sexcraft Chronicles Book 4)

by Edmund Hughes

  “Lord Halrin,” he said. “There is something that you need to know.”

  Laurel stiffened. “He doesn’t need to know!”

  “He does,” said the Maxim. “You’ve accepted what it means, Laurel, but not the responsibility that comes with it. Therefore, Lord Halrin will also need to bear his share.”

  Laurel didn’t say anything. Hal resisted the urge to ask questions, letting the Maxim take his time organizing his explanation.

  “Laurel is my daughter,” said Maxim Cedric. He didn’t elaborate any further, and the simplicity of the statement almost contradicted the depth of what it meant. Hal’s puzzlement must have shown on his face.

  “My birth mother… my real mother… worked in a brothel,” whispered Laurel. “I’d always heard the rumors of my heritage, that my father had gone behind my mother’s back and gotten a prostitute with child. That he’d been forced to adopt her, once the woman threatened to reveal the truth. It was almost the truth. Maxim Cedric… was my real father. And he asked my parents to adopt me to keep my heritage secret.”

  Maxim Cedric placed a hand on her shoulder. It was clear that the two of them had already spoken on the topic many times before. Hal wasn’t sure what to say, or if anything needed to be said.

  “I should have done more,” whispered Maxim Cedric.

  “You did more than enough,” said Laurel. “The man I thought to be my father…”

  “He was a good man,” said Maxim Cedric.

  “He didn’t want me,” said Laurel. “He was ashamed of the rumors. Of the damage my existence did to his image. He tried to turn Willum and I against each other, and… it was only because of you that I was looked after.”

  “I did what I could,” whispered Maxim Cedric. “And I wish I’d done more.”

  “You did enough,” said Laurel. “Which is why it’s my turn, now, to do what I can for you. I’ll fight to defend you, if I have to. It isn’t fair for it to end like this!”

  “I agree,” said Maxim Cedric. “It isn’t fair, at all.”

  Shouts came from outside the castle, loud enough to be heard even through the Maxim’s closed window. Hal walked over to take a look outside. The vanguard for the elven army was attacking the city, aided in their advance by the fog in the same way it had hidden him and Karnas on their approach.

  “Lord Halrin?” said Maxim Cedric.

  “Milord?” Hal lowered himself down on one knee, feeling as though it was only appropriate.

  “Can you carry Laurel’s weight easily enough?”

  Hal hesitated, and then nodded.

  “Then please,” said Maxim Cedric. “I beg of you, Lord Halrin. Get my daughter out of here and keep her safe, even if it’s against her will!”

  Hal looked at Laurel, who was already shaking her head. He set a hand on her shoulder and tried to guide her from the room. Three roars came from outside the window, one after another, as the elven army’s dragons emerged from the fog and descended on the city.

  “No,” said Laurel. “I won’t leave!”

  “Laurel,” said Hal. “There’s nothing you can do.”

  “But–”

  He gripped her by the shoulders and turned her to face him. “It’s too late. There is nothing you can do to save Meldence if you stay here. You’re more useful to the city and Krestia’s Cradle if you’re safe, and out of danger.”

  He hesitated, unsure of what exactly it meant for her to be the Maxim’s daughter. Would she inherit the position on the Maxim’s death? He wasn’t sure if it worked like that, but suspected that at the very least, she’d inherit his expansive holdings in Krestia’s Cradle.

  “Fine,” she said. She went to Maxim Cedric’s side once more, and the two shared whispered words that Hal couldn’t make out. Maxim Cedric kissed her on the forehead, and she slowly rose to follow Hal out of the room.

  CHAPTER 27

  One of the guards outside Maxim Cedric’s bedchamber was gone, moving to take care of duties elsewhere in the castle. The other was gripping his spear so tightly in his hands as to make his knuckles go white.

  “Keep him safe,” Laurel said, to the guard. The guard saluted, standing at attention.

  The castle shook as something either crashed into it, or landed on top of it. Hal gripped Laurel by the hand and began pulling her down the stairs as quickly as he could without tripping herself up.

  “Busher is waiting for me in the council chambers,” said Laurel. “He can help us escape!”

  She gestured down a hallway to their left. Hal took a few steps forward, pausing as the ceiling overhead let out a creak from outside stress. He stepped back not a second too soon, the hallway collapsing in a burst of rock and dust an instant later.

  “We don’t have time to find another route,” said Hal. “He’ll have to find a way to help here.”

  Laurel didn’t object. Hal pulled her in the direction of the nearest exit, stopping briefly for a group of soldiers sprinting through an intersection in single file. Shouts of combat were already coming from the direction the men were headed in.

  Could the elven vanguard have moved through the town that quickly?

  He found an answer to his question as he and Laurel stepped out into the castle courtyard. The dragons were dropping soldiers off, dragoons with heavy armor and fearsome halberds. Hal swore under his breath, drawing his pistol with one hand and keeping a tight hold on Laurel with the other.

  “They’re attacking the castle!” said Laurel. “We have to fight them!”

  She ran a finger over the ruby ring she wore. It had once belonged to her brother Willum, and as far as Hal knew, she’d never had the time to learn to use it properly. He had serious doubts over whether she’d be able to even cast a single spell with it under pressure.

  “We can’t win this fight,” said Hal. “Maxim Cedric has good men loyal to him. They’ll be able to hold the castle.”

  The city as a whole, on the other hand…

  “Hal!” shouted Laurel. “We can’t just leave!”

  He shrugged, appreciating the fact that the Maxim had suggested he drag Laurel out of the city, if need be. He started moving, pulling her by the wrist. She didn’t dig her heels in, following him willingly, with only minor reluctance.

  Hal’s plan was simple. If he could get himself and Laurel outside of the city walls and out of range of the elven invaders, he could rely on Karnas to swoop in and save them. He wasn’t sure where the crystal anchor that Jessa had spoken of was, but he could re-enter her sanctum and work through those details once he and Laurel had made it to safety.

  He felt a stab of worry as he thought of Mauve and the rest of Mauve’s traveling party. Had they managed to make it clear of Meldence before the attack had started? It was possible, but only if they’d left immediately after Hal had spoken to Mauve. It seemed more likely that they were trapped, like so many of the people stuck in Meldence by circumstance or stubbornness.

  I can’t go looking for him, now. I can only hope that he’s okay.

  Hal saw elven soldiers engaging with the city’s guards as he and Laurel entered the streets. Whereas the city had seemed abandoned before, they now felt crowded and chaotic. The dragons circled overhead, occasionally dipping low to breathe flames onto a building or group of soldiers, causing the few people who were left to panic and stumble in their haste to flee.

  One of the dragons curved its flight path, its eyes locking onto Hal and Laurel as it swept low on another pass. Hal aimed his pistol, pulling the trigger, channeling ruby essence, and casting Flame Shield just as the monster exhaled a burst of fire in their direction.

  “Stay close to me!” shouted Hal. He tried to stay calm. He was worried, not for himself, but for Laurel. Protecting her would make it difficult for him to engage with any enemies they encountered.

  They hurried down a side street, ignoring the corpse of an overweight man who’d been struck down near against the wall of one of the adjacent buildings. They emerged on the other side into a section
of street where the fog hadn’t yet dissipated. They could see figures ahead of them, but it was impossible to make out whether they were friend or foe.

  Hal was tempted to switch his pistol for his short sword, but decided against it. His pistol would be of less use in close quarters combat, but he couldn’t afford to let go of Laurel to give himself room to fight properly.

  Instead, he hurried forward with her, pointing his gun at anyone who came close. The elves were smaller than the humans, even though most of them were heavily armed dragoons. One of them stepped to block their path, pulling back his spear to thrust at Hal. He focused his will and unloaded a Flame Shot into the dragoon’s face. It didn’t do enough damage to destroy the elf’s helm, but it was enough to make him clutch at his eyes and face, giving them a chance to push past.

  Screams were coming from every direction. Hal had to resist the temptation to use Wind Dash as he saw more dragoons cutting across the street ahead. Again, there was no way he could risk it with Laurel. Any amount of distance between them was room for them to be separated.

  The extent of the carnage was unreal. The elven soldiers seemed to have been given orders to spare no one. People were being dragged out of houses and executed in the street. The fog made it hard to tell what was going on, but the people left in the city were quickly realizing that there were no safe places to run to.

  They turned around a street corner, and almost ran straight into another scene of slaughter. A group of dragoons had rounded up a few civilians, and was slowly spearing through each one, leaving their bodies to bleed out on the stone brick.

  Laurel tensed, and for a crucial second, she resisted Hal, frozen in place. The dragoons noticed them, two splitting off to intercept them. Hal glanced over his shoulder. The Maxim’s guards were in a heated fight against elven soldiers behind them, cutting off the most direct line of escape.

  “Stay behind me,” said Hal. He felt anxious as he let go of her to draw his sword, but there was no other option. He cocked his pistol and cast Flame Shot at the foremost of the dragoons, pushing into a Ruby Trance as he did.

  The rush of emotion brought him into an alert state, but was also dangerously intoxicating. Hal felt like a wolf, a predator facing off against prey in the midst of a hunt. He would finish them quickly, pull Laurel free of the ruined city, and celebrate victory. It was an addictive feeling, so alive and vivid in the moment.

  The dragoons hesitated, seeing the crimson glow of his eyes and the thrum of power around his body. Hal rushed forward, swinging his sword and using Flame Strike to split open the armor of the nearest one. His sword only scraped across the thick metal of the elf’s breastplate, but the superheated flames melted through slightly, deforming the armor and weakening it.

  The other dragoons involved in the massacre had finished and were beginning to join their fellows in battle. Hal stabbed forward with a Flame Strike into the helm of one of the new arrivals, finding the eye slit and feeling a rush of dark, satisfaction as the fire burned out everything within.

  He dodged a spear strike, splitting the weapon in half with a downward sword strike. The dragoons were trying to surround him. Where was Laurel? Hal glanced back where he’d left her. She was hiding behind the edge of an alleyway.

  A kick slammed into Hal’s shoulders, strengthened by the heavy metal boot of the elf responsible. Hal tumbled forward into a roll, pulling from the Kye Lornis to keep his momentum flowing. He slashed at the legs of his enemies as he came to a stop on one knee, but didn’t do any obvious damage.

  He fired three Flame Shots in quick succession, feeling his ruby reserves begin to dwindle from his heavy spell usage. More dragoons were arriving by the second. Hal gritted his teeth, his anger pushing him to take stupid risks. He grabbed the spear of the next dragoon to attack him and diverted the strike into an elf attempting to sneak up on him from behind.

  Laurel screamed. Hal almost howled in reaction. He slashed his sword in front of him and then turned to face her. A small group of elven soldiers had made their way up the street from behind. One of them held her by the arms. She was struggling. One of the others laughed, reaching over to tear a rip into her tunic.

  No. This isn’t happening.

  A single thought echoed in Hal’s head. Jessa had forced him through her trials. She hadn’t told him her secrets outright, instead forcing him into situations where they revealed themselves, under stress and impossible odds. Hal felt something deep inside him, a pounding, furious strength. Just as he’d found the answers to Jessa’s trials, he’d found this.

  It came out as a roar, the noise ripped from the essence of his being. His emotions imploded, passion and anger pulling together and becoming a focused, singular core, before exploding back out and emerging as something real. Fire bled from Hal’s eyes, mouth, and palms, swirling around his form like slithering pythons.

  Hal could barely hear the sounds of battle around him, and time seemed to stretch, the moment lasting for an eternity, in its own way. The enemies nearest to him had taken a step back. He didn’t care about them. His thoughts were muted and primal, his emotions displacing logic and reason for control of him.

  He saw Laurel and the elves holding her. Two of the elves were trying to force her toward the alleyway, still ripping at her clothes. Hal’s anger was cold, now, and he barely even considered what he was doing as he reached out with his hand and focused his passion.

  The spell was something he’d never done before. Fire pushed forward from his hand, holding the shape of his fingers and palm, but enlarging until it was twice the size of a person. It closed the distance to Laurel and her captors, and then carefully began pulling them off her and tossing them away.

  Each touch of the flaming fingers caused an elf to scream in pain, fire greedily burning through whatever little fuel their body could provide. The burning hand was careful, pulling the elves loose from Laurel in the same way Hal might skin an orange, focusing on causing no damage to what lay beneath.

  Escape. Leave this place.

  Laurel was free, and aware enough to hurry over to Hal. The other dragoons, the ones who been fighting him originally, were slowly backing away. Hal’s thoughts were a muddied, emotional mess. He just wanted to get Laurel out of there.

  He drew his pistol, cocked the hammer, and cast Flame Shot in the direction of the city wall, which was a hundred or so feet distant. The blast that erupted from his gun was wider across than he was tall. A dozen elves dropped dead, incinerated by the blast without even slowing it down.

  Hal dropped, first to his knees, and then flat on his stomach. The pounding on his head was too much for him, and he felt his eyes rolling up into the back of his head as he lost consciousness.

  CHAPTER 28

  Ascension. How was it that Cadrian described it?

  “Halrin… please.”

  It’s more efficient than a Ruby Trance, but I was completely out of control. Every spell was as big, and as powerful, as I could possibly cast.

  “Halrin! They’re coming!”

  My heartgem is almost empty of ruby essence. I’ll have to weigh the benefits of going that far in the future.

  “Wake up, Halrin! Please!”

  Hal felt hands hitting down on his chest, and then shaking him. He groaned, and then winced. His temples were pounding with the most severe headache he’d ever had in his life. It was hard to think, hard to remember what was going on.

  He opened his eyes. Laurel was leaning over him, her face contorted with worry and fear. He stretched one of his arms out, feeling his fingers scraping across stone and dirt.

  “What… happened?” he muttered.

  She didn’t answer him. She lifted his arm up and snuck under, pulling him to his feet. Hal’s body felt weak, and his legs threatened to buckle beneath him as he stood. His clothes were singed, and it took him a second to remember the fire, the magic, and entering Ruby Ascension.

  The battle was still fully underway all around them. No more than a minute or two could ha
ve passed since the last thing he remembered, the massive, destructive Flame Shot he’d unleashed on the city’s wall. A charred black trail on the ground showed the path the spell had taken. Two houses had been destroyed, along with half a dozen elven dragoons, and a section of the city wall large enough for people to pass through.

  The elves who he’d been fighting against were dead, both the ones who’d taken Laurel and the ones who’d been blocking their escape. Who else was dead, beyond them? Hal hadn’t been in a state of mind to consider the effect of his spell on innocents.

  “Who else?” he mumbled. “Laurel… Who did I kill?”

  “Just the elves,” she said, quickly. Perhaps a little too quickly.

  She helped him forward, and after a few steps, Hal could walk on his own. It felt like their roles had reversed as she pulled him forward across the ruined city street. They were careful as they passed through the hole that Hal’s spell had made, not touching the edges out of fear of triggering a collapse in the wall above.

  Sounds of chaos and terror blended into a chorus from the city behind him. Hal did everything he could to keep his thoughts on what was happening, to keep himself from going back to the memories of the attack on his family’s estate, or the chaos of the Dragongrounds. His hands were shaking again, making his weapons feel like they were going to fall loose at any instant. He took a deep breath, forcing himself to keep it together, for Laurel’s sake, if not his own.

  They were a few hundred feet out of the city when the heavy flapping of wings came from overhead. Hal glanced over his shoulder, expecting to see Karnas, coming to their rescue.

  It was another dragon, and that was all Hal needed to know to react to the situation. He dove into Laurel, throwing her to the ground and off to one side. The dragon’s fire breath swept across the spot they’d been standing less than a second earlier.

  It landed in front of them, apparently not content to just attack from the air. Hal hurried to position Laurel behind him, but it was a pointless gesture. His heartgem had no ruby essence left in it. There was nothing he could do, for her or for himself.