“They do?”
Sharim nodded. “You’re basically scrying each other. The crystals do all the work, but the magic is the same.”
Jez let out a breath in frustration. “I don’t know what to do. I was sure we had him. You saw the circle too right? I wasn’t imagining that.”
“I saw it,” Sharim said. “I didn’t know what the runes meant, but I saw it.”
“Could Varin have hidden it from Villia somehow?”
Sharim shook his head and motioned to the ceiling. Jez could imagine the stars dancing there. When Sharim saw the expression on Jez’s face, he nodded. “Villia is one of the most skilled illusionists in the kingdom. Certainly, there’s no one within a hundred miles that can match her.”
“What about Lina?”
Sharim let out a bark of laughter, but it only lasted a few seconds. “I’m sorry. Lina is good. There’s no doubt about that, but Villia is something else entirely. I heard she turned down the position of Shadow Master at the Academy. There’s no way Lina could fool her.”
An idea struck Jez. “Could she fool you?”
“What?”
“Could she fool you? You said you thought someone was there. Could she have been in the room when we were there, hidden by some illusion.”
“It’s possible,” Sharim said slowly.
“What if she made the illusion of the circle?”
Sharim looked up at him. “You mean it might not have really been there?”
Jez shrugged. “Villia was right. If it was there, I should’ve been able to smell it, but we both saw it.”
Sharim bit his lower lip and considered that for a second. His eyes wandered to the ceiling, no doubt envisioning Villia’s stars instead of the plain brown stone.
“It makes sense,” he said finally. “Why would she do it though?”
Jez stood up, certain he was on to something. “So I would do exactly what I did. She knew Villia wouldn’t find a circle because there was nothing to find. By making it so the king won’t listen to me, she’s made sure he won’t believe me if I accuse her.”
“Accuse her of what?”
“Of trying to summon a demon lord.”
Sharim stared at him for a second. “Don’t you think you’re jumping to conclusions?”
Jez shook his head. “You don’t understand. Even if it was just an illusion, those were real runes. She has to have seen them somewhere and studied them at least well enough to duplicate them.” He started walking toward the door. He pulled it open and turned around. “Come on. What are you waiting for?”
“Where are we going?”
“We’re going to search Lina’s room for proof.”
Sharim blinked. “How do you suggest we get in? I don’t think we’re going to talk our way through the guards this time.”
Jez ran his fingers along the wall and closed his eyes. He sent his power flowing through the stone until it became like putty to his mind. He concentrated and the wall rippled, forming a hole no larger than Jez’s fist. Sharim gasped and Jez opened his eyes.
“The room next to hers won’t be so well guarded.”
CHAPTER 21
As it turned out, the room next to Lina’s quarters was well guarded. It belonged to one of her personal attendants and had direct access to her chamber. The room above, however, was an empty storage chamber filled with boxes and covered in dust. Jez pried one open, kicking up a cloud of dust that set him coughing for several seconds. Inside the crate, he found a faded tapestry with the ends frayed. He put the cover back on and returned his attention to the floor. He knelt and ran his fingers across it, leaving a trail in the dust. He closed his eyes and concentrated.
He sensed the ward just before it slapped him in the face.
The next thing Jez knew, he was on the ground three feet away from where he’d been. A low chime rang in the air, but it faded after a second. Sharim rushed to his side.
“What happened?”
Jez shook his head. “I should’ve realized this way wouldn’t be unprotected. That chime was supposed to be an alarm, but it looks like no one’s bothered to maintain it.”
“Does that mean you can’t get through?”
“Give me a second.”
Once again, Jez extended his senses into the stone, but this time, he did so slowly. He found himself clucking his tongue. The ward was terrible. Thick cords of power ran through the stone, ready to lash out at any energy that tried to cross. They were strong, but strong like diamonds were strong. One hit delivered in the proper manner could shatter them. He could probably do it. It wouldn’t even be that difficult. He considered it for a second before rejecting the idea. The ward itself may have fallen into disrepair, but if he were to break it entirely, his efforts might well be noticed. He would do no one any good if he ended up in a cell next to Osmund.
Gingerly, he touched one of the chords of power without trying to move past it. It quivered, but didn’t attack. Slowly, he wrapped his consciousness around it and pulled, trying to get it out of his way, but it was like trying to move a house. It moved, but only a fraction of an inch before snapping back into place. Briefly, he considered using Luntayary’s power, but that was risky in the best of times. Fortunately, there was another source of power nearby. His eyes locked on Sharim.
“Have you ever formed a contingent?”
“Once. Mage Villia showed me.”
“I think we need one.”
“It took us an hour to form it.”
Jez shrugged. “Do you have anything better to do?”
“I’m not sure we should be doing this.”
“It’s this or go back,” Jez said.
Sharim sighed. “What do we use for the joining thought?”
Jez pointed to the box containing the tapestry. “Let’s try that.”
They both concentrated. In order to form a contingent to combine a portion of their power, they needed to have the exact same thought while attempting to interweave their magical senses. The more complicated the thought, the more completely they could join their power. It was difficult even with a simple image, but all they needed to set it off was one instant of shared thought.
The moment their powers touched, Jez cried out. His mind felt like it was on fire. He realized he had fallen and picked himself off the ground. He looked at the other boy who was rubbing his head, though he seemed to have kept his feet.
“What happened?”
“We didn’t match up. What were you thinking of?”
Sharim pointed. “That box.”
Jez’s vision swam, and it was several seconds before he could maintain his balance. He let out a breath. “We were looking at it from different angles.”
Sharim blinked several times before nodding. “How about just a black background?”
“Maybe,” Jez said. “I’m just not sure that would provide enough power.”
“We have to start somewhere.”
Jez shrugged. “I guess so.”
He formed the background in his mind. Even such a simple image, it was difficult. There was the black of coal and the black of night, and Master Balud had several figures carved of a black wood. In the end, Jez focused on the obsidian of the Academy tower. As long as he could get close to Sharim’s thought, they should be able to establish a link, though it may not be very effective. Again, he tried to join his senses with Sharim’s. This time, they formed a tenuous link. Images were superimposed onto Jez’s sight. It was like he could see himself, though it was only a dim outline.
“What?”
His voice seemed to come from two places at once, though one was much fainter. Sharim tried to take a step, but fell. Jez’s vision shifted, and he felt a faint tingling on his elbow. Sharim was rubbing his own elbow, and a bruise had started to form.
“Let’s get this over with,” Jez said, trying to ignore the peculiar doubling of his own voice.
Sharim nodded, and the movement made Jez feel dizzy, and he had to grab onto the crate to keep his
balance. When Besis had shown him this technique, it hadn’t been nearly this disorienting. Of course that link had taken a full hour to establish, and Jez wondered if there was something he was missing, but he had neither the time nor the means to figure that out.
He closed his eyes. It helped, but he was left with a faint afterimage. He could see himself, and he guessed the image was coming from Sharim’s eyes. Before he could ask the other boy to close his eyes, the vision vanished. Jez drew power from Sharim and joined it with his own. A wave of nausea washed over him, and he resisted the urge to double over and throw up. Sharim’s power felt like an oily slime going down his throat. It felt so alien, and he had to fight the instinct to pull away. Instead, he extended their combined senses, wrapping them around one of the ward's chords.
Jez grunted as he pulled. For a second, it seemed like nothing would happen. Then, the darkness flowing in from Sharim swelled. The chord moved an inch. Then another. Sweat formed on Jez’s brow, and he pulled with everything he had. Slowly, the chord moved, opening the way to the stone itself. The ground rippled, and a circular hole appeared in the floor between them. It expanded slowly until it was wide enough for them to fit through. Jez let out a breath and released Sharim’s power. The other boy slumped to the floor, but Jez peered down the hole and into Lina’s quarters.
CHAPTER 22
Lina’s room was surprisingly empty. The bed looked wide enough to sleep ten and had a golden frame that was probably worth more than most people see in a lifetime, and there was a cabinet of rose wood in one corner, but those were the only pieces of furniture. Even the walls were bare. He looked up at Sharim. The other boy was rummaging around in the storage crates. He pulled out a rope and passed it to Jez.
“Lower me down,” he said. “I’ll look around and you can raise me back up.”
“Don’t you think it should be me?”
Sharim shook his head. “You’re no good with illusions. If there’s something hidden there, I should be the one to look for it.”
“You don’t know what you’re looking for,” Jez said.
Sharim rolled his eyes. “A book with a lot of runes, right?”
“There are a lot of different kinds of runes.”
“But Lina supposedly only knows illusions. That’s not a school that uses very many runes, and I know all of those. Besides, it’s not likely she’ll have a book of demon summoning out in the open. So I’ll just bring back any hidden book filled with runes I don’t recognize.”
Jez didn’t like it, but Sharim had a point. He nodded, and the other boy tied the rope around his waist. Sharim was plump and a little taller than Jez. Jez grunted as he held Sharim’s weight. It was easier than he expected. In addition to studying magic and a variety of other subjects at the Academy, Jez had spent time learning the sword, and hours of practice had hardened his muscles. He lowered Sharim to the ground in a few seconds and peaked into the hole to watch as Sharim examined the room.
Sharim opened the cabinet. It was mostly gowns and other clothes, but half a dozen books lined a shelf at the top. Sharim ran his fingers along the spines and pulled one out. He thumbed through the pages before shaking his head and returning it to the shelf. He lowered his head and concentrated. A few seconds later, he looked to one side. He glanced up and smiled before walking to the other side of the room, outside of Jez’s sight. There was a flash of violet and Sharim came back with a leather-bound book that had cracks on the cover.
“I think this is it. It was hidden behind a loose stone in the wall. There was an illusion over it to make it look smooth.”
“Did you put the illusion back?”
“Oh right.”
Sharim looked to where he’d gotten the book for a second. “There. Pull me back up.”
Jez grunted and braced himself. He pulled, and Sharim inched up. The rope was old and it hurt Jez’s hands. His muscles ached by the time he’d brought the other boy high enough for him to climb out. Restoring stone in the floor proved no great challenge, though it didn’t exactly match the rest of the floor. Jez hoped the other side was at least close enough not to be noticed right away, but there was nothing more he could do. He took the book from Sharim and opened it. It was so old that the spine cracked. The book was written in a language Jez didn’t know, though he recognized it as one he’d known once, before Sariel had locked his memories away. His eyes locked onto a symbol of a closed eye cut in half.
“Marrowit.”
The word escaped his lips before he realized he’d spoken. Sharim was staring at him. His jaw had dropped and his eyes were so wide it was almost funny. He opened and closed his mouth a few times before he was able to speak.
“We...” The word came out as a squeak. Sharim took a deep breath and cleared his throat. “We were right? She’s really trying to summon a demon lord?”
Jez nodded. “Yes.” He flipped through the pages, but aside from an occasional rune, he had no idea what any of it meant. “This must be how Dusan learned to summon Marrowit. Who knows what else it says.”
“How did Lina get it?”
“I have no idea.” He lifted the book. “Will this be enough to convince the king?”
Sharim started to nod, but let out a breath and shook his head. “We have no way to prove where we got it. We could put it back, but then we’d have to convince the king to have her room searched.”
“He wouldn’t do that,” Jez said, “not after finding nothing in Varin’s room”
“Maybe we can manipulate her into incriminating herself. If she accuses openly us of taking the book...”
Jez started pacing. The rope got tangled in his legs and he kicked it away. “Again with the subtly. We don’t have time.”
Sharim put a hand on Jez’s shoulder. “We have the book, and from what you’re telling me, she couldn’t summon Marrowit even if she had it.”
“She might be able to adapt it.”
“But not without the book. We may have, at least, bought a little time.”
“Fine,” Jez said as he forced himself to calm down, “but I’m going to warn Osmund.”
“Maybe it would be better if you didn’t.” Jez glared at him, but Sharim only shrugged. “I only mean that he’s accused of murder. If you’re seen as being too close to him, it could damage your reputation even more. You don’t want to give Lina anything else she can use against you.”
Jez shook his head. “You don’t understand. She doesn’t like me, but she hates him. She got that scar six months ago, and she still keeps that illusion over it. If she actually summons an upper level demon, who do you think she’ll send it after first?”
CHAPTER 23
Osmund was pacing back and forth in his cell. The small room only allowed him to take three steps before he had to turn around and go the other way. His anger was almost tangible, and there seemed to be a faint glow around him. Jez thought he could smell something burning, but he told himself it was only his imagination. When Osmund saw Jez, his expressions softened, but Jez could still see the anger just beneath the surface.
“Well, this is new,” Jez said.
“What is?”
“You. Normally, when you get thrown in the dungeon, you’re so depressed you’ll barely look up. I don’t think you stood up even once last time.”
“This is different,” Osmund said in a voice that wasn’t quite a shout.
“How so?”
“This time, I’m innocent. Do you know how you’re going to get me out of here?”
“Not yet. We know it was Lina who actually killed those men, or at least she summoned the demons who did.”
“Really?”
“You seem surprised.”
Osmund shrugged. “Jez, I don’t know. She’s a spoiled brat, but I don’t think she’d summon demons to kill someone, and why would she send them against her own people instead of me?”
Jez shrugged. “I’ve given up trying to understand politics.”
“This isn’t politics. It’s common sens
e. Besides, do you really think she could? She didn’t go the Academy for that long, and I don’t think she’s ever studied summoning.”
“That was six months ago,” Jez said, “and there places besides the Academy where things like that can be learned.”
Osmund rolled his eyes. “Jez, be serious. She’s not going to learn to summon a demon of the third order in six months.”
“Maybe not, but that’s obviously not stopping her from summoning lesser demons.”
“I don’t know.”
“Why are you defending her?”
“Because if we’re wrong, I don’t want the real summoner to get away.”
“Look, I just came down here to warn you. Lina might send demons after you. Can you defend yourself?”
Osmund lifted a hand and wrinkled his brow in concentration. His hand took on a cherry red glow, and a curl of smoke rose from his fingers, but the light faded after a second.
“The wards around this place keep me from using any ordinary magic, but I think I can still transform.”
“Be careful,” Jez said. “I still don’t know what kind of demons these are. We’re doing what we can to get you out.”
“All right. Remember, court politics can be almost as dangerous as battle. You be careful yourself.”
“I will.”
Jez walked toward the stairs up, somewhat surprised that he didn’t see guards anywhere. He was halfway across the dungeon when his nose wrinkled at the smell of sulfur. He turned just in time to see three demons emerge from the shadows.
CHAPTER 24
The demons were covered in red scales and stood nearly as tall as Osmund himself. Their legs ended in cloven hooves, and their knees bent backward. Each hand had six bronze claws that almost seemed to glow with their own inner fire. Sinuous tongues flickered out of long faces, and curved horns rested atop their heads. Red hot flames burned in their eyes. Jez had studied these creatures at the Academy. They were chezamuts, the foot soldiers of the abyss.
Veilspeaker (Pharim War Book 2) Page 7