Veilspeaker (Pharim War Book 2)

by Martinez, Gama Ray

  There was silence for several long seconds before the king spoke.

  “How could we possibly stand against an army of a million demons?”

  Jez’s mouth went dry. Even if every mage from all across the kingdom were a master binder, they still wouldn’t be able to handle an army of that size. They wouldn’t be able to handle one a tenth that size.

  “We can’t,” he said, and the silence that followed felt like it would swallow the world.

  CHAPTER 30

  The door to the south tower creaked as Jez pushed it open. According to the king, this tower had been uninhabited for the last couple of years, and a layer of dust coated the stairs. It was a good indication that no one had been here, but still, he ran his fingers along the floor checking to see if the dust was an illusion. It didn’t seem to be, but he dashed up the stairs and checked every room. They were all empty, illuminated only by Jez’s lantern. Osmund let out a breath when they had come out again.

  “Do you really think they’re still in the keep?”

  “No,” Jez said, “but I’m not always right.”

  Osmund rolled his eyes. “We haven’t looked in the dungeon. Why don’t we check there next?”

  Jez glanced at him. “You were there when the demons attacked. We would’ve seen them if they had gone that way.” Jez bit his lower lip. “I guess it’s possible they could’ve snuck down while we were talking with Haziel. Good idea. We’ll go there.”

  Osmund groaned. “I was joking about that.”

  Jez shrugged. “It won’t take that long. After that, we can help search the city.”

  “That wasn’t exactly what I meant either,” Osmund said. “We’ve been going nonstop for hours. There are plenty of soldiers. Don’t you think we should take a break?”

  Jez’s hand tightened around his sword. He knew it was hurting him, but the damage it was doing was minor and he could barely feel it anymore. He shook his head as he led Osmund down the hall and to the stairs down to the prison. “It’s a fourth order demon, Osmund. Soldiers won’t be able to handle it. They probably couldn’t even handle Lina.”

  “The king’s mages are out looking too. Some of them are binders.”

  “You know this would be too much for an ordinary mage.”

  “It’ll be too much for you if you’re too tired to stand.”

  Jez held up his hand and sniffed at the air, but he didn’t smell anything. He poked his head around the corner, but the hall was empty, and he motioned to Osmund that they should keep going.

  “I’m fine.”

  “No you’re not. You’re losing yourself again.”

  Jez paused and looked at his friend. “That’s not going to happen. Sariel shut away those memories.”

  Osmund looked pointedly at the crystal sword. “Sariel also has to respect mortal choice. You’ve been relying on that sword almost exclusively. You studied binding for a reason, after all”

  “I don’t know the best way to bind every demon,” Jez lifted the sword. “I know this will work, though.”

  “You don’t necessarily need the best way,” Osmund pointed out. “Does it really matter if you use the second best way? Or the third, as long as the demon is gone?”

  Jez let out a breath. “Not really.”

  “Maybe you should put the sword away, at least for now. It’s not like it takes you a long time to bring it out.”

  “Am I really that different?”

  “Since we’ve gotten here, practically all you’ve cared about is finding who was summoning demons.”

  “It is kind of important.”

  “Definitely,” Osmund said. “But it shouldn’t be all you’re worried about. This is your first time in the capital, and you’re a baron. You’ve ignored court politics. Did you even step out of the keep?”

  “There wasn’t really time.”

  “That’s my point.”

  Jez pursed his lips and nodded. The sword dissolved, and Jez felt half dressed. The ache he’d gotten used to receded. He drew his physical sword and though the weapon was light compared to other such blades, it felt heavy and clumsy, and Jez suppressed a shiver. Osmund was right. Jez had known drawing too deeply of his power might burn through his flesh, but he hadn’t expected the trickle he’d been accessing to cause any lasting harm. He certainly hadn’t thought it would affect his mind. He would have to be careful with how he used it.

  His senses of mystical forces dimmed as they descended into the dungeon. Jez tried to make idle conversation, but he had trouble splitting his concentration away from their search. He looked down at his weapon, and his hand itched to hold his real sword. He told himself that was only because they were in the midst of danger. It was a reasonable enough explanation. He just wasn’t sure if he believed it.

  The first level of the dungeon was empty, though Jez couldn’t help but glance at the two cells Osmund had broken out of. The melted bars still hadn’t been repaired. Jez could almost feel ambient power emanating from them, though he was almost sure it was his imagination.

  As they went into the lower level, the wards thinned, and he knew it wouldn’t be nearly as difficult to access his power. No one had been down here in a long time, and the wards had been allowed to decay. None of the lanterns were lit, and Ziary summoned a ball of flame to float over his hand and light the way. They moved forward, but the floor here was uneven. Jez stumbled, and his foot splashed into a puddle. He groaned as a wave of stagnant stench rose from the water.

  “Ugh,” Osmund said. “That smells terrible. Can we just go back? They’re obviously not here.”

  Jez started to nod, but paused. How had water gotten down here? He’d seen none on the floor above. Granted, it could’ve been here for a long time, but there was another possible explanation. After all, it had almost made them turn away.

  He wove a ward against illusions of all types. It was an effort to push it past the wards, but as soon as he did, the smell vanished. Jez and Osmund exchanged glances, and Jez closed his eyes. He wove a larger ward, one that could encompass the entire floor. Someone cried out, and Jez and Osmund rushed forward. There, in one of the open cells wearing clothes that were more rag than formal attire sat Lina and her father.

  CHAPTER 31

  The two backed up when they saw Jez and Osmund. Lina’s eyes were locked on Osmund. Their clothes were ripped and Varin had a bruise on the left side of his face. He stood up straight and tried to appear confident, but his voice wavered.

  “Baron, you will escort us to the king.” He glanced at Osmund. “I will do you a favor and not report his escape, but he must leave now.”

  Osmund laughed, but he stopped when Jez glared at him. “Osmund has been declared innocent of any wrongdoing in attacking Lina as well as for the death of your men.”

  “What?” Lina’s eyes widened and her voice was a shriek.

  “You’re right about one thing. The king wants to see you.” Jez took a step forward and lifted his sword. “He wants an explanation for why you were summoning demons.”

  “What? That’s ridiculous. Haven’t we already dealt with this nonsense?”

  “It was clever of you to hide the summoning circle in Lina’s room.” Osmund said. “We didn’t find it until it was too late.” He turned to Lina. “Or was it you that did the summoning? Is that why you’re here? The demons got away from you, and you were looking for a place to hide?”

  Varin took a step forward and moved to walk past them. “I will not stand here and be accused.”

  He grunted as a blast of wind knocked him back and held him against the wall. Lina stood on shaky legs and stepped forward, her hands moving. She froze when Osmund lifted his sword and held it to her neck.

  “None of that,” Osmund said, his voice dripping with rage. “We’re not going to underestimate you.”

  “Why are you doing this?” Varin struggled to speak against the wind.

  Jez waved at Osmund, and the lord slid to the ground as the wind died. He looked up, but all confi
dence had drained from his face. He tried to speak but couldn’t seem to find his voice. Jez wove a ward, separating him from any power he may have. Varin’s shoulder slumped, and Jez did the same to Lina immediately after. She glared at him, but he ignored it. His workings would fall in the level above them where the wards were still strong, and he would have to redo them once they got back into the keep. For now, however, their power was bound, and it should easy enough to get them upstairs.

  “We found more than enough proof,” Jez said. “Will you come with us, or do we have to bring you by force?”

  “How dare you!” Varin’s face was twisted in anger. “You, a mere peasant...”

  He stopped when Jez summoned a ball of water around his hand. The shifting liquid reflected the light of Osmund’s flame, and it crawled up his arm giving it a wicked sheen.

  “You can’t be serious,” Varin said, though he no longer sounded so sure. Jez glared at him, and Varin took a step back. “This has to be a misunderstanding.” He looked at Lina. “We’ll come with you, and clear up this matter.”

  Jez nodded and let the water around his arm splash to the ground, but he held his sword toward Varin. He motioned with the weapon for them to go first. At first Lina just stared at him, her eyes wide, but when Osmund cleared his throat, she scrambled to the stairs with her father right behind her. Jez’s wards fell under the stronger working protecting the main level of the prison. They moved through it in silence and continued up to the keep. As soon as they were up, power flared in Lina, and she vanished. Jez was ready, and he wove a ward against illusion, counter her working. Before he’d even finished, he felt her power fizzle. She appeared, and immediately, he turned his power to weaving another ward of binding. He felt it slide into place between her and her power. Varin just stared at her as if unwilling to believe what she’d just attempted. He didn’t even flinch when Jez’s ward cut him off. Jez put his sword directly at Lina’s back.

  “Go,” he said.

  She let out a whimper but when she nodded, she wore a half smile that unnerved Jez. He marched them down the hall, drawing the eyes of servants and lesser nobles as they passed. They went to the where they had taken the king after rescuing him. Jez pushed open the door and a breeze brushed past him. Papers had been taken from shelves and a map of the city had been rolled out. Haziel was speaking to the captain of his guard. Villia and Sharim stood behind the king. Sharim was weaving a working Jez didn’t recognize, but the apprentice let it go when he saw Jez was looking. Haziel looked up when Jez stepped inside with the prisoners. Anger flashed in his eyes when he saw Varin and Lina, and for a second, Jez thought he might call for their execution then and there, but a quiet fury settled on his face.

  “Varin.”

  Varin winced at the lack of title, and he bowed deeper than Jez had ever seen him. “Your Majesty, I don’t know what this boy has told you but...”

  “The baron saved my life, and he showed me proof of your treason. The only reason I haven’t locked you up is your long years of service. If you’re next words aren’t an explanation of your acts, I’ll have you thrown in prison.”

  “Your Majesty, I never summoned...”

  “Guards!” The two men outside came in. “Throw these two in dungeon. I never want to see them again.”

  CHAPTER 32

  “Your Majesty, I should go with them,” Jez said. “We need to keep them cut off from their power until they get to the dungeon.”

  The king nodded and waved him off. Jez walked out of the room. Osmund started to follow, but Jez shook his head.

  “We need someone here to protect the king.”

  Osmund nodded and went back in, and Jez followed the guards back toward the dungeon. Varin kept his head down. All signs of his previous defiance were gone. He seemed like a man defeated. Jez wondered if he really was innocent. Perhaps it had all been done by Lina. She still wore that same half smile she’d had since they’d come up into the keep. They were halfway to the dungeon when Villia caught up with them. She looked over her shoulder and seemed somewhat surprised.

  “Sharim was right behind me.” She was about to say something else when she turned to Lina. “What’s going on here?”

  “The king has commanded that they be thrown in prison,” Jez said.

  Villia rolled her eyes. “Yes, I gathered that. What’s the purpose of the illusions?”

  “What illusions?”

  She raised an eyebrow and lifted a hand. Before she could do anything, however, Lina vanished as did his sense of a ward on her. Jez blinked but heard footsteps running down the hall. He turned to see Lina running through the passage.

  “How...” Jez started but didn’t bother to finish the question. He took off after Lina.

  He’d only gone a few steps when his nostrils flared with the scent of sulfur. He skidded to a stop, dropping his metal sword and holding out his hand to summon his crystal one, but he hesitated, his mind going back to what Osmund had said. He took several steps back until he was right next to Villia. He motioned for the guards to get behind him. They glanced down the hall in the direction Lina had fled, but one by one, they complied. Light drained from the lanterns on the wall as the hall darkened.

  “Baron, what’s wrong?” one of the guards asked.

  “Can you fight?” Jez asked, his eyes locked on the pair of shadowy figures that had appeared at the end of the corridor and that were slowly heading toward them.

  “Of course we...”

  Jez raised a hand and cut off the guard before turning to Villia. She looked him up and down.

  “I’m not...Where is your sword?”

  The figures came closer, never moving faster than a slow walk, but their images remained vague and indistinct. They were like living shadows walking down the hall, and where their hands should be, they had shadowy blades. Jez had no idea what they were, but he started weaving a ward meant to bind incorporeal beings and give them physical form.

  “Do you have a sword?”

  Villia sputtered for a second. “Well, yes.”

  “You should probably summon it.”

  Twin bands of light shot forward from Jez’s hands, wrapping themselves around the creatures. They staggered for a step but kept coming, and the light continued to dim. For a second, Jez was seized by the irrational desire to run. He clenched his teeth just as the guards took off in the opposite direction. It was then that he recognized the supernatural fear emanating from the shadow demons. A smile crept onto his face. He’d experienced this before. It was one of the first bindings he’d ever done, when he’d faced the phobos on his first day at the Academy. He made two circles with his left hand and one with his right. Lights shot forward, splashing against the creature on the right. He sent another binding against the left one, and the desire to run vanished. Villia stepped next to him and held out a hand. A sword made of shadows materialized in her hand. She inclined her head to Jez and leapt forward just as the demons came into range.

  CHAPTER 33

  The demons moved faster than Jez would’ve believed possible after watching their slow advance. One blurred and impaled Villia through the wrist while she was still in the air. She barely had time to cry out before it slammed her into the wall. The stone cracked at the impact. Villia grunted, and her shadowy blade fell from her hand, dissolving before it hit the ground. She slid off the demon’s arm, and slumped against the wall, unmoving. There was no blood though a faint violet glow shone from her wounds.

  Hastily, Jez wove a ward, holding sunlight in his hands and crafting it into a pair of manacles. They shot forward and closed around the demons’ legs. They stumbled, but a second later, darkness spread across the chains, and they exploded in a flash of light. Jez threw himself back, and when his vision cleared, the creatures were darker than they had been before and were standing in the spot he’d been in just a moment ago. He held out his hand, drawing of Luntayary’s power and calling forth the crystal sword. It appeared just as one of the shadows brought a blade down on
him. Jez batted it aside and tried to stab, but once again, it moved too quickly and danced out of the way with an almost casual ease. A chill ran down his spine as he realized these beings were masters of the blade.

  Villia groaned and tried to get to her feet, but it was obviously a struggle, and she gave up, never having fully shaken off her daze. Jez rolled to his feet and tried to make it to her, but the demons blocked his way. She wasn’t moving. Rock dust from the broken stone covered her. Jez caught the blade of one shadow, but the other stabbed him in the arm. Cold shot out from the wound, filling him from his fingers to his shoulder, and he lost all feeling in his arm as it fell limp to his side. He glanced at Villia, but the demons were ignoring her.

  “Rock dust,” he said under his breath.

  He backed off several steps and started weaving another ward, this one drawing power from stone. One of the bricks in the floor exploded, completely covering the shadows in rock dust. Almost instantly, Jez was bathed in sweat. With anything other than the brute application of force, earth was difficult for him to deal with, but he couldn’t think of anything else. Jez closed his fist, and the dust solidified, slowing the creatures. One of the demons slashed at him, but Jez caught it on his blade. Weakened by the earth binding, crystal sword cut through shadowy blade, and the tip of the demon’s bladed arm fell to the ground. Jez lunged forward. The creature tried to move out of the way, but binding had removed its unnatural speed, and Jez’s blade pierced the chest. He drew it out almost immediately and turned to face the other, not even watching as the first shadow died.

  A blade came at him from his left, and he tried to back away, but the limp arm was awkward. He wasn’t used to not having control over it, and the stone covered shadow cut a gash from his elbow to his hand before Jez moved out of the way. He didn’t even feel the wound, which he suspected was a very bad thing. He tried to strike back, but either this demon hadn’t been as strongly affected by the binding, or it was simply more skilled than its companion. Jez’s sword missed it by inches as it backed away. The lack of resistance threw Jez off balance, and he recovered just as the demon thrust. The blade went into Jez’s stomach, and cold ran over his entire body. He cried out, but his voice sounded weak. He tasted blood on his lips. The last thing he saw before he lost consciousness was Villia rising and slashing off the demon’s head.