Veilspeaker (Pharim War Book 2)

by Martinez, Gama Ray

  “Really?”

  “The magic of kings is the magic of command.”

  “How sure are you that this will work?”

  “There are no certainties, but it’s no greater risk than the one we take by opposing Sharim.”

  “Still,” Jez said. “He’s the king. We can’t risk him.”

  Villia smirked and inclined her head to the king. “How exactly do you intend to stop him? He’s no demon for you to bind.”

  The king grinned. “You’d have to tie me up to stop me.”

  Jez looked from one to the other before letting out a breath and nodding. The king looked moderately surprised at the gesture, and Jez realized no one had actually asked for his permission on this. He felt his face heat up but didn’t say anything. Haziel looked at Villia, and she removed her hand. He opened the door just as the screaming started.

  CHAPTER 50

  Jez followed Villia and Haziel out. Osmund came right behind him, and to his surprise, Lina was only a few steps behind. People ran past their alley, screaming. A chezamut leapt through the air and landed on one woman. Jez didn’t think. He just threw his hand forward and the silver binding shot out, running the creature through. The woman scrambled to her feet and kept fleeing, never even glancing in Jez’s direction. He was out of the alley before he even realized he’d started running. Demons were mowing through the screaming people. Most were chezamuts, but there were at least a half dozen other kinds that Jez couldn’t identify. He gripped the empty air and slashed, his sword appearing in mid-swing. His blade banished two more of the creatures before his friends reached him. Osmund, once again, had taken the form of Ziary, but Villia’s sword was conspicuous by its absence.

  “You’ve seen me fight,” Villia said when she caught him looking at her hands. “I’m not good at it. I can do more if I use my power to hide people from the demons.”

  Jez nodded and moved to engage a trio of demons surrounding a family. The man was wielding a heavy wooden stick, probably a piece of firewood. It wouldn’t do him any good. The skin of a chezamut was almost as strong as steel, and there was simply no way the man could hurt them. Jez’s sword, on the other hand, was a different matter altogether. The creatures never saw him coming, and he gutted them like they were fish. The family looked at him, shaking. Villia grabbed his wrist.

  “We don’t have time for this.”

  Jez tore his arm away. “What do you mean we don’t have time?” He gestured at the family. “What do have that’s more important?”

  “You’re only one person. You can’t fight an entire army.”

  Jez rushed forward and cut down a pair of wolf-headed demons. Villia ran to his side, but Jez didn’t bother to look at her.

  “I can’t just stand by while people are dying.”

  “Haziel was right. We need an army. Our efforts would be best spent helping him gather one rather than engaging these creatures one at a time. None of these are so powerful that they can’t be killed by an ordinary sword.”

  “Where are we supposed to find an army?”

  “We’re not far from a guard station. There should be a dozen men there.”

  “That’s not an army.”

  “It’s a start, and they can do more than you can alone.”

  A little ways down the street, Jez saw one of the large shadows that had attacked him in the keep. A group of men were shooting arrows at it. Most passed through the creature, but a few stuck, and the creature was starting to slow. Jez tried to summon his power, but his energy reserves were depleted. Though he hated to do it, he turned away and nodded at Villia. Together, they headed toward the king, who was already on his way to the guardhouse with Ziary by his side.

  The guardhouse was two stories high with barred windows. Haziel pulled on the handle to the door, but it didn’t move. He looked over his shoulder at Ziary and nodded once. The scion slashed with his sword, reducing the door to ash. Half a dozen soldiers stood inside, their eyes wide with shock. The surprise only lasted a second before two of them stepped into the doorway and drew weapons. Jez lifted his own sword, but the king stepped in front of him.

  “Put your weapons down.”

  He spoke in the voice of absolute command. The soldiers had their weapons halfway lowered before they realized what they were doing, and they raised their weapons again. Haziel scowled and a violet aura shimmered around him so faint Jez wasn’t sure it was actually there.

  “Now!”

  The word cracked like a whip, and the soldiers fell to one knee, their swords clattering to the ground. They went down so quickly that they sent up a cloud of ash from the remains of the door. The smell of sulfur hanging about them was so subtle Jez didn’t notice until it was gone, but a second later the soldiers looked up. One had tears in his eyes.

  “My king. I’m sorry. I don’t know what happened.”

  “Pick up your sword. The people of Rumar need you.”

  As one, the men rose and drew their weapons. They charged out into the street. Six other men ran down the stairs, following their companions. They wore expressions of horror mixed with rage as they saw the demons in their city. They surrounded a nearby chezamut and cut it down without taking a wound. Then, they rushed down a street looking for more enemies. The king looked over his shoulder at Jez and smiled.

  “Shall we see who else we can find?”

  CHAPTER 51

  The soldiers seemed braver and stronger than they should be. While none of them could stand up to a demon in single combat, two or three proved more than a match. The dozen men from the guardhouse formed a core of resistance, but others began to join them. At first, it was other soldiers, but after a few minutes, ordinary men and women were fighting by their side. They wielded knives or sticks or rocks. Jez even saw one washwoman pummel an ape-like demon until it went up in gout of flame. The woman seemed unharmed and continued to fight with a ferocity equal to any soldier.

  “How are they doing this?” Jez asked.

  Villia pointed at Haziel who seemed to be growing steadily stronger. Their impromptu army had grown to nearly a hundred, and more people joined them every few minutes.

  “A king does more than rule, and he has called on them to fight. Did you think the title, ‘Defender of the Land’ was ceremonial? So long as he is with them, they are empowered to do battle with exactly this kind of foe.”

  Jez stared at Haziel with wide-eyed amazement. “Maybe this isn’t a hopeless battle after all.”

  “Don’t be foolish,” Villia said. “These are only the lowest of Maries’s demons. Once he unleashes his lieutenants, it won’t be nearly so easy.”

  A pair of chezamuts rushed at them. Jez cut them down and leapt toward a bird demon. He sliced into it. It squawked, and there was an explosion of feathers that were caught up in a gust of wind before puffing out of existence. Jez went back to Villia’s side.

  “Are you saying he can’t win?”

  “I have no idea. Royal magic has never been used on this level. I don’t know what its limits are.”

  They turned a corner, and the keep came into view. The drawbridge was still down. The king raised a sword he’d gotten from one of the soldiers, and the impromptu army thundered forward. Demons of every shape and size materialized seemingly out of nowhere. The army fell upon them like a tide. The sound of men screaming was drowned out by demon roars. There were more of the demons than the people, though, and it didn’t take long for the battle to turn against them. Jez and Ziary waded into the sea of the monsters of the abyss, swords flashing. With every strike, a demon died, but it was mere seconds before the creatures recognized the threat and started concentrating their attacks on the two warriors.

  Jez and Ziary stood back to back, a circle of death in the middle of an army of demons. For Jez, there was no thought, no strategy. There was only the blade and whatever demon he was engaged with. He was dimly aware of his sword blurring. Demons who tried to parry his strikes missed his blade. It had to be Villia or Lina using their ab
ilities to give him an edge, but his sword only looked a little distorted. They probably didn’t want to twist the sight of his weapon too much and risk distracting him. If only he could tell them not to bother. He didn’t need to see his blade to fight.

  Without realizing he was doing it, he began to draw of Luntayary’s power, but there was something else too, something he didn’t recognize. His flesh was burning, but another power was holding the damage at bay, and strength welled up inside of him. His sword arm moved faster, cutting through the demons like a scythe cutting down wheat. Moments melted together, and he lost all track of time. After an hour or a day, the tide of demons stopped. Jez released his power and fell to his knees, breathing heavily. Ziary offered him a hand up. For the first time Jez had seen, the scion’s scarlet robes were in tatters. Jez looked around. Many of the people with them had fallen. Only a few on the ground were still moving, but there were no signs of Maries’s army. Everyone, Villia included, was staring at Jez in utter shock.

  “By the seven,” Villia said in a half whisper. “It’s been...” Her eyes flickered to Haziel, and she caught herself, “ages since I’ve seen anything like that.”

  The king nodded and there was something very close to reverence in his voice. “If only I had a hundred more like you, or even a dozen.”

  People peaked out of doors and windows, looking for demons and relieved when they didn’t find any. Slowly, they began coming out. Some eyed the dead bodies on the ground, but rather than being repulsed by corpses, the people seemed to draw strength from them. More than one face showed a determination that said they would not allow these creatures to claim their home. In a few minutes, their army had grown to twice its previous size. The air around Haziel practically shimmered with power and as soon as the king approached, Jez’s fatigue vanished. He stood up, still a little weak. Whatever power shrouded Haziel had kept Jez’s own power from consuming him, but it didn’t stop the damage entirely. Neither could it reverse what had been done, but Jez could fight again. He looked from the keep to their army. This wouldn’t be easy. Rumar Keep had been built for war, and they had no siege engines and only a few real soldiers. Then again, he would’ve never suspected a group of townspeople could beat back an army of demons.

  He stood up straight, conscious that every eye was on him. He looked to Haziel who nodded and Jez lifted his crystal sword in the direction of the keep. It glowed so bright most had to look away, and Jez wasn’t sure if the power had come from him or Haziel. When the light faded, everyone began to cheer. He took a step toward the keep and the wall around the doorway exploded outward. The people cried out as shards of rock flew over them, though few were large enough to cause any damage. Jez looked up and paled.

  In what once had been the entrance to the grounds stood a demon twenty feet tall. Its face was pasty white and rows of sharp teeth showed in a mouth that looked too big for its head. It was covered in plates of black metal, though Jez couldn’t tell if it wore armor or if that was just its skin. It had four arms, each carrying a long curved blade, and its jet black eyes focused on the army.

  “Oh no,” Villia said.

  “One of Maries’s lieutenants?” Jez asked

  Villia nodded. “Flinas, demon of violence, and one of the deadliest fighters in the abyss. I had hoped he would be last to be summoned. He could tear us apart.”

  The king snorted. His sword actually seemed to glow, and his face took on the stony expression of pure rage.

  “Let him come.”

  CHAPTER 52

  A cloth appeared over the demon’s head. It drew back, and for a second, his head passed through it, but the blindfold followed a heartbeat later.

  “That won’t hold him for long,” Villia cried out. “Your Majesty, we must flee!”

  “Not while my breath remains!”

  Haziel rushed forward, ready to swing his sword but an image of Villia appeared in front of him, and the king skidded to a stop.

  “This isn’t a fight we can win,” the image said.

  Haziel looked over his shoulder to the actual Villia to her image and scowled.

  “I won’t...”

  “Not in a head to head conflict. You’ll only lead your people to death.”

  Jez thought he was going to order his men to attack anyway, but he nodded and the image of Villia vanished. Haziel waved his sword and his people retreated to the city, though Flinas’s roars never abated. They turned a corner and stopped in the middle of a large street. Their army was still growing by trickles, but other than that, the street was empty. The people had either fled the city or were hiding. Jez’s grip tightened on his sword, but the demon didn’t come.

  “Sharim will need to guard his center of power until the army has finished coming through,” Villia said. She pulled the book they’d gotten from Sharim out of her robe.

  “The throne room?”

  “Yes. He won’t risk us taking a freed king there for fear that we’d close the gateway, so he’ll keep Flinas guarding the way in.”

  “We can go through the passage in the graveyard.”

  Villia shook her head. “He had Varin for hours. He’ll know about it and have that way guarded.”

  “But Varin didn’t know where the passage was.”

  “He knew it existed, and Sharim is no fool. Now that we’ve come through once, he’ll have the dungeon guarded. Only one or two can come through the passage at a time. He could hold off an army, and even if you were able to get in, you’d still have to pass through the dungeon, where its wards would block your magic. If you’re attacked there, you wouldn’t have a chance.”

  “We’ll assault the keep then,” Haziel said.

  Villia shook her head. “Your Majesty…”

  Haziel waved off his objection. “If what you said is true, I have no intention of trying to fight that thing, but if we attack, we might open the way for the baron.”

  “Me?” Jez asked.

  The king smiled. “You’re the best chance we have.”

  “We’ll need you though, Your Majesty.”

  “No, I don’t think you will,” the king said. He touched his sword to Jez’s shoulder, and though it was normal steel, power rushed down the blade and flowed into Jez, filling him with energy. “I name you Sir Jezreel, Knight of the Realm and defender of Korand.”

  Jez blinked and looked at Villia. “Will that work?”

  “It will,” Haziel said without waiting for Villia to answer.

  Jez glanced at Villia, and the former pharim shrugged. “All schools of magic have those who are naturally gifted at them. Royal magic is no different. He’s endowed you with a portion of his power. It’s a powerful working, though I doubt he can do it many times.” She looked at Haziel, and the king shook his head. “It should be just like you’re fighting by his side.”

  Jez’s mouth dropped slightly. He closed it and inclined his head. With royal magic, he could draw on Luntayary’s power without it consuming him. He could fight, and just maybe, he could win.

  CHAPTER 53

  Everyone who had ever held a bow was given one. A few were armed with slings. It made Jez feel sick to see many who, under ordinary circumstances, would’ve been considered children.

  “So are you,” Villia said when he pointed it out.

  “I know how to protect myself.”

  “You didn’t when you faced Marrowit, and they’re doing much less than you did then.”

  Jez watched as one let a stone fly with his sling. It smashed a clay pot, and the boy, no older than ten, smiled at the old soldier directing a group of boys and girls of a similar age. “Still, I wish they didn’t have to do this.”

  “We won’t be engaging Flinas, just drawing him away from the gate.”

  “Are you sure there won’t be some other demon watching the way in?”

  “Not really.”

  “I’ll go with you,” Lina said.

  “No,” Osmund said, but went silent when Jez glanced at him.

  “I can help
. At least I can hide you while you get inside.”

  Haziel came over and started speaking to Villia about the distribution of the weapons. Jez pretended to listen while he mulled over his thoughts.

  “She does have a point,” he said eventually.

  “Do you really think we can trust her?”

  Lina sniffed. “No one cares what you think.”

  Jez raised an eyebrow. “Actually, I care what he thinks.”

  Lina’s face flushed, but eventually, it gave way to a scowl. “Do you want to fight all the way to the throne room? You’d never make it.”

  “We might,” Jez said, “but you’re right. We’d stand a much better chance if we could go unseen.”

  “Jez, are you sure about this?”

  “She’s not going to betray us to Sharim. That’s all that really matters.”

  “If the three of you are done arguing,” Villia said as she finished her conversation with the king, “we’re ready to begin the assault.”

  The silent movement of the army was a sharp contrast to the sounds of battle that had accompanied them last time. The plan was simple. They would shoot Flinas until he grew angry enough to run after them. Then, they would scatter. If the demon stopped chasing, they would shoot him again. The only problem was that Flinas was faster than they were. They would run as soon as the demon started chasing them. Villia would try to use her illusions to distract the demon. Jez doubted they’d all make it, though. He felt like he had the weight of the world on his shoulders. They were resting their hopes on him.

  As soon as they rounded the last corner, Flinas’s eyes fell on them. It might’ve been his imagination, but Jez thought he felt a chill running down his spine every time the demon took a breath.

  “Do it,” Jez said.

  Lina nodded and everything darkened slightly. The whispers from those near him told him he’d vanished from their sight. He could still see Osmund and Lina, though they seemed hazy. He nodded at them, and the three started forward. Haziel’s gaze lingered on the spot Jez been standing before motioning for the army to follow him. At a hundred paces, they stopped. Flinas glared at them, and a few people turned away, but most kept their eyes on the king.