Haziel raised his sword, and the bowmen took aim. He brought his sword down, and a volley of arrows flew toward the keep accompanied by dozens of stones flung from slings. Most of the missiles fell short, and a few clanked against Flinas’s armor. A handful embedded themselves in the demon’s face. Flinas just stared at them, apparently unaffected by the arrows. Jez found himself holding his breath. Haziel paled and moved closer. A rumble escaped Flinas’s throat as the bowmen raised the weapons again. They loosed and more found their mark, but still, Flinas didn’t move. The king took another step forward, but before his foot touched the ground, the pale demon surged forward in a white blur. The people didn’t even have time to cry out as he fell upon them, seizing a person in each of its four arms, having discarded his weapons in favor of his bare hands. Jez took a step toward them, but Osmund put a hand on his shoulder.
“The way is open.”
Jez glared at him and looked back at the army. They had multiplied tenfold. Flinas tried to grab a woman, but his hand passed through her. Jez smiled as he sought out Villia. There were at least a dozen of her, each with arms raised and glowing violet eyes. The demon recognized what was happening and tried to grab one, but his hand passed uselessly through her image. Lina was staring, her mouth open in surprise.
“By the seven, how can she do so much?”
Her voice echoed strangely, and Jez realized she wasn’t just keeping them invisible. She was keeping any sound from escaping. He grinned at her amazed expression. “You wouldn’t believe me if I told you. Let’s go.”
She nodded and they started for the broken door of the keep. She threw one more glance over her shoulder before they entered the place that had become a demon stronghold.
CHAPTER 54
“You’re a pharim, aren’t you?” Lina asked as they walked through the grounds of the keep.
“What?”
“When you were arguing about the fight with Sharim, Osmund said we had at least one pharim with us. At least. He was looking at you when he said it.”
Jez glared at Osmund, but the other boy pretended not to notice. He sighed. “It’s a long story. The short version is that I have a pharim’s soul. It makes me stronger, but I can’t use its power all the time.”
“How—”
“Not now,” Jez said. “If we survive, I’ll tell you.”
“Jez...” Osmund started.
“I think by then, I’ll know I can trust her.”
Osmund nodded. Lina looked from him to Jez but didn’t press the point further. Like the entrance to the grounds, the main door to the keep had been torn away, and they passed through it without raising an alarm.
The keep was curiously empty. Most of the doors had been torn off their hinges, and in a few places a particularly heavy demon had left a clawed footprint in the stone. The smell of sulfur permeated the air and stone, and Jez wondered if it was possible to become used to it. They passed one of the dining rooms, and Jez peered inside. Three demons with the heads of dogs but that stood upright paced the room. A yellow summoning circle dominated the center. It flared, and a fourth demon appeared and moved to join the others.
“It’s one of the other portals,” Jez said. “Who knows how many he’s crafted.”
“We could take them out,” Osmund said. “It would be four less we’d have to deal with later.”
Jez considered for a second before shaking his head. “We’d only let Sharim know we’re here. That circle is linked to the one in the throne room. Once we deal with that one, this one should go away too.”
“And them?” Osmund asked, pointing at the demons.
“I’m not really sure,” Jez said. “Our first priority needs to be closing the main portal, though.”
Osmund nodded, and they continued toward the throne room. A few seconds later, the dog demons padded out of the room. They looked right at Jez, and their noses twitched. Jez’s breath caught in his throat, and he looked at Lina.
“Are you disguising our smell?”
She uttered something under her breath and shook her head. “I didn’t think of it. Did they notice us?”
Jez was about to say he didn’t know when one of the creatures howled and bounded toward them. The others followed a second later. Instantly, Ziary rushed forward to meet them. The demons’ arms were so long they dragged on the floor as they ran. When Ziary got close, one of them threw itself onto his sword. The gesture so surprised him that he paused. It was only for an instant, but it was enough, and the other three barreled into him, two sinking their teeth into his legs and one biting down on his sword arm. His sword went skittering and vanished when it got a few feet away. Jez ran forward and brought his blade down on the one biting Ziary’s arm. It collapsed to ash, leaving blackened tooth marks in Ziary’s arm. The scion held out his hand, and his sword reappeared. He drove it down in a two-handed strike at the demon biting his left leg while Jez took the one on his right, and both of the demons dissolved. Ziary examined his wounds and took a shaky step forward.
“These won’t heal quickly. I wasn’t expecting one to sacrifice itself.”
“Some demons have pack instincts,” Jez said. “They care more for the group than the individual, and remember, we didn’t really kill them. We just sent them back to the abyss, and right now, the way his open for them to come back as soon as the portal has recharged.”
“So it’s not really sacrifice,” Ziary sniffed. “You know, that doesn’t seem terribly fair.”
Jez shrugged. “They’re demons.” He glanced around. “Someone would’ve heard that howl. Lina, can you make some sort of illusion that we went in another direction?”
She shook her head. “There are wards on the keep that make standing illusions difficult. Maybe if I had an hour.”
“We don’t have minutes,” Jez said. “Hide us again. Let’s go.”
They moved through the hall quickly, keeping alert for other creatures that might be able to pierce their illusion. The few demons they saw wandering the hall, however, didn’t notice them, and it wasn’t long before they came to the door to the throne room.
A pair of creatures that looked like miniature versions of Flinas guarded the door, though they could only be called miniature in comparison to the larger demon. They stood eight feet tall, and their black armor almost seemed to suck in the light. Their eyes looked like empty pits. As Jez and his companions neared, the demons’ eyes snapped to them. The rumble in their throat made the air vibrate against his skin.
Lina paled. “There was a ward against illusions. They can see us.”
As if unleashed by Lina’s words, the demons charged. Jez struck at one, but an ax made of pure shadow materialized in one of its hands and knocked his weapon aside. Another hand lashed forward and left a gash across his chest. There was a flicker of fire as Ziary’s sword surged forward, and the hand holding the ax came free. The other demon, however, sank all four of its claws into the scion’s chest and its teeth tore a chunk of flesh from his shoulder. Ziary cried out, but at the same time, he gripped the demon’s head in his hands. The other moved to attack, but Jez intercepted it, his sword flashing. Fire burst to life between Osmund’s hands. The demon roared, but it only lasted for an instant before its head was reduced to ash. Jez couldn’t do much more than hold his own against the demon, but with Ziary free to help, injured though he was, some of the pressure came off of Jez. One of the demon’s arms moved to stop Ziary’s attack, but Jez’s sword darted forward and stabbed it in the chest. The demon screamed before sliding off his blade and vanishing.
Ziary sank to the ground. He was in bad shape, and bled motes of red light. His form shimmered into Osmund’s for a second before solidifying itself as the scion.
“Stay here,” Jez said.
Ziary shook his head. “You need all the help you can get.”
“Right now, you can’t give it. I’d have to protect you. You’ll only get me killed.”
“Jez, you know Maries is on the other side of that door. Sh
arim wouldn’t have anyone else guarding his circle.”
“I know.”
“You could barely stand against one of the door guardians. How are you going to fight against their general?”
Jez closed his eyes and touched the power that had been so frightening to him. His fatigue vanished and all the aches and pains he’d gathered recently faded away. His wounds closed as power spread through him. The crystal sword in his hand didn’t change weight, but it somehow seemed more solid. He could already feel the power consuming his body, but it was a slow thing, like a spark that was slowly burning a piece of parchment. As he opened his eyes, wings emerged from his back, and his robes shimmered to deep blue. When he spoke, his voice came out deep and resonating with power.
“Any way I can. Watch him, Lina. You can’t do any good in there.”
She looked like she was about to argue, but her lips pursed, and she nodded. Jez threw forward his hand and the doorway twisted until the wood splintered. There was a flash of magic as the trap that had been laid on the door fizzled. Jez stepped over the remnants of the door and walked into the throne room.
CHAPTER 55
Sharim sat on the throne of Ashtar as if he’d been born to it. Rich purple robes draped down his back, and the golden band of Haziel’s crown sat on his head. Maries stood by his side, and when Jez came in, the demon took a step toward him. Jez’s hand shot forward as he drew on Luntayary’s power, and bands of blue light appeared around the demon’s wrists. Chains materialized and pulled him to the ground. Maries’s groan shook the throne room. It wouldn’t hold the demon for more than a few minutes, but that should be more than enough. Jez moved toward the bound creature, though he never took his eyes from Sharim.
Sharim stepped down off the throne and held his hand out. The weapon that appeared in his hand seemed to be made of liquid flame. Sharim smiled and raised his sword to Jez in a mock salute. As he stepped into the circle, the runes glowed brightly, and the portal snapped shut as Sharim redirected the power into himself. His face elongated and curved horns grew from his head, knocking the crown off. Bat-like wings emerged from his back and fire burned in his nostrils.
“You can’t beat me,” Jez said.
“Are you so sure? Unlike you, my memories were never bound.”
“Your memories?”
Sharim launched himself into the air. He went up to the ceiling before tucking in his wings and diving at Jez. Jez cried out and barely jumped out of the way in time. The sword left a melted gash steaming in the stone floor. Sharim landed next to Jez, his sword moving in a blur, and Jez brought his own weapon to bear. There was thunder as the two swords met. Each blow shook the room, and after a few seconds, his arms throbbed. The heat from Sharim’s blade was almost overwhelming, and it burned Jez’s lungs to breathe.
“Who are you?” he asked as their swords clashed.
A wicked grin appeared on Sharim face. “Binding a pharim to human flesh is no simple magic. Even one as talented as Dusan couldn’t improvise that. Did you really think you were the first?”
“You’re a demon.”
“Bound to human flesh to do things normally forbidden to my kind.”
“You’re like me.”
“Except that I’ll still be alive at the end of the day.”
Sharim surged forward, and again the swords thundered. They moved like lightning. Had Jez been in his mortal form, his eyes wouldn’t have been able to follow it. As it was, he could barely keep up. On top of his skill with the blade, Sharim had the power of illusion, and too often, Jez tried to block an attack that wasn’t real. As the seconds ticked by, Sharim’s blade left small burns where it scorched his flesh, but Jez’s weapon never touched his enemy. He realized with a cold certainty that Sharim was better than he was. He needed to find a way to turn the tide.
The burning blade rushed at him. Jez’s sword darted forward trying to push it aside, but he underestimated the strength of the blow, and he only succeeded at moving it aside slightly. It stabbed into his arm, and he cried out. He sank his power into the stones of the ground. Like the ones above Lina’s room, these were warded, but he was drawing on Luntayary’s power, and the wards placed by the Veilspeakers recognized the power of another pharim. They melted away, and he seized the stone. The floor beneath Sharim opened, swallowing him. The ground closed around his neck, leaving only his head above the surface. Jez took a deep breath and gripped his sword, pointing it at the trapped human with a demon’s soul. For the first time, he saw fear in Sharim’s eyes, but then, Sharim focused on something behind Jez. Jez turned around just in time to see Maries shatter the binding holding him to the floor. The demon drew his bone blade, and charged. Jez raised his own weapon. Even drawing on Luntayary’s power, he’d nearly been outclassed by Sharim, and Maries was a demon of battle. There was no way he could win.
The demon slashed downward, and Jez prepared himself to die.
CHAPTER 56
Jez caught the demon’s blade on his own. It felt like he was trying to hold back a mountain, and his arms shivered with the force of the blow. Again and again, the demon rained down blows, and Jez kept expecting his sword to snap. Maries didn’t have to employ any skill. The sheer strength of his blows was staggering. Jez could feel his grip loosening on his sword. The next blow would knock it free, but just before it connected, another sword lashed toward the demon. Maries twisted his blade to catch the new attack, but his sword passed through the illusionary weapon. Lina stood in the doorway, her eyes glowing violet. Jez didn’t bother to acknowledge her help, not with such a powerful demon crossing blades with him. He lunged, driving his blade right at the demon’s chest.
It felt like he was trying to stab through stone, and he barely managed to cut through the demon’s coat. Maries snarled and turned. Jez lifted his sword, and saw the blurring of his weapon that he’d noticed before. Maries’s sword twisted and slammed against Jez’s weapon, though not as hard as it had been before. Jez tried to strike, but Maries blocked his blow easily and, with a flick of his wrist, tore Jez’s blade from his hands in the process. The weapon vanished in midair. Jez threw himself to one side but not before Maries’s sword cut a gash in his arm.
Fire burned in Jez’s veins as he crashed into the ground. As soon as he hit, three other images of him scattered from the point of impact. One rose and charged Maries, but the demon impaled it on his sword. He didn’t even slow as he walked through it and drove his sword down into one of the other images. Jez gritted his teeth against the pain and threw his hand forward, shooting another one of the blue bands. Maries was ready for it though and caught the binding on his sword. The blade glowed blue for a second before the energy dissipated, and Maries’s eyes locked on to the real Jez.
A cloth appeared over the demon’s eyes just like the one that had blinded Flinas, but Maries kept on walking, and the cloth shimmered and vanished. Lina cried out and threw her hands forward. Balls of light erupted from her fingertips and circled Maries’s head. The demon slashed at them, and they exploded so brightly that it hurt Jez’s eyes. He scrambled to his feet and held his sword in front of him. When his vision cleared, Maries was stalking toward him, though he was moving slowly. Swords appeared in the air and flew at him, but he ignored them, and they passed harmlessly through him.
“Osmund,” Lina’s voice said. “He needs your help.”
Ziary burst forward, flying over the room and landing between Jez and Maries. He was taller than he had been, and his sword glowed brighter. His arms were thicker and his fingers ended in sharp claws. Jez couldn’t see his face, but he could imagine a snarl. All of his wounds were gone. Jez glanced at Lina, and she was frantically motioning for him to come to her. Maries looked at her and lifted a finger. The circle encompassing most of the throne room glowed. A chezamut appeared and, in response to Maries’s silent command, it dashed toward Lina. She screamed and vanished, but the chezamut spread its arms wide and kept running. Lina cried out as its left arm crashed into her, causing her to re
appear.
Jez was moving across the room before he realized it. His sword moved in a blur that had nothing to do with illusion. A few quick slashes removed the demon’s arms before Jez rammed his sword into its head. When he looked up, Maries was walking toward them, his red eyes giving off an evil glow.
“We need a contingent,” Jez said.
“What?”
“You can do illusions here, right?”
She nodded. “Once I stepped inside, the wards against them vanished.”
“I need to be able to control the illusions while I’m fighting. You don’t know enough about swordplay to be much help there.”
“There’s no time. We haven’t practiced.”
“Think of the chopping block.”
“What?”
“The image Sharim put in our minds. He put the same one in each of us.”
Maries was almost to them. Jez closed his eyes. He could feel the shackles around his arms, and his face pressed against the wood. The ax gleamed in the sunlight. It was almost impossibly complex for a contingent image. If Sharim hadn’t burned it into their minds, he would’ve never even attempted this. Jez reached out for Lina’s power, and they melded into one. This time, there was no oily darkness. He was aware of her senses, but he didn’t get the disorienting double image. Her power flowed into him. He opened his eyes to see Maries’s blade coming for his head. He caught the attack, grunting under the power of the blow. He drew back and lunged towards the demon’s head. The bone blade lashed out, attempting to catch the image of the sword heading for Maries’s stomach. He never even saw the invisible blade that bit into his neck.
His throat was so thickly muscled that Jez couldn’t force the blade all the way through. The demon looked up. Brilliant red beams shot from his eyes, burning a pair of holes in the ceiling. When Maries looked back down, his eyes had gone black. The circle sputtered. Color drained from Maries’s face until the skin was the same white as the uniform he wore. The medals fell off his chest and crumbled to dust when they hit the ground. The demon slid off his blade. For a moment, he stood upright, but then, like the wax of a candle that had grown just a little too hot, Maries began to melt. He seemed to say something at the last moment, but it came out as a gurgle, and he was gone.
Veilspeaker (Pharim War Book 2) Page 17