They hit hard, jarring them all and eliciting a gasp of pain from Magda. Ixabrax wasted no time carrying them into the cave, away from the threat of falling ice or an attack from above.
Abigail quickly dismounted while Anatoly helped Magda to the ground. She muttered a few words and a pair of glowing orbs appeared above them, softly illuminating the cave. She was bleeding seriously and looked to be nearly at the end of her strength.
“What now, Human?” Ixabrax growled.
“Now we’re in a confined space where we might have a chance against whatever Zuhl sends against us,” Anatoly said, wrapping a bandage around Magda’s shoulder.
“I cannot best my sire in single combat,” Ixabrax said.
“You don’t have to,” Abigail said, drawing the Thinblade. “All you have to do is give me a chance to cut that collar off.”
Anatoly finished bandaging Magda and helped her to a place behind a large rock before he spun his axe up into his hands and faced the cave entrance with Abigail and Ixabrax.
The air grew cold and still, tension rising as they waited for the assault, but it didn’t come.
“I don’t understand,” Abigail said. “He was right behind us, why isn’t he attacking?”
“Might have something to do with that sword of yours,” Anatoly said.
A moment later they heard drakini coming down the chasm.
“Dragon draught,” Magda said. “Drink it, quickly.”
Anatoly tossed a vial of the magical liquid to Abigail and trotted back to Magda with another, drinking a third as he took up a position at the side of the cave entrance opposite Abigail.
The drakini came quickly, several rushing into the cave and breathing frost in all directions at once. The temperature fell dramatically but the dragon draught tempered the numbing chill of the unnatural beasts’ breath.
Abigail cut the first drakini in half. Anatoly cleaved the wing from another. Ixabrax lunged into the fight, snapping at the next and crushing it with his powerful jaws while simultaneously whipping his tail over his head and stabbing another through the chest.
The next crashed into Anatoly, driving him to the ground and pinning him with its weight. Anatoly gained leverage a moment later and heaved the beast off of his chest, rolling over on top of the drakini and taking its head in his hands. The creature clawed at him frantically as Anatoly repeatedly beat the back of its head into the frozen ground.
Another rose into the air in an arc that would bring it down on Anatoly’s back, but just as it reached the apex, Magda’s light-lance burned a hole through its chest. It died in midair, falling on Anatoly and pinning him atop the dead drakini, brains oozing from its shattered skull.
Abigail charged the next drakini. It swiped at her with a taloned hand but she ducked under the attack, slashing back and up with the Thinblade, taking the drakini’s arm at the elbow, then bringing her sword back across the beast’s body diagonally and cutting it in half from shoulder to hip.
Ixabrax lunged past her, crushing the next two underfoot as he clamped his jaws down on the final drakini.
Anatoly regained his feet and surveyed the scene.
“Well fought,” Alexander said, appearing in the middle of the room. “Zuhl has retreated. He sent the drakini instead, and there are more forces on the way, probably half an hour out. Can you move?”
Magda staggered to her feet, her face ashen white from loss of blood. “If we are to leave this place, then we need to move now, before the dragon draught wears off.”
“I don’t understand,” Abigail said. “Why didn’t Zuhl come after us himself?”
“Cowardice and evil are character traits that are invariably bound together,” Ixabrax said.
“I think Ixabrax is right,” Alexander said. “He didn’t want to risk a fight in such tight quarters. Besides, he has a sacrifice to prepare for.”
“Whatever the reason, let’s take advantage of it,” Anatoly said.
“Agreed,” Ixabrax said.
“Several dozen miles to the north is a cave with a warm spring nearby and a grove of trees,” Alexander said. “It’s the best place I’ve been able to find for you to hide while we plan our attack.”
***
Alexander opened his eyes, ignoring the slight pain behind his forehead, and turned to Jack who was nodding off in the chair next to his bed. “You awake?”
“Sort of,” Jack said. “Anything new?”
“Anatoly and Magda managed to get Abigail out of Zuhl’s fortress.”
“So she’s safe,” Jack said, breathing a sigh of relief.
“I wouldn’t go that far,” Alexander said. “Magda’s hurt and they don’t have much support, especially considering what they’re planning.”
“What do you mean?” Jack asked, sitting forward, completely awake now.
“It was part of the deal,” Alexander said. “Now that Abigail’s been rescued, they’re going to try to free the rest of the dragons that Zuhl has enslaved.”
“Are you kidding me?” Jack asked, surging to his feet. “Hasn’t she been through enough?”
“It was the only way I could get her out, Jack. I needed Ixabrax, and he wouldn’t help us unless we agreed to help his family.”
“So now that she’s free, you expect her to waltz back into Zuhl’s stronghold and cut a bunch of dragons loose?”
“Pretty much,” Alexander said.
“When does this get to be too much for you, Alexander?” Jack asked, walking out of the Wizard’s Den before Alexander could answer.
Chloe buzzed into sight. “He’ll come around, My Love.”
“I know. Honestly, I’m surprised he’s held it together for as long as he has. I know how hard it is to be away from the ones you love, especially knowing that they’re in danger when you’re safe.”
Anja stuck her snout into the Wizard’s Den. “I don’t understand why he’s mad at you. Isn’t he your friend?” In recent days she had discovered how to make human words while in her true form and was ever eager to make use of her new talent.
“Yes, one of the best friends I’ve ever had,” Alexander said. “But he’s in love with my sister and she’s in great danger right now and there’s nothing he can do to help her. It’s hard for him.”
“Is it not hard for you?” Anja asked.
“Yes, but I can go to her and talk with her and help her,” Alexander said. “Jack can’t. He’s stuck here with me, knowing that Abigail’s life is at risk, and it eats at him.”
“I can see how he would feel that way,” Anja said. “If you were elsewhere and in harm’s way, I would be distraught.”
Alexander closed his eyes but didn’t respond.
“I still don’t understand how you do that,” Anja said. “Be somewhere other than here, that is.”
“Honestly, neither do I,” Alexander said. “The best I can do is to call it magic.”
Anja snorted. “I guess I can understand that, sort of. I don’t really know how the shapeshift spell made me into a young woman, but it did.”
“Magic is like that,” Alexander said. “Some wizards understand the principles they’re using while others, like me, just wield the power at our disposal.”
Anja was silent for several moments before she spoke again, this time much softer, almost timidly.
“Where will we go when you’re healed?” she asked.
Chloe buzzed into a ball of light and vanished.
Alexander took a deep breath and let it out slowly before looking Anja in the eye. “Your mother and I have spoken of this and we agree. You will stay here when I leave.”
“No!” Anja said.
“Yes. Where I’m going you wouldn’t be safe.”
“I don’t care. If you’re in danger, then I want to be there with you.”
“Anja, you can’t. You’re just a child.”
“I’m a dragon! I can go where I choose.”
“Yes, but you won’t be safe,” Alexander said. “More than that, you sort of attra
ct attention. Where I’m going, I’ll need to be able to hide. I can’t do that with you.”
“But I love you,” Anja said.
“I know, and I love you, too,” Alexander said. “That’s why I want you to stay here where you’ll be safe. I can’t protect you out there.”
“I don’t need protecting … I’m a dragon. But I could protect you.”
“I know you think that,” Alexander said, “but danger isn’t always something you can confront directly. I have a lot of very powerful enemies and they wouldn’t hesitate to hurt you to get to me.”
“Not if I hurt them first,” Anja said.
“Anja, you’re so young,” Alexander said. “And for all your youth, you have great power, but you don’t yet possess the wisdom to wield that power well.”
“What if I shapeshift into a woman again?”
“You’d be even more vulnerable,” Alexander said. “Anja, I’m going to war. The moment I can walk without a cane, I’m going into enemy territory. As a human woman, you would be far too vulnerable, and I would be far too worried about your safety to do what I need to do.”
“Alexander, I can’t stand the idea of you being in harm’s way while I’m safe,” Anja said. “Please don’t put me through that.”
“I’m sorry, Anja, but I’d rather put you through that than see you get hurt,” Alexander said.
“I’m a dragon, I can take care of myself,” she said, withdrawing from the Wizard’s Den and launching into the evening sky.
Jack returned a few moments later, looking rather sheepish. “I’m sorry, he said.
“You have nothing to apologize for,” Alexander said.
“But I do,” Jack said. “After all we’ve been through together, I have no cause to doubt you. I know you’d move the world to save Abigail. I just feel so helpless here.”
“I know,” Alexander said, “but I’m really glad you’re here.”
Jack smiled and sat down, nodding. “Me too. So what’s next?”
“Isabel. It’s about time I got back to helping her,” Alexander said.
Chapter 22
“Hi, Isabel,” Alexander said.
She opened her eyes and rolled out of bed.
“How’re you holding up?”
“I’ve been better … but I’ve been worse, too,” she said, not wanting to tell him how bad it was getting. All of this time spent alone was making her doubt her sanity. She spent far too much time scrutinizing her thoughts, always wondering if any given thought was planted by Azugorath.
The Wraith Queen was becoming more cunning, taking the circuitous route into Isabel’s psyche by inserting ideas that led to very dark places. All too often, Isabel would be well down the path Azugorath had laid out for her before she realized she was chasing a ghost within her own mind. That’s when the real attack would come, swift and powerful, Azugorath would bring her full strength to bear, attempting to subvert Isabel’s free will and gain control, even if just for a moment.
“What’s happening? They won’t tell me anything.”
“Quite a lot actually,” Alexander said. “Phane used the link between you and the witch Clotus to locate this place. He has a sizable force headed here as we speak.”
“I’m not sure what good that’ll do him,” Isabel said. “All of the men here are completely charmed by the Sin’Rath. I don’t see why Phane’s men won’t succumb just as easily.”
“Because he’s sending women,” Alexander said. “Except for three wraithkin, the entire force, five hundred strong, is all women, very well trained and very well equipped women.”
“Oh … that changes things,” Isabel said.
“They’ll be here in a week or so, and when they get here, the Sin’Rath are going to have their hands full. I also spoke with the sovereigns about them. They’re a lot more dangerous than I thought. Turns out they’re descended from the union of a demon called a succubus and the last Wizard King of Karth, a man named Siavrax. He led the Isle of Karth during the Reishi War, but it doesn’t sound like he was much better than Malachi.
“Apparently, Siavrax turned to the netherworld in an attempt to even the odds against the Reishi. Malachi called him the second most powerful necromancer in the Seven Isles, after himself, of course.”
“Of course,” Isabel said.
“Siavrax specialized in creating hybrid creatures to use as weapons against the Reishi. He’s actually the one who created the gorledons.
“In one of his more desperate moments, he summoned Sin’Rath, the Succubus Queen, to use against Malachi, but Siavrax succumbed to her seductive charms instead. Sin’Rath bore him a half-breed daughter, then vanished into the swamp for decades. Once his half-breed daughter matured, mother and daughter returned to kill him.
“This is where it gets interesting. When his daughter killed him, she consumed his link to the firmament and became the first witch of the Sin’Rath Coven. Worse, she inherited her mother’s ability to charm men. Malachi immediately saw the threat they posed and sent none other than Prince Phane to banish Sin’Rath.”
“But why didn’t she just charm him, too?” Isabel asked.
“Azugorath,” Alexander said. “Malachi summoned the Wraith Queen and used her in much the same way that Phane is using her, but instead of giving Phane unnatural abilities, she simply protected him from the influence of other demons.”
“That explains how Phane got the idea for his wraithkin,” Isabel said.
“Yeah, and it worked then, too. Phane banished Sin’Rath, but her daughter got away,” Alexander said. “Her descendants are the Sin’Rath witches of today. After a bit of prodding, I got Malachi to offer some speculation on the matter. He thinks the Sin’Rath want to kill Phane and consume his link to the firmament, so they can summon their mother.”
“As much as I like the killing Phane part, I don’t want these crazy witches to have his power,” Isabel said.
“No,” Alexander said. “So here’s where Siavrax might have saved us. After his failure with Sin’Rath, he supposedly created a creature he called a Goiri.”
“The thing the witches were talking about,” Isabel said.
Alexander nodded. “Malachi says the creature was rumored to nullify magic anywhere in close proximity. Unfortunately, it also proved to be completely insane and uncontrollable. So much so that Siavrax sealed it up in the hidden facility where he created it, and left it to die.”
“So how does that help us?” Isabel asked.
“Apparently, Malachi believes that the power to nullify magic was bound up in its bones. I found the fortress, but when I got close to the chamber where I think it died, I was suddenly back in my body on Tyr. I believe the Goiri’s bones are still there.”
“We could kill Phane,” Isabel said, suddenly excited.
“More importantly, we could destroy the Nether Gate,” Alexander said.
“That too. So what’s the catch?”
“That mountain is crawling with all sorts of unnatural creatures,” Alexander said. “The people of Karth say the swamp surrounding it is haunted, but it’s really just full of things that Siavrax created and abandoned when the Goiri didn’t work out.”
“So it’s dangerous,” Isabel said. “This is our chance, we have to take it.”
“Even if you can escape this place, you can’t go alone,” Alexander said. “I want you to find a place to hide until I can come for you. We’ll go together.”
“I don’t think there’s time,” Isabel said. “Phane knows where I am. I won’t get a better chance to escape than when he attacks. After that, I’ll be on the run. I’m not sure I’d be able to hide until spring. Also, Azugorath is eating away at me. It’s getting harder and harder to hold out against her, especially after the torture.”
Alexander nodded, sighing with resignation. “Hector and Horace are on Karth. I spoke to them a few days ago and told them where you are. They’ll be here within the week. They know Karth. With their help, you can find a place to hide.”
He said nothing.
“Me neither,” she said.
“I almost withheld this information from you because I knew exactly what you’d want to do.”
“But you didn’t because you also know exactly how important this is,” Isabel said, smiling. “I told you things would become clearer as I got closer to my target.”
“So you did. I don’t want to risk you, but if we’re going to do this, we need a plan.”
“All right, what do you have in mind?”
“Ayela knows the secret passages running through this place,” Alexander said. “If we can get her help, you’ll have a far better chance of escaping while the Sin’Rath fight Phane’s forces.”
“I agree, but I haven’t seen her since she came to me with the potion.”
“I’ll find her and make her an offer,” he said.
“What kind of offer?” she asked.
“She helps us get the Goiri’s bones and we help her eliminate the Sin’Rath,” Alexander said.
“She might actually go for that,” Isabel said, “but you should probably wait until Phane’s people are closer. If she doesn’t agree, I don’t want her to have time to get in the way.”
“Fair enough,” Alexander said. “I’ll keep an eye on you and make the offer a few hours before Phane’s people are ready to attack. Once you’re out of this place, I’ll have Hector and Horace meet up with you. Hopefully, with a little clairvoyant guidance, the four of you can get to the fortress with a minimum of difficulty.”
“I’ll be ready,” Isabel said.
***
After more than a week of pushing his new illusion magic to its limits, often with painful consequences, he found himself with time to address other concerns. It would be a while before Abigail was ready to free Zuhl’s dragons and at least a week before the conditions on Karth would be right for Isabel to make her escape.
Cursed Bones (Sovereign of the Seven Isles: Book Five) Page 19