by David Ekrut
“Please hold this.”
“Of course, my king.”
He inspected the page, then looked around the feet of the statues. There were no symbols across the threshold to the city as his notes claimed.
“What is wrong?” Ferious asked.
“There should be a trap here.”
“Perhaps Argyle has dispelled whatever energy was stored.”
“All we can be certain of,” Bain said, “is that the lord here is either too incompetent to draw these simple markings or that his information is inaccurate.”
Both of his savants sat straighter in their saddles. As they glanced back at the statues, he could see their thoughts in their expressions.
“I will cross the threshold first,” he told them.
“Wait,” Lana said. “We should send a horse.”
“Yes.” Bain agreed, holding out his hand. “That is the wiser decision.”
She placed the reigns in his palm. He gave the horse a light touch to lead it forward, as one might to urge the beast into a stall. When its hooves crossed into the city without its flesh turning to stone, Bain followed and remounted.
“Come,” he said to the others.
The road led to a square with a dracon standing at the edge of a large dais. Bain held his hand for the others to stop. In the street across the square, nine figures stood in a circle with two men and a bear at the center. The man closest to the animal wore only a loin cloth with raqii dath at either hip.
“That’s him,” Lana said. “The young man from Iremine.”
“Who are the others?” Ferious asked.
Bain dropped from his saddle and said, “Wait here until I signal for you to ride. You two will cut into their flank.”
Unsheathing his sword, Bain ran on the balls of his feet, keeping buildings between himself and the hooded figures. Once he reached the street, he hid behind the wall of what looked like a tavern. He peered around at the figures.
“I was born with this gift. My essence is mine,” the elementalist said. He was much younger than Bain had originally guessed.
His clothes, once fine, were now worn from travel. He had a familiar face with blond hair bound into a warrior’s tail. Though surrounded and sorely outnumbered, he did not appear frightened by his enemies.
The woman, clearly the leader, stepped closer and made a crude gesture at the young man. “That arrogance is precisely why there is a war against your kind. You have forgotten the histories. The dragonkin lent elementalists their essences to build their cities and protect these lands. You are supposed to be their stewards, alongside the magi, but you have turned against your masters. Now you will pay for your crimes.”
“I wasn’t even born yet when the dragons were betrayed.”
“Yet, the blood of the one who sent them to their slumber flows through your veins, Elwin Solsec. You are Abaddon’s descendent.”
How had he not seen it sooner? He recognized the boy from the sketch. That nose and eyes, his angular cheeks. Bain found his feet moving forward of their own accord. Drawing a dagger, he took aim.
“You are mad,” Elwin said.
“Yet, I am your only hope for salvation. And our time is running short. Make your decision. Surrender your essence and join us or fight us and die.”
Bain released his dagger and called, “To me!”
The woman spun, eyes wide with a moment’s confusion. She didn’t have time to utter a word before the blade sunk into her socket. Two long strides, and Bain’s sword bit into the nearest enemy’s neck. The remaining eight began to murmur foreign words.
“Magi,” Bain shouted.
He heard thundering hooves. As he turned, foreign energies gripped him. His body lurched sideways. He had flown for enough years to keep his awareness as wind surged around him. He braced himself just as the wall of the tavern slammed into him.
For several precious seconds, his vision swam, but he could hear the roar of the bear and the screams of dying. Ferious cried out, his voice moving upward.
Bain stood, shaking away the dizziness in time to see Ferious slam into the statue in the square. He rolled down the arm and splattered against the cobbles. He didn’t move again. Lana pulled her blade free from a corpse just as another magus thrust his hand at her.
A metal sphere struck her chest, spraying blood through her back. She gasped. A heartbeat later, Death energies and the Element of Air flooded into her. She tamed flight, clearing the space to the magus. Her hand clasped around his throat. Dark fog surrounded the magus as Lana gripped the man’s life energies. As the wound in her chest closed, his body withered to dust. The two magi nearest her backed away, whispering more words.
On the other side of the circle, Elwin faced off against another magus, his back to Lana. The boy’s back stiffened as she tamed. He half-turned, but his own opponent produced a sphere and aimed at Elwin. His eyes widened in recognition. Elwin dodged to the side. The piece of metal shattered against the cobblestone behind him.
Elwin sprang at his opponent, a sword of flames appearing in his hands. For a heartbeat, Bain stopped breathing. It would be only moments before the dragons felt Elwin’s and Lana’s tamings and came for them. But no, that was not Fire flowing through his son. It was a different energy.
Then Elwin danced. The magus dodged, retreating with every step. His own sword of flame appeared. Still, he gave ground to Elwin’s attacks. Elwin’s flameblade slashed through the man’s tunic. He screamed. Flesh seared. Elwin lunged forward, relentless. The magus stumbled. Elwin swung. The man’s sword arm flew free of his body. He collapsed to the ground.
The man groveled on the cobbles, mouth working without sound. Elwin did not finish him. He’d been mumbling all this time. He stopped chanting. The flameblade vanished.
Drawing his last dagger to finish the magus, Bain stumbled forward, willing his legs to stop shaking. That blow had dazed him. Before he could throw his weapon, a shadow covered the streets.
He looked up to see two dragons staring down at Lana. She still tamed.
“Flee,” he shouted at her.
“It is my turn to be foolish,” she called out. “Save our kind!”
Lana leapt high above the street. But she did not fly away. Instead, she held out both hands. The power of Air surged around her. Balls of energy formed atop her palms. A wind thrust sent the lightning blasts into the final two magi. Both figures fell to the cobbles with burnt holes in their chests.
As one of the dragons reached for Lana, Bain yelled, “I gave you an order! Go!”
Lana spun away from the claw. The other dragon appeared to intercept her. It spoke a few words, and her body became rigid. She flew in a short arc, like a thrown stone. Bain could no longer feel her taming. As she started to fall, the first dragon caught her by the feet. The second dragon grasped her head. Bain looked away, but he heard a popping sound then a mass of liquid hit the ground.
The large shadows vanished.
He could not make himself look at their bodies. His legs gave way, and he stumbled.
Elwin caught him. “Are you hurt?”
Ferious and Lana had been with him since the beginning. They had followed him into Kalicodon and helped him seek out Abaddon’s castle. They’d placed their lives in his hands, now they were gone.
The boy followed Bain’s gaze to his fallen savants.
“Oh,” Elwin said, face turning ashen. He swallowed audibly and turned from the gruesome sight.
“We should go,” Daki said. Behind him, the bear was still mauling a corpse.
“No,” Bain managed to say. “We need to search these bodies. They could carry secrets about this place.”
“There is no time,” Elwin said, gesturing in the other direction. At the end of the street, more robed figures ran in their direction.
Bain wanted to seize the Elements and destro
y them, but he forced his legs to move in the other direction, following after Elwin and his companions. He looked at Ferious and Lana one last time as Elwin led him back across the square to the section of the city covered in growth. He turned off the main street into a wide alley. The passage led to another road. Elwin dashed across it to another alley which dead-ended. Turning around, they ran east once more, until they could find another alley. They repeated this pattern for several roads.
Finally, Elwin stopped in front of what could have once been an inn and said, “Here.”
Despite being raised by farmers, Elwin had proved capable. Outnumbered and surrounded, he’d never showed a moment’s weakness. Bain followed his son without protest.
The vines and moss from the outer walls stretched several paces into the building but stopped a few feet after the edge of the sun’s light. Though there were no chairs, stone tables came up from the floor. Just behind the stone bar, a short hall opened to a stairwell.
Bain stopped next to a table, breathing hard. His legs were fatigued, and he felt lethargic. Likely, he was concussed from slamming into the building. He was fortunate to have not broken any bones. No, it had not been luck. His touched armor had absorbed the impact.
Elwin watched out a window for several minutes. Finally he turned. “I believe we have lost them.”
“For now,” Bain agreed.
“I am sorry for your companions,” Elwin said. “I owe them my life.”
“We were only doing what was right.”
“Are you hurt in anyway?” Elwin asked.
“I will live.”
The boy reached out his hand. “I am called Elwin. This is Daki and Taego.”
Bain clasped forearms. “Mardic.”
“Should we leave?” Daki asked. “We could regroup outside the city.”
“No,” Elwin answered. “They know we are here. If we leave, they could reset the traps or make new ones that we do not know how to counter. We will rest for a few hours on the top floor, where we can keep a good watch. If those magi track us, I want to see them coming.” Elwin turned to Bain. “I’ll keep the first lookout, if you two would like to rest?”
“I,” Bain said. “Yes. I would like that.”
“Not just yet,” Daki said. “You two go up. I can use the Lady’s blessing to cover our tracks. Take Taego with you.”
The bear sniffed at Bain and snorted.
“Be polite,” the Chai said.
Elwin took the steps two at a time, and Bain followed. By the time he reached the top, his legs burned. The hallway opened to a single doorway. Beyond was a master’s suite, large enough to rival the size of his own with five separate apartments. The only furnishings remaining were made of stone.
Pulling his pack from his shoulder, Elwin sat on a bench by a large fireplace, where he could see out the window. Bain sat across from him. The bear grumbled at the pair of them and ambled into the largest apartment.
“Don’t mind him,” Elwin said. “He is always like that.”
“I am not bothered by the animal.” Bain searched for something else to say, but he could not find his tongue. After all the years searching, here he was. His son.
Finally, Elwin said, “Are you Life bound? I only ask, because I felt a foreign power during the battle. It feels much the same as when a Life elementalist heals others.”
Like Bain, Lana and Ferious both carried artifacts to disguise their taints, but nothing could hide the feel of the tamings. There was only one way an elementalist could not differentiate Death from Life energies. Elwin was not yet bound.
“No,” Bain said. “My companions were not bound. It was Spirit energies.”
He watched Elwin’s eyes draw their own conclusions about the implications. Most people did not wish to discuss the dead. Elwin frowned uncomfortably.
Instead of pressing the issue, his son asked, “What brings you to Abadaria? I’m assuming treasure.”
“No,” Bain said, then opted on giving a version of the truth. “I have come to stop the dragons and restore order to these lands.”
Elwin sat up straighter, searching Bain’s face. “I am here for the same reason. Of a sort. Do you know how to defeat them?”
“Aye. I do. I am not a magus, not exactly, but I have an incantation that will restore the balance of power back to all who can tame.”
“But why here?”
“I need the Orb of Incantus or another artifact of power that will strengthen my essence. With the words, I will burn my essence to link myself to the dragons. The Spending will send them back to their slumber.”
“The Spending?” Elwin asked. “You’ll die.”
Bain nodded. “But others will be allowed to tame freely once more.”
Elwin stared, mouth agape. “You would do that?”
“I would do anything to free my people.”
“Please,” Elwin said, “allow me to aid you in this quest.”
“I will not allow you to place yourself in harm’s way. You are young and have your entire life ahead of you. I am old and grow weary of this life. I lost my wife years ago and wish to see her once more. I know that my son is strong and capable. He will go on, despite my failings. That is all I can ask for.”
“But I know where the orb is. I can help you.”
“Truly?”
“Aye. It is near where we met at one of the central aeries.”
“Of course,” Bain said, eyes feeling heavy. “That fits with the notes I have.”
“Notes?”
“I am unsure if I can trust them,” Bain’s voice slurred.
“Are you alright?”
“My head. It struck the building. I need to rest. Just for an hour.”
The boy frowned, eyes filling with concern. “Of course. I will watch over you.”
“You have my thanks,” Bain said, rising.
He moved into one of the darkened rooms and sat in a corner. It hadn’t been a lie. He certainly needed to rest, but more so, he needed to confer with Abaddon.
His reunion with Elwin changed much.
~
Abaddon was waiting for him in the shadow realm.
Bain knelt with his head bowed. “Father.”
“Rise.”
He stood and said, “I will have the orb soon. And there is more—”
“I am aware of Elwin. I have been following your progress through Abadaria.”
“But how? He still wears his pendent. Even now, I cannot sense him, and I know he is in the next room.”
“Aside from the fact that you would not have sacrificed your most loyal savants for anyone else, you are clearly speaking with someone whom I cannot see.”
“Certainly, this changes our plans.”
“Not at all,” Abaddon said. “This has been my plan from the beginning.”
“It has? But we need—”
“No. We do not. I need the blood of my blood as a construct and an essence powerful enough to fuel the incantation. I now have both.”
“But I thought you would take a dragon as a construct,” Bain said. “Did you lie to me?”
Abaddon’s face twisted. “You dare accuse me?”
Bain lowered his gaze. “No. Please forgive me, Father.”
After a moment, Abaddon’s gaze softened. “You are forgiven. And I will answer your question. I did not lie. I only recently learned that I cannot take a construct not of my blood.”
“You want to use Elwin’s?”
“Unless you would rather sacrifice your own.”
“But he is my son. I have sought him for so long. He can join us now. Once he sees the strength you will return to our kind, he will follow you.”
The Seeker stared at him for several seconds. Finally, he asked, “Who do you serve?”
“You, my liege.”
/> Abaddon gave him a fond smile. Then, he gave Bain his commands.
Chapter 58
Snares
Galivant,
The time has come to act. You will not get the incantia from Ricaria. You have it here in her own hand, she will take her own life before giving up her secrets. She suspects that I am not coming and means to escape. Soon, she will realize that we betrayed her. You have the orbs of holding and the incantation to raise the dragons. Be satisfied. The Makers have been patient long enough. We must have the traitor returned to us. You merely need to let her leave. We will take care of the rest.
Kind Regards,
Anetia Melcoa
~
“Weird place for statues,” Jax said, walking through the gates of Abadaria.
“Aye,” Daren said, squeezing between two with a large enough gap for his huge frame. “How will we find Elwin in this place?”
“That is an excellent question. We should assume he will go for the Orb of Incantus.”
“He wanted a sword.”
“Yes. But this thing is called the Incanter’s Blade. He’ll go for it.”
“Without the pages? How?”
“He can speak some of the incantations,” Jax reasoned. “He might be able to bypass the traps without the tome. From its description, the orb is the most powerful one here, meaning it will hold the most value. It even has a special marker to indicate its place. If I had to gamble on one, this would be the one I would go for.”
Daren stopped. “Which is why you want it. That is why you came back, isn’t it?”
“Not the only reason. Look. I plan to help the kid. But what about our quest? Have you given up?”
“I have not,” Daren said. “Eriden murdered my beloved and our unborn child. I will hunt him to the ends of Arinth. But I will maintain my honor as well.”
This was not the place for an argument.
“Curse it all,” Jax said, “yes. We will do right by the kid. I’m not going to put him out in the cold, but we need to get ours too, all right?”
“All right.” Daren began walking again.
Jax ran to catch up and fell into step beside him. “But I am not wrong. He’ll scout out the orb and check the traps. Then, he’ll try to find a way around them.”