“I’ll go with you,” Kel said to Zenora.
“Wait!” Farrell grabbed his mother’s arm. “Let me go and you two fill the stones.”
“No!” Kel said. “You are not to engage Meglar away from Gharaha. Besides, you can tell the shield is holding. Sanduval is in no danger.”
“Then why are you both going?”
The twinkle in Kel’s eyes told Farrell he was up to something. “Someone needs to convince him to come to Gharaha.”
They left before Farrell could stop them. “Damn.”
Farrell emptied his staff into the web and returned to Haven. Kel was right; the shield would hold. The evacuation was far enough along that he told everyone to empty what they had but not to make more trips. When he left Honal, he planned to blow up the shield-generating rocks and bring the central stone back to Haven.
Miceral waited for him by the Haven side of the Door.
“Kel and Mother are going to find Sanduval.”
Miceral raised an eyebrow. “You sound unhappy about that.”
Silently he filled his armor and staff. When he finished he led them back to Honal. He decided not to empty Miceral’s armor into the grid unless it was needed.
“Where are Kel and your mother?”
“They went to fetch Sanduval, after they reminded me Honorus forbid me from engaging Meglar anywhere but on Gharaha.”
“Ah. Now I understand.” Miceral reached for Farrell’s free hand. “I think Kel and Zenora are capable of finding Sanduval without your help.”
He knew they didn’t need his help. Especially now that the shield was back at full strength, but he chafed at being left behind. “We should check on the king and see how the evacuation is going.”
Jagwin and a dozen guards suddenly appeared. No one spoke as they positioned themselves around the kings. This soon after Christian’s death, Farrell knew better than to object. He nodded when Jagwin looked back at him.
Marching through the halls of the palace, they drew attention despite the frenetic atmosphere. Every room they passed was empty. Sanduval had spent weeks with Honal’s wizards enchanting as many places as possible. They’d transferred most of Honal’s wealth and treasures months ago. Now they were denying Meglar anything else he might want.
They found the king and several senior advisors in the throne room. Soldiers came in and then left, following a blue ball of energy that emerged from a tall column of stone. Farrell had helped Sanduval create the spell to search out people still in the city.
“Your Majesties.” Albert bowed. “We appreciate your help.”
“I’m sorry about your father,” Miceral said. “He was a good man.”
“He didn’t think so,” Albert said bitterly. “His inability to forgive himself cost me a father, a brother, and a cousin who was like a brother.”
Farrell wanted to defend Christian, but he understood Albert’s pain. The burden of ruling at this moment was high enough. “How is the evacuation going?”
“Too slow.” He shook his head. “Every time a soldier comes in, I keep hoping a ball won’t appear, but a new one always pops out.”
“The shield will hold for a while, and I can add more energy if needed.”
“We may need it. My father was successful in convincing a lot of people to flee. The city was packed when the shield sprang to life.” He stared hard at Farrell. “He came.”
Farrell knew who he meant without asking. “What happened?”
“The soldiers were bringing Father, Hendral, and Glaus back, when Sanduval raced out of the castle. He must have sensed him coming. He protected the convoy, and something struck his shield so hard it drove him back twenty feet.
“Sanduval dug in and stopped the next blow. That’s when Meglar pushed through his army. He kept pounding Sanduval and pushing him back. After the fourth or fifth time, Sanduval reactivated the shield.”
“He let Meglar move him,” Farrell said. He hoped Sanduval wasn’t badly hurt.
“Why do you say that?” Albert asked.
“When the fight started, was Sanduval in front of the shield?”
“Yes,” he said. “But why would he let Meglar hammer him like that?”
“It was the safest way to get inside the safe zone,” Farrell said. “I could explain, but take my word Sanduval knew what he was doing.”
“He took a beating doing it.”
“Was he hurt?”
Albert nodded. “He declined a healer and refused to leave the field. Said he had to monitor the shield.”
Farrell felt a strain on the shield and then heard someone use high magic. He scanned the room for the nearest window. “It stopped.”
“What has?” Albert asked.
“The balls.” He pointed to the column and the line of soldiers waiting for a new guide. “Everyone’s left the city.”
“Not yet. It only identified people outside the castle. But it means everyone is inside the palace. Sanduval needs to recalibrate it to search for people inside.”
“I can do that.” He reached out to the pillar and changed the search thread. “Kel and my mother must be fighting Meglar. He’s attacking the shield. Hard.”
“Will it fail?” Miceral asked.
The pressure on the shield let up some, but the sound of high magic filled his mind. “Doubtful. I don’t know how he could breach it while defending himself from Kel and Mother.”
A flurry of green balls shot from the top of the stone column. “I changed it to search for people inside the palace.”
“Thank you.” Albert glanced at the continuous stream of balls. “That’s a lot of people.”
“We have a lot of Doors leading to your area of Haven.” He pointed to the mass swirling above them. Several winked out as they watched. “As people leave, the pace will slow and balls will disappear.”
The king nodded to an advisor. “Send the final order.”
“At once, Your Majesty.”
Albert nodded and followed the man out with his eyes. “It will take some getting used to being called Your Majesty. I still look for my father.”
“It will get easier,” Miceral said.
“Make way!” The shout came from outside the throne room. “We need to see the king!”
Jagwin and the dwarves moved closer to the kings and drew their weapons.
A company of guards in Honal’s colors carried a stretcher. Farrell’s heart seized when he saw the occupant. Pushing his guards aside, he ran to Sanduval’s side. The Honalese soldiers set their patient down.
“Is he . . .?” Farrell couldn’t get the words out.
“I’m not dead.” Sanduval growled. “I just feel like it.”
“What happened?” Farrell asked.
“Your mother put a healing spell on me and pushed me onto this stretcher.” Despite the words, Sanduval didn’t sound angry. “I can’t undo her magic, and it saps my energy.”
Farrell scanned his body. “You’ve got serious power burns that require a master healer.”
“Bah!” He weakly waved off the comment. “I don’t need a healer.”
“As one who’s had a few burns in his life, I think I’m an expert on this topic.” Farrell searched again for any magic clinging to the wounds. “I say you do.”
Sanduval laughed for a second, then groaned. “Don’t do that, boy.”
Farrell felt another blow to the shield.
The balls coming from the tower had slowed and the cloud circling above had shrunk. Farrell estimated for every two that appeared, three disappeared. There were still hundreds left and more coming, but it was manageable. “What’s happening out there?”
“Zenora and Kel are making sure Meglar can’t figure out your fancy new shield.” Sanduval winked and let his head sink back against the stiff fabric of his stretcher.
“He needs to get back to Haven.” Farrell nodded to Jagwin. “My guards and I will take him back.”
“No.” Sanduval grabbed Farrell’s arm and pulled until their gazes met
. “You need to stay and call them back when you’re ready. He can’t get your shield or he’ll figure out how to defeat it. Only you’re familiar enough with the stones to detonate them properly.”
“My dwarves will get him to Master Heather with all speed,” Jagwin said.
The weight of the moment slowed Farrell’s decision. He could get his mentor to a healer faster than the dwarves, but Sanduval made a good argument. Keeping Meglar from studying the building blocks of his regenerating shields was important to the success of his plans.
“If I may?” Albert said. “There’s a Door in the next room. We plan to use it to leave. Can you redirect it to your infirmary? If we end up there instead of our designated area, so be it.”
“I can easily change the terminus.” Farrell nodded to Jagwin, and four guards picked up the stretcher. “Let’s go.”
The cloud above the pillar hadn’t thinned as much as Farrell expected when he returned from Haven. Only a trickle of new balls appeared, but the pace of deletions had abated. The throne room, however, was packed.
Farrell reached for the spell and tweaked it to ignore anyone in the room. Several people cried out in surprise when more than half the globes winked out. The king scanned the room and stopped when Farrell pointed to himself.
“My apologies, Your Majesty,” he said when he joined them. “I was trying to gauge how much longer Zenora and Kel need to engage Meglar.”
He pointed above them. “Are they—?”
“They are the people not in this room.”
Albert frowned. “I gave the order to leave before you left with Sanduval. Now we need to hunt them down.”
“With your permission, I can bring them here.”
The king raised an eyebrow. “You can?”
Farrell nodded and waved his staff at the orbs. “I can send a ball to find and carry everyone still in the castle to the throne room.”
“Do it.” Albert sounded tired and angry. “They don’t deserve another gentle reminder.”
He pushed additional magic into the spell, and the balls sped off through every door and window.
“Anyone not assigned to my detail, go now,” Albert said. “I want this space clear so everyone who defied my order can see my displeasure when they arrive.”
In short order the balls returned. They’d expanded so they could carry the person they’d been sent to retrieve. The stragglers were a collection of different people: children, adults, commoners, and nobles. Most appeared to be part of the palace staff. They received a disapproving glare, were released, and sent through the Door.
The ones who were not part of the staff were taken into custody by the king’s guards.
“Fools,” Albert said. “They knew we removed everything of value before Meglar arrived. Why would they try to loot the palace?”
“Don’t be too harsh to them,” Miceral said. “They’ve lost everything.”
“No, everyone had the chance to leave with their possessions,” Albert said. “My father, brother, and cousin died to give them the time. These are thieves.”
Farrell checked to be sure all the balls had returned. When he confirmed they had, he sent his mother and Kel a message to disengage. Next, he triggered the spell to unmake all the Doors in the city.
The pillar spit out a new ball, and Farrell had it show him the face of the person it tracked. Zenora’s image appeared in the globe. He waited for Kel join them, but as time continued without a new notice, his anxiety grew. Finally his mother entered the throne room.
“Where’s Kel?” Albert asked before Farrell could give voice to his fear.
Zenora smirked. “Provoking Meglar into following us to Haven.”
“He won’t come.” Farrell stared at the wall that faced where the fight had taken place. A sudden flurry of activity hit the shield. “Not until I force his hand.”
A new ball appeared bearing Kel’s likeness. The attacks on the shield continued, taking on a frenzied quality. Farrell glanced over and met his mother’s stare. She knew what he meant.
“Everyone should leave,” Zenora said. “I can get the central stone ready.”
“I’ll wait here for Kel.”
“I’ll stay with you,” Miceral said.
“No,” he said. “Please go. We’re going to destroy the shield, and it will be easier if we’re alone.”
That wasn’t the truth, not all of it, and Miceral knew it. Thankfully he didn’t press the issue. He rubbed the back of Farrell’s neck and left with the others.
Alone, he disconnected the rocks around the city from the central stone. Then he sent a spell to release all magic tethered to an object in the city. A tiny wave of energy coursed through the web. When the collection spell blinked out, he knew his mother had handled her part of the removal.
Kel arrived with little fanfare. He didn’t look as tired as Farrell expected.
“Don’t try to scan me.” His tone was light but had an edge. “You mother sent most of the attacks on Meglar. She is a formidable wizard. Most people underestimate her.”
“It’s time.” He hadn’t meant to ignore the comments, but he was anxious. “Sorry. Yes, I know Mother is powerful. She helped train me.”
“I know.” Kel gave him a look Farrell couldn’t decipher. “And it is time.”
“Honorus. I accept. I will be Your Champion.”
Chapter Thirty-Four
“How soon will he come?” Farrell asked Kel as he closed the last Door to Honal.
“Impossible to say. I suspect he’ll want to wait, but Neldin will prefer the opposite.”
“Because the more he waits, the more I learn.”
Kel nodded. “That would be my fear if I were Neldin.”
No one knew for sure what Neldin planned, but there was a logic to Kel’s words. “I don’t feel any different.”
“It’s not as if being the Champion confers a new power on you. It is merely a—”
Farrell’s head exploded in pain. “Help! Papa! Help!”
“What is it?” Kel asked.
“Geena!” Farrell reached for the Eye. “Show me Geena!”
Lisle clutched Bren to her chest and held Geena’s face to her skirt. Urana and Teless pressed their backs to a door, and a rage filled Farrell like he’d never felt. “The nursery!”
He didn’t explain but laid out a Door and exited into his bedroom. Kel followed, but Farrell ignored his grandfather and headed for the nursery.
The door from his bedroom to the children’s hallway was jammed shut. Farrell pulled so hard the stone handle broke off in his hand.
“Stand back!” Kel said.
Farrell barely moved away before the door shattered under a thunderous blast of energy. Flecks of stone dropped onto Farrell as he ran into the dark hallway and turned left. A hail of arrows with magically enhanced tips struck his shield. They might have pierced his defenses if he’d been taken unaware, but he was ready for a fight and they bounced off. Acting on reflex, he sent a burst of energy to stun anyone in front of him.
His eyes adjusted enough to see a man and a woman still on their feet. Their shields had repelled his attack, and they sent balls of energy as he walked toward them. A feeling he couldn’t explain coursed through him, and he separated his staff in half and fired. The blow was so strong it ruptured their shields and sent them flying against the wall at the end of the hall.
“Lisle!” he shouted through the door.
“In here!” Farrell heard the relief in her voice.
He released the protections on the door and opened it. Urana and Teless jumped back, but Geena and Lisle surged forward. He gathered them all in his arms and tears streamed down his cheeks in relief.
“What happened?” Kel asked.
The question jerked Farrell out of his stupor. “Where are the guards?”
Lisle’s stoic expression quivered, and Farrell feared the worst. He kicked over one of the men, but his clothing lent no answers. Pushing past Kel, he ran back toward the front door.
The foyer was a mass of blood and dead bodies. He ignored all but one. A sword pinned Greigel to the wall. His bloody war hammer stood on end just below his lifeless hand. In the archway leading out of their suite, he saw three more of his guards lying in pools of blood. Five dead humans were scattered across the room.
He flicked his wrist and the sword holding his friend disappeared. Clutching the dead dwarf, he sobbed into the torn and bloody cloth of his uniform. He reached out to Kel. “Keep them away. Stay in the nursery.”
“Understood.”
“Miceral!” His mental voice quivered, and he couldn’t hold back another sob.
“Farrell? What’s wrong?”
“Someone tried to kill the children. They killed . . . they killed . . .”
“Who?” Miceral asked frantically. “Farrell, who did they kill?”
“Greigel and the guards.” Another wave of grief washed over him.
“I’m so sorry, Little One,” Nerti’s voice intruded on his heartache. “But you need to use the Eye to find out who did this.”
He felt a presence behind him and saw the white end of Kel’s staff on the floor. Shifting Greigel in his arms, he reached into his pocket and removed the Eye. “Can you use it to find out who did this?”
“Of course, Grandson.” Kel took the Gift from his hand.
A second later, dwarves rushed into his suite. He ignored them and cradled Greigel closer. How had he missed this?
“Queen Foria.” Kel’s words reached deep into Farrell, and anger pushed through his grief. “She has soldiers trying to reach Jursten and Alicia, as well as Horgon and Bendict. Flemin has warned them and their guards.”
He heard Door magic nearby and checked its location.
“Your mother,” Kel said.
The sound of people running down the hallway brought his guards closer. They arranged themselves in a defensive position and waited. Miceral burst through first. Farrell caught his gaze and the sadness overtook him again. He felt Miceral kneel and an arm snaked around his shoulder. No one spoke, nor did anyone try to take Greigel from him. Others cleared the room, and he felt his mother use magic.
“I’ll go see to the children,” Zenora said.
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