by J D Franx
Nekrosa glanced at Kael, and he nodded. “Galen’s word is as good to you as mine,” Kael assured him. The King nodded and pushed his hands to the side. The DeathDogs backed down and sheathed their weapons.
“Fair enough,” Nekrosa said. “At least we know where the Ri’Tek are.”
“Yeah,” Max added. “Out of our reach. If we attack Cethos, Queen Bale will be forced to defend them.”
“We can’t jump into a magical dead zone anyway,” Ember said. “And moving troops by land will take too long. Most of the Ri’Tek will have made the pilgrimage to Corynth by now. They could leave at any time.”
“You can’t jump to a dead zone,” Kael replied. “But I can.”
“So, can I, Kael,” Lycori pointed out to them.
“Not this time,” he said and shook his head. Lycori knew him better than anyone else including Ember and merely nodded her agreement. It was why he loved her so much. She always had his back, and her support was guaranteed. His blade vanished, and he released Giddeon. “Do what you want with this fool, Nekrosa. I’m going to Corynth.”
“Kael!” Aravae snapped. “He is still your father.”
Ember flashed him a frown, but he ignored them both.
“This is exactly the point I have been trying to make for weeks,” he told them. “We can’t take them head on, but we can pick them off one or two at a time.”
“You cannot go alone,” Ember argued. “I can’t balance Reetha’s Ichor unless I am near you. It must be done daily. If you leave, you will have a hard time telling what’s real, again.”
“Don’t care.” He shrugged. “If I can get to the Vikress, you will have the advantage down the road—even if I lose my mind.”
Yrlissa shook her head. “You forget that we will have to be the ones to hunt you down,” she said. ‘You really want to put that on Ember?”
He shrugged, again, but Nekrosa spoke before he could answer.
“I say we let him go,” the King suggested. “Even if for no other reason than to know when the Ri’Tek leave Corynth and become vulnerable to attack. We could sink Havarrow’s entire fleet if we have prior knowledge of the route and some time to prepare.”
“Good,” Kael said. “It’s settled then.”
Nekrosa cleared his throat. “I agree with the others, though, Kael,” he said. “The intelligence is far more important than killing an Ancient or two. Think about that while you are there.”
Kael nodded, and Ember frowned but did not argue with him further. “You had better jump back here the moment you start to slip from this reality, Kael,” she ordered, instead. He offered her a slight bow and a grin.
“I could probably go with you,” Max offered as he stared at Kael. “You’d have to jump with death magic.”
“Not this time, brother,” he said. “I rarely use the afterlife to jump anymore, and I can’t risk any of your lives by jumping into a Ri’Tek dead zone. Treach hasn’t recovered enough to help, it’ll be days before I can understand him well enough to talk with him about magic.”
“All right, all right,” Max grumbled. “I get it.”
“We have the start of a plan, then?” Nekrosa asked as he glanced around the room at everyone. Getting only nods of agreement, he added, “Guards, take Giddeon to the dungeon until I decide his death sentence. Master Wizard Vihr, if you have a DeathDog escort, you may have free reign of my castle. Do not make a liar of Kael.”
Galen nodded then bowed. “As you wish, Your Majesty,” he replied.
Tallin coughed, deliberately trying to attract the attention.
“Yes, brother?” Nekrosa asked.
“I ask you to spare Giddeon’s life, Nekrosa. I’ve seen enough to know he doesn’t deserve to die.”
“I will consider your words,” the King said. “Now, let’s get Kael ready. Galen, any information you can give him would be greatly appreciated.”
Again, Galen nodded. Kael wrapped an arm around his shoulder. “Come on,” he said. “You have to see this.”
He laughed when Galen gave him a frown. The Master Wizard would be spending most of his time in Drae’Kahn deep in the Arcane Library’s Catacombs, Kael would bet on it. He figured the Master Wizard might as well start as soon as possible.
CASCADE CITADEL
ROYAL QUARTERS
Kael groaned as he stepped from his realm jump magic onto the balcony of Corleya’s private quarters. With all magic shut down by the Ri’Tek charms and devices, there was no concern the Wizard’s Council would detect his jump. To be sure that the Vikress would not catch him, either, he purposely jumped using magic drawn from the Ether. It was unstable, but the magic was foreign to Talohna and hopefully undetectable by the Ancients.
“Na gravasay shadus mal,” he whispered. Shadows enveloped his body and feathered out around him. He laughed lightly. “Thanks, Nekrosa.” The necromancer had taught him several spells over the previous weeks, but it was the first chance he had to use one. If Yrlissa was right, he would be able to access each race’s magic. The thought was a startling one, and he pushed it aside as he peered into the large room outside the Queen’s bedchamber. He could sense it was unoccupied, but he checked anyway. Corleya was the only one who could tell him where in the castle the Ancients were or when they might be leaving.
Voices at the door caught his attention, and he stepped back out onto the balcony to hide until he knew the Queen was alone. The chamber door opened, and he peered around the corner. A sharp breath caught in his throat as the Vikress walked into the room and stopped by the massive fireplace. A knock on the door made her turn, but he knew immediately from her demeanor that she was expecting someone.
Kael cursed under his breath as Ghul walked into the room. He had hoped the leech had died at Garret’s Vale when Kael had overloaded the bastard’s syphon spell.
“My Vikress.” Ghul bowed. They were not speaking the common tongue, and Kael nearly gasped out loud when he realized he understood what they were saying.
“Is everything ready?” Vikress Illara asked.
“Yes. Only one action remains for the plan to work.” Kael sensed a slight amount of sarcasm in the man’s voice that bordered on disrespect.
“Worry not, Ghul. We have gone over every detail. The plan is a good one. The last few details will come together and soon. I have a distinct feeling it’ll be even sooner than we expected. Just make sure the dosa dekai devices will shut off when we jump to Havarrow’s fleet.”
“They will,” he answered. “All the dekai are tethered to you and they will stop working when we leave.”
“And the other?” she asked.
“Should stay active for a few hours after we leave, but it will have no effect on the lesser or the mundane.”
“Good,” Illara said. “Then Cethos will know that we have kept our word and that we mean them no harm. You will know when the time has come to jump to the fleet. We have done all we can for the day, you may go.”
“Yes, Vikress. Sleep well.”
Kael watched as Ghul left the room and the lock slid home behind him. The urge to attack the Vikress nearly overwhelmed him. If not for the traces of Fae magic in his blood, he would have. He had decided he was going to gather information and then leave if he could not figure out a way to kill several Ri’Tek at once. It was not worth the risk for just the two.
The Vikress sighed loudly, and Kael glanced back around the corner. She was staring directly at him from across the large room.
“You do realize, Kael,” she said. “Though it might have taken a while for me to sense your filthy blood, you cannot hide right under my nose.”
He stepped into the room. “Sooner or later, your over-sized brain will fail to cover every possible detail.”
“Come now, Kael,” she replied. “Magic is currently not working in Cethos. None of your other dosa could come. Oh my, I do hope you came alone. Anyone with you… well, I am sure you know what would happen to them.”
“I came alone, Illara. The plan was no
t to kill you.”
“No, I suppose not.” She smiled. “I imagine you wanted to know how close we are to leaving with Havarrow’s fleet.”
Kael frowned.
“Please, dear,” she continued. “You cannot attack Cethos. We are protected here. The only chance you have is to intercept Havarrow’s fleet as he takes us home.”
Not knowing what to say, he grinned and winked at her. Ghul’s big mouth let him know they were nearly ready.
“Thanks to my ever so trusty, big mouthed Syddic priest, you now know.”
He shrugged. “And seeing as how you have to jump to the fleet,” he added. “That means you are leaving from Arkum Zul.”
“Well,” she quipped. “Here my scholars believe the Kai’Sar are all insanity and killing. You actually have a brain under that vile blasphemy you call magic.”
“I have what I need, Illara,” Kael replied. “Be seeing you. Likely on one of Dominique’s ships.” Knowing the balcony was probably covered in archers, he reached out and opened an Ether portal behind the Vikress. The Ether’s magic roared through him, and he rushed forward as time drastically slowed around him. As he passed Illara, her arms slowly raised and filled with magic. Wrapped in the speed of the Ether, he knew she would be too slow to stop him. He hit the portal entrance and the oxygen evaporated from his lungs. Energy exploded around him and flung him backward into the wall by the balcony entrance. Pain thundered through every molecule of his body as time sped back up.
“No,” she said calmly. “I think you will die with that information, and my people will be home before your fellow dosa in DormaSai even know you are dead.”
“How?” he groaned and rolled onto his back. It had been decades since he had felt such agony.
“You honestly thought you could steal what belongs to my people and use it against us?” she asked as she approached him. Profound disbelief riddled every word. “The magic you brought back with you is the magic our true gods granted us countless aeons ago. I may not have caressed it in a score of millennium, but I certainly have not forgotten how to deal with our magic while it is in the hands of a mentally-deficient child.”
He stumbled to his feet and forced the throbbing ache aside. “Then, I guess we’ll get to see who is stronger right now,” he said and pulled his long scythe from the Ether.
“Dosa!” she snapped. “I look forward to killing you. It is what I have always done best.”
“Yeah, yeah,” he muttered. “You’ve killed more of my kind than any other, blah, blah. Can your race even fight without talking? I’ve heard it all before.”
“Yes,” she answered. “We can.” Her glaive appeared in her hands, and with a whispered word, it flashed with magic. Flames danced to life along the blade.
Split the scythes, Kael. That flame is alive! Akai screamed in his head, and Kael nearly panicked as the spirit’s fear hit him like a hurricane.
Dammit, Akai. What the hell? he asked inside his head.
Be goddamned careful. The spirit answered him and then fled to furthest reaches of Kael’s mind. It was what Akai did to not distract him in battle. He did so just in time.
The Vikress lashed out and the glaive came with her. Kael jumped back, but the flames roared off the end of her glaive and raced toward his face like a flamethrower. On instinct, he raised his hand and pushed the magic aside as he stepped in the opposite direction. The flames struck the balcony entrance, and a vibrant red shield flared to life. The red glyph magic was all too familiar, and the Vikress had somehow turned it into a shield to block his escape.
The thoughts flashed through his head in less than second, but it was enough of a distraction. Again, the glaive shot his way. Out of instinct, he stepped into the Ether, but realized his mistake too late.
Another explosion rocked his body and tossed him across the room. His Ether magic was booby-trapped and not just when he used it to realm jump.
“You are a slow learner, Kael,” the Vikress snapped. In several strides, she stood over him. The glaive’s flames vanished, and she prodded his back. He rolled over and she stepped on his scythe with her left boot. “The shield over this room reacts to a god’s magic. It really is a shame it only works on such a small scale and only with you inside it, but it serves its purpose for this night.” The spear’s wide blade touched his chin, and his goatee and skin sizzled from the hot metal.
“Mutto Soulai, dosa,” she demanded.
Kael knew the term well—bow or die. “I will never bow,” he snarled.
“Then Soulai, pest,” she barked.
Kael grabbed his shorter reaper scythe as it phased from the long-handled weapon. The glaive sliced into his throat as he swung. The short scythe cut through her glaive, and he drove it into her side with every ounce of strength he had. The Vikress fell to the floor grabbing her ribs and her weapon vanished. Kael bound to his feet and clutched his neck. Blood pulsed through his fingers, and he pressed harder to compress the torn artery.
The Vikress laughed. “Well done,” she moaned. “Looks like you have a nicked artery, Kael. Even with pressure, you have less than five minutes.”
“And you have even less,” he growled, and he pointed to her side. Illara pulled her robe apart and revealed the wound from his curved blade. Putrid black ooze wept from the wound mingling with the purple-red blood. Veins of black corruption raced through her bloodstream and marred the surface of her flesh.
“The DeathGod’s ooze,” she whispered. “Well done, dosa. Unfortunately for you, I have a Sect priestess on the fleet who will heal me sixty seconds after I arrive. But you will bleed out long before anyone can help you.” She laughed.
“Wait,” he said, and stumbled as dizziness washed over him. “You said on the fleet.”
Illara laughed again. But it turned into a groan as she held her side. “You dosa fool,” she growled. “My people are nearly home. I knew you’d show the moment I realized those two wizards left for the Southern Kingdoms. This was a trap to catch you alive or kill you if not. I call it a success. No one can save you. This shield will stop you from jumping out, and no one will find you in time. Goodbye, Kael.” White light blazed around her, and he collapsed as she vanished.
Kael
“Nnn… not know, Akai.”
Get up.
“Can’t jump.” His mind tumbled through thoughts, but he could not grasp a single one. He was too tired to try.
Kael! Try. Akai bellowed, and he twitched as the words frightened him.
“Ghul said… said...”
The dekai devices. They’re down now that she’s gone, use your Fae magic. Jump goddammit!
Kael laughed, mostly from the delirium of blood loss. “You lose, Vikress.”
Fae magic laced with energy from the underworld lit up around him as he cast the same spell that had taken him to Giddeon in the DragonKin’s island. He thought of Ember, so the spell would take him straight to her, and he rolled into the magic.
Black and white light crackled through the room as he, too, vanished within the Fae realm jump.
Chapter Twenty-Eight
“Peace is a rare commodity in our world today. With so many countries at risk of war and with even more borders being threatened as well as our own war having just ended, we must appreciate the peace we have gained through the coronation of our new queen. I never wanted a civil war, but merely a strong Cethos to see us through the trials ahead. With no desires for the throne myself, I am happy to see our former princess and current queen firmly seated on the throne. The lands and banners of the Vakaran nobility reaffirm our oath to the Cethosian crown. May we pray her reign is long!”
Duchess Tania Vakaran’s Toast, Queen Corleya Bale’s inauguration dinner.
GODSTONE PILLARS
BLACK HOLLOW PENINSULA
A blaze of white surrounded by a cloud of black exploded out of nowhere on the steep cliffs high above the Jaws of Rock and Ice deep within Orotaq controlled territory. Kael walked from the black smoke and touched his neck a
s he turned to Lycori, She came out of the jump with him, and in one piece. Her smile let him know she was all right. Knowing the others would be seconds behind him, he stared out across the ocean that no longer had a real name as he gently massaged the wound on his throat. Ember had managed to heal him before it was too late, but he was still a long way from being healed fully from the near fatal attack. Time was not on their side, and they had lost more than a full day by the time he regained consciousness.
“Shit,” he whispered.
“You were right,” Lycori said. “If nothing else.”
A much stronger white light followed by a deafening crack of energy announced the arrival of those he had been waiting for. Ember, Yrlissa, Giddeon, Galen, and Treach materialized from inside the light.
“Look,” Kael told them, pointing across the Black Kasym’s western edge. “We’re too late. Those are Havarrow’s ships.”
Yrlissa groaned and stepped up beside him and Lycori. “The Vikress told you the truth. They did leave earlier. The rowboats have already made land, Kael. The Ancients are home.”
“What does that mean, Yrlissa?” Giddeon asked.
“I’m... I’m not sure,” she answered honestly. “We might not have arrived in time to sink Havarrow’s fleet in the Jaws, but we do have some time at least.”
Kael could sense Ember’s trepidation and knew what was coming before she even asked. “Time for what?” she snapped. “What will they do now that they’re home?”
“Yrlissa?” Kael prompted when no one offered an answer.
The assassin rubbed her forehead. “I imagine the Vikress will order the Ri’Tek to head north to Tai Sa Neban—the old seat of their power. If it wasn’t destroyed in the Cataclysm, it should be to the far north of the land mass across the ocean. Months’ worth of travel at least. It bordered the Glacial Mountain Range as far north as you can go.”