“I know about the wand, Galeck. And the chalice." Jess flashed a cold smile as Galeck paled, blinking furiously, striving to regain his composure. "I know all about your desperate quest for those artifacts, how you honed in on the poor seneschal at the chateau, prying his mind for every sliver of information you could garner regarding the nature and whereabouts of that golden cup. My question is this: knowing that it is in diOnni possession, why did you not simply use your silver tongue to pluck it straight from the head of the clan? Why go to such lengths to capture Raphael for leverage, when you could have simply asked for it?"
Jess could feel Twilight's soft laughter as Galeck's stunned gaze became one of thwarted fury. "You are working for the Plaga clan, aren't you?" Galeck hissed. "Lying vipers, they swore the oath, same as we all did! None of us are to work at cross purposes."
Jess chuckled softly, plucking at a thread of possibility in her mind's eye, eager to see what unraveled. "Let me guess. You tried that, didn't you? I would imagine you tried to wile your way into possession of the chalice months ago, when first you had plumbed poor Dayton's mind. Yet for some reason, you were unable to compel the head of the diOnni family to surrender that artifact to you, and that's why you went after Raphael at the college. You need Raphael as leverage because your magics, which you no doubt sacrificed your very soul for, were insufficient to compel his father to simply give you the artifact."
Galeck’s pale complexion darkened with fury. “You already knew that, Plaga whore! It was your master’s clan that somehow sabotaged me. I knew it! Wait ‘til the dark council hears about Lord de Plaga’s treachery!”
Jess gave an exultant smile, the pieces of the puzzle at last beginning to fall into place, and neatly explaining why Mord had actually done her a good turn. It had perhaps been in his family's best interests to keep Raphael out of Galeck's clutches for as long as they could, Jess serving as a convenient cat's paw to help them do just that, and she completely unaware of the deeper game at play. And for whatever reason, Galeck had been unable to use his infernal guiles to obtain the chalice from the diOnni clan, and that failure infuriated Galeck to no end. Further, it appeared that treachery and intrigue were as rife within this Dark Council as it was within the actual Council of Lords.
All traces of pampered lordly indulgence falling away at last, Galeck's face twisted into a hostile snarl, his icy blue eyes blazing with malice and hate. "Sheath your blade and summon your friends, Jessica de Calenbry!" he roared, pouring forth all his will in a desperate attempt to compel her.
Jess rocked back only slightly, snarling as she sensed with greater affinity the dark burgundy strands of power striving to compel her. Corrupted magic far fouler in origin than the crimson brilliance of bloodmagic, she sensed its taint, and immediately understood just how poisonous it was to the mortal fools who dared walk that dark path. For Jess intuitively sensed that the magic, potent as it was, had its roots in the Void, the very epicenter of destruction and decay.
And for all the dark corruption she sensed within the abyssal strands of power seeking to burrow into her brain, her crimson covered blade sliced through the compulsion effortlessly. A quick glance to her left and she was filled with a fierce affection for the man who rode beside her, even as he glared at Galeck with darkest fury, the foul strands of rotting magics seeming to burn to ash, even as they tried to compel him. "I serve but one master, you bastard, and it sure as hell isn't you!" Malek roared.
Jess blinked, suddenly realizing how utterly odd it was that the man before her used mercenaries loyal only to gold, and not enthralled slaves compelled to his will as his last line of defense. Why, Jess wondered, had only the seneschal Dayton had been under mad compulsion, and no one else at the chateau? The captain's foulness Jess knew had been a product of his own dark soul, and no other.
And with a shiver it all clicked into place. Galeck's power, as terrible as it was, did not refresh itself as would a warrior's fatigue after a good night's rest. Perhaps the power even ate at his very soul, and Galeck realized that. It would explain why Galeck had been husbanding his strength to compel Jess, somehow sensing she was the de facto leader of her small band, while at the same time looking, if anything, startled by her presence. Her heart lurched when she realized that she understood the true meanings of the sigils Galeck was compelling the shaking, sobbing forms of Rolin and Neltose to inscribe upon their living flesh. He hadn't been torturing Rolin and Neltose to bait Jess. He was attempting to seize their power. To claim their mortal span of years to fuel his dark arts.
Jess shuddered at the horror of those magics, even as her face lit up with a fierce grin, instantly knowing just what to say. "Your magic is fading, Galeck! And what a bind that puts you in! For if you do not husband what little power you have left, you shall fall stone cold dead, and the tally you most fear paying shall finally come due!"
Galeck blanched and shuddered, looking suddenly horrified, and Jess wondered if her words, thought up in the spur of the moment, intended to disorient and cause hesitation in her enemy’s resolve before she and Malek charged him, might in fact be nothing less than the absolute truth.
Galeck’s naked fear, however, twisted itself into a mask of apoplectic fury. “Plaga whore! Your clan enticing me endlessly to use my talents for our great purpose, knowing the cost it placed upon me! Promising me endless trifles that only began to replenish my dark needs. You treacherous vermin are the source of my troubles, seeking to exploit my powers, then leave me to die of my own folly while you pick up the pieces in play and claim the dark gift for yourselves! Well I am through toying with Mord’s whore. It is your soul I shall feast upon this day, wench!”
Galeck’s icy eyes locked hungrily upon her own as his breath heaved with dark anticipation. “I will force you to feel every exquisite torment I inflict upon your flesh as I tear free your life force and drain you dry! You will be an old crone when I am through with you. Let's see how Mord likes you then!” Galeck's mocking laughter filled Jess with a hot scalding fury. “My dark arts will be to unassailable with the power of a fellow fallen at my command. My dark whispers will compel the king himself to take arms against Plaga and Calenbry alike! Your masters shall be butchered, your lands and titles seized. The remnants of your peoples shall live as destitute paupers. This I swear, you vile little harlot!”
Jess raised her bloodied saber so its point flashed like ruby flame as it caught the light of the setting sun.
“Malek! Wedge heart!"
Upon those words, Jess roared and charged, her shieldbrother by her side. In but seconds Mercy's canter was near full gallop, Jess fluidly shifting her body, pivoting slightly forward, feet well braced in stirrups, arm slightly bent at elbow even as her blade was positioned perfectly to give point, her curved saber tip aimed at angle to plunge into the first pair of heavy cavalry she rapidly approached. Jess reveled even as time seemed to slow, the mercenaries only in that moment collecting themselves, lowering their lances to intercept, Jess having adroitly seized the moment, charging forth even as Galeck was caught off guard, still blustering, thrown off his game by Jess having so utterly seen to the heart of his terrible weakness.
For it was suddenly obvious how careful he had been in using his powers. Raphael’s chateau had been compromised months ago via bribes and coercion, planting the seeds of corruption that had served Galeck so well, the seneschal alone being deliberately compelled. Jess noted how skillfully the six heavy cavalry lowered their lances in perfect synchronicity even as she closed, realizing that even Galeck must appreciate the benefits of guards who could act and think upon their own initiative, as long as the gold flowed sufficient to assure absolute loyalty.
And in that instant, all speculation fled Jessica's mind, even as her chosen target's lance and those of his fellows were all but torn from their hands, the stout wood seeming to bend away from Jessica's presence like waves crashing to either side of a massive prow. The mercenaries' momentary surprise gave her the split second she needed, shields no l
onger in perfect position to block her saber as she abruptly rammed it full force into her first opponent's face, slid expertly between her foe's cheek guards with the finesse of countless hours of practice. For all that Eloquin's deadly sabers were poorest in the thrust, the power of her curved saber point, delivered at charge, was still sufficient to tear through the exposed face of her enemy with the force of a bull goring a melon.
Jess instinctively relaxed her arm at the moment of impact, leaning ever more forward and pivoting to allow her blade to snap cleanly free of her target even as she rode passed him, the soldier collapsing to the ground in death even as Jess gripped her hilt tight and punched forward in that split second of time before the next horseman was upon her with a desperate wrench of strength, her enemy still struggling to bring his warping lance back in line.
Jess was grateful for the bowl steel hilt of her blade, protecting her hand not only from enemy blade but from the iron noseguard that bent cruelly inward with the force of her blow as the hilt of her sword smashed into the man's face with all the power of her arm and steed combined. Jess could feel bone shattering as the man was jerked off his steed, even as she felt the shock of the blow jerk her own arm back, and in an instant she saw the hard-eyed gaze of the third row of cavalry charging upon her, themselves riding at full gallop.
Deadly steel tipped lance jerking out of her surprised foe's grip, the man had time only to gasp, parrying desperately with his shield as Jess snapped her blade forward, only able to manage a backward slash in passing, one she feared had little effect against the man's mail covered neck, but then she was through, Malek at her side, charging straight for a stunned looking Galeck, blinking with surprise and disbelief.
Jess felt her heart race with a fierce exultation. She raised her saber up high and roared challenge in a tongue that tasted old as time, reveling in Galeck’s wide-eyed terror.
A desperate twist of his lips, hissing tainted curses which did nothing to hinder Jessica’s intuitive understanding of the foul web of power racing for her soul, Galeck howling in panic even as her blade sliced through the dread ball of magics, sending loose chords of power shrieking through unspeakable dimensions as Jess, roaring with mad laughter, easily dodged her steed about the bloody naked charging bodies of Rolin and Neltose. She felt a moment’s pity, even as they dodged to her left, wondering if she could free their tormented bodies once she cut Galeck down.
The man in question screamed a final curse at her even as he pivoted his steed around, plunging his blade into its side, the creature taking off with a terrified whinny. Jess hissed, sensing the terrible curse Galeck was compelling the beast with, understanding instantly that he would be able to flee at speeds the match of any racehorse, till the moment the poor creature dropped dead.
Jess growled with frustrated fury even as she felt her familiar twist upon his perch, determined to give chase and cut that bastard down.
“Jess.” Tightly focused, cutting through the red cloud of hate clouding any thought save cleaving the vile serpent she chased to pieces.
“Jess!" Urgent. Almost panicked. Alarmed, Jess eased her pace.
"Twilight, what is it?"
“Turn around, now! Those compelled fools slammed into Malek’s stallion! He’s down, Jess! Three of Galeck’s cavalry are rushing him, blades drawn, and he’s down!”
Her heart skittered with sudden terror.
Malek. Her shieldbrother, who she loved as dearly as she ever had anyone, at whose side she would always be, taking on all of life’s challenges together.
A dozen memories of their practice bouts, always started at a playful pace before picking up to a fearsome intensity that awed and worried all who saw, yet always ending with laughter as well, no matter how bruised they were by the blows they had traded. Wiry and strong, he of brooding glares and secret, teasing smiles, with a hot temper and a terrible speed to match her own, who had gamely let her cheat off all his papers and tests, and who had fought by her side since her earliest memories at Highrock. Malek, who she loved deeper and more fiercely than he would ever know, who was as close to her as kin.
Time seemed to slow to a crawl, even as she forced Mercy around with what felt like terrible slowness, as if she were trapped in nightmare. She caught a flash of her brother’s terrified, furious gaze, just at that moment tugging himself free of tangled stirrups, his panicked stallion having crashed upon him and the naked bodies of Rolin and Neltose, the enslaved pair still stabbing the panicked stallion with blood-slicked knives even as they themselves died, succumbing at last to the stallion's frantic kicks and Malek’s own desperate blows.
Rolin and Neltose. Compelled against all human instinct to avoid the terrible hooves of a charging mount, forced like puppets to slam their bodies into pounding hooves, seeking to cripple said mount even at the cost of their lives. Malek's desperate blows, though fatal, had not killed them instantly, time enough for their enemy's compulsion to exploit the dying men to their last breath, Malek's stallion and the compelled thralls dying together in one crumpled heap.
Time enough for one of the three surviving heavy horsemen to have pivoted around with room enough for a short charge, running her shieldbrother through with lance even as Malek struggled to pull himself free of his dying mount, never having a chance to regain his feet.
17
Jess screamed.
She heard the crunch and pop of burst links. She saw the spray of blood as the steel tipped lance plunged straight through Malek's fine mail hauberk, warping and biting through bronze covered lamellar, piercing even the gambeson underneath. There was a reason why knights were so feared upon the battlefield, a reason why Jess's gifts at warding wood had been instantly picked up upon by Lord Eloquin, who had wasted no expense in honing her into the finest and deadliest weapon that he could.
She who might lead armies one day, yet had been so foolishly focused upon her one fleeing enemy that she had left her beloved brother-in-arms far behind, outside the range of her gifts, vulnerable to just one enemy soldier's lance, perhaps the deadliest weapon ever to grace the battlefields of Erovering.
She shuddered in that instant, hearing Malek’s soft cry, catching glimpse of her shieldbrother’s eyes, widening in stunned surprise even as he lurched over, collapsing upon the hardpacked dirt road.
Her scream felt endless, even as she compelled her terrified steed to charge, compelled as she was with a fury and terror the match of any dark magic, Mercy charging at full gallop even as Jessica’s fist, shaking with fury, thrust her blood spattered, hissing blade deep into the body of the snarling guardsman, whose glare of twisted triumph had turned to a gasping cry as Jessica’s blade twisted from high to low, darting under his upraised shield and plunging into his abdomen with every ounce of power available to her, bursting through mail and gambeson, even as her mare sped past and she was forced to release the blade.
Even with the power of a charging destrier between her legs, no saber should be able to pierce mail. She knew this, and did not care. She did not look back as her enemy’s spasming body collapsed to the ground beneath his frantic steed’s hooves. She refused to look back even as her enemy's dying screams increased in fever and pitch, the very blood she had etched her blade with burning through his flesh, an echo of the towering fury roaring through her.
Almost of its own accord, her shaking fist had grabbed and raised flanged mace up high. She did not recognize the bestial scream emanating from her lips, her mind still echoing with her shieldbrother's soft cry. The furious exchange of blows as she rammed Mercy against yet another mercenary's steed almost felt as if they were delivered by another's arms, Malek's haunted gaze burning into her soul as she smashed aside saber with shield before hammering her foe's steel helm with the full force of her mace, metal and bone quickly crumpling under the force of her terrible blows. The man's face distorted hideously as he arched over, gurgling, collapsing from his horse as Jess screamed and pounded his falling body, only her familiar's sudden panic snapping her back
into focus once more.
“Jess, rear!”
Her shield barely blocked the frantic thrust of enemy saber as her foe's stallion raced past, his blade skittering against the supernaturally hard surface of her wooden disc, even as Jessica's own mace whipped about, clipping the soldier's helmet as he sped past. Locked within her own mounting panic, Jess heard herself scream, felt her thighs squeeze a command to Mercy, instantly understood, now chasing down the final guardsman wobbling on his horse from the glancing blow, fleeing from Jess with the terror of a panicked beast.
Arching high in her stirrups, Jess hurled her mace with a furious cry, sending it crashing into the guard's mail covered back. The soldier's armor, excellent at protecting against most blows delivered with sharpened blades, did almost nothing to mitigate the terrible shock of the flanged steel mace head slamming into his spine. With a cry the man collapsed, stumbling off his steed. A roaring Jess showed him no mercy as she raced toward him, grabbing one of her javelins and ruthlessly running him through.
And as quick as that her enemies were dead, savage thrusts with discarded horse spear assuring none would rise from feigned injury even as she raced to her shieldbrother’s side, gazing into Malek’s deathly pale face, feeling as alone and afraid as she ever had in all her life.
“Malek!” she sobbed, unable to hide her terror behind fury now that her enemies were no more, unable to keep the tears at bay a moment later.
A terrible soft sigh.
“Josie!” Jess screamed, near senseless with panic, crying out for her friend in a voice so loud she could almost imagine it shaking the hills.
“Focus, Jess,” soothed a strangely comforting voice, capturing her with its brilliant sapphire eyes. “You must calm yourself, lest you sunder all you have worked so hard to preserve. Take a deep breath, my Jess. That’s it. Now let Josie examine Malek. You must ease your grip just a bit, that’s right… well done.”
Shadow Knight Page 41
