All but one that was. The fourth person, Moz guessed it was a man based on height, but couldn’t really be certain, wore a dark tunic and trousers. That one had to be a warrior. Just the way he held himself screamed danger.
“Any idea why they’d be coming from that way?” Moz asked.
Alva shrugged. “The sages are always looking for some magic thing or other. Maybe they were prowling around the ruins.”
That made sense, though if what he’d heard about the ruins was accurate, you’d want a lot more than four people in your group. Maybe they were the survivors.
When the group reached the main gate, they were instantly ushered in. Whoever they were, they were important. Gate guards had only a piddling amount of authority and always exercised it when someone came to call. If they let those four in that fast you could be sure they were high up.
Once they were inside and out of sight, Moz settled in to wait some more. And wait he did, for hours and hours until dark. Not another soul appeared from either direction.
The next day passed much the same as the first. When the third day dawned, Moz had had his fill of watching the empty road. After a cold breakfast of jerky and hardtack he said, “We’re going to have a look at those ruins.”
Alva nearly choked on his food. “Are you nuts? Nothing out there but smashed buildings and death. Let’s just pack it in and head back. No shame in that.”
“I was telling you my plans, not asking your opinion.”
Ten minutes later they were mounted up and making their way through the woods, around the clearing to the far end of the road. They reached it without incident and kicked their horses into a trot.
They rode through lunch and around midafternoon the first tower appeared in the distance. A big one with a dragon at the top. A jagged length of metal emerged from the dragon’s mouth and it appeared to be spitting lightning. That might be what dragged the cloud down. Though Moz still couldn’t imagine why anyone would want to.
A quarter mile on Moz spotted a little clearing fifty yards off the road. Looked like a perfect spot to leave the horses. He nudged his mount toward it and when they arrived climbed down. Despite his manacles and missing hand, Alva scrambled to the ground on his own. He’d had plenty of practice over the past few days and now managed the task easily.
Moz hobbled the horses and left them cropping grass while he and his prisoner continued on foot. It wasn’t even ten minutes later that the city edge came into view in the form of a handful of smashed stone huts. Not the most awe-inspiring imperial ruins Moz had ever seen, but he assumed they would get more impressive the deeper they went into the city.
“Are we really going in?” Alva asked.
“Yes, and if you complain one more time, I’ll knock you over the head and leave you there.”
Moz scratched his chin as he eyed the ruins. Assuming the Dark Sages had come from here, the safest thing to do would be to figure out where they exited and follow their trail.
It took a good fifteen minutes of searching to find the tracks, and it wasn’t just a few from four horses. Whoever they were, they were making regular trips to the ruins. Clearly there must be something interesting inside.
The path went between a pair of square towers that had been smashed almost exactly in half. Moz’s gaze darted constantly from the trail to the looming buildings and back again. Sometimes he thought he caught a flicker of movement, but when he looked closer there was never anything there. While he never considered himself the fanciful sort, something about the setting encouraged that sort of thinking.
A few hundred yards in, dirt and rubble gave way to neat cobblestone. The street looked so perfect it might have been taken from Rend City. It was amazing to find something so undamaged after such a long time. There had to be magic involved, but Moz was hardly the one to figure it out.
What he needed to focus on was following tracks across stone. It had been simple enough out in the dirt and grass, but here the path turned subtle; scuff marks on the stone, disturbed dust, that kind of thing. It was always damn tricky tracking someone through a city, even a ruined city. At least there weren’t other people to disturb the signs. If there had been, Moz would’ve been doomed.
As it was their speed slowed to a crawl. A quarter mile took them nearly half an hour. They reached a plaza decorated with a pair of perfect statues depicting a man petting a dragon’s head and Moz stopped to rest his eyes. The man was probably a former emperor, one of Ariel’s many-times-great grandfathers.
A quick glance at the lengthening shadows indicated night wasn’t far off, maybe a couple hours. Wherever this path led, they needed to reach the end of it sooner rather than later.
“Think what we could sell those statues for if we could get them out of here intact.” Alva walked over for a closer look. He ran his bound hand across the stone. “Lend me a knife. I think the dragon’s eyes are gems.”
“Forget that and get back here,” Moz said. “We need to move. Unless you want to spend the night in these ruins.”
Alva didn’t move. “We should get something for all our trouble. Come on, it’ll only take a minute to dig them out.”
Moz shook his head at the man’s greed. “When this is over, you’re going to prison at best. You’ll have no use for gems. Come on, or I’m leaving you behind.”
The bandit sighed, turned his back on the statues, and took a step back toward Moz. Behind him something shifted. Moz caught only the barest hint of movement, but his gut said something was there.
“Alva, stop.”
“Make up your mind.”
“There’s something behind you. It moved when you moved. Whatever it is seems drawn to motion.”
Alva spun around. When he did, the biggest snake Moz had ever seen reared up and hissed. A hood flared on either side of its head and it bared fangs as long as Moz’s swords. It had to be eighty feet long and twenty in diameter.
The snake’s head wove back and forth as though not certain where its target had stopped. A four-foot-long forked tongue shot out. Its eyes were all black. If it was blind how could it see movement? And if it wasn’t blind, why didn’t it just strike Alva down? Moz had no answers.
“What do I do?” Alva asked in a harsh whisper.
The snake’s head snapped back toward Alva.
“Keeping quiet and still seems like a good idea.”
Alva shot him a look that was filled with curses.
Moz didn’t especially like or trust the bandit, but he felt a passing responsibility for the man. Maybe if he distracted the snake Alva would have a chance to escape.
“Hey!” Moz jumped up and down and waved his arms.
The snake ignored him. It was like he wasn’t there. Moz was standing out in the open with no cover twenty paces from the giant snake. How could it not see him?
It slithered closer to Alva, its scaled trunk only a foot away from grazing his leg. Moz had about ten seconds before it bumped into his companion and that would be it.
Moz took a step closer. This had to be among the dumber things he’d ever done.
Still no reaction.
He took another step and the huge head snapped toward him. Moz jumped back and it instantly lost interest.
Sudden understanding struck him. There must be some magic on the path they’d been following. A safe passage through the ruins. As soon as the idiot stepped off of it, he became a potential snack.
If he was right, it gave Moz an idea. “Alva, get ready to run for the path when I say.”
Moz hurried back to the edge of the plaza and stepped off the path. “Hey! Come and get me!”
The snake reacted way faster than Moz expected.
It halved the distance between them in an instant.
“Now, Alva!”
Moz leapt back toward the path just ahead of it. The snake stopped dead and looked all around. Moz let out a long sigh. That had been too close.
He glanced back to find the bandit back where he belonged, trembling but unhar
med. Moz closed the distance between, careful to keep to the exact track he’d followed.
“You go sightseeing again and you’re on your own,” Moz said.
“The only sight I want to see is this death trap getting smaller. Let’s finish whatever it is we’re doing and get out of here.”
That might have been the best idea Moz had heard from the bandit. They set out again with Moz following the faint signs and Alva watching the shadows for monsters. Moz had no doubt they were out there, but if he did his job properly, they should be okay.
Chapter 19
Leonidas strode through the corridors of the Dark Sages’ headquarters toward the great hall. Servants scurried out of his way while Domina, Shade, and Jax followed in his wake. According to the agent he left behind when he departed to activate the desert tower, Kranic had gathered the other high sages and convinced them to demand an explanation regarding Leonidas’s recent activities.
The gall of them, to think they were in a position to demand anything from him. Leonidas had been confident that he had the others cowed, but it appeared he’d been spending too much time away and their spines had regrown. Time to rip them out again, maybe literally depending on their attitude.
With his mission approaching completion, the other sages were of ever-diminishing value. Had they remained docile and obedient, he would have been content to let them continue their research in his new empire. If they were going to be more trouble than they were worth, well, removing them wouldn’t break his heart. He’d have to find some competent managers to oversee the network of agents they’d built, but again, that was a minor problem.
“Leonidas,” Domina said. “What do you wish us to do?”
“Watch my back and keep quiet. I’ll deal with the other high sages myself.” After all their whining and questioning, he might actually enjoy killing a few of them.
Leonidas and his cadre reached the great hall. Outside the elaborate double doors stood a pair of guards loyal to Kranic. They wore black leather armor and carried swords naked in their hands. So he’d already begun moving his people into place. Smart, if pointless.
“Only you may enter, Most High,” the left-hand guard said.
Leonidas clenched his fist. “I know you didn’t just give me an order. Unless you want to find out what those swords taste like, I suggest you get out of my way. No, get out of the citadel and don’t return. If I see either of your faces again, I’ll kill you on the spot.”
The guards exchanged a look. Probably trying to decide if they feared him more than Kranic. Leonidas was insulted that they even had to think about it.
“You’ve got three seconds to make up your minds whether he’s worth dying for,” Leonidas said. “One. Two.”
Both guards sheathed their swords and took off like whipped curs. That made them smarter than Leonidas expected.
At his gesture the doors swung open revealing the long wooden meeting table. Kranic sat at the head, in Leonidas’s chair. The man appeared even bigger than the last time Leonidas saw him. His shoulders bulged through his black robe. The other sages sat rigid in their chairs. None looked his way when the door closed behind him.
“Well?” Leonidas asked.
“We’ve put it to a vote,” Kranic said. “You need to either tell us what you’re working on or we’ll remove you from your position as most high.”
Leonidas barked a laugh. “I don’t answer to any of you. My plans are my own. I’m not most high because you allow me to be. I’m most high because I’m stronger than you. Than all of you. Any doubters are welcome to see for themselves. Now get out of my chair.”
“Make me,” Kranic said.
Leonidas smiled. “I hoped you’d say that, Kranic.”
“Gentlemen, please,” High Sage Southmore said. She was the longest serving of the current high sages and a skilled user of earth magic. Her stark white hair stood out like a lightning bolt against her black robe. “We are all on the same side here. Surely violence isn’t necessary.”
Leonidas never took his eyes off Kranic. “What did you imagine was going to happen when you joined Kranic in rebellion against me? That I’d simply give in to your demands? Are all of you planning to share your various projects with me? I hardly think so. Nor should you. Your business is your own, just as mine is. As long as you’re not working to the detriment of the group, I couldn’t care less what any of you are doing.”
“We had hoped you might offer some reassurances,” Southmore said. “You’ve been using more group resources than usual.”
“A couple of lookout notices is hardly excessive,” Leonidas said. “I’ve paid for all my expenses just as the rest of you do. I’m through explaining. Decide now, all of you, if you’re with Kranic or me. There can only be one most high.”
After a strained moment of silence Southmore rose. “I’m with you, Leonidas.”
Kranic’s smug grin wavered a fraction as one by one the other high sages stood and joined Leonidas. When the last had spoken, a scowl had replaced the grin.
“Weaklings,” Kranic snarled. “We might have beaten him together. You’ve all dug your own graves.”
Leonidas gestured and the Black Ring flashed. Green energy formed around Kranic’s wrists and ankles, lifting him, and slamming him into the wall with bone-breaking force. The tendons in Kranic’s neck stood out as he struggled to free himself. He might better have tried to lift a mountain.
“I’m removing you as a high sage, Kranic,” Leonidas said.
“There’s no precedent for removal,” Southmore said. “Appointments are for life.”
Now it was Leonidas’s turn to grin. “I’m aware.”
Kranic shook his sleeve and a vial tumbled out. It struck the floor and shattered, releasing a green cloud that quickly expanded to fill the hall.
Leonidas shifted his focus and quickly absorbed the magical mist before it could do any harm. When it cleared, there was no sign of Kranic. His momentary lapse had allowed the man to escape.
“Shall we hunt him down, Lord Black?” Domina asked.
Leonidas grimaced. “No. He knows the back ways as well as any of us. Kranic will be long gone before anyone can catch him. Spread the word that he’s no longer a member of the organization. That will do for now.”
Domina nodded and slipped out of the hall. Leonidas trusted her to make the situation clear to everyone at the citadel. Messages would have to be sent to the group’s other agents, but that was a matter for others.
“I trust there are no more questions about either my plans or my leadership?”
The remaining high sages remained silent, exactly as he expected.
“Good. If you’ll all excuse me, I’ve wasted enough time on this.” Leonidas spun and stalked out of the room with Jax and Shade at his heels.
He’d barely walked ten yards when Southmore caught up to him. Leonidas grimaced but kept his tone even. “What is it?”
“I think Kranic used some kind of alchemy on us. When you entered my mind slowly began to clear. I can’t even remember exactly what he said to convince me to attend this meeting.”
If it was anyone else, Leonidas would have assumed she was making excuses for the attempted betrayal, but Southmore’s days of explaining herself were long past. If she was claiming there was magic involved in compelling her, then there probably was. He certainly wouldn’t have put it past Kranic to try something like that.
“The Black Ring most likely absorbed the magic affecting you, mistaking it for a threat to me. Assuming you’re right, I feel even better about removing Kranic, though it’s a pity he escaped.”
“A temporary escape,” Southmore said. “There are few enough places he can hide. Though I admit I have no idea where his personal workshop is.”
“Nor do I. Should you succeed in tracking him down, let me know. Kranic’s a fool, but he’s a powerful fool. You’ll need my help to defeat him.”
Southmore nodded once and walked away. Leonidas would have to thank Kranic before
he killed him. This betrayal would keep the other high sages occupied long enough for him to complete his work. Once the girl was under his control and the final tower activated, nothing would be able to threaten his power.
Chapter 20
Moz and Alva reached the end of the trail about an hour before sunset. The signs led straight to the tall dragon tower. In a large open area in front of the tower, three flat-bottomed boats about a hundred times bigger than his little skiff back home floated five feet above the ground. It was a function of how weird his life had become that Moz wasn’t staring at the floating ships with his jaw resting on the ground. That didn’t mean his mind wasn’t awhirl with questions.
“Why the hell are there floating ships in the middle of a ruin?” Alva asked. “Who even heard of floating ships? If I travel with you much longer my brain’s going to melt.”
“That’ll save the cost of a trial,” Moz said. “Be grateful there aren’t any giant snakes around.”
Alva shuddered. “Don’t remind me. So what now?”
That was the thousand-scale question. What now indeed. The truth was, Moz had tracked the Dark Sages on a whim. He didn’t really have a plan for what came next. He’d hoped the next step might present itself. Instead he found flying ships, a giant tower, and no answers.
He scrubbed a hand across his face. It was too close to dark to risk another trip through the ruins. They’d have to spend the night here and set out in the morning. But first they needed to have a look at those ships. He didn’t want to return to the college as ignorant as when he left and they were his last chance to find answers.
“Let’s have a look around.” Moz walked slowly around the central ship.
They were all basically identical. Some sparkling stones had been set in the hull. Maybe they made it fly. Maybe they were just for decoration, he had no idea. He ran a hand along the smooth wood of the hull. The ships hadn’t been built long ago judging from the lack of wear. There was no rudder, which made sense if they were flying ships. The same magic that kept them in the air probably steered them as well.
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