The name Port Tiger meant nothing to Binder. The western side of the empire had always been sparsely populated which was why he focused on the eastern half. Once he controlled this half, his servants could easily take control of the other.
Twenty paladins was more than he’d expected and they were no doubt the best of the Order. That said, he’d given his knights more power than most angels did their chosen partner. Six against twenty should be an even match and if they timed their attack right his side would have the advantage.
Gather the others and prepare an ambush. Use your best judgement about where and when. After you’ve dealt with them contact me again.
Binder severed the link. Hopefully they’d be able to handle things on their own, since he had his hands full with locating Lady Shiv.
A quick burst of speed brought him to his knight’s side. “Where?”
She pointed at a large three-masted ship bouncing across the waves. “I sense several powerful sorcerers down there. What reason could an ordinary merchant have for them?”
Binder could think of several, but this was the first decent lead they’d found. Even if it wasn’t the target, they might have seen Lady Shiv. Dropping in to talk couldn’t do any harm.
“Wait here and keep your eyes open,” Binder said. “Lady Shiv has proven that she has the potential to kill a knight. Having you with me is more likely to be a hindrance than a help. If I should need assistance I’ll summon you.”
“Yes, Master.”
Of course if Binder needed help, there wasn’t much one of his knights could do about it.
Chapter Sixty-Five
Damien flew towards the Golden Plains with Imogen beside him. Jen and her squad were approaching on foot. According to Edward, only a small force of Binder worshippers oversaw the prisoners. The only reason they’d kept control was surprise and the fact that when they struck no one had their weapons ready. It should be a simple matter for them to disrupt the guards and get weapons to the soldiers.
At least that was the plan. Lately their plans hadn’t been worth much, but hopefully they could keep their winning streak going.
Jen had fallen a little bit behind so Damien slowed his approach. Imogen looked his way for the third time in as many minutes.
“What?” he asked.
“I was just wondering, when this is over, how will we separate ordinary people who just happen to worship the Binder from those who used it as an excuse to overthrow the king? I mean, they can’t be completely united. No group is.”
“What do you say we focus on the matter at hand? There’s a lot we still have to do before we need to worry about separating good cultists from bad, assuming there is such a thing as a good cultist. After everything they’ve done, I wouldn’t be surprised if the king just has them all executed and outlawed the religion. That’s what I’d recommend at least.”
“Kind of harsh.”
“Tell that to the people that have died because of them. Jen’s in place. Are you ready?”
Imogen nodded and they both drew power from their cores. Soul force crackled in the air around them.
Damien dove toward the camp, ready to face an onslaught of blasts.
All he faced was empty air. Soldiers were milling around as though not exactly sure what had happened. No one, sorcerer or warlord, opposed them as they landed. The tents all appeared exactly as he remembered. At least the cultists hadn’t torched the place before they left.
Damien scratched his head and looked around. Jen appeared beside him out of nowhere, her soul-forged blade bare in her hand.
“What’s going on?” she asked.
“Good question,” Damien said. “Looks like the enemy fled. What I can’t figure out is why the soldiers are wandering around like zombies. None of them look hurt. Lizzy, how are their minds?”
Damaged. The part that controls rational thought has been turned off. Don’t ask me how.
“I’ll go back and get the others,” Damien said. “Do you want to have a look around and see if you can find anyone whose brain is still working?”
“Sure, me and the guys’ll poke around,” Jen said.
“Don’t let your guard down. Some of the enemy might be lying in wait.”
Jen grinned. “That’s my line and I never let my guard down.”
She vanished and Damien turned to Imogen. “Would you mind keeping watch over them from above?”
“Will do.” Imogen flew straight up about a hundred yards and stopped.
Damien launched himself into the air and powered due east to a clearing in a stand of evergreens where he’d left Karrie, his master, and Uncle Andy.
The flight took less than a minute and when he landed the archmage said, “That was fast. What happened?”
“Nothing. There’s no sign of the cultists and the soldiers are acting strange. Lizzy says something was done to their brains. Healing isn’t my specialty. Maybe you can make something of it.”
“What about the generals?” Uncle Andy asked.
Damien shook his head. “Haven’t seen them. Jen’s searching the camp now.”
“Is it safe for us to enter?” Uncle Andy asked.
“As far as I can tell.”
“Why would they just leave?” Karrie asked. When everyone looked her way she blushed and added, “I mean it is strange, isn’t it?”
“It certainly is,” Uncle Andy said. “Let’s go see if we can’t answer your question.”
Damien conjured a chariot for the king and princess and the four of them flew back toward the camp. He figured if anyone would have answers it would be Jen so he guided them toward where he sensed her.
They landed beside General Taos’s command tent just as Jen emerged. She smiled when she spotted them.
“Find anything?” Uncle Andy asked.
“Nothing useful. They weren’t keeping the generals in their command tents so I’m not sure where to find them. All the soldiers are a mess, even the warlords are stumbling around and drooling. Whatever they did was powerful enough to take out a warlord before they could use their soul force to cure it.”
Damien sensed Edward a moment before he appeared. “We found General Kord. He’s the same as the others.”
He noticed the king a moment after he spoke and bowed. “Majesty, forgive me. I didn’t notice you at first.”
Uncle Andy waved him off. “Don’t give it a thought. Take us to the general, maybe Lidia can do something with him.”
General Kord sat on a torn camp chair and stared at the dirt as though it was the most fascinating thing in the world. Alec stood beside him, a gentle hand on the general’s shoulder.
Uncle Andy knelt in front of him and forced the general to look at him. “Can you hear me? General? Your king has need of your advice. If you’re in there snap out of it.”
General Kord went back to staring as soon as the king released him. The archmage took his place and set a glowing hand on the general’s brow. Minutes passed as she worked.
She finally lowered her hand and straightened. “I don’t know. Something has definitely been done to his brain, but I can’t tell exactly what. And if I don’t know what’s been damaged, I might break something else trying to fix him.”
“Lizzy, can we talk to him on the psychic level?”
I don’t think there’s anything to talk to, not when he’s in this state. I can take a look if you want, but don’t get your hopes up.
“Thanks.” Damien shook his head. “Lizzy’s not optimistic. You know who we need? John Kord. He knows his father better than anyone and he’s an expert healer. If anyone can fix this, John can.”
The archmage snapped her fingers. “Good thinking. He’s stationed at Duke Iceborn’s keep. I’ll send a message.”
“That’ll be half a day as slow as John flies. Though I guess none of these guys are going anywhere.” Damien looked at the king. “What’s our next move?”
“The capital. Why don’t you go take a look?”
Damien nodded.
Useful as Al Elan’s ghost form was, he couldn’t get all the details a live scout could. Besides, now that he didn’t have to worry about Karrie, Damien had a lot more leeway to deal with threats.
Chapter Sixty-Six
Marie-Bell looked back over her shoulder at dirty, angry and all around miserable Port Tiger. She wasn’t going to miss the place, that was certain. At least everyone had gotten rested up. Even those who were the most drained had regained ninety percent of their soul force. A hundred percent would have been ideal, but ninety would easily get them to the mountains by dark with energy to spare, and Sir Collin wasn’t going to wait another second.
She didn’t really blame him, knowing what they were up against, and he had given in and let everyone have a night of rest. With his current state of mind, that was all she dared hope for. Marie-Bell hadn’t had a chance to talk to Jenkins or Mallory since they left the ship, but from the way they kept looking at each other behind Sir Collin’s back she figured he hadn’t improved overnight. Too bad. This quest was hard enough without having a crazy man in charge.
When they’d left Port Tiger well behind, a female paladin named Cella, the only one younger than Marie-Bell on the quest, dropped back to fly beside Marie-Bell at the rear of the formation. Marie-Bell had taken a few of her shifts at the fan and they had become, if not friends, at least comfortable with each other. She doubted any of the other paladins would act overly friendly as long as she was on Sir Collin’s bad side. Crazy or not, he was still grandmaster.
“What do you think we’ll find when we reach the mountains?” Cella asked.
Marie-Bell grinned. “Hopefully a dragon. I never imagined I’d be going out of my way to find a dragon. Usually the best idea is running away.”
“Have you seen any of the dragons?”
Had she? No. Damien talked about them with her, but she’d never seen one herself. “No, have you?”
“Me? Heavens no. I mainly do humanitarian work. My master chose me for this quest because of my healing ability not my combat skill. He assumed a specialist would come in handy if we had to fight.”
Marie-Bell was a pretty good healer herself, but from what she’d heard the paladins that specialized in it could work miracles. Hopefully they wouldn’t have need of her talents.
The thought had no more formed when Marie-Bell sensed a growing power above them. It felt like divine soul force, but different. She’d never felt anything like it.
Before she could decide if it was a threat, gray chains came streaking down out of the clouds. Three paladins were pierced through the torso and legs.
The chains were destroyed by the others before they could be torn apart.
Marie-Bell conjured a shield and drew the Demon Slayer sword. She urged her mount higher as six chain-wrapped figures fell from behind the clouds.
More chains whipped at her.
Marie-Bell severed some and others bounced off her shield, jarring her body. She winced at the impact even through her armor. Whoever they were, their power was nothing to treat lightly.
“Attack!” Sir Collin shouted.
He flew towards the enemy, his holy shield on one arm and a sword in the opposite hand. Mallory and Jenkins flanked him, soul force crackling around their hands as they blasted any chain that came close.
One group of paladins rushed to help the injured to the ground while others joined Sir Collin. Not trusting anyone to fight beside her, Marie-Bell kept her distance and targeted an enemy warrior that had separated from his group.
As they closed, chains wrapped around the warrior’s hand and fused into a wide, curved scimitar.
They came together with explosive force. Somehow his chain sword resisted the Demon Slayer’s impact.
With one hand the enemy bound Marie-Bell’s weapon and countered with a chain whip.
The links lashed against her ribs, landing with bruising force. Only the magic armor kept her chest from getting crushed.
Drawing deep from her core, Marie-Bell enhanced her strength and shoved the man aside. Before he could recover his balance the Demon Slayer sliced at his neck.
Chains appeared out of thin air and turned the blade aside enough that she only scratched his cheek.
They circled, wary now.
Marie-Bell had fought demons weaker than this guy. The nature of his weapons and powers made it clear that he served the Binder. His power was similar to, yet different from a true paladin. It carried the faint presence of corruption. Not like a demonic taint, rather a lack of purity. That taint must be what forced his master out of Heaven.
To her right, one of the enemy presences vanished. An ugly snarl curled her opponent’s lip. “We will finish this another day.”
A dozen chains shot out at her, forcing Marie-Bell to conjure a wall between them. The chains glanced off, but when she lowered the barrier her opponent had fled. She reached out as far as she could. Only a hint of his presence remained and it was dwindling fast along with the others.
Marie-Bell and the others looked to Sir Collin for orders.
“Let them go,” Sir Collin said. “We don’t need to fly into another ambush. Our goal is the mountains. Nothing else matters.”
That was the first order he’d given that really made sense. Marie-Bell blew out a relieved sigh and joined everyone else as they descended to check on the wounded.
Cella had her hands pressed to the chest of the worst-injured paladin. A gaping hole in his guts was rapidly closing. The other wounded tended their injuries with internal soul force and only a little help from their comrades.
“How is everyone?” Sir Collin asked.
“Lucky,” Cella said. “A few inches one way or another and two of the three would be dead.”
“Heaven was with us.” Sir Collin smiled this weird, stiff, not entirely sane smile. “This is a sign that we can’t fail. As soon as the wounded have finished healing we move on. The dragon awaits!”
If Sir Collin had been hoping for a rousing cheer, he was disappointed. “What were those people?” a male paladin asked.
“Their power felt almost the same as ours,” another said.
“Only stronger,” a third chimed in. “I doubt I could beat one of them by myself.”
This brought murmurs of agreement. They sounded as shaken as Marie-Bell felt. Fighting those chain warriors was like battling a mirror image.
“Where’s your fighting spirit?” Sir Collin demanded. “We all survived and one of them is dead. Our force outnumbers theirs four to one. They have no hope of defeating us and they know it. I’d wager my shield they don’t show themselves again. Our path is clear. Let’s finish this quest and send the Binder back where he belongs.”
That cheered the others a little and for a moment Marie-Bell caught a glimpse of what Sir Collin must have been before he lost his way. Maybe he was finding his way back.
For all their sakes she hoped so.
Chapter Sixty-Seven
The three-masted ship was one of the biggest Binder had ever seen. It was rigged with red sails and had a ballista in the front and a catapult in the back. Given that the trio of sorcerers he sensed on board measured up to any he’d encountered so far, Binder assumed the siege weapons served mainly for show.
As he descended, he felt one of his knights die on the far side of the empire. The jolt of pain did nothing to improve his mood. When the first blasts from the enemy sorcerers streaked up at him, Binder welcomed the attack.
Golden beams deflected off a whirling chain shield. The nearest sorcerer stood only feet from the ballista. Binder sent a burst of soul force at the man, blowing him to pieces along with the weapon and a fair chunk of the ship’s nose.
This bunch must’ve had more guts than the opponents he’d faced previously. The attacks kept coming, though to no more effect than their earlier effort.
Binder landed on deck and sent dozens of chains shooting toward the sorcerers. Crew members howled and dove out of the way.
He paid them no mind. Anyone t
hat served Lady Shiv was his enemy and deserved what they got.
The sorcerers turned aside his weaker attacks, though it took all their power. Binder gestured and a second sorcerer simply exploded, leaving a single opponent.
Chains appeared from every angle and wrapped the woman from neck to ankle. She tried to force her way free to no avail.
Binder let her struggle for a little longer before approaching. “Is your master below?”
The woman glared daggers, refusing to speak.
Of all the stupidity. Binder clenched his fist, tightening the chains binding her.
The sorcerer groaned and clenched her jaw.
“Is Lady Shiv below?” Binder asked again.
“Yes, damn you.”
“Better. Is she alone?”
“No.”
Why did they always try to be difficult? “Who’s with her, more sorcerers?”
“No, her daughter. No more guards.”
All true so far. Good. He didn’t enjoy the suffering of others, even those who deserved their fate.
“Thank you for your cooperation.” The chains crushed her to pulp. He might not enjoy the suffering of others, but that didn’t mean he would grant mercy to those who didn’t deserve it.
No one tried to stop him as he made his way to the lower decks. Multiple people crowded into small chambers hidden behind closed doors. He ignored them and kept walking down the narrow passage. Lady Shiv wouldn’t demean herself by hiding with common sailors. Directly behind him was a closed door with a single presence behind it.
That had to be her.
Binder gestured and the door turned to dust revealing a gaunt, wrinkled woman dressed all in black sitting behind a desk bolted to the floor. She crooked a thin eyebrow. “Have you no manners? Where I was raised we learned to knock before entering a person’s room.”
“I go where I please.” Binder crossed the room to tower over the tiny satrap. “You refused my summons and killed one of my knights. You’re going to die for that, but I wish to know why you refused to submit.”
On Blackened Wings Page 23
