He pulled the scroll from the pocket of his tunic, holding it in his left hand while he pushed his will into the Ring of Insight on his right index finger. He held his question in mind as he triggered the enchantment, and got an answer almost immediately.
He didn’t have to match the mesmer’s speed. He just needed to predict where it would be, and more specifically, where it would attack from. Ari kept a tight grip on his scroll, knowing that he’d only get a split second chance to unleash whatever magic it contained.
He watched the room as carefully as he could, keeping his focus in one direction and noting every blur and sign of movement as the mesmer circled at a speed that was too fast for him to follow. The mesmer shot by to the left, and there was an empty second in which nothing happened.
Ari spun and unleashed the power of the scroll. The mesmer had been standing directly behind him, in the middle of swinging his mace in a blow that would have crushed Ari’s head in a physical fight.
The scroll unleashed a glowing green sphere which struck the mesmer full in the chest. Ari watched as the ethereal warrior froze in place, as though his entire body had been flash frozen into an ice statue.
He didn’t hesitate. Gripping Azurelight in both hands, Ari delivered a slash at full strength. It bisected the warrior at the waist, releasing a flash of purple light and a sudden rush of absorbed essence as the mesmer’s ghostly form evaporated.
CHAPTER 15
Ari’s adrenaline rush didn’t subside until a few minutes after the fight was over. He sat on the floor of the chamber, wiping away the blood that continued to drip from his nose and taking gloriously slow breaths.
Eva shifted into her incarnate form and crouched next to him, flashing a proud smile. Her expression shifted into concern as she noticed the extent of his weakened condition.
“You will need to rest for a while after this,” she said. “It is unwise to do battle against mesmers so recklessly. Though, I must you commend you on your performance in this fight, Lord Aristial.”
“Thanks,” said Ari. “I owe it all to my Ring of Insight. Which I don’t mind taking credit for, since I was, of course, the mastermind behind it.”
Eva rolled her eyes, but her smile widened a little.
“As much as I enjoy watching you savor your victory, we are still operating under a severe time restraint,” she said. “We should search this chamber for the third key without delay.”
They found it in a small chest behind the mesmer’s organ. Ari was disappointed when he saw that there was only the key inside of it, with no extra scrolls or items. It meant that they would have to go deeper into the spire to find the essence they needed to recharge the tower, which meant they’d likely be going up against more of the mesmers.
He ran beside Eva as they hurried back toward the main chamber. Pulling all three of the keys out of his pack, he wasted no time in setting them each into the locks. It took him several tries to figure out which one fit into its appropriate place, but once he’d turned all of them, a ward farther up on the massive door flashed with light.
It split in half as it opened, letting out a low, grinding noise as stone moved against stone. Ari only got a glimpse of the room on the other side before a strange, unnatural darkness spread forth and filled the air, momentarily blinding him.
It faded after a couple of seconds, leaving an unwelcome foreboding sensation in its wake. Ari blinked and looked around the main chamber, only turning his attention toward the new room once he was sure that he and Eva were still alone.
“What just happened?” he asked.
Eva shook her head. “I’m not sure, but we should probably keep moving. We are running out of time.”
Ari nodded and the two of them hurried forward through the door they’d worked so hard to open. It led to a small chamber with a single ornate chest along the back wall and an open hatch with an essence lock at the center.
The hatch only deepened Ari’s feeling of unease. The other doors they’d come across, even those without locks, had all been closed when he’d first found them. He was tempted to head down into the hatch and take a quick look around but decided that it could wait until after he’d checked the room’s impressive-looking chest for relevant loot.
He made his way over to it and pulled it open, blinking in surprise at what he found inside. The chest was filled to the brim with jewelry, ancient gold coins, exquisitely tailored clothing, and a single vial of dark liquid.
“Dormiar’s eyes,” muttered Ari. “This is massive. I can’t even guess how much all of this is worth.”
How much it would be worth, he reminded himself. Value was a trait entirely dependent on being able to find a buyer. Ari and Kerys had been on their own since leaving Golias Hollow, outside of Eva and Rin’s brief time with them. The only value the chest’s fortune had to them was in whatever practical applications they could find for it.
“Is any of it enchanted?” asked Eva.
“Good question.” Ari ran a hand across the jewelry, trying to feel out the familiar tingle of essence that most enchantments gave off. He felt it, but not from where he was expecting.
The vial of dark liquid gave off such a strong sensation of essence that it almost hurt to touch. Ari picked it up by the top edge, as though it were a thin mug of exceedingly hot tea. He held it out to Eva for inspection.
“I know what this is,” she said, furrowing her brow in an attempt at recollection. “It is a form of distilled essence. Yes… I’m sure of it.”
“Distilled essence?” said Ari. “Do you think it could be useful to us?”
“If you were willing to imbibe it, the essence contained within would work in the same manner as any you derived from an enchanted object,” said Eva.
Ari slowly nodded, and then couldn’t resist asking another question as it popped into his head.
“Would it help restore a person’s soul essence?” he asked.
“I do not believe so,” said Eva. “Soul essence is separate from your normally accessible essence store. But you should not have to worry about that, especially if this vial has enough essence within it to save us from having to progress further into the spire.”
She gave his shoulder a reassuring squeeze, and Ari did his best to act like he didn’t know how much worse his condition was than she suspected. He ran a finger along the length of the vial, trying to estimate if it was enough to activate the teleportation wards on the tower.
As far as he could tell, as an inexperienced enchanter, it was more than enough and would likely leave him with essence to spare afterward. He carefully tucked the vial into his tunic’s inner pocket after making sure the cork stopper was doing its job and then turned his attention back to the treasure.
“I doubt most of this stuff will help us in the short term,” said Ari. “But I’ve always made it a habit to think ahead. How much of this do you think I could stuff into my pack?”
The answer turned out to be nearly half of the chest’s contents. Ari prioritized the coins ahead of everything else. He had Eva sort through some of the clothing, picking out expensive dresses for both herself and Kerys. Finally, he took one of the expensive amulets to wear around his neck, along with an extra ring for each of his fingers, and then had Eva do the same.
“This feels excessive,” said Eva.
“That word will leave our vocabulary if we ever manage to find someone to give us money for even a third of what we just grabbed,” said Ari.
They hurried back through the main chamber and up the sloping hallway as quickly as they could. Climbing the hatch with a pack full of gold coins was more challenging than Ari had been expecting, but he managed it after a minute.
The sky was dark overhead, and he could already hear thunder stirring in the distance. Eva ran ahead of him, opening the door to the tower so he didn’t have to slow his pace as he followed behind her.
“I think I can transfer the essence directly into the tower’s wards through the control wards on this table,”
said Ari. “All we’ll need to do is figure out where we want to go next.”
“I wish we had spent more time investigating which of these wards correspond to which location,” said Eva.
“True,” said Ari. “Though it would only make a difference if we already knew enough about the continent to know which parts of it are safe. For now, let’s just cross our fingers and hope for somewhere sunny.”
He took the vial of distilled essence out of his pocket and pulled out the cork. It had an interesting scent, sweet with an edge that reminded him a little of root ale. Ari brought the vial to his lips and downed it in a single gulp.
He almost retched as it made contact with his throat, burning the places where it made contact with his mouth and tongue. Ari forced it down, grimacing as he felt the hot, tingling liquid settle into his stomach. The effect was almost instantaneous, and within seconds he felt more essence flowing through him than he’d ever held at one time.
He pressed his hands to the table and shuddered slightly as the essence passed through his palms and into the tower. The twelve wards that corresponded with different potential locations burst into light on the stone table, though he only recognized one.
It was on the left-hand side, a thin line with a choppy curve at the bottom. The only reason Ari knew where it would bring them is because he’d used it once before, and it had brought them to where they were now.
“I still have essence left over,” said Ari. “I’m going to store it into the enchanting altar before we go.”
“Be quick,” said Eva. “I suspect that we do not have very long before the storm starts up.”
Ari took her advice, heading straight to the altar and using its ward to drain the residual essence from his body. He hesitated as he pulled away from it, suddenly realizing that there was something, or rather, someone, that they were forgetting.
“Kerys?” he called, hurrying down to the second floor. “Kerys!”
She wasn’t in her room, and more importantly, neither was the ornate short sword.
“Mud and blood!” he shouted. “She went into the spire!”
CHAPTER 16
The rain had already begun trickling down as Ari and Eva hurried back outside. Ari left the door to the tower open behind them, knowing that even just the split second it took to turn the handle might mean the difference between life and death once the fishers were bearing down on them.
“How could we have missed her?” asked Eva. “Would she not have to have passed right by us?”
“She must have gone into one of the other chambers while we were fighting against the purple mesmer,” said Ari. “And then… she might just not have noticed when we left.”
Or something else could have happened. Ari didn’t let himself consider the range of horrible possibilities as he slid down the ladder and took off through the sloping hallway at a dead sprint.
“Check the room with the traps!” shouted Ari. “I doubt she’d try to make it through, but just in case, make sure it’s empty.”
Eva nodded and split off from him as soon as they were in the main chamber. Ari headed for the room with the pink mesmer and felt conflicting stabs of relief and concern when he found the door left open.
Kerys was sitting on the bed inside, with Lady Prestia manifested in all her buxom, ethereal glory directly beside her. She had one hand on Kerys’ thigh and was whispering something into her ear.
“Kerys!” shouted Ari. “Time to go.”
He grabbed her by the hand, and for a split second, Lady Prestia’s illusory memory draped itself across his vision. It gave Ari a small window into just how close Kerys had come to being seduced in the very same way he had been. The pink mesmer woman’s night robe was half open, showing off the cleavage of her large, beautiful breasts, and her full attention was fixated on Kerys, who was blushing fiercely.
“Wait!” called Lady Prestia. “She’s Lord Diya’s gift to me!”
“She’s too innocent to be that sort of gift,” said Ari. “Even though it might be fun to watch the two of you at play.”
“Aristial!” snapped Kerys. “What are you doing? I was getting information on the spire from her!”
“The storm, Kerys!” Ari squeezed her wrist tighter and pulled her into a run. “I can’t believe you’d be this stupid! It’s already raining outside! You know as well as I do what that means.”
“I…” Kerys glowered at him. “You shouldn’t have left me behind. I told you that I wanted to help.”
“And I told you that the best way for you to help was to stay in the tower,” said Ari.
He sighed, knowing that there was no point in arguing any further. Kerys was safe, and they found Eva waiting for them back in the main chamber.
“Do you have a plan for what we should do next?” asked Eva.
“Get to the tower,” said Ari. “We don’t have the option of waiting the storm out. Maybe if we’re quick enough, there will only be a couple of fishers waiting for us on the roof.”
Or none at all, he hoped, though it felt too unrealistically optimistic to voice out loud. They hurried back up the sloping hallway, pausing at the ladder that led to the roof to listen for any of the telltale noises of the monsters.
“I can’t hear anything,” said Kerys.
“That’s a good sign,” said Ari. “But it’s no guarantee. Eva?”
She flashed with light, and he caught Azurelight in one hand. He opted not to return it to its scabbard, instead climbing up the ladder with it in one hand in case he needed to fight immediately upon surfacing.
The rain poured down through the hatch’s opening before he’d even pulled himself up onto the roof. Ari stood up as quickly as he could, holding his sword at the ready as he scanned the roof for any sign of monsters.
There were at least a dozen fishers waiting for them. Some of them stood on their hind legs, while others were crouched on all fours. They looked almost humanoid from the neck down, except with scaly, jet-black skin. Six tentacles protruded from the back of their heads, like disgusting, sentient braids as long as each of them was tall.
Ari only had to look at them for a few seconds before realizing that something was very, very wrong. They weren’t attacking, and moreover, they stood in two neat, perfectly positioned rows. He reached down to help Kerys up the last few rungs of the ladder and gave her a push toward the tower as lightning flashed in the distance, followed by a booming thunder crack.
It was only as he turned his attention toward the tower that Ari noticed another figure, separate from the monsters. He again felt a sense of deep wrongness as he looked at a silhouette that was almost similar to a human’s with a few obvious, bizarre differences.
The head was oversized and wrong, with the upper section stretched and elongated into a shape roughly like that of an egg. The figure’s legs and arms were also unnatural-looking, with two elbow and knee joints instead of just one.
It was surrounded by a thin fog of black condensation, or perhaps smoke, which slowly curled into tufts with each of its movements. It seemed to notice the attention Ari and Kerys were paying to it, lifting a hand and offering a wave as it started toward them.
“Saidios?” called the figure, in a deep voice. “Ravikkos? Subvios? Ah, that’s right. You are Hume, are you not?”
Ari shifted so that he was standing in a way that shielded Kerys from both the fishers and the newcomer.
“You look frightened, primitive,” said the figure. “You need not be. You are my saviors, after all. I am known as Mordus, of the Escions. Might I enquire your names?”
Ari watched as Mordus of the Escions slowly made his way to stand in front of the fishers. Lightning flashed in the distance, and for an instant, the bright streak illuminated Mordus’ features. His face looked surprisingly normal, discounting the shape of his head, and he wore a black tunic that hung down to his first set of knees.
“Your saviors?” asked Ari.
“Of course,” said Mordus. “You released me from my a
ccidental prison. Despite its size, I must admit that it was a rather unpleasant place to spend the last few centuries.”
“Milord, you must get away from whatever this thing is!” said Eva, through their bond. “I can sense more than just danger here. This is… true evil.”
Ari felt himself silently agreeing with her assessment. He wished nothing more than to get the opinion of his Ring of Insight, but he’d already drained its enchantment for the day. He took a step toward the tower, reaching an arm back to make sure Kerys stayed close and out of direct line of sight with the numerous threats. Mordus let out a thin laugh.
“I was not bluffing before when I said I wouldn’t hurt you,” said Mordus. “Your fear is, of course, justified, but I mean you no harm. Please, primitive. Give me your name so that we might converse properly.”
“My name is Lord Aristial Stoneblood,” said Ari. “I’m not looking for a fight, but I won’t hesitate to defend myself.”
“Neither am I, as of now,” said Mordus. “Are you looking for answers, Lord Stoneblood? I have them, if so. You need simply put voice to your questions.”
“Ari…” Kerys pulled at his arm. “I don’t like this.”
“Why aren’t they attacking?” asked Ari, nodding to the fishers.
“Because I haven’t told them to,” said Mordus.
“You can control them?” asked Ari.
“Of course,” said Mordus. “My kind, the Escions, can be thought of as their progenitors. They arise from the resonance between my home and the seeds spread aloft by this very spire.”
“Your home?” asked Ari.
Mordus extended one of his grotesque arms, gesturing toward the sky. Only one of the moons was visible. The Stray, the moon that Kerys had once explained shouldn’t have existed.
“We’re travelers,” said Mordus. “We’ve traveled far. Much farther than I think you could understand, and I do not say that to belittle your intelligence.”
Vision Voyage (The Weatherblight Saga Book 2) Page 9
