Dusk Gate (Soul Bound Book 1)

by Benjamin Medrano

  When the sound of combat began to ring out, though… that was when she started crying.

  Charles and the other two guards succeeded in slowing the attackers down. Jasmine didn’t know anything more than that, but they managed to make it to the bottom of the mountain without any more of the plants almost landing on them. When she’d looked up the hillside, though… that had made Jasmine shudder, as she’d seen hundreds of the horrible monsters making their way downward.

  Then they’d fled still further, using their staves to support themselves, even as their legs were beginning to give out. They’d been running for too long, and Jasmine wasn’t sure how much longer she could keep going. Finally, as they were reaching the edge of an overgrown field and what appeared to be an abandoned house, Naomi stopped, panting as she leaned over, gulping down air.

  “Naomi?” Jasmine gasped, turning back to the other woman, and she cringed as Naomi shook her head.

  “Can’t… keep going. I’m sorry,” Naomi managed, her face beet-red as she forced herself to keep breathing.

  Behind Naomi, Jasmine could see the lurking figures of the plants coming still closer, and despair took her at last. She wasn’t going to get away, she realized, her lips pressing together tightly despite her own gasps. Quentin hadn’t been wrong to tell her to flee, but… he obviously hadn’t accounted for how far the things had spread in such a short time.

  “Well. I suppose we’ll have to make a last stand of our own,” Jasmine said. Naomi inhaled sharply, but Jasmine shook her head. “My legs feel like they’re made of jelly, Naomi. I’m not getting much farther than this, either. If we’re going to die, I’d rather go out on our own terms.”

  Naomi just stared at Jasmine for a few moments, still breathing hard, then nodded, straightening slowly as she murmured, “You… aren’t wrong there. Goddess grant us strength… I don’t have much mana left, milady.”

  “Neither do I,” Jasmine said, taking a deep breath as she pulled out the remaining mana potion she had, and nodded toward the abandoned house. “Let’s put something solid to our backs?”

  Naomi nodded, moving toward the house as quickly as she could. Which wasn’t very fast… but Jasmine wasn’t doing much better. She thumbed the lid off the vial and downed its contents as quickly as she could, trying to avoid the bitter taste that always accompanied the potions. With the bitterness came a far more relieving sensation, that of mana flooding into her mana core like a warm wave of water. It was pleasant, even if the situation wasn’t.

  In short order they reached the farmhouse, and as Jasmine looked it over, she winced. The interior was a burnt-out husk, even if the slate roof was mostly intact, and the walls were cobblestone. It wasn’t the worst ruin she’d seen, but she’d rather a house she could fortify. Or a fortress, for that matter.

  “At least no one else is going to get hurt,” Naomi said, turning to face the incoming plants, and she swallowed hard. “Lady Alexis? It’s been an honor to serve you. Though I wish that I could’ve done so for a much longer period.”

  “Thank you, Naomi. I appreciate that… and call me Jasmine. Especially if, by some miracle, we survive this,” Jasmine said, appreciation rushing through her as she smiled at Naomi. “Believe me, I wish that I had more time with you as well. For now… let’s see how many of these monsters we can take with us, shall we?”

  Naomi nodded, turning to face the plants while Jasmine waited, gauging just how fast they were coming compared to how long it’d take her to cast. She wanted to make sure they got as many as possible, if she was going to die. As they approached, Jasmine flinched on seeing a cluster of nearly fifty of the monsters coming toward them. One had a fragment of a sword sticking out of it, and Jasmine dearly hoped it didn’t belong to one of her guards. Still, they were approaching, and she looked back and forth at the creatures, grimacing as she took a deep breath.

  “Here we go,” Jasmine murmured, and she drew deeply on her mana, raising her hands to form the sigils she needed while casting.

  With every moment she took, the creatures stepped closer, and she gauged the distance, hoping that they wouldn’t be able to throw thorns before she could finish the spell. It was going to be a near thing, and—

  Jasmine was halfway done when she heard someone sigh heavily to her right, then a commanding female voice chanted a spell in a fraction of the time hers would take and with a snap of a pair of fingers, a wall of purple fire erupted to life around the plant monsters that were approaching, a vast, circular wall of blazing heat that incinerated the nearest ones in an instant. Jasmine froze in the midst of casting, as the voice and the fires felt incredibly familiar.

  “There’s so much mana bleeding off that spell that I practically didn’t have to touch my own mana reserves. Have you never heard the term finesse?” a woman said in a withering tone, and Jasmine turned to face the speaker numbly.

  Xandra stood only a dozen paces away in the shadows of a tree, her face half-shrouded by a black cloak, and then glanced at Jasmine with a sardonic look, her eyes glowing like brilliant amethysts within her hood. Jasmine just stared for a moment more, then asked, “Xandra? Is… is that really you?”

  “Mm, I take it back. You must have amnesia as well. Why else would I have to save you twice?” Xandra demanded in exasperation, glowering at Jasmine and Naomi. “For that matter, where are your guards this time? I thought they were going to be guarding you more heavily.”

  Despite the woman’s tone, her voice sent relief rushing through Jasmine, and for the first time in the last several days she dared hope… which was why it was almost like a set of floodgates opened, as grief ripped through her.

  Tears began to stream down Jasmine’s face as she lunged forward to embrace Xandra, catching just a glimpse of the surprise on Xandra’s face before the elf caught her and Jasmine buried her face in Xandra’s shoulder, sobbing.

  “How do I get myself into situations like this, anyway?” Xandra asked, looking upward… but at the same time, the elven sorceress patted Jasmine on the back comfortingly, and added, “Get it over with, please. I think I need an explanation. And… Naomi, was it? Please don’t do the same thing. One of you is quite enough.”

  That, Jasmine reflected, was so Xandra. Which only made her cry harder, as the crackling flames consumed the plant-like monsters.

  Chapter 14

  “It figures that I’d run into you. Of all the possible people, it had to be me,” Xandra said, settling back after securing the pot over the fire. It was a simple soup of vegetables and dried meat, and she thought that it’d settle the two priestesses down with as exhausted as they looked.

  “What were you even doing out here?” Naomi asked, clutching the mug of wine that Xandra had poured for her so hard that Xandra wondered if she might break it. Not that she could, as physically weak as the priestess seemed. “When you vanished, I thought you’d left the region for good.”

  “Vanished? Vanreth was looking for an excuse to kill me, so I left. I wasn’t hiding, so if you’d been looking, you could have found me easily,” Xandra replied, sniffing derisively as she picked up the wine jug and filled her own mug. “I spent a few months finding a good place to practice my magic and study. After the local idiot of a baroness decided she wanted a pet mage, or at least my gold, I burnt down her keep and moved on. I’m halfway decent with magic again, and am keeping myself busy. Then the council of Evren noticed that the teleportation circle linked to Lothden wasn’t working, and one of their magi was competent enough to realize something was disrupting the ley line. The council hired me to investigate, and here we are. It appears I have terrible luck.”

  “You were the one who burnt down Baroness Carda’s keep?” Jasmine asked, her eyes going huge. “Why would you do that?”

  “Let me see… First, she tried to hire me via a very rude emissary. I said no. She tried to purchase my spell library off me, via the same emissary. I said no again, and resisted the urge to light his mustache on fire. That was a struggle,” Xandra said, men
tally ticking off points and her eyes narrowing at the memories. “She had someone else invite me to dinner, and I accepted, hoping she’d take my answers seriously in person. First she tried to hire me, then seduce me, and when that failed, she tried to poison me. I failed to succumb, so she ordered a servant to steal my bag, which is trapped. I’m sure he’s gotten used to being one-armed by this point. The magical attempt to enslave me failed, so I decided that I’d had quite enough, and lit the rafters on fire before using an item to teleport out. She deserved it.”

  Jasmine’s mouth was hanging open, and Naomi’s eyes were wide. The younger priestess was the one who spoke first, her voice quiet. “That isn’t anything like what we heard.”

  “Of course it wasn’t. You expected her to admit that she tried to strong-arm a traveling nobody of a mage into serving her, and got her keep burnt down for her troubles?” Xandra sneered, shaking her head. “Fortunately, I met a few magi who’ve proven actually sensible, wonder of wonders. They’ve spread enough news that I haven’t had to deal with more than one or two bandit attacks of late.”

  Naomi nodded, her eyes still wide, and Xandra rolled her eyes, wondering how the young woman was still so naïve. Of course, she was human, so Xandra supposed she shouldn’t be surprised. Mostly, she wondered how long it would take the two to tell her what was going on. With the way Jasmine had been crying, obviously something had gone terribly awry, and Xandra hadn’t interfered. She was no good at comforting others, so she didn’t even try.

  “Xandra? Can you help us?” Jasmine asked at last, looking into her mug intensely, like there was something fascinating inside it.

  “I already incinerated close to a hundred animated, bloodthirsty bushes that were going to murder you. What else do you need help with? If you need a nanny, I’m going to have to refuse,” Xandra replied promptly, taking a sip of her wine, then did a double-take and almost cursed. She’d opened one of the good jugs, damn it all.

  Jasmine laughed helplessly, shaking her head. “No, we don’t need a nanny. I… Goddess, this is terrible. It’s only been three days, and everything is falling apart.”

  Xandra’s patience, never in ample supply, ran out, and she decided it was time to get answers.

  “Jasmine, look at me,” Xandra commanded, and when the half-elf’s gaze jerked up to meet hers, she spoke flatly, without any gentleness to her voice. “You should know better than to hesitate where I’m concerned. If you want help, you’d damned well better explain the situation simply and directly. If you can’t do that, then shut up, drink my wine, eat the soup when it’s done, and sleep. Tomorrow we’ll go our separate ways, and that will be the end of it. Don’t waste my time or my extremely limited patience.”

  The half-elf recoiled slightly, and Naomi’s eyes widened enormously, then her cheeks flushed. The young priestess began speaking hotly. “How dare you take—”

  “I’ve been through worse things than you can imagine, Naomi. I do not coddle, and I will not be led around like one of those ridiculous tiny dogs on a leash that some nobles own,” Xandra interrupted. “If you wish for help, you need to tell me what happened, and tell me what you need. That is all.”

  Naomi almost looked like she’d been slapped, but she fell silent, gulping down some of the wine quickly. A damned waste, if you asked Xandra, but it was too late for regrets now. The jug was open, so now it needed to be used. For a few moments the two priestesses were silent, which suited Xandra just fine.

  “Three days ago, something happened. We don’t know what, but it was almost like the sky darkened. From horizon to horizon, everything looked like it was cast in shadows,” Jasmine explained softly. “Teleportation didn’t work, and there was confusion. I was in Lothden, having performed a blessing ceremony for the children who’d been born in the last month. We were concerned, but then word came about attacks. From somewhere toward the center of the country, strange, bloodthirsty plants were marching outward. They were killing every man, woman and child in their way, but leaving the animals alive. Briefly we considered trying to cut our way to Lothdar, but then the high priest sent us a message via magic.”

  Jasmine fell silent for a moment, inhaling slowly, then she continued. “Lothdar was under siege by the plants. Their defenses were holding, but there were too many of them to break through. Worse, he could sense something coming. Dark magic of some form was building, and he didn’t know what. He ordered me to leave, to try to find out what was happening and seek out a solution. We immediately left, but… it was too late. The plants had somehow already reached the border, and were trying to prevent anyone from fleeing. We were under attack practically the entire time after leaving Lothden. Most of my guards died just breaking through their blockade, and they pursued even across the border. The last of my guards died holding them back… if they hadn’t, we’d never have reached you. The monsters are suicidal.”

  “Not suicidal. Mindless, perhaps, but not suicidal,” Xandra said, her thoughts moving quickly as she considered what she’d been told. Unfortunately, demons rarely used plants for soldiers, so she knew relatively little about any possibilities where they were concerned. The handful of demons of corrupted vegetation didn’t use anything quite like what she’d seen, though… the plants had ignited far too easily for that. No, she needed more information, Xandra decided, reaching forward to stir the soup.

  “I don’t have enough information to be able to help you. The darkness shrouding the country is ominous, of that I have no doubt, but it tells me little save that the effect is geographically contained. With the plants coming from a location near the center of the country, there is either an unknown, underground faction that has decided to invade the surface, or this is an invasion from another plane of existence,” Xandra said, her voice as brisk as her stirring, and she tapped the spoon on the edge of the pot. “I suspect the latter, but it likely isn’t a demonic invasion. Unfortunate, as all we would need to do to end a demonic invasion is kill the summoner. They’re convenient in that way.

  “The obvious answer is to visit someone who can give us the information we require. As we don’t know nearly enough about the opposition, the solution is to visit either a mage who can contact Lothdar, or a diviner who can scry on the countryside and find where this invasion force is coming from,” Xandra told Jasmine, looking up at her pointedly. “Fortunately for you, I know magi capable of both. Depending on what we learn, I may or may not know of acquaintances who can tell us more.”

  “You… you’re going to help us, then?” Jasmine asked, hope blooming on her face, making the half-elf look dozens of times better than she had a few moments before.

  “I said that if you wanted help, you needed to tell me what happened. You aren’t in need of a nanny, so I’m helping,” Xandra replied, frowning at the pot. It was taking longer to get to the temperature she wanted than she’d like. Jasmine opened her mouth to speak, then closed it, a smile on her face instead.

  “Why?” Naomi’s question broke the silence a few seconds later as she looked at Xandra, looking even more confused than she had before. “I mean… we didn’t offer you anything for this, and if what you said about Vanreth is true…”

  That prompted Xandra to pause, considering the young woman for a moment, then she pointed the spoon at her.

  “That is an excellent question, Naomi, and I think the first good one I’ve heard you ask,” Xandra replied, smirking as the young woman colored with anger. “As to the answer, I don’t know. I should have demanded something to begin with, but I never considered not helping. A touch idiotic of me.”

  “Are you going to… to change your mind?” Jasmine asked, her smile fading as she looked at Xandra in concern.

  “Did I say that?” Xandra asked in annoyance, letting out another sigh of frustration. “Don’t try to read too much into what I say, Jasmine. I say what I mean, no more and no less. I don’t know why I decided to help you, but I’m going to. Now, drink your wine, calm down, and stop irritating me, if you please. I have qui
te enough aggravation in everyday life without you adding to it.”

  “Very well,” Jasmine replied, relaxing visibly as she took a sip from her mug, then smiled as she added, “Thank you. The wine is very good.”

  “I know,” Xandra replied, her regret easing slightly.

  She had to wonder, though… what had come over her?

  Chapter 15

  While Xandra was decisive, knowledgeable, confident, and an incredible sorceress, the one thing so far that Jasmine had determined that she wasn’t was a good cook. Xandra’s food wasn’t the worst food Jasmine had eaten in her life, but it was barely passable. That was the reason she’d practically stolen the spoon when Xandra had been about to burn the porridge that morning. She’d almost burnt porridge, which flabbergasted the priestess.

  Morning had come startlingly early for Jasmine, and she’d woken to the sound of Xandra taking down her tent. It confused Jasmine that Xandra had two tents, but the woman had packed her own quite efficiently, which indicated to Jasmine that she was used to traveling. After that she’d woken Naomi and gotten them moving, all before the sun was fully above the horizon.

  Breakfast had been salvaged, barely, but eventually they’d left the campsite. And, after a fair amount of thought, Jasmine finally asked why Xandra was such a poor cook.

  “I wasn’t allowed into the kitchen except to pick up meals for my Mistress or those she directed me to take food to. I was expressly forbidden from eating anything I wasn’t given permission to by her, and was only allowed to eat my own food. You thought the food last night was bad? It was wonderful compared to my usual meals,” Xandra explained, smiling morbidly. “I know I’m a terrible cook. A few centuries of not being allowed to cook can do that to you. Worse is when you’re told to stand there silently while someone else eats a wonderful meal… or being given just a taste of something lovely to make you miss the flavors all the more.”