She blew out a breath. “There. That’s the worst of it. You should get a regular healer to work on you. There’s still some deep tissue damage.”
He patted her on the shoulder. “Th-thanks. Ow.” He pulled down the cloth and refastened the chest plate.
“They’re coming,” Sindra from the doorway.
He pushed himself to his feet. He had to hope the quick healing of this body would hold him together.
Senalloy’s thought impinged in his mind.
he returned, meeting her eyes down the hall. He could see the tall silver-haired Baronian looming over Ryelle at the back of a small procession.
Two Kriar, and three valkyries lead the group ahead of Sarai and Janai. The sisters were looking around uneasily. He hadn’t told Sarai about the threat because he didn’t want any of the princesses to accidentally give away the trap. Where was Senalloy’s sister Luthice? Wasn’t she supposed to be here to lock down any attackers?
He didn’t have time to wonder. He reached out and wrapped threads of the garmtur around Sarai and the others, so if they somehow did get hijacked under their noses, he could follow.
People braced and readied for action as the outer vault doors were unbolted and opened. Inside the antechamber, two valkyries waited with their backs braced against the huge black doors with gold scrollwork that served as the portal into the ghost vault. Ryelle moved forward and performed the unsealing ritual to unlock the massive valves.
Bannor tensed, keeping his thread awareness sharp. Searching for anything amiss that might give him advanced warning of where the attack might come from.
Ryelle stepped back to let the two valkyries pull open the doors.
He readied himself. He saw the Beia and Corim draw their breath, as did Kylie and the others who apparently knew what might happen.
The doors unsealed with a thrum and air gusted.
Bannor stared inside the sizeable chamber and slammed his fist against his forehead. “Ah spit! They’re already gone!”
* * *
Chapter Thirteen
Subterfuge
« ^ »
Wren once joked that she overheard a conversation where they were blaming me for the sky being blue. I do get a great number of fingers pointed at me, and I am usually the first person suspected when something unexplained happens. You get that reputation when you routinely make the seemingly impossible, possible by being clever and creative. Whenever they want a sneaky solution, I’m the one they come to…
—Dorian Degaba Istarvariku,
Archmage of Isis
“No! Damn it!” Bannor growled pounding his fist against the wall. His heart beat hard, and his lungs felt too large for his chest. The very nightmare he was trying to avert had happened. He searched frantically for some material evidence to indicate how they might have been removed from the interdimensional confines of the vault. He saw nothing. The magicks that had been erected around the enclosure were extremely powerful and seemed in no way porous. “How can they be gone?”
“I—don’t—know,” Senalloy breathed, looking lost. “I escorted them in there myself! I closed the door.” She stared at the valkyries who had been guarding the door. “Has anyone been in here?”
The Chosen shook their heads. They looked bewildered as well.
The bigger Valkyrie, a broad-shouldered female with thick black hair stared inside the vault with a hand on her hip and leaned on the huge war-spear she carried. She looked back to Senalloy. “We haven’t moved since Millicent stationed us here.”
Sarai pushed around the guards and grabbed Bannor’s shoulder. “Can you see anything?”
“I don’t see anything,” he murmured. “I don’t know how they did it. There’s nothing, no residue, no trace threads—it’s like they were—never—there.”
Sarai turned to her sister Ryelle. “Rye, can you reach mother on the bloodstone?”
Pale haired Ryelle put her hand on the jeweled band on her arm. She closed her eyes and concentrated. “I don’t feel her at all.”
Blonde Kylie, the valkyrie that fought at his side for much of his adventures in Gladshiem, came up. She touched Janai on the shoulder, then Sarai. “Zere is nothing?” she asked.
“Either she isn’t answering, can’t answer, or is simply too far away.” Ryelle shook her head. “Bannor, when you brought Sarai back to the lower vault, I called Mother and she answered. She told me everything was all right. Not that much time has passed.”
That didn’t make Bannor feel any better. He looked again at the vault and felt the door. It looked solid. The magic was exceptionally well constructed and balanced. It would withstand a tremendous amount of punishment without giving. “This thing is solid, nobody could get in there.”
“I assure you,” Senalloy growled, gripping her silver hair. “I watched them step in. I put a hand on Kalindinai’s back—she was solid. I closed and locked that door myself.”
“Perhaps it is some new kind of magic,” Corim surmised, rubbing the back of his neck. He pushed away from clinging Annawen gently and rubbed Senalloy’s shoulder. “Sen, go easy, it’s not your fault.”
“Yes, it is,” Senalloy snarled, hitting her forehead with her fist. “I’m the bloody chief of security. What did I miss?” She looked around the chamber and checked the outer doors. “And where’s my sister? She was supposed to be here.”
Something didn’t add up. The Baronians were fighting their tails off to hold the vestibule. If the King and Queen had already been snatched, why would they do that? To serve as a distraction? To delay the discovery of them being missing? The main goal had been accomplished, why waste further troops? The only thing that made sense is that they were holding out to get the princesses. Even if that were the reason, why didn’t they strike when they were en-route? To wait until they were surrounded by a host of Shael Dal, Valkyries, and allied Kriar was stupid. What was he missing?
“We obviously can’t put the princesses in there now,” Sindra said. “We have to assume it’s compromised.”
“T’Gor, Damrosil,” Corim called gesturing to two other warriors in the back of the group. “If you’d both each take a princess please.”
Bannor glanced toward them. The one, that must be Damrosil, was a sky-scraping Myrmigyne with braided ankle-length white hair, dressed in a blue felt jungle tunic similar to what Beia wore. She stepped up to Ryelle and offered her arm. The princess frowned but took Damrosil’s elbow.
T’Gor was dark with a heavy beard, and a lanky body. He carried his huge two-handed Shaladen resting on his shoulder. His sleeveless tunic showed off the wiry strength of his arms replete with more than a dozen campaign tattoos. He offered his hand to Janai who took it.
“Being in physical contact with the Shael Dal will prevent any teleport or time tricks while we figure this out,” Corim explained. He looked around. “Where should we go?”
He shook his head, bewildered. Somehow, the enemy had been one jump ahead. He would have sworn they moved on the intelligence with extreme speed. Cassin and Sindra’s whole explanation had taken place with telepathy, it might have taken a few fractions of a breath. He just didn’t see enough time passing. Of course, to a skilled time diver one instant or an eternity were pretty much the same. He’d seen ample evidence of that with Quasar’s trick with the assembling their armor on Homeworld.
“Zo, Bannor,” Kylie said. “Zis new you, is it Lady Idun’s doing?”
Bannor looked up. “No, it’s Kriar magic.”
The valkyrie’s brow furrowed and she glanced to some of the Kriar who were standing back and observing. “Zhey have some impressive tricks,” she said with a nod. Her wings fluttered and she patted him on the arm. “It is not your fault either. We will get zem back.”
“How, dammit?” He scrubbed his face. “I don’t even know how they were taken. Ryelle, narrow it down, how long ago was it you spoke to your mother?”
>
The eldest princess blinked with amber eyes. She flicked a stray strand of pale hair out of her face. “It can’t be even as much as a quarter bell ago. Less I’d think. Maybe half that.”
He looked to Corim. “How long had you been fighting these guys?” He pointed to the vestibule.
The burly Shael Dal rubbed his throat. “Almost a quarter bell. We chased them in here. They were headed here, we tried to cut them off and keep them out, but those dreads are nearly impossible to stop.”
“That’s what has me tweaked. So, you guys have been out here the whole time.”
“All of that time frame to be certain,” Corim acknowledged.
Bannor looked to one of the Kriar who seemed to be conversing with his colleague. Again he guessed at the rank. “Kath, a moment.”
The Kriar looked up, a broad-shouldered male with a hawkish features. He must have guessed the rank right.
“During the fight here, was there any time or warp stuff performed?”
The Kriar’s brow furrowed. He looked to the other Kriar with him, a slim wispy-looking female with short hair. The gold-skinned lady shook her head.
Bannor walked over and slammed the vault door so hard the room shook. “Let’s find some Baronians. I want to beat the spit out of something.”
“My One,” Sarai said reaching out to him. “That won’t help anything.”
He hung his head, shoulders feeling heavy. “I know. Dammit, all this power and I still messed this up.”
Senalloy came and thumped him on the back. “Let’s head down to the second level. Maybe we can ferret out the accomplices.”
The group moved back down the rear hall that Sindra and Drucilla had brought him up. Part way down the hall Bannor stopped. He looked back to the Frielos twins. “Sindra, wasn’t there a group of defenders down here?”
The dark-haired woman nodded. “Yes, they were coming this way too.”
“I never saw them come up,” he said with a frown. He glanced to Cassin. The gold girl shook her head.
He lifted off the ground and flew a little further down the hall to where they passed that group of Kriar and valkyries. He felt around for residual threads. He sensed nothing. His brow furrowed. The magic of the Chosen was typically so strong that even passing through an area left behind some traces. The rest of the group trailed behind watching him examine the corridor.
He gestured to Kylie. “Lady Kylie, could you come here for a moment.”
The valkyrie pushed off with a flap of her wings, glided over and landed next to him. She furled her wings and looked at him. “What is it?”
He backed up a few steps and gestured her forward. The valkyrie fluttered her wings and stepped forward, hand on the hilt of her sword. “Yez?”
Not only did she leave magic in the air everywhere she walked. The valkyries he had seen hadn’t walked right. They didn’t walk like creatures accustomed to having wings.
“Thanks, Kylie,” he said patting her on the arm.
“Bannor?”
“I think the enemies are using shape changing tactics like us. I passed what I thought were three chosen in this hall with some Kriar. There’s no magic here. Now that I think back… they didn’t walk like the Chosen.”
The blonde valkyrie’s brow furrowed. “Walk?”
He leaned forward. “Kylie, you are so graceful. Most of your sisters are too. Your wings are a part of you. They are part of your body language, you express with them. They aren’t part of a disguise.”
The valkyrie colored. Her wings fluttered and she glanced back at them self-consciously. “I—” She tilted her head to one side obviously not knowing how to respond to that. “Zank you.”
“They’re gone now, but there may be others.” He focused back toward the rest of the group. Sarai watched him with open concern, brow furrowed and violet eyes wide. She smiled for him and gave him a little finger wiggle. Something flashed on her hand. A ring.
His brow furrowed. He floated back toward them and set down in front of her. He gazed down to the chain around her neck and the ring that hung from it.
“Bannor?” she looked up at him. For an instant, he felt a quiver of fear from her.
A cold chill went through him. Why would she be afraid unless… Talons twisted in his guts. Lords, no, it couldn’t be.
He stared at the ring on her hand. He’d never seen that ring before. Sarai didn’t own many pieces of jewelry, but the ones that she did were quite ornate.
“Friend, is there something wrong?” Corim asked putting a hand on his shoulder.
Bannor shrugged away from the man. “Why can’t I see the aura on that ring?” he said, staring at the simple circle of gold. It was too plain, and out of place.
She looked down at the ring and drew a breath. She blinked and looked around.
Around him Bannor felt the defenders tensing.
Sarai swallowed. “Cassandra gave it to me to hide my aura. So it would be harder to find me.”
Senalloy moved closer. “Bannor?”
A scalding heat burned in his stomach, a sense of terrible rage and foreboding. “Take it off.”
She pushed a hand through her silvery hair. “But, I—”
“Take it off!” he yelled, feeling his face burn.
She fumbled with the ring, working it on her hand. “It won’t—come—loose.”
Scowling, Bannor, lunged forward and smacked away her hand. He pinned her arm. Sarai squeaked and tried to squirm away as he snatched off the ring.
He grabbed her by the shoulders and dug into her with his nola. What he saw made an explosion go off inside of him. It seemed to crush out his ability to breathe.
His hands shook as he struggled with all his might simply to keep from smashing this imposter to jelly. “Now—” he paused, his voice dropped to a barely audible snarl. “You are going to tell me where my wife is or I swear—” His voice shuddered and he gritted his teeth feeling the tears of anger and fear streak down his face. “I swear you will be so—” He swallowed hard, his hands bunched up in the fabric of her blouse. “So—damn—sorry…”
* * *
Chapter Fourteen
Deadly Gamble
« ^ »
When trying to trap a master thief every plan has a critical moment where it wavers between complete success and crashing failure…
—Luthice Wyrah Corresont, Grand Loremage of Isis
A snarl in his throat, fire behind his eyes, Bannor couldn’t ever remember trembling this hard. Thoughts of his wife-to-be and child flickered through his mind like shadows. It made his chest feel as though it was being pierced by knives. Senalloy, Corim, and Kylie grabbed his shoulders to restrain him.
Bannor shrugged away their hands. He burned his gaze into the fake Sarai’s violet eyes. “Tell—me.”
“I—” She paused. “Sorry.”
He was prepared for it, but even braced and ready to move, she managed to wrench free and drive her shoulder up under his chin. The move was surprising, not only from its speed, but from its strength. It caught him flat footed and knocked him off balance, her elbow crashed low in his back in a blast of pain that folded him backward with a yell.
He screamed in frustration, his angry lunge falling short as she knocked Kylie and Senalloy aside and sprinted down the hall.
“Sarai!” Janai called breaking away from T’Gor and racing after her.
“Sister!” Ryelle cried also dashing away from Damrosil.
“No!” He howled.
In that instant, he felt the universe twist as creatures of power flashed out of nothingness, dark shapes appeared in an eye blink and engulfed the three women in mid-stride.
His heart could only wrench in realization that the Daergons had been waiting for the perfect instant to strike, when Ryelle and Janai were away from their guardians.
As the figures flashed into reality a terrifying shriek cut through the hall. The sound made Bannor’s blood freeze. A gigantic scythe of light slash
ed down the length of corridor.
The figures in dark armor, shocked back from their targets as a purplish aura pummeled them with a force that shook them side-to-side like a wolf mauling a ground rodent. They struggled and thrashed, yelling in pain. One by one, the attackers struggles grew weaker, and they collapsed to the stone floor, smoke curling up to the ceiling from their bodies.
Corim frowned and looked around. “What in hades?”
The woman who had impersonated Sarai rubbed her shoulders. “Ouch, Bannor, you have quite a grip. Damn, that was close.” She bent over the armored figure that had tried to grab her and pressed something. The close-faced helmet hissed and opened revealing a male Kriar. She removed the helmet and locked a band around his neck. She shook her head and rubbed her neck. “Too close.” Her skin bubbled and her body lengthened and her hair turned blood red. Her royal battle raiment became a sparkling blue troubadour’s habit.
Senalloy growled, hands on hips. “Arabella?”
“Who else but a master bard could pull off an acting job like that?” She rubbed her shoulders again. “Sorry for hitting you, Bannor, but I didn’t want you to break my neck.”
Ryelle rose, having similarly restrained the Kriar who attacked her. “One of these days,” she said a shimmering shooting around her body. Her thin body thickened and wings swung out of her bubbling flesh revealing a statuesque valkyrie with glowing gold hair and rainbow colored wings. “One of Dorian’s plans is going to flop.”
“Momma Megan?” Cassin breathed. She seemed as bewildered as Senalloy.
Janai finished immobilizing her opponent. “Guess we have to bow down to her supreme sneakiness again.” She looked back to the group her body flickering and growing taller. Her court robes becoming a felt jungle tunic. She tossed her blonde hair. She touched the band on her wrist which shimmered into a tiny jeweled dragon.
“Beia,” Bannor growled.
“Sarai, you know your hubby-to-be kisses really good?” Arabella said massaging her shoulders.
Reality's Plaything 4: Savants Ascendant Page 21
