A Threat of Shadows

by JA Andrews

  Gustav kept his eyes on the ground, muttering quickly as he crept around the circle.

  “Did he find out what you intended to do with him?”

  Gustav ignored him. Douglon had taken to pacing near Gustav, growling. Gustav was trying his best to look only at the runes, but with each growl, he flinched.

  Alaric had reached the rune that would draw energy from Ayda to reanimate Mallon. He was close to the Rivor’s crumpled body. Mallon’s long legs were akimbo and his gaunt cheek was shoved against the altar so that a skull leered out over his black hair. Sitting on his chest was Kordan’s dark emerald. And next to it, its red currents swirling unperturbed, sat Evangeline’s ruby.

  Alaric stepped closer to read a particularly messy rune, the rune he had been looking for. There it was, drawn out on the ground, a rune set to draw the latent energy out of Evangeline’s Reservoir Stone. The energy that swirled in the ruby, the little life Evangeline had left, was now bound to Mallon. Alaric stepped forward again to pick up the ruby, but paused. Even if he removed it from the circle, the rune was linked to the ruby. It would still claim the energy. In a matter of minutes, the Reservoir Stone was going to darken, the red light seeping out of the ruby and into the still body below it.

  Alaric glared at the rune as though he could burn it off with sheer force of will.

  The spell was going to work.

  He was too late.

  The rune circle was complete. It was ridiculously overcomplicated and messy, and not even remotely close to being a circle, but it was going to work.

  The Wellstone sat on the altar just waiting for Gustav to call it out and fill it.

  The Ayda-tree was firmly rooted in the flagstones of the courtyard. She was unmovable. And as long as she stood inside the rune circle, it would be her life’s energy that Gustav would sacrifice to wake Mallon.

  The runes called out Mallon’s name, so removing his body from the circle would do no good.

  Gustav had protected himself from weapons and interference.

  Alaric was going to have to sit here and watch that wizard do exactly what he wanted to do, destroying what was left of Evangeline in the process.

  And once the Rivor was raised? There was no way Alaric was going to be able to fight him alone.

  Alaric sank down to his knees.

  After all this, he was going to fail.

  A rustling behind him caused him to turn. Nox had slithered up behind him, looking grave. Gustav’s eyes lit up for a moment seeing the lizard approach, but when Nox settled down next to Alaric, Gustav scowled again and went back to his runes.

  Alaric almost asked what had brought Nox back, but he realized that, in the end, it didn’t matter. “You should leave. There’s nothing we can do to stop him.”

  I heard what you said, and I have an idea.

  Alaric looked at him, the vaguest stirrings of curiosity rising in his heart.

  The rune that speaks of Ayda, Nox began, scooting up alongside Alaric. The lizard’s voice was quiet in Alaric’s mind. We could…

  Nox paused thoughtfully, then let his head sink down to the ground. Never mind, it won’t work. You would think that after all these years, I would stop trying to fight the Shade Seekers.

  Alaric looked at the enormous lizard head settled next to him and thought about the long years that Nox had been enslaved here. Years with no hope. And just when Alaric had offered him some, it was pulled away.

  Alaric glanced up at Gustav to check his progress, knowing the wizard was moving inexorably closer to finishing the spell.

  Inside the circle of runes, the wizard let slip a sly smile.

  Chapter 50

  Alaric glared at Gustav who went back to muttering and moving with terrific slowness around the circle.

  The ruby still swirled on Mallon’s chest. Alaric’s hands itched to go pick it up. But it wouldn’t matter. The Reservoir Stone was called out by the runes. If he picked it up and ran as fast as he could, maybe he could get it far enough away that the spell wouldn’t drain it. But what would be the point of that? With Mallon raised, everyone would die sooner or later.

  It made no difference. He might as well let her go this way.

  His mind recoiled from the idea. Let her be absorbed into the power of a man who murdered and destroyed? There was a big difference between living in a dangerous world and being devoured by evil.

  Alaric looked back at Nox, something tugging at his mind. The lizard was so despondent. Not that Alaric could blame him. Still…

  Nox was just lying there. He had decided to come back to help, but now, he was just lying there. And Alaric was considering letting Gustav use Evangeline to raise Mallon.

  Gustav was going to get exactly what he wanted. Again.

  Alaric’s head snapped up.

  They were doing exactly what the wizard wanted them to do. Again.

  Some of the haze in his mind stirred sluggishly.

  Alaric looked at the ground behind where he knelt. Not that he was going to find anything. There was no point.

  “No,” he said out loud and shook his head to clear it. He focused again on the ground.

  There behind him was a thin line scraped carefully through the dirt. It crossed right behind Alaric, went under Nox’s neck, and wiggled off around the circle.

  Taking a deep breath, Alaric tensed all his muscles and lunged backward. It felt like he was pushing through mud or quicksand. With a final heave, he toppled past the line.

  Fresh air hit his face and he took a deep breath. The haze in his mind scattered.

  An influence ring. That stupid wizard had tricked him again. Alaric grabbed at Nox’s neck and yanked at him. The lizard glared at him and left his head still, lying on the ground inside the ring.

  Alaric tugged again but there was no way he was going to move the creature.

  “Nox,” he urged, but the lizard turned away from him.

  Alaric took a deep breath again and stepped back.

  “Sorry about this.” He swung his foot as hard as he could, kicking the lizard in the most vulnerable place he could find, the area covered in smaller, thinner scales right behind his front leg.

  The fire lizard let out a roar and whipped around faster than Alaric had thought possible.

  The Keeper threw himself backward and scrambled away from the enormous head lunging toward him. He heard Milly scream.

  The jaws, wide open, froze inches from Alaric’s face.

  “Nox?” Alaric asked nervously.

  The lizard closed his mouth slowly and pulled back, blinking.

  “There’s an influence ring there,” he pointed at the thin line drawn on the ground running around the outside of the rune circle, trying to explain. “Gustav was using it to make us feel hopeless. We needed to get out of it.”

  Nox turned to look at the wizard and growled. Gustav was staring at them, the color draining from his face.

  “At least now I know how he planned to keep his dragon still while he sacrificed it,” Alaric said.

  The rune that is applied to Ayda just calls out a creature, so if we could get her out, we could replace her with a different creature, right? Nox asked. Can you get Ayda out of the rune circle?

  Alaric looked at Ayda. One of Ayda’s branches hung a few inches outside of Gustav’s influence ring. He couldn’t move her as a tree, but he could certainly help her change back to an elf. How had he not thought of this sooner? Alaric shot a venomous look at Gustav. It was impossible to think clearly around that stupid wizard. The wizard opened his mouth to shout at him, but then snapped it shut again.

  Alaric stretched out a hand to touch the Ayda-tree, but froze, remembering the last time he had helped her change. He reached out with his mind to find other sources of energy. He reached for the dense forest just outside the walls of the keep. He took a moment and felt all the life and energy sitting in those trees. Past Gustav’s protective wall, he caught a glimpse of the energy that was the wizard. Alaric grabbed onto that as well. Keeping ahol
d of that energy, he fixed a firm image of Ayda in his mind then touched a leaf on the nearest branch.

  His hand clenched the leaf as a rush of power surged through his body so fast that his knees buckled. The trees along the wall of the keep withered, and Gustav fell to his knees with a yell. In a rush of fury, the tree transformed almost instantly into Ayda. Alaric fell to the ground.

  He could feel fury rolling off Ayda in waves as he tried to catch his breath. She caught sight of Gustav and began to stalk toward him.

  Gustav had frozen kneeling next to the altar and was looking at Ayda open-mouthed, white as the bones next to him.

  “Ayda!” Alaric called. “Get out of the rune circle! He’s going to sacrifice you!”

  Ayda’s step faltered. She dropped her eyes to the runes and to Mallon’s body propped awkwardly against the altar. Gustav turned away from her and stared desperately at the runes, chanting again.

  Ayda stopped and stood still. Then her shoulders sank in despair as all of the fury drained out of her.

  “Ayda!” Alaric yelled. “Gustav is doing this to you! There’s an influence ring making you feel like that! Come out!”

  But Ayda didn’t move. She stood motionless.

  Gustav cast one final glance at her then bent over and began muttering faster. He was approaching the runes that had surrounded the Ayda-tree and still enclosed the elf. Once the wizard read them, it would be too late to get her out.

  There was one answer.

  Alaric looked once more at the ruby swirling on Mallon’s chest. He knew, deep inside of him, that Gustav was right. There was not enough life in the Reservoir Stone to bring back Evangeline. He wanted to grab the ruby and run. Run all the way back to Evangeline and save her, fix everything, undo all the pain and suffering and death. But the reality of it all sat heavy on his chest, crushing him with the weight of all the dark things he had done—all in vain. There was no way to save her. There never had been.

  Alaric gave the ruby one last, long look before turning away. He had spent a year trying to save her, not caring if the rest of the world burned. And all this time, there wasn’t enough of her left to bring back.

  He couldn’t save the ruby, but maybe he could keep the world from burning. If Ayda were sacrificed, Mallon would gain all the power of the elves. The solution here, the only solution, was to give Mallon a weaker sacrifice. A sacrifice that Ayda could easily best.

  Milly and Brandson were still busy trying to slow Gustav using the fire powder, so Alaric called Douglon over to where he stood. “Stand near the edge, but don’t cross the influence ring. I’m going to shove Ayda out. You may need to grab her and pull.” The dwarf nodded and positioned himself as close to her as he could. Alaric walked back around next to Nox.

  And how will you get out, Keeper?

  Alaric gave Nox a tight smile. “Ayda’s sacrifice would be so big that Gustav would be able to raise Mallon easily. My sacrifice will be much smaller. The sacrifice exceeds the reward.”

  Nox’s eyes flashed. The lizard twisted his head to look at Mallon. A low growl started deep in the lizard’s chest.

  Gustav continued reading.

  There was no time left. Alaric cast a lingering look at the ruby swirling on Mallon’s chest. Then he took a deep breath and filled his mind with the desire to get Ayda out of the rune circle no matter what. He focused on that idea until there was nothing else in his mind. With a shout, he threw himself across the influence ring.

  Alaric’s legs slowed, as though he were running though water, but his momentum crashed him into Ayda. The two of them faltered, but she didn’t fall.

  Alaric felt his heart slow. The futility of his actions crashed in against him, and no matter how much he clung to the idea of getting out of the circle, the edge was too far away. He would never make it.

  He stood there next to Ayda, both of them encircled by the runes. Douglon, Brandson, and Milly were shouting and waving, but Alaric could barely hear them. It didn’t matter. It would all be over soon.

  Gustav bent over and began reading faster.

  Alaric fixed his gaze on the swirling ruby. He had never imagined that he and Evangeline would both die at the same time.

  A roar shattered the haze, and a huge force slammed into Alaric’s side, shoving him sideways into Ayda. The two of them tumbled away, to the other side of the circle.

  Douglon grabbed for them, pulling them clear.

  Nox sat inside the circle. He looked pleased, but as Alaric watched, the lizard’s eyes faded and his head drooped down to the ground.

  Ayda sat up and started back toward the creature, but Alaric grabbed her arm.

  “We’ll never get him out. If we cross the influence ring, Gustav will control us again and all three of us will be trapped.”

  “But… Nox…” Ayda said, looking at the runes around him.

  You were right, Alaric. This is the answer, Nox said, his thoughts coming sluggishly to them. The wizard has his creature, a much weaker being than either of you.

  Alaric shook his head. “Nox, focus on us. Come out.”

  Nox looked at Alaric through his dark, reptilian eyes. I remember. His thoughts staggered out to Alaric, desperate and reaching. The sacrifice exceeds the reward. I remember that emerald. I remember my name. I remember why I chose to forget it.

  Nox opened his mind and Alaric saw a boy, writhing in pain. A man held a snake and the boy’s mother wept. He dropped down next to the boy and cradled his head, pouring energy into him. A green light pulled out of the boy’s body, the child screamed. Then the light condensed into an emerald that dropped heavily onto the boy’s chest.

  Alaric pulled his mind away. “Kordan?”

  Chapter 51

  “Kordan,” Alaric repeated, his mind spinning.

  You were right, Kordan said, I have made many choices I regret, but those choices do not control today. Today, I choose to be a Keeper again. I choose to stand up against something evil instead of toying with the edges of it.

  Alaric shook his head again. “This isn’t the answer. The spell will kill you.”

  It is the only answer. The spell will claim a creature, but he needs a creature at least as great as a human to revive Mallon. I am the only one here who is not. Even if I have enough energy to revive him, the Rivor will not rise powerful. He will be a shadow of himself.

  “It will kill you,” Alaric said again weakly.

  Kordan nodded. I thought I had died a useless death many years ago. If my death will stop this, it will be more than I ever imagined. He looked at Alaric intensely. Give me this chance.

  Alaric looked at the lizard again, then nodded. “I’ve been searching for your Wellstone, searching for anything I could find of yours. My wife…” His voice dropped to a whisper. “You have the antidote for rock snake venom.”

  Kordan fixed Alaric with a long stare. Acadanthus leaves, the words slipped weakly into Alaric’s mind. Acadanthus leaves boiled to a strong tea.

  Alaric stared at the lizard. “Does it work?” he whispered.

  Kordan nodded. He bowed his head briefly to his newfound companions before turning his head and glaring at Gustav. Gustav was looking at Kordan frantically. Every time Kordan’s eyes began to sink closed, he would shake his head vigorously and growl, re-fixing his glare on the wizard.

  “This still hasn’t stopped him,” Douglon pointed out.

  “No, but Kordan is right. If Gustav can raise Mallon with just the energy that Kordan has, Mallon will be terribly weak.” He glanced at Ayda.

  Ayda was looking at Kordan with tears in her eyes. She looked up at Alaric, fury building again.

  Alaric nodded. “Yes, get angry.”

  Ayda stalked around the influence ring until she stood as close as she dared to Gustav. She glared at him, her fingers flexing. The courtyard darkened and a breeze swirled through it.

  The wind didn’t ruffle Gustav at all.

  “Your spells protect you for now, wizard,” Ayda said. “But when you are done, you
will no longer be safe.”

  Milly helped Brandson over to where Douglon stood.

  “Be ready,” Alaric said. “When Mallon wakes up, we need to attack. I have no idea what he’ll be capable of. Gustav should be exhausted. I doubt he’ll be able to do much. But focus on Mallon. There will be time to deal with Gustav afterward.”

  They moved closer to the edge of the influence ring, closer to Mallon’s body.

  “Your ruby,” Milly said, looking toward where it rested on Mallon’s chest.

  Alaric’s heart clenched. “Even if I pull it out of the spell, it won’t matter. This rune links the spell to ‘the stone with latent energy,’ meaning the Reservoir Stone.”

  “Can you replace it with something else?” Milly asked.

  “Yes,” Alaric said with a short laugh. “If you have another stone with latent energy.”

  Milly’s shoulders slumped. “You can’t just leave it there.”

  Alaric looked at the swirling red light. A matching flash of red reflected off his chest. He looked down at the flame Ayda had frozen. The stone with the potential to be a flame. Alaric grabbed the necklace and yanked it off his neck. “I’d say the potential to explode into flame qualifies as latent energy.”

  He just needed to overcome the influence ring and reach Mallon’s body. He began to fill his mind with Evangeline, with how desperately he wanted to see her again. Bracing himself, he stepped over the line and strode toward Mallon’s body.

  The ruby swirled weakly. Too weakly to do anything. Would he ever see her again? Despair crashed over Alaric. He couldn’t bring himself to pick it up.

  A flash of fiery red from Ayda’s flame dangling in his hand caught his eye.

  You are better suited to fire than flowers, Ayda had said. You have that tight burning core of anger, or pain. Or guilt. It’s deep, but it’s bright.

  He reached inside himself, looking for the anger. He found it, a burning core of fury. Clinging to it, he tried to shake the haze of Gustav’s influence, but the anger just kept leading him to despair.

  He had to let go of the anger. What else had Ayda said? That the anger wasn’t all of him. That the anger was only there because of the love he had. Ewan had said the same.