Wielder: Adept: Book 2 of Lady Shey's Story (The Wielder Cycle)

by Mark E. Tyson

  “Wait, what are they doing in Morgoran’s study?”

  “You can bet they are up to no good. We should never have left them to roam around on their own.”

  When Shey and Marella got to the study, Gondrial and Rikard were indeed rummaging around inside.

  “What are you two doing in Morgoran’s study?” Shey inquired, trying to sound forceful.

  Rikard genuinely looked sorry. “I . . .”

  “I convinced Rikard that we needed to find that gem everyone’s so worried about.” Gondrial stated.

  “And you think it’s in Morgoran’s study?” Marella asked. “Wouldn’t that be too obvious?”

  Shey began to think. “Well, not exactly. Our masters seem to be fond of hiding things in plain sight. Hidden in the most obvious of places.”

  “And this time it will cost them one gem of essence suppression, or whatever we want to call it.” Gondrial held up the blue gem he had just found.

  Shey went to him. “Where did you find that?”

  “In this box.” He held up a common small wooden box. “It only had a minimum protection spell cast upon it.”

  Marella studied the gem. “If it was that easy, that can’t be the right gem.”

  “Only one way to find out.” Gondrial held the gem up and started to draw essence.

  Shey slapped the gem from his hand. “What are you doing? Don’t cast that on anyone!”

  “I was going to cast it on myself.”

  Marella snickered. “It won’t work that way. You can’t draw essence to suppress yourself, or how would you know if it worked or not? You have to cast it on someone else to actually test it.”

  “Try it on me, then,” Rikard volunteered.

  “Your magic works differently than ours,” Gondrial said.

  “Well, that leaves me out too, then. I am a mindwielder,” Marella said.

  Shey reached down to the floor and picked up the stone. “I will do it.” She turned the stone over in her hand. “Even though this is foolish.” She was lost in thought for a moment. “I think we should put it back. It’s reckless to use a strange gem like this, and I’m fairly sure this is not the right gem, anyway. What if it’s simply a Lora Daine?”

  “Lora Daines are polished stones, not gems. They don’t look anything like this,” Gondrial scoffed.

  “Sorry I don’t know what a Lora Daine looks like. I thought maybe they came in all sizes and shapes.”

  “They do, but they are still all stones, not gems,” Gondrial said.

  “Fine, get ready, then!” Shey drew in essence and cast the power of the stone onto Gondrial as much out of anger as of curiosity. Nothing seemed to happen.

  “Try to draw essence,” Rikard said.

  Gondrial tried, and essence flowed into him. “Nope, it’s not the suppression gem.” He reached out for it and abruptly retreated as the gem sparked across to his finger. He fell to the ground and began to convulse.

  “Gondrial! What do we do?” Shey reached down for him, and the gem sparked again. This time, Shey felt it cast back on her.

  Gondrial stopped convulsing. “I can’t draw in essence!” He began to panic. “It hurts, by the gods, it hurts.”

  “What were we thinking?” Marella said worriedly. “We just congratulated ourselves on being more mature, and then we do this!”

  Rikard kneeled down to Gondrial. “I am a cleric. Let me see if I can do something.” As soon as Rikard touched Gondrial, the blue spark jumped to him.

  “Marella, run!” Shey said. “You are the only one the spark has not jumped to.” Marella turned toward the door to run and was surprised to see Sylvalora standing there, a solemn, careless gaze in her eyes. “Sylvalora! We need help.” The spark leaped to Marella, and she went down to her knees.

  “Mother?” Sylvalora seemed to be in slow motion. Shey saw a tear roll down her cheek as she slowly shut the study doors. Shey dropped the gem to the floor as it began to glow blue and spark out at each of them. Blue lightning united them in glowing pain as it struck each one of them. In her mind, Shey could hear voices. One was saying they will never stop looking for her. Another said the Jovial Elf is in flames; no family is safe with her around. A kind old lady was looking her in the eyes. Let’s play a game, little Sheyna. 1 . . . 2 . . . 3 . . . 4!

  When she awoke, Shey was in an empty tower, save for Gondrial, Marella, and Rikard who were all still unconscious. She reached over to Marella and shook her awake.

  “What . . . where are we?” she said as she rubbed her eyes. “Are we in the tower?”

  Shey managed to get up and go to a window. She moved aside the shabby curtains. “We are in a tower.”

  Gondrial stirred awake. He jolted up. “I still can’t draw in essence.”

  Shey looked around the floor for the gem. It wasn’t there. Rikard stood up, rubbing his head. “I don’t think that was the right gem.”

  Shey tried to draw in essence and failed as well. “I can’t use essence either. If it wasn’t the right gem, it does cut one off from magic.” She looked out the window again. “Is this Morgoran’s tower? The village looks old and empty.”

  They all went to the window. “This is not the Vale of Morgoran,” Gondrial said. “We traveled somewhere else.”

  “Hah, it was a Lora Daine,” Shey said.

  “Forgive me, but that was no dragon stone,” Rikard said. “In fact, I’m not sure it was the stone that brought us here.”

  “What do you mean?” Marella asked.

  “Look.” Rikard pointed down into the village. “This place is not empty.” Down below, shambling through the dusty streets, appeared to be skeletal remains carrying swords.

  Gondrial pulled Rikard away from the window. “Unlife! Have they detected us?”

  “I don’t think so. If they have, they’re not in a hurry to get to us,” Rikard said.

  Gondrial tried to draw essence again and could not. “We had better search this tower for something to defend ourselves with.”

  “What did you say they were?” Marella asked.

  “Abominations,” Rikard said. “Clerics call them the unlife. Cursed souls condemned to live after death. They abhor the living and will attack on site. They are also in constant pain, always praying for a true death.”

  “How terrible!” Marella said.

  “How can we defeat them?” Shey asked.

  “I could do a lot of damage to them being a cleric if I could use my magic. But since none of us are able to use magic, Gondrial is right. Find something to fight them with.”

  “Wait, you can’t channel your magic either?” Shey asked. “I thought the gem only suppressed essence users.”

  “I can’t mindwield,” Marella confirmed.

  “Wait, let me try something.” Shey picked up a random rusted tin cup left to decay on the dusty floor and used her enchantment ability on it. It glowed under her spell. “I can’t draw essence, but I can enchant.”

  A creaking noise coming from the other side of the only door stopped them in their tracks.

  “I don’t think we are alone,” Gondrial whispered.

  The door latch scratched the wood of the door as it lifted. Gondrial motioned for them to all get to the sides of the door. It squeaked open, and one of the unlife shambled in. The stench that assaulted Shey’s nostrils was overpowering. Its half-flesh-covered head slowly turned to behold Shey in its grey, lifeless eyes. The creature’s jaw dropped, and it let out a whimper as it charged for her. Shey backed away from it. The thing didn’t seem to notice any of the others as it came for her. She suppressed the urge to scream. Just before it reached her, Rikard threw his sash over its head and yanked back hard. The creature went to the ground. Rikard looped the sash around its neck, and Gondrial joined him in pulling it back. Marella had found a stray, half rotten board that had fallen from the ceiling, and she hit it hard on the head.

  “Let me see that board,” Gondrial said. Marella handed it to him. Gondrial repeatedly whacked the creature in the skull until
it didn’t move anymore.

  Marella went to comfort the shaken Shey.

  Gondrial was at the door. “Quick, we need to find something to fight with now.” He swung the door open the rest of the way, and three more abominations were lumbering toward them.

  Chapter 5: Dangerous Travels

  Shey reached out to Gondrial. “Quick, give me the board! I have an idea.”

  Gondrial hesitated. “Find your own. This is all I have to keep them off us.”

  Shey clenched her teeth and lurched for the board, grasping it. She used her limited dragon magic abilities to imbue it with a temporary enchantment. “I am strongest at essence, but it’s not all I know.” The board burst into a cold flame. “It won’t burn you, but it will incinerate the unlife. Here, take it.”

  Gondrial timidly reached for the flaming board, but once he found it to be harmless to his flesh, he seized it and held it chest-level in both hands. “Now this is what I’m talking about!” He charged into the creatures, swinging the flaming board.

  Rikard hunted around the deteriorating wall and found a loose board to pull on. He yanked it free and took it to Shey. She touched it and imbued it with magic. This time, for some reason, it burst with crackling lightning. She used the same spell she had used on Gondrial’s board. Then she saw it—a nail at the end sparked back and forth with another piece of nail further down the shaft of the board. Metal had somehow changed the outcome of her enchantment. Rikard smiled at her when she handed the board back to him, and joined Gondrial in the fight. A few moments later, one of the creatures made it to the tower room. It was missing its upper limbs and was on fire. Gondrial rushed in behind it, knocked it to the floor, and began to stomp on its head, crushing it under his boot. Marella, clearly startled by the brutality, stood back.

  “It’s all right, Marella,” Shey consoled.

  She nodded. “It’s just not something you see every day.”

  “Thank the gods for that!” Shey said.

  Gondrial stopped. “I hope neither of you feel sympathy for them. Some of these abominations can still talk. And though they speak a language I barely understand, they’re clearly pleading with us to destroy them.”

  Rikard came back into the room. “That’s all of them in the hallway.” He dropped his board, which had already lost its magic. “What now?”

  “Better keep that board. We’re up high in this tower, and there are probably more we’ll have to contend with,” Gondrial told him. Rikard bent down and picked up the board.

  Shey pointed down the hall. “We should probably check every room as we pass them. This particular room was empty when we got here, but that doesn’t mean they all are. We don’t want to end up with unlife coming up behind us while we’re fighting them in front of us.”

  “Aye, good thinking,” Gondrial agreed. “Towers like this usually have a guard’s house or an armory on the ground floor somewhere. If we can find our way down there, I bet we could find a couple of old rusty swords or something.”

  “Something better than a couple of weathered boards,” Rikard agreed.

  “Stay behind me,” Gondrial said to the others as he started down the hallway. Rikard took his place directly behind Gondrial as the hallway widened toward the spiraling stairs down. The floor creaked ominously as they stayed huddled tightly together. “Be careful where you step; I don’t think this floor is entirely stable.”

  “How old is this place?” Shey wondered out loud.

  “It’s difficult to tell because of the condition, but it’s at least as old as the buildings the elves built in Arillia.”

  “Older than that,” Rikard said. “When I looked out the window, all I could see to the horizon was desert. The dry, arid climate tends to preserve.”

  “If you’re some kind of mummified corpse! The desert air dries out wood and makes it crack. I would suspect this wooden floor is extremely brittle,” Gondrial said. “The sands blowing around can strip away the paint from wagons and flesh off bone. Don’t they have deserts in Abaddonia?”

  Rikard looked embarrassed. “We do, but not like this one, I guess. The Jagged Mountains tend to block the rains and the wind from our desert areas. Ancient roadways and long forgotten monuments, untouched by weathering since before anyone can remember, are preserved in the arid climes.”

  They checked every room as they crawled down the hallway. Except for the few pieces of broken furniture here and there, every room on this top floor of the tower was empty.

  When they reached the stairway, Gondrial let out a disappointed sigh. “That’s why there wasn’t more of those things up here.” He pointed to the wooden spiral staircase. It was broken about halfway down, missing a long, crucial middle section.

  Gondrial tested the top of the stairs with the bulk of his weight.

  “Be careful, Gondrial!” Shey said.

  “There is no other way to test it,” he said. “We have to find a way down or we are trapped up here, and I didn’t see any rope or linen to tie together for us to get down.”

  Rikard peered over the railing down to the ground floor. “The good news is that I can see a weapon rack down there near the doorway. It looks like there may be something left on it.”

  Gondrial squinted, using his half-elven eyes. “Aye, it’s covered with cobwebs, but it contains at least two rusty swords I can see.” He leaned a little too far over, and the top step cracked. Rikard reached out to catch him, but he missed. Gondrial tumbled down the broken stairs but managed to grasp ahold of the final step at the break from which he dangled over the edge.

  “Gondrial!” Shey raced to the railing.

  “No, don’t get any closer to that rail,” Rikard said. “I think the stairs might hold my weight, but not if you rush the railing.”

  Shey took a step back. Marella took her arm.

  “Hold on, Gondrial,” Shey said, “and be careful, Rikard!”

  Rikard inched along the railing of the stairs, careful to avoid the broken first step. The stairs creaked and groaned at his every movement. He took another step down, and the staircase creaked under his weight. A portion of it came loose from the tower wall, dropping plaster and other wall material to the floor below. Rikard grabbed ahold of the railing to steady himself.

  Marella turned her face into Shey. “I can’t watch.”

  More debris from the stairs came loose as another section of the stairwell pulled from the wall. The debris fell to the floor far below in a crash. Gondrial clung to the final stair with all his finger strength, but he was slipping.

  Shey held her breath. “He’s slipping, Rikard. Help him!”

  “Hold on, Gondrial,” he said. “I’m trying to get to you.”

  Shey tried to draw in essence again, but nothing came. Gondrial’s fingers slipped again, and Rikard jumped the final distance and caught his hand before he fell. The staircase groaned and fell an inch or two further down the wall under the sudden shift of weight. Now Rikard was clinging to Gondrial while precariously sprawled out on the remaining length of the upper staircase.

  Gondrial looked up at Rikard and smiled. “What now?”

  “Just hold on. I will think of something.”

  “Just let me go. Save yourself. Get the girls to safety.”

  “No, my friend. I will think of something.”

  “What’s there to think about?” Gondrial feigned a weak smile and let go.

  In that instant of peril, Shey panicked and pushed through the barrier blocking her from essence. She gasped as she felt the cool rush coming from everything around her, and again as the accumulated essence poured into her body in an unexpected flood. Her pupils dilated and her jaw locked from the sudden rush, as if she had just leaped into a wintery pond. She sent the stream of essence directly to the falling Gondrial; it wrapped him in a ribbon of energy, letting him float gently to the floor. Now that she could draw essence, she concentrated on the staircase and shored it back up to the wall. Ethereal strands of essence temporarily bridged the broken gap so
they could walk across it. They all rushed down to where Gondrial already stood at the weapon rack.

  “Look out,” Shey said as she pushed them to the side. She slowly released her hold on the staircase, and it broke loose. She guided it to the floor and gently set it down. After she was sure it landed safely on the floor, she rounded on Gondrial and slapped his face. “What was that? You can’t just decide to leave us here like that.” She gave him a hug.

  If Gondrial was confused by the mixed emotions, he didn’t show it. “It all worked out. I scared the essence right out of you.”

  She wanted to hit him again but resisted. “No more heroics like that!” She let him go from her embrace.

  He trained his attention again on procuring a weapon. He brushed away the cobwebs from the weapon rack and found two rusty swords. He handed one to Rikard. “Sorry, I don’t see any daggers, Shey.”

  “I will take that quarterstaff,” Marella said.

  Gondrial handed it to her. “I’m not sure how good it will be. It’s made of wood.”

  She spun it around expertly. “Cured hardwood, polished and shellacked. It’s in better condition than those rusted swords.”

  “That’s a lucky find,” Shey said.

  Rikard turned his sword flat and whacked it hard on the top of the weapon rack, flat side of the blade down. The small amount of rust on the sword fell away, revealing a shiny blade underneath. “Darovan steel! I don’t think that was rust—it was the remains of a leather scabbard.”

  Gondrial followed suit and also knocked away the covering from his sword.

  Shey sighed. “Stop making so much noise, or have you forgotten where we are?”

  Gondrial seemed annoyed. “I haven’t forgotten. Stop being so bossy.”

  “Why don’t you try and draw essence?” Shey told Gondrial. He just stared at her. “I’m not being bossy. I’m thinking about survival.”

  He concentrated, and after a few tries, essence began to flow through him again. “I can.”

  “The spell from the gem is wearing off. Where is it?” Shey asked.