Thom turned at the end of the room, trod up four stone steps, and lowered his long limbs into a magnificent throne set upon a platform suspended by magic. Rubbing his hands over the ball-socket joints of bone forming the ends of his throne’s arms, his voice boomed, ‘Salloki Loyalists, thank you for your attendance.’ He gestured at a purple cloaked figure hovering behind him. ‘Eddiss, you may bring the table.’
Cadence didn’t know where she was supposed to sit. Thom’s throne was the only seat on the platform. She did not wish to risk sitting on what she thought was an empty chair and ending up in the lap of whatever the shadows were. Nervously, Cadence cleared her throat.
‘What should I do?’ she asked weakly. Disgusted with herself, she raised her chin and looked straight at Thom.
The crowd started to sing, a strange, haunting tune. It set off at the back of the long room and rolled in a wave to crash behind Cadence. Nervously, she span around. All of the room’s occupants pressed close behind her. She stepped backwards and bashed into someone. Feeling foolish, she stumbled forwards with murmurs of an apology. Nerves frazzled and a bead of sweat formed along her top lip. No longer cold, Cadence tugged at the neck of her leather suit and tried to steady her trembling. There was a funny smell in the room and excitement sparked in the air. Why were they all looking at her so oddly? As if they wanted to...her mind struggled with the word...eat her? Cadence’s nose wrinkled, what was that awful smell?
It was then Cadence noticed a figure swathed in robes similar to Aleinia’s, pacing the room with a golden lantern in its hand. Moving around the crowd, the figure swung the lantern from side to side, wafting out a pungent red smoke with each swing.
‘What is that stench?’ Cadence pinched her nostrils together as the figure passed her and the smoke bobbed towards her.
‘It is the burning of a human heart,’ snarled the bull-headed man. ‘A human sacrifice is always required at this ritual. It is representative of your old life.’
Eddiss, his face hidden within the depths of his cloak’s hood, cackled. He waved his gnarled hand across a slab of stone floating before the platform Thom sat upon. ‘You will lie here.’ His ragged, yellowed fingernails pointed at Cadence. ‘Now.’
Cadence noticed the stone slab was carved with etchings and symbols she had not seen before. ‘I will not. Why would I want to lie on there? I’m not tired, I don’t need to rest. I’m perfectly fine standing on my own two feet, thank you very much.’
Hands, claws, and teeth grabbed at her and, despite her thrashing and wailing, Cadence was swiftly carried to the stone slab. She screamed as they flung her down on it. The crowd encircled her, forming a terrifying barrier.
Eddiss scurried between the onlookers. The hood covering his face had fallen, exposing his pinched face. Raisin eyes glinted above a beaky nose, and his thin mouth lifted in an evil smile, revealing tiny shards of teeth set in double rows both top and bottom. With both hands he lifted a huge jagged blade above his head, the sleeves of his robes exposing forearms marked with puckered scars matching the symbols on the stone slab.
‘Let the initiation commence!’ Eddiss bellowed.
Cadence screamed. Thoughts rushed through her head. She was dead, meaning she couldn’t die again, or could she? She didn’t want to wait around to find out. She prayed she was right in thinking the blade Eddiss held was steel. If it was, she could control it with her Sifar power but she would have to make it seem as if she was not using the power. Keeping her eyes lowered, she allowed them to glaze over, the pupils and irises disappearing to be replaced with a sheen of silver the same shade as the blade in Eddiss’ hands. With a piercing screech, she jumped up and lunged for Eddiss, taking care not to look any of the loyalists in the face so they could not see her eyes had changed.
The crowd broke into a frenzied mass as they tried to grab her. Using the barrier of loyalists as a shield from Thom’s watchful eyes, Cadence quickly flung out her hands, striking Eddiss in the face, and in response the blade shot out of Eddiss’ hands and impaled into the wall opposite. From anyone looking in it would have appeared she overpowered Eddiss. A look of shock crossed Eddiss’ face. He opened his mouth to speak but Cadence knocked him to the floor, landing on top of him. Steeling a breath, she steadied her power, allowing her eyes to return to red. The crowd gasped in unison. Murmurs began to spread, building up to a crescendo. Cadence jumped to her feet.
‘Leave me alone!’ she warned.
‘Grab her!’ shouted a shrill voice.
‘Pin her down!’ The childlike creature with the horns scuttled between the taller loyalists and clawed at Cadence’s legs.
Cadence struck out at anything close to her, be it hands, claws, or mouths. Her Sifar energy coursed through her body, awakening every sense, sharpening every reaction. ‘I told you to leave me alone!’
‘Someone fetch the blade for Eddiss!’ a shadowy figure ordered. ‘We must put a stop to this outrageous defiance!’
‘You do it, don’t stand there barking orders!’ The man with the bull head roared. ‘You cannot order us around just because you are a spirit!’
‘I’ll do it myself!’ Eddiss spat. ‘I am not incapable. I am The Salloki High Priest!’ He lifted both arms up and drew his hands over the back of his head, and then thrust them forward, making the blade slide out of the wall before hurtling back to him. He caught it by the handle and advanced towards Cadence, the jagged blade held aloft once more.
‘Enough!’ Thom’s voice cut sharper than any blade. He rose and the crowd parted for him. ‘Cadence, go to the ritual table.’
Cadence, caught between the bull headed man and a tall figure in a grey robe, shook her head. ‘No way. You’re all mental; I’m not letting you cut me!’
Eddiss slunk beside Cadence and motioned to her with the blade. ‘Do as Leader orders.’
Thom’s voice lowered, caressing Cadence’s ears the way it had before when she was a spirit in his world by the Drauguri Sea. ‘Come to me, Cadence and I will show you the world. I want you. I need you. You are mine. Forever.’
The Draugr’s words pulled at Cadence and she faltered. It would be so easy to succumb to Thom’s wishes, much less hassle than fighting.
‘I can smell your newness from here.’ Eddiss leant in close to Cadence and inhaled deeply. ‘When you are cut, your scent can run free.’
Cadence felt the point of the blade against her ribcage and the pressure made her jump, breaking the seductive spell of Thom’s voice. ‘Leave me alone!’ She pushed at Eddiss but this time he fought back.
‘You will not disarm me a second time!’ Eddiss crowed.
Cadence struggled to conceal her Sifar energy. Her hands shook with the force and her eyes streamed. She knew her eyes were beginning to haze over; pretty soon they would no longer be Draugr red but a steely grey, the same colour as the blade in Eddiss’ hand. If they changed colour completely Thom and everyone else would be able to tell for sure she was still Sifar.
* * *
Chapter Fifteen
A cloud of purple smoke swept into the hall, engulfing all of the occupants. Cadence coughed. Shielding her eyes she waited for the smoke to dissipate. Murmurs of unease rumbled throughout The Salloki Loyalists as they all turned their heads in the direction of where the smoke was slowly dissipating to reveal a darkened figure. Realising their focus was no longer on her, Cadence edged away from the crowd.
Thom was beside her in a flash, his red eyes blazing. ‘Do not move, Cadence. You have angered me enough.’ Turning his attention, he stretched to his full height and strode into the middle of the crowd of loyalists to address the intruder. ‘What are you doing here, have you come to pledge allegiance to us at last?’
The Salloki Loyalists moved towards the back of the room, their steps united as if they were legs of the same beast. Leaving Thom standing in the centre of the long hall, they surged around him, their voices rising in excitement as they pressed closer to the new arrival.
‘We have been waiting for
you!’
‘Oh, Leader, it is the one we have been waiting to meet!’
The childlike creature with the horns pulled at her hair, a maniacal laughter bubbling from her mouth. ‘We are honoured, we will be strong...The Salloki will rise!’
Eddiss dropped to his knees and pressed his hands together in a praying gesture. ‘The Dark One, welcome. You will be our dark angel and elevate us from the shadows!’
Laughter resonated from the opposite end of the hall. ‘You are all idiots if you think I’ve come here to pledge allegiance to The Salloki. Why would I? I don’t need you, you need me.’ Bran took several steps closer to the crowd and raised his hands, violet light engulfing his palms.
Eddiss screamed, clawing at his own, pinched face. ‘No! You are on consecrated Salloki land and you will do as we wish!’
‘Grab him!’ a voice shouted.
‘We can perform a double initiation!’
‘Bring another human heart for sacrifice!’
‘Necromancer,’ Thom growled. ‘Step forward and obey. You are in my palace now.’
‘I most certainly will not step forward and obey.’ Bran’s eyes narrowed, emphasising his facial scar. ‘If any of you come one step closer to me, I’ll aim to kill. I don’t give a flaming Vallesm’s arse whose palace I’m in.’
The Salloki Loyalists gasped, eyes flitted to the Draugr and then nervously back to Bran. Cadence, now forgotten, reached the outer edge of the crowd and slunk closer to the rows of bone chairs.
Thom lifted his hand and the voices of the crowd stilled. Cadence froze. Loyalists parted and Thom strode through them to face Bran.
‘Have you or have you not come to pledge your allegiance?’ Without waiting for Bran to answer, Thom turned back to his followers. ‘Eddiss, call up another ritual table. Aleinia fetch another heart. My loyalists will have their two initiations today!’
‘No way!’ Cadence took a deep breath and strode before The Salloki Loyalists. She lifted her chin, although her voice trembled. ‘I am not taking part in any initiation, especially as I don’t know what it involves.’
In a flash, Thom was in front of Cadence, hooking a long finger under her chin. ‘Would it make it better if I told you? We will drink from you. You will then be connected to us all.’ He gestured at the crowd. ‘It is the same for everyone. There is no need for you to object. Blood is the way you are initiated into The Salloki.’
Cadence pushed Thom’s hand away. ‘Was it the same for you, did Salloki drink from you when he initiated you?’
Thom laughed. ‘Do not be ridiculous. I am the Draugr. You will do this, my wife, and then together we will awaken the souls of the dead currently waiting in the walls of the palace.’
That’s why the walls had moved; Cadence thought with a shudder, the souls inside the walls were probably writhing, eager to escape. The walls really were alive, well, undead.
Thom wrapped a strong hand around Cadence’s neck, pulling her to him. ‘The time is coming when we will walk upon the land in our true forms and human weaklings will fall at our feet. We will intoxicate ourselves with the flesh of the weakest and bring the bodies of the strongest back here where the souls of the dead Salloki Loyalists will claim the human bodies as their own. Many Draugar will walk the human world and I will be their king. When I have the mighty Vanagandr under my control, all will fall at my feet...first the humans, and then the gods. I will be invincible!’
Cadence cowered in Thom’s shadow. ‘Is that why you want Kaelia? You need her power or something?’
Thom grabbed Cadence’s hair and yanked her head back, scorching her eyes with the fire of his.
‘Thom, enough!’ Aleinia lowered the material covering her face. ‘You are losing control and making a spectacle of yourself.’
Thom ignored her. ‘Kaelia is The Chosen One. Her touch alone can break the sword between Vanagandr’s jaws but her hand must be willing when it touches the sword or it will not work. Kaelia will be my queen; she will submit to me the same as you did.’
Cadence squirmed in Thom’s hold, her eyes glazed over as she struggled to curb her inner Sifar but Thom cuffed her hard around the head, breaking the surge of power. ‘Why are you doing this to me? I thought you wanted me!’ she wailed.
‘You?’ Thom crowed. ‘Did you think you would be my queen? You are nothing more than a mere puppet, Cadence, useful in the fight to conquer the human world. I need another Draugr to assist me in creating more Draugar. You are here to serve The Salloki cause to free Vanagandr. The Salloki have waited centuries for The Chosen One to be born and to come into full power. She could unleash her full potential at any moment and we need her united with us before she does so, because she will be easier to mould to our will. By threatening the humans and turning them into Draugar, Kaelia will have no choice but to join with me. Especially as I will promise no more harm will come to the humans if she does so.’
‘But you’ll kill all the humans anyway, won’t you?’ Cadence croaked. ‘Once you’ve persuaded Kaelia to touch the sword and Vanagandr is free, you’ll destroy anyone who stands in your way!’
Thom laughed. ‘You are smarter than I gave you credit for, Wife. You are correct. I will destroy all of those who will not yield to me and I will start with The Chosen One, she will be of no use once the mighty wolf is free.’
A rush of violet smoke engulfed them, forcing the Draugr’s laughter back inside.
‘I will never let your plans come to fruition, Draugr!’ Bran shouted. ‘You are crazier than I ever thought you were.’
Cadence seized the opportunity to put some distance between her and Thom. Using the cloaking advantage of Bran’s smoke, she called on her Sifar magic and sent the stone ritual table crashing into the crowd. The Salloki Loyalists scattered. Screams filled the room. Cadence controlled the table, sending it hurtling into a small cluster of loyalists gathered at the foot of the platform holding Thom’s throne.
A hooded figure swathed in cream robes, and the giant lion-headed cat fell like bowling skittles, their cries blood-curdling. The hooded figure struggled to crawl across the floor, the robes unable to conceal its broken legs. The lion-headed cat yowled and sprang back onto its paws but blood stained its fur.
Bran fired violet bolts of light at shadows writhing in the air above everyone else’s heads. His light tore through the shadows, ripping them into ghostly confetti. He took down a robed figure, the swathes of material rendering it impossible to determine if the figure was male or female, or even if it resembled a human. Smoke danced around them all, making it difficult to see clearly. The loyalists coughed and spluttered but Bran fired relentless shot after shot.
The smoke did not bother Cadence, and as the bull-headed man advanced towards her she sent the stone table in his direction. It crashed into his chest, sending him flying back with a crunch of bones. Cadence willed the stone to upend and sent it hurtling down upon the creature’s head. The bull-headed man screamed and raised his arms over his head but it was too late. His blood sprayed the loyalists nearest him, the stone table cutting through his head to meet with the polished floor.
‘Disable the necromancer!’ Thom coughed, shielding his eyes from the smoke. ‘Then restrain my wife!’
Loyalists merged back together to follow the order. Eddiss took the lead and with a roar, charged at Bran.
Bran caught Eddiss in a swirling stream of light, suspending the Salloki priest in mid-air and pinning him against those behind him. ‘Draugr, I will not let you use Kaelia.’ Releasing Eddiss, Bran fired bolts of light into The Salloki Loyalists, forcing them to make another hasty retreat.
Thom emerged from the cloud of smoke. ‘You want The Chosen One, do you, Necromancer?’
Bran fired a ball of light at Thom but the Draugr easily deflected it. ‘You will not use her to play games. I told you before I would win her confidence but I will never let you use her.’ He clenched his fists. ‘Nor kill her once she has served her purpose.’
Thom laughed. ‘Why not
? Why does she matter so much to you? I will allow you to absorb some of her power before I kill her but only after she has freed Vanagandr.’
Cadence edged backwards, closing the distance between her and Bran while increasing it between her and Thom, figuring, of the two, Bran seemed the safer option.
‘I don’t need you to allow me to absorb some of Kaelia’s powers,’ Bran snorted. ‘She has readily shared them with me on many occasions.’
Thom’s eyes lit up. ‘She trusts you?’
This time Bran laughed. ‘Of course she doesn’t. You forget I helped you breach the Vallesm castle. Kaelia will never trust me again, even if I did only break into the castle so she and I could kill you!’
Thom’s face was thunderous. ‘You tried to deceive me and now you have the gall to attack me in my own palace? I will kill you and The Salloki Loyalists will feast on your flesh!’
Bran lifted an eyebrow. ‘No, you won’t.’
Thom spread his arms out. ‘Look around you, Necromancer, and remember where you are. I no longer have need of your services. You said The Chosen One does not trust you so you are defunct.’
‘No, I’m not. You still need me.’
Thom laughed. ‘Very well, I will humour you before I tear out your throat. Proceed; tell me why I would still need you. You failed in bringing us Kaelia. You had one task and you could not even do it.’
‘You need me, Draugr, because my touch is also needed to free Vanagandr. That is what I came to tell you. Kaelia and I must release the beast together.’
The remaining Salloki Loyalists gasped and nudged one another, their whispers frenzied.
‘None of you knew, did you?’ Bran grinned. ‘In fact I don’t think anyone knew. Well, apart from Hel. She’s always known. Why do you think she raised me?’
Mortiswood: Kaelia Falling (Mortiswood Tales Book 2) Page 13
