She smiled at him. “And may the Divine watch over you as well, Magister.”
Arthain snorted, but put his hand upon Thalia’s shoulder, alongside Magister Nazim’s. Corthain put his hand on Thalia’s other shoulder. She took a deep breath and cast the astraljump spell, the world vanishing in a silver flash.
Chapter 9 - Wrath of a High Demon
Talvin bound Rachaelis to the altar with aurelium chains.
The reason became clear when he released her from the binding spell. She could move, but the chains held her fast, and the aurelium disrupted her ability to summon power. No doubt he needed his entire concentration for the ritual.
The ritual to tear her soul from her body, to rip open the wall between the astral realm and the mortal world.
“This is madness,” said Rachaelis. “The high demon doesn’t care about the Conclave, doesn’t care about you.”
Talvin ignored her, concentrating upon the altar’s spells.
“It’s going to destroy you, the way Paulus and Maerwulf were both destroyed,” said Rachaelis.
Talvin ignored her.
“Can you really be that stupid?” said Rachaelis.
Talvin did look at her that time, his lip curled. “Foolish child. So young, and so sure of yourself. I have seen things you cannot imagine. Were you a little older, perhaps you would understand the wisdom of what I am doing.”
“Is that you talking,” said Rachaelis, “or the high demon?”
“Maerwulf was a tool and nothing more,” said Talvin. “To be discarded when his purpose had been served. Paulus was worthy…but he miscalculated. His own mistakes led to his death. I shall not make those mistakes. I shall succeed where he failed.”
“You’re insane,” said Rachaelis. “And cruel.” If he was telling the truth, and Solthain Kalarien’s inert body lay a few feet beneath her…
“No,” said Talvin. “I am not insane. I see more clearly than everyone else, that is all. And cruel?” The glimmer of red fire returned to his eyes. “It is only just that Arthain should suffer. I have spent twenty-five years listening to that man. He never shuts up.”
“That’s…” started Rachaelis.
“Astral energies,” said the high demon’s voice. “Converging upon this chamber. Seal the area from astral travel now!”
“No,” said Talvin. “That’s impossible. They couldn’t possibly have traced me here…”
The silver flash of an astraljump spell stabbed at Rachaelis’s eyes.
And when her vision cleared, she saw Thalia, Arthain, Nazim, and Corthain standing a short distance away.
“Damn it,” mumbled Talvin.
For a moment they stared at her and Talvin in shock.
“First Magister?” said Arthain. “What is going…”
“He possessed!” screamed Rachaelis. “The high demon left Paulus and entered him. He’s been hiding it for years! He was working with Maerwulf all along, and he’s going to open the astral realm and let the demons into the world. Stop him!”
“Absurd,” said Talvin. “The child has clearly gone mad.”
“If it is so absurd,” said Corthain, his sword and Rachaelis’s sicarr in hand, “then why is she chained to that altar?”
“First Magister,” said Nazim. “What are you doing?”
Talvin shuddered, growled in anger…and his eyes stared to shine with hellish light.
“Merciful Divine,” said Thalia. “He is possessed.”
“Enough of this,” said Talvin. “If you had the wisdom to understand what I am doing, you would side with me. You would rush to join my efforts. I will possess every last member of the Conclave with a demon, and then you will know true power.”
“Paulus’s high demon is inside you?” roared Arthain. “Did you kill my son, Talvin? Did you?”
Talvin smirked. “I didn’t kill him, you tiresome windbag. In fact, he’s been closer to you than you ever imagined, for all these years.”
“Traitor!” said Arthain. “I’ll see you burn for this!”
Talvin sneered and gestured, a sheet of silver light shooting from his fingertips, blanketing the vast chamber in its gentle glow. It was a vastly more effective version of the spell Maerwulf had used to seal the Red Water Inn off from astraljumping.
“If you have truly given yourself to a demon, Talvin,” said Nazim, “if you have betrayed everything worthy in the Conclave, then I urge you to stand down and surrender. Only more death and suffering can result if you keep on this path.”
“Yes,” said Talvin, striding around the altar. “Your deaths. You dare to interfere with my noble purpose? Very well. Even as a mortal man, my skills in the High Art exceed all of yours. But with the power of a high demon joined to mine…I am beyond any Adept, any mortal mage. I will crush you like insects. You want to see power? I will show you true power.”
He lifted his hand, and crimson-tinged astralfire danced around his fingertips.
And Arthain, Thalia, and Nazim all struck at once.
Arthain and Thalia both hurled blasts of azure astralfire, Arthain’s bolt twice as wide and bright as Thalia’s. Nazim gestured, and one of the massive stone tiles ripped from the floor and hurtled at Talvin.
But Talvin countered them all.
A silver ward snapped into existence around him, absorbing both blasts of astralfire. He flicked a finger, and tumbling stone tile reversed direction and flew back at Nazim. Nazim made a clawing motion, and the stone tile flipped aside to crash against the floor, the echoes booming off the vaulted ceiling.
And then they fought in earnest.
Astralfire ripped through the air, screaming as it crashed against wards. More stone tiles ripped from the floor, shooting back and forth like arrows. Rachaelis wrenched herself against the aurelium chains, trying to tear free. She had to help them. They couldn’t stand against Talvin on their own. But the chains held her fast. She cursed in frustration and sheer rage, trying to break free.
Then the blade of a sicarr flashed across her vision, breaking through the locks. A black-armored hand wrenched the chains free. Rachaelis sat up, breathing hard, and saw Corthain looking at her.
“I told you,” said Rachaelis, “I told you that I wouldn’t regret giving you that sicarr.”
“Are you hurt?” said Corthain, pulling the last of the chains free.
An explosion shook the room, white-hot stone chips bouncing across the floor.
“No,” said Rachaelis. “He’s insane, Corthain, or the high demon has driven him insane. He took my father’s soul, he took your brother’s soul, and he was going to take mine, use it in a ritual to rip open the barrier to the astral realm. He wants to possess every last Adept with a demon.”
“Is there a way out of here?” said Corthain. “You need help. I don’t think the four of you can take him by yourselves.”
Another explosion rocked the chamber, dust falling from the ceiling.
“I don’t think so,” said Rachaelis. “I think we’re underneath the Ring somewhere. The only way out is to astraljump. But if we hit Talvin hard enough, maybe we can disrupt his concentration, break the sealing spell, and get help. I’ve got to help them. Stay down; I don’t think we can spare the power to ward you from his spells.”
Corthain nodded and stepped back, sword and sicarr still ready in his hands.
Rachaelis paused enough to throw a ward of silver light around herself, hopefully enough to at least blunt the force of whatever Talvin threw at her. Talvin himself stood in the center of a blazing storm of astralfire, his wards holding, shattered chunks of stone hurtling back and forth. Even under attack, he struck back, flinging astralfire at Arthain, and ripping more chunks of stone from the floor to fling at Nazim.
Then Rachaelis took a deep breath and hit him with every scrap of silver astralfire that she could muster. Talvin rocked as his wards flickered beneath the assault, and the storm of astralfire pressed tighter around him. Yet his wards held, and Talvin screamed and flung out his arms.
&nbs
p; His will exploded in all directions, and struck Rachaelis like a falling wall. It flung her backwards to the floor, and she saw Arthain, Thalia, and Nazim go down as well, the light of their astralfire winking out. Talvin shrieked again and gestured, his fingers making a cupping motion.
The massive stone altar, still glowing with the silver light of Talvin’s spells, rose into the air and flew towards Nazim. Rachaelis caught a brief glimpse of a socket beneath the altar, saw a black-haired man lying within, eyes closed, a man who looked like a younger version of Arthain and an older version of Corthain…
Solthain Kalarien.
Talvin had indeed hidden his inert body there for the last twelve years, even as Aramane Morulan had lain in his tower room.
The altar plummeted towards Nazim, ready to crush him. But Arthain rolled to one knee, armor clattering, and thrust out his palm. Astralfire lashed out, drilled into the altar, shattered into hundreds of jagged pieces.
Nazim gestured, and the cloud of debris spun around him, whirling faster and faster. He flung out his hands, and some of the rubble launched at Talvin, every chunk of stone following a different direction. Talvin gestured, and some of the debris flew back at Nazim. But several pieces shattered against Talvin’s wards, dimming their light, and even knocked him back a step.
It was brilliant. Nazim couldn’t match Talvin for raw power; he couldn’t even match Rachaelis. But no one else in the Conclave had his mastery of mind magic. Talvin could deflect five or six large missiles with ease. Deflecting thirty or forty at once, all coming at different angles, was harder. Even with the aid of the high demon, he couldn’t split his concentration in that many directions. More and more rocks smashed off his wards, draining their power bit by bit.
Thalia smashed another tile, throwing more rubble into the air for Nazim to use, while Arthain lashed out again and again with silver astralfire. Talvin’s wards began to sputter and flicker, his attacks becoming sporadic. Nazim’s subtle plan was working.
Rachaelis wasn’t subtle. So she just hit Talvin as hard as she could. Silver astralfire ripped from her hands, chewing into Talvin’s wards. The sputtering got worse, and she sensed his power begin to collapse beneath the onslaught. Rachaelis felt a surge of burning satisfaction and strained to summon more power. A little more, just a little more, and then Talvin’s wards would buckle…
Then Talvin screamed again, his eyes burning like coals, and flung out one arm.
She felt a dark surge as he drew on the high demon's power.
And the wall exploded.
Hundreds of man-sized boulders rained into the chamber, and cold sunlight flooded the gloom. Rachaelis flung up her arms and pumped power into her wards, harsh blue light flaring around her body. Unleashing her will, she managed to deflect the first tumbling boulder, and then the second, but the third clipped her on the shoulder. Her ward kept the boulder from turning her arm to pulp, but the force of the impact knocked her to the floor. Another boulder fell towards her, and she managed to roll out of the way a few heartbeats before it would have crushed her.
Sunlight flooded into her eyes, and Rachaelis scrambled to her feet and saw that she had been wrong about their location.
They were not below the Ring.
They were above it, somewhere in the mountainside. Through the massive hole in the wall she saw the Ring far below, and the city of Araspan spread out beneath it. Cold air blew through the jagged gash, stirring the dust of the collapse. She saw Magister Arthain lying sprawled near the dais, blood covering his face, eyes closed.
Talvin, where was Talvin?
A boulder streaked through the air, but not aimed at her. Talvin stood near the ruined wall, robes rippling in the cold wind, and flung another boulder at Magister Nazim. Nazim managed to deflect the massive stone, but his full power went into the effort, and he had nothing left to spare. The old man’s face was gray with exhaustion. At last he collapsed to the debris-strewn floor, breathing hard, sweat pouring down his face.
Talvin crooked his finger, smiling, and another boulder rose from the floor.
Rachaelis hit him with everything she had.
Silver astralfire washed over Talvin, and his warding spells collapsed with a snarling crackle. Talvin staggered a step, astonishment on his face, and almost fell. High demon or not, he still had his limits, and he had just reached them. Rachaelis threw out her hands, azure astralfire blasting from her palms.
She would burn him to ash where he stood.
But Talvin spun and unleashed his own crimson-tinted astralfire. The streams met with a crackling howl, azure straining against red. Rachaelis gritted her teeth, heart hammering, and poured all her power into the astralfire, but she could make no progress.
Bit by bit the red astralfire inched closer, and closer.
Then Talvin began walking towards her, step by step, his face twisted with strain, his eyes ablaze with hellish light. The crimson astralfire inched closer to Rachaelis’s face. He was just too strong. Even as a mortal Adept, he was stronger than her, and with the power of the high demon augmenting his own, she couldn’t match him. She couldn’t even come close. She felt her power start to fade, her will to buckle.
Rachaelis shuddered, trying to fight.
But she couldn’t hold him off for any longer.
Her astralfire winked out.
And so did Talvin’s.
Rachaelis blinked. Talvin flinched, once, his hands falling to his sides.
Two feet of bloody steel blade jutted from his chest. Corthain stood behind him, sword buried to the hilt in Talvin’s back. Corthain’s left hand came up, the sicarr ready, and ripped the blade across Talvin’s throat.
The First Magister had been so focused upon Rachaelis that he hadn’t bothered to look behind him.
“This is for my brother,” said Corthain, “you murderous dog.”
Talvin tried to scream, but blood poured from his throat, staining his red robes black. Corthain raised a boot and kicked the First Magister off his blade. Talvin staggered forward a few steps, clawing at the air, and toppled to the floor.
He twitched once and did not move again, his blood pooling around him.
Corthain closed his eyes and let out a long breath.
“You…you killed him?”
Thalia hobbled towards them, her leather armor torn and streaked with dust and blood. One eye was swollen shut, and Rachaelis suspected that her left arm had been broken.
“Had to wait until you knocked his wards down," said Corthain. "Then I just crept up behind him. It was easy. He didn’t see me as a threat.”
Thalia almost smiled. “Perhaps he should have.”
“Where’s Magister Nazim?” said Rachaelis.
“I…I don’t know,” said Thalia. “I lost track of him. We didn’t have time to thoughtmeld.”
“Before you search for him,” said Corthain, “if either of you have any power left, burn Talvin’s body. Now. The high demon is still inside of him, and might be able to take control of his corpse.”
Rachaelis nodded. She was exhausted, her head pounding like a drum, but he was right. She lifted her hand and started the spell.
At that moment, red light burst from Talvin’s motionless eyes and yawning mouth. It shot up in a pillar, coalescing into a hooded wraith of fiery light that hovered over the corpse.
The high demon.
Rachaelis loosed white astralfire, but the burning shape twitched to the side, lunging at her. Rachaelis realized that the high demon needed a new host, and that she was the most obvious candidate. She began another spell, trying to raise a ward, but she was too slow.
The high demon raced towards her.
And rushed past her.
Rachaelis spun, just in time to see the high demon plunge into Corthain’s chest. His eyes went wide, and he stumbled back, sword and dagger dropping from his hands.
“Corthain!” shrieked Thalia.
He blinked twice, then his eyes rolled up into his head, and he toppled to the floor.
“White astralfire,” said Thalia. “I don’t have enough strength left.” Corthain began to thrash, almost like a seizure. “Hit him with white astralfire, now.”
“No,” said Rachaelis. “It might destroy his mind. Like what happened to that Urthaag.”
“Why him?” said Thalia. “Why not one of us?”
“We’re Adepts,” said Rachaelis. “We’re used to fighting off mental attacks. He’s not.” His twitches worsened. “And even without an Adept’s abilities, the high demon could still draw upon its magic. It could escape in Corthain’s body.”
“We can’t let the high demon escape,” said Thalia, her voice breaking. “We…we might have to kill him.”
“No,” said Rachaelis, shaking her head. He had saved her life, not once but many times. She couldn’t let him die. She couldn’t let something worse than death happen to him. “No.”
“Then white astralfire,” said Thalia. “It’s his only chance.”
“There’s another,” said Rachaelis. “Thoughtmeld us.”
“What?” said Thalia. “Are you insane? The high demon could take you, turn you into an Urmaaghsk...”
“I can fight it off,” said Rachaelis. “I can help him fight it off. I have to try. I can’t let him die, Thalia. I don’t think you can, either.”
Thalia closed her eyes and nodded. “All right. This is folly. Divine help me, this is folly.” She sighed and put one hand on Corthain’s shaking head, the other on Rachaelis’s forehead. “Brace yourself. I…don’t really know what’s going to happen.”
She cast the spell.
Rachaelis shrieked. Pain stabbed through her head, and the world vanished in a storm of blood-colored fire.
Chapter 10 - And All The World Shall Be Yours
“Corthain.”
A woman’s voice whispered in his ears. Melodious. Harmonious. Its very sound a rapture.
And alien.
He had never heard anything so beautiful, or so terrifying.
He stood in the rubble-choked grounds outside the shattered stub of Paulus’s tower. Yet every tower in Araspan had been shattered, the slums and the docks reduced to smoking ashes. The sky had turned the color of blood, and corpses carpeted the streets, the gutters filled with blood.
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