They stopped at the top of the stairwell, surprised that the sorcerer’s door stood open. A heavy black mist rolled from the room beyond and crawled down the steps and past their feet.
“Please, come in,” Rezormoor announced, his voice rising around them.
So much for the element of surprise, Max thought. He clutched the Codex tightly and took a breath. There was nothing to do but go in.
CHAPTER TWENTY-THREE
THE TOWERING INFERNO
MAX LED THE OTHERS INSIDE. He recognized the regent’s personal quarters as before, but it was also another place entirely—a world of shadows that moved as if blown by invisible winds.
As his eyes adjusted, Max could work out others standing there: the Kraken, his orange skin bloodred in the shades of night; the dwarf high mage, her cold eyes hard as steel; and even Loki, his tail aflame and his feline face grinning as he stood next to the zombie duck. In the center stood Rezormoor Dreadbringer, his sorcerer’s robes catching the invisible current as the blue stones set within his armored shoulders and belt glowed brightly. He wore his hood over his head so that strands of black hair spilled out, and his eyes were simply two simmering pools of crimson. Strangely, the faint outline of wings spread out from the sorcerer’s back, making him look every bit like some dark angel come to wreak havoc on the world.
“The answer to your unspoken question is this,” Rezormoor said, his voice echoing as if he was standing in a great cavern instead of a room. “I have gathered the Shadrus and brought it here.”
“A dangerous thing to invite the Shadrus into our world,” Princess said.
“I did not get where I am because of simple hubris,” Rezormoor replied. “I know how powerful the Codex is, and I’m not above taking precautions.” Rezormoor bent down and reached into the swirling mist at his feet. The Kraken and high mage did likewise, each lifting a single serpent’s escutcheon fashioned into a shield. “I am encircled by power,” the sorcerer continued.
“Black magic,” Magar said sourly. “Drawn from Shadrus.”
“Even so,” Rezormoor said. “It is a means to an end. Yours, as it were.”
Moki pointed to Loki sitting across the room. “You’re a bad kitty!”
Loki shrugged. “I’ll try to see if I can live with it as I spend the rest of my life in unimaginable wealth.” Moki hissed angrily, and it was the first time any of them had heard the tiny fire kitten do so. It even made Loki look a little nervous.
“Can we just skip to the final battle?” Dirk said, producing the wand he’d taken earlier. “Look, we all know you’re going to make your offer to Max that if he does what you want you won’t kill us, blah blah blah. And then you’ll try to convince him that there’s some hidden moral good that justifies everything. So Max will think it over, remember the words of his mentor—who totally blew it, by the way—then turn you down cold. You won’t like that, so you’ll get all evil and lose your temper, showing your true colors. You might turn into some kind of monster or something, I’m not really sure on that point. But the main thing is we’ll have a big fight and we’ll totally waste you. So we should just jump to the good part.”
The crimson pools in Rezormoor’s hood fluttered. “How do you know all that?”
“Duh, I’m a gamer. And the thing about being a gamer is, we can cut out all the talk and just get to the fighting. Because we all know Max isn’t about to go along with you. I mean, that would totally blow to come all this way and have him be like, ‘Oh yeah, I like your style. Let’s be buds and go rule the world together.’ ” Dirk poked his wand at Rezormoor, punctuating each word: “Ain’t gonna happen.”
Princess turned to Dirk. “Speaking of style, I kind of like yours.”
“Cool.” Dirk smiled. “Unexpected love interest. I like it.”
“That’s it!” the Kraken bellowed. “I can’t listen to this geek talk anymore!” The monster flung the makeshift shield into a corner, toppling over a large pile of dragon scale. He launched forward, muscles rippling and taloned fingers outstretched. But Max’s mind leapt to one of the Prime Spells even faster.
“Irony!” he called out. And this time his voice crashed into the room much as it had done on the day he’d used the same spell to defeat Robo-Princess. In a heartbeat the monster that was the Kraken was no longer, and instead the boy Ricky Reynolds flew past Dirk and landed hard on the floor. He rose, reaching for the talisman that had hung around his neck and was the source of his power. But it was gone. Ricky panicked for a moment, but that quickly turned to rage. He was still the same Ricky Reynolds who was captain of the wrestling team, the kid who struck fear into every student at Parkside Middle School, the bully who’d been humiliated by a girl who’d flipped him in the hallway. He turned to Sarah with clenched fists, but surprisingly, Sarah smiled.
“You’re going to get beaten by a girl again,” she said, “if you’re stupid enough to try it.”
And then everything happened at once.
Max turned away from Sarah, knowing she could handle herself just fine. The power of the Codex’s spell had taken Rezormoor and the high mage aback—it had that effect on people, especially if they were sensitive to magic. But it wasn’t likely to happen again. Max heard a growl and caught sight of Moki flying overhead at a wide-eyed Loki. Max figured Loki was in for a whole world of trouble.
Princess drew her wand and sent a lightning bolt ripping through the air at the high mage. But the dwarf had retrieved her own wand and met it with a bright-red bolt of her own. The two struggled, their magic like two intertwined whips fighting for dominance. Magar drew his wand and joined the battle, but as soon as his magic touched that of the other two an explosion of sparks filled the room and Magar was slammed against the wall. He slumped to the floor, his wand rolling from his hand. Max caught sight of the zombie duck as it made a run for Dirk. It moved much faster than a waddling duck had any right to. Dirk tried using the wand to protect himself, but nothing happened. So he yelped and made a run for it, the zombie duck hot on his heels. Puff made a run at something too, but Max couldn’t tell what.
Then a force slammed into Max and he tumbled backward, the Codex flying out of his hand. Rezormoor stood across the room from him, his palm outstretched past the dragon-scale shield. The smell of old copper pennies filled Max’s nose, and he felt something wet drip past his lip. He was bleeding, and the sight of his own blood on the floor was unsettling.
“It’s not too late,” the sorcerer said as he began to close the distance. Max heard the fire kittens fighting off to his right, and he caught a glimpse of Ricky circling Sarah in his best wrestling stance. The snap and crack of the battling spell casters filled the room with electric energy. The high mage managed to swing her shield around to deflect Princess’s magic, breaking their deadlock. The dwarf spell caster swung her wand around and launched fire balls at Princess.
“Panoply!” Max called out. Panoply—to cover and protect. The fireballs never made it to the unicorn but deflected off the invisible shield Max had placed in front of her. Rezormoor paused.
“Impressive,” he admitted. “You can use the Codex without even touching it.”
Princess used the shield to her advantage, taking the necessary time to summon a gust of wind that struck the high mage with the force of a hurricane, wrapping around her shield and sending the dwarf flying backward into the far wall. Anything in the immediate vicinity that wasn’t secured was picked up by the blast of wind and sent flying toward the high mage as well. Princess grinned and took off after her, nearly running into Dirk as he jumped over a table to avoid the zombie duck’s gnashing teeth. Puff had a dragon-scale shield in his mouth and was dragging it across the room toward Magar.
Max rolled through the list of Prime Spells in his head. “Tutelary!” Max commanded. Tutelary—to summon protection. He wasn’t exactly sure what was going to happen, but suddenly a knight in shining white armor appeared next to Dirk. The shadows actually withdrew from the being’s presence, and it moved to s
tand between Dirk and the zombie duck, taking up the fight on Dirk’s behalf. If the zombie duck was intimidated by the new arrival, however, it didn’t show it.
“Fool!” Rezormoor shouted at Max. The sorcerer muttered something Max couldn’t understand, and the shadows on the floor materialized into monstrous claws, grabbing hold of him as he struggled to break free. They were impossibly strong, and Max felt himself begin to slip down. With a new sense of horror he realized the floor below him had turned into a thick, dark liquid and he could feel an otherworldly chill begin to crawl up his skin. Evil lurked below the surface, of a kind Max had never felt before.
“You fling the Prime Spells about like a novice learning to light a candle!” Rezormoor roared. “This must end, and you must do as I command!”
Max felt a ringing in his ears and a wave of nausea wash over him. He looked up to see Rezormoor with both hands over his head. The air seemed to grow too thin, and Max could see his breath as a vicious cold slammed into the room. Figures appeared, stepping out of the shadows in perfect unison. On each was a helm of ancient construction, engraved in runes and running much too long to fit a human face. The eyeholes were black, but beneath the helmet’s rims, rotting bone and teeth glistened. They wore robes made from a heavy green fabric, flowing over misshapen bodies and dulled by countless centuries of wear. When hands could be seen extending past the long open sleeves, the flesh was black as if mummified, with small plates of steel riveted into the bone to form living gauntlets. Golden snakes, like transparent spirits, slithered around them, traveling up and down the long obsidian staffs clutched at their sides. Max recognized them at once, and the room filled with the icy grip of death.
“Shadrus necromancers,” Rezormoor announced. “Devourers of souls. I believe you are acquainted.”
Princess swung around, spinning with her wand held out in front of her, bracing for an attack. Max could hear Ricky Reynolds panting somewhere nearby. He turned and caught a brief glimpse of the wrestler lying on the ground while Sarah stood over him, her hands raised like a boxer’s.
Elsewhere, Puff had reached Dirk and the two of them raised the dragon scale to protect themselves as best they could. The zombie duck circled the spectral knight, hissing and snapping.
The nauseating power from the Shadrus necromancers nearly overwhelmed Max. He was still struggling against the soft floor when he found the fireball spell. It wasn’t a Prime Spell, but it had plenty of power. He called it from the Codex and sent it slamming into the middle of the necromancers.
There was a piercing howl as the ball of flame exploded. The heat cut through the room’s chill and the shadows pulled back from wherever the magical flame took hold. The fire consumed several skeletons, while others burned and screeched. But many remained untouched—too many, it seemed to Max. Two of them launched themselves at the spectral knight, grabbing the magical being and dragging it to the floor. Dirk tried to use the wand, poking at the air with it. A skeleton advanced on him, summoning a glowing sword and raising it to strike. Dirk dropped the wand and drew his blade. He’d been able to practice some with Conall, and Max desperately hoped it was enough.
A burst of glowing arrows began flying across the room and raining into the Shadrus necromancers. Max turned to see Magar chanting, the magical bolts materializing in front of him before taking flight.
A loud PPFFFT! sounded out as Loki flew from one corner of the room to the other. Moki leapt after him in hot pursuit.
The rest of the skeletons rushed into the battle. Max had lost sight of the high mage, but he heard the distinctive SNAP! of lightning as a bolt ripped from Princess’s wand and struck several of the advancing skeletons, incinerating them on the spot. But there were too many of them. Max slipped farther into the black abyss at his feet when he felt something grab hold of his collar.
“Hang in there!” Puff said through clenched teeth and fabric. Somehow the little fluff dragon had made it back across the room and had come to help Max. Max summoned another fireball and threw it at Rezormoor. The flame exploded around him. But the sorcerer simply walked through it, the flames vanishing as if all the oxygen had been sucked from around his person. It was just a normal spell, and Rezormoor had shrugged it off like dusting sand from his shoulder. Max reached deeper into the Codex and found what he was looking for.
“Elementity!” he shouted. “Elementity”—to affect through fire, earth, water, or air. The blue ball of flame roared into existence, swallowing the sorcerer and burning like a miniature sun. Several of the skeletons standing nearby ignited and fell to the ground. The dark mist and shadows raced from the fire, clinging to life in the far corners of the room. The ground beneath Max began to solidify, and Puff gave a final pull that broke Max free. The little fluff dragon lost his footing and fell as Max scrambled to his feet.
A shudder filled the room and the ball of flame shrank. Max could see Rezormoor, his hands on either side of the ball, pushing it in on itself. The sorcerer’s clothes were smoldering, and both his hood and hair and been burned away. Rezormoor grunted with a final effort and clasped his hands together, extinguishing the blue ball. He stumbled, nearly exhausted by the effort it took to survive the Prime Spell. But the sorcerer raised his head and stared at Max, naked anger on his face. Then he moved, faster than Max would have thought possible, drawing his daggers and flashing across the room. He appeared next to Ricky, knocking the boy to the ground and spinning behind Sarah. She froze, the tips of the black blades pushing against her—one at her throat, and the other at her side.
“Enough!” Rezormoor shouted and the chaos of the room suddenly froze. Dirk was panting, his thin sword raised against the skeleton necromancer. Magar was lying on the floor, a spectral snake-oozing skeleton standing over him, while Princess had turned into her unicorn form. She had reared, her muscular legs slashing through the air and her horn a dazzling silver against her white mane. A group of Shadrus necromancers had encircled her.
“Use the Codex,” Rezormoor said to Max. “Make my armor and your friends need not die.”
“Max . . . ,” Sarah began, but words failed her. She knew Max could never give in to the sorcerer’s demands, but she didn’t want to die because of it. Her mind raced through her training, but with both knives against her there was no way to could get free.
“Don’t hurt her!” Max cried. He could feel the shadows begin to retake the room. The icy chill returned.
“If you help him, we lose,” Dirk said, his chest heavy as he caught his breath. But his friend looked flushed and his words sounded hollow. He’d been holding his own against the skeleton, but just barely. And sooner or later it would get the best of him.
Princess dropped to the ground. She glistened with a sheen of sweat but looked powerful and strong. This was no unicorn drawn with smiley faces and rainbows. She was beautiful, magnificent, and dangerous in a way that defied words. Max was grateful she was on his side and not Rezormoor’s.
But in the end there was really no choice. Despite the visions and the warnings and all they had gone through, he could not watch Sarah or Dirk die in front of him. Their lives were his responsibility, and he’d shirked it before. But not now—he was done with being afraid all the time. He was done with being used. And with his resolve, he felt a power begin to grow within him. It stretched out and connected to the Codex like two magnets drawn to each other. The room bristled with energy, and the Shadrus necromancers began to withdraw from Max, turning their heads. The air turned electric.
“What are you doing?” Rezormoor demanded. “I’ll kill her!”
“Do so and you will die,” Max said. And the way he said it left no doubt. “I am making your armor, sorcerer.”
“Max?” Puff asked from behind him.
Max swam within the ocean of magic that was the Codex and began weaving Prime Spells together. Something told him that this was very dangerous to do, but he pressed on.
“Gravity,” Max said. Gravity—the power to attract. His voice resonated wit
h the power of the Prime Spell, and the Shadrus necromancers withdrew farther. The pile of dragon scale lifted from the far corner of the room.
“Let her go and stand there in the center,” Max said to Rezormoor. The sorcerer hesitated.
“I will not surrender my leverage as easily as that,” he replied.
“I can’t do it if you’re touching her,” Max said. “If you’re near anyone, it won’t work.”
Rezormoor thought it over. “Are you a man of your word, Max? Would you swear to me if I do as you ask?”
“I won’t break a promise,” Max answered coldly. Rezormoor nodded.
“Then swear to me, on the lives of your friends, that if I do as you ask, you will allow me to don the armor. That I will be able to step into it unharmed.”
“Max, don’t!” Dirk cried.
“Please, think what you’re doing,” Puff urged him. But Max pressed on.
“I swear it,” he said. Rezormoor smiled and released Sarah. He sheathed his daggers and walked to the center of the room. “And here I thought I would have to instruct you on what to do,” he said. “You are quite an impressive young man.”
“If you do this, he will be unstoppable,” Princess warned.
“And those who serve him will be rewarded,” a voice sounded from the far side of the room. The dwarf high mage stepped forward, bloodied and her armor hanging in tatters. But she lived. “You have made the right choice,” she said to Max. “This is the inevitable end.”
Max reached out and wrapped the gravity spell around the Codex, and it gently glided into his hands. As he touched it, more power surged through him.
“The high mage speaks the truth,” Rezormoor said. “All has been done according to my design.”
“Think of the dragons,” Puff urged. “Think of this entire world lost to darkness. Think of your world falling next. You’ve simply traded one dark future for another.” But if the words were striking home, it didn’t show on Max’s face. Max continued, finding the next spell. “Unity,” he said. Unity—to unite into one. The floor shook as the various pieces of dragon scale merged together.
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