The Path of the Storm (The Evermen Saga, Book Three)

by James Maxwell

  "I hope you know what you're doing," Bartolo muttered yet again, low enough so only Ella could hear it.

  Ella was the first down, remembering the last time she'd come this way. The images came strong and fast, and her heart rate increased to a drum-like tattoo.

  A soft yellow light with no obvious source lit the passageway below. Ella reached the floor and moved forward, once again feeling awe at being somewhere she knew she didn't belong. Behind Ella came Shani, and then Jehral with Bartolo close behind. The soldiers struggled with the coffin but managed to tilt it down the stairs until they were all standing in the wide corridor.

  "Come on," Ella said.

  She walked forward until she was at the end of the passageway, sensing the others behind her.

  Ella looked up and gasped. Evrin's words came back to her as she looked at the remains of the spiralled stairs leading up. Whatever had happened to the essence in the pool, it had eaten through the stone until the stairway was gone. A ladder leaned against the wall in its stead, evidently placed there by Evrin when he'd last inspected the portal.

  Ella turned to the soldiers. "You can put it down," she said.

  With a groan, the soldiers set the coffin on the smooth floor with a clunk.

  "Thank you," Ella said. "You can go now."

  The four soldiers fled from the corridor, back the way they'd come.

  "Ella," Bartolo said, "how do you plan on getting this up the ladder?"

  "We can't," said Ella.

  "Oh no," said Shani. "You're not seriously suggesting…"

  "It's the only way. Come on, help me with the lid."

  With one of them on each corner of the stone coffin, they removed the lid, coughing at the dust they raised when they removed it, setting it down near the bottom of the ladder.

  Ella had prepared herself for a grisly sight, but instead saw a second man-sized box inside, this one made of hard wood, unadorned but polished.

  "One more lid," Ella said.

  They lifted the wooden lid, setting it down on top of the stone.

  Taking a deep breath, Ella finally summoned the courage to step forward and look down.

  The embalming fluid and sealed container had kept the body of Lord Aidan in surprisingly good condition. He wore faded grey clothing, simple but tailored, with a silver belt buckle and black leather boots.

  But the evidence of more than twenty years in the ground was there to see. His skin was dry and white as parchment, the cheeks sunken into his face. Rot had taken hold of the soft skin around his mouth, and half his teeth were exposed, no longer protected by lips. Only the slightest flecks of red indicated the colour his hair had once been, the rest was grey and fine, combed against his head in wisps. His eyes were closed and peaceful, while the savage red marks on his neck told the story of his violent death.

  Ella felt Shani take her hand as Ella felt tears sliding down her cheeks. This was Killian's father. Would he understand what they were doing?

  "I'm sorry for this desecration, Lord Aidan," Ella said. "Please understand what we're doing, we're doing to help your son."

  "I don't think he can hear you," Bartolo said.

  Ella looked up, her eyes burning. "He soon will."

  27

  BARTOLO and Jehral lifted the body carefully from its resting place, grimacing at the weight and the horror of their task.

  It took some time to get the body up the ladder, but they made it in the end, and Lord Aidan was once again laid on the ground. The group stood in the strange chamber, staring in silence at the portal.

  The essence had eaten away at the wall, in what must have started as a trickle and become a flood. The pool was now empty, the stone floor dry.

  In the centre of the barren pool, a platform of steps rose from the floor. On the summit stood the portal itself, an oval mirror, twice the height of a man and hovering in empty space, held up by some mysterious force.

  Where before the mirror had been shimmering gold, and become blazing red when the seals were knocked away, it was now dark and still.

  Ella felt her heart quail at the enormity of what she was attempting.

  "You can give me the Lexicons now," she said quietly, as if afraid to shatter the silence.

  Wordlessly Bartolo handed Ella his bundle. As Ella unwrapped the oilskin and saw the first flash of green, she noticed her hands were trembling. Soon she held the book in her hands, once more seeing the rune on the book's green cover: the number one. The rune glowed softly. If ever that rune faded — if the Lexicon's power was allowed to drain from it — every enchantment in Merralya would cease to function.

  Ella's friends had placed their trust in her. She had to honour that trust.

  She stepped over the remnants of the pool's boundary wall and placed the book down on the second step, just below the portal.

  Ella turned to Shani. "Can I have the Petryan Lexicon?"

  Shani hesitated, but she walked over to Ella and handed her the bundle.

  Ella removed the cloth and soon she held a red-covered book in her hands, staring at the glowing rune on the front: the number three. She set it beside the Alturan Lexicon.

  Jehral walked to where Ella sat at the portal's base, and handed her his bundle. Ella remembered the yellow cover from when she'd helped Ilathor rediscover his people's lore. The glowing symbol on the Hazaran Lexicon bore the number five.

  "Three Lexicons, brought into proximity for the first time in eons," Ella said. "How long do you think it's been?"

  She looked up at her friends. They were strong warriors, all of them, who'd faced terrifying enemies and held their ground. Now, they looked at Ella with fear in their eyes.

  Ella took the device out of her satchel. She'd worked on it ever since she'd had the idea of using the Lexicons to power the portal. She only hoped three Lexicons would be enough.

  It was similar to a wand, but it had three legs. At the base of each leg was a clear crystal prism, while where the legs met was another prism, this one a dark red ruby. Ella placed the three Lexicons an equal distance apart from each other, and then situated the device so that each leg rested on the books' covers.

  She removed the seal from her bag. It was similar to Evrin's draining seals that even now rested on the portal's rim, but Ella's seal was different, larger and more complex. Where Evrin's seals had drained the portal's power, Ella's seal would channel energy from the Lexicons to the relic. A ruby on Ella's seal was akin to the ruby on the three-legged device.

  Ella placed her device on the portal's rim, at the apex of the oval. She hoped this would work.

  She left Evrin's three draining seals in place and returned to the other side of the chamber, where Lord Aidan lay on his back, composed as if sleeping.

  Ella sat next to Killian's father. She took out her protective gloves and put them on her hands. Finally, she removed a set of scrills and a vial of essence.

  Ella again apologised to Lord Aidan for what she was about to do.

  The portal would recognise an intruder — only one of the Evermen could cross, or someone in company.

  Only the lore Ella had learned from Barnabas, the old Akari necromancer, would enable her to do what she needed to do. The body was old, and Ella would have to use animator's runes to give it strength.

  And, against everything she had been taught, in direct conflict with Necromancer Aldrik's warnings, she needed to bring back Lord Aidan's personality, or the portal wouldn't recognise one of its makers.

  Ella looked at her friends, who watched with dread.

  "Get some rest, if you can," Ella said, as she prepared to bring Killian's father back from the dead. "This might take a while."

  ~

  NONE of them took their eyes off Ella for a moment.

  She could feel their eyes as they watched her remove Lord Aidan's clothes and clean his body, methodically working as she remembered what she'd learned in the icy north. They watched her deft strokes while she worked with a constant rhythm, her brow furrowed in conce
ntration as she combined the knowledge she'd received from Barnabas with the lessons of Aldrik.

  This was different from working with the Akari woman who'd died in the whaling accident. The flesh was decomposed, mottled with splotches of black and brown. A terrible stench came from the body, and the scratches and marks on the skin made it difficult for Ella to draw clean, crisp symbols.

  She kept her head tilted to the side as she worked, while the hissing sound and chemical sting of the essence came as a blessing, distracting Ella from the horror of what she was doing.

  Ella needed to roll the body over at one point, and found Shani helping her where neither Jehral nor Bartolo would. She covered the corpse in runes, finally stepping back to regard her handiwork.

  "Shani, can you help me put his clothes back on. It's safe."

  Soon everything was ready.

  Ella left Lord Aidan's shirt open, the heart rune exposed.

  "What now, Ella?" Jehral asked.

  "When I bring him back, we will need to move quickly. What I'm doing is dangerous, and I don't know how long I'll have."

  "Can I help?" Bartolo asked.

  "When I give the word, remove the three lower seals from the portal, leaving my seal on the top, the one with the ruby."

  "I can do that," Bartolo said.

  "Anything else?" said Shani.

  "The portal is made to be permanently open, but without power it will close. I've kept the activation sequence for the device simple, and it's important that the portal opens only for the shortest possible amount of time. Listen to me for the activation, Shani. To deactivate my device, and close the portal, add '-sula' to the sequence."

  "What are you telling me to do?"

  "As soon as I'm through, close the portal. Not a moment after. The Lexicons won't be able to power the portal for long, and I don't know how long it will take me to find Killian, so only open the portal every three days, and then for the briefest instant."

  "What happens if the Lexicons drain completely?" Bartolo said. "Won't the magic fade?"

  "I've built a safety into the device. It will cut the flow of power before it allows the Lexicons to fade."

  "Doesn't that mean you'll be stranded?" asked Bartolo.

  "Yes," Ella said simply.

  "Ella, it's too dangerous!" Shani cried.

  Ella squeezed Shani's shoulder. "I have to do this. Trust me, everything will be fine."

  "What can I do?" asked Jehral.

  "All of you must watch the portal. Make sure someone is watching it at all times. If anyone tries to cross who isn't me, or Killian... Kill them."

  Jehral nodded.

  Ella had never seen Shani look so frightened. "What are you going to find out there?"

  "I don't know," Ella said.

  "If I only open the portal every three days, how will you tell me if you need it opened sooner?"

  "I can't. Just make sure it opens."

  Shani nodded. "I will."

  "Is everyone ready?"

  Shani, Jehral and Bartolo all nodded.

  Ella placed her fingers on the heart rune on Lord Aidan's dead skin. She spoke the words that would give the revenant life, tracing the heart rune as her lips moved.

  "Mordet-ahl. Sudhet-ahl. Suth-eroth. Soth-eruth. Mordet-suth-ahn."

  Lord Aidan's eyes opened. They were completely white, but there were also flecks of red, like blood splattered on snow.

  "Tsu-tulara-ahn. Morth-thul-ahlara. Sudhet-ahlara-ahn. Shah-lahra-rahn!"

  Blue light travelled from the heart rune, spiralling along the runes on the revenant's chest. The light sped from symbol to symbol, and Ella quickly closed the buttons of Lord Aidan's shirt.

  He sat up.

  Suddenly Lord Aidan put his hands to his throat, moaning and twitching on the ground. Shani jumped back, while Bartolo and Jehral both drew their swords. The revenant slowly calmed, and then his vision must have cleared, for he looked around him, an expression of confusion on his face.

  He clambered slowly to his feet.

  Ella held her breath. She had never seen this magic performed; they were dark arts, even amongst the Akari. Even Barnabas had cautioned her about what she was now doing.

  "Where… Where am I?" said Lord Aidan.

  "Lord Aidan…" Ella began, and then faltered. She felt tears streak down her cheeks once more. "Lord Aidan, you're dead."

  He turned his eerie eyes on her. Red swirled and eddied against the white. Ella felt fear surge through her.

  "I remember," he said. "I remember… The noose."

  "That's right," Ella said, her voice trembling. "I'm sorry, Lord Aidan, but the Emperor had you killed."

  "Then how am I here?"

  "You had a son, Killian." Ella prayed this would work.

  "I have a son!" he suddenly screamed, and both Bartolo and Jehral came forward. Ella gestured at the two swordsmen, motioning them back.

  "Your son lives," Ella said, "but you have been brought back because he needs your help."

  "Where is he? I want to see him."

  "Look," Ella pointed, "do you see where I am pointing? It is a portal. Your son is on the other side."

  "I… I am confused. Where am I?"

  Ella blinked the tears away, her heart reaching out to what was left of Killian's father.

  "We don't have long," Ella said. "When the portal opens, I need you to cross with me. That's all. Then we can save your son, and bring him back from the darkness."

  Ella hesitantly took the revenant's hand. Without protest, Lord Aidan allowed her to lead him to the base of the steps to the portal.

  "Remove the three lower seals, Bartolo," Ella said.

  Bartolo took Evrin's seals from the portal's rim and backed away.

  "Listen to the activation sequence, Shani. Do you remember how to add the inflection to deactivate?"

  "Yes," Shani's voice quavered.

  "Close the portal as soon as I'm across."

  "I will."

  "Castrum," Ella said the single word.

  The three Lexicons flared, suddenly too bright to look at. The ruby on the device above them began to glow savage red, and the stone on the seal Ella had placed at the apex of the oval glowed in sympathy.

  Ella led Lord Aidan up the steps.

  Ella held her breath, and in front of her, the portal began to open.

  The dead silver colour changed hue, becoming a dirty brown, and then moving to the shade of sand. Suddenly the portal shifted hue to the colour of copper, and then it was a sizzling curtain of molten gold.

  The beacon called, a terrible sound that rose and fell, bursting inside the head like a thousand exploding stars. It was intended to call the Evermen, and could only be stopped from the other side.

  Hand in hand, Ella and Killian's father stepped through the molten curtain.

  Into the unknown.

  28

  ELLA entered a twilight world. Her first sensation was an intense difference, a factor of the light and the air, the smell and the temperature. She was no longer in Merralya.

  She blinked, and tried to see what lay in front of her, but all she could see was a dark landscape of rock. Gravel crunched under her boots and she took a breath to steady her nerves.

  The beacon sounded again.

  The beacon!

  Ella turned back the way she'd come and saw a stone archway, the same height as the oval mirror but different in all other respects. The air under the arch sparked and fizzed, while waves of energy shot from one column to the other in bursts.

  "Ahh," the revenant put his hands to his ears and fell to the ground.

  Ella looked frantically at the arch, conscious of the time. Killian had stopped the beacon, and she could too.

  There! Under the top of the arch was a device. A pendulum swung left and right, timed to the head-splitting cry of the beacon's call.

  Ella placed her hand on the pendulum to hold it still.

  She screamed. Pain seared her hand, the device burning the flesh away from th
e bones of her fingers. She fought to hold on but it was impossible. Ella had to let go.

  The beacon stopped. The pendulum was once again stilled. Ella lifted her hand and stared at her palm in wonder; she was unharmed.

  The sudden realisation hit her. Her plan had worked. The portal had recognised Lord Aidan as one of the Evermen, and Ella was now in another world.

  Wondering at the eerie light, Ella stared up into the sky. She saw a glowing orb, but was unsure if it was the sun or the moon. The air was filled with a thick haze, so that it seemed neither night nor day, and the orb's light was diffused.

  Deciding the orb was the sun, Ella turned and examined the landscape. Distances were hard to judge, for the expanse was little more than a rocky field, as far as she could see in all directions. A hazy red horizon extended in a blurred line, and the rocks were all shapes and sizes, some small and smooth, others jagged boulders.

  The only feature Ella could see was a road.

  It started at the stone archway and followed a dead-straight line, disappearing into eternity. The path could have been made by the Evermen, or perhaps it had been here before they came. Ella knew one thing, however.

  The Evermen had opened a portal into a world of nightmare.

  Ella turned back to Lord Aidan. He sat slumped on the earth beside the portal, heedless of the stony ground.

  "Come," Ella said.

  "No," said the revenant, looking up at Ella with his red-flecked eyes. "I can go no farther."

  Ella looked at the faint shimmer of the runes on Lord Aidan's skin. She knew from Barnabas's teachings that a revenant who'd been in the ground as long as Lord Aidan, brought back with so much of who he was, would not last long.

  A dark shadow passed overhead, but looking up, Ella couldn't see anything. She shivered. If she couldn't find Killian, Lord Aidan would be her only chance of making it home.

  "Lord Aidan, I need to search for your son."

  "My son…" he moaned.

  "Will you stay here? I will be back."