by James Wisher
“How about sorcerers or warlords?”
“No, ma’am, but like I said I didn’t get that close.”
“What about flags or heraldry?”
Jaden frowned. “The lead ship had a pennant flapping from its highest mast. It was red, with crossed spears or pikes maybe.”
The archmage nodded. “Thank you.”
She got up and headed for the door leaving Jaden slumped in his chair. Damien grinned and waved to his nervous friend before following his master out of the fort. She stopped on the dock and tapped her toe.
“That wasn’t especially informative,” he said.
“In one sense it was.” Her toe stopped. “I studied a book of Old Empire heraldry before we left. What he described resembles no known imperial design. At least none in our records.”
“Well, those records are almost five hundred years old. I imagine all sorts of things might have changed in that much time.”
“Exactly. I had hoped to gain some hint of who we were dealing with, but it seems we’re going in blind.”
Chapter 15
Lon Shen flew north through the cold, clear sky on the back of his golden griffin. According to Thomas’s information Kat Gentul served at an observation post ten miles south of the northern border. Lon had no idea what the woman would have to say about Connor Blackman. Maybe he’d get lucky and she’d mention a secret place he bragged about. Right. Nothing was ever that simple.
To say he’d been surprised when Thomas called him into his office and explained his next mission would be an understatement. If his mission came as a surprise the announcement that ships from the Old Empire were sailing toward the kingdom stunned him. It made perfect sense that the archmage would want Damien with her. Having seen the boy’s power Lon would have wanted him along as well. Hopefully nothing would come of it, but no one Lon had spoken to seemed optimistic.
Below him a vast expanse of white dotted with green spread out in every direction. Though spring had come in the south, up here winter still held sway. At least the Ice Queen hadn’t sent any more monsters south. After the slaughter four months ago it would take a while for her to rebuild her forces. He sent a silent prayer to any archangel willing to listen that his generation, and hopefully the next, wouldn’t have to deal with another invasion.
A little ways ahead a gray tower jutted up from the snowy expanse. Smoke rose from a chimney poking out the roof. At least someone was home. He circled once and frowned. Something was moving maybe a quarter mile out from the tower. Something that blended in with the snow, and from the feel of their soul force not human either. Maybe some ogres or trolls that survived the battle had decided to try their luck on this side of the border.
He conjured a sphere of energy and hurled it at the approaching figures. It hit the ground and detonated, sending snow and bodies flying. One of the monsters struck a tree and flickered, turning a greenish black. Before it disappeared Lon made out scales, an elongated jaw, and a tail. Crimson, hate-filled eyes glared at him a moment before the creature shimmered and turned white again.
The shutters covering a narrow window high up on the tower opened and a confused-looking woman poked her head out, her tousled red hair sticking up every which way. She looked down at the spot where his sphere detonated then up at Lon. He descended and had his mount hover outside her window. Up close the woman seemed far younger than he’d first thought.
“What the hell?” the girl asked.
“You’re about to have company. I’ll meet you on the ground.” Lon flew down, leaving the semi-coherent girl staring at him.
He hoped she hurried. Lon really didn’t want to be on the ground, out in the open, when those creatures arrived. Half a minute later the heavy oak door swung open. The girl had picked up an older companion, a tall, dark-skinned woman who looked little more than skin and bones. From the description he had, that would be Kat Gentul.
Lon bowed. “Ladies, Lon Shen at your service. Can we speak inside? There are evil-looking creatures on their way to pay you a visit.”
Kat moved aside and he scooted by her. Beside Kat the redhead glared. Kat slammed a heavy bar in place to lock the door. “So what are you doing here?” Kat asked.
“Yeah!” the girl added for emphasis.
Kat frowned at the girl. “Amanda, return to your post and watch for Master Shen’s visitors.”
“Aww, come on. This is the first interesting thing that’s happened since I arrived.”
Kat pointed at the stairs on the rear wall, silent and implacable. The sullen girl stomped across the room and up the stairs. When she’d gone Kat said, “The masters asked me to take the girl on to teach her patience. Amanda’s not thrilled with her assignment.”
“No kidding. Kat Gentul, I assume?” Lon held out his hand.
They shook. “How did you know?”
“Thomas told me you were assigned here and asked me to come talk to you. We were hoping you could tell us something about Connor Blackman.”
She flinched back. “No one’s seen any sign of Connor in years.”
“Unfortunately that’s no longer the case. He’s emerged from hiding as a warlock and he appears to mean the kingdom harm. Anything you can think of, about what he’s planning or where he might be hiding, would be valuable.”
Kat shook her head. Before she could speak something heavy slammed into the door.
“Master!” Amanda shouted from above.
Kat and Lon shared a look and raced up the steps. On the third floor the girl had her head and shoulders thrust out the window.
Kat grabbed her and yanked her back inside. “How many times have I told you not to do that?”
“I forgot. Anyway, if I don’t stick my head out I can’t see the lizard things trying to smash down the door. Can I blast them?”
Kat growled deep in the back of her throat and thrust Amanda aside. Kat poked her head out a little ways, swore and ducked back in. “Take a look.”
Lon took her place and peeked outside. Six of the black-scaled monsters stood in a semicircle facing the door while a seventh, bigger creature pounded it with a fist the size of Lon’s head. Corruption ran through the creatures’ bodies, but they didn’t appear to have a core of power to draw on. Not demons then, but if not demons then what?
“Have you ever seen such creatures out here before?” Lon asked.
Kat shook her head. “I’ve never even heard of things like them. Just looking at them I wouldn’t guess they belonged in a cold area.”
“Let me blast them,” Amanda said.
Lon followed Kat’s lead and ignored the girl. “Their aura is corrupt. That probably gives them the strength to function in any environment.”
Lon sensed Amanda drawing on her soul force, but he turned too late to stop her from dropping an energy blast on the monsters’ heads. The golden energy streaked down. Lon braced himself, but nothing happened.
Kat grabbed Amanda by the arm and yanked her away from the window. “Idiot! Did I give you permission to attack?”
Lon looked out, curious to discover how much damage she’d inflicted. No crater marked the snow and no bodies lay broken around the base of the tower. One of the monsters glowed with power, its core full.
Behind him Kat continued to dress down her apprentice. Lon tuned them out and focused on the energized monster. It looked like the creature had absorbed Amanda’s attack. The glowing monster brushed its larger cousin aside and struck the door. The crunch was audible from the third floor.
Kat stopped yelling at Amanda and turned to Lon. “What was that?”
“The front door. We need to go, now.”
“How?” Kat asked. “We can’t fit through the window and the door’s blocked.”
Lon stepped back and blasted a hole in the wall. “Sometimes violence is the answer.”
Another crunch from downstairs.
“Hurry,” Lon said.
The click of toenails on stone reached them a moment ahead of the monster.
&n
bsp; Kat and Amanda leapt out the hole and flew a safe distance into the sky. Lon followed a moment later. Three hundred feet above the tower Lon sat on his griffin and Kat and Amanda stood on a glowing platform.
Amanda rubbed her hands. “We can blast them from here.”
Kat grabbed the scruff of the girl’s neck and shook her. “If you draw a drop of soul force without my permission, so help me I’ll feed you to those things. What happened?”
The last was addressed to Lon. “They’re soul force eaters. I’ve read about them, but never imagined I’d see one. That monster absorbed Amanda’s blast and used the extra power to batter down the door. Those things are the perfect tool for killing sorcerers.”
“Yeah, but where did they come from?” Amanda asked. She had the good grace to look abashed at almost getting them all killed.
“That, my dear, is an excellent question.”
Chapter 16
Lon brought his griffin down on the dirt patch inside The Citadel wall. He’d left Kat and Amanda at The Tower to make a full report to Thomas. Though eager to find David Weks, Connor’s other yearmate, he needed to speak to Fredric first. He strode past the students enjoying the warm afternoon sun while doing their forms in the yard and hurried up the steps to the main gate.
He took the right-hand passage down to Fredric’s office. If he didn’t find the commandant there he’d have to go hunting for him and Lon really didn’t want to waste that much time. Fredric’s door was closed and the gold shield nailed to it polished to a mirror shine. Lon crossed his fingers and knocked.
“Enter.”
Finally a bit of good luck. He pushed the door open and smiled to find Jennifer standing in front of the desk, her hands clasped behind her back. She wore the sword Damien had made for her, his soul force pulsing from the hilt in time to her heart.
“Lon, this is a surprise.” Fredric stood and the two men shook hands. “What brings you to The Citadel?”
“I have two missions that require warlords, a hard one and a really hard one.”
Fredric sat back down and gestured to the empty chair. “Why don’t you tell me about it?”
Lon sat and filled him in on what had happened. “So I need a team to come with me to meet David. I have no idea if more soul force eaters will show up, but I mean to be ready. It’s certainly within the realm of possibility that Connor sent the monsters to kill anyone that might know something about him. Not that Kat did, in fact, know anything. The second group needs to hunt down the monsters near the border. Since I doubt they’ll hang around the lookout, that will be the harder task, if it’s even possible.”
“So you got stuck finishing my son’s work.” Fredric shook his head.
“It wasn’t Damien’s fault. When the archmage summons you, you go.”
Fredric grunted.
“I volunteer to take my squad to the border,” Jen said.
“Actually, I hoped you and your team would come with me,” Lon said. “Truth is, I doubt anyone will find the first bunch of monsters and if a second group attacks David, I’d prefer to have a team whose abilities I know beside me.”
Fredric nodded. “Good idea. I have people in the northern army that can check out the watch post. They’ll be more familiar with the territory so they’ll have a better chance of finding the creatures. Prepare your squad.”
Jen saluted and marched toward the door.
“I’ll meet you in the courtyard,” Lon said. “No need to bother with horses, we’ll be traveling a good ways.”
Jen grinned back at him. “Edward will be thrilled.”
When she’d gone Fredric said, “How is Damien faring?”
“Fine. I’m sure you’ve seen the reports. I haven’t actually spoken to him since he started serving with the archmage.”
“I have read the reports and I’m afraid it all might be too much for a sixteen-year-old boy to handle. She sent him virtually alone into a nest of vipers on the southern border.”
“I’m told he acquitted himself brilliantly. Young as he is, Damien is already a masterful sorcerer. You need to stop seeing the boy who failed at being a warlord and start seeing the amazing sorcerer he’s become.”
Fredric shook his head again. “Far easier said than done.”
Lon left his old friend to brood and went out to the courtyard. He found Jen and her team waiting. A golden chariot appeared as he walked down the steps. Edward turned green as it formed.
Everyone climbed aboard and Lon took his place at the front. David was stationed in the east, in a village not far from the Barrier Mountains. He served as an assistant to the local lord, handling healing and interrogations, helping out with the occasional bandit raid, that sort of thing. According to the report David wasn’t anything special as far as power went, but he had a solid reputation for getting his missions done.
They left The Citadel behind and Jen asked, “So what are we dealing with if these things do show up?”
The rest of the squad, save Edward who had his head over the side of the chariot, leaned closer.
“The ones up north had a reptilian appearance, but that doesn’t mean much. Warlocks create them from a unique sort of demon called a Hungerer. They have no soul force of their own beyond what all living things have to stay alive. As long as no one attacks them with external soul force they shouldn’t pose much of a threat to you. You need to be careful they don’t stick their claws or fangs into your flesh. If they do they can draw out even internal soul force.”
“Great,” Talon muttered. “Yet another thing iron skin is useless against.”
Chapter 17
“That can’t be good.” Jen pointed at a thick column of smoke rising just ahead of them.
Lon couldn’t argue with that. They’d been flying for two hours and unless he’d miscalculated the smoke came from the village where he expected to find David. Though he was sure his mission could have gone worse, he had trouble thinking how.
As they drew closer the roofs of flaming buildings came into view. It looked like most of the town was on fire. People were running around shouting. One group had formed a bucket brigade that fought in vain to save a sprawling, two-story building that had the look of an inn.
“What do we do?” Jen asked.
The buildings were too far gone to save and they had a mission. Much as Lon wished to help the villagers, he or the warlords could do nothing. “We need to find David.”
Lon guided the chariot toward the center of town. One of the few buildings not burning and the only one made of stone was the town hall. More creatures surrounded it. They were different from the ones that attacked the watch post. This bunch sported red scales and long, whip-like tails. One of the monsters thrust its head forward, jaws agape. Flames blasted the charred door, but it didn’t catch.
“We’ll handle them.” Jen grabbed the side of the chariot.
“Wait.” Lon guided the chariot over the roof of the town hall. A gaping hole revealed a collection of timbers and shingles scattered all over a red carpet. “Something’s inside already.”
Lon transformed the chariot into a bubble and lowered them through the hole. They landed and he let the bubble vanish. The warlords drew their weapons and formed a circle around him.
“Talon, which way?” Jen asked.
The lean, wiry warlord studied the debris. While he worked Jen asked, “How did you know they were inside?”
“I didn’t. I just wanted to check before we attacked the ones outside. It wouldn’t make much sense to kill the monsters outside if some had gotten inside already.”
“Captain, I got something. One of them must have cut itself on the glass. There’s a blood trail heading deeper into the building and it’s fresh. Fifteen minutes, tops.”
“Good work, Talon. You’re on point. Alec, watch our backs. Edward and Rhys, with me. Let’s move.”
Lon debated surrounding himself with a barrier and decided against it. They jogged down the hall, glass crunching under their boots. Once the
y moved away from the hole it looked like nothing had been damaged or disturbed. Landscapes and portraits decorated the walls. The further they moved away from the hole the darker it became. Lon wanted to conjure a light, but feared the soul force eaters might sense it.
If the gloom caused the warlords any trouble they gave no sign of it. Lon enjoyed using sorcery, but sometimes it would be handy to give himself night vision.
A crash followed by a scream came from down the hall.
Edward cocked his head. “That was close by.”
“Move it!” Jen said.
They ran toward the noise. A door blocked their path and Talon kicked it off its hinges. Inside was a meeting hall. A score of benches, most of them tipped over and broken, filled an open room. At the far end a raised platform with a chair for the lord faced the benches. Between the platform and benches five of the black-scaled monsters stood over a bleeding, almost-dead man. On either side of them five more badly mauled corpses lay on the floor.
“One of them’s still alive,” Lon said.
“Leave the monsters to us.” Jen took a step then seemed to vanish.
The others accelerated to match her speed. One of the lizard creatures went flying. It slammed into the wall then bounced up, a shallow gash on its arm. A few seconds later the rest were forced away from the dying man.
Lon rushed over and called up healing soul force. He knelt down and immediately looked away. The monsters had bitten half his face off. Lon poured power into the unfortunate man’s chest, trying to close the most pressing wounds first. All around him the clash of steel on scale filled the air.
It took all his concentration to seal up the mass of wounds on the injured man. He had to trust Jen and her team to keep him safe.
Lon sealed the last damaged leaking vein in his patient’s chest and looked up in time to see a black-scaled body three feet away.
