by Dean Cadman
Chapter Seventeen
The light was fading fast by the time they reached the Gyord Pass, and the thick red dust made it even harder to see where they were going. The vertical sides of the gorge towered high above them, blocking out what little light still filtered down through the dust ladened air. Every footstep and sound they made seemed to be amplified by the gorge as if it was actively trying to announce their presence to whoever might be waiting on the other side. Zedd could clearly see why the Gyord Valley had been chosen as the clan’s stronghold. In fact, he couldn’t help thinking that if a series of gates were ever added to the gorge, it would make their southern border all but impenetrable to attack. It would be incredibly easy—and efficient—to defend the gorge from above, with potentially only a few magi needed to hold back an entire army. Something that he might have to give more thought to later, he decided.
Zedd had expected to emerge into the Gyord Valley in complete darkness, but strangely enough, it was even lighter than when they had first entered the gorge twenty minutes earlier. The reason for this was simple: there was far less dust in the air on that side of the gorge. Whether that was because the land there was less barren, or that the natural valley gave a small amount of protection against the elements, he didn’t know. But it was one more reason to claim the Gyord Valley as his own seat of power—at least for now.
Almost as soon as they cleared the gorge, Zedd realised they had a problem. Now that the air contained much less dust, they could no longer count on it for any cover. The clan village was situated about half a mile further into the valley, meaning they would easily be seen long before they made it there. Zedd cursed under his breath. He wasn’t bothered about being discovered himself. He could have simply walked straight into the village and survived anything the Empire magi decided to throw at him, but without Cole being able to remove the silence spells from him, he couldn’t even hope to fight back. He needed to get Cole safely hidden away inside one of the houses or other buildings before he started his assault, and he could only do that if they managed to sneak into the village undetected first. In the future, he would have countless magi able to remove silence spells from him during a battle, but for right now, he only had Cole.
Even if he was able to free some of the captured villagers, he knew that none of them would be of any use to him. It was common practice for any prisoners to be dosed with a magic dampening drug immediately after capture, just as he and Cole had been after fleeing Lamuria and being intercepted by Baliaeter Chaol—and those drugs had lasted for several days.
Zedd stepped back into the cover of the gorge and the others followed without question.
“Wait here,” Zedd said, and without waiting for a reply, he levitated himself up the vertical rock face. As he ascended, he was very careful to stay out of sight of the village, knowing that his bright aura would easily be spotted by anyone looking his way. When he finally reached the top some several hundred feet above, he moved a long way back into the gorge before emerging onto the plateau above. He was relieved to find that the ground up there was only bare rock, and not mud as he had feared it might be. Even so, it still felt undignified for him to be crawling on his hands and knees towards the edge of the plateau, and he was immensely glad that no one else could see him. He needed to see if the Empire magi were still in the village as he suspected and if they were, where they were holding their prisoners. It only took him a brief glance to confirm the Empire soldiers were indeed still ensconced within the village, and that the prisoners were being held in the open to the north-east. Carefully, he retreated away from the edge, then levitated back down the rock face to meet up with the others below.
“They’re still there,” Zedd said, seeing the worried look on the two men’s faces.
“Thank the Gods,” one of the men whispered under his breath. The other simply sagged against the wall of the gorge, as if all the strength had just been ripped from his legs.
“We’ll wait here a few minutes until it gets dark, but we will still need a way to reach the village without being seen,” Zedd said, turning toward the two men.
“There’s a small stream which runs to the west of the village. It’s not much, but the sloped bank should help to hide your approach, as long as they haven’t assigned anyone to keep watch there,” one of the men said. Zedd crouched down and peered around the edge of the wall. He couldn’t see the actual stream but he could see a sparse line of shrubs and trees running parallel to the western side of the village. He also noticed that there was a slight incline in the land before it sloped gently down towards the village below. If they stayed crouched down when they moved, the contour of the land should hide them from view until they reached the stream.
“Good. That could work,” Zedd replied. “You two stay here. I’ll send someone to fetch you when it’s all over.” The two men nodded enthusiastically, no doubt relieved at not having to face the Empire magi themselves. Zedd motioned with his head towards Cole that they should leave now.
“I thought we were waiting a few minutes until it got dark?” Cole said, quietly.
“No need if we stay low. The land should hide us from view,” Zedd replied, shuffling past Cole and setting off towards the stream without waiting for a reply. Cole crouched down low and followed close behind. The area at the base of the cliff was littered with fallen rocks of all shapes and sizes. Some were large enough to take a brief respite behind and give their backs a rest, but most simply made traversing the rough terrain even more awkward. Cole heard Zedd curse more than once as he painfully jarred his ankles on loose rocks, and twice he stubbed his own toes on half-buried boulders. By the time they reached the small stream their backs ached badly, and they were both happy to simply lie back against the sloped bank and take a rest.
As they made their way along the streambed towards the village, Zedd continually scanned for evidence of any lookouts, but fortunately didn’t see any. He wasn’t really surprised because he knew the Empire soldiers would now be feeling very confident in their position. Once they had taken an entire village like that, anyone who had managed to escape would never come back and confront so many magi. And nor would any neighbouring clan come to their aid, even if they knew the raid was taking place. They would simply sit back and wait until the soldiers had done their work for them, then move in and claim the land and property for themselves.
Once they reached the outskirts of the village, Zedd asked Cole to scan for the minds of any nearby Empire soldiers. When he couldn’t find any within his range they moved further into the village, using the houses and other buildings as cover. It took them about twenty minutes to reach a house where they could actually see the Empire soldiers’ position, and Zedd decided that was as far as they should risk moving. Cole pointed out an Empire soldiers that was right at the limit of his mental ability to detect and warned Zedd not to stray past that point. Zedd nodded that he understood, then began searching for the soldiers’ commander. When he eventually saw the Vintenar emerge from one of the houses opposite, he couldn’t believe his luck. Cole saw the wicked grin slowly spread across Zedd’s face and gave him a questioning look.
“Take a look at who’s in command,” Zedd said, still grinning to himself. Cole knelt up and peered out through the corner of the window. It took him a moment to locate the man in charge, but when he did, he recognised him almost immediately.
“Isn’t that…” Cole began to say.
“Yes, it is. The Vintenar from Azmarin docks. The one you had to trick into allowing me to send the warning letter to my wife.”
“Well, that’s unfortunate… for him,” Cole replied, smiling back at Zedd.
“Yes, it is,” Zedd agreed, already thinking up ways of making the man suffer for the disrespect that he’d showed him in Azmarin. Zedd got up to leave, eager to confront the man outside, but paused mid-stride. “You might want to keep your shield active, just in case any stray missiles come your way. And whatever you do, stay out of sight.”
&nbs
p; Cole nodded and watched as Zedd headed towards the rear door of the house. If anyone else had just said that, Cole would have taken it as concern for his well-being, but he wasn’t that naive when it came to Zedd. He knew the real reason behind his warning, and that was concern for himself. It didn’t matter how powerful Zedd was, if he was silenced and Cole couldn’t dispel the effects, he would eventually lose the battle—one way or another.
Zedd spoke a few words of power and felt his shield strengthen massively as power surged from the dragon heart shard to feed it. He had felt the excitement and anticipation slowly grow within the shard ever since they entered the streambed. The shard had interpreted their stealthy approach as being part of a hunt, and to a point, he supposed it was right. And now that the shard sensed the quarry was close, it opened itself fully to his needs and wants. “Let’s hunt,” Zedd thought, stepping out into the street. The dragon heart shard roared its approval within his mind, and a fresh wave of power pulsed through him.
The soldiers were so relaxed outside that they didn’t even notice Zedd emerge from behind one of the houses. He managed to walk halfway across the village square before anyone spotted him.
“STAND FAST!” a shout came from a soldier standing near the village well, and a moment later Zedd felt the unmistakable effects of a silence spell being used on him. He smiled and continued walking.
“I SAID STAND FAST!” the soldier shouted again, then quickly summoned a fireball in his right hand. Soldiers from all around the village abandoned what they were doing and formed a defensive line in front of their commander, each one summoning their magical shield as they did so.
But Zedd continued walking.
The soldier released his missile at Zedd, but he barely even felt the impact on his shield. He could tell that many of the soldiers were now aware of his aura by the look of astonishment and concern on their faces. Dozens of silence spells assaulted him, but Cole seamlessly removed them all. Zedd stopped about thirty paces away from the line of soldiers and pointed a finger towards the Vintenar.
“You… step forward,” Zedd said. Several more silence spells assaulted him, but again Cole removed them without pause. The Vintenar, obviously feeling confident that he was now silenced, stepped forward in front of his soldiers.
“Good,” Zedd said, for dramatic effect. The Vintenar’s eyes went wide when he heard him speak. He had no doubt been one of the magi who had cast a silence spell on him, and he did so again, along with at least fifteen other magi. Zedd grinned and cast his gaze over the line of soldiers.
“I will kill the next man who attempts to silence me,” Zedd said. A moment later a fresh wave of silence spells hit him. He picked a man at random from the line of soldiers, and the moment that he felt Cole counteract the silence effects, he created a powerful fireball in his right hand and launched it at the man he had selected. It tore straight through his shield and blasted a large hole right through his chest. The man didn’t even have time to react, and was already dead before he hit the ground—his death-pulse felt by all. Several of the men closest to him also felt the effects of the blast, dropping to their knees—half-dazed—as their shields were forced to absorb the massive impact. The dragon heart shard’s roars echoed victoriously within his mind—and it pleaded for more.
Zedd watched as the expressions on the soldiers’ faces changed from a look of quiet confidence to one of uncertainty and fear. They all looked towards their commander for guidance, no longer willing to take it upon themselves to act alone. Zedd could see the prisoners watching him in absolute awe, and he revelled in it. A wide grin spread across his face as he suddenly realised an opportunity had just presented itself. He took several steps forward, making sure that he didn’t move beyond the range of Cole’s magic. Many of the soldiers visibly tensed, but none dared to attack him again. Surprisingly, the Vintenar stepped forward too, and under different circumstances that might have earned him a modicum of respect from Zedd, but not this time. His fate had already been sealed long before Zedd had recognised who he was, and so was that of his men. He could simply not allow any of them to escape back to the Empire. If he did, Lord Zelroth would send an entire army after him, and even he couldn’t defeat an entire army with only Cole and a handful of magi to aid him. He needed more time to acquire more men, and the only way for him to ensure that happened, was to kill every Empire soldier there.
Zedd saw the Vintenar’s eyes widen slightly when he recognised who he was. Zedd smiled openly at him. “I see that you remember me… and I you,” Zedd said, emphasising his last words.
“What do you want here?” the Vintenar asked.
Zedd glanced towards the prisoners to make sure they were all watching, and they were. Every man woman and child were transfixed on him and the Vintenar. Zedd spoke his next words loud and clear, making sure that every one of the prisoners heard him.
“My name is Zedd, and I am the leader of the Kraell clan. Those people are under my protection and you will release them immediately, or suffer the consequences.”
The Vintenar scoffed at his words. “You, sir, are an Empire citizen, and a traitor to your people!”
Zedd grinned at the Vintenar, knowing that he’d just given him the perfect opportunity to deliver his planned speech. He slowly raised his right hand for the Vintenar and his soldiers to see. The Vintenar immediately recognised what he was seeing, but some of the soldiers were much slower to understand.
“I am no longer an Empire citizen. As you can see, I have removed my Necromatic ring.” Zedd paused to give the soldiers time to process what he had just said. Up until now, every one of them had believed that their ring could never be removed without killing them. They had each been given a ring and forced to swear fealty to Lord Zelroth at the age twelve. Since that day they had served the Empire in whatever capacity their magical ability allowed. No one was ever given a choice. No one even suspected there was a choice… until now.
The soldiers in front of him were all well-trained magi, and more than capable of recognising the immense power that he now wielded. They were not fools, they knew they would die in a direct confrontation against him—especially now that their silence spells seemed to be ineffective against him. He also suspected that at least some of the soldiers in front of him might choose to desert the Empire, rather than die by his hand. He had no real intention of allowing any of them to join him, and he knew the Vintenar would feel exactly the same way about it. But he just wanted a little fun, before the real battle started.
“Any man here who wishes to join me, step forward now, and I will remove your ring,” Zedd said, scanning the faces of the soldiers. The vast majority of them simply ignored his offer, but he could tell that at least a handful of them were considering it. Two men, however, stepped forward from the line, and if the Vintenar hadn’t killed them, Zedd would have done anyway for their cowardice. The twin death-pulses washed over every mage there, as the Vintenar instantly killed both men using his Necromatic ring. Zedd locked eyes with the Vintenar and gave him a grin of satisfaction. It had been the perfect demonstration of how effective the Necromatic rings could be at killing Empire soldiers and citizens alike. And when it came to convincing the people of The Badlands to follow him, it would be a potent weapon against their fear of attacking the Empire.
Zedd turned his gaze back to the soldiers. He didn’t care if what he said next made them feel any better or not. What he was about to say was not really for their benefit anyway, it was for the prisoners to hear… no, not prisoners… his first followers.
“You should all know this. It is my intention to unite the warlord clans of The Badlands and lead them against the Empire of Thule. Once I have united every clan or destroyed those who stand against me, I will move north, taking every town and village as I go. Anyone who chooses to serve me from those towns and villages will be welcomed, and I will remove their Necromatic rings, freeing them from their lifelong servitude to the Empire. Those who choose not to follow me will die. But rest as
sured, your friends and family back in Thule will also be given the same choice, and they will only die if they choose to oppose me.” Zedd paused a moment, then whispered several words of power to create a link to the Vintenar’s Necromatic ring. It was a slightly modified version of the spell used to control an undead minion. A spell that every Empire mage knew well. Then with an evil grin spreading across his face, he spoke once more. “Unfortunately, however, all you men here today, must die.”
It only took a brief moment for Zedd’s words to be absorbed by the Vintenar and his men. A range of emotions flashed across the face of every man there, but it was the unbridled anger in the Vintenar’s eyes which attracted Zedd’s attention the most. The look which he gave Zedd verged on true hatred, all signs of fear gone. Zedd smiled and watched as his hatred turned into fury.
“ATTACK!” the Vintenar screamed at his men, summoning a magical missile of his own. One after another the magi summoned their own missiles, then as one, launched them towards Zedd. The dragon heart shard roared its battle fury within Zedd’s mind, and a fresh wave of power flowed through him. As it happened Zedd didn’t need it. He had already tapped directly into the magical reserves of the Vintenar and was now feeding the man’s power directly into his own magical shield. Zedd felt two more silence spells take effect on him, but they were removed almost instantly by Cole. It seemed like most of the other magi no longer thought it worthwhile to try and silence him, as those two attempts were the last he encountered—for a while at least.
Zedd spoke several words of power, creating a second magical shield within the first, then disengaged his own magic from the outer one. His outer shield was now being fed purely from the Vintenar’s own power reserves, and when the first barrage of missiles struck, the Vintenar staggered, as a massive amount of magic was ripped from him to maintain the shield. Zedd’s evil grin widened further when he saw the look of shock and disbelief on the Vintenar’s face. He knew that he could simply drain all of his power into the dragon heart shard and kill him and his men instantly, but this was going to be much more fun to watch. And more importantly, it would give the prisoners a perfect demonstration of his power.
