The blast of an alarm caused Corvek to swear under his breath, coming as it did right before he’d reached the manor where the crown princess seemed to be staying. Calling on his magic, the Enforcer began to circulate it through his body, feeling his muscles and skin strengthening.
Without a word, he charged toward the doors to the manor. There was a single guard at the door, a woman who was still startled by the alarm. When she saw him coming, she cried out her own alarm, drawing her sword as she blocked the doorway, her eyes flashing with anger. “Attack, to arms!”
Their blades clashed loudly in the night, and Corvek saw the woman’s eyes widen in shock as he shoved her back. As she staggered backward, Corvek kicked her legs from under her and drove his sword through her eye with a single smooth motion. Recovering his blade with a twist, Corvek shoved the door open as he kept going.
Normally, he would have tried to take the woman captive, but he didn’t have time for that.
Chapter 20
Lirisel huddled with the others in the dormitory wing, praying for deliverance. The priestesses had all found their faith shaken by the attack of Kelvanis, but even with the loss of most of the ranking priestesses they’d managed to regain a measure of their faith when they’d been left behind for most of the summer.
What little serenity that they’d managed to restore had been shattered when the army arrived the previous day, though. The only saving grace of any of it was that the Enforcer had kept them busy packing and preparing to leave while keeping the soldiers away from them. It was not helped by the knowledge that the reason for that was because they would fetch a higher price at auction if they were untouched. The gathering of soldiers at the chapel worried her, but there wasn’t much that she could do.
The soft prayers of the others were interspersed with occasional sobs, and Lirisel took a deep breath before murmuring yet again, “Lady of the Sun, let your radiance shine on us and deliver us from evil, that we might have a chance to soar like you did. I beg thee for thy—”
With a world-shaking chime, the chapel bell shook the entire temple, the sound of it imbued with immense magical energy that made it heard for miles in every direction. The pure, divine energy that radiated in the tone washed through Lirisel and the others, causing her to gasp in shock, then happiness.
The bell could only be activated by magical energy from a priestess of Medaea, and the sound of it was intended to inspire fellow worshipers and stun their enemies. Better yet, it also would ring a warning bell at the High Temple as well, warning that their temple had been attacked. Finally, it indicated that another priestess was nearby and hadn’t been taken by surprise!
Looking to the others, Lirisel saw the surprise, confusion, and hope on their faces. They could do nothing to help the others outside, but she smiled broadly, speaking up. “Let us pray for those who have sounded the Bell of Purity, that they might defeat those who have defiled Our Lady’s temple.”
Murmurs of agreement surrounded her, and Lirisel clasped her hands together as she lowered her head and began to pray even more fervently.
The tone of the bell echoed through Sam’s head like the wrath of an angry goddess, and he couldn’t help but clutch his head, crying out in pain as the magic rippled around him.
In front of the mage, the teleportation circle sputtered, sparked, and went dark as he and the other casters all lost their concentration. The ringing bell was directly over their heads, and with each resounding crash, it sent out another ripple of crushing sound.
Only a handful of the soldiers were still functional, and Sam could faintly hear the screams of horses as they panicked and began to run. Staggering toward the door, Sam found his head clearing ever so slightly as he got outside, only to hear a muffled boom.
Looking up and feeling dazed, his vision doubled, Sam saw a dozen soldiers being blown through the air, blood spattering. With a strange sort of bemusement he blinked, seeing a dozen elven women advancing in clusters of three. Each cluster was shielded by a barrier of light, and as they advanced they were creating brilliant bolts of sunfire that hovered over their heads. Two of the clusters were made up of women with yellow, orange, and red hair, while the other two had hair in blue, green, and purple.
Sam’s reactions were inhibited by yet another ring of the bell, and that was when a bolt of sunfire lanced out toward him. Flying through the air after its impact, his thoughts slowed still more as heat surged through him, and then Sam felt nothing at all.
Standing just outside the gates of the temple, Diamond gasped, feeling as though she were suffocating as she held her hands up, pointing in the direction of the bell tower. While she was able to power the bell’s magic on her own, it was hardly something she could keep up for long. The defense was designed to be used sparingly, and even then only by several priestesses working together, which meant that this was draining her mana reserves rapidly. If the others didn’t manage to deal with the soldiers quickly enough, the bell would cease tolling, and facing a hundred or more soldiers would be difficult if they turned the priestesses against them.
The explosions and chanting of her sister priestesses were coming from inside the temple grounds, causing Diamond to hope that they would be able to stop the attack. In the meantime, she felt herself begin to wobble, and slowly she sank to her knees, murmuring as the bell pealed with defiance yet again. “Goddess, grant me strength. I will not stop until every drop of mana I possess has been consumed.”
A bolt of lightning blasted down the hallway, dropping two soldiers to the ground, twitching as the electricity arced through them. Thompson swore under his breath, dodging behind a wall as he advanced toward the room where Duke Crownglade’s daughter was hiding. While he’d known this was her manor, he hadn’t known the woman was a powerful lightning mage, and a half-dozen soldiers had fallen to her magic so far.
Peering around the corner, Major Thompson saw that the noblewoman was no longer in the doorway, where a shattered door hung on its hinges. Her guards were both down, one likely dead, the other unconscious after being clubbed over the head by one of his soldiers. The soldiers were littered down the hallway, three of them crumpled over in the doorway, and the others each fallen along the way. Only a handful of the ones struck by lightning were dead, but he doubted they’d be much use for a while.
Taking a deep breath to order the other soldiers forward, Thompson thought better of warning the woman, instead motioning the others forward as he turned the corner and charged toward the door.
It was at that moment that the duke’s daughter stepped into the open again, her brilliant violet eyes glittering as lightning danced around her hands. The woman was absolutely gorgeous, tall and perfectly proportioned for an elf, but that didn’t stop the fear that surged through his veins as she spoke the words of her spell, and he spat out, “Shit!”
Thompson almost missed the movement of the soldier slumped over in the doorway at first, but when the man yanked a foot from under the elf, sending her toppling to the floor with a shriek of surprise, relief flooded the major. The man held onto the woman’s foot as Thompson and the others continued charged down the hallway toward the struggling pair.
“Let go of me, you stupid human bastard!” the elf cursed, trying to pull free and kicking with her free foot, but the lack of a shoe was making it hard for her to do any damage.
Reaching the two, Thompson gave the woman a solid kick in the stomach, blasting the air from her lungs. Two more soldiers pulled out a gag and restraints, and he turned to the injured man on the ground, who smiled up on him in pain, gasping, “Hey, sir. Glad to see you made it.”
“How’re you doing, soldier?” Thompson asked, looking the man over in concern. The soldier had likely saved his life, which definitely made him happier with the trooper.
“Just a leg wound, I should be fine with a medic, sir,” the man replied with a wince. “I thought it best to play dead until she got in reach.”
“Good job, you probably saved me from a dirt nap
myself,” Thompson agreed, pulling out a potion and glancing over at the struggling noblewoman, outrage on her pretty face. But he handed it to the man and ordered, “Drink that and get yourself together. We need to get moving, soldier.”
“Yes sir,” the man agreed, taking the potion and downing it. And as he gathered himself together to try to move, Thompson frowned, looking back down the hallway.
Where the hell were the mages, anyway?
“Jaine, this way!” Daren urged, leading the way through the hedge-maze in a rush.
The sounds of battle were coming from behind them, and Jaine winced at the sound of Torbyn fighting off the attackers from somewhere behind them. But she panted, holding up her dress to run more easily as she asked, “Do you know your way through the maze?”
“Pretty much. I think we’ve just got a few more turns to get out of here. Then we can find your sister and get the hell out of here,” Daren replied quickly, the older elf seeming far more composed than herself. Jaine felt nothing more than utter terror at the sudden attack on somewhere that was supposed to be safe.
“That… that sounds like a good idea. I hope Torbyn manages to escape,” Jaine replied, following him down yet another row, toward what seemed like one of the exits.
For a moment she felt relief, but that relief was replaced by terror as they ran directly into another group of human soldiers, and she skidded to a halt as fear paralyzed her.
On the other hand, Daren snarled in anger, pulling out his dagger and charging toward the soldiers defiantly.
As the Enforcer and his soldiers cut down yet another pair of guards, Beryl’s mood grew still more grim, suppressing the grief as they ruthlessly slew another pair of men and women that she’d known well. They might not actually be dead, but the Enforcer was horrifically strong, his enchanted blade cutting through most barriers with effortless ease. She’d started with eight guards, and now there were only four of them left, having barely bought enough time for Beryl to prepare to fight and flee.
“Princess Beryl. Surrender now and your guards will be well-treated.” Blood dripping from his blade, the Enforcer spoke calmly, his eyes not showing the slightest hint of remorse. “Don’t surrender, and I have no qualms about killing them to get to you.”
“Don’t even think about it, Princess,” Captain Torith interjected, her voice harsh. “We’re ready to give our lives for you.”
“I wasn’t going to take his offer,” Beryl replied gently, looking at the guards with frosty eyes. “You Enforcers are sickening, as is your entire nation.”
“A pity. I suppose I’ll just have to kill all of them,” the human replied, starting to step forward.
“Cebine? May I have permission?” Beryl asked softly, her eyes narrowing as she drew her sword, the blade thin and elegant.
“Yes, Your Highness,” Cebine replied, her voice grim as she watched the oncoming Enforcer.
“Excellent.” Beryl smiled thinly, and released the seals on her innate magical gift.
Corvek frowned slightly at the calm expression on Princess Beryl’s face. He was used to many reactions when others faced him, but he’d never seen someone so calm or confident in her situation. The princess wasn’t the most beautiful dawn elf he’d seen before, but she had an odd sort of statuesque beauty about her, and she held her thin blade like she knew how to use it.
Just as he was about to engage with the next of her guards, a glow began radiating from beneath Beryl’s skin, and behind him Corvek heard one of his soldiers mutter, “What in the hells?”
Glowing golden patterns appeared across the surface of Beryl’s skin, and the sudden wave of mana that accompanied it made Corvek’s eyes go wide. A sense of danger washed over him, and Corvek instinctively lashed out to block as the princess suddenly vanished in a blur of golden lightning. A clash of metal against metal sounded, and his eyes widened in shock as he saw the princess was only inches away from him, smiling broadly.
“You might be strong, but you are far too slow,” she spoke sweetly, smiling. “But I’ll save you for last. Do try to be a challenge.”
“Your Highness, we don’t have time for this!” The guard captain’s voice cracked like a whip, causing the princess to scowl, even as she moved like lightning to avoid Corvek’s attack.
“Spoilsport,” Beryl muttered, and then she moved again, and Corvek found himself trying, and failing, to avoid dozens of attacks that rained down on him more quickly than he could respond, each cutting into his flesh.
“Your Highness, I really wish you weren’t somewhat psychotic when you release your seals,” Captain Cebine Torith told Beryl, patting the princess on the back as she finished throwing up. “It’s really disturbing and you don’t finish things quickly enough.”
“I… don’t disagree. Ugh. I hate the aftereffects,” Beryl replied, her stomach churning in the aftermath of her magic. While her innate gift was active she could move at incredible speeds and was both stronger and tougher than normal, but the side effects were not pleasant. Her sense of morality grew hazy under a rush of euphoric over-confidence, and she had a tendency to play with opponents as well. Even worse, when her magic ended, it left her body sorely weakened, with strained muscles at best, and often minor internal injuries.
“Agreed. But when you use it, you’re almost impossible to catch,” Cebine commented, looking at the mauled bodies of their attackers. “Still, we’d better get you out of here. Hopefully your sister’s guards evacuated her already.”
“No, we need to go, ugh… go look for her,” Beryl protested, shaking her head firmly. “She’s—”
“Your sister is not the heir,” Cebine countered flatly. “If you were at full strength and we hadn’t lost half your guards, I might have agreed. But we’ve heard what happened to Princess Phynis, and that’s not acceptable, Beryl. We have to get you out of here now, Princess.”
“But…” Beryl began, only to stop as nausea surged through her again. After a moment, she slumped ever so slightly and nodded. “As you say. I wonder how they even got here, though?”
“So do I, Your Highness,” Cebine replied grimly. “Now let’s get you up.”
“What in the name of all the hells happened?” Major Thompson asked as he looked at his soldiers. There were only about eighty of them, which was far less than there were supposed to be. And not a single damned mage among them!
“I’m not sure, sir,” Lieutenant Garvick replied, swallowing hard. “We were waiting for the next platoon, and no one arrived.”
“Shit! Damned mages must’ve been wrong about how long they could hold the portal,” Thompson cursed again, growling. “How many of our targets did we get?”
“Approximately a third of the expected nobles,” the lieutenant replied, quickly adding, “That includes two of the three ducal heirs, and one of the princesses, Jaine, from the description I was given.”
“Dammit. Well, let’s get our asses out of here. Hopefully the Enforcer did better than us,” Thompson ordered. Fortunately, they had their mounts, and the captives were quickly strapped to the horses. A moment later, he growled, “When we get back, I’m going to make damned sure that the Justicar hears about what the mages managed!”
“You… you’re Annette?” Lirisel asked, her voice trembling as she looked into the crimson eyes of the ruby-haired elf.
“I believe so. I can’t be certain since my memory of my name was erased, but that sounds about right. I was the primary assistant to the archpriestess. Her name is now Diamond,” Ruby replied, frowning. “I must say that the name and appearance changes are making this more difficult than I expected.”
“Yes, you’re Annette,” Lirisel spoke, relief flooding her as the other five with Ruby continued to perform the simple ritual on each priestess in turn, freeing them from the orders they’d been given. “What happened to you? And where’s Archpriestess Visna?”
“We were enslaved by Adjudicator Falgrave of Westgate. He physically and mentally altered us, including erasing our names,�
� Ruby explained, then smiled slightly as she added, “He made the mistake of using us to try to invade a dungeon north of here, and we were captured. The dungeon somehow can subvert the slave brands and freed us to come here and try to help all of you. As for Diamond, she’s checking to see what happened to the Sanctum.”
Quickly descending down the stairs below the library, Diamond prayed softly under her breath, but her fear grew as she noticed a distinct lack of light from below. Every previous time, her descent had been lit by a warmth and light from below, yet this time it was conspicuously absent.
And so with every footstep she prayed, “Goddess, please be safe. Your light has shielded us for thousands of years, and let me not be too late.”
As she took the last footstep down the stairs and into the resting place of her goddess, Diamond fell to her knees in fear, horror, and certainty.
The bier where Medaea had slept for six millennia was empty, the goddess gone. Likewise empty was the alcove where the deity’s armaments had rested. And Diamond could do nothing but weep as she realized that she was too late. Far, far too late.
Chapter 21
Checking the communication crystals one last time, Albert made certain that they were properly connected to the steam engine in the corner, as well as its built-in aetheric condenser. He could power the crystals with his own mana, but that would be a waste of energy. Nodding to himself, he slipped a thread of his mana into each of the crystals and spoke calmly, “Guildmaster Windgale is ready.”
“Guildmaster Pot Black is available,” a querulous male voice spoke up, prompting a grin from Albert at the presence of his old guildmaster.
Spells of Old (Ancient Dreams Book 2) Page 15
