by C. Gold
Radcliff halted and shrugged. “There were no signs. Besides, I can help with your problem.” At the very least it would be a good test of whether his full range of abilities was restored. He was eager to try.
“You’re a summoner?” the apprentice asked. He was standing just behind the adept, craning his neck to see around the taller man.
The adept shot his apprentice a warning glance and said, “Everything is fine here. We don’t need any help.”
Radcliff ignored the man. “Do you have any other caverns like this that are empty?” Without waiting for a reply, he began walking around the enormous room. The adept followed, disapproval in every rigid footstep.
He found an offshoot that led into a darkened area and had to expand the output on his glow orb and sent it higher so it could light the entire area. Even then, it didn’t reach the entire cavern. It was at least four times the size of the other one. “This will do nicely.” He turned to the adept who stood there smoldering and asked, “Is there an animagus around?” He’d need one to pacify the animals he had in mind to summon. Then he blinked at the clarity of memories coming to him. Maybe he could pull himself together after all.
The apprentice answered. “There are three.”
Radcliff ignored the glower on the adept’s face and addressed the apprentice. “Well, go get them.”
The shorter man darted off before the adept could stop him.
The image popped back into his mind. You could at least try to be nice.
He scowled. Nice is a waste of time. I don’t do nice.
Obviously.
Go away and leave me be. I have work to do.
The adept placed his hands on his hips and bristled with disapproval. “What do you think you’re doing?”
“I’m solving your food shortage.” Even as he spoke Radcliff sent his awareness outward past the mountain. He was stunned at the gaping holes of nothing. Little was left alive in the east and even the west and south were showing gaps where there used to be life. Amira, what were you thinking? I can’t save us from this. Radcliff halted. Where did that thought come from?
The image waved to get his attention, then pointed to itself.
Stop distracting me.
So this woman thought he could save them? He was forced to agree with his copy. Soon there wouldn’t be anything left alive. Radcliff may have been many things in his past but a creator of life wasn’t one of them.
Two women and one man came running into the room with the apprentice in tow. Their caster uniforms were adorned with the emblem of a snake to indicate animagi—a peculiar choice given most peoples’ dislike of the reptiles. A memory surfaced of Radcliff finding this amusing, but with the current situation, he wasn’t laughing now.
He ordered the newcomers to follow and walked to the far end of the cavern. Then he chose a region just east of the mountain which had an isolated pocket of animals about to be swallowed up by the nothing. Entire groups of reptiles and small desert mammals vanished and reappeared inside the cavern. The animagi were startled but wasted no time in putting each one to sleep. One went back for crates and they filled them with the smaller animals and stacked them up against the wall.
Radcliff methodically combed over every stretch of land, gathering predators and prey alike. Rabbits came together with wolves and dire cats. Gazelle with lions. He even found a pride of blink cats which required extra creativity since he couldn’t use magic on them directly. He carved out the ground around them and brought the entire structure. It was an impressive mound of dirt one hundred feet in diameter. The cats were unhappily yowling inside the caldera, but they were safe now and unable to escape.
“Why are you summoning all of these?” The male animagus was waving his hands around. He sounded completely flustered, and a bit scared of the mound of blink cats.
Radcliff shrugged. “When you run out of livestock, you can use them.” It was only logical.
You can’t stand watching them die, the image piped in, looking surprised.
He rounded on his copy. Am I truly so evil to you? The animals don’t deserve to die like that. An image of mangled limbs and tentacles chasing them reinforced his belief. Nothing deserved that end.
The image mouthed ‘sorry’ and kept silent.
Bears were next, and other beasts of the far north like the rare northern saber cat. The animagi rushed around putting each animal into a deep sleep. He didn’t bother waiting for them to catch up since most of these animals had no time to spare. Even as fast as he worked, several vanished from his perception. Once the animals within his range were summoned, he gathered up the birds. They popped in with loud chirps that startled the animagi. Thousands of fliers fled into the vast space above them.
The vast cavern was only half filled. Unwilling to leave anything alive to be consumed as long as he had space, Radcliff tackled the much harder task of summoning plant life. Locating a rocky area he’d previously skipped, Radcliff wrapped his magic tendrils around the nearby trees. Because the roots extended into a vast, connected network, he had to slice through living tissue. Some areas were already being tainted by void. These he viciously cut away from the rest to avoid bringing any corruption into the cavern. Trees, shrubs, plants, and grasses popped up one by one as he scanned each direction for anything left to save. It was chilling just how much was gone. None of the Shae forest survived. In fact, he could feel nothing east of their location until the great eastern ocean.
In order to save at least some of the smaller varieties of fish, he used up the remaining space to create shallow pools of water using a combination of clay and salt or fresh water. He couldn’t do anything for the larger fish and simply had to hope the corruption spared them.
When he was done, five faces stared at him with a mixture of awe and fear. The adept’s fear quickly turned to suspicion. “You’re the Destroyer,” he accused.
The memories were coming easier to him now—mostly scenes of him destroying armies and cities. He supposed that was an apt nickname. “Yes,” he replied, keeping it simple. Ignoring the man’s gaping jaw, he sat down next to a snow leopard and began to stroke her fur. It might have been humorous to watch the man as he tried to reconcile the evil man of the distant past with the one petting a big cat, but Radcliff wasn’t in the mood. He had several problems that needed dealt with. But first he required some peace and quiet. “Leave me,” he commanded the group.
“You’re staying in here?” the apprentice’s voice squeaked.
The adept nudged him hard in the side. “Come. Let’s go.”
“But they could wake up at any moment,” the apprentice whispered.
“They’re fine for now,” one of the female animagi reassured them.
The two summoners hastened out of the chamber with the three animagi in close pursuit. The male animagus paused to glance back, then quickly caught up to the others. Soon Radcliff was alone in the darkened chamber.
He toyed with the mage light while deciding which problem to tackle first. Show me what you’ve seen of the enemy, he ordered his image. While his copy remained silent, it sent him memories of the time spent in the Shae forest and the canyon. He watched the entire sequence then backed up and froze the image of a strange sphere. That is not from our world. As he immersed himself in the feelings his copy recorded, he felt the first stirrings of panic. It’s a portal. Once again he replayed the scene with the tentacle as it shot out and tried to attack Amira. He remembered this part. He was in some crazy nightmare battle when that sphere and the woman just appeared. He didn’t even think when the tentacle attacked, he had such an urge to protect the woman that he froze it before she could be harmed and spoke the words to break the portal’s link to this world. I was actually breaking through the spell? The shock that he might truly be free stunned him. Even the fear of whatever was strong enough to create that portal couldn’t take away the euphoria at escaping his terrible prison.
His copy finally spoke up. I’m glad you believe me now.
> He could have gone into how many times his twisted prison had tried to trick him, but it was no longer important. This situation was fairly dire. Something strong from outside our known world is attacking us. His eyes narrowed to slits as he studied his image. So, tell me why your woman thinks I’m going to save us from this.
Caught off guard, the image struggled to find the words. She didn’t say exactly. It shrugged.
Great. Where is she now? If she was keeping secrets, he’d get them out of her.
The copy grew agitated. I’m not sure but she’s scared and defiant. It tilted its head slightly as if listening to something far off. I think she’s fighting.
Well that’s an inefficient use of her time. If she knows a solution why fight? If she doesn’t know, then she should be working on it.
She would have told me if she knew.
Radcliff stroked the cat’s fur while he tried to work out what was nagging at him. Wait, how do you know where she is? His hand stilled. I can feel it too. An image of his body wrapped around hers startled him with its intensity. He actually began feeling aroused but shoved that into a dark corner. There was no time for that nonsense. Then he felt the bond forming in the memory and lost his temper. You fool! You let her bond you without even knowing what it was?
The image lashed back. I’d do it again in a heartbeat.
You idiot. If she dies, we die. Radcliff stood abruptly. We need to get her to safety.
Relax, she’s a highly skilled warrior.
Radcliff wasn’t comforted in the least. Accidents happen.
The image rolled its eyes. Can’t you just summon her from here?
I can feel people, but not a specific individual. I need to get her out of there now. Radcliff jumped over shrubs and sleeping animals and dashed through the halls in search of the entrance. Before the third intersection he was lost. His mind was slow to remember the layout and he almost kicked the wall when he finally recovered the memories and discovered this section wasn’t an area he’d been before.
Fuming, he addressed his useless copy. While I’m trying to work through this stupid maze, tell me, where’s Candlass?
You’re worried about him in the middle of all this?
There’s always time for revenge. Radcliff’s predatory grin would surely send pure evil running for safety. No sense in hiding that memory from me. I know he was here. He’d have to be if I’m truly free of his spell.
We were heading there and got ambushed. I don’t know where he is now.
Well, he can’t hide from me forever in the middle of a siege.
Worry about Amira instead.
Oh, I’m sure you’ll worry enough for the both of us.
“There you are!” the emperor called out from the corridor Radcliff was about to exit.
He backpedaled and halted just in front of the man he once considered a father. The sudden explosion of anger overpowered his shaky control. His hands darted out to strangle this monster who never bothered looking for him. Never…
Worry about him later, find Amira!
The copy’s panicked shout got through and Radcliff fought back the anger until he was able to release his bruising grip. “What do you want?” He had no energy left to worry about royal pride.
The emperor rubbed his neck and took in a few ragged gulps of air. “I came looking for you. The city is overrun and we have groups scattered throughout the city. I thought you should know—Amira’s retreat has been cut off. I have men trying to get to her, but we’re losing badly.”
The image was radiating enough panic to annoy Radcliff. Stop that, he told it. His angry eyes burned into the emperor’s. “Take me to the entrance.”
Regret flashed briefly across the emperor’s face before it hardened again. Without a word he turned around and walked with long, ground eating strides.
Anger stalked Radcliff’s heels as he followed through the increasingly better lit hallways. When the hall finally opened into a huge double-door entryway leading outside, Radcliff could hear the distant screams of pain and death. Already, groups of fighters were falling back to the entrance as a swarm of mutant things worked to surround them. Even as he watched, a man fell and the rest had to put him down. Their progress was hampered by the sheer numbers. There wasn’t much time before they’d all be lost. He turned to the emperor. “When you see the explosion, seal us in. Understand?”
The emperor nodded, his trust still there from long ago even if Radcliff’s was broken.
The wizard scowled and turned his back on the emperor. Standing by the entrance, he ignored his frantic image who was pacing and wringing its hands. He tuned out the sounds of battle coming closer and stretched out his senses to find the fragile bits of life. At first he found only a few isolated pockets, the enemy’s magic was obscuring a large area. But the very mountain fortress was designed to be an amplifier, and he was able to draw more power until he was nearly drowning in it. A heady feeling, but also very dangerous. A lesser mage could easily lose control and burn up. But Radcliff was more powerful than all but the emperor. He pulled power until his body felt like it was a burning sun. Now he could push past the masking energy of the void and sense every person outside all the way to the wall. Most were surrounded and in danger of being lost forever.
Hurry! The image interrupted.
Shut it or I’ll lose them all! He sent out feelers and wrapped them around each living being. Even as he solidified the link he had to cut one as it faded, taken by the enemy. Growling he snapped the rest in place and yanked, pulling several hundred at the same time into the large entryway. Radcliff swayed on his feet and his vision grew spotty. That was too much power, even for him.
“Radcliff!” The woman he came to save enveloped him in a tight hug. She smelled of sweat and honeysuckle. Emotions he didn’t know how to process rippled through his body.
Let me have control! The image was pleading.
“Not now!” He growled to both the image and the woman. He carefully detached her and set her to the side. Ignoring her hurt look, he stalked to the entrance. Already he could see the leading edge of the horde racing for the entrance. A tall humanoid thing with red eyes and tentacles was in the middle of the swarm, staring at the woman with a possession that angered Radcliff.
Once again he stretched out his awareness, this time far beneath the surface to the fiery core of the world, searching until he found the special cavern of super-heated liquid. The fiends were almost to the entrance but Radcliff stood there calmly, refusing to be rushed. One by one he hooked his links in and yanked when they were just a few feet away. With savage pleasure he dropped the ball of explosive liquid right on top of the red eyed leader’s head. “Now!” Radcliff ordered. The entryway was filled with solid stone just seconds before the explosion of vapor hit. The wall turned red with the heat.
The silence inside was deafening. Radcliff turned and saw fearful eyes staring at him. Only the woman was brave enough to take one step and confront him. “That’s how you destroyed Westbrook isn’t it?”
Upon hearing her accusation, something inside him snapped and he remembered everything. “Yes, I destroyed the city using the same method. I was ordered to make an example of the military outpost but the emperor’s seer predicted a harsh winter.” He glared at the woman. “How would your people have survived without their best hunters? I did you a favor when I killed off the weak.” Then he stared each person in the eye until they looked away. “If not for me, most of you wouldn’t be here. Remember that when you start judging me.” He pointed to the door. “Out there is the reason for the unification. Hate me if you must, but at least you’re alive to do it!”
Without waiting for their reactions, he stalked through the frightened crowd and took the corridors leading back to the cavern. The sleeping predators would make far better company than frightened or angry people.
I really wanted to talk to her, to tell her what’s going on. His image was sitting on the ground hugging its knees and looking quite dejected.<
br />
Shut up and get some sleep. We still have to figure out how to get out of this mess. Radcliff took his own advice and curled up next to the sleeping snow cat. Tomorrow was going to be tough, he could already feel it.
CHAPTER 22
Rude Discovery
Radcliff woke to the startling view of a girl’s face hovering right above his own. Her brow was furrowed as she studied him intently. Her nose wrinkled, and she pulled back before commenting. “Amira was crying. She said you changed, but you look the same to me.”
Nalani. The burst of memories came with strong emotions that made him uncomfortable. He pushed them into a dark corner and yawned. “I have changed,” he said, then cocked his head as he considered what to say. Keeping it simple, he added, “Just on the inside.” As he sat up, he frowned. “What are you doing here anyway? Shouldn’t you be with the other children?”
Be nice. I promised her father I’d look after her. Radcliff’s pesky image popped up with a cross look on his face.
Radcliff gave a mental sigh. You sure do get emotionally attached for someone with only a day’s worth of memory.
The image shrugged. At least I have emotions, unlike you. I want to see Amira, to explain what happened.
Radcliff ignored the image, hoping it would get bored and leave him alone.
Nalani shifted over to the cat and tentatively touched its fur. “The kids were being mean, saying you killed people. Even ate them. I told them you wouldn’t do that, but they didn’t believe me.” She turned innocent, trusting eyes to Radcliff. “You didn’t do those things, right?”
Radcliff looked away, suddenly uneasy. He got up and stretched to give himself time to think. How could he explain his actions to a child?
Let me talk to her, his image pleaded.
Go away. It was far too early to be arguing with himself.
You have the empathy of a rock.
Ignoring the image, Radcliff faced the girl and answered. “I have never eaten people, but I have done things that wound up harming people.” He sat next to her and propped his chin on his knees. Her crestfallen face tangled his insides, but he pressed on. “You know about seers?” Nalani reluctantly nodded. “Well, one predicted this huge disaster and said we needed to unify the kingdoms or lose everyone. The problem with seers though, is you never get a straight answer as to when the future will happen. So, I rushed things along and it caused lots of deaths.”
