by James Wisher
After the butler showed them to the stairs they had left him unconscious in a closet near the hidden door. He appeared to have given up all resistance, but Jen had no intention of risking him running off or attempting to kill himself again.
“Where do we start?” Jen asked.
“This way.” Marie-Bell led the way down the steps and at the bottom turned left.
As they walked the paladin’s gaze constantly darted left and right, like a hound on a weak scent. Jen had no idea how long they walked in the dark, but eventually they scrambled up a steep slope. When they reached the ledge a ruined city spread out before them. Jen stared, marveling at her ignorance. There was so much in the kingdom that she simply had no idea about.
Marie-Bell paused only a moment before skidding down to the ruins and resuming her hunt. Jen drew her sword and followed. There were too many places in the ruins for ambushers to hide. They made it to an open plaza before Marie-Bell stopped.
“It happened here. Powerful demonic energy was unleashed not that long ago.”
Jen looked around for some clue as to what happened, but the bare stone gave away nothing. She closed her eyes to better hear, but there was nothing beyond their heartbeats. Damien was gone and at least for now she could do nothing about it.
“Can you tell which way they went?” Jen asked.
Marie-Bell pointed the opposite way from where they’d come. “The trail is weak. Not much energy was spent after the battle.”
“Then we’d better hurry.”
Jen ran in the direction indicated at warlord speed, the ruins little more than a blur around her. Marie-Bell followed a little behind and to her right. She assumed the paladin would correct her if she got off course.
After half a mile or so the ruins ended and it became natural stone again. The cavern narrowed down to a tunnel, still wide enough for the two of them to run side by side with no trouble. The floor was smooth and free of obstructions. Someone had worked the stone, no way was the tunnel naturally this perfect.
Five minutes later they emerged from a hidden shaft sunk into the ground at an angle. Jen spun. Behind them Port Valcane’s lights glimmered in the dark. This explained how the cultists moved people and supplies into the city without anyone noticing. How many more surprises were waiting out in the night?”
“I can’t sense them anymore,” Marie-Bell said. “The tunnel concentrated their energy, but out here it’s already dissipated. I’m sorry, Jen.”
Jen clenched her fist for a moment before forcing herself to relax. Getting angry wouldn’t do her brother any good. If anything it had already done him a great deal of ill. “It’s okay. Can you fly us back to Watch Headquarters? I need to tell Tosh about the lord mayor and see if he’s learned anything useful from the cultists. Until the king appoints a new mayor, Tosh is in charge of the government, heaven help them.”
Marie-Bell conjured a pair of white horses and Jen leapt on her mount’s back. It took only a moment to realize she had no actual control over the construct. It flew beside Marie-Bell’s mount regardless of what Jen did. While it felt odd riding a horse she couldn’t control, the warmth and vitality that flowed into her as she sat on it more than made up for her lack of control. When they landed beside Watch Headquarters Jen felt energized and ready for anything, even Tosh.
They’d only been gone about an hour and the guards on duty waved them right in. Jen marched straight up the stairs. Tosh’s secretary raised an eyebrow at their return.
“We need to see him, now,” Jen said.
Whether in appreciation of Jen’s urgency or fear that she might simply kick the door in if made to wait, the secretary hopped to her feet and hurried over to the closed door. She knocked, poked her head in, and a moment later waved Jen and Marie-Bell over.
Jen smiled her thanks as she passed and stepped into the familiar office. Tosh sat behind his desk frowning at them. “I figured you’d still be shaking hands and accepting well wishes.”
“It was a trap,” Jen said. “The lord mayor is dead along with a handful of cultists. My brother has been captured and I have no idea where he might be.”
Tosh’s jaw dropped and for perhaps the first time in his life appeared speechless. When he finally collected himself Tosh said, “Maybe you’d better start at the beginning.”
Jen told him everything that happened to her and Marie-Bell added her own battle to the mix. When they finished Tosh said, “The mayor was a cultist? I can’t believe it. If word gets out there’ll be chaos.”
“That’s why I told you in private.” Jen ran a hand through her hair, still stiff in places from the blood of the man she’d killed. “I recommend saying the cult killed him and not mentioning his connection. It’s irrelevant now that he’s dead.”
Tosh wore a thoughtful frown. “That’s probably best. What do you want in exchange?”
“I always knew you were smarter than you looked. Have any of the prisoners mentioned The Keeper of the Keys?”
“We’ve only interviewed half of them, but I know I’ve read that name in the reports. Who is it?” He shuffled through the papers on his desk, sorting them into two piles.
“Who do you think?” Jen asked.
“The mayor?”
Jen nodded and accepted one of the piles.
“That’s every transcript that mentions him. You’re welcome to read them, but you can’t take them out of here. What am I going to tell the nobles? Everyone liked Mayor Solomon.”
Jen glanced up from the paper she was reading. “Tell them the truth, or at least a little of it. Turn him into a hero murdered by cowards. Use his death to make everyone hate the cult even more. It’s the least he can do after all the trouble he caused us.”
“Are you sure you’re not a politician?” Tosh asked.
Jen glared at him. “I’ll forgive you that insult just this once. Now be quiet so I can read.”
Jen and Marie-Bell spent more time reading reports than they did exploring the cavern under Public House. Precious little was said about the mayor beyond naming The Keeper of the Keys as a hidden figure of menace that the regular members seldom saw and that they knew even less about. One phrase stuck out in a majority of the reports Jen had read and Marie-Bell mentioned it as well: The Harvest. It sounded ominous and few details were given beyond a cult rumor that death was coming from the Kingdom of Alexious, wherever that was. They had a great deal of data and nowhere near enough actual knowledge.
Jen tossed her stack back on the desk and rubbed her eyes. They’d learned all they could here. It was time to fly back to the capital and tell the archmage and Uncle Andy what had happened. Who would be more upset, his master, the king, or Karrie? Jen didn’t know, but she doubted any of them could come close to matching her anger.
Chapter 50
Connor flew directly to the space he intended Damien to occupy. He sensed no change in the crystal matrix and saw no sign that anything had entered the cave during his absence. The loss of Mikhail rankled even more since it meant he risked leaving the cave open to any invaders that wished to enter and were strong enough to overcome his ward. Connor grimaced. There was nothing to be done about it now. Once he had his army nothing would be able to stop him.
The bubble vanished the moment he set it on the crystal path. Morana straightened up and looked at him with wide eyes. “He woke up five times over the course of the trip. How is that even possible?”
“He’s a remarkable young man.” Connor gestured and Damien was lifted up into place by bands of dark soul force. When his left wrist touched the crystal a shackle grew around it. Damien’s right hand still clenched the demon sword, just as Connor had hoped when he ordered Koran to lure the father to his death. When it was in place Connor sent a stream of hellfire into the crystal, altering its growth so Damien’s whole right hand was encased in crystal. That would prevent him from releasing the sword and denying Connor access to its additional power.
Once he’d secured the bindings soul force rushed out o
f the boy and up the wall toward the portal chamber. With that much energy flowing into it Connor could begin building his army at once. In a week or two he’d control the most powerful force the continent had ever seen. After all the problems and delays, at last everything had fallen into place. It was time to begin The Harvest.
Book Six
Blue Crystal Death
Chapter 1
Damien groaned and his eyes fluttered open. Everything hurt. What had happened and how did he end up here, wherever here was? His shoulders especially were screaming at him, probably because his arms were above his head. When he tried to move he found he was stuck. He craned his neck and found his wrists were bound by some sort of blue crystal. Everywhere he looked the shiny stuff covered everything. Small flickers of energy appeared below and then ran through the crystal accompanied by crackles and sizzles. It almost sounded like someone was frying bacon at too high a temperature.
At least his feet were flat on the ground so he wasn’t hanging by his wrists. An electric ozone smell filled the air, like after a lightning strike. It was mingled with something else, something unnatural.
It’s a mixture of sulfur and brimstone. There’s an open hell gate around here somewhere.
He turned to the right. Crystal completely covered his hand and Lizzy jutted out above the binding. The blade didn’t look damaged, but he couldn’t let go.
“You okay?”
Fine, but my power is being drained as fast as I generate it.
Damien turned his focus inward and found he was in the same state. His soul force along with Lizzy’s rushed out of him at a frightening pace, faster than when that witch attacked him with the urn. The battle with Morana all came back to him, including Connor’s last-second arrival. That explained how he ended up here, but not where he was.
He leaned as far forward as the restraints allowed and looked both ways. A curving path led up and away to the left. To the right there was another person connected to the crystal. He squinted and tried to focus in the unsteady light. It looked like…
“Imogen?” It was her, but she’d seen better days. She slumped in her restraints, eyes closed and unresponsive. He could just make out the faint rise and fall of her breast. How many more of his fellow sorcerers were shackled to this place?
Damien straightened back up. He couldn’t help her now. He needed to do something for himself, and getting out of these restraints would be an excellent start. He tugged on his left hand. There was a little play between his wrist and the shackle, but not much. The other hand was so totally bound he had no hope of getting it loose.
“Can you get a sense of where we are?”
With my power being drained I’m even more limited in my perceptions.
“Swell. Do you have any suggestions?”
I’m sorry, Damien. We appear thoroughly captured. I don’t see any options beyond outside assistance.
They’d probably be dead before help arrived, if it ever did. No, they were on their own.
He twisted his wrist back and forth. If he could gash it the blood might provide lubricant enough to get him out. He winced when he found a spur sharp enough to draw blood. It wasn’t a deep cut, but the warm liquid ran down his arm in enough volume to make things slick.
He pulled and twisted, grimacing through the pain. In truth, the additional discomfort was only a tiny bit worse than the constant pain that filled every inch of him. It didn’t seem like it could get much worse.
Damien shouldn’t have thought that. A moment later an electric burst of pain ran through him. Every muscle clenched, turning his body into a giant cramp. His vision dimmed for a moment, but he fought through it and the pain let up.
What in the hell was that? And more importantly, would it happen again?
Chapter 2
Connor couldn’t restrain his smile when he watched the energy flowing through the crystal matrix. Since he added Damien and the demon sword to his collection the energy available had more than doubled. It was a rare bit of good luck. The only way he could have used the demon sword’s power was to draw it through a human sorcerer. He stood at the apex of the cavern, the swirling darkness of the hell gate above him. On its pedestal the Soul Burn Crystal pulsed with stored energy. He ran a loving hand over the smooth blue surface. It reminded him of a giant sapphire, burning with an inner light.
“Are you going to play with it all day, or are you going to start building an army?” Connor had hung the spirit in the mirror from a jutting rock spear off to one side of the crystal chamber. In his pleasure at having collected enough power sources, he’d forgotten all about the obnoxious creature.
“I’m savoring the moment. Now be silent.”
The spirit snorted, but made no further comments. It had a point though. After all this time Connor had waited long enough. He sent his will along with a trickle of hellfire into the crystal. The ground shook and a pair of oblong crystal growths with simple protrusions that resembled facial features poked up. They were followed shortly by boxy shoulders, long arms, massive chests, and legs.
In less than a minute Connor had grown two crude humanoids out of blue crystal. Ugly things, but they should prove sufficient hosts. They didn’t need to be pretty, just strong. With the hosts complete, Connor released a portion of the collected soul force from the crystal into the hell gate. Energy swirled and crackled overhead. Two bolts of black lightning struck the crystal figures. The lattice shifted and reshaped. Crude features twisted in cruel, hate-filled sneers. Eye sockets filled with red light. Talons and spurs of razor-sharp crystal grew from their hands and feet.
“Kneel.”
Connor held his breath. For a moment he feared they might not obey, that he might have to destroy his new creations before he could use them. To his considerable relief, after a brief hesitation, the crystal warriors went down on one knee. Connor blew out the breath he’d been holding. So far so good.
The spirit cackled. “Congratulations, you can manage two of them. Let’s see you make an army.”
Connor debated for perhaps the thousandth time blasting the mirror and once again decided against it. It wasn’t that he cared about the spirit so much as that he didn’t want to smash one of King Alexious’s treasures. It felt rude. Instead, he conjured a dark globe around the mirror that muted the spirit’s grating laugh. Not as satisfying, but sufficient.
Now for the next test. He placed a finger on the side of the crystal and drew out a small ring.
“Come with me.”
He left the portal chamber and walked along the spiral path down towards the cave entrance. The crystal demons made every bit as much noise as Mikhail ever did filling him with an odd nostalgia. He never imagined missing the dimwitted knight, but the cavern seemed empty without his hulking presence.
Connor paused when he reached his newest power source. The boy glared at him with hate-filled eyes. More interesting was the simple fact that he somehow remained conscious. Remarkable durability and willpower. A trickle of blood had dried on the prisoner’s arm.
Connor stepped closer and wiped it off. “You must be more careful. If you accidentally kill yourself it will be very inconvenient for me. Please refrain from struggling in your restraints.”
“I’m going to kill you, you pasty-faced son of a bitch,” Damien said. His gaze darted to the crystal soldiers then back to Connor. “What are those things?”
Connor thought for a moment then shrugged. What could it hurt to tell him? Besides, Connor seldom had anyone, besides Morana, to talk to who actually understood what he was doing. It might be fun to brag a bit.
“They’re demonic vessels. I grew them out of the blue crystal then animated them with a demon spirit.”
Damien raised an eyebrow. “Like golems?”
Connor smiled. He really was a clever boy. “Very similar, yes. I’m impressed you drew the parallel. Many young sorcerers wouldn’t have had a clue. You must have studied a great deal.”
Damien nodded. “Mostly when I was t
rying to figure out what you were up to. I read every book you read during your time at The Tower. Some pretty dark stuff.”
Connor could hardly contain his excitement. “It’s fascinating, isn’t it? Divine creatures are simply amazing in their adaptability and power. I’ve been entranced with them ever since I discovered what they were capable of. Yet for all their power they are at their most basic simply energy and that energy can be controlled by humans. To a certain extent anyway.”
“You still consider yourself human?” Damien asked.
“Not purely human, no. A warlock represents the best of both worlds. A human mind and body controlling divine soul force. We’re not so different, your protests to the side.” Connor looked from Damien to his sword. “We both control demonic soul force. And we’re both made greater by its infusion into our bodies. Do you deny it?”
“I don’t control Lizzy. She has her own will and chooses to use her power to help me for which I am grateful beyond words. You, however, are nothing but a tool for a demon lord.”
Connor shrugged. “I traded service for power. I’m no different from any human knight serving a king, it’s just that my lord is so much stronger than any mortal ruler.”
Damien sighed and shook his head. “You can believe that if it makes you feel better, but we both know it’s nonsense.”
Connor had grown bored with the conversation. In the end, the boy was no different than all the others. He simply couldn’t understand Connor’s greatness. No amount of explanation would help. It was time to resume his work.
He took a step down the ramp and Damien said, “Your cousin Giovanni says hello. He seemed quite anxious about your wellbeing.”
Connor spun. He hadn’t thought about his dear cousin in years. “Where did you see him?”
“Under Port Valcane. Your allies were about to cut his heart out as an offering to your precious lord. I talked them out of it.”
