Harvest of Souls: Disciples of the Horned One Volume Three (Soul Force Saga Book 3)

by James Wisher

  “We are.” Marie-Bell cinched down the last buckle on her armor.

  Amanda groaned. “I was afraid you were going to say that.”

  Chapter 22

  Connor couldn’t have been more pleased with his servants’ first efforts. He shook his head at the paladins’ stupidity. What were they thinking, coming out here after him? He flew through the cave with his prisoners.

  Something was wrong. He laid a hand on the crystal wall. The energy flow had dropped to a trickle. What was going on? Had something happened to his prisoners?

  Connor flew up to the second level and stared, stunned, at the empty slot that had once held his finest power source. Blood dripped from the intact restraint while the binding that had held the demon sword lay in glittering pieces on the floor.

  He landed and examined the smashed crystal. How had the boy managed it? He must have almost severed his own thumb to get it out of that shackle. Where had he found the strength? The other prisoners couldn’t even remain conscious, much less think about escaping.

  His fist slammed into the wall. Damn it! Without Damien and his sword Connor’s production of crystal constructs would drop to almost nothing. At best he could summon two or three a day now. He needed the boy back and he needed him now.

  Connor flew up to the portal chamber with his bubble of prisoners. He’d intended to take his time and make them proper sacrifices, but now he didn’t dare linger. Every moment he delayed Damien got farther away. Connor had no idea if there were other exits deeper in the mountain, but given the size of the tunnel complex he had to allow for the possibility.

  If Damien found a way out and regained even a portion of his strength he could fly back to the kingdom and warn them about Connor’s army. That would be a disaster. No, Connor wouldn’t allow that to happen. He was so close to the fruition of his plan nothing could interfere.

  Connor placed his hand on the Soul Burn Crystal and fed it power. He hated having to use his own soul force, but time was of the essence. Ten crystal wolves, each as tall as his chest, grew up out of the floor. Next he guided the sphere so it hung directly under the gate and crushed the prisoners inside to pulp. Their soul force streamed into the gate. A moment later the black lightning struck the wolves.

  Bloody lights appeared in their eyes. Crystal lips pulled back in snarls.

  “One of my prisoners has escaped,” Connor said, focusing his will on the constructs and imprinting an image of Damien in their consciousness. “Bring him back alive.”

  The wolves threw back their heads and howled, a hollow, echoing sound that filled the chamber and sent a chill up Connor’s spine. The demon wolves raced off, their nails clicking on the crystal-covered path.

  Chapter 23

  Damien leaned against the rough stone wall and grimaced at the throbbing pain in his left hand. He’d tried to keep track of each twist and turn as he ran through the dark tunnels and he managed pretty well at first. The light from the glowing crystal had showed him his surroundings in minimal detail. Not that there was much to see, just rock and more rock. It hadn’t taken long for him to outrun the light and he soon found himself staggering around in the dark with only his injured hand trailing along the wall to remind him that he was still making progress. Progress to what, he had no idea other than away from the crazy warlock that wanted to use his soul force the way a miller used a stream to power his wheel.

  Speaking of his soul force… Damien turned his focus inward. His core remained empty and his energy flow continued to run all over the place. He concentrated on directing the flow into his core, but it resisted all his efforts. Ann had never mentioned something like this and he didn’t know how to fix it.

  Time will fix it. Be patient.

  “I’d love to, but time isn’t something we have in abundance either.” A faint, distant howl echoed down the tunnel. “What was that?”

  Nothing good, I’m sure. You should keep moving.

  Damien pushed away from the wall and staggered on. Keep moving, she said. That was all well and good, but he wished he had a destination, or even a light so he could see where he was staggering to.

  A weak, flickering red light appeared in the air beside him. The rough stone became visible along with a few feet of the tunnel floor. Though he couldn’t make out that much more than before, Damien found the light a comfort.

  “Has your power recovered?”

  A tiny bit. That light is about all I can manage.

  “It’s more than I can manage. How come your soul force is recovering faster than mine?”

  I can only guess. Probably the fact that I’m a spirit and I have divine soul force has something to do with it. Your body has also sustained serious internal damage. I’m not certain how you’re still on your feet.

  “When the alternative is death, you’d be amazed what you can do. Besides, pain and I are old friends.”

  Damien kept going, slow and steady. Lizzy’s light slowly grew brighter as her power regenerated. After a moment of jealousy he said, “You should store some of the energy. I only need enough light to keep from tripping.”

  The howls grew louder behind them. Where did Connor find wolves? Could he simply create any sort of monster he wanted from crystal and summon a demon spirit with the powers he required? Damien shivered. If that was possible it would give Connor a huge advantage, not that he needed any more.

  Damien paused again and tried to figure out how far off his hunters were. The howls echoed through the tunnels, making distance impossible to figure and he couldn’t sense anything. Not only did he have no power to fight with, but even his sorcerous senses were useless.

  Those things are connected. Regain the use of your soul force and the rest will follow.

  Great, was that all he needed to do? The click of stone on stone sounded behind him. “Douse the light.”

  The tunnel went pitch back. One of the hunters was close. Every step it took sounded louder. It wasn’t running. The creature must be having trouble locating him.

  You have almost no soul force for it to detect.

  So there’s at least some upside to losing his strength. Damien moved deeper down the tunnel, as silent as his warlord training could make him. He needed to find a side passage. Maybe he could set a trap and if Lizzy had enough strength gathered he might even live through it.

  I only have about one percent of my full power. I doubt that will be enough to pierce the crystal shell.

  “I’m not going to blast it.” Damien finally felt an opening and slipped through it. It wasn’t an actual passage, more of a small chamber. If this didn’t work they’d be trapped between a stone wall and an angry demon wolf. “Reinforce your tip. When I pierce the shell release all your power into it.”

  You could just keep running. The hunter is still a little ways away.

  “No more running. If I do nothing else it will catch us in a minute anyway. If I’m going to die, I prefer to do it fighting.”

  I prefer you stay alive.

  Damien smiled in the dark. He couldn’t argue with her.

  The sounds of the demon wolf were close now, saving him from having to answer.

  He took a tight grip on Lizzy with his right hand and put the heel of his left hand under her pommel. The broken bone in his hand shifted, forcing him to swallow a scream.

  A glowing red eye appeared in the dark tunnel, giving off just enough light to reveal the sharp, savage features of the shoulder-high construct.

  Damien thrust with everything he had. Lizzy hit the hard crystal shell and flexed before her hardened tip pierced its shell.

  “Now!”

  A feeble surge of power and the crystal wolf shot across the tunnel and slammed into the far wall. It scrambled to its feet and shook all over.

  Damn it!

  He raised Lizzy, ready to bash the creature to pieces with her hilt if he had to.

  It turned burning eyes on him. If it were possible for a stone figure to show anger the demon wolf did it. The construct crouc
hed and gathered itself.

  Damien snarled back, ready to fight to the end.

  A red line appeared on its flank followed by a second. Soon it looked like a red spiderweb covered the wolf.

  Damien threw himself to the tunnel floor an instant before the construct exploded. Razor-sharp shards of crystal sliced his arms and back. Just shallow nicks, but enough to sting. He scrambled to his feet and jogged away from the site of the battle. If the demon wolves had senses as sharp as he feared, it wouldn’t take them long to find their departed brother.

  Chapter 24

  After stumbling through the dark for so long, Damien at first thought he was imagining the pale, green glow that filled the tunnel ahead. It looked familiar, but without his sorcerous senses everything seemed washed out, the important details missing. He’d only been a true sorcerer for a little over a year and his extra senses had awakened three years before that, but even so he found it hard to cope with their loss. Dad would laugh if he could see Damien stumbling, weak and pathetic, like a child taking his first steps. Damien wanted to laugh at himself, but he lacked the energy to spare.

  When he got closer he realized what the light was: concentrated earth force. He hadn’t had any training so according to Leah he shouldn’t be able to detect the energy.

  She also said your own light blinded you to it. You’re a lot less bright than you used to be.

  “Is that an insult or compliment?”

  An observation. Hurry up. My awareness has expanded enough that I can sense the wolves getting closer. We need a defensible position.

  Another wave of jealousy washed over Damien. He ignored it. His happiness at having Lizzy with him and recovering far outweighed his distaste at his own weakness.

  The light grew brighter and eventually the tunnel widened into a grotto. The source of the glow was a shallow pool at the far end of the cavern. It reminded Damien a great deal of the pool that had restored Leah. Perhaps it could do something similar for him.

  There’s no time. This chamber is too open. There are at least three wolves less than a minute behind us. If we fight here you’ll be torn to pieces.

  “How much power have you gathered?” Damien studied the ceiling near the tunnel entrance. Eight large stalactites dangled there like oversized icicles.

  This is a bad idea, Damien. If you seal the tunnel we’ll be trapped.

  “Doesn’t matter. If the pool heals me the stones will be nothing more than a nuisance. If it doesn’t we’ll be no less dead than if we tried to fight off three of those wolves with the power available. Get ready.”

  Lizzy projected wordless distress, but gray energy gathered along her blade. Down the tunnel three pairs of glowing eyes appeared, getting closer by the second.

  Damien slashed Lizzy, releasing the power. The blast hammered the hanging stones. All eight stalactites came crashing to the floor along with boulders the size of huts. When the dust cleared the entrance was sealed tight. It would take weeks for the wolves to dig through that, if they could do it at all.

  What now?

  Damien walked over to the pool, set Lizzy down at the edge, and stripped. When all his filthy, ragged clothes sat on the edge of the pool beside her, he eased into the water. It was warm and pure. His minor aches vanished in an instant. The mass of pain in his hand dulled to a throb. He lay back and floated on the surface, eyes closed.

  It felt like the light of the world had flowed into him. He understood now why the druids were so secretive. Who would want to share such a wonderful resource? A sort of euphoria filled him and time became an irrelevant, abstract idea.

  Chapter 25

  Jen stood on the battlements above the outermost wall. It towered sixty feet above the ground and had to be forty feet thick. The wall completely filled the pass. The blocks had been carved precisely so that they butted up tight enough against the mountain that a bug would be hard pressed to fit through. Above the gate hung a stone block held up by a combination of chains and sorcery. It could be released in the event the fortress commander deemed the gate indefensible. Jen planned to drop it at once and have the sorcerers fuse the stone together.

  You could pound the wall for months with conventional siege equipment and not put so much as a dent in it. Pity Connor wasn’t sending catapults and ballistae against them. With sorcery at their disposal stone walls didn’t mean a great deal. Of course that begged the question of how the paladins had kept the creatures of the haunted lands out for so long.

  Behind them the pass sloped upward and two more walls, each every bit as tall as the first, blocked an approaching army from reaching the fortress. It would take a conventional force months to surmount such obstacles if it was even possible. With paladins defending it Jen could understand now why no demonic force had ever breached the fortress and entered the kingdom.

  The narrow pass extended east from the outer wall another fifty yards before opening out into dead, gray sand. Just looking at the empty nothingness drained her will. That was what Connor wanted to do to the kingdom and the son of a bitch was using her brother to help him. No way was Jen going to let him get away with it.

  Marie-Bell stood an arm’s length away staring out over the pass, a faraway look in her eyes. It didn’t take a genius to figure out what she was thinking. Jen had to keep her focused. If her emotions got the better of her the paladin would be worse than useless, she’d be a liability.

  “What’s to keep the demons from just blasting this wall to rubble?” Jen asked. “Damien could turn it to so much gravel in a blink.”

  Marie-Bell gave a little shake of her head and faced Jen. “Holy wards protect it from corrupt magic. There was no other way to secure it from some of the nasties out there. Normally fifty paladins would hold this wall. How will the four of us manage?”

  “For starters we’re not going to defend the gate. I need you to drop the stone.”

  Marie-Bell stared for a moment. “If we do that a large portion of the wall will need to be rebuilt to make it usable again.”

  “If that’s the worst thing that happens before this war is over we can consider ourselves fortunate. Drop it, please.”

  Marie-Bell’s trembling chin firmed and she nodded. The young paladin headed for the enclosure that protected the stone’s bindings. She disappeared inside and a few seconds later the stone dropped. When it hit the ground, the wall shook and gravel fell from the sides of the pass. The vibration shook Jen to her bones.

  Jen turned to Kat. “Can you fuse the stone in place?”

  “No problem. Come on, Amanda, time to show me what you learned in shaping class.”

  “I failed shaping in my final test.” Amanda flew down beside her mentor and soon golden beams shot out from the sorcerers’ extended hands.

  Marie-Bell rejoined Jen. “What now?”

  “Now we wait and hope our reinforcements arrive here before the enemy.”

  “What are the odds of that?”

  Jen couldn’t meet her hopeful gaze. “Not as good as I’d like.”

  Chapter 26

  Morana flew at the head of her army. She glanced back at the hundred and thirteen crystal constructs stomping along behind her. Every once in a while a streak of red lightning ran through one of the soldiers as the demonic spirit shifted, making itself more at home in its host.

  Fang and Eye were in the lead; she’d developed an odd fondness for the slightly misshapen creations. It was a small army as such things went, but she’d put them up against ten thousand normal men and be perfectly confident of their victory. Back beyond the constructs, just in sight, the darting shapes of ghouls trailed them like sharks behind a fishing trawler. Disgusting creatures, but maybe she could find some use for them.

  In a satchel at her side rested the black urn. If they ran into sorcerers Morana would make short work of them before sending unconscious bodies back to add to Connor’s collection. Between the urn and her crystal soldiers Morana doubted anything or anyone in the kingdom could stand against her. They w
ere going to do it, her and Connor. They were going to change the world.

  After marching through the night the mountain pass appeared in the morning light. It really was narrow. Morana had flown over it twice, quickly, and with her power suppressed, but seeing it up close at ground level made the size clear. No wonder the paladins had never failed to repel an attack.

  Her eyes crinkled in delight. There’d be no paladins to stop them today. After they seized the fortress Morana would have liked to move straight into the kingdom and begin subduing the population, but Connor had ordered her to wait and she wasn’t foolish enough to disobey. Besides which a little over a hundred soldiers wasn’t enough to pacify an entire nation no matter how strong they were.

  The moment she crossed into the shadowed recess of the pass the weight of the haunted lands vanished. It was a relief to her in one regard, but a curse in another. Without the corruption to feed them, the demon spirits would be weaker. Of course weaker was a relative term. They were still far superior to any forces they were likely to encounter.

  The first wall waited only a little ways into the pass. Morana stopped and stared. The gate was plugged by an immense stone and unless her eyes were playing tricks, someone had fused it to the wall. She couldn’t imagine the paladins had dropped the stone before they left. What sort of idiot would seal their own entrance?

  She squinted. Four figures walked along the battlements. Morana had been so intent on her soldiers and her plans for the fortress she hadn’t been focused outward. Now that she concentrated she could sense a paladin, a warlord and two middling sorcerers. Not the most awesome force ever assembled, but more than she expected. She shrugged. Another quick battle would be good for her and her troops.

  At Morana’s mental command the crystal soldiers stopped. She flew up even with the battlements, but stayed a safe distance away.