He stayed under his blanket for another half hour, mulling over the things he’d learned in his mind before eventually rising and dressing. Since he still hadn’t been interrupted, he spent some more time copying the spells that Grim Talek had left him into one of his journals. The killing spell was named ‘bonecrusher’ but a quick read-through showed that it did more than just break bones. It broke everything inside a body, grinding it all together indiscriminately while leaving the epidermis intact.
For a human, that meant a painful, but very rapid death. For more resilient creatures—like vampires, trolls, or demons—it was the worst torture imaginable. Whether it killed them or not depended on other factors specific to the monster and how much it could regenerate. The spell was only fourth-order, but it required quite a bit of energy. The scribing spell, named Sylen’s Pen, required almost no turyn, but was fairly complex. Will guessed it was about seventh-order.
He had just finished copying the spells when he heard shouting outside his tent. Will recognized both the voices involved. One was that of Lieutenant Renly, while the other belonged to Tiny. Leaping to his feet, Will ran out to avert a disaster.
Chapter 50
“He needs to see me!” insisted Tiny loudly. It was unusual for the big man to raise his voice, so Will knew he must be exceptionally stressed.
Renly answered in a calm tone, “I’ve already told you, and a dozen others before you, Marshal Cartwright isn’t to be disturbed, and that isn’t changing until he tells me otherwise. If he wanted to see you, he would have told me to make an exception.”
“I’m his oldest friend! This is precisely when he needs me,” protested the squire.
Janice spoke up then. “We heard he got bad news. We just want to check on him.”
“He’ll call for you when he wants to talk, or he won’t,” said Renly. “I’ll be certain to let him know you came by to offer your sentiments.” Then he spoke to someone else. “How about you, Lieutenant? Do you have urgent news?”
“No,” said a male voice. Will recognized it as that of Bug. “Nothing urgent, but it’s something I have to report personally.”
“Then you’ll have to return later,” said Renly.
Will stepped through the tent flaps and looked at his friends. “It’s all right, Renly. I’ve been awake for a while.”
His assistant stepped aside, and Tiny started to walk forward, but Will held up his hand. “What do you want?”
“To know how you’re doing,” said Tiny, giving him a funny look. “I heard the news.”
“I’ve been better,” Will admitted. Then his gaze moved to Janice. “How about you?”
“The same,” she answered. “Mind if we come in? I thought maybe—”
Will cut her off. “Has he apologized?”
Janice blanched. “That’s not important right now.”
“I did,” said Tiny abruptly. “But she isn’t ready to—”
Will spoke over him. “You didn’t forgive him yet?”
Her face clouded over. “You’re the one we’re worried about right now.”
“If you’re worried about me, then the two of you should go work out your problems. I have enough issues without watching the two of you sulk. I just—I just need some time alone. Things are going to be busier than ever soon.”
They could see the pain written on his face. Janice tried again. “Will, please, let us be there for you. You shouldn’t be alone right now.”
“Go,” he told her. “And no steak for either of you until you make up or whatever it is you decide to do. I’ll be fine. Rest while you can. There will be a lot of orders coming down the chain soon.” Turning his gaze to Bug, he asked, “You found something?”
The lieutenant sorcerer nodded.
“Come inside. Let’s talk.” With that, Will turned his back on the others and returned to the privacy of his tent. Turning back, he stuck his head back out for a moment to give Lieutenant Renly one last instruction. “I’ll be ready to receive reports in an hour. Let the officers know. We’ll have a senior officers’ meeting in two hours.”
Inside the tent, Bug had a pensive look on his face. “Are you sure you’re all right? Maybe you should have let them in. From what I heard, you’ve had a terrible shock.”
Will shook his head. “I can’t. They’re too close to me, and I can’t afford to grieve right now. If I start talking about it I’m afraid I’ll come apart completely.” He smiled. “Sometimes it’s better to have someone around who isn’t quite as closely acquainted. You understand?”
Bug gave him a guilty look. “I’m don’t think I’m worthy of being called an acquaintance.”
Walking over, Will patted him on the shoulder. “By the time this war is all over, we’ll be more than that. Maybe next year it will be you I’m avoiding while I lick my wounds.”
“Maybe,” said Bug, seeming uncomfortable.
“What did you find?” asked Will.
The sorcerer opened up the small pack he was carrying and removed a cloth-wrapped bundle, which he handed to Will. Opening it up, Will saw a small journal and a silver metal tablet—the very one he’d seen Lustral tinkering with over the past week or two. Unable to restrain himself, Will picked up the journal. He spent a few seconds making sure there was no active magic before opening the cover.
Inside, he expected to see a cypher. If Lustral had been writing down the messages he received, he wouldn’t want to write them down without making sure no one could decipher the evidence of his treachery. Will was surprised to see the contents were written in plain, legible script. Skimming over the first pages, he quickly discovered the journal was devoted not to coded messages, but rather to Lustral’s attempts to decipher the runes that controlled the tablet itself.
“That makes no sense,” muttered Will. “If he didn’t understand how it worked, why did he have it?” His thoughts tumbled over one another for several seconds while he continued to thumb through the pages. Duke Lustral had apparently devoted a lot of time to trying to understand the secret workings of the enchanted tablet. Eventually, the realization struck Will. He wasn’t a traitor. I murdered an innocent man.
Lustral had certainly been a jackass, and he was still responsible for the deaths of a lot of good soldiers, but not because of deliberate treachery. It had simply been ordinary incompetence. Eric had died defending the pompous fool—and Will had killed the man in cold blood.
His hands tightened into fists, and the room seemed to sway around him.
Bug had been forgotten, but he still stood nearby. “You haven’t put your armor on yet?” he asked.
Will shook his head, not trusting his voice just then.
“I could help you put it on before I go,” said the young sorcerer, moving closer. “Since you’ll be taking reports soon.” He put a friendly hand on Will’s shoulder.
“No,” said Will. He paused as Bug’s arm slid around him as though he was going to hug him from behind. “What are—?” He started to pull away, but a blinding pain shot through his body.
“I’m sorry,” mumbled Bug, his arm tightening around Will’s chest. “I’m so sorry.” His voice was full of guilt and fear.
Will bucked, his body trying to pull away from the long blade that had been thrust through his kidney and up into the center of his chest. Having been stabbed before, he already knew the blade wasn’t ordinary. Fire seemed to radiate from the wound, obliterating any attempt at reason or thought.
Bug stayed behind him, holding on tightly as Will tried to pull away. His strength was already gone, though. Somewhere in the back of his mind, Will knew the blade must have been poisoned. It shouldn’t hurt that much. He tried to scream, and only a wet gurgle emerged. One of my lungs was punctured, he thought.
“I’m sorry,” repeated Bug, over and over, as he lowered Will slowly to the ground. “I didn’t want to do this. I’m sorry, I’m sorry.”
Will tried to use his magic, to do something, but the pain was too great. He could see Bug’s face now
as he knelt over him. The young man was crying miserably. Staring into Bug’s eyes, Will tried to imagine a force-lance coming together, but nothing happened.
“I know you can’t forgive me,” said Bug, his voice forlorn. “I don’t expect you to, but if you want revenge, don’t worry. I don’t want to live after this. This wasn’t for me, it was for my family. I had to do it for them to live. I’m so sorry—so sorry.”
Getting more accustomed to the pain, Will tried to cast another spell and failed.
Bug sensed the struggle. “It won’t work. The blade is enchanted—and poisoned. I know it hurts, but it will be over soon. I’m sorry.”
He’s waiting for me to die, Will realized, and there’s not a damn thing I can do about it.
Bug rocked back and forth over him, apologizing quietly while Will’s life slowly bled away. Will closed his eyes in frustration, not wanting to see his killer’s face any longer. All he could think about was Selene. The news of his death would devastate her—and as with everything else, it was all his own damn fault. I sent Laina away. I refused to let Tiny and Janice try to comfort me. I isolated myself and now I’m going to die for it—alone.
Helpless, he let his body relax, and after a minute Bug rolled him onto his side. A fresh surge of pain shot through him as the blade was pulled free, but he did his best not to move. The fire inside him continued to spread through is veins, but on a deeper level he could feel his turyn smoothing out. The poison was still working its way through his system, but his magic was stabilizing. It must have been the enchantment on the blade, he decided.
Opening his eyes slowly, he looked around. He couldn’t see anyone else with him, so he tried to turn his head and failed. Bug might still be there, behind him somewhere, but he couldn’t tell. There was no time left to waste.
Activating the limnthal, he summoned two potions. One was a universal antidote potion, the other a regeneration potion. They appeared above the palm of his left hand and tumbled to the dirt floor as he tried to grasp them.
His hands weren’t cooperating. After a brief struggle, he realized that neither were his arms—or his legs. The pain that had been burning through his veins had subsided into a dull numbness. He was paralyzed. Only his eyes would move, and all they could tell him was that the ground in front of him was gradually soaking up his blood.
I’m really going to die like this. It was a hard to face, but he had run out of options. Selene, I’m sorry. He wanted to see her face. He didn’t want to die alone.
In a fit of selfish desperation, he did something that if he’d been in a more rational mood he would never have done. He summoned his wife’s face so he could say goodbye. It was cruel, but he couldn’t help himself.
Lying on the blood-soaked ground, he saw Selene’s face appear in the air in front of him. He tried to speak, but of course, his voice failed him like the rest of his body had. “Will? What’s wrong? Will!”
Selene’s features were beautiful as ever, but the panic didn’t suit her. Will wished he could tell her that. I love you, he thought, hoping his eyes alone could deliver the message.
“William! Talk to me! What’s wrong? Is that blood?” Her pitch was rising as fear took hold. Contacting her had been a mistake.
And this is how she’s going to remember me. I’m such a jerk. Feeling weak, he let his eyes close. Keeping the connection open was tiring, and probably even more so for her.
“Bring me over, Will! I don’t have the strength for it. William, wake up! You have to do this, please! I can’t do it alone.” Though he couldn’t see her any longer, the tears and desperation in her voice made his heart ache. “William!”
He started to release the link, but a surge of turyn overwhelmed him, and the connection between them grew stronger instead. The magic swelled briefly and then vanished. It was over.
A tear leaked from the corner of his eye. Now I can die.
But death refused to come. His mind continued to think, and his regrets continued to torment him. How long is this supposed to take? he wondered. Let me go so I can quit thinking about her!
Selene was still on his mind, so much so that he imagined he could smell her. Something warm brushed against his face. “William?”
He opened his eyes. Selene was lying on the ground in front of him. Her face had a pallid hue, but her trembling arm was reaching out to him. What the hell?
“What’s wrong with you?” she asked. “Where’s your potions? Holy Mother, the blood!”
You’re probably lying on them, he thought. How ironic. He was probably going to die with the potions just a foot away, underneath Selene’s rump—and he couldn’t say a single word to tell her. She’s really going to be mad later when she realizes.
A rustling came from behind, outside his viewing angle. Bug hadn’t left, he’d just been in the front section of the tent. “What’s this?” asked the young man.
Will hoped Selene would jump up, to either fight or run, but she only moved slightly. Her head lifted slightly and then slumped back to the ground. Why doesn’t she do something? A second later, he understood. Selene was entirely turyn deprived.
Just contacting her through the heart-stone enchantment tired her out, even though he provided most of the turyn. How she had found the strength or power to summon herself through the link without his help, he couldn’t understand, but she had. Doing that had taken energy she didn’t have.
It was a miracle she was even conscious.
“Why?” asked Bug, sounding mournful. “Why? This isn’t fair.”
“Help him,” commanded Selene. “Help us.” Incredibly, she began to sit up, though her entire frame shook with the effort.
“Oh, gods! You’re so beautiful. Are you his wife? This isn’t fair,” moaned Bug. “Why are you here?”
“Help him,” she ordered. “Call someone.”
“I can’t,” said Bug sadly. “I killed him, and now I’m going to have to kill you too.”
Will couldn’t see Bug, except for his hand, as it caught Selene’s hair and pulled her sideways so that she fell across his body. A fresh wave of pain shot through him as her weight pressed down on his chest. Inside, Will was screaming, not from the pain, but from his desperate need to stop what was happening.
His ears were full of Selene’s wheezing gasps. All he could see were her legs, kicking as she tried to breathe. Bug was slowly choking the life out of her—on top of him. The wheezing stopped once Bug’s hands got a better grip, but Selene’s body continued to twist and move.
A moment later, she rolled off, and Will’s view improved. Bug was on top of her now, tears streaming down his cheeks as Selene’s face turned purple.
No!
And then something changed. Will felt it abruptly. A tingle ran over his skin as the turyn around them shifted, flowing toward Selene’s body. A second later, Bug went stiff and fell sideways, his hands going limp, while Selene began to heave as she tried to draw in air.
Her eyes were bloodshot when she sat up, coughing and struggling to catch her breath. Something seemed to be wrong with her throat. Will could see the source-link she had attached to her would-be assassin.
Somehow, she’d found enough turyn to cast the simplest of spells, and he already knew from experience that her will was more than a match for most. Bug hadn’t had a chance once she had found a way to create the link.
Scrabbling in the dirt, Selene lifted the regeneration potion, then popped the cork and drank the contents. For a moment, Will was confused, until he heard her begin to suck in huge lungfuls of air. Will understood then. He must have crushed her trachea.
Picking up the second potion, Selene opened it as well and then poured the contents into Will’s mouth. He tried to swallow, but wasn’t entirely sure if he had succeeded.
That done, Selene went to the paralyzed assassin and bent down. Will heard the whisper of metal as she drew the short thrusting sword from its sheath. It was followed by a wet noise a moment later as Selene found a new home for the blade
.
Still unable to speak, Will watched in silence as his wife thrust the heavy blade into Burke’s torso again—and again. She was growling as she repeated the motion, and her face was twisted into an expression of pure hatred. “Don’t you ever—!” The words were too thick to be entirely understandable, but the key points came through. “You son of a bitch!”
The profanity continued as she drove the sword into Bug’s body several more times. The man was certainly dead by then, but Selene’s rage wasn’t quite done. Withdrawing it once more, she worked the point in between the sorcerer’s teeth and then bore down, putting all her weight on the pommel of the sword. The blade passed through his mouth, and then with an audible crunch, it pierced through the back of Bug’s skull and into the ground beneath him.
Will had seen plenty of horrors in his time, but Bug’s death was definitely going to be among the top ten. Selene was a gruesome sight as she stood and stared downward, her chest heaving for breath. Despite what she’d done, most of the blood on her was in the form of a muddy red streak from laying on the ground beside him, but there were a few fresh drops spattered across her cheek and the front of her dress.
After a moment, she seemed to regain her senses, and Selene looked wild eyed around the tent’s interior, as though suddenly realizing there might be more enemies. When she failed to find any, she returned to Will and began examining him.
The world turned dark as his vision faded out, but all Will cared about was the soft touch of her hair on his cheeks. If I have to go, this is the way it should be…
“Will! Wake up. I need you to stay conscious. Can you summon another regeneration potion for me? I had to use the other one. William!” Her voice was fading away. “Somebody! I need help!”
Chapter 51
The warm darkness was disturbed by a dim light that kept intruding on his awareness. Opening his eyes, Will saw a lamp burning nearby. That seemed strange, since for some reason he’d assumed that there wouldn’t be lamps in the afterlife. Looking around, he saw Selene beside him, her eyes open, watching him.
Disciple of War (Art of the Adept Book 4) Page 45
