Freedom (The Sorcerers' Scourge Book 4)

by Michael Arches

  “Of course. By the way, Gill asked me to remind you of something at the last minute. In his words, ‘Don’t try to take Eichmann out with one punch. You could melt your circuits. Instead, keep slamming him until you’ve used up every last morsel of your anger.’”

  “Good tip. I love you.” That last part slipped out before I knew it. My throat tightened at the thought I might never see him again. Then I slammed the door before he could respond and waited for him to speed off. At least I knew he’d be safe.

  Chapter 23

  A YOUNG WOMAN with a fighter’s build and very short, white hair guarded the door. A half dozen people stood in line, and I joined the throng. Just in case she tried to stop me, I readied a stunning spell.

  When I got to the front of the line, her eyes and mouth all opened into big circles. “Damn, you’re—”

  “HOLARTHON, ELBO ASSOMME!” I yelled. It looked like I was going to make a big entrance after all.

  The spell hit her square in the chest. She had no protective ward, so she froze stiff and toppled over.

  The sorcerers around me screamed and ducked for cover.

  I dashed into the house. Thanks to Thao’s drawing, I knew the easiest way to get to the backyard—through the sun room. The only problem was, that’s where the caterers had set up a bar. A dozen sorcerers stood in line. When I burst into the room, they looked alarmed. They’d probably heard the screams from the front, but damned if they were going to give up their spot in line to find out what it was.

  “Just little ol’ me,” I yelled as I tried to cut through the line to reach the door outside. Unfortunately, one of Eichmann’s gladiators, a big black guy, blocked my way. There was no advantage to fighting him, so I pushed a blonde-haired woman in the line behind the gladiator toward him and squeezed through behind her.

  She swore at me, but I didn’t stick around to hear it.

  When I sprinted through the open door to the covered back patio, I grabbed my miniaturized staff from my back pocket and spoke the spell to restore it to full size. Now I was locked and loaded.

  Plenty of folks milled around in the deep shade of the back patio. The odor of cooking hamburger filled the air, but I was hungry for something else—freedom for my sister.

  And the man who kept her enslaved stood twenty feet in front of me.

  Eichmann held an oversized spatula in front of a fancy grill. His fat face was mostly hidden by a full black beard, but his dark eyes seemed to flash at me. He didn’t look even slightly hospitable, despite wearing one of those stupid aprons that said Kiss the Cook!

  How could any of these sorcerers stand to get near that burly pig? I ran toward him with my staff outstretched. “Eichmann, you rat bastard! I’m here for Dana! I challenge you for magical power.”

  Magic froze me in midstride. The people standing between me and the monster screamed and parted like the Red Sea. As I got closer, I realized he was much taller than me and must’ve outweighed me by fifty pounds. I would win with magic or not at all.

  With a sneer, he set down his spatula and grabbed a black staff leaning against the side of the grill. The guy probably slept with it.

  I’d wanted to fight him more than anything, and by the gods, I had gotten what I’d wanted. I shivered. Hopefully, I hadn’t let my desire to help Dana push me into a fight I couldn’t win.

  Consumed by that thought, I almost forgot to create my ward. It wasn’t much, I was too pissed to be calm, but it would have to do.

  As soon as the buzzing started in my ears, I juked to the right.

  That saved my life.

  He’d silently readied a lightning spell and waited for the battle to be joined. The boom deafened me as the blue bolt shattered the left side of my ward. My left arm and leg burned like he’d stuck them with a hundred needles.

  But I’d missed the worst. If he’d caught me in the chest I’d already be a steaming pile of dead witch.

  My left leg wouldn’t move, so I stood in place and poured my boundless fury at Eichmann into my lightning bolt. At the last second though, I choked it back, remembering Gill’s warning about too much too soon. “HOLARTHON, ELBO CHOQUE!”

  He’d created a protective barrier, and my electricity shattered it into hundreds of invisible shards. That ward had absorbed most of my magic, but some reached its target. His face reddened in anger.

  The power of my spell was so great that it took my breath away and clouded my mind for an instant. Thank the gods, Philippe had passed on that last bit of advice. Fight smarter!

  Eichmann hit me with a weak stun, then ran behind a garden shed near the patio so I couldn’t return fire.

  I could still barely move. I hobbled forward, trying to calm down enough to restore my ward. It formed—hardly enough to stop a butterfly. This was going to be a pure shootout. Whoever fired the fastest and the strongest would win.

  The crowd in the backyard doubled in size, and they yelled insults at me. One big, bald guy threw a wine bottle at my head. “You piece of shit, you cost me a thousand bucks on your last fight!”

  But they couldn’t join in the fun. The bottle hit a magical barrier and dropped to the grass. I yelled back at him, “When I’m finished with this prick, I’ll be happy to shit on you. Stick around.”

  Then I chased after Eichmann. As I was about to round the corner of the garden shed, he stepped out with his staff pointing at me. “STUN DUNARSH!”

  I froze in place, my ward had hardly helped at all, and I toppled to the lawn. Pain radiated through me in crushing waves of agony.

  I couldn’t move, but after a moment of mind-numbing anguish, I could think. Just for a moment, I pushed aside my fury. No wonder the son of a bitch had won so many battles. Focus on protection.

  Eichmann stood in front of me, bent over and breathing hard. That last spell had taken a lot out of him. The bastard was beatable…if I could get my act together.

  Pushing out all other thoughts, I focused on saving myself. My magical barrier formed, weakly, and I remembered the ocean. Although the surface was always moving and sometimes raging, down below everything was still. I allowed myself to drop deep, sinking into the dark, quiet depths.

  Dana’s owner hit me with a fireball, but this time, my ward held. The flames crackled and popped around me but didn’t penetrate.

  I could move again, but I laid still, like I remained hidden in a kelp bed far under the surface. He might get overconfident.

  Instead of picking up my staff, which I’d dropped beside me, I groaned, exaggerating the pain I was still feeling.

  Eichmann approached. He held his staff with both hands high above his head.

  He was ready for a killing blow.

  The polished wood glistened in the sunlight as he roared and slammed it down.

  At the last second, I rolled away. He buried the end of his weapon inches into his lawn. I kicked him, catching his cheek with the heel of my shoe.

  His head snapped back but didn’t flop around. Too bad, I didn’t break your neck.

  It was his turn to drop to the ground, and I grabbed my weapon and sprung to my feet.

  Before I could strike him, though, he recovered and ran behind a clump of lilacs.

  I followed, but when I ran behind the shrubs, he was gone.

  The only thing behind the bushes was a huge old cottonwood thick with deep green leaves. Had he vanished?

  I didn’t know that kind of magic. There was little point to becoming invisible inside a gladiator’s ring. The space was too small to hide for long. But here, though, in this huge backyard, he could be anywhere.

  “Show yourself, you pussy!” When he didn’t, I turned to the crowd. Can you believe he’s running from a girl? Is that why he owns so many gladiators, because he can’t fight for himself?”

  A snarl came from the tree, and a mountain lion burst out from behind the leaves. Eichmann must’ve transformed himself.

  He ran along a thick branch for a second and lea
pt at me.

  Mother Nature! I was shocked, and I cowered, but I also stretched out my right hand, pointing my staff at the lion. No time for a spell.

  The bastard landed on the end of my weapon. His weight drove the tip into the ground, and the wood bent but didn’t break. And it kept the sorcerer from landing on me.

  He screamed with a mixture of anger and pain.

  Lucinda’s staff had saved me. I stood upright again, over the shock, and faced my enemy as he writhed on the ground.

  The crowd came close enough for me to pick out a few faces. The white-haired woman from the front door stood next to Dana. Neither could help either me or their owner, but they had to know, if I won, I’d free them both. Whether true or not, I felt their support even though most of the crowd continued to yell at me.

  I tried to conjure another spell, but it wouldn’t come. I knew Eichmann had just taken another form, but the magical part of my brain needed a moment to process that fact.

  My enemy didn’t help me any. He transformed again, this time to a young boy, short and thin. They boy leaned over with his hands on his knees, breathing hard.

  Time to finish this! I knew but I couldn’t strike. I even pointed my staff and spoke the spell. “Holarthon, elbo choque.”

  Nothing happened. Is this kid just in the wrong place at the wrong time? That’s impossible.

  I tried to create some protection while my magical mind unscrambled itself.

  The kid grinned suddenly and pointed. A white lightning bolt hit me square in the chest.

  My ward only stopped part of it. How can this fucker be so strong?

  I convulsed, losing my balance. When I dropped to the mulch, I rolled around. Have to stop the pain. Anything to stop hurting.

  I barely heard Eichmann’s words spoken in his deep, gravelly voice. “You arrogant bitch. Now you’ll pay.”

  When my mind cleared, he was standing right over me. The end of his staff was inches from my nose. “I’m going to do everything to Dana that you’ve done to me.”

  He shouldn’t have said that. It snapped me out of my selfish misery. I remembered why I was here. She needs help to get her away from this monster.

  Rage flamed hot inside me. Ignoring my staff, I stretched out my arm so the electricity would flow easily. Then I opened the door in my mind where I’d hid my hatred of him and his kind. “HOLARTHON, ELBO FRAPPE!”

  A ball of white-hot lightning erupted from my hand and hit him in the stomach. The boy’s t-shirt shirt caught fire, and he jerked and thrashed while still standing. He roared in an old man’s voice.

  I had no doubt anymore. Engaging my rage, I fired again, sending a second white-hot ball of lighting at him. And I kept them coming. My reservoir of hate and loathing was still almost full. As I shifted my aim, the pulses burned a line up the center of his body. The smoke from burning fabric and skin and hair blended together. It was the sweetest smell I could remember.

  It took all my effort to stay conscious—each pulse drained me so much. But I’d be damned if I was going fail Dana now. Not when my enemy was right in front of me and on the ropes.

  I kept firing, and when the sixth pulse hit him on the forehead, he collapsed. I was so weak, I couldn’t even stand. Instead, I sank to the ground and sat cross-legged in front of my enemy. When he hit the ground, he changed back to his normal body.

  Until that moment, most of the crowd had been cheering him on, but my pulsed lightning had shut them up. Ian had taught me the spell, another gem from Holar’s book, a few days before I’d visited Gill and Katie. This was the first time I’d conjured the spell in anger. Each pulse had burned a hole an inch deep into his body from his navel up to his forehead.

  Damn, it worked even better than I’d dreamed possible.

  When I felt steadier, I rose and towered over the giant pig of man. My magical core was sore from using too much power too quickly, but I held my staff upside down with its flat top a foot over Eichmann’s head.

  “Give up now, or I’m going to turn your head into mush.”

  I wasn’t sure whether he’d heard me. That last shot to his forehead seem to have knocked him senseless. But part of him was conscious or the buzzing in my ears would’ve ended.

  He held up one hand and croaked, “P-please, I-I give u-up.”

  Chapter 24

  I SCANNED THE silent crowd. “Any sorcerer still here in two minutes will get the same. His slaves should come forward now to be freed.”

  Most of the crowd turned and ran for the house. Those who stayed behind chanted my name.

  “SHAZAM! I claim the spoils of victory!”

  Eichmann’s power flooded through me, like he’d fired one last fireball in my direction. The surge felt incredible, almost blinding me, and I had to lean on my staff to stay upright. This son of a bitch would never hurt anyone else again.

  When the flow of power ended, my vision cleared, and I searched the dozen people left for only one person. It wasn’t hard to find her. She ran toward me with her arms open. Tears poured down her face.

  I was giddy with happiness. Laughter filled my mind.

  We hugged each other and spun in a circle. Physically, she looked as good as when I’d seen her at Suarez’s farmhouse. The girl was tough. As I held her, shivers of pleasure rolled through me.

  She stuttered, “I…I can’t believe it. I’ve hoped to see you a … again since last year, even d…dreamed a few times that you might save me. Then, when you showed up last month, I knew you were trying. By the gods, Moira, you are my Princess Charming.”

  I shed a few tears of my own and wiped them away. Holding her helped me put the last six horrible years behind me. My heart swelled, almost to bursting. “We’ve got a lot of catching up to do.”

  She tried to reply a couple of times, but the words didn’t come. We kept hugging each other.

  Minutes later, when I could finally let her go, I spotted Thao at the edge of the group of slaves.

  He grinned and gave me a thumbs up. “My heart stopped several times, but overall, very impressive work.”

  Seeing him reminded me of my biggest supporter, Philippe. I pulled my phone out of my back pocket and dialed him. “I bet you didn’t expect to hear from this crazy witch again, did you?”

  “Actually, I did. Shall I come and pick you and Dana up?”

  The guy was entirely too trusting. “How do you know this isn’t a trick?”

  “Your voice is overflowing with happiness,” he said. “I can’t believe, if you’d lost, you’d be able to fake happiness this well.”

  The guy was beginning to understand me. I turned to Thao and asked, “Can you arrange for a van to help these folks get away safely?”

  He nodded. “I’ve already made preliminary contact with a clan in LA that will take care of them while they decide where to go.”

  I returned to my call with Philippe. “Sure, my sweet, you can help me grab Dana’s things.”

  We hadn’t brought a healer with us, so Eichmann was going to have to suffer until Thao could get him help in LA. I freed my new slaves, except for Eichmann, and I helped him hobble back into the house. He wasn’t bleeding because the magical fire had cauterized his wounds, but they had to hurt like hell. Eichmann whimpered each time he moved.

  I wasn’t surprised to see that the house was empty, except for the caterers who were packing up. This party had ended early. I grabbed a bottle of beer and slaked my thirst. Fighting was tiring work.

  His former slaves crowed around me, and I finally realized how Ian had felt on the day he’d freed me—fantastic! It was a genuine thrill to help so many people who’d suffered so much.

  Philippe showed up, and I gave him a bear hug. “I’m really sorry for all the crap I put you through over the last few days.”

  He grinned at me. “In the immortal words of Voltaire, ‘It’s all for the best in the best of all possible worlds.’”

  I introduced my sister to my boyfri
end, then we hurried upstairs to her room to grab everything we could carry. There was still an off chance that some super-powerful sorcerer might show up late for the party and try to take me on. I’d had enough fighting for one day.

  Like most gladiators, Dana had been forced to live lean. In three trips, we emptied her room. Her stuff filled the sedan’s trunk and part of the backseat. The next time I saved a family member, I needed to rent a big SUV.

  After Dana was packed, we helped the others carry their possessions to a large van Thao arranged. When that was done, our sedan and Thao’s van left at the same time, heading in different directions.

  -o-o-o-

  IT TAKES SIX hours to drive from Riverside to Monterey. Because I’d put out a maximum effort during the fight, we stopped at a motel relatively early. Dana and I were both too wound up to eat dinner, but we kept Philippe company as he gnawed through the best steak I could find in San Fernando.

  Dana and I had a lot of catching up to do, and we couldn’t stop interrupting each other with questions. The champagne helped to loosen our tongues, and maybe we made too much noise for a fancy restaurant. I bought a round of drinks for the table next to us as atonement.

  Then I asked Dana a question that had been on my mind since the fight but I’d been afraid to hear the answer. “Have you heard any news about Cara or Mom?

  Dana sighed. “I’ve been worried since I first hugged you about how to tell you. I haven’t heard a word about Mom since I was sold on my eighteenth birthday, so it’s now been three and a half years. Our father was trying to sell her at the time, but the market for house slaves was lousy back then.”

  “Do you think he still owns her?” I asked.

  “I kinda hope so. He treated his slaves better than any of my owners have treated me. She could do a lot worse.”

  Dana’s answer surprised me. The monster had sold both of his daughters to the highest bidders as soon as possible, and he didn’t even ask our new owners to treat us nicely. Alan Boyle was the worst kind of father.