by DB King
Uriel gave a little start, as if he’d been only half-listening to the conversation. “That remains to be seen,” he said distractedly, putting an arm on Maimonides’s shoulder. “You two may have the rest of the day off. I need to speak with your tutor and Tanuin at once.”
As the two men made their way back into the manor, Eleira shrugged. “What’s gotten into them?” she asked, cocking an eyebrow in Alec’s direction. “They look like they’ve seen a ghost or something.”
Well, there was no hiding it. “My exam wasn’t what Maimonides expected,” he said, noting Eleira’s shock. “Something changed the door I walked through before I went through it…”
As they walked back to the manor, Alec explained what had happened in the House of Doors. Eleira’s eyes widened as Alec regaled her with his tale of facing down the demoness—and her eyes filled with a curious shade of jealousy as he described the monster’s lush curves. When he got to the part about setting her free, the elf girl stood up as straight as a spear, glancing around them in sudden fright.
“She’s not here with us right now, is she?” Eleira asked.
“I’m... not sure,” Alec admitted. He didn’t truly understand how any of this worked. Not yet at least. He dearly wished he could have a nice long conversation with Uriel and Tanuin about all of this, get to the bottom of this secret society and what they wanted from him.
Unfortunately, he wouldn’t get his chance. As soon as Alec and Eleira reached the great hall, they saw Uriel and Tanuin making their way down the stairs, heavy packs slung over their shoulders. The elf must have returned while they were training in the House of Doors, but now it looked as if he was headed out again—and with Uriel. Tanuin carried far more than the aged Archmage, of course, allowing the older man to travel light.
“Tanuin —when did you get back?” Eleira’s eyes went to the pack on his shoulder. “Oh, you’re leaving again? Where are you going?” Eleira asked, pausing at the foot of the stairs.
The elven ranger sized Eleira up at a glance. A spark passed between them, and suddenly Alec knew that Tanuin knew he’d told the girl everything. His eyes gave no indication what he thought of that.
“I returned a few weeks ago, but I thought I’d better not distract you two.” Tanuin smiled briefly, then his face sunk back to seriousness. “Uriel and I have a mission,” he explained, nodding as he reached Eleira’s level. “You and Alec will stay here. Maimonides will take over both of your training for now. You’re roughly at the same level, so he’ll oversee your magical development. No more trips to the House of Doors for now— not until we know what’s going on there.”
“How will we be training now, then, Archmage Diamondspear, if not in the House of Doors?” Alec asked Uriel.
He’d rarely seen Uriel at such a loss for words. “Unfortunately, young man, Maimonides has the best hands I can put you in at the moment. Despite Eleira and your progress, neither of you are sufficiently prepared for entrance examinations at the Academy—not until you can channel the Greater Form of an Element, in any case. Maimonides will have to teach you, and he’ll have to do it without the House of Door’s help. I am sorry to leave you both like this.”
“Just tell us where you’re going,” Alec asked. “Please!”
“Your revelations have… accelerated things. The world is in an even more perilous state than we’d assumed,” the Archmage said in an imperious tone. He rose to his full height, and suddenly he was no longer kindly Uriel—he was the Archmage, one of the most powerful and terrifying magic wielders in all the kingdoms. “Not only are the portals within the House of Doors compromised, traitors work against us in the Realms. I intend to root them out, now, before their familiars can report back that they’ve been detected.”
The aura of power surrounding Uriel Diamondspear faded, and he was the kindly mentor once again. “Meanwhile, you will have to study and train hard,” he said in a kinder tone. “The situation has just become far, far more dire than any of us could have anticipated. I need both of you ready to take the examinations in a week.”
Eleira’s shocked gasp filled the hall. “A week! That’s not enough time!” She reached out to grab Archmage Diamondspear’s cloak, but retracted her hand. “Without the House of Doors, we have no hope of making enough progress. If we could just go there a few more—”
“Listen to me,” Archmage Diamondspear glared at the elf girl, as if to burn his words into her. “You will not, under any circumstances, attempt to use the House of Doors. If you—either of you—even so much as attempt to go to the floating island, I will personally ensure you never see the inside of the Academy.” He paused, as if only now realizing how viciously he spoke. He softened, breathing deeply. “A week is what you have. It may not be enough time, but it’s all we have.”
“It will have to be enough,” Maimonides said firmly. “We will find a way, Urry—don’t doubt that.”
“I don’t.” The Archmage gathered his robes around him, ready for travel. “Shall we, Tanuin?”
In all this conversation, the elven ranger had barely said two words. Now he turned to Alec, his brows furrowing in a kindly expression. “Take care of Eleira,” he said, patting Alec on the back. “And yourself.”
With that, the pair of them retreated down the hall. Alec watched them go, disbelief spreading through his chest. “What are we going to do without them?” he asked, his eyes fixed on Uriel’s back.
The answer came from Maimonides. “We’re going to learn,” the gnome said. “By the time they get back, we’re going to need to have both of you whipped into shape.”
As he watched them go, Alec agreed. He only hoped he and Eleira were up to the challenge.
* * *
Alec wouldn’t have thought that after the events he’d been through within the House of Doors that things could go back to normal so quickly. But as Maimonides increased the pace and difficulty of lessons, getting both he and Eleira into it, Alec soon fell into a rhythm that left him little time to worry about what Uriel and Tanuin were up to.
Without the House of Doors to provide a change of scenery, Maimonides settled for skirmishes on the Northmund Estate’s lawn. He pitted Alec against Eleira in games of magical strength and knowledge—the first nearly always won by Alec, the second always won by Eleira. The elf girl read her book frequently while Maimonides put Alec through drills, having him absorb and return energy from nearby objects rapidly until he could do it almost without thinking. The effort left him physically and mentally exhausted, so much so that every night it felt as if a weight had settled on his eyelids the moment he reached his quarters.
Several days like this passed, until Maimonides stopped the drills. A growing sense of frustration had filled them. Although both pupils were learning the ways of magic, it couldn’t be denied that Alec’s raw magical power far outstripped Eleira’s. It didn’t help that any time there was even a hint of a stalemate between them, Maimonides would increase the danger and bring Alec’s hidden powers to the fore. Soon Eleira ignored the duels completely, preferring to keep her nose in a book while Alec practiced vigorously on the lawn.
He couldn’t help feeling that he’d offended Eleira, although he’d done nothing to her himself. She was no longer the harsh, aloof girl she’d been when he first met her at Northmund, but neither could she truly be called his friend. The romantic tension between them was still taut on the battlefield and at meal times, but neither of them had the time or energy to follow up on them. With each day that passed, Eleira’s frustration grew—until one day, at practice, it finally boiled over.
Somehow, Alec had managed to talk her into a duel. A rather simple one, involving the Element of Water—ice at twenty paces, each trying to freeze the other to the point of withdrawing from the battlefield. And Eleira had just been about to succeed—when Maimonides struck Alec between his shoulder blades with a rod. Alec screamed in rage and pain, sending a unicorn made of ice slashing through Eleira’s half-formed spell. The elf girl fell on her bo
ttom, swearing in a language Alec had never heard before.
“I’m sorry,” he said quickly, closing the distance between them. “I didn’t mean to—”
“This isn’t working!” Eleira screamed. Something broke inside of her, her hands clutching the long chestnut tresses of her hair. “I’m not going to be ready for the Academy exam on time! This is useless!”
Maimonides stepped in. “Come now,” the gnome said, a hint of worry in his features. “I know we’ve been pushing you hard, girl. But a thing as beautiful as you has stamina to match—”
It was the wrong thing to say, and everyone but Maimonides seemed to know it. “And you,” the elf girl growled, pointing a trembling finger at the gnome. “If you could stop being a pervert for twenty minutes, maybe you could actually teach us something!”
Before Maimonides could say another word, Eleira bolted from the practice field. She held a hand over her face, stifling tears as she raced back to the main building of the manor. Alec made to follow, but a hand on his abdomen stopped him.
“Let her go,” Maimonides said with a heavy sigh. “Damn it, I knew this would happen. I’m being too hard on you both. The task Urry gave me... getting the both of you ready in a week... without the House of Doors, I don’t see how I can possibly do it. It’s not enough, and she knows it.”
Alec frowned. “You’re the teacher,” he said, entreating the gnome with his gaze. “It’s your responsibility to get us ready.”
“I know,” Maimonides said with another sigh. “That’s why I’m going to give the lass a half-hour to cry into her pillow and tell herself how unfair the world is, then I’ll bring her back here and continue training. In the meantime, why don’t you take a break as well? You might as well relax for a few minutes. Why not grab a bite in the dining hall?”
Alec thought that was a wonderful idea, indeed. His stomach growled as if it were agreeing with Maimonides right then and there, and the gnome laughed in approval. A few minutes later, Alec sat at a table in the dining hall along with some of Archmage Diamondspear’s servants, nibbling his lunch. For once, it was nice to be treated like everyone else. No one in the servant’s hall looked at him like he was some kind of hero, or like he was their superior. He was just another man eating his meal.
“You promised me spiders,” a voice whispered in his ear.
Well. Maybe not quite like other men.
Alec turned, but he already knew what he would see: nothing. The demoness could turn invisible whenever she wanted—perhaps she wasn’t even in the hall in a bodily form. “I did,” he whispered, hoping no one overheard. “And as soon as I can get into the House of Doors safely again, I will.”
Alec thought he heard a laugh at the edge of his perception. “Why can’t you go there now?” the voice whispered.
“Haven’t you heard anything?” Alec asked, muffling the words with the rim of his cup. “The House of Doors is compromised. They don’t lead where they’re supposed to. No one can go in them until Uriel verifies they’re safe.”
“Well then,” the voice purred, the last syllable turning into a giggle, “why is your little friend there now?”
Little friend? Who could she possibly... Eleira.
“You’re lying,” Alec muttered.
“She’s there right now,” the demoness whispered. “Ooh—she’s picking a really bad one to walk through. That door might just eat her alive.”
“Stop it!” Alec roared. He stood up, but of course there was no one there. The servants stared at him for a moment, then went back to eating, unperturbed. He wasn’t the first, nor would he be the last Diamondspear to be a little eccentric at meal times.
Alec had to verify the demoness was lying. Surely Eleira wouldn’t go to the House of Doors, would she? At the very least, she’d take Maimonides with her. There was far too much danger in walking through those doors—
He thought of Maimonides’s words on the practice field. This method of training isn’t working - and she knows it…
Yes. Yes, Eleira would go to the House of Doors alone, if it meant the difference between getting into the Academy or not. Damn it!
Alec’s steps turned into a dead run. He couldn’t go to Maimonides. If he found out and told Uriel, Eleira’s hopes for the Academy—the very thing for which she was now risking her life—would be dashed. No, Alec had to rescue her without the gnome’s help. Just like when Marcus made his way into the Crypt, he was on his own.
And just like Marcus and the Crypt, Alec prayed he could get there in time.
Chapter 21
I feel like I’ve done this before, Alec thought, staring up the length of the great chain leading to the House of Doors. Only last time, the person I was chasing into danger was too young to know better. Damn it, Eleira, what have you gotten yourself into?
No trace of the elf girl could be seen from the grounds of the Northmund Estate. Try as he might, Alec couldn’t see what was happening on the floating island, let alone inside the House of Doors. Had Eleira already made it inside the House – Gods forbid, inside one of the doors – or did she still stand there thinking it over, wondering if it was worth it? He hoped for the second, but feared the first.
The cable cart was nowhere to be found. Alec remembered Maimonides sending it back down the chain after they’d ascended to the floating island ‘just in case’ anyone else needed to access the House behind them. Belatedly, he realized this step was necessary to give anyone else the ability to access the House of the Doors. Without the cable cart at the bottom of the chain, Alec had no means to access the floating island.
“No,” he muttered, pulling the lever again and again. “No! Come on, come down here you stupid rustbucket!”
It was no use. Alec would have been glad, for the first time, to see the rickety, swaying box of metal making its way down the chain, but it refused to budge. Eleira had taken it with her to the House of Doors, and unless she suddenly thought to send the conveyance back down, he and everyone else were trapped far below with no way to rescue her.
Or were they?
Alec pulled the Bloodcloak tighter around his slender frame. In the fields of the Archon Temple, the enchanted cloak responded to his need, teleporting him into the treeline to stop a bandit from escaping with one of the foundlings in tow. It had responded in the demoness’s realm too, when he needed to retrieve his fallen Diamondspear.
He stared up the length of the chain, a hollow feeling spreading through his chest. Before, when he’d used the Bloodcloak to teleport, it had sent him perhaps the length of the Temple’s vegetable garden. The chain stretching from the Estate to the House of Doors looked to be at least two or three times that length.
It responds to need, he told himself, his resolve hardening. And Gods, do I have a need right now!
If Eleira walked through those doors alone, she’d never come back out through the other side. Alec knew it—knew it with the same certainty he knew the sun would rise the next morning. Nothing told him it would happen, yet he felt it in his bones. He needed to be there, otherwise the elf girl was done for.
“Bloodcloak,” he whispered, staring at the rim of the floating island and picturing himself standing upon it. “I need your help. If you don’t get me up there, Eleira is in a lot of trouble.”
He could never have asked such a thing for himself. His pride would have kept him from doing it. But a friend in danger? Ah, that brought the power flowing through his fingertips. He hugged the Bloodcloak tighter, closing his eyes and imagining himself standing at the entrance to the House of Doors. Stepping across the threshold, chasing Eleira up to the top floor, and stopping her just before she entered the forbidden door—
That peculiar wrenching sensation overwhelmed him, and he knew he was in motion. The Bloodcloak teleported him through open air, sending him upward in a way nothing else could. He could practically feel the cool grass against the bottoms of his boots, and a smile of triumph lit up his face.
He opened his eyes.
And found himself staring hundreds of feet down into the valley below.
Only Maimonides’s weeks of training saved him. His reflexes, sharpened by magic and constant combat, sent his hands wrapping around the links of the oversized chain an instant before he fell into the clear blue sky. His body twisted, legs kicking out for something to hang onto. Nothing lay beneath him—he dangled from the twisted length of chain, about halfway up the metal box’s journey. A taut strand of cable hung above his head, stretching to the floating island far above.
The Bloodcloak hadn’t been able to teleport him all the way to the House of Doors. Its magic faltered, or perhaps he wasn’t in tune enough with the Archon’s heirloom to make full use of its power. As a result, he’d found himself hanging from the great chain, helplessly swaying in the wind.
His gaze traveled up the chain’s metallic length. It hung at nearly an eighty degree angle before him, going almost vertical against the base of the floating island. The strongest man in the world might have been able to climb that surface, but Alec was far from the strongest man in the world. Sliding down seemed a safer prospect, but even that had its difficulties. And getting back down the Estate would only prolong the time Eleira wandered the House of Doors alone.
Alec closed his eyes and tried to use the Bloodcloak a second time. Perhaps another shot could boost him to the rim of the floating island? Just as he felt the wrenching sensation begin to take hold, a blast of wind nearly knocked him loose from the chain. He held on for dear life, his fingers beginning to ache against the cold. The metal was pitted, worn with rust in several places, and the exertion of holding on so tightly strained his muscles.
I don’t even know if I can get back down, Alec realized. Panic took hold of him. What do I do?
The chain shook beneath him, as if trying to impart an answer. His grip shifted again, the world lurching beneath him, and his legs kicked out against open air as he struggled to reassert his balance. His fingers tingled with cold—and with something else entirely.
