Blood of the Lost: The Darkness Within Saga: Book 2

by JD Franx

  Lost and confused as to how to help the man who had so selflessly saved her life and so many others in Cairnwood, Cassie forced herself to stop crying. Kael had called her a healer and a young woman. She had to act like one now and get ready to follow after him until she could help. No matter how long it took.

  When the women in white left the camp, with Kyah dressed to match, they had a shadow following them in the trees high above.

  Chapter Thirty-Two

  “We have tried repeatedly to bring this DeathWizard, Jasala Vyshaan, to justice. Two of Talohna’s four ArchWizards joined the raid on her new stronghold. We had her trapped alone. After a short fight, we finally managed to overpower her and lock her into the magical bindings given to us by Warden Karr from the EdgeCliff Gulag. The gulag’s guard-wizards use the devices to secure their prisoners. One has never broken.

  “But a DeathWizard is not a normal wizard. Once bound, Jasala changed over the course of only minutes. Black smoke wept from her eyes but drifted upwards. Her voice grew deeper and garbled, almost as if it had several other individual voices mixed in. The security devices cuffed to her wrists shattered as if they were made from straw when she flexed her wrists. Her physical strength was incredible. Dark magic unlike anything I have ever seen obeyed her commands, even though she spoke no words. I did what I could to boost the power of both of my ArchWizards’ magics. I even dropped my own shield to give them even more power, but nothing harmed the creature we had woken. Nothing helped. She turned her magic my way, and I can remember nothing after that. Next time, I recommend we take no chances and send every resource we can muster.”

  Master Wizard Sebastian Locke’s deposition statement

  Provided to the Cethosian Wizards’ Tribunal investigating the deaths of two ArchWizards killed by Jasala Vyshaan

  5001 ARE

  CAULDRON’S TEETH MOUNTAIN RANGE

  THE WEDGE

  The Sartaq had been waiting at the break in the Cauldron’s Teeth Mountains for two days when a Reaver flag appeared on the ocean’s horizon. A couple hours later, the Twilight Reave was anchored in the deep water offshore, and a rowboat brought several people to dry land during low tide. Vexa had two dozen blow-dart warriors hidden throughout the area in case the meeting went badly. As the rowboat crunched into the sandy beach, Dominique Havarrow and Cormack WhiteFrost escorted Sythrnax to where Vexa waited with her priestesses. Corleya and Alia, as well as Lyrocri and Damien, waited behind then. All four sat down and rested, still tired from carrying the camp’s supplies on the way down the mountain and by taking care of the slave duties for the past two days that twice their number normally did.

  Lycori watched with intense interest. Groaning when she saw Sythrnax, she quickly pulled her hood up and put her head down.

  “What is it?” Corleya asked.

  “That creature, the masked one...”

  “Yes?”

  “Do not attract its attention, no matter what you do. Keep your heads down and be quiet...”

  “Hey, Havarrow!” Damien yelled. “Dominique! Over here. Fuck man, get me out of this gods-damned jungle.” Lycori turned, her eye instantly catching Sythrnax. She ducked away before he could see her. “No, Damien. Shit,” she hissed. She lunged for him, but missed. Corleya and Alia also missed as Damien side-stepped both and slowly walked towards the meeting with his hands up.

  “Damien Krass? Tyr’s bloody blade, what are you doing here?” Dominique shouted.

  “The Bastard’s Curse went down on the Storms’ volatile waters two years ago. Been stuck with these animals ever since...”

  “Silence,” Vexa barked. “Return to the others or be darted. We have the Goddess’ work to complete.”

  “That’s all right, Vexa,” Sythrnax said, softly, still staring at Lycori. “You have already enlightened my day. Let’s finish here, so we can discuss the sale of a few of your slaves.”

  “Your relic,” Vexa said, holding out the strange shaped key the vile goddess gave her. “My slaves are not for sale. These least of all.”

  Sythrnax gently took the relic from her hand. “But my dear, I think they are. The pirate, the two young women, and that enchanting creature under the hood. Anything you want, Vexa. Anything.”

  “Anything?”

  “Of course.”

  “The black stone inside your glove,” Vexa said, smiling. The mask covering Sythrnax’s face twitched as if he were furious, but it quickly disappeared.

  “Fair enough, Miss Vexa of the Sartaq. Tell the vile goddess I expect her to replace my stone if she’s going to be telling mortals about it. We have a deal then? The stone for those four slaves?”

  Vexa nodded, bowing low. “A deal is struck.”

  “Bring these four with us,” Sythrnax said. “Your man may remain free, Havarrow, but keep the other three in chains.” Passing Corleya and Alia, he arrived at Lycori. Lifting her chin, he slowly pulled back her hood. “Well, that is very interesting.” He crouched, staring her in the face. “Nice to see you alive, Lycori Alatar. So very nice. I look forward to your explanation as to how you still live and how my DeathWizard escaped a Dwarven gulag designed to hold magic users. All while surrounded by Dead Sisters, Orotaq warriors, and a mountain swarming with Mahala.”

  Remembering what Kael had told her so many months ago, she looked up and blew Sythrnax a kiss. His mask twitched with irritation, making her smile. “I have no idea how Kael escaped. Your hags left me for dead, covered in rotting corpses at the bottom of a pit, remember? I’m not as easy to kill as you think, Sythrnax. Go back and follow the trail of rotting Mahala. And Kael? He’s clearly a lot stronger than you think he is. I sincerely hope I’m there the day he tracks you down.”

  Sythrnax’s fist smacked into her mouth. “I merely underestimated you both, my dear,” he said. “It won’t happen twice. Captain Havarrow?”

  “Yeah?”

  “You ever transport vampyrs or werwolves in that ship of yours?”

  “At times. We do work for bounty hunters on occasion.”

  “Good,” Sythrnax said. He turned towards the pirate but pointed at Lycori. “Make sure this one is chained and collared with silver. Hands, feet, and neck. Lengths of silver chain between her feet, to her hands, between her hands, and to her neck. If you please. You see, Miss Lycori, I rarely make mistakes, and never twice.”

  DWARVEN MOUNTAIN RANGE

  It was an hour or so before dark when Kyah led the group off the trail and into the trees. Two hundred yards in, at a cleared cliff edge, a dozen Dead Sisters had already made camp. Exhausted from desperately trying to maintain his focus while riding all day and still keep the collar’s pain at bay, Kael was having a hard time counting how many more Dead Sisters began arriving in the camp within thirty minutes of their own arrival. Positive there were at least five ternions including Kyah’s, it took Kael minutes to realize the number was much higher than fifteen. Every ternion of three had at least one novice or apprentice, some had two, which meant he was outnumbered by better than twenty to one. It did not include how many travelled with the Cardessa whenever she showed up in the clearing. He suspected she wouldn’t be far behind.

  Once in the camp, Kyah’s second and third, Kyrce and Avara, dragged Kael from his horse, tied his hands behind his back, and escorted him to the tent positioned at the cliff’s edge. Once inside, he was forced to kneel in front of the tent’s centre pole. Avara turned and left right away, but Kyrce bent down and knelt beside him.

  “Sit,” she snapped, pushing his forehead hard enough for him land on his butt with his back against the pole. She smiled, whispering. “Kykr nadr.”

  Kael stared in panic as the heavy braided rope in Kyrce’s hands stirred to life. Like an unleashed serpent, it curled around her arm, rising off her wrist like a cobra preparing to strike. It swayed back and forth as the young witch smiled wider, her shiny white teeth showing her true age; the corruption of demonic magic had yet to set in and twist her features. Then as if quickly becoming bored, the smile
dropped away, replaced by a sneer.

  “Oruggr,” she hissed, and the rope struck. Too fast to follow, Kael winced, expecting a magical bite, but felt nothing until the rope slid around his already-bound wrists and yanked them tight to the tent-pole. Pulling a hooked dagger from her waist, Kyrce stood and stepped behind his back. Kael felt his initial bonds loosen and pull free seconds before the witch murmured the spell a second time. Kael gasped as the ropes tightened further. He felt them continue to move, assuming they were wrapping around the centre-pole.

  She barked again, keeping the spell active. “Oruggr.” The single word commanded the ropes to tighten further, and Kael grunted from the pain.

  Kael opened his eyes to find Kyrce nose to nose with him. “My sister loves you, DeathWizard. Our mother died so Kyah could have the chance to be the one trained to help you once you got here.”

  In no mood to argue, he shook his head. “Yeah? Kyah told me about you. That your mother was a snack for hungry Orotaq soldiers. That your cruelty knew no limits. So, make whatever point you’re trying and leave me alone.”

  “I know what the Cardessa has planned, little wizard. When Kyah cannot follow through, I will kill her for disobeying orders and her ternion will become mine. That is what I wanted you to know.” She sneered and then elbowed him in the mouth, splitting both lips. As blood streamed down his chin and onto his chest, she stood to leave.

  Kael yelled after her. “Let me know when you plan to do that. The best part of my year will be watching you two kill each other.” When she turned with a puzzled look on her face, he laughed. As the look on her face turned to anger, he laughed harder. Kyrce screamed in utter annoyance. Turning back, she kicked him under the chin and stormed out. Even with the added agony, several minutes passed before Kael could stop laughing.

  DWARVEN MOUNTAIN RANGE

  A few hours after dark, the Dead Sisters came for Kael, dragging him out to a roaring bonfire at the centre of their camp. The Cardessa was waiting for him.

  “Master Kael,” she smiled, but sarcasm filled her voice. “So good to see you once more. Did you enjoy your time with our beautiful N’Ikyah? She tells me you have been able to resist her... special qualities, to some extent.” She chuckled.

  “Well, you know me, Ugly,” he responded. “I try to disappoint when I can.”

  The Cardessa looked at him and he wondered if she was debating killing him on the spot. “I see you have gotten no wiser, with your brain or your big mouth. But we are not here for that. I think, this time you may even enjoy our visit, dear boy.”

  “Don’t think just for my benefit, please. I’d hate for you strain something at your age.” Kael smiled as the Cardessa’s cheek began to twitch. He recognized the tell from his days imprisoned at Arkum Zul. It meant she was already losing her normally stoic cool. Having that affect on her, he waited for the retaliation, laughing as the old hag backhanded him.

  “I am tired of your mouth and your insistent disregard for what you are. Mistress N’Ikyah was given to you because your kind are born very rarely, naturally. However, a DeathWizard will always produce offspring born to the Black Sun. Her job was to make sure your Legacy does not end with you. You somehow managed to resist her, with only two exceptions. Those have not produced within her a child, yet, as far as we can tell. Though we cannot detect the early stages of pregnancy. My Sisters will make sure the next thirteen nights while you travel with them to Kazzador City, you will produce a child. Fifteen seduction spells will strip your resistance and Kyah’s new glamour trinket will ensure it. And if not, my new second, Voranna Talavyr, will use her seventh hell magic to strip every ounce of what you are until only the tattered shell of your soul remains. Then, the same will continue until she is with child. Afterward, you will be handed to Sythrnax for whatever he needs you for. Beyond his use, we will take you home to the DemonBone Swamps where you will either become a stud horse for as many Black Sun births as we can get from you, or you will die. Do you understand? Is that thinking hard enough for you?” she growled viciously. Grabbing his chin, she squeezed hard until her dirty fingernails drew blood.

  Kael closed his eyes as if to think about it for a while. The Cardessa’s slap opened them. “Sorry about that. I was trying to remember everything you were babbling on about. You’re worse than an Orotaq shaman, blah, blah...” A second slap rocked the other side of his face. It made him smile, his ever-tenuous hold on sanity slipped a little further and a hunger inside him stirred. The same as it had while in their captivity before. “I can’t stop you, witch, so do your worst. Interesting things seem to happen when you do. Or haven’t you learned that by now? You like to pretend you know what I am, just like Sythrnax does. But in reality, you have no more knowledge of what is inside me than I do. The last time you monsters pushed too hard, Arabella’s entire group died, or at least they should have,” he said, staring at Ashea as she stood at Kyrce’s side. “How about we try again, see if a real monster shows up this time, shall we?” Kael laughed. Unable to help himself, and completely out of control, his laughter climbed to a cackle of hysterics, but he didn’t care.

  “We shall indeed see. You should know by now that Dead Sisters do not fear death of any kind. Not even one you can provide.” Kael’s laughter stopped short, like a switch clicking somewhere his brain.

  He looked down at her and lowered his voice. “You might want to be careful, Ugly. I’ve learned a few new tricks since last time. There are some things far worse than death.”

  “I am well aware. But if you could ever overpower the effects of this new Gyhurra collar around your neck,” she said tapping the metal collar with a hooked yellow fingernail, “any demon you pull into this world would simply answer to us. It is where our magic comes from, remember? Being blessed with demonic magic does have a few benefits. You forget too easily, boy. N’Ikyah?”

  “Yes, Cardessa?” she said, stepping forward.

  “Take him to the tent. It has been prepared. If you need help, it is here. My novices and I will return to the Bone. You have your orders.” Kyah didn’t move, so Kael stood and watched as the Cardessa raised her voice and addressed the entire coven. “No one is allowed to use demonic magic from this moment on, even in the face of death. The ArchWizard can’t be more than a couple of days behind you. Should he overtake you, your cover story won’t hold up if there are markers of the Lower Brethren all over this clearing and the essence of demonic magic on your bodies. You will all answer to Voranna; her ternion has the lead once I am gone. Understand?” Getting no objections, she added, “Do not fail.”

  Voranna stepped forward. “We won’t, Mistress.”

  Kyah nodded and bowed, followed by the remaining Sisters. Several Sisters helped the Cardessa into the small carriage at the edge of the clearing. Three of the young girls joined her inside and the carriage left. Kael couldn’t make out who or what the driver was. The hunched figure, dressed in a hooded, heavy black woollen robe never moved the entire time Kael had been questioned.

  Voranna’s voice grabbed his attention. “Kyah, take as many Sisters you need and get yourself cleaned up. Kyrce, return Kael to his tent, and then begin your preparations for the ritual we discussed. Make sure every Sister understands that no matter what happens over the next few weeks, no demonic magic is to be used, as per the Cardessa’s orders. I don’t care if a giant stumbles into this camp. Modern magic only. Anyone who violates the Cardessa’s orders will be executed as a traitor.”

  “Yes, Ma’am,” Kyah replied and turned away from Kael as several of the younger witches joined her, giggling and laughing. It made his stomach turn.

  Taking Kael by the arm, Kyrce dragged him back to the tent. Pushing him inside, she tied his hands behind his back. Lighting several free-standing candle sconces, she smiled as he looked around, his eyes settling on the tent’s new addition.

  “I almost wish it were me joining you shortly,” she said, pointing her chin towards the collection of fuzzy blankets laid out on a large soft sleeping mat.
Surrounded by dozens of velvet pillows of varying sizes, along with an array of fruits and bottles of wine, Kael couldn’t help but think of some crazy sultan’s harem room from old movies back home. The tent was nice and warm, even cozy and inviting. His travel pack sat to the side. It and the soft bed would have been the best sight he had seen in weeks, if not for the camp full of crazy witches that went along with it.

  “You won’t be missing much,” he said.

  “I beg to differ. You underestimate what my Sisters can do, my dear. You have never experienced the combined power of a real coven once they have joined their power.” Her voice suddenly shifted to a calm, almost soothing tone. “Six Sisters will shred your resistance, twelve will make it vanish completely, but eighteen or twenty-four will destroy all of what makes you… well, you.” She laughed and stepped out of the tent, leaving him alone. Utterly exhausted, Kael lay down in the bed and quickly fell asleep, even with the painful collar and his hands tied behind his back.

  Kyah entered quietly, but still he woke with a start, his nerves vibrating. He sat up, facing her, even though her mere presence made him uncomfortable. Looking up, he noticed she had changed her clothing. The long white dress was gone, replaced by a mid-calf length, tight, sheer black dress that looked more like a painted-on night dress. He scoffed. The dress had obviously been designed to entice. Her hair was shiny and clean, curled and pulled up at the sides. A light coating of make-up had been applied to her face and her eyes darkened with liner. For a split second, he realized the shy, plain-looking young woman he first saw in the prison cell below Arkum Zul was breathtakingly beautiful... or she would have been on any other night.