“Not alone, but I do not know if he has allies.”
“Do you know where he would be?”
“Such a circle would require a place of power.”
“The throne room,” Villia said. Shamarion sneered at her, but she continued. “If Sharim has taken control of the king, he may be able to use the power of the royal magic.”
“The traitor may be right.”
“Can you stop calling me that? I’m trying to help.”
“Will your help make it so you never turned away from your duties and rebelled? You are what you are.”
“She’s coming with us,” Jez said.
“Luntayary, I don’t know.”
“If Sharim was able to bind you, we’ll need all the help we can get.”
“I think it’s a bad idea, but as always, I will submit to the will of those set above me. It will be as you command, Luntayary. With your permission?”
Jez nodded and Shamarion drew his sword and walked out the door. Jez started to follow, but Osmund grabbed his arm.
“Did you know you outranked him?”
Jez shrugged. “I had no idea.”
CHAPTER 43
Shamarion didn’t bother to go around the wards. He walked straight through them, disabling them as he entered. Before long, a group of soldiers ran at the party. Shamarion waved a hand and azure sparks flew forward. One hit each soldier, hey stopped in their tracks and looked around. One asked where he was, but Shamarion just continued past them.
“What was that about?” Osmund asked.
“They were controlled,” Jez said. “He released them.”
It happened a few more times, but each encounter had the same result. On occasion Shamarion would wave a hand and the wall or floor would ripple revealing a glowing rune which he burned out. Jez recognized one as the broken crown of Maries.
“Will that hurt him in some way?” Jez asked.
“Probably not,” Shamarion said, “but it’s possible. Come, I can feel him gathering power.”
Jez nodded and realized he could feel the same thing. The air felt wrong, and it wasn’t just the ever present scent of sulfur. He held out his hand and summoned his sword. A second later, Villia did the same. Shamarion glared at her but she gave no response. Osmund looked at the three pharim weapons and sighed. He closed his eyes, and when he opened them again, they were the burning eyes of Ziary. The scion’s form replaced his a second later, and he drew his own weapon. The guards at the door to the throne room barely had time to bring their hands to their hilts before they were hit by Shamarion’s sparks. They looked at each other in confusion, though one drew his sword and held it up. Whether it was due to actual loyalty or out of a realization that he probably shouldn’t let just anyone into the throne room, Jez had no idea. Still, before the unearthly forms of Ziary and Shamarion, his blade shook in his hands. Ziary didn’t even resort to his own weapon. His hand darted forward and struck the guard on the wrist, sending the sword clattering to the ground. The others moved to draw their swords, but Ziary glared at them, his eyes glowing even brighter, and they took a step back. Shamarion actually looked disappointed.
“Disgraceful.”
“Did you actually want them to fight?” Jez asked.
“They are guardians. They should not abandon their duty.”
Jez shook his head but didn’t reply, and they moved past the terrified guards. Shamarion flicked a finger and the metal-framed doors swung inward. Sharim stood near one wall of the throne room with his hands raised. He was at the edge of a circle of glowing runes. In the center, Haziel sat on his throne. The king stared blankly in front of him, and he seemed to be having trouble keeping his eyes open. The purple barrier periodically flashed around him, but each time, it was a little fainter. As it faded, the king slumped a little more. Strands of power emanating from the circle latched to the barrier and drained its power, feeding it to the being standing next to Haziel.
The demon was the same size and shape as a human but with red eyes and blue skin. His hair, a darker shade of blue, had been cut short. His body was lean but with the same whipcord strength that many of the truly dangerous swordsmen had, those who relied on skill rather than brute strength. Unlike every other demon Jez had seen, this one wore clothes. His uniform was the white cloth that Jez had so often seen on officers at formal functions. A diving eagle token had been pinned to the right side of his chest, the sign of the supreme commander of the forces of Ashtar, a position that should have been held by the queen. He had other metals pinned beneath it. Jez didn’t recognize most, but one was in the shape of the broken crown of Maries.
Sharim lowered his hands and laughed. All the uncertainty was gone from his voice. “You took longer than I expected, though I admit, I didn’t expect you to free the Shadowguard.”
“You came from Dusan’s lands. You were his apprentice,” Jez said.
Sharim grinned, and the expression on his face looked like it belonged to someone far older. “Something like that.”
“It was you all along. You made the illusion of the circle in Varin’s room. You searched Lina’s room. You didn’t really find the book. You had it with you all along. You’ve been with the king every time he’s gotten angry.”
“I was surprised you fell for it so easily. I didn’t have to manipulate your mind at all, but then Shadowguards have never been the most subtle of creatures.”
The blood drained from Jez’s face. “Dusan told you about that.”
There was flash of purple, and Haziel screamed. The light around him flared, and the strands connecting it to the demon pulsed with power. Shamarion let out a battle cry and launched himself at Sharim. An instant before his sword would’ve split Sharim in two, a blade made seemingly of bone darted in front of him and caught his weapon. Maries had moved across the room faster than Jez’s eyes could follow. The circle continued to feed him power, he smiled revealing teeth of pure darkness. His dry voice made the hairs on Jez’s arm stand on end.
“The last time we fought, you had the advantage. Let’s see how you react when the roles are reversed.”
“You’re still outnumbered, Maries.”
Shamarion drew back his sword and thrust with one fluid motion, but Maries deflected the attack with casual indifference. He rebuffed three more strikes in the time it took Jez to take a breath.
“Am I?”
A dozen pillars of flame appeared around the throne room. When they faded, each left behind a chezamut. The creatures growled, and as one, they attacked.
CHAPTER 44
Five of the beasts rushed at Jez. A quick slash dispatched one of them, but the others attacked so furiously he had to turn all his efforts toward defense. There wasn’t time to think. There was only the instinctive reactions drilled into him by countless hours of sword practice. Blade met tooth and claw in movements almost too quick to be seen, but there were too many. It wasn’t enough, and after a few seconds, gashes ran down his arms, and a claw had sliced across his stomach. He batted aside one claw but another sank into his leg, and he stumbled.
He looked up, and time slowed down as the trio of claws descended toward him. His own blood gleamed on them. Even if he could raise his sword in time, he’d never deflect all three of them, and he wasn’t sure he could survive even one. With nothing more to lose, he drew deeply on Luntayary’s power. Wings emerged from his back and strength flowed into his limbs. His wounds closed, and his robes shifted to a shimmering blue. One of his wings knocked a demon aside as his sword opened the stomach of another. The third scored a hit against his shoulder and dragged its claw down his chest. Jez barely even felt it. The power coursing through him was too much. It threatened to consume him. A flick of his sword decapitated the one that had wounded him, and he lunged at the one he’d knocked aside, impaling it. He threw his hand toward the last creature. The silver binding shot forward, crashing into the demon’s chest. It cried out once before vanishing into the abyss.
The power inside of him was too
great to be contained by his mortal form. He could feel it burning his flesh away. He released it, and his wings disappeared. He sank to the ground feeling utterly drained. His sword vanished, and it was several seconds before he could gather his wits enough to take in the situation. Ziary battled four of the creatures while Villia fought two. The others, presumably, had already been banished. Shamarion and Maries moved in a blur of light and power. The room pulsed every time they came together. Sharim was still at the edge of the circle with his arms raised as he chanted.
With an effort, Jez got to his feet. He tried to summon his crystal sword, but it refused to come, and the effort nearly sent him to his knees again. Instead, he drew his metal blade and started moving across the room. He was halfway to Sharim before he was seen. Sharim uttered a word Jez didn’t recognize and one of the demons fighting Ziary disengaged and moved toward Jez, but that was all the opening Ziary needed. He batted aside a claw and immediately counterattacked, splitting open the demon’s head. The other two fell in quick succession before the one moving toward Jez had made it halfway there. It didn’t stand a chance when Ziary reached it.
“Now!”
The dry voice rang through the throne room like a hurricane. Jez turned and his blood went cold. Maries had driven his sword through Shamarion’s stomach. Its end came out of his back. His wings twitched and liquid blue light bled from his mouth. Harsh syllables rang out of Sharim’s mouth. The strands that had been draining power from Haziel lashed on to Shamarion. The pharim screamed as a hole of darkness appeared beneath him, and Jez gagged on the sulfuric smell. Maries lowered his sword, and Shamarion slid off of it. His limp form fell into the hole. The entire castle shook as abyss consumed the Shadowguard. Jez’s senses exploded as the boundary between the physical world and the abyss became paper thin. He could sense them. Maries’s army was coming.
CHAPTER 45
Sharim staggered and fell to one knee. Jez summoned what strength he could muster and launched himself forward, but Sharim rolled out of the way. Maries darted in, and his bone blade flicked Jez’s sword out of his hand. Before he could cut Jez down, however, Ziary interposed himself. Maries sneered, and spoke in a voice like crackling ice.
“I’ve just defeated a pharim warrior, little scion. What chance do you think you have?”
Ziary flicked his sword at Maries’s leg. There was a rent in the demon’s pants that Jez hadn’t noticed. Red motes flaked out. “You weren’t wounded then.”
Villia stepped up next to Ziary, her shadow blade casting odd shades of its own. “And you only faced a single opponent.”
“By the end of the day, my hoard will pour through that hole. What will you do against so many?”
Villia grinned. “By the end of the day, you’ll be banished. Shamarion will be retrieved and the hole will be closed, that is, if you’re not too much of a coward to face us.”
Maries’s eyes flared and he raised his blade. “Come at me, then!”
He hadn’t finished speaking when Ziary charged. Maries flicked the weapon away as if it were held by a child. Villia was on him a second later, but the demon effortlessly warded off her attacks. Even when Ziary recovered and joined the battle, Maries barely seemed inconvenienced. Jez, however, kept his attention focused on Sharim.
The false apprentice was chanting, and the hole seemed to rumble with every word. Everything smelled like sulfur now. Every once in a while, Sharim would cry out, and the hole would spew forth a great column of smoke, and the smell intensified. He was trying to hasten the army’s arrival. Jez raised his sword and charged.
Sharim moved aside, but Jez’s blade followed him, slashing across the left side of his chest. Sharim cried out and the circle dimmed a little. Jez’s eyes went wide. It was dependent on Sharim’s power. Without that to feed it, the circle might be disrupted. Jez threw himself at his foe, drawing on a reserve of strength he hadn’t known he’d had. He even tried to call on Luntayary’s power, willing to risk his life if would end this threat, but transforming was a strain at the best of times. As exhausted as he was, he couldn’t get a grip on the pharim’s power. Sharim reached toward Haziel and drew the smaller sword from the king’s scabbard. Like Jez’s own blade, it was a light weapon more suited to personal dueling than true battle. If Jez had been fully rested, he would’ve taken Sharim apart, but as it was, his movements were slow and sluggish. Equally tired from his ritual, Sharim barely avoided his attacks.
The room rumbled and a gout of sulfur billowed from the hole. Sharim stumbled and Jez thrust his sword forward. Sharim fell back to avoid the blow.
“Maries!”
The demon howled as Ziary’s sword slashed across its arm, but in the next instant, it was by Sharim’s side. Ziary and Villia joined Jez. Ziary bled fiery motes from half a dozen wounds, and Villia was favoring her left leg.
“The circle depends on Sharim,” Jez said.
Ziary nodded, but Maries sneered. “You’ll have to get past me to get to him, and I don’t think you’re up to that. Run, and I just might let you live.”
“He’s right,” Ziary said. “A few more seconds, and he would’ve killed us both. You wouldn’t be much help right now. If we survive today, we can come back stronger.”
Jez shook his head. An army of demons would take over Ashtar and very likely the world after that. It wouldn’t matter how much stronger they were when they came back, it wouldn’t be enough. He couldn’t let that happen, no matter the cost. He raised his sword and stepped forward. Ziary’s arm shot out in front of him.
“He’ll kill you.”
Jez met his friend’s gaze. “I know.”
Ziary’s eyes blazed but he withdrew his hand. If Jez died, Luntayary would be unleashed in the fullness of his power. He wasn’t sure if his pharim self was strong enough to defeat Maries or if he’d be allowed to fight even if he was. Pharim had unusual rules about that sort of thing, but he suspected Maries didn’t know the answer either. It was probably why he’d told them to run.
“If this doesn’t work,” Jez said. “Do whatever it takes to stop him.”
“I will,” Ziary said.
“I will,” the image of Ziary standing behind Maries said.
“I will,” the one near the throne said.
One by one, a dozen doubles appeared all over the room. Maries reached for the one nearest him, and it shimmered as his hand passed through it.
“Illusions.”
The images started moving around the room, though their steps were jerky. One darted forward and slashed at the demon, but his sword passed right through Maries. Maries laughed, but then the real Ziary started moving in a circle, mimicking the movements of the illusions. After a second, Jez had lost track of him completely.
“How will you tell which one is real,” Lina said from the door. She was leaning heavily on the doorway. “How will you know which to block?”
One of the Ziarys darted forward, and Maries’s sword rose to meet the attack, but his weapon passed right through it. Another image lashed at his throat. This time, the sword left a wide gash.
Sharim threw his hands toward Lina. The images of Ziary vanished as she reached up and grasped at her neck. She screamed. Maries slashed at Ziary, his blade missing the scion by inches. Without the illusions, Ziary didn’t stand a chance. Jez raised his blade and charged at Sharim. He was only a few feet away when Sharim saw him. Sharim redirected his working, focusing it on Jez, and the throne room vanished.
He was in the middle of a courtyard, chained to a wooden block. The manacles cut into his wrists and the block left splinters on his face. He turned his head just enough to see the ax gleaming in the sun. He screamed as it came down toward his head
“I’ve sealed the circle,” Sharim’s voice shattered the illusion. “Get us out of here.”
The images of Ziary were back and Maries was struggling to find the right one. He snarled. “The army.”
“The army will come even if we’re not here. They can’t stop that now.”
>
Three Ziarys rushed forward. Maries tried to block one, but they were all illusions. He grabbed Sharim in one hand and growled at the images before leaping into the air. He went almost to the ceiling and crashed through the window bearing the image of Sariel. The images of Ziary vanished, and Lina let out a long breath before turning her eyes to the hole.
“What is that thing?”
Villia looked like she was about to be sick. “It’s a portal to the abyss.”
CHAPTER 46
“We need a rope,” Jez said, “as long as we can get.”
“Why?” Villia asked.
“So you can pull me out of the abyss when I’m done,” Jez said as he stepped toward the hole.
“What?” Villia’s voice was almost a shriek.
“We need to get Shamarion out. We don’t stand a chance against Maries without his help.”
“Jezreel, you can’t go into the abyss.” Villia grabbed Jez’s shoulder before he could take another step. “Even we can’t go into the abyss. Not and come out again.”
“Maries came.”
“Maries was summoned into this world,” Villia said. “The focusing crystal made his form permanent, but I doubt he’d be willing to come into this world fully. The risk would be too great. He’s still a creature of the abyss, and when his form is destroyed, he’ll return there.”
“You mean if Shamarion is destroyed there, he’ll return here?”
“He wasn’t summoned. He was sent. I don’t think this has ever happened before. I have no idea where his power is. If it’s still in the Keep of the Hosts, he’s safe. If it’s not...” She let out a breath. “It’s different if you go by choice. You won’t be able to come back, much less bring anyone with you.”
“How do we get him back, then?”
Villia glanced at the hole. “I’m not sure we can, not without a focusing crystal and another greater summoning.”
“We can’t just leave him there. He’s a Shadowguard.”
Veilspeaker (Pharim War Book 2) Page 14
