The Lord of Obsidian [Quest for Earthlight Trilogy Book 2]

by Laraine Anne Barker

  "Did the Power of Obsidian tell you we must destroy the book?"

  Peter frowned, trying to remember. “No."

  "You're quite sure?"

  Peter looked steadily into Merlin's probing eyes. “I'm positive. I'd remember something as important as that."

  "In that case, we'd better put it somewhere safe.” And Merlin whisked the book from Peter's unresisting hands.

  Peter watched regretfully as Merlin shut the book and held it out towards the flames with his left hand. He passed his right hand back and forth over the title on the cover and muttered a few words. The Book of Obsidian disappeared. Peter sat looking at the faint outline that remained in the air for a few seconds. Then his eyes returned to the fire, his mind willing the vision of the forest fire to return.

  Failing, he sighed with frustration and turned to Merlin. “I saw a forest on fire. What does that mean?"

  "Ah!” Merlin sat staring at the flames as though he had forgotten Peter's presence. Then he looked straight at Peter. “I've seen that vision myself—several times in fact. It always comes when I'm staring into flames, but I can't call it up at will and I never get a good look at the forest or its surroundings. Did you?"

  "No.” Peter swallowed hard as he remembered what the Essence of Obsidian had asked him to tell Merlin. “There's something I was told to tell you. Sujad Cariotis went back into the past—some little time before the witch Morgause was born I think. He—he had a son. You've met him. He's Jadus Castirio, who we thought was Sujad's ancestor. I heard Morgause plotting with Jadus—it was just before we went to see them—and she was telling him that she wanted him to follow us to join his father in the battle against the Earthlight."

  Merlin looked grim. “I was sure there was someone following us. I suspected it might be Jadus. I even figured out how Morgause could have sent him. You remember she drew him close to her side and deliberately brushed my cloak, timing her movements perfectly to coincide with the spell that took us back to Bart. Jadus could be out there right now. He could have heard everything we've said."

  "I doubt that,” Bart said calmly. “For a start, you placed a spell of forbidding and protection around the house and, although you and I were responsible for enabling Peter to learn from the Book of Obsidian, we saw nothing more than a boy reading a book. Jadus Castirio is hardly likely to have seen or heard anything we didn't."

  Merlin stood up. “Nevertheless we must find him and send him back where he came from.” He held out his hands. “Stand up, both of you. Now take my hand and face the fire.” Bart stood and took Merlin's left hand and Peter took the right. They all turned their eyes to the flames. “Concentrate hard. Do your utmost to picture the face of Jadus Castirio in the fire."

  Having seen Jadus so recently, Peter had no trouble in doing as Merlin asked. He conjured up such a vivid picture in the flames that the son of Sujad the Great, Lord of Obsidian, might have been looking out of the fire at him. A shiver traveled along his spine as he heard Merlin's voice, resonating as though in an echo chamber.

  "Jadus Castirio, I command you: show yourself. Through the power of the Earthlight the evil sorceress brought you here, so the power of the Earthlight commands that you be returned to your own time."

  Peter saw the mouth of the face in the flames stretch into a shouted denial. He heard the vehement cry, “No! No! No! I won't go! I want to stay with my father. I've come to claim my birthright as heir to control over the Obsidian Orb."

  Merlin's fierce reply rang out. “The Obsidian Orb belongs to the Earthlight. Your only chance of becoming Lord of Obsidian is by overthrowing and destroying your father—and even then you would probably find yourself denied. Your father gained his power because he assisted me to recreate the Obsidian Orb—which gave him a birthright claim. But he cannot hand the right on to his children. Do you understand?"

  "You lie! You're every bit the smooth-tongued liar and hypocrite Morgause says you are! You want me out of the way so you yourself can overthrow and destroy my father. And you were supposed to be his friend. I'm here to see you don't succeed. I'll help him in any way I can."

  "The Earthlight commands that you present yourself to the Great One this instant!” Merlin roared.

  The face in the flames wavered like a desert mirage. Then, like an illusion, it vanished, and there in front of the hearth, facing them and almost touching Merlin, stood Jadus Castirio. Fury and hatred distorted his fine features to ugliness. He tried to back away from the sorcerer's powerful magnetic field but was stopped by the fire.

  "What do you want?"

  "You will go back where you came from,” Merlin said sternly, fiercely.

  "No! No! No! You can't make me."

  "Since you were brought here by mistake through the power of the Earthlight vested in me, I can make you."

  Merlin thrust out his hands and grabbed Peter's left hand and Bart's right. Bart moved towards the fire, extending his hand to Peter behind Jadus's back. Obviously divining the trio's intention to surround him, Jadus threw back his head and yelled, “Father! Father!” At the same time he struck Bart's arm away.

  To the dismay of the Earthlight trio the air started to darken and quiver. The spell of forbidding and protection that Merlin had placed around the house had been weakened by the sorcerer's command for Jadus to present himself. Having invited into the house one who served the cause of the Evil One—or was about to do so—he opened the way for the Evil One's more powerful servants, or even for the Evil One himself. From where the air was quivering a sound like someone twanging at a badly tuned stringed instrument issued. Instantly Merlin flung both arms in the direction of the noise. Bright rainbows of light shot from his fingertips. But the shaking air struck the twisting rainbows away and the gathering darkness of the Evil One's black cloud swallowed the light from them like a power-hungry monster.

  Before Bart could lift his hand towards Peter's again, Sujad the Traitor hovered in the room in the black cloud. Despite the dimness his presence brought to the room, the Earthlight trio could see his features clearly. His eyes gleamed in a face flushed with triumph. His mouth was spread in the evil grin that showed the perfection of his white teeth.

  "Greetings, Great One! Your evil conspiracies robbed me of my descendants—so I exercised the powers given to me by my master to use the Obsidian Orb for the purpose of getting myself a son. You see him before you. Is he not a fine specimen? A man could ask for nothing better than a son like himself."

  Sujad's cackles filled Bart's living room. So dreadful was the racket he made that Merlin, Peter and Bart covered their ears. When he had finished laughing, Sujad ostentatiously wiped his eyes with the backs of his hands.

  "Oh dear! I'm so sorry you don't appreciate the humor of my joke. I thought it was very clever of me. And I timed his meeting with Morgause perfectly. She's a divine creature and fortunately she has good sense when it comes to recognizing when the right man comes along."

  "It says a lot for your fatherly affections that you should throw your son in the path of such a one as Morgause,” growled Merlin. “She is a snake of the first water—a veritable boa-constrictor. When she's finished with your son she'll crush the very life from him."

  Sujad surveyed Merlin down the length of his fine, lordly nose. “So long as my son does what I ask of him no one will harm him. As for Morgause, since my son is fond of her, so long as she treats him right we shall leave her alone. Should she try to harm Jadus or work against me, however, it will be the worst for her.” He turned to Jadus, while still addressing Merlin. “I've come to claim my son and heir. He will repair the damage you've done in depriving me of my descendants."

  "I want to marry Morgause, father,” Jadus said eagerly, moving towards the black cloud that enclosed the awesome figure of his father. “A woman with her power and knowledge of sorcery will be the perfect mother for your grandchildren."

  "Not necessarily, my son; not necessarily. Knowledge of sorcery and skills in the making of spells could be detrimental t
o us should she perhaps decide she would like to be Lord of Obsidian herself. I would be obliged to destroy the mother of my own grandchildren."

  "Morgause is clever enough to know she can never be Lord of Obsidian,” Jadus replied. “Besides, she loves me too much to want to harm my father."

  "Enough! We don't discuss family matters in front of our most detestable enemies. Come!"

  Sujad regally extended his hand to Jadus, who took it and immediately vanished into the black cloud. The cloud—mirroring the swing in mood of its owner—swirled violently and disappeared. The Earthlight trio were left looking at each other in dismay. It was Merlin who broke the silence.

  "An Obsidian Lord called the Great shall rise;

  His powers will surpass even those of the wise.

  From the choices of the past a Lord in blue

  Will imperil the quest that will then ensue.

  The favorite of the green-eyed witch from the north

  Shall by her enchantment the Great carry forth."

  Peter's blood ran cold as he heard Merlin reciting the prophecy that he had first heard the previous night when Sujad had entered his aunt and uncle's home, with the same ease with which he had entered Bart's, and taken away the Obsidian Orb.

  Merlin slammed his right fist into the palm of his left hand. “Stupid! Stupid! Since Sujad made himself Lord of Obsidian and called himself Sujad the Great I thought the last line as well as the first referred to him. I've been working on the assumption that the green-eyed witch would ´enchant’ Sujad the Great and persuade him into carrying her favorite into the future for some reason of her own which would become involved with the Earthlight's quest. She has, after all, been involved in working against the cause of Earthlight in her own time. Instead I find that ´the Great’ is none other than myself."

  Merlin turned anxious eyes on Peter and Bart. “My friends, I've made many terrible blunders. I have been responsible for Sujad turning traitor and making himself Lord of Obsidian. Had I recognized his weakness—the lust for power—sooner...” He paused. “Now I find I'm accountable for another part of the prophecy that damages the Earthlight's cause."

  Merlin broke off as a scratching came at the door leading to the kitchen. He frowned at the door until Peter went over and opened it and Dreyfus walked through.

  "Oh, it's only the dog; I'd all but forgotten him.” Merlin turned back to Bart. “Look, Bart, I've been thinking. I'm supposed to be giving Peter a holiday—I've left someone else in charge of my business so that we can get on with the job of getting back the Obsidian Orb. I need to be away for a time. Can I leave Peter and Dreyfus in your care? They must be with someone of the Earthlight."

  Bart looked surprised. “Sure; no trouble. Susan will be glad of some company. She doesn't get much during the winter. She feels the lack of a family more than I do."

  "Is someone planning to burden me with their company?” a woman's voice asked with a chuckle from the doorway through which Peter had admitted Dreyfus.

  Nobody had heard Susan Brown return. Three pairs of eyes swiveled in her direction to meet a pair of lively blue eyes in a pleasant, slightly sallow face. The owner of the twinkling eyes stooped to greet Dreyfus, busy sniffing her skirt. “My, what a lovely dog! With all our land we could have a couple of large dogs, Bart."

  "Well, he's yours for the next week or so, my love, so long as you don't mind putting up with his master here.” Bart gently pushed Peter forward. “This is Peter, Susan. Peter, meet my wife Susan. I'm sure you'll be good friends."

  Peter again found himself shaking hands with an adult as though they were on equal terms. He took an instant liking to Susan Brown, while she seemed as taken with him as she had been with Dreyfus.

  "I suppose you want a cup of tea after all that talking,” Bart teased her. He looked at the long-case clock as it started striking the hour. “By golly! I guess it's time we all had some tea. The afternoon's nearly gone. I've not got much work done today."

  "That remains to be seen,” Merlin said enigmatically, with a passing twinkle momentarily masking the anxiety in his eyes. He sighed gustily. “At least I know I'm leaving Peter in good hands.” He bowed with stiff old-fashioned courtesy to Susan. “You have my grateful thanks, ma'am."

  As he strode from the house and walked to his car, Susan looked after him with raised eyebrows. “What a strange man! When you introduced him to me last year he wasn't so ... well ... distant."

  "Oh, you'll soon get used to his funny ways. He tends to have a dual personality.” Bart chuckled. “It certainly makes him interesting to have around."

  Chapter 6

  The Lord in Blue

  THE NEXT day, Bart suggested Peter might like to explore the property on the back of the pony Argent—so-named because of her silvery-white coat.

  "If you get lost you can rely on Argent to bring you home,” Bart said with a chuckle. “Just say, ´Home, girl'. She knows where she's well off, that one. She could probably do with a bit more exercise and I'm sure Dreyfus would appreciate some."

  "If you want to stay out most of the day I can make you a picnic lunch,” Susan offered.

  "Are you sure you don't mind, Mrs. Brown? I mean—well, shouldn't I be helping you or something?"

  Susan Brown chuckled. “Sorry, lad. You might be able to help with some things, but today I'm catching up on the book work. And the cleaner comes today. It's easier for her when I'm out of the way in the office. I'm sure she'd appreciate not having you around as well. You can help me when I get back to the kitchen. In the meantime, I'll make you a lunch when I make Bart's."

  "Just as well the day looks better than yesterday's weather promised it would,” Bart said, glancing outside.

  When they had finished breakfast, Peter followed Bart to the stables and soon he was on Argent's back. She left the stable yard at a sedate trot, with Dreyfus running ahead and coming back when he found Argent failed to keep up.

  Bart had given Peter a map of the property and he looked at it now to get his bearings. Argent, however, knew the normal tourist riding route by heart and seemed to need no guidance. In no time at all Peter found himself riding into the forest where they had entered the day before.

  Was it really only yesterday? Peter thought as he pictured the scene. So much had happened it felt as though many days had passed. And he had even seen a change of season, he mused as he looked at the dark, towering pines while a vision of fruit trees in blossom and oak trees in young leaf flooded his mind's eye.

  With the vision came a recollection of Morgause playing her role as the Goddess of Spring, and Peter shuddered. I'm afraid of her. Like a spider she weaves a beautiful web of enchantment around you and when you come to your senses the web is a nasty sticky trap and you're held fast. How long will it take Jadus Castirio to come to his senses and find he's caught in her snare? Will he help his father to strengthen his position as Lord of Obsidian or, when he discovers the truth of Merlin's statement that he can't be heir to either the title or the power, will he turn traitor like his father? If he turns traitor he'll have both Sujad and the witch to deal with. I almost feel sorry for him. After all, he didn't ask to be born—he certainly didn't ask to have a father like Sujad Cariotis. Morgause must have discovered the origins of his birth through her evil branch of sorcery and immediately set about weaving her web of enchantment around him. He didn't stand a chance because, as Merlin said, few men are immune to her beauty. I'm glad her type no longer exists.

  "What makes you think that?” a husky voice hissed behind him.

  Totally engrossed in his thoughts, Peter had failed to notice the darkening of the already dim light in the forest. He hadn't even noticed the uneasy flickering of Argent's ears. He turned in the saddle, at the same time bringing the pony to a halt.

  Behind him, blocking the path and spilling over the trees on either side, was the black cloud of the Evil One. For a few moments Peter thought the cloud was empty. It didn't emit the usual strong sense of evil. Then he saw the fluttering of
something blue inside it. Only then did the presence of evil exert itself. So this was the Lord in Blue of the prophecy—the Lord of Corruption who was obviously more dangerous than he seemed.

  Argent—a pony not easily frightened—shied away. Peter had trouble keeping his seat while he tried calming her. It made him instantly furious. “What are you doing here? Merlin placed a spell of protection around this property. You have no right here. Get out!"

  "I have as much right as you,” the husky voice replied, and Peter realised the Lord's hoarseness was caused by laryngitis. He felt a moment of satisfaction in knowing that the Evil One's servants were prey to normal human ailments. “Merlin was responsible for bringing Jadus Castirio from his own time to this through this very forest,” the Lord in Blue continued. “Therefore he can't stop Jadus's master and any of his servants coming here. The spell will no longer work. Merlin should know that."

  Peter sensed rather than saw the smirk accompanying the Lord of Corruption's words. “What do you want?"

  "Imitating the ill temper of your master are you?” the Lord replied, obviously nettled despite himself. “And you're normally such a polite boy. It'll pay you to keep a civil tongue in your head, youngling, when dealing with Sujad the Great and his Council of Lords."

  Peter ignored the Blue Lord's snides. “What do you want?"

  "Something that doesn't belong to you but which you stole from His Lordship Sujad the Great. He fashioned a dagger from obsidian. It belongs to him and he wants it back. Hand it over."

  Peter sat erect in his saddle and looked the Lord of Corruption in the eyes—or where the eyes would have been had their owner been clearly visible. “No."

  The Lord was visibly shaken. “But I know you have it on you. If you don't give it to me I'll have to take it by force. That wouldn't be pleasant for you."

  "No, you shan't have it. Sujad the Traitor fashioned it for the purpose of killing me. He didn't succeed so his life is forfeit to me."

  "Those of the Earthlight cannot kill!"