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The Shadow Games: The Chronicles of Arianthem VI

Page 22

by Samantha Sabian


  Skye and the others huddled in the corner. Dallan and Rika had their swords drawn, knocking down whatever came their way. Torsten fired his bow methodically, taking down threats before they neared. Syn just stood behind them while Skye watched the entire scene with dismay. She again glanced up at the high walls of the garden. She had never realized how much this garden resembled a prison. Even were she to stand on Rika’s shoulders, she did not think she could leap to the edge. And the portal that the sorceress had opened blocked the sole exit.

  Ingrid was furious. This mage was devilishly powerful and dangerously skilled. Isleif had imparted much knowledge to her, but it was apparent she brought things into the fray beyond the wizard’s skill.

  “Why do I feel as if I should know you?” Ingrid asked, sending a spiked root her way. Idonea incinerated the root before it could touch her and it dissolved into ash.

  “I don’t believe we’ve met, although you’ve had a recent run-in with my stepmother,” Idonea said with dark humor.

  “Your stepmother? And who in the world would that be?”

  “I think you know her well. Her name is Raine.”

  “Raine is—?”

  Ingrid stopped, holding her staff out in front of her. Her eyes fell to the symbols on the woman’s robe, the glyphs of both magic and dragonkind, and she understood.

  “You are the dragon’s daughter.”

  “I am,” Idonea said.

  This filled Ingrid with a coldness she had not felt before. She had few equals in this world and now she stood before one of them. It was one thing for Isleif to impart all his knowledge to an apprentice; it was another thing for him to impart it to a being with dragon blood running through her veins.

  “The only reason why you haven’t been annihilated is that I am still fairly young,” Idonea said, “but every day my blood grows stronger, and every day I learn a little something new. You, however,” Idonea said dismissively, “have probably peaked.”

  Ingrid’s thoughts raced. She had been surprised at this woman’s skill, but fought thinking she would wear the mage down, for few possessed her stamina or the near endless pool of dark magic she drew upon. But one with dragon’s blood would not tire easily, would not run out of magic since it was the fabric of her being. Ingrid realized the mistake she was waiting for, the error she would capitalize on, wasn’t coming. Her eyes flitted to the portal, for the first time debating escape rather than victory.

  “Going to run away?” Idonea said with insolence. She raised her hand and blocked the portal with a powerful barrier spell. Ingrid tested the strength of the barrier and fumed. She could go through it, or she could disable it, but both would take enormous energy and leave her open to the mage’s counterattack. It was an extremely clever tactic and one she had seen Isleif use before. The mage’s next move would be to create another barrier, then another, until Ingrid would be hemmed in.

  And that was in fact what Idonea was preparing to do and had even raised her hand to cast the spell when some great sensation swept over her. It mentally staggered her and it was all she could do to keep the momentary weakness hidden. But Ingrid watched the mage carefully, realizing the raven-haired woman was suddenly, completely distracted.

  And Idonea was most definitely elsewhere, witness to something unfolding that was impossible and disastrous, the one thing in all the world that absolutely could not happen. She stood, stunned, the hand in the air unmoving, then turned to her companions who were staged in the corner, valiantly holding their own. Skye, too, had stopped, frozen, and stared off in the distance as if sensing the impending disaster. She turned her hazel eyes to Idonea, and she knew what had to be done.

  “I’m sorry, Skye,” Idonea said, her voice nearly cracking.

  “No,” Skye said, “it’s all right. I understand. You must go.”

  Rika and Dallan looked at Idonea in disbelief. She couldn’t possibly be leaving them! They would not last a second against the sorceress alone. Torsten looked to his friend and leader, resigning himself to her air of resignation. And Syn simply stood, thinking she had always believed she would die at the hand of some jilted paramour wielding a cast iron pot, or perhaps an irate cuckolded husband, but now her death was going to be far more dramatic than she had ever dreamed.

  “You can do this, Skye, you must remember everything that I taught you.”

  This caught Ingrid’s attention as well. For not only did it appear the mage was leaving, but she had just revealed she was Skye’s mentor, making that little Tavinter even more valuable to her.

  Skye swallowed hard and simply nodded. Then with a tortured expression, her eyes locked with Skye’s, Idonea touched her wrist. And Ingrid had only a second to recognize the artifact, a fade bracelet that held milky-white enchanted stones, one of which had been stolen from her.

  And then the mage was gone.

  “My liege,” Kylan cried out, “what can I do to help you?”

  Talan had collapsed to the floor, and impossibly, the golden light in her amber eyes was growing dim. Kylan cradled her in her arms as her Queen spoke weakly. “I fear there is nothing you can do for me.”

  Volva watched with pleasure. As disastrous as the day had been, Talan’s death would make up for everything. She had no idea those restraints would actually kill her. Volva had the impression that the Goddess merely wanted to torture Talan, but wanted her alive. But it did appear that Talan was fading away.

  “Well, I’m going to leave you two lovebirds to your sad goodbyes, and go help Jörmung. I will make sure your entire line dies today, Talan.”

  And in a flash of golden light, Volva was gone from the outer courtyard.

  “You must go help my son, Kylan.”

  “I cannot leave you, Talan,” Kylan said, and a diamond teardrop rolled down her cheek.

  “And you cannot stay, my dear,” Talan said as her amber eyes closed.

  Raine stood staring into the darkness, but Aesa thought she was looking far beyond the cavern walls. She had not moved, and every muscle in her body was tense as if listening to something only she could hear. Slowly, Raine rose to her full height. All of her fatigue disappeared. The blue and gold filigree beneath her skin looked like it was alive. The muscles in her arms bunched, those in her forearms corded. And stunningly, her eyes turned to the deepest violet Aesa had ever seen.

  “No!” she said, the word a command and a prohibition. “It will not be.”

  The words echoed in the vast chamber, instead of fading away, unnaturally growing in volume with each repetition. Aesa had no idea who Raine was talking to, but her words were so forceful they had the authority of an edict of the Divine.

  “I am bound to you for all of time.”

  The words echoed and the volume grew, amplified by the unknown.

  “Your last breath will come from my lungs.”

  The words were so loud now they sounded as thunder.

  “My heart’s last beat is yours.”

  The thunder roared and drowned out the world.

  “And your soul will not leave this realm without me.”

  Kylan’s diamond tears spilled down upon Talan’s breasts, but slowly, those golden eyes re-opened.

  “My Queen!”

  A gradual smile curved upon Talan’s aristocratic features. “All those years ago, she nearly refused me because she didn’t want to jeopardize my life.”

  “What?” Kylan asked, thinking Talan was feverish and dazed.

  “I am sustained by another.”

  It took a moment for Talan’s words to sink in, but then Kylan understood.

  “You are bound to your Scinterian!”

  The ceremony of binding, the interlocking of souls, was something accomplished by few within dragonkind and far fewer without. But some of the most successful pairings of all time had occurred between the dragons and their Scinterian brethren during t
he Great War, each giving their life’s force, even unto death, to sustain their other half.

  “I am,” Talan said proudly, “and she sustains me.”

  Her renewed strength, although not great, also reopened her senses.

  “Idonea is coming,” Talan said, “she will be here soon. She can help me.”

  “Are you sure?” Kylan asked.

  “She is the only one who can help me,” Talan said firmly. “And my love will hold me here until she arrives, for she is stronger than anyone knows.”

  “Go help my son,” Talan said, her tone hardening to steel, “and kill those mongrel serpents.”

  Ingrid stared at the spot where the mage had been, unable to believe her turn of luck. She had just gone from flight to victory in an instant. She turned her attention to the figures trapped in the corner, the weapons hovering, pointing at her so ineffectively. With a toss of her hands, the weapons went flying and the group was unarmed.

  “So, my little Tavinter,” the sorceress said, “I don’t think I’m going to offer you the same deal this time.”

  Dallan and Rika moved closer to Skye, and even Syn moved protectively near her. Torsten grasped Skye’s arm.

  “Your friends are going to die,” she said unconcernedly, “and you are going with me through that portal.”

  Ingrid strolled casually back-and-forth in front of them. “Then,” she said, “right after I bed you, because all of this has been really arousing, you and I are going to have a long talk about everything that mage has taught you.”

  The group as a whole was fixated on the threat of the sexual assault, but that barely registered on Skye as she fixated on what Ingrid said about Idonea. It triggered something in her memory, and another rush of images came back to her. Playfully in bed with Gimle, the beautiful, willowy First Scholar of the Ha’kan, Idonea looking on, Gimle giving Skye an instruction of something she must do before she could kiss her…

  And then Skye knew exactly what to do. She grasped Syn by the arm and pulled her close so that all five of them were touching, and then she concentrated with all her might.

  And they disappeared. Ingrid stood, astonished, both at the surge of power from the girl and from the fact that they were gone. It was not an illusion spell; she felt no attempt to influence her mind. The five of them were just gone.

  Dallan looked down at her hands in amazement. She could see right through them. In fact, she and all her companions were now transparent. The rest of the world looked perfectly normal, but they were fluid-like, outlines of themselves. Skye raised her finger to her lips and Dallan nodded. She signed very carefully to Syn and Torsten, who both were fluent in Tavinter sign language, and then looked to Dallan and Rika to see if they understood. Their understanding was not perfect, but they grasped enough that they were to be silent, to tread lightly, and to follow Skye.

  Skye led them around the outside of the garden wall to the far side of the demolished maze. They could still see Ingrid from where they stood, but they were now far enough away that she couldn’t hear them.

  “We’re invisible,” Skye explained in whisper. “She can’t see us, but she can still harm us.”

  And apparently she could still sense them as well, or at least Skye.

  “I know you’re still here, my love,” Ingrid said pacing about the garden. “I can feel you. And I must say I’m impressed. I had no idea you had this in you. I’m going to enjoy wringing this secret from you as well.”

  The sorceress fired a blast of ice shards at the wall that would have impaled them had it been in the right direction. Dallan blanched, for the sorceress could kill them through pure blind chance.

  “I’m going to give you one last chance, Skye. Give yourself up and we will go.”

  Just then a horrific shriek filled the air. It was two tones, one high, one low, the two discordant frequencies making the terrifying scream even more so. Skye could swear she smelled the scent of blood. Syn could not control her shaking and Rika herself fought to still a tremble.

  “That’s a Reaper Shard,” Skye said in revulsion. They had faced one before in numbers and with enchanted weapons, and even then had barely defeated it. More had appeared, and it had taken Raine’s last minute arrival to save them. Skye didn’t think Raine would be coming today.

  “It’s coming from that portal,” Torsten whispered.

  “I might have failed to mention something about the portal,” Ingrid said, causing Torsten to jump as if she had heard him. But she was loudly addressing the garden in general.

  “It carries a price. And once I walk through, Hyr’rok’kin are going to come out. A lot of them.”

  “Bitch,” Rika muttered under her breath. “They would have torn us to shreds. She never meant to keep your bargain, Skye.”

  Another shriek emitted from the portal, this one just different enough to communicate that there was more than one, and when another shriek overlapped enough that they knew there were at least three.

  “They feel you, Skye,” Ingrid said. “If you stay here, they will come for you, just like they came for your mother.”

  Skye stiffened and Dallan put her arm around her shoulder.

  “They will find you, Skye. You cannot hide from them. And I cannot stay to help you,” Ingrid said, and there was almost a tone of regret in her voice, although it was likely the regret of losing her prize and not genuine sympathy.

  “Very well,” Ingrid said, “you have made your decision.”

  And with that, the sorceress stepped through the portal and disappeared. Almost simultaneously, the first Reaper Shard came through the other side. Skye could feel Syn shake and grabbed her arm to get her to remain still.

  The monstrosity was twelve feet high, wraith-like, black wispy smoke and an endless gullet of fangs. The creature lived half in the Underworld and half in the mortal realm and smelled of death and decay. It bled acid and breathed fire, and everything about it inflicted torturous pain. And it craved magic above all else, desiring to feed upon whatever creature possessed it.

  “It knows I’m here,” Skye whispered despondently.

  And it did indeed appear the monster knew where they were, for although it drifted to-and-fro across the garden, it was making its way unerringly toward them. A second Reaper Shard popped from the portal and quickly caught up with the first. And when the third joined the pack, they drifted across the garden in a coordinated manner that covered all ground while heading straight toward them.

  “What are we going to do?” Rika whispered.

  Dallan’s throat was dry. Their swords were too far away, and even if they were able to reach them, it was unlikely they would do any good as they were not enchanted. And Skye’s gifts were not the enchanting kind.

  “Wait a minute,” Dallan whispered as another shriek split the air, one designed to flush them out. The wraiths were getting very close, close enough that their foul breath wafted toward the small group. Dallan turned to Skye to whisper in her ear.

  “Isleif sent you a message. He made me memorize a word to give you.”

  Skye eyed the approaching Shards. They were almost upon them, and they couldn’t even flee because they were penned in.

  “What word?” Skye asked desperately.

  “Ephemeral.”

  And as Dallan breathed the word into Skye’s ear, it was Isleif’s voice she heard and in an instant she knew what to do. Rika braced herself as the fangs of the nearest Reaper loomed over her, but Skye grabbed her arm and pulled them all together so she was again touching everyone. And as the rapacious jaws came down to remove Rika’s head, Skye said the word, although in an ancient tongue that pre-dated the elves themselves.

  And the jaws passed right through Rika. In fact, as the Reaper Shards hovered in front of them they seemed confused, as if their prey had suddenly disappeared even though the five were still right there. And Rika reach
ed forward in disbelief, and passed her hand right through the Reaper Shard. It was then she noticed that the Shard was now transparent like her, as was everything else in the world. Even the shrieks of the Reapers, so horrifically loud, now seemed very far away.

  Syn slowly stood upright, having cringed away from the attack. Even Torsten straightened himself, having flung his arms up as a shield. Skye had a huge smile on her face. She playfully waved her hand through the Reaper.

  “They can’t touch or hear us,” she said.

  “Skye,” Dallan said in disbelief. “What did you do?”

  “We are ephemeral,” she said, looking about her. “It is the other half of the invisibility spell.”

  Skye buckled a little, and Dallan grasped her arm to steady her.

  “I don’t know how long I can sustain this,” Skye said. “I’ve never done this and it’s very hard.”

  “Then let’s get out of here,” Rika said, and started heading toward the door.

  “We don’t need it,” Skye said, grabbing her arm. “Let’s go here.”

  She pulled Rika right through the stone wall of the garden, and Dallan, Syn, and Torsten were on their heels. The estate was empty, the farm hands and guards having long since fled from the sounds of chaos in the garden. The five began sprinting across the fields and Dallan looked behind them.

  “Uh oh,” she said.

  The Reaper Shards came over the wall first, but they were followed by dozens of Horde Shards that clambered over behind them. Horde Shards were the expendable foot soldiers of the Hyr’rok’kin army, dumb, vicious, killing machines. Then the wall itself came down as an enormous monstrosity kicked through it with one foot. The Marrow Shard was taller than the second story of the mansion, and he was followed by yet more Horde Shards.

  “How did that thing get through that portal?” Rika asked.

 

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