The Swordmage Trilogy: Volume 03 - The Pegasus's Lament

by Martin Hengst

  The gate was shut for the night and the screaming in the city had the guards on edge. As they came skidding to a stop in front of the entrance, the guard on duty nearly impaled Tiadaria with his spear.

  “Open the gate,” Tiadaria panted between breaths. She dug her hand into her side, trying to ease the pain of the stitch in her side she had acquired during their headlong rush. “There's a blood wraith loose on the hospital grounds.”

  “I'm sorry My Lady, the hospital is--”

  Whatever objection the guard had formed was promptly forgotten when a piercing scream shattered the night on the other side of the gate.

  “OPEN THE GATE!” she roared, and the guards stumbled over themselves to unlatch it and slide it back along the rails. Tia and Wynn slipped through before it was fully open and stopped in the center courtyard.

  There was a huge marble fountain in the middle of the courtyard and they couldn't hear anything over the steady streams of water that poured into the pool. Another panicked scream from ahead of them solved their problem and they set off after the sound as fast as dared go.

  The cries echoed off the face of the hospital and seemed to bounce around the grounds, making it difficult to know exactly what direction to run. After two mistakes, they finally homed in on the sound and turned the corner between two short buildings.

  Topiaries dotted the side yard of the compound, their pale white flowers glowing in the moonlight. There was a small meeting area in the center of the yard, paved with flagstones and circled by a number of stone benches. Tionne was backed against one of these benches and the wraith was scurrying toward her.

  Tiadaria had little time to wonder why Faxon's missing journeyman was inside the hospital grounds. She saw the terror on the girl's face and had to act. Tionne's green eyes were wide and round, showing far too much white as she cowered against the bench. She was frozen in place, unable to stand or run.

  She raced toward Tionne but she knew she wasn't going to make it in time. Not even the power of the Quintessential Sphere could bridge the distance between them or the lead the wraith had on her. Wynn stopped running abruptly and Tia tried to turn to him as her momentum carried her another few steps.

  A ball of flame shot past her, near enough for her to feel the incredible heat of the conflagration. Wynn's spell missed its mark, slamming into the ground to the left of the wraith. It exploded, the shockwave spinning the spirit across the courtyard. Tia wasn't waiting for it to recover. She darted forward and snatched Tionne by the wrist, ignoring the burn of link shock.

  “Run!”

  Tia shoved Tionne hard toward the door to the hospital building and followed. They had nearly reached the door when a massive black shape materialized from the darkness. A blue eye glowed. Tia screamed and tried to check her momentum. She searched frantically for Tionne and saw that the girl had turned, stopping behind Zarfensis.

  Tiadaria's blades flashed as she circled the Xarundi. She dared a split-second glance across the courtyard. Wynn was still battling the blood wraith.

  Tia danced into range of the huge Xarundi. She stabbed and sliced, looking for an opening. She found one and took it. The tip of her sword slit the flesh on the upper part of Zarfensis's right arm, staining the end of her blade. Zarfensis roared, and sprang.

  She gathered the power of the Sphere and leapt over Zarfensis's head. It was a trick she'd used before. Here, at Dragonfell, the night the Captain died.

  The Xarundi was ready. His huge hand slammed into her midriff as she passed over him. Tears sprang to her eyes. Her landing was anything but graceful. She slammed into the ground, the blades jarred from her grasp by the force of the impact. Her chest burned and Zarfensis was advancing. She struggled to roll up onto her feet.

  Zarfensis's eye turned toward Tionne and Tiadaria seized the moment. Ignoring the pain, she rushed to recover her swords. The ring of metal on stone caused the Xarundi's attention to turn back toward Tia.

  They circled each other warily, Tia's blades at the ready, the Xarundi's claws unsheathed and ready for the attack. She saw the muscles in his leg bunch and heard the servos whine in the prosthetic. He'd leap at her and she'd be ready. She turned, ready to unleash a terrible backhanded swipe that would, with a little luck, be fatal.

  Tia thought she had it timed perfectly, so when she unleashed her full fury and hit nothing but empty air, she was thrown off. Zarfensis had preyed on her confidence. He stood well back from where she had anticipated him, his hand raised in the final gesture of a spell. The ground under her boots softened and she sank shin deep. The more she struggled against the muck, the tighter it seemed to grasp her, until she thought it would shatter every bone in her feet.

  Zarfensis bore down on her. She resolved to meet him with the points of her blades and cocked her elbows, ready to stab at the last possible moment. Before she had a chance to carry out her plan, a fireball slammed into the High Priest, singeing his fur and sending him sailing away from Tiadaria.

  Wynn stood atop one of the benches in the center of the courtyard. With his staff in one hand, he held the blood wraith at bay. In his other hand, he cradled another ball of flame. This he hurled at Zarfensis as the High Priest recovered from the assault and tried to return to where Tiadaria was trapped. Tia found that by moving agonizingly slowly, she was able to extricate herself from the trap an inch or so at a time.

  The High Priest attempted to spring on Tia again, but another fireball from Wynn's hand made him shy off. Apparently deciding that the swordmage wasn't worth the effort, he instead turned his attention on the quintessentialist. Tia glanced at Wynn and saw that he was in frenzied combat against the wraith. She dared not risk breaking his concentration even though he was in grave danger.

  Forcing herself to take slow, deliberate movements, Tia managed to get one foot free before Zarfensis closed the distance to Wynn. She wanted to wrench her leg free and go to the rescue, but knew that she'd never make it with a broken foot. There was a soft pop as Tia pulled her foot free of the morass.

  Even though she was free of the Xarundi's trap, there was nothing she could do for Wynn. The blood wraith was becoming frenzied, having nowhere to run, it had become even more aggressive. Zarfensis was closing on him and Tionne was just standing there, watching.

  “Wynn! Look out!”

  Zarfensis was nearly on Wynn now. He was trapped from two sides. The blood wraith pulsed menacingly, its tentacles of blood quivering in the night air. Even with the benefit of the Sphere, there was no way she would be able to reach Wynn in time.

  A strangled cry bubbled up from Tia's chest as the wraith struck. It skittered forward like a spider, throwing tendrils toward Wynn and trying to entangle him. He swept the still flaming staff across the spirit's path, severing the appendages and turning some of the blood to steam. The wraith seemed to back off, quivering as if uncertain what to do next.

  Tia watched in horrified fascination as Wynn doused the magical flames on his staff and laid it on the stone by his feet. He folded his hands across his chest, closed his eye, and bowed his head. He stood still as a statue and both Zarfensis the wraith closed on him.

  “Wynn! No!” Tia screamed, her throat raw with the support of the sound. He gave no indication that he heard her. As Zarfensis and the wraith reached the quintessentialist, Wynn's head snapped up, his eye blazing brighter than she had ever seen it. He opened his hands, as if welcoming an old friend.

  The explosion from the courtyard blew Tia up against the wall of the hospital. The rush of hot air seemed to suck the breath from her lungs and Tia had to fight to remain conscious. She struggled to her feet, stumbling into the courtyard, tears streaming down her face.

  Wynn was crumpled in the center of a charred circle, but the wraith was gone. Streaks of blood on the fieldstone pavers showed the awesome force of the explosion, which had picked up the heavy stone benches and tossed them up against the building like a child's jackstraws.

  Running to the spot where he lay, Tia fell to her knees. Th
e ground was still warm to the touch. A few wisps of steam still climbed with lazy turns into the night air. Tia choked back a sob.

  His skin was black, his robes a tattered mass of singed cloth. His staff, the weapon he had carried since Tiadaria had met him in Ethergate, lay shattered on the ground where he had laid it. The heavy ironwood staff had been reduced to splinters.

  Reaching into his robe, she laid her fingers on the side of his neck, reassured by the faint pain of link shock. If he was still a vessel for the power of the Quintessential Sphere, that meant he still lived. She found his pulse and it fluttered against her fingers.

  Tia rolled him over. The force of the explosion had ripped his eye patch away, showing the hollow socket and the deep scars that seamed his otherwise handsome face. Her throat closed over and the tears that had formed in her eyes now streamed out in a torrent she couldn't control.

  Whatever relief she might have had at knowing that Wynn was still alive was cut short by powerful hands pinning her arms to her sides. Tiadaria realized that her scimitars, the weapons the Captain had given her, were probably still laying among the bushes against the wall where she had fallen following the explosion.

  The acrid tang of seared fur told Tiadaria who her captor was before she even craned her neck to get a glance at the ruined face of the High Priest. Tionne walked into the center of the courtyard, stepping around Wynn as she did so. Tiadaria struggled against the Xarundi's grip.

  “Tionne! Help me, please!”

  A slow, sardonic smile played across the girl's lips.

  “Why would I do that?” Tionne asked sweetly. “When I'm the one who managed to draw you here?”

  “What?” Tiadaria stopped struggling in her shock. “How?”

  Tionne laughed.

  “Didn't you find it curious that there was a wraith practically waiting for you when you left in the inn? I figured you'd go and see my former Master. From there, it was just a simple matter of leading you to the right place.”

  A shout went up from the corner of the building as a group of guards came into view. Tionne fired a magic missile in their direction and they scattered.

  “What about the vermin mage?” Zarfensis growled.

  “Leave him. She's the one we came for. Let's go.”

  Tionne led Zarfensis to a shattered side gate. The bloodied hulks of two corpses inside the wall told Tiadaria that Tionne had planned the abduction well. They'd laid a trap for her and she'd walked willingly right into it.

  Outside the hospital wall, Tionne whispered a few words and brushed her fingers over Tiadaria's eyes. The world went black.

  #

  Something pungent and unpleasant roused Wynn from his fitful sleep. Hands were holding him down against a stiff board under his back.

  “Don't try to move, Wynn. You nearly blew yourself up.”

  The voice was familiar and the quintessentialist struggled to place it. All that registered was that it wasn't Tiadaria, which was who he was most concerned with. His condition didn't matter. He'd seen the Xarundi High Priest in the hospital grounds and knew that she was in grave danger.

  “Where's Tia?” he managed to croak.

  Speaking hurt. It felt as if his throat were on fire. Wynn knew he'd be burned following the stunt he'd pulled, but he hadn't counting on hurting so much in so many places.

  “I don't know,” the almost familiar voice said. “She wasn't with you. I've got people out looking for her. What happened, Wynn?”

  “Wraith,” Wynn managed, licking blistered lips. “Xarundi and Tionne.”

  “What? Tionne! Where?”

  The puzzle piece finally snapped into place and Wynn knew that Faxon was there with him. How had he not recognized his own Master's voice for so long? Wynn managed to open his eye and look at Faxon's worry lined face. Even the feeble lamplight hurt his head.

  “Tionne was there, at the hospital. She was with the Xarundi. Zarfensis.”

  Faxon sank to a nearby bench, running his hands through his greying hair. He looked at Wynn and shook his head.

  “That's not possible, Zarfensis is in prison and Tionne couldn't possibly abide by the Xarundi. Not after what they did to her family.”

  “You're wrong, Faxon,” Wynn's voice was too weak to convey the full force of his observation. “She was there and they were working together. They've taken Tiadaria. I know it.”

  Wynn struggled to sit up and the healers held him down. Faxon leapt off the bench and was standing beside the table Wynn was laying on the next moment.

  “You need rest, Wynn. You can't go after her, not now. Not like this.”

  “He'll kill her, Faxon. You know that. Zarfensis will kill Tia and then he'll probably kill Tionne too. Is that what you want?”

  “No!”

  “Then why are we wasting time? We need to find them.”

  Somehow, Wynn found the strength to wriggle out from under the insistent hands that were holding him down. Once he was sitting up, he understood why they'd held him down. The room spun around him and threw him into the clutches of vertigo. Faxon had the presence of mind to grab a bucket and hold it in front of the younger quintessentialist before Wynn's stomach emptied itself.

  He drew the back of a singed hand across his mouth and looked at Faxon. Faxon looked back at him and it was easy to read what was so plainly written on his face.

  “You don't think I'll make it to the door, much less to find Tiadaria,” Wynn said. He saw Faxon wince at the bitterness in his voice.

  “You're in pretty bad shape, Wynn. Why don't you let me go and look for her? She'll understand...”

  “No. I'm going.”

  “Young Master Wynn will need to go on his own, I'm afraid,” a voice said from the door. Both Wynn and Faxon looked in that direction and saw Adamon standing in the doorway. The healers had moved on to another patient, leaving the three of them to work things out.

  “Not a chance, Adamon,” Faxon said, nearly shouting. “He can barely stand upright. He's not going up against a Xarundi and...”

  “And?” Adamon raised an eyebrow at Faxon as he trailed off.

  Wynn knew that Faxon didn't want Adamon going after Tionne until he'd had a chance to sort things out. While he wasn't sure that was sound reasoning, he didn't really care what Faxon's motives were as long as they found Tiadaria before something happened to her.

  “Nothing,” Faxon snapped. “Either way, Wynn and I are going together.”

  “I'm afraid not.” Adamon slipped a rolled paper from inside his robe and handed it to Faxon. “The Head Master has given me authority to conscript any of those who might be beneficial against the blood wraiths. They're spreading through the city like wildfire.”

  Faxon scanned the note and thrust it back at Adamon. Wynn had the feeling that he'd rather have balled it up and thrown it at him.

  “So I suppose you're going to conscript us both then?” Faxon demanded.

  “No. Master Wynn doesn't look like he'd be much use to me in his present condition. You, Master Indra, will report to me outside. There is much to do.”

  Adamon turned and walked out the door before Faxon could respond. Faxon balled his fists and Wynn imagined him chasing down the Grand Inquisitor and giving him a sound thrashing. Instead, the elder quintessentialist turned to him, putting his hands on Wynn's shoulders.

  “Find her as quickly as you can, Wynn. If Adamon gets wind that Tionne is involved, it could end badly for both of them. I'm not sure Adamon doesn't already suspect about Tiadaria. Finding them both together would give him an opportunity to claim collusion, unchallenged.”

  “What happened to me not going alone?” Wynn asked, both amused and disgusted by Faxon's sudden change of heart.

  “I'd go if I could!”

  Wynn waved him off and watched with sullen detachment as Faxon slipped out the door to join Adamon on his wraith hunt. He slipped off the makeshift bed he was laying on and managed to remain on his feet even though the room swam around him, making him dizzy. Unsteady
steps took him to the door, where he looked out on the courtyard that was still smoldering from his ill-advised blast. They hadn't needed to carry him very far, at least.

  Taking the smooth marble steps down into the courtyard one at a time, Wynn tried to remember exactly where Tiadaria had been standing during the final confrontation with the blood wraith. He went and stood in the center of the char mark on the cobblestones. Looking down, he saw the slivers that remained of his staff. He felt naked without it, but there was no time to craft a new one. Though his connection to the Quintessential Sphere would be weaker without the talisman, he'd have to make due.

  There was screaming outside the hospital gate. Obviously Adamon hadn't been exaggerating the depth of the problem. He shook his head, willing his concentration to turn to the matter at hand. He had a limited time to find Tiadaria. Slipping into the Quintessential Sphere, Wynn peeled back the layers of recent memories. He hadn't been unconscious for very long. A few hours at most. The psychic imprint of the High Priest and Tionne were still strong in the ether.

  Staying attuned to the Sphere but turning his eye to the physical realm, Wynn traced the echoes of Tiadaria's kidnappers to the side of the hospital building where he'd been taken. There was a shattered gate there, obviously torn off its hinges by the powerful Zarfensis. Blood stains inside the gate indicated that bodies had laid there before they were removed.

  Outside the gate, the psychic imprint blurred. Tionne and the High Priest had made a passable attempt to hide their passage, but it was clumsy and not very effective. It was almost as if they wanted to be found, Wynn thought. Or maybe they just didn't care if they were found or not. With the city in panic, it was unlikely that they had much to fear from anyone who might stumble upon them.

  Something skittered out of the dark in front of him and Wynn stepped back. The blood wraith was tiny, obviously newly split from a larger host. It extended quivering tentacles toward him. Wynn summoned a ball of flame without thinking, holding it suspended in the palm of his hand in upturned fingers. The wraith hesitated. Wynn had a better idea.