With a roar, Harruq yanked them out, kicked away the body, and slammed both blades down against the paltry attempt to block by a third soldier. The steel shattered, Harruq’s ancient blades flaring red as they continued on, chopping through either side of the man’s shoulders to crush in his collarbones. Using the swords to maneuver the corpse, he flung it behind him, into the path of the soldiers breaking off from the stairwell.
The way was clear, and he ran like mad toward his room. From all sides he heard scattered combat, and he tried not to think on how many died. Would Kevin execute the servants, too? The cooks, the cleaners, the errand boys, all to hide his crime? He prayed not, but the screams he heard said otherwise.
A glance behind him showed at least fifteen men in chase. The breath in his lungs felt like fire, and again Harruq chastised himself for growing so lazy. Orcish heritage might have granted him extra muscles and stamina most men could only dream of, but it meant little when he spent two thirds his day in a chair, chugging down wine to keep himself from going out of his mind. The stone walls were a blur as he ran. He turned a corner, slamming into a group of four soldiers.
“Coming through,” Harruq muttered, his momentum continuing through the jumble of arms and legs. Two the men managed to stay on their feet, and they swung weakly at him. Easily dodging their surprised flailing, Harruq hamstrung one, shifted a step to his right, and stabbed Salvation straight through the man’s throat. He left them there, racing along before the rest of those chasing him could catch up.
His room was just up ahead. He stared at the door with his eyes wide. Getting back to Aurelia might be impossible now, but if he could barricade himself in his room and summon the angels, they could turn the tide, saving them from Kevin’s madness. All he needed was the scepter in his closet. Without slowing, he blasted through the door with his shoulder, catching it with his left hand upon entering so he could immediately fling it shut behind him.
Jamming in the lock, he had to hope it held as he dashed for the closet. Pulling out the scepter, he clutched to it like the desperate prayer it was. At the window to their room he pointed the crystal outward and spoke the command word. Light built up around it, forming into a pillar. When it shot out, that pillar halted mere feet beyond the window. Harruq blinked at it, remembered the protection Aurelia had said had been cast around the castle.
“Well,” he said, the door shaking behind him as something heavy slammed into it. “That’s not good.”
Shrugging his shoulders, he spoke the command word again, and then with all his strength he hurled the scepter out the window. It curled end over end through the air, and once beyond the barrier, the pillar of light whipped around as if held by a wild, drunk angel. Preparing his swords, he turned to the door and braced himself to fight whoever might break through.
The lock shattered, despite no pressure exerted on the door at the time. Before Harruq could even realize what was going on, he felt a sharp pain in his stomach. Letting out a cry, he stumbled to his knees as lightning surged through his insides, dissipating into the wall behind him. The force of the attack knocked him backward, and he cracked his head against the stone wall. Vision swimming, he stared as two men with masks leisurely stepped into his room.
“Not…” Harruq said as the men raised their hands, unleashing more of their power. “Not…fair…”
Darkness came for him, and all he could think was that surely things were supposed to have gone differently.
Aurelia watched until Harruq was gone from sight, then returned to the makeshift classroom. Inside were the four soldiers, waiting with drawn swords and doing their best to hide their anxiety.
“Get away from the door,” Aurelia said to them. They obeyed, shuffling awkwardly to the far side. Once sure the two children were safely behind her, she put her hands together, focusing a spell.
“Now open it,” she said.
They did. Ice stretched from her fingers, growing, spreading out from one side of the doorway to the other, sealing them in with a wall of ice.
“That should slow them for a while,” she said.
“More than that,” said one of the soldiers. “They’d need a ram to break through ice that thick.”
She smiled at him, a young man with barely any stubble on his face.
“Perhaps,” she said. “I hope you’re right, but I fear Kevin prepared for my tricks.”
From the outside they heard muffled noises, undecipherable arguments and shouting. Through the blue of the ice Aurelia could make out dark shapes of men on the other side. Telling herself to remain calm, she took Aubrienna’s hand and led her and Gregory to a corner. She overturned two desks and set them inside.
“Stay in here,” she said, kissing both.
“Are they bad men?” Aubrienna asked her.
“Yes, very bad men.”
“Will you stop the bad men?”
She ran a hand through her daughter’s beautiful brown hair.
“You bet mommy will,” she said.
She touched the stone bricks that made up the floor, and they clung to her like honey. Lifting it upward, she formed a wall, overlapping the desks. Higher and higher she pulled the malleable stone, creating a dome that sealed away the children. At the very top she left a hole so light and air might still enter. From within she heard sniffling, but both children remained brave. Proud of them, Aurelia turned, eyes focused on the ice barrier blocking the doorway.
“I don’t know how Kevin’s planned to kill me,’ she told the guards. “But the ice will let him know where I am soon enough. Please understand what I ask of you. If any of you refuse, I will let the ice remain, and we’ll wait for the trap to unfold to its fullest. Otherwise, I plan on taking down as many of that bastard’s men as I can before he knows what’s hit him.”
She met their eyes, saw their apprehension had disappeared, leaving behind only bravery and determination.
“I’m not one for hiding,” said the youngest of them.
“We’ll be outnumbered,” said another.
“That’s what I’m here for,” Aurelia said. “Draw your swords.”
Electricity encircled her hands as they readied themselves. With a thunderous roar she unleashed her fury upon the ice. The lightning blasted it outward, showering the stunned soldiers with painful shards. The spell continued on, finding plenty of bodies for its ravenous power. Kevin’s soldiers screamed as the lightning swirled through them, frying lungs and knocking dozens to the ground.
Among the smoking ruin of the dead, the rest of the soldiers gathered themselves, raised their shields, and charged.
“Stay clear of the doorway!” Aurelia shouted to the four. “Take out those who make it through!”
They listened, and even if she hadn’t said so they most likely would have figured it out anyway. From her hands tore another blast of magic, this time of fire. The inferno bathed over the men struggling to enter the room, turning their shields to ash, their armor to liquid. With barely a moment to breathe, she unleashed a second burst of fire, refusing to relent. She’d seen their numbers when they entered the castle. Each one she killed was one less to threaten her family. One less to keep Harruq from safety.
The four with her looked on, awe and wonder etched across their faces. Only a rare few made it through such overwhelming destruction, and they were easily dispatched by the guards. Aurelia collapsed to one knee after the last spurt of fire, ignoring the momentary dizziness. Blood had begun to pound through her veins, and despite the strain she suddenly felt shockingly alive. It was more than she could say for the fools allied with Kevin Maryll, somehow convinced they could defeat a sorceress like her. So far the last barrage seemed to have cowed them, for they did not try to enter, and they stayed far from door’s edges.
“It’s only five of us,” she shouted to them, a dark grin on her face. “Is this all you can do?”
She stood, her fingers dancing. Before the others could stop her she rushed out into the hall, twirling on her feet. Her fir
st spell unleashed great flashes of light from her palms, blinding any unfortunate enough to be watching when it went off. All around her, Aurelia saw soldiers gathering, at least a hundred on either side. She felt a thrill surge through her, pride in the danger she represented. Gregory was under her protection, nearly half of Kevin’s forces coming to take him, but they could not surpass her. They couldn’t even begin to understand the raw power they faced.
Arms spread wide, she unleashed that power. From either hand arced lightning, bouncing from man to man, igniting their nerves, burning the flesh beneath their armor. Letting out a scream, Aurelia poured more strength into the spell. The lightning focused, became a beam that blasted through her enemies, punching holes in their armor and ripping men in twain. It continued down either side of the hall, the power of its shockwave knocking to the ground even those who the beam had missed.
And then the spell passed, and she stood alone before the survivors. Blowing them a kiss, she stumbled back into the room, collapsing in the arms of one of the soldiers.
“Buy me time,” she said, pushing herself off him.
The four stood side by side, swords ready. It seemed even they were afraid of the carnage she’d unleashed. It almost made her laugh. If only they’d seen her in Woodhaven, dueling the prophet. Now that had been a fight.
She stepped back, already feeling better. It felt like forever since she’d been forced to battle in such a way, pushed to her very limits to protect the lives of those she loved. She wouldn’t say she missed it, but she couldn’t deny the thrill it gave her. The four guards tensed, but it seemed like the remaining soldiers had no desire to challenge her…though she wasn’t certain just how many soldiers she’d even left out there to fight.
Just when she was thinking things might be easier than she hoped, she saw a small, painfully familiar sphere roll to a stop just before the soldiers’ feet.
“Get back!” she screamed, knowing it was already too late. Her magic useless, she could do nothing as a man and women wearing matching red and gray outfits vaulted into the room, twisting and turning to avoid the guard’s useless defenses. Their twin daggers lashed out, finding openings in their armor. Desperate, Aurelia ripped a chunk out of the wall and hurled it with her mind, the momentum continuing on despite coming into range of the voidsphere. One of the soldiers had his throat slit, and as he fell the stone slammed into him, knocking him into the hallway. The assassin before him tumbled aside at the last moment, avoiding the hit. Aurelia held in a swear as she readied her staff.
With the guards dead, the two assassins rolled a second voidsphere toward her, chasing after it with frightening speed. Aurelia twirled her staff, reminding herself that Harruq was faster. She’d fought him before, which meant she’d faced the deadliest there could be. With her elven grace she shifted and spun, her body like water as she avoiding a combination of thrusts and slashes. Her staff continued spinning, knocking aside the attacks she could not avoid. The exhaustion, the pressure of such intense focus, wore on Aurelia quickly, and it took all her willpower to fight down the panic she felt rising in her. There was no way she could win. Retreating with each step, she would soon have nowhere to go, no way to fight back. With such proximity to the voidsphere, she felt naked, deprived. Twice she tried to shift the fight toward it, so she could smash it with her staff, but the assassins seemed to be aware of her ploy.
At last she couldn’t keep up the necessary speed. She shifted her body left when it should have gone right, and with a cry she felt the tip of a dagger pierce her shoulder. A heel connected with her midsection, and then an elbow struck her across the face. When she fell to her knees, fists rained down upon her, knocking her to the ground and stealing the breath from her lungs. Fighting back tears, she pushed herself off the floor, only to be beaten again.
Defeated, she lay there, struggling for air. The stone cold against her cheek, she stared at the entrance to the room as one of the assassins sat atop her, binding her wrists together. Mere feet in front of her lay the voidsphere, glowing its soft, mocking rainbow of colors. As if from another world she heard Aubrienna and Gregory crying, and the helplessness, the inability to go to them, gave her far more pain than the bleeding wound in her shoulder. Through her tears she watched Lord Kevin Maryll stride into the room, dragging the queen along by the arm.
“Even knowing you’d be difficult, you still surprise me with your tenacity,” Kevin said, shaking his head and smiling at her.
The female assassin grabbed her by the hair and yanked her head up. As she let out a cry, the assassin scooped up the voidsphere and jammed it into her mouth. Her slender fingers pushed, overriding her gag reflex to shove the object farther down her throat. Her body heaved, followed by an unstoppable coughing fit as the assassin pulled away her fingers, but there was little Aurelia could do as she swallowed the voidsphere, bringing its accursed denial of magic down into her very stomach.
“Harruq will kill you,” Aurelia said as her face was shoved back to the floor.
“Will he now?”
Kevin moved aside, his grin spreading. Behind him were two more of his strange assassins. Into the room they stepped, and with a heave they dumped before her the unconscious body of her husband.
28
The first thing Harruq realized when he came to was that for some reason he was still alive. The second was a distant sound, like a wailing, that he couldn’t place. The third was that his chest hurt worse than any sword wound he’d ever suffered before. When he opened his mouth to cry out, he felt something hard strike him across the face.
“Stop your screaming,” he heard a voice say from the darkness. Harruq didn’t recognize it, but he knew it was the voice of someone he hated. Forcing his eyes wider, the darkness became a blur of gray, followed by color. Realizing where he was, and what was going on, the world suddenly came into focus with shocking clarity and speed.
Kevin Maryll stood before him, holding a sword in his hand. With his other hand he held his sister, whose wrists were roped together before her. All around Harruq were the strange assassins with the gray masks over their faces. More stunning to Harruq, besides being alive, was that he was unbound in any way. His temper flaring, he moved to attack Kevin, assassins be damned, but Kevin took a step back and pointed to the side.
“Now, now,” he said. “Wouldn’t want to do something we’d regret.”
Harruq hesitated just long enough to glance in the direction Kevin pointed. His heart froze when he saw Aurelia being held by one of the assassins. Her arms were behind her back, and the woman holding her kept a dagger pressed against his wife’s throat. Behind the gray mask the assassin’s eyes glinted, as if hoping he would make a move. He wondered why Aurelia made no attempt to free herself with a spell. Even with a dagger at her throat and rope around her wrists, he still trusted her to be resourceful enough to escape. Did one of them hold a voidsphere? That had to be it, despite the fact he didn’t see one anywhere.
“Fair enough,” Harruq said, remaining put. He felt his insides churn, the pain in his chest flaring up again, but he forced himself to ignore it. “I’m here, we’re all here. We can talk, right?”
“Yes, we can,” Kevin said. He shoved the door shut behind him, leaving him alone with his four assassins. “This is private, but you can trust my friends here to keep their mouths shut. As for you, Harruq, I’d ask you to keep quiet as well, difficult as it may be. For once, I need you to listen.”
Harruq nodded. He glanced around, trying to find his daughter, and he spotted a strange stone dome in the far corner of the room. Muffled crying came from within. As if following his gaze, Kevin let go of Susan and approached the magical creation.
“Clever, if a bit crude,” Kevin said, looking it over. “A good maul should break through in time. Your daughter is in there, isn’t she, Harruq?”
“Leave her out of this,” Harruq said.
“I will, if you do as I say. This is a historic day, a chance for humanity to save itself from its capto
rs. But you’ll need to do something for me, you half-blood freak.”
Harruq shot a glance at his wife. Her eyes were glassed over, but when she met his gaze, he saw the helpless fury in them.
“What is that?” Harruq asked.
Kevin put his back to the stone dome and gestured to Susan.
“I need you to kill my sister.”
Susan flinched as if she’d been slapped, but she stood tall, glaring at her brother silently.
“Excuse me?” Harruq asked.
“You know you cannot leave this room alive,” Kevin said, stalking closer. “Antonil named you steward, and your false rule cannot be allowed to go on. But your wife, though, your daughter…they can live. Do as I say, and I’ll only exile them. They can go live in the forests with the elves, or the Wedge with the dogs for all I care. All you have to do is one simple little task.”
Harruq looked to Susan, trying to read her. She softly shook her head.
“This doesn’t make sense,” Harruq said. “The angels won’t let you…”
“Won’t let me?” Kevin interrupted. He shot forward, lashing out. His knuckles slammed against Harruq’s mouth, and it took all his self-control to not respond. “Won’t let me? That we require their permission for anything is proof enough I do what must be done. Don’t you get it, Harruq? You put so much faith in them, even when I warned you not to. Those angels will not be able to lay a hand on me. By the time they get here, the castle will be mine, with the crown upon my head. And I’ll offer to go before the entire kingdom, bearing witness that it was you, the lowborn half-orc, that killed my sister. And do you know what those angels will say then? They’ll tell all the world that I speak the truth.”
The Prison of Angels h-6 Page 30
