“May I borrow that?”
Haziel’s eyes flickered to Daziel who nodded. Still, the king hesitated, but after a few seconds, he slipped the ring off his finger and deposited it into Linala’s waiting hand. She closed her hand around it and shut her eyes. She mumbled something Jez couldn’t make out and looked at Daziel. The lord of shadows waved a hand, and the courtyard vanished beneath them.
They were looking down at the city of Rumar, though it was only because of the keep in the center of the city that Jez was able to recognize it from above. It took him a moment to realize that Rael, skilled in both divination and mental magic, must be sending her thoughts to Daziel, the pharim lord whose power governed illusions. Daziel had replaced the floor with the image of what Linala was seeing. Though Jez had flown several times, the act of seeming to stand on air made his stomach lurch, he thought he was going to be sick. When he actually realized what he was seeing, the feeling became even stronger.
The streets were flooded with demons. They crowded every alley and covered many of the roofs. Even what little Jez could see outside of the city walls was packed with the otherworldly creatures. There were a few spots throughout the city where demons didn’t crowd in. These empty surrounded glowing yellow circles that flared to life periodically, summoning a new creature from the abyss. The demon would then go join the crowd.
“By the seven.” Haziel’s voice was barely above a whisper. “I never imagined this. How many are there?”
“It doesn’t matter,” Istar said. “Their army is growing by the day. Even if we marched today, by the time we arrived, it wouldn’t matter if we had every able-bodied person in the kingdom. It wouldn’t be enough. It wouldn’t have been enough if we had left a month ago.” She looked up, fear evident in her eyes. “How do we even begin to fight something like that?”
“How could we not?” Jez asked. Everyone looked at him, and he remembered that there had been a time when kings, master mages, and pharim lords staring at him would have made him squirm in his seat. “If we don’t fight him, no one else will. It doesn’t matter if we have one chance in a million. If he goes unopposed here, he’ll conquer the kingdom, and then, spill out into the rest of the world.” He looked at the demon horde and shivered. “We can’t give the world to that.”
To his surprise, it was Haziel that spoke up first. “Jezreel is right. We’ll fight because we have no choice. Now, does anyone have any ideas as to how we actually do that?”
CHAPTER 6
“The problem we face is time,” Istar said. “We can’t get there fast enough to make a difference.”
Jez nodded. “Sharim will just keep summoning more demons.”
The queen’s eyes scanned the gathered people. In contrast to her normally confident attitude, she seemed hesitant and cleared her throat.
“Have we considered doing the same thing?”
For a moment, everyone was silent. The fogs of Between swirled around them, and for the first time, they had an ominous feel to them. Jez stared at the queen, though she kept her eyes locked on Daziel. Along with illusion, the master of the Veilspeakers governed diplomacy, politics, and the rule of kingdoms. As such, he was the one Haziel and Istar had had the most dealings with, and while it would’ve been wrong to say they were entirely comfortable around him, he was the one most likely to support their decisions. Still, it was Jez who broke the silence.
“What are you saying?”
“We have summoners of our own. At least a dozen Lightgivers live in our camp.”
“Former Lightgivers,” Daziel said.
The queen paled a little at his tone and looked at him for several seconds, as if waiting for permission to speak. When Daziel said nothing, she cleared her throat and continued.
“Former Lightgivers and some mages. Why not put them on fast horses and send them to Rumar? A handful of mages could make it much faster than the army. They could start summoning a demon army of our own. We might not be able to match Sharim’s numbers, but we could, at least, make a fight of it.”
“No.”
Jez’s voice was so forceful that even Daziel looked at him in shock. Surprise flickered across the queen’s face before her expression hardened.
“Summoning is a powerful tool and—”
“I said no, Istar.”
Haziel was on his feet. “Who do you think you are?”
Jez gave him a level look. He focused on the fogs of Between and shaped them, not into a physical form, but into sound, causing his own voice to echo. “I think I'm the one everyone agreed to follow while we’re fighting against Sharim. We will not summon demons.”
“He is right,” Daziel said. “Such creatures are difficult to control, and all who have used them to fight against their own kind have regretted it.”
“There are creatures besides demons that can be summoned,” said a voice from the door leading to the manor.
They all turned to see a light-skinned man in shining yellow robes. Gayel, lord of the Lightgivers and master of summoning stepped out of the keep and into the courtyard. His wings were as bright as the sun, though somehow, Jez had no trouble looking at them. Haziel started to rise but glanced at Daziel who gave him a slight shake of his head. The king settled back into his chair. The pharim lords didn’t care for ceremony. In fact, they often thought less of those who engaged in it, a thing which Haziel had always had trouble with. Gayel walked to the head of the table and nodded, first to Daziel and then to Jez.
“Memory shadows,” Lina said. She went a little pale. “Void beasts.”
Gayel shook his head as he took a seat. “Memory shadows would not be a great use against demons, not for the risk involved, and I would not unleash a void beast on this world unless there was no other choice. There are other, lesser-known creatures that can be summoned. Not in great enough numbers to truly stand against Andera on their own, but enough, perhaps, so that this battle will not be hopeless, provided we can get there fast enough.”
“Which we can’t,” Jez said. “Even with a working speeding us along it would take...” He glanced at Balud who had far greater experience with the working in question.
“Two weeks at least, and that’s only if we exhausted every healer and transformation mage we have.”
Haziel let out a low whistle. Under ordinary circumstances, it would take at least that long just to reach Nakior and another few weeks to go around the southern edge of the Telag Mountains, and then another month to reach the capital. In all likelihood, it should’ve taken longer, since they were such a large force, but one of the many secrets the masters had discovered in the brief time they’d held the Library of Zandra was a working that affected both a soldier and the land itself to allow an army to march much faster than would otherwise be possible. Still, two weeks of allowing Sharim to grow his army would leave them with far more demons than they could handle.
“That’s not even counting any traps Sharim might’ve left along the way,” Jez said. “Odds are he’ll be able to attack us from Between soon.”
“What if we did that first?” Haziel asked.
“Did what?”
“Took our army through Between.”
The fogs abruptly retreated, and Jez looked around. Gayel was already shaking his head. “We will not help you with this plan.”
“Why?” Jez asked. “He makes a good point. We could take the whole army there today.”
“Because it would not end there, even if Andera was defeated,” Gayel said. “Were we to give a mortal army the ability to move Between, do you imagine that would stop once this crisis was dealt with? Haziel’s forces would spread out across the world, able to strike whenever and however they wished. There could be no greater interference.”
Jez hesitated, almost keeping the next thought to himself, but given what was at stake, he didn’t dare. “Actually, I’m pretty sure I can get us there on my own.”
“What?” Balud asked. “How?”
“The same way I did when we found the
library in the first place. Mirel taught me the working.”
Balud raised an eyebrow. “You mean the one she used to trap you in the abyss?”
“That was only because she interfered while I was crafting it. It’ll still work.”
“But you could only make that work because the barrier between worlds was thin.”
“We just had a hundred demons come into the world at one spot. I think I know where the beacon was. I should be able to make it work from there.” Jez thought for a second. “Actually, we may not even need to do that. We’re halfway in Between now.” Jez raised a hand, and a tendril wound around his fingers. “The fogs surround the manor. If there’s any place the barrier is thin, it’s here.”
Both Gayel and Daziel wore emotionless looks, which made Jez think he was on to something. Balud spoke up.
“How do you intend to keep us together? From what you’ve told me, that’s the most difficult part. You could barely manage it with yourself. How are you going to hold together thirty thousand soldiers?”
“Memory shadows,” Lina said. “We’ll use memory shadows to make a cage like you did last time.”
“Your Academy was destroyed,” Gayel said, “along with the prison you had set up to hold memory shadows. You have none left.”
“No,” Lina said with a smile, “but as you so kindly pointed out, memory shadows aren’t demons. We can summon them.”
CHAPTER 7
A shapeless shadowy creature appeared in the circle in front of Kilos. Before it had a chance to even try to escape, Jez shot a glowing net at it. It constricted around the shadow, and Jez heard screaming in his mind. The shadow shriveled, shrinking until it had become an obsidian bead no larger than his thumbnail. Jez stepped into the circle and grabbed it. He dropped it in his belt pouch alongside a dozen others, and they started the process again.
Before the Academy had been destroyed, hundreds of memory shadows had been imprisoned beneath the central spire. They were always hungry, always seeking to consume the memories of any they could find, but the exchange of information worked both ways, and a properly disciplined mind could pull secrets out of them that were known to no one else. Jez had eventually discovered that the creatures could be shaped into whatever form one desired. The shadows would then be effectively imprisoned for a few hours, until reality whittled away at their enforced shape. If taken to a place that had no reality, however, the shape would be permanent and could even shield a person from the disruptive nature of Between.
A few minutes later, Jez had gathered twenty beads, and he could almost feel their destructive power hanging at his belt. He looked around. Four other pairs of mages were doing the same thing in the shadow of the walls of Randak, though none had finished yet. On the road to the south, the army marched into town, kicking up a near constant cloud of dust. More than a few soldiers threw Jez and the other mages uneasy glances. Many were uncomfortable around the working of magic, especially considering what they were about to do. They would be entering through all the city gates, trying to get as close to the manor, and the pillar of otherworldly fog, as possible.
One by one, the mages finished and gave their pouches to Jez, which he hung alongside his own. He shivered at the thought of what he held. One hundred beads. One hundred memory shadows with which to craft a cage big enough to protect as many soldiers as he could. As he walked toward the gate, he could almost feel the cold energy emanating from his waist. They didn’t have much time, an hour at most before the first memory shadows worked their way free of their bonds. They could be rebound, but both Linala and Gayel agreed it would be dangerous to do that too often, and Jez wasn’t prepared to risk unleashing the memory shadows into his city.
Jez nodded to the other mages who joined with the soldiers in crowding in around the manor. Jez didn’t have time to make his way through the crowd so he closed his eyes. Power welled up inside of him, and a collective gasp came from the nearby soldiers. Stories about Jez had been circulating for a long time. Many had heard of his abilities, but only a handful had actually seen him transform. As his clothes changed to shining sapphire robes and brilliant white wings emerged from his back, many of his men now beheld, for the first time, the form of the Shadowguard Luntayary.
He opened his eyes and spread his wings, launching himself into the air. He flew for only a short time, but still, the sight of Randak from above struck him. He had grown up here. It had been his home for twelve years before he left for the Academy. It had always been a bustling city, but it had also been peaceful. Now, blacksmiths churned out weapons and armor, and the city’s warehouses bulged with supplies to be used on the march. Randak prepared for war.
A small area had been cleared for him, and he landed near the entrance to the manor grounds. He could barely make out the courtyard through the fog. Some of the masters, along with a few of the high lords, waited for him. Lina ran up to him and embraced him. He pulled back, somewhat surprised.
“What?” he asked.
She glanced down at his pouches and shivered. “Don’t you remember what those things did to me?” He tried to give her a reassuring smile. She backed up and punched him in the shoulder. “Yes, I know they’re not that dangerous unless there’s a large group of them. I’m just glad you’re okay.”
“Did you get in touch with Osmund?”
Lina shook her head. “We should have made him take a speaking stone. Wherever he is, it’s hidden from scrying. Not even the Darkmask afur could find him.”
Jez raised an eyebrow. “Then, how did you expect a speaking stone to work?”
She gave him a level look, but the edges of her lips tightened in a faint smile. “R’Virdi sent some birds to search the land around Ebon, but he’s not worried.”
“Neither am I,” Jez said. “I just wish he was here.”
“If you want, I can groan and tell you how bad your plan is, and how it’s probably going to end in disaster. It’ll be just like he’s here.”
“That’s not funny when Osmund says it, and it’s not funny when you do it, either.”
Besis cleared his throat, and the pair looked at him. Jez felt his face heat up, and he patted his pouch. “We didn’t have any problems.”
“All hundred?” Jez nodded. “How many can you shield?”
“I can make it big enough for a few blocks. Have the civilians been evacuated?”
Besis nodded. “The soldiers are filling their homes in addition to being out on the streets. There’s no one for three blocks in any direction that isn’t part of the army.”
“He will be expecting us,” Manakel said.
Jez started. “What? Why? Did you find a spy?”
The lord of the Shadeslayers shook his head. “You are not exactly being subtle about this. Even if Andera has no informants among the upper ranks of the army, which would be a foolish assumption, he certainly has them in the city itself. A blind fool with half an ounce of knowledge about protection or summoning would be able to puzzle out what we are planning. I would be surprised if he did not know what we were doing within an hour of starting.”
“So, this will probably end in a trap,” Jez said.
Manakel nodded. “Almost certainly.”
“So, you don’t think we should go?” Jez asked.
Manakel shook his head. “That is not what I said. Andera may be expecting us, but this is still the only plan of attack that has been put forth that has the slightest chance of success. Perhaps, by expecting him to act, we can mitigate the damage he does. We must be prepared to strike back the moment he springs his trap.”
“Manakel, do not encourage him in this,” Sariel said. “To take so many can only end in disaster.”
“Told you this was a bad idea.” Lina’s voice was soft so only Jez could hear.
“It’ll be nothing compared to the disaster that will happen if we don’t do this,” Jez said.
“Jezreel, you are being too hasty. First, you allowed your fear to paralyze you. Now, you are leaping into acti
on. Andera is dictating your moves for you just as surely as if he had a mental hold on you.”
Jez scanned the army. They crowded the streets and had been crammed into buildings. A little ways away, a group of beast men clustered together, as uneasy at being around so many humans as the ordinary soldiers were around them. There would be others scattered about, along with groups of afur and mages.
The soldiers who were close enough stared at Jez with open astonishment. Some were afraid of him, mainly those who had been a part of Korand’s army when Dusan had still been baron. The others, though, had heard of his exploits or had even seen him, and their awe had nothing to do with anyone that had come before.
“What should we do, Sariel?” Jez pitched his voice low, though he had no real hope of keeping the soldiers from hearing. “Sharim could already have an army larger than any we could beat. We can’t afford the weeks it would take to get to Rumar. I made a mistake, and now I need to fix it. I don’t see any other way, and I don’t have time to think of one. If you have a better idea, I’m open to hearing it.”
Sariel shook his head. “There is an army of mortals out there. Even trying to dissuade you from your course skirts the rules against interference. If I were to suggest something entirely different...”
Jez let out a long breath. “I don’t have time for that either.”
“He has decided to attack, Sariel,” Manakel said. “You have always been shortsighted in that area.”
“And you were always too quick to attack.”
Manakel grinned. “The Creator made us both for a reason.” His eyes wandered down to Jez’s pouch. “One of those will be free soon. You should start if you do not wish it to be unleashed.”
Jez nodded and turned to the mages. Of the masters, Besis, Linala, and Rael would be a part of his contingent, along with nine other mages, each of whom had decades more experience than Jez. For whatever reason, Leziel refused to give them a thought they could use to form the contingent, but Rael had learned to share her own thoughts to that purpose, and in short order, their powers had been joined.
Shadeslayer (Pharim War Book 7) Page 3
