Jonathan Moeller - The Ghosts 07 - Ghost in the Ashes (28 page)
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Authors: Jonathan Moeller
Tags: #Fantasy - Female Assassin
She turned toward Corvalis, and one of the shadows lunged at her.
The creature flowed through the table as if it did not exist and reached for her. Caina jumped back, but she was wearing high-heeled boots and a long skirt, and she stumbled.
The shadow lunged at her, and Corvalis slashed it with his sword. His blade passed through the creature without harming it, and the shadow’s head rotated to face him. The shade flowed towards him, and Corvalis backed away, sword raised in guard.
Caina yanked the curved dagger from the sheath at her belt.
The dagger gave off a silvery gleam, its blade carved with Kyracian characters. The dagger had been forged with ghostsilver, a rare metal proof against sorcery.
And it also had the ability to harm creatures of sorcery.
Caina raked the dagger through the shadow. The blade flashed with white light, the handle growing warm. The shadow hissed, dissolved into swirling gray smoke, and dissipated into nothingness.
“I have to get one of those,” said Corvalis.
“They are useful,” said Caina.
She saw that Vanius had joined a group of magi standing near the columns. They cast spells in unison, responding to Rhazion’s bellowed directions. White sparks burst from their fingers, arcing across the hall to slam into the shades. The shadows rippled and vanished beneath the sparks, but still more rose from the floor.
Jurius attacked a group of fleeing merchants. A Magisterial Guard charged at Jurius, but his strikes rebounded from the renegade’s wards. Jurius slashed his strange dagger, and the blade opened a scratch, a tiny scratch, on the Guard’s jaw.
The Magisterial Guard collapsed, dead in an instant.
As he fell, gray smoke billowed from the joints of his armor, forming itself into another shade. Jurius howled with glee and attacked two merchants fleeing towards the doors. The lightest scratch from his dagger killed them both, and new shades rose billowing from their corpses.
“Gods,” said Caina, “he’s making more of them.” She saw a wave of the gray shadows advancing towards the magi gathered on the dais. The magi unleashed volley after volley of the white sparks, ripping the shadows to wisps of gray smoke, but more of the creatures rose from the floor. “He’s making them faster than they can destroy them.”
She felt Corvalis’s hard hand close around her left arm.
“We’ve got to get out of here,” he said. “We can’t fight those things, not even with your dagger. We need help.”
A dark thought flashed through her mind. The magi were the Ghosts’ enemies. If she withdrew, if she left the magi to their fate, Jurius and his dust-colored shadows might wipe out Malarae’s entire chapter…
Caina shoved aside the notion. She would not leave anyone to die at the hands of those creatures, not even the magi.
“No,” said Caina. “We can’t leave. Jurius and his damned pets will kill the magi…and then they’ll swarm through the city. If those things can kill with a single touch, they’ll kill hundreds of people before they’re stopped. Thousands, even.”
“Perish!” said Jurius, his voice ringing over the melee. “Perish, and rise as the servants of great Anubankh!”
“Then how do we kill him?” said Corvalis. “Your ghostsilver dagger can pierce his wards, but the shadows will swarm you long before you can get close enough to use it.”
“Easy,” said Caina. “We get his attention, lure him away from the others, and then deal with him.”
Corvalis blinked, and grinned at her. He had a reckless streak, enjoyed challenging himself…and Caina found that she shared that trait.
“Well,” he said, “lead on.”
Jurius strode towards the dais, the dagger raised over his head, ignoring the remaining lords and merchants. The great mass of shadows flowed towards the dais, forcing their way forward despite the spells of the magi. Caina glanced at the food covering the table, plates of bread and cheese, carafes of wine, a pork roast skewered on a steel spit over a metal pan of grease.
A metal pan that sat over a low fire to keep the roast warm.
“Your coat,” Caina said.
Corvalis shrugged out of his coat, and Caina grabbed the coat, wrapped it around her hands, and seized the grease pan. Even through the fabric she felt the heat of the steel.
“Jurius!” she shouted at the top of her lungs.
The renegade magus glanced at her, a sneer on his face.
Caina threw the pan at him. He was warded against steel, and the pan bounced away without touching him. He was not, however, warded against hot pork grease, and it splattered across his robe and neck and face.
Even over the chaos, Caina heard the sizzle of scorched flesh, followed by Jurius’s agonized scream. Jurius stumbled back, left hand raised to clutch his burned cheek.
As one, every shade in the hall turned towards Caina.
“I think you got his attention,” said Corvalis.
“Kill her!” screamed Jurius.
“Run!” said Corvalis.
Caina ran, her heels hammering against the stone floor. A narrow door stood on one side of the hall, leading to the living quarters of the magi. Caina threw open the door and hurried inside. Beyond she saw a narrow hallway stretching into the chapterhouse, lined on either side with wooden doors.
She slammed shut the door behind her.
“Either side of the door,” said Caina. “Now.”
Corvalis nodded. Caina went to the right side of the door and Corvalis went to the left. A heartbeat later the first shadow flowed through the heavy wood, and then another, and then another, and dozens of the things poured into the corridor. The creatures, whatever they were, should have seen her. But Caina suspected they were slaved to Jurius’s will.
And a man with severe grease burns across his face and neck would not be thinking clearly.
The door burst open, stopping an inch from Corvalis, and Jurius ran into the corridor, screaming curses.
Caina let him pass, then stepped forward and drove her ghostsilver dagger into his back with both hands.
Jurius stiffened, a scream bursting from his burned lips, and Caina felt the dagger’s handle grow hot beneath her fingers as it penetrated his ward. Jurius spun, ripping the dagger from her grasp, and slashed at her with his black blade. Caina dodged, the deadly weapon passing inches from her face.
The shadows flowed back towards them.
Corvalis slammed a fist into Jurius’s head. The blow knocked Jurius off-balance, and he fell backwards, the black dagger clattering from his hand.
He landed atop the handle of the ghostsilver dagger, driving it deeper into his flesh.
The renegade screamed once more and then went still, his eyes staring and glassy.
The shadows shivered and vanished into nothingness.
Caina stepped away from the wall, her pulse thundering in her ears.
Corvalis let out a long breath. “Good thing those creatures dissipated.”
“Actually,” said Caina, flipping Jurius’s corpse over, “I think they dissipated when he dropped the dagger.” She ripped the ghostsilver dagger free from his back, the blade glistening with blood. “We have to go. Any minute the magi are going to come through the door after him.” She knelt. “But we can’t leave this behind.”
Caina sliced a strip free from Jurius’s robe, wrapped her hands in it, and picked up the Maatish dagger.
She suspected touching the weapon with her bare skin would be a tremendously bad idea.
Even through the black cloth, she felt the dagger’s raw arcane power, felt it vibrating up the bones of her arm.
“I doubt we can leave through the main doors,” said Corvalis.
“No,” said Caina, straightening up. “Into one of the bedrooms, and out through the window.”
He sighed. “I hoped to take you to a fine banquet, and now we are fleeing through the window like common thieves.”
“At least,” said Caina, “I didn’t burn down any buildings this time.”
They retreated to one of the bedrooms, went through the window, and made their escape.
Follow this link to continue reading
Ghost in the Mask
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Other books by the author
The Frostborn Series
The Orc’s Tale (Tales of the Frostborn short story)
The Soulblade’s Tale (Tales of the Frostborn short story)
The Third Soul Series
Computer Beginner’s Guides
The Windows Command Line Beginner’s Guide
The Linux Command Line Beginner’s Guide
The Ubuntu Desktop Beginner’s Guide
The Windows 8 Beginner’s Guide
The Linux Mint Beginner’s Guide
The Ghosts Series
Ghost Dagger (World of the Ghosts novella)
Ghost Aria (World of the Ghosts short story)
Ghost Claws (World of the Ghosts short story)
The Fall of Kyrace (World of the Ghosts short story)
Ghost Omens (World of the Ghosts short story)
The Demonsouled Series
The Dragon’s Shadow (World of the Demonsouled novella)
The Wandering Knight (World of the Demonsouled short story)
The Tournament Knight (World of the Demonsouled short story)
The Tower of Endless Worlds Series
Otherworlds
About the Author
Standing over six feet tall, Jonathan Moeller has the piercing blue eyes of a Conan of Cimmeria, the bronze-colored hair a Visigothic warrior-king, and the stern visage of a captain of men, none of which are useful in his career as a computer repairman, alas.
He has written the DEMONSOULED series of sword-and-sorcery novels, and continues to write THE GHOSTS sequence about assassin and spy Caina Amalas, the COMPUTER BEGINNER’S GUIDE series of computer books, and numerous other works.
Visit his website at:
http://www.jonathanmoeller.com
Visit his technology blog at:
http://www.jonathanmoeller.com/screed
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Table of Contents
Chapter 1 - Knives in the Night
Chapter 3 - The Champion of Marsis
Chapter 5 - The House of Kularus
Chapter 8 - The Imperial Citadel
Chapter 10 - The Grand Imperial Opera
Chapter 11 - Ropes and Ladders
Chapter 13 - Blades in the Night
Chapter 18 - Elixir Rejuvenata
Chapter 21 - The Sacellum of the Living Flame
Chapter 22 - The Master Alchemist
Chapter 25 - Those Who Will Carry On When We Are Gone