Necromancer Falling: Book Two of The Mukhtaar Chronicles (11 page)

He opened his eyes to a disturbing sensation several hours later.

A force outside of himself, yet also within, made him sit up and get out of bed.

What’s happening? What is this?

He wasn’t in control. Something had taken over his muscles…and that
something
was inside him.

As beads of sweat formed on his forehead, he took slow steps toward the weapon rack.

No! Fight it!

Even in the midst of panic he couldn’t stop moving forward, one foot after another, until soon he was standing in front of the rack.

He watched in terror as his hand took hold of a dagger, pulled it from its clasp, and turned the point toward himself.

Fight this!

He began to summon a penitent to snatch the dagger away, but he couldn’t channel necropotency. His mind wouldn’t allow it.

He tried to scream, hoping Diggins or another guard was nearby, but he couldn’t move his jaw. He was completely under the control of this new power.

No. Not completely.

He let go of the fear and embraced his cet once more. In the periphery of his mind, he could still sense his arm bringing the dagger closer to his stomach, but the more he let go—the more in control of his cet he became—the slower the dagger approached.

When he reached the center of his cet, where the image of Kaitlyn dwelled, she screamed and woke.

Nicolas was in complete control of himself once more. As he ran to her side, he sent a command through the necromantic link to Kagan, telling him to find Mujahid as quickly as possible.

“It was horrible!” Kaitlyn yelled. “Just…floating there!”

“What was floating? What was it?”

“The head! And it’s getting closer! Like you said before…oh my god, Nick!”

“That’s
not
going to happen to you.”

“How do you know?”

“Because there’s no place else for you to go, that’s why. If you’re a necromancer,
this
is your place. No invisible hand is going to take you anywhere.”

The door burst open and Mujahid ran to the bedside.

“What happened?” Mujahid asked. “Your penitent wouldn’t tell me.”

“It’s happening like it happened to me,” Nicolas said. “Dreams…the skull…the whole nine yards.”

“You never told me there was a distance element to your Awakening,” Mujahid said. “I would have found that fascinating.”

“What?”

“You said something about nine yards.”

“It’s just a saying,” Nicolas said. “Like the
whole enchilada
. You know? The whole kit and caboodle?”

“The whole…enchiboodle?”

“Never mind that,” Nicolas said. “She’s
Awakening
.”

Mujahid touched the back of his hand to her head.

“Lady Kaitlyn,” Mujahid said. “This is important. How long have you been having the dreams?”

“They started a few days ago,” Kaitlyn said.

“Wait,” Nicolas said. “A few days ago for
you
means…you were having them while I was having mine! You never told me!”

“Oh, and you were a model of information sharing?” Kaitlyn said. “I didn’t get the whole story until you got sucked through a black hole in front of the TV!”

“Please, dear one, just answer my questions,” Mujahid said.

Kaitlyn exhaled a deep breath and nodded.

“Have you had violent attacks of nausea?” Mujahid asked.

Kaitlyn shook her head. “No.”

“Visions of skeletons?”

She shook her head again, but this time she furrowed her brow as if she didn’t understand why he was asking her these things. “
No.
”

“Scenes of unimaginable atrocities and violence?”

“What the hell? No! Just a floating head.”

“So you
have
seen the skull?” Nicolas asked.

“I never said it was a skull! I said it was a
floating head
!”

Nicolas looked at Mujahid. What could Kaitlyn be talking about?

“One man’s grotesque rotting skull is another man’s floating head, what can I say?” Mujahid said.

“What about the room with two doors?” Nicolas asked.

“Yes!” Kaitlyn said. “I’ve seen that!”

“Now we’re gettin’ somewhere,” Nicolas said.

“How close was this severed head to you in your last dream?” Mujahid asked.

“I could touch it if I tried, and it was getting closer.”

“Then there’s no time to lose,” Mujahid said. “I wish I had time to prepare you like I did with Nicolas.”

“You didn’t miss much except a lot of yelling and insults, trust me,” Nicolas said.

Mujahid frowned. “Follow my voice, and do everything I say. Clear your mind and remember the room with two doors.”

“I can see it.”

“Good,” Mujahid said. “Now, don’t go anywhere near the white door, do you understand?”

She seemed confused, but she nodded. “Um…okay. No white door.”

“I want you to focus on the black door,” Mujahid said. “That’s where you want to go. Look at it and tell me what you see.”

She shook her head.

“It’s okay,” Mujahid said. “Focus on the black door. Ignore the white door and turn toward the black.”

“That’s what I’m trying to tell you,” Kaitlyn said. “There
is
no black door. Just a red door and a blue door.”

Mujahid turned away. His expression terrified Nicolas. It was clear he had no idea what Kaitlyn was talking about. And Nicolas sure as hell didn’t have any idea either.

After several moments, Mujahid whispered.

“Chimeramancy? How can this be?”

“What’s that?” Kaitlyn asked.

“Wait,” Nicolas said. “What was that word you just used?”

“Chimeramancy,” Mujahid and Kaitlyn said in unison.

“Yeah, that one,” Nicolas said. “I’d forgotten all about it until you said it. I had a close friend in Aquonome—”

“Where?” Kaitlin asked.

“The cichlos…Toridyn?” Mujahid asked.

“Yeah, Tor,” Nicolas said. “When we met, he told me he never wanted to be a necromancer in the first place. He wanted to be a
chimeramancer
, but they told him he couldn’t. Then later, after the battle here at the Pinnacle, when Arin spoke to Siek Lamil, he told him the cichlos
chimeramancers
wouldn’t have to make the
great sacrifice
, whatever that is. The cichlos must know something about this. But…and don’t take this the wrong way, Mujahid…what in the name of Malvol’s butt crack is chimeramancy?”

Mujahid winced. “Surely you didn’t spend
that
much time with Nuuan?”

Nicolas held his hands out as if to say
well, answer the question
.

“Chimeramancy is a form of dream magic,” Mujahid said. “And it hasn’t been seen in the Three Kingdoms since long before the Great Barrier, notwithstanding the cichlos. In fact, long before Nuuan and I ascended.”

“Can it make people do things they don’t wanna do?” Nicolas asked.

“Oh, it’s much more than that. Chimeramancers have complete control over their dream state. And whatever they dream they have the power to manifest in the waking world…but only so long as they maintain the dream. If they are woken or disturbed in any way, the dream collapses, and with it whatever reality their magic manifested.”

“I can do
what
?” Kaitlyn asked.

“That’s gotta be what this is,” Nicolas said. “Before she woke up, she’d taken complete control of me. She made me stand up, walk over to the weapon rack, and damn-near kill myself.”

“Oh my god, Nick!”

Mujahid squinted. “A strange manifestation. But then she hasn’t Awakened, so perhaps she’s creating realities from a dream state she doesn’t completely control. If she doesn’t Awaken soon—”

“How much time do we have?” Nicolas asked.

“Days? A week? It’s impossible to determine with any accuracy. Had she been born and raised here, her parents would have taught her of the Halls of Power, and she would have recognized the signs herself.”

“I’m going to send for the cichlos,” Nicolas said. “But there has to be something we can do until they get here.”

Mujahid nodded. “You may not recall your first day on Erindor as clearly as I do. You were under great stress. But I slowed your Awakening long enough to provide you with some basic knowledge. I can teach you to do the same for Kaitlyn. But there’s no time to wait for them.”

“Aquonome is hundreds of miles away,” Nicolas said. “It would take more than a week to get there.”

Mujahid shook his head. “Tithian can provide you with a translocation orb that will take you close to Caspardis. From there…you know the way.”

“Wait,” Nicolas said. “You’re not coming with me?”

“It’s clear to me Nuuan plays some greater role in this, and I think it’s time for me to know what that is. I’m going to find him. I’ve waited long enough for his return.”

“But I need you here!”

“There is…a
power
at play here that I don’t understand,” Mujahid said. “I fear what may happen if it is left unchecked. I
must
find Nuuan and figure this out.”

Nicolas commanded Kagan to find Tithian. If he needed to bring Kaitlyn to Aquonome, he wanted to leave as soon as possible.

Mujahid spent several minutes teaching Nicolas the simple flow of necropotency that could slow the Awakening process of another. The method involved placing a shield around the other person’s well of power so it wouldn’t fill with ambient energy.

“I’ll go first,” Mujahid said. “Watch what I do. When I remove the shield, you try.”

A wave of necropotency left Mujahid and swept past Nicolas. But when the power entered Kaitlyn, Mujahid shrunk away and stopped channeling.

“This…this isn’t…”

“What is it?” Kaitlyn asked.

Mujahid smiled at her. It was the smile of a man who wasn’t sure how to tell someone a huge spider was crawling on their head.

“Well?” Nicolas asked.

“She has no well of power,” Mujahid said.

Nicolas’s chest tightened and Mujahid put a hand on his shoulder.

“Chimeramancy is very rare,” Mujahid said. “I’ve never had the opportunity to study it in depth. It seems they don’t require a power source in the same sense that you and I do. So…”

“So you don’t know how to slow her Awakening?”

“I have an idea. But neither of you are going to like it. And it’s not going to be easy.”

“Lay it on us.”

“You must
not
sleep, young lady. Not for long, at least. Chimeramancers use dreams, and so you must stay out of a dream state. It will be difficult. The headaches will be excruciating, but I can teach Nicolas to help you with those.”

Nicolas closed his eyes and lowered his head. “I can’t do this alone.”

“You must, and you will,” Mujahid said. “Pack what you need, but do it quickly. Get Kaitlyn to Aquonome as soon as you can.”

“I will.”

“Now let’s teach you how to deal with those headaches.”

“Wait,” Nicolas said. “There’s…”

“What is it?”

“You’ve seen war,” Nicolas said.

Mujahid gave him a questioning look. “I’ve seen more than any man should.”

“I haven’t. Not really.”

“You fought one battle after another to bring the barrier down.”

“Not the same thing. I’m talking about generals and armies and navies and…
everything
that goes into a war. The Barathosians are
out there
.
Right
now
. And just when this place needs an archmage the most, I can’t be here. I can’t. And even if I were…what do
I
know? What would I
do
that could make any difference?”

Mujahid nodded and glanced at Kaitlyn. “I know what this is about.”

“I need your skills,” Nicolas said. “As a warrior. As a general. As a leader.”

“You underestimate Tithian. And you underestimate the Three Kingdoms.”

“I don’t
know
Tithian. Not like I know you.”

Mujahid harrumphed. “He’s far more than he lets on half the time. But you can rest assured he has your interests at heart.”

“It’s not
my
interests I’m concerned about right now. Everyone looks at me with…expectation. Like I’m supposed to have a handle on everything. And I don’t even know what an archmage
does
yet. How am I supposed to fight a war?”

“We’ve had precious little time to talk about what your new duties entail. But the Three Kingdoms doesn’t need you to be a
general
. They need you to be an
archmage
.” Mujahid shook his head. “If you confuse the two, we may as well hand the Three Kingdoms over to the Barathosians.”

“But what does that
mean
?”

“It means don’t be Kagan. It means be the bright, inquisitive—often infuriating—young man I know you to be. Arin didn’t ask you to be archmage because he expected something
new
from you. He asked because he wanted the Nicolas he’d come to know. The Nicolas that stood up to an archmage when few others would. The Nicolas that brought down the barrier and rescued the gods themselves.
That’s
what it means. Now, let’s learn to deal with Lady Kaitlyn’s headaches before they worsen beyond our ability to control.”

Nicolas nodded and did his best to follow along.