Raging Sea and Trembling Earth: Disciples of the Horned One Volume Two (Soul Force Saga Book 2) (10 page)

“
Y
ou’re not dead
.” The spirit in the mirror appeared the moment Connor entered the vault carrying Aowin’s severed head. “I’m modestly impressed. I was certain the paladin would kill you.”

“Thanks.” He tossed the head in the corner. “When can I speak to King Alexious?”

“I’ll need a few minutes. It’s not like he’s sitting around waiting to speak with every dimwitted warlock that wanders into his palace.”

Connor ignored the insult and flicked his hand at the spirit. “Well run along and let him know I’ve completed the tasks you set.”

The spirit stuck a shadowy tongue out at him and vanished. Connor shook his head and went over to the crystal’s niche. It took a moment to locate the empty circle in the runes. When he found it again Connor placed the key in it. Seconds passed and nothing happened.

Had he done something wrong? Power gathered and the runes writhed, finally. A blast of power sent Connor flying across the room. He slammed into the far wall and slid to the floor. Again.

Connor clambered to his feet shaking his head, trying to figure out what happened. In the mirror the spirit had returned. It wore a grin that almost split its head in half. “You tried to open the niche before learning the proper technique.”

Connor snarled. “You might have warned me.”

“Why should I warn someone too stupid or impatient to wait for the proper instruction?”

Before Connor could respond the spirit shuddered and faded away. An armored figure took its place. This apparition appeared far more solid than the vaporous spirit. Connor took a knee. This had to be King Alexious.

“On your feet, boy.” The king spoke in a deep sepulchral voice that seemed to echo as though coming from a great depth.

Connor rushed to obey, not even thinking to be insulted by the boy comment. To a being of King Alexious’s age and power Connor was little more than a child. “Great King, it is an honor to meet you.”

“My spirit guard seems to think little of you, but you have manners at least. That’s surprisingly rare among those who walk our path. I never understood it myself. You’d think by the behavior of some warlocks that snarling savagery and spitting curses somehow made you stronger.”

While the king spoke of manners Connor took the opportunity to study the man, or perhaps former man, that had been his chief inspiration ever since Connor learned of him. The once king had a heavy build and crimson eyes shone out from slits in the horned helm. He looked closer. It wasn’t armor the king wore, not exactly. It appeared the plate, helm and gauntlets were fused to his body like a second skin or a demon’s scales.

“What do you wish to know of me, boy?” King Alexious asked.

“I want to finish your work and sacrifice the rest of the continent to the Horned One. I sought the soul burn crystal to complete your harvest.”

The king chuckled. “Ambitious, I like that. The hell gate project wasn’t a backup plan. It was my first plan which I abandoned as unworkable and inefficient compared to my final project. What makes you think you can succeed where I failed?”

The king’s voice held an edge when he asked the final question. Connor swallowed. He’d have to be diplomatic in how he answered. “I believe it’s my best chance to succeed. I have no army and no kingdom. If I attempted to duplicate your work with the pyramids my enemies would detect it at once and destroy me and my work. Creating the hell gate allows me to do most of the work in secret and once I’m ready I’ll have the army I need to crush my enemies. Once I subjugate the kingdom I can move on to building pyramids and offering the great sacrifice.”

King Alexious nodded. “A thoughtful plan. Where will you find the energy sources you need to bring your army through the gate?”

“Much has changed in the years since you ascended. What was once wilderness with savage natives is now a prosperous kingdom. I will have no trouble getting the soul force I need to summon an army.”

“I honor your ambition and the Horned One’s decision to gift you a portion of his soul force. Succeed and I will welcome you to The Master’s court as a brother. To claim the crystal, place the key in the empty circle, charge it with hellfire, and spin it one full rotation right and two full rotations left. When you leave be certain to reset the guardian.”

The king vanished from the mirror and the first spirit returned. “You two seemed to hit it off.”

Connor ignored the spirit and walked back to the crystal’s niche. He performed the steps as King Alexious said then watched as the guardian runes faded away and the glass became insubstantial. He reached in and pulled the crystal out. It weighed more than he’d expected; more like lead than crystal. Connor sighed in satisfaction. Now his plans could proceed.

He pocketed the key, surrounded the crystal with a soul force bubble, and let it drift beside him.

“Wait,” the spirit said. “Take me with you and I’ll lead you to the cavern King Alexious planned to use to house the crystal.”

“I already have a place picked out. Do you know how to reset the guardian?”

The spirit gave a despairing shake of its head. “There’s a circle on the floor outside. Put the token in the center and pour hellfire into it. When it can’t hold any more it’ll reactivate. Are you really going to pass up the chance to set up in the location the master chose himself?”

Connor walked out of the treasure room without a backward glance. He needed to return to his library and check on Mikhail. He didn’t trust the unstable young man to act on his own for very long.

T
he sun had long
since slunk behind the mountains when Connor spotted the cave. He was relieved to find no bodies littering the ground outside. Either none of his agents had come calling or Mikhail had shown a shred of good judgment and let them be. Whichever way it turned out, a great weight lifted from Connor’s shoulders.

The snow crunched under his boots when he landed and Connor sunk up to mid-calf. It must have snowed again while he was gone. He stepped out of the snow and walked down the long tunnel to his library. He sensed Mikhail there. Connor frowned. The black knight wasn’t alone. Another weak soul force was present. Who could it be? Despite what he’d told Mikhail, Connor hadn’t actually expected any of his agents to visit for weeks.

Something must have happened.

Connor picked up his pace, not running, that would be a sign of weakness and he didn’t dare show any weakness. He entered his library and found Mikhail, drawn sword held in his scaly new hand, standing over a man in dark brown and green robes. The unfortunate prisoner spotted Connor and sighed in relief.

“Master, I have an important message,” the prisoner said.

“Silence, worm. I caught this one prowling around outside two days ago, Master. Remembering your admonishment I detained him for questioning prior to execution.”

“Good, Mikhail, I’m pleased you paid attention.” Turning his gaze on the prisoner Connor continued, “I assume Eleck sent you.”

“Yes, Master.” The terrified man looked up at Mikhail then back to Connor.

Connor attempted a reassuring smile. With his current appearance he wasn’t certain how well he pulled it off. “Don’t worry, Mikhail isn’t going to kill you. He was just acting out of an abundance of caution. Your message?”

“Of course. Master Eleck says the project is on schedule, but he fears one of the Wise One’s followers may have discovered our work. A girl has disappeared, and hunters have been dispatched. He feels confident the girl will be found and dealt with, but wished to let you know what had happened.”

Connor ground his teeth. If Eleck didn’t get the cave ready or, worse, someone from the kingdom learned what they were doing he’d have nowhere to set up the crystal. “Return and tell Eleck if he fails I’ll send Mikhail to kill the lot of you.”

The trembling messenger popped to his feet and fled the library as fast as his skinny legs could carry him. Connor slammed his fist into the wall. Problems, problems, problems. Why did all his servants cause him nothing but problems?

He stalked across the library and sat in his black chair. “It isn’t too much to expect my subordinates to do their jobs competently, is it?”

“No, Master,” Mikhail said. “Say the word and I will punish them for you.”

Connor rubbed his face. Was Mikhail so stupid he didn’t realize Connor was talking about him too? Probably.

“I appreciate the offer, but Eleck still has important work to do. We’ll give him a chance to clean up his mess before we take more drastic measures.”

L
on sat
across the table from Thomas in the headmaster’s cluttered office. It had been an exhausting and frustrating couple of days. He returned Jen and her team to The Citadel before returning to report. Lon wasn’t exactly sure how Thomas got put in charge of researching Connor Blackman. Usually the headmaster looked after his students and teachers and nothing else. The archmage must have been too busy with the imperial ships to take care of this as well. Thomas and Lidia were old friends and Lon suspected if she asked him to look into this business for her Thomas wouldn’t hesitate to help.

Thomas looked up from Lon’s report. “Not much here and Kat didn’t know anything. Huh. Quite remarkable, soul force eaters showing up at both locations at the same time as you. It’s enough to make a man think we have a leak in The Tower.”

Lon had similar thoughts, but kept silent, uncomfortable giving voice to them. He couldn’t imagine who might help Connor and they certainly couldn’t just question people for no reason. It would kill morale and make everyone suspicious of everyone else. If that happened they’d never accomplish anything.

“What do you want to do?” Lon asked.

“If you’re willing I was thinking of setting a trap.”

Lon frowned. “What sort of trap?”

“There’s one last avenue we haven’t explored: the Blackman family itself. I want you to go talk to them. But before you meet, I’ll let the usual people know something’s happening, each with a slight variation, none of it the truth. Different times of the meeting, different locations, that sort of thing. You’ll go to each place at the appointed time. If you’re attacked we’ll have our answer. Once that’s sorted out you can talk to the Blackman clan safely.”

“I’m not crazy about lying to our people, but I agree we don’t have much choice. Who do you trust to act as my backup?”

“That, at least, I have sorted out. Before she left Lidia put three members of her Crimson Legion at my disposal, just in case. If we can’t trust them, we can’t trust anyone.”

Lon feared his old friend was all too correct about that last bit. “How many people will you test?”

“I only told six others about your last mission. Three of the high sorcerers, my assistant, Mistress Ann, and Lenore the librarian. I have my suspicions, but I’ll try them all to be certain. Since Sasha is already in Valcane I won’t inform her of your mission. The other five I’ll give different information about a meeting three days from now in the port. At least one of them will most likely be a trap. Are you certain you’re willing to take the risk, Lon?”

Lon wasn’t at all certain, but they had limited options. They needed to sort this out if they were to have any chance of stopping Connor. “Don’t worry, a trap isn’t as dangerous if you know you’re walking into it.”

T
he cry
of gulls mingled with the salty scent of the ocean. Bright sun shone down on Lon as he sat in the outdoor cafe which was to serve as the third potential ambush location. He loved it down by the ocean. The water kept the temperature more comfortable. He’d found a good spot. From his corner table Lon could keep watch for long distances in both directions. Right now all he saw were shoppers hauling baskets of fish or vegetables or whatever they’d bought that morning. None of them looked remotely threatening. He hadn’t seen a warlord or sorcerer that didn’t work for him at any of the ambush points.

He smiled. The Crimson Legionnaires probably wouldn’t appreciate the implication that they were working for him. Speaking of which, here came one of them now. A stunning blond strode toward him, wearing a blue sundress that flapped in the breeze. She was assigned to play the part of his contact on the assumption that whoever was targeting them would be less intimidated by a woman than a man.

Anyone stupid enough to think that deserved to die. She might have been smiling and waving at him like an old friend, but up close her blue eyes were as cold and emotionless as any killer Lon had ever met. When Alden, the lead sorcerer, had introduced him to Imogen Newall, one look at her hard features and flat eyes had made Lon very happy to have her on his side in the coming battle.

They embraced like old friends and she sat across from him. A serving girl took their order and left them alone.

“Anything?” Lon asked.

Imogen shook her head. “Do you think this one will be a bust as well?”

Lon shrugged. There was no way to tell what might happen. Alden and Chun had hidden themselves on opposite sides of the street and a squad of guardsmen were waiting a block over in case any soul force eaters showed up. If anything happened they were as ready as they could be.

Lon and Imogen chatted about nothing in particular and sipped tea for an hour. They watched the pedestrians, the other guests, even the sky drew an occasional glance. There was simply nothing around.

“I think we can call this a bust,” Lon said.

“Agreed.” Imogen stood up and Lon joined her.

He kissed her cheek and tossed a silver coin on the table to cover their drinks. They parted ways, Imogen heading toward the docks and Lon deeper into the city. He’d go to the next site and a little later she’d show up and do her performance again in a different dress with a different hairstyle. Lon was torn as he walked down the street toward a park a quarter mile away.

Part of him was glad the first three sorcerers were honest, but another part wished the attack would just happen. He was getting worn down by the tension. This was why he’d never wanted to join the inquisitors. The constant stress was too much for him.

He hadn’t gone more than a hundred yards down the street when he sensed power gathering ahead of him. He raised a shield an instant before a ball of soul force detonated five feet from him.

Lon went flying to his left. Pieces of shoppers went every which way. He skidded to a stop against the wall of a dry goods store. Some poor woman’s torso landed beside him.

Standing on a rooftop across the street was a burly man. Black veins crisscrossed his arms and power crackled around his fingers. His core was nothing extraordinary, but rings on both middle fingers seethed with demonic energy.

He raised his hands and Lon sprang into the air ahead of another blast that sent cobblestones flying toward the fleeing shoppers. When Thomas had come up with this plan, Lon doubted this was how he pictured it going.

A golden blast struck the stranger in the back, staggering him half a step closer to the edge of the roof. Alden shimmered into view. More power gathered in the air around him.

Before he could renew his offensive, black flames roared down at him. Alden dodged with a hair’s breadth to spare, his attack ruined. A second enemy appeared in the sky above, a pale, dark-haired woman with black pits for eyes. She carried a scythe wreathed in black flames and sat on a pale horse with flames dancing around its hooves.

The sorcerers circled the corrupted humans. Both sides knew whoever attacked first would leave themselves open to a counterattack. It was a standoff which worked to Lon and Alden’s advantage since they had reinforcements coming. Hopefully the strangers didn’t.

More sorcerers approached from the east and south. He sensed no corruption so it had to be Chun and Imogen. Below him the people had fled the immediate area, thank heaven. At least they wouldn’t have to worry about any more noncombatants getting hurt.

Imogen drifted to a stop beside him. She hadn’t had time to change out of her blue dress. “I thought we were expecting monsters of some sort.”

“You don’t feel those two qualify?”

“Good point.”

The other power source was close. Lon scanned the sky. His breath caught.

She had curly copper hair and went barefoot, just like he remembered. After their first encounter Lon had done his best to find a mention of a sorcerer fitting her description in The Tower archives, but he’d come up blank. Either she’d changed her appearance or she’d come from beyond the kingdom. In her right fist she clutched Chun’s long black hair. His severed head dripped blood on the stones below.

The female sorcerer looked at Lon and grinned. “We meet again.”

“You won’t escape this time, witch.”

She shook her head. “That’s not how I remember it happening before. And this time I brought two friends along to play.”

“As did I. Let’s see how you do in a fair fight.

The redhead tossed Chun’s head to the street where it splattered like a melon. “Let’s hope they’re stronger than this one.”

She sent a blast of lightning at Lon. He spun out of the way and the battle was on. Lon chased his opponent through the sky, dodging blasts and sending an occasional counter her way. She was as fast and strong as he remembered. Despite his boasting, Lon wasn’t certain he could beat her.

Explosions rattled the buildings as his companions fought their own battles. The Crimson Legion was known to be a close-knit group. Seeing their comrade killed had probably put the others in the mood for a fight. They were lucky in one regard: the two corrupted humans together weren’t as powerful as the black knight that had faced Lon on his previous visit.

A blast broke on his shield, forcing Lon’s full attention back to the redhead. He conjured a pair of griffins and sent them in to engage her. His opponent raised a shield in time to stop their initial rush. The constructs scraped their claws and beaks against the golden bubble to no effect.

She poured a ton of energy into her barrier, more than she needed to stop his constructs. He discovered why when a pair of giant arms shot out of her shield and grabbed his griffins by their necks. Lances of power shot out from the shield, piercing his griffins and tearing them apart.

As he watched, her shield shifted from a sphere to a ten-foot-tall humanoid figure that wrapped around her. He could just make out the woman at the center of the construct, tendrils of energy connecting her to it. It contained a lot of soul force and he doubted she had enough power to maintain it for very long.

If he kept out of her reach and wore her down Lon might have a chance. He circled the construct, trying to read its structure. The woman had skill. He found no weak spots.

With no better options Lon conjured a spear and hurled it at the construct’s left knee. It struck and shattered into splinters, doing almost no damage.

She pointed the construct’s hand at him and golden arrows streaked toward him. He dodged, flying in a circle around her. His opponent spun with him, just a fraction too slow to catch him in the barrage.

Lon almost flew into a second hail of arrows when she pointed the left arm in his direction. He dove at the last second. Two arrows clattered off his personal shield and then he was past.

He hardly had time to take a breath before she shifted her aim again. Arrows smashed the buildings under him to rubble as he flew on. He needed to end this fast before they leveled the neighborhood.

He conjured another pair of griffins, one on either side of her. They bit her construct’s arms and yanked them to the side. Lon raced into the gap, conjuring a sword with most of his remaining power.

The blade struck her construct’s chest and pierced through. She fled out the back an instant before his sword would have pierced her chest. The golden giant vanished.

The redhead hung in the air, gasping for breath.

Lon leveled his sword at her. “Surrender, tell us everything you know about Connor Blackman’s plans, and you’ll be spared.”

“As if I value my life more than my loyalty to Connor.”

She pointed at a damaged building and a ball of energy streaked toward it.

Lon hurled his sword, changing its shape as it flew. His power wrapped around hers. When it detonated his shield blew apart, but the building survived.

He spun back, but the redhead was gone.