She Who Has No Name (The Legacy Trilogy) (90 page)

Meanwhile, Lomar, quiet all this time, crept
to
where Samuel lay upon the floor and helped him to his feet.  ‘Ready yourself, Samuel.  I will save the child and its mother, but you and Eric will need to distract Cang and Balten while I get them away.  When I call to you, do whatever you can.  If I can get them to the dais, we can escape.  Then, I will return for you.’

Samuel nodded and Lomar backed away, bound for the birthing room.

‘You’d better take care, Cang, or you will find yourself stranded here beneath your star,’ Samuel called and Cang again spun round to face him.

The knotty magician made a cruel smile.  ‘Then so be it.  I was hoping to escape and help the survivors of this mess to recover, but if you insist that we all need to die, then so be it—but whatever happens, I will not allow the demon to leave this valley.’

Lomar then came stepping out of the side room.  He had his cloak bundled up and
he
moved stealthily, but Cang immediately turned towards him and knew what was happening at once.  He seemed to have eyes in the back of his head.

‘What are you doing, Lomar, you insolent fool!  Put the child back with its mother!’ he roared and that was when Samuel struck.

He knew he had little power left, but he had not spent the last few minutes being idle.  He had spent his time crafting a subtle Sapping spell.  Blindly and numbly he had acted, fumbling with magic by feel and from memory, when normally he could have cast such a spell in an instant.  He had enshrouded the thing within the best concealment spells he had learned from Grand Master Tudor and across the floor he sent it.  He attached it to the leg of Cang and it began nibbling cautiously at his power.

The stream of power that came back into Samuel revitalised him.  He took a few refreshing gulps and then he sent out a blast of magic towards the leader of the Circle.  The spell struck Cang without effect, for the cunning magician ever had his defences in place.  He took the blow without flinching and, turning from Lomar, he sent a spell of his own back that evaporated Samuel’s hastily crafted barriers in a single swipe. 

At this, Balten seemed to lurch into life and came forward to assist his master, but Eric in turn struck out against him, sending a spell into the man’s back that made him spin around with a grimace.  The two fought, trading spells that whistled and roared, but Balten had to take care not to damage the circle.  Eric, however, was under no such limitation.

Samuel opened his Sapping spell further, for the thing had rooted itself deeply within Cang and had a tight grip.  He started gulping at the power and only then did Cang realise what was happening.

‘Damn you all thrice!’ he howled and struggled to disrupt the spell, stamping his legs and blasting at the elusive magic with magic of his own. 

Samuel took the chance to send more spells hurtling at the old magician, using the wiry man’s own power against him, and Cang howled in rage as he deflected the blows with one hand.

A shadow caught Samuel’s eye and he was relieved to see that Lomar had finally gained his place beside Eric, with the child moving about inside his robe.  It was Master Celios
who
gave him away, for he came running up behind Lomar laughing and clapping. 

‘The King is here!  The King is here!’ he cried, like a buffoon and
,
in response, Lomar acted.  He twirled about like a tornado, once in full circle and with the deftness of an acrobat.  Something had glinted in his hand amongst the blur of flying black cloth and Celios froze on the spot, clutching at the red line across his throat.   

‘What in blazes are you doing?  You fool!’ Cang called aloud.

Lomar’s hand then reached Eric and he gripped on and hugged close.  Eric looked as surprised as Samuel at the deftness and ferocity at which Lomar had dispatched of Celios, for the seer had been more of a pest than a threat.  Still, Eric’s spell had
anticipated
the plan, and his second Journey spell snapped out around the both of them and they were gone.

Cang stood wide-eyed with disbelief.  The room was quiet, with smoke rising from scorched pieces of stone where spells had landed astray.  Only Master Celios’ gurgling and final coughs of blood broke the silence, until he, too, was quiet, lying still on the floor.

‘What has he done?’ Cang stammered and snapped Samuel’s Sapping spell with a final shake of his leg.

Balten had wandered onto the dais, but Cang rushed past and pushed him aside.

‘Get out
of
the way,’ Cang ordered and
,
with that
,
he forged his own Journey spell, bringing it into being around himself with impressive speed and skill.

Samuel could no longer see the weaves in play, but he could sense the magic falling into place.  He could feel the designs as if they were scars upon reality, but they were intangible to his eyes.

‘There!’ Cang called as he finished the final segment, and he released the spell at once.  He should have disappeared along with the spell as the magic flashed from existence, but something went terribly awry.  His right hand had vanished, while the rest of him remained.  He held the stump before him and roared, but more from anger than anything.  No blood issued from the wound,
and
Cang was too powerful to be worried
as
he turned to face Samuel, full of rage.

‘Do you see what you’ve done?  The Demon King has escaped and we cannot follow him.  Your fool friend has broken the stones at the other side.  We are trapped here!’

Several shrill screams sounded from the birthing room and Samuel felt magic at work from within.  He forgot Cang and went to rush away, but the Koian woman had already come running out and was tying a sash around her waist.  She had new clothes on, of the Paatin-style, and
,
remarkably, she looked refreshed and vital.  She looked as lithe as she had in the year past and was obviously having no difficulty in moving about, despite the trauma of having just given birth.

‘Where is my baby?’ she called.

‘Your demon spawn is gone!’ Cang called.  ‘Escaped!’

She looked content with the news and came over to
stand
beside Samuel.  She threw her arms around him and hugged him tightly, pushing her face into his chest.  ‘That’s good.  Then let us go and be with him.’

‘What have you done?’ Samuel asked her, pushing her away so he could look into her face.  ‘Where are the midwives?’ he added, looking back towards the room.

‘I couldn’t just wait in bed,’ she replied.  ‘I needed them.  If we were all going to die anyway, what does it matter?’

Samuel had no time to argue with her.  In the end, he supposed it was true; they had no time to let her rest in bed.  It was only her flagrant disregard for the lives
of others
that bothered him.

‘How can this be?’ Cang said to himself, still raging.  ‘What has he done?  Lomar has ruined everything!’

‘Lomar has tricked you,’ Samuel said.  ‘Eric will be back for us, but your plans are finished.’

‘Back?  My dear Samuel, I
am
certain that by now your friend Eric is dead.  Lomar is the most devilish servant of the Circle I have.  I just can’t imagine how he thinks to profit from ruining our plans.  He must realise this means doom for us all.’

‘What do you mean?’ Samuel asked.

‘Who do you think kidnapped the Empress and brought her here in the first place?  He was the one who secreted her away, keeping her hidden in Ghant and
surrendering
her to the Paatin.  He delivered the Paatin Queen’s poison to your School of Magic and ensured it would thin the Order ranks.  That was Anthem’s punishment for tampering with Chancellor Donovan’s affairs, and the Chancellor’s payment for services rendered.  Lomar has been on top of this whole affair since the start.  Why do you think he has been standing with his mouth clamped shut all this time, while we have been making revelations that would attract comment from even the most dim
-
witted of magicians?  I will tell you why.  Of all my minions, Lomar was my oldest and most trusted.  He already knew everything there was to know!  Lomar was supposed to carry on with my plan if I fell.  See how skilfully he killed poor Master Celios?  What kind of magician can do that?  He has been an assassin since he was barely nine years old.’

‘That’s ridiculous.’

‘My, how you have been fooled!  Balten’s task was to intimidate you when required, but Lomar was charged with befriending you.  He was there from the very beginning, or don’t you remember?  After I first heard rumours of your presence in Marlen, he was the first man to be sent to the scene!  It was he that called in Ash and his team to do their dirty work upon your family.  Lomar has been steering you all along.’

‘No, you lie,’ Samuel said, in complete denial of Cang’s words.

‘It is true, Samuel,’ Balten said.  ‘If you think deeply, you will realise that he has always been leading you towards this path.  Lomar is much more diabolical than he seems.  He is my superior within the Circle.’ 

Cang grit his teeth in anger.  ‘He would have made a worthy successor, but now, he has done the inconceivable and deceived even me.’

‘No,’ Samuel said, shaking his head in disbelief.  ‘Lomar wouldn’t do that.  Ash’s men tried to kill me, too.  I only got away by jumping in the river.  They would have killed me, too.’

‘Those fools got carried away!  They were supposed to catch you, not kill you, but those worthless scum were lazier than they were worth.  Once Cadin had gotten his hands on you
,
he would have realised you were the one, but those fools were only interested in their spoils.  Luckily, despite their incompetence, it ended well.  Lomar arranged for you to move down from the mountains where we could keep a closer eye on you.  When the time was right, we sent you to Cintar and
,
as you know, everything progressed from there.’

‘And we are stuck here now,’ said Balten.

‘We can still Journey away,’ Samuel suggested, still attempting to digest what he had learned.

‘But not to anywhere worth going,’ Cang added sourly.  ‘Anywhere we can reach will still be destroyed.  We need to cross the world in the next few minutes to survive.  Even then, our survival will only be temporary—ten, fifteen years at the most.  With Lin escaped, he will eventually come for us all.’

There was a tiny flicker of light and a swelling of magic and they turned towards the dais as Eric reappeared upon it.  He fell to the stones, spilling dark blood from his belly.

Samuel left the Koian woman where she was and ran to his side.  ‘Eric!  What happened?’

‘Lomar attacked me,’ Eric stammered.  ‘I...I don’t know why.’

Samuel put his best healing spells onto his friend, but his magic was nothing like it used to be and the wound was awful, being a zigzag through his belly that had sliced him to pieces inside.

Cang strode up beside the two of them.  ‘What did I tell you?’ he said smugly.  ‘Everything has gone to pot!  What a sorry state of affairs.’

‘There was someone waiting in the room when we arrived,’ Eric continued.  ‘Lomar gave him your son.’

‘Oh?’ Cang said, genuinely perplexed.  ‘Who could it have been?’

Eric only shook his head.  ‘I’m sorry, Samuel,’ he said, gripping onto Samuel’s arm fiercely.  ‘I never meant to argue with you.  I never meant to hide anything from you.’

‘It doesn’t matter, Eric.  Hush.  Save your strength.’

But Eric would not be quietened.  He coughed up bright red blood and yelled in pain.  When he could continue, he strained to push the words from his mouth.  ‘I was always jealous of you, Samuel.  I always wanted to be the best, to be better than you.  They call you
t
he Saviour of Cintar
,’ he said, grimacing with the effort.  ‘They made you a Lord, but what am I?  I am only the one who always lets you down just before the end.  I’m sorry, Samuel.  I know it was foolish of me.  What a stupid petty wish I made, to be better than my friend.  I’m sorry.’