Sinners of Magic (41 page)

Voleton turned and caught the
sadness in the young sprite’s eyes.

‘
You have
done well, my young friend,’ he said, understanding his
plight.

‘
Just tell
Bridgemear it was me who showed you the way in,’ he said, suddenly
beaming. ‘I told him he couldn’t do it alone and I was
right.’

Voleton smiled and shot a quick
glance behind him to check on the others’ progress.

‘
He needs us
all,’ he said, drawing his sword, ‘but I will ensure he knows what
you have done for us this night.’

Bracken grinned. ‘I’m always
willing to help,’ he replied, but Voleton was gone.

He touched the ivy with his
fingertips and the creeping vines and tendrils wrapped themselves
around the door and pulled it shut, removing any trace of the
entranceway, and he turned away, feeling a moment of contentment. A
sudden gust of wind blew towards him and he exploded into a
thousand billowing leaves before vanishing once again into the very
heart of the forest.

*

Bridgemear sensed they were
doomed. They had crossed the threshold into the anatomy unit and
entered a place which was way beyond anything they could have ever
imagined. As sleek as cats, they each slipped between the empty
caskets without a sound and Bridgemear was not the only one to
notice they were all lacking their hideous cargo.

‘
I feel a bad
omen,’ said Amella, when her eyes caught his.

Bridgemear nodded, looking
grim.

‘
Try not to
be afraid,’ he said, reaching out and squeezing her hand. ‘We must
at least try to get through this together.’

She gave him a weak smile, her
face was pale and her hair was damp with moisture. Beads of sweat
ran down her cheek and she wiped them away with the back of her
hand and then brushed her hair away from her face, revealing her
beautiful green eyes.

Bridgemear held his breath; she
was all he had ever wanted and he could have so easily whisked her
into his arms and taken her to somewhere safe, but instead he
tightened his grip on his sword and beckoned for them to move
on.

‘
Look, it’s
all gone!’ cried Mordorma, pointing towards the ceiling.

They all looked up and sure
enough, where there was once a vast roof, only a gaping hole
remained. Mordorma saw the crimson clouds and he called out to the
others to turn back.

‘
We must
leave at once,’ he said, in a panic, ‘don’t you see, demons are
being summoned.’

A distant chanting reached his
ears and he touched Bridgemear’s arm to grab his attention and warn
him that he could see Forusian, but it was clear by Bridgemear’s
expression that he had seen him too. With their senses heightened,
they each made their way closer to where Forusian stood with his
back towards them.

As they approached, the air
turned thick and their throats became as dry as sandpaper.
Bridgemear was the first to spot a young girl with long, red hair
suspended in the air and he realised she was tied to some kind of
stake. He watched her floating before the evil king and heard her
weeping and he felt his gut twist. He was still quite far away, but
he instinctively knew without question that the girl was his own
flesh and blood.

He tried to stop Amella from
seeing Crystal by blocking her view and pressing his hand to her
chest but she pushed his hand away and forced herself past him to
see and as soon as her eyes fell on her daughter her whole body
turned to jelly. She made a tiny whimper and Bridgemear grabbed her
and cupped her mouth with his hand and she bit his finger so hard
to stop the scream that was trying to explode in the back of her
throat that she drew blood. Her legs collapsed beneath her but he
held her fast, dragging her back into the shadows and holding her
there until he thought it was safe to let her go.

Eventually, when she was much
calmer, Bridgemear allowed her to return to where Mordorma and
Amadeus were waiting for them and they each saw how the clouds were
penetrating the tower and descending in from the sky. At first it
had given the impression of a fine mist but now something far more
sinister was heading towards Crystal’s body. Then out of the blue
came a horrific crack of thunder and a spear of lightning bolted
inside the tower and hit the stake where Crystal was still tied.
Bright coloured sparks flew like fireworks into the atmosphere and
Crystal screamed in terror when the smell of burning flesh filled
the air.

Bridgemear saw an aura of pure,
white light surround Crystal’s body and he looked aghast.

‘
He’s going
to take all her powers for himself,’ he gasped, sounding
incredulous. ‘For all that is magical, we must never let that
happen!’

Mordorma couldn’t stand it a
moment longer and was the first to take matters into his own hands.
He drew away from the shadows to force a beam of light from his
fingertips out into the night sky. The light was so bright it was
blinding and the menacing clouds rushed to suffocate the beam, but
the glow was much too powerful and he managed to hold the clouds at
bay long enough to signal his whereabouts to Elveria and the
others.

‘
How did you
escape?’ shouted Forusian when he espied Mordorma out of the corner
of his eye. He turned to face him, his eyes searching for Amadeus
and his black pupils shone like jet.

‘
Never mind
that, what the hell do you think you are doing?’ demanded Mordorma,
walking briskly towards him. Forusian moved away from the centre of
the pit and his long coat swished madly around his legs.

‘
Wouldn’t you
like to know, but then why should I waste my time with someone who
is nothing more than an ignorant fool,’ he hissed, when Mordorma
was no more than twenty feet away. ‘Do you really think I have time
for this?’

‘
I will not
let you continue with this atrocity against the girl,’ shouted
Mordorma, making a run for it. Forusian laughed like a mad man. ‘Oh
really, Mordorma, and do you think you’re going to stop me? Why,
you are no match for me!’

‘
I may not be
strong enough to destroy you on my own, not with the evil that
possesses your soul, but there are others who will come and crush
you into fine dust.’ Anger was making Mordorma sweat but he
continued to deliberately distract Forusian to enable the others to
move closer without hopefully being seen.

Forusian allowed himself a sly
smile.

‘
Your kind
have had it too good for too long, it’s time I put you in your
place,’ he hissed. ‘You’ve all spent too many years cosseted by the
rules of the Elders, with all your terrible secrets tucked away in
other worlds in the hope that no one would ever find
out.’

‘
And you had
to be the one to open Pandora’s Box?’

‘
Oh yes, for
as you now realise, I had the most to gain.’

He raised the golden spear
which he still held in his hand and pointed it directly at
Mordorma’s chest. He tossed his head and a missile of fire shot
from the spear and knocked Mordorma straight off his feet. The
surprised mage looked down and saw his clothes were set alight.
Panic filled his throat when he realised he was on fire and it
seemed like an eternity until he came to his senses and rolled over
in the dirt, smacking at the flames with his bare hands until he
forced them out. He was winded but he scrambled swiftly to his
feet, his eyes bright with fury.

Mordorma’s hand produced a
powerful force of energy and Forusian circled the spear in the air
to produce his own. Both elements of magic clashed together, but
the spear’s magic was far stronger and Mordorma was thrown into the
air by its power. His arms shot above his head and he was thrown
bodily to a pinnacle high up in the stone and was instantly
shackled to what was left of a wall of rock. Furiously he fought to
free himself, but it was no use for his bonds dug deep into his
flesh, causing him to wince in pain, and the more he fought the
tighter they became until he could no longer feel his wrists.

‘
You should
not have come here,’ Forusian sneered, lowering the spear to his
side. ‘This was never your fight and now I have no choice but to
end what is turning out to be a very tiresome
interlude.’

Amadeus watched what was
happening and a trickle of fear ran down his spine and he made
himself ready to fight. He knew he was no match for the sorcerer
but he could not stand by and do nothing. Bridgemear signalled to
him to stay put and Amadeus’s eyes flashed in defiance before the
look on Bridgemear’s face forced him to do as he was told.
Reluctantly, he forced a nod of acknowledgement and moved closer to
Bridgemear’s side. When he was close enough, Bridgemear grabbed him
by the scruff of the neck, dragging him closer to the shadows. The
blood drained from his face when he saw red fury burning in
Bridgemear’s eyes.

‘
You do
nothing without my say so,’ Bridgemear hissed through gritted
teeth. ‘You’re no use to anyone dead.’

A bloodcurdling shriek caused
them all to snap their attention towards Crystal. A strong wind
entered the anatomy unit, the cold brushing against their skin when
Abbadon flew down and entered through the gaping hole which once
held the roof. He soared and swooped around Crystal’s body, howling
with pleasure when he recognised his latest victim, sending her
into a terrified panic, for she had met this terrible demon once
before and Gzhel’s warning ran through her tortured mind. Death
shivered with pleasure for he’d stumbled upon the one who’d taken
the boy from him and now she would pay for doing so.

Forusian watched with interest
whilst the demon terrorised his sacrifice until he started to grow
bored.

‘
There’s
really no need to frighten her to the extreme; come, stand by my
side so we can begin,’ he said, beckoning the demon with his index
finger.

Abbadon ignored him, still
overcome with euphoria at finding the girl so soon.

‘
I demand
you, come to me!’ snapped Forusian, beginning to lose his temper.
‘We have struck a deal,’ he shouted, baring his teeth like a wild
animal. ‘Now, let’s get down to business or I will find another to
do my bidding!’ The icy chill in his voice made Abbadon hesitate,
but not before he had tasted her fear with his foul
tongue.

‘
Very well,’
he howled, ‘I am ready to take her for my own.’

Abbadon flew to his side then
took the spear from Forusian’s grasp and dropped it to the ground.
The floor was covered with debris and he brushed some of the small
stones to the side with his skeletal feet, then drew seven symbols
which matched the ones imprinted on the spear into the dirt. He
shut his eyes tight and let out a piercing howl.

A ghoulish cry burst from the
pit and the spear exploded, raining a thousand glistening shards of
magic upon the stone. Each crudely drawn symbol glowed golden,
embedded with the remnants of the bewitched lancet. The glow
intensified and then images of seven demonic creatures materialised
before their very eyes.

Forusian leaned forward to get
a closer look, fascinated by what had manifested before him, and
the atmosphere crackled with anticipation.

Crystal’s body broke into a
violent spasm the second the demons fixed their burning gaze upon
her and she felt her body shake with protest when they tried to
force their way inside her. Her vision blurred and her eyes
flickered from side to side before she was forced into a deep
trance. Her body started to revolve, turning ninety degrees and she
hovered, face down over the pit. The jewel clasped securely around
her neck started to glow to protect her and the demons were unable
to enter her body and so they tried to sap her life force from
outside of her instead.

The light from the necklace
became so bright that it sent a beam of light towards the pit and
as soon as it touched the red-hot liquid, something changed. A wave
rose and washed over the bouncing limbs and the body parts rushed
together and became joined. Legs found needed torsos and arms
splashed about for a head. Within minutes gruesome bodies were
climbing out of the chasm, grotesquely deformed and hideous to the
eye, and they formed into ranks like soldiers. Their hands were
enormous as were their heads, but their bodies were of different
sizes with twisted spines and dislocated limbs, all disgusting
freaks of Forusian’s making.

Up in the air Crystal’s body
was convulsing, enough it seemed to push her into unconsciousness.
The power the demons were taking from her through the amulet was
too much for her young body to bear and she fell into a deep
sleep.

Bridgemear and Amella looked on
aghast; Forusian was killing their daughter right before their very
eyes and there was nothing they could do to save her. Then
something snapped inside Bridgemear’s head. His gaze never wavered
when he ran full force from his hiding place, leaping over one of
the caskets and landing right behind Forusian. He raised his arm
and stabbed the king straight between his shoulder blades with his
sword. He heard the sickening sound of bone crunching against the
blade as the sword severed his spinal cord. He took a step back,
believing this act alone would be enough to stop the evil
sorcerer.

There followed a shriek of fury
as Forusian turned to face his attacker.

‘
Damn you,
Bridgemear!’ Forusian cursed, whilst his fingers searched for the
source of pain.

The look of triumph quickly
faded on Bridgemear’s face when Forusian twisted the blade until it
was free from his body, and with the weapon firmly in his grasp he
was quick to turn upon the wizard.