The Sorcerer's Abyss (The Sorcerer's Path) (53 page)

Azerick let out a yelp when a rock struck him in the shoulder with significant force and pinpoint accuracy. He rolled onto his hands and knees before struggling back to his feet. He rubbed at his bruised shoulder and took several deep breaths before returning to his exercises.

CHAPTER 17

Inquisitors Elias and Fennrick sat in plush chairs across from Duchess Paulina who reclined on a sedan sipping wine in her parlor.

“Fennrick, what progress on the girl and the Codex have we made?” the Duchess asked.

Both inquisitors shifted nervously in their chairs. “None, Your Grace.”

Duchess Paulina set her glass on the low table separating her from her guests and sat up. “None? It has been almost four months since you brought her here. How is this possible?”

“The girl is extremely resilient,” Fennrick explained defensively. “She has been subjected to significant torture before, and there appears to be little we administer that she has not already undergone. Couple that with her madness, and we face a significant challenge. I did inform you this would take time.”

“Yes, and in this time I have been plagued with the company of nearly a hundred pilgrims from The Academy, a dozen requests, each more insistent than the last, to hand over the Codex Arcana, and another five hundred requests from every wizard and charlatan in the kingdom to view it to see if it will speak to them. Headmaster Florent has threatened to start sending journeyman wizards here by the wagonload if we do not gain access to it soon!”

“Perhaps Fennrick is being too gentle,” Elias suggested. “If she has faced pain before, we simply need to apply more pain than those Sumaran barbarians did.”

Fennrick shook his head. “It is not that easy. I have applied a great deal of pain. When it gets too much, she simply goes catatonic and becomes completely unreachable, for days sometimes. If we continue to push as we are, we risk sending her over the edge forever.”

“Then what are we going to do?” the Duchess demanded.

Elias stared at the ceiling and let out a slow breath. “I am at a loss, Your Grace.”

“Of course you are! You always are because you are an idiot! Obviously I was asking Fennrick.”

“I have concluded that we will not find the solution through physical means, even those of discomfort as we have been using. Sleep deprivation, near drowning, excessive heat and cold, none are working,” the inquisitor said. “I think the resistance her emotional condition gives her against physical coercion could hold the solution.”

Paulina leaned forward interestedly. “Explain.”

“I have been studying the girl and doing research on mental abnormalities and think that if we are ever going to break her or convince her to help us, we must focus on her mind with no other physical stressors. We know there is a weakness already present. We simply need to find the most effective way to exploit it.”

“I assume you have some ideas.”

“I do. I think it is time she had some visitors.”

Ellyssa sat on her cot, held her knees, and gently rocked back and forth. It had been days since they had last tortured her, and she knew they would be coming again soon. She used to fear their coming with each beat of her heart, but not anymore. When the pain and turmoil got too bad, she simply went away. It was getting easier to go away these days. The first time it happened she thought she had died, but then reality slammed home once again and she found herself back in this room.

She looked forward to going away even though it took so much pain and fear to get there, but it was worth it. When she went away, she was back home using her magic. Ellyssa realized it was not the huge, flashy, destructive magic that brought her the most joy. It was the simple things like the time she stalked Wolf through the forest while he was hunting. She created an illusion of a rabbit and watched as Wolf chased it for over an hour, cursing furiously every time he failed to hit it with one of his arrows. Ghost saw right through her magical camouflage and almost certainly knew the rabbit was a fake, but he never let on. That was one unusual wolf.

Thinking about her magic got her wondering about the spells used to keep her from reaching the Source within her cell. She had first thought the runes carved deeply into the walls made the entire interior a magic free zone, but later realized the wizards here had no problem using magic to torture her.

It meant there had to be an associative spell in effect as well, one that either acted with the runes to prevent her from using magic or allowed the inquisitors to cast within her cell. She searched her body for any magical sigils but failed to locate any. There could be something on her back, but she had no mirror to check. More likely, those tasked with her torture wore an item, like a bracelet or pendant working in conjunction with the negation magic in her cell to give them access to the Source. If this was the case, all she needed to do was take it from one of them, and then she would bring this whole place down upon them all.

The problem would be getting it. Ellyssa needed to know precisely what it was and where they wore it. If she tried to relieve them of it and failed, she likely would never get another chance. So far, she had seen nothing that appeared to be what she was seeking, if it even existed. For this reason, she held on, waiting for the day one of them got careless and revealed it.

Ellyssa snapped out of her thoughts when she heard voices echoing through her door from the passageway beyond. She flinched and drew back on her cot at the sound of the heavy bolt being drawn back. A startled gasp escaped her mouth when she saw Allister and Miranda filling the doorway.

“Hello, dear,” Allister said kindly. “How are you?”

Ellyssa looked down at her feet drawn up against the edge of cot and remained as silent as Miranda.

Seeing he would get no response, Allister continued. “We wanted to come and tell you we did not abandon you. The Academy, particularly the Office of Inquisition, wanted to execute you for your crimes. I made a protest to The Academy and Miranda sent an official plea for leniency. Although we were able to achieve a stay of execution, we were unsuccessful in getting you a pardon or moving your incarceration to North Haven. We even beseeched the King, but The Academy has a significant amount of autonomy. We have exhausted our last resources to try and improve your situation despite the damage you have done to the school and those within it.”

Ellyssa looked away and studied the runes on the far wall as tears cleaned away some of the accumulated grime on her face.

“Inquisitor Fennrick told me of his offer to move you to more comfortable accommodations if you helped them use the Codex,” Allister continued. “I know you feel responsible, and maybe some of your unwillingness to accept their offer is so you can continue being punished for killing Azerick. You do not have to do that, child. You have suffered enough. Help them, and help yourself, because none of us can help you anymore.”

Ellyssa returned her gaze to her feet, refusing to meet the old wizard’s eyes. “I can’t.”

“Why not? You are not just helping them or yourself, you are helping to advance magic as we know it for all wizards. Ellyssa, The things in the Codex Arcana could save countless lives.”

Ellyssa shuddered and shook her head. “You wouldn’t understand.”

Miranda finally broke her silence as her anger reached its limits. “I understand perfectly! You have always been a stubborn, selfish child!”

“Miranda, please,” Allister begged.

“No! I am sick and tired of pretending I forgive her, that I still give a damn about her! Her selfishness killed my husband, and I hope she clings to that same stubbornness so she can live in the same pain I do every day for the rest of her miserable life. I cannot stand to look at her anymore,” Miranda declared and stormed away, wiping the tears from her face as she retreated.

Allister watched Miranda for a moment before turning back to Ellyssa. “I’m very disappointed in you, as would be Azerick.” He turned and followed Miranda.

Ellyssa flopped down onto her bed as sobs wracked her body. She desperately willed herself to go away again, but it was the wrong kind of pain to pay the fare, so she had no choice but to lie there and endure it.

Allister caught up with Miranda near the stairs leading out of the dungeon. Both stopped before Inquisitor Fennrick as he stepped into the hallway.

“How did it go?” Fennrick asked.

The couple’s faces shimmered and contorted as they dropped their illusions. “Perfectly,” Inquisitor Tamara answered.

“She is sobbing uncontrollably, her spirit seriously compromised if not broken,” Inquisitor Parkes said. “A few more sessions like this and we will certainly have access to the Codex Arcana.”

“And you will have your promotion to Senior Inquisitor,” Tamara added.

Fennrick beamed under the successful report. “Then I had best go play my part.”

Fennrick walked toward the sound of Ellyssa’s sobbing and paused in the open door until she sat up and looked at him. He had watched the girl tortured, even inflicted a great deal of suffering himself, but her face showed more pain than he had seen from her before. He doubted she was broken yet, but they certainly managed to create a flaw in her defenses. Now he just needed to exploit it.

“I could not help but overhear,” the inquisitor said. “It sounds like you are truly on your own now. You don’t have to be, you know. I have been thinking. You showed a great deal of strength and cleverness when we fought. You certainly humiliated those Academy weaklings. We could use those kinds of talents here. Our numbers are declining just as is The Academy rolls, and our mission is vital to the security of the kingdom. I know my associates would support me in requesting that you be given the chance to become one of us. It would be on a probationary basis and you would be guarded and limited in freedom for a time, but if you showed you were willing to act properly and worked with us, I am sure I could convince The Academy to give you a chance. Think about it.”

Fennrick turned and walked away. Ellyssa was so lost in thought she did not even hear the door slam shut and the lock clank home. She wanted to ignore the inquisitor, wanted to spit in his face as she had at his previous offers, but this time she could not help but consider it. And for that, she hated herself.

CHAPTER 18