Those Who Fear the Darkness (BloodRunes: Book 2) (6 page)

Katya knew that, in fact, it was his own
daughter,
that sad excuse for a human - the Lady Jezebel,
who was behind it all. Each of the accidents reeked of her man
Devon. Katya would know his stench anywhere, having had the
displeasure to have observed him in the past. No one actually met
her, of course, she was simply a shadow in the city, a nobody, the
untouchable on the street that everyone avoids looking at. But she
had watched Devon, studied him, and his handiwork had a unique and
most unpleasant style.

Katya was not about to share any of this
information with her owner, however.
Let him learn the hard
way
. She may be controlled by the collar to obey him, but she
was stronger than he thought and could resist far more compulsion
than he was aware. His ineptitude constantly displeased her, being
sent on missions for purposes that were completely useless because
the man behind them insisted on pretending he could follow the
intricacies of covert operations when he really should just stick
to the frivolous court intrigues.

Her owner was describing the details of her
latest adventure, the process of which she would change later after
studying the situation and creating a plan which would actually
work unlike any of his ill-thought out schemes, and she only
half-listened.

At least being so busy lately had given her
plenty of practice to hone her skills. With all that was happening
she was bound to need every ability she had eventually. Another
interesting side-effect of the distraction that all this bad luck
was causing her owner was that he also seemed to have less time to
worry about his bonds over her and was underestimating her strength
beneath them. He had been foolish in his insistence that she be
pushed so hard to excel, it had made her far stronger than he could
ever control if the power of the collar ever wavered. It was lucky
for him that he had not designed it himself, else she had no doubt
she would be free of it already. However, even with him only
holding the end of the leash, if he continued to let it slack she
could put in one powerful yank and snap it. She would bide her time
and someday she would be free of him.

She wondered if she should free the others as
well, but they weren't like her, most were the women that he used
to satiate his pleasures and many were happy to do so as he
lavished them with gifts in exchange. Katya knew that he had
thought about using her for this purpose too, and though the collar
would have forbade her from harming him, Katya made sure he was
afraid enough of her that the idea never lingered.

He was coming to the end of his elaborately
detailed out plan which was doomed to failure and Katya nodded in
understanding to satisfy him that she was listening. She ingrained
in her memory the name of her target and as soon as her owner had
marched away set to work formulating her own plan for dispatching
her. At least she would not mind this job, her target was almost as
slimy as her owner himself.

*

Nat looked down at his arm ruefully and took
a deep breath, trying to ignore the pain that kept threatening to
overcome him. His mother's eyes followed his own and she raised a
brow.

“Why don't you heal it?” she asked him and he
immediately recoiled. “Now now,” she scolded. “There's no reason
you should suffer when there's plenty of other things around that
will do it for you.”

She murmured something again and a squirrel
ran out of a nearby tree to scurry up her leg and perch on her
outstretched arm, looking at her curiously. “Go on then,” she said
to Nat, holding out the squirrel towards him.

He shook his head negatively and
whimpered.

His mother's face took on a look of stern
impatience. “Nat, you will do it or I will.”

He still did not move.

“So be it,” she said, pursing her lips. As
Nat watched in horror, she started tearing the poor creature apart
with torturous detail. He backed away from her as a look of ecstasy
spread across her face and her lips parted in delight.

She opened her eyes to look at him, and they
were filled with intensity as she reached out a hand for him and he
started to turn, to run, when something shot out from her hand into
him and he stopped short, hit by a pleasure so intense that he
became weak and he fell to his knees.

His arm began to tingle and he watched in
fascination as the wound upon it stitched itself back together
until it was nothing more than a puffy red scar.

His mother threw away the mangled corpse of
the animal and let out a sigh. “Now, doesn't that feel much better?
And that was just a squirrel, imagine the power in other
things.”

Nat closed his eyes and let the memory of the
feeling wash over him.
Was this what his mother felt when she
hurt him?

Nathair opened his eyes, and lifted a hand to
the back of his head which was sticky with drying blood. His feet
were shackled together with iron cuffs that were hooked around a
beam. “Now was that really necessary?” he asked Devon who was busy
tearing apart his desk in a frenzy.

Devon looked up at him, and pointed a knife
at his face. “Where is she?” he demanded again.

“Tsk tsk. Is that the only thing you care
about?” Devon just looked at him sternly. Nathair sighed. “Very
well, yes I know where she is, but she's in no condition to be
receiving visitors. Now, why don't you remove these shackles and we
can have a civil conversation like the grown men that we are.”

“I'm not taking them off until I see her,”
Devon answered and Nathair shrugged. He waved a hand to unbuckle
the irons around his ankles, handling the power with ease after his
recent entertainment. Devon's eyes widened in amazement, but he
held his ground and watched warily as Nathair got to his feet.

“That's better,” Nathair soothed. He strode
over to take a seat in front of his desk, surveying the awful mess
that Devon had made. Devon took a step back, and held the knife up
between them. “There's no need for that.” Nathair smiled and the
knife vanished.

“Alright,” Devon finally conceded, “You've
proven your point, so why am I still here?”

Nathair laughed, a sound that made Devon
cringe. “Why wouldn't you be here my fine pet? You are quite a
useful tool, especially having just proven yourself even more
capable than I had thought by getting past my guards. That's no
easy task you know. I could use someone like you.”

Devon looked as though he was warring
inwardly with himself over being flattered by this statement or
annoyed. “Why should I do anything to help you?”

“Because I have something you want of
course.” Devon cocked his head to the side in a manner that very
much reminded Nathair of a dog. “Not to mention the fact that you
just failed an assassination attempt on the King.” He paused for
effect. “That's frowned upon you know.”

Devon eyed the door as if wracking his brain
for a way to escape.

This man is getting more delightful by the
minute!
“I assure you, you won't get out alive,” Nathair
informed him.

Devon stuck out his chin stubbornly. “What is
it that you want me to do?”

Nathair was pleased. “A certain wealthy
merchant has been having a bit of bad luck lately,” Nathair paused
again to let him squirm, “and he's been dealing with it by killing
off all the wrong people. I want him to kill the right people, you
see?” His grin grew broader as Devon's face contorted with
confusion. “Not you of course, my dear sir, but who I tell you are
the right people.”

Understanding dawned on the fellow and his
lip almost twitched into a smile. He nodded curtly. “And what do I
get in return for this?”

“You get to keep breathing,” Nathair answered
with a menacing undertone, “and possibly if you do a good job, I
think I may let you in on a little project that involves your
lady-friend that I think you'd quite enjoy.”

Devon wisely nodded his assent and Nathair
called the guards to show him out, telling him that he would be
receiving orders soon. “Oh, and Devon,” he said calmly as the man
was walking out, “don't try and disappear on me. Your resources may
be quite extensive, but mine are as vast as the entire kingdom. I
will find you.”

Devon paused and turned back to him, nodding
his head in a bow and raising an eyebrow, enough to tell Nathair
that he was smart enough not to try. His admission that Jezebel was
alive and the bait of being able to see her if he did as he was
told should be enough to ensure Devon’s cooperation for the
moment.

Once Devon had left, Nathair set to work
preparing his list for him to implant into the mind of Karl to make
it seem as though he had come up with the idea himself. It
shouldn't be too hard, the man was getting quite on in years and he
wasn't as sharp as he used to be. Not to mention the fact that he
seemed to run on anger, it was the passion behind his life, a trait
that Jezebel seemed to have inherited. Convince him that these were
the people that were causing him hardship and he wouldn't care that
they were all council members...

CHAPTER 3

“So,” Layna started, drawing out the word,
“we're going to take down a border which has been standing for
hundreds of years that no one else has ever been able to figure
out.”

Aileen nodded at her, nonplused.

“And how, exactly, are we planning on doing
that?”

“Very carefully,” answered Aileen. “It
basically is a big dam of magical energy. When it was made, several
rivers of power, if you will, were diverted so that they dumped all
of their flow into this one spell. This is what kept it intact for
so long. If nothing changes, it could potentially hold steady for
as long as the magic is in the world. However, all we have to do is
change the flow and it will lose stability and the dam will break,
causing this build-up of energy to surge back into the natural
order.”

Gryffon cleared his throat. “When you say
surge back in, won't that cause problems?”

Aileen smiled sadly. “Of course, there may be
some backlash, yes, but it is our only possible course of action.
The world will recover, and the power will settle back into its
natural flow on its own once the dam is gone. The damage would be
far greater were we to allow it to stay standing.”

Layna stared at her wide-eyed. “Are you sure
it's not dangerous to mess with a spell like that?”

“It'll be easy as pie.”

“If it's so easy to do, how come no one else
has ever done it before?” Layna asked.

“In order to divert them you need to know
which power flows you are looking for. The builders were very
careful not to let that information get out. Luckily, I happen to
have a very good memory.” Aileen laughed at some personal joke as
Gryffon and Layna exchanged another look as she became serious once
more and went on. “With the Bloodstone missing, there leaves little
choice. The barrier failed in its purpose and it will now do us
more good to have it removed than as a further division between
those who could help us. We will need their help. It may not be
ideal, but it is necessary, trust me. We don’t want you falling
into the wrong hands either. I believe you are sincere in your
desire not to give in to the temptation, but nevertheless I will
feel better having you far away from the King and his kind.” Aileen
clapped her hands together in decision. “Well, we may as well get
started first thing in the morning.”

Layna wasn't convinced, but she let it drop.
Aileen gathered up the dishes and Charles joined her in the kitchen
where they started talking animatedly with one another.

“What do you think about all of that?” Layna
asked Gryffon as she moved her chair closer to his to speak more
privately.

“I don't really know,” Gryffon answered
honestly.

“Yeah,” agreed Layna. “I think she’s perhaps
exaggerating a bit about how large-scale this problem is. I hardly
see the Sleeping God waking during our life-time or that he is
really some ancient slumbering evil. I’m also quite sure,” she
emphasized this point, “that I am not some powerful world-changing
mage.”

“Well, I think you're pretty world changing
myself.” He winked at her, and she obliged him with a smile.
“Seriously though, there is a lot more going on here than I think
anyone has realized. While I think that you're right, her story is
a little hard to believe, we still have to do our part and perform
our small act, even if it's just getting the message to the
officials in Treymayne who have the resources to do something about
it. I don't know exactly what Aileen here is all about, but it may
be worth giving her plan a try. She certainly seems sure of
herself. And look at the way Charles and Weylyn both reacted to
her.”

Layna glanced up at Charles and Aileen who
had just burst into laughter in the kitchen, and as if to make a
point, Weylyn trotted over and sat down near them, letting out a
short bark which sounded suspiciously like a laugh itself.

“Both of them have been extremely wary of
everyone, and yet both seem completely at ease with her, that says
something.” Layna nodded noncommittally. He had a point but she
wasn't totally ready to believe everything that Aileen had said
just yet.

“Well,” she answered, “like you said, maybe
it is worth a try. Hopefully it will be safer in Treymayne, and
maybe we can get some real answers. If it doesn't kill us when we
poke around the barrier spell.”

Gryffon wiggled his eyebrows at her
ominously. “Gloom and doom. Cheer up. Chances are, if the spell
does backfire, it'll be a strong enough backlash of power that we
won't care anymore. We'll be happily frolicking about in
Gamoland.”

Layna rewarded him with a friendly mock
punch, and made a face.

“Besides, weren’t we just talking about how
it’s been too long for us to be holding a grudge? If Aileen really
does know how to take the barrier down, I for one think it will be
high time that we start trying to patch things up.”