Victory and Defeat: Book Five of the Restoration Series (21 page)

Kaleb didn’t answer, but instead he just forced himself to breath slowly.

Flare was just beginning to think that he might have to continue this grisly mess, when Kaleb’s head came up, and he looked directly at Flare.

“You know why I’m here, because this is where Ocklamoor is hid
den.”

Flare didn’t smile, but he just barely managed to contain it. “And how do you know that?”

Kaleb took a deep breath, closed his eyes, and leaned his head back onto the bed. After just a brief moment, he began to speak. “I found an ancient diary, it belonged to a priest. It said that Ocklamoor was in Elem, and it was guarded by the God Adel.”

“That’s all?” Derek asked. He leaned forward and kicked the magician, not hard, but hard enough to get the man’s attention.

“That’s all we know. I swear it!”

Kaleb suddenly looked fearful and Flare thought he knew why. Zalustus probably would have continued the torture just to be sure. However, Flare was fairly confident the mage was telling the truth. “And where is Zalustus now?”

“He went to the abbey,” Kaleb said quickly.

“Why?” Flare asked.

Kaleb took a deep breath and then hesitated. His eyes met Flare’s, and then he spoke quickly. “He knows that Keenan is there. He intends to capture Keenan and then he hopes to find the shield.”

“How?” Trestus asked.

“Your friends are walking into a trap. Zalustus will be there and he’ll have demons with him.”

It took a moment for those words to sink in, but then everyone began talking at the same time.

“Quiet!” Flare roared and silence fell. He glared around the room, making sure that none of them would interrupt again, and then he turned back to Kaleb. “Where did he learn wizardry?”

Kaleb shook his head
. “I swear I don’t know.”

“Did he say what kind of demons or how many?”

Kaleb blinked at the question and he looked confused. “I do not know anything about the kind of demons, but Jasmine asked how we would get in with a horde of demons with us. Zalustus said they would appear to be human and covered in cloaks.”

Flare considered that. Demons came in all shapes and sizes, but there were some that were the same size and general shape as humans. It appeared that Zalustus was taking a number of those smaller demons into the abbey with him. Demons, like most things, tended to get more powerful the larger they were.

“Flare,” Derek said hesitantly.

Flare blinked and glanced at Derek
. “Yes?”

“We have to go and help Kara and the others.”

Flare nodded. “Yes, we do, but we need our own demons.”

Derek and Trestus both looked uncomfortable at these words
, but neither one spoke. At that moment, the window was pulled open, and Ziteul climbed through carrying Derek’s sword. It was a wonder how the imp had managed to get through the streets and then scale the outside of the inn without anyone spotting him.

“Excellent,” Flare said. He pointed to Derek
. “Give him the sword, Ziteul.”

The little demon smiled at Flare and then promptly tossed the sword at Derek. There was a general scramble to get out of the way of the flying blade, but no one was hurt. Derek didn’t even look perturbed to have his own sword thrown at him
; instead, he looked immensely relieved to hold it again.

“Gather up your belongings,” Flare said after a moment. “We’re going to the abbey.”

“And him?” Derek asked, pointing at the mage.

In answer, Flare pulled his knife from its sheath and handed it over.

Chapter
20

Keenan led the two women up the path toward the abbey. There were a good number of people on the road, but not as many as the past several days. He glanced up at the sky, assuming that yesterday’s rain had driven the lion’s share of them away. It was still early, but today was also shaping up to be an overcast day. From this part of the hill, he had an excellent view of the bay; the water was choppy, and there were a fair number of dark blue clouds out to sea. It was probably a good bet that it would rain again before the day was over.

They were moving slowly, as were most
of the other people on the path. Kara’s boil-infested condition slowed them down, but neither Keenan nor Leela complained; going slow gave them the time to observe their surroundings. Keenan looked out over the crowd several times. Everything seemed in order, but he couldn’t shake the feeling that something was wrong.

“All you a
ll right?” Leela asked quietly.

Keenan glanced at the woman and cleared his throat. “I’m fine, but I have the strangest feeling that something’s wrong.”

Leela pulled her eyes from Keenan and looked back the way they had come. She too looked out over the crowd. “Have you seen something?” she asked in her normal stoic tone.

Keenan shook his head
. “No, but that doesn’t mean I’m wrong.”

“Quiet
, both of you,” Kara hissed.

Keenan turned back toward
the abbey, surprised to see they were approaching the gates. His eyes narrowed at the sight of the guards. The first time he had journeyed here, there had been three guards on either side of the road, but now there were six guards to either side. The tiny feeling of unease blossomed into full-blown fear. He was torn about how to proceed. Part of him wanted to turn and leave, but that would undoubtedly draw the attention of the guards, and there was the slight problem that he had no real evidence that anything was wrong. There weren’t many days left in the Summer Festival, and they couldn’t afford to waste one because of Keenan’s suspicions.

Keenan’s stomach tightened up as they walked past the guards, but the guards barely glanced at them. He calmly took a deep breath as they entered the courtyard. It was less packed than two days ago, but he was less worried about it now.

They glanced around the main yard, observing the small groups of pilgrims. There was still a line of pilgrims at the fountain and a weary-looking priest was scooping up cupfuls of water to pour on them. In addition, scattered here and there were small clumps of pilgrims. It seemed that a fair amount had braved the weather to travel to the abbey, but they were not staying long; a good number of the pilgrims were already heading back out the main gates.

“That’s strange,” Kara said.

Keenan turned to see that she was also watching the pilgrims as they left through he gates. “Now why would they be leaving already?”

Leela shrugged, seeming less concerned than the other two. “Look,” she said, pointing
at the temple. “The temple doors are open.” She started forward, but quickly realized that the other two were holding back. She stopped walking and looked back, “Something the matter?”

“Perhaps Keenan is right,” Kara said slowly. “Something seems wrong here.”

Leela, although looking surprised, moved back over to join them. She leaned in close and asked, “Want to leave?”

Kara looked to Keenan. He had been the first to become suspicious, and it was possible that she was simply reacting to Keenan’s misgivings.

Keenan looked around again and shook his head. “No, it’s probably nothing. Just getting anxious due to the time getting short.”

Leela looked from Keenan to Kara and then back again. “So, do we go on
or not?”

After the briefest of moments, Keenan nodded. “Let’s have a look at the temple.”

They crossed the courtyard slowly, all three of them taking the time to scan the area for anything out of the ordinary. Everything appeared to be normal.

They climbed the steps and stopped directly in front of the temple doors. Two guards stood on the left and three more were stationed on the
right side.

In addition, a priest stood off to the right of the door. He looked tired
, but he gave them a welcoming smile. “Welcome,” he said in a bored tone. “You may enter the temple, but there will not be a service until later in the afternoon.” He noticed the surprise on their faces and continued, “My apologies, but the chief priest is feeling a bit ill.” He smiled at them and ushered them inside. “Please feel free to have a seat and wait.”

The feeling that something was wrong had come back to Keenan with full force. He took a deep breath and hurried to catch up to the two women; they apparently had no such misgivings and were already stepping through the door.

Keenan took two quick steps and then slowed as he got his first view of the interior of the temple. Five guards were lined up along the right wall and another five were lined up on the left side of the temple. There were three men standing at the front of the temple, and those men were staring at the three newcomers.

Keenan looked to Kara and Leela, both of whom seemed to have realized that something was amiss
, and had slowed their steps. He opened his mouth to speak, but hesitated as the air around Kara shimmered. For a moment she seemed hazy and indistinct, and then he could see her clearly again. He gasped. Gone was the boil-infested-disguised Kara. In her place stood the normal-looking Kara.

His hand dropped to his belt knife, but he never managed to draw it. Something hard slammed into the back of his head and he collapsed to the floor.

Kara and Leela were confused by the guards lining the edges of the temple, but they turned at the sound of Keenan falling to the ground. Their eyes widened, first at the sight of Keenan lying prone, and then by the sight of the guards with drawn swords following them into the temple. The priest came last and closed the doors behind him.

Kara’s first thought was that they had killed Keenan, but then she noticed he was groaning and making small movements. She breathed a bit easier when she realized he had just been knocked out.

Kara turned
around and noticed Leela staring at her.

“Your disguise is gone,” Leela said faintly.

Kara looked down and realized, for the first time, that she was standing straight and the boils had disappeared from her arms.

“My dear Kara
. Won’t you come and join us?” a voice called out from the other end of the room. It was one of the three men who was standing just under the priest’s lectern.

Kara swallowed hard and observed the men one at a time.
The man on the far left was old, short, and fat. He had very little hair, just a bit of very gray hair over each ear. He wore a black cassock and a short shoulder cape; the color marked him as the assistant to the abbot. He watched Kara through narrowed eyes.

The man in the middle was a bit younger than the first
, and he too wore a cassock, only his was a dark red. A black sash was tight around his waist, and he wore a white skullcap on his head. This man was unmistakably the abbot or leader of the abbey.

Kara’s eyes moved to the third man
. Her breath caught in her throat and fear bubbled up inside her. She knew this last man. He was tall and old. His body was stooped from age, and his short hair was solid white. He wore a white robe with a purple belt. His name was Simon, and he was archbishop.

Simon smiled as Kara’s eyes widened in recognition. “It has been too long since we last met. Wouldn’t you say?” He looked smug
as he smirked at her. “Now, please join us.”

Kara and Leela stooped down and helped Keenan up. He was woozy and disorientated
as they assisted him up the main aisle. The guards watched them the whole time; they stayed out of reach and kept their swords at the ready.

Kara’s heart was beating furiously and she suddenly found her mouth had gone dry. It was rather ironic; once she had been determined to return to the
church and turn herself in. Now that she no longer felt that desire, she now found herself in the church’s control again.

She helped Leela set Keenan on the front pew, his head rolled back and he groaned, and then she turned to face the
three men. They had not moved or spoken the entire time that Kara had been making her way up the aisle.

Kara moved over and stood directly in front of the middle man. She curtsied and nodded her head, “Abbot.”

It was not a proper greeting for such an abbot, and the middle man’s features hardened. “Guards!” he barked.

Multiple guards gasped at her rude greeting
, and they started forward at the abbot’s summons, but they stopped as Simon held up a hand. “She will be punished for her rudeness and a great many other things as well, but that time is not now.” The abbot looked to his left at Simon, and then nodded his head. Even the abbot had to recognize the archbishop’s authority.

“How did you know I was here?” Kara asked.

“A concerned member of the staff at the inn, where you are staying, recognized you in town last night and raised the alert,” Simon said matter-of-factly. “He provided us with some brief details he’d overheard while listening at your door. I just happened to be here to observe the festival.” He shrugged his shoulders. “Happy coincidence. Wouldn’t you say?”

Kara frowned. Something seemed wrong with the explanation. It was true that the
church had enchanted the doorway to remove her disguise, but how had any of the inn staff recognized her or overheard their plans?

Simon smiled, but it was not a comforting smile. “Now, my dear Kara, it’s possible that you can minimize your sufferings by telling me where Prince Flaranthlas Eldanari is currently located.”

Kara took a deep breath and some of the nervousness disappeared. Perhaps she was beginning to accept her fate, or perhaps she now realized they were not going to torture her in the abbey. Undoubtedly, the High Priest Dalin Olliston wished to watch. She turned her gaze to Simon. “I do not know where he is, and I wouldn’t tell you if I did.”

Simon nodded. “I expected as much, but let me just say that I know some of the things the
high priest has planned for you, and you will come to regret your words.”

More of her anxiety melted away and Kara snorted. “I doubt it.”

The abbot sucked in air through his teeth, but it was Simon who spoke. “Oh, and why is that?”

“I cannot regret doing the will of Adel,” she said.

Now it was Simon’s turn to chuckle. “And what makes you think that you’re doing the will of Adel?”

“My eyes have been opened,” Kara said softly, “and I see that the
Church of Adel does its own will, not the will of our God.”

“Blasphemy!”

Kara wasn’t sure which of the other two men had spoken and she didn’t care. “Do you honestly think that Adel would wish you to torture people who disagree with you?”

“Silence!” the abbot barked.

Kara paid the man no heed. “You may kill me, but I have no doubt that I will die closer to Adel than you will ever reach.”

The abbot stepped forward
with his hand raised to slap Kara, regardless of what the archbishop had said. He paused, though, as the door to the temple opened.

The doors were not thrown open, but instead they were opened just a crack, wide enough for a large man to slip through.

“Get out!” the abbot shouted. “The temple’s not open. Get out!”

The first man was followed by another
, and then another. All told, twelve cloaked and hooded figures stepped through the doors. The last one through was slight of build and he closed the doors behind him.

“Did you not hear what I said?” the abbot demanded.

“Oh, we heard you,” a voice called. It was impossible to tell which of the figures had spoken.

One of the men in the middle of the group
threw back his hood and Kara gasped in recognition. “Zalustus?”

Zalustus smiled at Kara, but it was not a warm smile. He carried a golden helmet in his left hand
, and he looked around at the fifteen or so guards in the room. After a moment, he raised his hand and pointed at them. “Kill the guards.”

At his words
, seven of the figures threw off their cloaks, revealing that they were not, in fact, men. They were something out of a person’s worst nightmare.

Three of the seven vaguely resembled insects. They had rough, almost reptilian skin, and four arms instead of two. Their heads had large
, bulbous eyes and protruding fangs. Each of the three carried a long, curved scimitar.

There were two that mostly appeared human, at least from the waist up. They had the torso, arms
, and head of a man, but two small horns protruded from the tops of their skulls. They stood on two legs, but those legs were covered in fur and ended in hooves, not feet. One of the two carried a normal looking sword, while the other was armed with a staff that ended in blade that looked something like a meat cleaver.

The sixth member of the ghastly party walked into the temple on its hind legs, but as soon as it tossed away the cloak, it dropped back onto four legs. It front legs ended in rough hands and probably could have been used to hold a weapon, but the creature carried none. It was covered in fur
, and its head was more like that of a wolf than a human.