Blood of the Earth (2 page)

The man on the end of Isabel’s sword disappeared.

The one who had just killed the Ranger reappeared behind Alexander. But with his all around sight, Alexander saw him come into existence and spun to meet the attack. The man stabbed at him with his dark blade in midturn, but Alexander’s dragon-steel shirt saved him yet again. He completed his turn and brought the Thinblade around in a sweeping arc across the enemy’s body, cutting him cleanly in half—his hands came free at the elbows and his torso toppled off his trunk. But instead of crashing to the ground, he vanished.

Alexander was dismayed at the seemingly indestructible nature of these men. They wore the stylized R of the Reishi Army Regency on their leather armor and they were men, flesh and blood, yet they were more—much more. Some dark magic had infused them with power beyond Alexander’s understanding.

The man that Isabel had just run through appeared behind another Ranger and stabbed him in the back, driving his long dagger through his right lung and out the front of his chest, only to disappear before the next Ranger in line could counterattack.

The one Alexander had just cut in half reappeared behind Jataan, whole and smiling wickedly. The battle mage turned to meet the attack, easily defending against the enemy’s knife and slicing his throat cleanly in one deft and inhumanly quick stroke, when the second man, the one who had just killed a Ranger, appeared behind Jataan and stabbed him in the back.

Jataan stiffened with a look of shock and surprise. He had killed many men with a blade; this was the first time he had ever been stabbed himself. Always before, he’d been able to avoid injury. These two men, enchanted with darkness, had just bested the battle mage. He slumped to his knees as the two men disappeared, laughing.

Alexander couldn’t believe it. He’d come to think of Jataan as nearly invincible. Yet he lay bleeding on the battlefield before him. Alexander wanted to rush to his side, to see if he would live. He’d come to value Jataan as a protector and even considered him a friend in spite of past circumstances. He’d forgiven him for sending the assassin who killed Darius, even though the loss of his brother still pained him.

With a gesture, he ordered Boaberous to tend to Jataan. The giant reached his commander quickly and went to work staunching the flow of blood and assessing his injury.

Everything was happening so fast. The enemy seemed to be beyond all but the most powerful magic. Only Mage Landi’s conjured cloud of electrical light had any effect on these men and then it was only holding the one enemy in place.

The other two appeared on either side of Mage Gamaliel and stabbed at him in unison. His dragon-steel plate armor easily turned their blades aside. Both of the men shrieked inhumanly at seeing their attack so easily thwarted.

Kelvin didn’t cast a spell or use one of his many enchanted items to counterattack; instead, he unceremoniously slugged the nearest one in the side of the head with his large, gauntleted fist. His attack wasn’t driven by magic but simply by the strength of his arm and the weight of his large frame. The man mixed with darkness fell unconscious to the ground like a sack of beans.

Alexander seized on the hope that these terrible new enemies could fall. It suddenly occurred to him that he hadn’t even drawn Mindbender. The Thinblade was a sword of unparalleled sharpness and terrible power, but Mindbender gave him an edge that the Thinblade couldn’t match. Through Mindbender, he could see into the thoughts of his enemy during battle. He drew the blade with his left hand, point down, and stretched out with his mind.

The remaining enemy disappeared, but Alexander knew where he would materialize.

“Mage Landi! Behind you!” Alexander called out, a moment too late.

The man mixed with darkness appeared, stabbing in the same moment, driving his blade through the conjurer’s heart. Bright red blood sputtered from Mage Landi’s mouth and the light of his aura faded quickly. As he slumped to the ground, his attacker disappeared and the cloud of light that had been holding the third enemy at bay faded from the world of time and substance.

The enemy that had been trapped by the cloud of light disappeared. The one that had just killed Mage Landi reappeared behind another Ranger and killed him with a single thrust. Wyatt stabbed the enemy but he simply vanished off the lieutenant’s blade.

The one who had been in the cloud of light disappeared, then reappeared a moment later behind Alexander, but this time he knew what to expect. He’d heard the enemy’s thoughts as they formed and knew where the enemy would appear. He also knew how to counter the attack. Mage Gamaliel had shown him their weakness.

Even as the man mixed with darkness materialized behind him Alexander spun. He brought the Thinblade around high and caught the man at the temple, cleaving the top several inches of his head cleanly off with one swift stroke.

This time the man didn’t disappear.

Half of his head slipped free and thudded to the ground, spilling brain in a bloody jumble. His body followed more slowly as gravity claimed him.

They could be killed.

Another Ranger fell.

Isabel unleashed a blinding ray of light from her outstretched hand that burned a hole through the chest of the last remaining enemy as he stood over the dying Ranger. He looked at her with shock and pain for a moment before disappearing.

Mage Gamaliel produced a metal collar of polished silver inlaid with magical symbols in burnished gold and fastened it around the neck of the unconscious enemy.

The last one reappeared behind Isabel but his thrust was again turned aside by her shield. He disappeared again and reappeared half a moment later behind Lieutenant Wyatt. Before he could stab the Ranger in the back, Jack stabbed him instead.

The man stiffened with a startled shriek and disappeared again, reappearing behind Mage Gamaliel.

Isabel was ready. She was waiting for a clear shot at the enemy. Instead of her light-lance spell, she unleashed her Maker’s light at the man mixed with darkness. He screamed with such agony that Alexander almost felt sorry for him. The light didn’t kill him or even injure him, but Alexander could see the darkness within him writhing around in shock and pain. He disappeared and reappeared twenty feet away, running from the battlefield. Three steps later he disappeared again, reappearing twenty feet farther away.

He was headed toward the legion of Rangers encamped outside the walls surrounding the remains of Northport.

Chapter 2

Alexander produced a healing draught from his pouch and handed it to Boaberous without a word.

“Lieutenant Wyatt, transport Jataan and our prisoner to the camp,” Alexander commanded as he turned to Isabel. “Let’s go, we have to stop him before he gets to the Rangers.”

She nodded, following him at a dead run toward their horses.

“We’ll never catch him before he gets to our troops,” Isabel said as they mounted up. “He’s almost to the walls already.”

“I know,” Alexander said, “but we have to try.” He kicked his mare into a gallop, pushing her to run as fast as he dared, given the uneven footing of the bombed-out city. They reached the gate and coaxed their horses into a sprint. The man mixed with darkness had a commanding lead and was gaining ground. Every three steps or so he would disappear and reappear twenty feet farther from Alexander and closer to the Rangers’ encampment.

The Rangers at the perimeter of the camp had seen the enemy and raised the alarm. Dozens of arrows met him but he either disappeared before the shafts struck home or shortly after, only to reappear closer without any trace of injury. It was as if his body was made whole each time he teleported.

Then he was inside the camp.

A Ranger fell.

The enemy vanished and reappeared.

Another fell.

Alexander spurred his horse into a reckless sprint, closing the remaining yards.

The Ranger in command of the perimeter guard ordered his men to stand back to back once he saw the nature of the enemy. Alexander was impressed with the quick thinking and calm decision making of the young man in the face of such an impossible threat.

The man mixed with darkness appeared to the side of a pair of Rangers and stabbed one, though not fatally, before the other stabbed him. He cackled with malice and disappeared.

Alexander charged into the camp with Isabel at his side. He drew Mindbender and stretched out with his mind to listen for the enemy’s thoughts. He guided his horse in the direction of the next target. The man mixed with darkness was moving deeper into the camp, striking wherever he could.

Another Ranger fell. His partner stabbed the enemy. He didn’t disappear right away but instead stepped into the blade, driving the length of it through his gut and then stabbed the Ranger in the heart. Alexander rounded a tent just as the man mixed with darkness disappeared.

“Isabel, on your left!” Alexander called out in warning as the man appeared just in front of Isabel and to the left of her horse’s path. He thrust his dagger into her horse’s throat. The animal squealed in pain and crashed to the ground, taking Isabel with it.

She flew forward over her horse’s head and tumbled to the ground. The man mixed with darkness looked at Alexander and smiled, then disappeared.

He heard the enemy’s thoughts through Mindbender and knew that Isabel was his target. She lay stunned on the ground, her shield long since dispelled, helpless.

Everything slowed down for Alexander. He was in a fight and he had a sword in his hand, but not just any sword. He held Mindbender. A weapon fashioned by an adept wizard to be wielded by an adept wizard. A weapon of surpassing power.

He formed the image he wanted and released it into the sword, even as the man mixed with darkness reappeared standing over Isabel, only the enemy didn’t see what he expected to see. When he looked down, he didn’t see Isabel at his feet, where she truly was. Instead, he saw Isabel sprawled out on the ground a good ten feet away. Alexander had projected a simple illusion to deceive the enemy.

Confusion stole across the man’s face and his confidence faltered as Alexander slipped off his horse.

A nearby Ranger drove an arrow into the man mixed with darkness. He disappeared and reappeared behind the Ranger, killing him with a single thrust to the heart.

Again, Alexander created a false vision of reality and released it into the sword. Mindbender had substance only as a blade but it was powerful beyond words, for it could create belief within the mind of the enemy.

Belief was all powerful.

The man mixed with darkness stopped and looked around with wary confusion. The Ranger encampment was gone, Isabel was gone, the horses were gone. All he could see was Alexander in an open field on the outskirts of Northport.

The man mixed with darkness shrugged off his confusion and fixed his murderous glare on Alexander before vanishing. Alexander knew where he would reappear, Mindbender told him his enemy’s thoughts even as they formed. He stepped to the side and brought his blade up to strike.

When the man mixed with darkness reappeared, he slashed at Alexander with his dark blade, tearing into his left arm, slicing deeply across the outside of his bicep. Alexander drove the point of Mindbender into the man’s right eye socket and out the back of his skull. A tremor ran through the man as the darkness released him and he slumped to the ground, dead.

Alexander raced to Isabel, ignoring the sharp pain of his fresh wound. She was just regaining consciousness when he reached her side. She looked up at him and tried to smile through a wince of pain.

“Did you get him?”

“I got him. Now lie still, that was quite a fall. Does anything feel broken?”

She frowned, taking a mental inventory of her injuries before shaking her head. “No, just banged up and bruised.” Then she noticed the blood coating his left arm.

“You’re bleeding—let me heal you,” she said as she sat up with a grimace.

“I’ll be fine,” Alexander said, “nothing a little healing salve won’t fix.”

“Nonsense,” she said as she gently put her hand over his wound and opened her connection to the realm of light. She focused on her love for him and released the healing energy of the Maker’s light into his wound.

Nothing happened.

Isabel frowned, shaking her head in confusion. “I don’t understand. It worked on Abigail and Anatoly.”

Alexander looked at his wound and the sight staggered him for a moment. He felt his breath catch and a thrill of fear course through him.

There was a taint of darkness in the gash on his arm. He looked quickly at the long dagger on the ground near the corpse of the man mixed with darkness and saw in a glance what he feared. The enemy had used dark magic to enchant the blade.

Rangers had gathered all around them, providing a cordon of security. The quick-thinking perimeter commander deliberately cleared his throat, drawing Alexander’s attention.

“Lord Reishi, I’m Lieutenant Doyle,” he said. “Can we expect more enemy or was this the only one?”

“This should be the last of them. Have your men stand down and send word to the camp physician to expect wounded.”

“Very good, My Lord,” Lieutenant Doyle said with a crisp salute.