Raging Sea and Trembling Earth: Disciples of the Horned One Volume Two (Soul Force Saga Book 2) (30 page)

W
hen the first
blast shattered the silence Jen poked her head out of the cave. Damien and Mikhail raced through the sky, exchanging blasts and generally scaring the hell out of the poor mortals on the ground.

Speaking of which, half a mile away, Eleck was watching the aerial battle with rapt attention. If she was quick maybe she could cut him down before he was even aware she was there. Jen looked up at her brother battling in the air. Heaven’s mercy, she wished there was some way to help him, but she couldn’t fly and they were three hundred feet above the ground. All she could do was trust him and take care of her part of the plan.

The crunch of gravel brought her back to reality. Leah was climbing down the slope and easing toward Eleck and the girl. Damn the woman! She was supposed to wait until Jen had drawn Eleck away. Well, there was nothing for it now.

Jen drew power and accelerated toward Eleck and Delia. It would take Leah at least five minutes to cross the rough ground, maybe more. That should give Jen plenty of time to deal with Eleck. Boulders zipped by her as she ran at warlord speed across the desolate terrain.

She drew her sword back as she got close. Eleck must have sensed her. Just before her blade would have taken his head off he shoved one of the red-scales in her path. Jen cut the creature in half, skidded to a stop, and spun.

A burst of flames from one of the three remaining monsters forced her to sprint further away from her main target. When the torrent of flame stopped she kicked off and lunged, running the out-of-breath creature through.

Using her sword as a lever she twisted the dead red-scale between her and Eleck. Black flames disintegrated the monster while Jen raced away, her hopes of a quick kill dashed. Out of the corner of her eye she spotted Delia hiding behind the trunk of a twisted tree, the whites of her eyes showing all around her dilated pupils. The woman looked so terrified Jen doubted she could take a step.

She dodged flames from a red-scale and leapt over a blast from Eleck. She needed to take out the monsters so she could focus on the druid.

Jen put on a burst of speed and hacked one of the remaining red-scales from shoulder to hip. It fell in two pieces, but she didn’t stay still long enough to enjoy her partial victory. Flames, both black and crimson, filled the air. Only Jen’s accelerated perceptions allowed her to stay a step ahead of them.

Her break came when Eleck doubled over clutching his hands together and moaning. Jen slipped past the druid and sent the last monster’s head sailing off into the night.

She spun to face the druid. Eleck sat on the dead earth, his twisted black hands in his lap. It didn’t look like he had any fight left in him. Jen laid the edge of her sword on his neck. It would only take a flick of her wrist to cut his throat if he tried anything.

“You may as well kill me,” Eleck said, his voice strained with pain and fear. “I can’t use the rings anymore and the black knight will surely finish me in a much more painful way than you.”

Jen would have been happy to grant his wish, but first she’d wait and find out how her brother did with Mikhail. If they could get Eleck out of here alive he could tell them about Connor.

“No, Master!” The girl, Delia, finally gathered the courage to step out of her hiding place.

Eleck waved a hand and Jen pressed her sword harder into his neck. “Best keep those hands still.”

Eleck let his hand fall back into his lap. “It’s all right, Delia. I’ve earned death many times over. How did it all go so wrong?”

“How did you think it would end when you took up with a warlock?” Jen shook her head. “Did you imagine if you obeyed Connor would shake your hand and that would be that? You seem like a reasonably intelligent man so I can’t believe you were that stupid.”

Eleck barked a laugh. “I was exactly that stupid. Connor told me what I wanted to hear and I let myself believe it.”

“Why?” Leah had finally reached them. Tears streaked her face and her voice trembled. “You would have taken Grandfather’s place when his time ended. You would have led our people, been Wise One, if you had just waited.”

“I was sick of waiting. Sick of listening to your grandfather’s lectures and sermons. Sick of being told to be patient. I was sick of all of it.” He blew out a great sigh and held up his blackened hands. “Now I’m just sick.”

“Take off your rings and talisman,” Jen said. She looked to Delia. “You too.”

Delia clutched her hands to her chest, but made no effort to remove anything.

“Please, Delia,” Leah said. “If you don’t give it to her she’ll take it.”

Eleck tossed a silver pin on the ground at her feet, but when he tried to tug one of the black rings off it wouldn’t budge. The metal had fused to his flesh. “I’m afraid the rings aren’t going anywhere.” He held them out to prove it.

Jen’s sword swished through the air and the fingers on Eleck’s twisted hands clattered to the ground.

“Master!”

Jen leveled her sword at Delia. “Your talisman, now.”

“Delia, please.” Leah was crying openly. “No one else has to die tonight.”

Jen wasn’t entirely certain that was true, but she decided to give Leah a chance to persuade the woman. Eleck sat staring at his maimed hands. They didn’t even bleed, not really. A few drops of some black fluid oozed out to sizzle on the stones in front of him. Jen might have been doing him a favor if she killed him at this point.

Delia ripped a silver pin that was a twin to the one Eleck wore from the inside of her robe and threw it at Jen. “Take it!”

She scrambled over to Eleck. “Master, are you okay?”

Eleck looked from his hands to the woman. “It didn’t even hurt. I feel nothing below my elbows.”

Jen gathered up the talismans and kicked the rings a safe distance from her prisoners. She’d let Damien deal with them when he finished with Mikhail.

“What happens now?” Leah asked.

Jen looked up. Damien was flying towards the cave mouth, Mikhail in hot pursuit. They both vanished into the mountain.

“Now we wait to see who comes back out. If it’s my brother we celebrate. If it’s Mikhail we run.”

D
amien raced
through the cave mouth half a second ahead of a blast that shook the mountain. He’d been so busy dodging for his life Damien hadn’t had a chance to study his opponent’s remaining energy, but if the rate at which Mikhail was pouring hellfire at him was any indication, he wasn’t getting low. Maybe he had so much power because he wasn’t wasting any of it maintaining a mount. Damien had dared hope that without a horse Mikhail wouldn’t be able to fly. He’d been quickly reminded of the value of hopes.

A stream of fire seared his shield, but didn’t do any damage. Damien grimaced. He still had plenty of power, but he wanted to save it for one last attack. If his plan worked, maybe he could rid the world of the monster on his tail.

He darted around a corner ahead of a splash of flame. Not far now. He rounded another corner and the glow from the lava pools filled the air ahead of him. Finally.

Damien flashed past the pools and the unconscious druids. The guardians had sunk back into their dormant state and since he had on one of the talismans they didn’t rise up. He flew into the ritual chamber and spun to face Mikhail. The black knight stood a few steps from the path between the guardians. It looked like Mikhail had used around three quarters of his power.

Damien grinned. His opponent had no notion of how to hold back. Ordinarily that probably served him well, but against someone who had a passing understanding of tactics, it made Mikhail woefully easy to predict. Unfortunately for Damien, knowing what he was going to do didn’t make beating him much easier.

“You’re out of places to run, worm.” Mikhail said. Flames dripped from his blade to sizzle on the stone floor.

“Then why don’t you come get me, greengrocer?” Damien flew up toward the ceiling out of Mikhail’s view and said a little prayer that he wouldn’t just flood the whole chamber with hellfire.

The clank of iron boots on stone reached Damien’s ears followed by a roar. Spurts of hellfire flickered in the chamber opening. Damien flew down and out the cave mouth. Mikhail was flailing at the guardians, his sword cutting them to pieces and the lava guardians reforming just as fast.

Liquid stone engulfed Mikhail from the waist down and struggle as he might the black knight couldn’t free himself. Damien allowed himself a moment’s amusement.

“When I get free you’re dead, worm,” Mikhail roared. “No tricks will save you from my wrath!”

Did Mikhail have any idea how pretentious he sounded? Probably not, as he always seemed to talk that way. “What do you think would happen if I dropped a mountain on your head?”

Mikhail stopped struggling for a moment. “What?”

Damien drew all but a fraction of his remaining power. If there was lava running through the walls the main pool had to be fairly close to the surface. He fired a blast at the floor and another at the ceiling.

The cavern trembled.

Huge boulders fell from the ceiling and bubbling magma erupted from the floor.

It was time for Damien to go. He shot a little salute at Mikhail, wrapped the unconscious druids in a bubble, and raced for the exit.

All around him lava burst from the walls. Some spattered his shield, but none penetrated.

The roar of tons of falling stone pained his ears until he could hear nothing but the mountain’s death. Ahead of him he caught a glimpse of the night sky. With a final burst of speed he shot out of the cave. Damien spun and watched the mountain collapse in on itself.

The jagged peak trembled then burst as lava spewed into the sky. All along the ground cracks opened and magma oozed out.

Maybe he’d overdone it a bit.

He spotted Jen and Leah still far too close to the crumbling mountain. Damien drew from his badly diminished core and scooped his sister and the others up in a bubble. When they were far enough away to be safe Damien shifted the bubble into a platform and landed beside Jen.

“How’d it go?” He put his arm around her shoulders.

Before Jen could answer Leah ran over and grabbed his tunic. “What have you done? I told you not to destroy the circle. Now it will take months if not years to repair the damage to the ley line.”

Damien frowned. “But you can still do it, right?”

She blinked and stared at him. “Yes.”

“If I’d lost and Mikhail had killed you all, how long would it take to repair the damage?”

She slumped down to the platform. “I take your point.”

Damien watched the magma ooze towards the corrupted forest. “This may work out better in the long run anyway. The lava will burn away the tainted earth and leave the forest healthier.”

“What about us?” Delia asked.

“If it was up to me, I’d drop you both in the lava, but we’ll let the wise one decide your fate. You lot no longer seem like much of a threat.”

Eleck stared up at him, the stumps of his hands held like a supplicant. “What will become of me?”

Damien studied his soul force. The bulk of the corruption was below his elbows, but some had worked its way further. “If I amputate your arms at mid-biceps, you have a chance of surviving. If you do nothing you’ll be dead in a week.”

Eleck chuckled without humor. “Your bedside manner is appalling.”

Damien shrugged. “I’m not a healer. Truth is I’m surprised Jen let you live.” He glanced at Delia. “Either of you.”

Jen shook her head and smiled. “Just following your example. Without the rings or talismans they’re no threat. Perhaps the wise one will want to make an example of them. Hang them in the public square from some of those roots he’s got everywhere. Either way I think our work is done here. Let’s drop them off and go home.”

D
amien and Jen
flew along in a bubble above the Great Green on their way back to the capital. They’d spent another night in the temple at the wise one’s insistence. The wise one had decided, for whatever reason, to spare Eleck and the others. Letting them run around loose seemed like a poor notion to Damien, but it wasn’t up to him. Damien had sliced Eleck’s arms clean off just below the shoulder. He felt pretty confident that he’d burned out all the corruption.

They’d spent an hour talking with the fallen druid, getting all the details—at least all the details Eleck had—about Connor’s plans. The truth was he didn’t know much beyond the fact that the warlock wanted him to create a conjunction of ley lines in that huge cavern so he could draw on the deep well of power. What Connor wanted all that power for Eleck had no idea, though Damien doubted it was for anything good.

Eleck had also provided them with rough directions to Connor’s base in the Crescent Mountains. Though he’d only been there once and wasn’t exactly sure how to get back to it. Even without exact directions, as long as they could get close, any competent sorcerer would sense Connor’s corruption. Damien was pretty sure the archmage would be pleased when he gave his report.

“What are you smiling about?” Jen asked.

“I was just thinking that all things considered our mission went pretty well. It would be great if Uncle Andy let us work together more often. We complement each other really well.”

“I’ve thought the same thing. Isn’t it strange how seldom sorcerers and warlords team up? Every time I’ve worked with a sorcerer, either you or Master Shen, my missions have ended in success, more or less.”

“I will admit that when we go after Connor I’m not sure I want you to come. He’s going to be even stronger than Mikhail and I’m not certain how you could fight him from the ground.”

“Yeah, some enemies are simply beyond a warlord, but if you tell Dad I said that I’ll deny it. Speaking of enemies, have you decided what you’re going to tell Karrie?”

Damien groaned. He’d done his level best to forget about the unreasonable princess, but now that they were finished with their mission he couldn’t put it off much longer. “I don’t know. What do you think? I could be king and you can be my champion.”

They both laughed at that. If there was something that needed fighting and Damien couldn’t handle it they would both be in trouble. His good mood vanished as quickly as it arrived. He really did need to tell her something.

Audra didn’t spend that much time in the throne room with Uncle Andy. If Karrie were willing to handle the politics and let him spend his time in the field it might not be so bad. She’d get what she wanted and he wouldn’t have to do anything he didn’t like. If that suited her he might just take her up on the offer. Since Lizzy didn’t seem to mind everyone would end up happy, or at least content.

The capital appeared on the horizon a little after midday. From so far away the damage didn’t look quite as bad. Damien knew it was just an illusion. There’d be no shortage of work once they dealt with Connor.

He landed the bubble in the castle courtyard. Guards and workers were scrambling around on various errands. A Crimson Legionnaire waved at Damien from her place on the battlements. If you concentrated on the castle and ignored the rest of the city everything looked pretty normal.

“Want to try the throne room first?” Damien asked. “If my master is there we can make one report and have it over with.”

Jen shrugged. “Fine with me.”

They’d barely taken a step when the castle doors slammed open and Sig stormed out. What the hell was that idiot doing in the capital? Damien had enough to handle without that fool getting underfoot.

Sig stalked straight toward them, his power crackling around his body. Damien increased the power to his shield just to be safe. He doubted Sig would start something in the castle courtyard, but on the other hand the giant from the north wasn’t exactly known for his prudence.

Sig stopped three feet from Damien and Jen. Damien raised an eyebrow. “Sig. Something I can do for you?”

“Die slowly, gnawed by a thousand ice trolls.”

Damien winced. “I think I’ll pass on that, thanks. Who put the bug up your ass?”

Sig snarled. “She’s mine. Do you understand? Mine!”

Damien and Jen shared a look. “Could you run through that one more time, with clarity?” Damien asked.

“Princess Karrie. I know you’re engaged to be married. I won’t let you get away with it. I’m more worthy to be king than a runt like you. I’ll kill you and claim her for myself.”

Damien had only heard every other word after “engaged.” What made Sig think they were engaged? He’d never even answered her. Damien slowly clenched his fists. Whether he married her or not, loved her or not, he wouldn’t let anyone treat the princess like some side of meat for the dogs to fight over.

“I don’t see how it’s any of your business who Karrie marries. And she certainly doesn’t belong to you or me for that matter. She’s her own person free to choose as she wishes.”

Sig backhanded him hard enough to make Damien take a step back, more from shock than pain. “I challenge you to a sorcerers’ duel to the death!” Sig shouted. “The princess will have no choice but to acknowledge the survivor as the better mate. And that will be me.”

Damien stared at Sig for a moment. He couldn’t have heard right. “You’re challenging me to a duel?”

“Yes, damn you. Name the time and place of your death.”

Damien shook his head. This had to be a joke. He expected John and Karrie to run out any moment and yell “Surprise!” When no one appeared after several seconds it became clear Sig wasn’t joking. It seemed an extravagant way to kill himself, but who was Damien to question it? “Noon tomorrow, halfway between the tree line and north gate.”

“Fine! Enjoy your last night breathing.” Sig leapt into the air and flew away.

“He’s insane,” Jen said. “Are you really going to fight him?”

“I don’t know. I’ll see what Uncle Andy, the duke, and my master have to say about it. Then I think I need to talk to Karrie.”