Sons of Evil: Book 1 Book of Dread (8 page)

He became faintly aware that
Adrianna was speaking to him. He forced his gaze away from the girl. “Sorry.”

“Silas is over there,” she
said.

They came up behind a man
whose well-toned physique was both impressive and intimidating. He was doing
push-ups, and although each was accomplished with little strain, they could
tell he must have been at it for some time. The sweat on his bare back and bald
head stood out even as the rain continued to fall.

“Three…four…five…six,”
Adrianna said, implying he had just started.

Silas stopped and rolled over
into a sitting position. His clean shaven head and dark goatee gave his face a
sinister look when he scowled as he did now, but he only held the look for an
instant. Recognizing her he couldn’t help but smile. “I was up to eight, I
think, but now I’ll have to start over. You made me lose my place.”

“You never were good at
numbers. Or at keeping out of trouble.”

He raised an eyebrow at this
but otherwise ignored it. “Did you come here to visit, or are you now a fellow
occupant of this fine establishment?”

“I come and go at my own
choosing. You know that.”

“Of course,” he said, adding a
mock bow.

Adrianna introduced Darius and
then asked if it was safe to talk. After Silas indicated that it was, she told
him the key points of the brothers’ tale, and that they hoped he might be able
to help them figure out how best to deal with the book.

Silas listened to the tale
with his arms folded over his chest, an occasional nod the only indication he
was following along. When she finished he asked, “Is the book somewhere safe,
with this Luke?”

Adrianna said it was so.

“I’ll need to look at it. I
assume you already knew that.”

“I did, although the way you
get yourself tossed in here so much I wonder if I should be helping you out.”

“That’s up to you. But since
you’ll be needing my help…” He smiled broadly

“Yeah, yeah,” Adrianna said
with a wave. “And you’re lucky we do, or I wouldn’t be risking my neck for you
again.”

“Sure you would,” he said,
stating a fact.

“All right. Enough small talk.
You need anything before we go?”

“Just my robe.”

As he went to retrieve it,
Darius looked hard at Adrianna. “What are you going to do? Just march right
out?”

“The two of you are,” she
answered.

Darius
turned to the returning Silas, and was surprised at the brown garment he wore. “You’re
a cleric?” he finally managed to stammer out.

Silas nodded, a slow, composed
gesture. The robes seemed to completely change the aspect of the man. A moment
ago it would have been easy for Darius to picture him in a barroom brawl or
wielding a mighty sword in battle. Now it was serene meditation and prayer. He
wondered where in the continuum between those extremes the real Silas existed.

While Darius was inspecting
Silas, Adrianna was subtly doing the same with the guards atop the wall. “No
way to get out of sight,” she said aloud, “and we’d draw attention if we tried.
But they seem disinterested for the most part. The one with the red beard
worries me a bit, though. He seems semi-alert.”

Silas smiled. “Forbes. Not a
bad man. Trying to do his job, I suppose…not really a surprise.”

“Darius, try to keep an eye on
him without making it obvious. We’ll need a few moments when his attention is
focused elsewhere.”

“I’ll do what I can,” Darius
said, positioning himself so he could look past Silas at Forbes while appearing
to be talking to the cleric.

Adrianna addressed Silas. “I’ll
need something that belongs to you. Something personal.”

“I have a
cross on a chain around my neck. A gift from my mentor.”

“That’ll do. And I have a ring
I’ll hand you. No need to wear it. Darius?”

“Not now,” Darius said. “He’s
pacing the wall, facing us…turning…now.”

Adrianna and Silas made their
exchange. No call from above indicated that they had been seen.

“Darius, is he still looking
away?”

“He is, but he’s running out
of space. He’ll turn in a second. I’d wait until he cycles back again.”

“Okay. When I’m done, you two
will need to go as swiftly as you can. It’s a tough spell to hold, especially
when the two involved are separate.”

Darius started to ask what
spell Adrianna had in mind, but Silas spoke first. “What about you? How are you
going to get out?”

“Don’t worry about that. Once
you two are gone, I’ll have plenty of ways to make an escape. I shouldn’t be
too long.”

Darius, seeing the guard ready
to pivot away from them, knew his question would have to wait. “He’s not
looking.”

Adrianna mumbled a few words
in a language strange to Darius, and then in an instant Adrianna and Silas
seemed to change places. There was no flash of light, no slow changing of
features, no loud bang to indicate something had happened. If Darius had turned
his head at the right moment he might have thought they were playing tricks on
him. But he hadn’t, so he knew better. He managed to limit his reaction to a stifled
gasp of surprise.

The guards had seen nothing,
but one of the other prisoners had. A girl of perhaps sixteen years stared at
them with wide-eyed astonishment. Darius spotted her and quickly drew his
companions’ attention to her. She appeared nearly ready to let out a scream.

Silas—at least what appeared
to be Silas—lifted a hand ever-so-slightly, wiggled his fingers and said a few
words.

The girl clutched at her mouth
and swallowed hard three times. She worked her jaw back and forth and was able
to open her lips only a small fraction of an inch.

Adrianna’s voice emanated from
what appeared to be Silas’ body. “She’ll be fine, and we’ll be gone before she
can speak. You two should go now. Silas, avoid speaking.”

He nodded while Darius waved
to get the attention of the guards in the tower and then pointed at the door. Adrianna
wondered off and resumed exercising, avoiding further eye contact with the
girl, who was trying to get her mother to understand what she had seen and what
had befallen her because of it.

It took some time for the
message to get from the tower to the guards below, but soon the door opened and
Darius and Silas-Adrianna exited the yard before the girl could interfere or
call further attention to them. It was unlikely she wanted to do so, but the
shock of what she had witnessed made her a dangerous wild card the two escapees
were happy to leave behind. They only hoped she wouldn’t complicate things for
Adrianna.

“Nice visit?” the same guard
who had escorted them in asked sarcastically.

“Good enough,” Darius replied.

“Oh, so you
can
talk.” He
leaned toward Silas-Adrianna conspiratorially. “Thought you might have a mute
that followed you around to do your heavy lifting.”

Silas-Adrianna gave a
half-hearted smile and shrugged.

Two guards pulled the outer
door open with an effort, and the two guests were escorted out. “If you come
back,” the guard whispered to what he thought was an attractive young woman,
“leave the boy behind. You’ll need to offer more than coin to get in again.”

Silas pulled his hood up and
moved on so the guard wouldn’t see any reaction on his face. His hand clenched
into a fist, and it took all his willpower and a swift prayer to keep from
wheeling about and knocking out the guard’s teeth.

They moved as quickly as
safety and discretion allowed back down the winding path, fighting the urge to
look back, uncertain when the spell would wear off. When they finally reached
the small grove of trees where Luke waited, they both sighed with relief.

Darius scratched his ear as he
looked from Luke to Silas-Adrianna, unsure how to proceed.

“What happened?” Luke asked
with a grimace. “I thought you’d be bringing this Silas guy back with you.”

“Oh, we did,” said Adrianna’s
form in a deep voice.

Luke gripped the hilt of the
sword and stepped back.

“This
is
Silas,” Darius
explained. “Adrianna worked some of her magic.”

“Literally,” Silas added.

“So I see,” said Luke. He
studied the person before him with far more scrutiny than he would have dared a
few hours earlier for fear of being accused of ogling her. “Flawless, except
for the voice. And does she look like you now?”

Silas nodded.

“Then how’s she supposed to
get out?”

“She didn’t feel the need to
tell us,” Darius replied. “Only that she would. I don’t doubt her.”

“Nor do I.”

“Then you young men are wise,
which is a good thing,” said Silas. He found a tree that had kept the ground
relatively sheltered from the rain and therefore dry, and sat beneath it. “I
guess we’ll just wait here for her.” He held up Adrianna’s hands and studied
them for a time. “Amazing. Although, I have to admit, now that I’m free of
Krangstand, I’ll be happy to be myself again.”

They made idle conversation
while they waited, each knowing they should wait for Adrianna to discuss their
true business together. Luke was in the middle of describing the family farm
when he nearly choked on his own words. “Holy—,” he said, stopping himself from
saying more due to Silas’ chosen vocation.

Seeing the shocked look on the
young man’s face, Silas glanced at himself, then smiled with relief. “Back to
normal. Though not as lovely a sight to you gentlemen, I’m sure.”

“I’m surprised to hear you
talk like that,” Darius said. “You’re a holy man.”

“That is my goal,” Silas
answered, “but beauty is beauty and is to be appreciated, especially in these
dark days. And I am a man, and not blind. As far as Adrianna, I think I’m only
stating the obvious, unless one of you would gainsay it.”

“Wouldn’t think of it,” said
Luke. “Can’t lie to a man of God.”

Adrianna arrived just after
dark. The rain had slackened to a gentle mist, and they could hear her soft
footfalls in the descending dark before she came into view. They were glad to
see she had regained her usual appearance—the sight of twin Silases was
something they were happy to avoid.

Darius was first to greet her.
“Welcome back. Are you okay?”

“Fine,” she said, completely
composed. “And I think we have some time before my various slights of hand, or
Silas’ disappearance, are discovered. I suggest we put some distance between us
and Krangstand while we have the chance.” They all agreed and then she added to
Silas, “This is yours.”

He took his cross and put it
around his neck, taking care to tuck it beneath his robe, where it lay over his
heart. In like fashion he returned Adrianna’s ring.

As they started off, Silas
asked, “Did you get the better of Greaves, the guard who walked you in? He made
a comment that was…provocative, but there was little I could do about it. Apparently
you had to pay gold to get in?”

“A small sack of coin,” Darius
said with a rueful look. “A shame to give so much away.”

“Would
have been,” Adrianna said, her lip curling in that subtle smile they were all
coming to admire. “At some point he’ll find it was only a bag of rocks,
hopefully when he’s trying to buy something with it.”

“I’d pay to see his face when
he finds out,” Silas said.

“Where are we headed?” Darius
asked.

“North,” Adrianna replied.

“Where north?”

“Just north.”

“Why?”

“Why not?”

Before Darius could open his
mouth again, Luke took him by the arm. “Better let it go, big brother, or she
might turn you into a newt.”

“Or something worse,” Silas
added.

“Men,” Adrianna grumbled.

The night hike seemed endless
to Darius, the sky black with clouds so that no movement of stars or moon could
be seen. As his legs grew weary and his head started to swim from the lack of
sleep, he started to question himself and his judgment. He had yet to show the
book to Silas, but he knew that moment would be coming soon, and he knew he
wouldn’t argue against it at this point. He was growing to trust Adrianna—and
Silas because she trusted him—but her abilities frightened him at the same
time. He had known the risks, had sought her out, but he felt any control he
might have in his own circumstances slowly slipping away. Adrianna was making
the decisions, asking him to share the secret of the book with another
stranger, and directing their path without so much as consulting him. He
reminded himself that he had no alternative to offer, but that didn’t make him
feel any better. He glanced back at Luke, who stumbled along at his elbow, and
felt even worse. It was bad enough how far things were spinning out of control
for Darius, and the fact he had let Luke convince him that he should tag along
dropped a weight of pending guilt on his shoulders, should anything go wrong.

When they finally stopped at
an abandoned mill, Darius felt the call of sleep heavy upon him. But Silas was
anything but tired. “Been cooped up for too long,” he explained. “Feels good to
get out and see the world again.”

Luke looked back the way they
had come and asked, “You think we’re being pursued?”

“Doubtful,” Adrianna said. “They’ll
scout the area around Krangstand, but generally won’t call for a full search. They’d
risk their own necks by admitting a prisoner had escaped. No offense, Silas,
but I doubt you’ll be missed by any but the inmates and the jailers, so I think
they’ve given up by now.”

“No offense taken,” Silas
said. “And if you’re saying the king himself won’t be asking after me, you’re
right. I was simply put out of the way for stirring up local trouble.”

“What kind of trouble?” Darius
wanted to know.

Silas answered by closing his
eyes and folding his hands in prayer.

“For praying?”

“In too public a fashion.”

“That’s hard to believe,”
Darius said, not challenging Silas, but clearly surprised.

“Welcome to the new Longvale,”
Silas said. “Now, as much as I appreciate your efforts to reacquaint me with
freedom, I believe you had a book you wanted me to peruse.”

“We have to figure out how to
crack it open first,” Darius said as he pulled the tome from his pack.

Silas reached to take the book
from Darius, but as its weight settled on his fingers, he gave a small gasp and
dropped it. Before anyone could speak he held up a finger, asking for silence. With
that same finger he reached down and touched the book delicately, tracing its
edge and feeling the rough texture of the covering hide and the cold metal of
the lock. Finally he withdrew his hand and sat back with a sigh. “Sorry about
that. It surprised me.”

“The book?” Adrianna asked.

“Yes. It is a source of great
power, and great evil.”

“That fits with what Landri
said to my sister,” Darius commented.

Silas nodded. “I can see why
he might value it greatly.”

“Can you open it?” Luke asked.

“No,” said Silas with a shake
of his head. “I’m not sure I’d want to, even if I could. It’s dangerous.”

Now it was Darius’ turn to
sigh. “So where does that leave us?”

“Well, I can’t open it,”
replied Silas, “but I can tell you it is called a Blood Book or a Book of Dread.
Some have modified the latter term and say ‘Book of the Dead,’ although that’s
not quite right. They are quite rare, thankfully. This may be the only one
still existing—or I should say that anyone knows about—in Corterra. They are
ancient tomes, better left buried in some dusty pile, forgotten.”

“Or destroyed,” Darius
offered.

“That is far easier said than
done.” Silas thought for a moment. “I can’t open it, and it is dangerous, but I
think what you are trying to do is proper, and I will help you if I can. If
Landri was using this book, there is no telling what kind of evil he may have
loosed. We’ll know better once we can get a look inside.”

“Do you know what it
contains?” Darius asked.

“Spells, most likely, though
we won’t know what kind until we can open it. Not magic, like Adrianna’s,
but…darker incantations.”

“If you can’t open it, do you
have any idea who can?” Adrianna asked.

“Landri, for one, and I’m not
being smart. I think those with a bent toward evil have the ability to get past
the lock, while those, like us, with better intentions, do not.”

Darius laughed, a chuckle of
dismay. “So we just need to find someone who would just as soon kill us as help
us, and ask real nice if he’ll open it.”

“It does present a problem,”
said Silas, “even worse than you’ve stated. I wouldn’t dare place the book in
the hands of anyone who I thought could open it, for fear of what they’d see
inside, and the possibility they might be able to use it.”

“This is getting easier all
the time,” Luke said sarcastically.

“Worthwhile endeavors
frequently meet with obstacles, and your quest here is no different. But I do
have one other possibility, someone who might have enough magic to overcome the
warded lock on the book.”

“Are you talking about
Aerlos?” Adrianna asked.

Silas nodded.

“Well, she’s rumored to have
skills beyond any other. But even assuming we could reach her, and that’s a big
assumption, would she help us?”

“She might,” said Silas with
a soft smile. “I think she would, if I ask it.”

“You know her?” Adrianna asked,
clearly amazed at this revelation.

“I was much younger then, even
had some hair on my head.”

“Then it was in ancient
times.”

“Such flattery will get you
nowhere.”

Darius cleared his throat
loudly, to be sure he was heard. “I hate to break up this little private
discussion, but would you mind telling Luke and I who this Aerlos is?”

“Of course,” Silas said. “Aerlos
is Queen of the Ice Elves.”

Darius and Luke stared at
Silas, dumbfounded.

“Elves
and men have not interacted since olden days,” Darius finally managed to say. He
looked at Silas and added, “At least I was told.”

“Oh, that’s true, for the most
part. One needs to venture to the Far North to meet the elves, and only then if
they’ll allow it. The rulers of the human kingdoms have kept to the south and
the elves to the north, since olden times as you say.”

Adrianna was ready to get back
to discussing how they could reach Aerlos. “This will be a long, arduous
journey,” she said, looking from Luke to Darius. “I want to be sure its not
more than what you bargained for when you left home.”

“It is,” Darius said. “Far
more. But if it’s what needs to be done to protect Sasha, then I’m in. At least
we’ll be moving away from Longvale, and away from Landri. I always thought I’d
end up trying to lose it somewhere, hoping it would stay hidden. If this Aerlos
can’t get past the lock, the Far North wouldn’t be the worst place to try to
hide the book.”

“Luke?” Adrianna asked.

Darius jumped in before Luke
could speak. “We’ll need to pass through the war front, then through
Dalusia—who we are fighting with—and then who knows what perils in the north. And
despite all that, anything we say to convince Luke to turn back and go home
will be so much wasted breath.”

“You’re smarter than you
look,” Luke said.

“I could put a sleep spell on
him,” Adrianna offered. “We could sneak off and get a pretty good head start.”

“Very funny,” Luke said. “Then
I’d just have to travel alone. Probably end up getting there before you lot.”

Adrianna smiled at the young
man’s spunk, while Darius just grimaced and shook his head. Silas alone wore a
serious expression, and waited until he had Adrianna’s attention.

“It will be a long journey,
and dangerous,” he said. “I want to get Barlow to come along.”

Adrianna rolled her eyes. “I
knew you were going to say that.”

“Who’s Barlow?” Darius
interjected before the two started having another private conversation.

“A stuffy old man,” Adrianna
said with a shake of her head.

“He’s not nearly as old as
you,” Silas retorted.

“So which is he, old or not?”
Darius asked. He would have placed Adrianna at no more than thirty.

“He’s fifty-nine, if my memory
doesn’t fail me,” Silas said. “Past his prime maybe, but not past being
useful.”

Darius was so taken aback by
the notion that Adrianna was sixty or more that he was struck temporarily dumb.
Ignoring the shock on his face and on Luke’s, she answered Silas.

“Well past his prime, if he
ever had one, which is debatable.”

“Now, Adrianna, you needn’t
get nasty. You know he’s good in a tight spot, and he wants to serve what’s
right and just.”

“Why should I admit any such
thing? He would say no kind words about me.”

“He respects you. He just
doesn’t like your way of doing things.”

“My skills in magic,” she
explained for the brothers.

Darius finally found his
voice. “Why is that a problem? Does it frighten him?”

“Percival Barlow,” Silas said,
“is a paladin. He sees most magic, at least when used by humans, as being
derived from the dark arts, with the exception of that used to do God’s work. I
think perhaps he has softened with age on the point, but he’s too stubborn to
admit as much.”

“You obviously don’t see
things that way.”

“No. I know nothing of the
origins of magic—the arts themselves or the source of the power that makes a
spell work—but I’ve known those who wield it for good, and those who wield it
for selfish reasons or for evil. It is what is in the heart of the caster that
matters.”

“You should try telling that
to Barlow,” Adrianna said.

“I have tried,” Silas said,
his open hands at his sides in a gesture of helplessness.

Darius sighed, thinking that
yet another stranger was to be let in on their secret. “Can we trust him?” he
asked.

“Of course,” said Silas.

“No offense, but I was asking
Adrianna.”

She grimaced, looked at Silas,
then grudgingly said, “Yes. That much I’ll give him. If he agrees to go along,
he’ll be true. You needn’t doubt that. But I’m not sure he will, if I’m part of
the bargain.”

“I’ll take care of that,”
Silas said.

“So where is this guy?” Luke
asked.

“He lives in seclusion, a few
miles from New Bern.”

“At least that’s north,”
Darius noted. “Not really out of our way.”

“Great,” said Silas. “Then
it’s settled.” He did his best to ignore the dour and uncertain looks of his
companions.

*

Landri sat on his throne,
inwardly fuming but doing his best not to show it. If he was honest with
himself—and he rarely was—he would admit that his ability to hide an inner rage
was basically non-existent. Like a thermometer on a hot day, the red color
would move up his neck and then to his face, and all those around him backed
away as best as they were able, knowing he was ready to blow. Such was the case
now, and he had given an angry wave to his court and advisors, clearing the
room of all save one. It was the lone remaining man—or rather the all-knowing
smirk on his face—that was infuriating him so. “If you have something to say,
Kaelesh, then be out with it. You tire me.”

“I only wish to serve my
king,” Kaelesh said, in his usual too-smooth tone.

“Spare me the fawning words. I
wish the night watch was as attentive to what goes on as you have been to my
every move these last few days.”

Kaelesh replied as if he was
being complimented. “You have been troubled. And what troubles you, troubles
me. But I can do little to aid you if you keep the problem to yourself. Have I
not gained your trust?”

Landri laughed, a short, hard
bark. “I trust you, as much as you trust me. Ours is a relationship born of
chance and circumstance.”

“Has it not been beneficial? If
you wish me to go, release me from your service.”

“You know I won’t do so. You know
I can’t.”

Kaelesh said nothing.

“Are you just going to stand
there and fix me with that maddening stare of yours? What do you want?”

“Only to he—”

“Only to help. Yes, I know. All
for me. Fine. Help me by telling me what it is you think I am troubled by.”

“As you wish.” Although the
room was empty, Kaelesh stepped closer and lowered his voice. “I think you’ve
misplaced the book.”

Landri
felt like a trapped rat. Kaelesh’s eyes seemed to bore into his very soul. “That’s
ludicrous,” he said. He had to make a conscious effort to avoid wincing at how
unconvincing he sounded even to himself.