The Blood Sigil (The Sigilord Chronicles Book 2) (41 page)

They're like sigilords, only much weaker
, she thought.
Why are they working for the arbiters?

Then she felt the blood of one of the arbiters and she couldn't help but smile. She rolled to her feet, then stood firm against the horde of mindless skeletons, covered her face with her arms, and called out to the arbiter's blood. The robed man exploded in a fine red mist. Each drop of his blood soared through the air and landed on one of the undead, where it erupted in a bright crimson flame.
 

I have so much strength!
She thought. She had gotten used to the feeling of power that came from the control of blood, but this new feeling of raw, primal physical strength was new, and intoxicating.

 
Standing on a smoldering pile of bones, she saw the radixes break formation and run. Their masters, Vogon and the other arbiters, had quickly become food for a pack of bile wolves that had sprung upon them from behind.

"No!" Anderis shouted.

Cailix whirled and saw Anderis charging down the street, waving his hands in the air and shouting.

What is wrong with him?

He wasn't close enough for her to control his blood, not that she would have been able to anyway. He was far too powerful a blood mage to let that happen. The arbiters were all dead, and she now knew all too well now that she could not call upon the blood of the dead for power.

"No, she is mine! Leave her be!" Anderis shouted again.

"What the—" Cailix started.

 
A blast of hot air pressed down on her from above, accompanied by loud snapping noises, like enormous bull whips being cracked over and over.

She looked up only to find herself staring into the gaping jaws of the winged snake creature as it spiraled in a free fall straight down at her.

"I said no!" shouted Anderis.

Unable to react in time, Cailix braced herself for the impact that she knew would likely swallow her whole. The foul breath of the beast burned her nostrils, but instead of finding herself chewed up in the belly of a flying snake, the creature slammed snout-first into the ground next to her, then slumped to the side, dead. The body of its rider bounced off a nearby wall and tumbled to the ground, dead.

"What…" Cailix said, whirling, confused. She scanned all directions for potential enemies. The radixes were nowhere to be found, but she could see several corpses of the arbiters, and Anderis rapidly approaching from the west.

"Absolutely unmanageable creatures," Anderis said, breathing heavily as he reached her side.

Cailix simply stared at him, unable to hide the shock and confusion she felt.

"Well, I couldn't very well let them kill you, now could I?" Anderis said. "That would deny me the satisfaction of—"

Two thick tusks burst out of Anderis's stomach, a thick blue ooze dripping from the white horns. A bloated, piglike creature lifted the blood mage then tossed him aside.
 

With a single smooth motion, Cailix pricked her finger on a blade and sent three small drops of blood soaring like arrows through the air. Two drops shot straight through the beast's eyes and into its skull, the third punching a small hole in its chest. The hell-pig snorted and screeched, then dropped dead.

Cailix took a moment to take in her surroundings. Everywhere she looked, mounds of burning undead—
the dead, risen!—
sent plumes of black smoke into the fog hovering over the island. Corpses of creatures that had literally escaped from hell lay on the ground next to dead arbiters and radixes.

The true scale of what was happening finally hit her. She recalled the blast of the war horn and the arbiter who had said Autar's army was marching across the bay on a bridge, making for the main city.

"If that army gets to Niragan…" Cailix gasped aloud.

"They won't stop at Niragan," Anderis said amid a coughing spasm.
 

Cailix turned to see him lying splayed out on the ground with two holes in his stomach, a strange, dark foam bubbling up from the wounds.

"What did you say?" Cailix asked, kneeling next to him. Part of her wanted to reach out and snap his neck, to put an end to the man who had caused her so much pain. But another part would feel no satisfaction in killing him like this. She still wanted her fair fight, to prove that she could beat him in his prime on his best day.

"Autar wants to see this whole world burn," Anderis sputtered. "To unleash hell on the world. He's mad."

"How is that any different from what the Order wanted to do?" Cailix asked, her desire to kill him growing.

"No time for this…" Anderis said, struggling to speak as blood gurgled up out of his throat. The blood mage pointed to the body of the leader of the arbiters. "In Vogon's robe…"

Still on her knees, Cailix shuffled over to the arbiter's body and riffled through the regal, finely made robe that now lay torn and stained with blood and the dark ichor oozed by the wolves and the other hell creatures.

Hidden inside the lining of the robe she found a heavy metal cylinder, decorated with gold and silver fittings, dozens of small jewels, and a round sigil etched deep into the top. She grabbed it and returned to Anderis's side.

"That's it," he said, pausing to cough. "That's what he wants. Can't let him have it. Never."

"What does he want it for?" Cailix asked.

"Revenge," answered Anderis. "But so much more. He'll burn all the worlds with that. This world is just the beginning. And there's something else."

"What?"

The blood mage winced and shuddered, struggling to stay alive long enough to impart his message. "Find your sigilord. Go to Findanar center tower. Reverse the blood sigil or…or…"

"Or what? What happens if we don't reverse the blood sigil?"

"It grows," Anderis said. "Never stops growing. The dead will bury the world."

"How do we reverse the blood sigil?" Cailix asked, propping him up and holding him in her lap so he wouldn't choke on his own blood.

"Blood in the floor," Anderis wheezed.

"What does that mean?" Cailix demanded.

"So sorry," he said. "You…so much more than I ever could be. So much more…"

Cailix shook him, not ready to let the man die yet. He had picked the wrong time to get emotional—she needed answers. "Dammit, Anderis, how do we reverse the blood sigil?"

His eyes rolled back into his head and his grip on her hand relaxed. With a sigh, he slid out of her grasp.

"You deserved a real father," he murmured. "You are so much more…"

With those last words, he grew still and his head sagged to the side, lifeless.

Chapter Thirty

Urus sat perched atop the head of the metal flying machine, its bronze and copper feather facade glinting in the sunlight. Waldron was filled to bursting with soldiers—briene, Waldrene, radixes, a battalion from Niragan, a handful of Kestians, and two grey-skinned men who towered over the others. It was perhaps the strangest army Urus had ever seen.

Machines of all sizes and shapes sat in the main plaza as the briene flitted between them like bees tending to their flowers. Soldiers checked their equipment, while others napped in whatever comfortable spot they could find, catching up on rest while they could.

Colin wanted him to save Cailix, the radixes expected him to lead, the briene and the other soldiers expected him to save Niagara and somehow stop an army of undead and an army of creatures from another world.

Urus shook his head.
It's all just too much
.

You sell yourself short, sigilord,
came the thoughts of another into his mind. It was Murin.

I didn't ask for this
, Urus replied.
I don't want it. I…I don't know what I'm doing.
 

And what makes you think other leaders know what they're doing?
Murin's mind conveyed to him.
You may not have asked for this, but it is yours. These people are counting on you.

Urus slid down off the briene flying machine, making sure to dismount with his weight on his right leg, and limped through the central plaza. Amid the soldiers and briene machinery stood row after row of tall scaffolding, still positioned to repair the city walls and structures from the war that almost was; a war that Goodwyn had almost single-handedly prevented.

I'm not like him,
Urus thought.
He should be leading these people
.

You have a war to win
, Murin replied.
Leave Goodwyn to fight the battles. It is what he does best.

What the hell does that mean?
Urus thought as he saluted a pair of radixes, their glowing avatar knights assisting the briene in loading supplies and weapons into wagons. He stooped under another metal bird, this one longer and more slender than the others, and climbed up onto a mostly reconstructed stone fountain.

His mood brightened as he saw Luse approaching, her flowing green outfit standing out among the drab colors of the soldiers and their armor.

"You ready for this, little bull?" she signed, stepping up into the waterless fountain next to him.

"No," he replied honestly. He again took in the plaza, sweeping his arm across it. "You really think a travel sigil can carry all this?"

"I honestly don't know. Before we left Niragan, I had never seen anyone travel that many people, but your blue sigilcraft—"

"Birth defect."

"Stop that. Your
power
…it took everybody here. I think you can do it. No, I know you can do it."

You should say something to the soldiers
, Murin projected to him. Urus looked around but there was no sign of the grey man or his companion.
They will need confidence. Their leader needs to inspire them.

You're better at that than I am,
Urus replied.
Why don't you give the speech?

"Is something wrong?" Luse asked. "You look…I don't know, lost in thought."

"I'm talking to Murin," Urus signed. "In my head. It's hard to explain."

"What does your familiar say?"

"He wants me to give a speech to the soldiers, but—"

"That's a great idea!" Before Urus could explain that he wanted nothing to do with that suggestion, Luse was jumping up and down, whistling and waving. Moments later the eyes of every soldier and civilian in Waldron were upon him.

Lu said a few words to the newly gathered masses, but Urus couldn't see what she told them. The entire plaza broke into a round of applause so loud Urus felt the vibration of it through his feet.

"I warmed them up for you," she said with a smile, clapping him on the shoulders.

I can't do this,
Urus thought as panic turned to nausea and threatened to cripple him entirely.

You can and you must,
replied Murin.
Just be yourself.

Myself wants to run away and hide
.

Then be the version of yourself you want to be. Be the man this army needs you to be
.
Remember, no one knows what you feel on the inside. Show strength. Lead!

Urus swallowed hard and took a step forward. Everyone stared at him. When he had been standing in the center of the arena in Kest, everyone had stared at him too. Then, however, it had been stares of derision and pity. Now, all eyes looked to him for leadership, for words of encouragement. Now, their expressions held respect and admiration.

Urus simply wasn't capable of handling that kind of attention. He forced his gaze up over their heads so he didn't have to look the audience in the eyes. He focused on a tall, jagged piece of mountain in the distance.

"Hello. My name is Urus," he began. The crowd roared with laughter, many laughing so hard they fell.

Everyone knows who you are
, Murin projected.
You are all any of them have been able to talk about since your arrival here.

"Some of you here are from Niragan, but most of you aren't. Most of you live in the capital, and until recently I had never heard of Niragan," Urus said, then paused, partly expecting the audience to laugh at his speech impediment. It didn't matter what language Urus spoke, it never sounded right.

No one said a thing. All stood transfixed, waiting for his next words.

"A terrible enemy lays siege to Niragan. His army is a foul one, with walking skeletons and evil creatures from hell itself. Some might decide just to turn and walk away, to let Niragan fend for itself. But that won't be us."

Cheers erupted from the crowd, soldiers pumping their weapons at the sky.

"They have a sigilord, but we have Luse Lingxiu." Urus pointed at Luse, who gave an elaborate curtsy in response. "They have creatures from hell, but we have our radixes, and we have Goodwyn, one of the deadliest soldiers alive. They have an army of undead, but we have
three
armies: the Waldrene, the briene, and the Niragan. We have a fleet of flying metal birds!"

More cheers erupted from the crowd. Choein pressed his way through the throng to stand before them. He turned around and held his arms up to silence the audience, then again looked up at Urus.

"You forgot one thing, my lord," Choein shouted. "We have you!"