The Sorcerer's Scourge (37 page)

The buildings all seemed to be made of baked clay bricks. Few had windows of glass, most opting for shutters that were thrown open to allow in the breeze. Hawkers shouted at everyone and no one in particular, urging passersby to purchase their wares. Dogs and children ran the streets in seemingly equal numbers.

There seemed little logic to those streets either. There were no dedicated avenues until they passed through the poorer neighborhood near the docks and entered one where painted stucco covered the walls of multi-story homes with fountains and the only green grass visible anywhere inside or outside of the city appeared. These were wide, cobbled lanes free of trash, be it discarded rubbish or human. Men and women in bright robes of thin material casually strolled, rode horses or camels, or were carried upon palanquins down the streets, often surrounded by slave attendants and guards.

Jake led his prize past increasingly opulent mansions until they came to a high brick wall, behind which lay a palace unlike any Ellyssa had ever imagined. The walls were solid white much like those of North Haven’s beautiful castle, but there the similarity ended. Open arches appeared all over the outside leading to balconies ranging from a few square feet to hundreds of feet long. There were more turrets than corners and each was capped not in a conical clay-tiled roof, but with a bulb like a rosebud, each of which must have been plated in real gold to shine as brilliantly as they did.

Captain Jake must have been known here because they were not stopped until they reached the enormous doors, also covered in a gold veneer. The Captain spoke a few words to the guards in a language Ellyssa did not understand and was escorted inside where they were handed off to a pair of interior guards. Ellyssa noted that one of them appeared to be from Valaria, something she saw in several other men and women performing their duties as they strode down the ostentatious marble halls.

The group finally stopped before another set of smaller but much more elaborate doors. The Valarian guard stuck his head inside, said something in the foreign tongue, and then opened the door to permit entrance for the slavers and their captive.

Inside, the opulence of the palace reached its zenith. Marble sheathed every surface and gold inlaid nearly every carving. Enormous glazed planters held trees and plants, many bearing fruit of some kind. At least twenty feet over her head, huge tapestries hung down and constantly wafted back and forth, creating a cooling breeze with the help of a pool and fountain set in the middle of the floor.

The walkway up to the raised dais created a bridge, splitting the pool in half where streams of water jetted up into the air on both sides. Women and young boys stood to the sides of the enormous chamber or upon the dais with silver trays laden with fruit, nuts, dates, and pitchers of wine and juice. The boys and young men wore only a short, white wrap while the girls wore the same topped with a thin shift.

At least a dozen men and women wore purple and black robes that appeared to be some sort of uniform or symbol of rank. Each of the robed men and women wore a gold choker attached by thin gold chains to matching gold bracelets.

Upon the dais, a large man lay across a lectus, a sort of backless couch, from where he looked down upon his attendants and guests. The man wore gold and white robes, sported black hair, and a neatly trimmed beard. He may have once cut a powerful figure, but perhaps the years of luxury had made him edge towards fat. He picked absently at a plate of fruit and sat up as the group approached.

“Captain Jake!” the man cried out enthusiastically as the slaver and his party approached. “I see you have made use of my gift to you. Does this mean you have brought me back something wonderful?”

Captain Jake bowed deeply from the waist and replied, “Indeed I have, Vali Mushadan. I found this young magus lost upon the streets of North Haven and thought she would make a great addition to your collection.”

“Is she strong?” the Vali asked?

“Indeed, Greatness. She killed nearly half a dozen of my men before I was able to subdue her.”

“Hm, so you say, but maybe you say that to get a better price from me.” Mushadan turned to one of the purple and black-robed women standing near him. “What do you see?”

The wizard shifted her sight so that she could read Ellyssa’s aura. An experienced spell caster could dampen the effect with a force of will or eliminate it altogether with the right spell, but Ellyssa did not have the ability or know that particular magic.

“She is very strong, Vali.  Properly broken and trained, she could be among the best of your magi in a few years,” the woman responded.

“Do not say such things so loud, Misha. Now Captain Jake knows the girl’s value and will desire to make me a pauper!” Vali Mushadan exclaimed with a laugh, obviously not truly concerned with his financial state.

“Forgive me, Greatness.”

“So, Captain Jake, now we must decide what she is worth.”

The two men began bartering, each defending their bids seemingly as much out of the desire to get the best price as fulfilling a social responsibility. Ellyssa did not know how much a Sumaran golden serpent was worth compared to the Valerian gold crown, but if they were even remotely equal, she could not help but take a small measure of pride in the value these two men placed on her. The Captain and the Vali finally settled on an almost outrageous sum before another official led the slaver crew away to receive their payment.

“Misha, have the shackles removed,” Vali Mushadan commanded once the foreigners left.

The wizard made a slight motion with one hand and one of the lesser mages hastened to obey. The magical shackles opened with a mere touch from the man. Instantly, Ellyssa felt the welcoming touch of the Source return and only her fear and fury kept her from letting out a whoop of joy.

Fingering a few threads plucked from her dress, Ellyssa pulled hard and fast at the Source. Although it took a specific reagent to help shape a spell into the desired effect, almost anything could be used to create the bridge that allowed wizards to access the Source. She also did not have a suitable spell prepared in her mind, but that was not necessary either.

Only spells of a specific effect required repetitious practice to weave safely and properly. Any spell caster able to access the Source could use the power in its raw form, much as she did in the alley with the shard of pottery, although with some significant risks. It was the magical equivalent of the difference between a rock and a sword forged under the professional hand of a blacksmith.

The ability to wield magic well required three key things: intelligence, creativity, and will. The ability to craft, remember, and reproduce the desired effect of a spell required intelligence and creativity. The raw power of the spell came almost entirely from the will of the caster. It was why her best friend Roger was so much more adept at casting than Ellyssa was. He focused and studied much harder than she did. But when it came to raw power, that innate force of will, she absolutely eclipsed him.

Ellyssa hurled her magic rock at the fat man that thought to make her part of his magical menagerie with all of her considerable might the instant the wizard took off those shackles. Misha and another man in similar robes brought up a magical shield incredibly fast to protect their master. The strength of Ellyssa’s attack hit with enough force to make both wizards take an involuntary step backwards and created a thud that was felt by everyone in the room.

The Vali surprised her by standing up, laughing, and clapping. “Most excellent! You cost me more than any other slave, but I think I got you cheap!”

Ellyssa dropped to her knees in fatigue and despair. Captain Jake had fed her better than the other slaves on the voyage, but not as much as she was accustomed. Channeling the Source in its raw form was also far more fatiguing than using the proper reagent and weaving it into a proper spell.

 “Misha, it is time to chain our young wizard. I would not want her to try that again. I think perhaps you had best see to her training, personally.”

The woman named Misha walked stiffly down the steps of the dais and stood before Ellyssa who was still kneeling from exhaustion. Another figure came forward bearing a cushion upon which rested a solid gold choker and bracelets just as Misha and the other spell casters wore. Misha spotted the silver chain around Ellyssa’s neck and pulled out the silver pendant Azerick had given her.

“This is interesting. Who gave you this, girl? Stand up!” Misha demanded.

Ellyssa swallowed and stood, doing her best to look the woman in the eye and glare defiantly. The woman snapped the chain holding the pendant and studied it.

“What do you have there, Misha?” the Vali called down.

“Great One, it seems our little mage is wearing a token with a tracer enchantment.”

“How interesting. Do you think we should destroy it, or keep it in hopes of luring another to us?”

“If she is associated with The Academy, it could prove problematic, master,” Misha said.

“Quite right. Best destroy it then. If any rescue attempt is not already underway, they are too late to save her now,” the Vali commanded.

Misha nodded and channeled enough power into the pendant to unravel the ward and then melt the entire charm into a shapeless silver blob. She then clapped the choker and bracelets onto Ellyssa by way of nearly invisible hinges then attached the thin gold chains to each of them.

Ellyssa looked dazedly at the chains and thought she should have little problem snapping them even though they did not restrict her movement in any way. She discovered their true purpose when she tried to reach the Source through her fatigue. Unlike the shackles, she could feel the Source, but her ability to call it to her and form a spell was gone.

“Are you with The Academy?”

Ellyssa remained silent and continued to glare at the wizard. The pendant! If only she had remembered it when the slavers were chasing her in North Haven, but she had been so mad at Azerick she had not listened and forgot all about it!

 “Enjoy your defiance while you can. Soon it shall be a memory. You will be broken and then I shall train you. I already know you have tried to reach the Source. You cannot unless I allow it. These chains are like the strings of a puppet. You can do nothing except what I direct you to do, just as I do as Vila Mushadan directs us all.”

Ellyssa watched the woman slip a gold ring onto her finger and attach another small chain that ran from it to the bracelet she wore. She looked up at the Vila on the dais and saw that he wore similar bracelets on both wrists attached to gold rings on each finger by a similar chain. He was the puppet master’s puppet master.

“Obey, and you shall live a comfortable life as the highest of His Greatness’s slaves. Fail to learn your place and…,”

Misha twitched the finger with the ring and chain attached to it and Ellyssa fell to the ground, convulsing in agony as what felt like a thousand needles pierced her body. It felt like the shock spell Roger used on her once as a prank only a thousand times stronger.

Ellyssa began to cry. “Please, please don’t do that again! I’ll behave I promise.”

Misha looked down at the sobbing girl without pity or remorse. “You say it with words but only to avoid more pain. We both know it for the lie it is until you are properly broken.” Ellyssa cried out again as the woman sent another round of searing pain shooting through her. “You will call me Chain Mistress. You will speak only when spoken to. You will obey without question or hesitation. You will give your life to the Vali. Do you understand?”

Ellyssa’s head quivered up and down as she sobbed. “Yes, I understand.”

“Apparently you do not.”

Another excruciating wave of pain shot through the young girl.

“I understand, Chain Mistress!”

Misha smiled down at the girl. “Not yet, girl, but you are beginning to.”

CHAPTER
15

The instant Misha snapped the chain, the golem lying dormant beneath the large tower animated to carry out the instructions of its master. It and the pendant were linked and it knew immediately where it was needed. Well before it reached the end of the long tunnel running from the laboratory and beneath the outer wall, it sensed the charm’s destruction. It did not matter. There was another mark, a secret hidden mark, and it knew precisely where it needed to go.