Clenching her jaw Penny nodded in agreement. It made far more sense for her to protect her children and let her bodyguard reconnoiter. She’s stubborn as ever, but at least she shows some sense where the children are involved, I thought, agreeing with her decision.
I still had no idea what to do when Sir Egan turned the corner and saw us. I’m sure it was a confusing sight, Cyhan on the floor with me kneeling over him and a large stone coffin on the ground beside us. Even worse, my brain chose that moment to wake up and remind me that I no longer had the immense power I had entered with earlier. In fact, after the enchanting and my short trip carrying Lyralliantha, I had even less aythar to spare than the more ‘human’ amount I had had just an hour ago.
Unlike me, Sir Egan knew exactly what to do. “Stand and step away from Sir Cyhan! Declare yourself!” he shouted. He had his Sun-Sword out, and it was pointed menacingly in my direction.
I wondered idly what would happen if he tried the same thing Cyhan had, ramming his sword through one of the joints in my armor. I had a pretty good guess, considering my current condition. He’d burn me to ash. As often happened when I was caught red-handed in the midst of a crime, my first thought was of Marcus. What would he do?
Facing him calmly, I took an artificially rigid stance. Using a silent spell I altered my voice to imitate the deep gravelly tones that the house golem, Magnus used. “My creator named me Brexus,” I said, borrowing the Lycian term for ‘payment’. Obviously I have some unresolved mental issues, I told myself as I realized what name I had chosen.
“What have you done to Sir Cyhan?”
“He attempted to prevent my entry, when I would not desist, he attacked. I have rendered him incapable of further attacks,” I responded matter-of-factly.
“By what right would you enter this house and assault its lawful guardians?” he asked, following up his first question.
I had to admit, Sir Egan knew how to play the role of outraged knight. Dorian must have been giving them lessons. “Your rights and boundaries do not concern me. I answer solely to my master.”
“Then name him, so we can take up our grievance with him, after you have been safely locked away,” replied Sir Egan.
His words are so proper it’s almost cute, I thought, reminded of some of the old romances I had once read in Lancaster’s library. “My master’s name is Mordecai Illeniel, and my instructions do not allow for such delays. Please move aside,” I answered in monotone.
“Drop your sword, and remove your helm,” insisted Egan.
My helm was still open to aythar, which made magic much easier, although I had already replaced my gauntlet. Even so, I thought I could manage enough control to immobilize him without doing any permanent damage. I raised my hand to face him, palm outward.
“Don’t fight him Egan. Run. You cannot stop him.” The voice was Cyhan’s. He was painfully gasping his warning from behind me. “Get the Countess and the children clear!”
I didn’t bother waiting to see what he decided, with a word I wrapped the knight’s body in invisible bands of force, pinning his arms and weapon against his side. I had learned from the past not to let them move freely. If I had encased him in a larger shield to imprison him, he might have used his enchanted blade to cut his way free. I had also learned from my previous two encounters not to give one of my knights even a second to act. They were inhumanly fast.
As if to reinforce that point, I found myself sailing backward to strike the wall. Penny had darted back in, even as I was binding her guard. She had struck me barehanded under the chin of my helm. Before I could recover she caught my leg in her arms and proceeded to do her best to imitate a whirlwind. I outweighed her by quite a bit, but she overcame that by swinging me in circles with herself as the fulcrum. My head began striking hard objects with incredible regularity.
“It’s not going to work girl, it’s one of the gods!” shouted Cyhan, trying to warn her off. “You have to run!” He was doing his best to drag himself over to the still bound Egan, probably to try and free him.
Yes please, listen to the man. Retreat, so someone can save me! I thought, which wasn’t easy considering the constant battering. If I had still been living, I would have been unconscious or hopelessly nauseated already—if not badly injured. “Lyet bierek!” I shouted in desperation.
It was one of my oldest and most basic spells, the flashbang. Given my chaotic circumstances I wasn’t able to focus on a single point as well as I normally could, so I simply put as much force into as I could manage. The resulting flash of light was accompanied by an explosive boom so loud I wondered if perhaps I hadn’t made a mistake and destroyed my own home. I found myself on the ground, and my magesight showed me Penny reeling, blind and deaf a few feet away.
My advantage, slight as it was, wouldn’t last for long, so I used another spell to bind her and Cyhan in the same fashion as Sir Egan.
“STOP!” someone shouted, and suddenly I could no longer move. I was surrounded by a powerful field of aythar. The spell being used was crude, the method was similar to burying someone in sand, unlike the tightly focused bands I had used on Penny and the others, but the end result was the same. Moira Illeniel had entered the fray.
My daughter glowed brilliantly in my magesight for she didn’t know how to shield herself. Why hasn’t Walter taught her yet? I wondered. Her power was shocking in its intensity, and I began to realize perhaps, what Walter had been trying to tell me once when he had tried to describe my own appearance to his magesight. She made the Prathions look dull and even Elaine was probably only half as bright as Moira’s power seemed to be.
I was amazed and proud of her at the same time. I was also a bit worried. Given my weakened condition she was quite a bit stronger than I was at the moment, and she had numbers on her side. My only advantages were skill and experience, but while I was hampered by the fact that I didn’t want to hurt her, she had no such hindrance. The look on her face also had me concerned; I had never seen my daughter with such a fierce expression.
“Don’t you dare hurt my mother!” she yelled.
While I couldn’t agree more with her sentiment, I couldn’t imagine what I could possibly say to convince her to let me go—plus the power she had wrapped me in blocked everything but sight. As I struggled, I could see my son move past her to claim his mother’s sword from the ground. He held it up in front of him and took a stand in front of his sister.
The image of the two of them, bravely facing an unknown foe and hoping to protect their mother, was enough to break my heart. Never had I thought to see my own children staring me down with such intense resolve, but I couldn’t afford to weaken.
“Thylen pleitus,” I muttered, focusing my will and sending tiny blades of force outward, destroying the field that held me with a minimum of effort. Moira was incredibly strong, but she no longer wore the amulet to protect her mind. No wizard did; it restricted our magesight too much, but unlike more experienced wizards, she hadn’t learned to shield herself yet. “Shibal,” I said quickly, focusing my power directly on her open mind.
The spell was meant to put her harmlessly to sleep, but I hadn’t reckoned with my daughter’s strength of will. She staggered, eyes drooping, but she didn’t fall. Instead I saw her aythar flare as her determination hardened. Her back straightened, and fury cloaked her in an expanding sphere of power. It was similar to a traditional shield, but far more aggressive in nature. Sharp blades of pure force grew from it and began to whirl around her as they expanded.
What in the hell is that? I was awed by her untrained potential even as the blades began tearing at the walls around her, destroying stonework and slamming into my armor. Unfortunately her lack of skill showed as one of the blades clipped her brother, slicing deeply into his side and sending him into one wall. There was blood everywhere.
Time seemed to stop, as I watched him collapse, hemorrhaging badly. Unable to penetrate her shield, I did the only thing I knew and lifting my sword I used it to channel a blast
of wind, battering her back toward the door. Before she could recover I made it to his side and brought my sword to bear on his throat.
“Don’t move, or I’ll kill the boy!” I shouted, stopping her in her tracks even as she prepared to attack me again.
All eyes were on me then, those of the bound warriors, and most especially those of Penny and Moira. I could see Moira’s thoughts racing as she tried to figure out a solution that would save her brother, but I didn’t give her the time. Fumbling with my pouch, I brought out my enchanted shield stones, and with a word I sent them out to surround me, Sir Egan, and my dying son.
Removing my gauntlets, I quickly brought out the link to the Iron Heart Chamber and created a makeshift link between it and my shield stones. Creating such a link without prior preparation was risky, but my knowledge and practice over the years were enough to manage the task. Moira was already battering my enchanted shield, and without the additional power it wouldn’t last against her rough blows. Once the link was finished, I breathed a sigh of relief; nothing short of a god could interrupt me now.
I brought my attention to bear upon Matthew now. His wound was serious, and my senses told me that he would die within minutes if I didn’t heal him. The main problem was my extremely low level of aythar. If I touched him now I’d probably inadvertently drain his life away even as I was fixing his body. The link to the Iron Heart Chamber was now effectively tied up, but I had another source close at hand—Sir Egan.
Egan’s eyes were desperate as he helplessly watched me remove his gauntlet, exposing his bare hand. “I want you to draw upon the earth. It will help offset what I take from you,” I told him, but I didn’t wait to find out if he understood. Clasping his hand in mine I began to draw heavily upon his aythar.
The fire of fresh human life raged within me as I drew upon him, sending a powerful cascade of emotions into me, and mixed in with it was an ancient power, the deeper strength of the earth. I pulled at him until I feared for his life, filling myself with as much as I thought he could spare before releasing his hand. It wasn’t easy letting go, but I had something more important waiting for me.
My son’s wound wasn’t complicated and healing skin and muscle had always been easy for me. Today was different, though. I had to tightly control the flow of aythar to avoid draining his life even while I sealed blood vessels and fused tissues back together. That extra complication, combined with the awkwardness of the armor I wore made my task far more difficult. It also didn’t help that Moira seemed to think I was killing her brother.
The enchanted shield vibrated with her frantic attacks, but I didn’t dare look up from Matthew until I had finished closing his wound. I was careful to make sure that all the vessels were properly rejoined and that the skin and other tissues were lined up. A sloppy job would leave him with scars that could hinder his freedom of movement for life.
When I finally finished and looked up, I was shocked at Moira’s face. Her skin was red and her eyes swollen from desperate tears. At some point she had freed Cyhan and her mother. Penny had a hand on Moira’s shoulder, as if to calm her, but the intense look in her eye made me flinch inwardly.
“You can’t hide in your shell forever,” she said in a dry voice that sent chills down my spine, “Eventually you’ll have to come out, and when you do, I’ll take you apart.”
Moira looked away for a moment, “The dragon’s coming.”
“We can’t let it take him away,” answered Penny.
It was clear that they hadn’t been able to see exactly what I had been doing, and they had assumed the worst. I stared at both of them, trying to decide the best method for negotiating a peaceful resolution. Gareth was getting closer, but escaping my shield and reaching the dragon would be problematic. As I watched, Moira’s eyes became glazed as if she was focusing on something far away. Faintly I could hear her voice, reaching into a place I could no longer touch.
Mother, help me. I need you.
She was calling for Moira Centyr.
The stone floor beneath their feet began to flow as if it were made of liquid stone, boiling upward to form the body of the Stone Lady, Moira Centyr—my adopted daughter’s mother. With my magesight I could see her aythar wavering. She had almost nothing left to spare, and even the cost of manifesting now might be too much for her, but she had come anyway, responding to her daughter’s call.
I replaced my gauntlets and picked up my son’s unconscious form. I needed a bargaining chip. With my wife and daughter both standing against me, I had no hope of escaping. Gareth couldn’t get inside, and I was far too weak to force my way out. “The boy is still alive,” I announced in my deep artificial voice.
“What do you want…,” said Penny quickly, before adding, “…and who are you?” Her features were written with her unspoken fear. She already suspected my identity. Too late I realized I had forgotten to replace the illusion hiding the Cameron arms that decorated my breastplate.
Since I was covered from head to toe in enchanted armor, she had no way of seeing my features as I replied, “I am Brexus, created to serve Mordecai Illeniel. I seek only to remove the body of the She’Har woman in accordance with his commands.”
It was immediately obvious that my wife didn’t like anything I had just said. She frowned angrily, “My husband is dead. How can you claim to be taking his orders? Why are you wearing his armor?”
“He created me before his death, to ensure his wishes were carried out if he should die too soon,” I improvised. The helm helped. Penny knew me too well, if she had been able to see my face, my lie would have been easily caught. Of course, if I didn’t have the helm on she’d also be able to see my identity with her own eyes.
Penny’s eyes narrowed, “That doesn’t explain why you are wearing his armor.”
“I am the armor.”
“You removed the gauntlet a moment ago,” she countered.
I sighed inwardly. Why is she always so damned observant? “There is a rudimentary clay body within, but the primary enchantments that I consist of are built into the armor itself.”
Cyhan spoke then, “Whatever is inside the suit, it cannot be human flesh. It survived the flame of the Sun-Sword after I thrust it within.”
“Take off the helm,” ordered my stubborn spouse.
“I cannot,” I stated flatly. “The boy needs assistance. Let me take the She’Har woman, and I will trouble you no more.”
“Give me my son, and I’ll let you leave,” she replied. “You may take no one else.”
“Lyralliantha is not your concern,” I argued. Wing beats announced Gareth’s arrival in the street outside.
“And my son is none of yours!” Penny bit back sharply. “The people of this house are my responsibility, and I’ll turn none of them over to—to whatever you are! If Mordecai really did create you, then you can rest assured, he would not want you harming his children.”
Obviously, I thought to myself. If only she’d just get out of the way and let me get on with it. After a long moment’s hesitation I decided to accept her terms. “Very well, let me leave, and I will give you the boy once I reach the dragon.”
During our conversation I had been able to faintly sense a hidden conversation occurring between my daughter and the remnant of her original mother, but I had no way of knowing what they had discussed.
“You’ll give me my son before you set foot over that threshold,” returned Penny.
I nodded, “I will trust you at your word, Countess.”
I glanced at my daughter as I prepared to take down the enchanted shield; she had been strangely quiet since summoning her namesake. She was gazing at me now with a mournful visage, as though she had been struck by some tragedy. Perhaps she just fully realized that her misstep nearly cost her brother his life. In the confusion of our short battle I wasn’t sure if she had noticed or whether she thought I had somehow been the one to wound him.
I pushed those thoughts aside and took down my shield. As I did, I kept the link to
the Iron Heart Chamber in my hand, drawing steadily on it to replenish my power. I couldn’t be sure my family might not change their minds about letting me escape.
I handed Matthew to Penny as I reached the doorway. Her nearness took my breath away, or it would have, if I had still needed to breathe. The urge to touch her hand as I passed our son over was nearly irresistible, but she was careful to avoid any contact, a fact that only made my longing worse. For the first time since my transformation, I was grateful that my eyes were no longer capable of tears.
She allowed me through the door, and I walked toward the dragon that waited in the street, once again leaving my family behind me. Stepping up to Gareth’s massive foreleg I started to climb up, but a presence made me turn. Moira Centyr stood close behind me.
I know what you are. I tried to help her understand, her voice said in my mind.
Looking past her I could see my daughter’s face half buried in her mother’s side, fresh tears stained her cheeks. That was cruel and unnecessary, I admonished the Stone Lady. As I communicated with her, I could see her body crumbling, her aythar was exhausted. She was about to expire at last.
A sudden idea inspired me. Gareth, I’m going to do something stupid. If my family tries to stop me, I want you to growl and look menacing. Don’t hurt them, just make sure they don’t try to interfere, I told the dragon.
Removing my gauntlets, I paused for a moment before casting a shield around the crumbling form of Moira Centyr. While Penny wasn’t able to see what was happening, my daughter gasped, and I worried she might try to intervene. I brought my enchanted shield stones out again and recreated my shield, this time around myself and the Stone Lady.
What are you doing? Holding me will gain you nothing, my time is done, Moira Centyr’s mental voice informed me.
Don’t distract me, I replied in the same fashion, I need your help, so I’m afraid I can’t let you pass on just yet. I relinked the Iron Heart Chamber to the enchanted shield around us before taking out my silver stylus. Using it, I began circling the Stone Lady, inscribing precise runes into the air around her, creating an intricate linked pattern.