Harold had been prepared for death before joining the attack, but now that it stared him in the face, he found it difficult to accept. I’m sorry, Lissette. Fate has turned against us, he thought silently, wishing he could see his wife one more time. What a pointless way to die.
His thoughts were cut short when he saw Penny emerge from the main entry hall, directly behind Chel’strathek. She had her sword out and a determined look on her face as she made ready to attack the spider from the rear. She had no way of knowing her opponent was too powerful to face.
Harold’s eyes went wide inside his helm, and his mouth opened to yell a warning that would be hopelessly late. The Dark God before him already knew of the woman approaching from behind. It ignored her purposefully, enjoying the anticipation of her horror when her surprise attack turned into a leap into death’s arms.
Screaming uselessly, Harold saw Penny leap forward, sword shining as she made her attack. Chel’strathek smiled then, and turning he released another blistering attack. The world exploded in light and sound. Harold and Karenth both found themselves thrown to their knees as the earth shook. It felt as though a mountain had fallen on top of all of them.
Stunned, they found themselves in a tan cloud of dust and earth until a sudden wind arose and dispersed the choking debris. The inhuman god had been thrown to one side of the courtyard, as if by a giant hand, while standing in a twenty foot crater was an armored figure bearing the unmistakable crest and design of Mordecai Illeniel.
Chapter 40
Flying without using my enchanted stones was an exhilarating experience. Even though my armor protected me from the worst of the buffeting by the air, the experience of having the wind tearing at me greatly enhanced the feeling of speed. Since my rebirth as an undead monster, it was the first truly enjoyable thing that I had done, aside from my recent killing spree. This had the distinct advantage of being a guilt-free pleasure. Even my inner spectator could find nothing to complain about.
After a while I got used to the wind, and it felt as though I was no longer moving very fast, so I pushed harder. The world moved slowly by below me, and although I knew this was an illusion, I found myself wanting more. You can’t die. What’s the worst that could happen?
The most difficult part of the entire task was the fact that my armor wasn’t exactly designed with flying in mind. The higher my velocity the more problems its odd aerodynamic properties created. Eventually I went ahead and created an impromptu shield around myself, shaping it to my will and enabling me to more easily control my attitude and direction.
My first efforts nearly sent me into the ground several times, and at one point I destroyed a tall pine while tumbling through the air out of control. Somehow I recovered at the end and vaulted skyward before clipping the top of a rocky hill.
Hours later I was comfortable and feeling at ease with my new method. This is the sort of experience a living wizard never gets. If I had tried this while alive, I’d have killed myself a dozen times over by now. I soared, I flew, and my earthly problems no longer seemed so heavy.
The moon was up and nearing full which gave the ground below a ghostly luminescence, beauty of a sort I had rarely had a chance to appreciate previously. While I didn’t need the light, I found myself grateful for my lunar companion. It was always there, just over my shoulder, like a friend enjoying the nighttime landscape with me.
I sailed over the southern extension of the Elentir Mountains not long before dawn, which surprised me. I was traveling far faster than ever before. At this rate I’ll be at Cameron Castle shortly. That led me to the possibility of meeting Penny again, something I now looked forward to. I wanted her, though I tried to keep the thought below the conscious level lest my inner observer begin nagging me again.
I spotted the clearing with Cameron Castle miles before I reached it. The morning sun had lit the tops of the trees with golden light, while the lower branches were still cloaked in shadow. The skies were clear, empty of clouds and haze, which combined with my high altitude, gave me a view that even the eagles might envy.
The distance was so great that even my magesight couldn’t find what my physical eyes could see; meaning the castle itself was more than a mile or two in the distance. I was so besotted with speed and wind that I couldn’t be certain. The air was so clear that my view to the horizon must encompass hundreds of miles which made it hard to ascertain the distance to something so close. The castle might be five, ten, or fifteen miles away. I had no way to guess.
At last it occurred to me to enhance my physical vision. I had done something similar while still alive, using my aythar to mildly reshape my eyes for better distance vision, but when I tried that here it was completely inadequate. It helped, but I wanted to see farther. I finally settled on creating a different type of shield in front of me in the air. I kept this one ephemeral, so that it wouldn’t affect the wind and disrupt my flying, and then I began altering its optical properties.
I had learned long before then how to alter a shield’s color and transparency. Walter had also helped me improve my illusions in the past by teaching me how to change the way that a shield bent the light passing through it. A few minutes of experimentation and I had created a lens of sorts that greatly improved my view. Ahh, how the astronomers would love this, I thought.
Focusing on the approaching castle, I was able to make out an incredible amount of detail. Now I could see a few small clouds of dust rising from the courtyard. Tiny ant-like people running along the tops of the walls. Something exciting was happening. They’ve started fighting without me! I laughed silently.
I saw one of the massive dragon-like flyers that Tennick had created hovering over the castle. They must be preparing to assist. A flash of light and a large part of the creature vanished while the remainder fell from the air. That can’t be good.
Expanding my view, I sought the source of the attack. It had come from the direction of the ground. I pushed harder for more speed and magnified the view even further, though I struggled to keep it stable enough to remain focused. There’s Harold, and that’s Karenth with him, I noted. They were facing something odd, a large spider of some sort. It was hammering at them with strange blasts of energy. I was still too far to ‘feel’ it with my magesight, so I couldn’t guess at its strength or what the type of attack was.
It didn’t look good for Harold though, Karenth was backing up slowly, and everything else within the courtyard had been obliterated.
Then I saw Penelope.
Shit.
Time was no longer something I could spare. I pushed—hard, and then I pushed harder still. My velocity had become something beyond common measurement. Idly the back of my mind considered repeating the experiment someday using markers so that I could calculate the speed. It’s funny what the mind does in the middle of a crisis.
The envelope around my body was growing hot from the blistering force of the wind, and I realized then that my landing would be anything but gentle. There was simply no way I could hope to suddenly overcome the vast momentum I had created. I smiled at the thought, and instead put my power into the shield around me. I can’t die, and I have several Celiors worth of power. Why the hell not? My shield would be my weapon.
I traveled the last mile in a flash, covering the distance so quickly that the spider-thing probably never got a chance to even register my presence before I struck. The world shattered.
The force was such that while my shield absorbed most of the impact, my body turned to jelly within my armor. No mortal would have survived. The change in velocity, from whatever speed I was moving, to zero, was simply too great. The earth around me was liquefied by heat and pressure, exploding outward to hide the world from normal sight.
Penny had been in the air when I smashed into the Dark God. I thought I had managed to get a shield around her before I impacted, but I worried what the shockwave might do to her. My magesight found her now, collapsed near one of the outer walls. She’s alive, and conscious. I c
ould see her struggling to sit up, confused by the dust.
The thing that had been between me and the bottom of my new crater had been pulverized and splintered. Fragments of its body and legs had flown in all directions, but it wasn’t dead. The majority of it had been sent flying in a vector opposite to the angle of my descent. Now that I was close I could sense its enormous aythar.
This is no ‘seed’. Mal’goroth left this one with a lot of power, I observed. At a rough estimate it was something close to two Celiors worth of aythar. Not as much as I held, but enough to make it a serious handful. Its body reformed even as it was flung back by the devastating impact. It struck one courtyard wall, damaging the stones and crushing its body again. It recovered from that wound even more quickly.
The air was so heavy with dirt and ash that it blocked all sight. It probably isn’t good for breathing either. Harold and Penny were fully within the cloud. A word and a thought brought a wide brisk wind to clear the air.
Rising to my feet, I surveyed the scene. The courtyard was largely empty now, the ground, which had been hard packed dirt and grass, was now blackened earth and what I suspected might be the beginnings of glass. My crater was a definite eyesore.
“Do you know how difficult it was to get grass to grow in here?” I said, projecting my voice in the direction of the large arachnid. “With all the traffic and wagons—it was almost impossible,” I finished, answering my own question.
A sudden pulse of aythar appeared and vanished. The creature was examining me keenly, and I suspected it had just sent a signal of some sort.
“Signaling for help?” I asked aloud. “Make sure whoever you call has deep pockets. It’s going to cost a fortune to replace all the dirt, re-level the ground, and replant the grass.”
“You caused most of the damage,” replied the strange being in a tone that seemed far too cultured to arise from something that looked as though it should be hiding under the furniture—if you had furniture that large.
“That is hardly material to the issue. You were trespassing, and this damage resulted from my effort to protect my home and property. Therefore you are culpable for any losses incurred here,” I countered. If it, whatever it was, was willing to discuss legal particulars, then I was game. Having been a count for many years, I had become far too familiar with the terminology. I found myself smiling at the situation.
Stubborn people love to argue a point, and gods are the most stubborn of all.
Laughter rang out from the direction of my new opponent, “Human law does not apply to us.”
“Define us.”
“We are not human,” said the strange god.
His willingness to talk told me everything. The spider had assessed our relative strengths and was certain I outclassed him by a considerable margin, despite the difficulty reading me properly through my armor. The only reason he had to continue a pointless discussion was to buy time. My time is nearly over, I thought sadly, but it won’t end the way you wish it.
“Give me your name, before I prove my right upon you,” I challenged.
“Chel’strathek,” he answered in a slightly petulant tone, “the Terror of the Night, have none of your kind been properly educated? I thought that perhaps you at least would have some knowledge.”
The name brought a string of memories from the loshti running through my mind, but I preferred to play at ignorance. Chel’strathek had a streak of vanity, which would make it easier to goad him. “I can’t be bothered to keep up with every petty god left over from a forgotten race,” I taunted. “The important point, is that your nature is irrelevant to the law.”
“I answer to a higher power, therefore your law does not bind me,” he argued dispassionately.
He definitely needs time. “Very well,” I began, “if your claim is that power bestows right, then it should be apparent to you already that I will, given a hard fight, be able to prosecute my right over you. You should surrender to my law and save us both the trouble.”
Chel’strathek straightened, “I answer only to Mal’goroth, and his power far outshines yours. I will not surrender without a fight.”
I smiled, “Then do me one favor and I may show you kinder treatment once I have defeated you. Let us take our fight to the open field, away from my property and chattel, lest more unnecessary damage be done.”
“Certainly,” he replied.
He’s decided that he has delayed long enough. Our fight will not be over until his Lord has arrived. I made a mental calculation, though guess would be a better name for it. I didn’t like my estimate, but it would have to be enough. “Move to the open field, half a mile from here, in the direction of the river. I will give instruction to my servants here and join you momentarily.”
I could feel Chel’strathek’s satisfaction shining like the sun. I had given him even more time. He might gain enough to get by without having to fight me for long. He didn’t want me rubbing his face in the dirt before Mal’goroth arrived. Rising on long legs he grew strange bat-like appendages and flew away. “Five minutes,” he said to me as he left.
Wasting no time I headed directly for Penny. Harold and Karenth met me halfway, and I began giving instructions as I went. “You need to get everyone in here as soon as possible,” I told them. “How far away are your people?” Inwardly I winced as I realized that I had said your. They were no longer mine.
“Almost all are here already,” said Harold responding to my authority instinctively, “except the Queen.”
That was news to me. “You mean Ariadne?”
He nodded.
“You need to get her quickly then. Gather her and as many as you can. You have ten to fifteen minutes at best, and possibly less,” I told him.
The young knight blanched at the warning, “It will take me that long to reach them and far longer to convince them and bring them back.”
I glanced at Karenth, and he tilted his head in acquiescence of my unspoken order. Swelling in size he sprouted wings and lifted a surprised Harold gently in one hand. “Make haste,” I told him.
I had reached Penny by then. She was back on her feet now, though she looked rather shaky. There was a look in her eye, something I hadn’t seen the last time. Defeat? Guilt? My mind circled, unable to read her clearly, but from somewhere deeper came another thought, Shame.
Ignoring my weaker self’s odd insight, I addressed her confidently, as a lord speaks to his servant, “There is little time. Karenth will return soon with whomever he can carry. Take your children, your queen, and whoever else you will and seek safety. There is only one place for you now.”
She cast her eyes downward, “Of course, I will save our children.”
“Are there any wizards with you?”
“The Prathions, Walter is inside already, in the key chamber,” she said quietly.
“Good. As soon as they are within the walls, have him activate the defenses. They won’t hold for long against Mal’goroth, but they might give you enough time to get them to your apartment,” I said firmly.
“Will you not come with us—Mordecai?” she said tentatively at first, and then with near tears when she repeated my name, “…Mort?”
My emotions rose in a whirlwind of fury inside me. Sorrow, loss, anger, and betrayal, they tore at me. Justified or not, she had rejected me before; I had come to terms with that. In her place I would have done the same, or so I had tried to make myself believe. Her implied acceptance now threatened to undo me.
Hardening my heart, I replied clearly, “My name is Brexus. The man you knew is gone. If you would honor his memory, do as I bid you, nothing more.”
Her eyes were bright, welling with tears, but she did not cry. My Penny was a strong woman. “Mort, Dorian is...,” her voice choked before she could finish.
“I already know,” I said coldly. “They will pay for as much as I am able to make them, but it won’t be enough.”
“You have a plan?” There was hope in her voice. The sound of it was a cruel torme
nt.
“No. I will fight and lose. Delay is all I can give you. Stay hidden, and perhaps you and the children will survive. Where there is life there is hope,” I told her plainly.
“There is hope if you are with us,” she stated, baring her will now.
“I am already dead.” Turning away, I was glad that the helm had hidden my features. Tears were impossible for me, but my expression could only have wounded her more deeply. My face and my voice were in perfect opposition to one another.
Several flying behemoths were arriving already. Karenth had been swifter than I expected. Gareth Gaelyn was with him, carrying as many as he was capable of. Doron and Millicenth had swelled in size and flew with them, carrying still more people. Most impressive of all though, was the Kriteck transport beast. Almost two-fold larger than Gareth, it had been designed to carry occupants. Its wide back was smooth except for a variety of ridges and protrusions that would make it easier for a variety of different forms to keep a firm grip. More than forty people clung to it now.
I spotted Peter Tucker among them. He and his sister Lilly were helping to unload the twins. They were alive but unconscious. I went to him immediately, checking as I approached to make sure their hearts were beating strongly. They will recover.
My time was almost up.
“Peter,” I called loudly.
He was startled by the familiar voice. I hadn’t tried to disguise it as I had done previously. “Yes?” he answered uncertainly.
I motioned to the man beside him, and he took Matthew from Peter’s hands. Then I waved a hand for Peter to follow me. Stepping away I began talking rapidly, “You know the dagger you carry with you, Peter?”
His face blanched. Before he had joined my service, years ago, I had killed his grandfather inadvertently. It had been an accident, but he had been very angry then. He had even stolen one of the knives I had enchanted early on, a kitchen knife, discarded and forgotten, or so he had thought. Somewhere along the way he had learned that it would take an enchanted blade to pierce the shields I kept about me at all times.