Catalyst (Book 1) (20 page)

Dashion's words angered me, until I remembered what Sharald had said. “I know you elves were wrongfully imprisoned, but if Alexandria falls, we all fall.” I turned back to Prastian. “There are good people here. They need your help.”

“I agree, but I don't want to risk my people's lives.”

I sighed. “I won't push this issue any further. There’s no time for that. At least promise me you'll relay my words to King Sharald.”

Prastian bowed his head. “I will, but I hope you will be there to present your case to our king yourself.”

“Me too.”

“Good luck,” Prastian said before the elves disappeared into the darkness.

I hid in the shadows near the entrance to the dungeons while the elves made their way out of the castle. To buy us more time, I dragged the guard's bodies to the stairwell. Hopefully, by the time they woke up or were discovered, I'd be long gone and have found out what I needed to know.

But to learn more about Premier, I first had to find him.

From what my master had told me, wizards were a secretive folk. At least, post-war. They wanted to be left alone to work on their magic, and not be hunted down. If Premier was a wizard, he'd want the same thing. I kept that in mind while I wandered the castle's dark halls.

As I went, I tried to imitate my elf friends. I moved on the balls of my feet and crouched low. I relied more on my ears than my eyes, in the dim light between torches.

There were far too many rooms in the castle, and I couldn't search them all. Premier was someone of importance. He would have his own space, probably away from everyone else. My mind flashed back to the first thing I had seen of Alexandria—the towers.

That had to be it.

I ran as quietly as I could to the base of the towers. The light inside the castle wall grew brighter as the sun prepared to make another day’s journey. It was only a matter of time before everyone awoke, instead of the mere handful of servants and guards I had to avoid right now. Unfortunately, the first tower I tried was guarded far more heavily than the rest of the castle. I bypassed it and hoped the others weren't. The second and third towers were guarded like the first. I pinned all my hopes on the last tower, praying my reasoning would be right.

I peered around a corner at the entrance to the last tower. I let out a breath. There were no guards at all.

I moved silently to the wooden door. On one side was a sconce with one candleholder and one unlit candle. The matching sconce on the other side hung sideways, as if it had broken and no one wanted to repair it.

This had to be it. Premier might have acquired power in Alexandria, but most of the people still wanted to avoid his dark aura. And if he really was a wizard, he wanted to avoid them even more.

With my magic by my side, I lifted my shaky hand and pushed the door open.

CHAPTER 15

I opened the door and peered through the crack. Barely any light shone through. I imagined Premier standing there, waiting for me, and shivered. I took deep breaths, trying to gather my courage. Someone did it for me. I heard heavy footsteps coming across the stone courtyard. Quickly, I slipped through the door and closed it. I leaned against it, hearing the footsteps approach, pause, then fade away.

I didn't move until I was certain he was gone, and I could no longer hear my heart pounding. Then I was able to focus on my surroundings. I was in a large, circular stone room that took up the whole base of the tower. There were no torches on the walls, but the morning’s dim light shone faintly through the arrow slits on the far side of the room. About halfway across were two staircases—one leading up, the other down. I felt faint magic tugging at me from the lower level.

As I descended the stairs, following the trail of power, I knew something was wrong. There wasn't any feeling of life in the tower. In the other parts of the castle, there were always faint noises—people snoring or making love, servants getting ready for the day’s work or running to do their master’s bidding. And always, like a faint hum underneath everything, the life mana of so many people. This tower had a dead, oppressive feel to it—like the feeling I’d gotten when I tried to probe Premier. Awareness with no life force behind it, just malevolence. The tower's eyes were on me, and they weren't friendly. I rubbed the goose bumps on my arms and kept my magic at the ready. I didn't draw on it, in case Premier could sense it.

The lower I went, the hotter it felt. The humidity and dampness crushed me, reminding me of being enveloped in Cynder’s breath. I wanted to rip off my wizard’s robe.

I reached a landing on the staircase—and the magic that had drawn me. I sucked in my breath when I saw a light gray web shimmering at the top of the next set of stairs—a simple detection web. This was the evidence I was looking for. Premier was a wizard. But what was I going to do about it? I couldn't accuse him publicly. The princess would believe me, but we couldn’t prove it to anyone else. No one else could see the web. I needed more evidence, and the only way I was going to get that was by venturing deeper.

The web was like the first one I had passed through when I met Master Stradus. This time, I was equipped with the knowledge of how to dissipate it.

I rolled up my sleeves and began to unmake the web with my fingers. Little wisps of magic danced on my fingertips. I moved the opposite way the web was formed. It was easy to follow, because all webs left little traces of how they were made. The simpler the web, the easier it was to see. The gray web lost all its color, then collapsed to the ground and faded away. I made my way down the stairs. Torchlight flickered up from the bottom, and I moved carefully, not wanting to alert anyone below. When I got there, I was in a small open space, faced by a wooden door.

I exhaled all the breath from my body. There was a web in front of this one too. It was much more complex than the first, stronger and interwoven with more strands. It shone bright crimson. I paused for a moment to figure out how to bypass it. I could see that it was set to cause excruciating pain to anyone who passed through it. Interestingly, it was specifically designed to affect only humans, with the exception of its maker. Other life forms, like animals, could pass through unharmed. And so could creatures.

As I studied the web, I realized it was slightly out of alignment, as if something had passed through it. As I watched, it settled back into its proper place, which meant that whatever had passed through had done so recently. And since it wasn’t lying on the other side of the door screaming in agony, it wasn’t human. I didn’t know what it was, but I had no choice but to press on. It was too late to turn back now.

Since the web was designed to cause pain, a counterbalance must be used. Life was that counterbalance. Normally, I could use the life force of a nearby plant, but there were none down here. There was an alternate way to get rid of the web, but it was much more dangerous to me. No mistakes must be made.

“Gods help me,” I whispered.

I let a small portion of my fire trickle into my finger until it lit up with a tiny flame. I sprinkled it with dirt from the floor, igniting it with earth mana as I recited a brief incantation in the old language. I glanced at the door, half-expecting Premier to feel the magic I was using. I waited several minutes, just in case, but he didn’t appear. I took a deep breath and retraced the web, using the greenish/red flame to disintegrate it, strand by strand.

It was slow and tedious work. If I rushed and messed up, the spell could backfire and magnify the web’s power a thousandfold. I could die from the backlash.

A sudden howling noise from above made me jump. I went perfectly still, hardly daring to breathe. If I had to stop this in the middle, I was doomed. Then I felt a breeze, and realized the noise was the wind, blowing across the arrow slits in the base of the tower, making its way down the stairs. It came again, and I relaxed, letting my breath out again.

Too late. The web glowed, and I felt its magic gathering force. I cursed myself. My flame had accidentally touched the wrong strand. The flames raced along the web, with me trying to extinguish them with my magic before the web could alert Premier. I finally got it out, but Premier could appear at any moment. The web hung in tatters, and it was only by luck that it hadn’t exploded in my face. At least the gaps in the web should make it easier to get rid of.

I had relaxed too soon. The web's crimson color deepened. I had a second to register what was going to happen, and got off an incantation just as the web unleashed its magic. A blinding, searing pain flashed up my right arm. I clenched my teeth so as not to cry out in pain. I worked a counterspell with my left hand, as the pain worked its way across my chest. The color faded from the web.

My arm hung numb and useless. I used my left to destroy the last remnants of the web, worried that Premier would come through the door at any second. I couldn’t put up a defense with one arm.

I finished demolishing the web, and Premier still had not appeared. I hesitated to open the door, once more picturing him standing behind it, ready to destroy me. But I hadn’t come this far to give up now. I carefully opened the door, staying behind it. A horrible stench hit me, and I bit my tongue to keep from coughing and gagging. There was no one behind the door, just an empty stone room with two more doors and more stairs. These doors didn't have webs on them, and I couldn't sense any more active magic. I picked a door and opened it slowly. One torch lit the gloomy hallway beyond. I was going to take a look around when I heard voices from downstairs.

I tip-toed down the stairwell, trying not to make a sound. Sensation returned to my right arm, although it still felt like it had been stuck with a thousand needles. I flexed my fingers, ready to cast spells again.

When I arrived at the bottom, I was in a short hallway. A few feet down on the right was a half-open door, from which voices came. Light spilled into the hallway from inside the room. I slipped down the hall as quietly as an elf, peeked around the corner, and froze.

In the corner of the room was a stone workbench strewn with chopped ogre limbs. Black blood overflowed the bench, dripping on the stone floor. At the end of the workbench sat an ogre’s head, forever frozen into a horrific, silent yell. Its skin was peeled back and the eyes were empty holes. Hanging against the wall above the workbench was the ogre’s massive torso. It had been cut open and the skin spread wide, revealing its enormous ribcage. The belly cavity was empty of organs.

Something moved in the shadows next to the workbench, and I realized it was another ogre. He was clothed in brown rags, and his tough, blotchy skin looked like a gray rock with lichen growing on it. At his feet was an enormous wooden club the size of a small elf. As I watched, the ogre reached into a bucket on the workbench and pulled out a long, slimy piece of intestine. He tilted his head back and lowered it into his mouth, smacking his lips like he ate a great delicacy. I turned my eyes away and pinched my nose, gagging.

I heard the ogre swallow his snack, and then he spoke. “Are you all right, Master?” I moved so I could see further inside, steeling myself for more disgusting sights. Instead, the rest of the room was perfectly clean and meticulously tidy. There was a wooden workbench with candles, rocks, chalk, a jug of water, and wax lined up on a tray. One wall held shelves of books, supplies, and containers, all in neat rows and organized by size.

Premier sat cross-legged in the middle of a chalk hexagram drawn in the middle of the floor. His eyes were closed and his face blank—his only movement was the rise and fall of his chest as he breathed. I sensed him gathering magic in his meditation, but I couldn’t tell what he was doing with it. I saw no spell.

Premier slowly opened up his dark eyes. “If you disturb my meditation again, Baal, I will hang you on the wall and let your comrades eat your entrails out of your live, twitching body.” His voice was calm and pleasant, as if he discussed the weather.

The ogre stopped chewing and turned a slightly lighter gray. “Yes, Master.”

Premier rose from the floor and sat down on the only chair in the room. He put his hand on the chair arm, and then lifted it again. There was black blood on his fingertips. “And if you must have your… distractions…please confine the mess to the workbench.” He glanced toward the disembowelment in the corner of the room, then pulled out a snow-white handkerchief and wiped his fingers. He held it out and waited for Baal, who rushed over and took it from him.

Baal bowed. “It won’t happen again, Master.”

“I wouldn’t expect any less. There will be plenty of time for you and your kind to have your fun. In the meantime, this should be the last time I see you until you bring the army to Alexandria.”

The ogre perked up. “Is now the right time to attack, Master?”

“Yes. I've invested enough time in this city. Alexandria lies weakened. You had no trouble getting in here?”

“The city's defenses are nonexistent. There was no trouble.”

“Excellent. The sooner we take over this wretched city and begin the next phase of our project, the better.” Premier sighed. “I'm tired of dealing with the people. And I want to move quickly. That boy that came with Sharald’s elves may pose a problem.”

“Because he’s a wizard?”

“Quiet,” Premier said, turning his cold eyes on Baal. “Hellsfire is only an apprenticed wizard.”

“Then how can he be any threat?”

Premier drummed his fingers on the arm of his chair. “I never said the boy was a threat. But where did he get his training? His presence means that other wizards might be in this part of Northern Shala, and they might be able to thwart my plans.”

“But Master,” Baal said. “Even if they do exist, they can’t stop you from taking Alexandria.”

“Fool!” Premier said. “I have
bigger
plans than Alexandria. Far bigger plans. Alexandria is a means to an end, no more.” He fell silent. The ogre fished an eyeball out of the bucket and ate it. Premier went on, “I wish I had more time to interrogate Hellsfire and learn who and where his master is. Unfortunately, I will have to have him killed before he alerts anyone to my true nature. Especially that annoying little princess.”

I tensed. I had to leave. But first, Krystal had to be warned. She was in far greater danger than she realized.

“The question is, how to do it?” Premier mused. “The princess is constantly hovering around him. She’s been trying to block my every move for months. If I kill Hellsfire, her suspicions of me will be confirmed. She could take drastic measures to stop me.” He sighed. “I'm going to have to make it look like an accident. Maybe I can—”

“Master?”

Premier narrowed his eyes at the ogre. “Another interruption. Do not let there be a third, Baal.” His voice was still pleasant, but the ogre went pale again.

Baal bowed lower, his head nearly touching the floor. “Of course, Master, but I think I smell something.” He sniffed, moving toward the door. “We might not be alone.”

According to the stories, ogres could see like cats in the dark. Now it seemed they could scent like dogs. I slid back against the wall, feeling like my collar choked me.

Premier’s chuckle echoed through my ears. “Baal, don’t be a fool. The only smell is you and that mess over there. I placed two webs in the tower.”