Legacy of the Blood (The Threshold Trilogy) (44 page)

“It
would seem so,” concurred Ravi.

Faryl
sighed in relief. “That means we are safe, does it not? I mean, it does not
appear as though there are any of those
elementals
left to fight us.”

“That
is my hope,” said the Rashad without much confidence.

Crossing
the arena was not as simple as it seemed. Most of the debris was large enough
that it obstructed the path, making the travelers wind back and forth to find a
way through. Mar’sal stumbled often, and Kendan was soon walking beside him to
keep him steady.

After
a few minutes of walking, a black pool stood in their path, and there seemed to
be no way around it. The contents of the pool were viscous and gave off an evil
smell. There was a sluggish movement to the liquid, and Adesina felt
inexplicably repulsed by it.

Kendan
found a small rock and tossed it into the inky pond.

There
was a sharp hiss and the pebble was dissolved by the potent acid of the black
sludge.

“I
would advise against wading through that,” Kendan said blandly.

Adesina
pursed her lips together. “Agreed.”

Ravi
measured the distance to the far side with a critical eye. “I believe I can
jump across.”

Adesina
knew what he was thinking and asked doubtfully, “While carrying each of us?”

The
Rashad gave a slow nod. “I believe so.”

Mar’sal
raised his hand. “I can go first. At least if I fall in it will not be too
great a loss for the mission,” he joked.

Adesina
wasn’t amused. “Do not say that, Mar’sal. Than’os would have died if it were
not for you, and I would be unable to walk.”

The
soldier waved aside her words and walked over to Ravi. The large feline
appraised the man, and Adesina became aware that Ravi was using some sort of
extra sense to determine the wellbeing of Mar’sal.

Mar’sal’s
lifeforce was low enough now that he could not use his
vyala
without
collapsing. The only thing that was keeping him on his feet was sheer
willpower.

Adesina
had not realized how dire his situation had become.

He
is dying.

Ravi’s
thought made the young queen’s chest constrict.

No!
We cannot let that happen.

If
I carry him the rest of the way it will help preserve some of his strength, but
it will not buy us much more time.

Adesina
wasn’t certain that she would be able to convince Mar’sal to allow Ravi to
carry him. Before she could even try, Mar’sal wavered where he stood and began
to pitch forward. Kendan rushed forward to catch him.

Adesina
made some quick decisions and began issuing orders. “Faryl, you will cross first
with Ravi. We will tie you to him, so you will be secure. Ravi, after you have
carried the rest of us across this pool, you will take Mar’sal out of the reach
of this barrier and wait for us to catch up.”

She
could sense Ravi’s resistance.

“I
cannot abandon you now, Ma’eve.”

“You
are not abandoning me,” she corrected. “You are saving the life of our friend.”

Please,
do not ask this of me.

I
must. He cannot die—not when we can save him.

Ravi
and Adesina stared at each other for several moments before he finally agreed.

“Very
well, dear one. It shall be as you say.”

Ravi
made each leap across the pool of acid seem effortless, but Adesina shared in
his physical strain. He, too, was affected by the draining of the barrier, and
his extraordinary strength was beginning to flag.

“Go,”
ordered Adesina. “We will catch up as soon as we can.”

Ravi
gave a single nod and bounded away with Mar’sal tied securely to his back.
Adesina felt strangely alone as she stood to face the remaining obstacles of
the second barrier.

Adesina,
Kendan, and Faryl moved as quickly as they could through the debris of the
former battle arena. They came across several pools of black acid, but none of
the pools blocked the path the travelers took.

Adesina
couldn’t help but notice the skeletons they passed along the way. Only some of
them appeared human in shape—most of them had an eerily bestial appearance.

“I
wonder what these demons look like,” said Kendan when he saw the direction of
her gaze. “Legends describe them as fearsome creatures.”

“I
would rather not find out,” stated Faryl with a shudder.

“That
is what we all hope,” Adesina reassured her.

The
L’avan was painfully aware of the amount of
vyala
she could feel
gathering around the Threshold, and her terror of arriving too late to stop
Basha continued to grow.

Ma’eve,
be cautious. The ground ahead of you in unstable, and a black pool lies
underneath.

Adesina
held up a hand and brought her comrades to a halt. She knew that Ravi was
seeing what she was seeing, but she couldn’t discern any differences in the
path before them.

Where?

Her
gaze was drawn to a patch of ground that was slightly higher than its
surroundings.

There.

Adesina
pointed it out to Kendan and Faryl. “Ravi says that area is dangerous. We need
to go around.”

Kendan
studied her thoughtfully. “You can communicate with him from a distance?”

She
averted her eyes and muttered, “In a way.” Then she said more clearly, “Come,
we should not waste any time. Mar’sal needs medical attention.”

They
climbed over some of the smaller boulders in order to bypass the peril they had
been warned against and found their way back onto the path.

“There!”

Faryl
gestured towards an opening in the wall of the cave.

Adesina
saw it as well. “The exit.”

“I
must admit I am relieved,” confessed Kendan, sighing heavily. “I am very
weary.”

He
was not the only one. Faryl was almost white from the exertion, and she was
beginning to stumble as she walked. Adesina felt her own strength flagging, and
she wished there was time to sit and rest.

The
ground became more smooth and free of rubble, making their progress faster.
They hurried through the opening and found themselves in a narrow tunnel. The
effects of the draining barrier immediately stopped, but they did not regain
any of the energy they had already lost.

Ravi
and Mar’sal were waiting a short distance from the exit. Mar’sal was still
unconscious and tied to Ravi’s back, and Ravi waited patiently to be released.

Faryl
rushed forward, pulling out the medical pack as she went. Kendan untied the
rope, and Ravi thanked him. Mar’sal was gently laid on the ground, and Faryl
examined him carefully.

“I
am not certain how much I can do for him,” she admitted in a worried tone. “He
is incredibly weak.”

She
rummaged through her herbs, murmuring to herself about their different
properties. Kendan beckoned to Adesina and spoke quietly in her ear.

“We
cannot take him with us like this. He would have to be carried, and we do not
know what dangers lie in store.”

Adesina
knew that he was right. She sighed heavily, “We cannot leave him here alone.”

“Faryl
will have to stay with him,” Ravi asserted.

“What
about L’iam?” Adesina argued. “Kendan said that Faryl is the only one who can
cure L’iam and restore his mind.”

Kendan
placed a reassuring hand on Adesina’s arm. “We will simply bring him back here
to be healed.”

“Faryl
may need time to create the antidote, so we may have to leave this place with
L’iam in his trance anyway,” pointed out Ravi.

Disappointment
welled up within Adesina, and she tried to hide it from her face. “Very well.
We shall—”

Her
words were cut off as a rumble sounded from deep within the earth and the
ground began to shake. A wave of white light flashed through the tunnel from
the direction of the mountain’s peak.

No
one spoke, but they all knew what was happening.

The
Threshold was beginning to open.

***

L’iam
struggled to anchor himself in his own mind.

It
was becoming increasingly difficult to remember who he was and what he was
doing. A thick haze surrounded his thoughts, and he was easily disoriented.

He
must keep fighting.

If
he gave up,
they
would win.

He
could not remember who “they” were, but he knew that he must fight them with
every fiber of his being.

L’iam’s
eyes were open, and he was glad to be able to look out through them. He could
not control his body—

Was
it his if he could not control it?

—but
he was occasionally able to tap into the sights and sounds that filtered
through.

L’iam’s
body was surrounded by a solid shaft of light, and he stood on a circle of
runes. Wisps of light swirled around him beyond the beam in which he stood.

Where
was he?

He
tried to turn his head to look around, but again, he found that he could not
control his body. L’iam tried to force his mind more deeply into his physical form
in an effort to claim mastery over his actions.

It
must have been working, because he suddenly felt everything in his body.

Extraordinary
amounts of
vyala
were flowing through him, leaving behind a tingling
feeling. His head began pounding from the heightened activity of his brain. His
entire being felt heavy and exhausted.

Why
was he so tired?

It
was too much of an effort to push his mind so close to his body, especially
with the fatigue that carried over. He distanced himself enough to break the
connection, but he continued to gaze through his own eyes.

A
woman with short blonde hair and icy blue eyes knelt a short distance away from
L’iam. She was dressed completely in black, and she wore an expression of
impatience on her face.

He
knew her.

What
was her name…?

He
couldn’t remember, but he knew that she was his enemy.

Why
was he with her if she was an enemy?

L’iam’s
thoughts were interrupted. The glowing light that surrounded him grew brighter
and the ground began to shake. The woman stood in eager anticipation, and she
puffed out her chest as if congratulating herself for what was happening.

A
voice sounded through the beam of light. It was deep and powerful, chilling the
room with a tone of pure malice.

“Mortal
creature, dare you approach the Threshold of Immortality?”

The
woman’s voice wavered, but she tried to sound confident. “I dare many things
that other mortals fear.”

“You
would be wise to fear as well,” warned the voice, “for I am Cha-sak, Demon Lord
of the Shimat.”

A
sensation passed through the room like a crack of a whip. It struck terror into
L’iam’s heart, even as a distant observer. The woman’s spirit crumbled in the
face of such overbearing power, and she fell to her knees.

She
touched her head to the ground in a groveling bow. “Great One, I am called
Basha, and I beg for the honor of becoming your servant.”

“How
came you to open the gate?” hissed the voice of Cha-sak.

Basha
gestured towards L’iam, but she remained in her abject position. “I captured a
magic-user and wiped him of his mind. He obeys my every command, and I used him
to open the portal between worlds.”

“His
mind is not yet gone,” sneered Cha-sak. “I can sense his thoughts lingering in
the shadows. But no matter. His life will soon be consumed and the Threshold
will open enough to let me through.”

L’iam
was chilled with horror. He was being used to release a demon into the world.

Basha
sounded confused as she answered. “Forgive me, Great One. I thought that the
Threshold was opened now.”

“A
crack,” snapped Cha-sak, “a mere crack in the door. The life you offer is not
strong enough to open the Threshold completely, but it will be enough for my
purpose.”

She
cowered before his palpable displeasure. “Yes, Great One.”

“Your
life is also puny,” declared Cha-sak with disdain. “Humans have always been
like mewling insects that plague superior beings.”

Basha
cried out in pain, but L’iam could not see what was causing it. He assumed that
the demon was using its power to torture the woman.

“Mercy,
Great One,” Basha begged between cries. “I can serve you, though unworthy I am.
I found a way to open the Threshold!”

The
pain must have ceased, because Basha stopped shrieking. She huddled on the
ground and moaned as quietly as she could.

“Yes,
you did, though not on your own,” mused Cha-sak. “Could it be that humans have
become resourceful in our absence?”

“I
have resources,” gasped Basha. “Many resources all over the world. I would be a
valuable servant to you.”

Cha-sak’s
tone became silky. “There is much to be accomplished. Ordinary mortals could
never assist me in so great a work.”

The
woman was eager to prove her worth. “We are not ordinary. I belong to an
organization that is highly trained and well hidden. We are able to move in
secret and influence the world from the shadows.”

“Do
you know what you request of me?” purred the demon. “A blood vow is not to be
made lightly.”

Basha
kept her eyes on the ground, but it was clear that she was doing some rapid
thinking. “A blood vow?”

“Surely
you know of blood magic,” snapped Cha-sak. “You used it to put that half-breed
under your command.”

L’iam
was surprised to hear such a term applied to himself. He had never considered
the L’avan to be half-breeds. The contempt in the Cha-sak’s voice led L’iam to
believe that half-breeds must be something repulsive in a demon’s mind.

Basha
clearly had other things on her mind. Her downturned face took on a hungry
expression at the mention of magic.

“Forgive
my ignorance, Great One. Magic is so rare in our world, and I know little of
it.”

“Is
that so?” was the calculating reply.

L’iam
instinctively felt that the situation was becoming increasingly dangerous. He
knew that Basha was in more peril now than when she had been tortured by the
demon lord.

“Magic
forged through blood is the strongest magic that can be given in physical
form,” explained Cha-sak with unexpected patience. “Higher forms of magic are
bound by very specific laws, but blood magic can be…
altered
to meet
certain needs.”

“Yes,
Great One,” answered Basha without confidence.

“To
be my servant you must make a blood vow—a contract founded in magic and forged
with blood. You will be bound in loyalty and labor, and in return, your mortal
life will be tied to mine. You will share in my power and my immortality.”

L’iam
could see the glow of greed on Basha’s face, and he wanted to shout a warning.
The demon was clearly omitting important details of what the contract entailed.

The
Shimat woman seemed oblivious to the nuances of Cha-sak’s tone. She appeared to
think only of the power that was promised—power that she had felt first-hand.

She
slowly raised her head with a smile of anticipation.

“What
must I do to make this vow?”