Masque of Death (Kormak Book Nine) (The Kormak Saga 9) (19 page)

Kormak limped towards him. If he had to, he would kill the wizard with his bare hands. Balthazar shrieked and spread his hands wide. The gateway crashed shut as a final surge of energy spurted from it. The force of the blast tossed Kormak backwards, and the others along with him.

His amulets grew hot as they absorbed the magical energy. He picked his battered body upright and began to stagger forward. The Servant crashed to the ground. His blade stood up from the middle of a fast putrefying mass of flesh. A cloud of blackness rolled away from the spot where the sorcerer had stood, the same type of spell he had used to cover his escape back in his mansion.

When it faded, there was no sign of Balthazar. Kormak was glad. He did not have the strength for another fight at this moment in time.

* * *

“
T
he bastard sorcerer got away
,” Anders said. The few surviving cultists had fled into the night. Shahad’s skeletal remains lay on the ground.

“What just happened here?” Zamara demanded.

“Count Balthazar summoned a demon from the Outer Dark,” Kormak said. “I think he intended to do more, perhaps bring an army of them in, and take over the city.”

He imagined those tendrils spreading from the centre of the temple, touching corpses and reanimating them, spreading more and more with each new death. It had been a close run thing.

Anders swallowed. “Then it’s over and done with. Your doppelganger is dead and gone, and I am free to go.”

The Guardian shook his head. “I just worked out who you are and why the changeling wanted you and your friend. You are going to have to come with me. I need to know about the sarcophagus you found.”

Briefly, Anders considered resisting, but he knew that against this man and his companions it would be suicidal. At least he was still alive. Which was a lot more than could be said for many of the people around him. The Death God had eaten well on the last night of his feast.

The first faint light of dawn speared down through the opening in the ziggurat’s roof. The Masque of Death was over.

T
hank
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W
illiam King lives in Prague
, Czech Republic with his lovely wife Radka and his sons Dan and William Karel. He has been a professional author and games developer for almost a quarter of a century. He is the creator of the bestselling Gotrek and Felix series for Black Library and the author of the bestselling Space Wolf books which between them have sold over nine hundred thousand copies in English and been translated into 8 languages.

He has been short-listed for the David Gemmell Legend Award. His short fiction has appeared in Year’s Best SF and Best of Interzone. He has twice won the Origins Awards For Game Design. His hobbies include role-playing games and MMOs as well as travel.

His website can be found at:
www.williamking.me

He can be contacted at
[email protected]

If you would like to know when the next Kormak book will be released , as well as get free ebooks and special offers, please sign up for the mailing list. Your details will never be shared.
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W
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M
ASQUE OF DEATH

COPYRIGHT © WILLIAM KING 2016