Sovereign of the Seven Isles 7: Reishi Adept (30 page)

“Do you offer me your soul willingly?”

There was a long pause.

“Yes,” Hector croaked, a tremor of fear running through his voice.

“I will return Horace to the world of time and substance for the duration of your natural life in exchange for your soul at the moment of your death. Do you agree to these terms?”

Isabel tried to shout, struggling to slip free of her shackles, but she was helpless to intervene.

“Yes,” Hector said, a bit more confidently.

Isabel slumped to her knees, weeping.

“Bargain struck!” it said, its voice taking on a
deeper, more powerful and authoritative tone. A moment later the ground shook as if the world itself had been struck like a bell. The tremor didn’t last long, but Isabel was certain that everyone in the entire Seven Isles had felt it.

The darkness receded into the pit
and the torches burst into flame once again, flooding the well with flickering light. It took a moment for Isabel’s eyes to adjust. What she saw made her cry out silently, recoiling from the results of Phane’s conjuring. New fear coursed through her as she realized what the Reishi Prince had just done.

Phane tipped his head back and laughed out loud even as the rest of the people in the well fell deathly silent.

Floating in the center of the circle surrounding the pit was Horace.

He was a shade.

“Hello, Brother,” Horace said in a voice that sounded much like it had in life but with a whining raspy quality to it.

“What have you done?” Hector demanded, turning to Phane with a look of horror and betrayal.

Phane laughed at him, guffawing at his distress.

“You just made it too easy, Hector. And thanks to you, I now have a shade of my very own.”

Hector stared at him in disbelief for a moment, his mind seeming to work through the enormity of Phane’s betrayal. It didn’t take long for him to reach a decision. He brought the axe blade up toward his throat, but not quickly enough. Phane snatched the weapon from his hand with his magic and pulled it to him. Hector transformed into vapor and began to drift away.

“
Sorcery? Really?” Phane said mockingly, reaching out with his hand as if grasping something. He yanked his closed fist back toward himself and Hector reverted to his material form, standing stock-still, his arms bound to his sides by Phane’s magic.

“You can’t escape me, Hector,” he said, producing a slave collar from his robes and sending it floating across the distance to snap in place around Hector’s neck.

“Sleep,” he said, and Hector slumped to the ground, unconscious. Phane lifted him with his magic and placed him in the casket waiting behind him, closing the lid with a flourish and chuckling to himself as he turned back to Horace.

“You will remain in the world of time and substance for as long as your brother remains alive. Submit to my will, bind yourself to my command
, and I will ensure that he lives for centuries, and you with him. Refuse, and I will kill him, sending you both back into darkness.”

Horace seemed to rail against the choice he’d been given, but finally
said, “I submit to your will.”

“Very good,” Phane said. “I trust you won’t mind if I proceed with the binding spell then.”

Horace shrieked in protest.

Phane laughed.
“Did you expect me to take your word for it? Submit or die.”

Horace t
hrashed against the magical barrier for a few moments.

Phane smiled at his distress.

“I will submit to the binding,” Horace mewled.

“I knew you’d come around,” Phane said. “
This will only take a few minutes.”

He began chanting again, filling the night air with words of hate and fear. A haze of shadow began to form around him. As it grew more distinct, it began to flow in a stream toward Horace, engulfing the shade with dark magic that looked like bindings made of black cords. Once they had wrapped tightly around
him, they faded from sight.

“Horace, take this offering,”
Phane commanded, presenting the young man still kneeling at his feet with an open hand.

Horace floated quickly toward his victim as the man tried to stand, suddenly aware of the part he was to play in the ritual, but it did him no good. Horace had him before he got one foot under him
self.

“It feels good to be back,” he said.

“I imagine it does,” Phane said. “I command you to prevent the shade Rankosi from killing any more of my men. Fight him for possession every time he tries to take someone. Keep him in the aether.”

Horace snarled a curse, then turne
d and walked the young man into the pit, his shadowy form floating away into the night a moment later, leaving his victim screaming as he fell.

Chapter
23

Alexander slipped off the wyvern, motioning for Ratagan to stay in the saddle. He’d intended to remain in New Ruatha overnight, but after learning of Peti’s plan and seeing the consequences of Zuhl’s horde unleashed on the people of Fellenden, he’d taken only enough time to visit Anatoly and make arrangements to send him help before departing for the Gate.

He’d
spent the flight from New Ruatha watching the sun slide toward the horizon and silently exhorting Ratagan to fly faster, even though he knew that his Sky Knight escorts were making best speed. When he wasn’t willing the wyverns to fly faster, he was fretting over the possibility that Peti would launch an attack into Ruatha or Ithilian with part of her new army. Quite suddenly, Phane had become of secondary concern, at least for the moment.

He trotted to the controls on the side of the Gate and opened it to the Reishi Isle, staggering back a few steps
, a little thrill of fear coursing through him at what he saw. Zora was curled up on the Gate platform, one ice-blue eye opening a moment after the Gate did. Horst and Ratagan’s wyverns launched into the sky with yelps of fear. Zora went from sleeping to crouched like a cat in an instant, her giant head facing Alexander squarely, her eyes measuring him, a snort of breath sending another chill racing up his spine.

He held his arms out to his sides, palms open in a show of peace.

“My name is Alexander Reishi. You must be Zora.”

Her eyes narrowed, but she said nothing.

“I’ve come to help free Ixabrax.”

Her eyes shifted to the Thinblade on his hip.

“You will wait,” she said, tipping her head back and roaring. Wyverns scattered from their perches atop the wall surrounding the Reishi Keep.

Moments
later, soldiers and witches began to converge on the Gate. Alexander nodded to himself. What better guard dog than a dragon, he thought. Abigail arrived a few minutes later with Magda.

“Alexander!” she shouted, running toward the Gate, racing right
past Zora and hugging her brother.

“Dear Maker, I’ve missed you,” she sa
id, holding on to him like he might not be real.

“I
’ve missed you too, Abby.”

She glanced around
past his shoulder, then stepped back looking this way and that with a hint of fear.

“Where’s Jack?”

Alexander smiled, opening the door to his Wizard’s Den with a gesture.

Jack looked up from his desk and smiled,
rising to his feet as Abigail rushed to him.

Magda stopped several feet away, smiling at the sight of Abigail and Jack
’s reunion, before turning and nodding deferentially to Alexander.

“It’s good to see you, Magda. How’s she been?”
he said, motioning toward his sister.

Magda paused to consider her answer for a moment.

“She’s proven herself to be a leader worth following.”

Jataan had silently taken his place just behind and to Alexander’s left with Lita next to him. He was eyeing the dragon warily.

“Mistress Magda,” Lita said, smiling warmly.

“I hear you’ve had quite the adventure,” Magda said.

“I can’t wait to tell you all about it,” Lita said, suddenly excited.

Anja walked right past them all and straight up to Zora, stopping not five feet from her snout.

“Hello,” she said.

Zora blinked, sniffing the air and then frowning.

“Why have you taken the form of a human?”

Anja shrugged. “It’s easier to live among them if you look like one of them.”

“Why would you choose to live among them?” Zora asked, looking genuinely perplexed.

“Because I love him,” Anja said, looking back over her shoulder at Alexander.

Zora looked at Alexander, then back at Anja, frowning deeply.

“You’re bound to this one?” she asked.

“I am.”

“And your mother permitted him to live?”

“He saved my life before I was even born,” Anja said. “My mother was grateful.”

“She should have eaten him before your attachment had time to deepen,” Zora said.

“No!” Anja said. “Why would she do such a thing?”

Zora sighed. “
It would have saved you great pain. In time, you will come to see the truth, Child. But it’s not my place to teach you those lessons.”

Horst and Ratagan landed gently several dozen feet from the Gate, their wyverns
visibly agitated by Zora’s presence.

Magda turned to
the dragon.

“
May I ask that you withdraw from the Gate to allow these Sky Knights to bring their wyverns through?”

She ignored Magda, her catlike eyes still fixed on Anja.

“Will these humans do as they say? Will they help free my mate?”

Anja smiled as she laid her hand on Zora’s snout.

“Yes, they will.”

“Very well,” Zora said, launching into the sky with a whoosh.
Anja watched her take flight with a wistful smile.

Abigail and Jack emerged from the Wizard’s Den holding hands. Chloe buzzed into view in a ball of light and flew
in an orbit around their heads, giggling all the while, before vanishing again.

Anja walked straight up to Abigail and
then looked pointedly at Alexander.

He smiled, nodding to himself.
“Anja, this is my sister Abigail. Abby, this is Anja.”

“It’
s very nice to meet you,” Anja said.

Abigail cocked her head
and smiled. “It’s nice to meet you, too.”

“You should be flattered,” Jack said. “She’s not usually this polite.”

Anja made a face at him, then turned to Alexander. “So this is your castle?” she asked, walking to the edge of the Gate platform and stopping to take in the Reishi Keep.

Alexander had to admit to himself that it was a majestic sight with the last light of the day
reflecting off its towers and Zora circling overhead.

“I guess so,” he said.

Once Ratagan and Horst had led their wyverns through the Gate, Alexander closed it. A moment later, Commander Perry stepped forward from the crowd of soldiers and witches that had gathered.

“Lord Reishi,” he said, saluting crisply.

“Commander Perry, I’d like to convene a war council within the hour.”

“I’ll see to the arrangements myself,” Per
ry said, turning on his heel and calling two of his officers to him with a gesture, then disappearing into the crowd of soldiers.

“Ratagan, is your wyvern up to a
nother quick flight?” Alexander asked, pointing to the top of the three towers rising out of the heart of the Reishi Keep.

“Of course,” Ratagan said.

“What are you doing?” Anja asked.

“I have to turn off the Gates.”

“Oh,” she said, frowning as she looked up at the towers. “Well, I want to go with you.”

“Me too,” Abigail said.

“I’m just going to turn off the Gates,” he said.

“And we’re going with you,” Abigail said. “Open the door.”

“All right,” Alexander said, shaking his head and opening his Wizard’s Den.

A few minutes later, Ratagan launched i
nto the sky, gaining altitude with each powerful stroke of his wyvern’s wings. He landed gently on the highest bridge spanning the distance between two of the towers.

“We won’t be long,” Alexander said, dis
mounting and opening his Wizard’s Den. Everyone filed out onto the bridge.

“Huh,” Jack said, looking out toward the smudge of light on the horizon left by the setting sun. “Somehow, the view from up here seems more peaceful tha
n it did last time.”

“Maybe
that’s because we don’t have a bunch of people trying to kill us right now,” Alexander said, patting him on the shoulder in passing as he entered the Keep. It was cold and dark, altogether lifeless. Just as he’d left it. He knew that the tentacle demon was still lurking within, but it was far from the top of the towers. Aside from that, Perry’s men had cleared most, if not all, of the unwelcome inhabitants.

Alexander led the way up the stairs, passing through several levels, all as vacant as the last, before he reached the broken door to the
Gate room. It seemed so anticlimactic. From the moment he’d learned that Peti had possessed Abel, he’d been terrified that the witch would send her armies into the rest of the Seven Isles and plunge the world into a frenzy of slaughter and carnage. As he touched the control and deactivated the Gate system, tension seemed to drain from him. He took a deep breath and let it out slowly, turning his mind to the next threat.

The next enemy he planned to face was the tentacle demon that had taken up residence in the Reishi Keep’s throne room. Its presence posed a constant threat to the soldiers garrisoned
there, limited their access to the Keep, and stood in the way of Alexander reaching the lower levels where the Sovereign’s library was located. Once there, Alexander would be able to take command of the Keep’s magic and defenses, much as he had with Blackstone Keep.

While all of those reasons were important, they were not the real reason he needed to face the tentacle demon. Central in his mind was Azugorath. His ability to defeat her was
a constant question, a nagging source of doubt and trepidation. If he went against her and fell, all would be lost, yet he knew without doubt that he would confront her, no matter the risk.

The tentacle demon would be a test of Luminessence. Of all the creatures born of darkness that Alexander had ever faced, this demon seemed the most formidable, dangerous
, and undefeatable to him. He could still vividly remember how quickly and powerfully it could move, how wide its fang-lined mouth could open, and how caustic the acid oozing from its tentacles was.

Even with all of his magical sight
, even armed with the Thinblade, he knew that he would die if he faced the tentacle demon in open battle. But … if Luminessence could banish it, then there was a good chance its light could send Azugorath back to the netherworld as well.

“I thought this place would be more interesting,” Anja said, running her finger along the edge of the podium that housed the
master controls for the entire Reishi Gate system.

Alexander chuckled. “Come on, let’s go have a war council.”

***

Alexander scanned the officers and witches present in the large tent that Perry had
hastily transformed into a council chamber. A series of field tables, set up end to end, occupied the center of the tent with chairs lined up against both of the longer walls. Magda, Cassandra, Commander Perry, Wizards Dinh and Jahoda, as well as nearly two dozen witches that Alexander had never met, sat at the table along with a number of Perry’s officers. Horst and Ratagan sat along the walls with several of the ranking sergeants under Perry’s command.

Most of the people present were exactly as they appeared. While many possessed the vibrant and rich colors that Alexander had long ago learned to associate with magic, all but two had the colors of good, decent people who were dedicated to protecting the world from the likes of Phane and Zuhl.

Two of the sergeants stood out. Their colors were dark and cloudy, filled with malice and deceit. Each sat in a chair along the walls of the tent close to the end of the table where Alexander’s chair was placed.

Commander Perry stood when Alexander entered, followed by the soldiers under his command and the witches. Alexander waved for them to sit back down, finding himself a bit flustered by the deference he w
as given, especially here in the field.

“Lord Reishi,” Commander Perry said, still standing. “All key personnel are present and accounted for.”

“Thank you, Commander,” Alexander said, making his way to the head of the table, his sight more focused on the two unwelcome guests than anything else. Abigail took the chair to his right. Perry was already in the chair to his left.

Anja walked right up to the commander and looked him in the eye for a moment like she expected him to move. When he just frowned back at her she leaned in.

“You’re in my chair.”

He looked to Alexander
, who shrugged helplessly.

Jack leaned in and whispered to Abigail, “Told you she
’s not always that polite.”

“My
apologies,” Commander Perry said, moving to the next chair down the table.

Jataan took up his position behind Alexander and just to his left, his dark eyes scanning the room for any hint of threat. More often tha
n not, Alexander thought his diligence was a bit overdone, especially in settings like this, but today he felt differently. The two men with dark colors were scarcely more than ten feet away on either side. Without Jataan at his post, if they attacked in unison, one might get through. With the Commander of the Reishi Protectorate standing watch, Alexander doubted he would even have time to get up before they were both dead.