Sovereign Stone (55 page)

He looked up to see the five Andalian Lancers frozen in the plane of the field for a brief moment before it glowed brightly and sliced them neatly in half from the center of their heads down through the middle of their bodies. Parts fell away on both sides of the field, with the severed edges neatly cauterized by extreme heat.

Alexander shook off the fog in his head, got to his feet, and approached to within a few feet of the field on his side of the giant double doors. The three force lances were lying in pieces on the floor along with the remains of their owners.

Alexander smiled and waved the enemy to come forward. “Come on, the trap’s spent, it can’t hurt you now.”

They didn’t buy his ruse. Truss cursed him and ordered his men to retreat. They carefully withdrew down the hallway.

“I was really hoping to get Truss,” Alexander said, shaking his head.

He went to the wall, put his hand against it, closed his eyes, and pushed through the stone with his all around sight. The room on the other side of the double doors was large, perhaps even vast.

He stepped back and carefully slid the Thinblade through the stone, then drew a doorway in the surface of the wall. He put his boot against the center of the outline and pushed. A section of wall a foot thick fell inward, crashing to the floor and sending chips of stone skittering off in all directions. The echo returned to him a moment later.

Alexander cautiously stepped through the impromptu door and surveyed the chamber within. It was well lit by a series of mostly broken-out windows high overhead in the arched ceiling. It resembled the entry hall in construction, over two hundred feet long and a hundred feet wide with stone support beams running up the walls, then arching over to meet their counterparts in the center of the high ceiling. The floor was made of white marble shot through with veins of blood red.

On the far end, a raised dais formed a half circle stretching from one corner to the next and reaching forty or fifty feet into the room. A single chair carved of white marble and gilded in gold occupied the center of the dais. Alexander stood in the Reishi throne room.

Anatoly entered next. The moment he set foot on the marble floor, the figure sitting in the throne stood. Alexander hadn’t even noticed it at this distance, but when it stood, he knew exactly what it was. He had faced a creature like this in Blackstone Keep.

The sentinel was the size of a man and was made completely of black stone. It was armed with a shield and a spear with a sword at its belt. Alexander remembered the last time he had fought a sentinel. It had been all but immune to normal steel weapons. He hoped the Thinblade would prove effective against this magical guardian or they might have a real problem.

In the back of his mind, he wondered why it had only awakened when Anatoly entered the room. He’d been in the room for several moments before Anatoly. He’d cut a hole in the wall and pushed a section of stone onto the floor, and yet the guardian only woke when Anatoly set foot on the marble floor.

It started toward them. Alexander quickly scanned the room for any magical traps or auras but saw none. He moved in a few paces to give the Rangers room to enter.

“Stay clear of it,” Alexander said. “I doubt your weapons will harm it.” With that he drew the Thinblade and began to advance. The thing stopped midway across the room and faced Alexander but didn’t challenge him. Alexander took another step forward but still the magical guardian did nothing.

Anatoly began to advance and the sentinel started moving toward him while ignoring Alexander. The animated statue strode past Alexander with its spear leveled at Anatoly.

“Stand down,” Alexander commanded.

Anatoly stopped as did the sentinel.

“Anatoly, come toward me but give the sentinel a wide berth,” Alexander said.

Anatoly nodded and carefully circled around the sentinel. It stood stone-still like it was nothing more than an ordinary statue. Alexander gave Anatoly a questioning look.

He shrugged.

“Turn around,” Alexander commanded.

The sentinel obeyed.

“Return to the throne and sit down.”

The sentinel marched to the throne and sat down.

“Lucky, why is that thing obeying me and why did it start advancing only after Anatoly stepped into the room?” Alexander asked.

Lucky shook his head slowly, looking perplexed. “I have no idea. Nothing about this makes any sense.”

“I guess I’ll take what I can get,” Alexander said. “Lieutenant Wyatt, search the room for exits. There’ll be at least one hidden door.”

Wyatt nodded and started issuing orders to his men.

Alexander went to the throne with Anatoly and Lucky and faced the sentinel. He stood staring at the impassive magical guardian for several long moments.

“Will you obey my commands?” he asked.

The sentinel nodded once.

Alexander looked at Lucky, who shrugged.

Jack came up alongside them, keeping a wary eye on the sentinel. “Wyatt found two exits that look like they lead to servants’ preparation areas, and there’s one leading from the dais over in the corner, plus a secret door directly behind the throne.”

“Good, send scouts through the door in the corner,” Alexander said.

Jack left to relay the order while Alexander tried to understand the inexplicable behavior of the sentinel. It just made no sense.

Jack returned and reported: “It leads to a sitting room. There are three doors leading out.”

“Anatoly, take everyone into that sitting room. I’ll be along in a moment. Maybe we can put this thing to use.”

Once the room was empty of his people, Alexander faced the sentinel. “Stand,” he commanded, and it stood. “Do not allow anyone to pass from this room through those two doors, except me,” Alexander said pointing at the door in the corner of the dais and the secret door directly behind the throne. “If anyone comes from those two doors, they are permitted to leave without challenge. Do you understand?”

The sentinel nodded. Alexander wasn’t sure the magical guardian actually did understand. It was a little like having a conversation with a rock, but at least it nodded. He left the throne room and joined his friends in the sitting room. There was one door that was slightly larger than the other two and it was in perfect condition while the other two were warped, rotten, and brittle. He tried to open it and found that it was securely locked. One slash with the Thinblade cleaved the door down the middle. Half fell away clattering to the floor while the other half swung silently open on its triple hinges.

They cautiously moved down a narrow corridor that opened into a circular room at least a hundred feet across. The ceiling was ten feet high supported by a ring of columns. At one time it might have been a very plush bedchamber, but now any furniture that once filled the room was nothing but dust. Two sturdy doors led out of the room, each in perfect working order with no sign of age or decay.

There was also a spiral staircase leading both up and down. After a cursory search, Alexander decided to take the stairs up. If Malachi Reishi died while commanding the defense of his Keep, it stood to reason that he would have been somewhere high where he had a view of the surrounding area. Alexander was getting closer to his goal.

On the next level was a library, but the years had destroyed the contents. Bookcases were toppled or crumbled under the weight of the books that had once lined their shelves and the books themselves had turned to dust. Alexander wondered at the difference between this place and Blackstone Keep. There, the books and many of the rooms were intact, while here, most everything seemed to have suffered the ravages of time.

They moved up another level. It looked like it had once been a laboratory or a workroom for a wizard or an alchemist. It was in a shambles as well. The tables were broken and decayed to the point of crumbling. Most of the glassware was shattered on the floor and the shelves had fallen over, haphazardly scattering their contents. The place was a mess. Alexander quickly surveyed the debris littering the floor. Most items were broken, but a few were intact.

One in particular caught his eye. It glowed with such an intense aura of magic that for a moment all he could do was stare in disbelief. It was a heavy glass vial sealed with a glass stopper that was secured with silver wire. It contained a pure white powder, the color of sunlight on new-fallen snow. It was something that Alexander had only seen once before in powder form. He knew at a glance exactly what it was.

Wizard’s Dust.

Chapter 47

He stepped through the debris, glass crunching under his boots, and reverently picked up the little vial of concentrated magic. He had no idea how much Wizard’s Dust was a lot but he got his answer when Lucky gasped in delight and astonishment. Alexander had found a treasure beyond price. The heavy glass vial was an inch in diameter and four inches tall, and it was full to the top.

“Alexander, you hold in your hands enough Wizard’s Dust to initiate a dozen new wizards,” Lucky said. “That alone could tip the balance of this war in our favor.”

Alexander gently handed the vial to Lucky, who took it with deliberate care, still staring at the priceless powder. He carefully set it on the floor and rummaged around in his bag until he found a small steel tube lined with soft leather. It was just big enough for the vial to slide inside. He packed the top with a small square of cloth and screwed the cap tightly into place, then handed the safely packed Wizard’s Dust back to Alexander. Lucky produced a similarly packed vial of fairy dust along with a healing potion and healing salve.

“Take these and put them in your pouch,” Lucky said. “I still have some of the fairy dust and plenty of healing salve, but that is my last healing potion. The Wizard’s Dust and the fairy dust are priceless beyond measure, so it’s only fitting that you carry them; you’re far better equipped to protect them than I.”

Alexander nodded. He knew he had to keep the magic powders safe until he could discuss the best uses for both with the wizards at Blackstone Keep.

When they reached the next level of the Reishi Keep, they found what looked like a storeroom for magical ingredients. Many of the shelves were broken and rotted through but there were still several intact containers. Lucky spent a few minutes looking for anything of use. He found several items that he seemed pleased with and slipped them into his bag.

The level above looked like another bedchamber or sitting room. A broken door led out to a balcony. Alexander cautiously looked out and saw a sky bridge leading to a tower a hundred feet away. It looked like they were in one of the three central towers that rose up out of the Keep and reached highest into the sky. Several levels up, a sky deck filled the space between all three towers. It formed a triangle and offered a view of the entire countryside around the Keep.

Alexander thought to Chloe, “Please check to see if the Sovereign Stone is in the aether on that platform. If I was directing a battle, I’d do it from there.”

“I’ll return in a moment, My Love,” Chloe said in his mind, then buzzed into a ball of scintillating white light and vanished. Alexander held his breath while he waited for her to return.

A wyvern roared, drawing his attention. Far below, perched on the top of a flat tower, it was looking straight at him. Chloe reappeared a moment later in a ball of white light before taking her normal form.

“The Sovereign Stone is there,” she said in Alexander’s mind. “The bodies of Malachi Reishi and Nicolai Atherton are there as well, My Love.”

“Thank you, Little One,” Alexander said aloud with a smile. She buzzed into a ball of light at his praise.

The wyvern roared again, then launched itself into the sky and started beating its wings steadily to gain altitude.

Alexander returned to the room and led the way up to the next level. They entered a bare stone room with a magical gold-inlaid circle filling the center. There was only enough room to continue up the staircase against the outer wall without crossing into the circle.

The next room was similar, except there were two smaller circles only a few inches apart; both were inlaid in gold as well. These rooms looked like summoning chambers where Malachi Reishi had no doubt called forth servants from the netherworld to do his bidding.

The next several levels were libraries, workshops, and studies that had been ravaged by time. As they climbed, Alexander knew he was getting closer. The sky deck would be the next level or two above. His heart started racing. As soon as he retrieved the Sovereign Stone, it would be vulnerable. Phane and his minions would stop at nothing to get it from him. Yet he still had Isabel and Abigail to worry about. It would be a dangerous detour to go to the fortress island—but he knew he would.

He had to.

Alexander was the first to reach the next level of the tower. He froze in place the moment he entered the room. It was another summoning chamber. The magical circle stretched from wall to wall, leaving only the staircase on one side. On the other side of the room was a broken double door that opened onto the sky deck.