The Archon's Apprentice (30 page)

Mikol laughed.

“What? The deceiver prince?”

“He was not the deceiver. Egarin is the one who was the liar, the deceiver and thief.”

“I must have heard a different story than you; Tanris the Deceiver is the one who started a war for the throne.”

“He is NOT THE DECEIVER!”

Mikol barely flinched. Kagarin had raised his hand in a fist. With a deep breath, the spiteful glare left his face as quickly as it had come.

“Sorry, I forget you think it is we who live in the Savage Kingdoms, when truly, it is here that is most savage. Tanris is not the deceiver. King Ioyan pitted his own sons against each other to rule the kingdom. Tanris was the older son and should have been given the throne by birthright. Egarin was the Deceiver. He fed lies to Ioyan and convinced him that Tanris was trying to kill Ioyan. The king listened to Egarin’s lies and believed him. He feared for his life. He told Egarin if he killed Tanris he would make him the true heir to the throne. I am sure you know of the war that ravaged the world.”

“We call it the Sundering.”

“I have not heard it called that before. Most people just call it the great war. It is an apt name though. It sundered Ternia and the royal family. Egarin was ruthless in his pursuit to kill his brother and destroyed everything Tanris threw at him. When finally Egarin was poised to win, only the mercy of the king saved him. Ioyan could not have his sons kill each other. Instead, the king banished Tanris. He fled south through the wastelands and eventually ended up in the wilds of Austeria, where he lived out the rest of his life.”

“Now it is my turn to be surprised at something. But that is twisted and an embellishment on the actual events.”

“Not embellishment, only truth. You should ask your mentor.”
 

Kagarin pointed to the door to Mikol’s right. He turned to see Omoni walking through the door. For a moment, Mikol was elated, but his hope was quickly dashed as he realized Omoni was smiling at Kagarin. He gave Mikol a sidelong glance as he walked past.
 

“Welcome back, Mikol. I hope you had a pleasant trip. We’ll talk in a moment.”

Mikol’s mouth opened to speak but nothing came out.

“I had not realized you were back yet. How goes the siege of Highbarrow?” asked Omoni.

“We took Highbarrow weeks ago. After some much-needed rest the army is marching down to Ternia to secure it.”

“Excellent. What of King Nico?”

“Sadly, he did not see the inevitable and did not want to rejoin the empire. He gave a wonderful speech about freedom and how he could not fail his people. Since they were not his people anymore, he was only speaking for himself. If he had only understood what I was trying to do he would still have his head. Alas, it was not so. And what of the Wardens?”

“The remaining Wardens in the city have been dealt with, but those that fled back to the Sanctuary are proving to be a hassle.”

“I thought you said they would pose no threat to us after you all lost the ability to use your runes.”

“They do not pose a threat to us. Locked inside the Sanctuary without power or runes, they are helpless. Unfortunately, the Sanctuary is a fortress that is thousands of years old. Its defenses are vast and still active. It will take time to get into. But the Wardens are only occupying some of our resources. They can only hold out for so long before we take it. Unfortunately, they will not let me back in.”

“Did you find what you were looking for in the Sanctuary before you had to leave? You promised me unimaginable power once I took this city.”

“No. I did not find what I was looking for. But I don’t think it was ever at the Sanctuary. However, we have the next best thing to accomplish our goals.” Omoni turned again to Mikol. “I believe you have found the answer to the runic powers and will be able to give those powers back to me.”

Mikol looked between Omoni and Kagarin. The throne suddenly felt uncomfortable. Omoni flashed his teeth in a smile Mikol had seen before. Instead of being warm and jovial, it felt predatory.

“You look upset. I assume you are confused, boy. Let me put you at ease. I truly did think there was something hidden from the Sundering. Only too late did I learn there was no secret cache of runic weapons. But I know you found something. If only Voletain had been a little more open to the world he could have seen what could be accomplished with both runic magic and blood magic.”

“Did you kill Voletain?”

“It had to be done. Unfortunately, he was too set in the old ways and would not listen to reason.”

“What reason could possibly by worth the Archon’s life?”

“Immortality.”

“Immortality? Why would you want to be immortal? Didn’t you warn me to protect myself from those I love for as long as I am going to live? Everyone I know will die.”

“Not everyone. Only the weak will die. The powers of blood magic can harness the energy of another person and interweave it into the life of the strong.”

“What happens to the person giving you their energy?”

“After they have given their energy they are no longer my concern. Their bodies are simply husks,” said Omoni.

“They die. And who gets to choose who dies?”

“I will choose who receives the gift of bestowing their life for mine. My empire will rule all of Angalataea for all time,” said Kagarin.

“Oh, yes. I forget you do not know the whole plan,” said Omoni.
 

When Omoni turned back to Kagarin, Mikol was surprised to see two more men standing behind Kagarin’s guards. Without a word, swords were driven through the guards’ chests. The speed at which Kagarin drew his sword and stepped into a defensive stance awed Mikol. In a different life he would have liked to spar with this man.

“You were not my first choice, Kagarin,” said Omoni. “There were others that I had groomed. None of them had your fervor though, or your conviction. Most of them believed me at first but eventually saw through the lies and the end game I was playing for.”

Kagarin and the two assassins were slowly circling. None of them made a move. Mikol knew Kagarin could not make the first move without opening himself up for an attack.
 

“What are you talking about?”

“You’ve played your role perfectly. But now that Mikol has returned, I can move up other parts of my plan. Your empire was never going to happen. Once your, sorry,
my
army reaches Ternia, it will be a small matter of pruning the traitors and securing my empire.”

The assassins were forcing Kagarin to keep his focus on them. Neither of them had made any direct attacks but kept the pressure on Kagarin.

“I will kill you, Omoni. Why are you threatening the last heir of Tanris?”

“You still don’t get it. There is no heir. When Tanris Elderson fled to the wastelands, that is where he died. Alone, defeated and without any heir. You think Ioyan would not have known what happened to his beloved son? He tried to bring him back. But Tanris refused to come back and face his father. When he died his body was brought back and buried in an unmarked tomb in the royal mausoleum.”

The assassins both moved to attack Kagarin at the same time. Mikol could barely keep up with the speed of all three men. He found himself almost cheering for Kagarin as he dodged, parried, and attacked the assassins. His execution of movement was flawless, and he struck down one of the assassins. The other man faltered and stepped back, clearly not expecting Kagarin’s talent. Kagarin lost no time and took advantage of the confusion as he closed the distance to the second man. Omoni raised his hands. Mikol could not keep up with the exchange of blows between Kagarin and the assassin. With one final dodge, Kagarin felled the assassin. In the same instant, Omoni released a spell that struck Kagarin in the back. He fell forward, his sword clattering to the floor. Mikol flinched when Kagarin’s head hit the floor hard.

“You should never turn you back to your enemy,” said Omoni. He took a step forward.

“In another time you would have made a great king. But you trusted someone you should not have and didn’t listen to those you should have,” said Omoni.

The third guard re-entered the room, dropping the pitcher of wine as he reached for his sword. Omoni turned to the man, his finger pointing at him. Mikol saw blood dripping from his extended finger. Droplets of blood were flung towards the man as Omoni cast another spell. The man did not see it coming and screamed in pain. Mikol heard a loud popping sound.

“I will let you live if you report what you see to the generals.”

The man held his right arm to himself and gritted his teeth but nodded his head. Omoni withdrew a curved knife from his belt and walked to the twitching body of Kagarin. Omoni knelt down next to him, stroking his hair as a father would.

“Yours will be the first blessing of my empire.”

The only sound that escaped Kagarin’s lips was a soft hiss. It turned into a terrifying wheeze as the dagger slowly entered his back. Mikol did not hear what Omoni said next but saw a dark red essence spill from Kagarin’s body and flow up the dagger and into Omoni.

“Go now.”

The guard ran off. Omoni stood and stepped to the first assassin. He shook his head and moved to the second assassin. The man reached out to Omoni.
 

“Shh. Quiet now. You have almost served your purpose.”

He batted away the man’s hand and slowly plunged the dagger into the man’s chest. Mikol could see another dark red essence flow up the dagger into Omoni. It was not as bright as Kagarin’s. Afterward, Omoni wiped the blood off of the dagger with the dead man’s clothes. He sheathed the dagger and stood up. Brushing off his clothes, he walked toward Mikol and leveled his gaze at him.

“Now, tell me what you found.”

Chapter 21

Confession

Omoni walked closer to Mikol, never taking his eyes off of him. Their battle of wills raged. Mikol kept his gaze for as long as he could but turned away as he could not stand the betrayal. Omoni chuckled softly and smiled.

“This does not have to be hard for you, Mikol. All I want is to know what you found and to get the runic power back. You can rule with me and become my apprentice.”

Mikol tasted bile in his throat. He stood up and faced Omoni. He shook his head. Before he could say anything, Omoni’s smile transformed into a snarl and Omoni flung his hand out. Mikol was rocked backward by the spell. Mikol had not seen what had been thrown at him, nor did he have time to figure it out. The spell had crashed into his shield spell and had flown into his armor as well. Omoni was not fazed and Mikol found he was no match against the seasoned Preceptor of Wardens. Mikol was forced to dodge out of the way of another spell. Omoni had been ready and Mikol was blasted backward onto the ground. When he tried to stand he found any movement caused him pain. Omoni sighed.

“This did not have to be hard. I gave you a choice. I thought you were smart enough to see the inevitable as well. Unfortunately, you choose poorly.”
 

Omoni paced in front of Mikol.

“Let’s see if you can still be a good student. We both know there was no weapons cache. So what did I send you to? What did you find? What was this Obelisk? All I could get from Voletain was that it was a relic best left in the past.”

Mikol found himself trying to speak, though no sounds escaped his lips. Omoni sighed and looked down at Mikol. He laughed, making a quick gesture with his hands. Mikol felt his throat loosen.
 

“Sorry, please try again.”

The pain was still present in the rest of his body but he was able to take several deep breaths and calm himself.

“I don’t know what the obelisk was or what it was for. But it was in a cave full of runes.”

“Was? Hmm, so you destroyed it?”

Mikol breathed deeply, trying to remain calm. Omoni was looking off in the distance, not at him. Mikol quickly looked back and saw Bayle with his crossbow ready. Mikol gave him a painful shake of his head. Bayle moved back behind a pillar. Mikol looked back and saw Omoni still looking away, so he remained quiet.

“Well, that does explain some of what has happened. I wondered how trained assassins could not kill you when they set up that ambush outside Silverhall.”

“How could you know about that?”

“If only you had showed an inkling of promise before. There is much that you were not told about blood magic. It is not all about destruction. Blood magic can link two people so completely that they can talk to each other with only their thoughts. I have read of those who could do this with runes, but it seems that was lost in the Sundering. Really, runic magic and blood magic are actually two sides of the same coin. Runic magic uses the magic of the world. Blood magic takes the power from the body. Both use symbols and words to focus energy to do what we want. Before the Sundering, there were those who did not need runes or binding words or anything else but their minds. They simply willed something and it happened. I hope to regain this knowledge eventually.”

“Why do you need the runic magic back? You seem to be doing well without it.”

“While they are similar, they are not without their flaws. Blood magic can be more powerful than runic magic, but it is less controllable. The power is also very ephemeral. Using both magics together allows for control and unlimited power.”

Seemingly to illustrate his point, the faint glow that had suffused Omoni’s body was disappearing.

“Without the runes to bind the essences of the dead, the power eventually leaves. There are many stories of warriors killing their injured comrades for the temporary power it provided. For those bold enough to use this power it has led to many victories over the centuries. It is one reason the Savage Kingdoms have been able to survive as long as they have. Against an enemy willing to kill their own, it is hard to maintain the balance of power. It is actually those stories that led me to understand there is something to be gained with both magics. I have a chance at real immortality. With all the knowledge of the world I did not think I was the only one to come to this conclusion but I found nothing in all my research about it. Until I came across the Archon’s book. With the promise of hidden power, I sent you to find the knowledge for me.”