The Sorcerer's Destiny (The Sorcerer's Path) (53 page)

“
Pathetic elf, did you think you could defeat me?”
The Scion studied Tarth for an instant. “
The blood of a Guardian runs through your veins. I know its taste, although it is greatly diluted. You spring from the line of the last true Guardian. We were denied justice for her transgressions, so you will bear her sentence.”

Tarth felt the Scion sliding into his thoughts and tried to push it away.

“Fool, your blood is too thin to resist me.”

“Resist you? On the contrary, I invite you to share my madness.”

Doaz felt the thin barrier between his consciousness and the elf’s shatter beneath his mind’s feet like thin ice covering a pond. The Scion plunged deep inside the lake of madness and flailed for the surface. Doaz found himself drowning in every chaotic thought, emotion, and event in Tarth’s long life. Unable to cope with the swirling insanity, the Scion experienced the full effect of Tarth’s decade-long torture in the hands of the most brutal demon lord ever to inhabit the abyss. The current of chaos poured in through the blood link with his grandmother, and the faceless one spun out of control in the turbulent memories of all the pain and anguish inflicted upon the races during the Great Revolution. It was more than the false god could bear, and he sank screaming in madness into the darkest depths of Tarth’s mind.

***

Doaz’s terror and madness lashed at the minds of the three Scions in a powerful psychic feedback. The world shuddered under their combined psionic shriek. Azerick and Raijaun staggered beneath the combined physical and mental assault. The gods struck swiftly and in unison. Their renewed attack rocked the Scions with a brutal assault. Again and again the true gods attacked, driving the Scions back and inflicting true pain and injury for the first time since their battle began.

Xar and his fellows took the brutal beating and did their best to shield themselves from the assault while they collected their strength and adjusted to the unexpected change. The loss of Doaz to some sort of insanity was a terrible blow, but it was far from critical, and they were nowhere near defeated. The usurpers had the momentum now, but that would change very quickly. It was still the three elder gods against three children. The balance of power had not shifted that dramatically and would soon favor the elder gods again. But first, it was time to remove the one chaotic variable they had mistakenly ignored until now.

The Scions’ power resurged, and the gods’ assault stopped dead against their wards as they directed their attention to Azerick and Raijaun. “
Your meddling has proven more problematic than we had anticipated. We had wanted you and the pathetic mortals to witness the death of your gods, but your interference ends now.”

The Scions shifted so fast they existed in two places at one time for the smallest fraction of a second. Azerick knew there was nothing he could conjure to block the faceless gods’ killing blow, so he tried to rip open a portal to whisk him and Raijaun away. It was an equally futile gesture. Even as Azerick began drawing in the Source to create his gate, the Scions stood before him, radiating power like the heat of the sun.

Ellanee interposed herself between the Scions and the mortals’ champions. The world around them vanished in a massive explosion of power. When the dust cleared, Azerick, Raijaun, and Ellanee stood on an island surrounded by calamitous destruction. The Scions’ glared balefully at the nature goddess for thwarting their will. An invisible hand punched through Ellanee’s ward, wrapped around her, and sought to crush her like a dry leaf. Xar poised a blade of pure psychic energy over the goddess’ heart and stabbed.

Everything happened in the space between breaths. High overhead, a solitary crow cawed, and Azerick glimpsed a flash of motion. Daebian leapt from the Scion’s shadow and plunged his sword deep into Xar’s back. The fallen gods released a horrific scream as Klaraxis sank his ethereal claws into the Scion’s soul.

“Hold or you shall die with her,” Daebian warned.

“
Neither you nor the demon I sense within the gem can destroy me before I kill her.”

“Are you sure? Can you look into my mind and foretell the moment I decide to strike? No, you can’t, and you have less tolerance for ignorance than I do. Less than total control and absolute omniscience drives you to the brink of madness.”

“
You pretend to comprehend things beyond your understanding. Slay me and she will die. This I know. Once again, we will stand even and continue this war until there is only one still standing.”

“Which of you will stand in the end? Whose side will emerge triumphant? You were certain of your ability to kill our gods, yet I see only three of you still around and one a thought away from oblivion. Let us end this now. We both know you cannot predict the outcome of my involvement, and it scares you.”

A silent war waged within the minds of the Scions. Thousands of scenarios played out in an instant, and in none of them were the Scions certain of total victory.

“
We fear nothing, but mutual annihilation does lack logic. We will accept banishment in treaty to end this war. Perhaps this was not our time to return, but that day will arrive.”

“Can we imprison them?” Raijaun asked. “They were banished once and returned in what is little more than a heartbeat for the gods.”

Solarian answered, “We predicted this outcome as one of several possibilities and have spent the past two millennia devising a better prison, one with far fewer resources for them to exploit. It will not last forever. Nothing can contain that kind of evil power for all eternity, but it should keep our people safe for a very long time.”

“
Very well, send us away. We will not resist.”

Ellanee felt the crushing fist holding her body vanish, and she visibly relaxed. The three gods merged their power into a single spell and the Scions faded from view and disappeared as they were transported body and mind to a place of bleak existence. Daebian looked at the naked sword he still held extended in his hand for a moment before sliding it back in its sheath.

“So, is that it?” Raijaun asked. “Is it over?”

“We are done here, but there is much rebuilding to do,” Solarian answered. “We will take you home now.”

“What about Tarth? Where is he?” Azerick inquired.

“He has found some peace here in this world. He has trapped the mind of a god inside him, and it is best if he stays here where there are no distractions. Do not worry for your friend. I will ensure he is well taken care of,” Ellanee assured him.

There was no sense of movement or sign of a rift or shimmering gate. Azerick and the others simply found themselves standing atop the hillside in front of the human’s command hall and amongst the bustling people of Valeria. Miranda was the closest and the first to notice their return.

She threw herself into Azerick’s arms and wept. “Thank the gods you returned!”

A sharp keening rang out over the battlefield, and the great crystal fortress fell from the sky and shattered onto the greatly dwindling ranks of ravagers. With the Scions banished once again, the citadel and few remaining flying ships lost the magic keeping them afloat.

Azerick spotted Ellyssa nearby and called her over. “I am glad to see you made it as well. How are we doing with the ravagers?”

“Most of the wizards are exhausted, but the demons turned the tide of the battle, and most of those not killed have fled. I thought for sure we would be fighting them until the last, but their spirit seemed to finally break. There are still thousands of them on the field, but the soldiers are dealing with them.”

Azerick nodded. “With the Scions gone, there was nothing but their own vile natures guiding them.”

“So, you did it? The Scions are truly dead?” Miranda asked.

“Not quite. One is dead and another is suffering a worse fate. The remaining three have been banished once again.”

“Banished? We suffered all this and they still live to try again one day?”

“It was the best we could achieve, and it will be a very long time before they get the chance to return—if they ever do,” Azerick assured her.

King Miles Ollander trotted his mount up the hill, dropped from the saddle, and knelt before the gods. “Glorious Ones, you grace us all with your presence.”

“Arise, young King,” Solarian commanded. “It is we who bow to you and your people’s courage. We bow to all the peoples of all the races who set aside their petty differences and joined together to fight a terrible foe. If you truly wish to honor us, then remember all who fought to achieve a victory this day.”

“We will not forget again.” Miles stood and faced Azerick, his hand gripping the hilt of his sword in a seemingly casual manner. “Azerick Giles, we owe you a special thanks. Without you, we would have been horribly unprepared. I truly wish there was some way I could justly reward your service.”

“Do not think too much on it, Highness. You have the welfare of the people to think about, and it must take precedence.”

No one could shake the feeling that there was far more meaning in their words that what was being said. There was a tension in the air like the silence that often precedes a battle. Magus Skinner, the Headmaster’s attentive aide, edged closer to the knot of people around Azerick.

“Sharrellan, it is time to return
all
your demons to the abyss,” Solarian intoned.

Miranda looked out across the battlefield. “But the demons crawled back into the ground and vanished almost an hour ago.”

“He means me,” Azerick clarified.

Miranda’s face fell and went ashen. “What? No, the demon is gone now. Daebian removed it from you with the sword!”

“Klaraxis was only part of what made me what I am. I do not belong here.”

“Yes you do! You belong with me! I know I said goodbye, but I was wrong. I cannot let you go again!” Miranda turned her furious eyes onto the dark goddess. “You cannot take him from me again!”

Sharrellan tossed her head back and laughed. “Child, I am a god. I can damn well do what I please. Besides, he was mine long before he was yours. I did not take him, he gave himself to me.”

“You lie! You are the god of lies!”

Sharrellan waved a hand and a perfect scene appeared as if they all looked out a window to watch a strange scene happening just a few feet away. A young boy who could be no one except Azerick sat up on a sleeping pallet in some dark room and shouted at the ceiling. “I will be your Hand, goddess of death. I will be your Hand against everyone who threatens me or those close to me! I will send you so many vile, tainted souls you will have to open another circle of hell to keep them all!” The goddess flicked her hand again and the image vanished.

“You see, he gave himself to me of his own free will.”

“He was just a child!”

“And already a killer.”

Azerick stopped Miranda before she threw herself at the goddess and tried to claw her eyes out. “It’s okay, Miranda. I would never have been allowed to remain here regardless.” He turned his head toward Miles. “Isn’t that right, Your Highness?”

Miranda looked at the King and saw his face flush. “What do you mean? What were you going to do Miles?”

“Do not blame him or whoever else may have laid plans to deal with me after this war.”

“Deal with you? They were going to kill you?” his wife demanded shrilly. “You ungrateful bastards! If you ever try to hurt anyone in my family I will personally strip the crown from your head and shove it so far up your arse the dwarves won’t be able to dig it out!”

“I did not leave them with any choice, Miranda. I secured my sentence through my actions, culminating in the murder of Lord Atwater. I was too dangerous to exist unchecked. I told you that I feared I was becoming a tyrant, and it was only a matter of time before it came true.”

“But you are not an evil man! The demon made you angry and influenced your emotions. You weren’t in your right mind.”

“Klaraxis was never the source of the danger I represented. The real threat was the bit of humanity I could not let go. As long as I clung to it, I could not avoid imposing my power if I thought it needed to be done. I already cast aside justice for expediency once, and I would certainly do so again if I felt I must.”

“But you did those things to save us and protect us.”

“It is not my place to enforce my will upon others because I think I am right. Every dictator and tyrant who ever existed thought their causes and methods were justified. It is why the gods seem aloof even when they could prevent so much pain and hardship, and I lack the wisdom of centuries of life to check my own power. I understood this, and I made Jarvin understand it too so he and others could devise a way to counter the threat I represented, because I did not trust myself to do it for them. I might live forever, but I still have the heart of a fallible, mortal being.”

Miranda pressed her face into Azerick’s chest. “Then this is goodbye again.”

“It is.”

“Well, Father, it appears you may not be quite as blind as I thought you were,” Daebian quipped.

Azerick broke free of Miranda’s embrace and faced his troublesome son. “Daebian, I still cannot begin to understand you, but I want you to know that I love you, and I am proud to be your father.”

Daebian’s eyes became glossy and his voice caught in his throat. “Father, that is all I ever wanted from you.”

Azerick made to embrace Daebian. “Is it truly? I didn’t understand…”

Daebian ducked Azerick’s grasping hands and pushed him away. “No, you great damn narcissist! Just when I think you start to see, you open your mouth and say something else stupid. This is why you vex me to no end. My actions have nothing to do with you. I act the way I act and do the things I do because I want to. Not because of you or the demon or any other damn reason. You just never got it. You can’t help but feel like you are the center of everyone’s universe. ‘My son’s a great big pain in the ass because of me’. No, I’m a pain in the ass because I like to be a pain in the ass. You could never just accept me for who I am. You don’t get credit for my greatness! It’s all me and it’s all mine. Now, it’s time for me to go, and I need a horse.”