Alexander raised the shield at the entrance of the corridor to keep anything from getting out.
“The darkness is free, My Love,” Chloe said in his mind. “It comes.” He could feel her fear.
“Stay away from it, Little One,” he said without speaking as he braced himself for the battle that was about to unfold.
The creature that came into the hallway was a walking nightmare. It stood nine feet tall and had black, leathery skin stretched tight over powerful-looking muscles. It walked like a man and had two arms ending in long taloned fingers. Its head was similar to that of a goat, except its jaw unhinged, opening impossibly wide as it roared. Its horns swept back from its temples, spreading wide behind its head. Its eyes were smoldering red, the color of hot coals, and they radiated hate and malice. From the back of its shoulders sprouted two tentacles, easily twelve feet long, ending in barbed bone spikes that flailed about over its head.
Shivini stepped out behind it and smiled at Alexander, then once again cut his own throat. The Ranger fell to the floor gurgling blood as Shivini slipped free of the body and slid through the air toward Alexander and his companions. As the shade slipped past him, Alexander maintained his focus on the monstrous demon before him, but watched Shivini with his all around sight as the shade possessed one of the three remaining Rangers.
Shivini turned and ran for the Hall of Magic, leaving Alexander to contend with the demon. He was torn. He couldn’t abandon his companions to face this beast on their own, but he dared not lose Shivini if he could help it. There was no telling what the shade intended and he could easily have more information about Blackstone Keep than Alexander did.
The demon in front of him roared and settled the debate within his mind when it started forward. Alexander knew better than to use Mindbender to touch the demon’s mind. As powerful as the sword was against men, it was just a blade when facing a creature from the netherworld.
Boaberous raised his war hammer high and charged toward the demon. It snapped both tentacles forward with terrifying speed. The first wrapped around the haft of the hammer and ripped it out of the giant’s grasp, sending it skittering down the hall behind the demon. The second jabbed into the giant’s shoulder and jerked him forward. Boaberous set his weight against the strength of the demon, crying out in fury and pain from the wound.
Alexander raced forward, slashing at the tentacle with the Thinblade, cleaving it cleanly with one stroke. The demon roared and sent its other tentacle at Alexander, striking him in the chest and sending him sprawling backward. Anatoly pulled him to his feet.
“Get clear of it!” Kelvin bellowed.
Boaberous retreated a few steps out of the tentacle’s range and Kelvin pronounced the command word that activated the magic of his glass sphere. A shimmering blue orb of magical force about twelve feet in diameter enveloped the demon, imprisoning it within.
It roared in rage, flailing against the magic sphere, but the barrier held.
“How long will that hold it?” Alexander asked, rubbing his chest. His armor shirt had saved him again but the force of the blow left him sore and bruised.
“Indefinitely, as long as I remain in proximity,” Kelvin said.
“Good. Stay with it,” Alexander said. “I’ll send a Ranger to get help.” Then he turned and ran toward the Hall of Magic, dropping the shield at the entrance to the summoning corridor along the way. Shivini had shifted through the aether past the shield and fled down the Hall of Magic toward the sentinel and the central tower. Alexander didn’t know what the shade intended but he was certain it wouldn’t be good.
He raced toward the central tower with Jack and Anatoly trailing behind him. As he approached the archway sealed with stone, the sentinel was facing the blocked doorway as if it was confused.
“Stand down,” Alexander commanded the sentinel, before dismissing the stone wall blocking the archway. Then he slipped into the large circular room that formed the foundation of the wizard’s tower rising high over Blackstone Keep.
“Can you tell which way he went, Little One?” Alexander asked as he stopped to catch his breath.
Chloe buzzed into a ball of light and vanished, reappearing a few moments later.
“He went down the stairs, My Love.”
Alexander didn’t hesitate. He bounded down the circular staircase, stopping at the secret passage leading to the Bloodvault.
“Wait here,” he said to Anatoly and Jack, as he dismissed the stone wall sealing the chamber and entered carefully, his night-wisp light held high and his all around sight extended to the limits of its range. The chamber was cold and lifeless, just as he’d left it.
He sealed the entrance and motioned for his companions to follow him as he continued spiraling deeper into the dark and unexplored bowels of the fortress. The air was cold and heavy, but it was also thrumming with power, as if some ancient magic was at work in the dark.
They reached the base of the spiral staircase, breathless and exhausted, slick with sweat in spite of the chill air. The stairs ended on a landing that extended ten feet farther and abruptly stopped at a smooth wall. Alexander reached into the Keep Master’s ring with his mind and found the place where they stood. It was deep within the center of the stone mountain that made up the foundation of the ancient fortress, but the map in his mind’s eye ended with the landing. No rooms lay beyond.
He placed his hand on the wall and sent his all around sight through to the other side. His vision passed through the heavy stone wall and entered a dark chamber. He could only tell that there was a space beyond from the quality of the colors that the stone of the Keep itself generated.
“Can you pass through this wall and see what’s on the other side, Little One?”
“Of course, My Love,” Chloe said before she spun into a ball of light and vanished into the aether. A moment later he heard her voice in his mind. “It’s a square room with three doors leading out, two are normal oak-bound doors, but the third is spelled with a shield.”
“Thank you, Little One,” he thought back to her. “Don’t go any farther until we get through.”
Alexander held up his night-wisp light and inspected the wall and surrounding area until he found what he was looking for. Along the right side of the stone wall was an indentation that looked like a perfect fit for his ring.
He took a deep breath and pressed the black stone set into the Keep Master’s ring into the receptacle. A moment passed. Then another.
Abruptly, the wall vanished, revealing a simple stone room twenty feet square. There were large oak doors at the center of the left and right walls. Directly across from the entrance was an open passageway barred by a magical shield of a quality that Alexander hadn’t encountered before. Where most shields had a slightly blue aura, this one was the color of blood and it glowed, even to his normal vision.
“That looks dangerous,” Jack said.
Alexander nodded as he sent his mind into the Keep Master’s ring, searching for the barrier but he still found nothing past the threshold of the room where he stood.
“Little One, can you tell which way Shivini went?”
“There is darkness beyond the shielded passage, My Love.”
With a frown, he started to reach for the shield but Anatoly caught his hand.
“Are you sure that’s wise? Maybe start with something you don’t need quite so much … like a knife,” Anatoly said, handing him a throwing knife.
Alexander grinned at his old instructor as he took the blade. Carefully, he brought it into contact with the magical field. As it passed the plane of magic, it vaporized, leaving nothing but half a blade and a wisp of noxious smoke.
“I wish I’d spent more time studying that book Mage Cedric left me,” Alexander said. “There’s no telling how to deactivate this shield or if I even need to. I may be able to pass right through it because of the ring, or it could do to me what it did to that blade.”
“For my part, I’d rather you didn’t risk it,” Jack said.
“I tend to agree,” Anatoly said.
“Shivini is in there … and he’s up to something,” Alexander said.
“Yeah, and you won’t be able to do a thing about it if that shield kills you,” Anatoly said.
“There has to be a way through,” Alexander said. “If not with the Keep Master’s ring, then how?”
Anatoly shrugged. “I couldn’t tell you, but the only way you’re going to find out is by risking at least a finger.”
“You’re right,” Alexander said, facing the shield and carefully extending his left little finger toward the red plane of magic. He braced himself for the pain but felt only a warm tingling sensation as his finger moved through the field. He pushed through to the other side and turned back to his friends.
“I don’t like this, Alexander,” Anatoly said.
“Me neither,” Jack said.
“What choice do we have? Shivini has to be stopped.”
Anatoly clenched his jaw, but remained silent.
“Be careful, Alexander,” Jack said. “There’s no telling what’s down here, but it seems clear that Shivini knows something we don’t.”
Chloe buzzed into a ball of light over Alexander’s head, facing Anatoly and Jack.
“I will protect him,” she said.
Alexander smiled as he started down the dark corridor with Chloe flying in an orbit around his head.
Chapter 9
Isabel followed Abigail through the Keep, asking passersby for directions at every turn. At first she wasn’t sure where her sister was going but it didn’t take long to realize her destination. Isabel quickened her pace. She knew Abigail was upset, she only hoped she wasn’t so distraught that she would leave the Keep by herself.
Isabel reached the aerie just in time to see Abigail launch from the flight bay on Kallistos.
“Abigail!” she shouted into the wind, but her sister either didn’t hear her or chose to ignore her.
Isabel knew she could impose her will on Kallistos and force him to fly back to the aerie whether Abigail wanted to or not, but she wasn’t willing to usurp Abigail’s free will like that. She had come to love and respect her new sister, but even more than that, she valued their friendship.
Mistress Constance approached.
“Lady Reishi, Abigail saddled Kallistos and was prepared to launch before we realized what she was doing,” she said. “Against my counsel, she left the Keep alone. I’m readying two Sky Knights to fly escort as we speak.”
“Good, saddle Asteroth as well,” Isabel said without looking away from Abigail as she descended to gain speed.
Isabel tipped her head back and found Slyder preening himself on the balcony of her quarters. With a thought, she sent her familiar after Abigail. At least she would be able to watch over her through Slyder’s eyes.
The Sky Knights were doing the work of wyvern handlers, so the job took longer than normal. The aerie was just beginning to come to life. With the assistance of the Rangers, they had been busy cleaning and preparing for the arrival of many more wyverns, handlers, and Sky Knights, but for the time being, the place was operating on a skeleton crew.
Isabel paced as Abigail disappeared into the distance, flying south toward New Ruatha and the Great Forest. Isabel had no idea where she was heading. It could be that she was trying to get as far away from the war and her unwanted responsibility as possible. Isabel hadn’t known Abigail for all that long, but they shared a bond of friendship forged in hardship and shared danger. They were close and Isabel ached for the pain she knew Alexander had caused her, but she also knew that Alexander was right.
He had made the hard choice yet again.
She was proud of him and worried about the emotional toll his choice would exact. It was one thing to accept the burden of responsibility upon yourself, but quite another to place such a burden on one you loved. She knew he would struggle with the consequences of his decision, especially if Abigail was hurt in the bargain.
Mistress Constance returned.
“The escort riders are ready,” she said. “Shall I hold them until Asteroth is prepared or send them now?”
“Send them,” Isabel said. “I’ll catch up. Also, send a Ranger to Alexander with a report.”
“Right away, Lady Reishi,” Constance said.
She watched the two escort riders launch. Both were experienced Sky Knights riding mature wyverns with countless hours in the air. They slipped over the edge of the launch bay and tipped into a shallow dive to gain speed.
Not long after, several Sky Knights led Asteroth onto the flight deck. He was saddled and eager to take to wing. Isabel linked her mind to the big wyvern and soothed the beast with assurances that they would soon be airborne. It didn’t take her long to change into riding armor and lace herself into the saddle. Once she was secure and had done her checks, she urged Asteroth into the air. With one thrust of his wings, he gained ten feet, the second thrust propelled them out over the edge of the flight bay. Isabel savored the exhilaration of flight as she leaned into Asteroth’s neck and urged him into a gentle dive.
She caught up to Abigail within the hour. The two escort riders were above and behind, watching over their charge. Abigail ignored them.