The sanguine scroll, p.7
The Sanguine Scroll, page 7
Eddred hoped that was why the undead had fled. With their luck, there was probably something nearby, big and nasty, that ate ghouls for dinner and would love to add some living flesh to its diet. “We’d best leave the lanterns burning all the same.”
They set out again. Eddred’s stride felt as light as it had since they left home. They were almost at the end now. They’d claim the Scroll and return with it to Lord Valtan. Otto Shenk would be thwarted in his goal of becoming an Arcane Lord and the world would be safe.
His smile was bitter. No way would it be that simple.
Distances in the desert were deceptive and it took another three hours of walking to reach the outskirts of the city. No wall protected it from the dangers of the desert. Small stone houses just seemed to pop up out of the sand. They didn’t pause to look inside, but judging from the size, there couldn’t have been more than two rooms in each.
Roads made of flat, gray stones ran between the buildings and led deeper into the city.
“Do you sense anything?” Eddred asked.
Adam shook his head. “Nothing specific, but there’s so much corruption running through the ether I can’t tell anything for sure.”
“Whatever Amet Sur unleashed here may taint the ether forever,” Lilly added. “Did Lord Valtan indicate which pyramid holds the Scroll?”
“The biggest one, naturally,” Eddred said.
“I’ve never seen a city without a wall.” Uther looked around as if expecting a wall to appear out of nowhere.
The mercenaries just looked relieved not to see any ghouls. Eddred wished he shared their relief. The ghouls, at least, were a known danger. One they were confident the lanterns could defeat. Whatever danger waited in the pyramid remained a complete mystery.
They hiked through the silent, empty streets. The strangest thing was the lack of smells. Most cities were an endless collection of odors, some good, many foul. But here the dry air held little beyond a hint of decay.
Eddred remained tense, expecting something awful to happen at any moment. All around them, the buildings grew larger and more elaborate as they approached the city center. The air held an oppressive gloom. The few words spoken between the mercenaries were whispers. That seemed appropriate given the city was basically a massive graveyard.
When they reached the plaza surrounding the portal Eddred straightened and drew a deep breath. The air felt lighter here. In his limited vision even the ether looked pure.
“Adam?”
“It’s the mithril, Majesty,” Adam said. “So much of it in one place purifies the corruption. I suggest we make camp beside the portal and begin exploring at first light.”
“Agreed. Let’s have that fire we’ve been avoiding and a hot meal.”
Eddred looked up at the black pyramids and shivered. No way did he want to get stuck in one of them after dark.
Lady White didn’t know how long she lay unconscious on the cold cavern floor. She was simply pleased to wake up and not find something gnawing on her arm. She sat up, delighted once more that her undead body was immune to mortal aches and pains. A few stretches combined with a brief touch of corruption confirmed that she was fully functional. When she reached out to her warbeast, she found it waiting the same place as last time. The beast wouldn’t flee as long as she existed, but with demons it was best to take nothing for granted.
Satisfied that she was ready to resume her journey, she set out down another narrow tunnel. She could not wait to leave these passages. Even undead liked seeing the sky and feeling the wind. At least she did.
Oh well.
Happily, after only an hour or two of trudging, the tunnel began to slope upwards. Her pace picked up at the prospect of reaching the surface.
Fifteen minutes later she climbed a set of crumbling stairs and emerged into the nighttime desert. A cool breeze washed over her. Though hardly a hedonist, that might be the sweetest feeling she’d enjoyed in decades.
Her warbeast trotted over and butted her thigh with its head. She stroked it absently as she looked over the now much closer city. There were three black pyramids surrounding the city’s portal in the center. The ordinary buildings didn’t interest her, but the orange glow from a fire surrounded by the greenish glow of some sort of necromantic flames did. It seemed she wasn’t the first to arrive.
Otto wasn’t likely to be pleased when she informed him. Not that she had any obligation to please the mortal wizard, but angry allies tended to act rashly. Though he didn’t strike her as the rash type and none of this was her fault.
Maybe she should take a look first and find out what she was dealing with. More information was definitely better than less.
Lady White set out for the city. No ghoul, guardian, or demon rose to block her way. In fact, as she passed the first building, all she sensed was the ambient corruption. If the city had guardians, they were well hidden. Those were the worst sort of guardians.
She made it through the city to the edge of the central plaza. As best she could tell, everyone camped out around the portal, save one on watch, was fast asleep. Her skin already itched from being close to so much mithril.
There seemed to be little danger in contacting her partner. Once he arrived, she’d let Otto decide what he wanted to do with the early arrivals.
She reached for the message device in her pocket then froze. On the far side of the city, she sensed something. No, someone. A fellow servant of Astaroth. A member of the cult here meant bad things for her.
Best find a defensible position quickly. Lady White was a powerful magic user, but far from the strongest in the group. Lord of the Dead wouldn’t send any weaklings to hunt her down. Whoever had shown up would be a threat. If she underestimated the danger, her long existence would come to an end.
And she couldn’t count on Astaroth’s help either. In a battle between his followers, the demon lord would grant them their usual powers, but nothing extra.
Basically, she was on her own.
Lady White glanced down at her warbeast. Well, not entirely on her own.
The two of them hurried away from the central plaza. All of the nearby buildings were sturdy. It wasn’t like she could hide from someone capable of sensing her presence. She just needed somewhere that would stop whoever it was from sneaking up on her. Her first strike would have to do the job. If it didn’t, she couldn’t predict how a drawn-out fight might go.
Gareth and his companions stood on a sand dune overlooking the city. It didn’t have a wall, allowing them a full view of the entire place. A small fire near the portal looked like a firefly in the distance. That had to be the group they’d been tracking. Neither Jackal nor Ginevera said anything. That was an irritating habit of the pair. Gareth had never considered himself overly chatty, but compared to these two, he was practically a socialite.
At least they kept the ghouls away. The few that had dared approach the group were quickly sent fleeing. Gareth didn’t even see any magic, but whatever Jackal did, those creatures didn’t like it. Even Ginevera had looked on with an appreciative smile. Impressing her told Gareth more about Jackal’s abilities than anything he’d actually done.
“So do we go in and capture them while they’re sleeping, or what?” Gareth asked.
“Of course not,” Ginevera said. “We let them find the treasure then we kill them and take it for ourselves.”
A perfectly practical response, exactly what he expected her to say.
Jackal had turned and was staring at another area of the city. “She’s here.”
“Say what?” Gareth asked.
“My prey. I can sense her in the city. Our ways part here.”
Without another word he ran off at a dead sprint toward the city.
Gareth turned to Ginevera. “Unless I’m mistaken, this wasn’t the deal. Isn’t he supposed to help us claim the treasure before he runs off to hunt down whoever got on his master’s bad side?”
She shrugged. “Try to stop him if you like.”
Yeah, right. Getting killed by someone that was supposed to be on his side didn’t overly appeal to him. “Maybe he’ll handle this unlucky woman and rejoin us.”
“More likely their battle will alert Eddred and his party, making our ambush that much more difficult.” She stalked off toward the city.
Having no desire to deal with any ghouls that might show up by himself, Gareth hurried to join her. “Where are we going?”
“Jackal may have ruined our plans. I want to be close enough to act should it be necessary.”
Gareth asked no more questions. Whatever was going to happen, he’d do his best to help her. Not because he wanted to, but because she was the only one on the whole miserable continent that he believed might help him get home.
Of course, he wasn’t totally confident of that either.
They slunk along through the silent city. A chill ran through Gareth, so he drew his dagger. The twelve-inch blade would be of little use against some of the monsters he’d seen, but he felt better with it in hand.
He flicked a glance at Ginevera. She made hardly a sound which surprised him. Being sneaky required certain skills and he’d doubted she had them. Maybe some kind of magic muffled her movements. Gareth wanted to ask her, just to break the unnerving silence, but knew better than to draw attention when on a job.
Finally, they stopped just outside the central plaza. Nothing had changed. The fire still burned, though where they found wood out here, he had no idea. That strange green glow still tinted everything.
“I think we’re good,” he whispered.
He’d barely gotten the words out when an explosion rocked the city. Everyone by the fire leapt to their feet shouting.
Someone pointed toward the largest pyramid and the group fled towards it, taking their weird green lights with them.
“You had to say it, didn’t you?” Ginevera said.
She glared at him like it was his fault Jackal ran off to start a small war.
Chapter 10
Lady White sensed whoever was hunting her growing closer by the moment. She’d settled on one of the smaller stone houses for her hiding place. Inside, she found a room with no exterior wall and only one entrance. Her warbeast crouched just to one side of the closed door. Whoever walked through was in for a nasty surprise.
If they took whoever it was in the first rush, that would be ideal. A drawn-out battle against an unknown opponent was risky. If the one she thought was coming actually showed up, she wasn’t sure even a surprise attack would be enough.
In the palm of her right hand, darkness gathered. Slowly she collected and condensed corruption into a destructive ball that would blow apart anyone she hit, whether it be a living or undead foe.
Her hunter stopped outside the building. Must be the cautious sort. Pity. Some of Astaroth’s followers were more patient than others. She’d been hoping for one of the impulsive ones. Not that she really imagined she’d get so lucky. Anyone that had grown powerful enough to face her one on one didn’t do it by being stupid.
Finally, they entered. Corruption gathered around the hunter just like it did her.
At her mental command her warbeast tensed. The hunter was only twenty paces away now. Any moment they’d burst through the door.
Lady White prepared herself.
Corruption surged and the wall to her right exploded inward.
Gravel showered her as dust filled the air.
A barely visible silhouette appeared through the haze.
She hurled the corruption she’d gathered.
The black sphere passed through the figure before slamming into the wall behind. The resulting explosion rocked the building and she feared it might collapse.
Having no desire to end up crushed under tons of stone, Lady White ordered her warbeast to attack. It roared and leapt.
At the moment of impact, she sprinted for the hole in the wall.
An instant’s warning was all she had before her opponent’s spell came rushing at her.
Darkness formed a shield around her.
A moment later she was blown backwards through the opening in the wall. Her quick protective spell kept the damage to a minimum, but the power of the attack still stunned her.
As she staggered to her feet, the connection between her and the warbeast vanished. Her mystery opponent had killed the creature. That narrowed the hunter’s identity down to only a handful of cultists. No way was it Lord of the Dead himself.
The dust settled and she finally caught a glimpse of a pale, handsome face. Jackal. She’d suspected Lord of the Dead would send his favorite hunter. She would have felt honored if she wasn’t so scared.
“Submit and your destruction will be quick,” Jackal said.
If she was inclined to die quickly, she would have done it back in the Land of the Demon Binders and saved herself a long walk through the desert. A wave of her hand summoned a curtain of darkness.
Lady White turned and ran.
Some spell grazed her side, drawing a hiss. Undead though she might be, there were still spells that could hurt her. And she wouldn’t be surprised if Jackal knew them all. She needed space to set a trap. Or better yet, to summon an ally.
Outside she turned down a street and ran away from the portal. She had no idea how the group already here would react to her and had no desire to fight a three-sided battle. Besides, the mithril would weaken her more than Jackal.
She’d barely managed ten strides when he came out of the building at full speed. Jackal would have no trouble outrunning her. Forcing power into her legs, she leapt from the street onto the flat roof of the nearest building.
From roof to roof she raced across the city, not daring to look back, but sensing him gaining.
She yanked the message device from her pocket, snapped it, and said, “I’m in the city and need help. Now.”
A faint tingle in the back of her mind hopefully indicated the spell had worked.
She leapt to the next roof and tossed the rune-marked coin off to one side. If Jackal noticed it she was doomed. Her gamble was that he’d be so focused on her that he wouldn’t think anything of the coin. Her eternal life rested on winning that wager.
When her foot hit the next roof, it collapsed under her. Lady White sprawled in the dirt and found herself staring up at Jackal.
“And so the chase ends.” He reached for her, darkness writhing around his hand.
Otto sat at the desk in his bedroom and twirled a gold and mithril amulet. It was a beautiful item, carved with a circle of runes that he’d then filled with liquid mithril. In the center of the runes, also written in mithril, was Lady White’s true name.
He’d spent the last three weeks forging it according to his master’s directions. Lord Karonin claimed that when he sent ether through the amulet, it should allow him to command Lady White. “Should” being the operative word. While she felt confident in the technique, even the former Arcane Lord had never actually used the magic on an intelligent, self-willed undead like Lady White.
He sighed and slipped the amulet under his tunic. Hopefully she’d never give him cause to use it. Willing allies were far more useful than ones operating under threat. Though he’d made out okay with Allen and Sin. Those two were currently keeping an eye on Jet. He’d grown weary of the demon worshiper’s constant questions about when they’d be going to join Lady White and sent her to stay with Allen at his tavern.
The day had been long and his bed beckoned. He pushed himself out of his chair, yawned, and took a step toward the water basin to wash up.
One of his message spells hit him in the back of the head. I’m in the city and need help. Now.
He shuddered at the power of the message. Sometimes emotions influenced the force of the message. Clearly Lady White had gotten into serious trouble. More importantly, she’d found Amet Sur’s capital.
His bed forgotten and his weariness washed away by excitement, Otto turned away from his bed, crossed the room, and snatched up his sword and satchel. He had the patch he needed to activate the portal near him at all times for when she contacted him.
As ready as he could be, Otto became one with the ether and reached for the rune-marked coin he’d given her.
An instant later he appeared on a rooftop.
He barely had time to register his surroundings when he sensed two powerful sources of corruption below him.
Otto went to the edge of the roof. Below him a figure in a black cloak had its hand wrapped around Lady White’s throat and was holding her two feet off the ground.
Not even thinking, Otto drew his sword and leapt.
Ether flowed into his body as he fell.
His mithril sword sliced the arm holding Lady White off at the elbow. He caught just a glimpse of a pained, pale face before the man vanished.
Otto kept his sword drawn just in case the stranger returned. Beside him, Lady White tossed the forearm away and rubbed her pale throat. She looked shaken, even more so than when the cultists had her trapped in the Land of the Demon Binders.
“I doubted you’d come,” she said at last.
“Why? We’re allies, aren’t we? I promised you protection from your enemies in exchange for your loyalty. Wouldn’t be much of a deal if the first time you got into trouble I ignored you.” Otto used a few threads of ether to retrieve the rune-marked coin from the nearby roof. “Here. Who was that anyway?”
She took the coin back and slipped it into her pocket. “Jackal. He’s the favored hunter of Lord of the Dead, the leader of my former cult. Of all those Lord of the Dead might have sent, Jackal is the one I least wanted to deal with.”
“Why? What makes him so special? When I first sensed the two of you, your levels of corruption seemed about even.”
“He’s a little stronger than me.” From the tone of her voice, it took a lot to admit that. “The real problem is our specialties. My talents lie in summoning and binding as well as long-range communications. When my superiors trained me, it was to be a leader who oversaw others in the field. Jackal is a hunter. Finding and destroying foes directly is his focus. Basically, this situation is where I’m weakest and he’s strongest.”
