Cathexis: Necromancer's Dagger (28 page)

Then the cool tone of Elizabeth’s voice
penetrated through his distress, “Stand fast Hetark, it cannot harm
you when the fire is between you and the beast.”

Inspired by the catalyst of Elizabeth’s
quiet composed voice, Hetark began to calm himself from within by
using an old soldier’s technique taught to him by his first
sergeant. He recalled the litany he had been taught as a recruit,
“
My body is my army. My flesh,
bone,
and muscle are my soldiers, but without
the mind my army has no commander and the battle is already lost.
Panic is death; it leaves your army in a leaderless rout. I control
my fears and guide my troops, for I am Hetark, and nothing will
defeat my army while I command!”

Elizabeth summoned her remaining reserve
power to come to the faltering Hetark’s aid, but then she watched a
transformation come over the knight’s aura. His face resumed its
normal calculating and controlled set and the pattern of the torch
defense became as crisp and sharp as a soldier’s sword drill while
on parade as his fear receded and Hetark regained control.

With a howl of rage that was ghastly in the
minds of the
knights,
the Darknull
withdrew from Hetark’s impeccable defense.

“Away foul monster of the dark, or come feel
the burn of fire! I do not fear your foul touch,” Hetark called out
in a fearless voice.

“Brave words human thing, but let us see how
your fellow mortals handle the pain of soul consumption,” replied
the dread Baron with what sounded in their minds like the crunch of
skulls and the squirt of brains being chewed up by giant teeth.

Moving around the circle the Darknull sought
a breach in the defense of its adversaries. It slowly oozed past
the calm towering Gustin, and then came to a complete halt in front
of the diminutive Drake. It watched the small knight, but it did
not speak or move.

Drake watched the alien creature and his
mind kept seeing one foul image flow into another, all of them
coming from the knight imagining disgusting horrors. One was a
corpse with birds plucking out the round wet eyeballs, another a
living screaming man staked to the ground with insects eating their
way into his stomach. Each sick image was more disgusting and fear
began to creep into the fortress of Drake’s mind.

Gustin looked over at Drake and saw rivers
of sweat crawling down his friend's forehead to drip from his
shaking brow.

Before Gustin could speak Drake screamed at
the Darknull, “Leave
us
alone,
foul creature of evil, I do
not fear you, depart or die!”

Gustin spoke to Drake in a reassuring voice,
“Relax, it cannot...”

But the Darknull’s foul thought thundered
into Drake's mind and overpowered Gustin’s voice, “I feel your fear
mortal man and I will taste of your agony as I feast on your spirit
before this night is through.”

Like a dam breaking the fear in Drake’s mind
burst free of his control and he screamed, “Die, you disgusting
filth!” Drake sprang forward before Gustin’s outstretched arm could
stop him and Drake thrust both of his torches into the Darknull's
evil presence.

The Darknull oozed back and then rushed
behind the stumbling knight with incredible speed before Drake
could turn to defend against the attack. The profane creature
attached itself to his back like some unnatural
growth
and started to feed.

Drake dropped both torches and strained his
arms back over his shoulders trying to reach the horrible pain as
the entire rear half of his aura felt the dissolving acid agony of
the Darknull feeding on his soul. Drake screamed
horribly
and collapsed onto his face while
writhing in the dirt of the forest floor in agony.

“No!” Gustin bellowed and
leaped
forward. He straddled the body of his
fallen friend and thrust his
torches
down onto the insubstantial form of the clinging
Darknull.

At the feeling
of
the fire within his body, the Baron slithered away.
The hot flames of Gustin’s torches burned through Drake’s clothing
and singed the skin of his back, which felt like soothing water
compared to the touch of the Darknull.

“Look out,” Hetark called to Gustin, but it
was too late, the foul creature attached itself to Gustin’s back
and began to feed. The big man staggered and a groan escaped
through clenched teeth as he tried to withstand the terrible agony
of his spirit being consumed by the attached monster. With three
lurching steps Gustin got to the campfire and he threw himself
backward
into the flames and
coals, landing the monster in the flames along with Gustin’s body.
Almost instantly Gustin’s clothes caught on fire.

The Darknull slithered out of the fire with
a howl of rage.

Hetark spun around and grabbed the kicking
feet of the burning Gustin. Adrenaline coursed throughout Hetark’s
body and with every muscle and tendon straining he managed to drag
the heavy knight out of the fire and dove on top of him to smother
the flaming clothing, burning himself in the process.

The Darknull had howled with sick loathsome
laughter and
leaped
toward the
unprotected back of Hetark, who was still beating out the flames on
Gustin.

From across the licking flames of the
fire,
the sorceress stood
unnoticed, her arms spread wide with palms facing the charging
monster. Elizabeth knew she only had one chance, so she waited
until the putrid creature expanded to
envelop
and attach itself to Hetark before she
struck.

Blue light streaked from both her palms to
impact with a crackle of energy three feet before her body, and
from that
point,
the two beams
joined and turned searing white. With a clear, high-pitched note
the pure beam of aura energy lanced forward and pierced the
Darknull faster than thought. The entire creature was instantly
encased with bright light and its scream of agony assaulted their
minds.

Baron Qyrmswav fled the terrible light and
pain within its body, and the sounds of its agony faded rapidly
into the dark of the forest trees as it swiftly fled.

Hetark looked up from the ground in time to
see Elizabeth’s arms sink down to her sides, then her knees bent
and she collapsed slowly and lifelessly to her side on the
ground.

By the third morning after Michael’s
ceremony,
most of the foreign
delegations had departed Lindankar. Three notable exceptions
remained: the ambassador of Pruta, Lord Kestle of Belorn and Lord
Pellev Welter of Tazlany. The Olsk delegation had been the first to
storm out of the capitol, escorting the body of their murdered
ruler home. Only two of their party had remained in the city, but
no one was officially informed of this fact since they were
spies.

One spy obtained a job as a servant in the
Tarnelin palace. Getting the job had turned out to be fairly easy
since many positions had opened up when Lord Jatar locked up the
household servants and charged them with treason.
Currently,
the spy was assigned to polishing
silver in an antechamber of the palace, though in truth he was
listening through a side door into the throne room where Jatar was
conducting audiences.

Lord Welter of Tazlany had just stormed in
with the members of his court that had accompanied him to
Lindankar. He walked up to where Lord Jatar was in conversation
with the Prutian ambassador and then interrupted in a loud voice,
“Jatar, I must speak with you in private, immediately!”

“
Pellev,
quit being rude, you are interrupting a very important discussion.
You can wait your turn like everyone else for an audience,”
CAracusS said sternly, and then turned back to the ambassador,
pointedly ignoring Jatar’s foster brother, Lord Welter.

“I mean now, Jatar!” Pellev commanded.

“How dare you command me in my palace, you
are pushing your foster brother status too far,” replied CAracusS
angrily.

“You will come immediately to explain your
plans for entering Tazlany with an army, or we will discuss it
publicly here,” replied Lord Welter forcefully.

“
Fine, I have no
secrets from my allies so speak your piece, Pellev,” CAracusS said,
looking down his nose imperiously at his fellow ruler.

“I have learned that you plan to move your
army across Tazlany on your way to attack Olsk. What
have
you to say to that?” asked Lord Welter as
if he had sprung a trap.

“Yes, we would just be passing through your
country, so what’s the problem?” CAracusS asked as if there were no
problem at all.

“Just passing through? Have you forgotten
what destruction lies along the back trail of an army? Have you
forgotten what they will do to Tazlany’s farms,
towns,
and women? AND, if I let your army gain
an advantage by passing through our country it would appear that I
have given you my approval in your attack against Olsk. That’s the
same as joining you in this foolish endeavor and drags Tazlany into
war. No, under no circumstances will your army be allowed to pass
through to attack Olsk, and that is my final word,” the Tazlany
ruler finished and crossed his arms to signal the finality of his
statement.

CAracusS slowly rose to his feet as he said,
“And what are you going to do if we march our army across Tazlany
without your permission, join Olsk against us? There are no neutral
parties in this war Pellev, can’t you see that? You are either for
us or against us!”

“Is this the man who spoke so often of a
lasting peace? Now you thirst for war, but Tazlany will not join
you in this insanity, nor will I.”

“Then you are a fool as well as an enemy.
Depart Lindankar before I forget your diplomatic guarantees and
have your head struck from your shoulders for being a traitor to
everything you and I have shared!” CAracusS exclaimed, hatred
obvious in his tone as well as his words.

Lord Welter stood stunned for a moment, but
then his face darkened and he said, “So be it Jatar, you are my
brother no longer.” Lord Welter
spat
on the marble floor in front of Jatar and then spun
on the ball of his left foot and marched out of the hall.

From the back of the hall Lord Verdew Kestle
watched with narrowed eyes, but a moment later he slipped from the
hall and headed for his chambers. Whatever he was about to say to
CAracusS was postponed;
instead,
he went to write a secret message.

At the same
moment,
the spy from Olsk quickly left from where he had
listened to this exchanged and also went to prepare a message
detailing the schism between Tazlany and Lindankar. For Olsk this
falling out between Jatar and Pellev was an unexpected, but
beneficial development. He sent the message by a winged carrier to
his fellow spy who dwelt in another part of the city.

Morning found Elizabeth’s small band still
collapsed around the fire. A thin trail of smoke rose from the
ashes of the spent fire and curled its way high into the green
treetops of the Gellern forest.

Hetark had placed the unconscious Elizabeth
on her back with a folded cloak for a pillow. Michael was playing
with twigs in the pine needles near his mother. Hetark knelt by
Gustin as he finished binding bandages around Gustin’s seared skin
on his broad back.

Gustin glanced over to a fallen log where
Drake sat with his hands clasped and fingers interlaced. The small
knight’s elbows were on his knees and his head drooped forward in
shame. The big knight glanced up at Hetark and spoke quietly, “He
blames himself for Elizabeth’s condition.”

Hetark nodded, and said, “Fear is something
we all share, but I don’t think Drake has truly faced his fear
before that battle. From what I understand everything he has ever
feared he convinced himself he could defeat one way or another. Now
he has found something that he cannot overcome, so fear and shame
are eating him alive.”

Gustin looked with sadness at his once
spunky little friend, wishing to see his quick grin and sharp wit
again, even if it was aimed at Gustin. “Is there nothing we can
do?”

Hetark replied, “I don’t believe he is ready
for our help yet, he’ll have to come to terms with himself first.
Eventually,
he will need our
support; his
self-confidence
may
be damaged for some time to come.”

“What of Elizabeth?” Gustin now asked while
glancing at her still form with the pain of helplessness painted on
his face.

“I fear for her Gustin; her breathing is
shallow and her face is colorless. I believe she may have taxed
herself beyond those limits of which she spoke,” he answered.
Hetark looked at Michael playing beside his mother and his thoughts
reached out to their young charge:
If she dies this poor child
will have lost both his parents.

Gustin sighed heavily; Elizabeth’s body
looked so frail to him in her unconscious state. He said, “If only
I could return the power she used to heal me, I would, even if it
meant my death. She healed us when we were in danger, now I feel so
helpless!”

Hetark nodded and said, “I agree, but
perhaps there is a way to help Elizabeth. If we can ride far and
fast enough we might reach the Kirnath School before that horrid
creature returns from licking its wounds. Once at the Kirnath
School one of the sorcerers could heal Elizabeth as she healed us.
It will be a difficult ride and we are all wounded. Only you are
strong enough to keep Elizabeth in front of you on your horse for
long, but in your condition do you think you have the strength to
ride hard throughout the day and night while supporting her
unconscious body?”