Cursed Bones: Sovereign of the Seven Isles: Book Five (21 page)

Alexander materialized and knelt next to her, whispering her name softly. She looked up with a start, fear in her wide innocent eyes.

“Lord Reishi? Is that really you?”

“Yes and no,” Alexander said. “You’re seeing a projection of me. I’m not really here.”

“So you didn’t come to save me?” she sobbed.

“I just discovered you were missing,” Alexander said. “You have to believe me, I’m going to help you and you’re going to make it through this, but right now I need to know who took you and why.”

“I don’t know,” Wren said. “I was in bed when they came. It was dark. They gagged me and put a bag over my head. A wagon took me for a while, then they put me on a boat. I’ve been here ever since. They don’t talk to me, even when they bring me food. Why are they doing this to me?” she sobbed again, breaking down in tears.

“I don’t know, but I’m going to find out and I’m going to send help,” Alexander said. “I have to go now. I need you to be strong, Wren. Help is on the way.”

She nodded, sniffing back her tears as he vanished.

He shifted his awareness to Blackstone’s sleeping room in a blink. Three Rangers awaited his message. He slipped into the dreams of the nearest, manifesting on a battlefield as the Ranger fought to defend the walls of New Ruatha. The enemy was mounting a charge and Alexander could feel the fear and hopelessness of the Ranger as his nightmare threatened to overwhelm him.

Alexander imposed his will on the man’s dream and cleared the field of everyone save himself and the Ranger. The man was confused at first but gathered his wits quickly once the unreality of the dream set in and he remembered that he was the vessel for Alexander’s messages.

“Lord Reishi, I stand ready to deliver your orders.”

“Tell Mage Gamaliel to send all of the explosive weapons he has to the Gate immediately. I’ll have Lord Abel open it as soon as they arrive. Tell Mage Alabrand to prepare to leave for Glen Morillian in the morning. Instruct Captain Alaric to send a thousand Rangers to escort him, then tell Mage Gamaliel to send as many wizards as he can spare and all of the Sky Knights still in the Keep as well. Lucky must arrive there safely as soon as possible.

“Tell Captain Alaric to send message riders to
Southport
immediately. Wren has been abducted and is aboard a ship sailing along the coastline toward the city. Have him instruct the Southport Navy to locate this ship and rescue the girl.”

“I will deliver your messages immediately,” the Ranger said.

Alexander slipped out of his dreams and back into the firmament. The source of all things had become a familiar place to him. He was comfortable floating on the ocean of potential that created each moment anew, listening to the song of creation as it unfolded.

Again, he wondered about Siduri. There was so much potential and so much danger bound up in his story. His mere existence was beyond reason, and yet Alexander had no doubt—Siduri was real. He’d accomplished feats of magic beyond anything that even the most accomplished arch mage had ever considered, and yet he’d withdrawn from the world, content to observe … until Alexander’s desperation had given him cause to act.

With a flick of his mind, Alexander was in the chamber where he’d found the blood of the earth. He floated above the crystal bowl filled with the potent liquid and pondered its purpose. It screamed of puissance, power beyond mortal comprehension, yet real enough to scoop up and put in a vial.

Not for the first time, he considered putting the small amount he’d taken back, but the thought of giving up even one chance of saving Isabel caused desperation to well up within him, driving out the idea and confirming his resolve.

If it came to it, he would use the blood of the earth to save his wife, come what may. Thoughts of Siduri evoked his worries about the shades. Even if Alexander managed to banish the last of them, they were eternal, existing in the netherworld, outside of time and substance and they were determined to unmake reality.

And now they knew how.

Even if he destroyed the Nether Gate, they now knew such a thing was possible—for that matter, the Taker knew it as well. Yet, if the Taker could manifest in this world, he would have, so it stood to reason that he needed agents to do his bidding in the world of time and substance. The shades were the real problem—the threat that could end all things.

As he floated there, pondering the nature of his most dangerous enemy, a thought occurred to him. The shades were nothing but disembodied souls, empowered by the Taker to exist unbound to flesh.

What if they could be bound to something else?

He had in his possession a book that detailed the process for placing one’s soul within a specially prepared item so that the caster of the spell could become an immortal undead. What if he could use the principles within that book to create a device capable of capturing the soul of a shade and imprisoning it for all time?

One more item to discuss with the Guild Mage.

***

“Hello, Kelvin,” Alexander said a moment after he seemingly materialized before the Guild Mage. “I’ve learned how to project illusions over great distances, but only for a short time. Summon Lucky and Jataan, I’ll return when they arrive.”

Kelvin smiled. “Hope was becoming very thin around here, Alexander. It’s good to see you.”

“You as well,” Alexander said, fading out of sight but remaining present while awaiting his friends.

Lucky was the first to arrive. He’d regained the belly he’d lost from his travels and was flushed from his haste. Jataan entered the room several minutes later, moving stiffly and deliberately.

Alexander materialized in front of them.

“It’s good to see you all,” he said.

“Lord Reishi,” Jataan said, “we received a report from Captain Kalderson of the Reishi Protectorate Navy that you’d been killed, yet the letter he carried from Lady Reishi claimed that you’re alive but wounded on the central
island
of
Tyr
.”

“Isabel told Captain Kalderson that I was dead to convince him to take her to Karth,” Alexander said. “A wraithkin stabbed me through the leg. It’ll be a while before I’m ready to travel, but I’m safe in the care of the dragons of Tyr.”

“Bragador has accepted you into her home?” Kelvin asked, somewhat incredulously.

“I saved the life of her unborn daughter,” Alexander said. “We’ve come to an agreement.”

“Tread lightly, Alexander,” Kelvin said.

“I’m doing my best. She’s not happy with me being here, even less that I’ve befriended her daughter, but she’s agreed to give me sanctuary until I heal. Ultimately, she wants nothing to do with our conflict, but Phane might just be foolish enough to force her hand.”

“That may be his undoing,” Lucky said.

“We can only hope,” Alexander said. “She caught a ship full of assassins in her waters yesterday and sent the lone survivor back to Phane with a message to stay away. If he’s dumb enough to keep messing with her, she might just solve our problem for us—permanently.”

“Phane isn’t stupid enough to risk the wrath of several hundred dragons,” Jataan said.

“Pity,” Alexander said. “Bragador and her family could end this war overnight.”

“Don’t be too eager to get the dragons involved,” Kelvin said. “They fought in the Reishi War and it nearly wiped them out. This time they may choose to take the side of dragons against humans instead of fighting each other.”

“I hadn’t considered that,” Alexander said.

“We’ve received your messages and have begun to implement your orders,” Kelvin said. “Much has transpired since we last spoke.”

“You have no idea,” Alexander said. “I wish I had enough time to tell you everything that’s happened, but I don’t. For now, I need a way to heal a dragon.”

Lucky looked perplexed for a moment before nodding. “I could combine a number of healing draughts into a very large dose. I’ve never tried to heal a dragon before, but I don’t see why it shouldn’t work.”

“Good, send it to the Gate along with the explosive weapons,” Alexander said. “Kelvin, do you think you could you use the principles contained in the undead book to create a container capable of trapping a shade?”

“Possibly, but I couldn’t say for certain without extensive research,” Kelvin said. “And, of course, I would need the book.”

“That’s what I was afraid of,” Alexander said. “Both Zuhl and Phane want it, so I don’t dare let it out of my sight. Think about it and do what research you can for now.”

“Understood,” Kelvin said.

“May I ask why you need to heal a dragon?” Lucky said.

“Abigail’s been taken by Zuhl. I plan to send Anatoly and Magda to find the dragon Ixabrax, so he can help us get her back. I wish I had more time to explain, but I have to go. Say hi to my mom for me and make sure she knows I’m doing everything I can to get Abigail back.”

He returned to his body and a pounding headache. All of the pieces were moving into place.

Chapter 18

Anatoly slipped the book into a satchel and looked to Magda. She nodded.

“I’m sending a hundred Rangers to ride escort,” Conner said. “If there’s any trouble, they’ll cover your retreat.”

“I know Alexander well enough to know he’s not telling us everything,” Anatoly said. “And he wouldn’t do that without good reason, so I suspect there’s going to be some kind of trouble.”

Magda raised her eyebrow.

“Just make the trade and bring her back,” Conner said.

Anatoly grunted. He was still a little stiff and the set of dragon-plate armor that Captain Sava had given him didn’t fit quite as well as his ruined armor, but it was far lighter and more durable.
Sava
had lost several of his Strikers during Zuhl’s attack, but their armor had survived unscathed.

Anatoly and Magda rode for the better part of the day, arriving at the location chosen for the exchange late in the afternoon. Zuhl and a hundred of his brutes were there waiting. Anatoly swallowed the sudden lump in his throat when he saw Abigail sitting atop the horse next to Zuhl. He clenched his jaw as he raised his hand, signaling the company of Rangers to halt.

He and Magda proceeded forward as Zuhl and Abigail trotted out from the protection of the men surrounding them, stopping ten feet away in the open space between both forces.

“Did he hurt you?” Anatoly asked.

“Just a few bruises but nothing that won’t heal,” she said.

“I’ve brought Lady Abigail, as promised,” Zuhl said. “I would see the book.”

Anatoly scowled as he withdrew the book from his satchel and held it up for the ancient mage.

Zuhl smiled ever so slightly. “May I?” he said, holding out his hand.

Anatoly rode forward cautiously, extending the book to Zuhl.

He took it and closed his eyes for a moment, muttering words in some long-dead language, and waited for some unseen response before smiling to himself.

“Excellent, our business is done,” he said, turning away from them and leaving Abigail in their care.

She sighed with relief.

“Let’s get out of here,” she said, spurring her horse toward the Rangers.

Anatoly rode up next to Magda.

“Did that seem just a bit too easy to you?” he asked.

“Yes,” she said, nodding.

Once they were well away from Zuhl and his brutes, they stopped to make camp for the night.

Anatoly was brushing his horse when Alexander appeared beside him.

“That’s not Abigail,” he said quietly. “I’m not even sure if it’s human.”

“What do you mean?” Anatoly asked, his mood visibly darkening.

“Zuhl sent an imposter.”

“Are you sure?”

“Absolutely,” Alexander said. “Her colors aren’t right and it looks like she’s under a powerful spell. But more to the point, I just looked in on Abigail in
Whitehall
. She’s still being held by Zuhl.”

“Then we gave him that book for nothing,” Anatoly said.

Alexander smiled, shaking his head. “Not for nothing. Have Magda help you take the imposter alive. We might gain some valuable information.”

Anatoly nodded, unslinging his war axe.

He approached the fire cautiously, catching Magda’s eye and showing her the blade of his axe. She tensed slightly at his unspoken warning, made an excuse and left the fire where the Abigail double and a number of Rangers sat sipping hot tea.

“Abigail’s an imposter,” he whispered. “We need to take her alive.”

She looked at him hard, searching his face for confirmation.

His unflinching gaze left no room for doubt.

She nodded before turning toward the campfire and beginning her spell.

Anatoly began to move quietly out of the way.

Magda released her spell, sending twin spheres streaking toward the imposter, one light blue, the other amber. The amber sphere hit first, striking a shell of magical energy surrounding the imposter and rebounding back at Magda. She tried to dodge her own spell but was struck on the shoulder. The amber light almost instantly encapsulated her, paralyzing her with her own magic and sending her toppling to the ground.