Sovereign of the Seven Isles 7: Reishi Adept (3 page)

“And then some,” Alexander said. “
I’m hoping you can help me with something else. Have you ever heard of Mage Cedric’s war staff?”

“Only in legend. It was said to be extraordinarily powerful. Cedric used it to hold Malachi Reishi’s armies at bay for
decades, though the accounts I’ve read don’t mention specifics.”

“I’ll have to ask the
sovereigns about it,” Alexander said. “If it is that powerful, then Blackstone may be at risk.”

“I can
spare two wizards to support Erik,” Kelvin said. “Hopefully, that will be enough. As for the Sin’Rath, I believe I can help Abigail defeat them. I’ve used the shavings and sawdust that remained after I carved Luminessence to enchant three arrows with light-based banishment spells. While the Sin’Rath are not entirely demonic, I’m confident that these arrows will kill them.”

“Outstanding,” Alexander said. “
From what Isabel tells me, they’re extremely dangerous. Abigail will need all the help she can get.”

“I’ll put together a quiver with a few additional arrows sh
e might find useful and send a Sky Knight to deliver it at once.”

“Thank you, Kelvin,” Alexander said, fading away.

The world rushed by and Alexander found himself floating in a large command tent. Abel was sitting at the head of a long table flanked by two of the most beautiful women that Alexander had ever seen. He had to focus on their dark and angry colors to remind himself that they weren’t what they seemed to be. Prince Torin and General Brand sat to Abel’s right while Mage Lenox sat to his left. Several more high-ranking officers and nine wizards occupied the remaining chairs. A nervous-looking junior officer stood at rigid attention at the far end of the table, his eyes flicking from Abel to the Sin’Rath and back again.

“My orders were clear,” Abel said
, with a hint of anger in his voice. His colors swirled with turmoil and magic. “You were supposed to escort every single wizard from the Ithilian Guild back here. Can you explain to me why you disobeyed my orders?”

“Lord Abel, please forgive me, but the wizards refused,” the young officer said. “They agreed to send only those who chose to accompany me. The rest
remained behind, claiming that you don’t have the authority to command them under Ithilian law.”

Abel started to respond but stopped short when
Peti whispered in his ear. He listened intently, nodding slightly as she spoke.

“You are dismissed,” he said to the officer. The young man seemed relieved as he hastily left the
tent. “General Brand, send a regiment of soldiers to the Wizards Guild and forcibly escort all remaining wizards back here.”

“By your command, Lord Abel,” General Brand said, standing and offering a salute before striding purposefully from the room. His colors were infected with darkness as well, but differently and more intensely than Abel’s. Alexander floated closer to the general, finding what he feared
he would find: bite marks on his neck.

Peti looked over at Agneza and they shared a smile.

“You were right, Sister,” Agneza said. “Our coven will be reborn.”

“More powerful than ever,” P
eti said. “Once the Reishi Coven is no more, there will be none who can stand in our way. The Seven Isles will be ours.”

They both laughed while the men around the table looked on
, enthralled by their magic.

It’s never easy, Alexander thought to himself, floating through the tent and up over the Gate encampment.
The countryside flashed by in a blur and he was in the Ithilian Wizards Guild. A number of wizards sat around a table talking of magic so esoteric and arcane that Alexander scarcely understood the meanings of the words they were using. He appraised them for a moment, scrutinizing their colors before appearing at the end of the table.

Several stood quickly, a few began muttering the words of a spell, but
one stood and bowed. “Lord Reishi, welcome to the Ithilian Wizards Guild. How can we be of service?” The other wizards stopped their spells and regarded Alexander with wary interest.

“
Hello, Wizard Petronius. I’m glad to see that Phane hasn’t gotten his hooks into you again.”

The wizard
withdrew a talisman from under his shirt. “I had this enchanted to ensure that I would never be possessed again.”

“A wise precaution,” Alexander said. “I
’ve come with a warning. The Sin’Rath have taken Abel and the wizards who obeyed his summons. Their intent is to breed with your wizards and then sacrifice them to their offspring in order to reconstitute their coven.”

“Dear Maker,” one wizard said.

“We have to help them,” another said.

There was a murmur of assent.

“No,” Alexander said. “There’s little you can do. The Sin’Rath will charm you the moment you get near them. You have to hide. You have to work against them from the shadows, from a distance, through proxies. If you confront them directly, you will lose.”

“There must be something we can do,” Wizard Petronius said.

“There is,” Alexander said. “General Brand is coming with a regiment of soldiers to round you up and take you to the Sin’Rath. He’s been bitten, but I believe that his men are just following orders. When he arrives, you must subdue him and take him into custody so you can explain to the soldiers what’s really happening. Once they understand, send some of them back to the Gate encampment to spread the word. Enlist the aid of Queen Sofia and the captain of the city guard. Also, seek out women capable of fighting and employ them as personal guards for your wizards.”

“Queen So
fia left for the Gate encampment three weeks ago,” Wizard Petronius said. “She was worried about some strange reports we’ve been receiving, so she asked Mage Jalal to accompany her.”

“If the Sin’Rath found her, she’s already dead,” Alexander said. “I’ll see if she’s still alive. If so, I’ll let her know that I’ve warned you.”

“Lord Reishi, if we can’t confront the Sin’Rath, how do we save our king and our colleagues?”

“You don’t,” Alexander said.
“My sister and the Reishi Coven will kill the Sin’Rath. I want you to spread the word that Abel has been compromised. Also, stop any supplies from being sent to the encampment.”

“
Yes, Lord Reishi. Thank you for the warning,” Wizard Petronius said before Alexander faded out of sight.

He thought of
Sofia and found himself in a network of caves. The Queen of Ithilian sat by a fire with her daughter Evelyn and Mage Jalal. Numerous soldiers milled about, some standing guard, others sleeping, while still others prepared meals. The colors of everyone revealed anxiety at best and outright fear at worst. Alexander appeared across the fire from Sofia.

She bolted to her feet, fear coursing through her already emotionally fragile colors. It took a moment before she recognized him.

“Oh thank the Maker! Alexander, they have Abel. Those monsters have my husband.”

“I know,
Sofia. I’m relieved to see that you and Evelyn are alive. When I heard you’d gone to the Gate encampment, I feared the worst.”

“I saw one of them,” Evelyn said. “They’re
hideous, but none of the men will believe me.”

“
It’s not their fault, Evelyn. The Sin’Rath are demon spawn and their magic is powerful.”

“So what are we going to do?” she demanded.

“You are going to stay hidden,” Alexander said. “The Reishi Coven will deal with the Sin’Rath, but it may be several days before they arrive.”

“Are
those creatures going to kill my husband?” Sofia asked, a tremor running through her voice.

“
I doubt it. Abel is too valuable to them alive. He’ll be safe until they have no more use for him … but the wizards are another matter.”

“I was afraid of that
,” Mage Jalal said. “I should have seen this coming. I should have warned them.”

“It’s hard to see things that you’re not looking for,” Alexander said. “I’ll let my sister know where you
are so she can coordinate with you before they move against the Sin’Rath.”

“Thank you, Alexander,”
Sofia said.

“We’ll get him back,” he said, fading into the firmament.

He found Abigail preparing a meal at a makeshift camp on the northern coast of Ithilian. Magda and four witches he didn’t recognize sat around the fire while four wyverns slept on the beach nearby.

“Hello, Abby.”

“Where’ve you been?” she demanded, abandoning her cooking and standing to face him. “I’ve been worried sick.”

“It’s good to see you
, too,” he said with a mischievous smile. When her expression softened, he motioned for her to sit and then recounted all that had transpired since they’d last spoken.

“So now there’s two of them and they have nine wizards,” Abigail said
, walking away from the fire. “This just keeps getting better.”

“Mage Gamaliel is sending a quiver of
special arrows for you.”

“That’s welcome news,” Magda said. “The Sin’Rath have proven to be far more powerful than I anticipated. The one called Peti nearly killed me.
”

“And she did that
just a couple of days after I put an arrow into her left eye and out the back of her head,” Abigail said.

Alexander raised his eyebrows. “That’s unsettling.”

“Wait … how’s Jack?” Abigail asked.

“He’s fine. When I sat down to meditate, he was at his desk
, busily scribbling in his notebook.”

“Well, at least there’s that,” she said. “Tell him I said hi.”

“I will. In the meantime, I’ll go talk to Cassandra and see if she can send some reinforcements.”

“Tell her that where the Sin’Rath are concerned, I’ve come to believe that overkill is very much in order,” Magda said. “She’ll understand.”

“I’ll deliver your message,” he said, turning to his sister.

“I love you, Abby. Stay safe.”

With a thought, he was standing atop the fortress island plateau. The place looked to be on a war footing. Sky Knights were drilling attack runs high overhead. Cassandra stood at the edge of the well the Coven used to focus their power into a single spell. Witches were gathering. Trepidation and purpose filled their colors.

“Lord Reishi,” Cassandra said with a deferential nod. “Your visit is well timed.”

“What’s happened?”

“A rider has just arrived with word from Bianca
. Zuhl has taken the northeastern fortress island and he’s moving soldiers onto the Reishi Isle.”

“I knew he was up to something,” Alexander said
, “but I didn’t expect that.”

“Worse still, he has a dragon.”

Alexander sighed, shaking his head. “I guess I should have seen that coming. He’s built up the fiction that he’s the Dragon God. A lie that big would be tough to maintain without a dragon.”

“We’ve just begu
n to make preparations for our attack,” Cassandra said.

“I need you to set that aside for now,” Alexander said,
then took a few minutes to explain the situation on Ithilian with the Sin’Rath. He finished with Magda’s request for help.

“Those were h
er exact words?”

Alexander nodded.

“I see,” Cassandra said, looking into the well, deep in thought for a moment. “She and I have had many discussions over the years about the proportional use of force. Her position has always been one of moderation and restraint. That she’s embraced ‘overkill’ in this instance tells me just how dangerous the Sin’Rath really are.”

“They need to be stopped before they can reconstitute their coven,” Alexander said. “And they need to be stopped with minimal harm to the Ithilian wizards and Abel.”

“I understand. I’ll personally lead all of the witches in this fortress against the Sin’Rath. The remaining Sky Knights will begin scouting operations against Zuhl.”

“Good
. Don’t attack until we can figure out how to deal with his dragon,” Alexander said.

“Understood, Lord Reishi. I’ll dispatch a message rider to Bianca at once.”

“Thank you, Cassandra,” he said, fading out of sight and back into the firmament.

His magic was becoming second nature, an extension of his will
, as easy to command as his own hands. In a blink, he was standing in a large tent within the stout wall surrounding the Reishi Keep.

Commander Perry
was studying a map of the Reishi Isle laid out on a large table. He looked up quickly when Alexander appeared but composed himself almost instantly, saluting crisply.

“Lord Reishi.”

“Report.”

“We’ve secured the majority of the Keep with the exception of the throne room and adjacent areas
as well as several areas deep under the structure itself. The tentacle demon seems to be hibernating, though it stirs every time we get near, so I’ve ordered my men to stay well clear of those chambers.