The Sorcerer's Return (The Sorcerer's Path) (10 page)

The paper burned to ash in an instant with nothing more than a look from Azerick. Harvey took a step back and the wizards behind him flinched defensively.

“The first one of you who reaches for the Source will die before you take another breath,” Azerick warned.

Grounds that were a moment ago filled with the joyous calls of Azerick’s return were now silent
beneath a pall of violent tension. Azerick had been gone for years and, in his place, Harvey was the legal representative of The Academy. Many were unsure of what to do. The oldest amongst them, those who were the first students, readied themselves in Azerick’s defense. Others prepared to leap to the aid of the people they knew to be in charge, but most simply stood silent, not knowing what to do.

Magus Harvey steadied himself and glared back. “I had heard of your contrariness, Lord Gil
es, but do not think to come into my school and bully me or my fellows about!”

Azerick pulled the book he had been writing from his satchel. “The
Academy should have received a full report by now detailing the inevitable outcome of any person or body attempting to take something belonging to me. I recommend you read it in full after you take this back with you.”

Harvey looked at the book Azerick held out but did not take it. “What is that?”

“It is a journal detailing the fall and return of the Scions. It also contains explicit instructions on how to best train your wizards and students to battle them.”

“What exactly is it you expect me to do with it?”

“You will take it to The Academy and ensure its instructions become the primary focus of your curriculum. You will need to make copies for everyone at The Academy and should probably forward some to The Hall of Inquisition as well.”

“You are completely mad if you think to come in here and
order me about like a servant! I am here under the full authority of The Academy and will not bow to your ridiculous demands, regardless of your return from the dead!”

“Magus Harvey, I apologize if you mistook me.”

The wizard smiled, feeling certain Azerick was giving up his attempt to dominate the situation. Once again, Azerick verbally slapped the smile from his face as he continued.

“Nothing I have said here was in any way a request.”

Azerick grabbed the front of Harvey’s robe, pulled him close, and thrust the book inside the folds. Before the wizard could protest his manhandling, Azerick twisted the loose fabric into a wad and hurled him up and over the wall with no more effort than pitching a stone. Magus Harvey’s shrill scream ended abruptly with a dull thud as he struck the ground several yards from the outside base of the wall.

Azerick turned to the other Academy wizards who stood dumbstruck. “The rest of you may leave through the gates or likewise be hurled over them. That choice alone is yours to make. If any of you have a healing potion in your possession, I suggest you take it to Magus Harvey as he is certainly in dire
need of one.” The wizards looked at each other, unsure what to do. “You need to leave now. I will send word to have one of my ships take you to Southport immediately. I will have your belongings packed and sent to you.”

Most of the wizards hastened out of the gate without a backward glance, tended to Magus Harvey, and carried him away. Five Academy wizards still stood their ground looking nervously at one another.

“Did I fail to make myself clear?” Azerick asked ominously.

A young woman
stepped forward of the group and bowed slightly. “Lord Giles, if we may, we would like to stay on here. You have many talented students, too many for just your original staff to provide the best education they deserve.”

Azerick studied the young woman and the other wizards in her group. They were all young, likely recently promoted to full wizard
, and could expect little in the way of promotion or real purpose at The Academy.

“What is your name?”

“Amy, My Lord.”

“Do you speak for your group?”

Amy looked at her group and received nods from each of them. “I do.”

“You will each pledge your loyalty to me. I will hear any suggestions you may have for improving our training, but I will not tolerate argument or dissension. Do you understand?”

“We do, My Lord.”

“I certainly hope so, because your lives depend
s it. Follow us to the tower. You will all need to hear what I have to say.”

No one spoke as Azerick led them to the new tower’s large dining room. Those who knew him remembered him as a determined young man who would protect his people and home at any cost. This Azerick was lethal and emotionless in the face of inflicting violence. The old Azerick would have used whatever force was necessary to cast out Harvey, but this new one went beyond the necessary.
This Azerick felt he needed to send a message, he and had no qualms about doing so.

“Miranda,
Daebian does not need to be part of this,” Azerick said as they filed into the tower.

“Of course. Perhaps he can show Raijaun around the grounds?”

“No, Raijaun can stay. He will be deeply involved in what is to come.”

“He is just a child.”

“He is no ordinary child, even beyond his appearance.”

“Daebian is far from ordinary as well, and if Raijaun can hear what you have to say then I see no reason why Daebian cannot,”
Miranda said, irritated at Azerick’s easy dismissal of Daebian.

“I am sure he is special, but Raijaun is capable of wielding powerful magic, which will be instrumental in what is coming. I
would rather the students hear what I have to say from their instructors after I have laid out my plans, not through a child-driven grapevine. Such a thing would cause unnecessary fear.”

“It is all right, Father,” Raijaun said before Miranda could interject. “I know much of what I need to already. I would like to
look around.”

“I suppose you are right.” Azerick turned to Daebian. “Daebian, would show Raijaun around?”

Daebian smiled pleasantly. “I would love to, Father. It does not look as though I am wanted here.”

“Daebian,” Miranda said sharply.

“What, Mother?” Daebian asked, still smiling. “Come, little brother, I will give you the grand tour.”

Daebian led
Raijaun out of the main hall and into the kitchens. Unlike most everyone he had ever met, Daebian did not seem the least bit disturbed by his appearance, taking him by the hand and showing him around.

“This
is where they make the food for the people who eat in the tower. There are bigger kitchens out on the grounds where they prepare meals for everyone else. You can come in here and get something to eat whenever you’re hungry, assuming you eat people food. If you don’t, there are a few people around here I wouldn’t miss much.”

“I do not eat people,” Raijaun said softly.

Daebian shrugged, acting as if it would not have bothered him if he did. “Whatever. How old are you?”

“I lived six months in my egg and almost
three months out of it.”

“Interesting. I’m glad you are here.”

“Really?”

“
Yes. Next to you, I am no longer even close to being the biggest freak here. Come on, I’ll show you my room. I have the whole top floor to myself. Mother will probably put you in one of the extra rooms so we best pick you out a spot.”

Raijaun winced at Daebian calling him a freak, but the guileless way he said it made it feel less like an intentional insult. Raijaun found his big brother very confusing.

Azerick gathered his core instructors and staff within the dining hall of the new tower. A million questions burned on the tongues of nearly everyone there, but they all chose to stay silent and wait for Azerick to speak.

“I know my return is a shock to you all
, and you must have a lot of questions. I hardly know where to begin, so I will get straight to the point. I spent the last…,” Azerick looked to Ellyssa.

“Five years,” she answered.

“I have spent the majority of the last five years trapped in the abyss. The soul of demon lord, Klaraxis, and mine are fused and inseparable. When I died, he carried my soul with him back to his body and hence my current situation. I am able to use his ability to assume human form to look much as I once did.”

Miranda squeezed his hand, partly in reassurance and partly to assure herself he was not an illusion.

“We had discussed such a possibility, and our conclusion was near that,” Allister said. “Especially when your staff up and vanished a couple months ago.”

“The state of my death is not nearly as great a concern as the reason for my return. My return was not of my own devising. Do any of you know anything about the Scions?” Everyone exchanged puzzled looks and shook their heads. “It is not surprising. The Scions have gone to great lengths to purge the memory of their existence from human history. I do not know how successful they were at doing so with the other races, but it appears their agents throughout the millennia have done an excellent job with us.”

Azerick explained what he knew of the gods before their gods and the true battle for freedom during the Great Revolution. “The gods and the last Guardian helped free me from the abyss. The Guardian took part of me and combined it with part of herself to create Raijaun in the same manner as the elves created her and her kind long ago.”

Miranda asked, “But why?”

Azerick held the entire gathering with his steely gaze. “The Scions are returning to destroy us all. Due to the plurality of our nature, Raijaun and I are not susceptible to their awesome mental domination. Our nature allows us to guard the barrier holding them in check and to face them directly just as the Guardians did.”

Worried conversation broke out around the table
. It continued for several minutes until Aggie interjected and willed everyone to quiet down.

“Azerick, I cannot imagine what you have been through, but how certain are you of the reality of all this? The abyss is a world of lies and cruelty. Is it possible this is all a cruel joke of Sharellan to sow discord and fear?”

“No. I know we have all been taught that Sharellan’s sole purpose is to cause pain and torment, but she does nothing without good reason. She is the mistress of the abyss, a place just as you described, but I do not believe her to be any more evil than the warden of a prison. She has a duty to fulfill, and she does it as it needs to be done. I have seen the Scions and their army with my own eyes. I have seen the wall holding them in their prison world and the flaws within it.

“One such flaw allowed little more than a
couple hundred of the Scions’ shock troops through. Two or three hundred ravagers nearly destroyed Bruneford’s Mill and would likely have succeeded in its total annihilation had Ellyssa and I not been there.”

“Mother received the report from Bruneford’s Mill,” Miranda said. “It blamed the attack on demons.”

Azerick nodded. “I am not surprised. Ravagers are horrible creatures. They are tall, lean, and extremely fast. They look very much like an abyssal creature. They are goblinoid in appearance, with dark red skin stretched tightly over muscles that are able to move them with great speed and strength. These are by far the most numerous of their horde and their primary shock troops.”

“How many are we talking about?” Alex asked.

“More than I could count. Possibly a million, maybe more.”

“A million
; and a couple hundred of them nearly destroyed a town of close to ten thousand? Granted, that’s only about three thousand of fighting age, but still. How could we defend ourselves from that?”

“By preparing and uniting the races against them,” Azerick said with sureness. “I have created a plan to prepare for their invasion. I will make copies from the Codex and distribute them to every military organization in the kingdom. It is up to the leaders to ensure it is followed. Failure to break from established routines will ensure
our defeat.”

“I think we understand,” Rusty said. “We have had to prepare for an attack before and used your training curriculum.”

Azerick shook his head. “No, Rusty, not like this you have not. This will require an altogether new and extremely intensive program. Not only will the magus and martial students learn to fight together and use their abilities to create the most powerful offense and defense possible, it will push each of us to the highest limits of our ability and beyond. That is why I am putting Ellyssa in charge of the overall training.”

“Ellyssa is not even a certified wizard!” Rusty shouted abo
ve the spontaneous verbal tumult.

Azerick’s eyes bored into Rusty’s. “How long did you hold out against The Academy’s incursion on this school?”

Rusty practically wilted beneath the power of his best friend’s gaze. “We, uh…”

“Azerick,” Allister interrupted and came to Rusty’s aid, “we thought it more prudent to set terms to avoid loss of life and ensure the continuance of the school.
Perhaps we could have provided enough resistance to convince The Academy to leave us be, but at the cost of how many lives?”