The Sorcerer's Return (The Sorcerer's Path) (2 page)

“W-what shall I do with him?” s
he asked, barely able to command her trembling legs to keep her upright.

“Take him to one of your rooms and make him comfortable. He has a voracious appetite and will want to eat frequently. Meat seared on the outside for the sake of civility. He also enjoys milk with an even mixture of blood.”

“B-blood? Whose blood?”

Azerick could not suppress the smile tugging at his lips. “I recommend goat for both. I saw a
multitude of them on my way across the city, so it should pose no problem to get either. Remember my instructions and follow them to the letter.” Azerick knelt next to Raijaun. “Raijaun, I need to go take care of some things, and it is too dangerous to bring you with me. I need you to stay here and behave yourself. Do you understand?”

Raijaun nodded
solemnly and took a step toward the Madam. To her credit, she did not run from the room screaming or even step away, despite what the terrified portion of her brain demanded. Her fear of the small creature next to her paled in comparison to what she felt for the young man.

I am impressed
, Klaraxis said as Azerick pushed through the bustling streets toward the Hall of Inquisition.
You are finally acting the way you should, instead of with all the simpering please and thank you of a weakling.

“Do not think I did not feel your influence on my emotions and action. In this case, I felt it expedient to give in
to your manipulations. If you are as smart as you keep proclaiming, you will not continue this battle over my actions. If I fail, we all die, including you.”

I know this, fool. Why do you think I am not fighting you for
control every waking moment? But I still think I am better suited to fight the Scions than you are, and I will take control when you slip. But I will not distract you with our petty squabbles. When I take back my body, it will be swift, and you will not even know the battle has begun until you are sitting in this prison, able to do nothing but look out between the bars just as I do now and watch as I destroy everything you have created.

“
Fine. You can start by shutting up. I need to think.”

***

Fennrick wearily strode down the hall toward the Senior Inquisitor’s office where Elias and Duchess Paulina awaited his weekly report. Not only did he have to report yet another week of failure, but now a dead man demanded an audience with the Council of Inquisition. He paused to compose himself before entering Elias’ office. Elias sat behind his desk, ready to leap to the Duchess’ commands, while Her Grace reclined on a sedan sipping wine. Fennrick thought it was far too early for such libations, but the repeated image no longer surprised him.

“Fennrick, right on time as usual,” the Duchess said as he entered. “How goes your progress?”

“It goes as always,” he answered frustratingly, “Nowhere but backward. The girl is increasingly slipping away to wherever her mind takes her even under moderate coercion, but that is the least troubling thing I have to report.”

Paulina quirked an eyebrow at the
Inquisitor. “What else occurs?”

“It appears Lord Azerick Giles has returned from the dea
d and is now demanding audience.”

Elias’ normally laconic expression vanished as he stood and leaned against his desk. “Lord Giles? Are you certain it is him?”

“He looks exactly like the portrait I spied of him in North Haven, and I detected no illusion or enchantment of any kind.”

“Did you read his aura?”

Fennrick sighed. “Yes, Elias, I have been doing this for more than a few days now. Strongly sorcerous, but there was a hint of something else as well.”

“What else?”

“I do not know,” Fennrick admitted. “I have never encountered it before. I got a feeling it was deeply suppressed but dark and still very strong despite his attempts to hide it.”

Duchess Paulina sat up and set her glass upon the low table before her. “There were rumors Lord Giles had an encounter with some kind of demon. Could that be the cause?”

“It is plausible, Your Grace,” Fennrick replied. “Particularly if any sort of possession took place.”

“I am certain his death was no ruse. Could he have truly died and yet return
ed?”

“It is possible for mages of sufficient power to escape the afterlife, especially if they ha
ve the assistance of powerful wizards and clerics here amongst the living. I do not know if anyone has ever taken it beyond the theory, however.”

Paulina paused for thought. “He does
have both of those available to him. Where is he now?”

“In the anteroom awaiting an audience with the council. Your Grace, he did inform me he had pressing issues and would wait no longer than thirty minutes before taking matters in
to his own hands.”

“Well, he certainly sounds like Lord Giles. Lord Giles or no, I’ll not
jump to for the dead husband of my rival’s daughter,” she declared emphatically.

Fennrick cleared his throat. “Technically, Your Grace, this is an Academy matter for the inquisition coun
cil to address.”

“Technically, I do not care,” the Duchess snapped. “This is my city and I will decide any matters concerning it. Now go summon the council and have them await me.”

Seeing his subordinate about to argue, Elias ordered, “Now, Inquisitor.”

Fennrick’s body went rigid. He
bowed slightly at the waist, spun smartly, and stalked from the room with suppressed indignity.

Paulina drained the last vestiges of wine from her glass. “I do believe the strain of the interrogations is wearing on our dear Fennrick. M
aybe it is time we find another. Perhaps then we can get some results.”

“Your Grace, if it is indeed Lord Giles, I must presume he is here for his
apprentice as well as the Codex,” Elias warned.

 
“So what if he is? I’ll hand over neither of those things. The Codex is mine, and the girl is a criminal.”

Elias’s eyes shifted nervously. “I am just reminded of our reports of his activity in Bakhtaran, Your Grace.”
 

The Duchess waved a hand dismissively. “He had an army with him. Does he have an army here?”

“I imagine Fennrick has tasked a detail to look for such and would have reported anything unusual.”

“Then I see no reason to worry myself. It is not as though he can challenge the entire Hall of Inquisition. Come, let us make our way to the council chamber and greet our young, dead lord.”

Elias and the Duchess found the senior council already in attendance as well as several Inquisitors seated in the gallery. She took her seat in the center chair normally reserved for the Senior Inquisitor, while Elias sat dutifully to her right amongst the council. Fennrick stood below the elevated council upon the chamber floor, agitation etched clearly upon his face. His eyes continually shifted from the Duchess to the main doors behind which Lord Giles impatiently waited.

“Your Grace, Lord Giles did express his urgency in meeting with the council
, and I believe the time is near at hand,” Fennrick murmured.

Paulina glared down at the
Inquisitor. “Lord Giles has always been an arrogant little upstart, and it will do him well to learn patience, particularly when dealing with his betters,” she sniffed and turned her head to Elias. “I assume those doors are sufficiently warded to prevent even him from foolishly barging in?”

Elias inclined his head. “They are indeed, Your Grace. It would take several archmages to unravel or bash down those wards.”

“Good. Let the pompous little man wait.”

The Duchess still wore her condescending smirk when the doors exploded inward with a deafening boom. Only the secondary
wards and quick actions of the experienced Inquisitors prevented the wood, bronze, and stone fragments from becoming lethal projectiles. Hastily erected wards flared among the gathering even as several of those closest were blasted from their seats and sent sprawling. From the cloud of dust and destruction, Azerick strode into the chamber without a hint of fear or hesitation.

Duchess
Paulina quickly regained her composure and raised a hand to prevent the astonished wizards from striking out. “Lord Giles, I had heard you died. Was I misinformed?”

“You were not, Your Grace. But like a bad meal, the abyss found me d
istasteful and spat me back out.”

“I see death has done nothing to improve your manners.”

“On the contrary, I have far less patience and sufferance for fools than I once had.”

“Are you calling me a fool?” Paulina demanded.

Azerick shrugged. “It would be the height of foolishness to try and prevent me from retrieving what is mine.”

“Lord Giles, your reemergence intrigues me, and for that reason alone I allow you a certain amount of leave. Do not test my tolerance. What is it you want?”

“It is my understanding this place holds something belonging to me as well as my apprentice. I will have both of them returned.”

“Your apprentice is a criminal and has refused offers of parole. As to your property, I presume you refer to the Codex Arcana. The Codex is the property of The Academy by law
, and it is illegal for an individual to possess it,” Duchess Paulina declared.

“It is interesting you would bring Academy
law into this,” Azerick responded dryly. “It is also Academy and King’s law requiring a significant separation of Academy and governmental jurisdictions. This is purely an Academy situation, so why am I discussing it with you?”

Paulina
shifted in her seat and set her chin. “The office of inquisition and I share a close relationship, given our mutual requirements for protecting the border.”

“Perhaps too close,” Azerick responded darkly. “Ulric also shared a close relationship with certain members of The Academy; a relationship I severed.”

Duchess Paulina pushed herself up in her seat and leaned down toward the upstart sorcerer. “You dare threaten me?” she shouted.

“I merely voice the reality of what will occur for anyone choosing to be my enemy. Do not put yourself or these wizards in that position, Your Grace,” Azerick said without emotion.

The powerful Duchess of Argoth shook with indignity, her rage blazing from her face like the searing heat of the desert sun. “Let me warn you, boy, only the political stability of my duchy prevents me from sending you right back to the abyss where you belong! Test my patience further, and I will have my wizards do exactly that, consequences be damned!”

Azerick turned his stony gaze upon Elias. “Senior
Inquisitor, I assume you, and probably everyone else in this hall, took in my aura when I entered. Before anyone does something foolish, I recommend you do so again and advise your Duchess accordingly.”

With a curious look
, Elias, along with every other wizard in the chamber, did exactly that. Slipping into a light meditation, the wizards looked beyond simple visual sight to glimpse the invisible energies surrounding all living things. Azerick stood as before with his golden, sorcerous aura brilliantly limning his body, but he no longer suppressed Klaraxis’ terrifying power. Encasing the golden glow, a black cloud of malevolent energy nearly filled the entire room. Klaraxis’ aura washed over everyone in the chamber with so much vile power, wizards scrambled away from him, pressed themselves against the walls, and tried to flee the room. Several fell from their seats and knelt on the floor, gasping. Even the Duchess felt the deathly wave wash over her and sat heavily back upon her seat, her face paling in a fear she could not comprehend.

“Elias, w-what is this?” she
rasped out.

“It is our death, Your Grace. We must capitulate,” the
Inquisitor whispered hoarsely.

“What you have seen and felt is the
demon lord, Klaraxis,” Azerick declared as he suppressed the aura once more. “I control his body and power, but only nominally. If you force me to fight, I will likely lose that control and the demon will wreak havoc upon this city and beyond until The Academy and church can work together to banish him back to the abyss. He would eventually fall, but not before reducing this city and likely several others to ruins.”

Paulina leaned over and whispered, “Elias, can your people not defeat him?”

“Perhaps, if we were prepared, but even then the battle would be devastating to the city. If we were ready and had a contingent of Solarian’s Light, we could force him to return to the abyss at the least. But at this moment, it would mean our destruction.”

She could care less about the girl other than her connection to the Codex, wh
ich thus far had proved useless, but she despised the idea of giving up the book. However, she was not foolish enough to press forward in a battle she knew she was destined to lose. It was why she was still alive and Ulric and his conspirators were not.

Duchess Paulina straightened in her seat and did her best to regain her co
mposure. “Very well, Lord Giles, I will have someone bring you the Codex. It is heavily secured and will take a bit of time to remove it.”