The Wizardwar (37 page)

In less than a heartbeat, she emerged from the blind spell, one designed to take her to her one-time ally. She stood at the palace stairs, where a glum-faced Procopio sat and brooded.

He jumped like a startled cat when her fingernail dug into his arm. “Come, wizard,” she said in a voice that was strange even in her own ears. “It is time for Halruaa to die!”

Kiva and Procopio emerged from the spell in the midst of an undead throng. The wizard gagged at the stench and lifted one hand to cover his nose.

The elf snatched it aside and pointed with her free hand to the place where Akhlaur stood, limned with black light.

“Look well, wizard,” Kiva said in a voice shrill with madness. “He is your mirror. He is you. He is Halruaa, and may you all molder in the Abyss!”

She snatched a knife from Procopio’s belt and plunged it into his chest. For a moment he stared down at it, incredulous, then he slumped to the blood-sodden field.

Deep in the ranks of his warriors, Akhlaur cast another spell. A terrible bone blight settled on a seething mass of warriors. The undead were not harmed, but the living received each blow with twice the force it might otherwise have had. Swords fell from shattered hands, and men dropped to the ground, writhing in agony as the fragile, jagged shards of broken bones stabbed through their flesh.

Gray-clad priests worked bravely, dragging the wounded aside and praying fervently over the fallen. Wizards, in turn, protected the clerics. A circle of wizards cast protective spells upon a cluster of gray-clad Azuthan priests, who chanted collective spells meant to turn away undead.

The forces of Halruaa, when united in purpose, were difficult to withstand. Skeletal warriors fell like scythed grain.

Akhlaur spun toward his lich. Vishna stood beyond the reach of the clerics. At a nod from Akhlaur, the undead wizard summoned a deathguard-guardian spirits ripped from the Ethereal Plane. These bright warriors glided toward the priests like fallen angels, as formidable as a charge of airborne paladins. Vishna began the chant that could summon an even more dreadful magic.

A dark web formed over the battlefield. As the corpse host spell took effect, the newly dead began to rise and living soldiers, untouched by blade or spell, fell senseless to the ground.

Cries of inarticulate dismay burst from torn throats as scores of living men realized that they were inhabiting corpses. Their own bodies, living but discarded, lay defenseless. Already the undead warriors stalked toward them like wolves encircling trapped prey.

The Halruaan warriors who had not felt the touch of Vishna’s spell, who did not understand the spell, rushed to meet their advancing comrades. Not understanding, they cut down the confused and frantic undead. Abandoned bodies shuddered and died as the lifeforces trapped in undead flesh were released to whatever afterlife awaited them.

The lich’s eyes swept the crowd and found Zalathorm fighting hand to hand against an enormous, bony construct that seemed half man, half crocodile. Akhlaur sped through the gestures of a powerful enervation spell and hurled it at the king. Zalathorm jolted back, his face paling as strength and magic were stripped from him. For the briefest of moments the eyes of the two of friends met.

With a thought, a gesture, Vishna sent a bolt of healing energy toward Zalathorm. At the same time, he sent mental command to the undead warrior at Akhlaur’s side.

The creature drew a rusted knife and cut the tether to the black cube at the necromancer’s sleeve. It stumbled forward, bearing the ebony phylactery that contained Vishna’s spirit. So engrossed was Akhlaur that he did not notice its loss.

Vishna took the tiny box from the skeletal hand and nodded his thanks. “I grant you rest and respect,” he muttered. The skeleton bowed its head as if in thanks and crumbled into dust.

He scanned the battlefield, and his eyes settled upon small, green-haired female. With a gesture of his hand, the undead commander parted a path through the seething throng. He made his way to Kiva’s side.

She glanced up at him with a haughty demeanor and hate-filled eyes. “Akhlaur commands you now. What do you want with me?”

“Only to finish what was begun long ago,” he said. 的致e come to free you.”

The undead wizard plunged a dagger into her heart.

For a long moment she stared at him. Hatred turned to bewilderment, then, to a strange sort of relief.

Vishna released the dagger and let Kiva fall. After a moment he stooped and closed her eyes. He gathered to dead elf woman into his arms and walked into the blighted forest and toward the living trees. There, amid the roots ?f an ancient tree, perhaps she could find the peace that had evaded her for so long.

At the end of the battlefield, the ghostly form of Halruaa’s elves watched with sad approval.

Zalathorm thrust aside the dead crocodilian warrior and scanned the battlefield. The dying light touched the faintly glowing forms gathered at forest’s edge. As the meaning came to him, a smile filled his face like sunrise, and an enormous burden lifted from his heart.

He shouted his enemy’s name. Powerful magic sent the single word soaring over the field like the shout of a god. The combatants ceased and fell away. All eyes went to the wizardking. Zalathorm pointed to the watchful elven spirits. “The Heart of Halruaa,” he said simply.

Akhlaur whirled toward the spirits of the elves he had tormented and enslaved. His black eyes widened in panic. His webbed hands sped through a spell that would command and control undead, but the elves were far beyond his reach.

The necromancer shouted for Vishna, for Kiva. There was no response.

“Let it go, Akhlaur,” Zalathorm said, and there was more sorrow than anger in his voice. “Our time is finished.”

He took from around his neck a silver chain, to which was attached a small, crimson gem. “One of our earlier attempts,” he explained, holding up the glowing gem. “When our only thought was to sustain and protect each other for the good of Halruaa.”

Zalathorm threw the gem to the ground. It shattered, and suddenly the weight of years crushed the king into dust. Where he stood was a small mound of bone heaped with moldering robes, crowned with a circlet of electrum and silver.

A terrible scream came from the necromancer and drew all eyes to the transformation overtaking him. Like Zalathorm, he withered away, but slowly, and he remained alert and in agony, shrieking in protest and rage. His skeletal jaw shuddered with fury long after the sound had died away. Then there was only dust, which blew away in the sudden gust created as every undead creature fell to the ground, released at last from the necromancer’s power.

Stunned silence shrouded the battlefield. At last one wizard began to chant Zalathorm’s name. The survivors took up the chant, raising bloodied swords and long-spent wands to the skies as they lauded their king for his final victory.

No one heard the small, ragged voice singing a faint melody, no one but the young woman at her side. Keturah’s hand sought Tzigone’s. Their fingers linked, and their voices rose together in song.

It was not a summoning and held not compulsion but an entreaty. The faint shadows of elven spirits took up the refrain and their song drifted softly over the battlefield to mingle once more with the spellsong rising from the queen and her sorceress daughter.

Finally they parted, revealing the form of Halruaa’s king. Gently, as if they were teaching first steps to a stumbling babe, they guided Zalathorm’s spirit back to his mortal remains.

The ghostly form melted into the king’s body. Slowly, the decay began to reverse. The chanting grew in volume as Zalathorm’s subjects welcomed their king back, with wild joy and without reservation.

Keturah ran forward and fell into Zalathorm’s arms. They rose together, hand in hand, and Zalathorm raised their enjoined hands high. Her name was added to the chant, for many had seen her sing the king’s spirit back to his body.

Finally Zalathorm lifted a hand for silence. “This is a time for truths long untold. I know you are weary, but listen to a tale too long hidden.”

He told them all the truth behind the Cabal, the long path to vengeance taken by an elf woman who had dedicated her life to its destruction. He spoke of the brave queen who for years had been trapped between the artifact and the elf, and the daughter who had never given up her quest to find and free her mother.

Finally he pledged to make changes and to pardon the wizards who plotted against him if they pledged by wizard-word to work with him to make Halruaa all that they have ever dreamed she could be.

As one, the people of Halruaa fell to their knees and raised Zalathorm’s name into the darkening skies.

*

Unfamiliar tears dampened Matteo’s face as he watched the scene unfolding. “At last she has found her family, her name,” he said with deep satisfaction.

“And you?”

Andris’s words were whispered and sounded nearly as pale as the jordain once had been.

“I am a jordain, and always will be,” Matteo said. “If can see and sense the Shadow Weave, all the better. In years to come, the king may have need of this.”

Andris smiled wistfully. “I was a jordain, then an elf-blooded warrior, and finally, one of three. That was the best of all.”

He reached for Matteo. The jordain clasped his friend’s wrist in a warrior’s farewell, holding the grip long after Andris’s hand fell slack, until his own hand fisted on the empty air.

After all he had seen this day, Matteo was not surprised that Andris simply faded away. He watched as a familiar form strode toward the waiting shadows. Andris was received joyfully and without reserve by the elves he had helped to free. Together they turned their eyes toward the first star and rose to meet the evening sky.

Matteo’s gaze shifted from the royal family to the stars. Andris, like Tzigone, was finally among family.

The king’s jordain rose and quietly walked toward the royal family, ready to serve, content in his own homecoming.

Matteo strode quickly through the city, sped by the light of the full moon and the sounds of battle coming from the dockside tavern.

He shouldered his way into the room and regarded the familiar scene with resignation. A young lad stood on one of the tables, juggling several mugs. A trio of angry men circled, grabbing at the boy’s feet. The performer held them off with well-placed kicks and an occasional hurled mug. Several of the patrons cheered him on and even tossed other mugs to replenish his artillery.

Unfortunately, not all of those mugs were empty. Here and there ale-soaked patrons raised angry words and quick fists to the juggler’s benefactors. Several small skirmishes provided side entertainment. Bets were shouted, coin changed hands.

Matteo strode into the room and stalked toward a trio of brawlers. He seized two of the men by their collars. He brought their heads together sharply and tossed them aside. The third man, seeing himself alone, snatched a sword from an observer’s belt and brandished it with drunken menace.

The jordain’s shoulders rose and fell in a sigh. He raised one hand and beckoned the man on. Bellowing like a bee-stung bull, the lout charged the apparently unarmed man.

Matteo stepped into the charge, seized the man’s arm, and forced it down. The sword caught between two of the floor’s wide wooden planks. The man kept going without it.

The lad, still juggling, hurled all three mugs in rapid succession. All three struck the drunk’s forehead. He staggered, fell to his knees and went facedown into a puddle of ale.

Drunken cheers filled the tavern. The performer grinned like an urchin and took a deep bow.

Matteo seized a handful of short brown hair and pulled the “boy” from his perch. He deftly caught the miscreant and slung her over his shoulder.

The cheers turned to catcalls and protests, but by now it had occurred to the revelers that the intruder wore jordaini white. Few of them were drunk enough to seriously consider taking on one of the wizardlords’ guardians.

Matteo kept a firm grip on his captive as he strode away from the docks. After a while she began to squirm. He rewarded her efforts with a sharp slap on the bottom.

“Hey!” protested Tzigone. “Is that any way to treat a princess?”

“Start acting like a princess, and you’ll be treated as one.”

She muttered something that Matteo studiously ignored, then bit him on the handiest portion of his anatomy.

He let out a startled yelp and dropped her. She rolled to her feet and backed away. “We’re even now,” she pointed out.

“Not even close! Tzigone, I’m supposed to protect you. You haven’t exactly made it easy.”

Her face crumpled into a frown. “How do you think I feel? All these protocols and rules and expectations chafe like a badly fitting saddle. And don’t get me started on the clothes I have to wear! Shoes, too!”

He glanced down at her small, bare feet, and his lips twitched reluctantly. “I suppose you’re not happy with me for spoiling your fun.”

“Damn right! You’re the king’s counselor, and if the push for a hereditary monarchy comes to anything, you might be stuck with me a very, very long time.”

For a long moment she glared at him, then her anger changed to horrified realization. Matteo mockingly copied her expression. They both dissolved into laughter.

He took her arm and tucked it companionably into his. “Since I’m destined to serve as your jordain, allow a word of advice: If you must insult people, pick smaller men, preferably those who like to drink alone.”

“Forget it. I’ve got to keep your fighting edge up.” She glanced up at him. “How did you find me?”

“This is Halruaa,” he reminded her. “There is no shortage of magic.”

“True, but I can’t be tracked by magic.”

Matteo quirked one eyebrow and glanced pointedly at their moon-cast shadows.

Tzigone’s eyes widened in consternation. “The Shadow Weave. Damn! I forgot about that.”

“A wise young woman recently gave me an excellent piece of advice. Would you like to hear it?”

She let out a resigned sigh. “Would it make any difference?”