Witch, p.15
Witch, page 15
part #2 of Mage Saga Series
Jezebel wasn’t going to argue. She curled up with her head in his lap and drifted off to sleep immediately.
Chapter Twelve: The Black Dragon
Khaldun shook Jezebel awake. She jumped to her feet.
“They’re coming,” he said, his face grim.
Jezebel moved to the edge of the crevice, looking out over the valley. The sky in the east was growing brighter above the opposite hill.
“Dawn in an hour, I think,” Khaldun told her. “Maybe sooner. But they’re almost upon us.”
“I don’t hear anything,” Jezebel said.
“Neither do I. But I can feel them.”
The next few minutes were tense. Jezebel had her wand drawn, ready to call fire or earth. Suddenly she heard a noise. There were voices echoing across the valley.
Jezebel retreated into the crevice. She picked out a branch from the unused firewood. Lighting the end on fire, she handed it to Khaldun.
“Those voices belong to men,” she told him. “That’ll be better than nothing if they make it in here.”
He nodded and moved a little deeper into the gap. Jezebel stood at the opening, scanning the path below. A few seconds later, she saw them.
There were four soldiers on horseback. She thought she recognized them as the men from the inn the previous night. Jezebel didn’t wait to confirm her suspicion. She pointed her wand and called fire.
Jezebel showed no mercy. She ignited all four from within. They fell screaming from their horses. They rolled down the stony hill, into the valley, like so many torches. The horses whinnied in panic, turning to gallop back the way they’d come.
Suddenly there was a shrill cry in the forest below. Two others answered the call. Something massive struck the wall to Jezebel’s left. She ducked inside the crevice as dust and debris exploded around her. One of the wraiths had blown a hole in the side of the hill, more substantial than Jezebel’s earlier that night.
“How the hell do I defend against that?!” she shouted. “If they hit me, I’m dead!”
“Don’t let them hit you!” Khaldun yelled back.
Jezebel dropped to her belly. She crawled to the path, careful not to present them too much of a target.
Far below, she could see two riders moving through the trees: these were the wraiths. But the innkeeper had said there were three—where was the third? She didn’t wait to find out.
She called fire again, igniting two enormous trees directly in front of the riders. A second later, she called earth. Something huge smashed into the first rider’s horse; it reared, throwing him from its back. Jezebel hit the second horse and its rider jumped off. Both animals bolted in terror.
Suddenly a tower of flame erupted directly in front of Jezebel. The heat was overwhelming; Jezebel scurried deeper into the opening. The horses whinnied nervously.
“Cancel it!” Khaldun yelled.
Jezebel shouted the incantation and spoke the word of command. The flames went out, leaving scorched earth.
Jezebel crept to the edge again. The two wraiths were clambering up the hill. She pointed her wand and called a wall of fire directly in their path. One of them extinguished it an instant later.
The other stood tall, holding his hands out to his sides. He shrieked, and there were words in his cry. Suddenly a coiled serpent appeared next to Jezebel. It reared its flat head, hissing at her. Its giant teeth were only inches from her face.
“It’s not real!” Khaldun told her. “It’s an illusion.”
Jezebel didn’t know what would happen if she were bitten by an imaginary cobra. She didn’t wait to find out. Backing away carefully, she pointed her wand and incinerated the snake.
Another shrill cry rose from the valley. It felt like an earthquake had struck. Dirt and stones dribbled down on them from overhead.
Jezebel had an idea. Creeping closer to the edge again, she chose two of the nearest trees. She called earth twice in rapid succession, hitting each of them near the base of their trunks. The trees exploded as if struck by lightning. An instant later, she summoned fire, igniting them.
It worked: both trees fell toward the hill. The wraiths turned in surprise. One of them shrieked, casting some kind of spell. But it failed. One tree landed right on top of him. Jezebel could hear him wailing as his black robes caught fire. He was pinned.
Please, let him be roasted alive, Jezebel thought.
The second wraith had managed to avoid the danger. He resumed his climb up the hill.
But suddenly, there was a scream much closer. Jezebel turned: the third wraith was storming up the path on his horse, bearing down on her. She scampered out of the way, only just in time. The wraith had called earth. The spell slammed into the ground, forming a crater across the opening to the crevice. Dirt and rocks showered Jezebel as she rolled away.
She got to her feet and spat dirt out of her mouth. The wraith had reined in his horse and now stood across the crater from her. Jezebel hated to do it, but she called fire and ignited his animal from the inside. It burst into flames, engulfing the wraith.
The dead animal fell over, taking its rider with it as it toppled down the hill. Jezebel climbed into the crater and peered over the far edge. There was nothing to see. But she crawled out the other side just as the last wraith crested the hill, directly in front of her.
Jezebel backpedaled and lost her balance. She fell into the crater, dropping her wand. The wraith called fire, and a wall of flame sprung up around the edge of the hole. The circle tightened, closing in around her. Jezebel saw the wraith jump over her as she scuttled to retrieve her wand.
She put out the flames and scrambled out of the crater. The wraith was bearing down on Khaldun. He brandished the flaming branch in front of him, trying to light the wraith’s robes. But the wraith extinguished the flame.
Jezebel pointed her wand, reciting the spell to call earth. But the spell had no effect. The wraith rounded on her and hit her with a spell of his own. It walloped her in the midsection, launching her clear across the crater.
Jezebel hit the ground hard and lost her wand. She tried to regain her balance but failed, rolling uncontrollably down the hill, past one of the flaming trees.
She came to rest in the valley and scrambled to her feet. It took a few seconds to get her wind back. Jezebel’s heart sank—Khaldun was still up there.
And then she saw the fallen wraith only feet away, moving toward her. Panic-stricken, Jezebel started her climb back up the hill, desperate to find her wand. But suddenly there was a horrible scream from above. It was much louder than anything before. And in that instant, Jezebel’s heart lifted. The sun peeked over the opposite hill, its light filling their crevice.
A black shape flew from the opening and streaked down the hill like the wind. It disappeared into the forest, shrieking the entire way. The other wraith looked up, saw the sunlight, and bolted after its partner.
Jezebel clambered up the hill. It was difficult, with stones slipping beneath her hands and feet. She saw the wraith pinned under the burning tree as she went by. Somehow, the thing was still alive. It was silent but struggling to free itself.
Khaldun called out to her from the path. Her heart soared: he was still alive. She made it to the top, and he helped her to her feet. Jezebel told him about the trapped wraith.
“We should kill it before we leave,” he said. “There will be one less for our pursuit.”
“How do you kill a wraith?” Jezebel asked.
“You’ll see,” he said with a grim smile.
They packed everything first and searched for Jezebel’s wand. It had rolled down the hill, landing close to where she’d fallen earlier.
Khaldun found a large stone, and they climbed back toward the wraith. He instructed Jezebel to put out the burning tree. She did so, and they approached their enemy.
The wraith seemed to be unconscious. It moved jerkily as if having a nightmare. Its robes were charred to dust, revealing its blackened body. In some places, its bones showed through the skin.
Khaldun crawled within inches of the monster. He smashed its skull repeatedly with the rock. Then he pulled a knife from his belt and began cutting off its head. It was grisly work. It took more than thirty minutes to saw through the tendons and sinews and sever it completely.
Once he was done, he left the head next to the body. They clambered away.
“Dredmort might still be able to bring it back,” he told Jezebel once they’d reached the path. “You need to call the hottest fire you can. It will burn now, but you need to reduce it to ash to make sure it can’t come back.”
Jezebel nodded. She turned to face the wraith. Focusing for a minute, she pointed her wand and cast the spell. A blaze erupted that consumed the entire hillside, burning white-hot around the wraith. They had to move into the crevice to escape the heat.
Jezebel looked at Khaldun. His eyes were still normal. But his face was golden. There was no mistaking what he was.
“Has your magic returned?” she asked.
“No,” he said with a sigh. “I don’t understand it.”
Jezebel removed her shirt. Khaldun stared at her. “What are you doing? This is hardly the time…”
“Don’t worry, I’m not in the mood,” she said with a grin. “But we need to make some attempt to disguise you. Until your power comes back, we don’t want people knowing what you are.”
“Good point,” he muttered.
“This is already ripped to shreds,” she said, tossing him her shirt. “See if you can fashion a hood out of it. We’ve got to cover your face.”
Jezebel dug through her pack and removed another shirt. She threw it on while Khaldun tore her old one apart.
Twenty minutes later, Jezebel put out the conflagration. They couldn’t approach the remains of the wraith because of the heat still emanating from the ground. But Khaldun was pretty sure she’d done the job. They mounted their horses and set out down the path.
When they emerged from the woods, they stopped for a minute by the side of the road. Khaldun donned his makeshift hood.
“You look ridiculous,” Jezebel told him.
“Thank you,” he said. “We’ll probably be safe as long as the daylight lasts. We don’t want to injure the horses; we’ll have to keep it to a trot if we want them to last the entire journey. But we need to put as many miles behind us today as possible.”
“What makes you so sure Dredmort won’t come here himself?” Jezebel asked.
“He probably will,” Khaldun replied. “But it will take time for the wraiths to get a message to him. And it will take days for Dredmort to get here. We’ve got enough of a head start that we should be able to make Arthos well before he does.”
“And what then?” Jezebel asked. “What’s to stop them from attacking us there?”
“Arthos is a free democratic city. It’s independent of any princedom. And it’s got a strong military—it has to, to survive. They won’t allow Dredmort to enter the city in force.”
“They have witches and wizards?”
“Yes,” Khaldun replied. “A dozen or more. Arthos is something of a haven for mages. Probably due to its proximity to the university.”
“Let’s hope we make it that far,” Jezebel said. “I’m worried about surviving another night.”
They headed southeast on the road.
“You know, you should consider attending the university,” Khaldun told her.
“I don’t think so,” Jezebel said. “My life is in Spanbrook.”
“Suit yourself,” he said. “But you’d thrive in that environment. With your power…”
“What power? I can only do a few spells!”
“True,” Khaldun said. “But you’re more powerful than I am—well, than I was. I couldn’t have produced that inferno you summoned back there.”
“Truly?”
“Not even close, and I’ve been doing magic for years. But I’m only a novice. There are people at the university who could teach you things I couldn’t even begin to describe.”
“I guess I’ll think about it,” she said.
They rode all day, stopping a few times to eat and let the animals rest. As sunset approached, they tried to find somewhere sheltered to make camp. But the country was flatter here. In between the random town or village, it was mostly farmland.
Eventually, they found a stand of trees and made camp in the hollow between them. But as they set up the tent, they noticed flashes of light in the western sky.
“Is that lightning?” asked Jezebel.
“I don’t think so,” Khaldun replied, gazing intently back the way they’d come. “There’s not a cloud in the sky.”
“What is it then?”
Khaldun didn’t reply for a few moments.
“It’s magic,” he replied finally. “I can feel it.”
“Magic? Is it the wraiths? What are they doing?”
“I don’t know. Perhaps we should keep going,” Khaldun suggested.
“What, overnight?” asked Jezebel.
“The wraiths’ mounts are normal horses,” he said. “If they force them to gallop too far, they’ll die. We’ve probably gone over twenty miles today. It would take them most of the night to catch us—but they would catch us. If we keep going…”
“Wait a minute—you haven’t slept in days. You stayed awake last night watching for the wraiths. And before that, you didn’t sleep since before the inn.”
Khaldun shrugged. “I’m not sleepy. We should go as far as we can.”
They broke camp and continued on their course. But by midnight, Jezebel was struggling to keep her eyes open. She followed Khaldun off the road. They didn’t bother making camp; Jezebel curled up on the soft ground. Khaldun stood watch, and within minutes, Jezebel fell asleep.
Khaldun woke her before dawn. She sat up, instantly alert. “What is it?”
“Nothing,” he said. “It’s been quiet. I’m a little surprised we haven’t at least encountered any soldiers. The wraiths may hide from daylight, but the rest of Henry’s men do not.”
“Maybe our lead is too great,” she said. Jezebel was famished. She pulled some meat and fruit out of her pack and ate.
“Perhaps,” Khaldun said skeptically. “But we should get moving as soon as you’re ready.”
They rode all day. Jezebel failed to understand how Khaldun was able to go so long without sleep.
They stopped at sunset to eat. Jezebel fetched the mirror from her pack. She spoke to Allison for a long time. She told her everything that had happened since the last time they talked, omitting only her sexual encounter with Khaldun. She decided that conversation would work better in person.
Allison seemed to be enjoying herself. Not once had the demon made an appearance. She socialized as much as possible with everyone she met. And she’d even had two marriage proposals. Aldo wasn’t amused.
Khaldun and Jezebel traveled late into the night again. By the time they stopped, Jezebel was exhausted. Khaldun kept watch again while she went to sleep.
Jezebel woke to find the sun well above the horizon. Khaldun was eating. She stretched and groaned.
“I can’t wait to sleep in a bed again,” she said.
Khaldun smiled at her. “Tonight, hopefully. We should make Arthos before sunset.”
Sure enough, they arrived at the city with almost an hour of daylight to spare. Jezebel’s first glimpse of the area had taken place as they rounded a low hill. She couldn’t believe its sheer size. The city seemed to sprawl to the horizon. It was bigger than anything she’d ever imagined.
They skirted the outlying houses and found a barn. It was far enough from the farmhouse for them to enter unseen. Khaldun hid there with his horse and sent Jezebel into the city to find his favorite inn.
“It’s called the Black Dragon,” he said. “Stick to the road into the city. It’s two or three blocks past the guard station, on the right. You can’t miss it.”
“Is there a sign?” Jezebel asked skeptically.
Khaldun laughed. “Yes, an enormous one. Take this.” He handed her their money pouch. “Pay for three nights.”
“Three?”
“We have to figure out a way to leave the city unnoticed by Henry’s men,” Khaldun said. “I know some people here who might be willing to help us.”
Jezebel raised her eyebrows at him.
Khaldun laughed again. “Don’t worry—I’ve never slept with anyone in Arthos. This won’t be a repeat of Stiles, I promise. Anyway, it might take some time to find my friends. If we need more than three nights, we can extend our stay. Come right back once you’ve secured us a room. It should be dark by then; I’ll be able to sneak into the city unseen.”
“What if Henry’s men show up here?” she asked. “What will you do?”
“They won’t. Our lead is certainly too great by now.”
Jezebel nodded. She kissed him on the cheek and mounted her horse. She approached the guard station five minutes later. To avoid attracting undue attention, she stuffed her wand inside her shirt. The guards waved her through without questioning her.
Arthos was bustling with activity. There were people everywhere. Jezebel rode up the street and, sure enough, found the Black Dragon without a problem. A black signboard ran across the entire front of the building, with a dragon carved into it in gold. A separate sign hung over the door with the words “Black Dragon.”
The building was enormous. It was four stories tall and appeared to take up an entire city block. Jezebel tied her horse and went inside.
The front room served as a reception area. Jezebel walked up to the counter. The man there was friendly and helpful. She paid for three nights and requested something on the ground floor. He gave her a set of keys and told her where to find her room.
Jezebel thanked him and walked through the double doors at the end of the counter. She emerged into a huge common room, not too crowded, with a separate tavern behind it. Across the common room, she went through another set of doors and down a long hallway. At the end of the passage, there was an exit to her right. Their room was across from that.
