Empire Awakening (Maledorian Chronicles Book 2) Page 19

  It was as he predicted. Relek pointed as Elendria and Lysha left the mineshaft, looking thin and weak. They strolled over to the assembled miners. Elendria stood before them, nodding to the men and gesturing with her hands as she gave a short speech. The men were attentive and eager as they listened to her. Satisfied, the miners turned to leave as a witch from the village strolled up to greet Elendria and Lysha.

  “What are they doing?” said Dondran.

  Relek handed his companion the spyglass. “You have eyes; see for yourself. The girls must have had three days of fasting. Should we strike now?”

  “Don’t be a fool. Haven’t you heard the legends surrounding the witches of the north? You’re a pup compared to their powers. I’m surprised they haven’t confronted us by now, though I can guarantee they sensed our arrival days ago. For some reason, they’re allowing us to remain unmolested, and that worries me. They could be setting up some trap. More than ever, we have to be prepared for anything.”

  “Give me that thing,” said Relek, taking the spyglass. He studied Elendria and the witch talking. If he could only hear what they were saying. What was that conniving witch thinking? He was at the end of his patience and wanted to be done with this quest.

  All he could think about was the excitement his master, and his other apprentices were having in Maren Downs, while he was forced to be here, trying to kidnap Elendria. After all the wait, he doubted he would be gentle with the girl. In fact, his mind was filled with all the cruel things he could do to her. She deserved it. Once he’d finished with his fun, he would wipe her recent memories and haul her down south to her father.

  “What the hell?” Dondran said, as Relek watched the witch and Lysha leave while Elendria stayed.

  His companion wrenched the spyglass from his hand, scanning back and forth between the witch and Elendria.

  “Why are they leaving her all alone out here? It’s nearly dark.”

  “Brilliant powers of observation,” quipped Relek. “One thing is for sure; something strange is afoot.”

  “You stay here and watch Elendria. I’m going to follow the witch and the girl.” Dondran handed Relek the spyglass. The tracker muttered a few words and slowly turned invisible as he stalked into the forest.

  Relek returned to studying Elendria. The girl had sat cross-legged on a bench in front of the mine shaft. Her eyes were closed in meditation. What in the name of Ba’al was she doing? This was either the perfect opportunity to snatch her or the perfect trap. They had to proceed with caution.

  After around an hour of waiting, Dondran returned. He shook his head, perplexed.

  “The whole situation is insane. Why would they just leave her here all alone? The witch and the other girl returned to the village. I scouted around for a while, but everyone had retreated into their huts. I’ve checked everywhere around the forest, and there were no signs of an ambush. It’s almost like they are leaving her for us.”

  “Think about it. Maybe she wants to leave. If you’re right about the witches knowing we’re here, then maybe they are forcing her to go with us, or perhaps Elendria wants to return to her father. This might be easier than we’d thought.”

  “Don’t be naive. Something is off about the whole situation. I’ve been counting the number of miners and witches, and they all seem to be in the village, all except Elendria. They’ve left her here, but I doubt they are simply handing her over. The girl is the trap.”

  Who is asking you, idiot, thought Relek. How could the girl be a trap? She was just sitting there in meditation. The more time he spent with his companion, the more he detested the man. He was far too cautious. Relek blamed him for waiting too long while Elendria had grown stronger and was protected in the stronghold of the witches.

  “What, do you want to wait again? She’s all alone there. I doubt we’ll get a better chance than this. We should strike now.”

  “Go ahead, be the moron who lashes out with an illogical impulse. Let’s see how that turns out for you.”

  “Well, do you have a better idea—other than waiting?” Relek handed Dondran the spyglass. Let’s see the fool come up with an original idea for once. The man had his daily magical rituals, methods of tracking, and ways of surviving in the forest, but never once had he voiced a pragmatic solution to accomplishing their primary task: capturing Elendria.

  “We let her come to us.” Dondran gave Relek a dismissive look. “She knows we are here and is waiting for us to make the first move. If we don’t go, we’ll upset her plans and force her to lose balance. The situation is two against one, and we have the advantage. I will circle behind her, and you will stay here. She will come to you, the weak link in the chain.”

  Relek wanted to hit the fool for insulting him. Who did he think he was? Master Rigar had sent Relek to capture Elendria. Dondran was only sent as a tracker.

  “So, your idea is to wait, like always? If we go down there and confront her, what can she do against us? Speed is our ally, while the miners and witches are in the village. If we wait, they’re likely to come help her.”

  “Do whatever your idiotic mind screams at you to do. I’m circling behind her. If she comes, we’ll have the upper hand. But if you strike first, she will gain the initiative. You may be the master’s young favorite whelp, but I possess the experience you are sorely lacking.

  “Either listen and learn or ignore me and fail to grow. Without growth, you will remain in a state of weakness. The master sent us here for two reasons. One, for the small chance we would succeed in returning his daughter, and two, to test you and see if you are ready to advance to the next level. So far, from what I’ve seen, you’ve failed and will fail on the second point. Lord Rigar has requested that I report back to him daily on your progress. He has been disappointed.”

  A hot flush of embarrassment crept over Relek’s face. This had all been a test constructed by his master? Why hadn’t he informed him of anything? What if Dondran was lying to gain power over him? Master Rigar had never been so formal before. He preferred the loose application of power and knowledge. Relek had merely copied his master’s example. It seemed strange that his master would test him like this.

  “Even if I do believe you, a test constructed by our master would doubtless have multiple solutions. You have your ways, and I have mine. Ultimately, it is I who will choose how to act, not you. Do what you will but follow my lead. I will make the final decision.”

  “Fine, then you will bear the final responsibility.” Dondran turned and left, disappearing into the dense foliage of the forest.

  Relek returned his gaze to Elendria and decided what he had to do.

  CHAPTER TWENTY-SEVEN

  Elendria could sense them moving in the forest. One was circling behind her and the other, Relek, remained in front. A great debate was waging in his mind. She could feel the consternation raging through him and the push and pull of indecision. Would he finally come and play his hand, or would he wait?

  Hadara had taught her a great many things during the three days of meditation, and Elendria had hungrily soaked it up. She had learned the spell of farseeing and the spell to sense people and creatures around one’s location. The latter ability was useful in the forest or out in nature, but maddening in the city unless you could focus the spell on one particular person, which Elendria hadn’t thoroughly learned.

  But the most critical thing the witch had taught her was the spell of illusion. While Relek moved stealthily through the forest toward her, little did he know that the person sitting there on the bench was not her but an illusion of light. This spell was a specialty of the witches in the north and Hadara doubted that her father or the cultists would possess such a power.

  I will teach you things unique to us, spells and knowledge that your enemy will not know, the witch had told her. Use it to your advantage over your enemies.

  In fact, Elendria remained in the mine. The moment Relek approached her, the illusion would flee, frightened and desperate, into the mineshaft. Relek w
ould follow, and Elendria would catch him alone in her trap. That was a crucial part of her plan: to lead him away from his companion.

  She watched him from the safety of her meditation room. The young man moved like a lion through the forest, his shifting eyes wary. After he parted through a mass of dense foliage, he came upon the illusion of her and stopped.

  Relek said something, but she couldn’t hear it well. His voice sounded garbled and strange. Farseeing had its limits and was out of sync with listening. That was a different spell and didn’t combine well with farseeing. Relek took another step closer to her.

  Elendria projected her voice into the illusion and commanded the fabrication to mirror her expression as she spoke. “You failed to break my mind back in Wilhem. Madam Lassengre’s shield held firm. Tell my father to leave me alone. You are wasting your time.”

  When the young man took another step toward her, Elendria made the illusion stand, fearful, and move back toward the mine.

  “I said to leave me alone!” shouted the illusion.

  The young sorcerer said some more garbled words and raised his hands as if preparing to cast a spell. Elendria commanded the illusion to flee into the mine.

  Relek gave chase, taking the bait. Elendria tried to remain calm but couldn’t help but grin. The idiotic man had done it, just as she’d predicted. He’d foolishly gone into the mine after her, by himself, and hadn’t even bothered to call for his companion. She could win this fight. He was overconfident and unaware of his inherent disadvantages. This was her territory, now, providing her with strength. He failed to consider what he didn’t know and what unknown factors might affect his struggle.

  Like all men, he underestimated women and their power. He considered Elendria an inferior opponent, weak, and easy to dominate. She would exploit that misperception and use it against him.

  Deeper in the mine, the illusion of her sped to the cage—which was an illusion itself. Elendria had asked the miners to lower the cage to the bottom level, where she sat in meditation. The illusion cage descended as Relek approached with an orb of light, eyes angry, but he still gave chase, casting a spell and flying down after her.

  She made the cage speed down to the bottom, faster than even he could fly. Once there, he slipped down in front of the cage and chased the illusion of Elendria deep into the tunnel. Here was the trick: the illusion went down the tunnel, where Lysha had gone to meditate.

  When Relek reached the chamber at the end of the tunnel, Elendria made the illusion fall and tremble in fear. As she was about to break her farseeing spell, Relek came into the chamber and towered over her illusion, his face triumphant.

  Elendria stood, gasping as she broke the vision. With both the black stone and the white stone in her hands, she cast an orb of light and raced toward the tunnel where Relek had gone. Heart pounding, she passed the cage and charged down the tunnel toward Lysha’s meditation room. He’d pay for what he’d done to her.

  When she spotted his light ahead, she flung out her hands and poured forth wave after wave of white-hot fire, melting the gold, silver, and iron ore in the veins. The metals burned brightly as they dripped down from the walls, sealing in the young sorcerer.

  She backed away and continued casting the spell, melting more metals, then switched to ice spells, freezing the plug in place until the tunnel was closed. Hopefully, the air would run out, and the man would die from asphyxiation. But just in case, she had another plan. She grabbed a box near the cage and placed it in front of the now plugged tunnel. When the idiot tried to blast his way out, he would receive quite the shock from a box of explosive black powder.

  Satisfied, she stepped into the cage and tugged on the rope, hauling herself up to the surface. She would deal with Relek’s companion next.

  But halfway up, a light appeared from far above.

  Damned, she cursed to herself and quickly stepped out of the cage and sped down a tunnel.

  A massive explosion thundered below, sending an inferno of flame shooting up the mineshaft. The shockwave hit her, sending her tumbling. Stars sparkled in her eyes as she hit the ground, the air leaving her lungs. She gasped for air and turned in time to see the wooden cage catching fire, also igniting the rope. The entire contraption collapsed in a burning mess and crashed down the mineshaft, smashing at the bottom.

  Pain flared along her legs. They must have been singed as she raced down the tunnel to escape the fire.

  Gods, what had she done! She coughed and pushed herself up, scrambling to think what she should do next. Had she killed Relek? Likely, his companion would soon come, though the fire would slow him down a little.

  She took a deep breath and centered herself, remembering the meditations and skills of focus that Hadara had taught her.

  Think calmly and act with purpose, she told herself and exhaled slowly. She needed to use spells that her enemies didn’t know. There was no way she’d win a test of direct elemental strength against them. But the problem was, she didn’t feel entirely confident over the spells that Hadara had taught her.

  She found a side tunnel and sat, focusing her mind on casting the spell of farseeing. There, inside her vision, she saw the wreckage of the broken, burning cage lying on the ground of the eighth level. She moved toward the chamber where Relek had gone. He was there, injured and burned, sprawled out on the tunnel floor. Could she somehow prevent his companion from finding him?

  Inhaling again, she cast the spell of illusion and created a wall plugging up the hole in the tunnel. She created a second illusion of a fire in the direction where Elendria had once been, hoping to lead the other sorcerer in the wrong direction and leave Relek alone. She fed the illusions and waited.

  The other sorcerer was the first to arrive. Elendria breathed a sigh of relief as he flew down and around the wreckage, casting cautious glances around. She’d fooled him also. Luckily, Relek remained behind the illusion of the wall. She hoped the explosion had killed him.

  Elendria roused herself from the meditation and sprang into action. She raced back to the mineshaft and poured twin streams of fire from her fists, melting the ore along the shaft. She alternated fire with ice to create a massive plug in the shaft below.

  Now, to get out of this deathtrap. This had been the most challenging part of the plan, and one that Hadara had been especially worried about. She didn’t have enough time to teach Elendria the spell of flying. According to the witch, it took years to master. Elendria was determined, one day, to prove her wrong.

  To escape, Elendria had to rely on elemental spells. Using ice magic, she created ice steps embedded in the earthen wall of the shaft. She climbed up and around until she reached what she thought was the third level of the mine.

  Another explosion rang out below as the plug she’d created in the mineshaft was blasted away. She scurried down a tunnel, scrambling to find a chamber or a side tunnel to hide. After she discovered a dark corner, she exhaled in relief and plopped herself down in the darkness.

  More difficult this time, she finally entered a trance and cast the farseeing spell. She also cast the spell of illusion and fed the image of herself flying up the mineshaft and onto the top level. From there, she peered down the shaft and saw that the fire no longer burned, but instead, smoke billowed up from the hole.

  A dark figure exploded up the shaft, frightening Elendria. The shock caused her to jolt out of her vision. She gasped, also losing her hold on the spell of illusion. Cursing to herself, she tried once again to cast the spell of farseeing but found herself unable to concentrate.

  Damned! She clenched her fists, determined not to give up, and tried again but still failed. She was too inexperienced at casting these new spells and doubted she could harness them anymore, at least not in this battle. But could she beat them using only elemental magic?

  Soon, a light appeared around the corner. Elendria’s heart raced, knowing the sorcerer was searching for her. She prepared herself for battle. The tricks were over. She’d succeeded in her aim of knock
ing one opponent out of the ring, but now, it was time to fight. As she closed her eyes, she tested her magical shield’s strength and found it ready. But she wasn’t about to be the first to receive a blow from her opponent. For now, she held the element of surprise, assuming she remained quiet.

  She remembered the words of Madam Lassengre regarding magical shields: The barrier at least protects them from a single spell, and some sophisticated versions will deflect multiple spells to avoid concerted attacks. So, the question was, what kind of a shield spell did Relek and his companion possess? How many spells should she fire off before she switched to a defensive stance?

  She thought back to her battle with him in Criswall, but she couldn’t recall the cultists using a shield spell. Were they without the knowledge? She doubted they were defenseless, though in a fight, they likely couldn’t sustain both the shield and an ongoing magical battle. Elendria had tried and found it extremely difficult to hold the shield spell after casting several elemental spells.

  The light grew dimmer, and Elendria breathed a sigh of relief. The cultist was going down the other tunnel in search of her. But then a sobering thought struck her. Or was he? Could he have sent the orb of light down the other way then cast the spell of invisibility and headed in this direction?

  What to do, what to do? wondered Elendria, trying not to panic.

  Her opponent was playing the stealthy game, refusing to speak and stalking around in search of her. She realized, with this man, she had to try to utilize the new spells Hadara had taught her. Otherwise, she would lose.

  She cleared her mind, breathing in and out to center herself. This time, she did not expect success or failure. She tried to cast the spell to locate people around her. After a few seconds, an intense pinging sensation tapped her stomach, tugging her a bit to the right, telling her the spell had gone off successfully. The cultist was very close.