“I must see him. Now.”
The soldier shook his head. “You’re delirious. Go find a bed and sleep it off, or I’ll have you clapped up in irons. This is the last time I’m going to tell you.”
“You heard him,” said another soldier. “This corridor is not to be disturbed save by Ballinaire only. You are banned well not him!”
Exeres closed his eye and opened it again, drawing in Earth magic to steady himself as he brought in a deep breath. Power filled his body, adding strength and resolve. He looked at the first soldier.
And punched him in the nose.
“Guards! Guards!” the other soldier shouted, reaching for his weapon.
Exeres clamped his hand over the man’s wrist and squeezed until he felt the bones snap. He struck the man in the chin with his other hand and shoved him into the door with all his might. The sound of soldiers charging from the halls boomed like thunder. The first soldier clamped a hand over Exeres’ mouth and blood spurted from between his fingers. He tried to grab his tunic, but the Zerite kicked him in the ribs, just hard enough to break two or three. If they had so much Everoot, he would be banned before feeling guilty about hurting them!
As more soldiers and Kiran Thall rounded the corner at the head of the corridor, Exeres stepped up and grabbed the handles and broke the lock as he yanked the doors open. Wood splintered and gave way in his hands.
The reek of dead things pummeled into him and stamped down on the Earth magic, snuffing it out like a wet wick. Exeres did not care. He swallowed against the choking fear and stormed inside anyway.
He saw Tsyrke Phollen at his desk, looking up at him without concern. The other one, the man with black robes, stood with an orb the color of flames. All the magic in the room was drawn into it. Exeres remembered seeing one just like it. He remembered the tortured faces leering from the glass sphere.
“Tsyrke!” Exeres said, striding forward and slamming his hands on the desk. “She’s in danger. She’s…”
Blackness slammed against him again, a pallet full of bricks, and this time he went down to the floor, dropped as if he weighed nothing at all. Buzzing in his ears, but he could still hear the voices in the room as the soldiers stormed in.
“It’s all right,” Tsyrke said. “It takes more than a little Zerite to hurt me. The boy’s gone mad, and I can see why. What’s your name, sergeant?”
“Grant, sir.”
“Take my two doormen to the Everoot and see that they are healed. Do as I say! They’re in a lot of pain, can’t you see that? Go!”
“But what about the priest, sir? Can we kill him?”
“No. He’s mine.”
The soldiers left, carrying the two men Exeres had wounded with them. In the smothering darkness, he thought about how good it had felt to do that. Perhaps it was a sin that would require some absolution, but he did not feel any contrition. Anger sparked and flamed inside him. He was tired of being a pawn, angry that others felt compelled to use him. The Druids of Isherwood. Jaerod from Castun. Tsyrke Phollen. And that black-robed wench. No more. Never again.
The weight lifted from his body. Exeres’ vision cleared and he saw the double doors closed again, infused with Earth magic to make them stronger than stone. The ageless man in the robes watched him with curiosity in his eyes. As if he were studying the way roaches squirm. Exeres climbed to his feet and turned to Tsyrke.
“You nearly got yourself killed, boy. What news was worth risking your life over?”
“Tell your robed friend over there not to stamp on me like that with his magic again. I can still hear you when you speak. I heard you the last time he did it too.”
Tsyrke rubbed his mouth, the gravelly sound of day-old whispers breaking the stillness. “You’ve got some bite in you, priest. What’s troubling you?”
“I need to leave Landmoor. Right now. Today.”
The Bandit Commander gave him a weary smile. “I was expecting you would have come sooner. But I will let you go if you take a message for me to Castun.”
Exeres slammed his fist on the table again. “You don’t understand. She can hear you as well as I can. The other one…like him!” He pointed back at the robed man. “She’s taken me. She’s controlled me. She sent two people to hurt her. I don’t know how far they are ahead of me, but they’re going to reach Castun first if I don’t hurry. She wants Ticastasy! She knows that you will do anything she says in order to keep her safe.”
For a moment, Exeres thought the man would unsheathe his sword and split him in half with it.
“Tsyrke, I’ve been fighting to remember where I’ve been the last three days. I was with her. With…with a woman who had a sphere of fire like he does.”
“Miestri?”