“How soon do we leave?” she asked. “Tonight?”
Thealos’ Shae senses whispered to him. Amidst the smoke of the fires, the smells from stewpots on stilts, he sensed it. Another Shae drew near. And a hint of something else…something Forbidden.
The memories swirled up and came to him, the Oath magic keeping its influence close at hand. He put his hand on her shoulder and rose, turning around.
Ticastasy saw them first and gasped, then clutched Thealos’ hand so tight it hurt.
“Flent?”
The Drugaen emerged into the ring of firelight. “Was wonderin’ how long it’d take before you saw me girl. You two look kinda cozy. Mind if we join you?”
Ticastasy rushed her friend and laughed while she cried, squeezing him, punching him, and half-throttling him with a dozen questions.
Thealos was dumbfounded, but he did not speak. His gaze lingered on the thin Shae who had followed Flent into the light of the cookfire and the look of unveiled contempt on his face at seeing Thealos half-clothed with a human girl.
“Hello Justin,” Thealos said in stilted Silvan.
“My name is Ravin Kil-Silversheir,” came the Warder’s reply.
Chapter XIX
It was a blackness no kindled torch could penetrate. Not even the moon’s brilliance could invade the fomenting wall of darkness. It smothered the center of Castun like the Valairus fog, yet thicker than oily smoke. Exeres breathed it in and started to cough. Shouts and screams shook the air, rattling the skies with their fear. Horses revolted, throwing riders, their hooves striking fleeing soldiers. But it wasn’t just the sound that told Exeres what was happening. He could see the scrambling soldiers—through his blind eye.
He could see!
—Remember, lad, that in the land of the blind, the one-eyed man is king—
Mage’s voice then rose above the chaos like a storm. “The words of my servant will be fulfilled. You have sealed your own doom.”
Panicked voices.
“It’s Achrolese! It’s the Druid-God!”
“Run! Run you fools!”
Exeres gripped the edge of the wagon and pulled himself up. The fight over his mind raged beneath the crackling thunder.
—I can defeat you, old man. I’ve suffered you to share this valley with me—
—How thoughtful, little one. Show me your strength then—
A surge of hot-smelling cinders engulfed the air, thick with reeking death and pollution. It mushroomed against the darkness, adding its taint to Mage’s magic. Two mountains of power collided and the earth shook in response. Exeres was hurled from the wagon.
—Impressive, little one. But not enough. The darkness holds—
Another wall of magic slammed into the center of town, stronger than the first. Exeres hugged the ground as it whip-wheeled beneath him. The smell grew even worse, more nauseating than before. Screams chorused in the night air. Exeres lunged to the side before a horse trampled him. He saw Ballinaire above him, trying to steady his mount and failing. He knew it was Ballinaire by the ebb of his Life magic. The darkness prevailed still.
—You are strong, old man. But I am stronger—
—You cannot break my grip on the darkness, child. Not while you are tethered to others. How many do you dangle? There are… three? Three you hold in thrall? Little one, but that is so dangerous for you—
Exeres felt it as Mage drew himself deeper inside Exeres’ mind and the struggle wrenched against his skull. Mage tried to force his will even harder. It made Exeres vomit.
—You cannot have him—
—I can have as many as I desire! —
—Then you will lose, little one—
A blast of heat seared the air, a jet of flames. Soldiers screamed as they were engulfed by it. Exeres felt it singe his back.
Something loosened in his mind, like a wine cork twisted just a hair. He felt her hold slipping and he shoved his will against it. Excruciating pain, like needles driven into his eyes, made him join the chorus of screams with his own. How it hurt! He would die from the pain.
—Push her out, boy! —
—No! —
Exeres sobbed and slammed against the weight of her in his mind again. A soldier stumbled over his body and went down next to him. The man was leaking Life magic like a sieve. Focusing on Miestri’s presence, Exeres steeled himself and shoved against her again, biting his lip so hard that he tasted blood in his mouth.
He remembered the blood she had made him drink.
Fury—the fury of total hatred—engulfed him. The things she had made him do. Forced him to do. A slave, not a man. A prisoner in chains. No more. Not ever again. A surge of strength swelled with the thoughts of defiance, soaking into his soul. He dug into himself, into the core of who he was.
He shoved with all his soul.
Her dominion wrenched and then ripped free of his mind.