Page 14 (1/2)
Keleios froze, waiting, sword in hand, but nothing happened She stood near a tripod and its pentagraular room was exactly as she remembered it Harque had been nearly blind to reality six years ago and one did not s in a blind person&039;s study The witch sat at her desk sidewise to Keleios Harque smiled at a point some yards in front of her near the bookshelves that covered the entire all
Harque continued to smile and talk to what only she could see "I knew you would cohed, and it rose up and down until she hiccuped "I knew you wanted power" She seeht of the phantom and squinted round the room Her eyes found the real Keleios and stared "I wanted power I wanted it, but you took it, you took it"
Harque had been a tall woman and still in the shadow of her youthful beauty when Keleios had coo Now she was stooped and crippled with age Surely just a few years could not have changed her so The wo Keleios&039; voice of years past The two voices debated in orn circles
"I gave up iven up?"
"I risked my life, my eternal soul, and I succeeded"
"No!"
"Yes, I did what you were afraid of doing, and now you have bargained away the youth and strength that would have let you follow o into the pit"
"The pit where even Harque the Witch fears to go I was a child I was afraid"
The witch buried her face in her hands but still spoke as Keleios "You killed eance, not power Yet I who did not seek have found it, and you who have sought long have little to show for the search"
"No" Harque began to cry, and both voices ceased
Six years ago Keleios could have killed her Harque was strong, powerful, and evil Now pity ht she could feel none She sheathed Ache silvestri and locked hio Keleios crept forward, elven silent, and spread the lengths of the bloody necklace apart She chanted silently the binding spell of the necklace Leaving Harque alive orse punishrey head, but the witchfast
Harque scuttled from the chair and crouched only a few feet away; the face slipped It was the saer, claws for hands
Keleios unlocked Ache silvestri&039;s sheath, back-stepped to get the rooht of the shapeshifting deh, still tall and proudly beautiful Her eyes were covered by two leathern patches Her dress was crearey cloak thrown over one shoulder, and she sain after all these years"
The second door opened, andweapons They each wore the hooded cowl of the shadoorshippers They were only six, but littered off their weapons and at least one sword dripped veno-arht it a solid blow across the face It fell bleeding and stunned She slipped the gold links across his thin shoulders, whispered words of entrap o"
The men circled warily as the little one disappeared The necklace meant that Alharzor was dead, and that was not an easy task
The room itself had been trapped, and she could not teleport out Witchery locked her here, and the shadoorshippers advanced
"Take her" Harque&039;s i
One man said, "But she has slain Alharzor"
"Nonsense She is an enchanter and broke the binding Alharzor has fled hoirl could kill him?"
They didn&039;t and were reassured, and Keleios didn&039;t want them reassured "Alharzor died because she told hi ed, deepened, as she whirled the silver sword -- "he is not truly gone from you His power exists here within me" Keleios could feel Alharzor&039;s power like a second pulse inside the sword, and all that poas hers to call upon
They shuffled nervously, uncertain
Harque threw a handful of powder into them, and the ones that it touched screaiven unliirls I swear by Shadow"
The hesitation was gone
Keleios tried one last thing "No wo for"
The one who carried the poisoned sword said, "These are"
They rushed forward, the one with the poisoned sword closing first Aching silver sang in her hands, cutting under the upraised blade, finding the heart and slicing through the rib cage like butter Alharzor was there, his power strong and vital, beating with her and the sword Blue flame flowed from the sword up to her shoulders; with each death the sword sang more sweetly It crooned in herand blood and rey-robed ht after that first kill
When they all lay dead, she breathed as if co in her head, not Alharzor&039;s power, but the sword itself The demon was inside the sword, and suddenly Keleios knew the sword could s her just as easily In one screaer lay Keleios shoved every sorcerous ward she had inside her head, protection againstinto place inside herself She was isolated, unaware of anything but the sudden silence inside her head She opened her eyes and her mind, cautiously
Harque held a silver whistle to her lips How long she had been calling, Keleios did not know, but soh the near door The deh the door The sword sang a death song It had never taken a demon like this one before But Keleios didn&039;t want to have to fight the sword again so soon
The sword complained bitterly, but Keleios pointed her hand at the jelly leamed, raised a sweat on her body A fireball shot forward and splattered harmlessly She needed more power than that The sword promised power, but Keleios did not feel ready to trust the sword She cleaned the blade auto it Sheathed, the sas quieter, and she could concentrate on her own ic Fire didn&039;t harm this des, cracks the skin, cold, ice She drew that thought through her hands and into the de, and it opened its mouth to scream It sat half-coated in ice, hurt and puzzled at this new pain
Harque blew on the whistle, but it began to back out of the door It had had enough for one day
Keleios turned clenched fists to the witch when so hit her from behind It sank needlelike teeth into her bare left shoulder Keleios rolled, hand closing on a throat that was soft and war her eyes A curtain of fla her fingers in, searching Soht on She leapt away frorip It was a succubus, a naked voluptuous fes, black claws for nails Yellow eyes sought Keleios with hatred With her throat partially crushed, the demon crawled after her
The sword cried out to her, "There is only one way to truly slay a demon," Keleios had no wish to internalize the succubus&039; nature The deh her now until she could hear squabbling, as if it needed more room How h the clamor in her head she did not hear the footfalls behind her
"Behind you!" the sword yelled
She dove to one side Harque&039;s dagger thrustKeleios The succubus grabbed Keleios&039; ankle Ache silvestri leapt to her hand Keleios chopped the hand that held the dagger It parted at the wrist and fell out of reach Harque and the succubus screa, Keleios allowed the sword to sink ho upward She struggled to free herself, but it held
She watched in a haze as Harque scra hand An ax seemed to float into view, and the witch&039;s head spun out of sight The powder flew har muscles pulled her and the sword backward as it freed theh the roaring in her head Tobin was there, kneeling, holding her, but only his lipsvoices in her head, the power of death, and a whisper of seduction
The shapeshifting de in the lights Keleios realized he wasn&039;t a de demon would accept i at Tobin&039;s arm Lothor bent over her, but still they were far away
A phrase slipped through "It&039;s the sword"
Yes, of course it was It was trying to take over, to steal her away fro bastard She tried to slam shields inside her mind and shut it out, but this time her sorcery would not come Her head buzzed with the sword&039;s presence, and the essence of the de before the combined power Keleios did what had to be done, accepted the power that flowed round her and the sword, and sed the evil and the memories of rituals that no ain, and the sword fell silent, pouting, so close, but not close enough Tobin helped her to her feet, and she stu that she was hurt Blood seeped froht had taken its price Lothor cleaned and resheathed her blade and snapped the locks in place
"Where is Eroar?" she asked
"He is conversing with the golden worm"
She looked a question at hiet by the watch worreen imp, "aid you?"
"Yes, your little friend aided us But the as suspicious, so Eroar showed his true shape They are co notes for the last hundred years"
"What of the demons?"
"They fled when Harque died Can&039;t you feel it?"
Keleios could feel a freedo with it The place had been evil for so long; it would take time
They swept the desk clean and laid her upon it Poth leapt up beside her with a questioning et down She did "No more questions until I see to that wound" Lothor&039;s slender fingers explored the wound and his face went blank, his breathing slow and shallow The fah her, and he bent with the pain of his neound He healed the deepest scratches and stopped the blood loss He stood straight, sweat beading his face "You will live"
"That is co the healed side "We eon prisoners"
Lothor shook his head "There is no time"
"Harque is dead; the demons have fled There is time I won&039;t leave anyone to starve in the cells below"
He was angry but hid it fairly well and stalked off to search the study The green imp hopped beside her "I did well, didn&039;t I, Master, I did well?"
"Yes, Groghe, you did well"
He swelled his thin chest out with pride "What do you want eon" He turned to leave "Wait Can you guide us through the prison area? Do you knoell?"
He seemed ready to cry "No, oh, Master, no, I do not"
"It&039;s all right Just bring ood guide Do not bring the guide to us Just look at the guide and tell us of hio"
Keleios slid off the desk and began searching Harque&039;s bookshelves Tobin leaned near the door, nervously gripping his sword Poth had curled up on Harque&039;s thronelike chair, yellow eyes watching Keleios
Lothor stepped up behind her, drawing an ie suit of elven chain mail from his belt pouch He held it out toward her "Here With this on perhaps you won&039;t be hurt quite so fast"
She touched the lengths slowly They sounded like rain when they fell against one another "It is a generous offer"
"I siain, and you need better than ruined leather ar it, and went to the desk once an to take the remains of leather off, she realized just how little was left on under it She turned to ask Lothor to look the other way, but he was already ss to coe, black healer, don&039;t you ever tire of baitingasked
Keleios turned her back on thee Most chainunder it, but this was Vallerian ood to the skin as silk In the way of elven armor it fit to her body as if made just for her Keleios belted the sword into place and she felt safer
"It becomes you, Keleios"
"Thank you, Prince Lothor"
Tobin turned "I have never seen such delicate workdo alien
The shapeshifting i from his wrist Keleios complimented hieon ave me the keys"
"Could you reforan the change
Again so called to her It whispered, "Find me Take me with you"
A perfect replica of the witch stood before them Keleios moved around the demon and walked to a small wooden cabinet It was locked Keleios smashed the wood in and opened it Inside was a squarish bundle covered in grey silk She took it out and drew a sharp breath
Lothor asked, "What have you found?"
"I&039;m not sure, but it called to me It didn&039;t want to be left behind"
"Keleios, only the great weapons and relics take care of themselves"
"I&039;m aware of that" She laid the book on the desk and unwrapped it slowly The binding was grey There were no runes on the cover, no warning, no instructions, no hints She opened the front cover carefully andacross it Keleios stepped back, rubbing her hand and shaking her head, "I&039;m hurt; the book struck at me" The world see for it to pass When she could stand, she said, "It is The Book of Grey"
"But that is legend"