Page 17

Chapter Seventeen

Corallin

“ T alyria, don’t!” I cry, but my sister’s scream echoes through the hall.

Lek whirls at the sound of us, his hands going up in a pacifying gesture. “It wasn’t me! Victor was the sorcerer. He was going to kill everyone here if I hadn’t done what I did.”

“You,” Talyria snarls as she stalks toward him. “You killed Ibram, you killed them all, not Victor.”

She draws her dagger and flicks her finger. The dagger goes flying through the air toward Lek far too quickly and smoothly to have been thrown. His eyes widen for a second, showing his surprise in discovering that Talyria is a sorceress and that he wasn’t the only one hiding a deadly secret.

However, he quickly recovers and thrusts his hand up. A book goes flying off the shelf and blocks the dagger. It embeds up to the hilt, the blade quivering only an inch from his nose.

“I’m going to kill you,” Talyria hisses. I grapple with her, trying to hold her back. I can feel her quivering with anger, but we need to be smart. Most of the room Lek is in is obstructed from view. There is no knowing what he already has at his disposal with his sorcery while we only have this mostly scarce hallway. There are a few pieces of furniture against the wall. A table, a candle, and a mounted head of a wolf on the wall. We need to be careful when dealing with another sorcerer.

A fact that he proves as he raises his hands.

“You fool!” Lek cries as a green mist forms around his fingers, a physical manifestation of his power. Since sorcery is illegal, many sorcerers refuse to allow their powers to take this form. I think it only goes to prove that he has grown unstable or has stopped caring who learns what he is. Either way it’s a dangerous position to be against. “I am the necromancer who has plagued this village. With every one of you that I kill, the more powerful I get.”

The green smoke spreads out around his feet, pooling there for a second before it shoots off, moving faster. It races past Lief and me and veers off in two directions. One toward the back of the inn and another down the stairs just behind us toward the wine cellar. I move back, not allowing the smoke to touch my boots.

Down the hall, the door bursts open, and Ibram strides out. I hear footsteps coming from my left and look down to see the two bodies coming up the stairs.

Lief inhales sharply as he glances over at me. Despite the situation, his expression is oddly calm. He picks up a small round table in the hall, taking the candle that had been resting on it in his other hand. “Corallin, my love, you take care of that necromancer. I’ll make sure that you aren’t disturbed.”

I reach out, giving Lief’s arm a brief squeeze. It’s in this moment that I realize that I had nothing to fear about bringing Lief home. I don’t care that he isn’t a warrior or a criminal. He is willing to fight off the dead with a table and a candlestick.

That’s the quality of the man I want to marry.

If we make it out of this alive, I’m making sure that my family knows this.

I step away from Lief as he lets out a war cry that would make his Highlander ancestors proud while he swings the table by one of its legs at Ibram who tries to lunge at him. I bend over and pull a dagger out of the hidden sheaths in each of my boots.

I turn to Talyria. “We will take him together.”

“Just like old times?” she asks with a faint smile despite the tears dried on her cheeks.

I don’t remember old times, but sure. I just got a new sister, and I don’t intend to lose her. The brother-in-law…. Well, that was regrettable. Especially since I think I would have liked Victor more than Evengi at least.

I stride forward, calling on my demigod’s specific ability to draw the shadows closer to myself. I cannot create darkness since that is the goddess Neltruna’s domain, but her son can deepen what darkness there is.

Which is a skill that has come in very handy as an assassin. I also use my sorcery to take control of my daggers despite the fact that they are still in my hand. If there’s something I’ve learned from assassination contracts against other sorcerers, it is what sort of tricks they will use.

They will go for whatever is the sharpest object first, even if it is your own. I’m guilty of it myself, I’ve cut down many a man with his own sword.

But only one sorcerer can control an object at a time, so with my own power wielding it I don’t have to worry about Lek trying to wrest my knives away.

I flip my knife over in my hand so that the hilt is out to Talyria. “Here, to replace your other one.”

She raises her eyebrow probably sensing my control already on it, but she takes it without an argument. I race forward, diving for the wall on the other side of the door while Lek flings the book with the dagger embedded in it my way. It crashes against the wall where I had just been.

I can hear Lief grunting as he tries to keep the dead back. It’s a difficult position to be in, dead cannot be re-killed. My father claims that necromancy is the most powerful form of sorcery, as does my sister Natasya, but I like to think that any demigod patron can bring you great power if only you know how to wield it.

I press my shoulder against the door frame as I peek into the room, taking in the potential weapons that Lek has at his disposal. The first thing I notice is a bookshelf bearing several books and a model ship that could be used to bludgeon. There is a small writing desk in the corner where the quill could likely do some damage. And then there is the fireplace, although this late into the night it is really more of scorched embers. Still, they could be trouble in a sorcerer’s hand.

Either way, I can’t see anything too risky in the room unless Lek tries to rip apart the support beams and bring the ceiling down which I doubt he would do since he is in here. Not to mention that it would take an incredible amount of power to do so, and his power is already redirected in reanimating the corpses that Lief is fighting.

Talyria races across the hall and throws herself against the wall next to mine. She peers around the corner, but her eyes skip over all the potential weapons that could be flung her way and instead go directly to Victor.

A detail that Lek doesn’t miss.

“Allow me to reunite you with your husband,” Lek says as he conjures another wave of green smoke. Four bodies? He must be half mad if he thinks that he can sustain that sort of power.

As if to remind me of the threat that this necromancer poses, Lief cries out down the hall. I whip my head around my eyes widening as I see him stumble back just as Ibram swings his knife to where he had been standing. I need to act quickly and defeat the source of the necromancy because that is the quickest way to ensure that the dead are stopped as well. Short of complete dismemberment there is no other way to kill that which is already dead.

“What?” Lek gasps out in shock as I turn my attention back to him.

The green smoke is pooling around Victor, but nothing happens. He doesn’t rise to attack us, and it’s clear that Lek was expecting that. Instead, the smoke dissipates, heading back towards his hands.

“Surprised?” Victor asks, weakly. “Yeah, it turns out I’m a bit hard to kill.” He raises a finger and taps it against the ground. It’s obvious that he is still in bad shape, in fact I’m as surprised as Lek that he is still alive.

I need to take advantage of his surprise. I glance at Talyria to see if she is ready to strike but she is just staring at Victor with shock and hope written across her features. I don’t have time to signal her, I have to take advantage of Lek’s surprise. I race across the room, my dagger drawn. Lek whirls in time to see me and his eyes widen. He raises his hand, calling on the model ship just like I knew he would. I’m about to dive to the side to avoid it and let it crash into the wall. It will create wood splinters but hopefully I can deliver a blow before that happens, but then suddenly a small green creature with eight legs—a miniature kraken?— appears out of nowhere and lands on Lek’s face.

The necromancer lets out a cry of surprise as tentacles wrap around his ears and tangle in his hair. I am easily able to duck under the ship that has stopped midair with Lek’s attention divided. I reach his side, sweeping my leg out and kicking his ankle while I deliver a blow to his neck with my elbow at the same time.

His scream is cut off halfway through as he drops to the ground hard, the kraken still there wrapped around his face. I flip my dagger over, ready to deliver the final killing blow but suddenly Talyria is there. She lands on top of him, straddling his body with her own. She cries out and plunges her dagger into Lek’s chest.

His back arches for a second and then he lets out a loud gasp and goes limp. The kraken disappears, and I am left looking into his blank gaze.

Dead, the necromancer is dead at last. But not before he did his damage.

I came here to steal a spellbook, I shouldn’t care about any of these people except for Lief and yet, I can’t help but feel an acute heaviness in my soul for the loss of the night.

I turn toward the door just as Lief stumbles in. I race toward him, wrapping my arms around his waist in a tight hug before I pull back to study him. I run my hands down his chest as I take him in.

“Lief, Lief, thank goodness. Are you hurt? Oh no you are!” I gasp out as he moves his hand to reveal a long scratch on his arm.

“I’ll live,” he says softly. “Which is more than can be said for most.” His eyes are locked on something over my shoulder. I turn to see Talyria there kneeling over Victor.

“Victor? Victor?” she asks as she rests a hand on the side of his face.

“I knew it was going to jetting hurt, but not quite this much,” he says as we approach. Up close I can see that Victor is in a bad way. There is blood everywhere, his chest is completely soaked in it. More blood runs out of his mouth, trailing down his lip and disappearing into his beard.

I feel a lurch in my stomach reminding me that I haven’t fed in a while. I will have to satiate that thirst later, right now we have a very big concern.

I kneel down next to Talyria who has dropped to her knees next to Victor, her eyes empty save for the tears welling up in them. “What can I do?” she asks softly.

Victor looks like he wants to say something but begins gagging. His body shudders before he groans, his eyes rolling up in his skull as if he is going to lose consciousness, but then a second later, they roll back into place and glance around confused.

Against all odds, he is still breathing, and where there is breath, there is hope.

“There is one thing,” I say. I can’t believe what I’m actually saying. My father sent me to retrieve the spellbook and now I’m about to tell the Thief Queen about one of the most powerful known relics in our land.

But then I give my head a sharp shake. Not the Thief Queen. Talyria, my sister, even if I have a hard time accepting that fact.

I draw in a shuddering breath before I force myself to continue. “The book—Valentine’s book– it’s a powerful spellbook full of healing spells. It has the power to heal anything, even mortal wounds.”

“It’s okay,” Victor gasps out, his breathing coming out heavy. Blood splatters his lips as he speaks. “I’m not actually dying.”

“He’s in shock,” Lief whispers sadly. He reaches out to pat Victor on the shoulder but seems to pause when he realizes that he might hurt him more if he does so. “You’ll be all right, we will figure this out.”

Victor shakes his head. His fingers clutch at the floorboards as he tilts his head back gasping for air. “No, no . Likho will heal me… eventually .”

“What about the spellbook?” Talyria asks, not looking up. She is holding Victor’s hand in both of her own.

“The problem is, no one here can read it,” I admit at last. “I’m a sorceress and so are you, we cannot touch magic. And Lief is a Highlander, the spells wouldn’t even work on him.”

I reach out my hand, resting it gently on his hand that is clutching his bloodied arm.

Talyria turns to me, her dark eyes swirling with grief and another emotion. Resolve?

“If I read this spellbook, he won’t be in pain anymore?” she asks after a moment.

“I’m fine, Talyria,” Victor chokes out, his nostrils flare as he struggles to draw in air.

She ignores him, her eyes focused solely on me. I give a single nod. “The spellbook can heal any wound.”

Talyria bites down on her lip before she nods. “All right then.” She leans over Victor, reaching for his pocket. Victor lowers his wrist to grab her hand.

“No, you’re a sorcerer,” he rasps.

“I know the risks,” she says as she bats his hand away and pulls the spellbook out of his pocket.

“No,” he says but then stops, his whole face crumbling with pain as a hiss escapes his teeth.

Talyria pauses, her hand on the spellbook. She glances at him. “If you don’t want me to use it, then stop me.”

In response, Victor balls his hand in a fist as he lets out what appears to be an involuntary gurgle. Blood and spittle fly out of his lips.

“That’s what I thought,” Talyria says as she crosses her legs and opens the spellbook. “Forgive my mispronunciation. This is my first time reading magic.”

“ Nooo ,” Victor tries again, but Talyria cuts him off as she begins reading.

To my ears, it sounds like utter gibberish, but the effects on Victor are almost immediate. He draws in a sharp gasp as his eyes open wide. He raises his head, patting himself down as if trying to find any resemblance of the damage. All that remains is the blood he already spilled before and the jagged tears in his blue green vest. He looks up, narrowing his eyes as he looks at Talyria.

“You shouldn’t have done that. It was danger—”

“Oh, shut up,” she gasps out as she lunges forward, wrapping her arms around him. Her fingers clutch at the material of his shirt as if she is afraid someone will try to take him away. Her shoulders shake as she buries her face in Victor’s chest, not seeming to mind the blood still staining the front of his tunic. Victor wraps his arms around her, throwing me a bewildered look over the top of Talyria’s head.

I can’t help but let out a little chuckle of relief. Well, she didn’t drop dead immediately upon casting a spell so at least there’s that. Even though I do not know her like I know Natasya and Bronwyn, I still didn’t want anything to happen to her. I think a part of my heart accepts her and holds her in the same place as my own sisters.

I stare at the spellbook discarded by my sister’s boot, but I leave it there. For now.

Instead, I scoot toward Lief, allowing him to wrap his unhurt arm around me and pull me close. I rest my head against his chest listening to his heartbeat and relish the fact that he is still alive after this blood-soaked night.