Eric

 

 

Eric adjusted the sword pressed against his hip.

Beside him sat David, his quiver and bow on his back. Across from him sat Charlotte, rubbing her arms as if cold. Mr. Stine and Aldamar completed the circle. And the rutseer inside the Eye of Kedge lay on the dining room table inches from the tips of David’s fingers.

David held the glass pendant over the table.

“Let it go,” Eric said. “Break it.”

David shook his head. “I’m trying. I can’t open my hand. It’s like it’s glued shut or something.”

“I bet the rutseer’s too close to you.” Eric wiped it from the table. It hit the carpet with a muffled thump, landing beneath the bookcase in the living room.

The glass pendant slipped from David’s hand and shattered on the dining room table.

An image appeared, clear, crisp, clean. A living, breathing visual.

Eric swallowed the cotton lump in his throat.

Slavandria lay upon a palatial bed covered by an enormous white coverlet dotted with pink rosebuds. Plush, snow-white pillows pressed all around her. Her hair draped over one shoulder in a single braid, a wide sea-green ribbon woven through the thick lavender strands. Small, wispy tendrils hung loosely about her temples and neck.

A small fire burned in a hearth. A crystal goblet filled to the brim with a misting burgundy liquid sat on the round table beside her, next to a vase of fresh cut flowers.

“Oh my gosh. David, that looks like Lily’s room,” Charlotte said.

In the corner, Lily sat in an overstuffed chair, her legs tucked beneath her. She wore a forest green nightgown and was humming softly to herself while reading. Slavandria turned her head, her eyes closed, a smile soft on her lips.

She held her sister’s hand and looked into her eyes. “I’m so sorry, Valla, for what I’ve put you through. You have had to deal with so much these past months.”

“Shh. Don’t be silly. You’re my sister and I love you.” She leaned forward and kissed Slavandria’s forehead. “Get some sleep. Rest. You and the baby need it. I’ll be right here if you need me.”

Slavandria slipped the blanket down, revealing a very round belly. She rubbed the bump, “Soon, little one. Soon.”

She shut her eyes and drifted off to sleep, an angelic smile on her face.

The image shattered into hundreds of pieces only to rearrange to form a new one.

“Wait!” David shouted. “Go back to the baby!”

A leviathan of a ship arrived in a harbor, its fifty sails puffed by the salty breath of the sea.

Eric stared open mouth, his heart racing. He’d seen the ship once before on a trip to Felindil and it sucked his breath away then as it did now. It was the most magnificent ship in all of Felindil, perhaps in the world. Crafted of the finest teak, it measured over three hundred feet long, more than eight times larger than any other ship in the fleet. The tallest of its eight masts was just shy of half the ship’s length. Its name—the WindSong.

“Hey, wait,” Charlotte said. “Slavandria has a replica of that ship in Chalisdawn!”

“Oh my gosh, you’re right!” David said. “And I thought the one in her house was big.”

Two young girls about the age of sixteen, ran on the docks and were met with open arms by a tall, over-muscled man with playful, slanted blue eyes that glistened like two sapphires against his bronze skin. He sported a low forehead, a pointed chin and wore his silky, straight black hair neck-length in an attractive, impractical style. He wore a black vest, black trousers, and black boots. Silver rings adorned every finger. Swirling emblems covered his arms.

Eric knew the man before the girls said, “Father!”

Jared.

He glanced at Aldamar in time to see a slight quiver of the man’s bottom lip before he bit it away. Eric made a wish—a wish for Aldamar to see his son and granddaughter again before he died. A quick glance at David and Charlotte and he knew they wouldn’t mind.

The image fractured again, this one to a terrace and a young Slavandria, her hair up, wearing a gown as lovely and vibrant as emeralds. A man presented a flower. A dance. A kiss on the lips. He turned around.

Eric clicked his tongue, anger boiling up from his feet to his throat. David and Charlotte shouted at the brume … at the image of Lord Seyekrad Krawl, introduced as the son of the Duke and Duchess of Doursmouth and apprentice to the wizard Sol of Bradenwood.

Eric harrumphed. So Slavandria had an affair with Lord Seyekrad. In all fairness, he appeared kinder, tender. Affectionate. Not the loathsome cretin he was now. He wondered as he watched the two of them together what could have changed him.

As if in answer, the brume shattered once more, the new image arising one of Slavandria in the arms of another man. A tall, dark-haired man with a sword and eyes as gray-blue as the Brindle Sea.

Eric’s heart leapt.

Mangus Grythorn, the general of Jared’s army. The most lethal mage other than Jared Eric had ever known. He was also cocky, dangerous, powerful, and respectable. And in the new image, he and Slavandria were standing on a seashore, she in a white shimmering gown, him in black leathers. Ribbons were wrapped around their wrists, weaved through their fingers. Bonded.

They were married, and from the looks of it, secretly. Eric smiled, then laughed, his nerves a crazy mess of twinges and tingles.

“She scorned him! She rejected Seyekrad. All of this, all of his hatred is because she didn’t return his love?” He glanced at Aldamar. “He wants to destroy everything because she didn’t love him?”

Aldamar nodded. “Love does strange things to people, Eric. Apparently, even to mages.”

“That’s why Seyekrad tortured Slavandria in the woods,” David said, “because she chose someone else over him. I had no idea it was him. That’s the guy that came to see Lily in the library. That’s who I thought was going to take me away.” David sat back, his hands in his hair. “Wow. Nuts. I guess some people hold grudges forever. In this case, he really needs to let it go.”

The room shook with thunder. Black and silver strings of electricity crawled along the ceiling. Aldamar’s eyes grew big, his face panicked.

“Forgive me. I must go.” He vanished in a flick of bright, white light.

“He left!” Charlotte said. “Why did he leave? We need him!”

The table lifted from the ground and sailed through the air, smashing into pieces in the corner. A man spoke, and the sound of it charged through Eric like a bolt of lightning.

“Is that what you think, Davey boy?”

And there he was, tall, thin, regal, dressed entirely in black, his silver hair glimmering like moonlight upon his shoulders.

“Seyekrad!” David yelled.

Eric leapt from his chair and spun around, his sword drawn. David jumped to his feet, his bow drawn.

Seyekrad moved closer, his smile twisted in smug satisfaction. “Might I suggest you put your weapons down.” His deep tone vibrated along Eric’s spine.

A tendril of black mist spiraled down from the ceiling and enveloped David.

Above him, pinned to the ceiling, Mr. Stine struggled against black, sparking constraints, his arms stretched out to his sides, his legs crossed together at the ankles. Angry heat lay in his eyes, not fear. Another human with determination, strength, and a selfless spine.

If only the magic could disappear.

“Daddy!” Charlotte cried out.

Eric whipped his head to his left. His breath hitched. Bainesworth von Stuegler, in all his blond, wretched, healed form, held Charlotte in his clutches, a venomous snake ready to strike and kill.

Energy sparked from her fingertips and danced across his arms, but she might as well be showering him with flower petals for all the good it was doing.

If only she knew how to use her residual magic. He’d give every gallion he owned to watch her ignite his body and cast him to the center of Hell in flames.

Anger shook his very core. He raised his sword, the tip pointed at Bainesworth’s throat. “Let her go or I’ll cut you from navel to nose.”

Seyekrad flicked a finger and Eric’s blade sailed across the room into a glass cabinet. Shards of glass rained through the air.

“I don’t think so, pup.” Seyekrad pinned his ice eyes to Eric, a pale hand pressed to his chest. “Your friends’ agonizing deaths will bring me great pleasure. Making you watch will bring me even more.”

A web of black energy pulsed around Eric, holding him to his spot.

Eric ripped at the cocoon. Ahhh! Of all that is good in heaven, let me kill him!

Charlotte struggled and kicked. “Leave him alone, you monster!” Her fingertips fell silent as her nails dug into the constricting arms.

Seyekrad waved his hand.

A silver spark ignited between Bainesworth and Charlotte, the flash almost blinding.

The knight wailed. “Watch it, fool.” He shook out one arm at a time while managing to hold onto a struggling Charlotte. “Next time aim for her, not me.”

Seyekrad cocked his head in Charlotte’s direction. “I did aim it at the girl.” He sashayed toward her, his brow furrowed. His gaze traveled over her body from head to toe. “Well, well. This is quite a turn of events.” He grasped her jaw. “How did you do it?”

She ground her teeth, the tendons in her neck pulled taut.

He shifted his hand and dug his fingers into her cheeks. “I asked you a question and you will answer me.”

She spit in his face. “Drop dead.”

Seyekrad laughed. The sound filled the room. “Oh, I like you. What spirit you have.” He cupped her chin. “Yes, Bainesworth, I think the Dragon King will be quite pleased with this gift.” He turned around and aligned his gaze with David’s. “That is, unless you wish to hand over the Eye of Kedge.”

“Don’t you dare, David,” Charlotte shouted.

The Eye! The rutseer! Eric scoured the floor for it. A smile threatened to bloom on his face as he spotted the necklace beneath the bookcase.

“What will you give us in exchange?” David asked, one eye on Charlotte, the other on her father.

Seyekrad laughed again. “Give you? Oh, no, dear boy, I think you misunderstand. There is no exchange involved. See, you’re the paladin, and you must die. That is a given. How ludicrous would it be for me to allow you to live while the heir to the throne of Hirth still breathes? Or does he?” He strolled toward David. “I think it’s time I found out. Maybe if I rip your brain apart, I’ll find him. Then you can die a hero’s death.”

Moisture evaporated from Eric’s lips. His eyes darted from right to left to right again. Stop him! Roll! Trip him! Do something!

Seyekrad flicked a finger.

Eric sailed across the room and slammed into the wall. Pain shot like a hot arrow across his chest. His vision skewed. Stars appeared. He struggled to his elbows and knees.

Seyekrad laughed. “Your thoughts give you away, runt. Perhaps I should root around in your brain first.”

David lunged, but the mist swirling around him closed in, wrapping tighter to his form.

Seyekrad walked toward Eric. “What will I find inside that gelatinous mess? The identity of the heir? You are, after all, the squire of the most revered knight of Hirth. The great and powerful Trog knows all, which means, his runt would know everything, as well.”

Charlotte shouted, “Leave him alone!”

Seyekrad’s eyes clouded and turned a milky shade of purple.

Eric’s body stiffened. Fingers, hundreds of them, entered his brain, searching, shoving, hurting. He squeezed his eyes tight. One of Magister Timan’s lectures sprang alive in his mind. To block a mind sweep, think of one thing. Replicate it. Make a wall of it. Eric thought of a donkey he once had. He repeated the image and put it in every dark space in his head he could find.

Seyekrad’s voice grew in frustration. “Why do you not want me inside your head? What are you hiding?”

Eric wailed, his hands pressed to the sides of his head. Tendrils of fire unwound in his mind, searching.

“Stop! Stop it!” Charlotte cried out.

Numbness swept through Eric’s body. Memories elongated, thinned so much he couldn’t tell one from the next. Only names remained. Connections faded.

Donkey!

Donkey!

Seyekrad’s face twisted in fury. “What is this trickery? Open your mind to me!”

More magic burned into Eric. His blood caught fire.

“Leave him be.” David shoved the sorcerer in the chest. “It’s me you want.”

Seyekrad spun around, his face twisted in rage and disbelief, his mouth open. “How did you—”

Charlotte’s father crashed to the floor.

“Daddy!”

David guffawed. “What’s the matter? Having concentration issues?”

Seyekrad lunged and caught David’s head between his palms. “Die, you impertinent pest!”

David’s body twitched. His eyes rolled in the back of his head.

Eric groaned. Using a stool for support, he pushed himself up. “No. Get. Away. From him.”

“Stop it!” Charlotte screamed.

Green and purple threads of electricity sizzled and cracked across the room, striking Seyekrad in the chest. Air rushed from his lungs and he hunched over, gasping for air.

David fell away with a yell, and careened into the bookshelf, knocking it over. He groaned.

“Seyekrad!” Bainesworth said. “The girl. The strike came from her.”

Charlotte kicked and squirmed. “It did not! You did it! You’re the one who wants him dead. You want his power, his title, everything that black beast promised him.”

“Why, you lying witch! I’ll kill you here and now!” Bainesworth’s arm wrapped around Charlotte’s neck. Her eyes widened. Her feet lifted from the ground.

Eric’s gaze flicked to David. His hands moved beneath the books like a leviathan through the sea. Hunting. Searching. He tucked something in his pocket.

Eric expelled a breath of air. He knew what David retrieved. Now to block the observation. Tuck it where Seyekrad couldn’t find it. He collected a few more donkeys.

Seyekrad straightened, his hand clutching his heart. “No,” he said, wheezing. “Take her to Einar. Let him do with her what he will.”

He pointed his finger and circled it in the air. A portal emerged out of nowhere. Its silver fabric pulsed and swirled. Bainesworth and Charlotte fell through.

Eric staggered. “No!”

David yelled her name, but the hole between universes closed.

“Nooooo!” Charlotte’s father yelled.

Eric, stumbled, bent over, and retched.