Shara was still floating when they appeared in a gloomy cavern. The cavern was filled with stone tables, all but one of which was covered with bubbling tubes and beakers. Something fluttered down from the ceiling and at first she thought it was a bat. When it landed on the sorcerer’s shoulder she could see that it had arms and legs in addition to wings.
The creature cocked its head and looked at the sorcerer.
He nodded and said, “Yes, Bane, that’s her. Finally I can complete my pact with Balthis.”
“What are you going to do with me?” Shara demanded.
The sorcerer smiled. “You are to be the guest of honor in a ritual that will set an elder demon free from a prison that has held it for thousands of years.”
Shara shuddered at the cold way he spoke. “You’re going to kill me.”
“Yes, but not in the way you seem to think. I don’t plan to cut your heart out or anything like that. You’re intended to be the host for Balthis’s new form. That has been your destiny since before you were born. Over the course of about a year the organism will live within you and slowly drain your life energy. When the year is up it will emerge, weak, but free from the prison that has held it for ages. You, unfortunately, will die in the process.”
“Who are you?” Shara asked.
Her arms and legs felt like lead weights and she could barely look at her captor. Everything she’d gone through to get home and this is how it ends.
“I have been known by many names over the years, I have now chosen Daktari.” The sorcerer snapped his fingers and she settled gently down to the stone floor. “Please have a seat. I can’t begin the ritual until the sun sets. We have several more hours.”
A year and several hours to live. She sighed and sat on the edge of the empty stone table. Daktari leaned against empty air.
“What did you mean when you said this was my destiny since before I was born?” Shara asked.
“I don’t fully understand what makes you so special. Balthis learned that your father’s firstborn child was the key to a ritual that would free him from his divine prison. As I said when we first met, during the Crown War, I made an arrangement with your father. In exchange for his firstborn child, you, I would help him defeat his brothers and end the war. You were to be turned over to me on your eighteenth birthday.”
“I still don’t believe it,” Shara said. It hurt too much to think of her father and this ghoul bargaining over her fate before she was even born.
“Believe it or not, I don’t care, but know that it is the truth. Your father was willing to sacrifice one life in the future to save thousands then. I admit, not claiming you at birth was a poor idea on my part, but I had no desire to waste eighteen years raising a child. Vilos became too attached to you, especially after your mother died. Still, I kept an eye on you through my stone soldiers. Having that boy’s arm ripped off was enough to dissuade others from interfering with you.”
“You did that?” Shara asked, horrified.
“Oh yes, hardly a day passed when I or one of my minions wasn’t watching you. Once your ring activated, that became impossible.”
Shara held up her hand and gazed wonderingly at the ring that had protected her for so long. Fat lot of good it was doing her now.
“Is that the little bauble that has so vexed me?” Daktari asked.
Shara nodded and held out her hand. She forced herself not to smile when he reached out to touch it.
Serve him right if he got a shock.
When he grasped it the ring flashed, but rather than jerk his hand back like everyone else that had ever tried to touch it he just ignored the shock.
A drop of dark fire appeared on the tip of his finger where he touched the ring. The fire burst forth and surrounded the ring. When it faded, nothing remained save a few ashes that fell to the cavern floor.
Daktari smiled at the surprised look on her face. “You hoped to give me a shock. I assure you it would take magic a great deal stronger than that to harm me.”
Shara stared down at the floor. “Why? Why are you doing this to me?”
“I’ll show you.” Daktari turned his back on her and walked over toward a large stand.
As soon as he turned away Shara began frantically searching the tables for a weapon. Her eyes landed on an obsidian dagger. She grabbed it and ran toward him ready to plunge it between his shoulder blades.
It probably wouldn’t kill him but maybe she could make him mad enough to kill her now rather than waiting to complete the ritual. At least she could stop the demon from being freed.
If Daktari was aware of her running toward him he showed no sign.
Three feet from his back she lunged with all her might.
The dagger struck an invisible shield that blasted her through the air.
As she came crashing down what felt like a gentle hand caught her and carried her over beside the sorcerer.
“That was a very silly thing to do,” Daktari said not sounding the least upset. “You have a strong spirit. No wonder Balthis chose you as his host. As I was saying, the reason I agreed to help Balthis escape his prison is this.”
Daktari stepped away from the stand revealing a book about three feet long by two feet wide. The cover was stretched hide of some creature she couldn’t identify. The book was about four inches thick and seemed to shimmer in and out of sight.
Shara stared up at the sorcerer. “A book? You did all this for a book?”
“Not just a book. This is the Book of Shadows. Lost for a thousand years, sorcerers and wizards have spent lifetimes searching for it. The most powerful magic in the world is contained within its pages.”
“Do you think it will give you enough power to survive when you let this demon loose on the world?”
“I have no intention of waiting around once I have completed the ritual. When our pact is complete, I shall walk between the worlds to a new planet with new magic for me to master.”
“New planet, what are you talking about?”
Daktari smiled. “Despite what the priests may tell you about our importance in the universe, this rock is of little consequence. The Creator forged a multitude of worlds, many eons more advanced than this one. Our world is utterly meaningless. If Balthis destroys it, there are billions more drifting throughout the universe.”
“It matters to the people living here,” Shara said.
“I imagine so.”
Shara was still floating, unable to move. “Could you let me down?”
“I don’t think so,” Daktari said. “Your belligerent attitude makes it quite possible you will try some other foolish stunt to try and stop the ritual. I’m afraid I can’t allow that.”