Fearless (The Blue Fire Saga) (13 page)

“I think they’ll go next to the place where we fought Josef,” she said. “Let’s go somewhere we can watch them from a good distance, so we’ll know whe
n they leave. I’m not going
back to my dorm until they’re gone.”

They headed back up the street the way
Dral
had come, so they could put another block between themselves and the black waziri before returning to Leesa’s street to w
atch the wizards from afar
.

Leesa wasn’t sure what the next day or two might bring, but she was certain of one thing. She was
no
t going to practice any magic while the waziri were nearby.

8
. DOMINIC’S TRAIL

T
he three black waziri
moved slowly thro
ugh the trees, observing every
detail
like forensic experts examining a crime scene
.
The remnants of magical vibrations were everywhere—
the wizards would have found this place easily
even without the trail
left by Dominic’s passage that they had followed out here from the college
.
The
battle
between Dominic and their brother Josef had clearly been a mighty one.

They still found it hard to accept that Dominic had defeated Josef, but the
evidence could not be denied
. Nothing at all remained of Josef’s essence. Only the vibrations of his expended magic
showed
that he had ever been here.
Dominic
had obviously destroyed all traces of Josef’s being—making sure there was no chance his essence could ever be reanimated.

Nor was there anything here
to tell them exactly how
Dominic had
managed to defeat
Josef
. They knew Dominic was
a mighty wizard
—
he had been more powerful than any of them
until they gave themselve
s
to the black magic—but they
thought the
ir
dark power
s
made them stronger now. Perhaps
the same thought had made Josef
overconf
ident
. All thr
ee
silently
resolved not to make a similar
mistake.

That Dominic had survived the fight was beyond
any
doubt.
The
trail of magical energy
winding through the trees to the north was proof of that.
The
stream
of tiny, shimmering golden motes floating in
the air
was invisible to anyone but a wizard, but to them it
might as well have been
a trail of florescent footprints.
The black wizards could hear the magical trail as well. It gave off a faint buzzing, like a nest of
swarming
insects. Day or night, in any kind of weather, they could follow this trail, whether Dominic walked, rode or flew.
Having once again used his magic, there was no way he could now hide his path.

When their meticulous examination was finished, the three black waziri
gathered near t
he spot where Josef’s
existence had winked out, superstitiously avoiding touching the ground where their
fallen
comrade had last stood.

“There’s nothing more
we can learn
here,”
Viktor
said.
“H
ow
Dominic defeated
Josef will rem
ain a mystery. It’s time
to
report
back
and get further orders.”

They
opened their jackets and
pulled out identical
golden amul
et
s from
under their shirts.
The amul
ets were round, about three inches in diameter, and hung from their necks on
thin silver
chains.
The surface of the gold was etched with elaborate runes.

Almost in unison, they flicked a hidd
en catch on the side of the
medallions
with their thumbs and the faces spra
ng open, revealing a smooth, shiny black surface inside.
The ebony interior was fashioned of the same material as the table in the Necromancer’s castle.

Together, the three
wizards began chanting a soft
, rhythmic
incantation.
Each focused his gaze on
the black mineral.

The
ir call
was heard thousands of miles away. Deep in the bowels of his castle, the Necromancer dragged his corpulent body to his magical table
as quickly as his size allowed. The four novitiates were already
seated
there, awaiting him.
He dropped
heavily
into his
sturdy
chair
and took a moment to catch his breath, then stretched his thick arms o
ut over the table, palms
down, and began to chant softly. The incantation was the same one being used by the black waziri. 

Once again, the dar
k surface of the table bega
n to change and
the pairs of trapped, haunted eyes materialized deep within the glass.
The eyes steadily brightened, and a
moment later, the spectral forms of his three lieutenants appeared in their chairs.

“What news do you bring me?” the Necromancer asked.

“Nothing too useful, I’m afraid,” Viktor said.

“You found the place?”

“Yes, my lord. But there was nothing to tell us how Dominic defeated Josef. Vast amounts of magic were used by both, but that is all we were able determine.”

“And Josef?
Is there anything left
of him
we can use?”

Andre replied this time
.
“
No, my lord.
Dominic wiped out Josef’s esse
nce completely. There is not a shred
of his power left to reanimate.”

The Necromancer scratched the back of his fleshy hand.
“
I expected as much.
Dominic is no fool.
”
He looked at each of the three black wizards in turn.
“
Hi
s trail is clear to you?”

“Like a fire in the blackness of m
idnight,”
Tomas replied
. “
We will have no trouble following it.”

“And you can sense his general location?”

“Yes, my lord. At present, he is hundreds of miles to the west.”

“As long as his trail is visible, he will
have to
remain on the move,” the Necromancer said. “Last time, he eluded us because you could not travel
any faster than he could
. But this is a new age—you
three
can narrow the gap by traveling by air
when necessary
.
You all have papers
that allow you to fly
; Dominic
does not.
” H
is empty pink eyes narrowed. “
He
must not escape us this time. We are too close to our goal. The seal between the world of the living and the world of the dead grows weaker every day.
Soon we will be able to break it permanently.
”

“There is one more thing,” Viktor
said.

“Tell me.”

“We found one other place where Dominic used magic. N
ot nearly as much, probably just
one
spell
.
It was done before his battle with Josef.
”

The Necromancer thought for a moment. “That
is
interesting.
I had assumed Josef had somehow found Dominic
, and that’s why Dominic used his magic.
But
it seems more likely now that Dominic’s
magic drew Josef to that place. I wonder what
caus
ed
Dominic
to
use his magic and
reveal himself
after a century of quiet.
”

“T
here is no way to tell, my lord,
”
Tomas said.

“Perhaps
Destiratu
pl
ayed a part,” Viktor suggested, “making
Dominic less able to restrain himself when he saw a need for his magic.”

“
Perhaps,” the Necromancer replied. “If so, maybe it will make him careless again.
Tell me about this second place where you sensed
his
magic.
”

“It was
on the campus o
f a small college,” Viktor said, “near the edge of a street.
There were no visible marks left from the magic, so it’s impossible to know what Dominic did there.”

“
Tell me about that street
,
”
t
he
Necromancer
said
.
“What’s there?”

“The spot
was directly in front of a dormitory
,” Viktor replied
.