The Mage's Limits: Mages of Martir Book #2 (10 page)

“Precisely,” said the Ghostly God, nodding without looking over his shoulder. “Nonetheless, Jakuuth was firmly convinced that he was indeed the Son of Grinf, which was why he took on the surname Grinfborn. He knew that no one else in the school would believe him, however, which is why he kept his 'true' identity a secret for a brief period of time.”

“No one ever told me that,” said Darek, scratching the back of his head.

“I imagine there is a very good reason for that,” said the Ghostly God. “He was conniving and manipulative. When the Katabans War started, he quickly became involved in it by pretending to be Grinf, because while he may not actually be related to Grinf, he does bear a remarkable resemblance to my older brother. In an attempt to impose his view of the world on everyone, he managed to gather a sizable katabans army under his command before his true identity was ousted by that Carnagian king named Malock and your own mother.”

“My mother did that?” said Darek in surprise. “She's never mentioned that to me before.”

The Ghostly God stopped. Through the Ghostly God's slightly transparent body, Darek could see a tall wooden door at the end of the hall.

“No surprise there,” said the Ghostly God with a snort. “It was an embarrassing chapter for North Academy in general and your mother in particular. I am surprised that the Magical Superior still allows her to teach at the school, considering her past with Jakuuth.”

“What did my mother do with Jakuuth?” said Darek. “Er, Master?”

“That is not information you need to know,” said the Ghostly God, holding up one hand as if to signal that this was off-topic. “It will only distract you from your mission if I told you. And you cannot allow yourself to be distracted.”

The Ghostly God's head turned around on his body, looking down at Darek with a hungry look. “Or would you rather I terminated our contract and eat you? It has been a while since I last had a tasty mortal for lunch.”

Darek shook his head so wildly that he almost suffered whiplash. “Never mind. You're right. I don't need to know all that.”

“Good,” said the Ghostly God, although his head didn't turn back around. “After his treachery, he was expelled from North Academy. Then the Katabans Council tried Jakuuth Grinfborn and the handful of katabans dumb enough to retain loyalty to him.”

“Did they execute him, Master?” Darek asked.

“They should have,” said the Ghostly God. “But they didn't. The Council instead took away his wand and trapped him and his loyalists deep beneath World's End. They put him in a magic-proof cell that he couldn't escape from. I have heard that Grinf was present at the trial, but whether he was or wasn't, Jakuuth was still kept under lock and key for the past quarter century.”

“If that's the case, then why are you telling me about him?” said Darek, raising an eyebrow. “If he's locked in a magic-proof cell under World's End, then I doubt he's much of a threat.”

The Ghostly God swatted Darek on the head. The blow wasn't staggering, but it did confirm that the Ghostly God's fingers were actually made of metal, as they hurt as much as being hit by a metal pole.

“Ow,” said Darek, rubbing the spot where the Ghostly God had hit him. “What was that for, Master?”

“Notice the tense I used, Takren,” said the Ghostly God, his voice annoyed. “
Was
. Jakuuth Grinfborn, bless his crazy mortal heart, was reported missing from his jail cell two months ago. The only 'clue' he left behind was the corpse of his jailer. His loyalists were also missing from their cells.”

Darek gulped. “How did he escape?”

“How should I know?” said the Ghostly God. “I wasn't there when it happened. Even Skimif doesn't know how he did it. All we know is that he did it, and he's now loose.”

“Did Uron have a hand in freeing him?” Darek asked.

“Possibly, but we do not know for sure,” said the Ghostly God. “All we know for sure is that he and his loyalists are now free. They have made their way to the Northern Isles, where they are currently building up a new army under Jakuuth's rule.”

“What?” said Darek with a start. “But where is Jakuuth getting his new followers from? Surely everyone must remember him, right?”

“Jakuuth wasn't exactly well-known among your kind, seeing as he primarily participated in the Katabans War,” said the Ghostly God. “But to answer your question, he has recently staged a prison break at Rock Isle. Have you heard of it?”

Darek shuddered. “Yes. It's supposed to be the most secure prison in the entire Northern Isles. It's where Aorja was sent after we caught her.”

The Ghostly God frowned. “Who?”

“Aorja,” said Darek. “You know, that woman who worked for you for a brief time? She tried to help Durima and Gujak get into North Academy by distracting all of us.”

The blank look in the Ghostly God's eyes turned into a look of understanding. “Oh. Her. Yes, I remember her now. It has been a long time since I last thought about her. I never liked her all that much even while she served me.”

“I don't like her much now, either,” said Darek. “Not after she tried to kill me and Jiku. Anyway, you said Jakuuth staged a prison break on Rock Isle?”

“Yes,” said the Ghostly God with a nod. “He killed the guards and offered the prisoners freedom if they would only serve him.”

“But that's insane,” said Darek. “The prisoners on Rock Isle are supposed to be the worst of the worst. The prison is where every Northern Isles nation drops off its worst criminals. Why would Jakuuth recruit them?”

“I suspect Jakuuth is planning to conquer the Northern Isles,” said the Ghostly God, “and what better way to do it than to gather the most vicious criminals in the world and train them to be top class soldiers?”

“Why hasn't anyone stopped him yet?” said Darek. “Surely the other nations in the Northern Isles know about what he's trying to do, right?”

“That's just the thing,” said the Ghostly God. “Jakuuth may be hopelessly mad, but he's intelligent. He has had some of the prisoners dress up as guards and greet every prison ship that comes by just like the normal guards do. Not a single Northern Isles nation is aware that they are supplying an enemy with all of the soldiers he could ever want.”

“Excuse me for my impudence, Master, but why haven't any of the gods done anything about him yet?” said Darek. “Sure, Jakuuth may be a powerful mage, but couldn't you gods smite him? Or at least tell the mortals about what he's up to so we can deal with him?”

“As if we have time to do that,” said the Ghostly God. “Jakuuth is nothing more than a minor annoyance on the gods' radar at the moment. The true threat is Uron. Skimif has given orders to all gods to keep their eyes and ears open for any sign of him. Even I barely have time to speak to you as it is.”

“Why are you even telling me about this, then?” said Darek, scratching the top of his head. “If Jakuuth isn't much of a threat to the world, then I don't see the point in telling me about him.”

The Ghostly God rolled his eyes. “Ordinarily, I would not. Jakuuth is no immediate threat to my domain. However, we suspect that Jakuuth may be planning an assault on World's End, where he escaped from, to exact his vengeance on the Katabans Council for putting him away.”

“Can't you gods protect World's End?” asked Darek.

“Of course we can,” the Ghostly God snapped. “But we are worried about how Jakuuth managed to break out of his cell and leave World's End without even us gods knowing. While Jakuuth is barely a threat to us now, if he is left to grow without hindrance, he might become a bigger threat in the future.”

“I see,” said Darek. “But I still don't see where I am supposed to come into all of this.”

“That is the point I was getting to,” said the Ghostly God. He turned his head so it was facing in the right direction. “Come with me into my room.”

The Ghostly God passed through the closed door at the end of the hall as though it wasn't there. Darek, not being a ghost, had to enter the room the old-fashioned way. The door felt old and wobbly as he pulled it open, but thankfully it did not fall off its hinges as he opened it.

Stepping into the Ghostly God's room, the first thing Darek noticed were the coffins all along the walls. He almost mistook them for odd-looking bookshelves, as they were packed as tightly together as a bunch of bookshelves. But he corrected that impression quickly enough when he got a better look at them and saw their closed lids.

In the center of the room, the Ghostly God floated facing Darek. His eyes darted around the room, as if he was looking around to make sure no one was hiding nearby.

“Master,” said Darek, following the Ghostly God's constantly darting eyes. “You seem a little … worried about eavesdropping.”

He almost said
paranoid
, but he didn't think the Ghostly God would take kindly to being called that.

“Uron,” said the Ghostly God, his eyes focusing on Darek. “I have no idea where he is, so I am always concerned that he may be hiding nearby, perhaps listening to my plans or looking for the perfect opportunity to kill me. Being afraid of getting killed is a feeling I have not felt in eons, since the end of the Godly War. I am not sure how to take it.”

Darek wasn't quite sure what to say to that, so he changed the subject. “All right, Master, you said you were going to explain to me what you wanted me to do about Jakuuth.”

“Right,” said the Ghostly God. “Your mission is simple: Infiltrate Jakuuth's army and kill him. Without Jakuuth's leadership, his so-called 'army' will fall apart and that will be one less threat we gods have to worry about.”

Darek gulped involuntarily. He looked down at his hands, hoping the Ghostly God did not notice his fear. “You want me to kill him, Master?”

“Yes,” said the Ghostly God. “Like an assassin. Why? Is that a problem?”

“It's just … I've never killed anyone before,” said Darek. “I killed that chimera last year, but that was different because it wasn't a person.”

“And?” said the Ghostly God. “Killing is not that difficult. Sometimes messy, yes, but hardly what I'd call an impossible task.”

“It's just that I don't know if I can even do it,” said Darek. He looked back up at the Ghostly God's unsympathetic face. “Isn't there anyone else you could ask to do it? Why not just hire a professional assassin?”

“Because Jakuuth is dangerous and clever,” said the Ghostly God. “Note that he hid his true identity from his followers for almost the entirety of the year in which he impersonated Grinf. Any assassin I send after him would probably be killed quickly.”

“But why not someone else, then?” said Darek. “There are lots of other far more powerful mages than me out there. I only just graduated from North Academy, after all.”

“Because you are the person Jakuuth is least likely to suspect of being an assassin,” said the Ghostly God. “Believe me, once he hears your name, he will trust you better than most. By earning his trust, you will be able to move close enough to him to kill him when he least expects it.”

“But I don't even know him,” said Darek. “How will he know that he can trust me based on my name alone?”

“He knew your mother, remember?” said the Ghostly God. “I believe I mentioned that earlier, although I'm not surprised you forgot. You mortals have much shorter attention spans than we gods do.”

“You still haven't explained to me the exact relationship between my mom and Jakuuth,” said Darek.

“You don't need to know it,” said the Ghostly God. “That's why.”

Actually, I do,
Darek thought, though he kept that thought to himself.

“To recap,” said the Ghostly God, “Jakuuth escaped from his prison, is building a new army that could be a threat to World's End and the world in general in the future, and it is your job to infiltrate his army and kill him before he gets anywhere.”

“I know,” said Darek. “Though now I'm wondering why it took you so long to tell me about this if Jakuuth has been free for two months.”

“Easy,” said the Ghostly God. “His escape was unexpected and by the time we located him—which isn't as easy as you'd think—he had already broken into Rock Isle. Besides, we gods have been so busy searching for Uron that it has been difficult to find the time to pick out a mortal like you and explain the situation to him.”

“I see,” said Darek. He folded his arms across his chest. “Well, how am I supposed to infiltrate his army?”

“Using deception, obviously,” said the Ghostly God. “I will teleport you to Rock Isle, where you will be caught by Jakuuth's men and brought before him. Tell him that you no longer serve North Academy and that you think they were wrong for expelling him years ago. Explain that you want to work for him and him alone and you should be easily accepted into his rapidly growing army.”

“What about Aorja?” said Darek. “If she was in Rock Isle when Jakuuth attacked, then she's probably part of his army as well.”

“What does it matter?” said the Ghostly God with a shrug. “She will not be able to prove that you are trying to kill Jakuuth. If she proves to be a threat to you … well, you can deal with her just as you will deal with Jakuuth, surely.”

The idea of killing Aorja, even if she did deserve it, made Darek feel sick. As angry as he was with her over her betrayal, he had too many fond memories of her to kill her in cold blood. He doubted he would have much choice, however, if he found himself in that situation later.

“Now, then,” said the Ghostly God as he put his hands together eagerly. “You understand the situation and what you need to do. And you can't back out of it, either, because this is part of the agreement you made with me. You still have nine years left in which to serve me, remember.”

Darek grimaced. “I remember, Master.”

“Good,” said the Ghostly God. “Now I will teleport you to Rock Isle. You must introduce yourself to Jakuuth and pretend to be his friend.”

“This just seems so sudden,” said Darek, spreading his arms. “I mean, how do you expect me to come up with a lie convincing enough to fool Jakuuth? I don't even know what kind of magic he uses.”

The Ghostly God chuckled. “I expect you to, how do you mortals put it, 'wing it,' I believe is the term.”

“Wing it?” said Darek, staring at the Ghostly God.