The Warrior Heir (12 page)

Hadley's eyes flicked nervously to the wizard, then back to Jack. "Looks like y'all been doing some digging," he said, gesturing at Susannah's stone. "Looks like you stole something that don't belong to you." He took a step closer to the boys. "You'd best give it to the man and go on home."

"No," Jack replied, broadening his stance. "If you want the sword, come and take it." It was as if a stranger spoke through him. Hadley didn't scare him. It was the wizard that compelled his attention. If not for the vest, the wizard would have killed him at the courthouse. Linda had insisted he wear it. How had she known he would need it?

The wizard came closer, moving like a man in pain. Jack watched him warily. A beard covered the lower half of his face, but the upper half was red and blistered, as though he'd been burned. His voice was dry and devoid of emotion, like scales sliding over rock. "No doubt this has been an exciting adventure for the three of you, but it's over. Now give me the weapon." He smiled, an awful reshaping of the ruined face. "I'm sure we can devise a
suitable
reward for your trouble."

He's going to kill us, Jack thought. Once he has the blade. He looked over at Will and Fitch, wondering if they understood. I shouldn't have let them come. As if he were in charge.

"Where's the enchanter?" It was the wizard again. "I have unfinished business with her." And the way he said
business,
it was clear he meant pain and something else. What was he talking about?
Who
was he talking about?

Although he was frightened, Jack also felt reckless, wild, and rebellious. He had possession of the sword; he'd felt the power in it, and he didn't intend to give it up without a fight.

He wavered, unsure what to do, standing astride his great-great grandmother's bones, his back up against her marker. A sudden breeze moved the leaves overhead, whispering to him.

And then he knew where they would be safe. He stepped between his friends and the wizard and shouted, "Run for the church!"

Will and Fitch needed no encouragement. They turned and charged to the building, leaping over grave markers as if they were hurdles. Jack backed up rapidly, always keeping his face to the wizard. He held the sword up with both hands, flat side facing him. It responded, blazing, illuminating the scene.

He couldn't see a weapon in the wizard's hands, but suddenly a cascade of blue-green flames rolled at him. Instinctively, he used the sword to parry the volley, which exploded into a shower of sparks that fell harmlessly about his shoulders.Twice more he deflected similar attacks.The heat of the flames dried the sweat from his face. The wizard fire had an unfamiliar, acrid scent, like the taste of blood in his mouth.

The wizard with the horrible charred face extended his hands toward him and began to speak, the same timeworn Latin that Linda had used, the language of charms. Jack knew he had to stop him, that the words had power in them. Desperately, he swung Shadowslayer with both hands in a broad, flat arc. Flames roared from the honed edge of the blade, and the spell died unfinished as the wizard threw himself to the ground. The flames screamed past him and sliced into the trees behind. The trees stood momentarily, then toppled, sliced off neatly at chest height. And somehow Jack had arrived at the door of the church.

A sagging wooden stairway led up a few steps to the back door of the building. Fitch and Will were already at the top of the stairs, unsure what to do next. Jack pointed his sword at the back door and thrust it forward. There was a loud concussion, and it flew open, hanging crookedly on its broken hinges. Will and Fitch ducked inside. Jack leaped through the doorway and turned to face his attackers.

They were in some disarray, as if resistance were totally unexpected. The wizard was back on his feet, staring up at Jack. The cowboy looked back at the shorn trees, up at the ragged opening in the canopy overhead, then back at Jack. His mouth was hanging open and his round face was slick with sweat.

"The boy's a demon," he wailed. "I was hired to do research. I never signed on to deal with demons."

"There is no
magic
about this boy," the wizard said contemptuously. "The power is in the blade. This is just a foolish Anaweir adventurer who is in more trouble than he can imagine." Jack thought he said
unaware.
It seemed an odd choice of words. "Now go fetch me the sword."

"I ain't going in there," Hadley protested. "He'll fry me alive."

"Magic is ineffective in the sanctuary. The sword has no special power in there."

And, indeed, now that Jack was inside the church, the blade had dimmed, grown heavier, so it took both hands to lift it. Its power no longer burned through him. It was nothing more than metal in his hands.

Something the wizard had said lingered.
Magic?

Fitch stood next to him, armed with a candelabra. "Why aren't they coming after us?" he whispered, glancing around uneasily. "Are they warlocks or vampires or something, so they can't set foot in a church?"

Wizards,
Jack almost murmured. "I don't know," he said aloud. He didn't know whether the wizard couldn't come in, or if he just preferred to send Hadley against the sword in a situation where magic would do no good.

"That sword'll still cut well enough," the cowboy persisted. "And there's three of them. I never agreed to go unarmed against a sword." He looked as though he wanted nothing more than to escape.

"Is that so?" The wizard's voice dripped contempt. "Then we shall have to … renegotiate." He put his hand on Hadley's shoulder and the cowboy screamed, at first arching away, and then sinking helplessly to his knees under the wizard's touch. The wizard kept it up, and the cowboy shrieked like he was being flayed alive; he pleaded for mercy and begged for a chance to change his mind. When it finally stopped, Hadley lay trembling and whimpering on the ground. Jack was sick with the knowledge that the demonstration was for his benefit.

As if to confirm it, the wizard spoke to Jack. "You see that resistance has consequences," he said coldly. "Give up the blade or all three of you will die tonight. And by the time I'm done with you, you'll beg for it."

Jack was shaken for a moment by the image of himself standing in the doorway like some movie hero, wielding a sword, ready to fight a man who could lob flames with his bare hands, could torture and kill with a touch. He looked over his shoulder at Will and Fitch.Their faces were pale as parchment in the gloom of the church. If they hadn't understood the stakes before, they did now.

He stared down at the blade in his hand and then out at the wizard. Where was this coming from? He'd never been particularly foolhardy in the past. There must be something about the sword that was interfering with his judgement. He swiped sweat from his face and shook his head.

It was an impasse. If they left the building, the wizard would kill them. He'll take Shadowslayer, he thought. I can't let that happen.

Fitch had left his side momentarily, and now he was back. "The Mercedes is in the parking lot," he whispered. Jack looked over his shoulder again. The back door led directly into the sanctuary. They were standing just behind the pulpit, in the tiny choir area. It was a plain, whitewashed room with rows of wooden pews lined up on either side of a central aisle. Large double doors opened to the parking lot at the other end.

"Look,” Jack said quietly, turning to face Fitch. "We can probably lose them in the woods."
They'll follow the sword.
"You and Will slide out through the front doors while I keep them occupied. Stick to the woods and stay off the road. When I know you're away, I'll make a run for it."

"Are you crazy? The dude is shooting flames, Jack. If we know they won't come in here, let's just wait it out. They can't hang around forever."

He won't wait forever, Jack thought. And if he gets his hands on us …

Hadley had lurched to his feet and was moving closer, driven by the wizard behind him. Now Jack had no inclination to hurt Hadley. He felt sorry for him.

"Don't you see?" The wizard was speaking to Jack. "The enchanter has bewitched you, and you're the ones who will pay the price. She doesn't mind sacrificing you to get what she wants."

Just then the cell phone buzzed, startlingly loud. With one hand, Jack fished it out of his pocket, keeping the sword pointed through the doorway.

It was Aunt Linda. "Where are you?"

"We're in the church at the old Methodist cemetery on Methodist Chapel Road. I have the sword, but we're under attack."

Linda was silent for a moment. "I'm close," she said. "Hold them off for five minutes. Keep the phone on."

The cowboy had advanced to the second step. Jack stepped over the threshold to free his swing, and swept the blade from left: to right, bleeding flames, enough to move the man away without cutting him. Hadley leaped backward, nearly falling. The magic of the sword flooded into Jack like a drug. Exultant, he descended another step. The cowboy disappeared into the dark, and there was only the wizard, launching volley after volley of fireballs, as in some kind of frenzied video game. Jack sent flames spiraling back at him, and his adversary retreated. Jack moved forward, into the duel, pursuing. He was on the last step and ready to step off, when he heard someone shouting behind him.

"Jack! Are you crazy? Get in here!" It was Will, and the spell was somehow broken. He launched himself backward as a thick wall of wizard flame roared toward him, too broad to stop with a sword. Will grasped his shoulders and half lifted him inside, away from the dreadful heat. His face was burning, vision blurred by tears, his lungs scorched from the near miss. He leaned on his sword, gasping, Will still supporting him on the other side.

"I am an idiot," he whispered. "An idiot."

He heard his aunt's voice over the cell phone. "I'm in the parking lot. Come out the front doors. Hurry!"

Jack straightened, lifted his weight off Will and Shadowslayer, and took a painful breath that told him he was still alive. "Aunt Linda's outside," he said. "Time to go." They stampeded to the rear of the church.

"Look out!" Linda cried as Will and Fitch threw open the front door and came face-to-face with the cowboy. It was hard to say who was more surprised. He made a grab for Will, which turned out to be a mistake. Will had been spending considerable time in the gym. He peeled Hadley off him and, despite the man's size, lifted him off the porch and flung him into the parking lot. Hadley slid on his stomach, arms and legs splayed like a jellyfish. Fitch retrieved the case that Will had dropped.

The Land Rover was pulled up alongside the Mercedes.They sprinted for it. Will skidded to a stop next to the Mercedes, reached through the open window, and yanked the keys from the ignition. He hurled them as far as he could out into the darkness.

They flung themselves into the backseat of the Rover, Jack with the sword, and Fitch with the case. The Rover kicked up gravel as they pulled out of the lot. Behind them, the cowboy had risen to his hands and knees. And then the church was out of sight, and they were speeding down Methodist Chapel Road.

Chapter Five

The Warrior Heir

Linda was calm, businesslike, even, handing the phone to Fitch to make reservations at a hotel in Columbus under a new name, asking Will to find the map in the glove compartment and navigate, even though she knew the county well. Her voice washed over them, soothed and relaxed them, blunted their terror and curiosity. As if flaming swords and wizards were everyday events. She spoke no charms aloud, but now Jack could hear the sorcery in her voice. Why had he never noticed it before?

She gave no tasks to Jack. Once she had wrung every detail about the cemetery from him, she let him be. He sat slumped in the seat, head thrown back, eyes half closed. His entire body ached, and the whole front of him burned, save under the vest. Shadowslayer was back in  its  case, resting comfortably under his feet. Sometimes he caught Linda watching him in the rearview mirror.

She is the enchanter. She is the one the wizard was talking about. Maybe what he said was true. Maybe she was just using me to get the sword.

She said it was mine, didn't she?

What would he do if she tried to take it away? That was a question he couldn't answer. It seemed to fill a need in him that he didn't know was there before.

He squirmed uncomfortably, then turned and leaned over the backseat to see if there was something he could use for a pillow. He saw his duffle bag and remembered. His medicine! He tugged open the zipper and slid his hand inside, feeling for the familiar shape, the cool glass amid the clothing.

I don't want to take it, he thought. Ever again.

He pulled it out anyway, turning the blue bottle between his hands. He looked up, saw Aunt Linda watching him again.

"Never mind, Jack," she said softly. "You don't have to anymore. We'll talk about that later."

They stayed at a chain hotel north of Columbus, complete with the promised swimming pool and hot tub. She ordered several platters of room-service sandwiches and appetizers, and talked the fitness club manager into allowing them to use the facilities until midnight. The man returned at intervals during the evening to see if they needed anything and to let Linda know he got off at eleven if she would like to have a drink. She declined. Several times.

He doesn't know who he's dealing with, Jack thought. Just like the wizard said.

Jack looked and felt like he'd laid out too long in the sun. The pool was soothing, but he couldn't tolerate the hot tub. He lay on his back, dozing by the pool, half awakening to hear the others talking.

"Do you think those men will try to find us?" Fitch was asking. "Do you think they'll try to get the sword back?"

"He's looking for us now," Linda said.

Jack noticed she used the singular.
The cowboy doesn't count. He's probably dead.

Linda's voice continued to wind through his thoughts. "If we're lucky, he has no idea who we are or where we're from. Nothing is in my name: the car, the hotel, nothing can be connected to me. He'll assume I have the sword. That's your best protection. And this." As Jack watched through slitted eyes, she reached out and seized Will and Fitch each by a hand.