Veilspeaker (Pharim War Book 2) (22 page)

“We could take them out,” Osmund said. “It would be
four less we’d have to deal with later.”

Jez considered for a second before shaking his head.
“We’d only let Sharim know we’re here. That circle is linked to the one in the
throne room. Once we deal with that one, this one should go away too.”

“And them?” Osmund asked, pointing at the demons.

“I’m not really sure,” Jez said. “Our first priority
needs to be closing the main portal, though.”

Osmund nodded, and they continued toward the throne
room. A few seconds later, the dog demons padded out of the room. They looked
right at Jez, and their noses twitched. Jez’s breath caught in his throat, and
he looked at Lina.

“Are you disguising our smell?”

She uttered something under her breath and shook her
head. “I didn’t think of it. Did they notice us?”

Jez was about to say he didn’t know when one of the
creatures howled and bounded toward them. The others followed a second later. Instantly,
Ziary rushed forward to meet them. The demons’ arms were so long they dragged
on the floor as they ran. When Ziary got close, one of them threw itself onto
his sword. The gesture so surprised him that he paused. It was only for an
instant, but it was enough, and the other three barreled into him, two sinking
their teeth into his legs and one biting down on his sword arm. His sword went
skittering and vanished when it got a few feet away. Jez ran forward and
brought his blade down on the one biting Ziary’s arm. It collapsed to ash,
leaving blackened tooth marks in Ziary’s arm. The scion held out his hand, and
his sword reappeared. He drove it down in a two-handed strike at the demon
biting his left leg while Jez took the one on his right, and both of the demons
dissolved. Ziary examined his wounds and took a shaky step forward.

“These won’t heal quickly. I wasn’t expecting one to
sacrifice itself.”

“Some demons have pack instincts,” Jez said. “They
care more for the group than the individual, and remember, we didn’t really
kill them. We just sent them back to the abyss, and right now, the way his open
for them to come back as soon as the portal has recharged.”

“So it’s not really sacrifice,” Ziary sniffed. “You
know, that doesn’t seem terribly fair.”

Jez shrugged. “They’re demons.” He glanced around.
“Someone would’ve heard that howl. Lina, can you make some sort of illusion
that we went in another direction?”

She shook her head. “There are wards on the keep that
make standing illusions difficult. Maybe if I had an hour.”

“We don’t have minutes,” Jez said. “Hide us again.
Let’s go.”

They moved through the hall quickly, keeping alert for
other creatures that might be able to pierce their illusion. The few demons
they saw wandering the hall, however, didn’t notice them, and it wasn’t long
before they came to the door to the throne room.

A pair of creatures that looked like miniature
versions of Flinas guarded the door, though they could only be called miniature
in comparison to the larger demon. They stood eight feet tall, and their black
armor almost seemed to suck in the light. Their eyes looked like empty pits. As
Jez and his companions neared, the demons’ eyes snapped to them. The rumble in
their throat made the air vibrate against his skin.

Lina paled. “There was a ward against illusions. They
can see us.”

As if unleashed by Lina’s words, the demons charged.
Jez struck at one, but an ax made of pure shadow materialized in one of its
hands and knocked his weapon aside. Another hand lashed forward and left a gash
across his chest. There was a flicker of fire as Ziary’s sword surged forward,
and the hand holding the ax came free. The other demon, however, sank all four
of its claws into the scion’s chest and its teeth tore a chunk of flesh from
his shoulder. Ziary cried out, but at the same time, he gripped the demon’s
head in his hands. The other moved to attack, but Jez intercepted it, his sword
flashing. Fire burst to life between Osmund’s hands. The demon roared, but it
only lasted for an instant before its head was reduced to ash. Jez couldn’t do
much more than hold his own against the demon, but with Ziary free to help,
injured though he was, some of the pressure came off of Jez. One of the demon’s
arms moved to stop Ziary’s attack, but Jez’s sword darted forward and stabbed
it in the chest. The demon screamed before sliding off his blade and vanishing.

Ziary sank to the ground. He was in bad shape, and
bled motes of red light. His form shimmered into Osmund’s for a second before
solidifying itself as the scion.

“Stay here,” Jez said.

Ziary shook his head. “You need all the help you can
get.”

“Right now, you can’t give it. I’d have to protect
you. You’ll only get me killed.”

“Jez, you know Maries is on the other side of that
door. Sharim wouldn’t have anyone else guarding his circle.”

“I know.”

“You could barely stand against one of the door
guardians. How are you going to fight against their general?”

Jez closed his eyes and touched the power that had
been so frightening to him. His fatigue vanished and all the aches and pains
he’d gathered recently faded away. His wounds closed as power spread through
him. The crystal sword in his hand didn’t change weight, but it somehow seemed
more solid. He could already feel the power consuming his body, but it was a
slow thing, like a spark that was slowly burning a piece of parchment. As he
opened his eyes, wings emerged from his back, and his robes shimmered to deep
blue. When he spoke, his voice came out deep and resonating with power.

“Any way I can. Watch him, Lina. You can’t do any good
in there.”

She looked like she was about to argue, but her lips
pursed, and she nodded. Jez threw forward his hand and the doorway twisted
until the wood splintered. There was a flash of magic as the trap that had been
laid on the door fizzled. Jez stepped over the remnants of the door and walked
into the throne room.

Sharim sat on the throne of Ashtar as
if he’d been born to it. Rich purple robes draped down his back, and the golden
band of Haziel’s crown sat on his head. Maries stood by his side, and when Jez
came in, the demon took a step toward him. Jez’s hand shot forward as he drew
on Luntayary’s power, and bands of blue light appeared around the demon’s wrists.
Chains materialized and pulled him to the ground. Maries’s groan shook the
throne room. It wouldn’t hold the demon for more than a few minutes, but that
should be more than enough. Jez moved toward the bound creature, though he
never took his eyes from Sharim.

Sharim stepped down off the throne and held his hand
out. The weapon that appeared in his hand seemed to be made of liquid flame.
Sharim smiled and raised his sword to Jez in a mock salute. As he stepped into
the circle, the runes glowed brightly, and the portal snapped shut as Sharim
redirected the power into himself. His face elongated and curved horns grew
from his head, knocking the crown off. Bat-like wings emerged from his back and
fire burned in his nostrils.

“You can’t beat me,” Jez said.

“Are you so sure? Unlike you, my memories were never
bound.”

“Your memories?”

Sharim launched himself into the air. He went up to
the ceiling before tucking in his wings and diving at Jez. Jez cried out and
barely jumped out of the way in time. The sword left a melted gash steaming in
the stone floor. Sharim landed next to Jez, his sword moving in a blur, and Jez
brought his own weapon to bear. There was thunder as the two swords met. Each
blow shook the room, and after a few seconds, his arms throbbed. The heat from
Sharim’s blade was almost overwhelming, and it burned Jez’s lungs to breathe.

“Who are you?” he asked as their swords clashed.

A wicked grin appeared on Sharim face. “Binding a
pharim to human flesh is no simple magic. Even one as talented as Dusan
couldn’t improvise that. Did you really think you were the first?”

“You’re a demon.”

“Bound to human flesh to do things normally forbidden
to my kind.”

“You’re like me.”

“Except that I’ll still be alive at the end of the
day.”

Sharim surged forward, and again the swords thundered.
They moved like lightning. Had Jez been in his mortal form, his eyes wouldn’t
have been able to follow it. As it was, he could barely keep up. On top of his
skill with the blade, Sharim had the power of illusion, and too often, Jez
tried to block an attack that wasn’t real. As the seconds ticked by, Sharim’s
blade left small burns where it scorched his flesh, but Jez’s weapon never
touched his enemy. He realized with a cold certainty that Sharim was better
than he was. He needed to find a way to turn the tide.

The burning blade rushed at him. Jez’s sword darted
forward trying to push it aside, but he underestimated the strength of the
blow, and he only succeeded at moving it aside slightly. It stabbed into his
arm, and he cried out. He sank his power into the stones of the ground. Like
the ones above Lina’s room, these were warded, but he was drawing on
Luntayary’s power, and the wards placed by the Veilspeakers recognized the
power of another pharim. They melted away, and he seized the stone. The floor
beneath Sharim opened, swallowing him. The ground closed around his neck,
leaving only his head above the surface. Jez took a deep breath and gripped his
sword, pointing it at the trapped human with a demon’s soul. For the first time,
he saw fear in Sharim’s eyes, but then, Sharim focused on something behind Jez.
Jez turned around just in time to see Maries shatter the binding holding him to
the floor. The demon drew his bone blade, and charged. Jez raised his own
weapon. Even drawing on Luntayary’s power, he’d nearly been outclassed by
Sharim, and Maries was a demon of battle. There was no way he could win.

The demon slashed downward, and Jez prepared himself
to die.

Jez caught the demon’s blade on his
own. It felt like he was trying to hold back a mountain, and his arms shivered
with the force of the blow. Again and again, the demon rained down blows, and
Jez kept expecting his sword to snap. Maries didn’t have to employ any skill.
The sheer strength of his blows was staggering. Jez could feel his grip
loosening on his sword. The next blow would knock it free, but just before it
connected, another sword lashed toward the demon. Maries twisted his blade to
catch the new attack, but his sword passed through the illusionary weapon. Lina
stood in the doorway, her eyes glowing violet. Jez didn’t bother to acknowledge
her help, not with such a powerful demon crossing blades with him. He lunged,
driving his blade right at the demon’s chest.

It felt like he was trying to stab through stone, and
he barely managed to cut through the demon’s coat. Maries snarled and turned.
Jez lifted his sword, and saw the blurring of his weapon that he’d noticed
before. Maries’s sword twisted and slammed against Jez’s weapon, though not as hard
as it had been before. Jez tried to strike, but Maries blocked his blow easily
and, with a flick of his wrist, tore Jez’s blade from his hands in the process.
The weapon vanished in midair. Jez threw himself to one side but not before
Maries’s sword cut a gash in his arm.

Fire burned in Jez’s veins as he crashed into the
ground. As soon as he hit, three other images of him scattered from the point
of impact. One rose and charged Maries, but the demon impaled it on his sword.
He didn’t even slow as he walked through it and drove his sword down into one
of the other images. Jez gritted his teeth against the pain and threw his hand
forward, shooting another one of the blue bands. Maries was ready for it though
and caught the binding on his sword. The blade glowed blue for a second before
the energy dissipated, and Maries’s eyes locked on to the real Jez.

A cloth appeared over the demon’s eyes just like the
one that had blinded Flinas, but Maries kept on walking, and the cloth
shimmered and vanished. Lina cried out and threw her hands forward. Balls of
light erupted from her fingertips and circled Maries’s head. The demon slashed
at them, and they exploded so brightly that it hurt Jez’s eyes. He scrambled to
his feet and held his sword in front of him. When his vision cleared, Maries
was stalking toward him, though he was moving slowly. Swords appeared in the
air and flew at him, but he ignored them, and they passed harmlessly through
him.

“Osmund,” Lina’s voice said. “He needs your help.”

Ziary burst forward, flying over the room and landing
between Jez and Maries. He was taller than he had been, and his sword glowed
brighter. His arms were thicker and his fingers ended in sharp claws. Jez
couldn’t see his face, but he could imagine a snarl. All of his wounds were
gone. Jez glanced at Lina, and she was frantically motioning for him to come to
her. Maries looked at her and lifted a finger. The circle encompassing most of
the throne room glowed. A chezamut appeared and, in response to Maries’s silent
command, it dashed toward Lina. She screamed and vanished, but the chezamut
spread its arms wide and kept running. Lina cried out as its left arm crashed
into her, causing her to reappear.

Jez was moving across the room before he realized it.
His sword moved in a blur that had nothing to do with illusion. A few quick
slashes removed the demon’s arms before Jez rammed his sword into its head.
When he looked up, Maries was walking toward them, his red eyes giving off an
evil glow.

“We need a contingent,” Jez said.

“What?”

“You can do illusions here, right?”

She nodded. “Once I stepped inside, the wards against
them vanished.”

“I need to be able to control the illusions while I’m
fighting. You don’t know enough about swordplay to be much help there.”

“There’s no time. We haven’t practiced.”

“Think of the chopping block.”