David Wells - Cursed Bones

“Tell Captain Alaric to send message riders to Southport immediately. Wren has been abducted and is aboard a ship sailing along the coastline toward the city. Have him instruct the Southport Navy to locate this ship and rescue the girl.”

“I will deliver your messages immediately,” the Ranger said.

Alexander slipped out of his dreams and back into the firmament. The source of all things had become a familiar place to him. He was comfortable floating on the ocean of potential that created each moment anew, listening to the song of creation as it unfolded.

Again, he wondered about Siduri. There was so much potential and so much danger bound up in his story. His mere existence was beyond reason, and yet Alexander had no doubt-Siduri was real. He’d accomplished feats of magic beyond anything that even the most accomplished arch mage had ever considered, and yet he’d withdrawn from the world, content to observe … until Alexander’s desperation had given him cause to act.

With a flick of his mind, Alexander was in the chamber where he’d found the blood of the earth. He floated above the crystal bowl filled with the potent liquid and pondered its purpose. It screamed of puissance, power beyond mortal comprehension, yet real enough to scoop up and put in a vial.

Not for the first time, he considered putting the small amount he’d taken back, but the thought of giving up even one chance of saving Isabel caused desperation to well up within him, driving out the idea and confirming his resolve.

If it came to it, he would use the blood of the earth to save his wife, come what may. Thoughts of Siduri evoked his worries about the shades. Even if Alexander managed to banish the last of them, they were eternal, existing in the netherworld, outside of time and substance and they were determined to unmake reality.

And now they knew how.

Even if he destroyed the Nether Gate, they now knew such a thing was possible-for that matter, the Taker knew it as well. Yet, if the Taker could manifest in this world, he would have, so it stood to reason that he needed agents to do his bidding in the world of time and substance. The shades were the real problem-the threat that could end all things.

As he floated there, pondering the nature of his most dangerous enemy, a thought occurred to him. The shades were nothing but disembodied souls, empowered by the Taker to exist unbound to flesh.

What if they could be bound to something else?

He had in his possession a book that detailed the process for placing one’s soul within a specially prepared item so that the caster of the spell could become an immortal undead. What if he could use the principles within that book to create a device capable of capturing the soul of a shade and imprisoning it for all time?

One more item to discuss with the Guild Mage.

***

“Hello, Kelvin,” Alexander said a moment after he seemingly materialized before the Guild Mage. “I’ve learned how to project illusions over great distances, but only for a short time. Summon Lucky and Jataan, I’ll return when they arrive.”

Kelvin smiled. “Hope was becoming very thin around here, Alexander. It’s good to see you.”

“You as well,” Alexander said, fading out of sight but remaining present while awaiting his friends.

Lucky was the first to arrive. He’d regained the belly he’d lost from his travels and was flushed from his haste. Jataan entered the room several minutes later, moving stiffly and deliberately.

Alexander materialized in front of them.

“It’s good to see you all,” he said.

“Lord Reishi,” Jataan said, “we received a report from Captain Kalderson of the Reishi Protectorate Navy that you’d been killed, yet the letter he carried from Lady Reishi claimed that you’re alive but wounded on the central island of Tyr.”

“Isabel told Captain Kalderson that I was dead to convince him to take her to Karth,” Alexander said. “A wraithkin stabbed me through the leg. It’ll be a while before I’m ready to travel, but I’m safe in the care of the dragons of Tyr.”

“Bragador has accepted you into her home?” Kelvin asked, somewhat incredulously.

“I saved the life of her unborn daughter,” Alexander said. “We’ve come to an agreement.”

“Tread lightly, Alexander,” Kelvin said.

“I’m doing my best. She’s not happy with me being here, even less that I’ve befriended her daughter, but she’s agreed to give me sanctuary until I heal. Ultimately, she wants nothing to do with our conflict, but Phane might just be foolish enough to force her hand.”

“That may be his undoing,” Lucky said.

“We can only hope,” Alexander said. “She caught a ship full of assassins in her waters yesterday and sent the lone survivor back to Phane with a message to stay away. If he’s dumb enough to keep messing with her, she might just solve our problem for us-permanently.”

“Phane isn’t stupid enough to risk the wrath of several hundred dragons,” Jataan said.

“Pity,” Alexander said. “Bragador and her family could end this war overnight.”

“Don’t be too eager to get the dragons involved,” Kelvin said. “They fought in the Reishi War and it nearly wiped them out. This time they may choose to take the side of dragons against humans instead of fighting each other.”

“I hadn’t considered that,” Alexander said.

“We’ve received your messages and have begun to implement your orders,” Kelvin said. “Much has transpired since we last spoke.”

“You have no idea,” Alexander said. “I wish I had enough time to tell you everything that’s happened, but I don’t. For now, I need a way to heal a dragon.”

Lucky looked perplexed for a moment before nodding. “I could combine a number of healing draughts into a very large dose. I’ve never tried to heal a dragon before, but I don’t see why it shouldn’t work.”

“Good, send it to the Gate along with the explosive weapons,” Alexander said. “Kelvin, do you think you could you use the principles contained in the undead book to create a container capable of trapping a shade?”

“Possibly, but I couldn’t say for certain without extensive research,” Kelvin said. “And, of course, I would need the book.”

“That’s what I was afraid of,” Alexander said. “Both Zuhl and Phane want it, so I don’t dare let it out of my sight. Think about it and do what research you can for now.”

“Understood,” Kelvin said.

“May I ask why you need to heal a dragon?” Lucky said.

“Abigail’s been taken by Zuhl. I plan to send Anatoly and Magda to find the dragon Ixabrax, so he can help us get her back. I wish I had more time to explain, but I have to go. Say hi to my mom for me and make sure she knows I’m doing everything I can to get Abigail back.”

He returned to his body and a pounding headache. All of the pieces were moving into place.

Anatoly slipped the book into a satchel and looked to Magda. She nodded.

“I’m sending a hundred Rangers to ride escort,” Conner said. “If there’s any trouble, they’ll cover your retreat.”

“I know Alexander well enough to know he’s not telling us everything,” Anatoly said. “And he wouldn’t do that without good reason, so I suspect there’s going to be some kind of trouble.”

Magda raised her eyebrow.

“Just make the trade and bring her back,” Conner said.

Anatoly grunted. He was still a little stiff and the set of dragon-plate armor that Captain Sava had given him didn’t fit quite as well as his ruined armor, but it was far lighter and more durable. Sava had lost several of his Strikers during Zuhl’s attack, but their armor had survived unscathed.