David Wells - Cursed Bones

“So you did. I don’t want to risk you, but if we’re going to do this, we need a plan.”

“All right, what do you have in mind?”

“Ayela knows the secret passages running through this place,” Alexander said. “If we can get her help, you’ll have a far better chance of escaping while the Sin’Rath fight Phane’s forces.”

“I agree, but I haven’t seen her since she came to me with the potion.”

“I’ll find her and make her an offer,” he said.

“What kind of offer?” she asked.

“She helps us get the Goiri’s bones and we help her eliminate the Sin’Rath,” Alexander said.

“She might actually go for that,” Isabel said, “but you should probably wait until Phane’s people are closer. If she doesn’t agree, I don’t want her to have time to get in the way.”

“Fair enough,” Alexander said. “I’ll keep an eye on you and make the offer a few hours before Phane’s people are ready to attack. Once you’re out of this place, I’ll have Hector and Horace meet up with you. Hopefully, with a little clairvoyant guidance, the four of you can get to the fortress with a minimum of difficulty.”

“I’ll be ready,” Isabel said.

***

After more than a week of pushing his new illusion magic to its limits, often with painful consequences, he found himself with time to address other concerns. It would be a while before Abigail was ready to free Zuhl’s dragons and at least a week before the conditions on Karth would be right for Isabel to make her escape.

Alexander stretched his leg. The wound had finally closed up but it hurt, especially when he tried to walk. It would still be a month or more before he was fit to travel and even then he feared his leg wouldn’t be as strong as he’d like.

Fortunately, he didn’t need to leave his bed to work against his enemies. With Abigail and Isabel out of immediate danger, he could focus on other, less urgent but still vitally important matters.

He slipped easily into the firmament, spending a few moments listening to the song of creation before focusing his attention on the Reishi Keep. After he appeared before Commander Perry, it took several minutes of convincing to assure the suspicious commander of his legitimacy.

“Very well, Lord Reishi, I accept that this illusion is indeed being projected by you.”

“Thank you, Commander,” Alexander said. “I’d like a report.”

“We’ve completed the wall and begun the process of clearing the Keep,” Commander Perry said. “It’s difficult and dangerous, both because of the creatures living within and the magical defenses that are still active. The wall is holding, though there are still attempts by some of the more aggressive predators to penetrate our defenses. Supplies are beginning to become a concern, so I’ve been sending out hunting parties to augment our food stores.

“The Keep itself is quite large, nothing like Blackstone of course, but it has proven difficult to navigate for some of my men. The lack of lighting is an issue, forcing us to rely on torches and lanterns which sometimes alert the creatures we’re hunting to our presence.”

“What of the mission to the hidden fortress?” Alexander asked.

“They arrived several weeks ago and departed the safety of our position within the hour,” Perry said. “I haven’t heard from them since.”

“Very good, Commander,” Alexander said. “You’ve done well with a difficult situation. I’m going to spend some time scouting the Keep. When I finish, I’d like to speak with your officers.”

Alexander spent an hour or more doing a thorough search of the entire Keep. Much of it was abandoned and empty of everything save debris but there were still several areas occupied by a variety of dangerous creatures, of most concern being the tentacle demon which had taken up residence in the throne room. From the remains scattered around the cavernous chamber it had clearly been hunting some of the lesser creatures living in the Keep.

He came to lament the fact that he hadn’t taken the time to enter the Keep himself and claim control of the ancient fortress. Had he done so, he suspected that many of the magical capabilities of the Keep would be available to him, even at such a distance.

After an exhaustive search, he returned to Commander Perry and spent a few minutes telling him where each of the creatures within the Keep had chosen to make its lair. There were several families of gorledons, a fact Commander Perry and his men were painfully aware of, but Alexander was able to pinpoint the location where each family slept, giving his soldiers a powerful tactical advantage.

In one of the lower chambers lived a snake that was easily fifty feet long, though it seemed content to hunt the catacombs beneath the Keep as none of the soldiers had even seen it.

By far the greatest concern, aside from the tentacle demon, was the pack of five nether wolves living in one of the lower chambers. Perry had reported that something was hunting his men in the night, taking a man every few days or so. Alexander explained how they fought, their aversion to light and their immunity to most forms of attack save decapitation.

Wizard Dinh suggested that he could provide light for the men to corral the nether wolves into an ambush and Commander Perry began formulating an attack plan to eliminate the nether wolves immediately. Alexander bid them good luck and faded out of sight.

Next, he went to Abel on Ithilian and requested a resupply be sent to the expedition at the Reishi Keep. Then he sought out the men tasked with placing one of Kelvin’s explosive weapons in the chamber that held the Nether Gate.

What he found was a scene from a nightmare. The entire force had been killed to a man. They’d reached the fortress, but they’d fought a retreating action for nearly a league while something picked them apart, one man at a time. Broken bodies, some half eaten, lay in a trail leading to the fortress entrance and into the entry chamber. The wizard leading the mission was dead, fallen beside the wagon carrying the weapon. The only consolation Alexander took from the massacre was that whatever had killed these men hadn’t been interested in the weapon at all.

He considered detonating it right now, he had the activation stone with him on Tyr, all he had to do was crush it and the weapon would detonate, even at this distance, sealing off the fortress under tons of stone, but he knew that would only be enough to slow Phane down once the arch mage got around to coming for the Nether Gate.

Alexander faded back into the firmament, saddened by the loss of yet more good men by his order, and returned to his body to consider his options.

***

“Hello, Captain Wyatt,” Alexander said, his projection standing on the deck of an Ithilian warship.

“Lord Reishi, is that really you?” a startled Wyatt asked.

“It is,” Alexander said, then proceeded to name all eleven men that Wyatt had lost in the first battle with the wraithkin at Northport.

“Very well, I believe you, though I don’t comprehend how you’ve come to be here,” Wyatt said.

“Report,” Alexander said, as another man approached with two sailors in tow.

“I’ve commandeered these four warships from the Ithilian Navy in pursuit of Princess Lacy. And although Captain Riggs here,” Wyatt said, motioning to the man who’d just approached, “isn’t entirely convinced of my authority, he has accepted my command for now, mostly because of Knight Kinley.” Wyatt looked up at the wyvern circling overhead.

“Captain Riggs, I’m Alexander Reishi. Consider Captain Wyatt to be the commander of your flotilla. You will assist him in every way possible. Is that understood?”

“Yes, but I’m confused? How did you get aboard?” Captain Riggs asked, looking around for any ships other than his four vessels.