David Wells - Linkershim

Soldiers manning the gate opened it without a word when Isabel approached, bowing deferentially and averting their eyes. The gardens were beautiful yet somehow cold, as if the meticulous grooming made them unnatural and inaccessible. It only served to remind Isabel of how much she missed the Great Forest and all of its wild and untamed beauty.

The house was lavish, gaudy even, filled with works of art from all over the Seven Isles, no doubt looted in ages past. The place was altogether too much. Isabel would have never chosen a house like this. She shook her head, stopping in the foyer to marvel at the ostentatious nature of the whole place. It looked like it was built to display wealth rather than to be lived in.

“Is this not to your liking?” Dierdra asked.

“Doesn’t this seem like a little much to you?” Isabel said, motioning to the clutter of mismatched artwork covering the foyer walls.

“You are Lady Reishi. Prince Phane insisted that you be given the most lavish estate in the city.”

“I’m surprised he doesn’t live here,” she muttered to herself.

“Prince Phane resides in the tower,” Wizard Enu said, stepping up alongside her. “It is his wish that you be made as comfortable as possible. You are, of course, free to make any changes to the décor that you see fit.”

Isabel snorted, shaking her head. “Honestly, I really don’t care. What I would like is a bath and a meal.”

“I will see to it at once, Lady Reishi,” Dierdra said, bustling off into the expansive house.

“Your quarters are this way,” Wizard Enu said. “Once you’ve had a chance to settle in, I would like to discuss your training … at your convenience, of course.”

By the following day, Isabel was about ready to pull her hair out, except she was quite certain that if she tried to, one of her servants would materialize nearby and offer to do it for her. The entire staff assigned to her seemed terrified that she might have to lift a finger on her own behalf. When her maidservant tried to cut a slice of ham on her breakfast plate, Isabel lost her temper, standing so quickly that her chair tipped over backwards.

“Stop it! I am not an invalid. Nor am I a child. Stop hovering over me …” When she saw the expectant look on Wraithkin Issa’s face, she stopped abruptly. He was watching her like he thought she might lash out at one of the servants, as if he hoped she would.

The young woman waiting on her stood stock-still, her face white as a sheet, trembling as she fought back tears.

Isabel released her frustration with a deep breath before putting a slice of ham on a piece of bread, scooping scrambled eggs on top of it and finishing it with another slice of bread. She walked out onto the balcony with her sandwich and leaned against the railing while she ate in peace.

The house was absurd by her standards, but the view was beautiful once she looked past the walls of the fortress. The jungle beyond was lush and green, spreading out to the horizon. As hostile as she knew the jungle to be, she would have gladly traded it for this over-decorated prison cell.

Slyder landed on the railing, cocking his head at her. It had been quite a while since she’d seen him and she wanted more than anything to rub him under the chin, but she couldn’t risk Phane and his people discovering her most loyal ally within the fortress walls. With a touch of sadness, she linked her mind to his and told him to fly. He obeyed, but reluctantly.

Not long after breakfast, Wizard Enu arrived, bowing formally before he entered her dining hall.

“Lady Reishi, perhaps we can begin your instruction today.”

Isabel schooled her expression and quieted her mind. While the wraithkin posing as her bodyguard was the most overtly dangerous person in the room, Wizard Enu and his intention to teach her to use dark magic was by far the greatest threat to her free will and personal sovereignty. She knew without doubt that touching the netherworld, willfully opening that door within her mind, would expose her to the influence of the Wraith Queen in a way she probably wouldn’t be able to resist. Azugorath’s presence within her mind had become a constant, gently pushing against her resistance, searching for a weakness, a crack in her resolve. It was in those moments that Azugorath would exert her will, attempting to pry her way into Isabel’s mind and assert control.

“What did you have in mind?” Isabel asked.

“Prince Phane wishes me to teach you a most powerful spell he calls ‘drain life.’ While I’ve studied the spell extensively, I lack the necessary power to cast it, but he believes that this spell is well within your capability.”

Isabel motioned to a chair on the balcony as she sat down in another.

“How is it that you lack the power to cast this spell?”

“I’m not an arch mage,” Enu said. “Prince Phane created this spell, though in truth, I don’t see the value of it myself. It requires the sacrifice of a child to the netherworld in order to open a conduit to the darkness. Once this conduit is open, the caster then touches a target creature and their life essence is drawn through the caster into the netherworld. The target is killed, and while the majority of the life energy is lost to the darkness, a portion is retained by the caster, healing wounds and boosting vitality, strength, and energy.

“Prince Phane believes that you will be able to cast this spell without the necessity of a sacrifice due to your unique capabilities.”

Isabel listened, willing her face to remain impassive, struggling to overcome her desire to throw Wizard Enu off the balcony. While the spell was indeed powerful, the cost was far too great to even entertain the possibility of actually casting it. She understood intuitively that this was just another attempt to gain control of her through the influence of the Wraith Queen.

“I’m not sure Phane really understands my capabilities,” Isabel said. “I’m very new to magic and I haven’t had nearly as much basic instruction as I would like. Maybe we should start with something less ambitious.”

“I’m afraid that your course of instruction has been determined by Prince Phane. He expects you to make progress in your study of this spell.”

“He expects a lot of things that he’s not going to get,” Isabel said, as she stood up and walked away from Wizard Enu. “I don’t feel like it today. Come back tomorrow … maybe I’ll feel like it then.”

“Lady Reishi, Prince Phane will be most displeased.”

“Good,” Isabel said, heading up the stairs to her bedroom with Issa silently following her. He tried to follow her into her room, but she stopped him. “I’d like some time alone.”

He leered at her but obeyed, taking up a position outside her door.

Alone in her room, she called Slyder to her and spent some time reacquainting herself with her best friend. Once his need for affection was fulfilled, she linked her mind with him and they took to wing. Having accepted that her attempt on Phane’s life had failed, she decided to formulate another plan, but before she could do that, she needed more information.

Slyder flew the length of each street, providing Isabel with a good view of the layout of the fortress city and giving her the opportunity to assess troop strength and defensive capabilities. What she saw wasn’t encouraging. While an attack with magic might breach the walls, it was virtually inconceivable that any form of conventional attack could succeed.

She spent the better part of the morning exploring the city through Slyder, watching the soldiers guarding the wall, looking at each building to determine its purpose and scrutinizing the outer wall for any type of weakness. She found very little to be encouraged about. The place was indeed a fortress in every sense of the word.