“I just won’t go to sleep,” insisted the big man, his voice slurring.
Will wished he could move him. Leaving him there on the ground, barely a hundred feet from the school entrance, didn’t seem safe. There probably weren’t any more vampires in the area, but he didn’t know that for sure. “Bring him back in one piece.” Janice’s words rang through his mind.
Tiny surged upward for a moment, then sagged and slumped back down. “My body feels like jelly. Do I still have bones?”
“You still have bones. You’re just tired.”
“I don’t think I can walk without bones.”
Will nodded. “That would be a problem.”
“You’ll have to go without me, Will. I’m sorry.”
“Don’t be sorry.”
“But you need help. I said I’d be there…”
Activating the limnthal, he summoned a pillow and blanket. After making his friend as comfortable as possible, he replied, “You were there. Don’t worry. The others are back now. They’re going to help me, so you can get some rest.”
“Really?”
“Yeah.” Tiny was asleep before he finished answering. Standing up, Will pushed his guilt aside and started back out the gate. If anything happens to him, I’ll never forgive myself. But he knew if he didn’t go, his friend would die anyway.
Chapter 55
Alone again, Will jogged at a modest pace, one he could maintain without tiring himself out. He was heading for the wealthy part of town, where the noblemen and rich merchants kept their homes. It was the same area that his father’s house was in, but the specific home Will was going to was a few blocks from the Nerrow home.
As far as he knew, it was still empty, though most would expect that it belonged to the heirs of the Arenata estate. Will knew that wasn’t the case, however. After he had slain Duke Arenata and murdered his guests, some of whom might have been innocents, Will had sacrificed the duchess on her own altar. It sounded horrific, and the actual event had been just as terrible as it sounded, but Will had acted with good intentions. In fact, he’d saved the city from a demonic invasion.
Beneath the house, deep underground in a secret chamber, was a convergence of ley lines. Selene had sealed the passage that led to it with stone, but her father had discovered its existence later and had used his royal prerogative to lay claim to the empty dwelling, paying the family a nominal amount of gold to silence their complaints.
And that had been that. Or so Will had thought.
The only place someone in Cerria could create such a massive ritual without the assistance of additional practitioners was there, and the king might well have had the time to construct the circle it would require. Will didn’t know how many days it would take, but the king certainly had the resources.
Just because I didn’t know about the vampire threat until a few days ago doesn’t mean he didn’t know, especially if Androv was already whispering in his ear.
Will summoned Ethelgren’s Exhortation again. This time the inhabitant put up a token struggle but quickly surrendered. Are you going to do that every time? asked Will.
Maybe.
I’m heading into what used to be an abandoned home. I believe the king and Androv are in a secret underground chamber where they can access a ley line.
Did your warrior friend die?
What? asked Will, alarmed. No.
Oh, good, Ethelgren replied, his tone unconvincing. Those potions can be hard on the body. But I take it you’re planning to go in there alone?
Yes.
You should let me take over. I’ll give you your body back afterward.
Will ground his teeth. No.
What if I promise?
No.
You’re going to die, and then I’ll wind up in Androv’s collection. If I’m lucky, he’ll take me out every once in a while, to taunt me. If I’m not he’ll melt me down.
Then help me defeat him.
He’s not a one-trick pony. The man is clever, and he’s got thousands of spells at his fingertips, cautioned Ethelgren. Even if you understood every function I built into this rod, you probably wouldn’t have a chance. I could only put so many in, and you don’t have the experience and spells of your own to make up the difference.
I whipped your ass, Will remarked.
Technically, you didn’t. You tricked me into letting your creepy grandfather out of his cage. By the way, have I mentioned how awful that is? Who does that to their own family?
It wasn’t my idea. Are you going to help or not?
Sure, but you’ll still lose. Just remember I told you so.
Will grimaced. Fine. With my last dying breath, I’ll be sure to tell you how right you were.
That’ll do. All right, here’s the spell effects that are most likely to help you. Pay attention as I show you the turyn signatures.
***
Will slowed when the Arenata home came into view. From the outside, it still looked much as it had the last time he had been there. Someone had been maintaining the plants and keeping up the ornamental garden. One might easily assume someone still lived there.
For personal spells, Will had replaced the illuminations with a climb spell, a wind-wall, and on Ethelgren’s recommendation, a blur spell. The blur spell was an illusion that he had learned over a year ago and had kept in his daily practice, but he’d never used it in combat. Usually the chameleon spell seemed preferable to him since he liked to avoid fights, and once a fight started, he rarely had a chance to use anything but spells he had prepared, or those he could reflex cast.
Ethelgren had advised him to use it. He’ll be able to see straight through your chameleon spell. That’s true of all vampires. They can track your body heat.
Hmm, said Will. I always called it heart-light.
Same thing. Anyway, the blur spell is an illusion that smears your appearance across several feet, making it hard to tell exactly where you are. It works for all kinds of light, so it helps against things like vampires too.
Is being blurry that great?
If your body outline is spread across twice the distance, they only have half the chance of hitting you. It makes a big difference if you screw up and he hits you with a point attack.
Point attack?
Like my silver bolts, or a force-lance. There are lots of different kinds of single target attacks.
Oh, said Will. So he’ll only have a fifty-fifty chance of blowing my guts across the wall.
It’s better than a hundred percent chance, and the illusion costs next to nothing to maintain.