The Final Redemption by Michael Manning (novels in english .TXT) 📗

silent speed that struckterror in my heart. The sharp end of it was already pointed in mydirection, and I knew he meant business.

I erected a shield with a thought anda word at the last possible moment, but it barely slowed the manwho had once sworn himself to my service. The enchanted steel cutthrough the barrier as if it were almost non-existent and continuedonward to remove my right arm and the lower part of my right legbefore whipping back upward. Time seemed to slow almost to a stopas I watched my arm fall away. There was no blood, at least nothingrecognizable as such. My long dead flesh held only a thick darkliquid that was probably just a remnant of my vitalfluids.

The backstroke probably would havecompletely bisected my torso, if it hadn’t been for the fact thatthe loss of part of my right leg had already sent me fallingbackward. Instead, the tip of the greatsword cut a deep slashthrough my chest, cleaving ribs and sternum apart as if they weremade of clay rather than bone.

Throughout the violent process, I feltremarkably little pain, nor did I suffer the shock that such aninjury would have caused me if I had been properly alive.Unfortunately Sir Egan was well acquainted with fighting shiggreth.He was far from done. Before I had finished collapsing he hadalready taken a step back, straightening his stance and pointinghis blade firmly in my direction. I knew exactly what was comingnext.

I managed another hasty shield, buteven as I did, I knew it was pointless. The flames were producedand focused by a rune channel I had wrought in the blade itself.The only defense I had that could deflect them was the enchantedset of shield stones that still lay in one of my pouches. The fireburned its way through my shield and began devouring myflesh.

I screamed then, for the flamesbrought a pain with them that simple cuts had lacked. That wouldlikely have been the end of me, but for a simple distraction. Pennyarrived.

The flames stopped as Sir Egan held upone hand to warn her away, “Please step back, my lady. It still hashis magic.”

My body was a ruin of charred andburned flesh. I had curled instinctively into a ball, protecting myface and belly, but everything else was a horror. The fire hadtaken only a few seconds to do that much, a few more and I would bereduced to ash.

“Is that him?”

I heard her voice and turned my headto face her, opening my eyes to see her once again, although mymagesight had already shown her to me. Our eyes locked for a momentand the revulsion that passed across her features nearly undidme.

“Yes, my lady, I recognized himimmediately,” answered Sir Egan.

Her face hardened, and I sensed thechildren running down the hallway. They would be there in justseconds. “That’s not my husband. He died fighting to protect us.Get rid of that abomination before they see it. I won’t have itdishonoring his memory!” She stepped back to keep Moira fromreaching the doorway while Sir Egan turned his attention backtoward me.

I wondered what would happen if mybody were completely incinerated, but even as I considered thequestion I realized I already knew the answer. My ancestor had donethe same thing to Thillmarius once, sending his cursed spirit towander the void. The same would happen to me. The spell-weavingwrapped around my soul would never let me fully die, but without abody…

“Penny,” I began, wondering if I couldsomehow convince her, and I saw a shiver run down her spine as Isaid her name. Whether I might have persuaded her or not, I nevergot the chance to find out. Glancing downward I realized I wasstill lying upon the teleportation circle I had arrivedon.

Sir Egan’s hands tightened around thehilt of his sword as he unleashed the flames again, but they failedto reach me. With a word I was gone.

Chapter 7

Every teleportation circle has twokeys that have to be specified when the circle is inscribed. Onekey that identifies the circle itself, and another that identifiesthe circle that is its destination. The impromptu circle I hadcreated in the carriage house had been set to take me to a circleinside my home in Albamarl, but that circle had been keyed forCameron Castle, which turned out to be fortunate. I arrived insidethe circle building in the castle yard. While I had had guardsposted on the building for years, they normally stayed outside, andtoday was no exception.

I lay there, a wretched mass of burnedflesh. Absent the flames, I had virtually no pain, but I knew Imust look terrible. My newly separated arm and lower leg layunderneath me, so I rolled over and pulled them out. A visualinspection revealed that other than the brute fact of theirexcision from my body, they were generally in better condition thanthe rest of me.

I could tell that my fleshwas already repairing itself, regenerating. That would’ve been a handy trick so many times when I wasalive, I thought to myself. As anexperiment, I held the end of my severed arm against the stump ithad once been attached to. The flesh began knitting itself togetheralmost immediately. I wondered what would happen if I lost thearm—would I grow a new one? There were too many unknowns for me tojudge. I pushed the thought aside and used my power more actively,sealing the skin around the edges to help hold it in place better.I repeated the process with my leg.

The healing process, if that was theproper term for repairing dead flesh, seemed to take a long timeand I worried that someone might wander in and discover me. Sincethe only people that could activate the circles were wizards, likeElaine or Walter, that meant I’d be in serious jeopardy. As SirEgan had just taught me, even a Knight of Stone was a terrible riskfor me.

After a couple of hours I was able tostand and move normally. The regeneration process required lessenergy than I’d expected. My aythar no longer restored itselfnaturally and I felt slightly weaker once the healing was finishedbut I still retained a considerable amount of power.

During my trip