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

bitter about howlong it had taken her lover’s descendants to get around tofulfilling the promise.

Descending the final set of stairs tothe stone door, I suffered a moment of panic as I wondered what Iwould do if the door were shut. I had been able to open it beforeonly because of my family identity and my ability as an archmage. Ino longer met either of those requirements.

I hadn’t closed the door, so it shouldstill be open, unless it automatically closed after some set periodof time. If it had closed, I would have to use my power to rip thevery foundations of my house apart to get inside.

My magesight still saw only theillusion of solid stone as I approached, but once my physical eyeswere able to see it, I breathed a sigh of relief. The doorwayyawned wide before me, just as I had left it.

I entered without pausing, and I feltbetter once I knew I was within the illusion. The chamber wouldcloak my presence much better than the armor I wore. Nothing hadchanged inside the circular room. Lyralliantha still lay in thestone sarcophagus at its center—waiting.

I felt a palpable tension risingaround me as I drew closer to look inside. The sensation was new,something I hadn’t encountered during my first visit, as though theair had been charged with static electricity.

Lyralliantha still looked as lovely asshe had the last time I had been there. Silver hair and smooth skinthat were somehow still accented by the white gown she wore. Mygoal was less than an arm’s length away now, with only one obstaclebarring me from accomplishing my purpose—Thillmarius’spell-weaving.

On my first visit I had uttered thecommand phrase that should have released her from the stasisenchantment but the She’Har lorewarden’s magic had prevented itfrom working. I had to remove that before I could undo my manytimes removed great grandfather’s enchantment.

I leaned in, focusing my senses moreprecisely, trying to study the alien magic that overlay the humanenchantment. Despite the knowledge that the loshti had granted me,the structure of the She’Har symbols twisted and connected in waysthat defied human logic. I could interpret their meaningindividually, but understanding their whole, their context, wasbeyond me.

“And that’s why he invented enchanting,because only one of the tree people could possibly understand thattangled crap!” I muttered testily. The feeling of tension in theair increased noticeably as I moved closer. Something pulsed insideme.

Standing still, I turnedmy senses inward, trying to understand the interplay between themagic inside me, and the magic around Lyralliantha Illeniel. Itmade no sense at first, until I recognized the convergence in thepatterns that composed the two spell-weavings. The one wrappedaround my grandfather’s enchantment was complementary to the onethat anchored my spirit to the realm of the living.They were both created by the same evil bastardafter all, I noted.

The memory of myancestor’s battle with Thillmarius told me that the two had beencreated at very nearly the same time, possibly even simultaneously.Thillmarius had locked her stasis to prevent anyone else fromfreeing her, and at the same time protected himself from thevengeance of her husband. Fat lot of goodit did him, though. He wound up burned to ash. Remembering that made me smile; my own battle withThillmarius had ended in a much less satisfactory manner, even ifit had been more permanent.

No amount of examination would allowme to understand what I was seeing however, so I decided toexperiment by climbing up onto the sarcophagus, attempting to bringthe two spell-weavings closer together.

My efforts were rewarded with a surgeof energy, and I felt the spell-weaving that was wrapped around thewellspring of my life begin to move. At the same time, the one thatencased Lyralliantha began to come loose—they were moving together.A sudden fear gripped me, and I leapt away before the two pieces ofmagic could come into contact.

When they come togetherthey’ll cancel each other. Lyralliantha will no longer be trapped,and my spirit will be free of his curse. Itook a moment to consider the ramifications. My soul would be setfree, and find itself in a dead body. As an archmage, it might havebeen possible to restore my body to its former state, but not if Iwas already adrift and sinking into the void. All of thatcompletely ignored the fact that currently I no longer seemed topossess my abilities as an archmage.

There was also the problemof all the aythar I now contained. Once the spell-weaving thatanchored and contained me was gone, that energy would be released.My normal self couldn’t possibly control it, and the fact that Iwould be in the middle of dying would only add to theconfusion. I’ll blow Albamarl off the map.Historians would have to rename the region, ‘The Sea ofLothion’. For some reason that thoughtbrought another strange giggle to my lips. I was definitelybecoming slightly unhinged.

I spent the next quarter of an hourconsidering the possibilities before making up my mind. Drawing outthe link I had brought from the Iron Heart Chamber I beganchanneling power into it. Before I could do anything risky, I’dhave to reduce my aythar to a level that was close to my normalliving level.

The process took several hours. Iattempted to rush it at first, but the iron link began to glow redhot as I steadily overloaded its capacity to transfer power. Toavoid an inadvertent explosion, I had to slow down. It seemedironic that I was forced to surrender the power so soon aftertaking it, not to mention being a serious test of mypatience.

Though I worried thatPenny or the others would return before I finished, the house wasstill empty when I had finished my preparations.Apparently not all my luck is bad.

I stood at the edge of thesarcophagus now, having serious doubts about my proposed plan ofaction. This will be the end of me, andMal’goroth will still be free. You can’t even be sure she’ll have away to deal with him. What if you’re wrong? Then again, maybe I was tired of trying to solve everyproblem myself. “Someone else will have to save the world nexttime. I’m retiring,” I announced to the empty room.

I climbed up and leveredmyself into position above the She’Har woman. I