The Steward and the Sorcerer by James Peart (small books to read .TXT) 📗

The figure glided closer to Longfellow across the rippling blackness, the cloak of its surrounds pulled tight about it, the flat beam of its eyes regarding Karsin, the waves of the Darksphere hissing and roiling in its wake.

“What would you have me do?” it commanded, its voice soft, rasping, unearthly.  Belonging, like this being, to another age and time.

Longfellow regarded it coolly.  “The last group of creatures- the Furies you sent me- were unsuccessful in their attempt to suborn the Druid Daaynan.”  Karsin fell silent, allowing this piece of news to sink in.

“They were not up to the task?” Ledislas offered in a tone of disbelief.  “I selected them carefully.  The Druid’s magic cannot stand against power such as theirs, even using the Faerie Whorl.”

“There is another sorcerer which the Druid has pulled into this world.  His magic operates differently.  He was immune to the Faeries’ power and killed all of them with a single touch.”  Karsin gestured to Tan Wrock.  “My associate is wary of his strength.  His mind has reached out to his, yet only to learn his name, the Raja Iridis, and the place he comes from, Naveen.”

The figure shifted within the tight core of the Darksphere, its black robe shimmering.  “I have heard of this world.  It is a dying one.  There was a King there who had total command over his domain, who held the power of life and death over every one of his subjects.  In its long history there was never a single threat to his rule- there could not possibly have been, given the level of control he had over the minds of his citizens.  As an exercise in the abuse of power, it was unprecedented.  As a result, Naveen was allowed to self-destruct.  I thought this had happened, its people already dead, including the King.”

“The Druid must have breathed life back into some of them,” Longfellow spat.  “Perhaps only a handful.”

“I see.”  Ledislas fell silent, contemplating.  After some moments, he said “this must be the work of my brother.”

“Your brother?”

“He dwells in the Brightsphere and his role is to develop the abilities of a sorcerer until he can assume the mantle of Druid of Fein Mor.  He invests them with the magic of fires that can transform reality to different degrees.”

“If that’s true,” Longfellow said, “why hasn’t this happened before?  Why haven’t the Druids that came before summoned beings from other worlds as you can?”

“Because he must have imbued this Druid’s magic with greater range and scope than he did with any of his predecessors.  The question would be why?”

“I don’t care about that,” Longfellow snapped.  “I need you to summon a creature that my associate can turn on Iridis and the Magus and succeed in destroying them both.”

Ledsilas considered the two men from within the shell of the Sphere, its iridescent form curiously motionless.  “I can do it.  There is a creature that can accomplish this task.  But I will ask you for something in return.”

“Name it.”

“After this is done, set me free.  Release me from the Sphere that holds me beneath your city.  Let me loose so I can return to where I come from.”

Longfellow glanced over at Tan Wrock but met nothing in the other’s regard apart from a watchful disdain.  Irritated, he turned back to the Sphere.  “You’ve never asked me that before.  Was this how things were with the other Stewards?”

“I am requesting it now.  As for the time I spent serving your predecessors, I was more disposed to them, more involved in the making of decisions of state.  Less prone to making errors.”

Karsin nodded, taking this in.  “I am sorry that the moments we have shared have not been as productive as you would have liked, but that is not my fault.  Different times call for different measures, including the level of involvement others have in my behaviour and decisions.  I make no apologies for that.”

“Nevertheless, my completion of this task is conditional upon my request.”

The Steward looked at the other, measuring it, attempting to study its expression, or what passed for one.  Finally, he said “alright, once this business is finished and the King and the Druid are both dead, I promise I shall let you free.  You have my word.”

Ledislas nodded.  “Then stand back.”

“Wait for a moment,” Karsin said, lifting one hand.  “I asked you for something the last time we met.  You know what that is.  Before you turn this creature over to us I would remind you that my promise in turn is guaranteed on the satisfaction of that request.”

Tan Wrock frowned on hearing this.  He wasn’t told of any special request Longfellow had made of the Darksphere.  Had the Steward visited it in private recently?  To what end?  He was about to open his mouth to ask when Ledislas retreated suddenly into the depths of the Sphere, the dim light of the chamber receding into almost total blackness and Karsin signalled him to be ready for what was about to happen.

“You shall have it,” Ledislas spoke before disappearing from view.  The boundary lines of the Darksphere began to ripple, thrashing with sudden fury and a monstrous form surged upward from the floor of the chamber, a titan rising from the depths of the Sphere, hulking and brutish.  It lumbered forward into the room, its eyes- thickset and large beneath hairless eyebrows and a coarse pitted forehead- sweeping right and left, taking in the presence of the two men.  Its skin was rough and heavily veined, casting its form in a reddish hue, and wiry shoots of crimson hair stood out in irregular clumps along its length.  It stood at least seven feet tall, even bowed as its head was between crude, bulwark shoulders.  Karsin Longfellow stepped back a pace as it righted itself to face the Steward and for a moment he was unsure what to say or do beyond gaze back in fear at what had crashed