Cathexis: Necromancer's Dagger (11 page)

To the
knights,
she called out calmly, “Faster, please.”

Jatar left his officers in the meeting room;
they would soon be leaving the palace on their various missions and
destinations. The Lord of Lindankar headed for his private rooms to
quickly freshen up before leaving to find his wife at the church
celebration.

Coming to the Grand Staircase Jatar saw a
Tchulian major. Jatar was puzzled by the merc’s presence for a
moment, but then he remembered the man's face from the state dinner
the night before. He was here to represent the Tchulian battle
school at Michael’s investment. Jatar noted that the major’s face
was
very pale
and something
stained the front of his uniform.

Acting as if he was in a hurry, Von Dracek
approached the bottom of the staircase. “Lord Jatar, one of your
household servants has fallen down and is injured. I can’t locate
any of your other servants to help. Do you know where I can find
them?”

“They’ve all left, which servant is it?”

“He’s an older gentleman, I don’t know his
name.”

“It must be Gavin, that stubborn idiot was
supposed to go with the rest of them. All right, where is he?”
Jatar asked with worry for his old friend showing in his face.

“He’s down the eastern hall, near the
visitor's apartments. We moved him into the third room on the left.
Is there anyone else around that could help us with him, a
physician perhaps?”

“You might catch some of my officers if you
hurry; they’re just leaving from the main courtyard. Tell them we
need medical supplies and a healer, and have someone go bring Lady
Elizabeth and my son back from church, she can help,” Jatar
ordered. The ruler’s face showed lines of worry for the stubborn
old servant. He quickly turned and headed toward the visitor’s
apartments.

Von Dracek waited a moment and then followed
after Jatar, but the merc kept a short distance behind, so he
wouldn't be seen. When they were near the room where CAracusS
waited with the Darknull Baron the Tchulian stopped and waited to
make sure that no one came this way to interfere with the
proceedings.

Jatar quickly moved along the rooms and
passageways of his palace until he reached the correct chamber. He
opened the door without knocking and stepped inside. On the
table,
he saw a bloody body with
someone standing in front of it blocking most of his view.

How did Gavin get so severely wounded
falling down?
Was Jatar’s first thought and then he felt the
sudden sickness as the Darknull attacked.

The foul creature descended over his body
and immediately began to consume his living soul. A Darknull is
horrible for your mind to see and hear, but nothing compares to the
agony of actual contact and the feeling of your soul being consumed
by its malefic touch.

Jatar cried out in pain and fear as the
Darknull engulfed him and burned into his aura, like acid on metal.
Lord Jatar staggered back to the wall as he writhed in pain. Upon
striking the wall he rolled along until his body blindly ran into a
small table that held the lit oil lamp for the room. His hands
groped for a weapon as his warrior spirit came forth responding to
an attack. His searching hand found the oil lamp, which he dashed
onto the floor where the bulk of the Darknull stood. The lamp burst
into flames and the Darknull jumped back from the burning heat.
Jatar remembered Elizabeth telling him that the Darknulls could be
hurt by fire. The flames were alien to the Dark Plane and the dark
essence of the creature could be hurt by flames, but the fire would
not kill the creature.

As the Darknull pulled back from the hot
licking flames Jatar used his brief respite to dash out the side
door through the adjoining chamber into the main corridor. Jatar
ran toward the front of the palace, but he felt and heard the
Darknull enter the passage in swift pursuit. He entered the large
east hall a moment ahead of the pursuing alien monster and slammed
the door. With a
swift
thought,
he grabbed the lit oil lamp and
smashed it over the closed door to put a wall of flames between
himself and the Darknull. The door caught fire quickly and so did
the old dry tapestries that covered the entire wall. Within his
mind Jatar heard the sounds of a thousand people being ripped in
half, it was the voice of the Darknull crying its frustration from
the other side of the burning door.

Jatar turned to continue his
flight
but was confronted by Major Von Dracek
coming in from the other side of the hall. The merc officer held
his sword unsheathed.

“What is this, more treachery?” Jatar called
out.

“You cannot pass this way, Lord Jatar. Your
fate is calling and it is my duty to see that you meet it,” Von
Dracek said, coolly.

Jatar dashed to the right side of the hall,
which held many weapons on display. He pulled a rapier down just in
time to parry a thrust from the Tchulian Major.

“Very good, milord, your reputation with the
sword precedes you. I’ve often wondered how good you actually
were,” Von Dracek said, flippantly.

“It seems that you’re about to find out,
major,” replied Jatar. He started a flurry of cuts that caused the
major to back into the middle of the room before he fought Jatar to
a standstill.

The tapestries and door where Jatar had
entered the large hall were completely engulfed in yellow flames
from floor to high ceiling, causing extreme heat and silhouetting
the two swordsmen against the burning backdrop.

“You are very good milord, perhaps I
underestimated your skills a bit when I trained Lord Tysol to fight
you!” Von Dracek exclaimed when he had caught his breath. He tried
a thrust in low toward Jatar’s right thigh.

“So, you are the reason behind his sudden
skill and limited bravery. You didn’t think he could actually take
me, did you?” Jatar replied as
he
sidestepped
the major's attack and
countered with a riposte that made the major
parry
furiously to avoid a cut to his head.

“Of course not, our puppet performed just as
expected,” Von Dracek explained as he countered Jatar’s cut with
the
forte
of his sword.

Quickly manipulating his sword with thumb
and forefinger Jatar grazed Von Dracek’s blade subtly to induce his
opponent to respond in the same line. That created a sudden opening
that allowed Jatar’s blade to slide in and pierce the major in the
left biceps.

Von Dracek grimaced and stepped back as he
beat Jatar’s blade aside.

Jatar gave the merc a grim smile and said,
“I’ll bet that hurt, didn’t it?”

Losing his concentration slightly, the young
major attacked furiously.

Jatar knew he had the Tchulian rattled, so
he spared a quick glance toward possible escape. He noted a door
across the hall from the burning tapestries, but then two men
entered and took up guard positions by the door with drawn swords.
Since they didn’t come to his aid, Jatar reasoned that they must be
part of the plot.

The frustrated Darknull screamed from beyond
the flames and Jatar knew that the ravenous fire would soon consume
the door, he had to win this duel before that happened and the
Darknull gained entrance.

Jatar trapped the Colonel’s sword with his
in a bind and they came chest to chest, but Jatar suddenly stepped
back out and his blade rode high off the top of Von Dracek’s sword.
The sharp tip sliced into the major’s forehead.

Blood began to run down the
Tchulian’s
face into his eyes and he cursed
Jatar, showing a little fear in his voice for the first time. Von
Dracek suddenly knew that, incredibly, he was going to lose this
duel if he relied solely on his skill with the blade. He
leaped
back with his blade
extended to keep Lord Jatar at bay for the moment he needed to
concentrate. The Tchulian focused his secret aura powers and
extended his palm forward. He sent an aura attack from his palm
that struck Jatar in the chest with a blast of pure of aura energy.
Blue visible light from his left hand flashed across
the space
between them and struck the surprised
ruler of Lindankar in the chest.

Lord Jatar flew back from the impact and
slid to a heap on the floor; the clothing on his chest was torn and
smoking from the searing power of the blast.

“
Vorg
take
that bastard, he nearly had
me!” exclaimed the Tchulian as he wiped the blood from his
eyes.

The burning door burst inward in a blast of
purple energy and a cloud of sparks. CAracusS lowered his bony
hands and stepped to the side.

The dreaded Darknull oozed its foulness into
the room and the scowling visage of the necromancer followed close
behind.

“What happened here?” CAracusS demanded when
he saw Jatar’s lifeless body piled on the floor.

“I could ask the same of you! Jatar wasn’t
supposed to get away from your beast,” countered the wounded
Major.

“Baron Qyrmswav is Lord Jatar still alive?”
the necromancer asked the Darknull.

Von Dracek backed away from the approach of
the malefic beast.

Sliding its putrid mass over the body the
Darknull replied in its foul voice, “He is no more, there is no
spirit left to consume. Who shall you supply for me in his place to
complete our bargain?”

CAracusS was stricken by the news that Jatar
was dead, but he gestured toward his men guarding the exit. “Take
those two, and then go.”

The two men by the door tried to flee, but
the Darknull got between them and escape. They tried to back away,
but the Baron descended on one of them. His victim started to
scream horribly as his soul was torn from his body and
consumed.

The second of the two underlings tried to
appeal to CAracusS. “Please, master, call it off. You promised to
make me a rich man. Don’t let it eat me, I beg you!”

Qyrmswav finished with the first man whose
dead body fell limply to the floor like a body devoid of bones. The
dread Darknull Baron slowly approached the second man. To heighten
his fear Qyrmswav came for him slowly and spoke to him and the
beast's voice sounded in the man’s mind like oozing putrid flesh
sliding off bones.

“I’ll tell you something the Darknulls
learned a long time ago from Vorg the Desecrator, never trust a
necromancer.”

Then with the swift speed of a striking
slither’s head, Baron Qyrmswav
leaped
on top of the screaming man and consumed his soul.
Once finished with his meal the Darknull left the hall to depart
back through the bridge between the worlds. CAracusS closed it as
soon as the Darknull was through.

CAracusS and Von Dracek turned Jatar’s body
onto its back before they spoke.

“You may have ruined all our plans,” the
necromancer accused, “the imprint from my cathexis dagger can’t
enter a dead body. Only a living vessel can attract the imprint!
Jatar was supposed to have his aura eaten and his body left
functional, or did you forget our plan?”

“I remember, but it's not my fault that he
escaped from your grisly friend. Jatar was the greatest swordsman I
have ever faced; I had to kill him to keep him from escaping. He
would have gone through your two men without breaking stride, but
come, he is dead and we should start our flight. The guards will
have seen the smoke and be here soon. I don’t want to be found with
the body of their dead ruler!”

“There is one chance,” the necromancer
answered and his eyes narrowed in thought. “You remember how I
revived my torture victim? Jatar’s body is whole, his heart has
just stopped; let’s see if we can get it beating again.”

Placing his ancient shaking hand over
Jatar’s still chest, the necromancer drew energy through his
connection with the Dark Plane.

Von Dracek saw the lines of
purple
lightning strike from CAracusS’ hand to
Jatar’s chest, and the body jumped. CAracusS listened to his chest
briefly before applying a second jolt, but that did it, Jatar’s
chest began to rise and fall as his body began to breathe
again.

“Your magic seems to have worked; will Jatar
wake up now?” asked the Major.

“No, remember the Darknull said his spirit
was no more, it must have been destroyed. Only his body is
functioning now, as if in a coma. Under normal
circumstances,
he would never reawaken,
however,
my cathexis dagger will
allow us to change all that. Now we must be quick, you guard the
door while I finish the transfer.”

CAracusS pulled the dagger from his waist
and placed it in Jatar's hand. Then he took a small green bottle
from his pocket and removed the stopper. With a quick toss of his
head,
he drank down the thick
contents in one gulp. He grimaced at the foul taste momentarily,
and then his body convulsed as the quick acting poison started to
take effect. Spasms shook the necromancer’s cadaverous body and
moments later he keeled over dead.

A few seconds later Jatar’s eyes fluttered
open and he groaned as he slowly sat up. His fingers tightened
around the cathexis dagger in his hand and he suddenly used it to
stab the necromancer’s wrinkled body in the chest.

Von Dracek went for his sword, but Jatar
looked up with a frown that was hauntingly familiar; the
necromancer had often used the same expression.

“Oh stop it you fool, it is me, CAracusS. I
just wanted to make it obvious to Jatar’s guards that I killed this
body with my dagger. Assassins don’t normally take
poison
unless they are going to be
captured.”

Von Dracek’s eyes widened, “Incredible, it
actually worked! I mean I know how cathexis metal stores the
imprint of the one who carries it for a time, but knowing and
seeing it are two different things.” As he said this Von Dracek
thought,
I want that dagger; a man with one of the nineteen
cathexis artifacts could be immortal.