Cathexis: Necromancer's Dagger (12 page)

They heard the sounds of guard’s voices
calling Jatar’s name from a nearby room.

CAracusS swiftly gave the merc some
instructions, “When the guards get here I’ll tell them that three
assassins tried to kill me. I dispatched this one with my knife and
you slew the other two. Now quickly stab my two dead servants with
your sword, so it looks like you killed them.”

The Tchulian major had just finished
stabbing the second corpse when a group of six guards poured into
the room with drawn weapons. The first of Jatar’s guard to enter
saw Von Dracek with his sword
out. The
guard raised
his crossbow and yelled, “Drop that weapon!” He
aimed the loaded bow at Von Dracek’s heart.

Von Dracek quickly dropped his sword and
said, “I defended your ruler, ask him yourself.”

The man the guard thought was Jatar said,
“Yes, put down your bow. This man helped me defeat these three
assassins, without his aid I would now be dead.” CAracusS got
Jatar’s body to his feet and added, “Now help me to my rooms,
though I am not wounded I do need rest. Have someone dispose of
these bodies. This Tchulian major is to be let into my rooms
anytime he wishes; he is a hero in Lindankar.”

The leader of the guards looked puzzled by
this, he knew how Jatar disliked the Tchulians, but he bowed to his
Lord’s command and the orders were given.

It was one year since the birth of Michael
Ardellen and the first part of the conspirator’s plan had
succeeded; the soul of the necromancer CAracusS was in control of
Jatar’s body.

The careening carriage clamored to a halt in
the courtyard of the Lindankar palace. The six horses were gulping
for air and hot sweat ran down their steaming flanks. The right
side door burst open as Elizabeth swiftly exited with her son held
in her right arm. Behind
her,
the
four Knight Protectors followed like thunder behind lightning.

As Elizabeth approached the twin doors of
the main entranceway she thought about her small son cradled
against her side.
How do I protect Michael? If I leave him with
his knights I won’t be there to protect him from the evils of the
Darknull. If I take him with me I will be hampered by having to
hold him and will be unable to give him my full protection.

She paused for a moment to make up her mind
before she turned and handed Michael to Hetark. “Follow me close,
but wait where I tell you; and for Michael’s safety do not, under
any circumstance, go anywhere else.”

In the main hall various wings split off in
different directions, to the right the Grand Staircase led to the
second floor. Elizabeth stopped for a moment and concentrated on
the foulness of the Darknull; the taint of it wasn’t very strong
anymore, which probably meant the Darknull creature was gone. She
felt the rank signature of the Darknull most strongly from the
direction of her apartments upstairs.

Making a quick decision she turned to the
knights and gave her orders, “I think the Darknull beast has been
within the palace, but it has departed. Hetark and Gustin, you wait
here with Michael. Drake, I want you to go just outside the Main
Door and watch for trouble. If something
happens,
give a signal to Hetark and Gustin, who will
then bring Michael upstairs toward my apartments. Becaris, you come
with me.”

The knights accepted her orders without
question and began taking their positions. Elizabeth didn't wait;
she immediately started up the stairs with Becaris following close
behind. Using her aura senses Elizabeth followed the foulness that
stained the passages of her home. The concentration increased as
she neared her rooms. When the door to her chambers was just ahead
she turned to Becaris and whispered, “Stay here, but if you hear or
see anything wrong, retreat to Michael and defend him until I
return.”

“Unto death, milady,” said Becaris, placing
the gauntlet of his clenched right hand across his chest in
salute.

Elizabeth turned and continued toward the
foulness alone. She gathered her emotions and settled into a calm
state of readiness. She was prepared to use her aura powers for the
salvation of her husband, or if too late, the protection of her
son.

She entered her sitting room and relief
washed over her like a torrential rain on a fire, she saw Jatar’s
unmistakable back sitting in a chair, but words of relief froze on
her lips when she sensed the foulness emanating directly from
Jatar. Fear returned like the freezing chill of winter. Dreading
what she would find, Elizabeth extended her perceptions to read her
husband’s aura patterns. She knew his aura as well as her own, but
to her dismay her aura gaze revealed a strange set of patterns; and
that confirmed the worst, this man was an imposter. The import of
her discovery shocked Elizabeth and she staggered back a step and
bumped into the door as she thought:
This isn’t possible… the
body is the aura and the aura is the body, no invading aura should
be able to inhabit a body without changing that body… unless…
unless the body was vacant… which means, oh G’lan… Jatar!

Time seemed to move slowly as the being that
possessed Jatar's body turned toward the noise she had made when
she hit the door. There was a flicker of surprise on Jatar’s face,
but that was quickly masked and his familiar voice said,
“Elizabeth, I didn’t expect you back for some time. Where is your
son?”

He said, `your’ son'!
Elizabeth
thought as she used her special sight to inspect the aura showing
around her husband’s body, but she finally admitted that the body
before her held no trace of her husband’s spirit. The answer was
clear, her husband was dead. Elizabeth knew of nothing else that
could completely remove a person’s aura. The hideous taint of the
Dark Plane continued to assault her aura senses. There was little
doubt that somehow a necromancer had gotten within her beloved
husband’s body. Finding her voice she fought to compose herself and
the rigorous training at the Kirnath School came to her aid. She
held onto outward control by force of will as she said, “Michael
was tired, so I came home early and placed him in the nursery to
sleep,” she lied, Michael always slept in the small chamber reached
through this very room, as the real Jatar would have known.

“Very good, so, ah, what’s our plan for the
rest of the evening?” CAracusS, the necromancer, asked as he
thought furiously,
What happened? She was supposed to be killed
by our assassins! I’m too weak from the Darknull summoning to fight
with a Kirnath adept. I’ll have to delay her until Von Dracek gets
here, between his aura powers and my link to the Dark Plane, we
should be able to overcome the powers of the sorceress.

Elizabeth spoke as calmly as she could
feign, “I just wanted to tell you I was back, but I need to finish
putting Michael to bed. I’ll return in a half bell or so.”
Elizabeth fought to keep her voice steady, she desperately wanted
to let loose her fury in a fierce blast of aura power that would
disintegrate this foul creature, but she could not afford to start
a battle with Michael unprotected and she didn’t know if the
Darknull was still within call of the necromancer.

“Fine, I’ll wait for you here,” he said, but
his thoughts were quite different. The necromancer planned to
enlist Von Dracek and prepare a trap since he now believed that the
sorceress was not as sensitive as Von Dracek believed. He thought
he had her completely fooled.

The old necromancer looked at her through
Jatar's young eyes and found her features exquisite and he abruptly
decided to make use of his new young body. She thought him her
husband and he figured there was always time to kill her after
sampling her treasures.

Elizabeth sensed his disgusting desires and
to keep from giving herself away by displaying her deep revulsion,
Elizabeth turned and departed from the room. Her mind was spinning,
but her thoughts went to her small child:
I must save my son,
you foul creature, but don’t rest easy because I swear to you now
that I will totally destroy you and your kind for what you’ve done
to my beloved husband.

Elizabeth
walled
off grief into a portion of her mind so that she
could deal with it later when her son was safe.

The sorceress left the room and quickly went
down the corridor to Becaris. With a motion of her hand she
signaled him to follow her to the main entrance and once there she
grabbed a pen and wrote a message, which read:

To those commanders and servants
who
are loyal to the Ardellens, take
heed.

While we were away at our various
celebrations on this day of Michael’s birth, a necromancer used a
Darknull beast to slay Lord Jatar’s
spirit
but left his body intact.

A necromancer then took over his body,
probably using a cathexis artifact. To your eyes and
ears,
he looks and sounds like your true Lord,
but he is not. By use of my Kirnath powers I can see from his aura
that he is no longer Jatar, he is a murdering impostor.

I know this is hard to believe because most
of you know little beyond the legends of cathexis. Let me give you
the facts quickly, there are nineteen known artifacts made from
cathexis metal, and they come in many shapes, knives, swords,
shields, rings, circlets, earrings and some unknown others. Each,
large or small, has the unique property of imprinting a person’s
aura. That includes their personality, virtually everything that
makes an individual who they are. The object then retains this
psychic imprint permanently. When combined with a person’s aura and
the circumstances are correct, it can sometimes take over another
person’s body; for example: when the body is empty of aura because
the spirit was destroyed.

This is not a myth, it is truth. I have seen
and touched cathexis metal myself and spoken with imprints of the
past owners. I tell you now that this evil spirit in Jatar’s body
cannot let those who knew Jatar well continue to live, he will have
to kill you all lest you give away his secret. I must protect the
heir
, so I cannot take the risk of
staying here to try and convince you, or to battle the necromancer.
At your first opportunity flee for your lives, and meet me in a
year’s time in the deep glens of the great
Gellern
forest. Ask for 'Ember' and you will be brought
to me.

I swear to you as the wife of your deceased
ruler, I will avenge my husband. Michael will take his rightful
place on the throne of Lindankar. I do not have time to write more,
soon that evil thing in Jatar’s body will discover that I have fled
and he will attempt to kill me and the heir. For the safety of
Michael, I must go.

G’lan save you all.

Lady Elizabeth Ember Ardellen.

“
Becaris
,”
she said, gaining his attention when she was done writing. “Michael
and I will be leaving. I want you to give this letter to our
personal servants, retainers and the main commanders of the
military and guard, secretly yet quickly. Let them read it and then
take it to the next. Do not let Jatar or any strangers read the
letter or see anyone else reading it, do you understand?”

“Not really, milady, why can’t Jatar read
it?” the knight asked reasonably.

“You will understand later. I don’t want you
to read it until every household servant and commander you can find
before midnight has read the message. Once you read the message do
as it says,” she commanded.

“All right, milady, if you say so. It
doesn’t tell anyone to do anything... wrong, does it?” asked the
worried and puzzled Becaris.

“No, it is what Jatar would want. Delivering
this message may save countless lives, but it is not without risk;
will you do it?” asked Elizabeth looking into the young man’s
intense brown eyes.

“Of course, milady, but is Michael going to
be safe?” he asked, concerned about his charge.

“Delivering this message will help protect
him,” Elizabeth replied and then added, "I'm taking Michael away
from here because no one who remains will be safe, but this message
must get out.”

“Then I will carry your message,” promised
the Knight Protector, and left to begin his assignment.

"Hetark, I want you and Drake to take
Michael to the stables where you are to prepare eight mounts for a
long ride. Gustin, go and get provisions for five people to last
two weeks and meet us in the stables. Let no one see you or know
what you are about; now off with you."

Elizabeth turned and went back up the stairs
toward her rooms. She slipped quietly into the chamber next to her
sitting room and procured clothing for her and Michael. She quickly
changed into leather riding gear and then
packed
up two bundles of clothing. She soon left the
palace proper and headed toward the stables.

Dubar, the assassin, lay in the hay of the
loft overlooking the stable. From his vantage
point,
he could see three of Michael's Knight
Protectors below: the large one was saddling the
horses
while the blond bearded one was
provisioning the packs and the short one was holding the Lindankar
heir.

Dubar and his men had been hired by the
third conspirator to kill Lady Ardellen and her son. Having missed
their opportunity at the church when Elizabeth departed early,
their employer had brought them to the palace within his royal
coach. He told the assassins to wait for Elizabeth in the stable
and then departed.

Dubar had no idea how the nobleman had known
that Lady Ardellen would be coming out to the stable after just
arriving a few minutes before, but he had been right. As soon as he
spotted some of the knights entering the stable holding the young
heir he signaled his men to get ready. They had orders to attack at
his command. Where her son went, the Sorceress could not be far
behind.