His Cure For Magic (Book 2) (30 page)

Which meant there was only one other way down, and the only person who could get them there was unconscious, with a nice sized lump on his head.

"Wilem," Silas whispered, leaning his face in over the boy's. He had lifted him from One Zero's shoulder, not wanting the juggernaut to move for fear of being heard, and laid him on the ground at the creature's rusted feet. "Wilem."

He has a certain plain handsomeness to him, I suppose. Eryn's first crush? A love formed in the heat of emotion? Or something real and lasting,
like Alyssa and I?

He shook his head. He didn't know if Alyssa was real, or if she had ever loved him at all. The memories were there, but now they felt so incomplete. It was strange to think that the ring he had given her had broken him from the unnatural control
he
had put him under.

Wilem's eyes fluttered, rolling behind his lids.

"Wilem," Silas said again. "Wake up, my boy. Eryn needs you."

He opened his eyes, and put his hand to his head while he groaned. "Silas?"
 

One Zero bent over and tilted his head to look down. When Wilem saw him he tried to back away, which only pushed him harder against the creature's legs.

"It is well," Silas said. "This one is on our side."

"It is pleased to follow First of Nine," One Zero said.

Wilem didn't look convinced, but he stopped trying to escape. "The Curse isn't responding to it."

"One Zero is older than the others roaming Genesia, though I assume that much was obvious by his condition."

"It is broken. It is minor. It is pleased to fight."

"One Zero?" Wilem asked. "Oz?"

The juggernaut made a wheezing sound that might have been mistaken for laughter, had it been truly capable of such emotion. "One Zero is Oz, yes. It is pleased."

Silas held out his hand and helped Wilem to his feet. "I'm sorry about your head. How does it feel?"

"There are three of you right now, but I know the proper one is in the center. I'll live. You did what you had to do, my Curse would have gotten us caught or killed."

Silas took out the map and unrolled it. "We're here," he said. "We need to get over here. There are at least ten juggernauts down here with us. Two near the stairs, and eight wandering the halls. Do you feel them?"

"No, but the cure helps calm things a bit."

"If they were close, would you still feel it?"

"Yes."

"Then they aren't close. With your help, we should be able to avoid them and get to the shaft. There is one complication."

"General Clau," Wilem said.

Silas bunched his forehead. "How did you know?"

"He was... talking to me, the way the juggernauts do. He told me... He told me if I killed you, he would forgive me. He said I had fallen for your lies, and Eryn's... um..."

"You needn't say it. Thank you for not killing me."

Wilem smiled. "You're welcome."

"It is ready," Oz said.

"Are you ready?" Silas asked.

"Yes. Did you say we needed to get to a shaft?"

"There is a shaft that drops to a room next to the reactor. We can reach Eryn from there, but we'll need your magic again to do it."

"What do I have to do?"

"At the bottom of the shaft should be a round, stone platform. You need to bring it up to us." That was how the wizards had travelled down to the reactor, and up to the tower. He didn't recall seeing them do it, but he knew it to be true.
 

"I can't lift solid stone like that. I'm not strong enough."

"You have to be. The ebocite will help you."

"How do you know? Are you remembering?"

Silas shook his head. "Bits and pieces only. There is one other thing I am gaining understanding of."

"What's that?"

"Aren was wrong about the Curse. We've always had the power. The wizards. The things living inside of you, they don't belong, but the magic doesn't come from them. They feed on it, but it comes from you." He put his hand to his head. Catching one memory had led him to another. "The ebocite... The resonance..." The words came slowly as he pieced them together. "It is like taking a thousand wizards and placing them inside a crystal. It creates power. Immense power. The power to do anything."

He fell to his knees, the rush of memories coming on too strong. It blended together, such that he could barely tell one from another.

"Silas?" Wilem put a hand on his shoulder.

"They came for the ebocite. They came for the power."

CHAPTER THIRTY-SEVEN

Wilem

Wilem took a moment to gather himself while he rubbed the lump on his head. They were almost at the shaft. All they had to do was get past the single juggernaut that Clau had left guarding it.

Oz was hunched behind him, keeping its metal frame as low and out of sight as it could. They were both waiting for Silas, who had moved ahead to cut down the ircidium soldier before it could raise an alarm.

"It is worried."

Wilem was worried too, but he didn't say anything. He could see the juggernaut standing still and patient at the lip of the shaft, and he wondered when Silas would appear.

The map had led them to the discovery of a small corridor that ran alongside the outer perimeter of the structure, used to filter air in from above. He had gone to find one of the open vents and see if he could get inside, to crawl his way to the shaft and sneak up on the juggernaut.
 

Since he hadn't returned, Wilem could only hope he had made it.

"It is taking very long."

Wilem put a finger to his lips. He didn't know how well the juggernauts could hear, but he didn't want to take any chances. "Be patient," he whispered. "Silas knows what he's doing."

Oz was silent.
 

They waited long enough that Wilem was on the verge of fearing the worst, when he saw only the flash of an ircidium blade, and the juggernaut fall forward with a crash that echoed through the corridor.

"Come on," Wilem said. "Quickly."

Oz loped behind him while he ran. The juggernaut's heavy feet shook the floor around them, and the noise was enough that Wilem was sure Clau would hear it, wherever he was.

"It is dirty," Oz said when they reached the shaft. Wilem thought he was talking about Silas, whose black shirt, pants, face, and hair were all coated in a layer of grime. Instead, the metal man bent down and pulled the massive sword from his downed counterpart's hand. It was coated in thick black liquid.

"Wilem, it's time."

"They're going to feel it. They're going to come."

"I know. Oz and I will protect you."

"It is pleased to fight with First of Nine and its wizard."

Wilem took a deep breath. He was nervous about summoning the magic again, but he focused on relaxing and allowing it to come.
 

"Wizard. It is near."

He heard the voice as soon as the tingle began to run down his spine. He fought to concentrate on the stone disc that Silas had said was at the bottom of the shaft. He didn't know how he was going to lift it, especially when he couldn't see it.

"They're at the shaft!"
 

"Clau knows we're here," he said, his voice wavering.
 

"He'll be cautious. Concentrate on the disc. This is our only chance to save Eryn."

Wilem took another deep breath. "Erigo," he said, holding the image of the platform in his mind.
 

At first, he didn't think anything had happened. He could feel the magic running from his body, but it seemed to vanish into the depths. A moment later, he felt it further below, stronger than he had expected. It was as though something in the walls of the shaft was amplifying his power.

Two juggernauts came into view, side by side with their swords raised. Oz moved forward and raised his captured blade, shifting it to catch a strong blow. It was covered in the slick liquid, and the strike sent it from his hand and over the edge, into the shaft.
 

"It is minor," Oz said. The opposing juggernaut brought its blade back and around for another strike, but Oz shifted to the side and pushed hard with his shoulder. The older creature had the advantage in mass, and it forced its opponent to flop backwards and crash to the floor.

Wilem felt the vibration from the shaft as the disc began to rise. Slowly at first, and then it started to gain momentum. He turned back towards the fight.

The second juggernaut lumbered towards him, getting within two large strides before it was intercepted by Silas. It swung its heavy sword at him, but he deflected it with his own weapon, using the motion and angle of the block to push the heavy blade to the ground. He danced up the flat of it, planting his feet on the creature's hand and leaping forward, bringing his sword around with enough force to sever its head in one smooth stroke.
 

"It is better," Oz said. It had smashed the other juggernaut's arm with a massive ircidium boot, and taken its clean blade. Then it stomped on its head, crushing it.

Silas came to stand next to Wilem, and leaned over the shaft to look down. "Well done, my boy," he said, able to see the disc rising below.
 

"Talon."

They turned together at the sound of Clau's voice. He was standing in front of them, flanked by three of the juggernauts.
 

"Clau," Silas said. "It's here. Do you remember? The Shifter's General. It escaped."

"You didn't make your report."

"To Heden with my report! Their General is here, and it has Eryn."

"You made a promise, Talon. You took an oath to protect the Empire."

"Didn't we already have this discussion, brother?" Silas asked. "Why won't you listen to me? Why won't you see reason?"

Clau laughed. "I made my report, Talon.
He
was willing to forgive you.
He
was willing to bring you back into the fold. But... you had to break the promise. You couldn't be satisfied with the life
he
provided. You can't see past your own misguided selfishness, to the mercy that
he
granted you. You threatened Iolas, and
he
spared your life, setting you up to exist in a comfortable state of drunkenness. You killed him, and Feng, for Amman's sake, and
he
still sent me to
talk
to you. To try to reason with you."
 

He moved forward as he spoke, the juggernauts moving with him. Oz backed away in front of them, until he was next to Wilem and Silas.

"I saw it, Clau. Through the seeing stone. It knew I was looking at it. I may have forgotten those eyes once, but seeing them-"

 
"You are beyond reason, Talon. Whatever has happened to you, it has led you to madness. The Shifters are gone, destroyed a thousand years ago. You killed their General at Ares-Nor. You won the war for
him
, and for all of us."

"I don't know if I won. I would never have fought for the Empire I remember.
He
made me a murderer."

"You would have, and you did, and for good reason."

"There was no good reason."

"I know I can't convince you, Talon, just as you can't convince me." He raised his sword, leveling it in front of his chest. "Let us be done with this business."

Silas looked at Wilem and smiled. "Yes, let's." He grabbed the Mediator's shirt, and pulled him over the edge.

The sudden fall made Wilem lose his grip on his power. He felt the tingling subside in an instant, and he clenched his teeth and tensed his muscles in anticipation of being flattened a thousand feet below.
 

They hit the platform sooner than he had expected, landing on his feet and then stumbling to his knees from the momentum. Silas landed gracefully next to him.

"The platform," he said. It had been rising from his power, but its own upward energy was lost, and Wilem could feel it beginning to drop.

He closed his eyes and found the magic again. "Erigo," he repeated. The energy spread out through his feet, wrapping itself around the platform. It was so much easier to control now that he was in contact with it.

The whole thing tilted when Oz crashed onto it, its weight forcing the left end down. The juggernaut leaned forward to steady itself, and stomped towards the center to help balance it.

"We'll meet you in the reactor," Silas shouted upwards.
 

Wilem looked up. Clau was there, peering over the edge. The General didn't dare jump down alone, and he surely couldn't trust the disc could support four of the ircidium men.

"It is pleased to fall," Oz said.

So was Wilem.

We're coming Eryn.

CHAPTER THIRTY-EIGHT

Silas

The stone disc settled on the floor of the shaft. Wilem took a deep breath and stepped forward, his forehead creasing in pain as he dropped to a knee.

"Wilem?" Silas said, bending down next to him and putting an arm on his shoulder.

"It is not safe," Oz said.
 

"I'm well. It's been a long day. Every part of me is tired. Are we here?"

"Yes."

He pushed himself to his feet. "I'll finish being tired later."

Silas smiled. "Well done, Wilem. Keep your guard up. With the amount of noise we made, we'll be knee-deep in Shifters before we know it."
 

Oz started moving towards the doorway out of the shaft. "It is here. It is pleased to fight." The juggernaut turned its head and looked back at Silas, waiting for the order.

"As you will, Oz."

"As First of Nine commands. It is very pleased, indeed."
 

Silas took Wilem by the shoulders, pushing a hard gaze into him. "Whatever happens, leave the General to me. You can't fight it. It will kill you if you try."

"If it has Eryn-"

"You can't defeat it, my boy. No one can. None but the Nine."

"I don't understand."

Silas looked down, directing his words to himself more than to Wilem. "
He
must have known that some had escaped. Maybe not the General, but perhaps others of its kind. Why else would
he
have locked us in this cycle?" His eyes found the Mediator's again. "I was... not created... I was... altered, to fight the Shifters. We were an experiment. We weren't even sure it would work, until we arrived in Ares-Nor."