The Dark Path (33 page)

"Captain! Gather the army. All of them!" Gen commanded. The Captain rose his fist to his heart then marched off. Gen reached over and grabbed Beth's demon hand and pulled her through the mirror with him. She looked around in wonder as she stood inside the large throne room of a castle. Her spine shot straight and the hairs on the back of her neck stood out as she saw a skeleton standing to their right.

"Welcome home, Master," the skeleton said in an unearthly voice. Gen turned to him.

"See that the army is armed and ready. I will call upon them to march soon. He turned and walked away before the undead finished his salute. Beth fought back her fear. What was going on? This man kept surprising her. She had thought she knew him but now this! She followed him down twisting halls to a grand room that was open to the sky. The room was so big it could have held the entire dorm halls easily. At the center of the room lay a sight that made her stop in fear. She had seen dragons before in books at the Schola. In front of her lay the full skeleton of a huge dragon. One of its claw bones was as big as she was. Gen noticed she had stopped following him and turned to her.

"Don't worry. He won't bite. He doesn't eat anymore." He turned to look at the skeleton.

"Oh quit pretending to sleep! You don't sleep anymore and you aren't fooling anyone!" Gen smiled. The skeletal head rose slowly up and looked down at Gen with eyes of green fire.

"Well if it isn't the little mageling back home again." The voice drove spikes of fear into Beth.

"Have things been quiet while I was gone?"

"Nothing has happened of notice. I was wondering if you would be back. Did you find what you were looking for?"

"Yes, and I would like your help to get it back." Gen smiled wider. "I found something else too." Gen took the glove off of his hand and held it palm out toward the dragon. Beth saw the great skull start to bow then stop and come back up.

"That is a very dangerous item, Mas." He cut off the last word with a sudden clack of his jaw and shook his head. "Are you sure you know what you are doing?"

"It is only a last resort. If I find I don't need it then I'll put it back in hiding."

"Master, what have you done to me?" Beth finally found her voice. She gritted her teeth against her fear and her inability to stop calling Gen master.

"I told you that I couldn't tell you what it was I found. Know only that I have not harmed you. I know that it's a bit annoying but please deal with it. You are my apprentice after all. It's only right that you refer to me as master." He replaced the glove upon his hand and turned back to the dragon. "Let me introduce my new apprentice to you." He motioned for Beth to move forward. "Beth, I would like you to meet my good friend, Taahldreck. I would tell you his full name but it is really hard to pronounce and not worth the trouble." He motioned to the dragon. "Taahldreck, this is Beth."

"It is a great pleasure to meet you, Beth." Taahldreck bowed his head low.

"It is nice to meet you too, Taahldreck." Beth bowed trying not to show how much she was shaking.

"Does she know she is demon kin?" Taahldreck said to Gen in Draconic.

"Yes, she does. She tortured and killed her father today," Gen responded in common.

"Who was her father?"

"Greater Demon Lord, Anhirath. She tortured him well. I was there to see it all. I doubt I could have done a better job." Gen smiled down at her. Beth looked up to the dragon.

"Taahldreck. May I ask you something?" Beth shook in fear at his presence. She started to grow angry at her weakness and the shuddering stopped instantly.

"Yes, Child. What is it you want to know?"

"Where did these come from or if you can't tell me that, then what do they do?" She held up her hands and the katars appeared. She felt the dragon somehow smile.

"Ahh. I have not seen a weapon like that in a long time. I used to have a similar one in my collection." He looked closer at the weapons. "I can not tell you the world it came from nor can I tell you what they do. All I know is that they are powerful and cannot be broken by any means."

"There is no way to break them? None at all?"

"Not even gods may break those blades. They have no power over the material they are made of. You have done well in choosing those. Do you know how to use them?"

"I don't know. I haven't had a chance to try them out yet."

"Don't worry. You'll get bloody soon enough," Gen said in a sour tone. He looked back up to the undead dragon. "Will you help me kill some more Eremians?"

"Well that depends. What do I get out of the deal?" The dragon tilted his head to the side.

"I have word that there is one of your kind where we will be attacking. If you kill it, you may have its horde. Unless of course the item I seek is there. Then you may have all of it but that. Good enough?"

"That will do nicely. When do we leave?"

"The mirror is open in the throne room now. Come when you are ready. We march in two hours." Gen reached up and scratched the jawbone of the dragon. "I'll see you soon, my friend." He pulled Beth along with him out of the room. When they got back to the throne room, Beth's eyes went wide once more. The room was quickly filling up with row after row of undead soldiers. The captain was standing at attention to the right of the shimmering image of the Schola grounds. Gen could see that Thomas and Marcus were running back toward the image. He walked back to the captain.

"Bring the troops and five of the engines. Arrange the soldiers outside of the gates there." Gen pointed to the far gates of the Schola. With that said, he started to walk back through the portal. He had one foot through when a voice shouted his name. They both turned and saw a woman wearing black robes with silver symbols along the hood and sleeves running toward them.

"Meet us on the other side. I have no time to talk to you here," Gen shouted toward her and walked through the portal. When he set foot back on the Schola ground, Thomas and Marcus came running up.

"There is a small group of soldiers there. The leader says he would like to speak to you," Thomas said between ragged breaths. He stared suddenly behind Gen as the black robed woman came through the portal. His eyes followed on past to the rows upon rows of undead soldiers. "Are those what I think they are?"

"Those are my troops. I will not mess around with my enemy. The kid gloves are off so to speak." He motioned to the woman that came through the portal and to Beth. "You and you follow me." He walked on toward the gates.

"Master, we have missed you. May I know what is going on?" the woman asked. Beth looked up to her and saw that she resembled the woman in some ways. She had raven colored hair and pale skin. Her eyes were black and her nose very sharp. She had high cheekbones and looked to weigh about as much as Gen.

"Raven, this is Beth, my new apprentice. Beth this is Raven, my old apprentice." Gen said without turning as he walked onward to the gate.

"A pleasure to meet you," Raven said with a smile and a hand held out to Beth. Beth took the hand and gritted her teeth as pain shot up her arm. She opened the anger and saw Raven's eyes light up with pain as well. Raven's hand began to turn gray and her fingers black.

"Enough!" Gen stopped and turned to face them. He ripped the glove off his hand and held his palm out toward them both. They both fell instantly to the ground with their heads to the grass. "You are both my students. There will be no attempts to harm the other. Raven, I'm disappointed in you. You know that I do not work in the way your former masters did. Now heal your hand and follow me. Both of you!" He pulled the glove back on his hand and walked off. The two of them had to run to catch up.

"Forgive me, Master," Raven begged. Tears were running down her cheeks. "Shall I return to the fortress, Master?"

"No, I need you here. You will help Beth. If I hear about either of you harming the other in any way, you will not like the consequences. I have no time for it." His tone was like ice. They arrived at the main gate and faced a group of ten Eremian soldiers. The one in back carried a flag of truce. The commander in front Gen recognized.

"Peleus," Gen said as he stopped in front of the group. "What brings you here?"

"Sir!" Peleus bowed deeply. "I know that you plan to storm the tower. I came to tell you that I will not be your enemy in this. I will go back to Eremia. I tried to get as many to join me as I could but only these ten would follow. I will not ask you to spare the enemy. Just remember they are my fellow soldiers." Peleus bowed again.

"If I offered, would you join me?" Gen said quietly.

"I'm sorry, Sir. My devotion is to my countrymen. I may not agree with the way some commanders act, but I will not betray my country."

"If you warn the enemy about my approach, I will learn of it and come find you." Gen's statement held no anger.

"We are leaving now, away from the tower. I will not wish you luck. I will say only that if general Aaron falls in battle, I will not mourn his passing." Peleus looked to Beth. "I have been told what Aaron's men did to you. I want you to know that I punished them myself. They are no longer in this world. I am sorry you had to go through what you did." Peleus bowed before her. He then turned and saluted Gen. "General." He turned after Gen returned the salute.

"I could use a few men like him," Gen said under his breath after the Commander was out of sight. "I pray he lives a long and happy life." Gen turned to face his two apprentices. "Raven, take Beth and go back to the Fortress. Bring back any mage that will join me. I wish to see any Eremian soldier on this island, not waving a white flag, dead by the end of the day."

"Yes, Master." Raven and Beth bowed and ran back toward the portal. Gen turned and looked back toward the unseen tower where his enemy lay in wait. It was going to be a long day. He turned and walked back to the portal as the first of his army marched toward the gates.

XXIX

The Army is Formed

When Gen reached the portal, he found the Headmaster waiting with Thomas and Marcus. He walked up to the Headmaster.

"Is there something you want?" Gen asked.

"How many do you plan to kill today?" the Headmaster asked sadly.

"Any that stand in my way."

"I felt that you found the stone."

"Yes. I have it with me."

"Why would you take it?"

"I may need it. I pray that I won't."

"You know what will happen if you use that on this plane," the Headmaster's voice shook. Gen saw that his eyes held a bit of fear.

"I would never use it here. I do not wish for that."

"How did you even find it? I knew it was here and have never been able to find it." The Headmaster held a hint of jealousy in his tone.

"You know as well as I do that one can only find it if they truly need it."

"Have you touched it?" The fear was back in his voice. Gen slowly removed the glove from his hand and held his palm out to the Headmaster. The Headmaster fell to his knees but did not bow his head. Gen saw that blood ran down the old man's chin from where he had bit down upon his lip. Gen placed the glove back on.

"What will you do with that?" The Headmaster asked with tears in his eyes.

"I will do what I set out to do. Nothing more. Nothing less."

"The last man to bear that mark ruled the world for fifty years, till his reign of tyranny was brought down by the Arch-Mages." Fear was in the Headmaster's voice once more.

"That was thousands of years ago. I do not wish to lead anyone. I will do what I came to do. None of this would be necessary if you had kept your word to me. If you must blame someone for all of this, blame yourself." Anger burned in Gen's eyes.

"I do blame myself for all of this." Tears once more ran down the Headmaster's face.

"Stand up and get back to the students. They will need you yet. I will bring her back here. When I return, Mina told me she would have a feast waiting. I hope to see you there." Gen smiled down at his former Headmaster. The Headmaster stood and looked back at Gen.

"I have tried to foresee what would happen this day. I have told you all that I could find. None of the Gods will tell me what is to happen today. I pray you return with her." The Headmaster bowed low again. "Till I see you again, Arch-Magus." With that said he turned and walked back toward the main hall. Gen watched him go.

"Did he just call you what I think he did?" Thomas' question came from behind him.

"He merely stated my title." Gen turned back to face his old friend. "I received the title of Arch-Magus after the Artorian war. I didn't think it mattered enough to tell you."

"Why do you wear the robes of Master rank then?" Marcus asked, confused.

"When this is all over, I will wear the robes of my rank. For now I must wear my armor. Now if you will excuse me for a moment." Gen walked past the two of them and removed his robes. He removed a large pouch from the belt on his robes and opened it. He reached in and began to remove pieces of his armor. He slowly began with the greaves and soon was placing the brush-less helmet upon his head. He tied his belt with his pouches around his waist and placed his robes in the pouch he had removed the armor from. He drew his katana and checked the blade for flaws as he did each time before a battle. He placed the blade in the scabbard and walked back to stand beside Thomas. Thomas looked him up and down.