There was a splash and a scrape, and a moment later, a resounding thunkas the scrying-bowl struck the floor. Amberdrake continued his twist and brought the iron bar down on the bowl to shatter it into a dozen pieces.
That was it, Drake— your one move.He came to rest on one knee, looking up at the two. But at that moment, he heard—well, it wasn't precisely a voicein his mind, and he didn't quite hearit—
It was a sense of presence; not words, just feelings, and the aura of boundless cheer and playfulness overlaid with weariness, but bolstered by endless curiosity.
Kechara?he thought, hard, trying to project the image of herself back to her.
Feeling of assent.Before he could respond, she sent him a new sensation; intensified curiosity. It didn't take a genius to figure out what she was asking, either. "What are you doing?" was as clear in feelings as in words.
He was breathless with relief—dizzy with the feeling that he was, at last, no longer alone.
But how had she figured out how to reach him? She was using his strongestGift, that of Empathy, to speak with him without Mindspeech! Where had she gotten thatidea?
Fear rose screaming inside him. He didn't have any way to explain what he was doing—not without words!
Do what Skandranon would do, Drake— do without words— without focused intellect— let her feel it— let her in!
He had never, ever, lowered his barriers completely with anyone but Winterhart, for an Empath always has to fear being lost in another's emotions—but how could he ever fear little Kechara? There wasn't an unkind bone in her body! He dropped every barrier he had to her, and let her come directly into his mind, just as the light began to creep back and the Eclipse to pass off.
He felt his body slip away from him—felt his back and arms go limp—
One of the two men at the table slid noiselessly out of his chair and seized something from a bookcase against the wall. As the man turned, he came fully into the lamplight, making what was in his hand gruesomely plain.
Amberdrake's stomach lurched, and he sensed Kechara recoiling as well, mimicking his reaction, though she couldn't have any idea what they were both looking at.
It was a wand, crudely fashioned from bone. It couldhave been made of animal bone, but somehow Amberdrake knew that it wasn't. No, this was not just anybone, but a human bone, the large bone from the thigh. From one of the earlier victims? Probably. Probably the first. We'll never know who, I suspect.Somehow that just made it worse.
This grisly relic must be the mage's primary power-focus, the place where he was storing all the power stolen from those Hadanelith had murdered for him, and all the people he had murdered on his own.
Amberdrake stared at it, his gorge rising and bile collecting at the back of his throat. He couldn't move; he couldn't even think. He could only stare at the nauseating thing, as the mage took in his shock and paralysis, and smiled, slightly. The light strengthened, and the mage moved the wand in front of him, holding it between his palms, and his smile deepened. The other man leaned back in his chair and chuckled. That was when Amberdrake realized that neither of these two had been fooled for an instant. His heart and courage plummeted. They knew he was alone.
This mage was about to level a magical blow at him—and he didn't even have the defenses of a mouse.
He tried to move, and discovered that he couldn't; the bar dropped from his numb fingers and clattered on the floor. This was no spell. It was nothing but pure, overwhelming fear.
I am going to die.
It wasn't even a guess. It was a fact.
:BAD MANS!:Kechara screamed into his mind.
He reeled and dropped to both knees beside his iron bar, momentarily "blinded" and "deafened" by her mental shout, so strong it was clear even to someone who was not a Mindspeaker. Both of the men facing him went stiff with surprise, as if they "heard" it too. Instinctively, he threw up his shields again—which was what she had been waiting for.
:Bad, bad mans!:she screeched again, this time accompanying her angry scream with a building mental shriek, aimed at the two facing him. It came like a windstorm that would not stop building, filling his ears.
The two conspirators were notexpecting anything of the sort. Neither was Amberdrake, for that matter. He was so used to thinking of Kechara as a child, as a complete and total innocent, that he had underestimated her entirely. He had forgotten that she had more than enough experience to recognize a "bad man" when she saw one.
Both of Amberdrake's opponents collapsed on the spot.
:Ow,:said Kechara, with a mental wince—and her presence vanished from his mind.
Ow, indeed.For one moment, he took the time to shiver in awe at her power—and to be very glad that she had the guidance of all of her friends who loved and cared for her. Now he understood why Urtho had kept her locked up in his Tower for so very long. Her range in Mindspeaking was impressive enough to have made her valuable, but this demonstration of her full potential had been considerably more than impressive. With that kind of mental power, she could have been so dangerous—
Danger. He hadn't been mindblasted by Kechara, but he couldn't move either. He had just experienced, with certainty, imminent death, and he could only sit among the pieces of broken pottery and stare at the still bodies of the two conspirators.
" Drake?" a voice called from above, after an indeterminate amount of time. All he could tell, when such matters came to mind through the shock, was that it was fully light again outside. " Drake? Are you all right? Where are you?"
"Down here, at the bottom of the stairs!" he croaked back. A few moments later, Skan, Aubri, andZhaneel came tumbling breathlessly down the staircase, following the sounds of a great many hard-shod feet from the presumed direction of the outer door.
"
Drake!"
"Kechara was right, I was in trouble," Amberdrake interrupted, before Skan could work himself up into hysterics.
Not that he hasn't earned a few hysterics. For that matter, so have I!
With a dazed look he was certain made him look very silly—as if vanity could matter at a moment like this—he peered around at the people filling the area. That was when he recognized King Shalaman.
"This one—" he pointed at the larger man "—is your blood-mage. He was just about to level me with a magical attack, when—I broke their scrying-bowl and they fell down." Amberdrake shrugged. He and the gryphons exchanged hasty warning glances; they all knew Kechara was somehow involved, and they also knew about the prohibition on Mindspeaking. It would be a great deal better for all concerned if the Haighlei never learned about Kechara.
Shalaman said nothing, staring unflinchingly through slitted eyes at one of the motionless—but still living—bodies.