Trial of Shadows (Order of the Elements Book 3) Page 5

  “That ought to take care of anyone who doesn’t belong here,” he said. “Those of you who wish to remain will follow Felicity to the castle to settle in before the next trial.”

  Muttering broke out among the gathering mages. It seemed a fair few of the participants thought someone in charge had a screw loose. I couldn’t say I blamed them an inch.

  “Where in the castle will they be staying, anyway?” I whispered to Ryan.

  “The east wing, near our own rooms.” They did not look thrilled at the prospect. “So we can keep an eye on them.”

  Good call, given the location of the hall of souls, though it surprised me that they’d be allowed to stay in the castle at all.

  “What are we supposed to do now, then?” I asked Ryan.

  “According to my master, our job is to transport the contenders’ possessions to their dorms, after they’ve been searched.”

  “Hey, he never mentioned that in the job description,” I said. “I’m not his Fire Element’s personal valet.”

  I was starting to have second thoughts about this whole situation, but I ought to get the chance to complain directly to the man himself if I waited for long enough. He still owed me a lesson or two, after all.

  I walked with Ryan into the castle lobby, where Dex hovered in front of the door to the hall of souls. A large number of suitcases and other bags were lined on the polished floor.

  Cal entered through the doors behind us. “I’m told you’re an expert on dangerous magical artefacts, Liv, so your job is to search all these bags for anything that might pose a threat to our master.”

  “We have to search all these?” I said disbelievingly. “Also, ‘expert’ is not the word I’d use.” Identifying dangerous items was more my area than bodyguard duty, admittedly, but still.

  “Not my problem,” said Cal. “Felicity and I will help the guests settle in, and you and Ryan are to search these bags. Boss’s orders.”

  He has got to be kidding me.

  An hour of searching suitcases later and I’d unearthed a small heap of cantrips, ranging from healing ones to more aggressive spells. I’d also formed a pile of other dubious items I wasn’t sure were magical or not.

  “Nobody said I’d be pulling cantrips out of people’s underwear when I took this job,” I said to Ryan. “Or confiscating Jaffa Cakes and M&Ms.”

  “It’s a character-building exercise.” Ryan had gathered the suitcases belonging to the participants who’d already left, which left me to determine who had brought in anything dangerous enough to merit being kicked out. “What’ve you got?”

  “Mostly harmless cantrips.” I indicated the pile on the lobby floor. “What’s the policy on snacks?”

  “Confiscate them all,” they said. “Just in case anyone is planning to poison the other contenders. You never know.”

  “We’re seriously going to be on their shit list after this,” I remarked. “First we terrify them with liches and magical fires, now we’re stealing their chocolate bars.”

  “They can have them back after the contest finishes,” said Ryan. “Those are all regular cantrips… what’s that?”

  I examined the pointed instrument they’d indicated. “This? It’s one of those tools used for carving cantrips, like Devon uses. A few contestants brought reusable cantrips.”

  “So we have a practitioner among our contenders.” Ryan’s mouth pressed together. “It’s not unheard of for a mage to have that skill, I suppose.”

  “No, I guess not.” Mages were rare even in magical families, so the odds of having a child with multiple talents were very slim. Still, it didn’t necessarily mean the contender was up to no good. “Should I take note of whose suitcase I found these in?”

  “Go ahead.” Ryan passed me a clipboard and pen, and I scribbled down the name. “Now we have to take the suitcases to the dorms.”

  “This just gets better and better.”

  Between us, we made several trips from the lobby to the east wing of the castle, by which point the dorms were empty and the contestants had followed Cal and Felicity outside once again. My arms ached from the exertion, and I found myself even less well-disposed towards the Death King for not mentioning physical labour would be a part of my duties.

  When we’d dropped off the last batch of suitcases, Ryan and I headed towards the other Elemental Soldiers outside the arena, where Felicity outlined the rules of the next contest. I lingered outside the castle, debating swiping a cantrip to remove the ache from my limbs, when my gaze snagged on the node inside the castle grounds, a hundred metres or so from the arena’s boundary.

  The current of energy shone bright, but something inside it darkened the glow. Is someone trying to break in?

  Nobody else appeared to be paying attention, but now I looked closer, I could see a shadowy form within the current of energy. Was it one of the Death King’s people? I didn’t want to create a fuss for no reason, so I edged around the arena alone, one eye on the node. It was impossible for anyone to come into the Death King’s territory via that route. When I’d tried it myself, I’d been ripped out of my body and ended up astral projecting instead. To top it off, I’d then been chased off by the Death King and his lich guards. Whoever it was, they couldn’t have come here by accident, surely. One did not accidentally trespass in the Death King’s territory.

  I halted in front of the node, squinting to see who was inside it. The shadow remained, unmoving. Then a torrent of energy surged at me. I raised my hands in defence, and the current of energy hit me dead-on, sending me skidding backwards. Another beam of power knocked the breath from my lungs and knocked me sprawling onto my back. Winded, stunned, I lifted my head to see a shadow fall over me.

  The Death King strode past me, his shadowy hands held up. The torrent of energy ground to a halt, and then reappeared, more solid than before, connecting the Death King to the person in the node. The human-shaped figure inside the node visibly shuddered, and my stomach turned over. The Death King wasn’t just taking energy out of the node… he was taking it out of the person inside it.

  “Hang on!” I wheezed, pushing to my feet. “Don’t you want to find out who it is before you kill them?”

  He lowered his hands, and the connection broke. “There’s no need. The attacker has gone.”

  Dammit. They must have used the node to escape unharmed, leaving nothing behind but the gleaming current of white light.

  “Who was that?” I said. “Was it a lich?”

  “No,” said the Death King. “It was a spirit mage.”

  5

  I wobbled on my feet, suppressing a wince. I’d hit the ground hard but hadn’t taken too much damage. I was more shaken by the Death King’s revelation that another spirit mage had been the one who’d attacked me. Even if they hadn’t actually got inside the castle.

  I’d expected to meet another one at some point, but not so soon after my lesson from the Death King. Who the hell was that?

  Several gasps from the contenders drew my attention to the arena again. Dark shapes spilled over the earthen walls, bearing down on the participants. Phantoms.

  “Please tell me this is part of the test.” I turned to the Death King, only to see him walking away, back towards the castle. “You aren’t going to help them?”

  “No,” said the Death King. “Attacks from phantoms are par for the course here in the Court of the Dead, and they’ll have to learn to deal with them sooner or later.”

  Right, because the Death King gave nobody any excuses, and he wasn’t someone to expect mercy from. The phantoms were easy to fend off with simple fire attacks, but the spirit mage was a different story. I walked in behind him until I caught up at the castle’s steps, wondering if anyone inside the arena had glimpsed the intruder. Given their predicament, though, it was unlikely.

  “Are you sure the attacker won’t come back?” I asked the Death King’s retreating back.

  “Not if they have any sense, they won’t,” he responded.

&nbs
p; “You’re way too calm about this.” He knew. He must have expected an attack of this nature… which meant he’d known there were other spirit mages out there the whole time. “Also, you might have given the rest of us some warning.”

  “I thought I did.” He swept up the stairs towards the castle doors. “During our lesson.”

  “That wasn’t a warning,” I protested, climbing the stairs behind him. “Also, I’m the one who brought up the subject, and I was not prepared for a spirit mage to try to kill me before the end of the first day of the trials.”

  “I beg to differ,” he said. “I believe I was the target myself.”

  “Then why’d they stay inside the node?” I asked. “To draw you out of the castle, or to stop you from recognising their face?”

  “Ostensibly.” He halted outside the castle doors. “I believe I told you to guard the arena alongside the Elemental Soldiers. If you wish to speak with me, wait until the day’s trials are over.”

  “You can’t tell me there’s another spirit mage and then expect me to forget all about it!” I found myself addressing the nearest skull instead of him. The Death King, of course, had passed right through the doors and vanished into the castle. I rolled my eyes at the skull. “That’s what I get for taking a job from the guy who turned you into a decoration.”

  Someone had tried to kill both of us, and he wasn’t even stationing extra security around the node. Okay, perhaps he’d considered the threat and had assessed it as not worthy of attention, but he wasn’t the one playing security guard. And not all of us were as unbreakable as he was.

  Incensed, I marched down the steps and halted beside Ryan. “I can’t believe him.”

  “What’s going on?” they asked.

  “A spirit mage just astral projected into the node and attacked me,” I whispered. “And His Deathly Highness seems as unbothered as ever. As though it doesn’t matter. What’s wrong with him?”

  “A spirit mage?” Their eyes widened a fraction. “Are they here now?”

  “No, they fled back through the node,” I said. “Might have gone anywhere. I didn’t even see their face, and they were probably astral projecting anyway, but your boss might have forewarned me of potential spirit mage intruders.”

  He’d also used his powers to draw the life force from the spirit mage while they’d still been inside the node. That was more advanced than what he’d taught me, but what had I expected? The guy ran on expert mode and trampled all competition into dust.

  “First I’ve heard,” Ryan murmured. “Are you sure it was a spirit mage?”

  “Your boss said it was, and I doubt he’d lie.” Even for him, that would be taking it too far.

  I kept one eye on the node as I watched the contestants battle the phantoms, fending them off with flames. Impatience gnawed at me. If it was possible for me to follow the intruder through the node, I’d probably missed my shot already, but it was worth having a look around in case they came back.

  I skirted the arena and walked back to the unbroken current of energy in the middle of the swampland. Maybe I’d luck out and find a trace the spirit mage had left behind which might point to their identity. While the current of energy looked the same as ever, that didn’t mean an enemy wouldn’t materialise from inside it again. There wasn’t a way to turn a node off, as far as I was aware…

  Movement caught my eye from the direction of the castle, and I glanced up. A shadowy form filled one of the upper windows, a pair of invisible eyes watching me from a distance, and I heard the unspoken message in the Death King’s stare. If I walked through the node, I’d lose my chance to save Brant’s life.

  Muttering curses under my breath, I backed to a suitable distance from the node and heard rustling in the bushes nearby. Another intruder? No living creatures existed in the swampland, much less inside the castle’s boundaries.

  I trod closer to the intruder’s hiding place. Energy blasted from my palms, crashing into the bush and unearthing a young woman. She landed in a crouch, her eyes wide. A tangle of dark curls surrounded her pale, pointed face. Her muddy clothes had seen better days, but a defiant tint to her expression told me she wouldn’t give in without a fight.

  “Who are you?” I demanded.

  “Whoa,” said the young woman. “I just got here. What’s the problem?”

  “Someone tried to assassinate the Death King,” I informed her. “You don’t happen to know anything about that, do you?”

  “No, I told you.” Her tone was indignant. “I’m here for the contest.”

  “Is that why you’re hiding in a bush?” I said. “Paying a visit to someone in jail, were you?”

  “No, I overslept and I was running late.” She met my eyes, as though daring me to challenge her. “I’m not breaking any rules.”

  “We’ll see what the Elemental Soldiers have to say to that,” I said. “Are you even a fire mage?”

  She held up her hands, between which a flame leapt to life. Definitely a fire mage, not a spirit mage… and I’d hit her in the face with spirit magic. So much for keeping it between the Death King and me.

  “Broken rules or not, you clearly have a death wish,” I commented.

  “I wouldn’t be applying to work here if I was afraid of death.” She rose to her feet and turned towards the arena. “That’s where the action is, right?”

  “Yes, but you’re too late,” I said. “You can’t just walk into the middle of—”

  She ignored me, striding toward the arena. I followed suit, catching up as Ryan cottoned on to what was happening. “Who’s that?”

  “Intruder,” I told them. “Claims she’s here for the contest, but I found her hiding in the bushes way over there.”

  Had she sneaked through the node? Surely not. The defences kept out even spirit mages.

  “Hiding, was she?” said Cal. “Kick her out.”

  “There’s no rule against latecomers being allowed in,” Felicity argued. “She is a fire mage. And we’ve already expelled more contenders than we’d expected to at this stage.”

  I left them to their arguing. At least the intruder was their problem now, not mine. Or rather, the Death King’s. Her appearance might be a case of bad timing, but I didn’t trust her a bit.

  By the time the day’s events came to an end, I was in a foul mood, to say the least. The contestants seemed to be in a competition as to who could bend the rules the most, but the Elemental Soldiers insisted brawling wasn’t a good enough reason to disqualify someone. Nor was setting their opponents’ clothing on fire. Despite the rules against carrying excess weapons, the contenders had chosen to hide both knives and cantrips in creative places, and that wasn’t even taking into account their tendency to shoot fireballs at one another.

  The remaining contenders returned to their dorms at the end of the day, while Ryan and I stood and watched them leave. Even now, the Death King didn’t come out to speak to them.

  “Is he serious?” I remarked to Ryan. “He’s just going to hide in his room all day?”

  “My master has a considerable amount of work to do.”

  “Like plotting how to kill spirit mages he doesn’t even tell his own security about?” I said. “How do you stand it? He seems to have zero respect for us.”

  “He respects us,” said Ryan. “A damn sight more than any of the supervisors I’ve met at the Order.”

  “Okay, you’ve got me there,” I admitted. “But come on. A rogue spirit mage on the property. Shouldn’t he at least have warned us?”

  “He would have done if they were still there,” said Ryan. “Or if anyone had got a glimpse of their face.”

  “I might have seen them if I’d been allowed to follow.” I shook my head. “I know, I know. I dug my own grave when I accepted a job from an evil lich lord. Whatever.”

  “I wouldn’t use the word ‘evil,” said Ryan. “I’m going to ask him what to do about that intruder.”

  “The one I found in the bushes?” I arched a brow. “I know the rul
es of the contest are a little lax, but I’m pretty sure she sneaked past the liches to get in.”

  “Which is why I need to speak to her,” they said. “I want to find out how she got past security and if anyone else is likely to try the same. I’ll ask my master about the spirit mage while I’m at it. Maybe he’ll be more likely to answer me if I ask nicely.”

  I snorted. “Pretty sure ‘nice’ isn’t in his vocabulary.”

  He did seem to respect Ryan more than he did me, but I didn’t hold out much hope of getting answers. If the Death King had wanted me to know why he’d expected an attack from a spirit mage, he’d have told me right there and then.

  I was tired and starving after a long day with little reprieve from the contestants causing trouble, and I was all too ready to foist them off on someone else while I went home to Devon. Without looking back at the castle, I stepped through the node, wondering idly if I could follow the spirit mage that way. The node, however, took me straight home without any detours.

  “I bet he did that on purpose,” I muttered to nobody in particular. “The dickhead.”

  “Wow,” said Devon, looking up from carving a cantrip on the sofa. “That bad, was it?”

  “You might say that.” I kicked off my shoes. “My first day at the new job involved picking cantrips out of people’s underwear, the Death King setting the arena on fire and terrifying everyone, and a rogue spirit mage trying to get in.”

  “A rogue what?” Devon’s eyes bulged. “You found another one?”

  “I only have the Death King’s word to go by, and he refused to explain anything.” I hung up my coat and made straight for the Xbox, more than ready to blow off steam in a game of Skyrim. “It’s beyond ridiculous that he expects me not to ask questions after that happens.”

  “Whoa, back up a step,” she said. “You saw the spirit mage, right?”

  “Nope.” I turned on the TV. “They astral projected and hid inside the node until the Death King drove them off. I didn’t see or hear them. Neither did he, but he doesn’t seem all that bothered.”