He’s doing it because it’s the only way to have the life he wants.”
“I don’t have any choice, do I?” Abigail asked.
“You always have a choice,” Isabel said. “It’s just that in this case, the only choice you have that’s consistent with who you are, is to support your brother.”
She was silent for a long time before she nodded and rubbed the tears from her face.
“It’s getting late,” Abigail said. “We should probably be going.”
Chapter 10
Alexander cautiously moved down the corridor. In his right hand he held the Thinblade, in his left, a vial of night-wisp dust. The corridor ran for several hundred feet from the shield before it ended with a staircase leading down, deeper into the heart rock of the Keep.
Alexander descended the stairs, straining the limits of his all around sight to prevent Shivini from surprising him. The shade had promised to let him live so that he could witness the horrors he had unleashed, but he didn’t believe it for a moment. Shivini had been bound to Phane’s will. If the shade had a chance to kill him and take the Sovereign Stone, he would. Alexander had no doubt about that.
He slowed when he saw light coming from the base of the staircase. The landing opened onto a platform at the edge of a giant room, which was shaped like a toroid and measured at least two hundred feet across and forty feet high at the highest point. The center of the room was occupied by two formations that would have been a stalactite and a stalagmite in a natural cave but here they were clearly cut with exacting precision.
Suspended in the space between the two stone points was a giant spinning crystal shaped like an elongated diamond. It was easily six feet tall and two feet wide at its widest point. It spun with such speed that it almost looked like it was standing still.
Colors of magic poured off the crystal, flowing into the stone of Blackstone Keep. Alexander had never imagined such a thing, but he knew instinctively that the Keep’s magic was powered by this spinning crystal. Waves of energy flowed outward, filling the toroid with heat and light. He realized with a jolt that this place had to be in the exact center of the mass of the Keep.
Shivini was climbing toward the crystal. He was halfway there already and slowly inching his way up the artificial stalagmite. Alexander had no idea what would happen if the crystal was disturbed and he didn’t want to find out. He was sure that it had been spinning in perfect balance for over two thousand years.
He slipped over the edge and slid down the gently sloping wall to the floor, then raced across the room toward Shivini. The shade saw him coming and tried to climb faster, but he could gain little purchase on the smooth pillar. As Alexander neared, Shivini slipped and slid to the ground. He drew his sword and faced Alexander with a grin. His nose and fingertips were grey from frostbite.
“Looks like moving through the aether is taking its toll on you,” Alexander said.
“Not on me,” Shivini said, “on my host. But he doesn’t matter, Alexander. Even if you destroy this host, I’ll just take another and come back to finish my work.”
“What’s your plan?” Alexander asked, leveling the Thinblade at his enemy.
Shivini shrugged. “I’m going to destroy your Keep, kill you, and take your fancy necklace to Phane, not necessarily in that order.”
“You’re more forthright than I would have expected,” Alexander said as he tried to formulate a plan.
“As a general rule, I prefer to lie unless the truth will cause more fear,” Shivini said. “Here’s another truth, Alexander. You can’t win. You and everyone you love were doomed the moment Phane bound me to his will and sent me to destroy you.
“Did you know that we’ve never failed to accomplish a task we were assigned? Over the decades that we were summoned and pressed into service by Malachi Reishi we always succeeded, every single time. It’s
“I don’t have any choice, do I?” Abigail asked.
“You always have a choice,” Isabel said. “It’s just that in this case, the only choice you have that’s consistent with who you are, is to support your brother.”
She was silent for a long time before she nodded and rubbed the tears from her face.
“It’s getting late,” Abigail said. “We should probably be going.”
Chapter 10
Alexander cautiously moved down the corridor. In his right hand he held the Thinblade, in his left, a vial of night-wisp dust. The corridor ran for several hundred feet from the shield before it ended with a staircase leading down, deeper into the heart rock of the Keep.
Alexander descended the stairs, straining the limits of his all around sight to prevent Shivini from surprising him. The shade had promised to let him live so that he could witness the horrors he had unleashed, but he didn’t believe it for a moment. Shivini had been bound to Phane’s will. If the shade had a chance to kill him and take the Sovereign Stone, he would. Alexander had no doubt about that.
He slowed when he saw light coming from the base of the staircase. The landing opened onto a platform at the edge of a giant room, which was shaped like a toroid and measured at least two hundred feet across and forty feet high at the highest point. The center of the room was occupied by two formations that would have been a stalactite and a stalagmite in a natural cave but here they were clearly cut with exacting precision.
Suspended in the space between the two stone points was a giant spinning crystal shaped like an elongated diamond. It was easily six feet tall and two feet wide at its widest point. It spun with such speed that it almost looked like it was standing still.
Colors of magic poured off the crystal, flowing into the stone of Blackstone Keep. Alexander had never imagined such a thing, but he knew instinctively that the Keep’s magic was powered by this spinning crystal. Waves of energy flowed outward, filling the toroid with heat and light. He realized with a jolt that this place had to be in the exact center of the mass of the Keep.
Shivini was climbing toward the crystal. He was halfway there already and slowly inching his way up the artificial stalagmite. Alexander had no idea what would happen if the crystal was disturbed and he didn’t want to find out. He was sure that it had been spinning in perfect balance for over two thousand years.
He slipped over the edge and slid down the gently sloping wall to the floor, then raced across the room toward Shivini. The shade saw him coming and tried to climb faster, but he could gain little purchase on the smooth pillar. As Alexander neared, Shivini slipped and slid to the ground. He drew his sword and faced Alexander with a grin. His nose and fingertips were grey from frostbite.
“Looks like moving through the aether is taking its toll on you,” Alexander said.
“Not on me,” Shivini said, “on my host. But he doesn’t matter, Alexander. Even if you destroy this host, I’ll just take another and come back to finish my work.”
“What’s your plan?” Alexander asked, leveling the Thinblade at his enemy.
Shivini shrugged. “I’m going to destroy your Keep, kill you, and take your fancy necklace to Phane, not necessarily in that order.”
“You’re more forthright than I would have expected,” Alexander said as he tried to formulate a plan.
“As a general rule, I prefer to lie unless the truth will cause more fear,” Shivini said. “Here’s another truth, Alexander. You can’t win. You and everyone you love were doomed the moment Phane bound me to his will and sent me to destroy you.
“Did you know that we’ve never failed to accomplish a task we were assigned? Over the decades that we were summoned and pressed into service by Malachi Reishi we always succeeded, every single time. It’s
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