“That I agree with.” The Lord Tezerenee tapped the side of the shadow steed’s horrible prison as he pondered a decision. He ceased the tapping and eyed the box with new interest. “Perhaps there is a more efficient way.”
Sharissa urged her mount closer to the patriarch, her heart sinking as what Barakas might be plotting occurred to her. “Haven’t you put him through enough? Isn’t that box pain enough for him to endure?”
“This should be relatively painless, I think.”
“You know what I mean!”
“More lives will be saved by this in the long run, my dear Sharissa,” Barakas replied, his smile as false as his words. “At least… Tezerenee lives.”
He lifted the box so that it rested in one arm and ran his hand over it, repeating the same pattern he had earlier, albeit in such a manner that it could be performed with a single hand, not two. Sharissa could sense the bond that tied the Tezerenee lord to the spell and thus Darkhorse to him. She still had no idea how to free the ebony stallion from it, and that was what held her back from escape. Barakas was by no means an opponent she could hope to overcome by direct action. Only by biding her time would she have a chance-but when would that be? The sorceress had no intention of waiting until she was married and bearing the children of Reegan. The very thought stirred her to renewed determination. Perhaps at some point on this very expedition Sharissa would find a means of solving her troubles.
She could only hope.
Barakas lifted the lid.
A wave of darkness rushed forth, almost as if the patriarch had unleashed night upon day. Yet, this darkness screamed its pleasure and fear, screamed wordlessly as it slowly coalesced into the familiar form of Sharissa’s tormented friend.
“Movement! Sound! Sight! By the ungodly Void, I am free of it again! Free!”
A few of the Tezerenee shifted in nervousness, fully aware of what the overwhelming creature before them could do if allowed full will. Barakas and those of his sons who rode with the column sat in relaxed silence, fully confident in the patriarch’s hold on the eternal.
His initial thrill at being released from the torturous container abating, Darkhorse glared at his armored keeper. Even Lochivan, who now stood beside the drake his father rode, and Reegan found other things to contemplate rather than meet those cold eyes. Barakas, on the other hand, met them with the same commanding indifference that he met most other things with. He knew very well who held sway here, and all of the eternal’s staring would not lessen the truth of that.
“What do you want of me?” the shadow steed bellowed. His front hooves tore at the earth below. Sharissa did not doubt that he wished it was the clan master beneath those heavy hooves.
“I have a task for you, one that should prove simple considering your abilities.”
“Barakas, please don’t do this to him!” the sorceress called, her pride a forgotten thing in the importance of the moment.
The patriarch turned and studied her briefly. Although the dragonhelm hid most of his features, she could hear the disdain in his words. “Do not demean yourself, Lady Sharissa. A good warrior makes use of all weapons available to him, and I would be remiss if I did not use one of my greatest. He will ensure that no harm comes to you.”
“To her?” Darkhorse paused in his kicking. He looked from the patriarch to Sharissa. “What threatens her?”
“Nothing, Darkhorse! He-”
A gauntleted hand touched the lid of the box, causing the demon steed to freeze and Sharissa to quiet almost instantly. “She rides with us into the interior of this mountainous region. I cannot guarantee her safety should we be attacked. You know the strength of the creatures who control this domain. Terrible it is, wouldn’t you say?”
Darkhorse laughed, but there was little defiance left in him. He had been nearly broken by the periods of imprisonment in the box. “I served you in such a way earlier, monstrous one! I… I told you of those creatures, the elves”-he indicated an alert Faunon-“and where they could be found. Your sorcery, then, was not sufficient for the task! I gave you lives I had no right to give!”
A nod was the only acknowledgment he received from the lord of the Tezerenee. “This should prove much easier and more fulfilling, then. These are Seekers, creatures of the kind who attacked and captured your old companion, Dru Zeree. These are the creatures who would do harm to his daughter. They make no exceptions; her life means as little to them as my own does. If we were attacked, it will be difficult to keep an eye on her.”
“I have my own power with which to battle them,” she reminded the two. “If it comes to a struggle, I will fight them. I do not want needless deaths.”
Despite her assurances, the ebony stallion wavered more. “You have not seen them as I have. They mean little to my power, but you… you lack my resilience.”
“So she does,” Lochivan agreed, aiding his parent in the Tezerenee effort. Barakas gave a slight shake of his head that Sharissa noticed. He needed no aid in this matter, she knew. The patriarch held all the trumps.
“I gave you the elves because I feared for her… and I feared that cursed creation of yours! Do not ask me to add to my sins! If they come for you, then I will take them!”
“There was a time when you would have taken Dru Zeree. Do you remember that?” The Lord Tezerenee’s hand toyed with the lid.
“I did not know better then!” Darkhorse’s head was bowed. Sharissa knew what he was recalling. A simple yet powerful being existing in the regions of the Void, the eternal had no concept of life and death. Absorbing the few outsiders he came across in the endless limbo had meant nothing. Only after his time with her father did Darkhorse begin to comprehend the value of one’s existence. If he or those he cared for were attacked, the stallion would fight. To kill those who did not even know of him, however…
“You have your choice, of course. I would be minded to let you remain out if you perform well, but if I cannot trust you to even protect one you profess to care for, I see no reason to leave you free. Who knows what havoc you might cause. Yes, perhaps returning you to the box until the day comes when I might find a task worth the trouble of summoning you again-”
Barakas began to tilt the open box in the direction of Darkhorse. To Sharissa’s shock and dismay, she saw that her father’s old companion was quivering with fear. He had even grown a bit distorted, as if his fright were so great it even interfered with his ability to hold shape.
“There is no need for that.”
His voice, for all its deep rumble, was meek and abashed. Darkhorse stared at the ground beneath him, unwilling to look at those before-especially her. Sharissa shook her head, and tears ran down her cheeks.
“I will find these Seekers for you… and eliminate their threat.”
A beatific smile crossed the patriarch’s half-hidden visage. “Thank you. I see no reason why you cannot begin now. Do you?” He pointed at the mountains far ahead. “I want you to search there, near our destination. Search the northern region until I summon you back.”
Darkhorse shook his head, sending his mane flying. He seemed taken aback by something. “But that leaves-”
“I have given you your task. I want it performed as I said. No rebellion. Nothing will happen to anyone here if you obey me to the letter. I promise you that.”
The demon steed snorted. “You are more foul than anything spawned among the endless realms I crossed during my now-regretted search for this accursed world.”
“Yes, we must talk of those places when this realm is secured. Now, go!”
Darkhorse dipped his head in a mocking salute. “I am your servant, dragon-lord.”
Rearing, the ebony stallion turned and raced off. Sharissa watched the receding figure, then turned to Faunon for support. The elf wore a dour look. He did not seem that sympathetic to Darkhorse’s plight.
“Faunon, I-”
“They died because of him. That is what he said.”
“It was his doing!” She pointed an accusing finger at Barakas, who was turning to watch their antics with mild amusement. Many of the other Tezerenee were watching, too, but Sharissa did not care. She would say what she had to say. If Faunon abandoned her because he could not accept Darkhorse’s earlier actions, then the sorceress would be alone in her efforts. That might be an obstacle she could overcome, but his absence would
