“Yes, that’s him.”
“He carried that staff, didn’t he?”
“Yes, he stole it from the witch’s vaults. At the time, he had no idea it had once actually belonged to one of his brothers.”
“How much of his past did he remember?”
“Nothing. His memories had been completely replaced. He only remembered his true past when we reached the castle on Tremulac Isle right before he was… before his passing.”
Heidel stood abruptly and walked away from the camp. Grace trailed her until they climbed up the stairs and out of sight. Kull eyed her, then stood.
“If you’ll please excuse me,” he said, then followed his sister.
“I take it we’ve broached a sore subject,” Rolf said.
“Yeah, Heidel was in love with him.”
Brodnik chewed on a piece of dried jerky. “That poor girl has got the worst luck with relationships, doesn’t she? First Geth, now this thief. You think she’ll ever find anyone?”
“I don’t know. I hope so.”
I glanced back, but Kull and Heidel had disappeared. Fog snaked along the ground. I didn’t like that they’d left, but there wasn’t much I could do about it.
A long howl came from the direction Kull and Heidel had gone.
“Was that Grace?” I asked.
Brodnik shook his head. “Can’t be sure. I’ve never heard her howl like that, though.”
Another howl joined the first. This one sounded closer. Chills prickled my neck as the howl turned to a wail—human-sounding—but not quite.
The three of us got to our feet and raced to the top of the steps. Kull and Heidel stood in a courtyard littered with boulders. Both had drawn their weapons, staring out into the fog. We approached them. Grace stood at Heidel’s side, her hackles raised as another wail pierced the air, making the hair on my neck stand on end.
“Where’s it coming from?” I asked.
“There.” Kull pointed to the opening leading inside the temple.
A form emerged. Black, almost translucent tendrils of a cloak glided along the ground, stirring the fog. The wispy robes formed a humanoid shape, skeletal hands peeking from the tattered sleeves. The cowl hid the creature’s face, though I saw bits of a skull hiding beneath the cloak’s folds.
“Is that…?” I couldn’t finish the sentence as my blood ran cold.
“A Regaymor,” Kull finished.
The five of us stood close, and Grace growled as the creature glided forward. Red pinprick eyes glowed under the hood, focused on us. Its wailing broke the silence. Two more creatures followed behind the first.
“Don’t let them touch you,” Kull said.
In a blink, the first Regaymor appeared before us, and then lashed out with a magical whip. Kull sliced at the whip with his sword, knocking the creature back, but only for a moment. The other two monsters surrounded us. They dove for us, blasting out with their magic. I felt the taint of death in their power.
One of the whips caught Rolf around the wrist. He cried out, stumbling, the whip jerking him forward. Brodnik rushed to his side and struck out with his sword, severing the whip in two, but one of the Regaymor caught him from behind and lashed the warrior’s back.
Brodnik screamed and pitched forward. Kull rushed to his aid, but the Regaymor blocked his path. Their magical energy filled the air. I could taste its power, and it sickened me. They wanted our blood. My magic was a powerful draw too, and they wouldn’t relent until they’d drained it all.
I grasped the staff as I watched the Regaymor overpower my friends. They would die. Their weapons were no match for the dark monsters of this world—the creatures didn’t even exist on the same plane we did. Weapons wouldn’t stop them, but magic would. I prayed I could handle a banishing spell. This had worked last time. Sort of. And that was before I’d had Theht intruding on my mind.
I blasted out with my magic, striking at the Regaymor nearest me. The magic burned blue around my hands, glowing so bright it nearly blinded me. I managed to knock one of the creatures back, but as my magic dissipated, it came for me.
Its red eyes burned with fury.
I will take your magic. I heard its words in my head. All three Regaymor turned toward me.
Using my magic had been a huge mistake. Now, they all wanted me. But on the bright side, at least they’d stopped attacking my companions.
I raised the staff, not sure I could use it, but hoping I could at least scare them off.
“Stop,” I shouted. “Don’t come any closer.”
They ignored me and continued gliding forward. Even from this distance, I could feel their magic tugging at mine, trying to drain me of my powers. My knees felt weak, and I had to force myself to stay upright. Energy drained from my body. Every minute I wasted meant they gained more of my power. I couldn’t let that happen. They would kill me and then do the same to my friends.
“Stop!” I repeated. I forced my magic into the staff, but instead of using only my own powers, I siphoned more from the stones surrounding me, from the ground, and even from the air. I took every bit I could and fed it into the staff.
The blue orb glowed.
Its power warmed my hands as it fused with my own energy. One of the Regaymor lashed out with its whip, but it wasn’t fast enough. I thrust the staff outward and blasted the magic in their faces, hitting them with the force of a tornado, so strong and potent that all three creatures screamed, howls of pain and fury, and then they disappeared in the glow of the magic.
Power hit my chest. I stumbled and fell on the ground, completely wasted. The air buzzed with the aftereffects of the magic. Clutching the staff, I focused on taking deep breaths. In and out.
“Olive,” Kull said as he raced to my side. He knelt by me and took my hand. “Thank the gods, you’re alive. How in Odin’s name did you manage to do that?”
After catching
