“What happens to these clowns when we get into the sewers?” I asked the Lord of Light, jerking my thumb in the direction of his magic-enslaved guards. “Does your magic wear off, or do they stay like that?”
“It will wear off after a few hours, unless I recast the spell,” he answered. “I intend to keep them by my side, though, to aid us in the fight against Elandriel and the Blood God. They are, after all, elite warriors, and could be of great assistance to us in battle.”
“Who the hell said anything about you fighting alongside me in the battle, huh?” I asked coldly.
“Oh I. . . I just assumed that…” the Lord of Light stammered, a crimson blush lighting up his bright yellow cheeks.
“I’m just messing with you, Sun Boy.” I grinned at him. “Anyone who hates Elandriel and the Blood God is welcome to join us in this fight. Are you sure these holier-than-thou buffoons can be trusted, though?”
“They are completely loyal to me, unlike those who serve Elandriel,” the Lord of Light said. “If their hearts were not pure, my spell would not have worked on them. This magic I am using on them, by the way, is willing accepted by each man. It is not only advantageous to me, the wielder of the spell; it also grants each man a considerable boost in strength and speed, making him faster than a panther and stronger than three men.”
“Pfft,” I scoffed. “I’m sure one of my zombies could kick one of your golden boys’ asses.”
“We can perhaps pit the powers of Death and Light against one another in a friendly contest after we have destroyed the Blood God,” the Lord of Light said. “But for now, we must focus on—”
“What’s going on there?” a voice suddenly yelled out from behind us. “Where are you men taking those treasures? And what are those—assassins!”
We spun around and saw a guard standing at the far end of the corridor. He had just stepped out of one of the doors we had passed. Yumo-Rezu was ready. Within a second of his shouts, she had spun around, nocked an arrow to her enchanted bow, and loosed it at the guard. The potent magic arrow smashed through his gleaming breastplate, skewering his torso, but it didn’t kill him outright.
“Alarm!” he managed to roar, staggering backward and grasping feebly at the arrow as he bled out. “Raise the alarm! Raise the—”
Yumo-Rezu’s next arrow transfixed his skull and silenced him immediately, but it was too late, for his cries had been heard, and shouts of alarm were echoing through the entire maze.
“There goes the stealth plan,” I muttered. “Sun Boy, I hope those soldiers of yours are as loyal and powerful as you say they are, because we’re going to have a battle on our hands, and there are way more of them than there are of us.”
“Every one of my men is willing to sacrifice his life for me without question,” the Lord of Light replied confidently. “And others who we come across may switch sides and join us when they see that the Lord of Light lives!”
“Referring to yourself in the third person is really asinine, Sun Boy,” I said, trying to recall whether I had done so in the past. I probably had, but that didn’t mean I’d let the Lord of Light off the hook for it. “You’ll to work on that if you want to have any hope of endearing anyone in my party to you. For now, though, you’d best start cracking some skulls. Here they come!”
The sound of many heavy boots resounded through the maze. Many dozens of guards were rushing our way, and they were coming from all directions and aiming to converge here so they could attack us from all sides. I grinned and spun the Dragon Sword in my right hand, while in my left I drew on the massed power of the numerous graveyards and catacombs all across Luminescent Spires.
The first company of guards rounded the corner ahead of us, greatswords drawn and at the ready.
“You would draw weapons against your Lord and Savior, my children?” the Lord of Light asked them calmly as they skidded to a halt and stared at him—and us—in utter confusion. He raised his right hand and aimed his palm at them. Out of it blasted a torrent of blazing golden light, which was blinding in its brightness. It was not a devastating blast of intense heat, though, like the light Elyse blasted out of her mace. Instead, it caused no harm; it simply put the guards under the Lord of Light’s spell, provided their spirits were receptive to his magic.
The glow clung to the guards, crackling in a shimmering aura around them. Every last one of them lowered their weapons and bowed to him. When they looked up, I could see that their eyes were shining with a yellow glow.
“We live to serve you, holy Lord,” they all said.
“Make the motherfuckers get up off their knees and fight!” I yelled, spinning around to face our rear, for another contingent of guards had just rounded the corner there.
The new arrivals, however, would not be falling under the Lord of Light’s spell. “He’s escaped!” the head guard roared. “Kill him, for the Master no longer needs his blood! Kill them all!”
“Protect your Lord and his allies!” the Lord of Light commanded. The new guards, as well as the ones who he had bewitched in the Inner Vault, all rushed to his defense, arranging themselves in a defensive square around us.
“Your puny Light magic is no match for the might of the Blood God,” the head guard growled, his voice growing deeper and more sonorous, and echoing as if there were hundreds of replicas of him filling the entirety of the maze. I peered closely at his helm and saw that his eyes were completely red, as were the eyes of all of the other guards
