“Of course. As I was saying, we explained to the Quest Ring our previous attempts to resolve this. Our first attempt at securing the slave orb was as the dwarves fled, but this led to nothing but more enthralled warriors and we had to back away. We lost over two hundred good men and women to the orb. Our second attempt was another failure, but one that provided insight into how dire the circumstances truly are.”
“What happened?”
Novir said. “We sent a handful of men and one wizard to the rendezvous point, Bolin Hill. They arrived first because the dwarves and our captured men were on foot. It gave them time to see who they were meeting.”
He exchanged a look with Denir, and Anna sensed they had debated whether to reveal something. “We need to know everything you can tell us,” she said.
Denir sighed heavily. “We learned that the Orb of Dominion was bound for the Lords of Fear.”
The Earth friends shared an inquisitive look, and Novir spoke up. “As you were, uh, missing for a few years, you may not have heard of them. They began making a name for themselves since then.”
“Who are they?”
“An assassin, a necromancer, a sorcerer, and an undead knight.”
Eric smirked. “Sounds like a charming group.”
Anna knew he was kidding but had a terrible feeling about this. She had already encountered one undead knight on Honyn when it grabbed her and announced she would be its bride after death. Her skin prickled with goosebumps from the awful cold that had settled in her bones. The memory was one of many that sometimes kept her up at night. She brushed the thought aside with an effort, just as she kept trying to ignore her fears about what had happened to her friends when she vanished from the car. Focusing on the details of the impending quest helped her some. “Why are they called the Lords of Fear? Are they actual lords?”
The wizard said, “Yes. Or they were. Some have been stripped of their titles.”
“Why?” she asked.
“Nothing good. They sometimes assassinate royalty or other prominent figures, or extort them. They have started wars between kingdoms. They have assisted others in achieving evil. And they go after powerful supernatural items like these orbs, so much so that people on various worlds have taken to hiding them from this threat.”
“So they operate across worlds. Are they from this one?”
“They are not, and we believe that, now that they have what they came for, that they are attempting to leave with the orb. It cannot remain in their hands. It is dangerous regardless, but with the Lords of Fear using it, there is indeed much to fear. Their methods are nightmarish and true to their nickname. The assassin is not above poison, for example, whether this is given directly, in food or drink, or on her weapons. Should you fight her, you must be certain not to let a blade slice you.”
“It’s a woman?” Anna asked in surprise.
Denir said, “Yes, and she was the daughter of a countess, her father being an Earl who has since disowned her.”
Eric leaned forward. “Do you know anything else that might help us understand her? We might be able to use the details to our advantage.”
Novir spoke up. “She is known to love both men and women, but same-gender relations carry a penalty of death in Nysuun, even for royals. As teens, her and the princess she loved were condemned. After watching her love die by fire, Kori escaped the same fate and disappeared. There has been much speculation about her history since, but we know she joined a secretive group that trained her in hand-to-hand fighting, weapons, and other skills an assassin needs. But they would not let her seek revenge. It appears she was bound, perhaps supernaturally, by a pledge to them, but she freed herself from it and got her revenge. The organization tried to kill her for this, so she did the same to them, but whereas they failed, she was successful. The group is no more.”
Anna couldn’t hide her disbelief. “She killed all of them?”
“Yes. Kori of Nysuun is among the most ruthless women alive.”
Anna tried to mute her intimidation. If the others were just as deadly, she and her friends might be in worse trouble with this quest than it seemed. Not sure she wanted to know, she asked, “Who are the others?”
“The sorcerer is Lord Garian of Ormund.”
Ryan perked up. “Ormund? On Honyn?”
Novir turned to him. “Yes. We understand you closed the Dragon Gate there recently.”
“We did. We met someone from Ormund along the way.”
“Cirion,” muttered Anna, remembering the dashing man who first tried to seduce her, then interfered with their quest to close the gate. He was trouble of more than one kind. “Hopefully, he won’t appear. Who is Lord Garian?”
Novir answered, “He was the prince and heir to the throne, but no longer. His father stripped him of his peerage.”
Anna cocked an eyebrow. “What did he do to cause that?”
Denir replied, “While magic is not quite forbidden in the kingdom, it is viewed with suspicion and not openly practiced. When Garian discovered he had the talent in his teens, he secretly sought training and received it, but his master had plans of his own.”
A scowling Matt asked, “To control him?”
Novir answered, “He wanted power over Garian once the prince became king. I suspect the master treated Garian poorly, knowing the prince could tell no one.”
Denir interjected, “Yes, and it is this, coupled with learning dark wizardry, that seemed to alter Lord Garian’s heart. His personality was seen to change even before the truth of his secret life and talent was discovered. Having a member of the royal family practicing magic was not well received, and perhaps it was the impetuous nature of youth that led him to publicly flaunt his skills. We believe he did this to show that it was of no danger to anyone, but
