“You betray a kingdom for a night with a slut you’ll just get another disease from.”
Novir shouted, “I betray no one! My master is more powerful than any of you! Even your Majestic Magus.”
Mocking him, Eric asked, “Then why does he need the Orbs of Dominion? True power means not needing a magic item to control others.”
Laughing bitterly, “Oh, he knows how to control people without it, trust me.”
“Trust a man who can be so easily bought? You will live your life in chains if I don’t kill you first, beneath Castle Arking in the dungeon.”
“I will sit on the throne of Minari! It is you and your friends that will rot beneath my castle!” He again tried to move his arms and while he’d succeeded some by now, he wasn’t getting them free.
“You betray your king for nothing more than a promise to take his place? What a fool you are.”
Smirking with condescension, Novir asked, “Am I, Silver-Tongued Rogue? If I am such a fool, then why am I the one who cannot see?”
Eric scowled, not understanding.
Novir spoke a word and Eric’s sight went black.
Chapter 7 – Valegis
Novir violently bucked a startled Eric, twisted, and yanked both of his arms free. Eric swung but had his blow blocked, a fist finding his jaw as he fell back into the sand onto something long, flat, and hard.
His sword, Eric thought, rolling off and grabbing it, the edge slicing his finger until he found the hilt. Using his other hand, he swung fast twice, just hoping to ward off Novir, whose movements he heard. He advanced, swinging wildly, feeling disoriented. His own sword was on his hip, which meant he didn’t need to see to keep the man away or save himself. That gave him an idea and he pulled out a knife. Novir cursed and ran toward the trees. Eric listened intently, trying to gauge distance and the path. Then he threw the knife, which sounded like it struck a tree. Novir continued crashing through the foliage as he escaped.
Eric turned toward the lake, or the direction he thought it was in, stumbling. He first needed to get the sand off his hands. And the blood. He wished Anna was here to heal him so he could see. All he saw was blackness, and having his eyes open but seeing nothing disturbed him. Hearing his booted feet splash, he dropped the sword, crouched, and cleaned his hands, rubbing one over the other, which is how he felt the Trinity Ring on one finger. He cursed himself for a fool. It had three healing spells. Surely one was strong enough to restore his sight. He didn’t really know how much strength was needed but saved the strongest spell for something more serious.
“Enurarki,” he said. Blackness lifted as light crept in, his sight blurry before slowly clearing. He sighed and picked up Novir’s sword, glancing toward Jolian as he straightened. For a moment, he thought both dragons had left, but both had shifted to human form. He turned back toward the trees, which were quiet now. Either Novir was hiding or he was far enough away to be unheard. Eric wasn’t sure if he should go after him, but the surprise spell made him decide against it. There was no telling what the man was capable of. Eric didn’t like surprises. He was lucky to be alive.
He went to collect his knives, since he had thrown pretty much all of them. He kept an eye out for danger. Seeing some fruit made him realize his hunger, but there was no way to know what was safe to eat on this planet. There had been rations in their gear. Had Novir put it there? It no longer mattered because Eric wasn’t eating it in case it had been poisoned. His face fell. What if the others were snacking on it now? He found several of the knives and hurried back to Jolian, noticing as he neared that Brazin seemed unconscious.
Eric asked, “He changed form?”
“Yes, trying to get out of my grip, but I just knocked him out after he did it.”
The rogue looked back toward where Novir had disappeared. “I don’t know if I should go after him.”
“What did you learn? Was it enough?”
“No, only that he was promised the throne of Minari. He didn’t say how he would earn it.”
“That’s a hefty reward for trapping us in a cave, however briefly. There must be more to him.”
Eric nodded. “Maybe he was responsible for the king being enthralled. If so, he has delivered Minari to whoever has the master orb.”
“That might be enough, assuming that person doesn’t want the throne for himself, which seems likely only because he has already ensnared two rulers. Why stop there?”
Eric agreed. These Orbs of Dominion were far too much power in one person’s hands. Part of him wondered if a James Bond-like villain was behind it all, believing he would create peace across an entire world, or multiple worlds, by enslaving minds so that everyone just agreed with everything. The problem with that was the adage that absolute power corrupts absolutely. The sort of person who would use “evil” means to reach a “good” end could not be benevolent, because that required ethics they clearly didn’t have.
Jolian looked out over the forest and mountains. “We needn’t worry about Novir. He has no escape that will occur in time to interfere with us again. There are many things in between here and civilization. He is unlikely to survive, especially wounded and with no sword. His scent and that of the blood will bring trolls.”
“Good for him. Maybe he can be their king.”
“Their next meal is more likely.”
Eric hadn’t seen a troll and wondered how big they were. Did they really eat people? Though cannibalism was about eating your own kind, sentient species consuming each other was nearly as disturbing. On Earth, only animals ate people, and usually
