Eric continued baiting the lords, for reasons Matt didn’t really understand, but he trusted the rogue. “Like he ensnared yours?”
Garian smirked. “He already has our allegiance and needed no orb to gain it.”
“Was it like Novir? Did you sell your soul for a pint of ale, or maybe a petty fiefdom somewhere?”
The smirk deepened. “We’re already lords, fool. And we will take what kingdoms we want.”
“Yes, but if you or he were so powerful, you wouldn’t need the Orbs of Dominion to do it, now would you?”
Lord Voth pointed an imperious finger at Matt. “Bow before your king, Soliander of Aranor.”
Matt tried to stay in character, amazed he was about to have a conversation with an undead knight. “You are no King of Aranor. You bow to another. Care to share who has enslaved you?” Lord Voth ripped his sword from its scabbard in one smooth motion. Maybe pissing them off wasn’t a good idea after all.
The rogue asked, “Are you sure you don’t want to rest a minute before we kick your butts through the portal? You must have traveled all night to get here. You look like you need a nap.”
Kori answered in a rich alto. “We have ways to get our energy back. Show him, Aeron.”
The necromancer gestured for the nearby enthralled warrior approach, and once the man did so, he put one hand on the man’s shoulder and began whispering words Matt couldn’t hear but which made his skin crawl. Rather than light appearing as when Anna channeled a god’s touch, a darkness gathered around the necromancer’s black hand and spread over the warrior, whose face registered horror. He moaned, soiling himself as his hair turned white, his skin wrinkled and became spotty, and his posture stooped. His life’s energy drained away into a ball of shimmering darkness in Aeron’s hand. The warrior fell face first to the stones, dead. Glittering blue eyes turned toward them as the necromancer made a thrusting gesture with that hand. The ball of blackness separated into three, one absorbing into him and the other two racing toward Lord Garian and Kori, striking both and disappearing inside them. The assassin looked at them with a renewed blaze of energy.
“That’s fucked up,” Ryan muttered, scowling.
Matt had to agree and thought Aeron needed to be destroyed. He decided the time for chatter had ended. According to lore on Earth, ice had no effect on undead, but fire was another matter. Given that dragon’s ice had killed and encased Lord Voth, and Matt had melted ice in a vial from Brazin, he wanted to test a theory. He opened a vial of ordinary water and poured some as he spoke.
With ice and frost I bind your flesh,
May time stand still, in peace you rest
He thrust the vial toward the target and watched as the water soared toward Lord Voth, growing expanding in volume. That it chilled in flight became apparent from the tinkling of ice shards that dropped on the stones as it flew on, finally striking Lord Voth, who hadn’t bothered to move. Would arrogance be his downfall? Matt saw the water freeze around the undead knight’s entire body, encasing him in inches of ice like he was a sculpture.
“Fool!” said Lord Garian, chuckling. “So much for the Majestic Magus.”
Matt responded by putting the vial back in his pocket and retrieving the one with dragon’s ice water. He wasn’t surprised by what happened next. A crack in the ice appeared, then another bigger one. The knight was flexing his limbs inside it, and a third crack made a huge chunk fall to the stones and slide away. With a final wrench, the undead knight freed himself, sending ice pieces scattering.
Far behind the lords, Jolian breathed another round of flames to keep the enthralled away, and Matt’s glance revealed their numbers had greatly reduced. Where had they gone? The obvious answer was to find another way to the plaza. Countless other entry points existed, but he had more pressing concerns. He repeated the spell, this time more hopeful of the result. Once again, the undead knight had been encased in ice as Garian and Kori stood smirking at him like he was an idiot. They waited. And waited. And waited. But Lord Voth did not appear to be moving. Not until he yelled with his mouth frozen shut did anyone realize he wasn’t getting out this time.
Matt returned their smirk until a sudden gesture from Kori toward him made his breath catch. He barely saw the blade flying, instinctively raising his hands, words of magic struggling to form as the twirling knife reached him—and fell with a clatter at his feet. Kori screamed and doubled over, a splash of blood already leaking between her fingers at one shoulder. She staggered and fell to one knee, reaching for the necromancer and calling his name as she tumbled to the pavement, body going limp. Matt had forgotten one benefit of Soliander’s staff—any physical blow intended for him caused the wound to appear on the victim instead. It only worked so many times, but sometimes once was enough. Whatever poison Kori was using didn’t give one long to live, apparently. Aeron kneeled over her.
A roar of flame attracted Matt’s attention, but Garian directed at Lord Voth, his Dragon’s Fire Wand rapidly melting the dragon ice. Matt hadn’t thought of that. Were the flames truly like that of a dragon and therefore an effective counter to his spell, or would regular fire melt the ice, too? Once Lord Voth had been thawed enough to crack the ice on his own, Garion turned the wand toward Jolian despite the distance. She didn’t move as the flames reached and struck her, giving Matt the impression that she knew nothing would happen to her. And it didn’t.
