Grimwall. It lies within a hidden cove on the northern side of Orgalos.”
Diran’s face betrayed no emotion, but Ghaji could hear the repressed excitement in his voice as he said, “Thank you, Tresslar.” The priest then hurried to inform Yvka that they needed to change course.
Ghaji said, “That was a brave thing you did.”
“Perhaps,” Tresslar said, “or very foolish. I suppose we’ll soon find out which.”
Ghaji nodded. “I suppose we will.”
They felt the deck shift beneath their feet as the Zephyr began to tack northward. Ghaji went off to attend to the sails, leaving Tresslar looking out at the waves, alone with his thoughts.
While Ghaji took care of the sails, now with Hinto’s help, Diran returned to the railing to stand once more beside Tresslar.
“Why has Erdis Cai been abducting people?” Diran asked.
Tresslar shrugged. “Since you told me that he’s become a vampire, I assume he’s been gathering them for food.” The artificer grimaced.
“That’s what I thought as well, until you told us the location of Grimwall. There’s a sizable population on Orgalos. If all Erdis Cai needed was food, he could find it easily enough there. Vampires tend not to range very far from their lairs. They have great difficulty crossing running water, except in a craft of some sort, and even then it isn’t comfortable for them. Can you think of any other reason Erdis Cai would need to abduct so many people?”
“Maybe he’s creating an army.”
“I’d considered that possibility, but as I mentioned before, while vampires possess great power, they also have a number of weaknesses that make them less than effective warriors. Sunlight, silver, running water, holy symbols… and while as their ‘father’ Erdis Cai would be able to dominate and control his army, vampires tend to be solitary predators, preferring little to no competition for prey.”
“Then maybe Erdis is training his captives to be a mortal army. Presumably, that’s how he came by his Black Fleet raiders in the first place. How am I supposed to know? I haven’t seen the man for forty years, and the last time I saw him, he was a man! Now that he’s a vampire, I don’t…”
Tresslar broke off his rant, eyes widening as a new thought occurred to him. “No, it couldn’t be that… could it?”
“Couldn’t be what?” Diran asked.
“It happened several years after we’d discovered the abandoned underground city and took it over as our base. Whenever we were home, I’d spend my spare time exploring the city and the levels below, trying to uncover its secrets. One day, I found a hidden door that led to a chamber we’d never seen before. It was a burial chamber of a sort that held the desiccated bodies of hobgoblin warriors… two thousand of them. There was a large depression in the middle of the chamber with a stone dais rising in the middle. Runes had been engraved into the dais, and I translated them. The runes explained who the warriors were and why they had voluntarily chosen to die and be interred in the catacombs. There were also instructions for reviving them.”
Diran felt a cold emptiness in the pit of his stomach. “Let me guess what the main ingredient for reviving the warriors is: blood.”
Tresslar nodded, his face had gone pale. “And lots of it.” So Erdis Cai was trying to create an army, but not one comprised of vampires or humans. He was raising an army of undead hobgoblin warriors. Once he’d resurrected the goblinoids and they were under his control, he would use them to wreak havoc throughout the Principalities and beyond in his mistress’ foul name. Their rescue mission had just become far more complicated and the stakes infinitely higher. Erdis Cai had to be stopped before he could resurrect his undead army-no matter the cost.
Jarlain opened the door of her bedchamber, intending to check on Makala. She hadn’t been thrilled when Erdis had commanded her to give over her room to the unconscious woman. After all, the other two candidates for tonight’s sacrifice-both of whom Erdis had also entranced-were sleeping on the cold stone floors of separate cells. What made this woman so special? Despite her feelings, Jarlain had smiled and agreed to give up her room. Erdis was her master, after all. She was glad the bitch was going to die tonight, though. Erdis had displayed entirely too much interest in the former assassin. As far as Jarlain was concerned, there was room for only one woman in Erdis’ inner circle, and that was her.
When she walked into the room and saw Erdis sitting next to her bed on her dressing table chair, looking down at Makala slumbering beneath her silken sheets, Jarlain experienced a surge of jealous anger.
“How long have you been here?” The words were out of her mouth before she could stop them.
“Since I woke from my day’s rest,” Erdis said without taking his gaze from Makala. “I’ve been thinking.”
His voice held that distracted, dreamy tone she’d heard too often of late. She feared that there was less and less within him of the man Erdis Cai had once been, but what that personality was being replaced with, she didn’t know.
“About what?” Jarlain asked, though she wasn’t certain she wanted to hear his answer.
“Whether it might not be better to sacrifice the other two worthy ones tonight and save this one for… other purposes.”
Erdis reached down and brushed a lock of blond hair off Makala’s face. Jarlain didn’t need to ask what those “other purposes” were.
“You’ve worked four decades to reach this night,” Jarlain reminded him.
“So what will a few more weeks matter?”
Jarlain ground her teeth together in frustration, knowing that with his enhanced senses, Erdis would hear but not caring if he did. Ever since Onkar had captured her during a raid fifteen years ago on Lorghalan, where she’d been using her mental powers in the employ of a minor Lhazaarite prince, she’d served Erdis Cai and served him well. With her abilities, they’d been able to identify worthy sacrifices far more swiftly, thus speeding up the timetable for the completion of Erdis’ plan. If it hadn’t been for her, he might still be struggling to reach his first thousand sacrifices, instead of being on the verge of two thousand.
“When one nears the culmination of such a long project, it’s only natural to start having second thoughts.”
Erdis Cai’s head snapped around so fast that if he’d been mortal, he might’ve snapped his own neck. “I’m not having second thoughts. My mistress shall have Her undead army soon enough. But it would be a shame to allow this woman to die. She is a warrior with a spirit of fire and determination-a spirit strong enough to match my own.”
Jarlain couldn’t believe what she was hearing. “You’re not thinking about turning her, are you?”
“Why not? You saw how she handled herself in the amphitheater.” He turned back to look at Makala with an expression that was almost tender. “She’d make a magnificent vampire, an immortal consort to spend eternity by my side.”
“No!” Jarlain rushed over and knelt next to Erdis. “You can’t mean that! I’ve served you well and loyally all these years! If you’re going to make anyone a vampire, it should be me!”
“You?” Erdis Cai looked at her with an expression of almost comical surprise. “You serve me because it is your honor to do so. You are not owed any imagined reward. Your continued existence should be reward enough.” He paused, as if deciding whether to go on. “To tell you the truth, at one time I did consider granting you the dark gift of eternal life. A vampire possessing your psychic powers would make a most formidable servant, but in the end, I realized you might become too powerful, perhaps even strong enough to resist the commands of your maker. That is why I shall never grant you immortality, Jarlain. You’re powerful enough as you are.”
Though she fought to hold them back, she couldn’t stop the tears from falling. “I thought that you… that we…”
Erdis Cai threw back his head and laughed, the brittle sound piercing Jarlain’s heart like a spear made of ice.
