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She glanced behind me. “Where are your fellow warriors?”
“I came alone.”
Her face fell, and she gave me a pitying look. “You cannot defeat him by yourself. He grows more powerful with each passing day. Every soul he claims gives him strength.”
“Then we must see he doesn’t claim even one more. Will you help me, Rianne? Will you lead your people to safety?”
“And leave you here to face him alone?” She glanced around, taking stock of her comrades. “Jeb can stay and fight by your side. And Tomas. Jeb is my youngest boy. Tomas, my nephew. I raised him, too. Will ye do it, lads?”
The last was directed at two young men barely able to stay on their feet. Rianne had already lost one son but she offered another without hesitation to help save innocent lives.
They glanced at each other. Passed a wordless message back and forth. “Aye, Mum,” Jeb replied. “We’d be proud to.”
They were nothing but skin and bones, half starved, trembling with exhaustion, yet they stepped up to serve. “I would be honored to have you fight by my side.” I put an arm around each of them and drew them aside, out of earshot.
“I need your skill and bravery for a much more important mission,” I said quietly. “Rianne will need your help in getting the others down the mountain safely. I’m putting their lives in your hands, lads.”
Neither of them looked strong enough to wield a sword, and I doubted they’d face anything more dangerous than a doe roaming through the forest in the moonlight, so I pulled a dagger from the sheath on the belt of one of the guards and handed it to Jeb then gave my own to Tomas. “Can I count on you?”
Holding a weapon again gave them both a jolt of energy. They stood tall. Two hands fisted, thumped chests in the traditional salute. “Yes, sir.”
I was humbled by these villagers. Reminded once again that warriors came in all shapes and sizes.
“You raised these boys well, Rianne. Now, gather your friends and go. Hurry!”
Chapter Seventeen
Magnus
I went first, to make sure the way was still clear. Jeb followed, then Rianne and the villagers, two of them supporting an old man who couldn’t walk on his own. Tomas took up the rear. I waited till they disappeared around a bend in the main passage before turning into the right-hand branch.
Here, they’d cleared the rubble away faster, possibly because the walls they uncovered bore dark smudges from the smoke of ancient torches. I imagined our ancestors wending their way by firelight through the dark passage to a secret temple deep in the heart of the mountain.
The passage twisted and turned. Suddenly, from up ahead, shouts and cheers echoed off the stone walls. They’d obviously found their target. I picked up my pace, smiling. No one would hear my approach with the din they were making. Chaos working in my favor.
The passage widened out into a larger cavern. Piles of rock littered the floor. The remaining captives had been shoved back and a group of the Dark Lord’s followers, perhaps twenty in all, were digging madly, uncovering a massive bronze door stone by stone. No one looked my way. They were all bent on their task.
I crept silently to where the prisoners huddled and, before anyone could see me, snatched a man who had moved away from the others. I clapped my hand over his mouth to stifle any cries and pulled him behind a pile of boulders. He struggled to break my hold, but even if he hadn’t been in a starved and weakened state, he was no match for my strength.
“Sssh. Don’t be alarmed,” I whispered. “I’m not going to harm you. I’m a friend. Rianne sent me to help you escape.”
The use of a familiar name calmed him, and he relaxed enough to listen.
I explained the plan in as few words as possible then set him loose. He approached his fellow prisoners, one after another, and crouched down beside them. I didn’t need to hear what he said. The expressions on their faces told the whole story. Shock, disbelief, denial. Then a dawning hope.
I stood guard, ready to slay anyone who tried to block their escape, but it wasn’t necessary. Their captors were so intent on uncovering the door to get to the riches they’d been promised, they never noticed when the villagers disappeared one by one into the dark passage. Their excited babble covered any sounds the captives made.
The rocks got larger as they worked their way down. It took three men, groaning and straining, to roll away the last huge boulder. When they cleared the doorway, they stepped aside and bowed. A man I hadn’t seen before strode to the forefront, appearing as if by magic.
“Well done.” He put out a hand, stroked the bronze as though it was the breast of his beloved. His voice was deep and warm. “Power. Glory. Riches beyond belief.” He turned and faced the band of men. “All will soon be yours. You have served me faithfully.”
So this was our enemy. The Lord of Darkness.
From all we’d read, I expected to see someone more…menacing. Ten feet tall with horns sprouting from his head, covered in dark scales. At the very least, a forked tail and fiery red eyes.
Instead the man before me was tall and imposing. Dressed in a simple crimson robe that covered him head to toe, he carried himself with dignity. His handsome face had an agelessness to it for a being who’d lived over a thousand years, if the tales were to be believed. Smooth white skin stretched taut over prominent cheekbones with no hint of a wrinkle, piercing black eyes, full rosy red lips. Black hair slicked back like that of the aristocrats I’d seen in portraits at the Royal Museum. He seemed to be surrounded by a reddish-gold glow. A warm seductive glow that made me want to get close enough for it to surround me, too. I rubbed my eyes but the illusion remained.
A male less secure in his own manhood might have felt threatened by the pull of attraction I felt. But I recognized there was nothing sexual about it. He exuded a dark magnetism. Whether it was the source of his power or merely the effect of it was unclear.
