18: That Old Ghayne

Vo read the last shift change and more of the layout from a mage he slayed on his way back to the ledge.

"There seems to be a choke point in the corner behind the distiller. If we block that entrance, we limit the amount of guards to enter."

"It doesn't lead anywhere." Morley countered Vo's suggestion.

"Oh? So you've been past there?" Zen carefully asked.

"Nothing is there." Morley answered with a bit more force and went to crouch down on the ledge.

Zen and Vo shared a look: both detecting odd behavior from the man.

They approached Morley's side to survey the production lines.

"I count at least 15 people and a similar number of mages. This won't be easy." Vo sighed. "Your mist suppression won't cause harm?"

"They'll feel like they've had a good time and pass out like they were drunk. So no, not really." Zen reassured Vo.

Morley's eyes darted side to side, making sure the men were focused on the scene below. He slipped out a paper disc from his pocket. Vo saw and grabbed the man's arm just as he broke it.

Bells rang across the chamber to alert the mages.

"Shit!" Zen rose to cast magic but was caught in an air blast that sent him flying into a wall.

Morley attacked Vo with fortified strength and speed only magic could enhance. Still recovering from the last attack, Vo was unable to throw him off and had Shane knocked out of his hand.

A mage staff cast an air wave that knocked Vo into the wall next to Zen.

"Well, that was a nice double cross." Zen panted as he struggled to stand.

Mages hurriedly approached to cast another air wave on the men to keep them rooted.

"You're a guard for your people?" Vo said to Morley.

"Unlike them, I was never enthralled. I'm more than happy for the village to be imperial slave fodder."

"Hartland won't save you."

Morley knelt condescendingly over the men who were unable to move and their consciousness slipping. "Nah, but they pay well. Getting rid of two abominations adds to a pretty sweet deal." He rose as the mages closed in to cast another spell, rendering the men unconscious.

· · ─ ·✶· ─ · ·

"Volance, you're here again." Akari didn't hide her excitement in seeing her Vo before her.

Vo watched Akari step away from the oriel window, where the clear circle panes drew in the light to bath her image with glory.

"Let's go Akari. I'll take you anywhere you want. If I can't, then do what you need to do." Vo relished the warm daylight her body cast on his face.

But Akari turned around to return to the window: her image being vague within the shadows.

"You'll lose yourself, Vo. I can't let that happen."

"Why? I don't want them to hurt you; worse, use you." Vo reached out for her, but his hands weren't connecting to her body. "Akari!"

"You're too important. Find the Lodshen: listen to them. They'll guide your way back to me when... time... right..."

Vo desperately clutched the air that became Akari's fading body. "No! Akari!"

He felt a pleasant vibration calm his nerves and her humming soothing his mind.

A hit of ice and jarring pain snapped him back to consciousness. He gasped for breath, feeling soaking wet. His upper armor had been removed so his muscly torso was bare. His arms were pulled, taut, over his head and bound together, so he hung on a ceiling hook. Through his struggles he realized his legs were bound together at the ankles.

"How original. Stringing us up like butchered carcasses." Zen yawned.

"Are you okay?" Vo whispered, seeing the man next to him.

"Fine. Just hanging out. Nothing major, like being strung up to dry, am I right?" Zen nervously joked and clicked his tongue.

"Funny man. I knew there was something clever about you." Leizan stepped before them.

Vo frowned. "Leizan? So you did betray your own people."

"Me? Oh Vo, see that's why you can never be the emperor."

As Leizan slowly stepped closer, mist swelled around his body. The man's image morphed and transformed into someone else.

He became a man Vo absolutely hated with every fiber of his being. This man was younger with long blond hair gathered in a small crown headpiece and ponytail: his body was leaner in white robes and more agile for a sorcerer.

So many memories from Vo's recent past flooded chaotically to his mind, but he held them all back as he watched the man's approach.

The nox mortre mages were given an order to stay on guard and refresh the restraint magic.

Vo and Zen yelped when they felt a slimy coldness suppress their will to move more than a hand.

"Ghayne Mail. I should've known."

Zen noticed the slight quiver and emotion in Vo's words. A dark energy was emitted from them. He gulped.

"My liege sends his regards. When I told him you were standing before me unawares, he decided to set a little game for you." Ghayne grinned with malice as he confidently paraded around the men.

"If Vo Vo can figure out who I am under guise, I'll let the people go free." He laughed and added with a sting, "But you failed so the people die. Either now or later once they cross the border with a sizable product."

"Arling's behind this?"

"Disrespectful!" Ghayne snapped.

Vo stared at him for some time, collecting his thoughts. When Ghayne saw he had no retort, he mistook Vo's silence as a sign of defeat.

As he turned to bark an order to the Nox Mortre mages, Vo said his last words.

"My half-brother Arling must really feel so confident on the throne he won with bloodshed. As the Oracle's foretelling goes, he who rules through bloodshed shall drown in a river of it and..."

Ghayne took hurried strides to face Vo so close their noses touched. "Arling is the Emperor. He can kill you with a thought."

"The Oracle never lies. Arling cursed himself when he killed my family for that throne. So take this back to your liege. I'm the hand of his salvation, which is the sword through his heart." Vo calmly stated, which had Ghayne taking steps away from him.

He added, "And Rogue? You will not gain a single thing from it except the anguish of failure."

Ghayne snapped at the mages to set them up to an array. "Bold words. No one will believe you when you're sucked dry to be the energy fueling this operation. After all, that's why Leizan asked you to investigate and be here."

Zen and Vo were weakened by magic. The mages unhooked their bodies and carried them out of the chamber and into a large circular area where the floor was one big pentagon array, and human limbs formed the rune lines and patterns.

The symbol of infinity was painted in silver at the center.

"At least something is paint and not body parts. This kind of body art display is really disgusting and creepy," Zen nervously muttered.

The men were propped up before the infinity loop symbol on ceiling hooks, then left alone.

A thrumming drone and rhythmic chanting slammed into their ears and brains, further weakening their bodies to make them relax in their binds. As he chanted spells increased in volume the array glowed with red magic light.

Vo and Zen cried out when their lifeforce was being drained by the array's magic.