Read Online The Archimage Wars: Wizard of Abal by Philip Blood - Free Book Online

and the
remnant of the Star you used to escape, but it was too old to track
your destination. They hit you with the spell just as you stepped
into the circle, which is how you escaped. Unfortunately, you were
already under the effect of the memory spell. You arrived at your
destination, but your mind was damaged. Fortunately, one of your
servants was with you, and he rescued your body, moving it to a
hidden location so you could heal.”
    “ How do you know all this?”
I asked softly.
    “ Pox, your servant, or at
least the phantom of Pox, eventually told me you were alive. In the
years which followed your memory loss, Pox kept your body hidden
and protected, though he eventually died defending it. Even then he
stayed near you as a ghost, which is what he was when he finally
sought me out. He wouldn’t leave your body, or even tell me where
you were hidden; he is insanely loyal to your line. After he was
slain his ghost came to me, begging for help. He convinced me, and
I reached out to a mage I knew, and they made him into a phantom.
It was the only way I knew to give him some kind of physical form
so he could continue to help protect you. The process of becoming a
Phantom is not pretty, so now he is a malformed thing. Eventually,
many years later, he came to me again and told me what had
happened, though he didn’t know who it was who attacked you. He did
tell me there were three mages, each from a different House. I only
learned that part recently, when Pox contacted me and told me you
had finally awoken from your coma.”
    “ You’re saying I was in a
coma for twenty-four years?” I asked.
    Fiona nodded, “Mages don’t age,
Nicholas, not like mundanes. Once we reach adulthood we can alter
reality around us, and that includes using Self Image to keep your
body at any age you desire. When you were hit with the spell your
Self Image kept your body young, holding you at the age you chose
earlier. Meanwhile, it took your subconscious a long time to
unravel the spell enough to break free. I had no idea where you
were, and neither did anyone, other than Pox. As long as you were
in a coma, he wouldn’t even tell me where to find you. For the
first twenty-one years of the twenty-four you were in a coma, I
thought you were dead, so I wasn’t even looking for
you.”
    “ So, can you remove the
rest of the spell blocking my memory?” I asked.
    She replied, “I’ll try, give me a
moment. Her beautiful features hardened into a look of
concentration. Then she said, "Do you remember
anything?"
    I shook my head negatively.
    Fiona looked apologetic, “I tried,
Nick, but it didn't work. I don't think the sigil is still active,
so the spell has worn off, but it may already have eaten at your
memories. I'm sorry, Nick, but they could be permanently gone.
However, the mind is a tricky thing; so those memories may also
come back to you at some point. I just don’t know.”
    Hydan was about to say something, but
right then the door burst open with such force it tore off the
hinges and the whole door flew into a nearby table, knocking three
people to the ground.
    Fiona stood and turned to face the
disturbance calmly.
    What shouldered itself inside was a
very large man, like a linebacker on mega-steroids, but this guy
looked, well, dead. His clothes were half rotted and there was dirt
caked on him like he had crawled out of a grave recently. His lips
were half twisted and frozen in a bazaar position, revealing his
teeth and rotting gums. One of his dried eyeballs was hanging down
onto his cheek, like a shriveled grape. The other orb was milky
white, but it was scanning the room.
    Patrons of the pub were backing away,
and a couple of women screamed.
    “ What, in the fiery pits of
hell, is that!” I exclaimed.
    “ Necrosoul… probably
controlled by a Dokkalfar,” Hydan noted dispassionately, and then
added, “big one, too.”
    That’s when the windows around the pub
burst inwards in a shower of glass, and more necrosouls could