Read Online The Sorcerer's Return (The Sorcerer's Path) by Brock Deskins - Free Book Online
Authors: Brock Deskins
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Azerick promised.
“You killed several of us here tonight!” the Inquisitor accused.
“You forced this battle.”
The speaker looked at his trapped and fallen fellows and shifted his eyes to the sorcerer and the awe-inspiring dragon. Such a thing was a creature of legend and nightmare. How this man came to befriend one, he could not fathom. What he did know was that he was beaten.
“Where are the others, the ones lost to the rift?”
Azerick shrugged. “Somewhere in Sumara. Transdimensional magic is not my specialty. Most of them should have survived their journey, assuming it took them where I intended. Fight me again, and I will rip open a gate straight to the deepest pits if the abyss and throw you all in where my demons will devour your flesh and drink your souls.”
Azerick turned and walked briskly away. Ellyssa and Sandy followed him into the darkness. Behind another rise, Raijaun hid in deep cleft between boulders, using his demonic magic to wrap himself in impenetrable darkness. He rushed out of his hiding spot and hugged Azerick tightly.
Out of earshot of the Inquisitors, Ellyssa finally spoke the question she had been dying to ask since Sandy appeared. “Sandy, how did you get here, and when did you get so damned big?” she exclaimed.
Sandy’s scaly face could not hide her grin as Azerick spoke a word and made a gesture. Her image wavered and shrank before their eyes until she was her normal, but still formidable size.
“It was all an illusion?”
“Like I said, sometimes a bluff is better than a good hand,” Azerick responded with a smirk.
“But her roar and the fire and the shaking ground ?”
“All augmented by me. When her appearance caused the Inquisitors to balk their attack on me, I was able to lend my power to her breath and the effects of her magic.”
“But how did she find us?” Ellyssa asked.
“I was able to contact her when we were in Sandusk.”
Sandy said, “Imagine my surprise when I went to get a drink from my spring and saw Azerick’s face staring at me from the water!” She craned her neck down and studied Azerick. “So it really is you. You smell funny.”
“I’m not quite myself,” Azerick replied. “Come, we need to put some distance between us and these idiots in case they get free and suddenly develop another acute case of stupidity. Sandy, you know where to meet us?”
The young dragon nodded , trotted a short ways away, and took to the air. Ellyssa shielded her eyes as the wind from Sandy’s beating wings kicked up dust, sand, and gravel. Once free of the ground, Sandy quickly vanished into the darkness of the night.
Azerick slashed at the air with his staff and portal opened in the space before him. Ellyssa watched him pause to steady himself, giving evidence to his exhaustion and the strain of the night’s battle. Azerick spied the look of concern on his apprentice’s face, smiled, and nodded at the portal.
Ellyssa took Raijaun by the hand and stepped through, reeling and stumbling as she exited more than a mile from where Azerick stood on the other side. Azerick crossed over a moment later, and Ellyssa watched him stagger just a bit. This was the first time Azerick had shown how exhausted he was. She was concerned to see he was reaching his limitations, but at the same time relieved to know he had them.
“Do you want to stop and rest?” she asked worriedly.
Azerick took several deep breaths and shook his head. “We need to keep moving. I do not want to encourage the Inquisitors to follow us. It is unlikely we would survive a second encounter. I just hope they continue to believe my bluff and do not realize it for what it was.”
He steadied himself , opened a rift once more, and took them another mile away. Azerick did not falter as he stepped through, but Ellyssa saw the effort it took firmly set in his face. He obviously did not want her to see how weak and tired he was. Two more gates took them almost five miles from the battle
“You killed several of us here tonight!” the Inquisitor accused.
“You forced this battle.”
The speaker looked at his trapped and fallen fellows and shifted his eyes to the sorcerer and the awe-inspiring dragon. Such a thing was a creature of legend and nightmare. How this man came to befriend one, he could not fathom. What he did know was that he was beaten.
“Where are the others, the ones lost to the rift?”
Azerick shrugged. “Somewhere in Sumara. Transdimensional magic is not my specialty. Most of them should have survived their journey, assuming it took them where I intended. Fight me again, and I will rip open a gate straight to the deepest pits if the abyss and throw you all in where my demons will devour your flesh and drink your souls.”
Azerick turned and walked briskly away. Ellyssa and Sandy followed him into the darkness. Behind another rise, Raijaun hid in deep cleft between boulders, using his demonic magic to wrap himself in impenetrable darkness. He rushed out of his hiding spot and hugged Azerick tightly.
Out of earshot of the Inquisitors, Ellyssa finally spoke the question she had been dying to ask since Sandy appeared. “Sandy, how did you get here, and when did you get so damned big?” she exclaimed.
Sandy’s scaly face could not hide her grin as Azerick spoke a word and made a gesture. Her image wavered and shrank before their eyes until she was her normal, but still formidable size.
“It was all an illusion?”
“Like I said, sometimes a bluff is better than a good hand,” Azerick responded with a smirk.
“But her roar and the fire and the shaking ground ?”
“All augmented by me. When her appearance caused the Inquisitors to balk their attack on me, I was able to lend my power to her breath and the effects of her magic.”
“But how did she find us?” Ellyssa asked.
“I was able to contact her when we were in Sandusk.”
Sandy said, “Imagine my surprise when I went to get a drink from my spring and saw Azerick’s face staring at me from the water!” She craned her neck down and studied Azerick. “So it really is you. You smell funny.”
“I’m not quite myself,” Azerick replied. “Come, we need to put some distance between us and these idiots in case they get free and suddenly develop another acute case of stupidity. Sandy, you know where to meet us?”
The young dragon nodded , trotted a short ways away, and took to the air. Ellyssa shielded her eyes as the wind from Sandy’s beating wings kicked up dust, sand, and gravel. Once free of the ground, Sandy quickly vanished into the darkness of the night.
Azerick slashed at the air with his staff and portal opened in the space before him. Ellyssa watched him pause to steady himself, giving evidence to his exhaustion and the strain of the night’s battle. Azerick spied the look of concern on his apprentice’s face, smiled, and nodded at the portal.
Ellyssa took Raijaun by the hand and stepped through, reeling and stumbling as she exited more than a mile from where Azerick stood on the other side. Azerick crossed over a moment later, and Ellyssa watched him stagger just a bit. This was the first time Azerick had shown how exhausted he was. She was concerned to see he was reaching his limitations, but at the same time relieved to know he had them.
“Do you want to stop and rest?” she asked worriedly.
Azerick took several deep breaths and shook his head. “We need to keep moving. I do not want to encourage the Inquisitors to follow us. It is unlikely we would survive a second encounter. I just hope they continue to believe my bluff and do not realize it for what it was.”
He steadied himself , opened a rift once more, and took them another mile away. Azerick did not falter as he stepped through, but Ellyssa saw the effort it took firmly set in his face. He obviously did not want her to see how weak and tired he was. Two more gates took them almost five miles from the battle
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