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Thomas said as he was forced to his feet, “but I don’t think you’re the King.”
    The response he got was a laugh that chilled his very bones.
    “No,” the man replied, “not exactly.” Then he raised his hand, and the hissing creatures increased pressure on Thomas. He felt his arms start to ache in protest from the pressure, and his legs caved. Before he knew it, he was on his knees.
    “I, my boy, am the Dark Priest.”
    Thomas’ head shot up even as his jaw dropped. His eyes saucers in his head, Thomas could only reply, “no way.”
    “I know, I’m not nearly as imposing as the legends state,” the shadow replied , “but I am who I claim. Meaning the prize you seek tonight is mine by right.”
    “We…” Thomas’ brain stalled. He urged himself to think, but nothing was coming to mind. This couldn’t be the Dark Priest. He refused to accept it. His skin wasn’t crawling with fear nearly enough for it to be. But the pretender still had Thomas captured, and he had to stall for time. He couldn’t just stay quiet, he had to think of something…
    “We aren’t seeking anythin’,” was his half-witted reply. As soon as the words left his mouth he wished he had them back.
    As life often dictates, this was not to be.
    “No? Then tell me, why are you in the castle? Why are you pushing aside the General’s weapons to get what’s behind? If you aren’t seeking, you most certainly know where to look.”
    A twinge of pain rifled through Thomas’ arm, and in anger he spat, “what are these Gods-forsaken things?”
    The robed figure laughed. “Those? They’re my latest pets. I tried using the undead, but those are far too messy and unreliable. Anything with a brain is untrustworthy, really. So these I call my… Others.”
    “Others?” Thomas repeated, a little let down. “That’s the best you can come up with?”
    “I know, it’s not much of a name,” the pretend Priest replied, “but it’s all I could come up with under such short notice.”
    “Short… you’re just now using these… things?”
    “Oh yes. Ever since my defeat five years ago, I’ve had to start all over. Oh, the shame of it all. But I think I’ve started out well. I have new soldiers, and all I need is my staff to consolidate my power. ” He lifted his head and raised his voice before finishing. “Now, dear girl, hand it here.”
    Thomas turned to face Miranda, who was standing by the throne holding what looked to Thomas like a branch glowing with purple fire. It was subdued, as if it burned with dark power simply because it knew no other way, but when the pretend Priest spoke the purple grew deeper . It didn’t get brighter or visibly throw off flames, but the purple just got more intense, more powerful.
    More inviting.
    Thomas found that he couldn’t look away from the staff, and the staff wouldn’t look away from him. Even the Others holding him seemed to loosen their grip as the staff called out. He could hear it speaking. There was a whisper that moved like an insect on Thomas’ skin.
    It scared him.
    “Come then, bring it to me.”
    Miranda stared down at the staff, her whole body shaking. That staff… it had power all its own. Thomas could see Miranda debate it in her head, trying to resist but unable to fight off the temptation of the staff. Slowly, she started moving forward.
    “No!”
    The shout came in unison from the Trask twins, but they were held down by four Others, and there was nothing they could do. Only Thomas stood between Miranda and the pretend Priest, and Thomas couldn’t find it within him to move.
    Then he felt the ghost pain of a nine year old kicking him in the shin, and he smiled. All of the lectures he gave her about being a good girl and behaving, and he was going to just stand there and let their adventure end before it had even begun.
    He’d never hear the end of it.
    Miranda started climbing the stairs, and for one moment she was even with Thomas. And in that moment, Thomas