Page 10 of Midnight Kingdom

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BARON

The red flashes die and I push forward with the others behind me. I can hardly believe Pyre was able to craft such a spell. The necromancer clearly has powers beyond our understanding. I stand tall as we move past the guards. Their unblinking gazes are foggy and the rigidness of their posture is unnatural—they don’t put up a fight.

I push open the door to the castle and find myself in the servant’s entrance. Cambion passes me first. Then Eilish and Flumph with Dragan taking up the rear. Cambion continues down the long, narrow corridor, passing the charred walls I left behind during my first extravagant escape.

Dragan and Cambion stand on either side of the door as I crack it open. I allow my eyes a few moments to adjust to the darkness of the hall.

“Straight through,” I say in a low tone, still facing forward.

Dragan nods. “We can cut across the throne room and head to the North Tower from there,” he finishes as Eilish moves past him. Flumph flies ahead of her, his little crossbow aimed in front of him. Six guards line the hall but they’ve fallen under the influence of Pyre’s spell just like the guards outside the castle. We hurry past them without notice or incident and the sprite sticks his tongue out at them as he flits past their heads. Bloody annoying thing.

At the end of the hall is a door leading to the throne room. It’s quite interesting that there is no one manning the door. I have to assume it’s protected by wards and yet, the closer we come, the more I notice a lack of humming electricity that would point at protection wards.

Cambion takes the lead once more with Dragan and me flanking his advance. We move like a well-oiled machine, predicting one another’s movements before they even occur. I begin to feel like my old self again—the old Revenant, that is. My strength has returned along with a feeling of excitement that wells up deep within me. It’s moments such as this one, when facing danger, that I enjoy the most. My life has otherwise been quite the humdrum and dull existence. But, truly, nothing can compare to the sense of fear mixed with the anticipation of a dangerous exploit. And as I recognize the feelings billowing through me, I realize it has been too long since I’ve found myself in such a situation. Truly, I thrive on danger and I… need it.

I watch as, up ahead, six guards step out of the shadows. I lift my hand to stop the others in their progression and we stick to the walls as we take refuge in the protecting shadows. These soldiers are... gargoyles? I can’t help my surprise.

“Pyre’s spell must not have worked on them,” I whisper.

“Gargoyles,” Dragan grumbles at the same time. There’s disbelief in his tone that matches the same wonder rippling through me. God knows these bastards weren’t here when I escaped last time.

“Can you do anything about them, Dragan?” Eilish asks.

“Look at their eyes,” he replies and as I do, I notice their eyes are as black as night, not the usual gray of the gargoyle race.

“They’ve been out of the Shadow Realm for a long time,” Dragan continues. “Whatever Variant has done to them, they’re no longer under my command. I know them though. They fought with me on the battlefield and that’s where I thought they’d died.”

Of course, the gargoyles take notice of us and advance almost immediately. As I’m dressed as one of them, I step away from my crew and shake my head, pretending to have been taken hostage.

“Good thing I ran into you,” I say to the gargoyle soldier in front. He gives me a quizzical expression but then shakes his head, clearly not believing my artificial story.

The largest soldier steps beside this one and swings an enormous axe in my direction. I dodge the blow and retreat, only to come face to face with another stone beast. Even though this one is much thinner than his comrade, he possesses sharp talons.

Cambion and Dragan draw their swords as I reach for my satchel of potions around my waist. If I can findPetrifying Draught, I can return the gargoyles to their solid stone shapes, thus disabling them. At the sound of a gasp behind me, I turn to see Eilish as she kicks another gargoyle away from her. He drops to the ground and I immediately see the signature of Eilish’s dagger drawn across his neck.

She crawls between the legs of another, who appears locked in the net of her Succubae trap, and stabs her blade into the fleshy part of his thigh. He roars and grips her round the neck, lifting her off her feet until she dangles in front of him, flailing and kicking at him as she struggles against his hold. Flumph shoots at the large beast with his bolts, but they bounce against his armor and clatter to the floor uselessly.

“You!” Dragan roars at the creature who makes the mistake of turning to face him. Cambion takes advantage and strikes the lanky gargoyle across the head with his broadsword. The gargoyle releases Eilish immediately as he falls back and lands on the ground. She lands beside him and massages her neck as she breathes in deeply and the color returns to her cheeks.

“Close call,” Cambion says with a curt smile while he looks down at her and offers her a hand. She takes it and he pulls her to her feet as she nods her thanks.

“We’re running out of time, Revenant!” Dragan growls at me. At the same time, I locate a vial ofGelsemium Pulvil.Petrifying Draughtis nowhere to be found so I’ll have to rely on theGelsemium, instead. I dump the contents of the jar into my hand. Fine, red powder coats my palm as the others battle the remaining four gargoyles.

“Get down, cover your face and hold your breath!” I shout as I watch the others hit the floor hard and follow my instructions, facing the ground as they cover their heads with their arms. I waste no time in blowing the fine, red dust, watching as it spreads through the air in front of me, causing a red cloud of dust that grows pink at the edges. Each of the gargoyles clutches their throats as they fight for breath they won’t be able to take. Fairly soon, they drop at my feet.

“It’s safe to get up,” I announce once theGelsemiumhas dissipated and the gargoyles are no longer a threat.

Eilish looks up at me with questions in her eyes as she pulls herself to a seated position and then stands. I simply shrug and explain, “It’s a type of paralysis powder.”

I was actually quite impressed with Pyre’s extensive apothecary and made use of whatever I could.

Dragan shoves his shoulder against the large door leading out of the throne room and heads toward the north wing of the palace. I’m surprised we’ve encountered no wards in crossing the threshold into the north wing. We stumble upon a nest of five or so guards but they appear passed out—clearly, Pyre’s spell seems to still be potent. I imagine we have another forty minutes or so before Pyre’s enchantment will dissipate altogether.

Dragan circles back from scouting up ahead. The gargoyle looks as though he’s taken a few hits—there are cuts and bruises marring one side of his face and his forearms. “There were three more gargoyle guards up ahead. I took them all down, and it looks clear all the way to the tower’s entrance,” he growls through his teeth. “This place is too fucking quiet. It’s giving me the creeps.”

“Yes, there’s a surprising lack of obstacles in our path,” I agree as I wonder about the magnitude of Pyre’s enchantment. I had imagined it might not work on all creatures within Variant’s employ, case in point: the gargoyle soldiers. But, so far, it appears the enchantment has worked on all the others, with the exception of the gargoyles.

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