Whispers (Book 3 of Wielder series)

Chapter 18 - Dark Arts

Darrel's gut flipped, even though he had no idea what Willy was talking about. "What's the Dark Arts?"

   "An abomination," Willy spat, pulling away from the book. Though he hadn't seemed to touch it, his hands trembled as he moved them back to his sides. "A forcing of the mixture of magic and Evil. It makes the impossible possible."

   Darrel lowered his weapons in confusion. "I thought magic and Evil were like opposites."

   "They are, usually. But the Dark Arts combines them. It takes the strength and creation capabilities of magic and meshes them with the horrors of the Evil. What it creates is a treachery of the worst kind."

   Another chill swept down Darrel's back. "Like what?"

   Willy's gaze, when it lifted to him, was hard, terrified, and full of a terrible need for vengeance. "Like destroying the entire realm to turn back time so the one you love doesn't die."

   Darrel's eyes widened. "The emperor's spell is in there?"

   "I don't know if that particular spell is in this volume, but it's possible." He shuddered roughly, as if he could shake the horror right off of himself. "And that's just one spell. There's hundreds of spells in here."

   "Why would Tyla have a Dark Arts spell book?"

   "Maybe it was passed down to her. Her father had to have had one, in order to know that spell." Willy looked across the desk, searching it more closely. "The question is whether she's planning to use it."

   "Why would she need to? She's the empress, now. What more could she possibly want?"

   "Lots of things. She has the throne, but no loyal following. The people don't know her; they fear she'll further her father's tyrannical reign. The nobles don't respect her; she hasn't done anything to either force them to fall in line or buy their support. The council doesn't like her; she isn't allowing them to force their agendas, which I respect, but she doesn't seem to have an agenda of her own, either. She seems to want the Realm to run itself."

   "So... you think she could be looking for a way to magically force people to be loyal to her?"

   "It's a possibility. But there's other spells in here that are equally dangerous: immortality, the corruption of worlds, seeing into the future. Things that shouldn't be possible."

   Darrel leaned over the desk, searching for whatever Willy had seen in the book that made him think it contained such dangerous information. But aside from a scrawling text in a language he couldn't read, it just seemed like a regular book. He couldn't even feel any power radiating from it.

   He hadn't realized he'd reached his hand out to touch a page until Willy grabbed him by the wrist. "Don't," he snapped sharply.

   Darrel pulled his hand away, his cheeks warming with embarrassment. "Is there a way to know what spell she's planning to cast?"

   "No. It could be any of them. Or several of them. It's possible she's already cast what she wants. Maybe that's why the book is here, and not somewhere more accessible." Sighing, he scrubbed his face with a trembling hand. "It's impossible to know."

   "So, what do we do?"

   Willy shook his head. "Nothing. There's nothing we can do. Either the damage is already done, or it's about to be, and all we can do is keep our eyes open for it."

   Darrel clenched his jaw. He had a feeling that whatever Tyla was planning, she hadn't set it into motion yet. He thought back to his encounter with Victoria, and the way she'd sauntered away from him. What had she said about Commander Sole's Phantoms?