Legacy of the Necromancer [Legacy, BK1 - Completed]

Chapter 10.3

John helped me down the hall to the kitchen, where we had to play guess which door was the basement. We found the large walk in pantry and the garage before finding the stairs leading down into darkness. The waves were coming faster, stronger. I could barely stand as John guided me down the stairs.

The basement was nearly bare. Flickering candlelight revealed a concrete floor, exposed wooden framework, and unfinished drywall. A cluttered table was pushed into the far corner, next to a old mantle and a large old mirror, covered with a drape so that only the bottom left corner reflected in the light.

A large design was painted in white on the floor. The circles and sigils looked familiar, like the ones from my summoning spell. When we got to the bottom of the stairs, I knelt down and held a hand out over the painted lines. Power pulsed from them, sending the waves out and through me like a tidal wave. I looked out across the designs on the floored.

They weren't like the ones in my circles. They were the designs. The exact same sigils, in fact.

"How in the world has he managed this?" I mumbled to myself. "How is it even possible. He's not a Reinhardt."

"You're right, I'm not." Nathan came around the only corner in the basement, back behind where the stairs led up to the kitchen. I could see a bunch of book shelves and something else I couldn't quite make out in the darkness. "But I do have an impeccable memory, and blood Talent. Now that, that is a very powerful tool."

I stood, wavering only a little as the world swam around me. John's hand steadied me.

Nathan circled around us, walking slowly towards the table. "Have the right kind of blood and you can do anything. Go anywhere." He shrugged. "Be anyone."

"Where's my brother and Thea?" I demanded.

"Oh, I'm sure they're quite preoccupied at the moment." Nathan's gave a nasty little smile. "I'm so glad you decided to join us, and who said a Necromancer and a Witch couldn't be friends, uh? Look at you two, all Fox and the Hound."

"I don't know, it seems to me like you've more experience in that area than I do." Focusing on standing up straighter, I tried not to feel the pulse that wanted to pull me back to the ground. It screamed at me, urged me to feed my power into it.

Nathan raised an eyebrow up at me. "I see. That is unfortunate. I guess we'll just have to do this the messy way." He picked up a knife from the table and studied it for a moment, turning it this way and that to look at it in the candlelight. I recognized it at the Ackland's sacred item, the Blade of Shezmu.

"Do what?" John asked. I could feel him reaching into the earth below us with his power.

Nathan looked at us. "Why, kill you, of course." He threw knife at John.

I dove to the side, but John didn't move. Instead, earth bubbled up breaking the concrete on the floor to grow upwards, blocking Nathan's attack. I expected the knife to fall to the floor but it bounced, turned in mid-air, and shot straight for me. Before I could get over my surprise, the ground shot up in front of me, blocking the knife again.

John popped up beside me and we ducked behind the earthen wall.

"Let's give it more targets. If we can distract Nathan, it might stop whatever spell he's got on the knife."

I nodded, understanding. "I just need you to cover me while I cast."

John stood and ran across the room, drawing Nathan's attention, and the knife, towards him.

Taking a deep breath, I focused on the summoning chant, whispering it under all the noise John was making with the earth and concrete. But as I started the last few words of the spell, a blast knocked me back, breaking my concentration. It sent me flying back into the wall. Pain exploded in my mind, sending stars across my vision.