The Crimson Keep by Michael Morea

Author:Michael Morea [Morea, Michael]
Language: eng
Format: epub
Publisher: Kindle Direct Publishing
Published: 2024-02-26T22:00:00+00:00

Chapter 26:

Charon

Persephone pointed her sword at the Ghost.

“Don’t tell me…”

The man of few words contemplated aloud, “Did you ever stop to consider how this plan came together in the first place? Did it occur to you that we may have had help on the inside?”

The lady knight had no time for conversation with the masked man. She raised her pendant.

“Princess, you need to run. And stay away from the Chancellor’s aide!”

The Ghost declared, “It’s too late. There’s nothing you can do.” He strode forward, readying his blade.

Persephone lowered the pendant.

“Why? What are you trying to accomplish?”

The Ghost left her question unanswered.

“Let’s end this,” he simply stated, dashing ahead.

Persephone planted her right foot back. She brought her sword down to her waist, parallel with the ground. As the Ghost bore down upon her, she swung her blade, resulting in a mighty clash.

***

“Lylah, what are you doing?!” gasped the chancellor. He felt the cold steel of her dagger press against his throat.

“I’m sorry, but this must be done, for the restoration of Gudar,” she spouted. Her tone was apologetic yet also contained a certain amount of fanatical zeal.

Still in the middle of the trap, Seles peeked backwards, shocked to witness the situation unfolding. On the other end of the hall, Plutonus gloated.

“Oh, so this was the Ghost’s inside ‘man.’ Very clever.”

The princess whipped her head in the direction of the mercenary

“You were unaware?”

The bandit leader shrugged, commenting, “There are some things I am only told on a need-to-know basis.”

Seles blinked.

Just who was this Ghost? He didn’t seem like a subordinate to Plutonus at all…

More like… his employer.

***

The Caretaker had succeeded; a seam was forming along the crimson barrier. And not a moment too soon, for the hostages would be upon them shortly. However, Magnus was soon distracted by the cries of people coming from the Regulan camp. Peering around, he observed a dozen Regulan knights, led by Bolus and Tiberius, marching towards them. They were about fifty feet away.

“I order you to stop this instant!” bellowed Bolus, as he strode forward.

The Phoenix paid no attention to him, directing his concern back on the seam. It had grown from about a foot high to five feet and was about two feet wide. Beyond it, the hostages were in a desperate sprint, scrambling over the shifting sand and dodging the spears of their pursuers.

His hands shaking, the Caretaker was obviously straining to crack open the barrier even this much. The Phoenix concluded he had to act now. Moving ahead, Magnus twisted his body to the side, lowered his head, and slid through the seam. A loose, swaying bit of his tunic grazed the red aura and instantly disintegrated. Yet he made it out the other side, relatively intact.

Tartarus found his entrance disagreeable, though. Immediately, the terrain around the keep’s base shifted and split open. In the distance, the fortress was undulating once more. Just as the Caretaker had warned, it would not allow someone to interfere with its will…

***

Persephone and the Ghost’s battle had transitioned into a wide hall, where the Regulan knight was steadily losing ground.

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