William Wilde and the Lord of Mourning by Davis Ashura

Author:Davis Ashura [Ashura, Davis]
Language: eng
Format: epub
Published: 2019-08-05T22:00:00+00:00

“BACK UP THE STAIRS,” William said.

They quickly got themselves going in the right direction. They ascended, and William explained the plan he and Serena had come up with.

Fragging hells. Why did Sapient have to find us now of all times? Why did he have to find us at all?

They reached the study they’d recently exited. Karla, Tam, and Rail immediately began yanking on the various candelabras. William, having brought up the rear, watched, not wanting to get in the way.

Rail glowered. He was pulling on a candelabra, rocking it back and forth. William inspected the right-side bookshelf, but it remained locked in place.

“I think this one might be it,” Rail said, “but it’s stuck.”

The sound of the front door crashing open echoed through the small castle. A leering laugh followed. “Small asrasins. Little magi. You don’t belong here.”

Sapient. William silently snarled. Fragging necrosed.

He gestured to Tam, indicating for him to help Rail while he carefully shut the door to the study. Karla brought over a high-backed chair, and they set it under the door handle, doing what they could to impede Sapient’s progress into the room.

It probably wouldn’t do any good, but better something than nothing.

A click from the right bookshelf drew William’s attention back into the room.

“Got it,” Rail hissed, his voice triumphant.

The bookshelf’s edge had pushed a finger’s breadth into the study. A brief wind whispered into the room before fading away, but it left a stale odor behind.

Karla went to the bookshelf, prepared to throw it open.

“Wait,” William warned. Karla held back, a questioning widening of her eyes. “The hinges might squeak and give us away.”

Tam grunted. “Good thinking.” He sourced his lorethasra, and the scent of cut wheat briefly filled the room. He braided Earth, Air, and Fire and sent the weave into the bookshelf’s hidden hinges. “A bit of lubricant. Try it now,” he instructed Karla.

She pulled on the bookshelf, and it opened silently, exposing a narrow spiral staircase.

“Go,” William said.

The others entered the enclosed passage. Tam took point, Rail on his heels, and followed by Karla. William brought up the rear. He closed the bookshelf behind them, glad to hear the lock latch again. He took an instant to weave a blue globe to provide illumination. The others, who were arrayed down the stairs, also held small lights.

They hunched in a slender corridor narrower than his shoulders, and he had to shuffle sideways to squeeze through it. Thankfully, a few steps farther down the passageway opened up enough for William to face forward again. Dust drifted on unseen currents, kicked up by their footsteps. He blinked, rubbing his eyes.

They descended a set of stairs, and William kept his focus on his footing, not wanting to slip on the hidden staircase’s narrow treads. No one spoke. They all knew not to. The only sounds came from Rail’s and Karla’s heavy breathing, and the whispering scuff of everyone’s boots.

As one, they startled to a halt when the noise of something powerful striking wood penetrated the passage. It had come from up above.

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