Witch (The Mage Saga Book 2) by Ken Warner

Author:Ken Warner [Warner, Ken]
Language: eng
Format: epub
Publisher: Vibrant Circle Books LLC
Published: 2022-02-27T16:00:00+00:00

Chapter Seventeen: Escort

Jezebel sat in stunned silence. The story of Nyro had seemed like something out of a dark, twisted fairy tale—not real history. Myrddin was the only necromancer she’d ever met—the same was true for anyone alive today, she reminded herself. And he was perfectly benign. But Jezebel recalled the way he’d killed Nomad and shuddered to think what Nyro might be like were she to return.

“But that can’t be,” Khaldun said, sounding alarmed. “The elves killed her…”

“The truth is that we don’t know for certain what the elves did,” Raphael said. “For years after the fall of the Pythan Empire, the university purged the library of every work concerning necromancy. The governors at the time grew overzealous—the merest mention of the topic was enough for a book to be destroyed. Many purely historical writings were lost in the process. Everything we know about the final battle—which isn’t much—comes to us by oral tradition. Legend says that the elves killed Nyro and destroyed her demons. Yet rumors have always persisted that Nyro’s soul lived on. And it’s entirely possible—she did learn her own name. Such knowledge provides immense power.

“Enigma’s message makes me wonder many things; it casts a shadow upon my heart. I would guess now that Syllith was researching the final days of the empire. She must have found something that prompted her to visit Pytha—and it sounds like whatever she discovered was dire indeed. No trivial concern would have driven Enigma to leave so abruptly.”

“But you just told us that the university destroyed historical records of those days,” said Khaldun. “How could Syllith have been doing that kind of research?”

“Many of the princedoms have libraries of their own,” Raphael said with a shrug. “Syllith did travel extensively. Perhaps the purge wasn’t as comprehensive elsewhere as it was here. I can’t say for sure—but it’s clear she found something. And the reason for her expulsion seems more apparent now. If she was digging up information about Nyro and the end of her reign, it’s no wonder the other governors forced her out.”

They sat quietly for a few minutes, considering Raphael’s words.

“I still have to try to find Enigma,” Jezebel said quietly. “How far is it to the watchtower?”

Raphael rose to his feet. He pulled out an enormous scroll from the top of one of the bookshelves. As he unrolled it on his desk, Jezebel realized that it was a map.

“As the crow flies, we are over five-hundred miles from Spanbrook,” he said, tracing the route with his finger. He continued to a point in the Anthar Mountains. “The northwestern watchtower is here—more than eight hundred miles from where you now stand.”

Jezebel’s heart sank. “That’s a journey of thirty days, at least. And then I still have to return all that way to Spanbrook…”

“I’m afraid an overland journey will take considerably longer than that,” Raphael told her. “The Great Desert occupies much of the distance between here and there. And the Forsaken Hills lie across your path as well. Crossing such terrain is much slower than what you’ve experienced so far.

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