Return of the Wizard King by Chad Corrie

Author:Chad Corrie
Language: eng
Format: epub
Publisher: Dark Horse Comics
Published: 2020-07-29T00:00:00+00:00

Chapter 15

Oh, his flame is everlasting,

Let it burn true inside of you.

Oh, his flame is everlasting,

Let it burn you through and through.

—A Remanic hymn

The sun was kissing the horizon when Dugan made his way to the edge of what had been a park a few centuries earlier. Now the sickly saplings, scraggy bushes, and large tracts of dry, open ground were surrounded on all sides by Elandor’s older districts and the outer wall of the great city. In the center of the park stood a temple. He guessed it was forty feet at most—tall, yes, but not as towering as he’d first imagined.

The temple was also old and constructed of volcanic rock, giving it a rough and slightly menacing appearance. Four pillars supported the corners of its flat roof that covered the stone walkway around the temple proper, resting about ten feet from the top of the smooth black steps leading up to it. Each column was inlaid with pieces of colored glass, making the pillars appear to be engulfed in flames whenever the sun shone upon them, as it did now at his approach.

Ignoring the extravagant display, Dugan raised his eyes to the temple’s crowning achievement: a bronze dome sitting above the black roof, crafted to appear as if it, too, was on fire. Its metallic, flame-shaped tendrils wrapped around its center, as if straining to grasp the fading sunlight.

The acrid tang of heavy smoke became more prominent as he ascended the steps, the air growing warmer until he stood on the last stair, forehead beaded with sweat. The atmosphere became so heavy as he neared the temple’s tall iron doors that he found it hard to breathe. Stopping to catch his breath, he slouched against the door frame. Who was he fooling? He’d never be free. Not from a pact with a god. For a moment, he thought about heading back and putting this whole foolish exercise behind him, when a small voice inside him encouraged him to continue. He didn’t know if the voice was real or imagined, but he knew that if he gave up now, he’d be tormented until his death with what could have been.

Fresh resolution rising from within, he gritted his teeth and forced his legs onward. Admiring the door’s metal, he found certain areas had been polished to reflect the sunlight, giving the illusion of white-hot iron fresh from the forge. He watched the sun dance off the rest of the metal, casting a scintillating patch of light a few steps from him. For a moment, it reminded him of what happened in Argis—the diamond-dust sparkle that had preceded the strange and haunting mass of tentacles that had gotten him into so much trouble. He still had no idea what had happened, sometimes wondering if he’d momentarily gone mad.

He tentatively rested his hand on the door, took a deep breath, and then made his way inside. The temple was hot and dark, dimly lit by torches and small braziers of glowing ash fixed to the walls at random intervals.

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