The Spell Realm (The Sorcery Code #2)(17)

“Good.” Augusta smiled again. “I knew we’d see eye to eye on this. Now I also need a book on locator, paralysis, and energy drainage spells, as well as a few texts for the physics project I’ve been working on.”

And with that, her mission was complete. Now all Augusta had to do was wait for the vote and hope that she had not misjudged Gina after all.





Chapter 10: Barson


Stealthily making his way through the Tower halls, Barson fixed his hood, making sure it covered his face. So far, no one had paid him any attention, making his plan of staying hidden remarkably easy to implement.

Approaching the now-empty Guard barracks, he took a look around to confirm that no one saw him, and entered the familiar quarters, lowering his hood on the way. As expected, his allies were already there, gathered in the room that typically served as the training area for the soldiers. Barson had asked Dara to send a Contact message to all of them, and it appeared they received his invitation.

There were five sorcerers standing there—three men and two women. At his entrance, the youngest, Kira, stepped forward and gave Barson a smile. “Hello, Captain,” she said warmly. “We’re glad to see you alive.”

“Indeed,” Vashel chimed in, his hands nervously playing with the hem of his tunic. “We’d heard some very disturbing rumors recently . . .” A short, thin man of indeterminate age, he had been among the last to join Barson’s cause, and he still seemed anxious about his decision.

“You should know better than to trust rumors. I’m not an easy man to kill,” Barson said, barely managing to veil his contempt. He hated weakness and indecisiveness in all its forms. Vashel hadn’t been among the five sorcerers Barson had originally approached, and if it weren’t for the fact that Ganir managed to get rid of two of his potential allies, Barson would’ve never considered working with the man. As it was, however, he had to hope that Vashel’s ambition would outweigh his cowardice.

“I think we all know that,” Noriella said calmly, looking at Barson. A talented sorceress, she, like Dara, was tired of being denied opportunities for advancement. She had been the first outsider to join his cause, and Barson admired her for her determination to take matters into her own hands. “That’s what we’re counting on, in fact.”

The other two people in the room—Pavel and Mittel—remained silent. The two middle-aged sorcerers were cousins, though they looked similar enough to be twins, both possessing bright red hair and freckled complexions. From what Dara told Barson, they were as close as brothers too, having worked together on some bit of arcane research for decades. It was the Council’s peremptory shutting down of that research that prompted them to ally themselves with Barson. Apparently a sorcerer denied his research was a dangerous thing—a fact that Barson noted for future reference.

In general, all five of his allies were frustrated with the current regime. Their specific reasons were different, but it all boiled down to their unhappiness with the Council and the hierarchy within the Tower. Peasants weren’t the only ones who felt neglected and oppressed by the ruling body of the land; many lower-ranking sorcerers were just as upset, their feelings aggravated by the sense of entitlement all members of their class possessed. To Barson, this was yet another failure of the Sorcery Revolution. In the old days, when rightful kings ruled, everybody knew their place, and there was a certain comfort in that. In the modern era, however, the illusion of upward mobility bred discontent among lower and upper classes alike, fostering unnecessary unrest in the Koldun society.

It was a situation Barson planned to remedy when he was king.

“So,” he said quietly, looking around the room at the people who were going to help him achieve that goal, “it appears that we might be able to implement our plan earlier than expected, thanks to some recent developments. Where does each of you stand on the assignments Dara asked you to complete?”

And for the next twenty minutes, he listened as they filled him in on spells that they had prepared, each one of them eager to impress him with their knowledge and skill. Barson nodded and praised them, giving them the approval they so clearly craved, and all the while his mind was going over strategies for the upcoming battle. It would not be easy, but he was confident that they would succeed. They had to succeed.

As the meeting was wrapping up, Barson instructed his allies to keep a close eye on Ganir and the general happenings in the Tower. “If the old man so much as sneezes, I want to know about it,” he told them, and they promised to keep him informed.

Satisfied, Barson left the Guard barracks, pulling the hood up around his head again. As soon as the Council had a chance to complete their vote, he would go talk to Augusta.

He couldn’t wait to see her again.





Chapter 11: Blaise





“What is it?” Ara asked, seeing what must have been an alert expression on Blaise’s face.

“I am not sure,” Blaise replied. “I heard an animal of some kind. It was growling.”

“What kind of animal?”

Blaise listened closer. He didn’t hear a growl again, but now he heard something heavy moving through the forest. “I think there is more than one creature.”

She frowned, looking disturbed.

“They must be quite large,” Blaise said, closing his eyes to better focus on his hearing. “I can hear their footsteps. It almost seems like they’re trying to tread lightly, but their bulk hits branches and bushes, giving them away.”