Born Of Darkness (Book 7) by William King Read Free Book Online

His sword and his amulets lay close to the bed.
    Rhiana leaned over him. “What happened to you?” she said.
    “I forgot to wear my armour.”
    “It looks that way.” She smiled in the tight nervous way that people do when confronted by the sick.
    “I won’t make that mistake again.”
    “Let’s hope.” She sat down on the edge of the bed, reached out and took his hand. “Seriously—what happened? I’ve seen you fight your way through a mansion full of armed men and barely take a scratch. You look as if you were tied in a sack full of starved ripper-fish.”
    “An Old One,” Kormak said. “A powerful one. Somebody unleashed it in the Imperial Treasure Vaults.”
    “What? How did it get in there? We are in a fortified citadel, ringed round with magical protections, under the light of a sunstone, near a Cathedral in which the armour of the Angel Zhamriel sits. I would have thought that if any place in the world was safe from Old Ones this would be it.”
    Kormak shook his head. “The coffin itself might have protected whatever was in it. It was made of orichalcum. That shields against magical influences. The question is who put it there?”
    “You think this was aimed at the King?”
    “I don’t know, but I intend to find out.”
    “Why? The thing almost killed you.”
    “That’s one of the reasons.”
    “I am glad to hear you say that.” King Aemon’s soft voice carried across the room. Kormak wondered if he had just entered or whether he had always been there. The former seemed most likely. He doubted that even Rhiana would have spoken the way she had if the King had been present.
    “Forgive the intrusion,” the King said. “I came to see how well you responded to my prayers.”
    “You healed me, sire?”
    “I prayed. The angel answered. Your wounds closed.”
    “Thank you.”
    The king reached down and patted Kormak gently on the shoulder. “It was nothing. The thing fled in fear of your blade after you wounded it. It was all I could do to hold it at bay. It was very strong.”
    “It was, sire, and very fast too. Stronger and faster than almost any Old One I have ever encountered.”
    “It is loose now in my palace. It slaughtered the men standing guard at the vault door and escaped into the dungeons below Palace Rock. Unless it has died of the wound you gave it, it is down there still.”
    “It won’t have died.”
    “That is unfortunate. As it fled, it killed a score of my best men, left almost as many crippled and it took only the one wound you gave it. Something needs to be done. I shall go to the Cathedral and pray for guidance. In the meantime, rest, recover your strength. I fear we shall have need of it before this matter is settled.”
    He made a sign of benediction and left.
    ***
    Kormak was not at all surprised when Prince Taran entered the room. He flashed Rhiana his brilliant smile then looked down at Kormak. “Well,” he said. “At least you’re alive.”
    “There is that,” said Kormak.
    “I thought Guardians were trained to kill such things, demons, Old Ones, whatever it was.”
    “Sometimes we kill them. Sometimes they kill us.”
    Taran nodded. “And sometimes they kill and maim almost two-score of men sworn to Imperial service.”
    “Perhaps you should mention that to the creature. I am sure it will take into account the fact you find its behaviour objectionable when next it emerges.”
    Taran sighed. “I shall take into account the fact you are wounded and in pain, Sir Kormak. I shall also take into account the fact you most likely saved my brother’s life. And the fact that we already owe you a considerable debt of gratitude. But if you speak to me in that disrespectful tone again . . .”
    “Bad things happen to nobles who kill Guardians, Prince Taran. The Old Ones regard anyone not under the protection of my order as fair game. You have an Old One loose here in your palace. My order will not aid you if you kill me while I am helping you.”
    “Is that