Kormak 01 - Stealer of Flesh by William King Read Free Book Online

favourable on the working of magic. It is a propitious time for rituals. And now they have your blade with which to compel the demon.”
    “There’s another reason, isn’t there?”
    “I think Lord Tomas was nervous for all his talk. He needed your blade for reassurance and he needed a host for the Ghul. Events tonight conspired to force him into a decision.”
    “A host?”
    “It’s not easy to communicate with the bodiless. Better to have it embedded in a mortal form. Easier to slay it with your blade if things go badly. They did not want to use you because they are afraid of your order and because you might be able to resist the possession.”
    “Who are they going to use?”
    “Lady Kathea.”
    “What?”
    “It wasn’t the way they originally planned it—they were going to use a servant—but Lord Tomas was quite hurt by her infidelity.”
    That made the nobleman seem almost human. Kormak did not know whether that made him better or worse.
    “What will happen to her?”
    “The demon will devour her soul and take possession of her physical shell. It will wear her body. It’s not a bad plan actually. She is weaker than they are and even if the demon masters the body quickly it should not pose too great a physical threat.”
    “We must save her.”
    “Youthful chivalry is an appalling thing,” said Tarsus. “It makes men stupid.”
    “You are not suggesting we should let her die, are you?”
    “If the demon is embodied we can kill it.”
    “Is there no other way?”
    “We can stop the ritual before it goes too far although we may already be too late for that.”
    “Anything else?”
    “If you can keep them busy, I might be able to compel the Ghul back into the bottle by reversing the spell. It is by no means a certainty though.”
    “I’ll take any chance I can get.”
    “Very well but if worst comes to worst and the demon becomes corporeal don’t hesitate, strike it down with that sword of yours.”
    “First I will need to get my hands on it.”
    “There is that,” said Tarsus. “Still I have every confidence in you.”
    Kormak was not sure he had every confidence in himself. He was still recovering from his ordeal in the storm. He was not at his fighting peak. He hoped there were not any guards between them and the vault.
    They pressed on along the corridor. Kormak felt the oppressive weight of the old buildings above him. He realised that this ancient passageway went a long way down below the earth. The stonework supporting the ceilings looked strong but it did not look modern. The flagstones beneath their feet had been worn away by the passage of countless feet.
    “What was this place?”
    “It was a chapel to the Old Gods, I suspect,” Tarsus said. “Certainly the altar below bears their markings.”
    “That is never a good sign,” said Kormak.
    “Not all those who were worshipped before the coming of the Holy Sun were evil.”
    “It seems like a singularly appropriate place for a ritual to free a Ghul,” said Kormak. He was starting to feel tense. He could sense the presence of swirling currents of magical energy in the air. He realised that Tarsus must be much more sensitive to these things than he was.
    The old wizard paused. He was wheezing and his breath was coming out in clouds. It was getting colder. Kormak wondered whether it was just the chill of being underground or whether this was some sort of byproduct of the ritual.
    “Are you all right?” he asked.
    “No,” the wizard said. “I have not been all right for a very long time but I can go on now.” Kormak realised how desperate the venture was now. It was just him and this old sick man, trying to prevent the freeing of an ancient evil that it had taken the mightiest sorcerer who had ever lived to bind.
    From down below, he could hear chanting. He thought he recognised the voices, muffled as they were. They belonged to Tomas and someone else: Wesley. “Why not just unstopper the flask?” Kormak asked.
    “There