She paused to roll her eyes. “How can you be so good at infiltration, and so terrible at the same time.”
“I think Serak is dead,” he said with a shrug.
“You just hope he’s dead,” she hissed. “Don’t forget this could be a trap.”
“Then you escape through the wall and I fade to shadow and depart.” He shrugged like it was easy. “It’s not like they can stop us.”
“Serak has already trapped you twice,” she said. “I don’t think you’ll survive a third imprisonment.”
He frowned, but could not refute her logic. The pair gradually searched the keep, working their way up through the structure. As they approached the final corridor, the one containing Guildmaster Elsin’s private office, Shadow pointed ahead.
“You really think Draeken left him alive?”
“Draeken has separated from you,” she said. “But I believe he still retains a measure of personality from all the fragments. From Mind he gained ambition, from Fire he gained arrogance. From you, he obviously acquired recklessness.”
“Hey!”
She smiled and patted him on the shoulder. “We both know it’s the truth.”
He grinned. “It’s true. But why would he not kill Serak?”
“Because Serak helped create him,” she said. “And the fragment of Light was ever loyal. For Draeken to kill Serak would require a ruthless lack of loyalty, and none of the fragments possessed such a trait.”
“Perhaps that trait belonged to Draeken,” Shadow reasoned. “We have both seen what he has done.”
“We have.”
Shadow heard the wealth of regret in the woman’s voice and stepped in front of her. “You feel like you failed him, don’t you.”
She held his gaze. “How could I not? I raised the fragments. All six of them.”
“You cannot save those who do not wish to be saved,” he said.
“I know.” She looked away, the anguish on her face. “But you were all my sons. I hoped that by teaching you five, Draeken would learn to overcome his darker impulses.”
“It is because of you that five fragments survived,” he said.
Moisture collected in her eyes and she wiped at the tears. “You’re kinder than you used to be,” she said.
He cursed. “Blasted remorse.”
She laughed and leaned in to kiss him on the forehead. “You have my gratitude.”
The bellow caused them both to turn. Muffled by distance and stone, the sound was nevertheless filled with anguish, the sound of a broken man. They exchanged a look and advanced to the door of Elsin’s private quarters. There the stone trembled, a vibration as if someone nearby sought to shift the very mountain.
“I don’t think it’s a trap,” Shadow said.
“At least not for us,” she mused.
“You think Draeken trapped Serak?” Shadow whistled in appreciation. “That’s brutal, after everything Serak did for him.”
“You saw Serak after the battle at Xshaltheria,” she drifted into the room. “He looked on in horror. I don’t think he ever intended to unleash the fiends on the alliance. Surround them and show his might, yes. Intimidate them into submission, yes. But slaughter?” She shook her head. “That’s never been his goal.”
“That doesn’t mean he’s going to help us,” Shadow said.
He found himself apprehensive about approaching Serak. If Elenyr was right, Serak had just been betrayed and probably imprisoned. He would be violent and angry, and unpredictable, perhaps even try to kill Elenyr in retribution.
At the same time, Shadow could not deny the appeal of speaking to Serak. The man had built the Dark Gate, created the cloaks that had forged the four generals, and knew the most about the fiends of Kelindor. If anyone possessed knowledge of how to stop Draeken, it would be him. If he would help.
Shadow caught Elenyr’s arm, and when he turned back, he shook his head. “I’ll talk to him.”
She slowly removed his fingers and turned to face him, offering a faint smile. “Not this time, my son. I’m not risking your life, even for this.”
“But he’s tried to kill you,” Shadow protested.
“And failed,” she replied. “Besides, I am the Hauntress, and his magic cannot harm me.”
She reached up and lifted her cowl, her body turning ethereal, green smoke cascading off her skin. She smiled at Shadow and then turned and passed through the secret door into the corridor beyond. Shadow leapt to the door and caught the latch, but a dull clanking suggested Elenyr had locked it from within. She was alone. With the Father of Guardians that had sought her life. Shadow grunted in irritation and raced from the room, hoping to find another entrance to the chamber.
Chapter 28: Serak’s Secret
Elenyr advanced down the corridor, wary of another trap. In her ethereal form very little could harm her, but Serak had proven cunning enough to exploit her weaknesses. He’d also failed three times, and this might be a changing of tactics. But it was worth the risk.
She slowed as she approached the end of the corridor, where the tunnel opened into a large cavern, the cavern where Draeken had been torn from the body of a young child. She drew her sword and came to a halt on the threshold.
