Page 144 of The Sundered Realms

This was how Jadrhun had prepared. He could take all the time he needed to craft his spells in peace, bring it through the Gate, and set his plan into motion at once. He’d had to prepare to bring it through to this side of the Gate, because he needed access to the ley lines to direct them. Once Serenthuar was cut off, it wouldn’t have access.

Liris couldn’t see all the spell details from where she stood, but it was clear there were multiple spells. Like he’d put spells all around in a circle, and then another layer of spells further in, and she couldn’t tell yet if they were connected or how. Part of her thrilled at the challenge of that, even as she tried not to think that she’d better be able to work out how.

She would.

As long as the demons didn’t get her first.

Because of course that was the outermost layer of Jadrhun’s spell system: multiple demon portals, easy to activate individually. The first would have presented a problem for Ormbtai’s guards, giving him enough time to activate a second, and as each grew the magic would die faster and bigger demons could pour through.

And now it was just Jadrhun on the tapestry, and Liris and Vhannor facing him, with a wall of demons in between.

None of them moved yet, eerily still in a way she’d never seen in her previous encounters. It was like they were waiting.

Liris wondered if that was for Jadrhun’s purposes or their own.

“Vhann, Liris,” Jadrhun said. “Welcome. I think you’ll find the greeting party I’ve prepared for you sufficient, but if not, I’m happy to invite more guests.”

“Do we really have to do this, Jadrhun?” Vhannor asked. “Do you really think it’s worth risking sundering all the realms to try to save one?”

“‘The needs of the many outweigh the needs of the few’? Easy enough to assure yourself of that when you don’t have to listen to the few, isn’t it? Who speaks for them?”

“It’s not your goal that’s the problem, it’s your methods,” Vhannor said.

“And if you and everyone else have their way, there would never be a method sound enough to make saving people worth trying. Whatever rules you’ll break for others like you, you will always have another objection to this, and you will never, ever actually help.”

Liris had heard Jadrhun impassioned before, but his voice now was that of old frustration, a weary recitation of facts.

It wasn’t that he wasn’t angry. It was that he’d been angry about this for so long, and he’d had no reason to believe anything other than what he was saying.

Liris said, “I would help.”

Jadrhun’s certainty flickered; hardened. “You had chances. You didn’t take them.”

What could she say, that she hadn’t understood? Damning in its own right.

And for all Vhannor’s certainty in the dungeons, in the moment, he had no good response to Jadrhun’s accusations either. Because deep down, this man who would take the world on his shoulders, he believed Jadrhun was his responsibility, and if Jadrhun didn’t know he could come to Vhannor then Vhannor would believe that was on him, too.

So it was Liris who made the call. “Right, then. We’re doing this.”

Jadrhun turned jaded eyes on her. “I admit, I thought it would be Vhannor eager to die for the cause, not you.”

“Until you see that an endeavor that requires you to work with demons is worth abandoning for that exact reason, nothing I say or do is going to reach you,” Liris said. “So we’ll do this the other way.”

“Your inexperience is showing, Former Candidate,” Jadrhun said. “Vhannor doesn’t really believe he can change my mind. He’s trying to buy time to figure out how to dispel my work before I can finish activating everything and fight this many demons.”

“Ah! I see. You’re missing two key pieces of information.”

“Oh?”

“I’ll be the one dispelling your work, and I won’t need his assistance. That will free him up to keep you busy so you can’t make this demon incursion even worse.”

Jadrhun grinned, genuinely amused. Now Liris was remembering when they’d first met, how easily they could tease each other even when they both knew Liris’ life was on the line and weren’t happy about it.

“A bold claim,” Jadrhun said. “I’ll look forward to watching you work at my leisure, unless your second piece of information can account for multiple demons.”

He was her enemy, so it shouldn’t have mattered that he didn’t doubt what she was capable of, but it did.

This was the real problem with talking with Jadrhun. Even though he was clearly doing evil shit, she liked him.

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