Page 4 of Prince of Shadow and Ash

Chapter 2

REGULUS INCHED HIShand toward his sword. Rustling and the crunch of last autumn’s leaves sounded some five paces behind him. Someone or something lurked in the bushes. He focused his hearing as he wrapped his fingers around the sword’s grip, his mind racing to rule out possibilities. No heavy breathing, and the intruder had gotten quite close before he heard them. Ruled out anything as big as a bear or troll. No creak of leather or clink or scrape of metal, so it wasn’t armored. No clomp of hooves, so neither centaur nor minotaur.

He tried to think of where he was, what sort of creatures lived here. Goblins? Unlikely this far from any caves. Monparth had driven most monsters into uninhabited areas, but there were periodic incursions. Could be something as harmless as a satyr or dangerous as a thike, a medium-sized lithe feline with poisonous barbs on its long tail. Or a human, which were best not underestimated. He turned, bringing his sword into a guard position.

Nothing.

His eyes strained to peer into the shadows. Only moments had passed, whatever or whoever had been there must still be there. He moved toward the bushes. There, in a small clearing. A humanoid shape, hidden in a dark robe. The person or creature appeared to be facing away from him. Maybe they weren’t even aware of his presence.

Regulus leapt through the bushes at the figure. It started to turn at the sudden noise, but he pressed the point of the sword against the figure’s back. “Who are you?”

“Wh-what?” a normal-sounding man stuttered.

“What are you doing out here in the middle of the night?”

The man quivered. “I—I’m just—”

“Spit it out!”

A woman’s scream ripped through the night. Regulus whipped his head up. A woman in a dark cloak stood in the clearing, her hands covering her mouth. Moonlight glinted off the whites of her wide eyes.

“Carolyn, run!” the man shouted. But Carolyn stood as if frozen in place.

Regulus looked down at the man, then back at the woman. Back and forth. Heat rushed to his cheeks. “You’re just...meeting...” He moved his sword away from the man’s back. “Sorry.”

The man staggered forward. He looked over his shoulder at Regulus. “You mad...” His jaw slackened. “What...who are you?”

Oh, you had to ask.A burning sensation emanated from the mark on Regulus’ forearm and he gritted his teeth. “I am the Black Knight. And I serve the Prince of Shadow and Ash.” He sheathed his sword as the pain in his arm vanished. “Go. Now.”

The lovers hurried away, their faces drawn and pale. This was why he preferred traveling at night and avoided roads. Every disputed sighting of the now legendary Black Knight made him more nervous he would get caught.

Monparth’s laws forbade the use of dark, corrupted magic. And after over twenty years without mages, wielders of pure magic, people were extra wary of any hint of sorcery. The authorities would consider Regulus the sorcerer’s accomplice, and his men guilty by association. He couldn’t die, but his men could. At least the loathsome horned helm protected his identity.

Regulus rode all day, keeping Sieger at a trot as much as possible and stopping only to steal a couple apples as he passed an orchard. Despite the days growing longer as summer approached, the sun set too soon. He stopped and managed to sleep for a few hours until a pinch from the mark on his arm woke him.

“I can only cross the kingdom so fast,” Regulus growled under his breath as he slammed the helm back on and rode into the night.

Around midday, he neared the sorcerer’s tower in the Tumen Forest. He always knew when he was close.

The bark on trees turned black. Dead, midnight-colored leaves clung to lifeless ebony-shaded branches and covered the forest floor. Brittle tangles of dead wood vine made a pale contrast where the vines wrapped around branches. As the tower came into view, the trees became white, skeletal. All their bark had fallen away, revealing wood drained of all color and life. Barren fir branches stuck out like spikes, while naked deciduous boughs reached out like bony fingers.

Not even grass grew this close to the tower. The only thing that did grow were mushrooms. Velvety purple mushrooms shaped like thimbles, bright red domed mushrooms, flat round mushrooms as yellow as a daisy’s center. A faint glow emanated from underneath some. Regulus assumed all of them were poisonous.

Two years ago, when he was first bound to the sorcerer, there had been only a small circle of blackened trees. Sometimes obviously, sometimes imperceptibly, the decay had spread. Now the deathly forest stretched a ten-minute ride in every direction around the sorcerer’s tower.

Built of reddish brick darkened by time and sorcery, the tower itself stood around four stories tall, topped with narrow crenellations and covered in layers of dead wood vine. Yellow light filtered through the rough grayish glass of the single gothic window in the top level. Regulus used to wonder why someone who called himself a prince would live in such a drab old tower. He didn’t care anymore. Although, he suspected the Prince of Shadow and Ash simply liked dead, creepy things as much as he liked torturing Regulus.

Sore, hungry, and exhausted, Regulus dismounted with difficulty. He stuffed the helm in his saddlebag. The iron-latticed oak door opened, and the sorcerer stepped out.

A man of below-average height, the sorcerer’s physique belied his power. A wide, dark leather belt set with polished obsidian secured a long black tunic over his stomach paunch. Crimson accents edged the tunic. The hood of a gold-stitched sable robe shadowed his face, hiding his eyes above a pinched-looking nose. A graying brown beard fell in waves down to his chest. But he walked and spoke with the authority of the prince he pretended to be.

“You’re late.” The sorcerer’s dark tone chilled Regulus’ blood.

He untied the roots from his belt. “I got here as quickly as I could, my lord.”

“After trying to disobey.” The sorcerer strode forward and snatched the roots from Regulus with pale, knobby fingers. “Do we have a problem, mercenary?”

Regulus swallowed and bowed his head.Don’t take the bait.“No, my lord.”I’m not a mercenary anymore. And yes, we have many problems.

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