Phantom of the Library - Lidiya Foxglove Page 0,75
of Rudolf II and Princess Julia and the Holy Roman Empire…break the covenants now!”
There was an almost deafening crack and all the stones split. Harris slumped as he now started coughing up blood and my dizziness was returning, although apparently I had spilled all the blood I needed to spill. The familiars formed a wall around us, and Chester ran to our side to block Piers from hurting us.
“Chester, get out of the way!” I cried, because I could see rage in Piers’ eyes. He was about to make Chester pay first.
Lord Variel let out a terrible roar.
“What are you doing to me?” he screamed.
“Well, I moved your soul into Etherium and blocked off all your escape routes,” Byron said. “Permanently. You’ll either have to learn some angelic habits or I don’t think you’ll enjoy yourself.”
“Who ever heard of a devil being banished upward?” Lord Variel spat out. Then he whirled on Piers. “You brought me here. You didn’t tell me I would have to deal with…”
“Lord Abiron the Gatekeeper,” Byron said helpfully. “I know it doesn’t sound quite as menacing as Lord Variel the Devourer; however…”
“You can serve me in the next world on your hands and knees!” Lord Variel said, wrapping his fist around Piers’ arm. He bit off Piers’ hand and swallowed it and then he made a motion with his teeth like he was tearing at meat, but what he tore at was a dark shadow that pulled away from Piers’ body.
He was eating Piers’ soul, not that it was much of a soul to begin with. For years now the word that came to mind when I saw Piers was ‘soulless’ and ‘dead’ and what Lord Variel took from him was just a weak, fluttering little dark wisp.
My mouth fell open as Piers collapsed, his eyes glazing over. He looked dead, but he was still breathing.
“You really should be more careful when you summon High Demons,” Harris said.
“Wise words,” Lord Variel said. “He was hardly even worth it.”
Lord Variel vanished in a huge plume of dark smoke while Piers was comatose.
“I was about to kill him,” I said, letting out my breath for the first time in what seemed like hours.
“Well, now you don’t have to,” Harris said. “He did it to himself. If his soul was strong, he would have been able to resist, but when your magic is void of any sort of love, power is pretty hollow.”
I gave Harris a quick hug. I was really glad to hear him say that, since he used to be more cold himself.
“Chester, are you okay?”
Chester nodded. “Yes—yes, thank you both very much. I’m free now. You have my gratitude and all the strength I possess. Harris, I know that Piers killed your familiar, so if you need me…”
“That’s…really good to hear, actually,” Harris said. “But you can’t replace what I lost. We had a bond. I hope you understand; you deserve better than to serve anyone right now. I think you should be free. But you’re family now, Chester, so if you need anything, feel free to come stay at Merlin College.”
“I would love that,” Chester said.
Byron had rushed to my side and put his hands on me, as if to feel that I was whole and well. “Thank the gods,” he said. “I knew if I could only block him off from Sinistral magic he would be rendered toothless—“ He paused. “Well, not entirely toothless, I suppose.”
“Are you all right, Byron? Your wing!”
“Marisa will be able to heal it when she feels better,” Byron said. “The pain is nothing compared to the worry over losing you. And I just checked on Marisa. She’s coming to, but she’s pretty weak. I think she’ll have to go straight home. Are you all right? I know it can’t be easy to fight your own family.”
“Piers killed some of the familiars. I would rather have their lives than his. I’m just glad he can’t hurt anyone again.” I trailed off as the smoke was clearing and the familiars were settling down and then I realized…Bevan’s body was gone.
Chapter Twenty-Nine
Helena
They say there is always a price with magic. A give and take.
Sometimes it is sacrifice. Other times, surrender.
The entire magic world would never be the same again. With the magical world whole for the first time in a thousand years, magic would become stronger, but Etherium would deal with a “crime wave” of demons. The councils fell apart due to in-fighting. Royal