The Black Necromancer-Book 4

Chapter 38

                A chair creaked as Sapphire sank into it with a gasp. Kayla pictured her hand flying to her mouth. She herself was practically frozen with shock.

                "How come?" Sapphire stammered.

                Jared slumped onto the end of Kayla's bed; she felt the vibrations make the bed move. "The shield potion is one of the hardest to manufacture. I can't make it that easily. And the older I get, the further I get in age from eighteen, the more my power slips away from me. Haven't you noticed that? You're nineteen, the same thing will happen to you eventually."

                Sapphire nodded weakly. "It has been getting harder, but I assumed that that's because I've been using my healing magic so much lately."

                "Did you notice how old Kathryn looks?" Jared asked. "Most people assume that she's in her late forties or fifties; she's actually just turned forty. That's what happens when you use magic excessively. And after the House of Glamours today; she's unconscious too, not just Raven. The core of the powerful magicians on Arulan's side is weakening. If Varmer attacks us again, I might be able to sustain a very weak shield for a week, maybe slightly longer; his destructive magic is so powerful. But the shield will dissolve, with or without Varmer's inevitable attack, Sapphire, and I can't stop it."

                The sound of Sapphire rubbing her face with her hands made Kayla cringe. Clearly this conversation wasn't for her hearing; it was a personal one between Jared and Sapphire.

                "Does Arulan know?" she asked, her voice shaking.

                "Yes," Jared said softly. "Why do you think he so badly wanted Kayla and the others to defeat the House of Glamours? We were as lenient on them as we possibly could be. The only challenges he threw at them were ones that he knew they had to face. He needs them to win. If they do and they save Jenna, our problems are solved. She can sustain the physical shield around the Isle of Avalon; I don't have to do it."

                "But why won't he just let them go even though they've lost?" Sapphire stammered. "If our situation is that dire..."

                "You know why," Jared said darkly. "The House of Glamours is an example of Varmer's tactics. They lost; they wouldn't be able to defeat Varmer and save her. He takes it as proof that their expedition would fail."

                Sapphire said slowly. "Luna's prophecy was about them being there. Her visions too."

                Jared nodded. "But it didn't specify the time. Arulan will just take that as a later date. That they aren't ready now. And if they can't get in, who can?"

                "He's afraid," Sapphire said harshly. "They could make it. They would!"

                Jared shook his head this time; Kayla could see it through her peeping eyelids. "Sapphire, look at what happened! We barely got them out alive. Troy and Tamarak didn't even make it to the mental section of the House of Glamours; Dahlia was completely freaking out and you saw what Kayla did! It would be a hundred times worse at Varmer's castle."

                Sapphire frowned at him. "What would happen if you opened the shield to let them out? Would you be able to put it up again?"

                Jared grimaced, rubbing his hands together. "That's the other catch. The more I open it, the weaker it gets, the less time it will last. If I open it to let them out, it'll collapse in less than two weeks for sure."