Stalking Darkness

away, noting as he did that Thero sat half-turned to the wall, wrists out of sight in his lap.
    Ignoring the young wizard, Vargûl Ashnazai closed in on Alec. “I trust you’re prepared for the evening’s entertainment?”
    There was a mad possessiveness in his manner; not even the fear of Mardus was going to get in the way of whatever obscene pleasures he intended to grant himself tonight. The man’s raw hatred was a palpable force in the confines of the cave. Trapped in the gaze of those hungry black eyes, Alec suddenly felt his plans of escape turning to dust in his hands.
    “What about the guards?” Alec managed, his voice a hollow whisper. He was grasping at straws and they both knew it.
    Ashnazai set the lantern on the floor beside him and pulled off his gloves. “They’re of no concern. No sound will be heard beyond these walls until I choose to allow it. And even if it did, who would rush to your aid? Duke Mardus, perhaps? How fond he is of you! Almost as fond as I, but distracted just now by practical concerns. Fortunately, I have no task at the moment except you.
    “Ah, I have been patient,” he crooned, raising one pale hand to stitch a spell pattern on the air. “How I have waited for such a moment as this.”
    “So have I, necromancer!”
    Alec scarcely had time to realize that the harsh, ragged voice was Thero’s before he was blinded by a brilliant explosion of light. A screech of rage or pain rang out, but Alec couldn’t tell which of them it came from.
    Blinking away the black spots dancing across his eyes, Alec saw the twisted remains of the branks lying on the ground at Thero’s feet. He also saw with alarm that whatever spell Thero had cast, it had only wounded Ashnazai, and not nearly enough. Bloodied but still standing, the necromancer rounded on Thero, hands raised for another attack.
    Tearing the open lock off, Alec pulled chain from around his neck. Grasping a length of it in both hands, he sprang at Ashnazai, got the chain around the necromancer’s throat, and yanked it tight.
    Vargûl Ashnazai writhed like a huge serpent, tearing at the chain. Alec pulled it tighter and dragged him to the ground. He’dnever strangled anything before, but rage proved a willing teacher. Nothing existed except the feeling of power coursing through his body as he braced a knee against the necromancer’s back and hauled the chain tighter until it cut into the flesh of his hands and the necromancer’s throat.
    “This is for Seregil, you son of a bitch!” he snarled. “For what you did to Cilla and Thryis and Rhiri and Diomis and Luthas and Thero. And me!”
    He yanked the chain back and heard bones snap. Ashnazai went limp under him, head lolling.
    Alec pushed him onto his back and stared into the hated face. Ashnazai’s tongue protruded from his foam-flecked lips. His bulging eyes were wide with agony and surprise.
    Satisfied, Alec pulled the ivory vial from the necromancer’s neck and hung it around his own. Whatever this was, no one was going to use it against him again.
    “We’ve got to get out of here now,” Thero warned, still weak and breathless. “That spell, the attack—We’ve got to go before the guards come back!”
    “What about the warding spells he cast on the entrance?” Alec asked, helping the wizard to his feet.
    Thero was shaky, but determined. “They were dispelled when you killed him.”
    “Good.” Vargûl Ashnazai was nothing more to him than forgotten carrion now. Turning his back on the body, he extinguished the lantern, then crept to the mouth of the cave.
    The guards were still off minding their own business somewhere, leaving their master to his pastimes, but the fire they’d built was still bright. The minute he and Thero stepped out, they’d be visible to anyone lingering nearby.
    “Can’t you translocate us or something?” Alec whispered, surveying the scene.
    “I’d have done that already if I could!” Thero replied with a welcome hint of his customary brusqueness. “Get me away from here and I may be able to do something else, though.”
    “You’d better be praying for Illior’s luck, then.” Alec pointed north into the darkness. “We’re going that way, understand? We’ll have to keep low and follow the ledge below the road until we get away from the main camp.”
    Alec left unsaid the fact that any number of guards could be within fifty feet of them and they wouldn’t know it until it was toolate; he was trying hard not to think