Shadow Dagger Ch. 19

Jocelyn turned toward the two Magi tribesman. "Dasan, you and your brother guard that one," Jocelyn said, nodding at Ashford. "I don't want your friend to lose his life trying something stupid."

Dasan and the other guard walked over to Ashford and stood closely by his side. Jon breathed a sigh of relief and turned back to Jocelyn. Maybe they still had a chance.

Jocelyn smiled and walked seductively across the room. Muscles rippled in her legs and ass as she glided across the floor. She picked up a dark robe hanging on the corner of the throne and pulled it over her head. She walked back toward Jon and held out the sides of the robe, as though inviting him to inspect it.

What he saw twisted his stomach. It shouldn't have been possible. Jocelyn's robe was glowing silver from the runes that covered it. It was a very advanced protection spell; one Jon doubted he could counter.

"I didn't see you activate them," Jon said, half to himself.

"I didn't," Jocelyn laughed. Her eyes still glowed silver but that was from the spell she kept on Jon and Ashford.

"Then how?"

"How does any Magi permanently empower a spell?"

Jon took a breath to control his sudden panic. Events were spiraling past his control. He hadn't anticipated this. "With their soul...but you're not dead."

"I don't see your Shadow Dagger on you," she said suddenly. She tapped her lips thoughtfully. "It's too bad, I would have loved to see the weapon that forced me from my rightful throne."

She mentioned the dagger for a reason, Jon knew. She was telling him something. She smiled as the truth finally dawned on him. "You used the lives of other people to empower each rune," he breathed.

Jocelyn bowed her head. "Maybe your intelligence hasn't left you just yet. You should feel honored, Jon. It was your dagger that gave me the idea. It took the life of your son and not you. I knew there had to be a way to empower objects with the lives ofother people."

"Where did you learn all of this?" Jon asked in shock.

Jocelyn's face darkened. "You left me no choice. You refused to join with me and rule Astuari. I had to improve, I had to get better. I needed to destroy you. So I traveled the world, looking for more power. And I found it."

Jon closed his eyes as he followed the only path in his mind that made sense. "You went to the land beyond the mountains, past this desert," he guessed.

"You know what awaits over there!" she said passionately. She rushed toward Jon and stared eagerly into his face. "You've been there. I know that's where you got that earth to make your daggers with."

"That power is not for you," he warned her.

"Who are you to deny me that?" she screamed, her eyes suddenly deranged. "You were content to watch over those sniveling Magi! You never once tried to improve upon the power you possessed! I've learn things, Jon, about our magic that would spin your head around! What do you think I've been doing these past two thousand years?"

"What have you been doing?" Jon demanded. He seized on the opportunity. "What game are you playing at? What are you trying to accomplish?"

Jocelyn didn't immediately respond. She stood in front of Jon and breathed heavily out of her nose. "Now you're interested, Jon? Why should I tell you anything?"

"Because you're dying to," Jon replied without hesitation.

"You know me too well," she whispered, her eyes darting over Jon's face. "I tried seizing the power necessary for my plans. But no matter how much I've learned, I'm still not powerful enough. That power across the mountains is still beyond my grasp. I need a weapon, Jon. I need that child."

Another puzzle piece just clicked into place. "So that's why you manipulated Reynar into taking Evelyn's child. You wish to use the child to obtain that power you speak of."

"Do you know how long I waited for this day? I've been so patient. I took extra care to plan for any possible disaster. I've been manipulating events for many years, now. I knew, when I ripped the information from you, that this child would one day be my key to godhood."

The scars on Jon's back throbbed painfully. It was more a residual pain than an actual pain, but it angered Jon all the same. He had told her everything; everything he had learned from the God.

"What I don't understand," Jon said angrily, "is why you used Reynar to do this. If you really are so powerful, why not just walk into Astuari and take the child from Evelyn?"

Jocelyn's face tightened in anger for a brief moment. She smiled and patted Jon on the face. "Why do something myself when I can just use what tools I have on hand?"

She was afraid. He didn't know how he knew that but he did. And he thought he knew why. "It was Marcus," Jon breathed slowly. "You're afraid of him. He's a true-born; he would swat you aside without effort."

"I'm not afraid of anybody!" she roared. She backhanded Jon viciously. "I could kill you right now and you couldn't stop me! I have you at my mercy!"

"No, Jocelyn," Jon said quietly. He spit the blood in his mouth on the floor and looked Jocelyn directly in the eyes. "You're under my mercy. You always have been."

Murderous rage twisted Jocelyn's face into a demonic mask. "I should kill you know just to prove you wrong!"

"Then why haven't you already?" Jon spat back. "Why am I still alive? Why are you telling me all these things?"

The murderous rage left her face so suddenly that it startled Jon. Her eyes blazed even brighter as she eagerly leaned in toward him. "I want to give you one more chance. Chose to be by my side and help me gain the power for the both of us! We can become gods, Jon! With that power, we can take on the God Himself!"

Jon stared sadly into her animated face. He shook his head. "I pity you, Jocelyn. I don't know what drives your eternal lust for power, but it saddens me. You were a good friend, once. Both Sarah and I loved you very much."

The words did their job. Jocelyn's sole attention was on Jon. Jon did his best to ignore the sudden motion behind her. He had to keep her attention.

"I told her I wanted you," she whispered. Her face looked almost human as she spoke. "I asked her not to marry you. She laughed at me. She thought I was joking with her. She never even thought I posed a challenge to her."

"That's because she knew I loved her," Jon replied. A deep sadness filled his heart. "I never looked at you that way, Jocelyn. And I'm sorry for that."

"Power is all I have left. Don't you understand? As a god, I won't have need of these mortal cares. I will truly be free. Join with me, please."

Jon shook his head. There was just no reaching her. "I'm sorry but my answer is no. I won't be with you."

Her face pinched in anger. Jon thought he saw a hint of a tear in her eye but it quickly disappeared. She drew herself up to her full height and placed her hand against his chest.

"Then you have to die," she said simply.

"But I never told you my last secret," Jon said quickly. He saw movement behind Jocelyn. He kept his eyes on her.

Jocelyn hesitated. "What secret? I tore every secret out of your body, remember?"

"I held one back. I clung to it. It kept my mind sane."

Her fingers dug cruelly into his chest. "Tell me."

"I told you that nobody could touch a Shadow Dagger, that it would cost them their life."

Jon closed his eyes as a brilliant ball of silver light erupted in front of him. He heard a gasp. He opened his eyes.

The runes on Jocelyn's robe were faded to grey. The tip of a dagger was pushing the robe out from her chest.

From over Jocelyn's shoulder, Ashford grimaced as he pulled Jon's Shadow Dagger from her back.

"I lied," Jon said, as he stared into Jocelyn's stunned eyes. She convulsed and dropped to the floor. Jon caught her before she hit and gently laid her down.

"How?" she gasped, her mouth rapidly filling with blood.

"You always did underestimate my son," Jon replied quietly. "It looks like my dagger was greater than any protection spell you could cast."

Jocelyn laughed grimly, the blood in her mouth spraying across her face. "I...still...win...Reynar will..."

"What's his plan?" Jon asked urgently. "What will he do with Evelyn's child?"

"You...know..." Jocelyn gasped. Her body shuddered and her eyes rolled up into the back of her head.

She was dead.

Jon closed her eyes gently and stood up. "Thanks, Ashford."

Ashford stared sadly down at Jocelyn. "She was so focused on you that she didn't even hear me take out her guards." As he spoke, Ashford wrapped up Jon's dagger in the black cloth he kept it in and handed it back to Jon.

"Her lust for power and her obsession were always her fatal flaw," Jon replied. He turned away from her body, from the last person who had known his wife and son, and began to walk back to the entrance.

"What do we do now?" Ashford asked. He looked stunned, as though he never really believed he would survive.

"We grab all the mounted tribesman and ride hard for Astuari," Jon replied. "We have to make it back before Evelyn gives birth."

"What did she mean about Reynar? What do you know?"

"She gave us enough hints to guess her ultimate plan." Jon stopped and turned to face Ashford. "I know what Reynar is going to do."

***

Reynar paced his study. He wanted nothing more than to march into Evelyn's bedchamber and hold her tight. He wanted one night of peaceful sleep. He was weary beyond comprehension.

But she suspected him now. He saw it in her face. She knew he was planning something. And now she would never trust him. He would never get to hold that beautiful woman in his arms.

"Damn you, Jon Laurent," Reynar hissed. He stopped at his desk and leaned his hands down on it. "I wish you had never been born. I wish none of these responsibilities had ever come upon me. I wish I still had my friends."

He stared down at his desk, unseeing. In his mind, he only saw Jon's smirking face as images of his past flew by. He was left with only the bitter ones, now. All the sacrifices he had made to get to this point. Those were the memories left to him.

"And one more sacrifice," Reynar whispered.

The plain wooden box that haunted his dreams was sitting innocently on the desk between his hands. He reluctantly ran his hand across the lid and pushed it open. He had to remind himself every night of the sacrifice Jon Laurent had forced on him.

He pushed the lid as far back as it could go and simply stared down into the box. He had never touched it before. He didn't think he would have the courage to. But now he knew he would have to take it out, to feel every grain on its surface. Otherwise, he knew he wouldn't have the courage to use it when the time came.

Hands shaking, he reached down into the box and gingerly grasped the Shadow Dagger by the handle and lifted it out.

The runes carved on the dark blade were dull and lifeless. But soon, he knew, they would hold the soul of a god.

***

This was just part 1 of the finale. Chapter 20, the last chapter, should be out soon. Let me know what you think is going to happen. And, as always, thanks for reading! I hope the finale doesn't disappoint.

Chapter 20 - The fate of Jon & Company is revealed. Nobody is safe.