The Sorcerer's Destiny (The Sorcerer's Path) Read Free Page A

with the martial students.”
    Azerick leaned away and arched his eyebrows. “Since when?”
    “For more than a month. Maybe if you crawled out of your lab more than once a season you would have noticed,” she teased.
    “You’re right, and I am sorry.”
    “It’s mostly been one on one training with Alex, but recently I have been in the field with them so I can learn more of their troop formations and tactics. It’s not as though anyone is going to let me stand on the frontlines.”
    “We absolutely would not. When this is over, the people are going to need good, strong leaders. You must be there to fill that role.”
    “I know, but from what you have described, it is unlikely anyone will walk away with a clean blade, and I need to be as capable a fighter as anyone. Besides, it helps me take my mind away from Daebian.” Azerick made a sour face and grunted in reply. “Azerick, please try not to hate him,” Miranda begged.
    “I do not understand him enough to hate him or even be angry with him. I think I understand the Scions better than I do him.”
    “He’s angry and jealous. So much happened so fast, I think it was just hard for him to adjust.”
    “No, acting out in jealously or anger is capricious, and Daebian does nothing without knowing exactly what he is doing and why. I have a feeling Klaraxis has been influencing him for some time, but how much of his actions were due to the demon and how much was his own devious mind is anyone’s guess. I just hope that whatever he has found to do with himself keeps him entertained.”
    “I just hope he’s safe. Well, you have your things to do, and I have mine. See you tonight?”
    “I will try.”
    Miranda tried to put on a brave face despite the pain she felt from the rift still separating her from her husband. She understood what was at stake, and she accepted the fact the world needed her husband as much as she did, but such logic did little to ease her torment. Miranda kissed Azerick and sought out the drill grounds. Some vigorous swordplay would take her mind off her marriage and leave her too exhausted to dwell much on it later.
    Azerick felt the divide between them and knew it would only grow wider despite the excision of his demonic passenger. There was just too much to do and too many things requiring his personal attention. He had lost valuable days of work recovering from the wound Daebian had inflicted. Azerick pushed his mortal concerns to the back of his mind as he descended the stairs to his laboratory, the only place he felt at home.
    “Tell me of the barrier’s condition,” Azerick said as he entered the lab.
    “It does not look good. There are numerous fractures and flaws throughout the expanse. It is all I can do to repair the most severe amongst them.”
    “How long before they are able to create a major breach do you think?”
    Raijaun sighed and shook his head. “I don’t know. They could create one now for all I know. Given what I deduced from the remnants of their previous breaches, it would not surprise me if they could cause irreparable damage. I have no idea what they are waiting for.”
    Azerick looked pensive. “They are setting the board, placing their pieces before making their final gambit. Come; let us go see if we can buy any time.”
    Azerick focused his will on the huge gem in the center of the chamber. The light faded and the walls shimmered until there was nothing but the blackness of the transdimensional void. The darkness quickly lightened, and the shimmering screen of the world-enveloping barrier wavered into view.
    “ False guardian, you have returned. You are different. You seem to have shed your demonic parasite, yet it was no doing of yours. Betrayal enshrouds you like a voluminous robe.”
    Azerick ignored the Scions’ taunting and sent his consciousness throughout the vast expanse of the barrier. What he saw shocked him despite Raijaun’s warning. Huge sections of the barrier looked like continent-sized