The Sorcerer's Return (The Sorcerer's Path) Read Free Page B

put yourself or these wizards in that position, Your Grace,” Azerick said without emotion.
    The powerful Duchess of Argoth shook with indignity, her rage blazing from her face like the searing heat of the desert sun. “Let me warn you, boy, only the political stability of my duchy prevents me from sending you right back to the abyss where you belong! Test my patience further, and I will have my wizards do exactly that, consequences be damned!”
    Azerick turned his stony gaze upon Elias. “Senior Inquisitor, I assume you, and probably everyone else in this hall, took in my aura when I entered. Before anyone does something foolish, I recommend you do so again and advise your Duchess accordingly.”
    With a curious look , Elias, along with every other wizard in the chamber, did exactly that. Slipping into a light meditation, the wizards looked beyond simple visual sight to glimpse the invisible energies surrounding all living things. Azerick stood as before with his golden, sorcerous aura brilliantly limning his body, but he no longer suppressed Klaraxis’ terrifying power. Encasing the golden glow, a black cloud of malevolent energy nearly filled the entire room. Klaraxis’ aura washed over everyone in the chamber with so much vile power, wizards scrambled away from him, pressed themselves against the walls, and tried to flee the room. Several fell from their seats and knelt on the floor, gasping. Even the Duchess felt the deathly wave wash over her and sat heavily back upon her seat, her face paling in a fear she could not comprehend.
    “Elias, w-what is this?” she rasped out.
    “It is our death, Your Grace. We must capitulate,” the Inquisitor whispered hoarsely.
    “What you have seen and felt is the demon lord, Klaraxis,” Azerick declared as he suppressed the aura once more. “I control his body and power, but only nominally. If you force me to fight, I will likely lose that control and the demon will wreak havoc upon this city and beyond until The Academy and church can work together to banish him back to the abyss. He would eventually fall, but not before reducing this city and likely several others to ruins.”
    Paulina leaned over and whispered, “Elias, can your people not defeat him?”
    “Perhaps, if we were prepared, but even then the battle would be devastating to the city. If we were ready and had a contingent of Solarian’s Light, we could force him to return to the abyss at the least. But at this moment, it would mean our destruction.”
    She could care less about the girl other than her connection to the Codex, wh ich thus far had proved useless, but she despised the idea of giving up the book. However, she was not foolish enough to press forward in a battle she knew she was destined to lose. It was why she was still alive and Ulric and his conspirators were not.
    Duchess Paulina straightened in her seat and did her best to regain her co mposure. “Very well, Lord Giles, I will have someone bring you the Codex. It is heavily secured and will take a bit of time to remove it.”
    “You have already wasted enough of my time. I will get it myself.”
    Azerick pointed his staff at the high ceiling and made a circling motion. The hall shuddered as a round section of the ceiling the size of a small dinner table broke free and descended through the floor. Story after story of the tower above sank through the floor as loud, crackling explosions resounded through the Hall of Inquisition from the multiple wards protesting their destruction. The wards protecting the Codex were the most formidable possible and would have withstood Azerick’s sorcery even with the additional power of his staff, but they were not designed to stand against the demonic power lacing his magic. When the rumbling destruction stopped and the dust cleared, the Codex Arcana sat before Azerick on its stone pedestal.
    Azerick reached out and casually tucked the tome under his left arm. “My coming here and asking for what is mine