The First Confessor: The Legend of Magda Searus

Chapter 93

Magda could hear the word “Confessor” whispered over and over, repeated countless times back through the mass of people watching. Lothain, still on his knees, continued to gaze up at her, patiently awaiting her further instructions.

When Magda signaled, Quinn brought Naja forward. Naja pushed her hood back so that Lothain could see her. Rage reddened her face. Magda could see the dangerous aura of the gift shimmering in her icy blue eyes.

Naja pointed at Lothain. “This is the man who put me in the dungeon. This is the man who tortured me and—”

Quinn grabbed her and pulled her back as she lunged, trying to kick him between his legs. “We need him to be able to talk,” he whispered in Naja’s ear. “Magda needs to get all the truth out of him. Let her do it.”

Naja, her breast heaving in rage, pressed her lips tightly together as she looked into Magda’s eyes. Magda could see that the sorceress was on the edge of unleashing enough violence to reduce Lothain to a smoldering corpse.

“I know,” Magda whispered to her. “I know.”

“I owe you both my life,” Naja said to Magda and Merritt. “Everyone here does. My trust is the least I can offer in return.” At last, she pulled back from the brink and gave Magda a nod to continue.

“Who is she?” Magda asked Lothain as she gestured to Naja. “Tell everyone here who this woman is and what her duties were before coming here to the Keep. Tell us what you know about her.”

Lothain looked out at the crowd watching him and answered without hesitation. “She is a defector from the Old World. She came here to help the cause of the Midlands. She was Emperor Sulachan’s spiritist. She knows about the ways of the wizards in the Old World. She knows how they have been able to use the dead to serve the ends of Emperor Sulachan. She knows how we are able to control the souls of the dead in order to use their corpses to do our bidding. She knows, too, about the half people and how we steal their souls as well.”

Cries of terror broke out as near panic washed back through the people watching. The true dimension of the threat from the Old World was sinking in. Most of these people had never heard of such things.

“And what did you do when she defected and came here to help our cause?” Magda asked him.

“I had her chained in the dungeon and tortured.”

“Why did you put her in the dungeon?” Magda asked.

He leaned in eagerly at the question, happy that he was able to answer her, to be able to please her. “To make sure that she couldn’t help the wizards and sorceresses here at the Keep who work to defend the Midlands and counter the weapons being created in the Old World. We didn’t want her to stop what we were secretly doing with the dead, or with assassinating important people.” Tears welled up in his eyes. “I’m sorry, Mistress. I meant you harm, too.” He fell to his knees again, clutching at the hem of her white dress. “Please, forgive me!”

“Stop that and look at me.”

He immediately came to attention on his knees.

Magda suddenly went cold with dread.

She had forgotten to take it into consideration.

She looked down at Lothain. “You know about the dream walkers?”

“Yes, Mistress.”

“Are there dream walkers here, now, secretly hiding in people’s minds, watching us right now?”

“Yes, Mistress.”

She hadn’t considered that. She had been so worried about getting Lothain to confess in front of everyone, so determined to expose his treason, that she hadn’t thought about dream walkers watching along with everyone else.

A man, his eyes wild, his hands clawed, screamed with murderous intent as he ran toward the dais, toward Lothain.

Merritt, grasping what was happening, thrust his hand out just in time, sending a charge of power into the man flying in toward Lothain. The man shuddered when the power hit him and he fell dead at Magda’s feet. He had been one of their own, not a traitor, but a dream walker had turned him into an assassin.

As a couple of soldiers dragged the body away, Magda looked up at the shocked faces. “That was a dream walker taking control of one of our people to try to kill our witness, here.”

People backed away, gawking at the dead man being dragged past their feet, one of them, used by a dream walker to become a killer. It was suddenly becoming all too real to people who hadn’t been willing to believe that it was possible dream walkers were already invading the minds of people in the Keep.

Screams broke out as several wizards in the crowd suddenly covered their ears, writhing as they were stricken out of the blue with terrible agony. Some of the people around the victims backed away as blood began to run from the ears and noses of wizards gasping for breath, pressing their hands to their heads, trying to suppress the unbearable pain. They began choking on blood and coughing it out in thick gobs.

Magda understood all too well what was happening. It had happened to her. She rushed to the edge of the dais, close to the crowd.

“Listen to me!” she screamed out loud enough for all to hear. “Listen to me or some of you will die! You have to listen to me and do exactly as I say!”

Pleading faces turned toward her. Others tried in vain to help the stricken.

“Dream walkers are taking your minds!” Merritt yelled from beside Magda. “They intend to murder you! You only have one chance to live! Listen to her if you want to live!”

“Lord Rahl created magic to protect people from dream walkers,” Magda called out. “Giving the devotion to Lord Rahl bonds you to him through links to this magic. It will protect you from the dream walkers. You have no time to waste! Drop to your knees! Do it now!”

A good many people did as she had commanded.

“How can such a thing be possible?” one of the confused-looking wizards asked. “There is no way for a remote bond to accomplish something like that.”

“Yes there is!” Merritt answered. “I know because I helped him create it. Just as a dream walker can function remotely, so can the bond to Lord Rahl. I know because I ran the integrity check myself, from inside the verification web. It works. I tested it with a dream walker. Now listen to Magda and do exactly as she says or the dream walkers will be able to steal into your minds.”

“But I don’t see—”

“There is no time to debate this! I’ll give you details later!” Merritt pointed at a man in front, crumpled forward on his knees, bleeding from his ears. “If you want to be vulnerable to dream walkers just like that, then ignore her!”

All the people still standing, including the wizard, dropped to their knees.

“Everyone!” Magda shouted. “Bend forward, put your forehead to the ground, open your mind to the words, and repeat them after me! You must do it three times! Repeat the words after me if you want to live!”

The vast room reverberated with people shouting that they would do it, or crying, or begging her to hurry.

“To be protected, you must swear as follows,” Magda called out in a clear voice. “Repeat the words after me. Master Rahl guide us.” The voices echoed as the crowd repeated them. “Master Rahl teach us,” Magda said into the tense quiet. Those stricken, bleeding, and in agony gasped the words of the devotion along with everyone else, as she had once done herself. “Master Rahl protect us.” With each phrase she called out, everyone repeated it in unison. “In your light we thrive.” She waited for the echo to die out so they wouldn’t miss her words. “In your mercy we are sheltered.” She paused, then went on, “In your wisdom we are humbled.” They repeated together. “We live only to serve.” She looked out at all the bowed heads as she spoke the last of it. “Our lives are yours.”

The echo of the last words of the devotion spoken in unison finally died out. For good measure, Magda had them all repeat it two more times.

When the three devotions were finished, the people stricken had collapsed in relief. They nodded to those attending them that it had worked. The news that doing as Magda had said had saved the lives of those in the grip of dream walkers spread like wildfire through the packed rooms.

“Congratulations,” Magda told the crowd, “you have taken an important step in successfully protecting the Keep from dream walkers. You must tell everyone who was not here today. They must all give the devotion to Lord Rahl in order to be protected by that bond. We cannot allow anyone unprotected to be among us.”