Damien put the final touches on his construct and stepped back. “What do you think?”

An excellent likeness. Even the soul force matches.

He nodded. That had been the hardest part, dividing his soul force as well as the sustaining flow exactly in half. If Connor noticed any difference the trick wouldn’t work.

A blast of corrupt energy shook the platform where he stood. Time to stop fooling around.

He sent his construct to fly around behind Connor then went the opposite way for a direct attack. Damien swooped down below Connor’s level while the decoy came in from above. Come on, damn you, take the bait.

Damien sensed the black lightning gathering a moment before it streaked down at him. He just managed to twist aside. Even a near miss stripped a portion of the power from Damien’s shield.

Before Connor could adjust his aim the construct slammed into him. Unlike Connor’s decoy, Damien’s was dense enough to hit hard.

The warlock staggered.

Damien flew up and swung Lizzy at the urn. The foul thing went flying across the cavern.

His back cut should have taken Connor’s head off, but instead struck a dark shield harder than steel. The vibration numbed Damien’s fingers.

Damien’s construct had Connor wrapped up, but even though he couldn’t move he still wielded his power with no trouble.

Corrupt soul force gathered. Damien read the flow and reclaimed the power in his decoy a moment before a massive burst of hellfire would have blown it away. The influx of power instantly repaired his shield and refilled his core.

Damien drew deep and sent a dense blade of soul force screaming at Connor. The warlock blocked it but went flying across the cavern. Connor used the momentum to flee up to the top level.

After a moment’s thought Damien flew back to the prisoners. Everyone was still breathing, though they all looked gaunt. He tapped each person’s restraints with Lizzy’s tip and shattered the bindings with a small burst of soul force.

One by one each prisoner slumped to the floor. When he’d freed them all Damien wrapped the group in a protective barrier and sent a stream of soul force to maintain it.

Are you sure? You might miss that bit of power when we catch up to him.

Damien wasn’t sure about much, but he couldn’t let the other sorcerers die if he could help it. Without the threat of the urn he felt pretty good about his chances of defeating Connor. His master would probably snort and say something about the arrogance of youth. Luckily she wasn’t here to see him do something potentially stupid.

If you get yourself killed I swear I’ll tell her.

Damien put a hand to his heart. “Cold-hearted woman. Don’t worry. I won’t be leaving you anytime soon. Let’s go get him.”

He conjured a second shield with enough power to turn aside anything he could imagine Connor sending his way. The third level was empty so Damien continued on to the top. A small doorway shaped from crystal, barely big enough for a single person to pass through, waited at the top. An ominous aura radiated from the room beyond.

Connor had to be in there, but Damien couldn’t separate him from the corruption that filled the air. What was causing that aura?

It’s a hell gate. What you feel is a fragment of the true power of hell.

Damien’s face twisted. “And you used to live there. I’m so sorry.”

He charged Lizzy’s blade and stepped through the narrow opening. The room beyond was pure crystal with a pedestal in the center. Connor stood beside it, his hand resting on a slightly darker piece of crystal protruding out of the pedestal, his head thrown back so he could stare into the swirling black void that covered the ceiling. He wore an ecstatic look unlike anything Damien had ever seen.

Damien shuddered. What in the world was Connor doing?

Whatever it was it couldn’t be anything good. He slashed Lizzy in the warlock’s direction, releasing the stored energy in her blade. The wave of soul force struck an unseen barrier and blew apart, sending golden motes drifting around the chamber as they winked out.

That blast would have killed an average demon, but Connor didn’t even blink. In fact it didn’t look to Damien like he was breathing.

Damien extended Lizzy and took a step. He found nothing. Another step then a third, still nothing. On the fourth step she hit what felt like a solid wall, but there was nothing there. What was he supposed to do now?

A deranged cackle drew Damien’s attention to his left. A black mirror hung on the wall and a blurry figure stared at him from its hazy depths.

It’s an imp, Damien. Trust nothing it says.

Damien hardly needed the warning. The ugly thing had to be a demon of some sort. Connor didn’t look to be going anywhere and Damien seemed unable to attack so he walked over to the mirror.

“Who are you, another of Connor’s minions?”

The imp huffed. “Hardly. I serve the great King Alexious and sometimes the master himself.”

“The master? You mean the Horned One?”

“You’re a smart one. Did you figure that out all by yourself or did your tame spirit tell you?”

Lizzy’s anger radiated through her hilt. Damien was tempted to smash the mirror on the spot, but he wanted to see if the creature knew anything useful.

“I deduced it from the company you keep. Speaking of which…” Damien jerked a thumb towards Connor. “What’s he up to?”

“It’s a surprise.”

“A surprise?”

“Mmmm. I fear you won’t like it. You’re about to meet the master. Have fun.” The imp vanished.

“Did you understand that?”

I assume it was implying that Connor was summoning the Horned One himself. That’s impossible. Even if Connor sent the entire planet’s soul force through the portal it wouldn’t be enough to allow a demon lord to pass through.

“Then what?”

A tremor shook the chamber and Connor howled. Black mist drifted down from the portal and entered the warlock’s eyes, ears, and mouth. His face contorted in paroxysms of mingled rage and pain.

Damien risked slamming Lizzy into the invisible barrier to no more effect than the earlier blast. Whatever was happening they were nothing but observers for the moment.