Forest Kingdom Trilogy 2 - Blood and Honor

snapping, and still Cord fought on, trying to get back to protect the Steward.
    Catrionia Taggert was back on her feet again, though she couldn't remember how. She cut desperately about her with a sword she'd snatched from a dead guard's hand. The Unreal closed in around her, and she swayed drunkenly on her feet as she struggled to keep her swordarm steady. That final blast of balefire had taken too much out of her, and she knew it. The Unreal knew it too. She could see Cord fighting to get back to her side, but there were too many creatures between them. She risked a quick glance at the throne, and saw Viktor and Gawaine standing over the Stone. She tried to smile bravely.
    Prince Viktor had got to the Stone. At least she wouldn't have died in vain. Blood ran down into her eyes, and she lifted a shaking hand to wipe it away, a A glistening black creature with a barbed spine lashed out at her while she was distracted, and knocked her to the floor. She tried to get up again, and couldn't. Something with blood-red eyes and needle teeth stooped over her. Taggert snarled up at it.
    Jordan saw Taggert go down, and screamed her name. He knew he couldn't get to her in time. All his rage and guilt burned within him, and he stretched out a desperate hand towards her. A jet of roaring flame burst from his hand and shot through the air to fry the creature bending over Taggert. It shrieked once as the flames consumed it, and then fell back and lay still. The Unreal scattered away from the burning corpse. The din of battle suddenly went down, and for a moment it seemed that everything in the Hall had paused, aware that something vital was happening. Jordan looked disbelievingly at the flames licking harmlessly round his hand. Viktor had the fire magic, not him. He was just an actor who knew a few conjuring tricks. But that was no longer true. He could feel the fire burning within him, waiting to be used. A bright-burning flame, to sear
    the world clean of foulness and evil. He looked up at the Monk, floating high above the violence below, and realised for the first time that the Monk had stopped laughing. He raised his hand, and smiled grimly at the gateway of the Unreal.
    'Burn in Hell, Monk,' he whispered.
    A jet of boiling flame shot across the Hall from his hand, and struck the Monk's robe. The grey cloth flared up in an instant and burned fiercely. The Monk screamed once, a wild, awful sound, and then the robe was just a robe, and the burning cloth fell down on to the heads of the Unreal creatures below. The gateway was closed. Jordan slowly realised that Gawaine was tugging at his arm.
    'Jordan, the Stone! Swear your oath to the Stone before another gateway opens!'
    'What are you talking about, Gawaine? I told you, I'm Jordan. I don't have any Blood.'
    'You have the fire magic.'
    'I don't know how I did that. I don't know where it came from.'
    'It comes from the glamour spell Roderik put on you. It must have. It made you a physical duplicate of Viktor. An exact physical duplicate. Since Viktor had Blood, so do you!'
    Jordan gaped at Gawaine, and then spun round to face the Stone. The Unreal howled with fear and rage, and surged forward, trying to reach the dais before he could complete the ritual. The remaining guards fought desperately to hold back the creatures for just a few more moments. Jordan nicked the palm of his left hand with his sword edge, and a few spots of blood fell on to the top of the ancient Stone.
    He leaned forward to place his palm on the Stone, and then hesitated.
    The young noble placed his palm firmly on to the bloodstained Stone. He made a soft, puzzled sound, and then the breath went out of him and he fell limply backwards. His head made a flat, final sound as it hit the floor.
    Jordan swallowed hard and slapped his palm down on to the Stone. 'I swear allegiance to the Stone, and to the Kingdom of Redhart!' Power surged through him, fell and potent, and for a timeless moment he could see everywhere in Castle Midnight. He could see the Unreal swarming through the rooms and corridors, appearing through hundreds of minor gateways. Everywhere in the Castle guards and sorcerers, and men and women armed with whatever they could find, fought to hold back the endless tide of savagery. They fought well and bravely, but they were still losing. Jordan called upon his power, and in the blinking of an eye the Unreal was banished in its entirety from Castle Midnight, and all the gateways closed.
    Tall shimmering