Free The Wielder: Sworn Vengeance (The Wielder Series) by David Gosnell Page B

Silithes?”
    Percy. It has to be. I regard the young man seriously.  For a moment I consider telling him that she forgot his name. But, that would be hurtful.  So instead I play the protective dad.  “She’s off limits to you young man ,” I tell him as I head to my seat with a purpose.
    “W hy?” asks Percy.  When I sit down, I look at him with purpose.  “Ask your boss Percy. In the mean time, there’s nothing to discuss.”
    That gets a belly laugh from one of two fairly sizeable guys at the end of the table :  Paladins of the Order of Light I guess. One picks up his phone and checks it.  “Gunter had a question for me to ask you… here it is.” He looks at me with a sarcastically serious expression and says in a fake Nordic accent… “Are you still resisting the demon whore?”
    Percy has to stand up for her honor which gets him stared down both by myself and the rest of the table.
    That message is vintage Gunter, the second Paladin I ever met and generally speaking a great guy.  Unfortunately I killed the first Paladin I ever met, Gunter’s friend Herrmann.  I now carry Herrmann’s sword and am pledged for revenge against Maldgorath on behalf of his family. Apparently Gunter thinks it’s a neat thing that I’ve rebuffed Sil’s advances for almost 80 years.
    The conference room door busts open and we are joined by Edgar.  “Ok good people ,” he bellows out “our conference begins in twenty seconds.  We will be patching in through Protectorate and other guild headquarters.  Our great leader Alistair wishes us to know his feelings and direction. ”
    There is a heavy level of sarcasm on the last bit.
    With that, Percy punche s a digital pad and the screens above us light up, showing all the people connected to the conference.  Most, I don’t recognize.  But the people I do recognize make me feel good.  Karen, Gunter, Christophe, and Greg – the sword of balance himself.  Of course Alistair is there – leading everything.
    After summary introductions, Alistair starts right in. “Our primary mission now is the finding and destruction of the beast Ahtsag Znuul.  He has killed one of our brightest stars and…”
    “We haven’t proved that yet ,” Karen interrupts
    “The evidence of his complicity is beyond reproach, you know this. Edgar, please bring up the evidence and tell us the point of view of the Technological experts.”
    Edgar nods to Percy and our screens populate with windows.  Emails and other information I don’t even have a clue about flash on screen.
    Edgar nods to Percy in thanks and steps towards the table.  “The messages trace from the Chateau , without question.  The fact you kept a reader box on their line certainly helped validate these facts, though that action was somewhat ethically questionable. Obviously it would be best to have access to the equipment there, but given the total devastation that is not practical. For details I will turn it over to Percy Baumgarter.”
    Percy sa ys a lot.  Most of which is over my head.  The gist of it is that the “gee-mail” account was opened originally from the chateau. Messages all trace back to the chateau. Purchases from the IP address of the computer that sent the messages were traced back to a credit card that was known to have belonged to Ahtsag Znuul.
    Al istair interjects.  “Let me read the last message if there are any questions.”  The text pops up on my screen.  It is a message from [email protected] to [email protected]. The moniker registers immediately – Destroyer of hope, devourer of souls.  And the recipient is obvious too. 
    Al istair begins to read.
    “Make Tuesday of next week the day.  Either I will walk freely or I will rule over the soul of this pathetic human wizard in the afterlife.  He is weak, I know he will release me.  If he does not, then I am better off regardless as I can no longer pretend to tolerate these pathetic creatures who do not deserve to stand in my