The Light Bringer: An Epic Fantasy Adventure Novel (The Dragon Gate Series Book 2)

by Randy Ellefson

  Jack and Quincy had moved forward with trying to find a rural estate to set up as a new home base. Jack had visited several for extensive tours with a video camera rolling, knowing they couldn’t visit in person without unnecessary risks. One stood out and, while not perfect, would work. The group made a quick decision to gain it, Eriana footing the three-million-dollar cost and admitting she had to figure out what to tell Paul, but assuring them he would do what she wanted. Anna couldn’t help wondering about that relationship and what the excuse would be, but Eriana believed it was best to start telling her husband some version of the truth.

  Eriana had been collecting supposed magical items throughout their marriage, Paul well aware of the collection that they showed off in their house to wealthy friends. With the reports of magic and healing working around the world growing, he would believe that some items were real after all. With the friends back on Earth now, Eriana was booking a flight home to have this talk with Paul and, just as importantly, bring every last one of those items back here for potential use. She would tell Paul that Ryan and the others had some items of their own and needed her help to deal with them, and that the items were causing them trouble she wanted to help them with. She also intended to bring her private investigator for physical and digital security at the new estate. Anna felt beyond grateful for all of it. Maybe soon they would have less to fear while on Earth.

  Daniel revealed that he had purchased tons of additional equipment for them—period appropriate clothes, crossbows, long and short bows, bolts and arrows, swords and daggers of every kind, suits of armor, shields, lances and more, and a small library of books about medieval life and culture, how kingdoms worked in various parts of Earth, and a copy of every supposed book about magic, including ones with spells. Some were about witchcraft, others about necromancy, and pretty much every variation on the subject. He had also ordered a ton of ingredients that were listed as needed for magic, whether or not any of it was true. They would soon have a lab set up.

  On a more mundane level, Daniel was now going to shop for furniture for the estate with Jack. And it was time to buy horses, with Ryan placing an order for the related gear like tack. Eriana knew more about it than anyone but Ryan, who couldn’t go, so she would take care of it once she returned, including hiring a barn manager. Ryan already owned the horse he used at RenFest but wanted a few extras, all transported to the new estate once set up. But this was going to take a while. Anna felt relieved to know that everything would progress even in their absence, and the others shared their appreciation aloud. They needed friends like never before.

  Despite the return spell refreshing them physically, Anna felt exhausted by the night’s end. She needed a mental respite but decided not to join the boys for a streaming movie to get their minds off everything. Eriana left to make preparations, promising to return in the morning and leaving the amulet with Anna, who sat on Jack’s bed, where she would spend the night, the guys settling for the floor or couch in the living room. She felt bad about that and wondered which of the three other champions, if not all of them, she should get used to sharing a bed with. She trusted them, so it wasn’t like one of them would behave inappropriately sleeping beside her, but she just had too many other things on her mind. And she felt violated, like she had no control or privacy, so she didn’t want to give up one minor element of it sooner than she needed to. She knew the guys understood and didn’t begrudge the uncomfortable night they would spend, but she felt guilty and was tired of that feeling.

  As Anna lay trying to sleep, she had the Corethian Amulet beside her, one hand on it. Closing her eyes, she focused her will and tried to remember the feeling coursing through her when Eriana used the power of God on her. It had felt just like any other deity’s touch—firm, gentle, reassuring, powerful, and a little intimidating, as if the god was holding back to avoid hurting the vessel—her. What would the full force of a god’s will feel like? She doubted anyone would survive it. Pushing the thought from her mind, she reached out with her senses for long moments, her heart full of a desire to help those she had hurt and the wounded still yet to come. It had always been true of her, since she was a little girl, and led to her interest in medicine. It’s just that in the apparent absence of God, she had resorted to other means of helping. Now maybe she had another way.

  It took some time, but finally, she felt something, and the first touch of it made her smile. And somehow that made it rush into her so that she chuckled, and then cry at the truth enveloping her. God was out there, and real, and He had answered. A new reality had finally dawned here on Earth, now in Anna, and she let go of the amulet, certain she didn’t need it anymore. Not here. The power filling her felt strong enough to do what she needed, and she vowed that in the morning, she would find Raven and undo the damage she had done.

  Anna would finally become the Light Bringer.

  Jack turned away from Eriana to his kitchen sink to resume cutting an apple, having just explained that he’d woken to find the apartment empty of all but him. While they couldn’t be certain because he hadn’t seen it, both knew that Anna, Ryan, Matt, and Eric were not on Earth, having been summoned once more. Even Jack was feeling frustrated, and it wasn’t even happening to him. Eriana had mentioned that the rate of quests was higher than what she and the other real champions had experienced, but their prolonged absence had likely caused a backlog of them to accumulate. Maybe it would slow down after what, a few months? Every time they disappeared, there was a good chance he was never seeing them again.

  “Ouch!” Jack yanked his finger away from the knife, expecting the blood that seeped from the wound. Pinching it tight, he ran water over it.

  Eriana approached and put a hand on his forearm, her skin warm. “Let me see.”

  The feel of her hand and motherly instinct made him glad he’d cut himself. There was something very comforting about this woman. A faint hint of perfume added to the feminine air that he sometimes felt was missing from girls his age, most of them wearing jeans or other clothes not far from that of a guy. He knew such attire was more comfortable for them, but he appreciated the way Eriana dressed—long flowing skirts and blouses that bore no resemblance to a man’s clothing. Sometimes she had leggings on, like now, but then she had a smaller skirt atop it. He liked her style and had already recognized the signs of his growing interest in her. That they had spent some time alone lately had helped, and she had even seemed receptive to some gentle flirting.

  Now Jack pulled his hand from the water and let her take it, the blood flowing more as he stopped squeezing the wound shut. She looked it over a moment and then whispered.

  “For a kind soul, please.”

  Jack’s finger tingled and the cut stopping stinging. A soft glow lit the inside as the cut vanished. A slight feeling of bemusement came over him, from the healing touch within him, as small as it was. He wondered how strong that would be if he was more desperately wounded. What had Anna felt? He turned to Erin, their eyes meeting. She pulled her hand from his, but he closed his fingers around it.

  “Your touch is wonderful,” he confessed.

  She smiled. “It’s the touch of your god.”

  “No.” He held her gaze. “I felt it long before you did that.”

  Her smile broadened. “You’re sweet.”

  He bit his lip, recognizing the sound of rejection coming, or so he thought. “I’m sorry. I know that you’re married.”

  She gave his hand a small squeeze. “Where I come from, monogamy is not a thing. Not really.” Jack tried to keep a hopeful look from his eyes and opened his mouth, but she laid one finger across his lips. “I honor it here because it is custom and expected, and I have made a promise.”

  He nodded and pulled his hand away. “Of course. I meant no–”

  “A promise my husband made me, and which he has broken more than once.”

  That surprised him. Her clear eyes showed no sign of pain about her husband’s betrayal, but it bothered him and he wanted to
say he would not do such a thing. “He should not have.”

  “And yet he did. And it freed me from honoring the same promise to him, whether he knows that or not.”

  Startled again, he flushed at the implication, now noticing that her eyes held a smile. Unsure what to say, he murmured, “If you don’t mind my saying so, your husband is a fool.”

  “I know.”

  Heat rising in his cheeks, he leaned forward when the doorbell rang and she put one hand on his chest, stopping him. “Good things come to those who wait.”

  Jack inwardly groaned as she turned toward the living room and front door, footsteps moving away. He turned back to the apple and bit into a piece just as he heard her open the front door. Then she gasped.

  “Soliander!” Eriana said.

  Jack almost choked on the fruit. Oh my God.. His eyes darted for a way out, even though he knew the wizard stood at the only exit. What is he doing here? How did he find…? If he hurts her….

  “Eriana?” said a man’s voice, sounding confused.

  Jack edged toward the kitchen corner, carefully peering around to the front door. Eriana had thrown her arms around a twenty-something year old man in blue jeans and a dark t-shirt, his wavy brown hair touching his shoulders. A pang of jealousy overtook Jack’s fear. But neither overpowered his curiosity. He wanted to get out of there, but he wasn’t leaving without Eriana, and he had to remain out of sight. Thinking of a security camera he had pointed at the front door from a corner table, he pulled up his phone, brought it online, and set it to start recording, watching via the phone and stepping back without a sound. Eriana had pulled back from Soliander and placed both hands on his cheeks.

  “I can’t believe it’s really you!” she said. “I’ve been waiting. I’ve looked. I…” She paused as if to stop herself from gushing.

  The wizard repeated, “Eriana? How? You look… older. How could you be…?” They stopped talking and stared silently for several seconds before he asked, “What happened to you?”

  She took his hand and pulled him, closing the door, an enormous smile on her face. “It’s a long story, but I’ve been here for about twenty years, Soli. And I just learned in the past few days that only three years have passed on other worlds. That’s why you haven’t aged nearly as much as me.”

  “That doesn’t make… Wait. Let me think. Morgana. I have suspected that she summoned us to the past.”

  “I think so, yes.”

  “So there was already some time period alteration going on.”

  “I think something about the spell you did with Merlin threw us back to our own time, except I didn’t quite make it, it seems.”

  “Twenty years.” He sounded exasperated. “All this time, you’ve been here.”

  “And now you are here. What are you doing here?” Then she seemed to realize something, and the same question in Jack’s head came next. “Wait. What are you doing here, in this apartment? You didn’t know I was here.”

  He glanced around the room and sighed. “I am looking for these four imposters. Do you know about this? They are pretending to be us.”

  “Yes. It isn’t their fault. They–”

  “Are they here?” He stepped past her toward the kitchen but stopped and turned back when she answered.

  “No, they were just summoned overnight. Soli, what is going on? Do you know how they became us?”

  “They are not us,” he snapped. She recoiled a bit, and he softened his tone. “They are not the Ellorian Champions. The champions are dead.”

  Eriana shook her head. “What do you mean? You and I are alive. Have you seen Korrin and Andier?”

  “It doesn’t matter.”

  She approached and took his arm in one hand. “Hey, answer me. Have you seen them?”

  Soliander shook his head. “I have not. No one has.”

  “Have you looked?”

  “I… Yes. You think I would not have looked for all of you? I have searched everywhere that makes any sense, except here, because I couldn’t find Earth until recently. Like it didn’t exist. I suppose I should have been searching when, too, had I known.” He shook his head.

  Jack thought that would be impossible, having to re-search every place at different points in time.

  “While I have been here,” began Eriana, “where have you been? They tell me no one has seen you either. How can that be? Are you in hiding?”

  A moment passed before he asked quietly, “What have they been telling you about me?”

  She shook her head. “Things that concern me, frankly. You opened the Dragon Gate and left it that way after all that trouble we went through on Honyn to create and close it. You attacked Lorian and Matt. You cast that mind reading spell on him when it’s forbidden.”

  He turned and stepped away from her. “Nothing is forbidden unless I say it is.”

  “Soli,” she began, but he cut her off, turning back.

  “Don’t you disapprove of me. No one gets to disapprove of what I do, or how I do it. Not anymore. I will not be powerless again like we always were. If I have to cast a supposedly forbidden spell to be free, then so be it. I have done far worse.”

  She watched him quietly, putting one hand on her heart as he turned away again. “What happened wasn’t your fault.”

  “Are we going to have this argument again?”

  “Until I win it, yes,” she said lightly, and he shot her a sideways look before sighing. She added, “It’s nice to argue with you again, Soli. Really. I’m thrilled to get the chance. But I wish we didn’t have things to argue about. I never thought I’d see you again, and I certainly didn’t think that if I did, that I would have reasons to believe you’ve done terrible things. Or that I have reason to be afraid for you. Even afraid of you.”

  He turned toward her, sounded wounded as he replied, “I would never hurt you. You know that.”

  “The man I knew before would not have.”

  “He is dead.” He said it with no trace of uncertainty.

  “Then I have reason to fear you, and to grieve you.” When he didn’t respond, she asked, “What were you planning to do when I opened that door?”

  For an answer, he only said, “I’m a wizard, aren’t I?”

  Seconds of silence passed before she asked, “Kill or immobilize?”

  “I wasn’t going to kill them. Not yet, anyway.”

  Listening, Jack wasn’t sure if that was meant to be a joke. The wizard sounded blasé about it, and from what he’d heard from his friends, that seemed like the new Soliander, not the one of the Ellorian Champions. He had changed, and Eriana clearly knew it.

  She asked, “What do you want with them?”

  “I could ask the same of you.”

  “You didn’t used to be so coy. I liked the direct Soliander.”

  “No one calls me that anymore.”

  “What do they call you? Are your deeds really so awful that you live under another name?”

  “Some would say yes. I would say no. I have killed. I have tortured. I have destroyed entire cities. I have brought kingdoms to ruin. I rule several more and everyone fears me, just as I would have them do. And they do not know me. I do not want them to, out of respect for you.” He frowned, and Jack heard bitterness when he spoke again. “I would not drag your memory down with me as Soliander, and there is value in the ruse. None know that the Majestic Magus is now the Arch Wizard Zoran the Devastator, the one who has made everyone afraid to cross him.” He seemed caught up in his litany of exploits and hardly noticed Eriana’s fallen face until now. Sounding resigned, he remarked, “You don’t really want to know these things.”

  She sounded angry as she replied, “You might be right. I can’t be with a man who does evil things. You know why.”

  In a low voice, he said, “Do not compare me to your childhood tormentors. I would never… not to you.”

  “Maybe. Maybe not. You don’t seem to realize that you are breaking my heart anyway.”

  “Eriana,” he began
as if pained.

  “I looked for you. All over this Earth. Anywhere I could think you might be.” Her voice grew strained. “You more than the others. I eventually gave up hope, that you were lost and I would never see you again. And now after all this time, I heard there might be hope. I met these replacements for us. And they told me they had seen you, that you had attacked them without justification. I finally found hope again and can hardly believe it. And I just dreaded to find out that it was true, that you had changed in the worst of ways, and here you stand before me confirming all of my fears. I have found you only to find that you are more lost to me than I would have ever imagined you could be.”

  Imploring Eriana, Soliander said, “I am not lost to you.”

  “Then what were you going to do when I opened that door?”

  “I… I was going to capture them. To get information from them. So I could find you. I thought them replacing us must have meant something, and there was hope to find you.”

  “That is the reason?”

  “Of course. You have always been the only reason for me. You know this. Or have you forgotten in your new life here?”

  “Am I the reason you have done terrible things? In the name of finding me? Avenging me?”

  “No, that is not what I meant.”

  “Then what?”

  He let out a breath. “Everything I have done since I learned you three were gone, and I was free of those damn quests, has been to make certain that no one ever makes me a prisoner again. I will be free even if I have to destroy a thousand worlds. I have tracked down some of those who helped Everon, and they are dead now. They cannot do anything further to any of us again.”

  “So it was for all of us?”

  “No. No, it was for me, Eriana. You have your demons and I have mine. You can tell me as many times as you like that none of this was my fault, that it was just Everon and his band of vengeance seekers who trapped us in the quests, but it will always come back to me. You have never admitted that there is any truth to this.”