Reckoning

by R. S. Broadhead

  Table of Contents

  Chapter One

  Chapter Two

  Chapter Three

  Chapter Four

  Chapter Five

  Chapter Six

  Chapter Seven

  Chapter Eight

  Chapter Nine

  Chapter Ten

  Chapter Eleven

  Chapter Twelve

  Chapter Thirteen

  Chapter Fourteen

  Chapter Fifteen

  Chapter Sixteen

  Chapter Seventeen

  Epilogue

  About the Author

  Reckoning

  © 2014 R. S. Broadhead

  Cover Design © Stephanie Mooney

  Interior Formatting by Cassy Roop of Pink Ink Designs

  All rights reserved.

  Without limiting the rights under copyright reserved above, no part of the publication may be reproduced, stored in or introduced into a retrieval system, or transmitted in any form, or by any means (electronic, mechanical photocopying, recording, or otherwise) without the prior written permission of the author of this book. This is a work of fiction. Names, characters, places, brands, media, and incidents are either the product of the author’s imagination or are used fictitiously. The author acknowledges the trademarked status and trademark owners of various products referenced in this work of fiction which have been used without permission. The publication/use of these trademarks is not authorized, associated with, or sponsored by the trademark owners.

  I STARED OUT THE WINDOW at the purple moonlight sky speckled with white stars. Its warm light bathed me in a shimmery glow. The land that had almost been overrun by a brute army now slept quietly in the years since Dermetheus escaped. The tips of the giant, white LaModas that lined my fortress danced and swayed in the night’s calming breeze, while the meadow off in the distance bustled with a lively celebration.

  Despite the peace we were in, I still couldn’t help but blame myself for how things went. If only I hadn’t hesitated when he was lying there, helpless. It would have all ended there on the day that so many lost their lives. The enemies still lurked of course, waiting to join him in the other realm. They sought refuge in the darker parts and had crept, silently. After several attempts of tracking them, I knew trying to extinguish their kind was a lost cause. Enough lives were already lost at my hand. My fingertips ran down the cold stone wall until they found their way to the seal and rested there.

  “My lady, I’m here as you requested,” came from the entrance of the room. I turned to find my handsome warrior striding toward me with such confidence that even the strongest man would quiver in fear.

  “Fuzzaran, you’re always welcome by my side,” I told him as I reached out to run my hand down his face. His skin was hot and rough, and I loved how it felt against mine. No matter how much this world wore me down I could always count on him to make things better. “You don’t have to wait until I request your presence.”

  “You have a lot on your mind, and I didn’t want to hinder your thoughts.”

  I laughed. My thoughts had been all over the place the past several weeks, but tonight I’d finally been struck with an idea that put the elder council in an uproar. But it was my decision, and there was nothing they could do but sit back and see if it worked.

  “I think better when you’re near me, and don’t ever think otherwise,” I said, pausing briefly. “I wanted you to come to me, because I have searched far and deep into my thoughts and have been lucky enough to be graced with our last hope.”

  “What would you have us do, Nabea?” His tender green eyes searched my face for answers. The warrior that would cut down a person or creature in cold blood and not think twice about it had given me his heart many years before. As he lay by my side every night, that warrior disappeared and was replaced by someone whose kisses covered my body and whose hands turned to velvet with a touch. “Should we prepare another new-soul to be sent?”

  “No. We’ve already sacrificed enough of our people to him. It’s a time for change from our norm. The conclusion I’ve found is one that has the elders doubtful in me, but I have to have faith this works,” I replied, sitting in my plush red chair in front of the oversized fireplace, blazing with flames. He followed me and sat in the chair beside me.

  “The elders only choose to do what they think will rid us of this ongoing problem that gets closer with each passing day.”

  “Their methods aren’t working. New-souls aren’t strong enough to handle him. He knows them too well and is able to beat them with little effort; after all, he did train in very similar methods. We need something that will catch him off guard and end this once and for all before he finds a way to rule in a place that we’ve lived peacefully beside. No realm deserves what he has in store for it. He needs to be destroyed before it’s too late.”

  “You know I’ll follow whatever you say, my lady. Tell me what you seek of me and it shall be done.” His loyalty never ceased to amaze me, and it made me appreciate the joining of our two spirits. My eyes fell to the floor while I thought long and hard about my next words. This idea was absolutely unheard of, and I didn’t want him to look at me with doubt. Not him, not ever.

  “Like I said, we will not be sending a new-soul this time, instead, something else will be sent.” He sat and watched me intently. “I’ve thought about crossing the realm myself, but I’m afraid that without a Lordess, this place would be utter pandemonium. I’ve decided to break apart a fragment of my inner being to send across the realm into a human infant.”

  He sucked in a breath. “It is unheard of! It will make you weak, and Plamethia needs a strong Lordess.” He slammed his hands down on the armrests before jumping to his feet to pace in front of me. I cringed, slightly, at his response. The last thing I wanted to do was upset him.

  “I’ll only be in a frail state for a short time, and I have an army to watch over me until I’m back at full strength,” I said, practically pleading with him. I needed him to see this was the only option we had left. His blessing was important to me. “But until that happens, no one can know what we’ve done. These stone walls hold many ears that follow back to traitors and enemies.”

  He shook his head and placed a hand across his eyes. “How do you know a human baby will be able to withstand that fragment? Their bodies are so tiny and defenseless. It might be only a pointless quest, and there is no telling what this will do to you.” His voice was faint and it broke my heart to put him through this.

  “That is something we will have to chance. No one knows how this will play out. If it does work, he won’t be able to find the baby because it will be concealed by its humanity.” I gently reached for his hand, willing him to believe in me. “This gives us an advantage we’ve never had with the new-souls. It will have a chance to grow and develop in a way he is unfamiliar with. This human will have the opportunity to learn and advance in things beyond his experience. This is what we need to catch him, the element of surprise. And when the time comes for them to meet on the battlefield, he will be blindsided.”

  “How is a baby going to stop one of the strongest beings to ever be in existence? Dermetheus walks in that realm with only one purpose, and that is to rule over a land that holds no one to stand in his way. The creatures that have crossed over are no match for him, and many will follow him once they find out he is there and has regained full strength.” His eyes met mine for the first time since we started this conversation.

  Fire blazed within me as Fuzzaran spoke my evil brother’s name. I dropped his hand and sat back, sinking into the cushion. “The baby will grow as a regular human until the time comes for it to train. I’m sure my brother has that realm growing more chaotic with each passing day, and the child will know when the chaos reaches it, tha
t it will need to train in order to protect itself. I have thought about the fact that it might not be as strong as one of our new-souls to begin with, so I’ll touch others with special abilities who will eventually cross paths with my chosen one in order to help it along its journey.”

  “That child will have your essence running through its veins. Creatures will be attracted to it whether they are good or evil.”

  “We can only hope that will not interfere with anything. Of course as it grows, fate will eventually lead it to Dermetheus.” I hated that I couldn’t be the one to face him again. Now there was nothing I could do but place all my faith in a human child. This would be no easy task for it.

  “Who will train it?” he asked, looking at me through furrowed eyebrows.

  “That’s the only link I’m missing. I need someone I can trust as if I trusted them with my own life. This person must vow to watch over the child as it grows and learns its human ways, and when the day comes, train them to be the best they can be to fight. Until then, to keep the humans from seeing the creatures that are slowly crawling into their world, I’ll also send my most trusted league of destruction, the Bedelah Sa Depor—The Right Arm of Death. And when the time comes for the child to face what it really is and the responsibility it must take, they will step up to help in the fight, but until then, they must not know the child I have chosen. I want to take extreme precautions to keep it safe from my brother. He must not ever know that any of our people are there, otherwise he will become suspicious.”

  “You can’t send just anyone over there, this person will have to love this human as if they were loving you.”

  “Yes, I know,” I agreed. There weren’t many that fit this role.

  “There is only one option, my love … I’ll go for you.”

  “Fuzzaran, I can’t let you go! Once you cross over into that realm you’ll never be able to come back here … to me,” I pleaded as my eyes stung. He dropped to his knees in front of me and took my hand in his, stroking it with his finger.

  “My lady, I dedicated myself to you long ago,” he said while running the other hand across my cheek and tucking a loose strand of hair behind my ear. “I must love what you love, and I must want what you want. You took the oath to protect all life under the order of Messa, no matter what realm it is in. That was a huge responsibility to honor your family’s heritage, when your brother failed. He will surely enslave, torture, and kill the humans if he succeeds in controlling that realm. Earth should not have to suffer under the hand of him. It’s our job to see that Plamethia stops him before it’s too late, no matter the personal sacrifices. You want to stop your brother before he destroys a living race because you love life, so I’ll be the one who helps bring you that. I’ll hurt not physically being by your side, but you must know I will never leave you, here,” he said, placing his hand on my heart. I shook my head slowly. There was no other I trusted more than him, and he would not let me down.

  “Go tell the Bedelah Sa Depor to ready themselves to go on their most important assignment and return to me. I will summon the Krismaka to perform the fragmentation.” He bowed and left the room, leaving me alone. I stared into the flames. Despite the heat, I already felt cold and alone. This was the hardest thing I’d ever done. Focusing was difficult since Fuzzaran would leave me in a short amount of time. How was I supposed to go on without him? I forced myself to concentrate on what I needed to do. I had to choose a baby to be born that night, in the place where the portal was located. After his escape, all but one portal was terminated to keep his followers from being at his side. I hide the portal on both sides, Plamethia and Earth, to keep anyone from finding it. However, it wouldn’t be long and Dermetheus would locate it. It would only stay hidden from him for so long. This child needed to grow up there, to wait for him to arrive.

  I walked over to the tall marble basin and searched for a mother. She would deliver it, but the child would be mine as if I birthed it, and one day, if it accepted them, it would take on my powers.

  I looked until I found a young, frazzled couple driving to the hospital, and at once, I knew they were the one. They were warm hearted, kind, and nurturing people who would provide this child with the best upbringing possible.

  Fuzzaran would be back soon, so I quickly called a servant to fetch me the Krismaka, the only white witch left here with us. It still made my heart heavy to think of what became of the other two, her sisters. One embraced my brother and helped him attempt a violent takeover of Plamethia, while the other chose to run away from it all to have a normal life when all this madness started. I then began packing Fuzzaran a bag made of Liddly petals and dusted it with magic, spreading my blessings for the group that would aid my chosen one on its path. The bag held seven different abilities for seven different children that would end up in the chosen one’s life.

  “I see you’re following through with your plan. I take it you’ve thought through the possibilities of what could become of you after this?” the Krismaka asked as she entered the room. Her long, white, shimmery robes flowed to the ground, and her jet-black hair seemed to glow as she crossed the room toward me.

  “Yes, what do you need me to do?” I asked without hesitation.

  “I will need you to lie down flat and try to remain as calm as you can be. Your body will be introduced to much trauma during this, and you will not be able to stand. Once this is over, you will need to rest as much as possible to regain your strength.”

  I tied Fuzzaran’s bag tightly at the top and motioned her toward the door. “Follow me,” I said as I led the way through the halls of my fortress. I prepared a place in my sleeping quarters. The large bed would hold me for quite some time after this. I changed out of my dark blue dress into a pale blue sleeping gown and tied my long hair in a loose braid. There was a knock at the door, and Fuzzaran entered with an armed guard, no doubt to watch over me during my weakened state after he was gone.

  “Are you sure you want to do this?” I asked him as he came closer. A part of me wanted him to say no. I wanted him to stay with me and send someone else.

  “For you I will do anything, even if it means I will never get to see the sun light your perfect face again, or have my heart skip a beat when you smile at me. Nabea …” he started, but paused to swallow. “I knew from the first moment I saw you, you were my only one. You turned this cold, brutal man into something blessed to have your love, and with that, I will care for this child as if it were ours.” I couldn’t fight the tears anymore and lunged into his arms. I melted into his sweet, brute smell, enjoying every minute of our embrace. Our kind only had one true soul mate, and without them, we felt empty. One look was all it had taken, and we knew we had found each other.

  “I will love you always,” I said as I kissed him on the lips. Our last kiss. I fought hard to put this memory in a place to keep forever.

  “As I will you,” he said, pulling back and rubbing my arm. I handed him the bag of blessings. It felt heavy. This was a burden far greater than vowing to protect all living kind. I loved him so much.

  “The bag will glow blue and pulse when the child who is meant to receive the blessing is being born. You will need to pull the pulsating blessing out and release it. It will find the child. Depending on how bad this realm is with regards to creature carnage you may need to train your own army, Fuzzaran, and spread it far and wide throughout the land. The Bedelah Sa Depor can only handle so much, so these humans can aid you in times of need. Train them as if they were one of our own, but never let on that you know whom Dermetheus is. We don’t want it getting back to the chosen one in any way. This is its quest to figure this out on its own; you are there to merely be a guidance tool for it. Overcoming the mental challenge, accepting its fate and true powers will be its greatest obstacle.”

  With one last lingering stare into his eyes, I laid back on the bed, and the Krismaka began circling me, throwing out a powdery substance and mumbling her chants. “Once we know it has worked, you and the Bedelah Sa
Depor will need to get to the portal immediately,” I said. “The guards I’ve placed in front of it will continue to hinder any other creatures from going through. Remember, the child must not know that it is the chosen one until the time comes, and once there, you and the Bedelah Sa Depor go your different ways. You have two different missions until your paths cross again.” He nodded and backed away as the white witch crawled atop me, shouting her spell. A sharp pain tore through my mid-section, jolting me from the bed. A scream escaped my throat. It felt as if my insides were being torn apart by sharp claws. I tried to suppress the pain, but it was almost unbearable. There was a snap, and a blue light radiated from my body. It lingered for several minutes and then vanished. My body dropped back down on to the soft bed.

  “It is done. Your mind will guide the fragment to the child that you chose,” the Krismaka said.

  “Go,” I rolled my head over and mouthed to Fuzzaran who was waiting by the door. With one last look, I saw my warrior, hard as steel, lose the only tear I had ever seen him shed. He backed out of the door and left me as I closed my eyes to rest.

  As soon as her head rolled to me, I knew the spell had worked, and that was the last time I would get to see her beauty. A hole in my heart formed at the thought, and I already ached unbearably. I followed her command. She was my voice of reasoning, and whatever she commanded, I did.

  I took the steps made of water two at a time until I reached the land surrounding the floating fortress. It had been elevated as a safety precaution with only a certain few granted permission to use the stairs. We needed to keep Nabea safe at all cost, but now I wouldn’t be able to do that. I would have to keep another safe for her. I shifted the bag on my back as I tore through the grassy lands until I came to the edge of the cliff. The Bedelah Sa Depor stood there each with a bag made of animal fur holding their few personal belongings. “I will jump through the portal first, and then each of you quickly follow me one by one.”