by Reid, Stacy
Witches: Powerful beings that conjure, incant and cast spells.
Eternal Damnation
A Novel of the Amagarians: Book 3
Author Note
There are some terms unique to the series, so there is a brief glossary of terms at the end of this book.
Prologue
The planet Serange
The Golden Age
The Kingdom of Dxyriah—Castle Ashmir
“How peaceful our city seems when only a few months ago the cries of our people echoed with pain and despair,” a soft, feminine voice murmured.
Rah Blevinstoke, the most formidable Baron of Princess Shilah Symonrah’s remaining supporters, felt arrested at the sound of his former lover’s sensual tones. He missed everything about Megladine and coming to meet her now was highly perilous. But hearing her voice made him think the risk was worth it, though, if he could convince her to aid his cause would be the true reward.
He considered the facade of peace and prosperity that blanketed their kingdom. He moved a few paces forward on the stone ledge jutting from the caves beneath their castle, which was built on the highest mountain of their nation. He peered down to the thousands of glass, steel, crystal, and crystalline sky-towering buildings below. A hovercraft flew by, the Dxyrian blue and purple symbol of peace prominently emblazoned on the side of the sleek silver aircraft. A deliberate move by their new ruler, Crown Prince Quan, a hopeful reminder to the people that he governed with peace, fairness, and love. They should scrub from their memories that only three months ago, bodies had dropped from the castle in the sky, and blood had stained the mountains and the steel-plated streets as he had overthrown the Symonrah bloodline’s rule, slaughtering dozens.
“I will not forgive the pain Prince Quan has caused,” Rah murmured. A piercing agony lived and breathed inside his chest, one he feared would never abate. “And I do not accept him as our prince.” Without glancing at the woman by his side, he held out a robe stained with blood. “This belongs to our Princess Shilah who is the rightful ruler of Dxyriah. I want you to see if you can read her.”
Megladine inhaled sharply and glanced around furtively, her left hand dropping to the high-power beam anchored at her hips. A dangerous weapon only a few were certified to carry, and which had the power to melt his insides from a single blast. A hollow ache formed inside his chest that she would even dare to rest her hand on its grip.
“You’ve been searching for Princess Shilah? Rah, that is treasonous!” she hissed, and unaccountably the fear in her tone soothed the jagged pain tearing at his insides. Her concern for his wellbeing meant she still cared, that he might convince her to render aid.
He shifted closer to her, subtly inhaling her scent of ripe peaches and the woman herself. He glanced at her and for a moment could not remove his eyes as the sight of her lush figure clad in a yellow sari woke memories of passion in his mind. Her fair skin reminding him of its softness, her rich midnight black hair like silk between his fingers, her lips full and moist on his. Their eyes met, and her light blue orbs radiated with awareness.
“We shouldn’t, we mustn’t…we can’t.” Her fear was evident, and he hated it. Another testament to the veneer of peace in which their kingdom was shrouded.
Although they were ensconced within the caves underneath the castle, spies lurked in every corner, and it was not the right time to be found conspiring. Several layers of rocks formed the caves, and solidified crystals, and ice covered the floor. They should hear if anyone approached.
Their kingdom was in turmoil, the ruling family had been brutally executed, and the reign of the realm had been wrested from Princess Shilah before she’d even ascended to the throne. The sun dipped, slipping lower and lower in the sky before disappearing behind the mountains and the Black Sea. The steel and glass city below slowly glowed with light as the respective Prime Sentient Intelligence (PSI)-1.5, which powered and governed each household, illuminated them. Their capital was still unsure of the new order, for nary a hover zipped through the air, most of their denizens staying at home. Everything had changed when the crown prince had allowed greed to fester in his heart and rule his actions.
“My family has served the Symonrah family for over two thousand years,” Rah said, choosing his words carefully. “Seventy other Barons and myself pledged our lives, powers, and beams to Princess Shilah. The threat of death will not stop me from serving her. Our princess cares for her people and serves their needs and not her desires. The K’tair house has been loyal for years. The loyalty that’s borne from love and not fear or hatred. I cannot credit that you would so easily forget your vows of allegiance, love, and respect. Now, will you help, Megladine K’tair?”
She seemed to consider his request for several moments before a troubled sigh slipped from her lips. “You believe her to be alive, along with Princess Kala?”
The last sighting of Princess Shilah with her younger sister Princess Kala had been near the border leading into the Kingdom of O’andor. The reports said Princess Shilah had held a dying Princess Kala clutched in her arms, and when the ruler of O’andor, Crown Prince Tarik tried to take her, Princess Shilah had ripped into his mind and almost taken his life. The prince had teleported to his kingdom’s medical unit to save himself. No one had seen her since. “I hope it,” he said softly, not speaking aloud how desperately he had been hoping and praying to all the gods his princesses lived.
Megladine faced him, touching his arms lightly. “Rah, if she is alive we must report it.”
“We will not. And if you betray my confidence, I will end your life.” And it was one of the most painful things he had ever vowed, for he loved Megladine with every emotion in his heart.
The slight figure before him trembled, and he could feel her pain. He was sorry for it, but it could not be helped. His loyalty must always be first with the Symonrah family. He had been searching for their princesses now for three moons, and desperation turned him to his former lover, the one person he had vowed to stay away from during these turbulent times.
He glanced away from the tears pooling in her eyes toward the vast beauty of the Black Sea. Megladine was a foreseer, a rare designation for a Serangite, each of the three kingdoms of their realm possessing less than one hundred seers combined. Megladine was one of the most powerful foreseers of Dxyriah, and he had not wanted to involve her in his search, but his Princess had vanished from the face of Serange. She could be anywhere in the Omniverse. Or dead. “A report placed her near the portal leading to the world of Amagarie. I questioned the gatekeeper of that portal, and he did not see her. There is a possibility she had removed his memory. The one thing I am certain of is that she is not on our world. Or I would have found her.”
He shifted and peered into the hardened beauty of Megladine’s eyes, the scar that ran down her cheek, marring the face that had once been perfection. As a foreseer, her designation was that of an Omega—the second ring of power. She was not even close to being an Imperial, the most exceptional level of skill that could ever be attained with their abilities, yet he did not doubt her capability in reaching through the Omniverse to locate their princesses. She had foreseen the despair that came to Dxyriah, albeit the warning came too late.
“Will you help me, my Megladine?”
Her lips wobbled on a small smile, then his lover took the robe, her eyes fluttering closed. She swayed, and he clasped her waist anchoring her. The feel of her soft skin beneath his finger was torture. He could not marry Megladine as he dreamed of doing. Princess Shilah had sensed his deep love for Megladine, who as an Impure was not permitted to marry or even allowed a liaison, and the princess had not reported them. They had been secret lovers for over ten years, and it was only since the rebellion that he had stopped going to her bed. For if they were discovered the punishment would be severe for both. What he asked of her now was just as dangerous but restoring his princess to her throne was not only his duty, but it would put their world back upright, and he could be with his love o
nce again.
Megladine gasped. “She lives!”
Relief blasted through him. “Where?” he demanded.
“I cannot see.” Her brows furrowed in fierce concentration. “She gathers an army.”
“An army? Where exactly is she?”
“It is not as clear as how I would hope,” she said her voice throbbing with power. “She seeks to wipe out the hands that betrayed her and to reclaim her throne. I see our princess cloaked in shadows and darkness.”
“Death?” he asked sharply.
Megladine’s breathing fracture. “I cannot see it, but the shadows are sentient.”
Impossible.
“Lies whisper and blind my vision. I sense destruction and pain, Rah. That is what our princess returns with,” she expelled with a shaky breath. “She and Princess Kala are the last pure royals of the Symonrah line. Our princess must know that to return is to end her bloodline’s reign. I too yearn for her, but I fear she is on the wrong path. Vengeance is not the way to reclaim Dxyriah.”
He stepped away from her. “She is our rightful ruler, Megladine!”
“The darkness I foresee eclipses that which our kingdom currently faces. Our people have had enough death,” she said softly.
“What are you saying?” he demanded, ice congealing in his heart.
“You know,” she breathed, looking away from his stare.
“I don’t know.” And he prayed she was not suggesting...
She faced him and touched his arms lightly. “Our princess cannot be allowed to return. We must foil her arrival to protect our people from more devastation.”
“You could be wrong,” he rebutted her, unable to bear the idea of adding to the suffering of his princess now. He loved her more than anything in his life. He was the anvil to her hammer, and from birth, he had known his sole purpose was to serve her, always. For now, their princess lived, and it was knowledge they needed to keep close as it proved difficult to determine who her followers now were.
“We cannot fail her,” his lover whispered. “She would want us to protect Dxyriah, even from herself.”
1
Amagarie
102 years After the second Great War
Mevia – Kingdom of Sounds
The Emperor’s palace.
Princess Shilah Symonrah, heir to the throne of Dxyriah, had one thought as she hurried down the long-winding hallway to meet with Emperor Jadon Khan, the sovereign ruler of the house of Zhang, and the emperor of Mevia. I’m in deep shit. That had been the response of the stocky bald human priest, Father Bramwell, with whom she had spoken to at length about her predicament last evening. He had explained his meaning, and while she had been horrified at his vulgarity, she entirely agreed. She was in the deepest of shits with no foreseeable way out, but she would not give up. The lives of her people, the life of her dear sister, Kala, depended on every move Shilah would make tonight.
Something had changed and whatever that was had nervous energy coursing through her veins. The emperor had summoned her for an audience, and the insolent way the guards had addressed her had been too familiar as if her status as a royal guest had been revoked. That did not bode well. How she resented the wings of fright beating so frantically against her breastbone.
She opened her mind, careful not to spill her aura and reached for her younger sister whom she’d vowed to protect at all cost. “Kala are you well?”
A gentle flutter stirred inside her mind, and she reached for the thread, opening her psychic eyes wider to sense her sister’s aura. It was white.
Relief darted through her. Kala seemed well.
“I am bored. Father Bramwell entertains me with a game of chess and amusing stories of Earth. Quite fascinating how primitive they are with their technologies. He was positively riveted when I explained our household is organized and operated by PSI-2.1 our advanced sentient Intelligence, and that we have sentient robotic servants.”
Shilah smiled, so grateful for the comforting presence of the human priest. Be vigilant. Something has changed in the palace. I can feel the tension on the air.
Her sister’s aura flickered, to tinge yellow with her burst of alarm.
“The castle walls are rife with rumors of a beast being pulled from a Darkan and sent to Nuria, the kingdom of Eternal fire. Did you have anything to do with it?”
Shilah flinched. Guilt burned through her like acid. It hurt something deep inside of her to admit to her sister the blade the emperor held over their heads, and the vile things she had done because of it. “We will speak at dinner.”
She closed her thoughts to her sister and reflected on the impossible thing she had done the previous evening. She had pulled two of the malevolent chakras buried inside captured Darkans into a corporeal form.
The young men had raged with pain when being invaded by her power, thrashed futilely in the chains that constrained them. The manacles, forged from the pure valnetium iron found in the hardened core of Amagarie, were unbreakable and the Darkans terrible agony had battered at her psychic shields. It had drained all her energy to hold the two beasts to the physical realm, while a witch had cast spells of immense power to control them.
She had succumbed to a deep sleep to regain her strength, and in the comfort of her bed, she had dreamed of their residual pain. Shilah wished the young Darkans had been strong enough to escape the dungeons like their predecessor, but the emperor had learned from his mistakes. The empire had captured a female Darkan before and made the mistake of only binding her with five shackles of valnetium iron. When Shilah had started to exorcise the beast from her, the rage and strength she’d displayed had been breath-taking. Tormented by pain, she’d burst forth with madness, and had almost destroyed all of those that held her in the upper level of the dungeon before escaping. It was still a mystery how she had done so, for the cells were reputed to be impenetrable. The empire hunted her to no avail. Shilah hoped daily that the Darkan female had made her way to safety or back to her own people.
Shilah despised the Mevian emperor with all her heart. Of the seven kingdoms of Amagarie, the Darkage—the realm of beasts, shadows, and darkness—was the most feared though they had only a small fraction of the number of citizens within the other kingdoms.
Darkans were the only people who possessed something extra in addition to their unique ability to control a mystical element. The rabid rumors throughout the empire whispered that at a point in their history the king of the Darkage, in a bid for power tried to make a deal with the king of the Demon realm, a mystical world far beyond the Jupiter ring, and the result had been horrifying.
Chakras from the demon realm had spilled into their lands burying themselves in Darkans and cloaking their domain in perpetual darkness. The chakras they housed were brutal and evil, giving them access to powers so destructive they were feared and reviled, and the emperor wanted to rule that evil to build an army. Shilah hated that she had aided his cause, even if she did so unwillingly under the threat of death or worse, enslavement to the emperor’s depraved desires, and the death of her beloved sister, Kala.
Their affiliation had started as a bargain of mutual benefit, where she would use her powers at his request for a special interrogation with a few condemned prisoners, and he would grant her several hundred warriors from his unmatched army to return to Serange. She had done all he asked, but the Emperor had been delaying delivering on his oath. Instead, his demands for her to use her powers to serve him grew in large leaps, and he gave or promised nothing in return. It killed something inside of her to know she had been the one to approach him and placed her life in his hands, and that she had foolishly held onto some hope that he would fulfill his side of their bargain
The Princess of Dxyriah will become my personal slave…I will enjoy her tongue on me.
That was just one of the sickening thoughts she had gleaned from his mind a few weeks previously. It made Shilah doubt if she were successful at controlling the vile powers in Darkans he would ever let her go
. He coveted her for her telepathic powers, so he wanted to break her, and…he desired her body.
Acrid fluid rushed to the back of her throat. She took a few steadying breaths, then forced down the bile as she neared a massive door constructed from iron overlaid with pure gold. A sizeable ornate emerald gem glowed in its center, and twenty guards stood militant, dressed in bronze armor, their features covered with vizors, their feet braced apart, and their hands gripping the hilt of their swords.
She slowed her steps and lifted her chin. “The emperor has requested an audience.”
Two of the guards whistled softly, and the emerald gem clicked several times, and then the door opened. Shilah entered, her slippers loud on the jade green marble floor as she traversed the impressive length of the chamber. The door closed behind her. She ignored the magnificent room with its exquisite golden tapestries illustrating the history of the Empire. They always took her breath away and invited unbounded admiration. She concentrated on the lone figure sitting in the most prominent position. His aura commanded her full attention. She could sense there were others in the throne room, but she did not divert her regard from the man on the high throne. Emperor Jadon Khan sat upon his throne, peering down on those he deemed lesser. White-blond hair hung down his back, and his eyes, the color of gold stared down at her. “How kind of you to join us, Princess Shilah.”
The terrible power in his voice cramped and knotted her stomach, but she presented a serene mien and dropped into an elegant curtsy. “Emperor Khan, how may I be of service?”
I’ll have you on your knees soon my sweet Serangite.
He deliberately spilled his thoughts, hoping she would hear them. She wanted to drop the pretense and let loose her power and kill him. Shilah would probably succeed, but such an action would be foolhardy. Death for her and her sister would be instantaneous for she could not defeat the massive army of his empire. Keeping her countenance tranquil, she met his gaze. “Are we to complete our bargain, Emperor Khan? I admit I am eager to depart for my realm. Each day I am away my people suffer.” She had done everything he had demanded, and he should now be assisting with her demands.
