by C E Johnson
Emily heart began to hammer as she pictured Malachi in her head. She realized she could see traces of subtle similarities between Malachi’s aura and Shadoe’s. “I’ve met him,” she volunteered. “Would you like me to show you my memory of him?”
A hint of a smile showed on Shadoe’s face. “I’d love that.” Emily closed her eyes and went into a dream-link with her friends and Shadoe. She showed them all her brief encounter with Malachi at the banquet she had attended with Hadrian. Shadoe appeared more relaxed after the exchange. He spoke to Emily, “When you see him again, will you give him a message.”
Emily smiled sadly, realizing Shadoe didn’t think he would actually get to meet Malachi. “Of course.”
“These are all of my interactions with his mother, Kelcey. I believe he’d like to know her.” Shadoe closed his eyes and returned to the dream-link, sending her a capsule of every memory he had of his sister, from her childhood to adulthood.
Emily only viewed a small portion of the string of scenes, and even though she had never met Kelcey, she instantly felt a connection with her, and her eyes brimmed with tears. She pushed her plate away, she was no longer hungry. She tried to redirect her thoughts. “Shadoe, can you tell me more about magestones? I’m trying to complete my own set.” She pulled out her own stones and handed them to Shadoe. “Three to go.”
Shadoe picked up each stone and inspected them closely. He closed a fist around the magestones and whispered a spell. After a time, he spoke. “Each of these is indeed part of a set. There is a blackstone that goes with this sextet that just so happens to be in these very woods. The queen of the vampires, Maaca, holds the blackstone. There is also a silverstone on Earth, held by Ullr, a half-dead shade, and a goldstone that is kept with Iscar. Once your set is complete, each stone will not only increase in power, but they will hold a single underlying potential.”
Droth had been listening to their exchange. He spoke up. “Lambo and I overheard a portion of Maaca’s plans while we were in the forest.”
Shadoe cocked his head and faced Droth. “What did you hear?” He arched a single silver eyebrow.
“They have four tunnels angled into your fortress from each direction of the compass and they should reach the surface by tomorrow. If their attack through the tunnels isn’t successful, they’ll attack your main gates.”
Shadoe inclined his head to Droth, his eyes shimmered cold in the surrounding wavering light from the fires. “Thank you for the information. I didn’t know of their tunnels, but I know how to stop those attacks. We’ll flood them tonight with several of the streams and waterways in this region. I have my own team of miners and one stone-mage who can connect waterways to their passages.”
“Why do it tonight?” Luke began in a hesitant voice. “If you wait until tomorrow, when the tunnels are filled with half-deads who are about to attack, your forces could attempt to wipe out as many creatures as possible with a well-timed onslaught of water.”
“Your mind is made for engineering and war.” Shadoe stared at Luke shrewdly. “Forgive me for leaving, but I must attend to these plans.” He stood, hesitating momentarily by Emily to whisper in her ear. “When your mind is troubled, the kingdom of light will come to restore comfort. Prayer and magic can heal every affliction.” With that, he departed the room rapidly, and several of his captains rushed out on his heels.
Emily felt something in her heart open. She spoke aloud to Droth and Lambo, “I’ve made my decision. I will attempt to heal Arn. I will do it tonight.”
Lambo rose from his chair, put his head back and let out a series of whoops. “Finally, Arn is going to fly!”
Isabelle winked at Emily while rolling her eyes to Anna and Elizabeth, “We’re going to be in serious trouble in the next conflict without our mighty shield of power.”
Emily asked one of the elven healers for several herbs: caltha, arvense, and salignus. She whispered to Xena, If the half-deads are this close to attacking, I shouldn’t delay. The healer brought her the herbs and led their group to the largest tree in the fortress, where fibers of the power of Acacia were pulsating in the very bark of the monolith. Emily kneeled as Droth brought Arn forward, running one hand along the great eagle’s small scales. Dappled shadows twisted in the shifting light from torches. Emily sighed, I’m nervous to begin this spell.
You don’t have to do this, Xena laid down at Emily’s side, as if her close position could better project her concern.
The tree that never had to fight, Emily thought of her father’s poem. She pictured herself growing stronger as she challenged herself. She rubbed Xena while listening to the wind whispering through the trees. I have to try. Closing her eyes, she began her incantation, murmuring remedio bestia. She was instantly confronted by the mage-lock on the great eagle’s wings. Within the cloudy black convolutions of magic that were fettering the bird, Emily could sense a pattern. The locks reminded her of the magical chains placed by Samil on Hadrian’s cage before the Dragon War.
This is an intricate spell. Ammolite was in her mind, studying the challenge. You can defeat it but it will surely drain you.
Is it worth it? Xena asked. Her head was up and her ears were pricked forward.
It is, Emily answered. She felt herself trembling as she descended deeper into the spell. This was a magical battle. A throbbing began in her heart with an instant hemorrhaging of her power, departing so rapidly it felt like water running down a drain. Although her breath began to run ragged and her muscles began to ache as if she was in the final throes of a marathon, the spell-craft evoked admiration from her. She studied the magical bindings on Arn, using all her amassed knowledge, exploring the weaknesses until she saw the chink in the armor, an area of vulnerability. She shot her magus into the opening, forming a linear focus of energy like a small icepick to open the crack. Arn was fully aware of her fight and he was urging her on, helping in any way he could. Droth was close-by, breathing rapidly, adding his energy to the mix.
Complete that which you’ve started, Ammolite also sent supporting magus across their link, but the amount was small, their distance was too great.
Emily shred the edges of the crack until the hole was large enough to send curative magus inside the gap. Once inside, the walls fell, disintegrating and shattering the bonds. Emily collapsed backwards, her head caught by Luke just above the hard forest floor.
Elizabeth dashed forward, and Emily could hear her opening a draught of her elven healing potion that she kept at her side, helping her even before the elven healers could move. Emily opened her eyes and drank. Her mouth felt foreign and words were hard to form. “How is your bondsmate?” Her voice sounded weak and thin, but Droth heard her.
Droth stared at Arn and rubbed his temples. He moved unsteadily, also weakened by the process. His eyes were moist when he looked to Emily, his face a mask of appreciative concern. He moved to her and encompassed her in a hug as a tear slipped down his cheek. Emily didn’t pull back from him. A breeze continued to sigh through the small room, but it couldn’t mask the sound of hope bursting from Droth’s heart. After a time, he slowly pulled away, his face wet with the track of new tears which he didn’t bother to hide. “Are you okay?”
“I’ll heal,” Emily answered.
Droth squeezed her hand before turning to Lambo and gesturing to the window. “Will you see if my bondsmate can make his first flight?”
Lambo beamed. “It would be an honor. Let’s see what you can do, big fella.” Orel moved to make room on Lambo’s forearm and both birds of prey sat waiting for their send-off. “Fly!” Lambo yelled, lifting his arms to help direct the eagles. They launched, threading their way through the trees and out into the night sky.
“I’m flying,” Droth’s voice was laced with awe, happiness and love. His eyes were closed as he absorbed the visual scenes through his link.
C H A P T E R 2 4
Chaos
Iscar rubbed a thumb over the goldstone his father had given him before bouncing it in his rig
ht hand. I finally have all my ships in position, he thought to himself. He was proud of all he had accomplished.
The conquest can begin, Tengu whispered. Iscar was in his control room in his subterranean center with Brytam to his right and Ullr to his left. His bondsmate, Tengu, was in the corner of the room, hanging upside down on a special stand Iscar had built for his mega-bat. A call came in on a secure line and Ullr answered the phone, quietly conversing with the caller.
“Sir, bad news.” Ullr hung up the phone, his bald head glistening in the overhead lights. “That was Wuldur.”
“What’s happened?” Iscar felt an instant throbbing at his temples. “Did Wuldur make it to Austin?”
“He has arrived, but our Prime Portal has been bombed by warplanes from the United States. The position has been decimated and the mountain-top has been flattened.” Ullr stood at attention, no emotion on his face.
“The portal is demolished?” Brytam gasped and her skin went as pale as her aura. Her shoulders sagged with the loss.
Iscar’s mind was a whirl of activity. I didn’t see this coming, he cursed to Tengu.
This will disrupt future shipments of magestones. Tengu opened his eyes and stared at Iscar, his voice angry and incensed, not at his bondsmate, but at the bad luck.
“I’m not sure if I have enough mage stones to catalyze the formation of all the magicians Drogor will need.” Iscar began to pace angrily back and forth, his mouth twisting into a grimace.
“Everything’s in place otherwise, sir.” Ullr studied the computer-generated map on the wall before them that was displaying the ship locations. “What should we do?” The silver half-dead was all business, his face stoic.
“I want Wuldur to track the movements of Emily Dalton and her father Dr. Andrew Dalton.” Iscar’s heart was hammering away and he felt panicked. “We have to find their portal. We can’t kill them until we know its location. If they die, we’re trapped here on Earth.”
“I don’t want to be stuck on this world.” Brytam sank to a chair, her words piercing Iscar’s heart like broken glass. “We need to send an army to capture Emily.” There was agony in Brytam’s voice. “We can’t risk the consequence of her getting away.”
Tell Ullr about what Drogor told you, Tengu advised.
“There’s someone else you need your twin to find.” Iscar faced Ullr and tried to smother the terror in his soul. It hurt to breathe, but he felt better if he wrapped his fingers tightly around his goldstone. “On my last trip to Ater, Drogor informed me that we need to find a man named Doeg Quadmire in Austin, he’s important. When Wuldur takes our squads to obtain Emily, don’t let him kill Doeg or his daughter, Delores.” Ullr inclined his head toward Iscar.
“We better move up our launch time.” Brytam pushed herself to her feet with a brave nod to Iscar. She pointed to a monitor demonstrating military forces approaching their position.
Marcus Tate burst into the room. “Sir, a coalition is sending teams close to us. Do you want to engage their forces?”
Brytam moved toward the map and Iscar could see a new anger burning in her eyes, a new resolution. “I think we should proceed with the plan.” She stood tall, slender as a willow, but strong as steel. “Blacksky seems to be rapidly discovering our secrets. If we delay this any longer, they might infiltrate our base and shut down our weapons.”
“Fine,” Iscar rolled his hands into fists. I can be strong also, he vowed. “If they want a fight, I’ll give them a fight. We’re launching in five minutes.” He began putting in codes on the computers and contacting the captains of their ships. Satellite images showed missiles being moved into place on the surface of the vessels.
A low noise began to resound in the control center. The alarm, Tengu whispered.
“They’ve reached our outer gates.” Brytam put her hand on a red button on her side of the control panel.
“They won’t be well organized for very long.” Iscar laughed. Suddenly he felt good. We can still do this. “Are you ready?” He reached down and put his finger over his own button.
“Yes.” Brytam nodded to Iscar with firm resolution. Simultaneously they pressed the buttons.
“The plan is in motion.” Iscar watched his monitors which displayed the initial launch of their missiles. He reached out his hand to Brytam and their fingers intertwined. Together they watched the progression of their weapons. The missiles destined for North America streaked northward from the Gulf of Mexico, high over the central United States.
C H A P T E R 2 5
Strategy
Emily woke up in a weakened daze. She stumbled to her feet, instantly tired and breathless just from this minimal motion. An aching throb blasted through her head.
The energy you utilized to free Arn still has you depleted, Xena worried, pacing at her side. Emily staggered as she exited her room which was built into the base of a particularly massive tree and she collapsed into a hammock just outside her door. Xena brushed by Emily’s hand, before sitting on her haunches, watching with her concerned big, brown, doe-like eyes.
I’ll heal, Z, Emily promised, I always do. This is just going to take a little longer. She had been looking forward to finding out about Iscar for months, but now she felt so weary she could scarcely focus on what she would do with the information Droth was going to give her. The morning was cool and overcast with rainclouds forming in the small portions of sky that Emily could see through the branches. A flock of snow white doves were resting in the canopy above her. Her tree was at the edge of an open area and she could see Luke sword fighting with Shadoe.
“More flourish with the blade.” Shadoe was laughing as he demonstrated a flowery move. “You have to look good when you fight. That’s half the battle.”
Luke and Shadoe were using wooden practice swords and both were bathed in sweat. Luke’s wolf bondsmate was watching their antics. They had their shirts off and Luke’s muscles were flexing in the most interesting patterns. Emily couldn’t pull her eyes from his frame as he fought. “Check this out this move I learned from the Lacerta.” Luke performed a twirling maneuver to his advantage and he tagged Shadoe on his shoulder.
Shadoe bellowed with laughter, nearly falling to his knees, sounding truly appreciative of Luke’s ingenuity. “Thank you for this contest, Luke.” Shadoe slowly stopped laughing. “Many things will happen today and I needed this release.” Shadoe suddenly became serious, his smile turned thoughtful. “You wanted to learn my prized technique, correct?”
“I would.” Luke’s sincerity was earnest and pure.
Shadoe began to show Luke a series of intricate moves in slow steps. I call this my ‘multi’ move … named for the many steps needed for its completion, and for my favorite animal, the multicolored dragons.” Emily watched Luke attempt the maneuver time and again until he perfected the move. There was warm happiness and mirth that they shared, both delighting in the bond of being devoted wholeheartedly to the art of swordplay. Eventually the two noticed her watching.
“How’s your strength?” Shadoe cast aside his practice sword, approaching her with a frown.
“I’m so much weaker than I imagined. How long do you think this horrible magus-drain will last?” Emily was in a poor mood. The dull ache in her muscles was almost more than she could bear, a pain that no change in position could relieve.
“You will continue to gain strength over the next several days, but be patient.” Shadoe squeezed her hand. “I’ll come talk with you later, but right now I need to talk to my warriors and assess the progress on the preparations for flooding the half-dead tunnels.” He departed.
“You look better.” Luke sat next to Emily in the hammock and she felt her heart flutter and lurch happily in her chest, somewhat lessening the overwhelming discomfort in her muscles and bones. “I feel guilty,” he began, “but I have to ask you a question.”
“Memory spell?” Emily chuckled weakly. “Are you just letting me be your girlfriend to use me for my magic?” She rolled her eyes in dramatic fas
hion.
Luke laughed and gave Emily a kiss on her cheek, his eyes showing his apology. “You know how I love these sword moves … I just don’t want to forget anything Shadoe taught me. He’s like a sword-deity. Do you have enough energy for a spell? I don’t want anyone else to touch my mind except for you … and maybe Ammolite.”
“Sure. I understand.” Emily smiled in an anemic way as she touched Luke’s head and put all the memories from his sword practice with Shadoe in order, filing the information in a section of his mind reserved with his other sword skills, where he could easily file and retrieve the memories with instant full photographic recall. She winced painfully as she finished her incantation.
“Thanks, Em,” Luke said guiltily. He leaned over and gave her a kiss on the lips this time.
Emily relaxed her body and focused only on his light touch, feeling such pleasure even at the small act. Nice to think about something besides how sickly I am, she thought.
Droth and Lambo are approaching, Xena warned.
“Sorry to interrupt your healing process,” Droth teased gently. Luke and Emily blushed as he pulled a wooden bench over next to their side. “I want to thank you again. I will be in your debt for quite some time, but at least I can begin to pay you back with the information on Iscar.”
“Where is he?” Emily’s curiosity overrode her pain. A white blossom floated gently down from on high and Emily found herself tracking its lazy flight, too weary to even reach out for it. She found herself wishing the pounding in her arms and legs would stop.
Droth plucked the blossom from the air and tucked it behind her ear in a kind gesture that touched Emily’s heart. Droth spoke in a hushed voice, “Iscar has two identities that I created. One is a freedom fighter named Akhil Ahmed with his headquarters in Al-Hofuf, Saudi Arabia and the other Ravi Sharma a billionaire businessman with his largest factory in Shenzhen China.”
“Do you know anything about his ultimate plans?” Emily’s anxiety was growing as she pictured the intricate connections Iscar must have.
