Taken (Book Six) (Fated Saga Fantasy Series)

by Humphrey - D'aigle, Rachel

  The Tracker’s attention seemed to be honed in on Colby.

  Colby clasped his hands over his ears trying to block out all the noise screaming in his head. He heard a distinct voice enter and felt it sucking up all the excess thought he could not get rid of. The Magicante grabbed hold of his thoughts allowing him to regain focus.

  “All you need to do,” said the Magicante firmly, “is wish them destroyed.”

  Colby stood up as Ivan and Sebastien came running back. The two Trackers pounded their way across the clearing towards them.

  “Stop!” ordered Colby. And they did. With a thundering skid, they stopped. He reached out his hand making a motion to crush something and the stones began to crumble, turning to sand. And just like that it was over. Silence and calm reclaimed the small clearing.

  “Are you okay?” asked Sebastien of Meghan.

  “Yeah, um, I’m fine.”

  Out of habit, Elisha licked her master’s arm, although there was no injury, she was just thrilled to be by his side.

  “I didn’t mean to kill you,” he told her.

  “It’s forgotten. Not your fault.”

  Nona jumped down out of Meghan’s arms, feeling as though the immediate danger was now over.

  “Thank you,” started Meghan, aiming her words at the Magicante. “You have saved our butts yet again!”

  “How did you do that?” asked Colby?

  “Ah, yeah, so everyone,” said Meghan, “to make it all official and everything... this is my real twin brother, Colby. Colin, not my twin, blah blah blah, you probably already got this all figured out and what’s new? Nothing is as it seems.” She spoke as though this was all no big news even though it was the first time saying it aloud to her friends.

  Ivan tossed her a smug grin. “Good to see your time with Colby hasn’t diminished your...” Meghan cut Ivan off.

  “Don’t finish that sentence.”

  “Lovely to have you back,” he said with a note of sarcasm. He looked down at the Magicante. “How exactly did you help a Projector?”

  “Because in life I was a Projector’s second soul. This is my purpose. I was tasked with protecting young Mr. Jacoby as his powers showed themselves, but alas as we are separated, I find myself now helping another young Projector, although I admit, I find myself mystified.”

  “That’s a first,” said Meghan.

  “Yes, it is,” replied the book. “This young man’s powers have not come naturally.”

  “No,” said Colby. “My father used a dagger carved from the bone of a dead Projector to steal the powers of Jasper Thorndike and then transferred them to me.” He left out the part where he, himself, was responsible for killing Jasper to steal those powers.

  “Interesting,” Magicante replied. “In all my years I have never heard of such magic. I wonder how this will affect you? If you’ll have the true capabilities as a natural born Projector? Hmmm...” he added deep in thought. “Not natural born, but an immortal, so strong enough? Perhaps he is.”

  Everyone just stood and stared at the book as the pages flipped back and forth, finally stopping. A shimmering leaf lifted off the page, its edges glimmering in silver. It landed in Colby’s hand.

  “What is this?” he asked.

  “My offer to you. Seeing as you have not had any proper training and also that you are not wired for this power, I offer my services. I am curious to see just what you’re capable of.”

  Meghan cast a worried look at Ivan and Sebastien. Was this okay? Should they allow this to happen? The book answered their questions before they could voice them.

  “As it just so happens, I am an asset to any Projector. I am what keeps a Projector’s abilities from overpowering them, and I daresay you are in need of my help and in no position to turn it down.

  “No doubt, young Mr. Jacoby has already received this help; therefore I am free to offer you mine. You see, I can give you all my expertise and knowledge, carry the burden of your streaming consciousness and help you learn control. You will need this! Otherwise, you will not be able to do this on your own, no Projector can!”

  This idea seemed wise. Keep Colby from losing it. On the other hand, giving him access to all the knowledge inside of the Magicante, and therefore giving it to Fazendiin as well, did not seem so wise. Equally, did they have a choice? It sounded like this was something Colin had already done and something that needed to happen to Colby as well.

  “I’ll do it,” agreed Colby, before anyone could debate the issue.

  “Wonderful,” said Magicante, in a voice that if the book had had hands, it would be maniacally rubbing them together.

  “Are you sure about this?” Meghan asked Colby.

  “I don’t think I have a choice, Sis,” Colby replied. “It’s this or go crazy.”

  “He speaks the truth,” said Magicante. “He will not be in control without the help of Magicante. It is what I was created for.”

  “Okay,” said Ivan. “It sounds like there is no choice. How long does this take? We should probably not stick around here for too long in case there’s more of those Trackers out there.”

  “It takes but a moment,” said Magicante. “You must repeat the words on the leaf.”

  Colby read it aloud. “Become my second soul.”

  “Okay,” said Magicante.

  “That’s all I have to say?” asked Colby. “Seems like it should be a little longer or something.”

  “When I said okay, I meant you’re finished. No need to say it again, it’s done.”

  Everyone looked at each other.

  “Why is it that everyone always thinks there’s going to be thunder, lightening or some magical phenomena when this spell is performed,” said Magicante with its normal impatient banter.

  “So what now?” asked Meghan, ignoring the book. “Is he just okay now?”

  “Not exactly, but I’ve now bonded with his soul and can therefore assist and train. Now if you don’t mind, you must take me with you,” reminded the book as the leaf lifted off Colby’s hand and reattached itself to its page. Colby leaned down and picked it up, closing it. A wide grin spread across his face.

  “My father always wanted this book and now, I finally have it. Wasn’t my plan when I came here but it’ll definitely do.”

  “So what? You’re just going to crawl home to Daddy now?” said Meghan.

  “Yes. Minus the crawling part. You could come with me,” he suggested charmingly.

  “Um. How about no? Did nothing we discussed make any difference to you?”

  “Look,” Colby said. “I admit that I’m a little mad at him, but so what! He’s still going to make me the ruler of the world,” he said, as if the deed was already done and sealed. “He’s my father. He’s given me this gift. I won’t turn away from him now, or ever. You’re going to have to choose sides, Meghan. I’m in this for life. My very long life.”

  Meghan folded her arms. “I will never choose your side and I will find a way to stop you... him. Both of you!”

  “How? You can’t stop us. My father made me the most powerful person in the entire world, even more powerful than your brother, or whatever he is. Colin’s got nothing on me. Especially now that I have this.” Elisha jumped up, sitting atop the Magicante, hissing at them.

  The book was now Colby’s possession.

  He waved tauntingly, casting an arrogant smile as he and Elisha dissolved into thin air leaving Meghan, Nona, Sebastien and Ivan alone again.

  “Somehow, I don’t know if we are better off or worse off than we were before all that just happened,” said Meghan. “I guess since I’m not still his prisoner and that he left me here with you makes it slightly weighed to the positive side.”

  “What exactly happened, anyway?” asked Ivan. “You were gone for a week.”

  “A week! I had no idea how long it had been. It felt more like hours.” She took a few moments to explain, the best that she could, about how his thoughts worked and the memories they relived.

 
“These last few days just feel like a terrible nightmare. But I don’t think Colby is a lost cause. He’s not all bad. He has done some very bad things,” she conceded.

  “Perhaps this will somehow prove a good thing,” suggested Sebastien. “The truth, as much as it sometimes sucks, has got to be better to know. Maybe the Magicante will help him? Maybe take him on a better path?”

  Meghan didn’t reply. She didn’t think any of them actually believed that. The Magicante seemed way too eager to see what exactly Colby was capable of.

  “So, what now? We are back where we started,” noted Meghan. She turned and looked into the distance and the cave entrance.

  “No time like the present,” said Ivan. “Why don’t you go ahead and we will wait here.” He tried not to sound annoyed by the fact that they would be waiting, again.

  Meghan agreed, but had taken no more than a few steps when she gasped, doubled over and fell to the ground. She felt a pull, coming from somewhere far away, yanking her to some place she didn’t want to go. Was it Colby? Was he not going to leave her behind after all?

  Nona saw and felt exactly what Meghan was experiencing and shouted, “Make a fire, I’m not leaving you this time!”

  Ivan and Sebastien acted quickly, taking hold of Nona, determined not to be left behind this time either.

  Meghan snapped her fingers and threw the fire onto the ground where dead brush burst into flame. Meghan shoved her hand into it and then fell to the ground, lying partly in the fire. Her eyes popped open and Nona cried out.

  They were white. Pure white.

  Meghan’s body dissolved, vanishing. She was gone. Again. Nona cried out her name but she did not answer. Nona hopped into the flame with Ivan and Sebastien in tow, blindly following to where ever Meghan was being taken.

  ##

  Freyne Rothrock watched from the shadows as his Trackers were easily destroyed by the boy, Colby. He watched everything unfolding as the book, called Magicante, answered his biggest question: to what extent were the boy’s powers? And the answer: he was a Projector! And not born that way! Fazendiin, the scheming Fazendiin, had discovered a way to steal these powers and transfer them using the bones of a dead Projector. A secret he now knew.

  And a secret sister...

  “How... quaint,” he murmured, watching them all disappear. He let out a disgusted grunt.

  “Fazendiin may think he’s already won but he is far from it.”

  His Trackers showed him what he really needed to know. How powerful the boy truly was and that he had a sister, and that there was another way to gain more power.

  “The only problem is, I need a Projector...”

  His dark silhouette began to swirl into streams of black smoke and disappear into the darkness.

  ##

  Colby made the obligatory blood sacrifice and entered the gate to his father’s vast estate. He hastened to the front door. He stepped inside and abruptly halted.

  “Hello, Son.”

  Colby froze. “Hello, Father.”

  “I see you have survived and returned. You have questions,” he stated like it was fact.

  Colby felt something welling up inside him. Something he’d never experienced before. “Why did you do this to me?” he asked, a tinge of anger in his voice. “Did you know I’d get help? Did you know what would happen to me? Did you know I would be okay?”

  “You’re angry.”

  Elisha sent to her master, “But you were so confident earlier. And you’re so much stronger now.” Colby refused to reply, keeping his eye contact on his father.

  “I know you want me to be strong, but what if I hadn’t gotten help? I’d be out there destroying everything I came into contact with! And just why is it that you don’t trust others with magic? Why destroy it all?”

  “Ah, the crux. People are a funny breed. Reckless. Stupid. And greedy. When they are given a little, they inevitably want more. They have proven time and time again that they cannot be trusted with power or magic.”

  Colby thought about it. This was true. He had learned about many battles over magic and the desire for more of it. But some of that history belonged to his father, too.

  “Someone has to be at the top,” continued his father. “Someone has to take the lead. Make sure this problem is solved and does not return. It continues even today, this very moment. The magical community is at war, and over what? Magic and the control of it. Magic needs to be stripped from them, for good!”

  “Except for us?” questioned Colby, clarifying.

  “Son, I think you’re ready to see everything I have planned for us. He motioned for Colby to follow him into their secret, safe room. Once inside, Fazendiin waved his arms and the stained glass began to change, the colors shifting, forming into Fazendiin’s vision of their future.

  Colby saw the world, a world where the people no longer controlled any magic. He saw graves of the remaining Grosvenor, his father the lone victor. And himself on a throne by his father’s side.

  “This is why I gave you the power. If we are to rule, side by side, I must make you as invincible as I possibly can. I must give you the strength both physically and mentally to rule. I also believed that you would return, unharmed, after you stormed out. Am I not correct that you solved your own problem?” He nodded toward the Magicante.

  “Yes, but...” he didn’t know what to say. Seeing himself sitting on a throne, ruling over the entire world didn’t seem like such a bad thing.

  “Son, there is a time in every child’s life when they must venture out on their own, to learn their own strengths. Solve their own problems.”

  “So you let me figure it out on my own. But I wasn’t alone,” he admitted.

  His father threw him a questioning look.

  “I found my sister.”

  A look of understanding spread across Fazendiin’s face.

  “And what did you think of her?”

  “I... she’s not terrible.”

  “Not terrible,” laughed Fazendiin darkly. “Well there’s a review if I ever heard one.”

  “I think I can win her over,” Colby added, believing that was what his father really wanted to hear. “She likes to argue a lot, and she really thinks she knows everything.”

  “It’s a trait that runs in the family,” said his father, raising his eyebrows.

  “I guess we are a bit alike, but even as stubborn as she is, I really do think I can win her over,” Colby insisted.

  “Do try, Son.”

  Colby hadn’t expected him to say so.

  “There’s more to my plan that just sitting on a throne, Colby. I want to start a new family. Restore our bloodline.”

  “You mean my mother will be returning?” he asked.

  “No, that is not an option. Do you remember the Immortality Stone we spoke of before?” he added, bypassing the subject of his mother.

  “Yes, I remember it.”

  “Good. Now that you have the powers of a Projector, you can sense the stone. Locate it.”

  “I thought we didn’t need it anymore, now that you made me a Projector.”

  “No, we no longer need it for that; however, I will be taking a new queen. I wish to give immortality to her, to reign alongside us as mother to a new generation of our bloodline.”

  Colby could not help but feel regret over the fact that his real mother would not be a part of his father’s plans. “Who is this new queen?” he asked daringly.

  “Later. For now, you must focus on finding the stone. And about your sister... you must know that if you fail in your quest, and she refuses to join our family, she will have to be killed.” His father turned and departed the room leaving his son alone.

  “Killed...”

  He looked around at the stained glass mural, which showed him sitting on a throne, and then thought about his sister, the Magicante and his father.

  Power. Control. Freedom... would it really be freedom he had? Once he and his father had become kings? As much evil as he had seen al
ready in his life, was his father’s plans worth all the suffering that was sure to come with them? Did he really want to rule the world? Did he have a choice? Could he possibly turn his back on his father? Could he kill the sister he was beginning to like having around, if she didn’t join their family.

  “And who would you join?” meowed Elisha. “Your sister and her pathetic band of do-gooders? You disobey and you might as well kiss your life goodbye.”

  She had a point. His sister and her friends had no true power. Yes, Meghan was strong, probably stronger than she yet realized, but definitely not on the winning side.

  Was being on the winning side all that mattered? What did he stand for? How would he rule as a king? Would everything be only as his father wanted? Would destroying all magic except for their own really solve the world’s problems?

  The book strummed through his thoughts, catching them before they could overwhelm him. He was grateful for this. Meghan had been right about that, her friends had not turned him away, they had helped him.

  “Not that they really had a choice, I was about to seriously lose it.”

  “You must give yourself more credit,” urged the Magicante. “You did not ask for this power, but you have it now.”

  “Yeah. I do. I do,” Colby repeated. “I do have it, so why not use it?” He turned in a circle, eager to see just what he really could do. “If my father wants the Immortality Stone, I’ll find it for him,” he decided.

  Elisha meowed in elation of her Master’s decision.

  “Magicante, help me track it!” Colby said presumptuously.

  “Very good, young Master,” replied the Magicante. “Very good indeed.”

  Chapter 7

  “We are out of food and water,” said Billie Sadorus. Everyone already knew this as they had eaten the last of it that morning, for breakfast, but it needed to be said aloud. They had scrimped everything, making it last days beyond its original intent, but it had at last, run out.

  “If we use magic to get more, we’ll be caught for sure,” said Noah Flummer.