Time Jumpers

by Brandon Mull

  “The rope is still energized,” Cole told Jace. As the rope extended and curled around the solid stone table, Brogan asked Ethel to open a wayport to the desert tent. The wayport appeared a moment later.

  They all went through and gathered on the chilly sand beneath cold stars. Elegance pulled Brogan close and whispered into his ear. Mira gave Cole a hug. “Take care,” she said. Cole touched Violet and reestablished their connection.

  Violet squinted her eyes shut. Cole felt her drawing a lot of energy and fed her plenty. She trembled and growled a little, and a wayport opened.

  CHAPTER

  24

  GOVERNOR

  Hurry after me,” Brogan said. “Jace next.” He lunged through the portal, sword ready. Then Jace ducked in, trailed by his rope and the table. Mira looked disappointed to be left behind. Cole gave her a wave, energized his Jumping Sword, and went through in time to see Jace bash a pair of elegant doors into splinters and shards.

  Making sure he kept power to the rope, his sword, and Violet, Cole followed Brogan and Jace into a spacious bedroom, fragments of wood and glass crunching underfoot. Violet followed closely. A portly man in a white nightcap and long white sleepwear was fumbling out of bed. Brogan charged the man, seized him by the neck, and held his sword threateningly. “Not a sound,” Brogan warned.

  “I believe your manner of entry will suffice to raise the alarm,” the man said. Cole thought his voice stayed surprisingly steady given the circumstances.

  A shimmering wayport appeared in front of the doorway into the bedroom, blocking entry. Another trembling disturbance took shape in the middle of the room. A third wayport formed by the tall clock in the corner, and a man with leather armor visible beneath his Wayminder robes stumbled out. Jace hit the newcomer hard enough with the stone table that he flew back through the wayport without touching the ground.

  “Call them off, Vass,” Brogan warned.

  The governor widened his eyes and shook his head. Brogan squeezed his neck.

  “No,” Vass croaked. “Slay me if you must.”

  Cole heard shouting from behind the door blocked by the wayport. Apparently the guards were frustrated.

  Two other wayports appeared, one near the bed, the other just inside the door to the balcony. Another wayport opened right in front of the wayport by the bed, allowing no space for a person to emerge. Cole realized Violet was probably covering it. An armored guard raced from the wayport by the clock. Jace brought the stone table down on top of the guard with a clangorous crunch. Another guard came through behind him, and the free end of the golden rope wrapped around his waist, slung him brusquely against the ceiling, then slammed him to the floor.

  Brogan dragged the governor to the wayport in the center of the room. “This one?” Brogan asked Violet.

  “Yes,” she confirmed.

  Brogan hurled the governor through as a guard emerged from the wayport by the balcony. “Go!” Brogan urged, rushing to intercept the guard. He dodged a swing from the guard’s sword and cut him down with a single stroke. More guards came pouring from the wayport by the balcony.

  Cole aimed his Jumping Sword at the wayport in the center of the room. “Away!” he cried, leaping forward and soaring low and quick through the wayport.

  He emerged with a stumble onto a brushy prairie he had never seen before, the shadowy surroundings barely perceivable on the moonless night. The wayport and the stars shed enough light to see that Vass stood perhaps twenty feet away in a crouched pose. A glimmering wayport opened before him.

  “Away!” Cole shouted, streaking forward and lowering his shoulder before plowing into the governor. Cole spun to the ground, and the governor went down too. Hopping to his feet, Cole blocked access to the wayport.

  “Out of my way,” Vass snapped, lunging forward, one arm raised.

  Cole stood his ground and slashed the outstretched arm. The governor cried out and recoiled.

  “Stay down!” Cole yelled.

  From his knees, Vass dove at Cole’s legs and wrapped both arms around them. Cole fell back hard, losing hold of his Jumping Sword. Ignoring Cole, Vass scrambled for the wayport he had opened only to have a golden rope lasso him and yank him to the dirt.

  Brogan and Violet came through the wayport where Jace stood, and it closed, making the night a tad darker.

  “Quick, Violet,” Brogan said, racing forward, sword in hand. “Another gateway.”

  Cole’s power remained connected to Jace’s rope, his own sword, and Violet’s power. As Cole grabbed his sword and stood up, a new wayport shimmered into existence.

  “Send him through,” Brogan instructed.

  Using his rope, Jace forced Vass through the wayport and followed. Cole saw a new wayport open not far off. An armored guard rushed out.

  “Go,” Brogan urged.

  The guard ran toward them, but Cole hurried through the wayport. Brogan sprang through right after with Violet at his heels, and the wayport disappeared.

  They stood atop a dark hill, unseen clouds hiding most of the stars.

  “Again,” Brogan said.

  A new wayport appeared.

  “How is she doing this?” Vass asked.

  Jace pushed Vass through with the rope. The others followed.

  Cole emerged on a rocky ridgetop. Stars were visible again, though not as strikingly abundant as in the desert. The wayport closed.

  “Now we’re alone,” Brogan said.

  “You’ll hang for this,” Vass threatened.

  “Be more concerned about your own neck,” Brogan said.

  “You have broken every—”

  “Stop,” Brogan said in a hard tone. He knelt beside Vass and seized the front of his nightshirt. “We don’t have time to waste. I want to know where Owandell has stashed the king and queen.”

  “I have no idea what you are—”

  Brogan shook him sharply. “Then you are in enormous trouble. Because I believe you do. You are on the wrong side of this, Vass, and it is going to cost you. You’re in collusion with an enemy of the monarchy. I am here on behalf of the crown to rescue the High King, his consort, and two of his daughters. They were taken by Owandell using Wayminders. I am happy to employ any means necessary.”

  “You are speaking nonsense,” Vass accused.

  “Cole, tell me about his power,” Brogan said.

  Cole reached down in the dimness and took the governor’s soft, plump hand. He could feel the darkness entwined with his considerable power. “He’s been shapecrafted.”

  “I would love some light,” Brogan said. He backed away from Vass, took a small oil lamp from a pouch at his waist, clicked an igniter that shed sparks until the wick lit, then set the lamp near Vass.

  Blood drenched the formerly white sleeve of the governor’s nightshirt where Cole had sliced him. Elsewhere the smooth fabric had been torn or stained with dirt. The governor’s face was flushed and sweaty as he lay there panting. He sneered. “Don’t pretend to know anything about my power.”

  “Show him what you can do to his power,” Brogan said.

  Cole remembered when Morgassa had mangled his power, destroying his ability to use it just as he was first discovering how. He recalled how violated he felt to have those intangible elements within himself corrupted, how exhausted and wounded the ordeal had left him, and how baffled he was to lose touch with the innate abilities he had just begun to understand. He also remembered plunging into the slipstream in the echolands, denying the nearly irresistible summons of the homesong as impurities were scoured from his power, hurricane currents howling around and through him, eventually healing his ability.

  Cole knew he had the capacity to mangle the governor’s power. He had already done it to an Enforcer in the heat of combat. But could he do it to a captive? Could he do it calmly and deliberately?

  They needed the location of the king and queen. If this man collaborated with Owandell, he was an enemy. He was not innocent. He was conspiring to destroy the world.

&
nbsp; Cole didn’t want to maim the man’s power. No matter how good the reason.

  He could heal it, though.

  Exerting his energy, Cole burned away the impurities from the governor’s shaping power. Vass squirmed.

  “Hold still,” Brogan demanded.

  When Cole finished, he released the governor’s hand.

  “What have you done?” Vass panted. He looked haggard.

  “I undid the shapecrafting,” Cole said.

  “You can’t just . . . ,” Vass began. Then he closed his eyes, breathing slowly. He coughed. “You’re telling the truth.”

  “Yes,” Cole said. “And you’re helping to end the world.”

  “Change the world,” Vass corrected, opening his eyes. “Not end it.”

  “You’re handing it over to a being we can’t trust,” Brogan said.

  “The shapecrafting increased my vitality,” Vass said, sagging back to lay flat. “I feel the absence. And I also feel . . . better inside. I had forgotten how it felt.”

  “They twisted up your power,” Cole said. “They injured it. I fixed it.”

  “He can damage it,” Brogan warned. “Leave it in tatters.”

  “I believe it,” Vass said. He raised his head enough to look at Cole. The effort made him tremble. “Will you?”

  “I don’t want to,” Cole said. “We need your information.”

  “I don’t have it,” Vass said. “Why would Owandell tell me?”

  “The Wayminders who aided him were your people,” Brogan said. “Big events are happening in Creon. Owandell would have come to you. You’re playing too dumb to be telling the truth.”

  “You want to talk about dumb?” Vass asked. “What fool would stand against Owandell when his victory is imminent? Find the king. Don’t find the king. Does it matter? This is not going to be the same world in a matter of days.”

  “If it doesn’t matter, tell us,” Brogan said.

  “And cross Owandell?” Vass asked with a tired chuckle. “Now?”

  “You’re scared of Owandell?” Cole asked. “He’ll be as much a puppet as the rest of us.”

  “That’s one theory,” Vass said flatly.

  “Shred his power, Cole,” Brogan said. “Let’s see if that softens him up.”

  “If you would wound my power, how are you any better than the worst of them?” Vass asked.

  “Owandell stripped five young girls of their powers,” Brogan said through gritted teeth. “Against their will, halting their development and sending them into hiding. One of those girls became my wife.”

  Vass pushed himself up onto one elbow and looked at Brogan. “Wait, that’s not possible.”

  “I’m Brogan Holt.”

  Vass scowled in confusion. “You should be ancient.”

  “I’m not,” Brogan said. “And I am going to recover my royal sisters and their parents. Whatever it takes. Cole?”

  Vass glanced at Cole. “I wouldn’t. Owandell could appear at any moment.”

  “I’d welcome it,” Brogan said.

  “Owandell ran away the last time he met Cole,” Jace asserted.

  “I’m so sorry,” Cole said, reaching for the governor’s hand, unsure whether the gesture was a bluff and uncertain how much damage he might be willing to inflict.

  “Very well,” Vass snapped, pulling his hand away. “My best guess is they’re at the Island Keep.”

  “In Sambria?” Violet asked. “The Enforcer stronghold?”

  “There is only one,” Vass said.

  “How sure are you?” Brogan asked.

  “Nearly certain,” Vass said.

  “What if he’s lying?” Jace asked.

  “Then I give him my word that he will suffer,” Brogan said. “And I’m not lying. Any revisions?”

  “You now know what I strongly suspect,” Vass said.

  “You were stalling,” Brogan said.

  “I knew help might arrive,” Vass said. “Evidently it will not. Owandell is very busy right now. May I go?”

  “What more do you know?” Brogan asked.

  “Broad question,” Vass said. “I can tell you what I believe. All of you will be dead before long, no matter what you do with me. You’ll be fugitives from the Creonese government and hunted by Owandell. Not to mention his mentor.”

  “You’ll be coming with us until we can verify your claim,” Brogan said.

  “Then perhaps you’ll perish in Sambria rather than Creon,” Vass said with a sniff. “Holding me serves no purpose. I have nothing more you need.”

  “I need your information to be correct,” Brogan said soberly. “Violet, open a—”

  With a flash, the Perennial Serpent appeared, head rearing up above thick coils as the hood flared wide. Off to one side stood a figure in a black, cowled robe, the hood drawn up to conceal all features. Based on the description Cole had heard, he suspected it was the Ancient One.

  Brogan whirled and slashed, opening a long wound in the white scales along the nearest coil. The serpent struck at him and got stabbed in the snout, then vanished to reappear behind Violet.

  A large wayport opened between Violet and the overgrown snake, and Violet retreated toward Jace and Cole. Leaning around the wayport, Jace whipped the snake in the face with the golden rope, and Brogan raced around the other side to attack the serpent again. Coils writhing, the Perennial Serpent withdrew from the onslaught. Brogan pursued, and the snake disappeared again, only to materialize near Cole.

  The previous wayport closed, and Violet opened a new wayport, once again blocking the serpent. Jace rushed around the wayport, sharply and relentlessly lashing at the snake’s face. The serpent flinched jerkily away from the strikes, gradually retreating.

  “Should we go?” Violet asked.

  “Maybe we can take it,” Cole said, encouraged by how both Brogan and Jace had managed to put the huge snake on the defensive.

  The Perennial Serpent vanished again and reappeared behind Brogan, striking immediately, huge mouth closing over the top of his shoulder before he could react. Brogan disappeared.

  A wayport opened in front of Cole. “Go!” Violet yelled, shoving him toward it.

  Jumping Sword ready, Cole hesitated, but something tackled him from behind, carrying him through the wayport onto cool sand. A dazzling array of cold stars bejeweled the sky. Nearby, cressets burned in front of a striped tent. Jace lay beside Cole, one arm wrapped around him.

  As Cole scrambled to his feet, the wayport closed.

  When it vanished, Cole lost his connection to Violet.

  Cole sprang forward to where the wayport had been. There was no evidence it had ever existed. Cole squeezed the hilt of the Jumping Sword as if trying to crush it. He wanted to leap farther than he ever had, but at what? Panting, he whirled to face Jace.

  “We abandoned her,” Cole said.

  “I thought she would follow,” Jace said. “She always comes last.”

  Cole slashed the Jumping Sword across the sand, sending up a gritty spray. He felt empty, sick, and helpless. “They got her!”

  “Who goes there?” called a figure over by the tent.

  “Us again,” Jace called. “Is that you, Renni?”

  “Yes,” the guard replied.

  “Do you know where this wayport opened from?” Cole asked. “The one we just came through?”

  “I’m sorry, no,” Renni said.

  “Can you figure it out?” Cole pressed.

  “That’s beyond my ability,” Renni said.

  Cole kicked the sand in frustration.

  “We need to get back inside the fort,” Jace said.

  “I can help you there,” Renni said. “Is your friend all right?”

  Cole had fallen to his knees and was stabbing the sand repeatedly.

  “We just lost some people,” Jace said.

  Cole threw his sword down and pressed his face against the cool sand. He squeezed the grains with his hands. It had happened so quickly. Brogan was gone. Violet had been stranded.
Did the serpent bite her, too? Or had she been taken prisoner?

  Cole sat up and brushed sand from his forehead and cheeks. He looked out at the dark desert beyond the firelight. There was nothing he could do. No way back to Violet. No way to restore Brogan. The fight was over. He was safe, and they were gone.

  “We should get inside,” Jace said.

  “How do you sound so calm?” Cole complained.

  Jace shrugged. “One of us should.”

  Cole picked up his sword. “We could have stayed and fought.”

  “Not the way that snake was starting to move,” Jace said. “Do you think you have better reflexes than Brogan? Violet did the right thing. She knew we had to go.”

  “You forced me to go,” Cole said.

  “Now you know how Mira feels,” Jace said.

  Cole opened his mouth to reply, but nothing came out.

  “You had to get away,” Jace said. “You have to be there to fight Ramarro. In case we get another chance at this. And in case we don’t.”

  Cole bowed his head. Maybe this was only a possible future. Or maybe not. “Violet. Brogan.”

  “I know,” Jace said, putting a hand on his shoulder.

  “What are we going to tell Elegance?”

  “How bravely he protected us.”

  CHAPTER

  25

  EMPOWERMENT

  Gone?” Elegance asked, tears shimmering in her slightly crazed eyes. “What do you mean, gone?”

  “Brogan was bitten by the Perennial Serpent, and he disappeared,” Jace said. “The same thing happened to our friend Twitch. He could have been sent far away. He could be dead. He fought so bravely.”

  Elegance gripped the back of a sofa to steady herself. “I don’t need to hear that. Of course he fought bravely. He always fought bravely. But he never fell.”

  “It wasn’t a fair fight,” Jace said. “The snake—”

  “It was never a fair fight,” Elegance interrupted. “I’m sure he fared better than any man could have.”

  “He got in some good shots,” Jace said.

  Elegance held up a hand to stop him. “I was already sure of that. You’re not certain he’s dead?”