Tower of Fire (Parallel Magic Book 3)

by Emma L. Adams

  My throat went dry. That’s what they used on Adair and me… and to make themselves immortal. They’d had the nerve to steal the Akrith belonging to the Elders themselves? Was that what had cut off their realm from the Parallel, preventing anyone from leaving this realm to take back what had been stolen from them?

  The depth of what the Family had done to them rendered me speechless for a moment. I sought a path through the tangled array of thoughts in my mind to form a coherent sentence. “I’ve never seen it. I don’t think. But I know their house, and I meant it when I said I can help you get it back.”

  “Why should we believe her?” insisted the male elf who’d brought me here. “If we follow her into the ruins those abominations made of our former home, we’ll be without our protections against any foul traps they concoct against us. They’ll slaughter our people just like they did in the past.”

  Damn. I hadn’t known leaving their realm would deprive them of their magical advantages. While I’d confirmed how they’d got the upper hand over Adair, it lowered the odds of them being able to join us in the battle. Yet I couldn’t see any scenario where I walked into the Family’s home alone and retrieved the Akrith without ending up behind bars once again.

  “I’m not working alone,” I told them. “I’m working for the Death King, and he’s willing to help you, too.”

  Elder Veksis rose to his feet. “You’re working for whom?”

  “The traitor to the House of Spirit?” said Elder Datra.

  Shocked whispers passed between the two messengers behind me amid a ripple of hostility which spread among the elves. With his weapon in hand, the younger male elf took a step closer to me. “You dare admit to working with the mages who drove us out of our homes?”

  Huh? “The Death King hasn’t been in power that long. Who was in charge of the Court of the Dead the last time you saw them?”

  I wasn’t sure how long they’d been cut off from the Parallel, but the Death King had only been in charge for ten years or so. I was pretty sure it wasn’t possible for him to have done anything to the elves, considering their realm had been out of reach for the entire time in which he’d been their leader.

  “What is the name of current Death King?” demanded Elder Veksis, ignoring my question.

  “He—uh,” I stammered. Shit. What was his name again? Miles had told me… “Grey… Greyson something.”

  “That’s not him,” said Elder Datra. “The traitor must have been ousted from his position. More’s the pity.”

  “The new Death King stands in opposition to the Family and is seeking an alliance with any elves who are willing to help us fight against them,” I said. “That doesn’t have to include you, but he’s no enemy of yours and neither am I.”

  “The Death King is opposing the Vetren?” said the female guard behind me.

  “Yes—along with their allies,” I said. “There’s a group of vigilante spirit mages who formed an alliance with the Family and are trying to start another war, and they’d be more than happy to wipe out anyone who opposes them. That’s why they captured elves to make weapons for them. It’s also why they planned to come here. Now you have Adair held prisoner, it wouldn’t surprise me if they came looking for him.”

  This time, the elves’ hostile whispers weren’t directed at me. The two messengers exchanged urgent mutters, while the Elders rose to their feet.

  “We will need to discuss our options among ourselves,” said Elder Veksis. “But you will not be punished.”

  “I—thank you,” I said. “What should I tell him? The Death King?”

  Elder Datra looked me over. “Go to the Death King and tell him that if he offers us a guarantee of his protection, we will consider accepting his offer of aid. If the Vetren come here in search of their son, they will not find themselves unchallenged.”

  “I’ll tell him.” Gratitude swept over me. “Thanks again.”

  Now I just needed to find the way out. The Akrith Adair had used to open the way to this place had disappeared, but I assumed they’d confiscated it from him when they’d taken him captive.

  The male messenger elf exchanged a few words with the Elders, then beckoned to me. “This way.”

  I followed him, keeping a wary eye on his carved bone-white sword. I’d never seen an elf carrying a weapon made of wood before, but it made sense that the elves here would have made their own weapons from their available resources after so long of being isolated from the Parallel’s resources. Besides, it looked as strong as a metal sword. Given the magical properties of their trees, it was probably stronger.

  The elf pulled out the gleaming Akrith as he halted in the middle of the path. “This will take you home.”

  “Will I be able to return to your realm?” I asked. “Would I have to find another Akrith and bring it back to the tree I found?”

  “Yes,” he said tersely.

  I hope the Akrith is still where I left it, then. I’d locked the elven stone inside the securest part of the Death King’s castle, but knew what might have happened while I’d been gone? I’d better hope the tree was still standing, if nothing else, but if it was the only one of its kind, the Family needed it to follow Adair.

  If they’d already found the warehouse abandoned and Adair missing… then I might find myself in a world of trouble when I returned.

  Miles. I need to get back to Miles and the other elves. Figure out the rest later.

  I drew in a breath. “I’m ready.

  The elf held up the stone. Light flooded the area, and then the ground vanished below my feet. A moment later, I touched down on barren ground at the foot of the towering elven tree. Its branches extended to either side, touching the walls of the newly created cave which had been unearthed in the cliffside behind the warehouse. Nobody had turned the illusion spell back on, so the large blocky building remained in front of me. I trod around the side, heart thudding against my ribcage, and peered through the slightly open front door into the gloomy interior.

  Nobody was inside. That was a good sign, right? Miles’s plan must have worked, while the Family had yet to come here in search of their son. Yet.

  After a quick search of the surrounding area, I found my way to the node and stepped into the current, picturing the swampland in my mind’s eye.

  A moment later, I landed in front of the fence circling the Death King’s castle, spotting a skeletal horse padding along the swampy ground.

  “Neddie?” I walked towards him. “Hey. Good to see a familiar face.”

  When I got too close, the horse snorted and tried to headbutt me in the ankle. I gave him a stern look. “Stop that.”

  He stopped in an instant, letting out a huff of surprise. He’d actually done what I told him? I grinned, more delighted than I had the right to be, but I couldn’t help feeling a sudden rush of euphoria. Adair was imprisoned, the elves had set me free, and I’d successfully met the Elders face to face without ending up being punished for the Family’s crimes. Even better, they might be willing to agree to work with the Death King and help me finish off the Family for good. Part of me—the part which had devised my three rules for survival in the Parallel—knew it wouldn’t be as simple as all that, but it was hard not to feel a rush of dizzy joy when I approached the gates and saw who was on guard duty.

  Miles stared at me as though I’d risen from the grave before his eyes. Then he ran over and hugged me so tightly I couldn’t breathe.

  “I thought you were dead,” he said, his voice muffled. “Thank the Elements… I thought you were dead.”

  “You know I’m hard to kill, right?” I hugged him back, then relaxed my grip, aware of the mud caking my clothes and Shelley staring at both of us from the other side of the gates. “You saw me go into the elves’ realm, right?”

  “I didn’t,” he said. “I was too busy trying to help the elves get out of that warehouse and hide from that scumbag Adair. Once I got them out, I ran back to where I last saw you, but you and Adair were gone. Nothing was le
ft behind except for that tree. I figured it’d played a role in your disappearance, but there were no signs of either of you left.”

  “What happened to the other elves?” I asked. “Did you manage to get them to safety?”

  “Yeah, their old town was more or less intact, but I didn’t dare stick around in case the Family followed me,” he said. “I thought Adair was preparing to follow them, but when I didn’t find him, I wondered if he’d taken you hostage instead. I was sure you must be alive, but I’ve been going mad with worry the last few days.”

  “Few days?” I asked. “It’s only been a couple of hours, if that.”

  “Not for me.” Wonder entered his expression. “It’s been three days since you vanished, Bria.”

  I gaped at him. “How is that even possible?”

  “I was hoping you could tell me that,” he said. “Is the elves’ realm on a different time zone or something? Shit, I can’t believe you were really there.”

  “The elves’ realm isn’t linked to Earth the same way the Parallel is, so maybe it doesn’t follow the same clock,” I said. “I didn’t know time was that far out of sync, though.”

  No wonder the elves didn’t seem to know what was going on in the Parallel, if they’d been unhinged even from the regular passage of time. They didn’t know we were on the brink of another war, or that so long had passed since the last one… and it was all the fault of the people who’d taken their artefacts and severed the links between our realms.

  Shelley cleared her throat. “Why don’t you ask someone else to take over guard duty if you two want to catch up? Because a horde of revenants might have lumbered in behind you right then and you wouldn’t have noticed.”

  “I will,” said Miles. “Come on, Shelley, she went to the elves’ realm. This is big news.”

  “Tell me everything once you’ve caught up,” she said.

  “Of course.” Miles didn’t let go of my hand as we walked through the gates, at which point he called over Tate, Shelley’s brother, to take over his shift.

  “Hey, is Bria alive?” Tate goggled at me.

  “Looks that way,” I said. “I’m fine. I just need to—”

  “Come on.” Miles dragged me into an alcove near the castle. “I know the other Spirit Agents and the Elemental Soldiers want to hear from you—not to mention your boss—but I want you all to myself for a bit.”

  “That’s fair.” I grinned, happy beyond measure to be back at his side again. “I didn’t get hurt or anything. I’m fine. The elves were a bit more hostile than I expected at first, but I managed to convince them I wasn’t on Adair’s side.”

  “I’m surprised there’s anything left of their realm,” he said. “Considering everything I heard from Belgi and the other elves when I helped them move back to their town. They made it sound like their realm was permanently cut off.”

  “It was, but I’m assuming they were responsible for taking care of that tree the Family unearthed behind the warehouse,” I said. “If you use a genuine Akrith—one that contains a lot of power—then it can react to the tree and cause it to open a way back into their realm. I know that guy at the warehouse said there were a lot of fakes, but Adair’s worked. He dragged us both into the elves’ realm, and once we were there, I couldn’t get back until they let me go.”

  Miles nodded slowly. “Makes sense that it would take a hell of a lot of power to reopen a path which has been closed for years. Question is, why haven’t the elves been able to come back to this realm? They must have plenty of their own artefacts, right?”

  “They do, but…” I paused for a moment, then ploughed on. “The Family took the Elders’ Akrith. The most powerful of its kind. When they removed it from the elves’ realm, it had side effects, including draining the power from their other artefacts, and I’m pretty sure that’s the reason they’ve never been able to return to the Parallel. The guy who brought me back had to use Adair’s Akrith to open a way through.”

  His brows shot up. “The Family stole from the Elders? They’re the reason the elves’ realm was cut off from this one?”

  “It gets worse.” The words jammed in my throat, but I forced them out. “Turns out the Elders’ Akrith is what they used to make themselves immortal and to give Adair and me our own abilities. I assumed they used cantrips to do it, but no… they stole from the elves instead. The elves call them Vetren—abominations—and they deserve it, because everything they did was a result of the magic they stole. Including me.”

  “They what?” His eyes widened. “What the hell did they do to you?”

  “They stole the Elders’ Akrith,” I repeared. “Lex and Roth used its power on themselves, and they forced it on Adair and me when we too young to remember. That’s what gave us our resilience and probably some of our other skills, too. It’s why we’re so hard to kill… but I found out it’s not impossible. The Family can be killed.”

  He blinked, a slightly dazed expression on his face. “Holy shit, Bria. Are you sure you haven’t been gone that long? Wait, where’s Adair? Is he dead?”

  “He’s locked up in a cage in the elves’ realm,” I said. “Let’s just say his plan backfired on him. I can’t get back without another Akrith, but I think the one I took from that dude at the Order was real. It wouldn’t have defended me if it wasn’t.”

  Miles gave a low whistle. “Damn. Lex and Roth won’t be pleased when they find out.”

  “Haven’t they come back to the warehouse yet?” I asked. “If it’s been three days, you’d think they’d be a little concerned about Adair’s absence.”

  His mouth parted. “Not that I’m aware of. I’ve been back to check on the elves a couple of times and I haven’t seen them yet. Granted, I’ve been spending most of my time on guard duty. The Death King has us trading shifts in exchange for letting us stay in the castle. Shelley volunteered me for back to back guard duty while you and I were at the warehouse.”

  Oops. In fairness, I hadn’t planned on us spending hours traipsing through an underground tunnel, nor had I intended to rescue a warehouse of elves and then get myself transported to another realm.

  “Did I miss anything else?”

  “Hawker went after the Order.” Miles grimaced. “Not sure what’s going on over there, but the Death King and Liv have been run off their feet.”

  “But the Family… they haven’t attacked the Death King?” I frowned. “They haven’t even gone looking for Adair when he’s been missing for days?”

  They wouldn’t have let their beloved son get kidnapped, would they? Admittedly, it wasn’t the first time they’d left him in jail as punishment for the mistakes he’d made. When he’d got himself caught by the House of Fire and then transferred to the Death King’s jail, they hadn’t intervened, and he’d had to free himself without any input from them. On the other hand, they couldn’t possibly have known their quick-tempered son had opened a path into the elves’ realm in a fit of hubris unless they’d gone back to the warehouse. Which they hadn’t. Right?

  “I have no idea what they’re up to,” he said. “I think Adair might have been telling the truth when he said they didn’t need the warehouse any longer. It’s Hawker who holds all the lich-killing cantrips now. He’s the one with the vendetta against the Death King.”

  “I just hope the elves have got over theirs,” I said. “From what I heard, the previous Death King was a bit of a prick to them.”

  “The elves said that?” he said. “Yeah… I can’t say I knew the guy, but it fits with what I heard from Grey.”

  “It was lucky I remembered his name,” I added. “Otherwise I might have ended up speared to death.”

  “Damn.” He whistled. “The elves aren’t as mild-mannered as that elf friend of yours, are they?”

  “We’re in need of powerful allies,” I said. “But the elves want a guarantee of protection from the Death King before they make their decision of whether to help in the war or not. I need to get that first, but it shouldn’t be a problem for
him, right?”

  “Well…”

  His slight pause made my heart miss a beat. “Shit. He’s not mad at me for disappearing, is he?”

  “Not yet,” he said. “Like me, he assumes you’re dead or unavailable.”

  Ah. “Then I’ll have to tell him otherwise.”

  14

  I walked into the castle’s entrance hall, not expecting the Death King to show up right away. It wasn’t like he knew I was coming, after all. But when I passed the entrance to the hall of souls, he walked into view with his human face on and his usual armoured clothing covering him from head to toe. I found myself glad I’d remembered his real name, Greyson, because I might have ended up in serious trouble with the elves if I hadn’t.

  “Bria.” The Death King studied me. “So you are alive. I was beginning to wonder.”

  “I am,” I said. “Sorry I disappeared. I went to the elves’ realm, and it turns out time doesn’t work in the usual way over there. For me, it’s only been a couple of hours since I left.”

  “Tell me everything,” said the Death King.

  Once again, I ran through my experiences in the elves’ realm, including Adair’s ill-fated attempt to challenge them and his subsequent imprisonment, along with my conversations with the Elders and the Family’s role in cutting off their realm from the Parallel. I didn’t share the details of what the Family had used the Akrith they’d stolen to do to me, figuring he could read between the lines if he needed to. Our priority was getting him to agree to meet with the Elders before the Family realised I’d returned from the elves’ realm and Adair had been left behind.

  “The elves agreed to speak to you and potentially form an alliance,” I told him. “But they want a guarantee that you’ll do your best to protect them from the Family. They also want my help to retrieve the Akrith they stole from the Elders, but their magic isn’t as strong outside their own realm, while the Family is periodically using the Akrith to top up their own power.”