by K. G. Wilkie
Contents
Title Page
Copyright
Dedication
CHAPTER ONE A Game of Chess
CHAPTER TWO Accidental Encounters
CHAPTER THREE It Speaks on The Wind
CHAPTER FOUR Tybolt Hall
CHAPTER FIVE Sleeper Cell
CHAPTER SIX Courtyard
CHAPTER SEVEN Pinned By Predator
CHAPTER EIGHT Dreams
CHAPTER NINE Party Time
CHAPTER TEN Missing Minions
CHAPTER ELEVEN Allies and Enemies
CHAPTER TWELVE Orange Blossoms
CHAPTER THIRTEEN The Black Fire
CHAPTER FOURTEEN Warnings and Wariness
CHAPTER FIFTEEN Manhunt
CHAPTER SIXTEEN Wizard on the Run
CHAPTER SEVENTEEN Darien Confesses
CHAPTER EIGHTEEN Preview of Family Inflamed
CHAPTER NINETEEN Preview of PS The Dragon Fights
PS The Dragon Bites
Book One in the Shadeworld Series
K.G.Wilkie
Copyright © 2017 by K.G.Wilkie
All rights reserved. No part of this publication may be reproduced, distributed, or transmitted in any form or by any means, including photocopying, recording, or other electronic or mechanical methods, without the prior written permission of the author, except in the case of brief quotations embodied in critical reviews and certain other noncommercial uses permitted by copyright law. For permission requests, write to the author at the email address below.
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First Edition
www.kgwilkie.com
To Emalee, who has always had a magical gift for kindness
CHAPTER ONE
A Game of Chess
“Did you hear,” the whispers began. “He found her, he found her!” Some said the power was too great and they were glad when it had been lost. Others laughed and smiled and mused that it could be a good thing, a magical thing, to have it in their power once more. The chattering echoed through the corridors of the palace and but for the magical wards on the imperial wing their monarch would have long since lashed out to silence the gossips.
A young woman in leathers and scarlet tunic stood before the desk in the private office tucked away behind the minor throne room and neatly shut off all murmurs with the slam of the doors sized for creatures more massive than all the courtesan’s slight appearances belied.
“You are sure of your information,” he asked her coldly. She was sweating. Failure meant punishment. A grievous punishment, as the standard of a swift death would not be severe enough to sate the appetite of their people for such an important reunion the nation had been yearning for these many years. She nodded silently, hands tightly grasped.
“This will work for the best,” he chuckled. He sprawled back in his chair, casual and comfortable like a lounging jungle cat.
“The next step is finally here,” he mused. He moved his rook on the marble board with those slim fingers. “Check,” he grinned. The harpy next to him frowned at the board, then swiftly cut in her queen. He furrowed his brow. “That was a dirty move,” he growled in disgust. She just shrugged and smirked at him. He stroked his beard, pondering his next move.
The woman still standing at attention shuffled on her feet, and wrung her hands behind her back. Both at the desk ignored her but a cloud of smoke in the corner unfolded onto the floor like a giant paper doll and slowly moved upright. A slight breeze moved around her glimpses of a woman constantly shifted and peeked through rips in the paper that quickly healed and popped up elsewhere on the figure.
“Your majesty,” the woman bowed to the apparition.
“It is good that we can rely on the info of the Amaryllis Squad, or should I call you one of the Red Guard Assassins?”
The woman blushed. “Both are accurate statements for all of our members, your majesty.”
The monarch humphed. “You may go tell the girl in charge of finding her,” the queen said calmly. “Make sure no one alerts Him to this development.” She sighed, adding, “I dare say it was time for the next step anyways.” She shooed the girl out, though the assassin looked at the king for confirmation before bowing and leaving in a brilliant flash of light. “Such impertinence to ignore a queen, of all people,” the woman huffed.
He didn’t bother to look up from his game to answer her. “Well, m’dear, I’m afraid that’s because you are queen of a small band of your own people, whereas I am king of the whole of the Shadeworld. You have to accept that if anyone outside your people chooses to acknowledge you it is a mere courtesy for your position and not because you have any widespread influence.” He smiled at her, though it was a diplomatic smile that never reached his eyes and something about the words were threatening and declared her status as an underling.
She looked up at him, eyes blazing. He looked back calmly. She growled, the sound coming low from her throat even as her ire fed her breeze till she rippled like the fiercest gale. He growled back, sparks and flames whirling around him as he became clawed and furred like a mammoth caricature of a lion with scales wrapping around his core and cut through his ruff like a lady’s diadem. He roared at her. She looked down then, clearly having lost a fight for dominance. These little games were common in the gold dipped walls of the capitol, though few humans had ever lived to view the sight.
“Do you think it was wise to let them play the game,” the harpy woman asked, knocking aside one of his pawns on the board. She had stayed relaxed and focused on the game through the exchange but now she looked up at him. She dismissed the still indignant queen in the corner, and in a huff she finally left so only the two players were left.
“I suppose so,” he returned. He finally moved his knight. She instantly moved her queen across the board to capture it.
“He may have preferred to be informed of the situation. He’s always had a bit of a sensitive constitution,” she added.
The king snorted. “Have you seen his labyrinth? He’s got a hobby of throwing people who annoy him in there and sneaking into the human realm and terrorizing the village folk with views of his full dragon form, he’s not a sweet little hatchling anymore.”
She just shrugged. “Everyone has to go through their pillaging and terrorizing phase, just like they have to learn to walk or to do their first color changing spell. It’s part of the growing up process. The important thing is that he might feel very upset by being kept in the dark by this, and upset princes have led to violence and even sometimes revolutions in the past. That could muck up The Plan.”
“The Plan is set in motion and won’t be so easily ruined,” he smiled.
“We’ve only set her aside for a time and set a few spells. Do you feel confident we’ve done enough so far?”
He squinted at the board. “I think we`ve spent enough time on the preliminary moves,” he added, deep in thought.
“I hope those children don`t make too much of a mess of it,” she replied. Her lips lifted in the smallest of smiles over her move.
“Don`t worry,” he laughed, slapping the table. “They`re going to make a disaster of it, and come out the better for it!”? He then moved a pawn that had somehow snuck onto her side of the board. “Checkmate,” he smiled.
“Why don`t we just watch over them and be sure nothing goes to wrong],” she asked.
“A touching sentiment for your stepson.” She blushed and admitted she was fond of the boy. He slung his arm around her shoulder, creasing the velvet robes. With the other arm he opened a curio cabinet on the wall. There were vials and odds and ends, but the star of it was a shining crystal. It had uneven jagged sides, and stood like
a single crystal flame on a gold disk base. He set it on the desk then. Both of them leaned in to look. Then, a burst of light shot out of the pointed end of the crystal, straight into the air. It stopped, then expanded out, a flat plane with the images of several people scrolling across the surface. Then it stopped, focusing in on one point. There was a girl with shining hair sitting on a city bench underneath a single street light.
CHAPTER TWO
Accidental Encounters
She went from store to store at a run. The weekend was usually a time for relaxation but she couldn’t afford such luxuries. She was already so very late to start the school year and really couldn’t afford to be delayed any longer by being unprepared. Each of her bags was filled with notebooks and pencils and pens and all of her school supplies which has mysteriously gone missing during the move, and now was the time to pick up anything vital before heading to classes on Monday.
There were many clouds overhead and fat raindrops falling on the ground so it was difficult to move at such a speed without slipping.
Alyss continued shopping. Everywhere she went dark eyes followed her, hiding in the mist and dark corners lurking about and unseen by any human eyes.
“It’s her, it’s her,” they whispered to each other. “It has begun. We need to tell master.”
Two creatures hidden in the shadows huddled together and formed a bright ball of pure power between themselves. Slowly a face appeared on the surface.
“Yes? Did you find her? I’ll be very disappointed if you called to report on desserts again, I’m well aware they sell cinnamon rolls in that realm but I do not pay you to spend your time on frivolous pastry eating.”
The squat blue creature wiggled its tapered bat like ears. “We may eat all the pastries if we do succeed though because we have a very kind master, yes?”
The red creature was tall and spindly and had no ears of any sort that could be seen on its smooth head, but it still waggled its webbed hands at the projection. “We are very good servants, very loyal to master. Master will reward us if we find the girl?”
The face in the projection sighed. He looked humanoid, with dark hair that draped across his forehead and a form that could easily have entertained millions on the silver screen or draped across a motorcycle in an advertisement. His eyes, though, glowed with the strength of his magic, brighter than the green eyes of any common human. “I already promised you both a feast with all your favorite fishes and foods and allowed you to move into your own townhouses to upgrade from your shared apartment in my staff quarters. I suppose, because of the special circumstances and how hard you’ve been working, I can change your arrangement somewhat. If you manage to find the girl this year and promise not to cause any trouble for three whole months then I will also buy you each one hundred pastries. You’ll have to both make a binding promise though.”
The red one wiggled its nose. “No trouble? For three whole months? What counts as trouble?”
Their master glared at them. “That means you are not allowed to steal even one thing from any human ownership for three whole months, you may not injury or blight a single mortal, and you are not allowed to kill them or their pets. Not even a single barn cat can be hurt.”
They both pouted. “You never let us kill people or pets anyways,” the one grumbled. “Now we can’t even have the fun of stealing,” the other agreed.
The man in the projected lit up in magical fire that he couldn’t fully suppress when angered. “I am your prince, the crown prince of the entire realm. You will promise me this and do the magical binding to hold you to your promises, or you will not be allowed any more pastries on Earth at all ever.”
“Ever?” They both gasped at the command. “Aeron, that’s not very nice,” the blue creature protested.
The prince just shrugged. “If I had realized you two were so addicted to stealing I would have banned you from doing it before you visited that realm anyways. You are there to do a job and find a person, not to play around and enjoy your old bad habits harassing humans back from before our realms separated.”
They grumbled and agreed to his terms. Their hands were already close to maintain the projection, but they moved so their arms crossed each other to prepare for the binding spell. Both creatures spoke the words and a purple smoke the color of their combined magics rose around them. The repeated the terms of Aeron’s bargain and agreed to follow them. As soon as they were done speaking all the purple was gone from the air.
“Now, where did you find her,” the prince probed.
They both jumped in shock. “How did you know we already found her,” the blue looked around for some other spies while the red creature looked at the talons on his feet guiltily. He just snorted and assured them both he understood how their minds worked after working with them for a few hundred years.
“We found her on the street,” the blue said. “Shopping,” the red added.
“Stay where you are,” the prince commanded. “I’ll follow your coordinates to engineer a meeting with her.”
Finally she ran into the village’s strip mall for the last few things she’d need when she hit the linoleum and slid several feet from the entrance, smack dab into another guy walking there slammed her face into his. She groaned and collapsed on her side in a jumble of limbs, and he didn’t do much better.
“I’m so, so, super sorry about that,” she said. She clutched her head and moaned. “Both for hurting you and for hurting me to be honest.”
He laughed and offered her a hand up. “Well, I can’t say I blame you,” he said. “These floors are real slick and people do slip on them sometimes.”
She shook her head. “No, it’s my fault. I shouldn’t have been running.” She looked him up and down. His face was plain, his eyes were plain, and he just didn’t really stand out at all. She still smiled at him and offered a hand shake. “Name is Alyss. I just moved in and I might just see you around if you go to Tybolt.”
He blushed and shook his head. “Not likely,” he mumbled. “Nice to meet you but I have to go.” He waved at her and walked away and she focused on continuing to her destination.
He moved off to stand behind a pillar and glanced around. Seeing the place empty he shivered and a new form rippled with a flash of magic to replace the false appearance he’d worn. His new eyes were piercing and vibrant, his new hair was dark and rich, and his form would catch attention in any room.
“Tybolt, she said. I think that must be a school. I’ll have to look it up. Maybe engineer things so that we can meet and be together again.” He stopped to think. “Now that I think about the place I seem to recall I’ve invested in something like that around this part of the country. Yes, I think I do.” He grinned, but his feelings made his glamour slip enough so that it looked more like a snarl with his fangs on display.
“I’m going to have to look into my dear friend the headmistress and make sure she’s been arranging the staff and students the way I always like best.” He paused and tapped his chin. “Obviously I’ll make her enroll me as a student in the girl’s grade, but maybe while I’m at it I could replace a few memories and make it so that it feels like I’ve been in the area and at the school for a good long while. It’s always best to hide my tracks when a big magic will be going on and it’s so important to have some insider support in a school even if the students don’t remember they’ve never met me before today.”
Thoughts churned through his head but he paused again when he walked past the spot he had run into her earlier. He smiled and touched his lips, as light as a butterfly’s landing, and grinned a small secret grin to himself that looked innocent and boyish with his human form firmly in place. “Our lips touched,” he whispered.
He cast a spell and was gone from the mall.
CHAPTER THREE
It Speaks on The Wind
Slowly twisting, pulling, turning, the wind languidly crossed the square. The leaves rattled in protest, bucking the dew off their silvered expanse. The light flowing
through the gnarled hands of the trees rested on the expansive bench beneath. The girl crossed her legs, tucking a sliver of her chestnut tresses behind one ear.
Quietly humming, she ripped a page out of the book. A slow grin quickly widening, she started on the rest of the pages, her hands an indiscernible flurry of destruction. Her small huff of exhaustion did nothing to dim the joy on her features.
“Free,” she murmured, resting her head on her knees. The scraps of paper fluttered around her feet in the faint breeze.
A shadow moved to block her view. “Not yet,” a clear baritone said. “I’m hurt that you ripped up your orders, you know. It had my pretty seal and handwriting, you should have treasured it.”
She jumped in shock, and it was as if a blurring lens was removed from the air around her. Her hair lost it’s plain color and suddenly was streaked with amethyst crystals that glowed. Her joints stretched, her frame became impossibly thin and overstretched beyond what was possible for a human. Neither of them seemed particularly shocked by the change. “I didn’t think you’d still need me,” she protested. “You’ve found the girl, the job is done. I was under the impression that meant I was free as a bird.”
“Not really,” he said. “Now that I’ve found her, I need to convince her to be with me again. I want it to be like before. Of course she doesn’t remember anything now so I’ll just have to woo her the way normal humans do and hope that works.” He grinned at her. “I’m sure you’ll continue to serve me faithfully and happily support my efforts by acting as her friend and my wingman.”
She snorted. “I don’t think you could find a less likely wingwoman than me. I don’t even like you, I’m hardly a good choice to convince her of your appealing personality.”
He shrugged. “But you’ll do it because you have a great job with me and you know the alternative would be terrible. It’s such a great job I’m sure you’ll have fun doing it.”
