Light the Reign
(The Forgotten: Book 3)
Laura R Cole
Smashwords Edition
Copyright 2012 Laura R Cole
Smashwords Edition, License Notes
This ebook is licensed for your personal enjoyment only. This ebook may not be re-sold or given away to other people. If you would like to share this book with another person, please purchase an additional copy for each recipient. If you’re reading this book and did not purchase it, or it was not purchased for your use only, then please return to Smashwords.com and purchase your own copy. Thank you for respecting the hard work of this author.
CHAPTER 1
Kali combed her long silver hair and carefully divided it into three sections, braiding it with an ease borne from years of practice. Glancing into the mirror, she smiled at her reflection. Things were going nicely her way. The ritual to solidify the curse against the people of the Lost Lands had been performed, and better yet, Kali was now in possession of the Dena’ina powerstone. There would be no way to undo the curse now; the next generation of people would be free of the Dark King’s evil blood. It had taken some creative thinking to get the rest of the tribe to go along with her plan – albeit unknowingly – but she had always been good at getting her way.
She had convinced the people of the tribes that the Princess would be instrumental in bringing the Lost Ones back to the light, guiding them to the realization that the Dark King’s taint must be cleansed from their midst if they were to be whole. The tribe now believed the child to be the ‘chosen one’ who would usher in a new era of light which would allow the tribes to rejoin the Lost Ones in their ancient homeland.
Once they were thoroughly convinced of the child’s importance, Kali had then begun to tell them all that the child had some ailment which would prevent her from performing her divine task – unless they intervened. The other tribesmen were much too worried about collateral damage in this fight for her liking, which had forced Kali into this imaginative approach. The child, of course, was nothing. At least, not until Kali had gotten her hands on her.
Once they had kidnapped the Princess, under the guise of healing her, Kali and her trusted supporters had woven an enchantment into the very fiber of her being. The Princess would indeed be responsible for finally cleansing the Lost Ones of the Dark King’s taint after all.
Kali chuckled to herself.
She had hoped that the spell to incapacitate the King and Queen so that they could take the child would have finished them off – she had added a bit of energy of her own to hopefully ensure this fate – but their strength had proved too powerful and they had simply fallen into stasis while their bodies fought off the enchantment. It truly was a shame, especially as the Queen had some of the purest Dark King blood in her. Kali would have loved to have seen her washed from the earth.
The curse which had been secretly infused within the child would succeed in cleansing future generations, using the essence left in the Bloodstone that Katya had delivered to them – however unwillingly – to help it find its targets. This enchantment caused all who bore any hint of the Dark King’s blood within them to become sterile. Soon, there would be no trace of the Dark King left upon the lands. Now, they simply had to wait until the last of them died.
Problem was; Kali had never been very good at waiting. She’d like to see them all gone today. And now that Katya had brought her back the powerstone of the Dena’ina, she was in a good position to do so. The sterilization hadn’t been her first choice for the curse, but it had been all that she’d been able to convince even her most dedicated supporters to go along with. And since, unfortunately, she’d needed them in order to perform it, she had been forced to compromise.
But Kali still hadn’t been satisfied, so, when it had become increasingly apparent that the curse could possibly be detected and broken, she had jumped at the chance to use the Elder’s panic against them. Convincing them that they needed to get the powerstone from the Dena’ina to solidify the spell, she had then come up with the brilliant plan of sending Katya out to get it. Their own attempts to infiltrate the Dena’ina’s territory had been rebuffed, but Katya, as one of them, easily made it inside.
It was a shame that Katya had escaped. Though the mark was no longer visible due to a rather nasty scar on her neck, Kali had discovered that she was also one of the Dark King’s special marked descendants. She would have to die…but it could wait. She was also marked with the tracking stone that Kali had insisted she be injected with, so she couldn’t hide for long. And besides, after delivering both the Bloodstone and the Dena’ina powerstone to her, Kali felt that the girl deserved a head start.
She had refrained from mentioning the implications of having the stone here with the Myaamia’s to the others. The secret of the powerstones was one that was carefully guarded and only a select few even knew of their existence. An even smaller number knew what they were capable of. She knew that having two of the stones would make her the most powerful woman of the tribes. Once she used this stone to get to the Myaamia’s, she would be unstoppable. And then she would take the necessary steps to finish off the Dark King’s descendants, even if she had to hunt them down one by one.
She reached into the folds of her cloak and drew out the stone, gazing at its magnificence. Though its twisted shape betrayed the fact that it was only a fraction of the stone it once had been – one fifth to be exact – it was still a thing of beauty. She stroked it greedily, her mind racing through the possibilities of what she could accomplish once she possessed them all.
Snapping back to reality, she hastily returned it to its pocket and swept out of her home. Time would not be on her side. Eventually one of the dim-witted idiots of the Elders would realize the danger of allowing her to keep the stone herself and they would try and take it from her. She needed to already have the second stone in her possession before that happened.
The hanging walkways were dimly lit this time of night and she strode purposefully down them, eager to be on the ground below which would provide more cover for her activities. The journey to the tower where the Myaamia powerstone was kept was not a long one and, if all went to plan, she would be back in her house before anyone was the wiser. She even had a dummy stone, one that she had infused with enough power that with any luck, the fact that the real stone was missing would go unnoticed for some time. The powerstones helped keep the chaotic magic under control within the city, and if that were to suddenly just stop, those who knew of its existence would realize what was happening before she had a chance to leave the tower.
As her feet found solid ground and she was able to duck behind a large bush, her breathing grew easier. Other than the night Forest Guard, there was unlikely to be anyone down below. The forest was dangerous even during the day, and most were not foolish enough to venture far once the sun went down.
With the powerstone tucked safely away in her cloak, Kali knew she had nothing to fear. Nothing the forest could throw at her would withstand its magic. With hurried steps, she wound through the forest trails until she came to the base of the tower tree. It was unremarkable from the ground, and too far in the midst of the forest to be noticed from the outskirts, but Kali knew that its height far surpassed that of the trees around it.
Using the power of the Dena’ina stone to unlock the door, she slipped inside. Usually it required at least two mages to muster the level of power needed to control the lock spell, but that was the beauty of having the stone. Her footfalls echoed along the vast staircase, slightly moist-sounding squishing steps on the living stairs. By the time she reached the top, she was out of breath and she paused a moment, resting her hand on the
side.
When her breathing slowed to a more normal pace, she squared her shoulders and walked to the door that was the only remarkable thing about the landing on the top of the long stairway. Though it looked like an ordinary door, Kali knew that it was not. It marked the beginning of the trials that would need to be passed in order to reach the Myaamia stone.
Each of the tribes had their own unique method of keeping their powerstone safe. For the Myaamia, they had placed it behind a series of enchantments. As one of the Elders, she was privy to the enchantments that went along with it, but each member put in a twist of their own. This was meant to ensure that only by working together could they remove the stone.
The first of the spells was hers and should be easy to bypass. She let out a quick breath and opened the door, stepping into the room which she knew would start filling with poisonous spores from one of the mushrooms of the forest. That was another safeguard that most tribes employed: Using elements that would be recognized by their own people, but not necessarily the other tribes should someone try and steal them. She smiled to herself. She had been studying the stories and areas of each of the tribes in great detail in preparation for this for some time now. It was how she had discovered what would happen when she took all the stones…
The spores were pouring out of the hole in the wall at an alarming rate and Kali pulled her mind from her reverie. It wouldn’t do to get cocky and end up dying from her own spell. She quickly grabbed hold of the power and found the loophole she had left herself within the enchantment, pulling on the loose end quickly which ended the spell abruptly. Spores halted their movement and whooshed out of existence simultaneously, leaving her in an empty room.
There was another door on the opposite end of the space which she sauntered over to. This next room was designed by Hilasha, the most incompetent woman she had ever met. She had little doubt she’d be able to pass through this room without incident. In spite of her confidence, she readied the powerstone just in case. It never hurt to be too prepared.
Her hand rested on the knob, just for a moment, before she turned it and pushed the door open smoothly. Nothing happened straight-away and she cautiously entered, alert for dangers. Still none presented themselves and Kali let her guard down just the tiniest bit. Had the dim-wit forgotten to place her spell?
She walked forward once more, scoffing at Hilasha’s ineptitude. The powerstone in her hand suddenly grew warm, warning her of the spell seconds before it hit her. A large burst of air knocked her off her feet. As she craned her neck around to look behind her to catch herself, she realized the true danger of the spell. The wind was designed to distract, while the bulk of the spell removed the floor from underneath you. She hastily erected a solid barrier of air with the stone and picked herself up, brushing off her clothes with satisfaction. That was all the woman had?
She stepped forward again, reaching for the next door handle. But her foot passed straight through, her magic flooring gone. She pulled her foot back out of the hole, her heart beating fast in her chest, eyes glued to the forest floor far below. She searched the spell for the weakness and refortified it with the stone. Creating solid air was a powerful spell, but it should be nothing for the stone to handle.
She carefully put her foot forward again, and this time it encountered solid footing. Unfortunately, her back foot broke through unexpectedly. Just in time, she threw her weight forward and caught herself on the edge of the abyss. On all fours now, she crawled forward, forcing her eyes to stare straight at the door in front of her, and not on the ground below.
Her hand broke through and she gave a little whimper. She drew more energy from the stone and it solidified. She shuffled along slowly. Without warning, the entire spell gave way and Kali found herself falling; the ground rushing up at her with eerie certainty.
She grasped at the power within the stone. It flared to life and she was able to slow her fall the tiniest bit. Then it died on her completely. She wildly flailed her arms around helplessly.
A spark of energy burst into being and she once again slowed her fall, controlling it the best she could before the power faded and disappeared once more.
Several more times the stone sputtered out more power and she was able to use this enough to slow her descent to a speed that was only marginally terrifying. Just before she reached the ground, it animated one last time, giving her the strength to perform a spell which caused her fall her halt inches above the ground. She let out her breath and righted herself, getting her shaking legs back underneath her.
“Who’s there?” called a voice and Kali immediately searched her surroundings for a place to hide. Before she could get her quaking muscles to move, Slade burst out of the forest in front of her. “Kali?” he asked in surprise, “What are you doing out here?”
Kali’s mind raced. “I thought I felt a surge of power at the base of the tower with the powerstone so I came to check it out.”
Slade glanced back over his shoulder at the base of the tree which was the tower. He was one of the few people not of the Elders who knew of its location. He had also been instrumental in finding out what Katya had been up to. She had been grooming him for some time to follow in her footsteps, even telling him the ‘truth’ about how his parents had died in an attempt to further cement his commitment to her. She had not been disappointed. If someone was to find her out here, he was the best choice.
“Was everything alright?” he finally asked, his eyes darting around the forest searching for the nonexistent foe.
“Everything looks to be in order,” she agreed, smoothing out her cloak where it had rumpled during her fall. She paused a few more moments, pretending to still be looking around until she felt certain she would be able to control her jellied limbs. “I’d better be getting these old bones back into bed before I ruin my beauty sleep.”
Slade nodded and escorted her back to the entrance to the city. He left her at the base of the stairs. Once he was completely out of sight, Kali allowed herself a bit of a break-down; the fear from the fall that she had suppressed while dealing with Slade came rushing back. If the stone hadn’t given her that last bit of power…
She took out the stone and looked at it, its beauty dulled to nothing. As she examined it with her magesight, she realized that it was completely drained. It hadn’t just been a fluke, that for some reason she’d been unable to access the power that was there, there was simply nothing to access.
Her shaking turned from fright to rage. This wasn’t the real Dena’ina stone at all.
Katya had brought her a fake!
CHAPTER 2
Layna linked with Gryffon and probed baby Phoenix with their combined magic. They were now well-practiced at locating the curse within her, but still no closer to figuring out how to break it. The enchantment proved to be too powerful for her and Gryffon to destroy, even with the help of the royal mages, and Layna was losing hope. This time, again, they had no luck, and eventually other duties called that required they stop their search.
They had made some progress: They had confirmed that it required physical contact with Phoenix for a non-mage to contract the curse – which was good news for the scores of citizens who she had met with in the gardens while Phoenix played nearby – but someone with talent did not have to actually touch her in order to get it. The auras of magic would intertwine by proximity, allowing the curse to pass to the person that way. It did seem that the more magic the person controlled, the harder it was for the curse to take hold before it could spread from them.
There was a relatively small number of talented people who were allowed to get close to Phoenix, and both these and the non-mages who came in direct contact with her were mostly people who lived here at the palace, or at least in the city. Therefore, the containment bubble was believed to have been successful in protecting the rest of the population, despite their errant thinking that they could definitively detect it in its early stages. She had hoped that they would be able to evacuate the city slowl
y, testing each citizen on the way out, but that had proved to be impractical.
The curse was extremely difficult to detect, and while they could verify if someone definitely had it, they could not do the same to say they did not. When they had allowed Natalya and the Knights out of the city after confirming that they weren’t spreading the curse, the mages had originally believed this to mean that they didn’t yet have it. However, it turned out to be very lucky that all were honorable and all returned, even knowing the dangers – for the mages had later realized that while it was detectable when it was spreading, it was completely invisible in its first stages. One of the nurses who had been thought to have been safe was later found to be spreading it, even after having no further contact with the child.
To be safe, they had put several pages to the tedious task of tracking down everyone who had contact with Phoenix, in hopes that the results would show that those possibly infected were still in the city. So far, luck had been with them.
They had explained the barrier to the citizens as a quarantine, simply not mentioning what exactly they were quarantining. They didn’t want to create a panic until they had lost hope of breaking it, and with any luck, they could dissolve the enchantment soon and the people would never be the wiser. Since there were no obvious outbreaks, the people were still behaving calmly about it. However, Layna knew that this wouldn’t last forever, and the lack of symptoms would work against them. Keeping the citizens locked within the city for no apparent reason would eventually lead to unrest. They may not have to worry about it becoming permanent now that Katya had reported delivering a dummy stone to the tribe, but the patience of the people would now become their time limit.
Furthermore, the forced close quarters due to the isolation had other downsides as well. The illness that had been going around the palace, which Layna believed had caused the distraction which allowed Phoenix’s curse to go unnoticed for so long, seemed to be spreading.
Light the Reign (The Forgotten: Book 3) Page 1
