Haven (War of the Princes)
Page 31
“J. G.? James Geoffry Kiteman. Everyone in my family knows about him. He was one of Rivermarch's founders. He's at the top of this huge family tree in my uncle's place,” Kyle said and gave me a wondering look. Why would I ask him a random question about his ancestor?
“I asked myself the exact same question you did. And then I found this,” I said, reaching for the vertebra bone that sat beside my goggles and scarf on the nightstand. “I got it off a Lurcher skeleton. Every bone was like this one. Here. Take a look at it.”
I handed it to Kyle and his hand dipped with the unexpected weight of the bone.
“This is made of metal,” Kyle said, looking completely confused. Ruby scooted over, tucking her hair behind her ears to get a better look.
I nodded. “Like I said, the whole skeleton.”
“They were machines?” Kyle asked, looking honestly and truly interested for the first time. Mechanics had always been his specialty.
“Looks that way,” I agreed. “They didn't look like robots. Must have been some kind of combination.”
“Like a mecha-organic fusion? I've never heard of that working,” Kyle said, examining the bone.
“Turn it over, to the underside and look closely,” I instructed him.
He complied, and held it close to his face. “It says J. G. Kiteman! It’s printed, right there!”
“I thought you might like that,” I said, enjoying the feeling of the last piece of the puzzle clicking into place. “I didn't know who it was and I hoped you would. If this is the same J. G. Kiteman, then your ancestor invented the Lurchers that are protecting the entire mountain side.”
“If this is a prank,” Kyle said warily.
“Oh, get over yourself. I wouldn't throw myself into a meat grinder, disappear for a month, and smelt a fake bone all for a joke,” I said grumpily.
“I wish I could have been there with you Kat,” Ruby said. “I would have helped you. I want to see an ocean and autumn trees.”
“Yeah, Kat,” Kyle piped up. “You've told us everything except the most important part. We won't know you're not making this up unless you show us. I want to see those Lurchers. Where'd you find that passage anyway?”
A shiver coursed through me.
“No,” I said definitively. “Not a chance. I wouldn't tell them and I won't tell you just so you can make the same mistake I did.”
“We wouldn't be rescuing any wounded soldiers,” Ruby said. “We'd just look and leave.”
“I want to believe you, Kat, I just want to see something that I know for certain would be proof,” Kyle shrugged. “I know, I sometimes I hate the logical side of my brain too.”
They weren't getting it.
“Okay, you want more evidence?” I asked. “Historical artifacts not good enough for you? I'll show you something, but I won't take you to the outside.”
They were waiting. I took in another deep breath, trying to ignore the fatigue I felt. The sunlight that was slanting in from my window gave my form a nice clear shadow on my bedspread.
I thought of Rune as I drew the crescent and oblong arrow shape in my own shade. It had been four days. Was he okay? Did he think of me? I wished that I could see him again. It was completely out of the question, the cost was far too high.
When the invisible lines were complete, a shadow began to ripple within my shadow. Ruby got up off the bed to stand against the wall with Kyle, a safer distance away. Wonder and fear of the unknown were at war on their faces.
The small Shadow Chaser, the very same one that had stuck around to help in my training the most, had returned. He climbed up out of my shadow, pulling up his inky black salamander head to look at me with widespread milky white eyes.
I smiled down at him, reached out my hand, and ignited him with a wicked coat of lightning.
The sounds of shock and awe that followed were very, very satisfying.
* * *
It was barely dawn.
Early morning mist hugged Rivermarch. The trees and buildings lining the empty street were ghostly insinuations of themselves. There was a general hush in the town. If it was too early for the sun, then it was too early for everyone else. A pair of birds began to sing, my only company in the monochrome world.
I wondered if I had begun sleepwalking, or whether it was my dreams that called me outside. My white nightgown brushed my knees. The cold ground didn’t bother my bare feet.
The Pull led me forward, down the sleeping streets, over the bridges of trickling streams, through a pair of wrought iron gates and into the quietest of all gardens.
I would not move an inch farther. I stood there in silence, facing the ancient mausoleum, the gateway to the Outside World, knowing with complete confidence that I could find anything I looked for.
Even him.
A Note from the Author
Hello there and thank you for reading! This is my first book, and if you enjoyed it I’d love to get a review from you on Amazon.com. Any and all support is appreciated! If you’ve received this version, it means that I’ve fixed my earlier issues with the tabbing. When the book was first released, there were all sorts of conversion bugs, but I’m happy to say that the process has smoothed out. Please look for me online. I don’t bite… unless you ask very nicely.
A. R. Ivanovich
arivanovich.com
Acknowledgements
My first thank you goes enthusiastically to my editor, Michelle, who also happens to be my sister. Lucky me! A very grateful thank you to Jae Woo for his impeccably keen eye on the final read-over. Isn’t last minute fun?
Thank you to my sister, Llana, who is my strongest advocate, and to Andrea Gruidl for being my ever-present writing buddy. Dayana Stanojevic, Heather Wood, Terence Wong, Burdy Wang, Kelly Rector, and Natalie Savona, I am eternally grateful for early readers like you. Every writer needs a sanity-check at the end of a project. “You like it? Okay, thank god.”
Words will never describe the depth of my appreciation for my fiancé, Kevin, who has supported me every step of the way. Thank you for believing in me. You’re a gem.
Lastly, to our dog, Luna, I am grateful for those breaths of fresh air that you forced me to take when I was buckling down on getting this book out.
A. R. IVANOVICH enjoys being swallowed by forests, sleeping on lakes, and watching the sky. Her passion for writing is accompanied by a love of video games, painting, horseback riding and the subtle craft of nacho-making. A. R. regularly encourages those around her to follow their dreams no matter the obstacles, because, as she can attest, the rewards are more than worth the effort. She was raised in Hawaii, where she once again resides, with her fiancé and their extensive family of rescue pets.
Table of Contents
COPYRIGHT
DEDICATION,
Chapter 1: A Crossroads
Chapter 2: The Wheels Turning
Chapter 3: Sunny, With A Chance Of Rain
Chapter 4: The Storm of Change
Chapter 5: Seven Hundred Year Old Secret
Chapter 6: Inside
Chapter 7: Rune
Chapter 8: Facing Reality
Chapter 9: Fading Light
Chapter 10: Good Gravity
Chapter 11: Finding The Sky
Chapter 12: Sounds In The Brush
Chapter 13: Breakwater
Chapter 14: The Wounded Dragoon
Chapter 15: My Only Friend
Chapter 16: Dylan Axton
Chapter 17: One Open Door
Chapter 18: Resolve
Chapter 19: Ships On The Horizon
Chapter 20: Something Called Autumn
Chapter 21: The Installment
Chapter 22: Lodestone
Chapter 23: The Tower
Chapter 24: Isolation
Chapter 25: The Final Test
Chapter 26: The Spark
Chapter 27: Shadow Chasers
Chapter 28: Hornets
Chapter 29: Into The Fire
Chapter 30: My Escape
Chapt
er 31: Freedom
Chapter 32: My Choice
Chapter 33: My Ending
Chapter 34: A Certain Picture
Chapter 35: Afterlife
Chapter 36: The Outside World
Chapter 37: Procession
Epilogue
A Note from the Author
Acknowledgements
ABOUT THE AUTHOR