Cloud Lands Saga Box Set Books 1-3
Page 77
“By stealing the Bridgestone and splitting a cloud-land? Angels fell to Earth because of your plan and now they have no way to get back! They weren’t bad people that you punished to get back at the Core—they were good—Sun is good!”
Tiberius didn’t move as Cadin lost his temper. “So, you lost more than one person today?” Tiberius said before he glared at Cypher. The traps appeared to tighten ever so slightly.
“Yes.” Cadin said around gasps. “And now, even if she survived the fall to Earth—you broke the Bridgestone. She is fallen.”
Tiberius closed his eyes. It was such a vulnerable moment. If Tsuyo was closer, Cadin could have used it to end the leader of the Tlalocs. Then Tiberius’ two-toned eyes opened sharply and zeroed in on Cadin. “The Bridgestone was meant for all angels. It is important to rectify that. It is unfortunate that a traitor acted on his own and your friend fell because of it. However, all is not lost. I will restore the Bridgestone. You could help.”
Cadin cocked his head at Tiberius.
A weak, raspy voice spoke up. “Emilio!”
Cadin’s head whipped around to find Nesta sitting up next to Eric who was handing him a water skin. Nesta pushed Eric aside as he crawled towards Master Emilio. Nesta’s eyes filled with tears as he reached Emilio’s body, pulling him into hug. Cadin let go of Emilio and could think of no other way to comfort Nesta—a man holding his dearest friend dead in his arms.
Nesta ran his fingers over Master Emilio’s eyes, closing them the rest of the way. “I’m so sorry,” he whispered. Everyone was silent for several moments as Nesta mourned his lost friend. Finally, he wiped his eyes and looked up at Tiberius. “How damaged is the Bridgestone, my lord?”
“Are you okay, Nesta?” Tiberius asked softly, making no move to approach him with a fuming Eric hovering.
“Devastated, but I will survive. The damage?”
“Wait,” Eric cried. “Nesta, don’t talk to that—monster! He kidnapped you!”
Nesta shook his head slowly, his eyes heavy. “No, my boy. Cypher kidnapped me from the fringelands where I was working of my own accord. I worked with Tiberius and the Tlalocs of my own free will. Did you not get my night hawk?”
“Your what? How could you?” Eric’s eyes were red with tears.
Nesta reached up and touched Eric’s face. “They are not what you think. They needed my help.”
“You are always welcome in the United Fringelands, Nesta. And with the broken Bridgestone, we will need you now more than ever.”
Nesta nodded and turned to Eric. “I’ve found my place, Eric. You can come with me if you want.” Nesta turned to Tiberius, who gave a nod.
“You must decide soon,” Tiberius said, a distant look on his face.
Cadin noticed Tiberius’ hands were connected to the mist. Cadin reached for the mist himself. Tiberius’ eyes widened as he turned to Cadin. The energy of the cloud pulsed through his fingers. The cloud-land had stabilized and stopped tearing apart and the angels that Cadin could feel through the cloud were starting to search. No wonder Tiberius wanted to leave. It was then that Cadin focused on Tiberius’ energy and found that the Tlaloc was likewise assessing him. Tiberius’ energy was unlike any that Cadin had ever encountered before. It was powerful and tumultuous, but controlled.
Tiberius blocked him, and Cadin pulled away from his connection to the cloud.
Tiberius’ mouth twitched. “You are an interesting angel, Cadin of Glade.”
Cadin started to shake, wondering if now was the moment that Tiberius offered to join him or die.
“As it was your friend…Sun who fell, I will give you the choice on her behalf.” Tiberius pulled a cylindrical spike from his pocket. It had a smooth metal handle with lights and some sort of mechanical device at the top. “If you would ever like to come and see what we are doing on the United Fringelands, and work to help fix the Bridgestone to bring her and so many others back—you need to activate this by spiking it into a natural cloud, and turn it on with your Aura energy.”
“That looks like your cloud-beacon you had been working on,” Eric said softly to Nesta.
“Yes, I finished it with a weaver’s help.” Nesta turned to Cadin. “You must prime it with both your and Tiberius’ Aura energy now, and then only you will ever be able to activate it.”
“And let me stop you from trying to plan a trap, Cadin of Glade. This beacon does much more than alert the nearest Tlaloc to come pick you up. They will also know if you are alone or not when you activate it,” Tiberius said.
“And what if it is a trap for me?” Cadin asked it before he really thought about it.
“Boy, if I wanted you dead, why wouldn’t I just kill you now? As I said, I am not the monster you think I am. I am not like the Core, and I am not who they say I am. This beacon is a peace offering to prove that to you.” Tiberius held the beacon out. Cadin’s fingers flexed as he grabbed it and poured a small amount of energy into it. The lights at the top flashed brightly for a moment and then went dim. Tiberius nodded to Cadin before walking over and picking up a weak Nesta in his arms, despite Eric’s threatening glare. Nesta patted Emilio’s face one last time before Tiberius stood.
Tiberius turned back to Cadin, his green eye growing lighter, and his Aura pulsing bright purple. “There is a time-limit for fallen angels to return to the cloud-lands. If you want to save your friend, you can come and help to restore the Bridgestone. We will do it without your aid; however, with you, we may be able to restore the Bridgestone faster. The time limit for each angel is different. If there is something that anchors your friend to the cloud-lands—she may have several more months. If not, she might be unreturnable in a matter of weeks.”
Tiberius walked towards the exit with a hesitant Eric following. He stopped to glance at Cypher who growled against his cloud-trap gag. “Good bye, old friend,” Tiberius said softly. The mist grew heavy around them and Tiberius launched into the air without another word.
“Down, down!” A familiar voice cried.
“Lep!” Cadin called toward the charred entrance hole where the lightning had grazed. He wasn’t sure whether minutes or hours had passed since Tiberius left.
“Cadin! I hear him, we found him!”
The belly of the airship lowered in altitude. Lep hopped off and gave Cadin a fierce hug.
“How did you find me?” Cadin asked
“The pulse rings,” Lep said. “When Ansford stopped splitting, we started search parties, and my ring went crazier the closer we got to you.” Lep’s face scrunched. “It smells horrible in here.” His face slackened at the sight of Cadin’s clothes—blood-soaked from Master Emilio’s wound. Then he turned to Cypher who was still tightly nestled in Tiberius’ cloud-trap.
“Holy crow! Is that a Tlaloc?”
“Yes,” Cadin answered quietly, trying to conserve his remaining energy to walk. “Cypher there is the one responsible for splitting Ansford—and for killing Master Emilio.” Cadin teared up as he pointed to Master Emilio’s body.
“Oh, crap! Cadin, I’m so sorry!” Lep wrapped his arm under Cadin’s shoulder. “Let’s get you outta here. Will that dude stay put in your cloud-trap?”
Cadin nodded, not mentioning that the cloud-trap was made by Tiberius.
“Is Sun with you?” Ari asked as Lep helped Cadin on board. His eyes were hopeful as he glanced behind Cadin.
“Oh…Ari…she fell,” Cadin choked out.
“What, where?” Lep butted in, peering through the hole in the other end.
“No, not here—when the cloud-land started to split she fell. I couldn’t catch her.” Cadin’s body quivered as the truth of it finally landed in his heart.
“Ari, Cadin,” Lep said, clapping them each on the shoulder. “Sun is strong, she will survive a fall to Earth. We will get her back!”
Cadin took ragged breaths as they headed back to the surface of Ansford. He could not bring himself to tell them that the Tlalocs had control of the broken Bridgestone.
�
�There you are!” Tal said as they landed in a small debris-free field. Angels were rushing towards where Ansford had split, carrying the wounded to a make-shift tent. “Oh, you’re safe!” His father trembled as he held him in an intense hug. “Did you find Master Emilio?”
Lep answered to save Cadin from explaining. “He is dead in a small fringecloud where a Tlaloc is currently cloud-trapped. The guy is huge. We will want some extra Core backup to detain him I think.”
“Emilio is dead?” Tal said, his face dropping.
Cadin nodded in his dad’s embrace. “Cypher threw a dagger in his chest when Master Emilio tried to help me. Cypher almost killed me too—but Tiberius showed up—and saved me.”
“Tiberius is here?” Instructor Kade asked as he ran over.
“He left with Nesta and Eric—he didn’t take them,” Cadin added quickly as Kade drew his small crossbow. “Cypher is the one who did all of this.” He waved his hands over the chaos.
“I’ll show you where he is, and fill you in on everything else,” Lep said, flashing his eyes towards a catatonic Ari. Instructor Kade nodded and they ran off towards an airship.
“What about everyone else?” Cadin asked his dad.
Tal pulled back from Cadin, wiping the tears from his eyes. “Most everyone from our group is accounted for. Sara, Bart and Cora are helping at the emergency medical tent, while all of the fringelanders are helping Kevin weave.”
“Weave what?”
“They are trying to anchor the two pieces of the Ansford cloud-land back together so they do not drift with winds.” Tal reached under Cadin’s arm. “Come on, let’s get you over to the medical tent.”
Tal bent down to Cadin. “What’s wrong with Ari? Where’s Sun?” he asked quietly.
“Sun fell, dad. I only just told Ari a few minutes ago.”
“Oh, no. Cadin, are you okay?”
“No, not really. Listen, I need to talk to you about Sun.”
“You should rest, son. You look ready to fall over.”
Cadin turned to say something and felt lightheaded. Everything around him spun.
“Cadin!” Tal said. “Sara, hurry! Cadin just fell over.”
Cadin tried to open his eyes, he felt barely conscious, like a heavy blanket of sleep was weighing down on him.
Sara’s cool hands felt his forehead. “Cadin, honey—are you okay?”
Cadin tried to speak, finding it difficult to access his words. “Bridgestone…help Sun…fix the Bridgestone…” and then darkness enveloped him.
CHAPTER TWENTY-SEVEN
Decision
Three days had passed since the split of Ansford. They had all stayed and helped to weave the cloud-land back together. Hundreds of angels from neighboring cloud-lands had flown over to rebuild, heal, and help where they could. Francisco had even called in aid from Cloud System Twelve. Fringelanders from near and far facilitated the weaving of the halves back together. A huge scar ran across the surface of the cloud-land, but it held together.
Cadin paced back and forth over a high hill on Ansford. The Gladers and fringelanders packed up airships in preparation to return to Glade. Most of the people around Ansford were either sad and in shock over what had happened and still weeping over their fallen, or they were mad and calling for war.
After Cadin had passed out, Lep showed Instructor Kade and several Core officers where to find Cypher and Master Emilio’s body. Master Sanjen had shown up on day two to officiate over Master Emilio’s funeral and to take Cypher to the Core Chambers where he was to be tried and locked up.
After the funeral, Master Sanjen had approached Cadin. He handed him a small vial of Master Emilio’s ashes to spread where he wished. “I’m sorry for your loss,” Master Sanjen had said before leaving to lock up Cypher. Cadin hadn’t said anything in return, not trusting himself not to say something horrible about losing the battle for the Bridgestone.
Gur nudged Cadin’s cheek as Tal strode up the hill.
“Ready to head home?” Tal asked.
Cadin took a deep breath and adjusted his backpack. “Dad, we need to talk.”
Tal’s face fell. “What is it, Cadin?”
Cadin clenched his hands in resolve. “I’m not going home—I have to help Sun.”
“Cadin, we talked about this,” Tal said, his eyes going wide.
“Dad, I need to do this and I want your support—and your help.”
“Cadin,” Tal rested his hand on Cadin’s shoulder where Gur inspected it. “I can’t let you go to the fringe with the Tlalocs. Try to understand that Tiberius is not what he seems.”
“This isn’t about Tiberius, dad. This about helping Sun and everyone else that fell. I don’t want to get sucked into Tiberius’ world. That is why I need your advice on how to keep my own perspective intact and true. I’ve felt Tiberius’ pull. Heck, I sat and chatted with the guy even when rationally, I knew he was the freaking leader of the Tlalocs!” Cadin shook his head. “I need to go to save Sun. And I need to stay sane while I am there. You are the only one I know besides Kevin who knows how to survive mentally out there.” Cadin gazed out across the cloud-studded horizon. “And I’m asking you.”
Tal squeezed Cadin’s shoulder, tears brimming his eyes. “Okay, son. I will tell you everything about my time with the Tlalocs.”
Cadin did not say good-bye to anyone else before he flew out over the natural clouds. He waved off several Ansford patrol angels before he reached an isolated cumulus cloud. He couldn’t bear everyone’s sympathetic gazes anymore. His dad had offered to come with him, but Cadin knew that the Tlalocs would not come if even one extra angel waited with him. Tal had promised to wait to tell everyone of Cadin’s departure until dusk as he wasn’t sure how long the cloud-beacon would take. Before Tal left, he rubbed the medallion on Cadin’s armguard.
“Don’t forget who you are, Cadin,” Tal said before wrapping him in a hug and turning to go.
Those words echoed in Cadin’s mind as he stabbed the cloud-beacon into the cloud. Warm energy trickled down his arm and into the beacon—activating the lights.
Gur stomped around the semi-hardened cloud-land that Cadin had shifted to wait on. Two hours passed before an angel with a white Aura flew towards him. The angel was a slight woman with short, spikey brown hair and brilliant green eyes. She landed next to Cadin before jumping at the sight of Gur.
“Nobody told me about a dragon tagging along.” She said in the cadence of speech Cadin now associated with the fringelanders. She ran her eyes up and down Cadin. “Well, are you ready to travel to the United Fringelands?”
Cadin took a deep breath before standing up. “I’m ready.”
The End
Note from the Author
Thank you to all my readers! This has been a fun journey for me and I am happy you have joined me. Cadin’s journey through the Cloud Lands will continue with Book 4 - Fringelanders. The biggest complement you can give an author is a good review to help others find the stories you love. If you were kind enough to have reviewed and would like to be on my Advanced Review Copy (ARC) list, please email me at AuthorKatiePottle@gmail.com. The list is limited, but you will receive free advanced e-book copies of my upcoming work.
As always, I want to thank my husband for being my biggest supporter and fan and motivating to always finish what I start. A big thank you to Tuesday and Sarah for your help getting Calvarian Games ready in time. And lastly, thank you to Dad for encouraging and supporting me to become the woman I am today.
If you haven’t yet caught up on the short stories of the cloud-lands, you will want to get your hands on Lynn’s Dragon Ranch and Cloud-Chess! (I promise at least one more short-story will be coming soon. Hint—Master Emilio’s Story:)
Please feel free to connect with me at www.KatiePottle.com.
The complete story of the Cloud Lands Saga is told through several different avenues.
Main Series: The Cloud Lands Saga is planned to be a five-book series. Books 4 and 5 are coming soon!
Video Game: There is a companion video game for Xbox One and Windows 10 available for free through Project Spark. Go to www.katiepottle.com for download instructions.
Cloud-Chess Tournaments: The Cloud-Chess Tournaments are held as part of KAT’s Tri-Medal annual tournaments.
I love to hear from fans about your favorite moments or characters, so consider connecting with me and commenting on my Facebook author page at http://www.facebook.com/AuthorKatiePottle
-Thank you again—Katie Pottle
Cloud Land Saga Mini Adventures:
A note to my fans about mini adventures—every so often one will be offered for free at www.katiepottle.com
Lynn’s Dragon Ranch:
Journey to the Cloud-Lands as a young group of interns takes on Lynn's Dragon Ranch for school credit. All is not as easy as learning how to feed the different dragons and harvest their scales when the health of some of the dragons takes a turn for the worst. Can the lively interns help Lynn save the dragons and her ranch? This Cloud-Lands mini adventure is set in the same world as Katie Pottle's debut novel: Cloud Shifters.
Cloud Chess:
Adventure with Sun and Ari on Lance to learn the origins of the popular Cloud Chess game played throughout the cloud-lands. This Cloud-Lands mini adventure is set in the same world as Katie Pottle's debut novel: Cloud Shifters.
Alizel’s Song: (A Novel by Bill Pottle – Katie’s Husband)
What could cause someone to throw away a perfect life in paradise?
An unranked angel, Alizel, tells the inside story of the rebellion of Lucifer and the fall of man. Join him as he strolls through Heaven’s gardens, ponders theological questions with other angels, and battles against others who have turned away.