by Phil Stern
Sure, some of her offbeat choices had worked out okay anyway, some not so much. But taken in total, Caylee was lucky to still be alive.
No more. Eyes taking on a mild green sheen, Caylee knew there wasn’t any more room for error. This was no training exercise, with points awarded or subtracted for technique. From now on there was a job to do, and a report to make back in Haven once it was over. That’s it. Anything else was just noise.
Actually, it was all rather simple. She’d emerge from Donlon as a full-fledged operative, with the record and scars to prove it, or wind up dead. Idly touching her earth stone, Caylee felt comforted by it’s warm, satisfying energy. Either way, her long apprenticeship was finally over.
Feeling focused and relaxed, the young sorceress laid back down on the dirty bed, staring at the ceiling. Outside the typical sounds of an ultra low-tech city drifted about. Horse hoofs and a rattling carriage passed by on the street below. Dogs barked, while two drunks yelled lame obscenities at each other. And in the far distance, barely perceptible on the evening air, was the angry blast of a police whistle.
If there was one thing she’d learned from her miserable childhood, it was how to wait out a long, terrifying night. One simply had to trust, as a matter of inner faith, that the morning would be brighter and full of hope, the fierce monsters having long since skulked off to their vile lairs.
Well, in this case, one of the monsters was already dead. A faint smile creeping over her face, Caylee experienced a surge of deep satisfaction as she finally drifted off to sleep.
*****
Meanwhile, barely half-a-mile away, pandemonium gripped the hastily-called Lord’s Conclave. Amid all the arguing and finger pointing, everyone cast worried looks at the starkly vacant chair near the end of the table normally occupied by Jarton.
“Please, everyone!” Once more, Lady Ingrith tried calling the meeting to order. “Calm down and listen!”
“Listen to what!” Hands nearly fluttering out of control, Lord Volt looked distinctly ill. “The sound of the Coven breaking down our door? Or the swish of the guillotine as they cut off our heads!”
A fresh wave of panic swept the room, one lord inadvertently burning the table. The only one seemingly unaffected was Lady Wendily, who merely inspected her fine red gloves.
“Stop it, all of you!” Sathron finally roared while leaping to his feet. “The Coven as a whole is not in Donlon! It’s just one girl who, may I remind you, is now marooned here!”
“We don’t know that for certain!” Volt screeched. “The Boundary can shift, portals can form…”
“There have always been rumors of other dimensional rips, strange passageways…” Vaguely trailing off, old Lord Karot frostily looked about. “I’ve warned you all of the danger for years!”
“What are you saying?” the teenager among them asked. “That there could be dozens of witches in Donlon by now?”
“That’s pure speculation!” Rhapsony snapped. “The only thing we know for certain is that Jarton is dead…”
“Isn’t that enough!” Volt exploded.
“…and that he was likely slain by a lone Coven operative,” Rhapsony icily continued. “But there’s no indication of a general attack!”
“Do we know he’s gone?” Lord Hue quietly asked. “Jarton, I mean?”
“I’m afraid so,” Ingrith stonily replied. “We found his decapitated, vacated body on a rooftop…”
Gasping in fear, Volt turned away.
“…quite by itself. There were no other potential hosts nearby. Under the circumstances, he must have expired.”
Another wave of emotion swept the room, reactions ranging from horror to anger and everything in between.
“That little bitch!” Rhapsony muttered. “I’ll kill her myself.”
“Now, now dear,” Wendily murmured, even as she thoughtfully pulled a spare thread from her sleeve. “That’s not very ladylike.”
Eyes descending into deep silver, Rhapsony leaned across the table. “Is that all you have to add?”
“Oh, I have a lot to add, thanks for asking.” Smiling gaily, Wendily leaned back. “First of all, we must try and…”
A huge crash erupted from the corner, the ornate double doors bursting open. Spare slivers of wood dangerously plunged into the far wall. A few lords leapt to their feet, quickly pulling off red gloves, while the panicked teenager launched a suddenly-animated silver dragon from her ring.
But rather than a phalanx of witches spewing earth fire, a single young roughneck came stalking through the flaming, wrecked doorway. Grabbing the attacking dragon by the neck, the shrieking beast was instantly subsumed by red fire. Tossing the diminutive monster down and promptly stomping it half-to-death, the newcomer glared at the shocked assemblage with enraged, silver eyes.
“What’s all this, then?” George barked out, idly rubbing Jarton’s grandiose watch still adorning his left wrist. “Don’t know one of your own kind when you see him? Rubbish, I say.”
In the shocked silence, no one moved a muscle. Dropping down into Jarton’s seat, George leaned back, hands behind his head. “Now listen, you sorry lot, and listen good. There’s only one girl. I know what she looks like, and I know who her friends are. We can stop this whole thing, easy as cake, I say. Are you with me?”
Amid the round of general, relieved assent, Wendily dreamily looked out the large windows at the opposite end of the room. This couldn’t possibly be going any better. With the Conclave in turmoil, and now Jarton himself transformed into some bumbling lower-class fool, they would never find the witch before she did.
The inexperienced, terrified sorceress would never see Wendily coming. Soon, she would ascend directly into a Haven witch, assuming direct control of her mind, body, and magical might.
Thus intimately bound together, there wasn’t anything they couldn’t do, in this dimension or any other.
Author’s Note
Sorceress was originally supposed to be a one-novel contained storyline, with the series moving back to Tiffany Smith for book five. However, the plot kept expanding and moving in different directions, with more and more interesting characters popping up. Once the scene shifted to Donlon I realized it all couldn’t possibly be crammed into one book. If nothing else, Lady Wendily simply wouldn’t stand for it.
But I understand no one likes to be kept hanging, and Caylee is in quite a spot. So look for Book Five in The Cross-Worlds Coven Series in early 2017, which will pick up right where Sorceress left off. Everyone will be back (Pend and Tornado certainly aren’t done yet) and who knows? Events in far off Donlon might eventually disrupt Tiffany’s wedding plans on Earth. We’ll have to see.
Actually, the entire series is just getting started, and will ultimately encompass many more additions. So if you like reading about the Coven and all the worlds they visit don’t be afraid to leave a review, and of course let all your friends know as well.
ABOUT THE AUTHOR
Phil Stern is a former radio talk show host who splits his time between New York and Florida.
For more on The Cross-Worlds Coven Series, The Aydian Series, and the author’s many other works, please visit the Phil Stern Author Page on Kindle or Facebook, or feel free to follow on Twitter (@philstern100) or Goodreads.
You can also drop Phil an email directly at [email protected].
