World in Chains- The Complete Series

by Ryan W. Mueller

  She sensed his anger growing again, so she kept her retorts to herself. There was nothing to gain from antagonizing him. He was capable of making her life miserable, and she hated that she had no control anymore. Maintaining a positive attitude through all this was impossible.

  "You're discouraged," he said. "You really do want to succeed. I see it now."

  She did want to succeed. Some might decide that suicide was a way out, but that wasn't the right path for her. Perhaps she was being selfish in wanting to live, but she couldn't bring herself to take her own life.

  "I still don’t want you to destroy the world," she said.

  "I won't destroy everything, but I have to destroy something. It's my nature. Just as it's your nature to live. I know you've considered taking your own life. Anyone with any bit of rationality would consider it in your situation. I can understand that." He smiled. "But it wouldn't work. I am a god after all. It may be my nature to destroy, but those aren't the only powers I possess. I could bring you back from anything you might do to yourself."

  Danica had figured as much. That was part of the reason she'd never given much thought to that option. If Krinir had been worried about her taking her own life, he would have taken more precautions against it.

  "I can be reasonable enough," he said. "I just have my needs. If I'm not sowing the seeds of humanity's destruction, I'm not happy, and if I'm not happy, I'll get even more destructive. I might actually destroy the entire world."

  Danica didn't want to anger him, but she had to argue. "Let me get this straight. You destroy things so that you don't destroy them even worse. That's just wrong."

  "Not the most elegant way of putting it, but you're essentially right. It's my nature. It will happen. You can't do anything to convince me otherwise."

  "It's still wrong."

  "No, it's the natural order of the world we live in. What was wrong was when Rador tried to make me both Creator and Destroyer. Such opposing forces cannot exist within one person."

  "You said there were three forces in the world: Creation, Destruction, and Restoration. If you could combine all three in one person, what would happen?"

  "An interesting question," he said. "The combined power of Creation and Restoration could be enough to offset the power of Destruction. Or it could drive the person even more insane. Regardless, there's no point speculating about it. Lionar is somewhere that even I can't reach him, not from here at least."

  Danica was sitting at the edge of her bed now. "I don't think you really want to destroy things. It's more of an addiction. You have to do it, but you'd rather not."

  "I don't know about that. There's a certain joy that comes from it."

  "Any addict could say that about their drug of choice."

  "Destruction as a drug?" he said. "A strange way of describing it." He chucked softly. "I know that you're trying to change me, but it won't work. I am what I am."

  "No matter what you say you are, I don't think you're pure evil."

  He chuckled again. "Neither do I. Destruction is neither good nor evil. It is what it is: a necessary force in the world. In many cases, you can't create the new without destroying the old. It's the natural way of things. Who am I to fight that?"

  "You're a god, aren't you?"

  "Some might call me that, but the truth is a lot more complicated."

  Danica clenched her fists in frustration. She'd once thought changing Berig's mind was hard, but he was nothing compared to Krinir. The god's powers were matched only by his stubborn refusal to change his ways. Perhaps he was right, and she couldn't change him.

  "I'd like to show you something," he said, rising from his chair. "Can you walk?"

  Danica placed her feet on the floor and experienced a slight dizzy spell as she stood. Once it passed, she felt steady enough. "Yes, I think I can."

  Krinir led her through the corridors of his fortress. Eventually, they reached one of the locked doors. Krinir pressed a hand to the door, and it glowed before swinging open. The room beyond greeted Danica with a sight she never thought she'd see.

  It looked as if the sun was shining in there.

  "I call it the Sun Room," Krinir said. "It isn't the sun shining in there. It's hundreds of Sunlamps, a device from one of the other worlds connected to ours through the Shadowed Land. They aren't quite as good as the real thing, but they help me remember."

  Danica stepped into the room, feeling the warmth of the Sunlamps on her skin. She'd forgotten how it felt to be properly warm. "Why did you wait so long to show this to me?"

  "I was worried it would eliminate your desire to return home."

  "If anything, it makes that desire stronger."

  Krinir smiled. "I was hoping to hear that."

  Chapter 29: A Cruel Test

  Kara stared at Rik's petrified body. "What can we do now?"

  "I have no idea," Warrick said.

  Kara glared at him, longing to strike him. "You're the powerful sorcerer. You should know."

  "I am not a god!"

  "But Krinir made you the Creator," Kara said. "You're more than a normal sorcerer. There has to be something you can do."

  "If I knew what to do, I'd do it. I've seen enough in the Webs to know we need to get Rik back to normal." Warrick began pacing, muttering under his breath. He settled down on a nearby rock and closed his eyes. After about a minute, he opened them and said, "The Webs are telling me nothing. Krinir has made the strands dark."

  "Then we'll just have to rely on ourselves," Kara said.

  Eliza cleared her throat, sitting on a nearby rock. "I don’t know if this will help anything, but we found this scroll. It was written in some kind of code neither of us understood."

  Warrick's expression lightened. "I need to see that scroll."

  Eliza handed the scroll to him, and he read through it. No one disturbed him, for he looked deep in concentration, likely to lash out at anyone who interrupted him.

  At last, he said, "This place we're in might just be the most important place in all the Shadowed Land. This is the place where Krinir and I battled Lionar almost five hundred years ago. Somewhere in here lies the secret of where I sent Lionar."

  "I don't understand," Kara said. "Shouldn't you know where you sent him?"

  "Krinir must have blocked those memories. For all these years, I knew that I had fought him and imprisoned him somewhere. I never knew where."

  "Does this scroll tell you where?" Kara asked.

  "No. I must have thought it was too important to put on this one scroll. It merely tells me where I'll find the answers, and where we'll find what we need to cure Rik." He scanned the scroll again. "If' I'm reading this correctly, both answers should be in the same place."

  "We also need to find my father and Selene," Eliza said.

  Kara turned to her. "Who?"

  "They came here with us, but they fell into some kind of pit. Selene's a powerful sorcerer, so she probably used her magic to save them."

  Warrick closed his eyes again, focusing intently. After a few moments, he said, "The strands leading to them are also dark. Krinir has certainly been thorough."

  Kara shuddered. "If he can do that to the Webs of Fate, if he can make you forget so many things, how can we ever hope to stand against him?"

  "I wish I could give you an answer," Warrick said, "but Krinir has made it impossible to find any help in the Webs. Every time I look at potential paths to his defeat, I see nothing but dark strands." He slammed a fist against the rocky wall. "When I get my hands on Krinir."

  Kara didn't know how to react to Warrick's anger. She'd never seen him this angry, and however much he'd helped her, he was still the man who'd slaughtered an entire city.

  "We need to go deeper into this place," he said. "We'll have to hope we can find your father, Eliza. It looks like he might play some role in the Webs, but it's difficult to tell when Krinir has made so many of the strands dark."

  Again, Kara wondered if Warrick would have any inclination to save Eli
za's father and Selene if they might not be important. Did he care only about those people who could change the world? Had ordinary human lives lost all importance for him? It seemed a depressing way to live, and when she looked in his eyes, she could see how pained and lonely he felt.

  Warrick pointed directly ahead. "We should take this passage."

  "But that's where that horrible thing came from," Eliza said, her face pale in the flickering light of the flame Warrick held in his hand.

  Kara put a hand on her shoulder. "If we want to cure Rik, we have to take that risk."

  "We'll have to leave him here," Warrick said. "At this point, he's dead weight."

  Kara didn't like the way Warrick had stated it, but she understood his meaning. Carrying Rik would only slow them down.

  She knelt down next to Rik and looked into his eyes. "We're going to have to leave you here, all right? I can't imagine how terrifying this is, but we'll return. I promise."

  Warrick shook his head. "You shouldn't make promises you might not keep."

  "You mean promises like when you promised to help and protect the people of the Empire?"

  She expected him to argue, but instead he turned away, as if he knew he'd already lost the argument. That was something she could appreciate. He wasn't afraid to admit he'd made mistakes. She had expected someone much different, someone she could dismiss as lost and evil, someone she could hate. But she couldn't hate him anymore, not completely.

  They started down the passage he'd indicated. Kara hung back with Eliza.

  "I'm not sure I like him," Eliza said, gesturing toward Warrick.

  "I know I don't like him," Kara said, "but he's our best hope right now."

  "He opposes Krinir. That's good at least."

  They delved deeper and deeper underground, through dark passages that twisted in serpentine patterns. There were many branches, but Warrick assured them that he knew where he was going and that they could find their way back to Rik. Kara had her doubts.

  As they traveled, they encountered a few small monsters, but Warrick handled them with ease. She was in awe of his magic. It flowed so effortlessly. But then she remembered the evil he'd committed with that magic. Sometimes in her dreams, she still heard the children of Crayden screaming, still saw her father's face for the last time.

  Could she have saved her father if she hadn't gone with Nadia to save Markus? Or would she have ended up dead if she'd stayed behind? Perhaps Warrick was right when he talked about the way Weavers drew what seemed to be coincidences.

  After what felt like an eternity, they stepped into an open chamber illuminated by blue magical torchlight. This chamber was circular with a massive gate at the other end.

  "What do you think this place is?" Kara asked.

  Warrick scanned their surroundings. "I'm not sure, but I think we might have to fight whatever comes out of that gate."

  As if it sensed his words, the gate began to clunk open.

  "Don't worry," Warrick said. "I'll handle it." But the moment he stepped forward, a translucent blue barrier formed around him. "On second thought, you might have to handle this on your own. This barrier won't let me out, and it's keeping me from using magic."

  Kara's stomach twisted. "But we need your help."

  She took one look at Eliza. The young woman carried a sword and a bow, but she didn't look comfortable holding them. Maybe she'd prove tougher in battle than she appeared on the surface, but Kara had her doubts.

  "How can this magic be powerful enough to trap you?" Kara asked as the gate continued to clunk open. So far, nothing had emerged, but that wouldn't last.

  "I don't know. I think this is Lionar's magic."

  "But why would he want us to die?" Kara asked.

  "This is a place where Lionar hid many secrets. I imagine that I know only a few of them. He must be protecting something very important."

  Something stirred behind the gate. Kara gripped her sword, waiting and watching. Beside her, Eliza looked as pale as a ghost.

  The beast launched itself out of the gate. It was perhaps six feet tall and stood upright, with claws at the end of both its arms and legs. Horns were perched atop its ahead, jutting out a good three feet. If one of those impaled them, they'd die quickly.

  Eliza launched an arrow at the monster's thickly muscled chest. The arrow struck true, but the monster kept coming at them. It looked down at the arrow as if it were a mere curiosity, then pulled it free and broke it in half.

  "Guess we'll have to try something else," Eliza said.

  Kara rushed forward, sword in hand, and the beast charged toward her, lowering its head to impale her with one of its horns. She jumped to the side just before it would have struck her, then swung around quickly while it tried to regain its balance. With a huge leap, she landed atop the monster's back, and then she thrust her sword downward as hard as she could.

  With all that force behind it, her sword plunged into the monster's back. It let out a terrible shriek as she pushed the sword deeper and deeper, aiming for its heart. Soon the sword came out the monster's other side, and it staggered to the side, looking down at the blade.

  Kara pulled the blood-soaked blade out of the monster. Blood poured from the monster's wound. It staggered a few more times, then turned to face her, looking almost sad.

  Then its body began to shift around strangely, growing fuzzy at the edges. It let out a horrible scream, and then the monster faded away entirely, leaving in its place the form of a middle-aged woman.

  Eliza's eyes were wide in shock. "Oh my god! It's Selene!"

  Kara knelt down in front of the dying woman. "I'm so sorry."

  "You didn't know," Selene said, her voice barely a gasp. "Whatever did this to me, it took away my sorcery. I’m mortal, and I'm dying. It's strange to think it will end like this, after so long." She coughed up blood, and then, with a final lurch, she hit the ground.

  She did not move again.

  Kara hadn't known the woman, but she cried with the pain of knowing she'd killed a human being. She hadn't intended to do it, but the result was the same. What kind of sick bastard did this to somebody? Wasn't Lionar supposed to be the good god?

  As if sensing her thoughts, Warrick said, "I don't think that was Lionar's work. I think Krinir found this place at some point. He's the one protecting its secrets now. I doubt he could decipher my code, but he knows this place is important."

  Warrick was still encased in the magical barrier. "I think there's going to be more."

  "What if the next one's my father?" Eliza asked, eyes wide.

  "I don't know," Kara said. "I'll think of something. I can't kill him."

  "But how can we know if it's really him?" Eliza asked.

  Kara shook her head gravely. "I have no idea."

  Something stirred beyond the gate, and Kara tensed. She didn't know whether she should fight their next opponent or not. But if it wanted to kill them, she couldn't stand there and let it. Of course, with the last one, Eliza had attacked first. Maybe if they didn't attack, this creature wouldn't attack either.

  The creature—or perhaps Eliza's father—emerged from the gate. It was a lizard about eight feet long. A forked tongue protruded from its mouth, scenting the air like a snake's. It watched them with beady eyes but didn't make a move toward them.

  Kara thought she saw something human in those eyes. She didn't move closer, though. Her legs were trembling too much, and tears stung her eyes. She wished she could go back and change the last few minutes, find a way to avoid killing Selene.

  Eliza took a few tentative steps toward the creature. It watched her but remained where it was. She took a few more steps, trembling so fiercely Kara could see it.

  "Father?" she said. "Is that you?"

  The lizard did not respond. It remained where it was, watching her.

  "If it's you, Father, please come back to me."

  She stood perhaps ten feet from the lizard now and held out a hand as an invitation. The lizard moved for the first
time, but only a step or two. Kara's heart pounded a mighty beat.

  "I think he recognizes me," Eliza said. She took another few steps closer, and now she was less than five feet from its head. "Please, give me a sign that you recognize me."

  The lizard took another step toward Eliza. She flinched but remained where she was. Kara felt as if she couldn't breathe. This could all go horribly wrong with no warning. Then again, if this lizard wanted to attack them, it would have done it by now.

  Eliza's hand was now inches from the lizard's mouth. Kara had to give Eliza a lot of credit; the young woman was braver than Kara could ever be.

  The lizard's forked tongue reached out and touched Eliza's hand. Again, she remained where she was, looking into its eyes. The lizard blinked its own eyes slowly, appearing as if it might recognize her. But maybe that was wishful thinking on Kara's part.

  "He remembers me," Eliza said. "I can tell." She stepped toward the lizard again. Kara expected it to attack, but it seemed more curious than anything. Eliza placed her hand on the lizard's head and slowly rubbed there in a circular motion. She looked back at Kara and said, "My father used to do this when I was a child. It helped calm me down."

  Eliza continued rubbing its head, and it closed its eyes as if enjoying the experience. Then the change happened. The lizard's body blurred in a strange swirling motion, and the next moment, a dark-haired man lay on the ground where it had been.

  In the center of the chamber, the magical barrier around Warrick also disappeared.

  "Father, you're all right," Eliza said, taking her father in her arms.

  "Everything seems a blur in my memory," he said. "Selene saved us from the fall, but when we landed, this strange magic took hold of us. She tried to fight it, but she wasn't strong enough. We were turned into these monsters. After that, it's hard to remember anything. The first thing I remember is you rubbing my head, and that must've broken the spell."

  Eliza had tears in her eyes. "I'm just glad to have you back. But we killed Selene."

  "It's all right," her father said. "You didn't know it was her. You thought she was a monster. In the Shadowed Land, that's a normal assumption to make. You did nothing wrong."