The Last Winter (The Circle War Book 2)
Page 39
His eyes fell to a dark section of the room. Even though the platform lit the floor below from wall to wall, no light penetrated the area. Still, he could sense someone there, a girl slightly older than the rest. She was powerful, that much he knew, but there was something else to her that he didn’t feel in the others, a will that set her apart. He kept his hands on the railings as he moved closer, hoping to get a better look.
In front of the shadow, a crowd of children scrambled to catch a group of cornered follusks. The animals were killed quickly by the fledglings. Before the children could begin the fight for the carcasses, two sets of fiery eyes appeared in the darkness. Long tongues licked the air as a pair of hulking four-legged creatures stepped from the girl’s inky cocoon, freezing the children in fear as they bared their teeth. Each animal had black skin that was taught against its muscles. Their teeth were smooth and white, with a pair of longer fangs in front that extended past their bottom jaw.
They walked directly into the middle of the group. Slowly, the children started to back away from their kill. The animals stood over the dead swamp creatures, guarding them with rumbling growls. One of the boys reached down with his mind to steal a follusk away before he made his escape. You made your play too soon, Mordric thought. He watched the shadows to see how the girl would react. The follusk carcass edged toward the boy, slowly at first, then in a quick rush toward his hand. The animals swarmed him as soon as it touched his fingers. One tore apart his leg even as the boy struggled to use his mind to push the animal away. Mordric could feel the boy’s thoughts weaken, his power rendered useless. The second animal made the kill, sinking its fangs into the boy’s chest and crushing his heart between a pile of shattered bones.
With blood still dripping from their teeth, the two animals turned toward the rest of the children. The group scattered, running to the far ends of the room.
As soon as the children were gone, the animals vanished in a wisp of black smoke, leaving the boy’s dead body on the floor. The girl emerged from the darkness and calmly walked toward the pile of dead follusks. She grabbed the group of animals by their tails, collecting her reward. She stopped before she walked back to her sanctuary and cast her eyes toward Mordric. He could sense her power, seething yet controlled, harnessed by the strength of her mind.
What is your name, child? he asked.
Ellia.
Do you wish to be freed from your prison?
This is no prison to me. I stay because you have not come for me yet.
A smile crept across Mordric’s face.
“An extraordinary female,” the matron said with no shortage of pride. “One of many, as you can see.”
“The only worthy one of the lot,” he answered. Now that he’d seen what could truly be accomplished, he sneered at the rest of the offerings. “Are these all of them?”
The matron hesitated. “All but one.”
“And where is that one?”
She cast a wary eye to the hallway across the catwalk. “Tiale. We don’t let her near the others.”
“Why not?”
“It’s not safe. She was part of the original batch, before we perfected the formula.”
“Older,” he said. “Like Ellia.”
“Ellia was the only true success of the initial production. We were going to have the others put down, but…”
He looked down at her. “But what?”
“The children were already dead. When my submatrons entered the chamber, Tiale killed them with no cause. She is wild. Untrainable. To my knowledge she hasn’t yet spoken a word. The child may be dull.”
Mordric understood now where the submatrons he’d met earlier had gone. “And yet you kept her alive. Why?”
“Because we were afraid.”
This time he let his smile widen for her to see. “Take me to her.”
“Mordric, I would advise—”
“Never mind. I will see her myself.”
He left the matron on the walkway and walked with both eyes trained on the room ahead of him.
The lights inside the cell changed from a deep indigo to a cool blue, brightening with each step he took. She knows I’m coming. He dampened his growing enthusiasm, wanting to show the child that he was in complete control of his mind, as she might be one day. Still his thoughts raced at the possibilities. First Ellia and now Tiale. Tiale, who could kill with such ease. Tiale, who was too powerful for even the matrons to control.
The sounds of the children faded to silence as he approached the cell. This is her doing. Inside her cone of reality, the room was empty except for a small metal sphere in the middle of the floor, its face swirling with colors. As he studied it, the sphere’s face changed to a uniform blood red.
“Enough,” Mordric said. “Let me see you, child.”
He braced himself against a swell of pressure in his mind that nearly pushed him off balance. A foreign feeling rose inside him, replacing the thrill he’d felt only seconds before. He didn’t recognize it at first. It had been some time since he experienced fear.
Slowly, like rain sheeting down a window, Tiale’s veil fell. Flickering yellow lights replaced the bright blue. The cell was dank and thick with grime. Sitting in front of him against the far wall was his daughter, her gray hair long and falling across her face in wet oily strands. Through her hair he saw eyes that were bright yellow with a red ring around her pupil. Dressed in a tattered gown, she stared at the floor, where a single follusk scurried around the room, scratching at each wall as it tried to find a way out.
Tiale watched it with unblinking eyes.
You know who I am? he asked her, hoping to gauge her acuity in her response. None came. Instead she gave a small giggle as the follusk fell to the floor after another failed attempt at climbing the wall.
I’ve come to select the champions who will fight by my side in the Circle War, he said. Are you that child?
She pushed against his mind with such strength that he could barely keep his legs from buckling. As hard as he tried to keep her at bay, she seemed ready to overwhelm him without so much as a tinge of strain.
My power is strong in you. I can feel it. You are worthy of my name, but you are nothing to me if you cannot be controlled.
He waited for it, the hint of hesitation in her thoughts that meant she was fearful of him, that she would know her place in his Tria. When she let the silence linger, he was surprised to find pride at her lack of response instead of anger.
Show me, child. Show me that you are the one I seek.
“Gairn Mordric,” he heard behind him as the matron came running. “The children. Something is happening. They’re dying.”
Mordric looked at Tiale, who continued to watch the follusk with an amused smile, and yet he knew it was her. He smiled at his daughter before turning to address the woman.
“I have made my choice,” he said.
“But—”
He closed his eyes and reached out to Ellia. He could sense her right away, waiting for his command.
The time has come. Free yourself.
A rising sound of screams erupted from the children who still remained. The room filled with a bellowing roar as a creature nearly as tall as the platform, with a long neck and pointed face, spread its wings and sent a bolt of red fire through the roof of the tower, melting the stone as it created a hole for its escape. Before it left, Ellia climbed its wing and held onto one of the scales running down its spine. The animal took off in a rush of wind, flying toward the clouds in a shrieking, triumphant thunder.
“What have you done?” the matron screamed. She looked from Mordric to her broken tower. “This is unacceptable. You must pay for this! Have we not given you everything you asked for?”
Mordric turned his attention to Tiale. “You have birthed two champions of the Circle and may live to remember this day,” he said. “Let that be payment enough.”
Inside the cell, the follusk stopped mid-stride with a panicked screech and fell to the floor, legs spl
ayed across the tiles. Its red eyes stared motionless in their sockets. Tiale leaned forward to crawl toward her prey, inching her body closer in disjointed lurches. With a grin exposing dirty teeth, she extended a crooked finger toward the animal. As soon as her nail touched its skin, the follusk exploded in a wash of green blood and bone, staining the floor with its remains.
Tiale looked to her father and laughed.
Table of Contents
Contents
Other Books
Copyright
Dedication
Acknowledgements
Earth
Title
Chapter One
Chapter Two
Chapter Three
Chapter Four
Chapter Five
Chapter Six
Chapter Seven
Chapter Eight
Chapter Nine
Chapter Ten
Chapter Eleven
Chapter Twelve
Chapter Thirteen
Chapter Fourteen
Chapter Fifteen
Chapter Sixteen
Chapter Seventeen
Chapter Eighteen
Chapter Nineteen
Chapter Twenty
Chapter Twenty-One
Chapter Twenty-Two
Chapter Twenty-Three
Chapter Twenty-Four
Chapter Twenty-Five
Chapter Twenty-Six
Chapter Twenty-Seven
Chapter Twenty-Eight
Chapter Twenty-Nine
Chapter Thirty
Chapter Thirty-One
Chapter Thirty-Two
Chapter Thirty-Three
Chapter Thirty-Four
Chapter Thirty-Five
Chapter Thirty-Six
Chapter Thirty-Seven
Epilogue
Author's Note
The Tria