You are worthless. Give yourself to me, and you will be part of something much stronger. How can you hope to stand against this?
The thunderous voice in her mind was accompanied by a wave of compulsion that made what Archmaster Belegra had done look like friendly persuasion. This voice sought to obliterate all thought but its own, and it hammered at her as the collective will of tens of thousands joined in. Then something occurred to Catrin: If the feral dragons were so powerful, why did they need humans?
This thought must have been betrayed to Seethe as Catrin heard pounding laughter in her head. You are but tools to me, implements designed to achieve my will. I wouldn't bother keeping you around at all, but you do have such delicate fingers. But if you prove too troublesome, you are something we can certainly do without. Seethe then flooded Catrin's mind with the vision of the death of mankind. Perhaps he'd meant to frighten her, but she'd seen it before.
You underestimate the power of a single will, Catrin thought with all her might, and despite the singularity of her statement, she felt the wills of others backing her. The world around her was suddenly filled with light; flaming dragons surrounded her and reinforced her will. One in particular caught Catrin's attention as it bore a rider, and Catrin nearly shouted in glee when she recognized Halmsa of the Wind clan, who looked as if he would burst with pride, but moreover he looked ready to die for Catrin. Somehow he thought that Catrin had fulfilled her promise to him and taught him to fly dragons, though she knew not how she had done any such thing. Still, she could feel his gratitude as he sent it toward her; it bolstered her soul.
It was a proud and brief moment. Then the world exploded. Both sides released the full extent of their might and fury, holding nothing back. The heavens shook and the pillars of Godsland trembled. Catrin felt the energy of the planet surging through mighty keystones--six of them. One of which was within the Grove of the Elders, another at the great shallows. Catrin did not know exactly where the others were, only that they existed. Anyone who controlled them would control the world. Catrin tried to bury that thought lest the dragons find out--that is, if they did not already know.
The vision of the Grove of the Elders persisted in Catrin's consciousness, like spots left by the sun. There she saw the mighty greatoaks as they had once been, and at the center of the grove stood the Staff of Life, blooming. It was an anachronistic vision, true, but it felt real to Catrin, who had planted the staff there. She'd been a fool to leave it there. Chase must have been right when he'd said the staff had given her acorns to replenish the grove and no more; it must have fulfilled its purpose. He'd begged her to bring the staff back to Dragonhold rather than leaving it in lands controlled by Master Edling. Now the staff rested in the hands of Thorakis, a once great man now subverted by Seethe. Thus, it rested within the feral's grasp--all that power, his to command. It was a frightening thought, and it was painful to feel its bite.
Koe reached out to her and left claw marks through her psyche. A creature of her own creation, she was defenseless against it, and Catrin cried out to Kyrien to retreat. Instead, the regents responded, throwing themselves onto Thorakis's attacks, and by their sheer numbers, they broke through and sent Thorakis tumbling into the darkness. Seethe bellowed and exacted a costly price for the victory, and Catrin felt the light dimming around her. Despite their heroic efforts, the darkness was still winning.
Though despair threatened, Catrin looked around her and found that she was far closer to the Godfist than she had been at the start of the battle. They had taken great losses, but their progress was more than the ferals would have them believe. Much of their power was in deception, and Catrin was now fully aware of this.
Seethe's voice was now quieter in her mind. Your son is about to die.
* * *
Doing what he did best, Sinjin ran. Slowly the demons recovered themselves, and Sinjin dodged their sluggish movements as he wove his way toward where he'd last seen Strom. The scene ahead was a blur, and when he broke free of the demons and into the open, he saw them: his father, Strom, and Durin, all laid out on the grass. Sinjin's knees went weak, and he thought he might fall; only the need to keep Trinda safe kept him from giving in. Kendra and Khenna were among the few still standing, and Sinjin realized how hopeless his situation was. He had left Brother Vaughn behind, something he now regretted deeply. The demons outnumbered them hundreds to one, and they were quickly thawing. Trinda clung to him. He knew she was already overexerted, and he didn't expect much help from her.
Seeing Brother Vaughn standing alone, between them a mass of angry demons, Sinjin abandoned fear. "Dad!" he shouted as he ran, and his thoughts turned momentarily to his mother. "Mother! Please help!"
Kendra came into view, and Sinjin angled away from her. Khenna stood nearby, looking ready to defend Strom, Prios, and Durin, all of whom remained unconscious. Sinjin had no time to check on their conditions as the demons resumed their attack. He wanted to drag his father and friends to safety, but he was left with no choice but to defend their unmoving bodies. After quickly putting Trinda down next to his father, Sinjin turned to face the demons with fury and desperation in his eyes. With the herald globe gleaming before him, Sinjin thought he saw another bright light. Not knowing its source, he threw the herald globe into the midst of the demons. Before the globe struck, he saw Brother Vaughn trapped on the shoreline of the turbulent river waters. A flash of light drove the demons back, and Brother Vaughn dived into the depths. Sinjin would have cried out, but an instant before the herald globe erupted, something slammed into the back of his skull, and the world went dark.
* * *
Breaking free from Thorakis, Catrin's spirit raced toward where she sensed her son and husband; their life forces dim yet calling to her. Below her, fields of amber crystal beckoned, and she burst through like rays of sunlight, only a thousand times brighter. Immediately she was faced with an amazing yet terrifying sight. The underground cavern was beyond images from even her wildest fantasy. Never before had she considered that an entire ecosystem might have survived underground for ages undisturbed. The stain of darkness and evil despoiled the view.
Catrin first saw Brother Vaughn alone, trapped by demons on one side and dangerous-looking waters on the other. Not knowing what else to do, Catrin cast her light into the demons. Somehow amplified by the crystals and with an amber tint, her beams sent demons tumbling backward. Others moved in to replace those, but Brother Vaughn took control of his own destiny and slipped into the churning water. Catrin could only pray that he would survive. After losing sight of him, she knew she could no longer protect him, and she began looking for Sinjin and Prios.
Her soul cried out when she found them, both laid out on the lush grasses along with Strom, Durin, and others. Khenna and Kendra alone remained standing, and they appeared to be fighting. Catrin did not understand what could possibly be happening. Confusion and anxiety overwhelmed her as she moved closer. Kendra looked angrier than Catrin had ever seen her, and she moved in to swipe her own mother's knees. Khenna, though older and not as nimble, had a great deal more experience and anticipated the move. With a simple sidestep, she gained the advantage on her now off-balance daughter. A single punch sent Kendra to the turf.
"Get her out of here," Khenna shouted, and a demon lifted Kendra's limp form in its arms. Catrin nearly retched. Then the woman turned back to Catrin's husband and son. "That boy comes with us. Kill the rest."
Roaring, Catrin attacked. Fire, smoke, and lightning raced toward Khenna but were deflected at the last instant and sent racing back toward Catrin. It was something she had once done to Archmaster Belegra, and she quailed, knowing she was about to feel the bite of her own power. Over the roar of the fire and the crackling of energy, Catrin could hear Thorakis laughing, a high-pitched and maniacal sound that turned into the roar of a mighty feral dragon now bearing down on her. Pain erupted all over Catrin as her very essence was scoured and eroded. Every instant, she lost something of herself, and she could hear the
dragon calling to her, its voice assuring her that it could make the pain stop; all she had to do was surrender. Then her son, husband, and all those she loved would be spared. All she had to do was join them. The future was already written, and she could not change that which was recorded in stone. The thoughts battered her senses, and it was so tempting to simply give in, but the sight of her son in the arms of a demon shook her from the feral's delusion, and she launched another attack, aiming for the legs of the demon carrying Sinjin's limp form.
Again, pain erupted. Thorakis and Seethe attacked with overwhelming force and ferocity that exceeded anything Catrin had ever seen in nature. She knew the role of predators, but nothing she'd ever seen compared to the overwhelming desire to destroy--not to kill and eat, but to abolish from existence. This kind of evil would consume the world, and Catrin knew she was among the few things stopping that gruesome future from coming to pass.
"The future is not already written!" her spirit screamed as she blocked an attack and launched another of her own. Demons now stood over Prios, Strom, Durin, and Trinda--only the wisp of a girl alert and able to fight. Again Catrin thought it strange that she thought of Trinda as a child when the girl was actually her elder. And that frailty gave Catrin no confidence that she would be any use at all in a fight.
In that instant, Catrin had to make a choice: prevent the demons from escaping into the darkness with her son or save the lives of her husband and friends. Trinda's eyes looked up to her, pleading for mercy, and though Catrin had never really liked her, she rushed in to save them all, flames searing the air before her. Demons flew from her path, even as others carried her baby boy back into the depths of the hold.
Turning to race after them before it was too late, Catrin felt fiery claws rake her soul, and they bit deep. Thorakis used Koe to flay her, and the familiarity of the attacking energy made it all the more difficult to defend against. Even as Catrin was reeling from Koe's attack, feeling as if she were gulping for air even if not in her physical form, there was no way she could defend herself from the Staff of Life. Its ancient power slammed into her with unrelenting force; it knew her weaknesses and exploited every one. In the next instant, Catrin was back in her body, trying to suck in enough air to scream, then wanting nothing more than to cry as she looked out at what she knew was the last of the regent dragons.
Kyrien wept.
Epilogue
* * *
Crying as he ran, Durin couldn't believe how things had turned out. His best friend was gone, and there was nothing he could do about it. Brother Vaughn had either escaped or drowned, and there was no way for him to know which. His entire family's fate was unknown to him, and he doubted he would ever see any of them again. It seemed the end of the world had come, and he could see no possible future that included happiness or family. It was the kind of realization that could drive the weak to their knees, but through all of this, Durin had learned one thing: he was not as weak as he had once believed. Now he realized that he had not been lazy as much as he had been afraid to apply himself since that left him open to failure. Now he realized that failure was necessary for success, something that seemed far too philosophical for his usual thoughts. Durin, though, had left childhood behind in recent days, and there was no time for such thoughts.
Running alongside him was Strom, who carried a still unconscious Prios over his shoulder. Trinda ran with them, having difficulty keeping up. Durin thought she might want him to carry her, but he was not Sinjin, and even if he had grown up quickly, some of his childhood prejudices remained. Trinda would have to stand on her own two legs if she wished to survive. Even as he had the thought, he knew he would not leave her to die, but that didn't mean he had to like saving her. What was even more difficult was for him to admit that she had saved him. Strom had been the only thing defending them when Durin had come to, and Durin had been little help, even armed with Strom's wicked blade. Only when Trinda had stepped up and chastised the demons did the battle turn in their favor. It still seemed unreal to Durin that Trinda could do such a thing.
"Bad demons!" was all she had said, and it was as if she had struck them all with just her words. No matter what Durin believed, that moment had been the key to their escape, and only by moving deeper into darkened halls did they manage to gain any measure of safety. Again, Durin had to admit that Trinda had saved them since she had retrieved the herald globe, and to Durin's amazement, she had somehow recharged it. This girl was really starting to irritate him.
"We're completely lost," Strom whispered. "But maybe that's a good thing." Groaning as he shifted Prios on his shoulder, he looked as if he might not make it much farther, and Prios gave no indication of stirring.
"I want to go outside," Trinda said.
"I'd like to fly too," Durin said, not expecting a response.
"It's this way."
Given no other direction, Strom followed Trinda, the light of the herald globe drifting away as Durin remained where he was. The darkness closed in all too quickly, and Durin raced to catch up.
"Are you sure you know where you're going?" Durin asked after a number of turns down seemingly random halls. They passed halls that were still filled with items, but Trinda did not waver in her course, and Durin's imagination was left to run wild as he caught only glimpses of the treasures that waited within. He'd heard the stories about the artifacts Catrin had found at Ohmahold, and he imagined them stumbling on a similar cache of wondrous things. The thoughts helped to keep him from thinking about the fate of everyone else.
When Trinda walked into a circular hall and stopped, it took Durin and Strom by complete surprise. Without a word, she just stared at the markings on the floor of the chamber. Immediately Durin knew this room was special and the carved tiles were more than mere decoration.
"Step on the one that looks like mountains," Trinda said, looking at Durin.
Examining the tiles, Durin spotted one in the third row of tiles away from him, farther away than he guessed Trinda could jump. Even for Durin, he had to take a running leap to make it, and in mid air he heard Trinda suck in a breath. Perhaps she had not expected him to do as she asked; Durin wasn't quite sure why he had. When he landed, the stone sank beneath his weight, and he had a sick feeling in his gut.
"Not that one, silly," Trinda said.
Durin's sick feeling intensified as a low grinding noise filled the halls and the stone beneath their feet trembled.
Feral
Book Two of The Balance of Power trilogy
Brian Rathbone
Chapter 1
Permanence is an illusion.
--Nat Dersinger, prophet
* * *
Shades of darkness crowded close, creaking and rocking in the muffled silence. Unable to move, Sinjin Volker struggled against his bonds without effect, always expecting something to come hurling at him from the darkness; it had happened before. With the ship rolling beneath him, he imagined finding his end at the bottom of some nameless ocean. Those on this ship bore no love or humor, and though they kept him alive, he wondered how much longer they would do so. Even after days aboard the ship, his guts churned. His mother had loved sailing. It was a painful memory. Sinjin almost smiled at the memory of his father, who had secretly admitted that he hated sailing and hoped never to step foot on a ship ever again, especially one captained by Kenward Trell. Though this memory was a fond one, it did little to raise Sinjin's spirits or calm his stomach. He did not share his mother's love of sailing. Had she traveled in the belly of a foul-smelling ship while trussed up like a spring pig, he guessed she would feel the same.
Without warning, a beam of light poured in and brought searing pain. Sinjin averted his eyes, able to discern only a silhouette. Once again, he tested bonds that held him fast. Nothing had ever terrified him more than being helpless in the hands of his enemies. The light retreated as quickly as it had come. The hatch slid silently closed.
Sinjin sucked in a ragged breath. Delicate hands removed the gag and immedi
ately clamped down on his mouth.
"Do not speak," came a whisper. Sinjin could not identify the voice, but his addled mind knew it was familiar. "I didn't know," the voice continued. "I would never have gone along with this. Now you listen to me and listen to me good. If you want to get out of this alive, you're going to have to trust me. When I take away my hand, I only want to hear a quiet, one-word answer. Do you understand?"
Sinjin nodded his head, and she slowly took her hand from his face.
"Do you trust me?"
Cool air rushed in, and Sinjin breathed deeply, not caring about the stench at that moment. His memory fuzzy, Sinjin tried to understand what was going on, but he just found himself confused and frightened. "Yes," he said after an overlong pause.
"Meaning, no. You're still an idiot."
"Where are they taking me?" Sinjin asked, his mind starting to warm up.
"Somewhere you do not want to go," she said. "Somewhere I don't want to go," she added in a soft whisper.
The pain in her voice was clear, but Sinjin could think of nothing to say.
The darkness was silent for a time, but the sounds of boots on the deck soon sent Kendra scrambling back out of the hatch. For a brief moment, he saw her face, frightened and tense, yet he still could not claim to fully believe her. There had been no kindness between them in the past, and he could see no reason for it to start now. Still, he was surrounded by enemies, and no one else was extending a hand in friendship.
The sound of boots still approaching drove the thoughts from his mind as he realized that his gag hung below his chin. In a split second, he managed to grab a piece of the gag in his teeth and pull it mostly back into place. The rough-looking man who dropped into the hold barely spared him a glance as he retrieved a wooden crate from the stacks of supplies. Another man reached down from above, and Sinjin prayed they would leave him alone this time. After the case was lifted from the hold, the man climbed out without a word, and Sinjin was plunged back into darkness.
The Balance of Power (Godsland Series: Books Four, Five, and Six) Page 25
