The Awakened World Boxed Set

by William Stacey

  They reached the end of the Silver Strand, passing an old naval base on their right, the buildings now overgrown by new forest. Hundreds of meters away, the queen's palace burned, the heat scorching. They skirted the fire, turning east along the shoreline and moving toward the Bay Bridge, its surface still on fire. Just after four thirty a.m., they passed under the bridge's colossal concrete support beams along the shoreline.

  "Your mother mentioned a ferry landing?" Angie asked Prince Kilyn.

  "Pre-Awakening," he answered.

  "Boats?"

  He shook his head. "No, but the water is narrowest there, only about five hundred meters across. If we must, we can remove our armor and swim to the mainland."

  "I can't swim five hundred meters," Angie said, her panic swelling. "I can't swim fifty meters."

  "If it comes to that, I'll pull you across," Tec said from beside her. "All you have to do is float."

  "I can't float either!" She had never in her entire life had a need or an opportunity to learn to swim. There had barely been enough water in Sanwa City for showers.

  "It's okay," he said reassuringly. "I'll show you."

  "It won't come to that," the queen said from just ahead, looking over her armored shoulder. "Have faith in Ephix Lamia."

  Angie wanted to object, but she saw the ruins of the old ferry landing ahead of them now. Even overgrown by new forest, she could see it had once been an outdoor marketplace with numerous shops. This part of the island had been heavily developed with restaurants and businesses. In the years following A-Day—and Elenaril’s magic had grown a new forest—trees, saplings, and thick bushes had forced their way through the asphalt, growing over, around, and through the ruins. The fire had yet to reach this part of the island, but Angie could see the advancing inferno, feel its heat. By sunrise, all of Coronado Island would be burning.

  Queen Elenaril ordered the elves to move onto the sandy beach near the ferry landing, where Angie saw an old pier extending out over the water. At the far end of the pier, the remains of an old ferry sat submerged, with only the upper level and its rows of rusty benches remaining above the water. So much for the ferry, she thought miserably.

  As the elves established an all-around defensive position on the beach, Angie moved to the edge of the water and stared out across the channel. Even in the dark, she could make out the ruined skyline of San Diego, its skyscrapers highlighted against the stars. It seemed much farther away than five hundred meters, more like miles and miles. Can we really swim that far?

  Can Tec if he’s pulling me?

  She didn’t want to find out. The wind shifted, and smoke assaulted her throat, stinging her eyes. We may not have a choice.

  Angie turned to the queen and her son, who stood near the water, speaking softly to one another. "What now?"

  "Now I sleep," the queen said, turning away to find a clear spot on the sandy beach to lie down.

  Sleep?

  Angie stared at her and then at the fire consuming the island. The flames were less than a kilometer away and growing in intensity. If the wind shifted or grew stronger, the fire would trap them against the water. But apparently unconcerned, Elenaril, still in her armor, lay on her back on the sand and closed her eyes.

  "What are we doing here?" Angie asked softly, as much of herself as anyone else.

  "Leave it," Tec said. "I don't know either, but she knows her business. Just stay near me. If it comes to it, I'll get you across that channel. Trust me."

  "‘Trust me,’ he says." Angie sat down on a nearby stone wall, a remnant of when this had been a tourist spot. It was a relief to take the weight off her feet. She felt as though she had been marching and fighting for days. Tec joined her, sitting beside her in silence. She didn't say anything but was welcome for his company.

  Several of the elves moved among them, handing out what water and food they had. Angie accepted a chunk of dark bread and chewed it, washing it down with mouthfuls of cold water that did little to ease the soreness in her throat. She watched the queen, still lying atop the sand, her eyes closed, her arms across her chest. Angie's fingers brushed the talisman the queen had given her. Would she ever be able to sleep without it again? Angie glanced at her watch and saw that it was almost five a.m. She looked to the east, but with all the smoke in the air, the sky seemed as dark as ever.

  Then Queen Elenaril abruptly sat up. "She's coming."

  "Who—" Before Angie could finish the question, a cry of alarm rose from the warriors guarding their rear. She heard the release of bowstrings followed by the sound of combat.

  "They've found us," Tec said, moving in front of Angie, his rifle held against his shoulder. Now Angie saw shapes moving through the smoke around them—vampires, she realized a moment later.

  She drew Nightfall, readying herself. "I'm almost out of mana," she told Tec.

  "Stay by my side," he said as he slung the rifle and drew the machete he had stuffed through his belt.

  The elves with longbows released shaft after shaft, and vampires fell, their bodies turning to ash. But there must have been hundreds of vampires, far too many for the bowmen. A fierce hand-to-hand battle began as the vampires fell upon the elves, and the elves met them with sword and knife, forming a U-shaped barrier on the beach with Angie, Tec, and the queen in the center. A handful of the queen’s elite bodyguards remained at her side.

  Prince Kilyn fought among his warriors, his sword flashing, and Angie saw him behead one of the vampires, but two more leaped on him, knocking him down. The nearby elves rushed to the defense of their prince, using swords to keep the vampires back while other elves dragged the prince to safety behind the fighting. Blood flowed from Prince Kilyn’s scalp, and his eyes had rolled into the back of his skull.

  The vampires pushed the elves back onto the sandy beach. As the defenders’ numbers dwindled, the elves moved closer together, their fighting line shrinking. While each vampire was more than a match for a single elf, the defenders fought as an organized unit, and their discipline was holding—for now. When there were too few left and their cohesion broke, it would be a bloodbath.

  Then she felt something behind her, the presence of powerful magic. She spun to see the air shimmering over the channel, less than fifty meters away. "Behind us," she called out.

  Then the air warped, and the fabric of reality burst apart, creating a shimmering opening—a magical gateway—over the water, twenty feet by twenty feet. Through this gateway appeared a series of wooden boats, dozens of long dug-out canoes rowed by a pair of green-skinned trolls. Each canoe was painted bright red and green, with a scowling bestial visage carved into its bow. Thick rows of bright bird feathers bristled along the gunwales, giving the craft the look of living creatures. The trolls wore hide and fur, their faces and torsos scarred in ritualistic patterns. The canoes sped forward toward the beach. Angie’s gaze snapped to Queen Elenaril, who stood calmly, watching the new arrivals. They're here to rescue us, Angie realized, seeing that there was more than enough room in the canoes for all the elves.

  When she saw the plain young woman with long brown hair who sat at the front of the lead canoe, Angie's breath caught in her throat: Ephix Lamia.

  "Hurry, Elenaril!" Ephix yelled, motioning for the defenders to wade out into the surf and board the canoes. In one hand, Ephix held aloft a golden necklace from which dangled a black glass rose, the same talisman she had used to open a portal to the Hollows, the parallel magical dimension from which the Fey had originally come to this world. Angie’s fingers brushed the red glass rose she wore, a twin to the one Ephix used to open gateways. She should have recognized the similarity before.

  As the flotilla of canoes came closer to the beach, the trolls jumped out and held their craft steady for the elves to board.

  "Get in one of the canoes," Tec urged, grabbing Angie's arm.

  She was really getting tired of being manhandled by people trying to save her.

  "The others," she said, her gaze snapping to the fierce fightin
g in front of them. There was no way the elves would be able to disengage long enough to wade out into the waves; the vampires would rip them apart.

  "Not your problem," Tec insisted, pulling her into the surf.

  She gasped from the cold but let him shove her over the side of one of the canoes. Then he waded back to help the wounded elves aboard the boats. She watched him carry an armored elf in his arms as easily as if he were carrying a child, carefully placing the elf in one of the canoes.

  Despite her fears, the elves were disengaging. Their discipline was amazing. After moving the wounded, they began to peel back squads of warriors to board the canoes, all the while shrinking their defensive line. The vampires, realizing their enemies were escaping, redoubled their attacks, literally throwing themselves upon the elves' weapons. Any moment now, Angie knew, the retreat would become a rout. She saw Tec behead one of the vampires that had gotten past the defenders, hacking its head away with brutal blows of his machete. The vampire's body turned to ash, sticking to the soaking-wet Tec.

  Then the queen entered the fight. With sword drawn, she used her free hand to cast darts of blue energy at the vampires. When the darts struck, the vampires froze solid, ice coating their bodies—it was the same spell Wyn Renna had used, but the queen cast it with far greater skill. The elven warriors fell upon the frozen vampires, hacking their heads free with swords. The queen kept casting freezing blue dart after freezing blue dart, never seeming to tire or run out of mana. It was the most impressive display of magic Angie had ever seen. She knew Elenaril was a grandmaster mage like Char, but Char had never cast magic like this before. I thought blowing the Horn of Vajja to create fog was supposed to weaken her.

  Just how powerful is she?

  Under the queen's magical assault, the vampires pulled back, glaring at Queen Elenaril with naked hatred. Vampires were fierce opponents, but they weren't suicidal, and they must have realized they were outmatched by the queen's magic. They disappeared back into the smoke as quickly as they had appeared, leaving ash and blood-soaked sand.

  The surviving elves climbed aboard the canoes, each vessel more than capable of carrying ten passengers as well as the troll rowers. Angie glanced to the east, where the sun's glow finally began to shine through the smoke. It seemed impossible, unbelievable, but they were escaping. The queen must have been communicating with Ephix while asleep.

  "Hurry, Elenaril," Ephix shouted from her canoe. "I cannot keep the portal open much longer. We need to go."

  The queen glanced over her shoulder and nodded. A half dozen of her Phoenix Guard warriors remained with her, their spearheads flashing red in the dawn's glow. It was hard to tell from here, but her face looked strained. The trolls began to turn the canoes about and head back into the still-open gateway. The sky through the gateway shone crimson. We're going into the Hollows, Angie realized. Tec! Where's Tec? She looked about wildly but relaxed when she saw him in one of the nearby canoes. He met her eye and raised his hand.

  The Shade King's voice thundered in Angie's skull, causing her to wince in pain. THE DEATH BAT COMES!

  The air on the beach before Queen Elenaril coalesced into thick black smoke, pulling in on itself and forming a monstrously large shape with huge bat wings—the demon Sudden Bloodletter!

  Fear caught Angie’s breath in her throat, and the world froze. Then Queen Elenaril moved, casting a spell at the demon. The air between her and the demon exploded with a burst of prismatic colors as a rainbow washed over the winged monster. The spell did nothing, and the demon surged forward. To their credit, her Phoenix Guard warriors didn’t hesitate before attacking with their spears. The demon spun like a top, its bat wings buffeting the warriors, beheading one of them and throwing the others down. Cries of horror rose from the elves in the canoes as the demon ripped into the surviving bodyguard, tearing them to pieces. As the last warrior fell, the queen surged forward, attacking the demon with her sword.

  "Elenaril, no!" Ephix screamed.

  The demon and queen battled on the shore. The demon lashed at the elven queen with its talons, but Elenaril's shade created glowing red shields to protect her, and sparks fell about her as they fought. Elenaril cut at the demon with her sword, but the weapon only bounced back from the demon's hide. The demon towered over the elven queen, its powerful arms lashing out at her again and again. Sparks fell around Elenaril like rain. Then: disaster. One of the demon's attacks broke through the queen’s weakening shield and sent her falling back to the sand. The elves cried out in terror, and several threw themselves over the sides of their canoes to swim back. The demon advanced on Queen Elenaril.

  Angie screamed and tried to cast a Shockwave spell, but she no longer had the mana.

  The demon hammered at the fallen queen, ripping and tearing at her. Blood sprayed in the air. The demon rose, holding aloft the severed head of Queen Elenaril Cloudborn. The elves wailed, and a part of Angie's soul died.

  "Through the portal!" Ephix screamed, a note of fear in her voice that did more to terrify Angie than anything else. The canoes surged away from the shore, propelled by the powerful trolls.

  Angie, looking back over her shoulder, saw the demon staring right at her. She shivered. The demon dropped Elenaril's head and strode into the surf, its wings expanding to either side in preparation for flight. If it landed on her canoe, it would shatter it. Those elves who still carried firearms opened fire, but the bullets did no more than Elenaril's sword had.

  The demon launched itself into the air.

  Angie was so focused on the demon that she didn't notice her canoe had already passed through the shimmering portal, joining the others. Ephix's canoe came last, with Ephix still holding aloft her talisman. The demon roared as it flew right at Angie, but Ephix must have ended her spell, because the portal blurred and the ferry landing disappeared, and with it the demon.

  Angie stared about herself, her breathing wild. The sky was red, and a far-too-large moon shone down on her, illuminating the waters of the channel and the other canoes. The landscape looked nearly identical, but there were no ruins, no fire, no city skyline. The air was clean.

  She was in the Hollows again.

  Lodin’s Realm.

  Chapter 21

  Angie sat in stunned silence, her throat thick with sorrow as the strange trolls rowed the flotilla across the channel and toward the distant shore. Silence hung heavy over the elves. While they had escaped the battle, the loss of their beloved queen had shattered them, and they sat with heads lowered, overcome by emotion and exhaustion. The only blessing was that Prince Kilyn was still unconscious, and it was a mercy that he hadn't seen his mother's death as Angie had witnessed Char's.

  Twice now the demon Sudden Bloodletter had come for them. Twice now, she had been unable to stop it. If she faced it a third time, she was certain she'd die.

  Even in the Hollows, the sun rose, and as it did, it turned the red night sky a much lighter shade of pink, giving the landscape an otherworldly appearance. The northern shoreline mimicked the southern California ecology, but it wasn’t her world. Humans had never lived here. Where the ruins of San Diego should be, there was only rugged shrubland and rolling hills with sparse pine thickets. Birds cried overhead, and the air was so clean and sharp it almost hurt her lungs. Despite their sorrow, the elves stared about themselves. The first time Angie had traveled to this realm, Ephix had explained that the Hollows was the true realm of the Fey and that they had been able to cross between worlds with ease. That had changed when the great dragons broke the Fey Sleep and awakened humanity to the magic around them. The resulting magical backlash had cast most of the Fey from the Hollows, stranding them in a world hostile to them. Do they miss their home? Angie wondered.

  But this realm was also the home of Lord Lodin, the master of the Fey Hunt, a legendary Fey warlord. The last time she had been here, Lodin himself had pursued them, almost catching them. She didn't understand, but Lodin had been drawn to her. She had even seen him—a tall rider wearing gleaming s
ilver plate-mail armor with a full-face helmet adorned with deer antlers, holding aloft a magical spear, the metal spearhead glowing with arcane energy. The moment she had set eyes upon him, she had been struck dumb. There had been something about the Fey lord, a connection with him not unlike the dragon-mark she shared with Tec. And it had been Tec who had saved her, carrying her back through the portal. If not for him...

  But what was it she had felt between herself and Lodin?

  And why had he been after her?

  Once, she had believed the Hollows and Lord Lodin nothing more than Fey legends, myths to frighten humans. The Fey loved to tell tales, and half of them were just that, myths. One of the Fey legends claimed that war would come to anyone who set eyes on Lord Lodin or his Fey Hunt.

  That had been true enough, she realized sadly.

  "Ephix," she called out over the water. Ephix's canoe was about twenty meters ahead, moving steadily through the waves, and the lamia turned to meet Angie’s eyes. "We can't be here. It's too dangerous." And it was. The last time, Lodin had found them within minutes of their arrival, somehow sensing their presence and hunting them with his pack of eight-legged wolflike barghests.

  "I cannot open another portal, Angela," Ephix yelled back. "Not if there's any chance Sudden Bloodletter remains nearby. The demon can easily fly across the channel, and I cannot defeat such a foe. I learned my lesson with his brother Gouger of Faces."

  "Ephix is right," Tec yelled from his own canoe. "Sudden Bloodletter was always the stronger of the two."

  "But Lodin..." Angie's gaze swept the far shoreline. Any moment now, she expected to hear the horns of Lodin's hunt, the barking of his barghests.

  "A chance we must take," Ephix answered. "I will open another portal, but not until we reach our destination."