Xander
Xander was more restless by the time he returned to the camp. He immediately went to the weapons staging area to look for Liam. There was no time to stop and strategize. If Kiera could read Minassus’ thoughts, could she read his too? Had she? It was almost nine o’clock at night, but that question sent his mind right back to full alertness. He found Liam just as his friend was leaving one of the storage sheds.
“How are the preparations coming along?” Xander asked.
“So far, so good. By the way, I’ve already sent six of our best men to keep watch over Mrs. Oslo. They should be there within the hour.”
“Thank you.” He looked around. “Where is Reena?”
“She gave me half of the wild indigo powder and took the rest with about a quarter of our troops…and her brother, of course. He’s one of the trainees.”
“Yes, I recall.”
“Reena wanted to begin preparations with the Nauru right away, starting in the north. We’ll get the biggest benefit from bolstering the containments now on the outer walls, so connecting her with the Nauru was at the top of the list. I split the rest of the camp into three teams. I will take one group north to begin adding her potions to the traps and weapons there. The second team will head west to do the same, and the rest will stay here in camp with you. Make sense?”
“Yes.” He pulled his friend aside. “Walk with me. I need to look for something in my cabin. Liam, just to be clear, how did you distribute the trainees scheduled to be turned at this year’s ceremony?”
They took the back exit, cutting through a gravel walkway that led to their row of cabins. “Half will go north with me, and the other half will head west. It makes sense to keep them as far away from the fortress as possible.”
“Good thinking. Listen, have you been in contact with any of the witches in the last little while?”
“Only the two we met with today,” Liam answered. “Why?”
Xander stopped at the front door of his cabin. “Are you certain?”
“Positive. What is this about?”
“You saw the way Keira responded to you when she shook your hand, right?”
“Yes. Maybe I look like someone she knows. Or maybe she read my mind and figured out I can’t stand witches.”
“Kiera’s familiar believes a witch may have cast some magic on you. Her abilities grew stronger right after that handshake.”
“What? That’s crazy. I don’t see how it’s possible. You already know I don’t trust witches far enough to throw them. If anyone has put a spell on me, it was not with my permission.”
“Let’s leave it alone for now. There’s so much to do over the next few days.” Xander put his arm on his friend’s shoulder. “Did you ever think this day would come so soon?”
“Honestly? No. But then again, I always wondered why all the witches in the fortress never stopped to question what’s been going on. I mean, Minassus has basically been getting away with murder for years. It was only a matter of time before someone stood up to that bastard.”
“Lucky for us, Kiera came on board. She may have a few extra tricks up her sleeves. We’ll know soon enough.” Xander noticed Liam sniffing up into the night air. “What’s wrong? You smell something?”
“Not sure. Is it me, or does it feel like the temperature is dropping?”
“Possibly. The first storm will be here in a few days. We have had weather in previous years where it was a lot colder, and as early as October. So when are you heading out with your men?”
“First thing in the morning. They will need at least a few hours rest this evening to—” Liam squinted and looked up at the sky again before finishing what he had been saying. “Look who it is. Your girlfriend’s bird witch.”
Xander squinted up at the dark sky, worried. He had not been expecting to hear from Keira so soon. “She probably has another update.” He waited as she swooped down and landed on the branch of a tree nearby.
“Xander! Keira is in trouble. Our plan is going to hell! Minassus is back and he knows everything. The storm! The ravagers! I should’ve known it was too good to be true.” She squawked frantically, and made no sense at all.
“Coco, slow down. Just tell us one thing at a time.” He opened his cabin door and turned to Liam. “Get her some water inside. There’s a pitcher on the counter.” Turning back to the bird, he extended his arm out in her direction. “Here. Come closer. Tell me everything.”
She flew down to him and landed on his forearm, gently curling her talons around to steady herself. “We have to change everything about our plan. There is honestly so much that I have to tell you, and all of it is important, so please, I can already guarantee it’s going to come out in the wrong order.”
“First, have a drink,” Xander told her, nodding over to Liam, who had poured some water into a soup bowl for her. “Start where you can.”
Liam placed the bowl near her beak and waited as she drank.
Coco lifted up her head. “I don’t even have time to change to a human form, not that you have any clothes to give me anyway, but let’s get started. First of all, Kiera can tap into the magic of all of the spells that were cast by the Chosen witches from all of the prior years since Minassus began the shifter transformations. Our theory is that touching Liam earlier made her stronger, because he was turned a different year than you were, Xander. Is this true?”
Xander nodded. “Yes. Liam was turned two years after I was.”
“We believe that if I can make physical contact with one shifter from each of those years, it will increase Kiera’s strength. There should be seven more we can tap into. Can you get them here? Right now? She needs their magic for two crucial reasons. No, three reasons, actually. Crap. No, four.”
“Liam, take care of identifying the seven shifters and bringing them to me,” Xander ordered.
Liam nodded. “Yes. I’m on it.”
“Wait!” Coco shouted. “You should hear everything before you leave to get them.”
“Go on.”
“A winter storm is upon us. And with it, the ravages are coming. They are already on their way, possibly in the hundreds, all coming from the west.”
“Hold on a second,” Xander said with alarm. “The ravagers are on their way to the Sector?”
Coco nodded fearfully. “Yes!”
“How did Kiera know?”
“She just knows. She sensed it somehow, and they could all arrive at the outer walls within less than twenty-four hours. Whatever time you have left, you need to focus on reinforcing all of your defenses in the West. Kiera does not know whether she can help fight them off or not. We haven’t had time to practice, and we still have no idea if her powers will improve after I touch the seven shifters that Liam will gather up.”
“And why can’t we take them to her, as we had just planned?”
“Because there is no time!” Coco shrieked. “We found the information that helped us to understand Kiera’s growing powers, but in the process we realized that the Regent knows more that he has been letting on. On top of all of that, he returned to the fortress a short time ago, and Kiera sensed that he knew everything. We don’t know how that’s possible, but the point is we have to adjust and accelerate our plan. We don’t have four days anymore. Plus with the storm coming early, we have to begin tonight.”
“Reena has already left camp with some of them.”
“Then you need to get the trainees and send them away from here now. The Regent may already have guards on their way here to gather them up and perform the transformation ceremony… Tonight.”
Things were happening too quickly. If Xander could, he would demand to speak with Kiera before taking action, but deep down, he was sure they did not have the luxury of time. “He can’t do that,” Xander told her in a sharp tone.
“Try telling that to him.”
“But if the storm is coming, we need those men.”
“It’s never easy. Uh, Xander?”
“Yes?”<
br />
“I’m not done.”
“There’s more?”
“Sadly, yes,” Coco answered. “That trip Manassas took was a decoy. Xander, Keira believes that he has already held your mother prisoner and is bringing her to the fortress as we speak.”
Fury and fear rose up in Xander’s throat at the news. “No. He couldn’t have.”
“He took your mother.”
“That maniacal bastard! Why didn’t you tell me that first?”
“Like I said from the start. All of it is important, and there was no way to tell you in the order that would matter most to you. We still believe that the most important thing you can do is get the seven shifters here to me, so that Keira can do her best to help in any way that she can, while your men prepare to defend the sector against the ravagers… And I can only suggest that you hide those trainees scheduled for the transformation ceremony, or deploy them far from the fortress. As soon as they are a safe distance away, take some shifters with you to the fortress to see the Regent and negotiate your mother's release… As well as Keira’s. I did mention he has her now, right?”
For a few moments, Xander stood there, half paralyzed from indecision. His first instinct was to get to the fortress and rescue his mother and Keira. Someone also needed to stop the guards that were possibly already on their way here, hoping to gather up the men Minassus wanted to turn tonight. But just as Coco suggested, defending the sector from the ravages was the top priority, and if Keira could do that somehow with her magic, Xander needed to help her make that happen.
“Liam, I will start identifying the seven shifters. Deploy four of your best soldiers immediately to rendezvous with Reena and the Nauru so they can head west. Assemble all the remaining troops. I will stay back with the seven shifters to deal with Minassus. You prepare to lead everyone else west, including the trainees that Minassus wants to turn. Focus your entire team on preparing for the ravagers. The Regent won’t dare stop your team tonight, and the further they are from the fortress, the better.”
“Are you sure you can manage with only eight of you at the fortress?”
“I’m positive. This is not our night to fight Minassus, and even he should understand that. Not with the imminent threat of ravagers. I will focus on negotiating terms for my mother’s and Kiera’s release. We will tackle the Regent another day.”
“Yes, sir. Understood and agreed.” Liam turned to Coco. “Anything else before we get started?”
She shook her bird head. “Safe travels.”
“Thank you.” Liam gestured over at Xander. “Be ready for anything at the fortress. I will keep Mrs. Oslo in my thoughts. God speed.”
“Be careful out there, old friend.” After Liam had left, he gestured toward the bird. “Let’s find you these shifters you seek.”
“I just hope it works when I touch them.”
“Worst case scenario, they will accompany me to the fortress. That way, if Kiera needs to physically make contact with them herself, they will be close. After we’re finished here, you should fly back to the fortress. Please stay far away from Minassus, and do not get caught. We all need you.”
“Thanks. I will,” Coco said.
“How are you holding up with all this flight travel?” He asked as he walked back toward the center of camp.
“Not bad. I have handled longer distances, but usually on a lot more food.”
“I’ll see what we can round up at the dining hall.”
“Thanks. I worry for Kiera. We need to get back there soon.”
“First things first.”
“Yes. The seven shifters. It had better work.”
“I hope so, but however things turn out tonight, we’re all in this together, shifter witch.”
“Glad you can see that now, Polar Bear.”
20
Kiera
The sound of voices and heavy footsteps outside the bedroom door sent Kiera into high alert from her spot near the bedroom window. She shivered as though she had a fever. It was bad enough the Regent had just stormed into her room, accused her of treason, and then left, locking her door from the outside with some spell she couldn’t yet undo. He had even found the lockbox and taken it with him, yet he completely ignored her warning that she had sensed the ravagers on approach. Now his guards were here, and one heavy fist pounded four loud knocks on the wooden door.
“The Regent is ready for you!” the guard shouted gruffly.
Kiera’s blood ran cold with the dread of the coming conflict. She could not quite see how this turmoil would resolve itself, but knew it would not end well. One thing was for sure. She would refuse to perform the transformation spell at all costs. Besides, with the ravagers on their way, everyone in the Sector had more important things to worry about. Stepping away from the window, she hugging herself, rubbing down her arms to warm up.
The guard opened the door sharply, revealing three more men from the Regent’s detail. “Get over here now,” he barked.
“I’ll be right there. Please, allow me to get my cloak on.” Hoping she could stall long enough for Coco to find the seven shifters, she took her time going to her wardrobe, moving items around as though she had all the time in the world, even though the cloak was actually laying on the bed.
The guard at the front lost his patience after a few minutes. He came in and took her by the arm. Thankfully, she was able to grab the cloak before he shoved her out of the room. They dragged her down the hallway, but not in the direction that she expected.
“Where are you taking me?” she asked.
“Be quiet.”
They got to the stairs that led up to the north battlements, close to the only open-air turret of the fortress. This wasn’t good at all. She was about to ask the guard why was she being treated so roughly, but they made it to the battlement access door and reality set in. No, she was not being mistreated at all, compared to the nine or ten people out there in the turret. Two torches were lit up on either side of the large square stone structure about the size of two of her bedrooms side by side. Up there in the flickering gold dimness, they were surrounded by twice as many guards. Except for one woman in a heavy flannel overcoat, they were dressed in ragged, worn out clothes that were surely too thin to keep them warm up here where the icy winds swirled around.
“I demand to speak to the Regent,” she shouted. “Where is Minassus?”
The guards did not answer, but the truth was she did not need their response. Regent Minassus was downstairs in his study.
The guards pushed her along the battlement to join the rest of the people in custody, and the sentry with his hand still on her arm shouted an order for all prisoners to sit. She could probably have resisted, but did not want to risk using up her energy to fight these men at a time like this. There were higher priority items on tonight’s to-do list. Crossing her legs at the ankle, Kiera crouched down and sat on the ice cold stone floor to wait with everyone else.
She looked over at the group, studying as much as she could of their faces. Who were these people? She had not seen any of them before.
“Are you all right?” she asked them.
“Shut up!” said the guard who had brought her outside.
“Can’t you see these people are freezing?” she replied, glaring up at him.
“Do not address the prisoners. In fact, do not say another word.”
So they were prisoners. But charged with what? Only one of them stood out from the group. She was a cleaner-looking, warmly dressed woman, sitting the furthest away from Kiera. What set her apart was her clothes, for starters, but also her posture. The woman sat with her back against the cold wall, body straight and head held high. It was a sharp contrast to the shivering, underdressed men and women who slumped forward, doing what they could to keep warm. Their legs were pulled up to their chests, arms wrapped around their knees, making their bodies as small as possible.
Two more guards arrived. One of them was carrying a torch. He passed by Kiera without incident,
so she leaned forward and stared over at the woman again under the light. Recognition hit her. It had to be Xander’s mother. She had the same dark hair, pale skin and a softer, more rounded out version of his facial features.
What on earth was the Regent planning? She focused her thoughts on him again, hoping to read him and get some answers. This time, nothing came to her. Which was not really a surprise. Minassus had probably warded himself against her telepathy by now. At the moment, she could only sense his location.
The hair on Kiera’s neck stood on end a few minutes later. The Regent was on the move. She sensed him leaving his study, walking toward the staircase that led this way. Stiffening up, she tilted her head, ready for his arrival, but noticed her guard was still staring at her carefully. Not wanting to draw too much attention, she returned her gaze forward and waited, honed in somehow on the rustling of the Regent’s long, thick winter cape as the fabric hit the front of his leg with every stair he climbed.
Another minute passed before the flame of another torch appeared at the doorway. The Regent stepped outside and approached the group. He stopped in front of Kiera, and her eyes glanced up the length of his dark blue, floor-length outer coat, all the way up until their eyes locked. Why could she not read him this time? She did not get the chance to answer that question.
“Get her to her feet,” the Regent ordered the guards beside him.
“I am fine to stand on my own,” Kiera answered, quickly pulling herself up before they could drag her up. “Who are these people, Regent? Why are we here?”
“Your familiar may have evaded me earlier, Kiera, but perhaps it was for the best.”
“Why are we talking about the whereabouts of my companion when we should be making preparations for the ravagers?” she shouted for not only the Regent’s benefit. She paused, looking around to observe the guards’ reaction. Only blank stares looked back at her, and several of them ignored her completely. Usually, the mere mention of these creatures’ names elicited a visceral reaction of terror, or at least alarm. Not with these men. Either the Regent had warned them not to listen to a word she said, or they were somehow under his control.
Mystic Storm: An Adult Paranormal Witch Romance: Othala Witch Collection (Sector 2) Page 15
