“Some of them aren’t very nice. Sometimes power makes people do crazy things. Try to run other’s lives, use them for their benefit, make themselves look better—from their own point of view anyway.
“I don’t know why I can do what I do. One of the women in the town I come from was using other people to make herself into some kind of boss. Everyone thought she was wonderful. I didn’t. People are just people. Some good, some not. Some of them will follow anyone who makes life easier for them, or if it looks like they will.
“Anyway, this woman started out helping others, and soon she was telling them how to do things. Then she was demanding they do things her way. I tend to ask why rather than follow someone blindly. Most of the other people in the town didn’t have whatever both she and I have, or at least not as strong. I decided to get away before I ended up in the middle of a fight because I didn’t appreciate what she was doing. As I said, a lot of people liked having someone else make their decisions for them. Not me. I left.
“I wandered for some time, and rarely saw any other people. Did pass one town, but at the main road, there were men with guns. Had no interest in even going near that one. Might have just been a good place that guarded their homes, but with what I am, even that could have been a problem.
“Probably wouldn’t have gotten here, but as I was heading over the mountain, I hit the place where the big rock slide is and ended up at the bottom.
“Since I’ve been in the valley, I haven’t seen anywhere it would be easy to get out. You know that a few who have tried never came back. No clue if they died or found a way out. Makes it nice here. We rarely get bullies. Not really much here for people who want to take over. People are spread way too far apart. People here just live their lives.
“This guy that showed up last night, he was with a small group of people like him. Two boss-types ended each other, and the others left, probably to search for another group, because those people usually like to be with others of their kind. Another case of people being happier when someone gives them some kind of direction. When they left him, he got lost and ended up here. He might have ended up someone’s follower back out there because he isn’t the type to try to take over, but because he is here, he might have a decent life. Lonely for the most part without others like him, but he’s young and capable. I know how he feels inside, and he feels like a good guy. Give him a chance. The same one you gave me. He is both different from and similar to me. He has something extra like I do, but it made him something else. Different isn’t always bad.”
She stopped. “Let’s get out of here and see what’s up out there.”
Chapter Six
They spent several hours checking places they hadn’t seen someone from at the inn. A few people who were still in their homes said they were doing okay, and thanked them for the checkup. Most other places they checked were empty, until they came to one that had two men trying to pry a door open. Asa sighed and said, “Always have to be a couple of jerks. Let’s go take care of them.”
The men didn’t even notice Asa and Tom coming up to them. Asa went right toward them. They wouldn’t be worried about her. Tom slipped around to the other side of the house. As soon as they saw her, they backed off from the door and started talking.
“Uh, we thought we heard someone call for help in there. Is this your place?” She could see on their faces they were going to try something. They hadn’t expected to see anyone out here.
When she got closer, she called to them pleasantly, “Hi there. I don’t think I know you. Where are you from?” That kept their attention in her direction. Tom quietly came from behind the house, and he didn’t waste a second before slamming their heads together. One went down, but the other started to get up, and Tom punched him in the face. Down went the second one.
“Now what do we do with them? Can’t just leave them here. They will finish what they started.” He looked at Asa.
She grinned and said, “You did your part, and now I will do mine.”
She knelt and put her hands on each of their heads. She told Tom, “When they wake, they will have memories of something horrible attacking them. They’ll get out of the area quickly, scared that it’s still near. And they will think twice about coming out to bother people’s homes!”
After they finished checking the homes they knew of, they headed to what was normally a small stream to check on the melt. At the moment, it was more like a river. It would be a while before the water level went down. Asa thought, I just might have to start accepting food from the people coming in. Hopefully, they wouldn’t run out before the water started dropping.
To Tom, she said, “Might have to do another run in a few days. Looks to me like it’s going to be quite a while before people can get back to their homes. We’ll need a lot more food if that happens. Let me ask around to see who has stored enough stuff at their places that they’d be willing to sell. ”
By the time they headed back to the inn, they’d made only one rescue—a momma cat who had dragged her kittens to high ground, only to get stuck on a small island. Momma had jumped right into their boat after Asa called to her, bringing one kitten while Asa went and grabbed the other three. The cat settled down at Asa’s feet and stayed calm and quiet, cuddled with her babies.
Tom laughed and said, “That always amazes me, how animals just come to you. Guess the inn has some new family now.”
Asa smirked. She wasn’t about to add to what he knew and tell him she could talk to them. “Not really. She and her babies belong to a family that’s at the inn, although I wouldn’t mind keeping one of the kittens.” She reached down and ran a finger over one of the furry little heads.
“How do you know this stuff? “ Tom just shook his head.
“Same way I knew that guy Zack was okay; I just do. Plus I saw one of the little girls back at the inn in Momma’s head!” She grinned.
Tom started thinking back to what he might have thought in Asa’s presence and got a little worried. Asa was looking down at the cats, so he didn’t see her trying to hold back her grin. She said, “Oh, and the little redhead who just started working for me thinks you’re cute, too.”
Tom’s eyes widened, but he looked up with a grin. “Yep, better start watching what I think around you.”
Chapter Seven
They were carrying the dinghy toward the stables when they heard the screaming. They dropped the boat and rushed toward the back of the building. As they turned the corner, they came to a horrible sight. There was some kind of nasty-looking beast standing over a man. Tom pulled out his hunting knife, not that he thought it would take care of this thing. It was huge, not like any regular dog he’d ever seen.
“No, stop, Tom. You don’t understand.” She held up a hand to stop Tom from coming forward, walked toward the beast, and asked, “What happened?”
“Are you nuts?” yelled Tom. “Get away from that thing!”
It turned and growled, and Tom backed up a little as Asa looked at the man on the ground.
It was the bad-tempered man from last night in the back room, who started yelling, “It’s going to kill me! Help me! Make it stop! I-I…came back for something I left, and this thing attacked me!”
The beast, which looked more like an overgrown wolf than anything else, turned to the back wall of the inn and sniffed it, growling again. As it turned away, the guy started inching backward, getting as far from it as he could without getting up. The beast spun and went toward him, and he froze.
Asa went over to the wall and smelled something like cooking oil, which soaked a big patch on the corner of the building. Lying on the ground below was a chunk of flint. The guy had been trying to burn her place down. He must have stolen the oil last night when he was in the kitchen. She should have just sent him on his way with the broken wrist.
She stopped and looked around, feeling the area for the guy’s friend. She didn’t sense him, but it was odd they weren’t together.
“Where is your pal?” she
snapped at him.
“I don’t know, he took off last night,” he lied. Asa saw the friend lying on the ground in his mind, either unconscious or dead. It didn’t seem to matter which in the man’s head. She recognized the area and would go and check on him later, but she didn’t think this jerk had it in him to have killed the guy.
Asa snarled, “I should let him kill you right now, but I won’t do that to him. If you are ever seen even near here again, I still won’t let him kill you. I will do it myself. If I hear of you anywhere near here, I will come after you.”
She stared into his eyes and let hers flash blue.
He scrambled backward, falling several times as he tried to get away. The beast growled a couple of times, making him move even faster. He turned, looking over his shoulder at the beast, and slid in the mud, falling on his face once but finally getting his feet under him. He was still running when he got out of sight. Between Asa and Zack, she was pretty sure he wouldn’t be back, and nobody would believe him if he started talking about them.
As soon as he was out of sight, Asa turned toward the beast and said, “Thank you. Not sure how long it will take, but when you are feeling more yourself, come inside. If you like, I will hire you permanently. If you want to stick around, I mean.”
She was pretty sure he’d stay. It was now a place where someone knew what he was and accepted him. That would be hard to find here or anywhere, even if he could find a way out of the valley.
She turned to Tom. “Come on. We have to take the cats to the kitchen. And it will take a while for him to change back.”
Asa returned to the dinghy and got the kittens, and, with Momma following her, headed toward the back door.
Tom stood there staring, not quite believing all he’d just seen, and asked, “Zack?”
The beast growled softly, and Asa answered, “Yep. Told you different isn’t always bad.”
Author Notes Kat N. Snow
I am amazed that I'd ever have a chance to write Author Notes. I am thankful to even be included every day in this group of people and read all their ideas and stories.
Michael has gotten together an amazing following by making a world many people want to be a part of. I've read so much science fiction and fantasy in my life, and his is some of the best out there.
None has ever taken me in so many directions while still being connected to the main story or made me care so much about the characters and their lives. So, my thanks to him for showing us this world, and now letting me be part of it.
Kathleen
Haiku From The Kurtherian Universe
Michael has come back.
All hail the Dark Messiah!
BA just smacks him
What are we eating?
Bethany Anne decrees it!
Michael cooks dinner
Tremor
By Lucinda Pebre
At only sixteen years old, Adaire is an expert in loss. The Dark Society took her family, and now they want the only person she has left.
Adaire is determined to fight for a future. However, to escape her captors and be reunited with her friend Calum, she will need to uncover her dormant magic. Only then will she have a chance to return home.
Set in the world of The Hidden Magic Chronicles by Justin Sloan and Michael Anderle.
To Anna Harland, a fantastic friend who is always there to listen to my crazy ideas, and Marcus Bishop, who loves me as I am.
Thank you to the Kurtherian Fans Write Facebook Group for their wonderful support, especially in spotting wayward commas and pesky British words. Natalie, Erika and Sarah, you do a great job.
To Michael Anderle and Justin Sloan for creating such an amazing universe and giving us the chance to play.
— Lucinda
Chapter One
"Calum, quick. Someone's coming."
Adaire held the door ajar. Sweat beaded her hairline. If the guards caught them, the consequences would be dire, but it was more important to honor the pact with her friend—to cause their captors as much trouble as possible.
It was a miracle the kitchen had been empty. Every other time they had tried, there had been at least one servant bustling around.
A teenage boy with red hair and freckles raced toward her, his arms full of pastries. Next time they would have to bring something to carry them in. It was unbelievable that she thought there was going to be another time.
Adaire led them away from the footsteps, in the opposite direction from where they needed to go. With no choice, they ran deeper into the castle.
They raced past colorful tapestries, coats of arms, and a hideous stag’s head that watched them from glassy eyes. Torches placed at intervals provided enough light to see where they were going, and their thick smoke curled to hang beneath the ceiling. As they passed, the flames shrank to embers.
Adaire glanced at Calum. "Be careful, else they’ll know it was you.”
He grinned. “There’s no proof.”
“Since when do they need proof? You’re also leaving them a trail.”
Now, instead of dying, the rest burned brighter. Adaire thought. That’s better. Let them use up all the fuel.
When there wasn’t any sound of pursuit, they slowed and turned a corner into a narrow corridor with unadorned stonework. It smelled musty, and there weren’t any torches, making the shadows deep.
Adaire stopped and pointed out the footprints they had left in the dust.
Calum shook his head, unable to do anything with arms full of pastries.
Adaire scowled and shrugged out of her coat to trail it after them. “These must be the servant's quarters.”
"We'll never find the way out," Calum hissed in her ear.
She noticed that he hadn’t discarded the food, despite his conviction that they were lost. Adaire wasn't sure she was capable of getting lost. She always had a sense of where she was in the bigger picture.
She ignored a jab in her ribs from Calum's elbow. Something about this section of the wall intrigued her. Nothing appeared different from the rest, but her fingers tingled when she moved them across the stone. The tingling grew stronger or weaker depending on where she placed her hands.
Calum took a bite out of a pastry.
Her stomach made a strange noise and her mouth watered, but this was important. She focused on her fingers, searching for the...seam.
Calum smirked through a mouth full of buttery goodness. His eyes challenged her to resist the stolen cakes.
Ah, there. A grating sound echoed in the corridor and part of the wall swung inwards.
Calum almost dropped his armload as he stumbled back. “Some warning would have been nice.”
Voices and hurried footsteps came from the main corridor. It sounded as if they were just around the corner.
Adaire slipped into the narrow space, and Calum squeezed in after. They leaned against the stone to push it back into place. It wasn’t heavy. Some sort of mechanism must allow it to open and close.
Adaire strained to hear anything. Whoever was on the other side of the wall might know about their hiding place. The thought must have occurred to Calum because he stopped chewing and his breathing was faster than usual.
Adaire's eyes adjusted. It wasn't totally dark. Light came from small holes set above their heads in the opposite wall.
When nothing happened, she nudged Calum, and they started to move.
"Can't stand cramped spaces," he murmured.
They didn't bother Adaire, not one bit. If she listened carefully, she could hear slight shifts in the stone. When she told Calum, he said she was daft and that everyone knew rock was rock.
"Come on." She took them left, pleased that Calum trusted her to lead.
The passage was so narrow that if she raised her arms a small bit, she could touch both walls. There wasn’t enough light to see the floor, and if her toe hadn't landed on the edge of a step, she would have fallen.
"Stairs," she whispered.
He moved closer until he was to
uching her and could follow her movement. Perhaps he was hoping for a soft landing if he fell.
With her hands on the walls at either side, she felt her way down to the bottom.
The sound of a conversation made her stop. Calum bumped into her back, propelling her forward a few steps. She scowled in his direction.
It took a moment to work out that the voice must have come from a room on the other side of the wall. They moved close to listen. Perhaps the corridor had been built for spying before the fake laird had claimed the castle.
"...too early to tell." The soft voice made the fine hairs on the back of her neck stand up. It was Laird Scott, or Scroat, as the kids called him.
A man with a local accent responded, "Aye, it would be best to keep the poor stock here. Move out those with potential for more specialized training."
"Let it be so."
Adaire grabbed Calum's arm. She was “poor stock,” her magic never doing anything no matter what they did to “encourage” it. But Calum's fire magic was the best.
"You may leave," Scroat told the unknown man.
Adaire wanted to see who he was before he left, but the spyholes were too high.
"Right you are." Footsteps moved away.
Calum pushed her with his shoulder. She understood the urgency. Wherever Scroat was, the mystic was never far away, and he would detect their presence.
They continued in the same direction. Stairs took them up and then down at intervals. At one point the corridor branched into two, with one dropping into the earth.
Calum stared into the darkness. "I'm not going that way."
Adaire wondered if the other end of the tunnel went outside the grounds. If she wanted to explore down there, it would have to be without Calum.
Tales from the Kurtherian Universe: Fans Write For The Fans: Book 3 Page 7
