“What are you doing to him?” Kade cried out in agony, clearly affected by my pain through our empathetic link.
“What’s this?” Erik cried out gleefully.
“It is exactly as I foretold, sire,” Sindri replied. “I told you the Cauld Ane would be at their weakest and behold. Their own king is an empath to my apprentice.”
“You’ve done well, Sindri. Your powers of sight have served your king and you shall be rewarded,” Erik said.
Brodie and Alasdair rushed to help Kade, and Connall rushed to help me but Sindri stopped them.
“Don’t touch them or I swear I will kill your women,” he said, raising a hand high, before turning to Connall. “I don’t have to read your thoughts to know what you’re thinking,” he said, his lips forming an evil grin. “But, even if you could reach the circle in time, no person, either of Kalt Einn or human blood, can break the circle once I’ve closed it.”
The burning intensified and I desperately tried in vain to reach Isla. I was too weak and Sindri’s magic too strong for my thoughts to penetrate the circle.
“Wait a few moments longer, and this will all pass,” Sindri called out to everyone. “Arric and Kade are merely dying. That’s all.”
Well, he may have been a total dick, but he wasn’t exactly wrong.
“If the king dies—” Connall growled.
“Relax, your empathetic little princess will be just fine,” Sindri taunted. “In truth Kade only feels like he’s dying. Arric Mann will soon be dead.”
The barrage of memories continued to rip through my psyche. The pain and isolation of each birth and eventual death of every human I’d taken memories from over the years tearing me apart from within. How long had I roamed the earth like this? A passenger in my own body, a prisoner locked within my mind.
My tattoos glowed with a bright white heat so intense I felt as though my bones would turn to ash and I screamed in agony as I was born into this world, once again.
I lay on the ground unaware of my surroundings in complete silence, until I heard a single voice.
“Rise, Ketill Feilan.”
It was the voice of my master.
“Rise, my apprentice. The time has come for us to form a new council of oracles. To fulfill the prophecy.”
I stood.
“Yes. Come and claim your reward my obedient apprentice. Take your rightful place by my side and together we will usher in the new dawn of the Kalt Einn.”
I did as Sindri commanded, joining him, alongside the others.
* * *
Isla
“What’s he doing?” I mused out loud, my heart breaking, and my heart was breaking because even though I couldn’t reach him telepathically, I could still feel his emotions. He was entirely too…calm.
“Can you get to his thoughts?” Mum asked.
I shook my head. “Just his emotions. Something’s wrong.”
“You always were the smart one,” Catriona droned.
I gave her a gentle shove with my shoulder. “No, like he’s not right. Gah! I can’t figure it out.” I closed my eyes and focused. “Oh,” I breathed out. “He’s calm, but there’s something more. Something I can’t get to.” I clasped my hands at my chest. “I hope he’s okay.”
“Let’s see if we can put our powers together,” Mum suggested. “Charlotte, let’s use our sister powers, huh?”
“Wonder Twins?”
Mum rolled her eyes. “Oh, god.”
“This is not a time to be joking, you psychos,” I ground out. “We need to get out of here.”
“Right, sorry, honey. It’s a defense mechanism.”
“Well, defend us by getting us the hell out of here… please.” I shook my head. “Oh, Mummy, I’m sorry, I don’t mean to sound cross.”
My mother wrapped her arms around me. “Baby girl, even when you have a moment of sounding cross, it doesn’t last for long. I think you’re entitled to feel a bit on edge.”
She released me, reaching for Charlotte’s hand. “Maybe two fire starters and an ice queen can get us out of here.”
After several minutes of trying multiple ways to ignite our abilities, our maybe turned into a big fat no.
Arric
AS I STOOD next to my master, I could feel pride of accomplishment radiate from him. The plan he had set in motion so long ago had worked. It had taken centuries rather than years to come to fruition, but time was of no consequence to him.
It was to me.
Six centuries had passed since I’d served as Sindri’s apprentice. Ketill Feilan. Adopted son of a widowed thatcher. By the time he approached me, I’d already enjoyed the victory of many battles and my name was growing in favor among the clans. But Sindri recognized something more within me. Even as an apprentice himself, he could sense that I possessed the ability to become a powerful oracle in my own right and he set out to make it so.
He presented me to the council as a possible apprentice. He believed I should be considered as the next trainee as his time as an apprentice was drawing near the end. However, the council refused to give us an audience, throwing us out of the temple without explanation. I was confused by their actions but Sindri was enraged. Rather than humble himself and trust the wisdom of the council, however, he began to plot against them.
The council members were unaware of Sindri’s schemes or his growing powers as he possessed strong cloaking abilities. Much stronger than his brother, Haddi. This had always been Sindri’s chief weapon. The ability to hide his location, movements, and even thoughts. It was from him that I first learned to make private rooms inside my mind. This skill seeded the ideas I would eventually convey to Isla about creating our own inner sanctum together.
Sindri decided to complete his oracle training on his own and take me as his apprentice. All the while gaining knowledge in both the approved oracle texts as well as the forbidden volumes. He became especially adept at enchanting objects. A practice that had long been outlawed by our kind, in which earthly items are bound with Kalt Einn magic. These relics, most of which had been lost to the sands of time, possess great power, even in the hands of man.
One such enchanted object, a sword, was given to me by Sindri on the night enemy forces surrounded and captured hundreds of Kalt Einn. They were armed with red fang and mercenary-grade weaponry. A well-funded and well-organized militia sent by a coalition of men. Dukes and lairds from surrounding areas who were threatened by the growing number of Kalt Einn in Iceland who were now looking to move into territories beyond. With that sword I was able to free the imprisoned Kalt Einn which included Haddi and several of the oracles but was mortally wounded in the process.
Haddi and the oracles used their magic to bring me back from the brink of death and in doing so gave me the ability to empathically link with all the oracles. Past and present. A world walker among the oracles. Free to link with, and draw power from, any oracle or Kalt Einn. I returned to Sindri, who was still in hiding, unaware of what I’d become, but he knew. He also knew as long as he was still my master, he could command me to do his bidding. To use my power for his gain. So, he hid me away. Training me in secret, until it was time to sentence me to six hundred years of fog and mist.
The Kalt Einn thought I’d been lost in the battle and soon I became more of a legend than anything else. A symbol of hope. And why should I be known as anything more? I wasn’t yet twenty-five years of age and I had no family apart from my ailing adopted father. It was better for the people if they didn’t know the truth. And all the better for us if they thought I was dead. At least, that’s what Sindri told me. He convinced me to trust his guidance. Asserted power over me as my master and clouded my judgement with his dark magic. Soon I would pay for the sins of my ignorance.
Now I stood next to Sindri not only as Ketill Feilan, his apprentice, whom he had access to. But as the mate of Isla Gunnach. My true self hidden safely inside the inner sanctum I created with her. A place that I’d built again and again, lifetime after lifetime, since
Sindri cast his spell over me centuries ago. With every life I lived, I kept the truest part of me hidden away from anyone to see until the day I met Isla. When she touched me, she jolted me awake from a long dream. Also inadvertently sending my exact location to Sindri.
“You may tend to your so-called king,” Erik said, and his brothers rushed to Kade’s side. He lay on the ground, unconscious from the pain of the punishment I’d just received.
“You’ll pay for this, Erik,” Connall said. “I swear it.”
“The Gunnach clan are no longer in control of my fate, or that of my people,” Erik yelled. “Once the new council is formed, I’ll be reinstated as rightful king and rightful ruler of all who have blood of my ancestors flowing through their veins.”
“This is my final invitation,” Sindri said, walking to Haddi. “Join me, brother. Take your rightful place on the council or be enslaved along with rest of these pathetic insurrectionists.”
“Clan Gunnach will never bend a knee to evil. And neither will I.”
“Your knees will not only bend, but break,” Erik spat. “In fact, I’d kill you all right now, if it wasn’t in my best interest to keep you alive.”
I knew exactly what Erik’s words meant even if the others didn’t. Since Sindri’s thoughts were once again linked with mine I was now fully aware of their masterplan. A plan that entailed using me to drain the Cauld Ane of their powers, one by one. Powers I would then use to restore his and Alice’s youth. Like all who crave world domination, Erik and Sindri understood the importance of a strong alliance between the head of state and the head of the church. Erik’s goal was to rule over all humankind and Sindri sought to control the elements themselves. Both saw themselves as righteous in their cause and both were mad with power lust.
“This is your last chance,” Sindri said, extending his hand to Haddi. “Join us or perish.”
Haddi took his brother’s hand and gently kissed it, before pressing it to his cheek. “I’ve wished for your return a thousand times, while also mourning your death. It breaks my heart to know it would have been better for you to have died than to ever return.”
“Indeed, brother,” he replied. “Certainly, better for you.” Sindri pulled Haddi in close, stabbing him in the chest with his red fang enchanted blade.
“You bastard!” Connall shouted.
“Don’t forget about your ladies,” Sindri warned as Alasdair and Brodie held Connall back from rushing him. “Haddi will live for now unless anyone other than an oracle removes the blade. Since Ketill and I are the only oracles outside the circle, my brother will just have to stay put right here on the ground for the moment.”
Dalton glared at Sindri.
“That’s right, Agent Moore. We know all about Andi and I, for one, am very much looking forward to getting to know your young wife.”
“Stay the hell away from her,” Dalton growled, but he was just as helpless as everyone else to defend the woman he loved.
“Perhaps it’s time I took a bride of my own,” Sindri continued. “Perhaps once my apprentice is done with you and Andi is a widow, she’ll see fit to consider me as a viable replacement.”
Although free from Sindri’s hold over me, I was still unable to make a move against him while Isla and the others were inside the binding circle. I had to figure out a way to break the spell and reach my sword.
“Now that I have you under my thumb, Kaspar is next,” Erik said.
“He’ll fight you with everything he has,” Kade rasped, his brothers getting him back to his feet.
“Without the captain of his royal guard or assistance from my brother, he’ll fall too easily,” Erik said. “Then there will be no one to stop us from building an army of Kalt Einn. With Sindri as head of a council of oracles and the power of Ketill Feilan at my disposal, nothing will stand in our way. Soon the Kalt Einn will no longer be forced to live in the shadows. The Vakningin Mikla is upon us!” he shouted. “It is time for the Great Awakening!”
“Bring Kade Gunnach to me,” Sindri ordered. “The time has come for him to abdicate the throne.”
I nodded and began to walk toward Kade.
Arric
UNABLE TO CONTACT Isla, I reached out to the only one I knew for certain could slip his bonds and come to my aid. The only one with the bravery and determination needed to break the circle as well as cause a big enough diversion to distract Erik. I focused my thoughts, making contact immediately. Then I waited.
I walked toward Kade as slowly as possible without arousing suspicion from Sindri. Keeping him out of my head was easy, but he wasn’t stupid. If he suspected for one instant that I wasn’t under his complete subjection, he could kill the women within seconds.
“Arric, don’t do this. Please, son,” Connall, begged as I approached.
“Arric Mann is dead,” Sindri called out. “Twice over, in fact. The Arric Mann you knew was nothing but a carbon copy of a dead man’s mind walking around in Ketill Feilan’s body. My apprentice has been re-born and fully himself once again.”
“You’ve turned him into a robot,” Connall shouted.
“Ketill is my obedient apprentice and will serve at the pleasure of the true king and queen,” Sindri replied.
“I know who he truly is, and I’m certain he would never harm us,” Kade said as I stood before him.
“We’ll see if you still feel the same while you’re burning alive at the stake,” Sindri replied.
I reached for Kade, and both Alasdair and Connall moved in to protect him. I swatted both away with a powerful backhand that sent them sailing high into the air, and landing on the ground several yards away. I grabbed Kade around the elbows, completely incapacitating his movements as I effortlessly lifted him off the ground. I ignored the pleas of the other men as I brought Erik’s prize to him, Kade groaning and struggling within my grip.
“Look at you now, my son,” Erik said. “How pathetic you are. If you were truly fated to be king, this day could not have come to pass. But Sindri’s visions have led us here just as he foretold. Now you will die, and your clan will become my slaves.”
“Even if I die by your hand,” Kade said with a groan. “The Cauld Ane will live on. We are bound to one another by love and by blood. A bond that will last throughout the ages. A bond that you, my father, will never be strong enough to break.”
“We’ll see who breaks,” Erik said, looking up at me. “Kill him.”
As Erik spoke these words, my four-legged reinforcement arrived, rounding the corner at top speed, making a bee line for the binding circle.
Hershey barreled across the line, stamping his hooves, snorting and breathing out heavily through his nose, causing the luminescent sand to disperse in a puff of brilliant smoke, freeing the women from their prison.
I locked eyes with Isla, for only a second, but that was all we needed.
Are you okay? Isla demanded.
Yeah, baby, I’m good. I decided not to expel the energy to create a world of wildflowers for us, but it didn’t make our reunion any less sweet. You ready to kick ass and take names?
Hell, yes.
I kissed her quickly, guiding us back to the present where Isla turned to the enemy with a hiss.
“Now,” she said. “Why don’t you let go of my uncle, so we can kick the living shite out of these arseholes?”
“Damn, I love you,” I said before breaking our connection and making a quick call to Andi.
Isla formed a fireball in her hands and hefted it toward Gillian.
She ducked, standing straight again with a sneer. “Nice move, Wandavision. That the best you got?”
Confident my woman had things under control, I released Kade and grabbed the sword from the ground. Sindri, now realizing I was no longer under his control, grabbed his staff and ran towards me. I ordered Hershey to guard Isla as I ran to take care of Sindri.
Kade, standing face to face with Erik, smiled and nodded politely, saying, “Dad,” before headbutting him squarely in the face.
From there it was all out pandemonium. The women teamed up with the Gunnachs to battle Erik’s guards, while Kade fought Erik.
“Heed your master’s call!” Sindri shouted, pointing his staff at me. “Ketill Feilan, I command you to obey me.”
He tried to compel me, but the power he once had over me was gone. I had the strength of the oracles flowing through me, and the love of Isla deep within my heart. I was surrounded by my clan on the field of battle and my thoughts finally belonged to me and me alone.
“Yeah, about that,” I said, raising my sword. “I’ve had some time to think about it, and I’m done doing what you say.”
“Obey my commands,” Sindri hissed, trying once again to compel my thoughts.
“Suck my sword,” I said, throwing the enchanted blade at Sindri, which he swatted to the ground as if I’d thrown a paper airplane at him.
“Did you forget I made that sword?” Sindri screamed. “Did you forget I made you?”
“You’re not my father or my master, Sindri,” I said. “You’re a political opportunist who put his own selfish need for power before the common good of the powerless. You’re a monster who must be brought to justice.”
“Who’s going to do that? You?” Sindri challenged. “You may be a powerful oracle, but you’re not knowledgeable enough to banish me on your own.”
“Not him, me,” Haddi said, and Sindri turned to see him standing with the blade Andi removed from his chest now firmly in his grasp. Haddi drove the knife into Sindri’s chest, and he dropped to his knees before him.
Haddi’s rune glowed bright white on my chest as I spoke the ancient words of eternal banishment.
“Sindri, þú hefur verið fundinn sekur um að brjóta heilög lög öldunganna og ert hér með dæmdur í eilífa bannfæringu.”
Within seconds, Sindri’s body was reduced to a pile of ashes and his soul sent into eternal limbo. Haddi dropped to his knees and wept over his brother’s remains while the fighting continued all around him. As I held onto my truth, my tattoos glowed blue, shining onto their people, giving them each a boost of power as they fought.
Bound by Fate (Cauld Ane Series Book 10) Page 16
