Storms of Magic Boxed Set: Books 1-4

by Hylton, PT

  “It wasn’t a surprise, Dahlia. I knew you were going to betray us. It was only a question of when.”

  “All I’m saying,” Dahlia said, “is you shouldn’t bet against me. You should at least consider joining my cause. I always come out of these things okay. I’m the Queen of Storms.”

  Abbey barked a sharp laugh. Her voice dripped with venom when she spoke. “You’re not the Queen of Storms. You took storm magic, something that was given to our people to help them survive, and you used it to hurt them.” She took a step forward, sword raised, and continued, “You’ve seen what I can do. I ride the winds. All you’ve done is take a beautiful gift and twist it for evil. That ends now. You’re not worthy of the title ‘Queen of Storms.’”

  “Is that so? Then come and take it from me.” Dahlia planted the end of her staff on the road, her eyes turned blueish-green, and the wind began to blow.

  It took Abbey a moment to realize the significance of what was happening. Dahlia was stormcalling without seawater.

  “Something happened to me a few minutes ago,” Dahlia said. “Your little Storm Caller boyfriend was pelting me with hail, and I was standing in a small wooden tub of seawater. The water was leaking out, and I had an epiphany. I finally understood something he told me back in Barskall.”

  The wind was whipped at them hard now. It was all Abbey could do to stay upright.

  Dahlia continued. “He’d told me there was no secret to stormcalling without seawater. I finally understood what he meant. If I pretended I was still standing in seawater, it was almost as if I was.”

  Lightning flashed again, and for one terrible moment, Abbey could see Dahlia’s face perfectly. She saw the hate in those eyes. She saw the glee in the woman’s face.

  Abbey had never felt such wind. Beside her, Fannar fell backward, bowled over by the force of it. She increased her weight, making herself harder to move.

  Elliot went down a moment later, then Hekla.

  Dahlia and Abbey were the only two left standing.

  Good, Abbey thought. It’s just me and her, the way it should be.

  A bolt of lightning crashed, striking the building to Abbey’s right.

  “You’ve been a thorn in my side long enough.” Dahlia’s voice cracked with the effort of speaking and stormcalling at the same time.

  Another lightning bolt struck, this one hitting the building to Abbey’s left. But the force of the wind lessened as Dahlia’s power was divided between the wind, the lightning, and speaking.

  Abbey took a step forward, struggling against the wind. Then another. Then a third.

  Dahlia chuckled. “Stupid girl. Doesn’t know when she’s beat.” With the hand not holding the staff, she drew a dagger from her belt.

  Keep talking, Abbey thought. That’s how I’m going to get you. She forced her left foot forward. Then her right. Then her left.

  “Good, come to the Queen of Storms.” Dahlia smiled as she raised her dagger.

  Hail began to fall all around Abbey, but she ignored it and concentrated on moving forward. With the sting of every piece of hail that struck her, she reminded herself that Dahlia diverting her power away from the wind was a good thing.

  Soon, she was close enough that Dahlia couldn’t call lightning or hail without risking injury herself. It was just Abbey, Dahlia, and the wind.

  One more step and Abbey would be within striking distance.

  Suddenly, the wind stopped. Abbey stumbling toward Dahlia, the force she’d been putting into fighting the wind carrying her forward.

  Dahlia lunged at her with the dagger, taking advantage of Abbey being off balance. It was a quick stab, and Abbey brought her sword up just in time to deflect the blow.

  The Storm Caller stabbed again, moving more quickly than Abbey would have expected. Dahlia was clearly well practiced with the blade. Abbey was still off balance. She managed to avoid the dagger, but just barely.

  Enough was enough. Abbey planted her back foot and steadied herself. When Dahlia struck for a third time, she was ready.

  She parried the dagger, knocking it from Dahlia’s hand. Then she raised her sword and swung hard, sinking her blade into the Storm Caller’s neck.

  Dahlia’s body hit the ground, and her head landed ten feet away.

  For a moment, all was silent. Abbey stared down at Dahlia’s corpse. This woman had brought so much pain into this world, but now she looked like any other dead person Abbey had ever seen.

  Fannar cleared his throat and spoke for the first time since consuming the seiderdrek. “All hail the Queen of fucking Storms.”

  Abbey looked up and realized he was talking about her.

  In the distance, she heard many voices.

  “They’re organizing,” Hekla said. “We need to get back to the ship.”

  Worry coursed through Abbey.

  Elliot gave voice to her concerns. “Sounds like there are a whole mess of Stone Shapers between us and them.”

  The lightning flashed again.

  Abbey nodded toward one of the buildings. “We need to find a way onto one of these roofs.”

  Elliot tilted his head. “Why the hell would we do that?”

  “Because I trust Dustin,” Abbey said. “And I need you to trust me.”

  * * *

  “This isn’t good,” Syd said. “We need to get back to the ship.”

  Dustin couldn’t disagree. The Stone Shapers were clearly over the shock of the storm magic now, and their attacks were becoming more organized. Benjamin, Olaf, Clemens, and the rest of the crew had done a good job holding them off so far, but how long would it be until the Stone Shapers pushed through? How long before they realized that all they had to do was destroy The Foggy Day?

  Syd put a hand on Dustin’s shoulder. “I hate to say it, man, but I’m going to anyway. We need to depart.”

  “Yeah.” Dustin knew Abbey would understand. Hell, she'd probably yell at him if they didn’t leave. That had been the plan, after all. If anyone could make it out of town on foot and meet them at the rendezvous, it was Abbey.

  “Glad we’re in agreement,” the captain told him. “Now I need you to call in the heaviest fog of your life, and we’ll load everyone back onto the ship and get the hell out of here.”

  Dustin nodded. “Viktor, I need you.”

  Syd was already organizing the crew and initiating the retreat to the ship’s boats. She worked quickly and efficiently, keeping back just enough people to hold off the Stone Shapers a bit longer.

  Viktor appeared with his three Barskall Storm Callers close behind him.

  “I need your power,” Dustin told him. “We’re calling in fog.”

  Viktor responded by putting his hand on Dustin’s shoulder. The others touched Viktor, creating a human chain of stormcalling power.

  Dustin took a deep breath and closed his eyes.

  Then he paused, because instead of concentrating on the power, he was suddenly thinking of Abbey. Of how she’d respond if Captain Syd or anyone else told her to leave him behind.

  She simply wouldn’t allow it, and he knew it.

  “Change of plan,” he said to Viktor and the other Storm Callers. “Follow my lead.”

  Dustin exhaled, then inhaled, drawing the power. As it always did when he stormcalled with the Barskall, the power initially made him dizzy. He quickly acclimated and began to shape it.

  “This isn’t fog,” Viktor remarked. “It’s something quite different. In fact, if fog is stillness, one could call this the—what’s the word?—opposite.”

  “I know,” Dustin replied.

  He was calling the wind. Calling it from the direction of the palace and drawing it toward himself. It blew hard, slamming into his face and body with a relentless fury.

  “Dustin, what are you doing?” Syd shouted over the gale, but he ignored it.

  He kept his half-open eyes on the sky and stormcalled as hard as he could.

  The Stone Shapers stumbled about in the wind, but they were still moving towar
d Dustin and the others. He couldn’t keep this up much longer.

  Then he saw them gliding over the buildings. Abbey led the way, holding the hands of Elliot and Hekla. Fannar held Hekla’s hand, and Gideon held Elliot’s.

  They soared through the air, riding his wind.

  As soon as he saw them, he slowly released his grip on the power, decreasing the force of the wind. Abbey must have increased her weight too, because she descended and touched down not ten feet in front of him. They landed hard, all five of them tumbling to the ground.

  Abbey leapt to her feet and marched toward Dustin. She raised an index finger. “That was really stupid. You should have left.”

  Dustin couldn’t hide his smile. “I know.”

  She grabbed him in a quick hug. “Thank you.”

  “Um, Dustin?” Syd’s eyes were on the Stone Shapers behind them in the streets. “Fog now?”

  “Fog now,” Dustin agreed.

  He closed his eyes, and a moment later a fog as thick as a wool sweater settled over Ammaas.

  The Storm Raiders grabbed each other’s hands and made their way to the ship’s boats that would take them back to The Foggy Day.

  Abbey leaned close to Dustin’s ear. “Dahlia’s dead. We won. Now let’s get the hell out of here.”

  Epilogue

  Elliot crouched in the crow’s nest of The Foggy Day listening to his crewmates talk below.

  “It was like the tale of Petur of Pon,” Hekla said. “We were flying through the air holding hands like a bunch of damned fairytale children.”

  “Sorry,” Olaf interrupted. “Who is Petur of Pon?”

  Hekla set down the line she’d been tying and put her hands on her hips. “You don’t know the story?” When he shook his head, she turned toward the other end of the deck. “Gideon! They tell the story of Petur of Pon in Gren?”

  The Stone Shaper’s blank expression was the only answer she needed.

  “Of all the uncultured... Never mind, I’ll tell it to you now.” She gave Olaf a serious look, as if she were about to convey important information. “Petur was a boy who’d been cursed by his wicked stepmother to never grow up. He recruited other children to join his fight against the evil Storm Raider Captain Huck.”

  “I think I know why they didn’t tell this story in Holdgate,” Olaf said. “How’s this like what happened with you and Abbey?”

  “Petur could fly. He’d sprinkle the dirt of his homeland on his tongue and float right into the sky. Before he rose he’d hold hands with the other kids, and after they were aloft he’d whisk them off to Pon. I can't believe you’ve never heard that.”

  “How’s it end?” Olaf asked.

  “Captain Huck gets locked in a barrel and drowns when it rolls off the ship. Petur gets devoured by a bear.”

  “Hang on. This is a children’s story?”

  Fannar chuckled as he walked by. “That’s a happy ending by Barskall standards. Don’t even ask about the Sleeping Snow Princess.”

  Elliot watched all this, a wide smile on his face. Each moment was bringing him closer to Holdgate. Closer to home.

  They’d stayed in Gren nearly a month after defeating Dahlia and Magnus. At first they’d hidden up north, far from Ammaas, but then the inland Stone Shapers had arrived, surprisingly ahead of schedule, and implemented immediate changes. The boulders were removed from the roads, allowing everyone access to the city. Riders had gone out to villages, proclaiming the old laws abolished and freeing the villagers to return to their ancestral homes on the coast.

  When the leaders of The Foggy Day were confident the inland Stone Shapers were serious about changing things in Gren, they’d decided it was time to go. Tomas and the council had provided them plenty of supplies for their return voyage in thanks, though they still refused to release Ragnar and his followers from their prison in Horg.

  The biggest surprise to Elliot was that Gideon had decided to go with them. The Stone Shaper said he felt too much guilt over the role he’d played in his brother’s regime to remain in Gren. Elliot suspected there might be another reason too. Once someone had a taste of life aboard The Foggy Day, it was difficult to turn away from it. Gideon was onboard for whatever adventure came next.

  The Tall Grass Raiders had all elected to leave Gren, though it had been a tough decision for some. They’d also visited the Barskall with children living in the south, but most of them had decided to stay where they were. Elliot understood—this place had been his home for a long time. But now he was going to his real home.

  He knew things wouldn’t be easy in Holdgate. From what he’d been told there was still a lot of work to be done there, but he’d have Syd at his side.

  And perhaps he’d have Abbey at his side too, if he ever worked up the courage to tell her how he felt about her.

  For now, he was content.

  * * *

  Otto tried in vain to catch his breath as he walked up the mountain path. He had a retinue of eight soldiers with him, not that it would be enough if the man he was meeting with decided to turn on him. They didn’t call him a warlord for nothing.

  It had taken three days to travel from Algon to this place deep in the mountains of Kaldfell. The trip hadn’t exactly been easy—he was much more comfortable in his council room then trekking along an ancient road into the mountains—but he’d made it. He could hear the Barskall warriors up ahead now, shouting, fighting, and drinking in their camp, never mind that it was just past noon.

  When Otto and his men reached the camp, the Barskall took him straight to the largest tent. He waited outside for only a minute before he was ushered inside.

  The man sitting in the large chair at the front of the tent wore no shirt, and a thin sheen of sweat covered his muscular torso. His gaze was filled with disdain as he stared at Otto.

  “I’m surprised you actually came,” the warlord said simply.

  Otto nodded, aware he was bobbing his head a little too quickly. “I’m glad you allowed me to come.”

  Tracking down the Barskall had been no easy task. They’d followed up on countless rumors and hints before finally finding one that had paid off. Otto had been working on it long before Benjamin and The Foggy Day had come to Algon, but their visit had given him even more reason to continue the search.

  Once he’d found the Barskall, it had been another struggle to convince them to listen to what he had to say. The first three envoys Algon sent simply hadn’t returned. The Barskall had finally agreed to meet with an Algon official and promised his safety.

  So here Otto was, meeting with Eril, warlord of the secret Barskall army.

  “Tell me,” Eril began, “what is this important matter you must discuss with us?”

  Otto took a step forward. “I believe your people and mine could be of great use to one another. We’re going to bring down the city of Holdgate, and we’d like you to help.”

  Eril squinted at the smaller man. “And what would we get in return?”

  “You’d get the city of Holdgate.” He smiled. “Whatever’s left when we’ve finished. It may be mostly ashes, but the city will be yours.”

  * * *

  Abbey dreamed the woman’s voice again. The one calling for help. This time she didn’t see rolling green mountains. Instead, she saw a symbol as the woman spoke.

  It was a skull that looked almost human, except for the teeth. A pair of bones crossed behind the skull. And behind that was the image of batwings.

  The symbol filled her entire field of vision, and she found she couldn’t look away from it.

  “Help us,” the voice said.

  “Help you? I don’t even know where you are. Why do you need help?”

  “Help us.”

  “I need more information. If you can’t—”

  “Later,” the voice promised. “For now, it is enough that you know we are in trouble. Will you help us?”

  The symbol grew in front of Abbey until the skull was larger than her whole body. “Yes. I will help you.”
<
br />   * * *

  After waking, Abbey went topside and found Syd and Dustin standing near the bow gazing out over the water. She sidled up beside them.

  “I’ve been meaning to ask you, Syd,” she said. “Now that Elliot’s back, are you going to grow your hair out?”

  Syd thought for a moment before answering, “You know, I just might do that.” She glanced at Abbey. “Though I’d certainly get a fancier hairstyle than yours. What are the noblewomen in Arcadia wearing these days?”

  “How the hell should I know?”

  “Are there even noblewomen left in Arcadia?” Dustin asked. “I thought they had a whole uprising thing.”

  Abbey shrugged. “We could always go check it out.”

  It was quiet for a long moment while the three of them stared at the water. Finally Syd spoke.

  “I’ve been looking for Elliot for a long time. I never made a lick of progress, not until you two showed up. Thank you, from the bottom of my heart.”

  “Wow, Syd,” Dustin said. “That was touching. And you don’t have to thank us. I would have done it just to see Gren, though I’m still a bit disappointed there were no giants.”

  Abbey touched Syd’s arm. “I’m just happy we could help. Bringing your brother home was an amazing experience.”

  A smile broke out on Dustin’s face. “Whatever. She just wants him to bone her.”

  Abbey slapped Dustin on the arm. “Shut up.”

  “Hey, I’m a Storm Caller,” he said with a laugh. “I don’t think you’re allowed to hit me.”

  Captain Syd chuckled. “Discipline is my area, and I think I’ll allow it.”

  Abbey’s face grew more serious. “Listen, I’m going to need you two to take me somewhere soon.”

  Syd raised an eyebrow. “Where?”

  “I don’t know. Not yet. There’s someone who needs our help.”

  “This level of specificity is what makes you a great leader, Abbey,” Dustin joked.