Wind-Scarred (The Will of the Elements, Book 1)

by Sky Corbelli

  Chapter 60

  The Road Goes Ever On

  “And she just let you leave?” Mat asked incredulously as he scanned a set of consoles in front of him. “No passionate good-bye kiss or anything?”

  Ezra smiled wryly at Mat. “If she'd tried it, I'm pretty sure I would have died from the shock.”

  “Wasted opportunity there, man,” Mat shook his head. “Blight and thunder, I can't believe the Chancellor was in on it the whole time. And there I was, just giving him what he needed to know. He deserves that strucking Besmirched princess he's in bed with.” He paused for a moment and the corners of his mouth ticked up. “Well, you know, if she was ugly.”

  A soft noise sounded from outside the room they had appropriated, and Ezra whirled toward the door, leveling a gun on it. The footsteps passed by and he relaxed a little. “How much longer, Mat?”

  “It's not like circumventing hospital data security is my specialty, Ezra,” he scowled. “It'll be done when it's done.”

  Ezra nodded, checking his wormhole device again. “I just hate to think about what kind of twisted experiments they could be performing on Sarah. We practically handed the Chancellor a captive wind-scarred, and he's not going to pass up something like that just because she only got that way by fighting against Wind himself as best she could.”

  “I know, I know. I just... got it! Room five seventeen, the coordinates should be... there! You get that?”

  Ezra punched in the coordinates for the hospital room. Just as he was about to engage the wormhole, the door slid open. Mat and Ezra responded immediately, guns coming to bear on the intruder with trained precision. Mr. Blair stepped into the room, seemingly unconcerned. The door whisked closed behind him. “Mr. Hawkins, Mr. Matanane,” he said severely. “Explain yourselves at once.”

  Ezra glanced at Mat, who nodded to him. “Well, sir, we came across some... rather interesting information in our last field mission, from which we have just returned.”

  “Yes, yes,” Mr. Blair motioned irritably. “I've already read Mr. Matanane's mission report. I imagine you've found the answer to your question about where the elementalists come from, Mr. Hawkins. What I am wondering, gentlemen, is what you are doing right now in one of my away team staging areas armed to the teeth and hacking your way through Sanctuary hospital security.”

  Ezra swallowed at the lump in his throat. “Sir, it's... the Chancellor. He came to my interrogation room.” Mr. Blair's eyes narrowed in suspicion. “He has all of the information about the last mission. Sir, he's the one who has been supplying the Besmirched with weapons. He plans to use the thunder-struck attack on the space station to end life outside Sanctuary, then leave the planet behind. We have to stop him, sir. And we have to stop the Children of Lightning too.” He looked at Mr. Blair defiantly. “I don't think that you're with him, sir, but I can't let you stop us. They have Sarah, and we're getting her out.”

  Mr. Blair crossed his arms and drummed his fingers for a handful of seconds. “Well, I always knew that this was a possibility. The Chancellor has long pressed for a stronger field presence, and less regulation on the use of extreme force. The Millennial Legacy project was his idea, you know. A step toward space expansion that was,” he glanced apologetically toward Ezra and cleared his throat, “prematurely terminated. All right then agents, if it wouldn't be too much trouble, please, tell me your plan. Will you try to assassinate the Chancellor himself, then launch a campaign of destruction against the strong points of the Children of Lightning?”

  “Uh...” Mat shuffled his feet sheepishly. “We... hadn't thought quite that far ahead yet, sir.”

  Mr. Blair smiled slightly. “If you wouldn't mind, I do have a few thoughts on a suitable course of action for an event such as this. It's important to note that this problem is a bit larger than the Guild of Sundry is equipped to deal with. Your first steps should be securing outside help. You will at the very least need to gather a talented group of wind-scarred and fire-kissed to mitigate any potential damages should the worst case scenario come to pass. I am not personally acquainted with Miss Valerie Estavon, however judging from your report, you may wish to approach the Beloved on the fire-kissed front.” He pulled up a net interface and typed in a few commands. “They are based in the city of Blessing. We've never had a chance to get very close, so proceed with the utmost caution. Go to the city of Eastpoint and make contact with a group called The Eye, they may be able to supply you with the wind-scarred you will need. Tell them that I sent you, and try to keep an open mind. They are not exactly the most... reputable group of individuals. After that, you'll just have to play it by ear.”

  Mr. Blair opened a new screen and frowned at it slightly. “I've taken the liberty of preparing a long-range skiff for your travel needs. With consideration to the usefulness that your controller displayed, Mr. Hawkins, I've supplied several over-sized power generators, along with solar, wind and hydroelectric recharging capacities. It will be waiting, unguarded, in the hangar bay. And for the love of all things holy and some that are not, do not return to Sanctuary until this situation has resolved itself. I cannot protect you from the Chancellor within this city.” He came to attention, and saluted sharply. “Good hunting, Agent Matanane, Agent Hawkins. Give my regards to Agent Hughes.” With that, he turned and left the room.

  “Well...” Ezra stared at the closed door for several seconds. “That was... entirely more helpful than I expected.”

  “I wish more people would surprise us like that,” Mat agreed. His eyes flitted to his private time display. “We should get moving. The sooner we get Sarah out, the better.”

  “Right,” Ezra connected the wormhole, and the sudden antiseptic scent of the hospital filled his nose.

  Mat's mouth quirked. “Smells kinda like home,” he said wistfully.

  Sarah was a mess. The blood had been cleaned up, and she was dressed in a hospital gown, but every inch of exposed skin was still a hideous pattern of rent flesh, whorls of red cutting through her fair complexion. Mat checked the various displays monitoring her health, then nodded. “Nothing wrong with her, other than... you know. She's not on any kind of life-support, just a mild sedative to help with the pain and keep her sleeping. I should be able to...” He fiddled with a display, then pulled out a small syringe. With practiced movements, he gave her the injection and disposed of the used needle.

  Sarah's eyes fluttered open a few seconds later, and Ezra clamped a hand down on over her mouth. She grimaced in pain and shot him a hateful glare, then tapped his hand lightly. “Sorry,” Ezra whispered, drawing his hand away.

  She punched him in the arm and winced as her hand struck. “Where are we?” she asked, then glanced down at her arms and froze in horror. “Oh god,” she breathed. “Am I... I'm one of them now, aren't I?”

  “Sarah?” Mat caught her eyes, which were beginning to well up with tears. “I need you to listen me, this is important.” He quickly explained about the Chancellor, the guns and the space station, and Mr. Blair's assignment for their team. Ezra listened at the door for anyone approaching. “We're not leaving you here Sarah. You're coming with us, one way or another. We're a team.”

  Sarah cursed as a stray tear fell, salty water hitting one of her cuts. She blinked her eyes clear and nodded to Mat, who quickly began modifying the consoles around her. “I think I can give us a little time, if I can loop the data from your vitals for the last few hours and then we–”

  “Shh,” Ezra hissed. “Someone's coming!”

  From the hallway outside, Ezra heard a pair of footsteps approaching. “I just don't understand it, Mr. Chancellor.” A doctor's voice was muffled by the door. “It's almost like there's something flowing through the cuts that's keeping us from healing them properly. I'm afraid that the girl is going to have some fairly serious scarring over her entire body.”

  “Well,” the Chancellor's kind, grandfatherly voice intoned, “I know you're doing the very best you can. I'll have my private physicians take over the po
or girl's care. You just leave everything to me.”

  Ezra's eyes widened as he searched for the door's locking mechanism. He hit it, and immediately turned his attention to the wormhole controller, scanning the Guild of Sundry area for the deepest and furthest port – the one that should be the hangar bay. “No time,” he muttered to Mat and Sarah. “The Chancellor is right outside the door.”

  “That's odd...” The doctor's voice trailed off. “This door shouldn't be locked. Hold on, let me pull up the access code.”

  A shuffling noise came through the closed door, followed by a heavy pounding. “Ezra Hawkins.” The Chancellor's voice was stern. “I know you're in there. Just come out now and I promise, no harm will come to you or your friends.”

  Ezra ignored him. The wormhole engaged and the trio left the hospital, the Chancellor, and Sanctuary behind.

  About the Author

  That Wasn't an Ending, You Jerk

  Sky Luke Corbelli is probably a bad person. I mean, seriously, did you see how he ended the book? What a jerk.

  He lives in sunny California with his beautiful wife, writing code, playing chess, reading, swimming, and generally wasting time whenever possible. He grew up at the San Francisco Zoo, where he tried to set some kind of record for being bitten, scratched, constricted, quilled, footed, or otherwise assaulted by more animals than most people could shake a stick at. Sometimes he climbs mountains. More often he plays video games.

  Oh, and he would also like to thank you for taking a chance on an indie author. He knows there's lots of stuff to read out there and is honestly thrilled that you decided to read what he wrote. He sincerely hopes that you enjoyed the beginning of his little story and looks forward to sharing the rest with you. You should be able to find it wherever ebooks are sold. You know, if you're into that kind of thing...

  You can find whatever else might be going through his head at his website (www.skylukecorbelli.blogspot.com). Sometimes he even updates it! Feel free to stop by and tell him what you thought about the book, he'd love to hear from you.

  Last, but not least, turn the page to get a look at The Will of the Elements, Book 2: Water-Seer.

  Burning to Please

  “I'm tired of going over this,” Valerie Estavon rolled her eyes and tossed her idly curling hair in irritation. “There was barely enough time after the attack for anyone to reach the door, much less escape. So I'm going to ask you again; who tried to kill me and where did they go?”

  Stephen cringed. It was going to be one of those days. “I swear to the Mother and all the Elements, I've told you everything I know!” His voice cracked in fear. “There were three of them. They knocked me out. When I woke up, they asked me some questions about the fire. That's all I remember, you have to believe me!”

  He cast a desperate look at the gorgeous fire-kissed, leader of the Besmirched, a woman with power beyond his understanding, and winced. She was toying with one of the knives that Velor had set out. That was never a good sign. He tried to gulp down his perfectly rational fear and bulled ahead. “I-it's just like I said. I hadn't recovered from being kicked in the head, and I didn't see everything clearly, b-but the three of them just huddled together and then they were gone.”

  “Stephen, honestly,” Val chided him, the flickering light from the torches playing shadow games across her fair features. “The story about a door in the air? Again?” She shook her head, pursing her perfect lips. With a sigh, Val glanced up at the early morning light that shone in through a window high on the wall. Stephen felt the delicate brush her power as the torches dimmed, letting in more natural light. From outside, the clanks and whirs of the city of Eastpoint waking up to a new day began to fill the air.

  Stephen's eyes darted around the room. No no no, the shadows are all wrong. Panic fluttered in his stomach as he carefully tried to judge the time by the light from outside, from the way it hit the rough stone walls of the little room. I need more time, then maybe it won't last quite as long. He shook his head against the thought, casting a mournful glance at the restraints around his wrists. If I can't keep her attention, she's going to–

  “I'm very disappointed in you, Stephen. A month and a half in my care, and still we have nothing to show for it.” Val made a disapproving sound as she played with the gleaming knife. “After what you did back in Helena, I really expected so much more.” She held out the wicked little blade, sighing again.

  A man stepped out from the shadows, taking the knife with a small bow, his cadaverous face stretching into a smile. Velor, Stephen thought, trying to inch away from him. The man caressed the dagger, long, spindly fingers tracing the length of the blade as he waited patiently for the inevitable.

  “No, wait!” Stephen cried out, forcing himself to look away from the man. I have to pretend like he isn't there, he thought desperately, wracking his brain for something to keep Val's attention. As long as she's interested, she won't let him– No! Don't remember that! Can't remember... “I-I've just remembered! They, um, they were upset about something. Yes! Something that they saw when they were watching your procession. And... and the dark one, he called the girl... Susan, no, Sally... Sarah!”

  He licked his lips, eyes darting to the tray of meticulously arranged tools. Don't think about those. He looked up into Val's golden eyes, pleading. I just need to keep her talking, his mind raced for something to say. Sooner or later, she'll leave, and the longer she talks, the less time she has for me. “H-he wanted the girl to see something. And... and, I don't know, I remember something about a sanctuary or weapons–”

  “Velor, I'm afraid that's all we'll get out of him today.” Val shook her head sadly, cutting him off. Stephen's face paled as he tried to think of something, anything that would keep her attention. “I just don't know what to do with you, Stephen. I've tried everything.” She took a dainty step around the table and gently caressed his face.

  “P-please,” he whimpered, staring into her eyes. “I don't know what you want from me.”

  “Just the truth, dear one,” the elementalist cooed, brushing a stray lock of hair back from his face. “I want know what you saw, and I want to know why you're holding back.” She smiled winsomely at him, then continued, in exactly the same tone of voice. “Velor, please start with something hot. Maybe if we give him a bit to build on, he'll show us something new.”

  “No no no, please,” Stephen struggled against the bonds on his arms and legs as Val backed away, an apologetic smile on her lips. He watched in horror as the knife began glowing a dull, sullen orange in Velor's hand. In desperation, he called to the heat in the room, tried to fight back, to get free, anything. Val's will clamped down on his attempt like a vise, stopping him cold.

  “Yes, that's good,” Val encouraged him. “Just show me a glimmer of the power that burned out that little valley, and I promise that I'll take you back to my bed, just like when we started.” She glanced at the window again and pouted fetchingly. “No gag today, Velor. It's so nice outside.” Valerie Estavon sighed, eyes returning to Stephen. “I want everyone to hear his lovely voice.”