by JA Andrews
It snapped its attention to the window.
“Let it through!” Will yelled.
The dwarves and Sora paused, weapons raised. Sora stepped back and the goblin scuttled through the door, long, bony fingers grabbing the edge of a table as it scrambled over. It raced past, nails scraping on the stone floor, and clawed its way out the window.
Sora and the dwarves stepped back, leaving a clear path to the window. Goblin after goblin poured into the room, teeth and eyes glinting as they screeched and raced across the room.
Ilsa shrank back against the wall, and Will yanked at the knot holding the rope on the goblin in front of him, and threw himself over next to Ilsa. The creature thrashed itself loose and dove into the mass of goblins pouring out the window.
Chapter Fifty
Two final goblins straggled through the room and outside. Will followed them to the window.
Down below the goblins that had been clawing their way through the Roven camp turned back on themselves like a school of fish and drained back into the gaping warrens. Hoping Rass was smart enough to stay out of the goblins’ way, Will turned back to the room.
Killien groaned. Alaric had dragged him over against one of the walls, leaving a streak of blood across the floor. The last of a thin orange haze sank into the Torch’s body. Killien’s face had regained most of its color and he blinked slowly up at Alaric, scowling. Will came over and knelt next to him.
Killien reached a shaking hand toward Will. The moment Will touched the Torch’s hand, a burning anger smoldered up in Will. He slammed himself shut, but the anger continued. He dropped Killien’s hand and it faded.
A glint of blue caught his eye. The ring with the blue stones, the one Killien had taken from the traitor early in the trip north. The blue of the stone perfectly matched the aquamarine Will had just spent so long enthralled with. He reached out tentatively to touch it and the anger seeped back in.
Will twisted the ring off Killien’s fingers and threw it into the corner. Killien stretched his hand, and started to take a deep breath, but cut it short with a grimace.
“What was that?” Killien looked up at Will, confused. His gaze traveled through the room and horror spread across his face. “What have I done?”
“How’d you get that ring?” Will asked.
“Lukas gave it to me,” Killien said weakly. “Said it could hold magic and we should find a use for it.” He shook his head, as though trying to clear cobwebs, and winced.
“It certainly held magic,” Will said. “He turned the gems into compulsion stones to keep you angry. It looks like Lukas was against your plans to spread peace.”
“That doesn’t make sense.” Killien’s shook his head gingerly. “The stones wouldn’t work on me—no magic works on me."
“If Lukas just used it to store emotions it would,” Will answered. “He learned that emotions have their own resonance so once he created the anger in the ring, it wouldn’t take any magic to transfer it to a person. The natural resonance of the emotions would do it for him. You just had to be touching it.”
The Torch pressed his eyes shut. “The goblins…What have I done?” Killien breathed a long, defeated breath. He looked up at Will, stricken. “Ohan. I didn’t mean to kill him…I was just going to threaten him. I…” He ran his hand over his face. “I couldn’t hear anything inside of me but the anger.”
The aquamarine Will had held for so long swirled with a light blue light from the floor. “I believe you.”
Killien’s eyes sank closed. “What have I done? I’ve ruined everything. I can’t build peace on a murder and a goblin attack.”
Will set his hand on the Torch’s shoulder. “You have created a few more obstacles.”
Killien opened his eyes and noticed Alaric. “Who are you?”
“This is Alaric,” Will said. “Another bloodthirsty, evil Keeper.”
Killien grunted. “The one I should have captured.”
Alaric raised an eyebrow.
“Yes.” Will picked up the now dark stone that had held Ohan’s energy. “And the one who just saved your life. With this. Which feels…ironic.”
Killien drew away from the stone. “You healed me with…Ohan?”
“It wasn’t him anymore.” Alaric’s eyes glittered with an anger that surprised Will. “It was just the leftover energy that you didn’t waste during the murder.”
Killien stared at Alaric for a long moment. “So it’s safe to say the healing wasn’t a sign of friendship?”
“It was a sign of his friendship towards me,” Will said, “not you. Alaric just saw you fly on a dragon, command an army of goblins, and kill a man in a way he’s unusually sensitive to. You didn’t make a great first impression.”
Killien let his eyes slip closed again. “If you didn’t want to save me, why did you?”
“Will seemed to think it was important. And I trust his judgment of people.” Alaric pushed himself up to his feet, taking the empty stone and tucking it into his bag. “Even when I don’t understand what he sees.
“And I didn’t heal you, not completely. Your body won’t let me. While you were weak I could pour energy into you, but the stronger you grew, the less you would let me. You’re strong enough now that no magic is going to work on you. You’re not going to die, but you still have a lot of healing to do.”
Killien squinted up at Alaric. “Thank you.”
Alaric walked across the room toward Evangeline without responding.
“You Keepers are complicated.” He tilted his head and strained to look around the room. “Lukas?”
Will opened his mouth to answer, but couldn’t decide what to say.
“Your man, Lukas, stabbed everyone he could, stole your sword, then flew away on your dragon,” Douglon said, tossing some broken table pieces out of the way.
Killien grabbed for the strap that had held his scabbard on his back, but found nothing.
“How did he get the dragon?” Will asked. “I thought we took the compulsion stone off.”
Alaric shrugged. “Maybe he had a second one?”
“So Lukas was prepared to escape on the dragon all this time?” Killien asked.
Douglon let out a snort. “People don’t control dragons because they might need a quick escape. Dragons are for destruction. Who does Lukas hate?”
“Me,” Killien said, his voice heavy. He pushed himself up to sit. “Obviously.”
Douglon shook his head. “He already killed you. Who else?”
“Keepers,” Will answered.
Douglon leveled an annoyed look at him. “So if I stay with you Keepers, I’m going to see that dragon again?” He shook his head and stumped back over towards where Sora and Patlon were clearing debris from the doorway. “I need different friends.”
Killien shifted his shoulders, stretching his back. “I almost died, didn’t I?”
“I thought you were dead.” Will paused. “I couldn’t put that compulsion stone down. I’m sorry. I wanted to, but…”
“You don’t have to explain to me.” Killien turned to the window. “I didn’t think Lukas would…” He fell silent for a moment. “I trusted him.”
“Do you…” Will paused, wondering if it were even possible now that Lukas was gone. “Do you want to know why he did it?”
Killien’s attention snapped to Will. Interest warred with trepidation on his face, but he nodded hesitantly.
Will brought back the memory of Lukas’s emotions and let the echo of the feelings fill him again. They came back surprisingly easy, and he opened himself up toward Killien, pushing the feelings toward him.
The sharp slice of betrayal. Fury and terror bleeding out.
The fissure split open and the cold isolation flooded him. Betrayal clawed up from the deep, shadowing him with black isolation.
Killien’s breath tore out of him and he threw his hands over his face. Will closed himself off, letting the emotions fade until they were just a heart-breaking echo.
The ot
hers had cleared the broken tables away from the door. Alaric had found a stack of books and sat against the wall poring over them. Ilsa stood with her back to the wall, watching Killien and Will with a troubled expression.
“Ilsa.”
Will jumped at Killien’s voice, and Ilsa, after a short hesitation, came over to them.
“As far as I can tell,” the Torch said to her, “Will really is your brother. What he told me matches what Vahe said.”
“I know,” she said quietly.
Will’s heart clenched.
Her eyes flickered up to his face. “You were right about the doll. I had her until she fell apart.”
He opened his mouth to say something, but there was too much.
“Enjoy this,” Sora said from behind him. “It’s almost impossible to get Will to stop talking.”
Ilsa laughed a short, nervous laugh. Her face, smiling like that, was so much like it had been when she was tiny, he couldn’t breathe.
“What he’d like to say,” Sora continued, “is that he’s really happy to have found you. He’s been looking for you for a very long time.”
“Would you—” The words caught in Will’s throat and he swallowed before trying again. “Would you like to come home?” At the flicker of uncertainty in her face, he added, “To Queensland.”
“I believe your mother is still alive,” Killien added.
Ilsa’s gaze snapped to Will’s face, and he nodded.
“She’s always believed you’d come back.”
“I think,” said Ilsa, her voice wavering slightly, “I would like that.”
Will wanted to smile, but something too big pushed up from his chest.
After a moment’s silence, Sora stepped in front of him. “He’s not always this awkward.” She motioned toward the fireplace. “Let’s gather some supplies while Will gathers his wits. And if you have the ability to make him speechless this often, you and I are going to spend a lot of time together.”
“Speaking of going home,” Douglon said, peering through the broken door, “it’s probably time for us to do that. This is all very touching, but despite getting rid of goblins and a dragon, we’re still not—” He stiffened and raised his axe, before muttering and pulling the door open.
Hal stepped in, stopping to take in the room and eyeing everyone warily. “The goblins are gone,” he said to Killien, “but the Torches are getting restless. If you’re going to talk to them it had better be soon. I don’t know how long the freed slaves can keep them there, even if they are armed.” He glanced around. “And you’re going to lose any influence you had if you’re caught with…” He gestured at the room.
Killien nodded and gingerly stood up, rolling his back muscles and grimacing slightly. Hal’s face paled at the blood covering Killien’s shirt, but the Torch waved it off.
“There’s one more thing before we go,” Will said to Killien. “Lukas should have been raised as a Keeper. Sini and Rett should have been too.”
The Torch’s eyes narrowed. “No.”
The too-familiar frustration with Killien rose to the surface, and Will tried to keep his voice even. “What would have happened if the Panos had taken your son?”
Killien’s face hardened, but there was an edge of panic in his eyes.
“Would he have been raised as a slave in their clan? Never going back to his own family? Never learning who he was or what his life should have been?”
Killien shook his head stubbornly. “You’re not taking Sini and Rett. I have lost my book, my goblins, my dragon.”
“The dragon was not my fault,” Will protested.
“Really? Because it was firmly under my control.”
“Oh, the stone. That part was us.” Will glanced around at his companions. “You know, a few hours ago, I didn’t think we had a chance at any of this.”
Killien gave him a flat stare. “Yes, you’ve done very well.”
“Sini and Rett should have the chance to go home.”
“Rett won’t remember what that means,” Killien said, his face unreadable.
Will bit back the angry retort that came to mind and opened himself up the smallest bit to Killien. Grief blossomed in through the crack, faded and worn around the edges before he closed himself back off.
“Raina should have had the chance to go home, too,” Will said.
Killien flinched at her name. “I know you think it’s terrible that they’re slaves, but they’ve been treated like family.”
“Lukas thought he was family, that he was your equal. The truth that he wasn’t is what finally turned him against you.”
“I feel like they’re family. Or something close to it.” He looked up at Will. “What if they don’t want to go with you?”
Will’s chest tightened at the very real possibility. “Then they don’t. The whole point is that they get to choose.”
Killien studied him for a moment. “Hal, bring Sini and Rett here.”
“You don’t have time for this,” Hal objected.
“Hal.”
The huge man’s nostrils flared in annoyance, and he walked out of the room.
“If Sini and Rett leave,” Killien said, quietly enough that only Will heard, “the Morrow have lost everything.”
“You still have everything that was rightfully yours,” Will pointed out. “Now that Lukas isn’t making you angry, maybe you can salvage the old ideas you had for peace.”
“And what do I tell the Torches who just lost Roven to my goblin attack? Or the Panos Clan about Ohan. That my slave was controlling me?”
“I have no idea,” Will said, “but you wanted the balance of power shaken, and you’ve definitely achieved that. The Morrow aren’t the most powerful clan, but, in a rather belated fashion, you did choose peace over domination. And that’s an idea the Sweep needs to keep hearing. You’ve gotten the attention of the Sweep. Now use it to say all the things you’ve always wanted to say.”
“And if they don’t listen?”
“Some of them won’t. But some of them will, and it will be the start that you wanted.”
Hal returned quickly with the others. Sini’s eyes widened when she saw Will and Sora, and the sight of the dwarves made her step back against the towering form of Rett who set a protective hand on her shoulder. Alaric let the book sink into his lap, watching the two of them closely.
“Sini,” Killien said, strained, “we’ve become infested with Keepers.”
Sini’s eyes flashed to Alaric.
“You know,” the Torch started again, “if you’d stayed in Queensland…”
When he didn’t continue, Will finished it for him. “You would have come to the Keepers, and we would have tested you to see what talents you have. And then, if you wanted to, you could have joined us. And Rett too.” Will glanced at Killien. “Rett and Raina both would have come to us. And Lukas.”
Sini’s gaze darted around the room at Lukas's name. “He’s gone,” she said in a small voice. “Isn’t he?”
At Killien’s nod, she closed her eyes and let out a pained sigh. “How did he go?”
“On the dragon,” Will answered.
Sini’s shoulder drooped and she sagged back against Rett. “I’d hoped he wouldn’t.”
“You knew?” Killien asked.
“The moment you had the chance to control the dragon, he began talking about it.”
Killien’s jaw clenched. “Is he coming back?”
She shook her head. “He wanted to go somewhere safe, where he could learn and prepare.” Her eyes flicked toward Will and Alaric. “To attack Queensland.”
Will exchanged worried looks with Alaric.
“He took my sword.” Killien sounded bitter.
Sini shrank back even further against Rett again. “Your seax has some kind of power. You wouldn’t be able to tell, obviously, but we could feel…something in the blade. It has a…something.”
“That’s not very specific,” Killien said.
She shrugged. “I don�
��t know what it does. I only touched the blade once, but it made my finger tingle. Lukas doesn’t know what it does either. But he thinks it’s powerful.”
“If it was given to you by Flibbet the Peddler,” Will said, “that isn’t too surprising.”
He paused and spun his ring. “Sini, would you like to come back to Queensland with us?”
Sini stiffened.
“You haven’t been with the Morrow long. You can come with us, back home. To your family.”
Sini’s eyes locked onto his, a desperation rising in her making her look even younger. “Home?”
Will nodded, but a flicker of distrust crossed her face.
“I know you don’t trust Will yet,” Sora said, stepping forward. “But I’ll go with you too. I’ll make sure you get back to your family.”
She glanced toward Alaric, taking in the black cloak. “Will I have to join the Keepers?”
Will laughed. “No. Although you have no idea how happy we’d be if you decided to. We’ve been searching for you and Rett and Lukas for years, although we didn’t know who you were. And if you joined, we’d be especially thrilled. It’s been sixty years since the last female Keeper died.”
“In the past,” Alaric said from the floor, his fingers thrumming excitedly on a book, “female Keepers have manipulated energy in different ways than the men. I would love to know what you’re capable of.”
“I…” She looked around uncertainly. “I can’t do the kinds of things Lukas can.”
Killien looked at Will with a pointed expression. “Lukas stabbed Will in the shoulder.”
Sini’s gaze snapped to Will, interested.
“What does that have to do with anything?” Will demanded. “If we’re comparing, he stabbed you in the back.”
Sini’s attention flipped toward Killien with a worried look, but he waved her away. “The Keeper healed me.” A little smirk lifted the corner of his mouth. “Even if it took him a while.”
“A while?” Alaric said indignantly. “You were almost dead.”
Killien just laughed and motioned toward Will. Sini stepped closer, her eyes watching Will warily for a moment before she lifted her hands up near his shoulder. She set her palm on the bandage and Will tried not to wince at the jolt of pain that sliced into his arm.