The Gatekeeper Trilogy

by Scott Ferrell

  A guard stepped forward to take my escrima. I kept a grip on the one he grabbed and raised the other to strike him.

  “I wouldn’t get it in your mind to strike another of my men,” Daresh said, holding my strike. “It’s just bad form after a challenge has been issued and accepted. I’d be forced to retaliate in kind.” He nodded toward Aoife with a poleaxe posed at her back.

  I clenched my teeth and released both sticks.

  30

  THE DUEL

  I stood on the plains outside the city, staring up at the top of the city walls, shading my eyes from the bright sun overhead. The wall was lined with Daresh’s soldiers as well as Aoife, Seanna, and the others. Daresh had insisted they witnessed what was about to happen.

  Aoife didn’t look good. They must have hit her in the head hard enough to keep her from using her abilities on them. She looked dazed and had trouble focusing on one thing for very long.

  “Shall we get this little exercise over with?” Daresh asked.

  I turned toward him standing twenty paces away and hefted the sword he had given me. It felt solid in my grip, but what did I know? I had never even held a sword before. The sharp blade was about a meter long with a leather-wrapped hilt and a short, brass guard.

  Daresh widened his stance and held his sword’s point toward me. “Do try to not impale yourself on that thing before I’ve had at least a little fun, won’t you?”

  Of all the stupid things I’ve gotten myself into, this was the worst. I had no idea what Daresh’s skill level was with the weapon, but it had to be better than mine. My death was waiting for me at the end of that sword. For what? What would this farce accomplish? If he won, I was dead and my friends would soon follow. If I won—and that was a mighty big if—then what? Would his men throw down their weapons after their leader’s defeat? Would they kill us all out of revenge?

  I didn’t think I’d be able to find out which. As I watched the man swish and twirl his sword, I figured the latter outcome was the most likely to happen.

  I glanced toward the top of the wall again, seeking some kind of help and trying to ignore how much my hand shook. I met Seanna’s eyes. They were wide with fear and filling with tears. Find a way out of this, I said in my mind, hoping the message would in some way be reflected in my face.

  Brande stood with her face set into hard lines like she knew this was the inevitable conclusion to the Underground. Isaak stared out over the plains, though I couldn’t tell if he looked at the incoming army, still a couple hours away, or if he saw nothing at all. Joost’s eyes were red rimmed, but dry.

  Then there was Aoife. She leaned heavily against the wall. She had always been pale, though her year on Alisundi had tanned her. Now she was pale again like she would throw up at any moment. Not a good sign for somebody with a head injury.

  Find a way out of this, I said in my mind. I injected feeling into the thoughts, hoping Aoife would catch my sentiment even in her state. Survive.

  She gave no indication she understood, though. She just swayed precariously on the spot.

  I sighed and turned back to Daresh. Time. That’s all I had to accomplish here. If I could drag this out, I might be able to prevent the man from acting on his threat to the others before Lortmore’s army showed up. Then maybe in the confusion of battle, the others might be able to escape somehow. If they could just get to their tunnel, they could take Awar and flee with Jae and Minotaur. I wondered if Seanna’s clan would take them in.

  “Normally we have some kind of formal beginning to these things,” Daresh said, “but we don’t have anybody down here to do that, so...”

  He crossed the space between us with lightning speed. I barely had time to bring my sword up to deflect his overhand blow. Metal clashed against metal sending painful vibrations shooting up my arm. He was faster and stronger than I could have imagined.

  “See!” He beamed. “This is going to be fun.” He circled around just outside the range of my sword. He pointed his blade at those gathered on the wall. “Lessons can be learned here. Pay attention and learn of those who defy me.”

  He struck again, purposely hitting my sword. The flat of the blade flew back and smacked me painfully in the arm. I staggered back, trying to get out of his striking range—though he could close the distance at an incredible speed.

  “So, Gatekeeper,” he said, reversing his circle like a predator playing with its prey, “where is this power they told me about? My men say you can move things with your mind. Your extra Gatekeeper ability I’m guessing.”

  He feigned a stroke. I flinched and he laughed.

  “You didn’t open another gateway, did you? Don’t tell me you came here with nothing but an Ashling and some fancy new tattoos.”

  That was exactly what I came here with. Elder Narit’s tattoos had done something to me. I felt it when I fought my way to the top of the wall. It seemed like it didn’t really matter, though. With all the extra speed and strength, Daresh was still stronger and faster. More skilled with the sword, too.

  “If you plan on killing me with that thing,” I said, nodding at his weapon, “I suggest you hurry up before you bore me to death with your endless yapping.”

  The man’s smile faded just a miniscule amount. “You always were full of brash comments fueled by stupidity.”

  “Yeah, well,” I said, “your mustache is stupid.”

  I came at him with a wild, sweeping strike, hoping to catch him off guard. He was too fast, though. He swept my blade away with his. He brought his sword slicing under my arms with his back stroke.

  Pain bloomed across my abdomen. It didn’t dawn on me why until I saw a line of blood along the edge of his blade. I glanced down to find my shirt sliced open horizontally and blood leaking down my stomach. When I looked back to him, he smiled and I knew he had pulled the swing. He could have spilt my guts on the dusty plains and ended the duel but didn’t. He truly wanted to toy with me.

  I resisted the urge to put a hand on the slash. Not only did I fear making it worse, I also didn’t want to show any signs of weakness.

  Daresh strolled in a circle around me, his sword casually at his side. “You know, you’ve caused me a lot of trouble.” He thought for a moment before looking me up and down. “Or, maybe the Getharey are just an incompetent lot. I don’t see how you could possible stand a chance against somebody who knows what they’re doing.”

  “I slipped out of your grasp,” I said with as much growl as I could muster.

  “Yeah.” He drew out the word, glancing at the crowd on the walls. “Who knew Ashlings could be so underhanded in their dealings?”

  Sure, Seanna had tricked me into coming here and handed me over to him, but in the end, she had betrayed him to help Aoife and I escape. She had technically double-cross him. I didn’t point out the fact that he had done the same to her when he sent the assassins to kill the Mother Tree after she did what he demanded.

  “I dare say you won’t have such luck again,” he said.

  “I-”

  He came at me again, unleashing a torrent of slashes. I flailed my blade around to block them. Every blow sent pain shooting up my arm until he landed a slice across my arm. I cried out and stumbled back to get out of his range. He let me.

  “Killing you won’t help achieve my goals, but it will be quite a bit of fun. So, that will be a small consolation at least.”

  I tried to stay away from him, though I knew he could be on me in an instant if he wanted. I needed time to think. I needed to be able to figure out how to stall him. He was going to kill me, of that I had no doubt, but the more time I bought, the closer the army came.

  “Why Earth?” I asked, trying to ignore the blood running down my arm and making my grip on the hilt slick.

  “Hm?” he hummed.

  “What’s so special about it? It’s not for the magic, otherwise you wouldn’t have sent the Getharey.”

  Something passed over the man’s face. A slight tightening of big features. A flash of som
ething in his cold eyes. I was on to something. I pressed further.

  “What could you possibly want with a husk of a world drained dry?” I said. “Why align with the Getharey only to be able to pick over what was left after them?”

  “Are you stalling me?” he asked, his smile a little more forced.

  “I was just wondering,” I slid a little further away from him. “Yannick was pretty clear you are his lackey whose only worth was giving them a means to get to Earth.”

  A barely perceptible clenching of his jaw. “He may have believed that, but that creature’s never-ending thirst for magic played right into my hands. For me to successfully return, I needed magic wiped from Earth again.”

  “Return?”

  “As is my right.” He hissed each word individually, his whole demeanor changing in an instant. He clutched the sword tighter. “Too long I’ve been denied my return by your people!”

  “My people?”

  “The Gatekeepers! Who are they to decide who can move between worlds?”

  “That’s kinda their job,” I said.

  He swung a quick slash at me. I blocked it, but nearly dropped my sword in the process.

  “You are only the beginning,” he said. “I will slice open every last one of them if that’s what it takes for me to get back to Earth.”

  “What is so special about it?” I asked, shuffling a few steps away from him, but running out of room. I was stuck between him and the city wall. I hadn’t even realized he was maneuvering me into that situation. I got the feeling the toying was about to come to a swift end. I had to keep him talking. “It’s just another world.”

  “It’s my world!” he said. In my few encounters with him, he was always calm and in control, but his composure was crumbling. “My people were set to inherit the world. It’s my duty to see it through.”

  “Your people?” I asked.

  “My people!” He waved the tip of his sword at the soldiers on the wall. “So far above this riff raff. You see what I’ve had to stoop to?”

  “You’re starting to ramb—”

  My statement devolved into a grunt as he came at me with another strike. He easily knocked my sword to the side and slammed his fist—aided by the very sturdy hilt—into my face. My head snapped back and before I could recover, he lifted a knee to my gut. My breath exploded from my body and I dropped to my knees, trying to get my lungs to work.

  “Don’t talk to me!” he hissed. “You are not worthy.”

  My breath came back in a wheeze and I spit bloody saliva onto the dusty ground. Blood dripped as I hunched over, pouring from a split lip and my nose. Little stars burst in front of my eyes.

  “We were a mighty people,” Daresh said. All I could see of him was his black boots and the point of his sword hanging at his side as he towered over me. “Intelligent beyond measure and strong. Your people had to destroy what we built.”

  He side-stepped to position himself to plant a swift kick into my side. I let out a grunt as I rolled over and curled in on myself. I had kept a hold of my sword until that point, but he stepped on my hand. He put gradual pressure on my fingers until I cried out and yanked them out from under the boot, leaving the sword behind. He kicked it away.

  “You’re just the beginning,” he said. “Once I make it back to Earth, I’ll raise my people again and we’ll hunt every last one of you abominations down and you’ll pay for what you did to us.”

  “I didn’t do anything to you,” I wheezed. I sniffed, spit, and tried to find the strength to push myself up. All I managed was to slide away from him a foot or so.

  “No, but it was your kind. Once I take my proper place on the Throne of Earth, I’ll make sure you don’t destroy entire civilizations like your ancestors did.”

  I propped myself into a sitting position and looked out over the plains. It took a moment for my blurry eyes to focus. The cloud of dust was definitely growing like a skyscraper rising toward the clouds. Just keep him talking . “I don’t know what happened to your people, but I didn’t do anything. I’m only fifteen.”

  He stepped closer and leaned over me. “You didn’t, but your kind are all the same. Arrogant, self-righteous, self-appointed gods.”

  “You don’t know anything about me, dude.”

  “I know everything about you!” he yelled in my face. “I used to be one of you!”

  31

  DEATH AT THE GATES OF DELICIA

  I blinked up at the man, my hazy mind having troubles working out what Daresh had just said.

  “That’s right,” he hissed. “I used to be a Gatekeeper. So full of myself just like you. So ignorant.”

  My head swam and I felt nauseous. I couldn’t be sure if it was the kick to the gut or from swallowing a fair amount of blood. “I don’t know…” I started, but I wasn’t sure what I didn’t know.

  “We were on the cusp,” Daresh said. “World domination was in our grasp. I thought I was the key to tipping us over the edge. We were a great people but limited in number. We didn’t breed like you rabbits.”

  “Gaige!” somebody from atop the wall said.

  I wasn’t sure who. I redirected all my concentration to standing. Before I could fully set my feet, however, Daresh planted a fist on the side of my head. I flopped back to the ground.

  “I thought I was the one to lead my people to glory,” he said like he hadn’t nearly knocked me out. “We just needed a proper army. All I needed to do was obtain one. I did! Right here on Alisundi. So full of hate and war, they were willing to fight for nothing but the fight.

  “So, I just had to get them back to Earth. I could do it, too. I just had to open the gateway wide enough to allow them through.” He snorted, though it almost sounded like a sob. He dropped his voice to a hesitant whisper. “I was lied to. Your kind tricked me. Made me believe I could open the gateway as wide as I needed. Oh, I could. I ripped it open like a yawning maw.”

  His boot slashed out with blinding speed, connecting on my jaw. I head snapped back again and I flopped to the dust. Darkness clouded the edges of my vision but held back.

  “You know what it did?” Daresh demanded. “It sucked our entire city in piece by piece until it collapsed in on itself, tearing every building down and sinking it to the bottom of the ocean while the gateway simply closed, trapping me on the gods-forsaken world.”

  His voice went in and out. For a few words, it was like somebody had turned the volume up to eleven and then it’d fade to a muffle. He swung his foot back and brought it forward. I rolled to absorb the kick with my shoulder rather than take it to my torso again.

  “But we will rise again!” Daresh said. “With me on the throne, Atlantis will rise again!”

  “Gaige, get up.”

  That voice from the wall again. It was feminine, but I couldn’t tell if it was Aoife or Seanna. Maybe even Brande. Who knew? I had more pressing things to worry about.

  “Atlantis?” I asked, glancing towards the east and the rising dust cloud. “The Atlantis?”

  “We could have ruled the world,” he said, his voice distant. “We still can. I just have to return to my people to lead them—show them the way.”

  “They’re dead,” I grunted. “All of them. Atlantis is gone. Faded to an unbelieved myth.” I propped myself on an elbow, clutching my shoulder. “Your people have been gone for thousands of years.”

  He turned eyes filled with hatred toward me. “Lies. My mistake was only a setback. Atlantis will rise again and you won’t be alive to see it.” He raised his sword over his head.

  I thought I should feel something like terror. I didn’t. I couldn’t say exactly what I felt. Nothing, maybe. I was about to die and I accepted it. I felt nothing but a few distant pains in my jaw, stomach, and shoulder.

  I also felt an itch on my wrist. I glanced at the tattoo. The one like my mom’s. I hoped I did her proud as two former Gatekeepers. I hoped I had stalled enough—bought the others enough time to survive before the Balataurs arrived. As I stared
at the tattoo and the shadow of Daresh’s raised arm below it, I hoped…I hoped.

  I brought my eyes to the top of the wall. Aoife looked at me, her eyes no longer groggy, though she hung her head to hide the fact that her mind had cleared.

  She smiled. I smiled back as Daresh brought his arm down for the killing stroke. I disappeared.

  ***

  I stood behind Daresh. He bent over, his sword tip stuck in the ground.

  “What the hell?” I muttered.

  The man whirled around to face me, his eyes bigger than plates. “How did you do that?”

  “I have no idea,” I said truthfully.

  He snarled, twisting his face into something ugly and unforgiving, and charged. He slashed the blade forward, but I wasn’t there. In an instant, I stood three yards to the right of where I had been.

  Daresh swung about wildly until he found me. His eyes flicked from me to my wrist. “No, it can’t be.”

  “Can’t be what?” I asked in genuine confusion.

  He marched forward but kept the sword at his side. He grabbed my wrist and twisted it up to expose the tattoo. “You figured it out—how to get the Gatekeeper abilities back?”

  “I don’t know.” I yanked my hand away, wincing as the motion pulled on the slash across my abdomen. “I don’t even know what I’m doing.”

  “Tell me how you did it!” he roared, grabbing my arm again and lifting his sword.

  I winked out of his grasp and reappeared next to my sword lying in the dust. I bent to retrieve it, ignoring all the pangs of pain. I didn’t know how I was jumping from spot to spot, but it seemed things were turning around. Daresh was no longer the cold, calculating man he was just moments ago. He was completely losing his cool. Maybe that would give me some kind of advantage.

  Daresh spun to face me again, his face turning all shades of red and purple. “You will tell me or…or, I’ll slice that girl to little pieces bit by bit while you watch!” He pointed directly at Aoife.