The Gatekeeper Trilogy

by Scott Ferrell

  “We have to do something,” Aoife insisted.

  “But what? The odds aren’t great.”

  “They’re near impossible.”

  I peeked over the wall at the approaching army. “Can you do what you did to the Getharey and these wimps?” I nodded the city guards.

  She shook her head. “They’re resistant to my abilities somehow. I think I first used it to project when that smelly behemoth kidnapped me. Didn’t faze it in any way.”

  A dragon shot into the air a few blocks away. It turned a graceful arc and dived back into the city. Another explosive sound clap rocked a building. The stucco structure shivered and collapsed on its side.

  “We have to do something,” Aoife said again, her eyes big as she watched the destruction.

  “I—ahh!” I screamed as I caught movement out of the corner of my eye. A metal dragon flew straight at the wall, its large maw open and red light built inside its throat. I didn’t think about what I was doing. I wrapped my arms around Aoife and shifted. In a blink of an eye we stood on the ground just as the wall above us exploded. Rock and soldiers who didn’t get off in time flew through the air. We were showered by debris, luckily none of it big enough to do more than sting and bruise.

  We watched as the thing disappeared over the surrounding buildings.

  “I have to get up there,” I said. “Maybe if I time it right I can shift onto one of them.”

  “And do what?” she said as we pushed against the city wall, trying to ignore the litter of bodies around us.

  “I don’t know.” I shook my head in frustration. I had taken one of the things down before, but that was with the use of my telekinesis. I didn’t have that ability anymore and besides, it nearly killed me.

  “There’s got to be another way,” Aoife breathed. “You’re no Minotaur.”

  I nodded, conceding that fact. Our massive friend had taken down one of the dragons with nothing but a dagger and brute strength, but even he wouldn’t be a match against the number of the things raining destruction on Delicia.

  Speaking of Minotaur, the great beast appeared from a building a few blocks away. He trotted toward us, Seanna in tow.

  “This does not look good,” he rumbled when he reached us.

  “You think?” I asked.

  “Yes,” he said, missing the sarcasm.

  “Still willing to stay here?” Seanna asked, eyes roaming over the dead soldiers.

  Tucking my tail and running seemed like a good option. I had achieved my one and only goal in coming back to this horrible planet. Aoife stood right beside me and after my reflexive action in porting us from the wall, I knew I had the means to get her out of there. I could probably even get Minotaur and Seanna out, too. I knew the Ashling wanted nothing to do with this fight, but what of Minotaur? Was fighting thousands of Balataurs and flying metal dragons the revenge he was looking for?

  It didn’t matter. They could stay or leave. What mattered was getting Aoife out and back to the gateway. Would she go, though? I turned to look at her. She had her jaw set in a hard line and her hazel eyes were as hard as stone. No, she wouldn’t.

  I turned to Seanna. “These people didn’t ask for this. Daresh brought this on them. If there’s something we can do to help, we need to do it.”

  She nodded as if she knew the answer already.

  “What do we do?” Minotaur asked, his large fingers clenching tighter on his axe handle. The muscles beneath his fur twitched with anticipation.

  I dropped my eyes and stared at the dusty road, waiting for somebody to come up with a plan. When nobody said anything, I brought my head up to find them all looking at me. It took a long moment for me to realize they expected me to have the answers.

  It would have been easy to just say I had no idea what to do. In fact, the words were on my tongue before I bit them back as something stirred in me. I wanted to figure it out. I wanted to be the one to act.

  In all my short sixteen years, I had always been told what to do. Even during football games when I commanded the offense as their quarterback, I had to follow the plays called by the coaches. Still, there were moments in games when I knew a play wasn’t going to work. It was then I’d act instead of react. In a flash, I’d assess what was going on around me and adjust.

  It was times like that when I actually felt like the things I did mattered. Whether my on-the-fly adjustments worked or not, I felt like I had done something beyond just reacting. I took control of the situation and tried to bend it to my will.

  The demons inside me didn’t like this line of thinking. They raised doubt before me, forcing me to think of all my past failures and it hit me. Was this what Elder Narit spoke of the first time I came here? These demons inside me, were they what kept me from living my life?

  Well, if they were, I was tired of it. I had to take control of my life. It wasn’t about looking for my place in my world or this one. It was about making my place.

  “They’re controlled,” I said as the thought hit me.

  “What?” Seanna asked.

  “When I jumped on one of the things from the plane,” I explained, “and used my telekinesis to tear it apart, I felt something in them. Another mind, but far away. There’s someone or something out there controlling those dragons.”

  “If we can get to them and break the link, then…” Aoife’s voice trailed off.

  Then what? Would it end the magical creatures? Would it eliminate that threat or would somebody else simply pick up the link and continue the carnage? What good would it do, anyways with the Balataur army bearing down on the city? One step at a time. Get rid of the flying threats and that would give the city at least a fighting chance against the Balataur.

  “We have to find them,” I said.

  “How?” Seanna asked. “We have no clue where they are.”

  “If the link is magic in nature, how far would the range be?”

  “There’s no real way of telling, but most magic is limited in its reach,” she said. “The further away the magicks are cast, the more is needed to use it. With magic draining from Alisundi the way it is, I don’t think they could keep up a link from very far.”

  “So, they’re most likely in the army somewhere,” I said.

  “Most likely.” She nodded.

  “Do you think you could find them, Aoife?”

  “Probably,” she said. “Unless it’s Balataur controlling them. I have a hard time reading them.”

  “I doubt it,” Seanna cut in. “The Balataur are very resistant to magic, much like your powers. They would not be able to access the streams of magic to do something like this.”

  “So, they’re human or humanoid?” Aoife asked.

  Seanna nodded again.

  I scanned the skies for a moment. None of the dragons were in the vicinity. “Come on, let’s see if you can find them.”

  I wrapped my arms around Aoife and shifted us back to the wall. There was a large chunk missing. In its place was a black and smoldering hole.

  Aoife turned to the plains and gold poured into her eyes. She scanned the army, narrowing her eyes to concentrate better. Her brows knitted and her face tightened in frustration. Maybe she expected to spot those who controlled the dragons right away—I did—but it didn’t turn out that easy. She swept the massive Balataur several times before giving a cry of success.

  “Found them!” She pointed toward the back of column that seemed miles away.

  “Can you do something to them?” I asked. “Make them piss their pants and run away or something?”

  “No,” she said. “They’re too far away. The army will be upon us before they’re within range.”

  “Okay. Keep sight of them. I’ll go tell the others.”

  She nodded and I shifted back to the ground, startling Seanna.

  “We have them. I’ll go see if I can take them out,” I said.

  “You’re not going alone,” Seanna said.

  “They’re at least a mile or two away,” I explaine
d. “The front lines of the army will be on Delicia long before you make it out there. I’ll just shift out and deal with it.”

  “You can obviously do that with other people.” She waved a hand at the top of the wall.

  “I really don’t know what the limit is,” I said. “I’ve shifted out into the army alone, but only a few feet with Aoife.”

  “It’s too dangerous and the stakes are too high for this to fail,” Seanna said. She stepped forward and laid a hand on my shoulder. “Let us help you.”

  I looked into her pale blue eyes and for the first time since the Circle of Atlas, I felt I could trust her. My mind screamed for me not to, but something deep inside me gently led that fear away. I nodded.

  “I don’t think I can take us all out there together,” I said. “When it’s just me, I barely feel anything when I shift. When I shift with Aoife, it’s like…I don’t know, it’s like putting on a pair of heavy shoes after wearing flip flops all day.”

  “What is a flip and flop?” Minotaur asked.

  “You’ll have to take us out one at a time,” Seanna said.

  “That’s too dangerous. The first one of you out there will be exposed to the Balataur army,” I said.

  “Then it should be me,” Minotaur suggested. “It is the obvious choice.”

  It was. If there were anyone of us who could hold their own against multiple Balataur, it was Minotaur.

  “What about you?” I asked Seanna. “We’ll be under constant attack until we can disable whoever’s controlling the dragons.”

  “I still have my bag of tricks.” She held up her literal bag of tricks—the one full of bits of wood saturated with magic.

  “Okay,” I said, nodding my head at nothing. “Okay. We can do this. I’ll go tell Aoife.”

  I shifted back to the top of the wall, forgetting I left Seanna and Minotaur to make it up there the traditional way. There was still plenty of stairs for them to make it.

  “We’re going out there,” I said.

  “Of course, we are. And no, you can’t talk me into staying here,” she added as if she could read my mind. In a way, she could. “I present the best chance of disabling whoever’s controlling them especially if bashing their heads in isn’t a possibility.”

  “She’s right,” Seanna said, stepping around the gaping hole in the wall. “I believe it will take all three of us to distract the Balataur long enough for her to twist up their emotions.”

  I sighed and nodded. I had lost the argument before it even started. “Alright, how are we going to do this?”

  “Minotaur and then me,” Seanna said. “We’ll do our best to hold the Balataur at bay until you come back with Aoife. Once there, you can help us while she does her thing.”

  She looked around the small group. We all nodded. It was the best—and only—course of action.

  “You ready big guy?” I asked Minotaur.

  He reached behind his back and produced my escrima. I don’t know where they ended up after being captured by Daresh, but I took them thankfully.

  “This will be fun,” he said, peeling back his black lips to reveal square teeth.

  “Yeah,” I said. “Fun.”

  I wrapped my arms around his barrel-like torso, clutching the sticks in my hands, and shifted.

  34

  The ashlings

  Our sudden appearance among the Balataur produced a large number of surprised snorts and squeals from the beasts. They stared at us, mouths open and exposing yellowed teeth.

  “Hurry, Gatekeeper,” Minotaur grunted, lifting his great axe.

  I nodded and disappeared reluctantly. I appeared behind Seanna and wrapped arms around her. She was so slight, they almost went around twice. Her squeak of surprise was cut short by us shifting from the wall.

  When we popped beside Minotaur, I saw he had already felled three of the Balataurs with great, gaping slashes down their broad chests. I didn’t stick around to admire his handy work. I went back for Aoife.

  She was ready for me and pulled me into a hug before I had a chance to put my arms around her to shift. “Let’s go be heroes,” she whispered.

  I smiled and, in a flash, we were standing in a circle of very pissed off Balataur. I pushed Aoife to the side and easily sidestepped a Balataur’s axe. The thick blade whooshed until it slammed into the ground. I kicked the club like hand holding it, breaking the beast’s forearm. A stick strike across its snout ended its cry of pain before it could start.

  I surveyed the scene in a quick circle. Minotaur was more than a match for any three Balataur, but they were quickly outnumbering him. Seanna moved like I had never seen her move. She flashed in and out of the pockets of beasts. She had always produced that knife as a threat, but she put it to good use now, slicing through thick fur into tender muscles and tendons.

  A few feet away, six men sat on carts pulled by Balataur who looked like they couldn’t decide whether to stick with their assigned duty or abandon them to join in the fight. The men they were tasked with pulling around like a group of oxen were a varied group. Their ages ranged from twenties to at least sixties. One of the older men was as thin as a pole while another who looked in his early thirties was round with a belly that pushed on his shirt. All of them had their eyes closed with hands on metal orbs attached to the carts. They were about the size of a kid’s bowling ball and glowed an angry red.

  Aoife and I shared a glance. I nodded and the glow in her golden eyes grew brighter. The urge to turn and flee crept in me, but it was quickly followed by a soothing touch of confidence. I turned to face the surrounding Balataur.

  Minotaur and Seanna still fared well against the beasts, but the Balataur clamored over themselves to get at the enemy in their midst. I dove into the fray. The magically hardened sticks whistled in the air, nothing more than a blur as they cracked against fur-covered arms, legs, torsos, snouts, and heads.

  I had noticed an increase of speed and strength before, but the true nature of what Elder Narit had done to me with her tattoos became apparent. The yearlong practicing with Master Ruperto all came to a head as I moved among the biped cows. A few managed to get close with their wickedly curved blades, but it felt like they were moving in slow motion. I saw the strikes coming with just a twitch of their muscles and was able to either move out of the way or hit them first. Many went down with broken limbs or jaws.

  After cracking the skull of a Balataur trying to get behind Seanna, I caught a glimpse of Aoife and the three men in the carts. A few of them had their eyes open and stared about wildly. My friend stood in front of them, her hands balled into tight fists as she forced her will on them.

  Finally, the fat man broke. He released the orb, its light going out, scrambled off the cart and waddled away as fast as his legs could carry him.

  “Come back!” the Balataur holding his cart called out.

  That one was all the rest needed. Five others abandoned their carts. The youngest had a dark stain between his legs.

  Only one man remained. He gripped his orb so tight his fingers were white. He clenched his jaw and his face twitched.

  Free of their duties, the Balataur abandoned the carts. They pulled out weapons and advanced toward Aoife. She didn’t seem to notice. She stared at the remaining man.

  Before I could move, Minotaur was on them, cutting them down like grass. He took five of them down without hesitation and moved back to swinging his axe around the army.

  Over the grunts and clatter of weapons ringing against each other, a noise caught my attention. It was so subtle; it really shouldn’t have. But it did. The low hiss cut through the chaos raging around me and I turned. One of the dragons flew right for us, its jaws open and dripping red.

  “Aoife,” I called out as I spun around.

  She must have heard the warning note in my voice. It broke her concentration and she turned. Her eyes went wide as she saw the looming threat.

  We ran out of time. The Balataur around us didn’t matter. The only thing that mattere
d was that middle-aged man sitting in the cart. I pulled my arm back and threw an escrima as hard as I could. The stick tumbled in the air and caught the man right in the forehead. His head snapped back and he slumped in the cart. The orb went dark.

  I twirled around to watch the red that peeked out from between the dragon’s metal plates die out, too. The great thing went limp in mid-air and crashed in the Balataur army.

  I ran up to Aoife and grabbed her. “We need to get out of here.”

  She nodded and we left the battlefield. I deposited her on the wall, staying there for a fraction of a second before shifting back to the plains. I found myself between Seanna and Minotaur as they fought an ever-tightening circle of Balataur.

  There was no time to shift them both individually. Taking Seanna would leave Minotaur’s back exposed. I had to take them both if they were to get out of this mess.

  I grabbed the back of Seanna’s shirt and Minotaur’s belt. I shifted.

  If moving an extra body from one place to another felt like putting on heavy shoes, shifting two felt like wearing boots made of concrete. We popped onto the city wall and I staggered, the beginnings of a headache throbbing at the base of my skull.

  Seanna caught me and helped propped me against the parapet. “Are you okay?”

  I nodded. “Just need to catch my breath.”

  She released me and stepped back, her eyes scanning the dragonless skies before settling on the rapidly advancing army. “We solved one problem, but another remains.”

  We all turned to the plains and the weight of what we face settled on me again, squashing any possible elation I might have felt from defeating the dragons. Apparently, fate couldn’t even give me that. I didn’t even have time to feel good about a major accomplishment.

  Of course, I don’t know what I was expecting. Did I really think the Balataurs would just turn tail and run without their dragon air support? I knew better than that. The beasts did everything with a single-minded relentlessness without fear of consequence.