Finding Kai
David A. Willson
Contents
Copyright
Part One
1. Ennis
2. Running
3. Yury
4. Intercept
5. Evil Things
6. Keetna
7. Punishment
8. Dimmitt
9. Last Looks
10. Caged
11. Graveyard
12. A New Plan
Part Two
13. First Strike
14. The Compound
15. Money
16. The Project
17. Veneti
18. Derik
19. The Grand Square
20. Pep Talk
21. Old Places
22. Losing
23. Report
24. Resolve
Part Three
25. Rescue
26. Ankar
27. A Grand Display
28. Recruits
29. Beast
30. Nightlight
31. Assault
32. The Pass
33. Battle Lines
34. Advance
35. Names
36. Cataclysmos
37. History
38. Peace
39. Thank You
About the Author
Copyright © 2019 David A. Willson
All rights reserved. Printed in the United States of America. No part of this book may be used or reproduced in any manner without written permission except in the case of brief quotations embodied in critical articles or reviews.
This book is a work of fiction. Names, characters, organizations, places, events, and incidents either are the product of the author’s imagination or are used fictitiously.
Cover art and illustrations by Diana Buidoso
Map by Jackson Cunningham
For more information visit: www.davidawillson.com
Part One
He began his work, speaking the name of the earth, bringing mountains. He spoke the name of water, and the oceans rose. They formed out of nothingness, standing in defiance of the chaos. Then He spoke the name of light and it came alive, so all would see the beauty of His work. Then He smiled, for it was good.
Creation Account, First Light 1:4
1
Ennis
The man shuffled down the twists and turns of the dim corridor toward a room with a single cell in an isolated area of the dungeon—a special area, for a special project. He shivered; the thin cloth soles of his shoes provided little protection from the cold stone. He should have worn boots today.
As he got closer, he heard sounds of snarling and straining, pushing him to quicken his pace. He entered the well-lit chamber and the source of the sounds became apparent. The prisoner was flattened against the bars of his cage, arms reaching out to claw the air near a second figure that was just inches out of reach.
Dressed in leather trousers and a padded cloth coat, she looked simple today. Unassuming. Far from the fancy gowns and the pomp and circumstance that occupied the days of a monarch.
“Hello, Ennis.”
She didn’t look at him as she spoke. It was hard to read any emotion in her words, but that was always the case with her. He wondered if she felt anything at all. No notice. No courtesy. Yet another surprise visit, and he now became self-conscious about his appearance. His blemished, pale skin, balding head, and raspy voice gave him much in common with the broken people he worked on. These souls he tortured and sometimes killed. Losers at the game of life, trying to make the most of a poor hand.
The clawing, snarling creature in front of her was unceasing in its efforts, anger and hatred streaked on its face as it struggled in futility to reach its enemy. A young man of thirteen, it had pursued a normal life before its capture. Now it was huge, a misshapen monstrosity over seven feet tall, with odd bumps and torn skin where it had been hurting itself. Fitting that it would have its home in the cold dungeon, destroyed as it was, the scars of many burns over its body where tattoos once decorated its skin. The grand project. The grand failure.
“Good morning, Your Majesty,” he said. “So sorry I wasn’t here to welcome you. How long have you been waiting, might I ask?”
“Not more than an hour, I suppose.”
An hour of watching him snarl and claw at her?
“I wanted to take a final look,” she said. “We will move on from this one. Try again.”
“So sorry, Majesty. This was the best one we’ve made. Even so, I hoped we might still learn something from him.”
She continued to stare at the creature, and there was a profound contrast between the two figures. Beauty standing before ugliness. Order in the presence of chaos. Peace staring at pain.
“No. We move on.”
She lifted a hand, and the immense creature flew backward against the stone wall, its head impacting with a sick, cracking sound. A moment later, the corpse fell to the floor. She took a step forward and reached a hand out, closing her eyes. The creature’s body stiffened at first. Cracks started to form on its skin, and it shriveled, blackened, as if being scorched by fire. Within seconds, it was an empty husk, scarcely resembling the living being it had been a moment before.
Frightening as it was to watch, it was good that she now destroyed them. Too many of the early projects had escaped and were causing chaos about the Great Land.
She turned toward Ennis, a reddish-orange glow now fading from her eyes as she stepped, coming close. His heart pounded in his chest as she reached out to place her hand on his shoulder. He worried that she would take his life in payment for the failure, but was surprised when he found her touch to be warm. A peaceful, even comforting feeling.
“Too many runes at once,” she said. “He couldn’t handle them all, and it broke his mind. It’s not your fault. Not at all. Mine alone.”
“Yes, Majesty. Um . . . I have been working on another method. Much more careful, I think. A mix of the old and the new.”
An awkward silence intruded as her hand remained on his shoulder. She looked away, as if thinking of something, staring off into a corner of the room. “Why do they grow so much?” she asked.
“I don’t know. When you stretch the container, it’s as if the body resets. A child again, in some ways. Memory loss. And it grows like a new babe, but much faster.”
“I never expected that.”
He nodded. It was indeed fascinating. But she hadn’t refused his suggestion. Nor had she consumed his spirit as a punishment for the failure. Good things.
She lifted her hand from his shoulder, the warmth and comfort now gone. Without saying anything further, she walked past him, her footsteps soon fading around a corner of the corridor.
It took great effort to scoop the sizable remains into a wheeled cart and dispose of them in the rubbish room down the hallway. Ennis then replaced the cart and shuffled back toward his workrooms, making a clicking sound with his tongue as he moved. There were many prisoners to work on, and he’d already created a gifted this week. He could make more. But gifted were not what she wanted. Not really. She wanted more, and he would deliver, somehow.
When he reached his workroom, he felt along the high stone shelf, looking for something. When he found it, his hand grasped the cool bone handle and brought the tool down for closer inspection. His ceppit. A strange rune graced the handle, formed with silver scrollwork and ebony enamel. The blade was small, causing minimal trauma to his subjects. An important tool for an important job. And so beautiful.
“Thus begins another day,” he said, gripping the ceppit in one hand as he stepped outside the chamber, looking right then left for a guard. He needed a fresh child to begin his work.
“Guard,” he called down the hallwa
y. Nobody appeared quickly enough to satisfy, however, and he clicked his tongue in frustration. “Guard!” Louder this time.
An older man appeared, a hand resting on the pommel of his sword as he ambled toward Ennis, his chain mail armor clinking with each step.
“There you are.”
The man stopped and stood in place, waiting for Ennis’ command.
Ennis’ fingers fidgeted with the handle of the ceppit, his tongue clicking in anticipation. “This time, bring me a girl.”
2
Running
Nara darted across the meadows, beneath the trees, and over the hills, staying ahead of Mykel as he attempted to keep pace. The sun was high in the sky and most of the winter snow was gone, leaving only patches of white here and there. Most of the grass remained brown and dead, although some had turned green, and the birch trees did not yet bear leaves. Spring was waking from its long, cold slumber. Fresh scents of flowers and new grasses filled the air, nascent growth overcoming the barren mountain slopes. Hope welled in her heart, growing with every stride.
She and Mykel had left the cavern far behind this morning, running west for miles, larger mountains and peaks coming ever more into view. Flaring the health rune kept her from tiring, and the wind through her hair was exhilarating, bringing a sense of freedom that banished all worry. Right now, there was no Kayna in her thoughts, no fears for the people of the Great Land, and no questions about her destiny. There were only the wind and the sun.
Mykel burst ahead of her, laughing, bare feet pounding the grass and soil below, then he launched himself high overhead with a powerful leap, black hair flowing behind. The magic ivory staff was strapped to a small pack on his back, and his tunic flapped in the wind as he glided above, landing in a cloud of dirt and grass, then running and leaping again. Nara grinned, then flared speed to race ahead, moving well past him. The speed rune was relatively new for her, allowing her to mimic the powers of a racer, and Mykel could no longer keep up with her on runs. Not unless she let him. She would not let him today.
Only a few months since the battle at Fairmont Castle, since losing Bylo, and she had learned much in that time. Not just about magic but also about surviving loss. About growing up. About following Dei’s will and embracing her part in His plan. She still missed Bylo, but she was getting stronger every day, and she imagined that he would have been proud to see her grow. She was no longer his little girl but a young woman embracing her role in the world, difficult as it was.
Nara had practiced much new magic. The most important was sight. And while she caught glimpses of what might happen in the upcoming hours or days, they were brief. More like flashes, with emotion and images intertwined.
“You’ll get the hang of it,” Anne told her. “It will take time. Keep practicing.”
But Nara was tired of practicing. She wanted to run.
A few more minutes of speed pushed her far ahead of Mykel, but she slowed after reaching a high meadow that opened out over a broad valley, her breathing rapid from the exertion. A river flowed far below, winding between high peaks far in the distance. It was a beautiful sight, mountains still bearing their snow-capped peaks, drawing a clear transition between the landscape near Eastway and this stark mountainous terrain.
“I think we’re just north of Took,” Mykel said, catching up. “There should be villages along the river in that valley.” He pointed south. “Rivers are the lifeblood of the interior, and there are always villages along them.”
Mykel would know such things. His father taught him much about the native people of the Great Land and how they supported themselves in remote areas. “I wonder how they are faring,” Nara said. “The people down there. I wonder if Fairmont— if my sister, rather, is treating them well.”
“I can guess the answer to that question easily enough.”
“We should check on them.”
“We’re supposed to stay hidden, Nara. You never know who’ll be there. We can’t risk a conflict, not until your training is complete. And you’ve just started.”
He was right. She knew little, could grasp several new runes but wasn’t skilled with them and wasted too much energy. She tried to be efficient, but she couldn’t seem to ration her power. But these months had been enough waiting. Enough hiding. She wanted to get out in the world.
“So, we’re just supposed to hide, to ignore everyone?” she said. “What if they need help? We’re only a few days travel from Fairmont, and if things are going badly, they would be the first to feel it, wouldn’t they?”
“I’m game, but Anne won’t be happy.”
“It’s her job to help me learn, not to tell me what to do.”
Mykel shrugged.
Nara stepped forward, passing the few trees that stood upon the high meadow, looking over the cliffs at the valley below. The cliffs wouldn’t be easy to navigate, so she traveled along the edge until she found a rough pathway that served as a safer way down. Mykel followed and as they reached the base of the cliffs, the sounds of the river drifting up to them.
“The breakup of the ice and snow on the mountains has fed the river,” Mykel said. “It’s raging.”
“I bet it’s cold too,” Nara said.
“No doubt.” Mykel approached the river’s edge, slipping between some large stones to dip a foot in a swirling pool. “Ooh! It’s liquid ice!”
Nara joined him, slipping off a shoe and putting a foot in the water next to him. The chill rose up her leg, but she didn’t withdraw. It was refreshing after the long run. “Feels good.”
Mykel pulled his foot out of the pool and drew closer to her. She sensed his intention and pulled her own foot out, turning to face him. He came even closer, grabbed her around the waist with his right arm, then lifted her chin with his other hand. She closed her eyes as his lips met hers. Softly. Just once. “You feel good,” he said.
She smiled. “I love you.”
“I love you too, Bitty.”
She rested her head against his chest and held it there for a moment. His heart beat fast and loud, and she listened as it slowed. He was everything for her. And since Bylo’s death, he was the only stable thing in her crazy world. Mykel had known her for her whole life, grown up with her in Dimmitt.
“We need to go back,” she said, her head still pressed against his chest.
“To Dimmitt, yes. But not now. You’re not ready. You’ve learned so little.”
“I may not be ready to fight my sister, but we can get Sammy. At least that.”
Mykel shook his head side to side. “I don’t know. I want to, but–”
“Then it’s decided. We’ll tell Anne tonight when we get back.”
“Nara, I–”
“It’ll be fine. We’ll avoid trouble, I promise.” She smiled and hugged him even closer. It was a good idea, and she longed to see Dimmitt again. They could be there in a little more than a week. Less if they ran as they did today.
A few moments more and her heartbeat slowed, her breath no longer ragged, and she pulled away from him, slipped her shoe back on, then walked south. She didn’t want to go back to the cavern. Not yet. This had been an escape from the training, from the pressure of what she knew was ahead, and it was refreshing. She couldn’t let it go.
They walked for about an hour before several small shacks along the riverside came into view. When they approached, however, they found nobody within.
“Fish shacks,” Mykel said. “There must be a Nupat village nearby.”
As they opened the doors to a shack, Nara saw the carcasses of fish hanging on string within the structures. Flies gathered on the meat.
“Sheefish,” Mykel continued. “Big ones too. But they’ve been hanging for a while. They should have preserved them already. Something is wrong.”
Mykel’s words sparked a touch of fear in her and Nara looked about for an enemy, scanning the riverside and the ridges above, but finding nothing.
They walked again for a time, finally coming upon a cluster o
f cottages on a rise overlooking the river. A well-worn path made their approach easy, but they heard no sounds. No children were playing, nobody was working, and there were no sounds of activity despite it being midday.
Nara picked up her pace as she approached the center of the small village. The cottages were empty and charred, and strange smells reached her nose. Burnt wood. And something else, something that wrinkled her nose and made her heart skip a beat.
She slowed her pace, fear growing with each step.
As she approached one of the blackened cottages, she saw items that lay scattered about the ground. A doll. A tiny wooden sword. And the horrible smell was so strong now.
“Wait, Nara,” Mykel said, stepping in front of her and grabbing her shoulders with his hands. “This is bad. You don’t want to see this.”
She put a hand on his wrist and looked into his big brown eyes. “When I was afraid, Mykel, I wanted to run away. But people got hurt. Died. People I love. Fear won’t stop me ever again.”
She pushed past him and continued, approaching the dead husk of the structure. Three of the walls were still there, but the roof was fallen. A blackened stove, its chimney collapsed in pieces about it, stood in one corner. In the center of the home, she found multiple bodies in a pile. Burnt, blackened bodies. The empty husks of human beings gathered in one place. Husbands. Wives. Fathers. Mothers.
Finding Kai Page 1