The Chronicles of William Wilde Boxset 1

by Davis Ashura

  “That’s fine,” William said. “I’m sure Mr. Zeus won’t let you live out the rest of your life wondering if you made a mistake.”

  “You mean he’d wipe my mind?”

  “You know what they say: ignorance is bliss.”

  “I guess,” Jake agreed. He keyed the Corvette’s ignition. Nothing happened. Not even a sputter. Again, he turned the key and goosed the gas, but still nothing. “Battery must be dead,” he muttered in irritation. “Perfect.”

  “I’ll get my jumper cables,” William said. “We’ll have you rolling in no time.” He backed up his T-bird until it rumbled next to Jake’s dead car. He popped the hood and attached the jumper cables.

  “Try it now,” William suggested after a few minutes.

  Jake keyed the ignition, but the Corvette gave absolutely no response. “Shit,” Jake muttered. “Can I use your phone? I need to call my parents and have them pick me up.”

  Jason poked his head outside. “What’s going on?” he asked.

  “Car won’t start,” William explained. “I’m going to drop him off at home.”

  “I’ll come with,” Jason suggested.

  “It’s only a few miles. We’ll be fine.”

  “You sure?”

  William nodded.

  “All right then. See you soon.” Jason retreated into the house.

  Jake helped disassemble the jumper cables, and climbed into the passenger seat of William’s T-bird. “Nice ride.” He caught William’s eye-roll. “I’m serious. It’s a nice car.”

  “Thanks,” William said. He pushed a tape into the stereo, and Aces High by Iron Maiden kicked on, blaring through the speakers.

  “I thought you only liked pop,” Jake said.

  “That’s Lien. She likes to sing along to those kind of songs. The poppier the better.”

  “Well, if I’d known you liked cool stuff, I wouldn’t have dogged you so bad for so long,” Jake said with a grin.

  “Yeah, you would,” William replied.

  Jake had no response. Part of him felt hurt by William’s words. He settled into his seat and stared out the passenger window. “I know I’ve been a dick to you most of our lives, but I really am sorry about how I treated you.”

  “I appreciate that,” William said, “and maybe one day, we can actually get along and be friends.”

  “I’d like that,” Jake said, “but it’s not going to happen if you’re leaving in the next week or so.”

  “You already decided to stay,” William said, sounding unsurprised. “Can’t say I blame you.”

  William took a turn onto a quiet road that skirted Winton Woods. Up ahead, a van stood unmoving at a stop sign, emergency lights blinking.

  William eased the T-bird to a halt. “Should we help?” he asked.

  A car pulled up behind them. Seconds later a bright light shone directly in their faces from the side windows.

  “Hey!” Jake cried out. What the hell!

  The windows to the T-bird shattered.

  Jake’s irritation transformed into fear.

  Arms reached into the car.

  “Get your hands off me!” William shouted. Someone quickly dragged him out of the T-bird. A grunt and thud followed.

  Jake spun about when he felt hands on him as well. He struggled to free himself, cursing loudly. He tried to pry the fingers off. A sharp pain in his head ended his struggles and thoughts.

  William groaned, struggling to figure out what had happened and where he was. His last memory had been of a stopped van, strobing lights, and smashed windows. He’d punched someone, and then . . . nothing.

  He couldn’t see. He swallowed the tide of incipient panic as he blinked, hoping to clear his vision. A blindfold. A cloth covered his eyes, and his hands were tied in front of him as well.

  The fear ebbed, and confusion took its place. What the hell had happened?

  A hard jolt bounced him around, and he slammed into something hard and metallic. He grunted in pain.

  “William?” a voice came from his right.

  “Jake?”

  “Yeah. You have any idea what’s going on?” Jake whispered.

  “I don’t know. We were driving to your house. There was a stop sign and a van,” William said. He focused on everything he could recall. His thoughts came slow and befuddled, as if moving through molasses.

  “I remember that,” Jake said. “Then those bright lights. Someone grabbed me.”

  William recalled those details, too. His eyes went wide behind the blindfold. “We’ve been kidnapped.”

  “Kidnapped?” Jake laughed nervously. “Who would kidnap us? You sure this doesn’t have something to do with Mr. Zeus pranking us or something?”

  “Pretty shitty prank, but no, it’s got nothing to do him.”

  William’s confusion faded and outrage took its place. Sonofabitch! Whoever had done this would get a beating and worse when he got free. “What’s going on!” William shouted. “Who are you?”

  Someone ripped away the blindfold, and William blinked at the sudden bright light. His vision slowly cleared, and the sight greeting him was one he would have never expected. Serena sat facing him. They rode in the bed of a van.

  “Serena? What are you doing here?”

  She watched him with flat and lifeless features. No bindings constrained her, and Mr. Paradiso, her father, sat beside her. He wore a smile of triumph.

  William’s emotions whipsawed as confusion mixed with anger. Understanding came to him, and with it his fury rose once again.

  “What’s she doing here?” Jake asked.

  “We’re here because of her,” William said. He stared Serena in the eyes and dared her to deny his charge.

  She never flinched from his gaze, neither repudiating his claim nor affirming it. She simply watched him with a bored, uncaring demeanor before facing forward to where three unsmiling, non-descript men sat.

  “I don’t understand,” Jake said. “Who are you people?”

  “William already told you. You’ve been kidnapped,” Mr. Paradiso answered. “You have both been given a great gift, and we require that gift. On Sinskrill, we will learn your true worth.”

  “Sinskrill?” Jake frowned at William. “Isn’t that the island Mr. Zeus talked about?”

  “Yeah,” William said. “The island of humanity’s enemy.”

  Serena’s father laughed. William had only met the man a few times, but every time he’d come away with a sense of unease. He had always felt judged by Serena’s father, as if he were a chicken and Mr. Paradiso was a farmer deciding whether to wring his neck for the supper pot. It seemed his instincts had been right.

  “Humanity’s enemy?” Mr. Paradiso snorted. “So the fools of Arylyn call us, but merely making the claim doesn’t make it true. We’re a nation like any other, wanting to grow and expand.” His gaze focused. “You two will help us accomplish our goal.”

  “You won’t get anything from me,” Jake said, thrusting his jaw out belligerently. “I’ll never help you or do what you want.”

  Mr. Paradiso smirked. “For now, that is your choice. But on Sinskrill you’ll find that choices have consequences, and those consequences can be quite severe. You’ll also discover that on Sinskrill you either do as you’re told or you die.” His offhand tone indicated, more strongly than his words, how little he cared what they decided or about their ultimate fates.

  “What about you?” William asked Serena. “You’re one of them? A mahavan?”

  “No,” Serena replied, not bothering to face him.

  William waited for further elaboration, but she said nothing more.

  “She isn’t a mahavan yet, but she will be elevated to that status when we return to Sinskrill,” Mr. Paradiso said. “You’ll learn all about it. For now, though, here’s some advice: get some rest. We’ve a long journey ahead of us.”

  Serena continued to stare forward, still wearing a flat, unfeeling visage, and William glared at her. Rage engulfed all thought. He jerked tow
ard her, not sure what he intended, and she finally deigned to look at him. Serena gestured, a flick of her hand, and a fist of air slammed William against the side of the van.

  She’d done that, William realized with shock. Some kind of braid. Her action, more than anything else he’d experienced so far, informed William of the utter depth of her betrayal.

  Once again, he glared at her, but this time he kept still. Serena sniffed in clear contempt, but otherwise, her face continued to hold a dispassionate mien.

  Hatred such as he had never experienced filled William’s heart. “I should have let Kohl kill you,” he whispered.

  Serena met his gaze, and a flicker of emotion passed across her face. Hurt.

  Good.

  ABANDONING THE FAR ABROAD

  February 1987

  * * *

  Serena passed the initial hours of their journey with her eyes closed in meditation, but peace eluded her. Nevertheless, with her eyes closed at least she could avoid William’s glare.

  Leading up to his abduction, she had thought her heart a stronghold, an inviolate fortress from which she could accept his anger and loathing after her betrayal.

  Fool.

  “You must be strong,” Isha whispered to her.

  Serena cracked open her eyes. She saw William and Jake speaking softly to one another. “I am.”

  “Then show no guilt at what you’ve done.”

  “Is it so obvious?”

  “Only to me, but I know you too well for your own good,” Isha said with a smile. “I doubt Dalton or the others have any sense of what you’re feeling, but your father, the Servitor, will.”

  Serena nodded, and her gaze slid back to William. He must have sensed her regard because he glanced her way. She braced herself, doing her best to accept his hatred, to let it wash over and through her. William surprised her. Rather than loathing, his mouth curled into contempt.

  Serena blinked. She hadn’t expected him to overcome his hatred of her so quickly, or to replace it with a more manageable emotion like scorn. If true, he might actually survive Sinskrill and prosper there.

  For his sake, she hoped so.

  The drive droned on, growing tedious as the hours passed in silence. Only Dalton and the other two mahavans spoke to one another in brief conversations. Otherwise, the van remained quiet, and Serena stared out at the monotonous winter landscape. Snow covered the ground here, wherever “here” was. Illinois maybe.

  The only excitement occurred on the evening after the kidnapping. At a rest area in Wisconsin, William and Jake made a dash for freedom. They ripped their arms free from the mahavans gripping them and sprinted for the highway.

  Neither managed more than ten steps before they tumbled, both of them landing on their butts.

  Dalton chuckled. “Running isn’t a possibility, boys. Not until you learn to undo a braid.”

  William opened his mouth to shout for help, but no sound came out.

  “Nor can you call out to anyone.”

  Afterward, Dalton leashed William and Jason with braids that allowed them to walk like automatons but nothing more. They finished in the restrooms with no one the wiser at their restraints and returned to the van, silent but furious.

  They made no further attempts at escape.

  In the van, Serena viewed William’s and Jake’s scraped and swollen faces with outward dispassion but a stomach full of remorse. She should have told William the truth long ago. Then he’d be safe on Arylyn.

  “At least now they know resistance is an empty gesture,” Isha told her, noticing her unhappiness at William’s and Jake’s minor injuries. “This way they’ll be more compliant, and we need that, given how far we still have to go.”

  “Banff, Canada,” Dalton said, overhearing their conversation. “A long drive in the Far Abroad. I’ll be happy when it’s over.”

  They traveled on, and Serena tried to get what rest she could, but guilt kept her awake and restless.

  The next morning, Dalton took a turnoff and eventually had them bouncing along a gravel road. Half an hour later, a few miles away from the town of Banff proper, they came to a halt.

  “We’re here,” Dalton announced.

  Serena stepped out into a chill, frosty morning. Mount Norquay’s serrated, gray spine soared to the west, dominating the pale-blue, winter sky.

  Their breath misted.

  “What happens now?” William asked.

  “Now we hike,” Isha announced. “The saha’asra we need is located on the other side of that ridge.” He pointed east to a rugged rise.

  “And the van?” Serena asked.

  “Already dealt with,” Dalton answered. “An arrangement with a local. We sold it to him for half its actual worth.”

  “Do we have to stay tied up?” Jake asked.

  “No. Free them,” Dalton ordered.

  Mr. Paradiso stepped forward and unsheathed a wicked-looking kukri. A single slice to each of their bonds cut them free. “Rub your wrists,” Mr. Paradiso advised. “It’ll relieve the numbness in your hands.”

  “Have a lot of experience in tying people up, do you?” William replied.

  “You’ll want to be careful—” Serena began.

  “Shut up. No one’s talking to you,” William said.

  She slapped him, a hard back-hand. “You may become a raha’asra and one day earn a place on Sinskrill, but for now you are nothing,” she snapped. “I am your better. Remember that and know your place.”

  William tongued the inside of his lips. They felt bruised where she’d struck him. He glared at Serena but took her advice and remained silent.

  “Get moving,” Mr. Paradiso smirked, giving Jake a shove.

  Their boots crunched on snow, and the hike soon had them panting and sweating despite the cold air.

  Dalton didn’t let them slow down, though. There were no more rest stops or breaks for food. “We’re almost there,” Dalton huffed.

  Serena breathed deeply when they stepped onto a bare field cut in two by a winter-frozen stream. The saha’asra. She allowed the lorasra of the place to fill her, to soothe away all the unremarked-upon aches and vague sense of illness she’d grown used to in her time in the Far Abroad.

  “I feel weird,” Jake announced. “Everything seems brighter and happier.”

  “It’s your lorethasra coming to life,” William explained. “It’s what happens the first time you step into a saha’asra.”

  “You’re bound to us now, boy,” Dalton said. “Even if you wanted to escape, you couldn’t. Not unless you want to die.”

  “Remove your nomasra,” Isha told William. “You know the one I mean.”

  William’s eyes darted about in panic. Serena knew why. The locket. It held a picture of his family. He wouldn’t want to give it up.

  “No,” William said. “I can’t.”

  Isha pressed close, menace radiating off him. “Take it off, or we cut off his fingers.” He pointed to Jake.

  Glaring, William did as told.

  “Good. Now to disable it.” Isha concentrated. His lorethasra pulsed and he drew out a white thread of Spirit, duller in sheen than William’s and smelling faintly of cut wood. Isha gave a satisfied grunt. “It’s done.” He tossed the nomasra to Serena.

  She caught it without thinking and tucked it away in a pocket. She couldn’t give it back to William, but Selene would like it. She’d like the picture of a family who obviously loved one another.

  One of Dalton’s mahavans triggered the anchor line to Sinskrill, and a doorway opened, one filled with a kaleidoscope of colors and geometric patterns. Through the chaotic images a yellow beacon pulsed in a staccato rhythm that Serena hadn’t seen in months. The colors swirled about before settling down and fading away. A deep bell tone rang out as the door opened out onto a rainbow bridge extending into infinity.

  “You should be proud,” Isha told her. “No bishan has ever performed so admirably. A defeated necrosed and two raha’asras. We’ll be greeted with great acclaim.
”

  “Thank you, sir.” Serena managed a false, bright smile even while she tried to force unconcern for William’s fate. He’d have to find his own way in Sinskrill . . . or have it found for him.

  “Ready?” Isha asked.

  Serena stepped onto the rainbow bridge. A mad rushing sound filled her ears. The rainbow bridge filled her vision with coruscating colors. Her body stretched out, feeling as if it might reach a breaking point. With a snap, she came back together and stumbled out of the anchor line.

  Sinskrill opened before her like a blooming flower. The late afternoon sun shone on the crystal waters of nearby Lake White Sun, and farther out, the glistening Norwegian Sea. To the north and east, a line of rugged, gray foothills rose towards distant mountains. Her breath plumed, and she inhaled the scent of pine from the nearby forest.

  An unexpectedly beautiful homecoming. Serena grimaced a moment later at the sewer-like stench and feel of the island’s lorasra.

  Mexico

  * * *

  “Good Lord, it’s hot down here,” Jason complained, pissed off by the humid weather, but more so by worry over what must have happened to William and Jake. The police had found William’s T-bird abandoned on a small road near Winton Woods. The driver and passenger side windows had been smashed in, and all their searching—police and magi both—hadn’t yielded the slightest clue as to what had happened.

  Early on after their disappearance, Mr. Zeus had sensed William’s nomasra heading northwest and never slowing. Unfortunately, he had no notion as to where they might be ultimately headed.

  As a result, a somber group—Jason, Mr. Zeus, Lien, Daniel, and Daniel’s parents—stood alone on the same black sand beach in Mexico where they’d gone after the final battle with Kohl Obsidian. Waves caressed the untouched shoreline, and raucous cries filled the jungle at their back. A narrow track cut a wavering path through the trees.