Godsend (The Circle War Book 1)

by Matt King

  The wind made her hair dance. Its coolness faded as she grew dim. Her vision expanded. She saw the field fall away and the world lose its colors. She saw Ray in his bed, his light dim and fading. She rose higher. More pulses came into view as she passed above the town. She stopped her ascent as soon as the pulses became so small that she could barely single them out. Her field of view was limited, but she could go no further without losing her ability to pick out individual signatures. The immediate area was sparsely populated. She moved in the direction Ray had pointed to from the porch. Hills turned into mountains, and she lost her view of the horizon. There was no way to know which of the roads and highways John had taken to find a place to stay for the night. Any hope of finding August in time felt like it was slipping through her fingers.

  A voice rang through her head. Lose something?

  Meryn snapped her wandering eye closed and returned to the hilltop. When she was whole again, she awoke to Paralos standing over her. He wore a long coat with one hand sunk into a side pocket. The other held a pipe to his lips.

  “Good to see you enjoying some aspects of this world, Paralos.”

  “Tobacco is the pinnacle of their achievements,” he replied. His teeth clicked against the pipe's stem as he took a deliberate pull of the smoke.

  Meryn rose and tucked a strand of hair behind her ear. “Is there something you want? As you can see, I am busy.”

  “Busy indeed. Where are your champions?”

  “That is my business.”

  “Oh? And here I thought we were going to be partners in this war. Isn’t that the way things went when the Circle broke? The ever-faithful Meryn switching allegiances to join her mentor’s most hated enemy?”

  “I told you my reasons. What more do you want me to do?”

  “Surely you understand why I might question your allegiance. It is curious, for instance, that both you and Amara have chosen champions from the same world.”

  The man’s paranoia grew more tiresome by the second. He was too powerful to alienate, though. She would need him in the days ahead. “Earth is one of the planets she first gifted to me, and she thought it a fitting tribute to my service to select her champion from this world. She didn't know that I had already selected two for myself.”

  “She didn't know? I find that hard to believe.”

  His assumption that she wasn't powerful enough to shield her thoughts from Amara fueled her annoyance. “I suppose you think it is all part of some ruse—me pretending to fight her while my real intentions are to conspire against you.”

  “An interesting theory.”

  “Honestly, Paralos. You give yourself too much credit. You know how much power she wields. She does not need trickery to defeat either one of us. She would consider it a sign of weakness.”

  “You know her so well.” Paralos walked past her. He stood for a moment and scanned the grounds of the farm. “So tell me about your two men,” he said. “What sort of help can I look forward to?”

  She felt like a newborn god being called before the Circle to test her abilities. “John is a dualist,” she said.

  “A dualist? That’s expensive. Is he an animal from this world or another?”

  “Another of my worlds,” she answered. “He can stand with Talus.”

  Paralos snorted. He motioned to the barn. “What of the other? I tested him against a few of my expendables. I wouldn’t call his performance impressive.”

  “August is a fighter.”

  “A fighter. And what sort of advantage have you given him over the rest of the fighters he’ll face?”

  “I do not have to explain myself to you.”

  “I take that to mean he doesn’t have much.”

  “He has strength,” she replied.

  “Not much more than a common man. Not enough, Meryn.”

  “I suppose your champions are standard bearers for us all.”

  He gave a confident smile. “I would pit Aeris against yours any day.”

  Aeris. She hadn’t known he’d chosen her. How he’d convinced the matriarch of the Vontani to fight for him, she couldn’t imagine. She tried and failed to envision August ever being accepted by someone like her as an equal. She was a legend. “August is a natural leader,” she said, trying to collect herself. “He’ll galvanize these people to aid us.”

  “As though they could be any help.” His tone stiffened. “You’ve seen inside August’s thoughts. You know what haunts him, even if he doesn’t.”

  “Yes,” she said.

  “For all his bravado and all his foolishness, he fears that he is weak. He worries that he will crumble under the pressure of the fight. These are not the qualities of a champion.”

  “He can overcome. He wants to.”

  “And what good will his wants be when he’s staring down Talus’s blade? Or when he is faced with Galan’s legion? He has no business in this fight and it’s clear to me now that you don’t have the slightest idea what you’re doing.”

  “How I choose those who fight for me is my decision!”

  “This isn’t going to be a fight!” Paralos shot back. “Not for you. Look at how you’ve started. You’ve got one decent warrior that you’ve poured nearly all of your energy into and you left barely any for the other. What happens when the Lawson man falls and you’re left with nothing but August? You’re the youngest of us all, Meryn, but your death will be the tipping point. Amara will be unstoppable once she’s absorbed you.”

  “Do not talk to me like I'm blind to what’s at stake.”

  “Then start acting like you have sight. There is no practice here. No second chances. I warned you once and I’m telling you again: Leave. If you’re really against Amara, go convince the others to join our cause. Take your champions, if you can find them.”

  She'd forgotten to shield her thoughts from Paralos. He smiled at her lack of rebuttal.

  “You didn't mark them, did you?”

  “Stop,” she replied. “I don’t need you pointing out more of my mistakes. Unless you had another reason for finding me, I would appreciate it if you’d leave me alone.”

  “You don’t have long,” Paralos said. He pointed toward the sky. “Galan's forces will be here soon. He is eager to show the rest of the Circle what price treachery brings. This world will be overtaken by war before you know it.”

  “If August and John accomplish their task, this war may not go exactly as you think.”

  “And what task is that? Still trying to kill Amara's new pet? He’s too powerful now, Meryn.”

  “Powerful or not, Amara has failed,” she said. “Gemini was captured. He sits in a prison. August and John are on their way to make sure he never leaves.”

  Paralos considered the news with a frown. His nostrils flared after a second's thought. Anger flamed in his eyes. “Damn you, Meryn!”

  Her mouth hung open, unable to reply.

  “You’re doing exactly what she wants you to do! She’s using him as bait and that prison only kept him safe while she waited for you to fall for it.”

  “I didn’t...” she replied weakly. She tried to gather herself. “August can surprise him before he is able to use his powers.”

  “Gemini won’t need to do anything of the sort,” Paralos replied. “Talus will be there waiting for them. You’ve just sent those two to their deaths, and maybe the rest of us right along with them.”

  CHAPTER EIGHTEEN

  August approached the prison with Bear at his side using the wreckage as cover. The windows of the building were dark, making it harder to tell if they were being watched. He assumed they were. Ahead of them, dead bodies littered the field—corpses misshapen and burned, faces frozen in screams. They tried to run and he killed them. He wondered what would happen if Gemini caught wind of him and Bear and decided to set himself off again. Did their healing factor account for the kind of power that had done this? He wasn’t too keen on finding out.

  He held his breath as they passed a bus filled with dead prison
ers near the entrance to the jail. The stench of burning skin nearly made him pass out. He stopped at the front to peek his head around the corner.

  “Is it clear?” Bear asked.

  “Shh.” Even at a whisper, Bear’s deep voice carried.

  The buses must’ve been pulling away when the blast hit. They stood together in a line of six smoldering vehicles. At the end of the caravan, near the corner of the complex, a garage door stood open on a loading dock. Once they got past the buses, there wouldn’t be much in the way of cover until they got to the wall. At the very least, they were going to be exposed for a hundred yards or so. Great. Just great. All of a sudden, not thinking ahead seemed like a terrible idea.

  “I don’t suppose Meryn gave you the power of teleportation, did she?”

  “No,” Bear replied.

  “Just checking.”

  They moved to the last bus in line. A guard’s arm hung out of an open window. His shirt was still on fire.

  “I guess this is where we make a run for it,” August said. “Head for the wall straight ahead. We can run alongside it until we get to that door.”

  Bear eyed the distance to the prison. “Do you think I should try to…?” he asked.

  “Try to what?”

  The man looked embarrassed. “Change.”

  That’s the last thing I need. August shook his head. “You can tell the hairy princess to sit this one out, big guy. The less attention we draw, the better.”

  The door to the loading bay stood half-open, its motorized hinges leaking streams of smoke. August climbed inside, careful not to create echoes with his boots as he walked into the cavernous prison warehouse. Gemini’s victims littered the floor. August didn’t need lights to see that the charred bodies were surrounded by pools of blood. A faint hissing sound filled the room. His stomach clenched.

  Meryn was right. Gemini had gotten stronger.

  Moving slowly, they stepped through the remains. The only way into the prison was through a metal door labeled “Inmate Transfer.” An exit sign hung above it, dangling by a single wire.

  “What's the plan?” Bear asked.

  Hell if I know. August tightened the straps of his sheath while he considered his options. “You stay here.”

  “And do what?”

  “Stand guard. Look menacing.”

  Bear looked at him sideways. “I should go with you. I don’t like you going in there alone.”

  “Sorry, but you’re not exactly built for stealth. It’ll be easier for me to go by myself. Besides, we agreed I was going to be the one to take him down, right?”

  “I know. Still…”

  August clapped him on the shoulder. “Don't worry. I know what I’m doing.”

  Bear looked into the darkened warehouse. He put his hands on his hips and shook his head. “I have a feeling I’m going to regret this.”

  “Just be ready to go when I get back. We’ll get a cheeseburger to celebrate.”

  August left him at the end of the dock. Waiting in the shadows was the Inmate Transfer door, a heavy-looking metal slab with a card swipe lock mechanism next to the handle. Like the motors on the loading bay doors, the card reader sparked and smoked. The door came open with barely a tug. He gave a final glance back toward Bear before disappearing inside.

  The lengthy transfer hallway ended a set of narrow windows that let in just enough light to make the place look haunted. What he could see looked like the aftermath of a war, not the beginning of one. August removed his blades from the sheath. His ears rang with tension as he listened for even the smallest of noises. Despite stepping lightly, his footsteps sounded like rocks being dropped in a bucket.

  At the end of the hall, he came to a wide flight of stairs. Meryn had mentioned that Gemini’s cell was on the top floor. He wasn’t sure if Gemini was still in a cell since the locks no longer worked, but it seemed like as good a place as any to start. Halfway up, he stepped through what might’ve been a prison guard at some point. Bits of uniform floated in a lake of blood and crushed bones. A shotgun leaned against the wall, its barrel ripped open in a jagged line where the shells had exploded.

  A series of barred doorways greeted him at the top of the stairs. Most hung open, and August did his best to slip through without setting off any squeaky hinges. He expected a prison to look like the ones he’d seen in the movies—caged inmates behind black iron bars—but these cells were blocked off with normal-looking doors that had a single window in the center, crisscrossed with mesh.

  He eventually came to an intersection. To his right was a staircase with “C-Wing” painted above the railing, along with an arrow pointing up. To his left was another darkened corridor. Its floor was covered with debris that looked like the remains of an entire SWAT team. There were guns everywhere. Helmets and body armor sat drenched against walls coated with blood and wet chunks of brain matter. The smell made his eyes water. In the center of the hallway, a set of double doors stood open. They must’ve thought something in that room was pretty important. He cut a path through the dead, keeping his eyes focused on the door while he prayed for a helmet not to fall on the tile and announce his arrival.

  Once he got to the opening, he stopped and listened. Everything was still. He took a quick look around the corner. Another set of wooden double doors lay ahead, only these were closed. A sign above the entryway read: VIEWING AREA. What else could you view in a prison besides a death sentence? Seemed appropriate.

  This is it, he thought. Let’s go win a war. Swords in hand, he walked to the doors, and after a settling breath, he kicked them open.

  The room was empty. His heart still pounding in his ears, he looked around and saw only three rows of chairs, all pointed toward an aged yellow curtain pulled across a window.

  “You guys don’t seem to learn,” a crackling voice said.

  August’s head snapped to the ceiling where a small speaker hung in the corner.

  “I warned you not to come back,” the voice continued. He spoke quickly, as if he were out of breath. “Open the curtain if you want. Get a better look at your prize.”

  A plastic rod hung down from the top of the curtain. August sheathed his blades and pulled it aside.

  He wasn’t sure what he was expecting the guy to look like, but he didn't have the imagination to dream up what he saw on the other side of the glass. Gemini sat in the electric chair like a king bored with his court jester, slumped to one side with his head propped up by his thumb and finger. He looked at August through eyes that glowed red. Ashen skin covered his hands and face, with dull red lines running over his body like cracks in pavement. It was how August pictured all of the dead bodies in the prison right before they were blown to pieces.

  “You’re just a kid,” August said.

  Gemini pushed the hair out of his eyes. When he sat up, he couldn't mask the effort it took to move himself. He wore a suit of body armor taken from one of the dead SWAT members. It was too big for his lanky frame, making him look like a boy dressed in his father’s clothes.

  “Who are you?” he asked. His voice had lost the confidence it had before August pulled the curtain back.

  “Nobody special.”

  “I asked you a question.”

  Touchy, August thought. Maybe daddy didn’t hug him enough. With skin like that, who could blame him?

  “My name’s August. I’m with the Immortal Welcoming Committee. I heard you were in town and thought I’d drop by for a visit. Sorry there’s no gift basket.”

  Gemini smiled, showing teeth that were as grey and dingy as his skin.

  “I’ve been looking for you,” August said. “You’re a tough guy to track down. Maybe if I’d known how young you were, I would have looked on playgrounds.”

  “I wish you'd gotten here sooner,” said Gemini. “What does it look like outside? I’m curious.”

  “Well, let’s see…” August scanned the death chamber while he pretended to think. The only way into the room was through a single elevator in the c
orner. “I’d say you racked up about a million dollars’ worth of property damage, not to mention a few more murders to add to your total.”

  “Good.”

  He's bluffing, August thought. He's trying to act the part. Meryn was right. The kid was scared shitless.

  “So what’s with the body armor? Didn’t anyone tell you bullets can’t kill guys like us?”

  “It’s not for bullets,” Gemini replied. “It’s for those.” He pointed to the sword handles sticking out over August’s shoulders.

  “These old things?”

  The kid gave a tired smile. “I bet you think you’re the funniest guy on earth.”

  “Guilty as charged.” August turned his attention to the glass. It couldn’t be more than an inch thick. A few good hits and he'd be through before Gemini could run.

  “Thinking of coming in to see me?” Gemini asked.

  “Thinking about it, yeah.”

  “She told me you’d come, you know,” said Gemini. “You and the other.”

  “You should've stayed in your cell then.”

  August picked up one of the chairs. The metal legs were nice and sturdy. When he turned back around, Gemini's eyes were closed. “I'm not boring you, am I?”

  A satisfied grin stretched across the kid's face. “It's funny,” he said, unleashing his red stare again. “Seems like you and I should've switched rooms. This is going to be fun to watch.”

  Something crashed through a window at the end the hall. If it was another SWAT team, he needed to keep them out long enough to finish his job. Gemini's laughter filled the room as August took his chair and jammed it beneath the door handles.

  “I don’t think that’s going to help,” Gemini teased.

  “Playtime's over, kid. It’s time you and I met face-to-face.”

  August took another chair and swung it toward the glass divider. The window nearly gave way. Behind a spider web of cracking glass, Gemini climbed down from the electric chair. He could barely walk.

  “Hurry up!” Gemini yelled. “He’s coming through!”