Emerald Wars (The Dream Traveler Book 3)

by Nicole Knight

  I did a weird turn and summersalt through the air to avoid the rocks. One would have gone straight through my wing if it were solid. Instead my wings left a layer of soot on the rock as it passed through.

  I latched onto the flying rocks with my magic and hurled them right back at Kennan who easily swatted them away from him. They tumbled to the ground below us. I held my hand out and a streak of blue lightning forked across the sky. It would have struck Kennan if he didn’t move out of the way at the last second. I was sure he could still feel its heat, I could see the sweat coating his forehead.

  I generated several strikes of lightning in quick succession, with the last one hitting its mark. Kennan fell out of the sky and I soared down so I wouldn’t lose him in the trees. This was feeling a little like deja vu. Kennan regained consciousness, right before he hit the ground. At the last second the wind caught him, he was not even a foot from the ground. He laid face down on the wind current, with his arms out to his sides. I could hear his heavy breathing from the scare as I landed on my feet beside him.

  “I’ll give you credit where it's due. That was a good hit, but you won’t get one like that again,” he said.

  Then he shot something pure black out of his hands. I dodged it by diving to the side, and rolling on the ground. My momentum carried me back to my feet where I was crouched, awaiting his next move.

  What the hell is that darkness? I’ve never seen anything like it.

  He had a cruel smile on his face, and I had a feeling I was about to find out.

  Chapter Twenty Seven

  Axel

  Under the cover of chaos myself and a team of five feman crouch ran down the right side of the beach, and followed its rounded path. The castle was visible off in the distance, and sat high on a rocky cliff overlooking the sea. While the beach we attacked was south, the cliff housing the castle faced east. If I had to guess, I would say the cliff was ten stories high, and would be a hell of a climb.

  “Up we go,” one of the femen said with a pur as he extended his claws and began to climb. The four others followed him.

  They were already two stories up when they looked down and told me to hurry up. I followed their path up, although much slower as I didn't have claws to dig into the harsh rock. The femen were at the top when I was only halfway up. They quietly waited for me, impatiently flicking their tails back and forth.

  When I was finally at the top, I stood on a small ledge that surrounded a stone wall that was another story high. Behind its wall I could see the stone walls of the Tatean Castle. I tried to remember what the family had referred to it as. Hellstone, I believe. I could only imagine what I would find once we made it in.

  “Up and over,” the largest of the femen said to me.

  It held its paws out and I put my boot on the pads. He hoisted me up, and I caught the edge of the wall with my hands and pulled myself up. I swung my leg over the side and sat on the edge of the wall and I looked around. To my left was the wall of the castle. I looked directly in the window beside me, and saw an unoccupied room. That was a relief, I could only imagine what would happen if someone looked out the window and saw me scaling this wall. The room looked like it was being used for storage. It was dark, with blankets covering the furniture, I could see the dust floating through the air.

  To my right the femen still stood on the ledge of the cliff. I leaned down to offer my hand to pull them up one at a time.

  “Silly human, we are femen,watch,” the largest purred.

  Then the creature leapt vertically and was crouched on the edge of the wall in front of me. One by one the others jumped up.

  “Wow, that must be nice,” I said to them.

  They purred in response.

  “What else can you do better than a human?” I asked,

  “Smell, see, hear, groom and kill. Essentially everything,” it said.

  I laughed at its answer because I didn’t doubt any of it, he was half cat after all.

  Then they jumped down to the small space of grass between the two walls. I slid down holding onto the edge with my hands, and then let myself drop the rest of the way. It was about a five foot drop which caused some discomfort to my ankle. I ignored it and we kept moving.

  I didn’t have to tell the femen to walk quietly, they were silent as we made our way to a door. I opened it and peeked my head through. It was a large kitchen, and it was empty. I walked into the room, and didn’t smell any food. That meant they were between preparing for meals, and we’d have a little more time to get in and out. People don’t leave cooking food alone for long.

  We snuck through the kitchen, looking for a staircase that would go down to the dungeon. Prisoners were always kept in a dungeon, it was common knowledge. Those were usually in the earth underneath the castle. It was meant to be dark, damp, cold and miserable. They ate away at the hope of those trapped there, until there was a shell of nothing left.

  Hopefully Violet’s father hadn’t been here long and hadn’t lost his spirit. This was his family home, so if anyone would know this castle and its tricks, it would be him. We just needed to find him and get in and out without any trouble.

  The castle was silent, and it was likely due to the chaos going on down at the beach. Where were the servants? Prince Kennan was likely over confident and would have wanted a celebratory feast to celebrate the victory he thought he would have, but there was nothing.

  We walked down a hall, and then came to an intersection. I peeked my head into it, and saw servants rushing through the hall parallel to the one we were standing in. I could just see them through the intersection next to ours. They looked panicked, and they were rushing back in the direction of the kitchen. When all the servants passed through the opposite intersection, we quickly dashed through ours. I had to hope we were going the right way.

  Then something the feman with me said came back to me.

  “Can you smell the dungeon? It should smell strongly of earth, mold and body odor or waste. Can you smell anything like that?” I asked.

  The feman, who was quickly becoming my second, sniffed the air for a moment. His cat eyes dilated as if he was processing the information, then he turned his large eyes to me.

  “Yes, I can smell it, but the dungeon is empty,” he whispered.

  “What do you mean the dungeon is empty?” I whispered back.

  “I mean there is not a single soul in that dungeon,” he whispered back, a little harshly.

  “Shit, where could he be?” I asked myself out loud.

  The femen all turned their heads as if listening, and their noses wiggled as they scented the air. They took a moment to whisper between themselves, and I got nervous.

  “The servants all seemed to be moving away from the far part of the castle. If all the rulers are no longer here, and are in battle, what could they be running away from? Perhaps a prisoner who broke free?” another of the feman said, quietly.

  He was right, that had to be it.

  I was assuming that Prince Keenan and Princess Samantha were at the battle on the beach, because they both seemed to like conflict. They’d want to take Violet head on.

  “I think you are onto something. Lead the way,” I said, gesturing for them to go ahead of me. With their smell, sight and ears, I wasn’t sure why I didn't have them lead the way from the beginning. Maybe I was so used to leading others, I wasn’t sure how to take the back seat, especially now that Violet wasn’t around. The only time I wasn’t in charge was when she was around.

  The femen led us down a series of hallways, and then up a set of stairs.

  Why would he go upstairs? Isn’t that where the royal’s actually lived?

  After climbing up a circular tower, we stopped at a door.

  “There are two people inside. One smells of death,” the smallest of the femen said.

  My heart dropped. I hoped it wasn't Violet’s father. With one hand on my sword, I opened the door in front of us. Inside was Violet’s father, he was filthy and his stench hit
me from the doorway, but it wasn’t he who smelt like death. It was the old man lying in bed.

  Violet’s father was holding the man’s hands, and he was crying. He looked up at me as I stood in the doorway.

  “Here to rescue me?” he asked sadly.

  “Yes sir, I promised your daughter I would,” I said.

  I felt like an intruder in this moment between the two men.

  “I’m guessing she’s down on that beach isn’t she?” he asked, almost sounding defeated.

  “Yes, and I am eager to get back to her. We need to get moving,” I said.

  He ignored my words.

  “I’d like you to meet Violet’s Grandfather, the real King of Tate,” he said.

  “Until my dying breath,” the older man said.

  That didn’t look like it would be that far off.

  “It’s nice to meet you, your highness,” I said, lowering myself into a bow.

  “Are you my granddaughter’s husband?” he asked.

  “Yes sir,” I answered.

  He used the word husband. He must be from Violet’s world as well.

  “I’d like to meet her,” he said.

  It sounded like a request, one that I wouldn’t deny Violet. I could still feel her in my chest. She was in combat, I could feel it. Her emotions were wild, yet controlled. She had been injured, but not mortally. I needed to get to her to help, I needed to watch her back.

  “I’ll do my best to make that happen sir. Can you walk? Or would you prefer I carry you?” I asked.

  “He will need to be carried,” Violet’s father said.

  I nodded and stepped forward. I pulled back the covers and the smell of death was only stronger. He could pass on his way out of the castle, but I would take that chance for Violet, her father and grandfather.

  I also realized as I lifted him the repercussions of what I was doing. I was taking the true King of Tate from this castle. It would infuriate the man’s other son, the one currently calling himself King.

  Violet’s father reached out and snagged his father’s crown which was hanging off the bedpost by his head, and held onto it for his father. As I passed through the door with the old man in my arms, I got a skeptical look from the femen, but they remained silent.

  “We are going to have to find another way out,” I said.

  “Which way did you enter?” Violet’s father asked.

  “Through the kitchen.”

  “That was risky,” he said.

  “We got incredibly lucky, it was empty at the time.”

  He nodded. Then we descended down the stairs, and we kept going down, past the first floor into what appeared to be a section of the basement. It was separate from the dungeon.

  “There’s a door down here that leads away from the cliff’s. I’m assuming that your proximity to the cliffs was the reason you chose that entrance,” her father said.

  “Yes.”

  He led us down another flight of stairs and we came across a door, which had one guard posted at it. One of the femen quickly pushed ahead and permanently silenced the guard before he could make a sound to alert any others. I heard his body hit the ground with a thud, and moved past him.

  Once we were outside, I could hear the sounds of the conflict down on the beach, and my heart dropped. There was nothing but screaming and the loud booms of magic, explosions and chaos.

  Our crew walked down the hill towards the shore, where I would leave them on the ship. Then I would run headfirst into battle to join my wife.

  Chapter Twenty Eight

  Trin

  Proctor and I split up the beach into sections, each of us focusing on reviving those fallen in our assigned areas. It was absolutely exhausting, but rewarding. I could see our side becoming more daring with their actions. They trusted Proctor and I to bring them back, after seeing what we had done so far. It also kept our numbers from falling too low. If we hadn’t revived the hundred or so people we’d gotten to so far, we might have had to surrender already. Their numbers seemed to be ever growing, but our side remained steady. Eventually their numbers would begin to fall, it’s not like Kennan was creating new soldiers from thin air, right?

  As the fighting made its way closer to the treeline, we were able to move further up the beach. Behind me were blood stains in the sand, marking each place where we had brought back an ally, some spots were bloodier than others. I wasn’t known for having a strong stomach, but after some of the wounds I’d seen and stitched together with my magic, I definitely had one now.

  I can see chunks of rock and coral being thrown at some kind of sea creature that was attempting to attack the boats, and the fins of sharks barely sticking out of the water, but my cousins and grandmother and Wisdom were holding the worst of it at bay. I’d hear the occasional cheer from behind me when one of them hit the creatures.

  Way up in the distance I saw Queen Victoria and Princess Samantha fighting one on one. Princess Samantha was having a hard time doing any damage. Every offensive move she made phased through Queen Victoria. However, my great grandmother wasn’t nearly as fast as her opponent, so her shots didn’t hit Princess Samantha as often as either of us would have liked. I watched their fight as I worked on bringing another poor guy back from the dead. With each patient I brought back, the easier it was to compartmentalize what I was doing, and then also focus on what was going on around me. I already had my route planned and knew who my next three patients would be. One had a slash across his throat, one had an arrow sticking from his shoulder, and one took a knife to the stomach.

  I did notice the further in we made it, the more enemy bodies that littered the beach too, that helped keep my spirits up, our allies were doing some damage. But none of this would stop until the two queens took down their opponents, or their opponents took them out.

  I shivered at the thought of the latter.

  I blinked rapidly trying to make sure my eyes weren’t deceiving me as something absolutely unexpected happened. Prince Kennan and Violet came crashing through the trees. Keenan threw a dark mass of what looked like magic from his hands, which Violet desperately dodged, barely. She was fleeing and he was chasing, both of them were speeding through the air quicker than any bird that I had ever seen. Violet looked fierce yet terrified and my heart hurt for her. The black magic Kennan was wielded was a new development, and I was scared to find out what it would do to it’s target.

  Violet and our great grandmother crossed paths just as Prince Keenan threw another ball of darkness, and it hit Victoria right in the chest. She screamed out in pain, and then she was no longer formless, she was solid. She had a form, which had its positives, but was mostly negative.

  The implications of what had just happened were very complicated and too much to wrap my head around. Now Queen Victoria would have to die again to return to the spirit world. Not only that, but the advantages she had over Princess Samantha were now gone. They were both flesh and blood and able to inflict pain on eachother. Victoria also made it perfectly clear that when she was gone this time, we couldn’t bring her back. That meant if she died on this field and hadn’t crossed over yet, she still didn’t want to come back. Proctor and I weren’t allow to bring her back. I wasn’t sure if that was personal choice, or direction from Venia. I imagine having two living persons from the same prophecy alive at the same time might screw everything up. Queen Victoria had been a huge advantage to our side, and not only did I want to see her make it through this because she was family, but we needed her around as long as possible through this fight. We needed her to keep Princess Samantha busy as long as possible. Now that Prince Kennan had this new destructive magic, there was no way that Violet would be able to take them on at the same time. We had two powerful opponents, and we needed two people to take them head on. The rest of us were just here to try to force the other’s hand.

  I had no idea where Axel was, and what was taking him so long. I wasn’t sure if Violet’s father had magic, but since he was from this world, I hoped
that he did. We could use him out here. If he and Queen Victoria could take on Princess Samantha, then they’d have a real chance of defeating her. Violet could also use the emotional boost of knowing her father is alive and free.

  I moved onto my next patient and watched as Violet continued to run from Prince Keenan and his hands full of menacing darkness. If that darkness gave Queen Victoria flesh and blood, who knew what it could do to someone already living. Would it immediately kill them? Could they be brought back after a death like that? Too many questions with possibly terrifying results.

  The man beneath my hands was patched up and took a deep breath, and then he coughed.

  “Welcome back to the land of the living,” I told him.

  I took his sword from the ground and put it into his open hand. “Your Queen needs you,” I said to the poor guy.

  He blinked a few times and then sat up. He slowly stood and stretched out his stiff muscles, still in shock that he was living and breathing again. I was sure his leg ached, but I patched it up as best as I could before I brought him back.

  “Off you go,” I told him, and he headed toward the new line of the skirmish, which had advanced several hundred feet since he had fallen.

  I charged toward my next patient who was ten feet to my right. I looked up when I saw someone running in front of me, and saw Axel carrying an old man, and Violet’s father was right beside him. The femen that were with them changed direction and headed straight into the frey, and I was relieved to see them. Five more creatures as tough as the femen were very much needed. They’d bring new energy to the fight, and would help keep the wolves away. They had gotten too close for comfort several times.

  “Axel!” I called out.

  He looked over to me, nodded in acknowledgement, and then shouted, “I’ll be right there. I’ve got to make a special stop.”