Spectrum of Magic Complete Series - Spell Breaker - Fate Shifter - Cursed Stone - Magic Unborn - Libra

by D. N. Leo

  The entire building shuddered. “It’s going down. The temple is going down,” Roy said. Everyone searched for a way out, but all exits had been barred. The temple shook, and dust from the ceiling and loose objects started falling to the ground. Lorcan and Roy ran to a storm drain at the corner of the room and lifted the lid. Roy climbed down first. Hopping back up, he said, “It’s okay. Come down.” He helped Mori and Orla down, and Lorcan slid down the hole just before a stone column collapsed right on the spot.

  They followed the drainage system until it opened up into a tunnel. They ran in the dark as fast as they could. For a while, they’d seen a glimpse of light at the end of the tunnel. Finally reaching it, they bolted out the other side of the sand hill. They looked up to the top of the hill, watching as the temple crumbled, caved in, and collapsed. Dust and smoke formed enormous balls which hovered in the air, their shadows looming over the sand island.

  At the far end of the curved sandy beach, they saw the woman they knew as Chiyo removing her clothes in a ceremonial manner and walking toward the sea with the key in her hand. On the horizon, the dragon creature that had attacked their boat surfaced and raised its head high above the water. The sky around it darkened and storm clouds gathered.

  Mori and Roy sprinted toward the woman. Orla ran after them. Lorcan was staggering, his wounds bleeding badly. He slumped to the sand, shaking his head and trying to stay alert. Orla returned to Lorcan, but he waved her away.

  “They need you. Help them.” As Orla ran toward Roy and Mori, Lorcan reeled toward the bodies of guard werewolves they had killed before.

  The woman had entered the water and was walking out to the open sea. The water was at knee level, and soon she would be swimming toward the dragon. Mori bit her hand and tried to yank the key out. Roy sprung up from the water to land on the woman’s shoulder, intending to bite her throat. The dragon slung a water jet at Roy, deflecting him before he could get to the woman. Roy dropped into the water. The woman screamed and cried at the same time, she tried to shrug Mori off so she could swim toward the dragon. It appeared as if the dragon couldn’t strike Mori as he would have to hit the woman as well.

  Orla curved a fireball in her hand and threw it at the woman. It had just left the tips of her fingers when the dragon shot a hard spray of water at her. Orla fell onto the sand, skidding away several feet. Her fireball flopped to the water and fizzled.

  The woman had disentangled herself from Mori, and Mori dropped to the water. She could see the dragon aiming in her general direction. As the woman turned again toward the open sea, Lorcan darted out from the sand hill will a knife he had found on one of the guard wolves. He threw it at the woman. The knife spun in the air and then stabbed into her from the behind, plunging into her heart. She turned toward Lorcan, and he could see the life draining from her eyes. Lorcan looked at his hand in disbelief—he had never thrown a knife in his life.

  Mori pulled the key from the woman’s hand as she fell into the water and paddled safely back to land. Roy also returned. In the distance, the dragon’s strident roar seemed enough to crack the ozone layer of the Earth. It turned to glare at the four on the beach.

  One look at the dragon, and Orla knew disaster was imminent. She yelled out to Mori and Roy. “Come inland! Quickly!”

  Chapter 39

  Under the blackened sky, the dragon had raised up fifty feet in the air. Its eyes glowed with a blood red fury. Orla knew it was conjuring a tidal wave. Mori and Roy had reached her, and Lorcan approached from behind. Orla turned toward them, yelling, “Get back, get back, give me some space!” She looked at the dragon, concentrated, raised her arms, and her eyes once again went blank.

  Mountains of water rushed in toward the shore, enough to swallow the entire island. Orla chanted her spells. In opposition to the dragon’s rough seas, she was as calm as still water. She didn’t rush, didn’t panic. Lorcan stood right behind her, flanked by Mori and Roy. If they were to die on this island, they’d die together, fighting as one. As Orla chanted, the sand moved. They could feel the ground grumbling. The island shook. Orla raised her arms again, uttering a command that was completely foreign to Lorcan.

  The tidal wave came close to the shore. It was so enormous that it blocked their view of the dragon. Similarly, the dragon couldn’t see them. The sand surged up in the air like a row of skyscrapers or an army of gigantic sand soldiers. In a flash, before any of them could register anything, the sand met the water. The giant wave broke and shattered, and sank back into the ocean. The dragon roared his protest and vanished.

  Lorcan ran to Orla, thinking she would collapse. But she turned around and looked at him gently, saying, “I’m okay. It wasn’t the dark magic that I used. I’ll thank the late wizard later. But now, we need a shelter. The dragon will return soon, and I’m running out of resources.”

  They hid behind a large rock on the beach. “We can’t risk swimming back to the mainland. Water gives us nothing but a disadvantage at the moment,” Roy said.

  “It’ll swallow the island on the second attack,” Orla said, flopping into the sand. Lorcan sat, leaning against the rock, his eyes rolling back and his vision blurry.

  “You have to let your wounds heal, Lorcan,” Mori said.

  Orla reached over to pull him into her arms. “Come on, lie down here.”

  Lorcan raised his arm to stop her. “I can’t. We have to get out of here.” He pulled out his wrist unit and started to program it. His hands shook, and his vision got worse by the second.

  In the distance, they heard the low growling sound of the dragon coming back.

  “Roy and Mori, we came from the Daimon Gate, a universe far from here. Orla and I can go back via our portal, but I’m not sure how it works with you. The Daimon Gate doesn’t accept uninvited guests. If we violate any rule there, you’ll die . . .” Lorcan had to stop speaking to take a breath. “So I’m programming it so that we only get to the transitional zone. Then I’ll go into the Daimon Gate and seek permission to take you in.”

  “It sounds like a reasonable plan,” Roy said.

  Lorcan shook his head, more to stay alert than in response to Roy. “The transitional zone is nobody’s land. No one is in charge, and no one governs it. You could be attacked by any number of creatures while waiting for me. That’s the risk, if you’re willing to take it.”

  “How likely is it that we’d be attacked?” Mori asked.

  “I don’t know. I’ve never been.”

  “I’ll risk it. I’ll go with you. How about you, Roy?” Mori asked.

  “I don’t have a better alternative. Any place is better than in the stomach of that thing.” Roy pointed.

  Lorcan cursed under his breath and turned back to the unit to finish the program. Soon, a ring of light appeared inland, and their portal opened. It was two hundred yards away, and they had to run across an open sand field. Lorcan lay back on the sand, on the verge of passing out.

  “You go,” he mumbled, closing his eyes.

  “No, no! Look at me, Lorcan.” Orla shook his shoulders, but he wouldn’t open his eyes.

  Mori dragged Orla away from Lorcan. Roy kicked a pile of sand right into Lorcan’s face. Lorcan grabbed at his face and grumbled.

  “That’ll wake you. You wouldn’t let yourself pass out when I asked you to . . . but now is not the time,” Roy growled, hooking Lorcan’s arm over his shoulders and hoisting him to his feet.

  The group raced toward the open portal. The dragon saw them go and hurled as much wind and water as it could toward the group.

  They jumped into the ring of light, and the light withdrew and vanished. From above, they got a last glimpse of the island as it was swallowed by the dragon’s tidal wave.

  The transitional zone was as dark as the tunnel in the island had been. “I don’t know where we are. It’s not supposed to be a tunnel,” Lorcan said. They kept running, searching for some light. Lorcan pulled out the unit Ciaran had given him and punched the alarm button. The group kept moving for
ward. Freezing wind blew through the tunnel, drawing them toward the far end. At the side of the tunnel, a beam of light flashed on, and the door of a spaceship opened.

  “Thank you, Ciaran,” Lorcan said and ran to the door. They all jumped in, the door closed, and the ship lifted off, hovering and then zooming away smoothly. Lorcan slumped to the floor of the spaceship and finally passed out.

  A while later, Lorcan opened his eyes, finding Orla smiling at him. He was snuggled comfortably in her arms. “How are you?” she asked and kissed him.

  “Perfect.” He smiled up at her. “How did you beat that dragon without dark magic?”

  “The late wizard told me to utilize my talents, remember? My talents don’t lie in dark magic. I have an extended family, and some of my relatives are white witches. They taught me all sort of things. I can conjure up astrological elements to serve whatever purpose I want. The water element is what the dragon used, and earth is the element that destroys water.”

  Lorcan chuckled. “Indeed.”

  “I missed your blue fur. Can I rub it, just once?”

  He stopped smiling.

  “Too soon?” Orla pouted.

  Lorcan rolled his eyes. Then Orla saw her blue fox looking at her with puppy eyes. She grinned, burying her face into his long fur, but then got his mouth instead. He had shifted back.

  “That’s cheating,” Orla said but continued to kiss him.

  Afterward, Lorcan rolled to his side and saw Mori and Roy seated stiffly on the floor across the spaceship. Lorcan chuckled.

  “Can you tell us where we’re going?” Roy asked.

  Alarm bells rang in Lorcan’s head, and he realized it was time to tell Roy about his new blood and the deal with Ciaran. Lorcan sat up.

  “This is Ciaran’s spaceship, so I’m guessing we’re going straight to Eudaiz. I’ve never been there, so I can’t tell you much, but from what I’ve heard, it’s a heaven, a universe of beautiful and happy people. It’s a universe of true happiness.”

  “A universe?” Mori raised an eyebrow.

  “Well, just like our Earth, our world, there are many universes that exist that we haven’t visited,” Lorcan responded.

  “Alien?”

  Lorcan shook his head. “As long as you’re not talking about the green aliens you often see on TV, I can live with the term. It’s a very long story. But you’ll see it for yourself.”

  “So I’ll have a chance to thank Ciaran for saving me. It’s good to hear there’s a place where true happiness exists,” Roy said.

  Orla rolled her eyes. “Try a universe of virtue,” she muttered, thinking of the Daimon Gate.

  “I’m sorry?” Roy asked.

  “Don’t worry about it. The less you know, the happier you’ll be,” Orla said.

  “Humm.” Lorcan ruffled his hair.

  “What? Why don’t you just spit it out? I can take it.” Roy raised his voice.

  Lorcan cleared his throat. “Right. Here’s the thing. Ciaran couldn’t cleanse the poison from your system, so he had to replace part of your blood by a substance only available in Eudaiz. It’s no big deal, really. You can become a Eudaiz citizen and receive the supply for the rest of your life. Ciaran owed us a favor, and he’s willing to take you in because of that. He’s a very fair man. But he doesn’t necessarily have to take Mori.”

  “And what the fuck does that mean?” Roy growled.

  “Ciaran doesn’t know you. He’s responsible for a lot of people, and it’s difficult to take in random strangers. Having said that, once he gets to know you, I don’t think it will be a problem. But you have to be patient. We can’t expect to go there and have them lay out the red carpet for us immediately.” Lorcan kept his voice as low and calm as possible.

  “What would the worst scenario be?” Mori asked.

  “That would be going back to Earth to be eaten by that dragon monster,” Orla answered.

  The spaceship seemed to have come to a stop and was now hovering. Lorcan stood, hauling Orla up with him. “We’re here!” Lorcan exclaimed.

  As the door slid open, a robotic voice spoke, “Welcome to Xiilok. You have arrived at the residence of Prince Brandon.”

  “What the fuck?” Lorcan yelled, “Wait!” to stop Roy and Mori from reaching the door.

  “Close the door, close the door!” Orla shouted.

  Roy pushed the door closed. The spaceship shuddered, and the lights were cut off.

  The group stood in darkness.

  Chapter 40

  They struggled in the cabin of the spaceship for what seemed like decades. Except for the sound of the machinery clicking and humming, there was no other sound in the dark that was recognizable. Lorcan knew that in a few seconds, their enemies—whoever or whatever they were— would break in, and that might be the end of them. He concentrated. Where did he go wrong? They were on Earth, they were being attacked, he had opened the portal so that they could travel to the transitional zone in between the universes. Lorcan braced his hands against the control panel in the dark and probed for the buttons. The lights had been cut off as well as the energy. The air would be the next thing to run out. Lorcan raked his hands through his hair, retracing every step again from the beginning, from when they first escaped the Dragon’s attack to when they ended up wherever they were at the moment. He couldn’t figure out what he had done wrong.

  The spaceship was hovering now, and the creatures out there could roll it over any moment. The sounds of footsteps, claws, and hard objects hitting the outside of the spaceship echoed inside, making every nerve in his head throb. They were not going to die here, Lorcan thought. He wouldn’t let anything happen to Orla, or his friends.

  Whatever was out there was shaking the spaceship now, it had to be very big and strong, and there would be many more of them around. Hand-to-hand combat was not a wise solution at the moment. They had to stay put inside the cabin.

  But the air was getting thinner by the second. Every breath they drew could be the last one.

  Nobody said anything, which made things worse as the creatures’ roars and squeaks outside became more prominent and haunting.

  Lorcan’s hand hit a square button. All the other buttons were round, but this one was square. He bit his lips, pressed the button, and prayed that it was not the one that opened the door automatically.

  It was not.

  Instead, a dim light lit up in the corner of the spaceship’s cabin. Lorcan turned around. He could see now. Mori and Orla held the doors together to keep the creatures outside. Roy helped from the middle, pushing the handles of the two doors tightly together. All three were pale and exhausted, and they looked ready to give up any second.

  The spaceship was shaken again, tilting left and right, up and down.

  “I’m going to get this thing moving,” Lorcan said.

  “Hurry, Lorcan!” Orla exclaimed.

  “If memory serves me right, this is my very first time operating a spaceship. It’s most likely a lot more difficult than you think,” Lorcan said in frustration as he typed a series of commands into the control panel. The spaceship jerked, lifted, swung a bit, and then moved backward. The movements were so jerky that everyone thrown to the floor. “Great, we’re going backwards, but at least we’re moving.”

  They were moving backward at an incredible speed.

  “Do you know where we’re going?” Roy asked.

  “The place where the spaceship was taking us was obviously wrong. I’m trying to un-go, if it’s at all possible,” Lorcan mumbled. “Maybe we could . . .” But before Lorcan could finish his sentence, the spaceship hit a hard object from the behind, the wall caved in, and the spaceship started to dive. Lorcan grabbed at the control handle, and pulled. In response, the spaceship stopped diving. Lorcan entered a landing command, and prayed that it worked. It did, and they landed. Before they could say anything, the electrical wires sparked into fire. “Get out!” Lorcan yelled.

  Everyone dove from the spaceship, just a split second before it exp
loded. They crawled on the ground, trying to get back on their feet. When they stood, they could just make out a small army of creatures in the distance, approaching them and brandishing weapons, claws, and foreign objects that weren’t recognizable to them.

  “Holy shit,” Roy said.

  There was no way that they could fight, especially when they didn’t have any weapons. Just then, from behind them, they heard a male voice say, “Get down.”

  They dropped to the ground, without question or hesitation. A small spaceship came to a stop behind them, and from inside it, black laser beams sliced through the air, slaughtering the space creatures and obliterating the army. The group stood and turned around to see who had saved them. From the small spaceship, Ciaran LeBlanc stepped out, a formidable presence with the aura of a dark angel. He holstered two laser guns and approached the group.

  “Does the king of Eudaiz normally engage in combat alone?” Lorcan asked.

  “No, I have soldiers and armies of people working for me when it comes to engaging in real combat, both on Earth and in Eudaiz. But I consider saving idiots to be my personal problem, and for that I spared my people the chase. You hit the panic button to call for my help, but you had left the position before my people arrived. Do you know how dangerous it is for me to send my soldiers to the transitional zone? If I hadn’t jumped on my personal spaceship and followed my instincts, you’d probably be tucked cozily in those creatures’ stomachs by now,” Ciaran fumed.

  “We ran into a tunnel, and then that was the only spaceship we saw, so we jumped on. Then it went in the wrong direction. We didn’t have a choice,” Roy said.

  “Whose spaceship was that?” Orla asked.

  “I thought it were one of yours,” Lorcan explained.

  Ciaran looked at the spaceship, at the moment no more than a pile of scrap metal, with disdain. “I don’t know, it’s not qualified to be called a spaceship, and it’s certainly isn’t mine,” he said.