He didn’t even need to open the door to know what had happened. Gavin held his hand on the door, feeling the trembling on the other side. He remained there for a long moment and took another deep breath, then turned and saw the room on the other side of him. A pale glowing light radiated from the stones. Sorcery. It was subtle—and impressive.
It was enormous—far larger than he would’ve ever expected—and filled with strange artifacts. Out of everything in the room, what drew his attention was a table with a brightly glowing blade resting on it.
He tapped on the enchantment. “Gaspar?”
There wasn’t any response.
He still needed to reach the old thief, but the contents of the room intrigued him.
Gavin headed to the table and paused in front of it, studying the blade. It was similar to the El’aras dagger in the way it was constructed. The deep gray appearance reminded him of the El’aras, but the styling was something altogether different. The blade itself had a slight curve to it, and symbols along its length obviously had meaning, but he had no idea what they were. He studied them and felt like he should recognize them, but he didn’t. Not El’aras, at least not that he thought. The kinds of weapons they forged were more decorative, with intricate carvings along the hilt and the blade guard. This one had a simple leather-wrapped hilt and a forked blade guard on either side.
Gavin reached for it, and an invisible barrier surrounded the blade, preventing him from touching it. He pressed his hand forward again, and again he felt resistance from a barrier that kept him from being able to reach it.
Poking it with the El’aras dagger didn’t help. It was glowing just as brightly as the other blade.
Strange.
It must have been some sort of protection that Cyran had placed to ensure that only he was the one to reach the sword.
But why? What about this sword was so important to Cyran that he would want to protect it so?
Gavin grabbed the El’aras dagger with both hands and jabbed it down with a firm grip, stabbing into the barrier. It bounced off, and he went flying. A jarring sensation rolled through him. He dusted himself off and stood back up, and he cursed under his breath.
“Gavin?”
The voice came in his ear. It was faint, as if the magical enchantment was muted, but he could hear Wrenlow’s voice.
“Wrenlow, can you hear me?”
“Not very well.”
“Gaspar needs to head back. If you can reach him, call him back. The woman who hired me is a sorcerer, and she escaped from me.”
“What do you mean she escaped from you?”
“Only that. She attacked me with magic, and I realized she was a sorcerer. She got free of me. As I told Gaspar, we need to make sure Alex is safe. Erica’s going after her because she wants her dead.”
Even that might not have been completely accurate. It could be that she only wanted Alex removed, whatever that meant. He had to get out of here. Then he had to go and protect the Dragon.
Again.
Because of me.
Again.
Shit.
Gavin stabbed at the barrier once more, but his dagger bounced off the protection.
He didn’t have time to mess with this. Now that he knew where to find Cyran’s lair and that there were interesting things here, he could come back, assuming he could somehow escape it in the first place.
He pulled on the door. He hadn’t expected it to close and lock, but something sealed him inside. He jerked on it with all his strength and tried to pry the door open. Still, nothing changed. Taking hold of the handle, Gavin squeezed and focused on the reserves of energy within him.
He hated that he kept going toward that power, and at the same time, he could no longer deny that it was some sort of power. The more he accessed it, the more certain he was that it was tied to something within him.
It had to be related to magic. Magic he controlled.
Gavin yanked on the door while pulling on the reserves of energy within him. The energy built, and then it exploded out from him. The door came open. He stood there for a long moment, trying to understand just what he was seeing.
Debris was piled so high that he couldn’t possibly dig his way out. There wasn’t anywhere for him to go. He was trapped.
“Gavin?” Wrenlow whispered through the enchantment.
“What is it?”
“I think the sorcerer is here.”
There was a shout and a scream, and then everything from his side went silent.
“Wrenlow?” Gavin said.
There was complete silence.
“Wrenlow?”
He was gone.
Gavin looked out at the heaping pile of stone. Somehow, he was going to have to get out of here. The enchantment crackled again. Another scream came echoing through it. He couldn’t identify who had screamed.
Anger built within Gavin.
He stared at the obstacles before him.
He was the breaker of chains. Could he be the breaker of stone?
Chapter Thirteen
The pile of stones seemed impossible for Gavin to find any way through. He thought about how he had been taught to break through chains and the way he had been taught to hold onto that core energy within him to do so. The only problem was that this was something entirely different.
He leaned on the stones, pushing his shoulder against it. He used contact to break through bindings before, so he hoped it would work now. If he could use that, he could break free of the stone, then get out of here.
As he pressed his shoulder up against the stone and focused, he couldn’t feel anything change. Even as he attempted to dig into the core reserves that he knew he had, there wasn’t anything.
What about using the dagger?
Gavin had no idea if he could even push power out that way, but the El’aras dagger was magic. If he had it as well, he had to think it would work for him.
Gavin took a deep breath and focused on the core energy within him. In order to embrace that power, he was going to have to recognize that it was more than just energy.
He stabbed at the stone. The El’aras dagger was powerful, but as he slammed it into the stone, it sent some of the rock flying off to the side and raining down. It wasn’t going to be enough. He tried again, calling upon the core reserves of power within him, and he jabbed at the stone.
As before, it didn’t do enough—not nearly enough. It was possible it would work, but even if it did, it was going to take far too long for Gavin to get through. The silence from the enchantment left him unsettled. He had to get to his friends.
He needed a better way to focus this power.
The sword.
Looking behind him, he found the sword lying on the table.
What better focus of power would there be than that?
He darted over to the table and tried to pierce through the invisible barrier. Knowing Cyran, he would have prepared for someone to try using brute force. If that wasn’t going to work, then it’d have to be another type of magic.
Gavin pressed his hands on the barrier and pushed. At first, nothing changed. He continued to push and press down, bearing his weight on it. It seemed that the more he pushed, the more the barrier resisted.
Maybe he had to move more slowly. He held his hand above it. The barrier pushed back, but not nearly as firmly as it had before. He moved gradually, easing his hands down. The barrier started to shift. He simply rested his hands, not shoving them with the same force as before.
Then he was through the barrier. Gavin felt for the hilt of the sword and started to lift it, but he remembered how he had needed to ease through the barrier. He drew it upward gently, and it moved as if he were pulling it out through mud.
Finally, the sword was free.
He darted toward the stone and focused on the blade. It glowed with the same energy that suggested magic was all around, similar to the El’aras dagger. Gavin shoved the dagger into his belt and then leveraged the sword into the s
tone, and put everything he could into it.
They trembled.
It might work.
He shoved harder.
A little more trembling.
Not enough, though.
What if I carved at the stone with the sword? If there was magic in it, I might be able to use that against the stone and break free.
He swung.
The stone shattered.
Gavin swung the sword again and slammed through the stone, carving through it within a few strokes. The debris cleared, giving him an open pathway to the tunnel, and he saw the ladder—and the way out.
He sprinted to the ladder and climbed back into Cyran’s home, and he paused just long enough to look around once. He hurried outside and closed the door behind him, then he raced along the street.
It seemed as if it took an impossibly long time for him to get to the Roasted Dragon, but when he reached it, there was movement outside of the tavern. He had no idea who was there, but given the time of night, anyone there was not supposed to be.
Gavin darted forward, holding onto the sword. A dark-cloaked figure turned toward him, and a burst of power struck him. He ignored the blast, focusing instead on the figure itself. There was something unusual about them. The power that struck him was incredible, almost more than he could withstand, though he’d faced magical attacks before. This was just one more—only that this was another attack on the Dragon.
He was responsible for bringing this attack here. Once again, he had brought magic to a place that did not deserve it. Once again, he was responsible for bringing that power to bear in a place that had long ago exiled power. No one had said anything to him, though they didn’t need to. He felt the blame regardless.
He could feel energy around him, though he didn’t know why. It was possible the core reserves of power within him somehow alerted him to the power that existed in the world.
The figure wore a black cloak, and colors swirled around them that reminded him of the vines the sorceress had used against him, so different than other sorcerers he had faced. Others had power, but they were forced to use spells and incantations, not just throwing power out like this.
Whoever faced him was powerful.
Swinging the blade, Gavin carved through the magic, and then he swiped across the sorcerer’s chest. They fell in a spray of blood.
Another attack started toward him, beginning to sweep power around him. Again it reminded him of the same lines of energy that Erica had used on him, but this sorcerer didn’t seem as capable as she had been. Gavin cut through them, and the magical vines dropped harmlessly away from him.
He spun and slammed the flat of the blade against the sorcerer’s forehead, and then he dropped, kicking and driving his heel into their back. Something cracked, and they went staggering forward. He hesitated as he watched the cloaked figure move toward the entrance to the Dragon.
Gavin raced toward the door and opened it, revealing the chaos inside. Strange vines of energy spread out all over, almost as if trying to crawl along the walls. He couldn’t see the sorceress.
Gaspar was backed against the wall. He looked over at Gavin and nodded. “Took you long enough.”
“I had to carve through some stone.”
“New sword? Didn’t think you would’ve had time to pick one up.”
“Cyran left it behind for me.”
Gaspar chuckled, and he nodded toward the staircase. “I don’t know what they’re doing, but they’re using magic to hold us at bay.”
“Alex?”
“Upstairs, but Jessica is there.”
“She should have known better,” Gavin said.
“Imogen is with them,” Gaspar said. That meant something more to Gaspar than it did to Gavin.
He carved through the green vines and raced toward the stairs. He headed up and detected a sense of ongoing energy at the top. He could feel the strangeness of it, and he focused his power into the sword.
He used it to attack the energy here. The sorceress wasn’t anywhere to be found, but he could feel her effect, and the occasional streaking line of power along the walls suggested she was still here, even if he couldn’t see her.
At the end of the hall, near the room where they had placed Alex, he felt resistance. Gavin swiped through it with the new sword and found that he was able to carve through it far more easily than he had been able to do before. He pulled the room door open and found the sorceress inside.
She stood near the door with power creeping away from her, heading toward Alex, Jessica, and Imogen. Imogen swept that narrow blade of hers toward everything that the sorceress did and somehow managed to keep the magic at bay.
Maybe she had an El’aras blade.
It was a different style than the one Gavin had, but it seemed to withstand the attack fairly well. She worked quickly, swinging the narrow blade at each of the vines the sorceress sent at her, holding them off. She had positioned herself in front of Jessica and Alex, but it wouldn’t be long before those vines overwhelmed her. Gavin darted forward, rolling in front of Imogen, and he swept the sword through the vines.
The sorceress smiled at him. “You escaped. You really are quite capable, Gavin Lorren.”
“You would’ve been better off killing me.”
“I’m not sure I can kill you. I thought I might be able to delay you longer than I did, but perhaps you’re far more skilled than I had been warned.” She glared at him. “Regardless, you are troublesome.” She shifted her attack, and the ground seemed to flow up, magic manifesting as something physical as if earth and plants and everything swallowed him.
Gavin acted quickly. He swung the sword, but there was nothing to cut. Other than the vines she’d been using, this new magic seemed to flow up from the ground right below his feet. He didn’t have anything to target. He tried to kick, but the power confined him, holding him tightly.
The sorceress took a step forward, smiling at him. “You really should have stayed behind. You won’t want to see this.”
She took another step, and she began to swirl power away from her. It darted outward toward the others, forcing Imogen to move quickly to block that magic. The end of her blade moved in a blur, faster than Gavin was even able to keep up with. For a moment, he could only watch, his training immediately making him judge her skill and question how he might fare matched up against someone like Imogen.
He’d mastered many different fighting styles and was an incredibly skilled sword fighter, but seeing Imogen swinging the blade like she did suggested that she was not just a skilled sword fighter but something even more than that. She was a master.
He focused on the way the sorceress tried to trap him. The energy around him swept up from the ground. Gavin kicked, but his feet didn’t move. There had to be another way that he could get free, another technique he could try. His mind tore through the various strategies he knew. He might be able to uncurl his body to find the necessary energy to loosen the hold on him. He twisted in place, trying to free his feet, but wasn’t able to.
Jessica gasped.
Gavin took a deep breath, focusing on what was holding him, and then kicked. It was the only thing that he could think of doing. He thought he might be able to loosen the barrier around him, but it was going to take a different approach.
He tried again, twisting once more. As he did, he could feel energy within him. He pointed the sword down at the ground and traced it around. Whatever the sorceress was doing to him seemed to be emanating from the ground itself. If he could somehow find a way to pull free of that, then he could get out of this. He continued to turn, bringing the sword around him in a steady circle. When he pushed power out from him, he felt the resistance around him change. He kicked again. The resistance eased.
Gavin twisted to the side, and he brought the sword through. On a whim, he pulled it between his legs, bracing himself for the possibility that he might cut through his own flesh, but he didn’t. He was free.
He rolled toward the sorceress
and swept the sword, carving through the vines of green energy she sent away from her. The first attack sliced through them. She tried to fight him, but Gavin held out, using everything in his power to resist the way her vines attempted to entangle him.
Imogen darted forward, and whipped her narrow blade around in a series of arcs. The sorceress turned to her, moving her hand in a pattern.
Imogen was thrown back.
Gavin continued carving through the magic she held, and then it faded. The sorceress stumbled before turning her attention to him in full. The power coming from her was an enormous surge of energy. He braced himself, gripping the hilt in both hands. The curved blade absorbed most the power, sending it off on either side.
She glared at him.
When the power was gone, Gavin rolled forward, swinging his feet in a twisting motion in the Hoshon style of fighting.
The sudden shift was enough. He caught her, sending her flying backward. Gavin shifted through the movements. He turned to the side, bringing the sword up and swinging it down, but the strange winding vines of power wrapped around his wrists and arms, holding him in place.
She got up and reached for his sword, but Imogen ran forward and jammed her narrow blade into the woman’s belly. The vines withdrew, retreating backward and disappearing.
Gavin brought the sword back around, preparing to attack, but there was no need. She’d released him. He positioned himself to the side, ready for her power to unleash at him again, but it didn’t. Instead, the ground shifted once more.
“You’re going to regret angering the Maker of Chains,” she said.
Gavin braced himself, prepared for whatever energy she might draw out of the ground. If she used that against him again, he wasn’t sure if he’d have enough strength to carve through it quickly enough. So far, he’d gotten lucky.
A wave of darkness swept up from the ground, consuming her. It collapsed, and nothing remained. She’d disappeared.
He breathed out slowly, looking at the spot where she’d been. He glanced over at Jessica, her eyes wide, panic within them. Alex had a calmness about her, an emptiness.
The Chain Breaker: Books 1-3 Page 41