The Chain Breaker: Books 1-3

by Holmberg, D. K.

  “Then we have to be ready,” he said with a smile. “Don’t worry. This is what I’m trained for.” Mekal tried to pull away as they continued into the room, but Gavin held onto him tightly. “I don’t think so,” Gavin said. “Not if you want to get out of here alive.”

  “If you drag me in there, there’s no way I’m going to get out of here alive.”

  “Not with an attitude like that. You just have to trust I know what I’m doing.”

  “You’re an assassin. People die because of you.”

  “That’s right,” Gavin said.

  The figure slowed. Vines wrapped all around it, constricting from head to toe. Gavin waited to see if there was anything more he could learn from what the Mistress of Vines was doing, but he couldn’t tell anything more about the nature of her magic. He could feel the energy she was using, but nothing more than that.

  He stopped.

  The vines continued to squeeze, and the light along the sword surged, growing brighter for a moment but then fading again.

  Something clicked for him then.

  The power play.

  He’d seen a manipulation of power like this before.

  And had barely survived it.

  “Do you remember Kevlin?” he whispered to Wrenlow through the enchantment.

  “I do. You removed the Tanran from power.”

  “I was hired to assassinate the Tanran, but I failed,” Gavin said.

  “Why is that related?”

  “Because I think I’m facing the Tanran now.” The type of magic fit. Both were powerful. Both used strange fingers of power. He’d only seen her once, but could imagine her changing her appearance through magic.

  It fit with what was going on.

  Another maneuver for power.

  What better place than somewhere magic had been exiled?

  She wouldn’t have anyone to oppose her. His presence here must have been a surprise.

  Unless she’d wanted him here.

  “Now,” Gavin said, looking over at Gaspar.

  They darted forward, and he carved through the vines.

  Beyond the massive statue stood the Mistress of Vines. She had her attention turned to the statue, power streaking away from her.

  “Tanran,” he said.

  She sneered at him. “You were easy to draw into this, Gavin Lorren. When I learned you were here, then offered this opportunity…”

  She had come because of him.

  Which made all of this partly his fault.

  She laughed at him, waving her vines. “And you would use an enchantment against me?”

  “It’s not so much that I used it as it was that I had one of your people use it.” He flashed a smile. “The threat of death makes a powerful motivator.”

  “They will suffer.”

  “Will they? Because I’ve been trying to understand just what it was you wanted to do by getting in here. If you wanted to overthrow the Captain, it would’ve been a straightforward thing to do, but that wasn’t what you wanted anyway.” It had taken him a bit to find understanding, but the more he considered everything the Mistress of Vines had been after, the more it started to come together for him. “You wanted his place. You wanted his position. You didn’t want to simply overthrow him. You wanted to be him. Like in Kevlin.”

  He looked over and found the Captain lying on the ground, wrapped in vines. His eyes bulged, and he didn’t move. The last time Gavin had seen the Captain, the man had looked vibrant, powerful, fully enchanted. Now he was thin and weak, the enchantments having been destroyed, whatever power he possessed sapped from him. Now the Mistress of Vines practically taunted him, and soon she would destroy him completely.

  Gavin darted over and carved through the vines that were swirling around the Captain. He coughed, sucking in a ragged breath, but he didn’t get up.

  Gavin turned back toward the Mistress of Vines. “Now, your other helpers might not know what you do, but I’ve seen it.”

  “You’ve seen nothing.”

  Gavin flashed a dark smile. “The Mistress of Vines. An interesting title. At the time, I didn’t know what it was, or whether or not there was any connection between you, but now I see it.”

  “What is this?” Gaspar asked.

  Gavin looked over. “I’ve been trying to figure out why I was involved. We have a little bit of history, you see. I’m the reason she lost power in the last place she ruled. If she were to gain power, I know exactly the kinds of things she would do this time.”

  “What?”

  “Destruction. Violence.” He glanced over at Mekal. “And she would kill them.”

  “If they helped her take power, what reason would she have in killing them?” Gaspar asked.

  “Because they have substandard magic. At least, according to her.”

  “They do have substandard magic!” she roared. She turned toward Gavin, and the vines began to swirl away from her again, twisting outward and racing toward him.

  Gavin swept at the vines with the sword and sliced through them. “Really? I think that you should be thrilled with anybody having any sort of magic, not calling anything substandard.”

  “You don’t understand. You are—”

  Gavin darted forward, driving with the sword.

  He met resistance. He swung the blade as quickly as he could and tried to carve through the vines. He still wasn’t quick enough.

  She was fast. It wasn’t even so much that she was fast as it was that her magic was fast. The Mistress of Vines brought the power around and flung it at him.

  Gavin reacted on instinct, using everything in his power to endure it. He could feel the resistance within him, and he could feel that there was something else going on. Even as he worked, he struggled. He had to embrace the enchantment.

  Olivia had given him the enchantment to help with his speed, and as Gavin drew upon it, he could feel energy flowing within them. He held onto that and added to it by pulling upon the core reserves within him. He had used quite a bit of strength trying to get into the fortress in the first place, and already he didn’t know if he had enough strength to withstand this attack.

  Without it, he wouldn’t have been quick enough.

  Gavin swept the sword around. It slashed through the vines. He carved through one after another, and each snaking attempt of the vines to reach him missed. Gaspar stood to the side. One of the vines started to slink toward him, and Gavin rolled, sweeping through it.

  He glanced over at Gaspar. “Be careful. She’s incredibly dangerous.”

  Gavin ran forward, still holding onto his core reserves, but there was not nearly as much power left. He could feel that fading.

  He thought about what he needed to do to weather this attack. If only there was some way of replenishing his stores of the core reserves. The El’aras had some way of doing so, but he didn’t.

  Something wrapped around his ankles, dragging his feet out from under him. Gavin swiped at it with the blade and missed.

  He got to his feet, and he tried again. The energy within him continued to fade. He stumbled and rolled on the ground, then slashed at the bindings that she’d wrapped around his ankles. He managed to get up to his knees, and he swung the sword again, trying to sweep through the power she used on him. She lashed at him with another series of vines, which held him. Gavin couldn’t move his arms. He tried to jerk them free, but he couldn’t.

  “Here you thought you would displace me again?” she asked, moving toward him. “I made sure you were involved. Let us call this your complete payment for services rendered.”

  She constricted the vines around him, and they held tightly. Gavin jerked, trying to free his arms, but he wasn’t able to get his arms to move. She had too much power, and she was holding onto him too firmly.

  “You made a mistake, Gavin Lorren,” she said with a smile. “I heard the rumors about you. Of course, in a place like Yoran, rumors about Gavin Lorren would be unusual. Then I saw you.”

  “What do you m
ean you saw me?”

  “You were there the day they claimed the egg. They were supposed to hand it over to me then, but the constables intervened. I decided to find a way to ensure your involvement and negotiated a trade. A child for the egg.” She grinned. “It was easy to maneuver it after that.”

  “You were responsible for what happened to Alex for revenge?”

  “Seeing as how you always have a soft spot for doing the right thing…” She grinned at Gavin and shook her head. “Such a foolish notion. I would’ve figured that with your training, you would’ve viewed the world in a different way. But since you’re the reason I’m here…”

  The vines continued to squeeze around him, and Gavin thrashed against them. Reaching for his core reserves, he still couldn’t call upon the strength he needed to get free. There wasn’t anything left within him.

  The Mistress of Vines stalked toward him. A tendril of power streaked from her hand and started to wrap around his neck. “Once you are removed, then the rest of them will be too. I will solidify my power here. It won’t take long for me to remove even the constables.”

  “No,” Gavin said, glancing to his partner for a moment.

  “Do you really think you can stop me?”

  Gavin tried to tap into the core reserves. All he needed was a little. Just to touch that power. Nothing more.

  There wasn’t much strength left. Some bubbled deep within him though.

  Could it be enough?

  “No,” he said again.

  “If you can’t hold me, then who can?”

  “He can,” Gavin said.

  The figurine moved forward. It slammed into the Mistress of Vines. She cried out, and Gavin was released enough to wiggle the sword. He carved through the vines holding him, and he scrambled back.

  “Where is the powder you found at Cyran’s?” he asked Gaspar.

  “Why do you want that now?” Gaspar asked.

  “Because I think it may be the only way we’re going to be able to defeat her.”

  She wrapped her vines around the golem and started to tighten them. Mekal cried out, as she crushed the power from the creature. With a surge of energy, it shattered.

  Gaspar reached into his pocket and handed the pouch over to Gavin. He dug into the pouch and hurriedly began to shake its contents loose.

  Hopefully this will work!

  Gavin darted toward the Mistress of Vines. She spun to face him, and the vines twisted and stretched toward him. They reached for his arm that held onto the sword. He struggled with them, but with his other arm, he shook the powder at her.

  It created a cloud.

  She coughed and then took in a deep breath. “What was that? Do you think your distraction will hold me?”

  Gavin jerked on the vine, trying to free his sword arm, but he couldn’t.

  The powder hadn’t worked. Here he’d thought it might have been poison that would eliminate magic, but that hadn’t been it at all.

  What had Cyran used on me?

  Maybe it wasn’t even the same thing. She turned toward him, and the vines started to squeeze again. This time she used a much thicker vine around his throat. As it constricted around him, Gavin coughed, trying to hold his breath.

  The vine was too powerful, and it crushed his throat. Gaspar rushed toward her, but she swept at him with a surge of vines, and he was thrown off to the side where he collapsed.

  She turned to Gavin. “I should keep you alive long enough to watch what I do to those you care about. Because if there’s anything that I know about Gavin Lorren, it’s that you do care. You’ve made that clear time and again, not only here, but where you and I first met.”

  The vines started to squeeze even tighter.

  “Only, that would take away my enjoyment of removing you. It would disappoint me, letting you live—at least letting you live that long. Perhaps killing you like this is only fitting.”

  As the vines constricted even more, Gavin couldn’t move. He couldn’t breathe. The sword glowed with the power she held. He stared at it, praying that the powder—the poison he believed it to be—would work.

  Then the light within the blade began to flicker.

  The vines holding him started to loosen.

  “What is this?” she roared.

  Her power started to fade even more. The vines collapsed. Gavin jerked on his arm, pulling it free, and he swung the sword around, driving it into her belly.

  Her eyes widened, and he leaned close. “This is you losing.”

  She stared at him. Another pair of vines tried to streak toward him, but then they shifted course and darted toward her, wrapping around her.

  She wasn’t strong enough to heal herself this time. She had done so once before, and Gavin hadn’t known how to prevent it from happening. This time, he left the sword in her belly. The combination of the sword and the poison was too much.

  The Mistress of Vines held his gaze as she died. Finally, he withdrew the blade. She fell to the ground, blood pooling out from her. Gavin watched, waiting for her to wrap power around her, but she didn’t.

  “Gavin?” Wrenlow’s voice sounded in his ears.

  “I’m still here.”

  “What’s going on?”

  “She’s gone. I finally finished the Kevlin job. The Tanran is dead.”

  Wrenlow breathed out slowly. “Do you think they’ll still pay?”

  Chapter Twenty-Six

  Gavin slowly got up, and he looked around the Captain’s home. Now that the Mistress of Vines was gone, he could see the inside of the room where he stood. It was enormous, and another staircase at one end opened toward the top of the fortress. No doubt a way for the Captain to look over the city.

  Gavin knelt down next to the Mistress of Vines and quickly searched her. He found several enchantments that she wore. Two of them were bracelets, similar to the one Olivia had given him. She had a necklace that he suspected was an enchantment as well. He peeled all of them off. He removed the rings from her fingers and then began to search through her pockets.

  He found the jade egg.

  It was warm, glowing with a pale green light, and perfectly smooth. It was about the same size as what Davel had described, not that Gavin was altogether surprised by that. He stuffed it into his pocket.

  A cough from the side of the room caught his attention and he turned to see Alex sitting there, her eyes wide.

  “I’ll help her,” Gaspar said to him. “You check on the Captain.”

  Gavin looked to Alex. She didn’t seem injured, just shocked. Maybe she hadn’t known what the Mistress of Vines intended from her. “We need to get her out of this place as quickly as we can,” he said to Gaspar.

  “That’s my plan,” he said.

  The Captain lay motionless, though he was still breathing, each breath coming with a steady gasping sound. Gavin made his way over to him and crouched next to him.

  “Thank you for saving me,” the Captain said.

  “Remember what I did,” Gavin said. “If I find you’ve harmed any other enchanters, buying them into your form of slavery, I will return.” He pulled out the El’aras dagger and held it up to the Captain’s face. “You owe me, and do not think I will take any pity on you the next time.”

  The Captain held his gaze and nodded.

  Gavin pulled the dagger away and glanced down at the body of the Mistress of Vines. The poison was eating away at her, and she was fading, with little remaining of her.

  “Come on,” he said to Gaspar.

  He lifted Alex, carrying her. “You haven’t finished your job,” Gaspar said.

  Gavin nodded. “No, but I think I know what I need to do now.”

  “What about him?” Gaspar stared at the Captain. There was a hint of darkness in his eyes, and Gavin watched him for a moment. “You’ll just leave him?”

  “There’s nothing I need to do to him.” Gavin said. “Killing him creates a power void within the city, and who knows who’s going to get involved at that point?” />
  “Even with everything you know that he’s been doing?”

  “What has he been doing all that differently than what anyone else would do? Holding those who have the ability to place enchantments. That’s about it. I think he’s going to be less inclined to do that moving forward.”

  “And if he doesn’t?” Gaspar asked.

  “I’ve made it clear that I’ll return.”

  Gavin headed down the stairs slowly, watching for any movement out of the shadows. He wasn’t convinced that the Captain had decided to leave them alone. He worried that there would still be a time when he would try to come at them, which was reason enough for Gavin to keep his eyes open. Gaspar watched quietly as well.

  They reached the main level of the fortress and headed out. Mekal followed them, his hands still bound, and Gavin no longer feared he might work magic against them. He didn’t know what Mekal might try, but now that he had heard the truth about the Mistress of Vines, Gavin didn’t think that Mekal would attempt anything. Mekal looked at Alex with a question in his eyes, but she hadn’t spoken.

  “What about them?” Gaspar asked.

  “Why don’t you let Olivia and Desarra deal with them. Or Zella when you bring her daughter back to her.”

  Gaspar stopped, and Mekal hurried over toward where Kegan lay.

  “You don’t know what you’re talking about with Desarra,” Gaspar said.

  “Probably not, but I have a bit of an idea.” Gavin glanced into the distance. He couldn’t see Desarra’s home from here, but he had a general sense of where she was. “You fell for her. You didn’t realize that her sister was an enchanter. When you found out, it changed things for you.”

  “Careful, boy.”

  “I’ve been trying to figure you out, Gaspar. I might not have the whole of it, but I suspect it has something to do with Olivia and when she was taken by the Captain. You knew what she was.” The timing was right for that, at least right enough that Gavin thought he understood. “When you realized what the constables would do to her, you left. You needed money. She needed money.”

  “No.”

  Gavin smiled. “So you turned to thieving. Once you paid for her rescue, you couldn’t return to the constables. And I suspect you didn’t want to. Maybe I’m right. Maybe I’m wrong. Either way, like I said, the timing fits.”