Bonds That Break (The Havoc Chronicles Book 3)

by Brant Williams

  "Thanks, Ginger," I said. "This is perfect."

  Ginger shrugged. "It's not a big deal," she said. "Besides, it's all in the interest of self-preservation, right? I don't particularly want to die yet, so there wasn't much of a choice, was there?"

  I had a hard time reading Ginger. I thought she was joking, or at least trying to be friendly, but it came off so serious and harsh that I had a difficult time knowing what to think of her.

  But one thing I did know – when I needed help, Ginger stepped up and was here. For that I would be grateful.

  Ginger gave me her cell number and promised to check back in tomorrow to see what else I might need. I lay on the bed and called Rhys with my new disposable, and hopefully untraceable, cell phone. Still no answer.

  Where was he?

  I tossed the phone down on the bed and walked over to the window. I opened the double thick layer of blackout curtains and looked outside. It was surprisingly dark considering it was only seven o'clock. Thick black clouds had moved in since I had checked into the hotel. They roiled ominously in the sky, dark harbingers of a very wet night.

  I watched in awe as bright flashes of light pierced the clouds, dancing along the underside and occasionally streaking toward the ground.

  The flashes started off slowly, but gradually picked up speed until the lighting came so quickly the flashes began overlapping each other.

  Loud thunder rolled across the expanse and rattled the windows of my room. It wasn't often that we got thunderstorms in Portland. And even more rare that they were this big and loud.

  Really rare.

  I felt a sinking feeling in my stomach. This couldn't be good.

  Chapter 17

  Being Shing

  Over the next several hours the weather got steadily worse. The black clouds dumped rain on a city that was used to rain, but not in such quantities. Rain in Portland was more of a drizzle than a downpour for the most part. This had moved past downpour and gone straight to deluge.

  When my new phone rang, I ran across the room to get it. I checked the display and was ecstatic to see that it was Rhys.

  "Rhys? Are you okay? I've been so worried about you. I've tried to call so many times and couldn't get a hold of you."

  "Don't worry. I'm fine," said Rhys. He sounded different than normal. The enthusiasm and energy that were such an integral part of him were missing.

  "You don't sound fine," I said. "You sound exhausted."

  "I guess I am a bit tired," he said. "But don't worry about me. Tell me what happened in Hawaii."

  But I was worried about him. More than anything I wanted to be with him. I wanted to comfort him and be comforted by him. I had been away from him for so long that at times it almost physically hurt when I thought about him. I was like an addict going through withdrawal and no fix in sight. The phone call would have to do.

  Over the next hour I told him everything that had happened. How the Binders were using the Haze to control Berserkers, the vote to kill me, and Pravicus and Margil attacking. That last part was the hardest of all. One by one I named off the dead and told him how they died. Telling him forced me to relive it again and by the end I was shaking and on the verge of throwing up.

  The end of my story was greeted by silence from Rhys. I wondered if my new cheap cell phone had somehow dropped the call.

  "Rhys? Are you still there?"

  "I'm here."

  If he had sounded tired before, that fatigue was now gone. There was steel in his voice. Anger and rage barely kept in check.

  "So Josiah, Arthur, Nakai, and Sunee all got away?"

  "Yeah. I haven't had any random memories drop into my head so they must still be alive."

  "For now."

  That scared me. "Rhys, don’t do anything stupid."

  Rhys let out a harsh laugh. "What fighting Josiah and Arthur? Believe me, I'm not afraid of them, even together. I've trained with both of them before, and I know their skills."

  "It's not them I'm worried about," I said. "What about Nakai and Sunee? I don't think you understand what they can do with their Haze – what they have done. I'm sure they’ve already given you some command to not kill them and then made you forget it. If you go running into battle with them, there's a good chance you would be the one killed."

  I wasn’t sure if he could even understand what I was saying about the Haze. The last time I had tried to explain it to him, it was pretty clear they had already used a Haze to remove the possibility of him understanding what they could do.

  Rhys didn't say anything and seemed to be thinking about what I had said. When he finally did speak, it was so soft I had to strain to hear it. "I'm going to have to die eventually."

  "No," I said. "You don't know that." But even as I said the words, I knew they were a lie. The prophecy might have been a bit ambiguous, but the interpretation from my informant had been brutally clear. They all had to die – Rhys included – or the world was pretty much toast.

  "I know you don't want to talk about it," said Rhys. "But this has been hanging over us since Mallika died and told you about the prophecy."

  "But you–"

  "If I'm going to have to die, I want it to be when and where I choose," said Rhys. "I want it to mean something. Look at what's been going on. The prophecy is already happening. How many Berserkers and Binders died in that one attack? It's just a matter of time until we're all dead, and you and I both know it."

  I did my best to keep my sobs silent so Rhys wouldn't have to hear me cry. How fair was it for him to have to not only accept death, but also deal with me bawling like a baby? I hated crying, but it seemed like I'd been doing nothing but crying lately.

  How was I supposed to accept his inevitable death? Was I just going to give up and call it a foregone conclusion?

  No way. Not my style. I wiped my eyes and sat up straighter. I was going to fight this to my last breath if I had to.

  "I've been watching the weather in Portland," said Rhys. "It doesn't look good. You know Osadyn's seal is weakening."

  "I know," I said. "But it hasn't gotten as bad as Puebla."

  "You're right, but Nuremberg didn't have much of a warning. You don't want that to happen to Portland."

  I hated it when people made perfectly logical arguments I didn't want to hear.

  "So you want to set him free?" I asked.

  "Isn't that better than letting an entire city blow up?"

  "What happens afterward? If we can't be together there’s no way we can bind him again. We would be setting free another monster."

  "I know."

  I hated this. He sounded so fatalistic. In his mind he was already dead. He was just figuring out the best way to die.

  "If we wait until the seal is weaker, you would only need part of your blood to break it," I said.

  "That's a dangerous line," said Rhys. "And we don’t even know where that line is. At what point is the binding weak enough to free Osadyn without killing me? If we accidentally wait too long there will be no more Portland for Osadyn to terrorize."

  "It's just some rain," I said. "We have plenty of time."

  "You don't know that."

  "Why are you so eager to die?" I asked, my voice rising. "Don't you love me?"

  Silence.

  "Of course I love you," said Rhys. "Do you really doubt that?"

  I closed my eyes and sighed. "No. I guess not."

  "Madison, this isn’t about our love. Nothing will ever change how I feel about you. Believe me, I’m not eager to die. In fact, it's quite the opposite – I desperately want to be with you forever. But you and I both have a duty to the world. We have to be willing to do what that requires."

  "Even if it means we can’t be together?"

  "Sometimes life isn't fair."

  "How can you be so calm about this?" I asked. Once again my voice started getting louder.

  "What do you want from me?" asked Rhys. "Do you want me to get mad and yell and scream? What good would that do?"

/>   "I want you to not give up!" I yelled. "I want you to fight this with me and figure out a way that we can save the world and still be together!"

  "What do you think I have been doing for the past several months?" asked Rhys. "I've spent every free moment since we found Mallika’s letter thinking about this and trying to figure a way out. I've considered every possibility and option I could come up with and each time I have come to the same inevitable conclusion. I have to die for you to get my powers."

  ***

  I spent the rest of the night crying in my room with no one to talk to. Who could I tell about this problem? Rhys was the only person who could understand what I was going through and talking with him was what got me started with the crybaby act.

  Eventually I ran out of tears and took a long soak in the jetted tub. Once I was thoroughly pruny, I got out and sat in front of the TV mindlessly watching whatever came on.

  Once I could stand that no more, I climbed into bed and closed my eyes. At first I simply lay there, my mind endlessly replaying my conversation with Rhys. Over and over I repeated it, examining it in fine detail, looking for nuance or meaning in what he had said that would give me some sort of hope for us.

  I drifted off to sleep without finding anything.

  I was running through a forest in England with Scottie, Yul and Davu. We had heard rumors of a town being terrorized by a monster and were checking it out to see if it might be one of the free Havocs.

  "Do you feel anything, Shing?" asked Scottie. He and Yul were two of the newer Berserkers, and I didn't know either of them very well. His thick accent made him more difficult to understand than most other English speakers I had encountered. To be honest, I hadn't wanted him along on the expedition, but Davu had insisted on bringing him.

  "It is perhaps possible that the town is yet too far away for us to feel the presence of a Havoc," I replied. I was doing my best not to shame him in front of the others, but how could I not when he asked me such ridiculous questions?

  We continued running for another half hour, our speed devouring the distance in front of us. The wind was cool, and I saw dark clouds gathering in the sky before us. We were running straight into a storm.

  It began as a gradual feeling of uneasiness that slowly changed to nausea.

  The cool wind and decreasing temperatures transitioned to heat as we got closer to the storm. I felt the unnatural warmth on my face as we ran, sucking the moisture out of my skin, despite the humid day.

  Scottie and Yul had to stop several times to empty the contents of their stomachs as we got closer. Davu and I were more familiar with the sensation and were better able to deal with the nausea. I understood their need, but chafed at being forced to wait for them.

  I was relieved when the woods abruptly ended and we emerged into an open field. We found a narrow dirt road that led us in the direction I felt the Havoc. We pushed harder now, flying past torn up fields and destroyed farmhouses. The carcasses of both animals and humans were scattered everywhere. Even if we had not felt the heat and nausea, this utter destruction would have certainly alerted us to the presence of a Havoc.

  It appeared that we had arrived too late to do much good. Even if we found the Havoc, we didn’t have either of the possible Binders to trap it. Both my Binder and the Binder for Osadyn had passed on more than two years ago and their successors had not yet been found. Given past experience, it could be years before we found them. Without a Binder, all we could do was drive the Havoc away to a more remote region.

  As we continued down the path, we caught up to the rain. Given the heat it should have felt good, but the rain itself was hot and each drop seemed to burn. Not enough to wound, but it did make the run uncomfortable.

  I heard the Havoc before I saw it. A loud roar rent the air before us. The Havoc had obviously felt our approach and was warning us off. I for one was not inclined to heed that warning. This was not my first Havoc, and I was certain it would not be my last.

  A house much larger than those around it seemed to be the origin of the noise. It obviously belonged to some sort of noble or lord or whatever these English landowners called themselves. The house was surrounded by a large stone wall, but the roof appeared to have collapsed.

  The Havoc was inside the house, and I was willing to venture that this particular lord's wealth had been unable to save him.

  Stealth was now pointless as the Havoc could feel us as well as we could feel it. I pulled out my tiger hook swords and held them in both hands, ready for anything. The bone handles felt smooth in my grip, polished to perfection over the hundreds of years of my use.

  The other Berserkers followed my lead and pulled out their weapons. A curved bone cutlass for Yul, a long bone spear for Davu and a sturdy bone varé for Scottie. We had all bonded our weapons and knew how to use them well.

  I motioned for the other Berserkers to surround the house. We were going to leap over the outer walls and onto the Havoc through the collapsed roof.

  But before we could execute my plan, the walls shattered into thousands of fragments and flew through the air toward us. The stone wasn't much of a problem since it had never been living, but it was closely followed by long tentacles as Navitan reached out and grasped for us.

  I pushed off to dive out of the way, but a piece of loose stone under my feet caused me to slip. Instead of leaping gracefully out of the way, I stumbled to my knees and felt the crushing tentacle of Navitan wrap around my waist.

  I was so surprised that my swords slipped from my fingers and clattered uselessly to the ground. I was lifted into the air and drawn towards the horrible beaked maw of Navitan.

  A part of the Havoc bore a strong resemblance to the giant squids of the sea. Once, near my home village in China, I had seen one washed up onto the shore.

  Navitan had nine long tentacles, each as thick as my chest, covered with suction cups, and tapering out as they extended more than fifty feet. He had big, round eyes and a sharp beak for a mouth that was large and powerful enough to bite a person in half. But this creature was designed for land and walked on six insectile legs. The leg joints bent at strange angles, but allowed him to move very quickly and with great balance.

  I used all my Berserker strength to break out of Navitan's grip, but I couldn’t get the leverage I needed to free myself. I thrashed about futilely while he brought me closer to my death.

  Before Navitan could consume me, a flash of white sliced at the tentacle holding me. Golden ichor flowed from the beast, and Navitan dropped me to the ground.

  I landed on my feet and crouched to absorb the impact of the fall. Before me stood the man who had freed me – Scottie. He continued to slice at Navitan, distracting him from me.

  "Go get your swords!" he yelled. At least that was what I thought he had said. I wasn't going to question the man who saved my life.

  I ran to get my swords.

  With a flash of white light, the scene changed.

  The feeling of Nausea came quickly and unexpectedly. Osadyn was here. As if we had rehearsed this a thousand times, Rhys, Eric, Aata and myself 'zerked and ran toward the Havoc.

  There before us was the unknown Berserker we had been searching for. He fought valiantly against the onrushing tide of Bringers, but he was new and obviously untrained. It was only a matter of time until he would be overwhelmed.

  We rushed into battle, taking out Bringers on the run. We needed to save the Berserker, but Osadyn was the real danger. Rhys rushed ahead and tackled Osadyn head on. He was a relatively young Berserker, less than two hundred years, but he was a gifted fighter, his own skills even surpassing my own. I respected his ability more than any other I had encountered.

  "Get Mallika," Rhys yelled. "Now!"

  Although he hadn't said my name, I knew Eric would never take orders from anyone, and Aata would be too enthralled with the fight to even pay attention.

  That left me.

  I rushed back through the trees to the house. Mallika stood outside with Kara.r />
  "Shing, what's–"

  Before she had time to even ask the question, I scooped up Mallika and started running back to the battle. By the time we had arrived, most of the Bringers had been killed. Osadyn realized the danger of having Rhys and Mallika together and called his Bringers back for defense. They managed to dislodge Rhys and, once clear, Osadyn disappeared.

  We spread out and finished off the last of the Bringers. We didn’t want to leave any wandering around. We killed those we could and herded the rest back toward Rhys who finished them off. As always, I was amazed to see the skill he had with his varé. Such talent was born once in a generation, and this was the first time it had hundreds of years to develop and perfect.

  I turned my attention to the new Berserker. I remembered what it had been like to change for the first time and not understand what was happening to me.

  I held up my hands in a peaceful gesture and walked toward him.

  "Stop. Don’t come any closer," the Berserker said.

  I put my arms down. "We aren’t going to hurt you," I said.

  Eric stepped in, and in his typical overbearing way took the center stage and tried to calm the Berserker. To help calm him we all let go of our power and let our glows fade.

  When it came time for the Berserker to let go, it took him a while to figure out how. I could understand that. Mastering your emotions takes years of practice. Something I had plenty of.

  But when the Berserker let go of his power, I was taken completely by surprise. With the glow gone I could see the Berserker clearly for the first time.

  It was a girl.

  Instinctively I dropped into a defensive crouch, but it was out of shock rather than actual fear. I had known this day would come for several hundred years.

  She was a pretty girl. Young and naive. She had no idea that her existence meant we would all soon die.

  With a flash of white light, the scene changed again.