Mended Throne (Broken Throne Book 5)

by Jamie Davis

  Kane seemed confused.

  Winnie smiled. “I’ll show you.”

  Dragon power was alive inside her.

  Winnie had most of it now, and refused to let their sacrifices be in vain.

  Turning while still holding Kane aloft, Winnie walked him to the floating black orb. “Can you hear me?” she called out.

  A horrible voice rumbled through her mind. “I hear you, Guinevere Durham.”

  “I have a message for you from the Queen of Avalon and the Lady of the Lake.”

  She could feel the Fell’s curiosity despite its alien nature. “And that message is?”

  “It’s time for you to leave and never return.”

  Winnie swung Kane in front of the orb with one hand and ran Excalibur through his chest, piercing both monster and orb with the blade.

  Channeling every drop of dragon power coursing through her, Winnie sent every drop of energy through the sword and into the entity beyond the portal.

  “NOOOOOO!” the Fell’s voice rumbled in horror.

  Winnie surprised herself with a riot of laughter, pouring out of her as the power pulsed, flowing through her.

  The ebony sphere began to shrink, drawing in on itself.

  Kane’s body, in contact with the sphere also, began to deflate like a man-shaped balloon.

  Winnie kept the flow open until she could no longer stand it.

  The Fell orb continued to shrink, claiming Kane’s body until there was nothing left. With a POP! loud enough to make Winnie cover her ears, the final pinpoint of blackness winked from existence, leaving Winnie alone in the bunker, holding Excalibur.

  The power fled her and she yelped as the fresh pain of her wounds ripped through her body again. She dropped the sword.

  It clattered on the tills as familiar voices filled her ears.

  CHAPTER 44

  “Lay her over here, Bullock, under the canopy.”

  “Is she dead?”

  “No, Morgan, but she’s close. Bring more bandages. We have to stop the bleeding.”

  “There’s so much blood. Where do we start?”

  Winnie heard the voices but it took a moment to realize they were talking about her. She felt the gentle hands lowering her onto something soft.

  She opened her eyes and saw Bullock’s broad shoulders leaning over her.

  “Elaine,” Bullock said. “She’s awake.”

  “I think that’s the most I’ve ever heard you say, Bullock,” Winnie whispered. She couldn’t talk any louder. She was so tired after running Kane through with—

  Panic overcame her.

  “Excalibur! Where?”

  “It’s alright, Winnie.” Danny leaned into her view and pressed Excalibur’s hilt into her hands. “Your sword is here.”

  Her shoulders relaxed. She hadn’t lost the Lady’s talisman.

  “Winnie,” Maria said. “We searched the whole bunker complex. We couldn’t find Kane anywhere. Who did this to you?”

  “Kane. But I finished it. And him.” She lifted her head and looked around. “The chasm, is it fully closed?”

  Elaine nodded. “Not when I went into the building to find you, but it was when I came back out. Whatever you did in there finished the process of sealing the threshold between the worlds.”

  Winnie tried to stand. “There’s more to be done.”

  “You’re not doing anything else,” Elaine said. “You’re injured, Winnie … it’s bad.”

  Winnie saw everyone’s expressions, and could only imagine how she must look. “Mom, Danny, I have to return the sword. To the Lady.”

  “The nearest Fae connection must be hundreds of miles away, Winnie. The Baltimore link was severed remember?”

  “That’s not true, Danny,” Seelie said, flying into view and perching on his shoulder. “The sword can open a connection to the Lady wherever it is, as long as it’s in the hands of her champion.”

  “But she can’t open it, Seelie,” Elaine said. “Winnie isn’t up to that kind of strain.”

  “No, Mom,” Winnie insisted. “I have to do this. If we don’t return the sword to Brigid, then this could all happen again. It’s the only way to seal the gateway so that the Fell never returns.”

  “Winnie, I don’t think it’s a good idea to move you,” Elaine said.

  “Danny, get me on my feet.”

  “Win?” Danny said.

  “Do it. I don’t want someone else having to finish this fight a thousand years from now because we couldn’t do what had to be done.”

  Garraldi came over. Then together with Danny, they lifted Winnie to her feet.

  She forced herself to smile, ignoring the pain as she looked around. She pointed at an open grassy area off to the side where there weren’t any wounded.

  With Winnie half walking and half carried, the group moved her to the indicated location. She looked at Seelie. “Well, what do I do?”

  “Place the tip of the blade on the ground, close your eyes, and think of the Lady,” Seelie said, buzzing over to Winnie’s right shoulder.

  Winnie looked down and put her sword to the ground. Slowly she felt it. And then she opened her eyes.

  The misty opening in the world before her showed the shores of a broad lake, disappearing into swirling mists in the distance. On the shores to either side, Winnie saw tall evergreens stretching to the horizon.

  Behind her, she could feel the others crowding forward to see into the Lady’s realm. She heard gasps of awe from those who’d never experienced it before, like Frannie and Parnell, Garraldi and Maria.

  Morgan and Elaine pressed close.

  Winnie’s mother reached out to take her hand.

  She looked across the lake and saw a familiar swirl in the mist, coalescing into the white robed Lady of the Lake.

  “Greetings, Guinevere,” Brigid said.

  Winnie nodded in a half bow. “I have come to return the sword to you, my Lady. It is yours, and the only way to ensure that the Fell never returns to this world.”

  Winnie handed Excalibur to the Lady.

  Brigid took the sword and settled it in a gold and silver scabbard at her waist. “You have done well, my child, as I knew you would.” She reached out with a pale hand and brushed aside a strand of Winnie’s hair. “You are wounded beyond repair, my child. I sense that you are not tethered to this mortal coil for long.”

  “I know, my Lady. I only had to stay long enough to finish this quest and return the sword to you.”

  “This need not be the end, Guinevere. You must leave the world you know, but my brethren will accept you in Avalon, should you wish to join us.”

  “It’s so beautiful there,” Seelie said, bobbing into view. “And so peaceful.”

  “I could use some peace,” Winnie murmured.

  She felt so weak; it took all that she had just to stay on her feet.

  Danny squeezed her arm tighter. Winnie looked his way and saw what had to be the saddest smile she’d ever seen.

  “It’s all right,” Danny said. “It’ll make me happy to know you’re in a place where you won’t ever have to fight. If you stay here, you’ll die and then … who knows.”

  “Danny’s right,” Elaine said.

  Winnie turned to see her mother swiping at a tear.

  “But, Mom—”

  “No, Winnie. This is something you’ve earned. It’s what you deserve. I have the twins, and I get to help Morgan raise Victor’s unborn child.”

  “I can help with that, too,” Danny said.

  “See,” Elaine said. “We’ll be fine. Go with the Lady.”

  Winnie reached out and hugged her mother and took an unsteady step toward the shore. She turned around.

  Garraldi and Maria stood just behind Danny, Morgan, and Elaine.

  Tris was there and gave a little wave.

  Bullock smiled at Winnie and nodded.

  Frannie and Parnell were also nearby looking on.

  Seelie came and hovered next to her right shoulder, the familiar sou
nd of the whirring wings like the comforting ticking of a grandfather clock.

  Winnie returned their smiles. Despite her fatigue, this time it felt easy.

  She couldn’t go on and they knew it. They were happy to let her go, if it was to be with the Lady in Avalon.

  Turning, Winnie reached out to take the Lady’s hand, stepping forward in faith onto the lake.

  Then Winnie walked into the mist and left the mortal world behind forever.

  EPILOGUE

  Danny pulled up in front of the large New Baltimore house.

  He hopped out of his car and took a look around.

  He couldn’t believe that this was all his—a gift from the survivors who returned to rebuild the city. He accepted it, but only because they told him a mayor should have a stately home to live in.

  Fiona and Jacob raced out the front door and down the steps.

  “Danny,” Fiona called out as she and her brother ran to meet him. “Why didn’t you call and let Elaine know that you were coming?”

  “I thought I’d surprise you,” Danny told the twins. “Besides, I brought a present for baby Victor. Is Morgan home?”

  “She just got back from her walk,” Jacob said. “She’s inside talking to Elaine. Aunt Tris came over to see the baby. Now she’s feeding him.”

  Danny leaned into the car and grabbed a bag from the passenger seat. “Well then let’s go in and show her what I brought!”

  The twins clapped with glee and followed Danny up the steps, dashing past him and racing through the front door. Danny smiled and followed.

  Morgan, Elaine, and Tris all looked up as he entered.

  “You’re home early,” Elaine said, checking her watch.

  “The committee meeting ended early. I had a package arrive from Garraldi and Maria down at the capital and the People’s Congress. I thought I’d deliver it personally.

  “What is it?” Morgan asked.

  “I’m not sure, but I think it’s something official to recognize the baby’s birth.”

  He handed the bag to Morgan.

  Tris shifted the baby to her shoulder to burp him, then set the bottle down to see.

  “Don’t keep us in suspense,” Danny said.

  Morgan opened the bag and took out a small, flat box about six inches square. She lifted the lid and looked inside, smiling as tears filled her eyes.

  Then she turned the box so the others could see.

  Inside was a wooden plaque with a stylized gold shield. A slip of paper stuck out from the side. Morgan pulled it free.

  “Read it,” Elaine said. “What does it say?”

  Morgan wiped a tear and started to read:

  “By proclamation of the joint session of the House of Chanters and the House of Middlings, we present this posthumous award of the Gold Shield to the family of Victor Holmes for valorous service in the face of impossible odds to the United Americas. May you know that forever forward, The Gold Shield shall become the highest honor bestowed by this government only to those who’ve shown selfless service to the country with great courage and honor.”

  “Signed, President Harold Garraldi and Prime Minister Maria DeSantos.”

  Morgan put the box and paper down and reached for a tissue.

  “They didn’t have to do that,” Morgan said.

  “Victor should know who his father was,” Danny said. “And what he did for this country.”

  “What about Winnie?” Morgan asked.

  “Winnie doesn’t want all that fuss,” Elaine said. “Besides, she’s watching over us every day. And she always will be. Right, Danny?”

  “I can’t imagine anything else,” he said.

  Danny wondered how Winnie was doing in Avalon with the Lady and Seelie. He hoped she could see all the good that came of her hard work and sacrifice.

  He hoped she could see that they were doing just fine.

  YOU’VE FINISHED THE SERIES, SO NOW WHAT?

  Head over to JamieDavisBooks.com and check out his Extreme Medical Services Series.

  Monsters, Paramedics, and Street Medicine.

  New paramedic Dean Flynn is fresh out of the academy. When he gets assigned to the unknown backwater ambulance Station U, he wonders what he did wrong. Then Dean learns that his patients aren't your normal 911 callers.

  Dean and his partner Brynne Garvey serve the creatures of myth and legend living alongside their normal human neighbors in Elk City. With patients that are vampires, werewolves, fairies and more, will Dean survive his first days on the new job? Will his patients?

  Not all is well on the streets of Elk City either, and some humans are striking out at their mythical neighbors. Dean soon finds himself in the middle of a series of attacks on his patients, attacks that implicate a former member of Station U.

  Come along on this ride with "Extreme Medical Services" - part one of the series by the same name, a paranormal medical thrill-ride with the paramedics of Elk City. Described by one fan as "like Grimm, but with paramedics" this book is brought to you by best-selling author and real-life paramedic Jamie Davis. He crafts a book called an accurate, interesting, & fabulous page-turner.

  Jump on the ambulance with Dean, Brynne and the rest of the team.

  Or check out the library at SterlingandStone.net/books

  ABOUT THE AUTHOR

  Jamie Davis, RN, NRP, B.A., A.S., is a nationally recognized medical educator who began educating new emergency responders as a training officer for his local EMS program. As a media producer, he has been recognized for the MedicCast Podcast (MedicCast.com/blog), a weekly program for emergency medical providers like EMTs and paramedics, and the Nursing Show, a similar program for nurses and nursing students. His programs and resources have been downloaded over 6 million times by listeners and viewers.

  Jamie lives and writes at his home in Maryland. He lives in the woods with his wife, three children, and a dog.

  Jamie’s other books include the Extreme Medical Services series, The Eldara Sister series and the upcoming Accidental Traveler series. You can check them out at http://jamiedavisbooks.com. His Broken Throne series is published by Sterling & Stone LLC.