Kings of Ghumai- The Complete series Box Set

by D N Meinster

  "How is that fair?"

  "I get my amusement now, but you get your evenhanded battle later. Win-win."

  "I can't agree to that," Doren said.

  "You don't have to," Sarin stated. "It's not exactly your choice." He summoned ten more spears to glide in the air beside him.

  Doren ducked down and tucked as much of his body behind his shield as he could manage. He tried to brace himself for the wounds that were about to befall him. There was no way he could stop all of those spears.

  Sarin reared up his hand and prepared to let loose those spears, but the wind picked up and started knocking the spears against each other. The desert sand kicked up, swirling from the ground into the air. Visibility decreased rapidly, and Doren was suddenly lost behind the whirlwind of sand.

  Sarin lost control of his hovering spears, the sandstorm pulling them away in all different directions. The dejected resurrected flung one of his remaining spears at the last known location of the Prince, but the wind swept it away as soon as his hand left its shaft.

  Doren kept his face behind the bronze metal, trying to prevent himself from choking on the sand. There was no maneuvering in this weather, and Sarin probably knew it. Wherever this sandstorm came from, it had probably saved his life.

  Aros did not want to leave Doren alone with Sarin. They had barely escaped from him during their last encounter, and that was when all three of them were together. He had come because he didn't want Doren to die here. But that was exactly what would happen if he left him now.

  "But – " Aros tried to protest.

  Doren was already heading at Sarin, having screamed at him to "Go!"

  Aros turned his head from them before they collided and concentrated only on the Door. He ran past the impending battle between shield and spear, closing in on Hatswick and Leidess. He had seen her, lying immobile at the Grand Mage's feet. But they were out of sight now, having circled to the other side of the Door.

  "Hurry," the voice compelled, but he didn't need the motivation. Aros knew what was at stake, yet Neanthal's release was secondary. Leidess mattered more to him. He had to save her. There was still going to be time. He was going to arrive at the other side and she was going to be alive. He refused to entertain any other notion. There was no reason to keep going if this was not the case. Leidess was still alive and intact. He repeated this to himself over and over, forcing himself to believe it.

  Aros ran up perpendicular to the Door, regaining sight of Hatswick and Leidess. She was hovering in the air, between Hatswick and the Door, and his staff was directly over her body. Her living body. They were close, and Aros made to retrieve his blades until he realized they were still in his hands.

  Aros took a leap forward but froze as a pillar of gray smoke rose out from Leidess' body and surpassed the top frame of the Door. His mouth dropped open, unsure what he was witnessing.

  "MOVE!" the voice commanded, louder than he had ever heard it.

  Aros pulled his arm back and sent one of his clawblades right at Hatswick. He then took off, running and attempting to keep up right behind it.

  Hatswick noticed the blade from the corner of his eye, and it stopped in midair right before it could pierce him. He looked away from Leidess, giving his full attention to the boy who had thrown it.

  "Come to save her?" Hatswick asked.

  Aros pointed his clawblade at the Grand Mage. "Let her go."

  "If you want to intimidate me, I'd suggest getting a real sword," Hatswick blithely offered. "That one looks broken, distorted even. Ratch must be a poor teacher."

  "It can still cut you," Aros growled.

  Hatswick chuckled. "No." He touched the frozen blade and it dropped into the sand. "Here's another suggestion: leave. And you might yet live another day. But that's all I can promise you. What happens tomorrow is up to the god behind this door."

  "The Door is staying shut!" Aros roared.

  "Do your eyes not see what is right in front of you? The keys are in position. Her soul has risen from her body. It's over. You're too late. I can finish this before you can take one more step."

  Aros gaped at the pillar of smoke. "That's her soul?"

  "Unattractive, isn't it?" Hatswick replied. "I bet you thought her soul would be a shining beacon of light."

  "I don't care what it looks like. Put it back!"

  "This soul will only go into my keys. And those keys will open the Door. You cannot save her, and you cannot stop me. This world belongs again to Neanthal. He ruled it all those years ago, and he's been waiting to come back ever since. The Dark Reign resumes in minutes! No longer history, it is the present! Hearts of Magenites, quiver in fear! You have devoted your lives to a goddess that has only forsaken you!"

  "That's not true!" Aros retorted. "The Goddess is with me right now, as she is with you, even if you've buried her presence beneath your sins. She is with Leidess, who you vow to corrupt. She is with Doren, battling one of your resurrected Thalians. And She is with Rikki, wherever you have left her. Magenine has kept that door shut for three hundred years, and that's not about to change."

  "So you continue to trust in the Goddess that has sent you to take me on alone?" Hatswick asked. "Come on, then. Try and stop me!"

  Aros took off for Hatswick, blade first. He intended to impale Hatswick, but the folly of such an attack was evident as soon as Hatswick's staff slammed into his clawblade. Aros' sword scattered into the distance, leaving Aros defenseless in front of the Grand Mage.

  "Do you see now?" Hatswick asked, before landing an uppercut with his staff.

  Aros flew up into the air, higher than both the Door and Leidess' soul. "I'm sorry," he whispered to Magenine as he plummeted back to the desert floor.

  "It's not over yet," the voice insisted.

  Aros felt a hand touch his shoulder. At first, he believed it was the Goddess, tugging him out of his freefall. But it wasn't Magenine plucking him from the air.

  Rikki flung Aros right behind herself, landing him on the back of her horse. But it wasn't just a horse. It was a pegasus.

  "Rikki!" Aros exclaimed. Recognizing where he was, he wrapped his arms around Rikki's waist.

  "Looks like I arrived just in time," Rikki said, directing Mirabelle back in Hatswick's direction.

  "Are you okay?" Aros asked, noticing the obscene amount of blood on her dress.

  "Fine," she stated bluntly. "What'd I miss?"

  "Doren's fighting Sarin, and Hatswick's about to open the Door."

  "Dammit," Rikki yelped. She might not be able to save Doren and stop Hatswick. It was not a choice she wanted to make. "How soon?"

  "A minute," Aros answered. "All he has to do is – "

  "Bind her soul to the keys," Rikki finished, and Mirabelle began diving toward the Grand Mage.

  Both of them watched as the pillar of smoke widened and encased Hatswick and the Door. It swirled around them with increasing ferocity until it completely dissipated.

  "Shit." Rikki lifted up her staff and compelled the wind and sand to obey her wishes. The wind began to pick up right away, and waves of sand started to rise into the air. "He can't open it if he can't see it."

  Mirabelle touched down, and Rikki formed a glass dome to encase them as the sandstorm picked up. She hopped off her pegasus and stared outside the dome. The air was filled with blinding brown particles that intentionally made it impossible for anyone caught outside to see. But she knew she was only stalling him.

  Rikki turned to Aros, hoping for an idea, but her companion's face was expressionless. "Leidess," he said.

  "It's not over yet!" Rikki yelled, hoping to wake him from his shock.

  Aros didn't move, remaining atop Mirabelle.

  Rikki ran over to him and grabbed his hand. "I can't do this alone, Aros," she pleaded with him. "Are you with me?"

  He looked into her eyes and nodded. Aros slid off Mirabelle's back and glanced out the dome. "My clawblades are out there."

  Rikki turned to the dome, right as a noticeable cr
ack began to spread through the glass. "Hatswick," she muttered. He knew she was here. She looked back at Aros. "When this breaks, find your weapons."

  "How exactly do you expect me to do that?" he asked.

  She pointed straight ahead. "The Door's right there."

  The dome shattered while she pointed, sending shards of glass to join the mass of sand caught in the whirlwind. Rikki couldn't see if Aros went for his swords, but she heard Mirabelle whining behind her. She couldn't offer her pegasus comfort, for one word and her mouth would be filled with sand. If she was going to speak, it had to count.

  "Rikki!" she heard a muffled scream meander through the wind. It was Hatswick. She tightened both her hands around her staff. She couldn't beat him one-on-one. He was the Grand Mage, and she was his student. Rikki may have been Amelia's descendant, and she may have had her staff, but she wasn't Amelia. Amelia wouldn't have let herself be tricked for all her life, or to be used for Thalian ends. She wouldn't have let anyone get this close to opening the Door. If the sandstorm ended, it was over. Amelia's great plan undone by her own great-granddaughter.

  "Rikki!" The muffled voice was close. Incredibly close. It was right in front of her. "There you are."

  Hatswick held his trilby hat over his face for protection. There was a tiny hole in its top, from which he was able to see. "Enough of this, Rikki. You've lost."

  Rikki shook her head and pointed her staff in his obscured face. "Spira's dead," she informed him before disintegrating his hat. She ate a mouthful of sand, but Hatswick took the brunt of the wind in his face. Rikki jabbed her staff forward, smacking Hatswick's cheek, before retreating backwards. She made her way toward Mirabelle, or where she thought Mirabelle would be, but her pegasus was gone.

  Rikki wanted to call out to her but realized she'd have to make another dome to do that. She began creating new glass with her staff when a red fireball burst it into pieces. Hatswick appeared out of the dense haze and stuck out his hand toward Rikki. He wrapped his fingers around her throat and started crushing her neck.

  Between the sand in her mouth and the hand at her neck, she couldn't breathe. The wind around them began to slow, and globs of sand started dropping from the air. Killing her would stop the storm, and that's exactly what Hatswick intended to do.

  White stars flashed before Rikki's eyes. Her staff dropped from her hand as a searing pain spread across her chest. If only she could set his hand on fire, he would let go.

  She could set his hand on fire! Amelia's necklace began to burn around her neck, and Hatswick's hand flew off her throat. Rikki bent over, taking in several breaths as the last bits of sand continued to fall from the sky.

  "You are talented," Hatswick said. "But this is over." He turned his back on her and hoisted his staff high above his head. The keys lost in the storm rose out of the desert and back into the air.

  An airborne clawblade sliced into Hatswick's outstretched arm, causing him to drop his staff and sending the keys falling back down with it.

  Hatswick ignored the laceration and went to pick up his staff, but Doren's foot prevented him from lifting it up.

  Aros arrived just in time to put his clawblade on Hatswick's neck, while he was still bent over.

  Rikki summoned her staff back into her grasp and kept it pointing at the Grand Mage. "You're right, Hatswick. It is over."

  Hatswick let out a hearty laugh, which echoed throughout the Absentia Desert. His hand was on the staff, and that was all that he needed.

  The desert sands began to quake, and the ground split open before them. Heaps of sand fell into the cracks, while all three companions lost their balance and enabled the Grand Mage to stand back up, staff in hand.

  His staff didn't even have to make contact with them. He merely had to swing it in their direction, and they each flew backwards.

  Hatswick stepped over one of the cracks he had created and made his way back to the Door.

  Rikki stayed down, hesitant to rejoin the battle. What if they weren't good enough? What if they couldn't stop him?

  Mirabelle's head nudged Rikki's arm. When Rikki didn't pick herself up, she nudged her again.

  "We weren't prepared for this," Rikki sighed.

  Mirabelle nudged her even harder.

  "Right. No time to lay around." Rikki got on her feet and climbed onto Mirabelle's back. Her pegasus took off but promptly landed between Hatswick and the Door.

  "So you got yourself a pegasus," Hatswick stated. "It's almost impressive."

  Aros and Doren had already recovered, and they surrounded Hatswick in a triangle formation.

  "Why do you fight for Magenine?" Hatswick begged an answer. "What has She ever done for you?"

  "Same as She did for you," Rikki answered, and Mirabelle took off toward Hatswick.

  Hatswick's blow reverberated through the air, disturbing the sand until it made contact with its target. Mirabelle fell onto her side, and Rikki along with her.

  Aros took a flying leap, intending to stick both his clawblades in Hatswick. But the Grand Mage shifted out of the way and bashed Aros on the head with the top of his staff when he reappeared. Aros fell face first into the sand.

  Doren's shield smacked into Hatswick's staff before dropping to the ground. Hatswick elevated the shield back into the air and sent it flying back toward its bearer.

  Doren charged at his weapon, and he slipped his hand through the grip underneath while it was soaring at him. Back in control of the shield, Doren took a twirling leap at the Grand Mage, smacking him in the face with the metal.

  Rikki pushed Doren out of the way before Hatswick could retaliate. She touched the tip of her staff to the sand, which climbed up Hatswick's ankles and turned to stone.

  Hatswick smashed the bottom of his staff into each foot, causing the rock that encased them to crumble away.

  But while Hatswick was distracted, she modified more sand into glass and sent shards flying at the Grand Mage.

  Hatswick shifted away, while the pieces of the glass flew into each other and burst back into sand.

  Doren helped Aros back on his feet, while Rikki kept an eye out for the Grand Mage.

  "How do we stop him?" Doren asked her.

  Rikki wished she knew. He would reappear, and all they could do was distract him so he couldn't open the Door. That would only delay Neanthal's release. They couldn't prevent it. Unless...

  Hatswick resurfaced, and a stream of water slammed Rikki onto wet sand.

  Doren jumped toward the Grand Mage, but he didn't land. Instead, a column of sand shot out from the desert and kept the Prince propelled into the air.

  Aros looked at Hatswick, out of it for so many reasons. "Go ahead," Aros pressed.

  "Your hopelessness gives me such encouragement," Hatswick stated. With his staff outstretched, he sent Aros blowing away like a leaf caught in the wind.

  Hatswick turned his attention back to Rikki, but she had disappeared. He looked toward where he last saw her horse, but Mirabelle was gone as well.

  "You wouldn't just leave, would you?" Hatswick asked aloud. He gazed up at the sky but didn't see any sign of her.

  Hatswick shifted back in front of the Door. Leidess' body was still hanging there, though he no longer needed it. Raising his staff again, Hatswick summoned all his keys forward to encircle the Door.

  Mirabelle swooped down from the opposite side of the Door and Rikki snatched a key out of the air. The channeling crystal on her staff glowed bright green, and she smashed the key into it. It broke upon impact, its remains falling to the sand below.

  Hatswick's red fireball missed her completely, and her pegasus circled back around the Door. Lifting her staff horizontally in the air, green fireballs started to drop down from it, like the staff was a cloud and the fireballs raindrops.

  The fire missed Hatswick, but it did slam down into the remaining keys.

  "Rikki!" Hatswick screamed, and a black cloud formed around Rikki and her pegasus.

  Mirabelle dove back to the ground,
giving Rikki an opportunity to leap off before returning to the sky. "You needed five keys to open the Door, right?"

  Hatswick pointed his staff at the young mage and a bolt of lightning shot out of it, aimed to strike her.

  Rikki didn't flinch. She kept her staff in between her and the lightning and created a screen of ice in midair. The ice absorbed the entirety of the lightning before shattering.

  "What?" Hatswick yelled.

  "You've lost!" Rikki bellowed back, and a massive green fireball left her staff and engulfed Hatswick's body before he could even try to stop it.

  Though slightly crispy, Hatswick was unfazed. "I won't – "

  Doren's shield plowed into the top of Hatswick's head. He dropped but shifted away before Aros could impale him with the clawblades.

  Hatswick rematerialized, his back leaning on the Door. "Magenine, why? Why am I always the lesser? Neanthal was willing to unlock my potential. I won't stop until he's free."

  Rikki, Doren, and Aros gathered in front of Hatswick, each rearing their weapons at him.

  "You're better than this Hatswick," Rikki said. "You helped create this door."

  "A mistake I will soon rectify," he growled. "You've only delayed me. The Five Keys are still out there, and I will gather them all." Hatswick shifted away.

  Leidess' body fell to the sand as soon as Hatswick disappeared. Aros ran forward instantly, tossing his clawblades to the side, and falling onto his knees. He scooped her up in his arms.

  "Leidess!" he shouted, hoping to get a response. "Leidess!" He shook her, hoping to wake her. The shakes became more intense and violent as she failed to react. "Leidess!"

  Her eyes were open, but they were lifeless. Her arms were cold, despite the heat of the desert. She didn't twitch. She didn't blink. She wasn't breathing.

  Aros' eyes began to water. He refused to accept what was so clearly cradled in his arms. He turned to Rikki. "Can you do something?"

  Rikki averted her eyes from him and shook her head.