Kings of Ghumai- The Complete series Box Set

by D N Meinster

  The sky was pink from the setting sun, but their new environment was still visible. Beneath them was a layer of sand, and in front of them was a massive white door. He’d brought them all back to Absentia Desert.

  “Why is that still here?” Aros asked as he pushed himself up from the ground.

  “Because it makes a worthy prison,” Neanthal answered.

  “You don’t mean to kill us?” Rikki asked, her grip still tight on her staff.

  “And send you to the Bastion, where I’d have to face you when you’re enhanced by Magenine’s power?” Neanthal pointed at the Door. “No, you get to stay in this plane, living with your failure for decades until you finally reach the Bastion when I’m in control.”

  “There’s food in there?” Aros asked.

  “I’ll see to it.” Neanthal clenched his fist and the Door swung open to reveal a gaping black hole floating in the area behind it. “You can keep your Keys and your weapons. They won’t help you on the other side.”

  “Do you expect us to march on your orders?” Rikki protested.

  “I don’t need you to.” He pointed at Doren, who rose into the air. And then he pointed at the hole.

  Doren sped through it without any resistance.

  “I can do the same to you, but I don’t think you’ll want to leave your boyfriend alone in there.”

  Rikki scowled and shook with fury. But before she could let loose an attack, her staff was ripped from her grasp and followed Doren beyond the Door.

  Aros tossed a blade at Neanthal, but he redirected it so it flew through the hole.

  “Go ahead and try your other one.”

  For whatever reason, Aros listened, launching his second blade at the Beast. But that one followed the same path as the first.

  Aros grabbed the golden M hanging from his neck. “Magenine.”

  “Follow your friend,” She whispered in his ear.

  Aros didn’t let on what he’d been told but walked towards the doorway.

  “Aros!” Rikki screamed with concern.

  He looked back at her, confident in his decision, and then stepped into the darkness.

  Neanthal chuckled. “Your turn.”

  Rikki shook her head.

  “I wasn’t talking to you.” He held out a hand for Hatswick.

  Hatswick’s confusion was evident. “What?”

  “You’ve served your purpose. I am free and Magenine’s stooges are neutralized. I can’t have you coming with me to the Bastion. Her hold on you and every mage is too deep. I can cover it up while we’re here, but over there, Her power will overtake what I’ve done. You’d betray me.” He patted Hatswick’s cheek.

  “I would never,” Hatswick sputtered.

  “Not intentionally. You’d revert to what you were before. That I cannot change.”

  “But the promises you made…”

  “Can still be when I rule the Bastion,” Neanthal asserted. “I will not forget.” As Neanthal held a hand to Hatswick’s cheek, a black smoke oozed out of his nostrils and his mouth. The smoke settled on Neanthal’s arm before disappearing.

  As Hatswick began to crumble, Neanthal grabbed him by the cloak and swung him into a plane that he’d helped create.

  “A Ghumai without mages will be easier to conquer,” Neanthal stated. “Who else is out there?”

  “Like I’d tell you,” Rikki shot back.

  “I’ll find out, my girl. You cannot stop that.”

  The channeling crystal around her neck lit up and she began to twirl her arms in front of her. The sands started to swirl before they went airborne.

  A sandstorm kicked up and neither she nor Neanthal could see even inches in front of them.

  She had to retrieve her friends and get them all out of there before Neanthal realized that she was no longer in the desert. They’d shift to another kingdom and seek aid. There were allies out there that they could call upon. Neanthal hadn’t won yet.

  As she readied to shift, a black cloud reached through the violent sands. It had taken the form of a hand, and it seemed to know exactly where she was. Its fingers tightened around her and pull her toward where she had last seen the Door.

  The closer she got, the more the storm slowed, until plumes of sand were plummeting back to the desert floor.

  She could see him, Neanthal, watching as his black hand pulled her into the dark crack in their reality. Those eyes, like flames, were unforgettable.

  One corner of his lip rose before he was out of sight.

  And the little light that had come with her disappeared as the Door shut behind her.

  Though her eyes were open, there was nothing to see. All that was left was black.

  Chapter Seventeen

  Beyond the Door

  Nothing.

  All of his centuries behind the Door and Neanthal had left it as it’d been made.

  There was no world. No life. No structure. Anything he may have created, he took with him. Any light he’d have conjured was long since extinguished. The plane he saw now was exactly as it’d been the day he and Amelia had created it so many years ago.

  This prison had been built for one, but there were four of them there. Three were Magenites, likely eager to get their vengeance on the fourth. How he’d even gone this long without being attacked, Hatswick was unsure. Whenever it came, he knew he’d deserve it. All that had transpired was his fault. He was to blame.

  The clarity of these circumstances had struck him as Neanthal pulled the corruption from his soul. From that moment, the entire course of events that had led to it seemed to play out in his mind with a newfound perspicuity that he had, for whatever reason, been blinded to. And though this new revelation did give him a greater comprehension, it did not provide him, in any way, the ability to undo what he had wrought.

  This was the outcome he had sought. A free Neanthal. And yet, he could not celebrate. It was not simply the betrayal that overshadowed the completion of the goal. It was that the goal itself had been misguided.

  Hatswick had been manipulated. He was sure of it. How else to go from imprisoning Neanthal to working to set him loose? But he had welcomed that manipulation. Seeing Aergo again and equaling Amelia’s strength were to have been worth the cost.

  Though Neanthal’s corruption did not necessarily turn him into a puppet and force upon him actions that he would not otherwise undertake, it did cause him to overlook the true price of his plot.

  A boy’s face flashed into his mind’s eye; one he had not thought about in so long he almost forgot the name that went with it.

  Milo.

  He’d murdered a child; one that he was fond of.

  Milo was one of the last mages in Kytheras and he’d killed him. For what? To enhance the abilities of some resurrected Thalians?

  Why had he done it? He couldn’t understand what had caused him to take such a cruel turn.

  He’d always liked Milo better than Rikki. He knew that. Why would he kill him?

  An unfamiliar sensation struck his eyes. They were watering in the runup to tears. And then tears were trickling down his face.

  Hatswick hadn’t cried in so long. Three hundred years, in fact.

  As he brought his hands to his face and began to sob, the tiniest bit of light penetrated the darkness.

  And from that light, more light spread. Orbs spread out through their area, illuminating the plane and revealing the state of all four prisoners.

  “Hatswick!” Rikki screamed.

  His former pupil’s ire was justified. This is what he’d been waiting for. They’d strike him down for aiding their enemy. Then they’d seek a way back into Ghumai. Maybe they’d even find one. Time-and-again he’d believed them incapable of the feats that they’d somehow accomplished. Could he take some credit for their success? He’d been Rikki’s teacher for her entire life, and though he’d intentionally held back, he had still trained her.

  She mustn’t have seen it that way, for as she stormed toward him, there was only fury in her
eyes.

  Rikki had her staff in hand, both channeling crystals lit up, as orbs circled above and below her to keep her in the light.

  Hatswick wasn’t going to fight her. There’d been enough needless battles between them. He already knew she was skilled and capable of defeating him. He was not going to defend himself this time. He deserved whatever punishment she deemed he receive. Rikki would lay Magenine’s wrath upon him.

  He’d spent several lifetimes aiding the Goddess’ immortal foe. If She was still in control of the Bastion when he got there, the torment he’d face was likely unimaginable. And if She wasn’t, would he be relieved? Or even more regretful?

  Hatswick braced himself as Rikki approached, but the young mage came to a standstill mere feet away. She stayed in place, staring at him while the anger retracted and a different emotion took its place.

  “Hatswick?”

  He met her eyes but could not see why she’d not struck him down already.

  “Do it,” he whispered, tilting his head down and exposing the top of his trilby.

  But there was no subsequent action, and when he looked back up, she was joined by her two companions, Doren Tunsev and Aros Asilias.

  He’d never liked Doren, who more resembled his mother than any other in the Tunsev line. The boy grew foul after losing her, and his resentment burned even in his own quiet solitude. The raw emotion made him vulnerable, but his closeness with Rikki prevented Hatswick from ever trying to recruit him to his cause.

  And then there was Aros. He’d seen the boy whenever he’d go to check on the last carrier of the Ifta’s corruption. There was nothing special about him. He was an unintelligent apprentice to a blacksmith. And yet, there he was before him, self-constructed blades in hand and marked as a guardian by King Halstrom. The unremarkable boy had proven himself to be the opposite. What had he missed?

  This trio had been an impressive obstacle, and had five Keys been required to free Neanthal, they may have been victorious. But they’d underestimated their enemy and just as he’d underestimated his.

  Neanthal only needed his and Amelia’s enchantment to be weakened to escape. He did not need it removed completely. Their magic had not been enough to contain him. It was another way he was to blame for this entire mess.

  “Why do you just stand there? Hatswick looked from each one to the next. Their weapons were out. They were clearly ready to strike him down. Why did they delay?

  It was Rikki that knelt down and moved her staff toward his face. At first, he thought she was finally going to end him, but she only held the silver wings inches in front of him.

  “Do you see?” she asked.

  Hatswick looked into the reflective silver. He saw a face staring back, but it was not one he recognized. The goatee and mustache had gone completely white. The cheeks had wrinkled and the bags under the eyes appeared to have drooped down significantly. He touched his own face and saw a hand join the reflection in the staff.

  Hatswick’s hand slid up his face until it reached his trilby. He lifted it from his head and saw a field of gray hair beneath it. The few remaining black hairs seemed to transform as he gazed at his own reflected image.

  “The years are catching up to me,” he said aloud, realizing why the trio hadn’t bothered to take him out. Neanthal’s power had sustained him. With that gone, his time in the world was coming to an end. He would die naturally, and soon.

  “Why did you do it, Hatswick?” Rikki asked, seeking a simple explanation that he could never provide.

  “Why?” he repeated. “I was a mage born to be second best. I was a man in love with a king. I’d never intended to be Neanthal’s servant. I locked him away even after he’d try to sway me; after he’d marked me with his corruption. I cannot tell you if his corruption grew stronger or whether I grew weaker. But every emotion, every feeling, was enhanced. I’d always been jealous of Amelia, and it only grew worse, even after the war was over. And my love for Aergo only deepened as the number of years without him grew. The solution to both was evident. I had to get Neanthal out. I had to undo what I’d done.

  “I don’t think I can ever make you truly understand. I can barely understand it myself. I could not see the wrongness in any of my actions. I considered each step worth it, no matter what it required of me. Murdering horses. Murdering children. Desecrating graves. Lying. Manipulating others. My younger self would’ve been sickened. It’s not who I was. But it is who I am now. At least I won’t have to live with myself for long.” He looked at his hands as they grew paler and more crinkled.

  “Did you know it would only take one Key?” Doren inquired.

  “Not at all,” Hatswick replied. “I was so excited when I had acquired it that I brought it to the Door and took aim. I’d waited for ages to get to that point. But I had not thought Neanthal would emerge thereafter. Yet he did.”

  “Bet you didn’t think you’d end up imprisoned with us,” Aros remarked.

  “That’s a fair assumption. But it’s not why I regret what I’ve done.”

  “You sure about that?” Rikki asked.

  “I am responsible,” Hatswick said, placing both hands on his chest. “But only now can I see how reprehensible my actions have been. I cannot make up for the path I led, but I can apologize. I am sorry.”

  “Sorry won’t bring Leidess back,” Aros grumbled.

  “Or my father,” Doren added.

  “Or Milo,” Rikki stated. “Or Ji-Ji. Or put Neanthal back in here.”

  Hatswick didn’t expect to be forgiven, but he needed them to know. “I didn’t realize they were mistakes until now. Do you at least understand that?”

  All three of them looked at one another as they silently communicated and evaluated his words.

  “How better can I put this?” What analogy could he use? Storm clouds? A veil? He needed to convey the lightness with which each thought now sprang.

  “We get it,” Rikki said. “But you still made all those choices.”

  “I do not deny it,” Hatswick replied, lowering his head. “I was lesser than Amelia and I am lesser than you. Not because of our magic, but because of my own failings. I didn’t deserve to be as great as her, but I could never accept that.”

  “You betrayed us all,” Doren stated.

  “I loved Aergo and his family. I thought bringing him back would justify any of my actions that caused ill upon his descendants. I could only see logic, not fallacy.”

  “You have to make up for it,” Aros said. “Before you die.”

  Hatswick didn’t know if that was going to be possible. He was aging at an exponential rate. There was not enough time left to set it all right, even with the three companions helping him.

  “He doesn’t want to,” Rikki said as she eyed him. “Even now.”

  “Of course I do,” he shot back. “But how can I? These four hundred and thirty-two years were no accident. Neanthal ensured I’d live long enough to bring him back. I saw Amelia pass and all her heirs expire until you, Rikki. I am the longest living mage, but only because the Beast required it of me.”

  “You don’t have to fight him,” Rikki replied. “You only need to get us out of here. Shifting won’t work.”

  “Obviously,” Hatswick said. “What would have been the point of creating this place if you could just shift out?”

  “Can you get us out?” she asked, a slight rage boiling beneath the words.

  Hatswick smiled at her. He knew exactly how to do it. “I didn’t teach you everything I knew, Rikki. And I suppose I’ll never get the chance. So here’s my final lesson. An enchantment is best undone by the staff that created it.” He lifted himself up with his own rod and rose to his full height, which was a couple inches shorter than it’d been only hours earlier.

  “How does that help us?” Aros asked.

  “The staffs that created the Door are right with us,” Hatswick answered. He glanced at Rikki, but instead of seeing her, he saw Amelia looking back at him. “We can undo what we’ve done.�
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  Amelia took hold of her staff in both hands and nodded. And then Rikki was back in her place.

  “And I don’t just mean the Door, either,” Hatswick continued. “Neanthal means to conquer the kingdoms as they remain separated. If we bring them back together, they might be able to resist him.”

  “Our staffs can do that?” Rikki asked.

  “Perhaps they could’ve, but I won’t live long enough to try.” Hatswick held out his hand. “I need your Keys.”

  All three were taken aback by the request.

  “What? Do you think I’m gonna release Neanthal again?”

  None moved to provide the Keys that were hanging on them.

  “Please,” he said, taking the Key out from within his own cloak. He tossed it into the air and it floated between them.

  Aros was the first to do as instructed, ripping the Keys from his waist and holding them out in his palm. They rose from his hand and joined the other in midair.

  Rikki and Doren followed, taking the Keys from around their necks and releasing them to accompany the others.

  All five hovered between them.

  “First, we must isolate their magic from the Door, or they will disappear when we undo it.”

  Hatswick wrapped his hand around his channeling crystal and it turned red.

  Rikki mimicked him exactly.

  A red light stretched out from their staffs and swirled around each of the Keys. The Keys sparkled and dance with the ribbon-like light until they seemed to completely devour their luminous partner.

  As the lights on the channeling crystals extinguished, Hatswick reached and took hold of two Keys, leaving his staff standing on its own.

  “This was a secret I revealed only to the Kings,” Hatswick said. He lined the bows of the two Keys up and then snapped them together. “Amelia designed the Keys to do more than simply open the Door. She realized if a Thalian ever worked to gather them together, it would take all of Ghumai to combat him.” Hatswick snatched another Key from the air and snapped it into the others. “They’d leave the Keys discarded after the Door was opened, and the Magenites could take possession of them and bring the lands back together.” The fourth Key became joined with the others. “Five Keys weren’t only intended to open the Door. They were meant to reunite Ghumai itself.” The last Key was snapped together with the other four, leaving a five-pronged Key that was reminiscent of a wheel.