by D. B. Green
“Shit!” Stephanie holds out her arm. “Stop.” The Reperio flashes red. “The configuration is changing.” A wall suddenly swings across, blocking the junction ahead. It scrapes on across the floor, leaving a white chalky arc in its wake; we can only turn right, now. Stephanie glances at the Reperio. “Come on, Logan” she says. “They’re sealing off the corridors.”
My lungs ache as we run. All the stone corridors seem the same. Flashing lights and sirens. A man suddenly charges out of the darkness in front, wearing a similar dirty robe to Scarlett’s. His long brown hair sways from side to side as he runs. We move out of the way, but he stops and lunges at us, forces me back against the wall.
“Colliding,” he says. His eyes are bright white - no color in them at all. He fidgets left and right. “Colliding. Worlds colliding.” He stands back and points at me. “You’re the key.” His head tilts left and right. “Tick tock, goes the clock… Tick tock.”
Just like Scarlett…
“Come on, Logan,” Stephanie says. “Ignore him.”
He lunges for me again, grabbing my shoulders. “Three worlds colliding.” His breath is rancid. I turn away, but he forces his face right up to mine. “Only one can survive.” He lets go of me and laughs - a manic laugh - then slumps to the floor. “You’re the key and you don’t even know. They’ll all come for you.”
Stephanie grabs my elbow. “Come on.”
We run down the corridor, the manic laughing echoing behind us. “You can’t run from it,” he shouts. “You can’t escape your destiny. Tick tock, Logan!”
I stop still. He knew my name.
“What’s wrong?” Stephanie says.
“He knew my name.”
“He probably heard me use it. Forget about him. We need to get out of here.”
We run around the next corner into another long corridor. The sirens increase in volume.
“Shit! Run,” Stephanie shouts as a stone wall swings across behind us. It clips the back of my boot, almost tripping me up. Stephanie holds her Reperio out in front of her. “Shit!” The paper flashes red, almost in time with the lights on the walls. “Keep running!”
Another wall swings across behind us. Then another. The dull thud of stone on stone follows us down the corridor. Chasing us.
One of the triplets appears out of the darkness in front. Jack. He frantically waves his hand. “Come on,” he shouts.
We dive past him into the round lobby as the wall slides across behind us, sealing the corridor.
His two brothers sit hunched over behind the stone desk, their skin all wrinkled and old. Aged. Just like what happened to my hand.
“What the hell happened?” Stephanie says, catching her breath. “Did any of them get out?”
“We couldn’t seal the corridors quickly enough,” Jack says. “Several prisoners escaped.”
Stephanie runs her hand through her hair. “Which ones?”
Jack shakes his head. “I don’t know.” He glances at his brothers. “They were here when it happened. But it will be some time before they recover and we know who got past them.”
I glance at my hand and wiggle my fingers.
The stone wall shakes and cracks appear, spreading down from the top. “Get out!” Jack shouts. “I’m going to have to seal the entire Archanter until help arrives.”
“Come on!” Stephanie shouts, indicating to the corridor we first came through. We run back along to the mahogany door. She grasps the brass handle and closes her eyes. ”Fiori Rosa-Fiori Rosa-Fiori Rosa.”
The door opens and she runs through into the dark market. I glance over my shoulder; Jack stands at the end of the corridor, his hands forming a triangle. “Run, Mr. Collins!”
I dive through the doorway, following Stephanie. The mahogany door slams shut behind me. People mill around, ignoring us, not aware what just happened.
“What will happen now?” I ask.
“He will have frozen time in the Archanter.” She pauses. “It’s a safety guard - a last resort. It will take Kalendis months to sort out the mess.”
“Kalendis?”
“It’s our magic council. Our ruling body, so to speak.”
My head throbs. “I know so little about this life.”
Stephanie sighs. “Well, we know for sure that you have Affinity.” She sweeps the stone dust from her hair. “Your magic has well and truly sparked.” She checks her watch. “We need to get to Texas.”
“I’d forgotten all about that.” My head suddenly feels heavy, like a giant hand is pressing down on it. “I feel a little dizzy.”
“Let’s sit down for a second,” Stephanie says, indicating to a closed outdoor café. She guides me to a metal chair and I sit down. She sits opposite.
A woman screams in the distance.
Stephanie stands up. “They’ll send the Trackers soon.” She stares in the direction the scream came from. “Maybe we should just go back to Wolfville before everything hits the fan.”
Wolfville. The name from the sign - in my vision.
“I meant Meridia Falls,” Stephanie says, correcting herself. “My head is a little dizzy, too.”
“What about my dad,” I say. “He’s expecting me.”
“OK,” she says, glancing over her shoulder. “Anywhere but here.” She presses her Magic Release to her neck and holds out her crystal handle. Her eyes sparkle green and she starts to chant. “Wendell-Wendell-Wendell.” The familiar door shaped outline shoots up from the ground, just like at the cinema. Stephanie stops chanting and turns the handle. The view of the market square springs across and bright sunshine flows into the dark market square, emulating what happened in Hellgate Forest.
We step through into warm Texas sunshine - and into a crowd of people. News reporters and protestors. They’re all gathered outside the penitentiary gates.
“What’s happening?” Stephanie asks, as she slips the crystal handle in her pocket. “Do you think they find out about your visit?”
A podium stands next to the high penitentiary gates. A man in a gray suit stands ready to address the crowd, Two black suited bodyguards on either side of him.
“That’s Paul Tressler… Senator Tressler,” Stephanie says, correcting herself. “What the hell is happening here?”
Several news crews are set up to record the senator. I recognize the reporter stood at the front. I’m sure she interviewed me once about Cassie. She flicks her hair back as her camera technician counts her down.
“This is Sapphire Love reporting live from Wendell Penitentiary. In an unprecedented move, Patrick Collins was executed at four-fifteen this afternoon.”
D.B. GREEN
COMING
26th SEPTEMBER 2017
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Book one
THE SPARK
Out Now
Book Two
SUNBURST
Out Now
Book Three
ENCHANTERS
Out Now
Book Four
AFFINITY
Coming 26th September 2017
Series One Finale
BOOK FIVE
Coming November 2017
AUTHOR’S NOTE
If you enjoyed this novella, I would be so grateful if you could spend a few minutes leaving a review on the page where you purchased it. Your help in spreading the word about my Meridia Falls series is much appreciated and your review will make a huge difference in helping new readers find these works.
ABOUT THE AUTHOR
D.B. Green was born and raised in Yorkshire, England. He writes serial print drama - urban fantasy thrillers with a cliff-hanger twist. He is the author of the ground-breaking novella series, MERIDIA FALLS, and he likes to ask one question: Do you be
lieve in magic?
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ACKNOWLEDGMENTS
Another huge thank you to my awesome editor, Amanda Kaye Stein. I don’t know where I’d be without you.
Thank you to Michael Wilson. No doubt about it, you are definitely the Continuity King.
Thank you to my beta-readers, alpha readers and my ARC team for giving up your time to read this novella. Your help and encouragement always proves invaluable.
Also, a big thank you to everyone that entered the Enchanters name draw, and congratulations to the three winners, Paul Tressler, Cora Shaw and Sapphire Love. You each have a recurring character named after you in this book.
And finally, another special thank you to my family. To Lorna, Brandon, and Kara for your eternal support. And to Pebble and Marble, for basically being Pebble and Marble.
ENCHANTERS
Meridia Falls: Series One | Book Three
Copyright © 2017 D.B. Green
www.db-green.com
The right of D.B. Green to be identified as the author of this work has been asserted by him in accordance with the Copyright, Designs and Patents Act, 1988.
All rights reserved. This book is a work of fiction. The characters, incidents and dialogue are drawn from the author’s imagination and are not to be construed as real. Any resemblance to actual events or persons, living or dead, is fictionalized or coincidental.
First published in 2017 by Orlando House Publishing
www.orlandohousepublishing.com
No part of this book may be reproduced, or transmitted in any form or by any means, electronic or otherwise, without written permission from the author, except for the use of brief quotations in a book review.
Edited by Amanda Kaye Stein
[email protected]
Cover and Interior Design by Dan Green
Table of Contents
Dedication
Table of Contents
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Logan’s Letter
Tuesday 4th October 2005
11:14 GMT-4
11:47 GMT-4
12:16 GMT-4
15:32 GMT-4
15:49 GMT-4
Wednesday 5th October 2005
08:04 GMT-4
08:27 GMT-4
08:46 GMT-4
09:22 GMT-4
13:21 GMT-4
14:03 GMT-4
15:27 GMT-4
Next Time
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More Books by D.B. Green
Author’s Note
About the Author
Acknowledgments
Copyright