Souls of the Never: A Fantasy Scifi Romance Time Travel series, with Dragons, Elves and Faeries. (Tales of the Neverwar Series Book 1)

by CJ Rutherford

  Derren felt as if he’d been struck as the realisation of just how far B’ran had fallen sank in. He thought him corrupt and ambitious, but nothing in his wildest imaginings could have made him imagine this. And what was worse was Derren knew B’ran was not alone, as he had seen the faces of those who had stood behind B’ran as he called for Derren’s detention.

  How could we have been so blind? he started to ask himself, before he realised and saw the way the Liberi had been manipulated. The leadership had used them to hunt out the Power in each reality, never keeping them on Sanctuary for any longer than totally necessary, keeping them distant while the poison festered and grew here at home.

  And now they knew where each and every one of the Powers was. They knew where Katheryne was and it made him sick to his stomach as he realised he had been the catalyst which had forced their hand.

  If he hadn’t admitted he’d loved her, they would simply have attempted to assign another Liberi, no doubt one loyal to B’ran and his ‘supporters’. Derren might have grown suspicious then and been able to take some sort of action.

  And if he hadn’t loved her he would have agreed unsuspectingly. Such moves were not unheard of, though unusual and rare.

  But he did love her, completely and eternally, and because he did, B’ran knew Derren would never have left her, would never have allowed her to be unprotected from any ‘accident’ which might unfortunately occur at some point in the future.

  Thank God Krista had escaped to warn her. If she hadn’t, another ‘Liberi’ would have simply taken his place, a fabrication of lies told to her about a sad mishap with one of the portals and tragically both Derren and his sister had been lost.

  B’ran watched as the truth dawned on Derren’s face and he chuckled shrilly in delight as he saw the pain etched across it.

  “In a few days we’ll be ready to go and fetch your slut and the harlot of a sister of yours. I’ll enjoy myself with both of them I think. Oh they won’t enjoy it, not one little bit, but I will savour the feeling of their flesh.” B’ran sneered and licked his lips, tormenting Derren with the vision he portrayed.

  Derren would have ripped him apart right there if he could only have reached him, but his anger simply allowed B’ran to goad him further.

  “And then my men will enjoy them too, all of my men. As you watch.” B’ran leered as he saw the barb cut deep and then turned to leave, collecting the device as he turned it off. “Until then, I’ll leave you to your imagination. I’m sure I’ve given you enough food for thought.”

  As he walked out Derren wanted to shout out a promise to kill him, however he stopped himself as he knew B’ran would draw pleasure from his pointless threats.

  It wasn’t as if Derren wouldn’t kill him eventually, and it would give him so much more satisfaction if the pompous scum didn’t expect it. He had no idea what was coming.

  22 – Belfast – Arming up

  Perri barely understood what was about to happen. The last two days had been a whirlwind of activity. Katheryne had been in and out of the Island coordinating the plan to free Derren, while simultaneously preparing herself mentally for the attack on Sanctuary.

  For that’s what this was, an attack into hostile, possibly…probably deadly enemy territory. Katheryne and Krista had originally planned for it to just be the two of them who would join with Toshi and the others on Sanctuary, and Krista was still in a foul mood over Katheryne agreeing to let Perri come along.

  But then Krista hadn’t known Perri for years. She didn’t know how it would have been impossible to make her stay here while her friends put themselves in danger. Katheryne realised after a few minutes that time unavailable to them would have been wasted in screaming arguments, and so had given in.

  And although Krista made her feelings clear at every opportunity, it didn’t prevent her from teaching Perri to handle the weaponry she brought from their own apartment, where she and Derren had been staying while in Belfast.

  A Liberi’s whole body was a weapon, a natural, killing machine honed to a knife edge of lethality, but Krista firmly believed in success through superior firepower.

  So when she’d returned with what was literally an arsenal, Perri and Katheryne had gaped in amazement. There were knives, swords and other assorted bladed weapons, but Perri had been drawn to the more sophisticated array of projectile throwers, from darts, bows and crossbows all the way up through handguns, to what could only be some sort of energy weaponry.

  Krista, to her credit, had been graciously surprised when Perri selected a compact metal handgun, pulled the slide back and ejected the clip, as she ensured the barrel and breech were clear, before reinserting the mag and making the weapon safe. Perri’s father was a member of the PSNI, but his job was a little riskier than most of his colleagues.

  E4 was a subset of the Special Branch, so she’d been taught a healthy respect for handguns from the age of thirteen, when she’d first gone to the range with him. Perri still remembered the day in 2007 when her dad, Chris had shot dead a gunman who tried to kill her whole family, in a drive by shooting on the Ormeau road. She could still see the masked man, leaning out of the side of the white van with an assault rifle aimed at them, could still recall her father’s arm pushing her back behind the door as he drew his weapon. The staccato of automatic gunfire had been halted by a single shot, but not before three people had been shot, one fatally.

  The police found the van burnt out a few hours later, and the next day a body turned up with Chris’s bullet in him. Perri found herself uprooted as all of them were relocated to the east coast of Scotland, to an idyllic town called Stonehaven.

  E4 looked after its own, and over the next few weeks two more bodies surfaced. Unfortunately, her parents couldn’t return to their home country. Even Perri’s surname on the Queens university roll had been changed. As she’d grown up, living and playing in Scotland, Perri always had a gun close by. She was an expert shot.

  Krista decided to expand Perri’s knowledge to as sharp a point as possible given the short time frame, which was why at this moment she was equipped with a rather dangerous looking energy pistol strapped to her waist.

  As Katheryne looked at Krista and Perri she was vaguely reminded of a television show she’d watched as a kid only with the turtles being replaced by her two friends. The whole scene was frankly comical and she started to laugh, which rapidly descended into shared merriment as the others joined in, realising how outlandish they must appear.

  Any tension which had existed vanished as the three of them did what was necessary to provide the strength for the others to succeed. Which at the moment meant creating a bond linking family, friendship and love which needed to exist in order to overcome the hardship ahead.

  “Are we ready?” Katheryne asked Krista. She’d had to rely on Krista’s judgement as she was still coming to terms with her blossoming power. She kept discovering different facets to the abilities growing within her.

  There was the obvious sheer power which had to be tethered wilfully; lest the rage running just beneath Katheryne’s outwardly calm composure erupted in violence.

  What these people had done, if what she and Krista suspected to be true, was a complete betrayal of all beings across all realities. This in itself was enough to provoke the danger within her, but Katheryne knew it was the capture of Derren which threatened to unleash it. She had it under control for now but knew herself how delicate a balance had to be maintained to contain it.

  But the other paths her mind was opening were much more subtle. She could sense, almost taste the minds and thoughts of anyone she concentrated on. Indeed when this skill had first awakened Katheryne had found it difficult to tune out the tidal wave of emotions from the city around her. She had briefly floundered, until the core of her being asserted its control at a subconscious level. She’d erected a mental shield to filter out the background riot of noise.

  Her perception of her surroundings had sharpened so she was aware of the tiniest shif
ts in even the particles of dust in the air, and she wondered again how it was her mind could process all this extra raw data being pumped into it. Her brain had become a sponge, soaking up everything it could and expanding endlessly.

  She was even aware of the reaction her question had caused, as Krista’s pulse increased as she went over in her head what she expected to meet.

  Krista couldn’t be sure what resistance they would encounter on the way to rescue Derren, but between the three of them, she was the only one who knew the layout of the buildings they would need to pass through to get to him.

  Krista shrugged. “Honestly Katheryne, we couldn’t be more ready,” she replied with more confidence than she truly felt.

  “That said I have no idea what we’re about to walk into. Toshi’s told us about the increased patrols and the numbers of guards around the gathering plaza but even he can’t tell us why.”

  The plaza was the central nexus that housed the larger portals to the major population centres throughout the universe. Why there should be a small army there none of them knew, but they all agreed it wasn’t good.

  Krista walked across the room to Katheryne and reached down to her own ankle, unbuckling a small hidden scabbard which she held out to her.

  “I know you said you didn’t want a weapon, but I’d feel much safer if you took this,” she said, and just as Katheryne seemed ready to refuse again she whispered, “if it makes it any easier, Derren made it for me.”

  Katheryne was startled as Krista looked ready to burst into tears. In the two days they’d known each other, Krista had projected the outward personality of an ironclad, efficient robot. It was as if she had erected a wall around her feelings, but Katheryne knew there was something else in her recent past which was too raw to deal with right now. So Krista had put it into its little box to be dealt with at a more convenient time.

  Her only outlets of warmth had been directed toward her brother and the two of them here with her. As Katheryne watched, she saw the facade crumble for an instant, but long enough for her to understand Krista was suffering from the loss of her previous life much more than she cared to show. And her barriers were nowhere near as strong as she had hoped.

  Katheryne took the knife, for that’s what it was, and drew the blade out, marvelling at the craftsmanship and grace imbued within it. The hilt was slim, obviously made for a small hand, and the pommel was in the shape of two hands clasping a perfect emerald stone. Somehow she knew he had picked it to match her own eyes.

  Two inscriptions marked each side at the base of the blade, and as Katheryne watched they translated themselves in her mind. On one side was brother. On the other was sister. Her breath caught in her mouth as she realised how precious this must be to them both.

  “I can’t take this,” whispered Kat as she fought back tears. “It...it doesn’t belong to me.”

  Krista closed Katheryne’s hands around it and pulled her into a hug, and they stood for a second as Krista wept silently.

  “It’s the only thing I have that he made for me, and I know if that’s the only way you’ll take a weapon then he’d want you to have it.” Krista stepped back, wiping her eyes with the back of her hand as the robot regained control. Not enough, however, to stop the ghost of a smile cross her face.

  “But I’ll be wanting it back, so don’t be going and getting yourself killed or something else stupid, okay?”

  Katheryne smiled back. “Okay, nothing stupid, not even getting killed. I’ll do my best.”

  “You’d better do,” said Perri cheekily, “If you die my mum will kill me."

  All three of them laughed as the tension flooded away. They knew they were as ready as they could be. Krista looked at her watch.

  “I suppose we should be going. It’ll take us a few minutes to get to the portal site,” she said.

  Perri still wasn’t sure about the portal idea and kept asking questions about it. “Why can’t you just open one here, then we wouldn’t need to walk anywhere?” she asked, patting the gun at her waist, “let’s face it, we’re not exactly inconspicuous.”

  Krista shrugged. “Well, I can hide the three of us so no need to worry about being seen,” she replied confidently, “As for the portal, I can create one basically wherever I want, which is fortunate, because that’s the only reason I managed to escape Sanctuary.”

  Perri looked back, obviously still confused.

  “The only reason I escaped is because this place is so familiar it’s become sort of a home away from home. The more we travel to one place, the faster we’re able to construct a portal there. If I’d been forced to open one from scratch I’d never have got away.”

  “But I need a little space to work this one. We know roughly what time Toshi will try to disrupt the block, but I’ll have to probe the portal to make sure it’s safe and the block has been removed. When I tried to get back before, I was blown across the room, and I’m not sure your apartment would survive intact.” Katheryne and Perri looked at Krista before glancing across at each other. They were sure anything which could knock her across a room was nothing they’d be able to handle.

  “So where are we going?” asked Katheryne.

  “Derren and I found a handy spot not far away,” replied Krista, “It’s got the space we’ll need and it’s out of the way.”

  Katheryne picked up her coat and turned to the others.

  “Let’s go get Derren.”

  23 – Sanctuary – Dwenn

  Toshi and Laren walked through the huge entrance of the Arbiter building as they had countless times before, but now they looked at it with newly opened eyes.

  The increased guards on every entrance, and on the balconies watching over the crowds crossing the foyer had seemed natural to them before.

  But the amount of firepower on show back in the Portal plaza was staggering. Each of the mighty machines which kept the larger transportation portals stable was ringed with soldiers and heavy weaponry. Even more curious was the fact they were all cloaked with diffraction fields, so to the normal traveller the plaza looked as it always had.

  Such a deception was ineffective against a Liberi’s heightened awareness, so the invasion force, for that’s what this must be, was completely clear to them. The Guardian Corp, it seemed, had expanded beyond its intended purpose.

  The Corp was created hundreds of years ago, to provide security and protection for the Leadership and to watch over any prisoners brought back by the Liberi.

  Historically there had been very few captives. The supporters of Tenybris usually chose to die rather than be captured, and the Liberi were unselfishly willing to grant their wishes.

  But the Corp had grown in numbers steadily over the last few years; the reasons given had been ambiguous but seemed to have the ring of logicality about them at the time. It was clear to Toshi the numbers involved had been grossly misquoted.

  As they walked along the edge of the crowd waiting for the riser tube he knew everything he’d been told was a lie. He felt exposed and vulnerable, although there was no way B’ran or any of the others could ever have expected there were Liberi here who knew what was happening on Sanctuary.

  That said, the sheer number of guards created a level of risk which would have blunted any normal person’s determination and will.

  Toshi and Laren were not normal people however, and as they took the riser upwards to the control centre at the heart of the building, they linked briefly to the other teams to confirm their readiness.

  They were positioned to provide support to Katheryne and the others, when Toshi and Laren deactivated whatever was blocking the portal from Earth.

  That none of them knew how this had been done hadn’t perturbed them in the slightest. They knew the only place it could have originated was from the control centre, which was soon to become a very ‘interesting’ place to be.

  If the total destruction of every machine in the room was required, then this is what they would have to do. They knew no one would be abl
e to stop them. During a scout earlier by one of the others there had been between fifteen and a maximum of twenty five guards present.

  If that might have caused one Liberi to break a sweat, two of them were complete overkill. Toshi liked overkill. Especially now he knew any collateral damage inflicted wouldn’t be to anyone innocent.

  This confidence lasted barely half a second as they exited the riser at the control centre, and came face to face with something, someone completely unexpected.

  Dwenn was, to Toshi and Laren at least, an extremely junior Liberi who arrived on Sanctuary just days ago. But as she stood before them, the power she emanated dwarfed what she should have been able to wield at this early stage of her training. And it was this power which seemed wrong to them. There was a perceptible aura of evil and corruption coming from her.

  Laren linked the others instantly, warning them to expect the unexpected as Toshi took in the room. There were over 100 guards, weapons primed and pointed at them but Toshi wasn’t concerned about them. Anything they could do would be inconsequential to Laren and him.

  What worried him was this...Dwenn seemed to have been expecting their arrival. And this by extrapolation meant she was either much more powerful than they could imagine, or they’d been betrayed by someone they’d thought they could trust.

  Neither choice was attractive to him, which was why he paled at Laren’s expression. He knew right away at least one of the other teams had been compromised and taken out.

  This was why at that moment he decided to go for one of his plan B’s. The fact there was no plan B didn’t distract him. plan B was good simply because it didn’t exist. If one or more of the other teams had been turned, the enemy knew the original plan, so plan B was a better option.

  Toshi was good, very good at what he did best, which was thinking on his feet, so he knew if plan B was to work, Dwenn or whoever...whatever she was had to think they were still following the original.