"I never said that."
"You could have saved Tobias. I know you're powerful enough."
"It had to happen that way. Krinir told me that much."
"So you just blindly follow Krinir's wishes?"
"He is older and wiser than I," Josef said. "He knows what he's doing. I trust him."
"And if he asked you to kill yourself, would you still obey him?"
Josef chewed on his lower lip. "That's a useless line of questioning. It's a hypothetical situation. I'll dead with that choice when I have to make it."
"You're evading my question."
"Yes, I am."
With that, he fell silent again. They continued walking in that unbearable silence they'd shared for most of their time together. Kara focused on putting one foot in front of the other in a motion that felt more lifeless with every step. She couldn't shake the suspicion that she was walking toward her death.
In the tedious silence, she focused on the strange feeling that had lingered within her ever since she'd traveled through the Nexus. That warmth she'd felt in that other world remained. She hadn't revealed it to Josef. It was her secret.
Sometimes she almost felt as if she could sense colors within her. There was no other way to put it. Red, orange, yellow, green, blue, and purple. Was that just her imagination conjuring up images of rainbows? She hadn't seen a rainbow since entering the Shadowed Land.
Again and again, she tried to grasp at those colors. She felt so close to some kind of breakthrough, though she couldn't explain that feeling.
One day after they'd left the warded roads behind, Josef pulled the stone out of his pocket again. This time, it glowed a brighter red. He smiled. "Finally, we're close enough."
Kara stood close to Josef, though she wasn't sure he'd let her hear anything.
He rubbed the stone in his hands. "Krinir, can you hear me?"
A voice came through the stone, startling Kara. The voice exuded power, confidence. "Josef? I was wondering when I'd hear from you."
"We are finally within range, my lord."
"Is Kara with you?"
"She is."
"Good," Krinir said. "You must kill her."
Kara froze, panic gripping her chest.
"I don't understand," Josef said. "You wanted me to take her to you."
"I have read the Webs of Fate," Krinir said. "Events have taken an unexpected path. They have shown me a troubling future for her. If you do not kill her, and kill her quickly, our plans are doomed."
"But aren't the Webs of Fate uncertain?"
"They are," Krinir said. "But this possibility is too likely. We have to kill her. I expect the deed to be done by the next time you contact me. I'll know if you've done it."
"Of course, my lord. I will carry it out immediately."
"See that you do."
Josef put the stone back in his pocket, then turned to Kara. "I'm sorry."
Kara trembled. "You don't have to do this. He might be your master, but you don't have to do everything he tells you. I'm defenseless against you. There's no honor in killing me."
"I don't care about honor. I have a mission to fulfill. It isn't personal." He flashed a weak smile. "There's actually something I like about you. I don't want to do this, but it's necessary."
Kara had tears in her eyes. "Please, make it quick and painless."
There was no point fighting him.
"I'll try my best." He moved back a few steps and raised his arms into the air. A giant yellow circle formed around Kara, and a lightning spell gathered in the sky. It looked powerful enough to kill her immediately, and she appreciated that.
But she would never get to see Nadia again.
The spell reached its full strength, and the lightning shot down toward her. She closed her eyes, waiting for the end.
But it didn't come.
When she opened her eyes, she saw another man standing on the road, his back to her. He stood facing Josef, who had let the lightning spell die. The man gestured with his right arm, and a wave of darkness appeared at his fingertips. Josef made the hand motion that raised a shield, but the shield wasn't strong enough.
The darkness overcame his shield and struck him. He hit the ground, rolling and twitching in agony. The scream he let out was unlike anything she'd ever heard.
The darkness subsided, and Josef stirred feebly.
The other sorcerer gestured to Kara without turning his face toward her. "Stand back."
There was something familiar about that voice.
With a quick hand motion, the sorcerer conjured the same field of yellow that had surrounded Kara. This time, the lightning spell gathered its strength above Josef, who couldn't get to his feet. A few moments later, the lightning struck.
A sharp crack split the air, and a shockwave slammed against Kara, sending her flying. She hit the ground hard, the impact knocking the wind out of her.
"I thought I told you to stand back." The sorcerer turned, and Kara would have screamed in shock if she'd had any breath to scream.
It was Warrick.
She scrambled backward along the ground, struggling to get her breath back. What the hell was Warrick doing here, and how could she escape him?
Warrick stepped closer. "Relax. I'm not going to hurt you."
Epilogue: Two More to the Shadowed Land
When Tylen heard the news of Warrick's disappearance, he laid his Imperial Guard uniform aside. He wasn't the only one.
Without Warrick to protect them, many Imperial Guards feared the people's anger.
So it was that Tylen was part of a large group headed to the pass leading out of the Empire. No other Imperial Guards bothered to stop them. They had too many other things to worry about.
Farah accompanied Tylen without question. He hadn't expected that. Did she truly love him, or did she have other motives?
They crossed the mountain without incident. Tylen stopped a moment at the barrier and looked back on the mountains, on the Empire itself. For most of his life, it had been home. It had never felt like a prison, but now it did. Now he was eager to see the world beyond its borders.
He took that final step toward freedom. But would he ever truly be free?
* * * * *
Rik stood in a land of mist and shadows. One moment, he'd met that statue's gaze. The next, he'd found himself here, standing on the rocky ground, mist drifting in thick clouds around him. He took a few tentative steps, wondering where the hell he was.
This didn't look like the ruins anymore. If anything, it looked like what he'd heard about the Shadowed Land. But how could he be in the Shadowed Land? He hadn't touched the Silver Wisp. Or were there multiple ways of going to the Shadowed Land?
His chest felt tight as he took a few more steps, feeling completely lost. As far as he could tell, there was no way back.
He stayed there awhile, but Nadia didn't come to rescue him. Feeling sick, he began walking. This place couldn't be deserted, could it?
The mist became so thick he thought he might choke on it. Every once in a while, he thought he heard a distant growl. He tensed at every sound. Sometimes the mist drifted so that it looked like something stirred within.
Rik had heard of monsters in the Shadowed Land. What if they were stalking him?
No. He couldn't think about that. He had to keep walking, had to find someone who could help him. But even if someone lived here, would they want to help him? He doubted he could find Kara, assuming she was still alive. No one could find anything in this mist.
Something stirred ahead, a massive shadow. It moved toward him, the ground crunching beneath its steps. Rik tensed, trying to see through the mist.
The mist cleared a bit, revealing the monster. It stood at least twelve feet tall, covered in thick scales like some kind of snake. But it stood upright on two feet. It also had claws at least a foot long at the end of each hand and foot, as well as a long mouth full of razor-sharp teeth. As it stepped toward him, it growled.
It had
seen him.
Rik launched a burst of fire at it, but the monster walked through the flames as though they didn't exist. He tried a field of lightning. The monster kept coming.
Heart pounding, he sent wind at the monster. If he'd used the wind to slow his fall in the Fire Mountains, then surely he could use it to knock the monster over. The wind did slow its approach, but Rik couldn't keep it up forever. The monster dug its claws into the rocky ground to avoid getting blown over.
This wasn't working, so Rik used his staff to pull a stalagmite from the ground. The stalagmite did come up under the monster's foot, but not fast enough to pierce it. The monster moved quickly, hissing as it approached.
Rik doubted a jet of water would slow the creature, but he produced one. The monster shrugged it aside as if it were nothing. Rik had only one choice.
He took off running, praying he could outpace the monster. But as its steps grew closer behind him, he knew he had no chance.
A shout came from perhaps twenty feet away. "Use your staff's ice ability. It will freeze the monster's blood."
Rik turned toward the voice to see a group of soldiers dressed in orange surcoats, and then he returned his attention to the monster. He used the same kind of ability that had produced the ice bridge over the river, but this time he directed his energy toward the monster's blood.
The monster's pace slowed immediately. It moved with jerky motions, then fell. Rik kept the spell going, daring to move close enough that he could touch the monster. It shrieked and growled but lacked the energy to put up a fight. After perhaps thirty seconds, it fell still.
Rik turned to see the orange-clad shoulders approaching him.
"Thank you," he said. "How'd you know that would work?"
"We've encountered this type of monster before. That's the only magic it's vulnerable to. Doesn't work on a lot of monsters, but it works on this kind."
"Can you tell me where I am?" Rik asked.
"We're on the eastern border of the Sunset Empire," said one of the soldiers.
"And where is that? Is this the Shadowed Land?"
The soldier nodded, understanding dawning on his face. "You came here from Terra, didn't you?"
Rik nodded.
"Then welcome to the Shadowed Land. It might be too soon to ask you to join us, but the Sunset Army needs more channelers."
"Well, you did just save my life," Rik said. "You seem like the good guys down here."
"Then you'll join us?"
Rik bit his lower lip. "I'll think about it."
* * * * *
Danica lay on a smooth white bed, shivering in the underclothing her captors had given her. She was hooked up to all kinds of glowing devices she didn't understand. The room was filled with beeping noises, with men and women in white coats. The air smelled of alcohol and other cleaning agents.
She'd been unconscious for much of her time here. At some point, they'd told her she was in the New Earth Empire. It was the most bizarre place she'd ever seen. A place of wondrous technology she couldn't even begin to describe.
She felt like drifting off to sleep again. They'd injected her with numerous substances, most of which had made her sleepy. She had no idea what they intended.
At first, she'd fought her captors, earning herself some bruises. Now she lay there, resigned to her fate, praying that Berig, Aric, and the others had made it to Luminia. She didn't expect them to come looking for her. How could they know where she was?
"We're almost there," said one of the men in white coats.
"What do you want with me?" Danica asked, her voice barely a croak.
The man smiled. "We want to make you a sorcerer."
"But you can't make someone a sorcerer," she said, though she had no idea if that was true. "People either have the talent or they don't."
"Until now," said one of the women. "The Webs of Fate told us you'd give us the opportunity to test our theories. You see, you're a Weaver, a very strong Weaver. Somewhere in you lies the spark for magic, but for whatever reason, that talent never surfaced."
Danica struggled against her bonds. "But why are you doing this to me? Shouldn't I have some choice in that matter?"
The man shook his head. "Sorry, but I'm afraid you're too important to have a choice."
"Let me go!"
"We can't do that," said the man. "I'm sorry."
Days passed in a blur of images, of needles and cold beds. Danica slept most of the time, but when she was awake, she lived in terror. She prayed for this to end. It did not.
One day, she came more awake than she had in a long time.
"It's your time," said the man in the white coat.
She felt groggy. "My time to do what?"
"You're going to open a portal to the Shadowed Land, and when you return, you're going to bring Krinir back with you."
Prologue: A Long Road Ahead
By the time Theo received the news of Warrick's disappearance, he was already east of Varner City and headed toward the passage through the mountains where he could cross the barrier, now that his Imperial Guard seal was gone.
He couldn't stay in the Empire. Too many people knew that he'd been an Imperial Guard, and that made him a target.
The journey ahead was longer than any he'd ever wanted to take. He wasn't sure his aging legs could handle it, but he had no other choice.
A week before Warrick's disappearance, the emperor had summoned him. Theo had been anxious, for it had been a long time since he'd seen the emperor. He liked to think he was free from Warrick, but that would never happen. Warrick had made him an Imperial Guard for a reason, and there was no use fighting against Warrick's plans.
The meeting came back to Theo as if it had happened moments ago.
"It's good to see you again, Theo."
Theo bowed before the emperor, feeling dwarfed by the man. "Likewise, Your Majesty."
"Oh, forget the pretense. I know you aren't happy to see me. You never were happy in my service." Warrick leaned forward on his golden throne. "And I can't blame you. I killed your parents, then forced you to serve me to save your brother. It was cruel, I know."
Theo looked up. "May I speak freely, Your Majesty?"
"Please do. I tire of everyone guarding their tongues in my presence."
Theo took a deep breath, wondering how much he should reveal. "Yes, I did resent you. I hated you. You took everything from me, and then you forced me to train my nephew for a position he hated on instinct. Maybe he could tell how I felt about it."
"But you don't hate me," Warrick said. "Not entirely."
"And that's what I hate most about you. For the first few years, I only served you because I had to. You would have killed my brother, or at least you threatened to." He looked into the emperor's dark eyes, wishing he could understand the man's mind.
"If you must know," Warrick said, "I would not have killed him. Not then." Something strange flickered in his eyes. Regret?
"And that's also why I hated you. The entire reason I became an Imperial Guard was to keep my brother safe. Then you made me watch as Dave killed him." Theo clenched his jaw, trying to hold back his tears. He didn't want to show weakness in Warrick's presence.
"I know you don't want to hear this," Warrick said, "but it was all part of my plan."
"If you wanted Markus to serve you, you did a piss poor job."
"I'll admit as much myself, but everything might have worked out for the better."
"I know it's probably too much to ask," Theo said, "but I'd like to know this plan of yours. You've controlled me most of my life. You took my parents, you took my brother, and you wanted my nephew to live the same life I have. I deserve some answers."
Was he being too reckless? Warrick had given him permission to speak freely, but Theo knew from experience that the emperor had a temper.
"It all begins with Krinir," Warrick said, a distant look in his eyes.
Theo looked up at the emperor. "Wasn't he a leader in the Great War?"
> "I see you've studied history."
"I had a lot of free time as an Imperial Guard. Never took to drinking and carousing like some of my comrades."
Warrick smiled faintly. "I knew I liked something about you. I prefer thinking men." He paused, frowning in deep thought. "As I said, it starts with Krinir. When I look into the Webs of Fate, I see his influence everywhere, but I also see countless dark strands, places where I can't read the Webs. They all cluster around Krinir. I need to get some answers, and that's why I'm going to let Lord Ander send me to the Shadowed Land."
"But no one ever returns from the Shadowed Land."
"I can't be sure," Warrick said, "but I think I might have."
"How can you not be sure?"
"It's not just the strands that are dark. It's my memories as well. All I know is that the answers lie in the Shadowed Land. I have to go there."
"You'll leave the Empire without a ruler," Theo said, clasping his hands in front of him and trying to quell his nervousness. "And as much as I hate you at times, I've always thought you've done a good job ruling the Empire." His mouth felt dry. "Well, before Crayden at least—though I'm sure it was part of your grand plan." Disgust welled up in Theo as he thought of the flames, the screaming, and all the death.
"It was, and I've never regretted anything more than that day." Warrick closed his eyes for a long time. He showed no expression, but Theo could still read his emotions. This wasn't an act. Warrick felt great remorse.
After a lengthy silence, Theo said, "What do you want from me?"
"I want you to leave the Empire once I disappear. It would be best if you get going immediately. That will give you the chance to meet up with three people. One of them is your daughter. Her name is Farah."
Theo felt as if a hand had tightened around his heart. "My daughter?"
"I'm sure you remember your relationship with Lady Darla. Well, her daughter is not her husband's. She is yours."
Theo didn't know what to make of this information. It was possible, but as an Imperial Guard, he'd accepted that he'd never have a family. Markus was the only family he'd ever had, at least since his brother's death, and Theo had always thought of Markus as a son.
World in Chains- The Complete Series Page 95