World in Chains- The Complete Series

by Ryan W. Mueller

  Krinir gave her a tired look. "I know about them. Do you have a point?"

  "I do. Don't you see it? The Shadowed Land is a prison. You're the only being that has ever found a way to get people out of that prison, even if it's an imperfect way. You have to tell me how you can do that. It might help me figure out what I'm missing."

  His mouth twitched in something that almost looked like a smile. "You are more intelligent than I thought you'd be." He stroked his beard. "But I'm not sure how to answer your question. Sending people out of this place has always felt natural to me. However, I don't like to do it because there are always costs."

  She didn't know whether to feel disappointed or relieved. How long could she go on like this, trying to find a way out, before Krinir began to punish her? Would he spare her his torture because she was trying, or would he grow frustrated with her lack of progress?

  "Can't you describe something of the process?" she asked.

  "I focus on where I want to send them, and then I send them there. Most of the time, I've looked into the Webs of Fate to see the costs involved. There isn't much more to it than that."

  "How am I supposed to help you, then?"

  "We'll keep trying," he said. "I am a patient god."

  Perhaps he was, but she dreaded the day when his patience would run out.

  Chapter 25: The Lost Messages

  Kara followed Warrick through the dark tunnels. He held a flame in his outstretched hand, guiding them along the twisty and uneven path. Kara hated to feel dependent on him, but she had no choice. She'd been dependent on others her entire time in the Shadowed Land.

  Why had God created such a place, where only those with powerful magic could live in anything resembling safety? If God could sentence people to life in a place like this, perhaps Warrick was not as evil as she'd once thought. She could never bring herself to agree with the things he'd done, but she thought she was getting closer to understanding him.

  And he'd saved her life. Again.

  "Why did you save me?" she asked. "I know I'm important to whatever the Webs of Fate say, but I don't think that's the only reason."

  Warrick kept walking. "It's what any decent person would do."

  "And do you consider yourself a decent person?"

  "No," he said. "But that doesn't mean I shouldn't try."

  That was not the answer she'd expected. This man had killed so many innocent people, and yet he still wanted to do the right thing. She might have thought he wanted to impress her or sway her beliefs about him, but she believed him when he said he didn't care what she thought of him. The man was an enigma, and a part of her wanted to understand him.

  You're insane, she told herself. It was better if she parted from Warrick as soon as she no longer needed him. After all, what would Nadia say if she returned home in the company of Warrick?

  Perhaps she could find a way home that would leave Warrick here in the Shadowed Land. That would help the people of the Empire, but she wasn't sure she could do it. No one deserved this place. Well, maybe Krinir and his allies deserved it, but they were as close to evil as she'd seen. In fact, she had the feeling Krinir would make Warrick look almost kind.

  Could they truly depend on Krinir to get them home?

  The tunnels continued in an endless pattern of twists and turns. They encountered a few branches, where Warrick considered for a moment before forging ahead. Kara followed without argument. In a place like this, she didn't want to get separated from Warrick.

  Again, she hated how useless she felt. She'd never felt useless back home. As part of the Order, she'd helped people. She'd fought against tyranny. She hadn't needed magic to do that.

  Now her lack of magic bothered her.

  But was it truly a lack of magic? Warrick had told her about the strange powers he detected in her. When she searched for those powers, however, she found nothing. Why couldn't she access them? Did they work only in whatever world she'd visited?

  "We're approaching something different," Warrick said, startling her out of thought.

  She peered into the darkness ahead. "I don't see anything."

  "It's part of being a sorcerer. You start to get a feel for these things." He began walking again, and soon they reached a place where the passage opened up into a wider chamber. The cavern was so large she couldn't see the ceiling far above.

  In fact, the entire chamber stretched farther than she could see in every direction. Blue magical torches cast eerie light upon the rocky walls, so Warrick put out his handheld flame.

  "This is not a simple cave," he said. "People created this place."

  "Why would they do that?"

  Warrick closed his eyes and didn't respond for a long time. For a moment, Kara worried there might be something wrong with him. But then he opened his eyes and said, "The Webs don't tell me anything. When I look at this place, I see dark strands."

  "And what does that mean?"

  "It means I want to investigate this place."

  "Are you sure that's wise?" she asked.

  "I'm tired of feeling like someone else is in control. If these strands are blocked from my view, that means they must be important. They must be something Krinir doesn't want me to know." He took a few steps away. "That is, if it is Krinir doing this to the Webs."

  "Could it be God himself?"

  "As far as I'm concerned, God is a myth. Even if He does exist, He left the world in the hands of Krinir, Lionar, and Rador."

  Kara was struck once again by just how much she didn't know about the world. Her life had been a simple one, but ever since the destruction of Crayden, it had taken a different path. A terrifying path, but also a fascinating one.

  That was a strange thought. She almost didn't recognize the person she'd become.

  Warrick had resumed walking, so she followed close behind. Shadows danced across the walls, and she kept an eye out for monsters, but she heard no sounds apart from their footsteps. Still, she remained close to Warrick, finding it odd that she felt safer around him.

  They walked for a while, seemingly lost in the vast cavern, but Warrick moved as if he know where he was going. He'd glance to his left or right briefly before continuing forward. At last, one of the cavern's walls came into view. Warrick walked alongside the wall, running his hands against the rocky surface. Kara had no idea what he was looking for.

  He stopped and stared at something with wide eyes.

  She took a tentative step closer. "What is it?"

  "This writing here." He gestured to black marks against the wall, just visible in the bluish torchlight. "This is written in a secret code my friends and I invented back during our days at the academy together." He stepped closer, squinting at the writing. "I wrote this."

  "But how could you have written it? You've never been here before."

  He didn't respond. His eyes were closed, and he looked almost as if he were in a trance. He continued like this for a few minutes, and Kara began to worry. Should she touch him? Do something to break him out of his trance?

  At last, he opened his eyes. "I know the truth."

  Chapter 26: The Truth

  "The truth?" Kara asked.

  "I was here before," Warrick said, "but Krinir made me forget it. He created the dark strands that have confused me so much. I left this message here because I saw Krinir's betrayal coming, and I saw the chance to return here. It's all finally coming together."

  He began pacing, and she wasn't sure if she should press him for more information.

  "There are three forces that govern this world," he went on. "Destruction, Restoration, and Creation. Krinir is the Destroyer, Lionar is the Restorer, and Rador was the Creator."

  "Was?"

  "Shortly before the Great War, he transferred that responsibility to Krinir, making Krinir both the Creator and the Destroyer."

  Kara frowned. "That sounds contradictory."

  "It was," Warrick said. "And that's why Krinir gave up his status as the Creator." He paused for a moment
, frowning in deep concentration. "He gave it to me."

  Kara didn't understand any of this.

  "That's how I created all those regions in the Empire. That's how I created the mountains, the magical barriers. I always thought it was the Stone of Creation, but it was me all along. Krinir saw my potential as a powerful sorcerer, and he passed those powers on to me."

  "Why would he do that?" Kara asked, leaning against the rocky wall.

  Warrick resumed pacing. "Being both Creator and Destroyer was tearing him apart. When Rador made him the Creator, I don't think Rador understood the inherent contradiction in Krinir being both Creator and Destroyer. He may have transferred the powers of the Creator to me, but I think it was too late. I think he's been driven insane, and there's no hope of saving him. This time, he'll destroy the world for good. I know it deep in my bones. He has to be stopped."

  Strangely, Kara believed Warrick. She should have doubted everything he said, but she heard the sincerity in his voice.

  "But how can we hope to stop him?" she asked.

  He considered for a few moments, eyes closed. "It's starting to come back to me. I have to face off against him." He started pacing again. "But I won't be strong enough. If I faced him now, especially here in the Shadowed Land, he'd kill me without much effort. I need all three stones—Restoration, Creation, and Destruction—and here in the Shadowed Land, I am disconnected from the two I do possess. I am not as strong here."

  Kara took a step closer. Strangely, she was no longer afraid of Warrick. "If you had all three, would you be powerful enough?"

  "I’m not sure, but there's a chance. Obviously, Krinir feared me enough that he used his powers as a god to conceal this knowledge within my mind."

  "Is there anything stopping him from doing the same thing again?" she asked.

  Warrick shook his head gravely. "No."

  "So if we do meet up with him, as we intend, he'll take the knowledge away again. After all, he can read the Webs of Fate. He'll see that you've been here, right?"

  "He will."

  "Then what can we do?" Kara asked. She was amazed that she'd included herself with Warrick. Had she come to understand the man, to see that he wasn't the monster she'd once thought? Did she think she could actually help him in any way?

  Warrick continued pacing. "Let me think."

  "There has to be some way to keep that knowledge around," she said. "Something that Krinir won't find out about. You can't see everything in the Webs of Fate, can you?"

  Warrick nodded. "There are too many strands to see every possibility."

  "Then we can find a way to conceal this from him."

  "I wish I had your optimism," he said. "But you don't know who we're dealing with. Krinir is more powerful than you can imagine. He'll see anything we're planning. He'll be prepared for it." He sighed deeply. "It will be a while before we reach him. That should give me time to think of something. For now, we should find our way out of these caves."

  There was a strange look in his eyes, the kind of look she'd seen only from people who cared about her. But Warrick couldn't possibly care about her. She was merely a tool for him, just like anybody else.

  "I think I know the way," he said. "Follow me. I can't promise this path will be safe. I'm just following my instincts. My memories of this place still feel a bit scattered."

  As they started walking, Kara said, "How did we just happen to end up in this place? It seems far too coincidental."

  "We are both incredibly strong Weavers. We pull the strands of the Webs into what others might call coincidences. Do you think it's a coincidence that you happened to be one of the few who survived Crayden? Do you think it's a coincidence that you were sent here to the Shadowed Land? That I guided myself to you when I was sent to the Shadowed Land?"

  She glared at him. "Don't remind me about Crayden."

  "I'm sorry," he said. "I really am. I wish there'd been another way."

  "Can you tell me now? Why was Crayden so necessary?"

  She expected him to continue walking. Instead, he stopped and looked her in the eyes. "If I hadn't destroyed Crayden, we wouldn't be here right now. You never would have agreed to accompany Nadia to Woodsville. Ander never would have taken up the mission to send me to the Shadowed Land."

  "So that's how you ended up here."

  "There's also somebody else we're going to meet up with soon who wouldn't be here. Someone you know."

  "Who?" she demanded.

  He smiled, and it looked natural this time. "Can't I have a little fun?"

  "You're not allowed to have fun. You've killed too many people."

  "Do you have to remind me of that so often? I feel enough guilt as it is. It isn't easy for me to take people's lives. Every time I kill somebody, I'm leaving a child without a parent, a husband without a wife, a person without their best friend. I know how that feels, and I hate it. But I have a job to do, now more than ever. I can't let guilt get in the way."

  For a moment, she felt the inclination to reach out a hand and comfort him, but then she decided against it. It didn't matter how much he hated killing. He'd still done it, and he didn't deserve her compassion. He deserved every bit of guilt he endured.

  "Please tell me who we're going to be meeting up with," she said.

  "You'll probably find this a bit ironic. It's Rik."

  She gave him a tired look. "You expect me to believe that Rik is here in the Shadowed Land, and that he'd just happen to cross paths with us?"

  "He's a Weaver, too. Many Weavers were among those who survived Crayden. I've rarely seen such collections of Weavers in one place." He returned the same look she'd given him. "And why couldn't he be here in the Shadowed Land? Perhaps he encountered another Silver Wisp in the ruins, and he's been here the whole time. That isn't true, but it could have happened."

  She sighed. "I suppose you're right."

  At this point, nothing could surprise Kara anymore. Her life since Crayden had been a series of increasingly unlikely events. Perhaps she was a Weaver. No other explanation made sense. She didn't know if she liked that or not.

  Warrick led her along the wall of the chamber, stopping occasionally as if searching his memory for a map of this place. Soon they reached a smaller passage at the other side of the vast chamber. Warrick entered this passage, Kara trailing after him. Now Warrick seemed to have fallen into one of his silent moods. Perhaps he could only reveal so much at once.

  Kara had so many questions, but she figured she'd have a chance to ask them at some point. Even then, Warrick would reveal only what he wanted.

  The passage twisted along for what felt like miles. They didn't encounter any monsters, which seemed unusual. This was the Shadowed Land after all.

  "Why's this place so empty?" she asked, breaking a long silence.

  "I don't know, but it bothers me."

  They stepped out of the passage and into an open chamber much smaller than the last one. Kara could at least see all the walls, but that wasn't where her eyes went.

  No, she was looking at the massive creature directly in front of them. It looked as if somebody had created something halfway between a snake and a bird. It stood perhaps a hundred feet tall, with a mouth that could easily swallow a person whole. Of course, it didn't need to do that, not with the dozens of sword-like teeth that filled its mouth.

  For the moment, it was asleep.

  "We should sneak past," Warrick whispered. "I could probably handle it, but there's no point risking you getting hurt."

  Strange. She almost could have sworn she heard real concern in his voice. Concern for her as a human being and not as a mere tool. But then she cast those thoughts aside. However much Warrick had opened up to her, he was still a monster.

  "There's one major problem with that plan," Kara said. "There's no way out."

  Warrick surveyed the chamber. "Well, there is, but it's on the other side of the monster."

  "Do you think we can still sneak past it?"

  "We'll have
to try."

  Kara didn't like hearing the doubt in Warrick's voice. He was perhaps the most powerful sorcerer in the world. If he feared this monster, that was a bad sign. Then again, perhaps he didn't fear for himself; he feared for her, as strange as that sounded.

  They inched closer to the monster, remaining silent. Each footstep seemed to echo in the chamber. Kara's entire body felt tense, and her heart climbed into her throat.

  The monster did not stir.

  They stood about twenty feet from the monster, and it remained asleep. Warrick took a few steps closer, motioning for Kara to follow. Her legs felt as if they'd turned to lead, but she forced herself to move. Moments after she started, she accidentally kicked a loose rock. It made a horrible clattering sound as it rolled closer to the monster.

  The monster still did not move.

  Heart pounding, she followed Warrick to the monster's other side. There was a small gap behind the monster, but they would be dangerously close to it. One misstep would surely awaken the creature.

  Warrick stopped next to the rocky wall and gestured for Kara to go ahead of him. She stood only a few feet from the monster, and she could see the exit to her left, directly behind the creature. All she had to do was sneak her way there. Once they entered the passage, the monster would be too large to follow them.

  Her heart pounded in her ears as she slipped into the small space between the monster and the wall. At any moment, she expected the beast to stir, but it didn't. She could hear its breathing, though—a sound like thunder.

  Warrick remained where he was, probably to fight the monster if it woke up. She wasn't worried about him because he could surely handle a beast this size.

  At last, she slipped into the passage. She walked far enough that the monster would pose no threat, then leaned against the rock wall, trembling.

  Soon Warrick entered the passage. He stopped beside her. "You handled that quite well."

  "I feel like I'm gonna throw up."

  "That is quite a monster," he said. "There's no shame in being scared."