The Cardkeeper Chronicles: Books 1-5 (Complete Collection)

by A. C. Nicholls

I veered off to the right, scrambling light-footedly around the rocky outcrops that protruded from the ground and walls. Using them as cover, I made my way around the perimeter of the cave until I was behind the imps. By now, the men were escorting a captured Jack to their master, like proud hunters returning with their game. I understood instantly that the stakes had been raised, but while the men were all turned away from me, I seized the opportunity to lead the imps to safety.

  “Psst,” I whispered, tapping one of the imps on the back.

  The imp turned, and although I didn’t recognize it, it seemed to recognize me. Its mouth opened and its eyes filled with delightful surprise that read hope and faith. “The Cardkeeper,” it whispered back.

  The other imps turned then, identical expressions on all of their round faces.

  “Keep your voices down,” I said, shooting a glance over at Jack, who Ryker was talking to directly. I had to speed this up or risk losing another friend. “I want you all to come through here in single file and hide behind these rocks. It might get messy out there, so whatever happens, don’t come out until I say so.”

  “Yes, yes, okay,” said the first imp.

  They lined up and crept through the small gap, remaining quiet while I kept an eye over their heads at the situation with the men. None of them had spotted me. Thank God for small miracles and dumb henchmen.

  There were only three left to go, taking it in turns to place their feet on the jagged outcrop to climb into the gap, when one of the rocks slipped. It was like time had been tampered with, seeming to slow down as my eyes stayed trained on the falling rock, my breath caught in my throat as it struck the floor.

  I knew right away. I’d been made.

  One of the men turned to investigate, his eyes lighting up as he saw me crouched inside the crevasse. Opening his mouth wide, he swung a blade over his shoulder ready to attack, raised a pointed finger and screamed like an alarm bell. “Over there!”

  Whatever I did next, I had to do it fast.

  “Go,” I said to the remaining three imps as I leapt out to provide them with cover. My hands were at my sides already, aiding me as I dove into the crowd of men. All of which, I discovered a moment too late, were armed with swords stained by imp blood.

  I aimed my palms outward, shoving the man who’d caught us across the room with a telekinetic wave. Jack, taking them while their surprise was still fresh, shot to his feet and grabbed the sword from one guy, driving an elbow into the man’s nose and disarming him. That was two down, I noted, and turned for Ryker. Whatever happened, I couldn’t let him escape. I raised a pile of fallen rocks into the air with my mind, aimed them at Ryker’s feet, and shot them like bullets. Ryker tumbled to the ground, his chin smacking the rocks as he made an oof sound.

  Before I could make another move, Jack swung his new sword like a madman, keeping two of the men at bay while the others turned on me. If I’d had a moment to watch, I would have admired the way he handled that thing, like a skilled pirate. I didn’t know until that moment that he must have had some kind of training. It was impressive, but that didn’t stop these two assholes from coming at me.

  One of the pair – the smaller one with a bald head and an angry red face – screamed as he charged at me, sword raised into the air while he wailed out his war cry. His balance was off and his temper had taken control of him. Good thing, too – angry meant careless, giving me the upper hand and filling me with confidence.

  Bring it, fat ass.

  The sword sliced downward, breezing past my shoulder as I gave it a little nudge with my mind. The man lost his balance, toppling over but quickly climbing back to his feet. This gave me a second to turn my attention toward the second man. I drew the sword from his hand, like a spirit had simply walked on over and taken it from him, and carried it safely into my own palm. I was never one for killing. Not humans, anyway. So, using the flat side of the sword, I spun quickly and smashed the blade into the fallen man, knocking him unconscious. By the time I turned all the way around, the other man was backing off with his hands raised in surrender. Jack appeared behind him then, wrapping a firm arm around his throat like a boa constrictor, and then tossing him off the edge of the platform. The man screamed all the way down, until his voice faded into nothingness.

  “Got your back,” Jack said.

  “Quit bragging. Focus.”

  Jack’s eyes suddenly widened. In the blink of an eye, he lifted his blade and sent it hurtling over my shoulder. I heard a puncture sound and turned to look behind me, where a man was falling onto his back, the brass hilt of a sword still shaking as it protruded from his chest.

  “Thanks,” I said to Jack.

  “Quit thanking me. Focus.” He winked and turned back toward two of the men, whipping his sword around left and right, right and left, pirouetting to deflect the careless, angry assault of his attackers.

  Offering a helping hand, I fired a telekinetic blast at one of their heels. The man dropped to his knee, and Jack took the chance to kick his foot into the man’s chest, knocking him onto his back and giving him the advantage. I wished I could have stopped to help him, but as I caught movement in the corner of my eye, I turned to see Ryker making a dash for the exit, his coat billowing behind him in a long, flailing trail.

  Leaving Jack to enjoy his action, I took after Ryker, desperate not to let him leave this cave. I was hot on his heels, ready to tackle him or use a rock to trip him up and slow him down. But as my mind was so fixed on him, I barely had time to notice one of his men coming my way at an insane speed.

  The interloper tackled me to the ground. My back struck a jagged rock, shooting pain all the way up my spine in violent vibrations. He climbed on top of me, punching me repeatedly in the face, his mortal fists doing nothing against my hardened flesh. When its uselessness registered on his expression, I ground my teeth and gave him my hardest punch, sending him flying back across the cave and knocking down his associate in the process. Two birds. One stone. They both went off the edge together, screaming as they plummeted to their deaths.

  “You asked for it.”

  I nodded as I stood, slowly becoming aware that the voice inside my head didn’t belong to me. I froze, listening for it to say more, to confirm that I wasn’t imagining things. Now was not the time for the magicard’s soul to start talking to me. I needed to slow it down.

  “You okay?” Jack appeared at my side.

  I snapped out of it, looking all around the cave to assess our situation. I saw only one man, standing with his back to a rock and quivering with fear. The rest were either dead on the ground, or at the bottom of the pit – that was, if there was a bottom.

  “I’m fine,” I said, dusting off my arms. “Where’s Ryker?”

  Jack shook his head, biting his lower lip and closing his eyes. “I’m sorry.”

  My gaze took to the only exit, where Ryker had been headed just before I was tackled. My blood slowly started to boil as I accepted the fact that the murdering bastard had gotten away from me, while his men had stayed behind to die for his own handiwork. It was a coward’s way of working, I could say without a doubt, but if he’d gotten what he’d come here for then I didn’t think Ryker would care. As long as he could summon the Demon King, that was all he would need.

  And we’d let it happen.

  CHAPTER TWENTY-THREE

  “How you feeling?” Jack lowered himself beside me and groaned as he took a seat on the dry rock. He held an old, clay cup of something out to me, nodding that it was okay to drink.

  “What is it?” I asked.

  “It’s just water. Apparently they filter it here themselves.”

  I slowly reached out a hand and took the cup, sniffed it, and then braved a sip. Turns out it wasn’t that bad – tasted just like normal tap water, only with a little kick of something that tasted like peach. “It’s not terrible. Thanks.”

  Jack sighed. “You didn’t answer my question.”

  “How am I feeling?”

  “Yes.�
��

  I shrugged. “Like a complete failure, to tell the truth.”

  “This wasn’t your fault.”

  “But what if it was?” I stared out at the large family of imps as they passed us, tending to the wounded and carrying out their dead loved ones. The looks on their faces broke my heart into tiny shards of regret, solemn and sad, their huge eyes watering as their thin lips trembled. “I mean, look at this, Jack. If we’d done things differently, we could have gotten here sooner.”

  “Different like how?”

  “I don’t know.” I drained the cup and leaned forward to put it by my feet. “Like when we saw Ryker leaving his house. We could have followed him. Hell, we even discussed it. And if we had? Well, we might not be watching imps heaving dead bodies around.”

  Jack clasped his hands together and turned his head toward the traumatized creatures. He didn’t say anything for a long while, but when he finally did, it was with the most soothing tone I’d ever heard from his own lips. “You may be all powerful, Keira Poe, but you can’t predict the future. Fact is, you came here and fought for them. You saved lives, and misery will only be your reward if you accept it.”

  “True,” I said flatly, taking a deep breath. Jack had all of this conscientious bullshit to look forward to. When he got to the point that he’d been doing this for thirty years, he would probably feel awful too. “Anyway, what’s the situation with Silvero?”

  Jack glanced toward the back of the cave. “Said he’ll let us know when he has a moment. How come?”

  “Call it a courtesy. You’ll get this a lot when you become Cardkeeper, and here’s my advice: if you find yourself caught in a fight between two species, be sure to speak with the leader of the defeated soon after.”

  “Why?”

  “It helps to clarify that you’re on their team.”

  “We’re siding with the imps now?”

  “Not exactly. They’re not a combative species. But that’s a part of the job – defending those who can’t defend themselves.”

  Jack scratched his beard. “Sounds taxing.”

  “Believe it.”

  A pair of imps came along then, each identical to the other. They stood with their slumped shoulders touching, while only one of them spoke. “Keira Poe, Silvero Impada requests your presence immediately.”

  I stood up, placing my hands at the small of my back and giving a little push. Somehow, the fall onto the rock had really done a number on my spine. Immortality sure helped against things like that, but it still hurt like hell. The imps left me as I stretched, then Jack and I followed after them until we found Silvero.

  “Ah, Miss Poe.”

  “Silvero,” I said, offering him a small curtsey. “I’m so sorry about what happened here.”

  “It was not your fault. It seems I owe you some gratitude.” Silvero turned toward Jack. “To both of you, in fact. Please, accompany me to the arsenal. I have something I wish to show you.”

  Jack and I followed the King of the Imps down a long, rocky platform that hovered over another pit. On the other end of this walkway was a small building that looked like a miniature monastery. Silvero pushed open the door with his thin, jelly-like arms and revealed a small room lit by candlelight. There was a sword rack on one side of the room, a spear rack on the other, and in the middle, propped up on a stone pedestal, was a glowing sword.

  “What’s that?” Jack asked, his eyes suddenly glowing like the blade.

  “This is the Sword of Lucada. The imps recovered it from a supernatural museum only this morning. You’ve seen the staff in action, I believe. This blade was created to maintain balance for the Demon King.” Silvero removed it from the pedestal and held it carefully across two hands, as if it was made of glass and he feared dropping it.

  “I’m confused,” I admitted. “The Staff of Lucada is only used to summon Zorin, right?”

  Silvero nodded.

  “So what – this thing sends it back?”

  “Oh, no.” Silvero shook his head. “This will kill the demon. You see, it is far too late to stop this man – Ryker?” He looked to me as I nodded, and then continued. “He got the blood he sought. Your only hope now is to wait until Zorin is summoned, and then slay him.”

  Jack cleared his throat, hinting not-so-subtly at something that I was already thinking. I already had a weapon of my own, and I’d seen Jack’s swordplay. It wasn’t too bad, if I said so myself.

  “If you would be so kind,” I told Silvero, “please allow Jack to wield the sword. His actions may have been inexcusable at first, but I hold every bit of faith that he has a strong heart, and is eager to do the right thing. I also believe that there is nobody more suitable to use this weapon.”

  Silvero hesitated, looking from me to Jack, then back again. His enormous round eyes met mine, questioning my certainty. He must have read it on my face, for then he turned toward Jack and outstretched his arms, holding the blade toward him.

  “Thank you.” Jack took the sword by the hilt and raised the tip of the blade to inspect it. The orange glow of the steel lit up his face like fire as he gazed at it longingly, accepting responsibility not only for the sword itself, but for the duty that it carried.

  “You must drive it through the demon’s heart,” said Silvero. “Only then will Zorin be truly vanquished. When the job is done, you may keep the sword. If you are to take the position as Cardkeeper, it may serve useful to you.”

  “I don’t know how to thank you,” Jack said. He examined the leather grip further until he found a button. His eyebrows curving upward, he pushed it and snapped his head back, as the blade itself was sucked into the hilt.

  “It comes with its own discretion,” Silver said, chuckling softly.

  Jack pushed the button again, shooting the blade out and in, out and in, grinning at the convenience that keeping such a blade would have. When he was done, he slid it into his pocket and bowed toward Silvero. “Again, I thank you.”

  I got a sense of responsibility as we left Silvero and made our way toward the exit. We passed the imps, who took it upon themselves to pat our legs and nod, some blowing kisses while others cried with their backs turned. I got the feeling we were being confused as heroes.

  They couldn’t be further from the truth.

  As we crept up the tunnel that lead back to the office, I noticed Jack was grinning.

  “What’s up with you?” I asked.

  “It’s like a lightsaber.”

  “What – Oh, the sword.” I offered a soft laugh, but I knew at the time it wasn’t sincere. Perhaps an uncontrolled part of me was simply making light of the battle we’d fought, giving us a brief moment of humor before we headed out to the battlefield, going face-to-face with one of the deadliest demons ever known to man.

  CHAPTER TWENTY-FOUR

  I hated to put Link in the danger zone – I really did – but we needed every bit of help we could get. If that meant bringing my best friend along for one last mission, then so be it. I only hoped that my decision wouldn’t come back to bite me on the ass.

  Link watched me from across the card room, sliding my telekinesis back into its rightful slot in the wall. The bricks unraveled to reveal a large hole, and then gobbled it up hungrily.

  “No more moving stuff with your mind then?” he asked.

  “No more moving stuff.” I circled around the room, running my fingers along the glyphs on the walls, the bright multitude of colors gleaming as I brushed past them. “The soul was getting too close for comfort.”

  “Fair enough. Feeling better then?”

  “I am, actually. The moment I put it back in the wall, I felt safe again.”

  “Safe? Sounds weird.”

  I craned my neck to look at him, his eyes lost and wandering. “It is weird. It was like he had hooks in my mind. When he spoke to me it was like… I dunno, like I was the one speaking. Does that make sense?”

  “Not an ounce.”

  I laughed softly. “Well, as soon as I gave up the
card, it felt like his hands were no longer on me. My soul is my own now, and I intend to keep it that way.”

  “That’s all well and good, love, but what’s next?”

  “You mean which magicard?”

  Link nodded.

  “Hmm.” I turned back to the wall, assessing my magic armory. There was a host of magicards to choose from, some more useful than others. I paced up and down the room, reading the glyphs like it was my first language, considering using some while disregarding others entirely. “What’s best against demons, I wonder?”

  “Unless you have some kind of spell to kill them in a heartbeat, I don’t know.”

  “Yeah, I don’t have one of those.”

  “Mind control then?”

  I shook my head, gnawing on my lip. “Useless against demons.”

  “What about–”

  “Ice.” We said it at the same time, just as I approached the glyph for the corresponding magicard. I giggled under my breath and touched the glyph, which shone in a bright light before the bricks receded, revealing the card with the power of ice. I’d seen Dalton use this card before and it was something I thought I could handle.

  “Good call, I suppose.”

  “I can’t know for sure, but demons come from a world of fire. Ice seems like the appropriate counterpart to that, no?” I took the card from the wall and felt the soul of the trapped mage touch my own immediately. It wasn’t aggressive like the others – just a soft touch to let me know that it had instantly attuned to me. I slid the card into my jean pocket.

  “As long as you know what you’re doing.” Link took off from his perch, zipping around the room in a wide arc before swooping in to land on my shoulder. “It’s our final battle, so don’t go getting us all bloody killed.”

  “I’ll try.”

  Now that I had a fresh new weapon that wouldn’t consume my soul, I left the card room and, in turn, the Vault. Padding down the circular stone staircase all the way to the bottom, I pried open the heavy wooden door and made my way down the path, where I constructed a new portal and went through, Link riding my shoulder the entire time. When I emerged on the other side, safe and sound inside the dirty old VHS store, I sealed the portal and headed into the next room, where Jack waited for me.