Wrath of Magic (The Mysterium Chronicles Book Book 3)

by Simone Pond

  “They don’t want your Ancient One, Jordan.” His scowl could’ve cut me down the middle.

  “Is this true?” I yelled out to the army behind him.

  Their reply came in a clamor of screeches and grunts, coupled with shrill cries and animalistic yowls. I took that as a resounding “no” and lifted my rod to strike them all down with the seventh and final charge. But Magnus pitched the gold star at me before I had a chance to do anything. He must’ve amplified its powers with forces of darkness and all sorts of evil because when the thing grazed my rod, I shot back and slammed into a brick wall. I dropped the rod and couldn’t move. I looked at my palms where I’d been holding it and my veins were black as tar; something was oozing through them like poison. The black lines spread up my arms like vines twining around a branch.

  Behind me, the Final Battle ensued. I could only hear what was happening and it sounded like bones being crushed, limbs being hacked and torn, heads dropping, and blood spilling. Footsteps approached where I was flattened on the ground—the same ones from earlier.

  Magnus peered over me, his long black hair cascading around his narrow face. He squatted next to me so I could hear him over the maelstrom behind us. The rod was nowhere near me and even if it was, my strength was waning by the second.

  He stroked my cheek. “Jordan, this didn’t have to be so hard. I gave you a chance to work with me and you defied me in every way possible. And now look at you. Isn’t this typical of your Ancient One, abandoning you in your time of need …”

  I turned my head away. “I’d rather die than come to your side.”

  He grabbed my cheeks, forcing me to look at him. “Well, it looks as though you will have your wish.”

  My throat began burning. I coughed black liquid onto his hands. He reached into his vest for a handkerchief and wiped them off, then stood up and turned away. Tears streamed down my cheeks, burning my skin. Whatever he’d put into that gold star was eating away my insides like acid. It was destroying me from the inside out. Magnus had inverted the power of the star. It was doing the opposite of what it was supposed to do; it was destroying the light instead of evil.

  It will either change it or destroy it.

  I still had my last gold star in my pocket. Maybe I could use it to counteract whatever Magnus’s spell was doing to me? I used what modicum of energy I had remaining and removed the star from my trousers and held it over my heart. I stopped for a moment. What if it didn’t work? What if this wasn’t the anointed time? I had to make a choice: trust the Ancient One all the way or not.

  I gazed up to the inky black sky and spotted the guiding star. “This is probably gonna hurt.” Then I shoved one of the sharp points into my chest. The pain split through me like icy fire, ripping apart every cell with a million blades. Golden lava roiled through my veins, overpowering the black tar that had been poisoning me to death. And after what felt like an eternity of frying in a vat of acid, I rose to my feet and snatched the star from my chest—it was still fully intact. I sprinted after Magnus.

  The battle continued throughout the streets, but my focus was on one man. He strutted through the crowd—untouchable—as his black cloak flapped in the night breeze. Bodies piled up in the gutters and on the sidewalks.

  I caught up to Magnus and stopped. He turned around quickly, disbelief shuddering across his face.

  “I forgot to give you something,” I said.

  He laughed as the streets began to tremble. “You foolish girl. You have no idea who you’re dealing with.”

  Behind Magnus, a beast rose up from the earth. The thing looked nothing like the statues throughout the Confederated Six that many of the people bowed down to in worship … it was grotesque. Like a legion of hellish demons had slapped together a massive monster with hunks of burning coal, slimy goop, and pieces of rotting tree bark. Its large and bulging eyes were the color of the blood moon and its teeth were rows of spikes.

  Magnus fell to one knee and bowed his head. “Lord Ashtar.”

  “Whoa. That is pure freaking evil,” I muttered.

  Ashtar belted out a roar that shook the streets and stopped the battle in its tracks. Everyone—including my people—stood still. Then the inhabitants of the Madlands fell to their knees. My people fled in the other direction.

  Magnus got up and walked over to me. He patted my shoulder in a fatherly manner. “Jordan. Not only has your Ancient One abandoned you, but so have your people. Once again, you are alone. This is because you’ve chosen the wrong team. But there is still time for you to make the right choice.”

  I smiled. “I made my choice long ago and it was the right one. And for the record, I’m never alone. I belong to the Ancient One.”

  I took the gold star and plunged it into his chest, hugging him into me so I could press it deeper and deeper. I wanted to make sure it took this time around. And boy, did it ever. Magnus slipped from my arms and within seconds the High Warlock was nothing but a puddle of black oil.

  The fact that I knew I was on the winning team gave me a tremendous boost of confidence. I was ready to take down that hideous beast stomping its way toward me. The only problem was I didn’t have my iron rod because I’d dropped it when Magnus had struck me down earlier. I stumbled back a few feet and turned to run to search for the rod. But Ashtar—that slimy monster—was too quick. He snatched me up and held me in his hand, glaring at me with his fiery eyes.

  “So you’re the troublemaker?” His voice sounded like it had risen up from the bowels of the earth.

  “I guess so,” I said.

  Ashtar was crushing my bones inside his hand; my ribs snapped and some pieces pierced into my lungs. Breathing was like sucking air through a mouth full of cotton. I heard the sound of my hips crunching and the pain that followed was mind splitting. This was like every nerve being hammered to death with a club. The world around me began to fade away … but then I heard shouting from below.

  “Jordy! Hey, Jordy! You might need this!” called Nils.

  I glanced down to the street. Nils was holding the iron rod. Yes, I definitely needed that! Ashtar loosened his grip on me to grab Nils, and I was able to wriggle my way out of his hand and fall to the ground. What was one more break at that point? My boots hit the pavement and I rolled away, picking up the rod where Nils had left it. I used it to help me stand up, ignoring the jelly that my legs had become. I was ready to strike down the beast until I saw Nils in his clutches.

  “Nils!” I screamed.

  “Do it,” he shouted.

  “But I’ll kill you!”

  “Lean in and hold on tighter …”

  He had told me those words earlier in relation to faith during the bleakest moments. I didn’t want to kill Nils, but I had a job to finish and I trusted the Ancient One with all my heart. And so I lifted the rod, doing my best to stay upright, and aimed it at Ashtar, releasing the last charge.

  Blinding light shot from the rod and blazed into the beast, catching his insides on fire with white flames. He wailed and yowled as he collapsed to the street. I didn’t see Nils anywhere. But I couldn’t crawl around looking for him because the battle wasn’t over. I had to finish off the remainder of Ashtar’s followers. As the beast melted into a pool of oil, I turned around to fire the white light at the inhabitants of the Madlands. And when the last degenerate melted to the pavement, I fell to my knees.

  “Done … It’s done …”

  CHAPTER TWENTY-EIGHT

  Nils peered down at me in a blaze of brilliant yellow light. Next to him stood my mother, looking more angelic than her typical fashion. Was I dreaming? Or had I died?

  “You’ve done well, partner,” said Nils.

  My mother beamed a smile down at me. Were they floating above me?

  “Where am I?” I muttered.

  Nils took my hand and leaned in close to me. “You were badly hurt, but everything is okay now. You have a choice to stay here with us, or to go on to Shteim'esrei and be with all the people you gathered. Your fathe
r. Matthias. The children.”

  I stared at Nils, then my mother. “What about you two?”

  He shook his head. “We’re staying here.”

  My mother touched my cheek and warmth spread through my skin and trickled throughout my body. “The choice is yours, dear daughter.”

  The choice was mine. All this time I’d been giving people a choice to turn back to the Ancient One or die. And now I was facing a choice to die and be with the Ancient One or live. See what I mean about irony being so perfect sometimes? I decided I’d be with the Ancient One regardless of which choice I made because he would never leave me. It was a matter of where I wanted to focus my attention.

  “There’s still work to do,” I said. “They’ll need help setting up things in Shteim'esrei.”

  Nils grinned that sly grin of his. “Okay, partner. If that’s your choice, I bid you farewell.” He saluted me like any good soldier might.

  My mother leaned down and kissed my forehead. “I love you, my darling Jordan. You were the best thing that ever happened in my life.”

  I squeezed her hand one last time, then closed my eyes because I was so tired. Exhausted was more like it. Like I needed to sleep a hundred years to feel human again.

  ***

  I woke up to the smell of something savory and rich.

  “Latkes,” I whispered.

  When I sat up in the enormous bed of soft cushions and feather comforters, I almost rolled back down to nestle in. But the scent of latkes cooking was too intoxicating. I looked around the room. Where was I? The patio doors were open and a perfect breeze drifted in. I rolled out of bed and adjusted my pajamas and shuffled over to the patio to look outside. The view looked out to distant mountains of lavender, and below a vast river stretched along the valley. The flowing water glistened in the sunlight. The sky—a deep and vibrating blue—didn’t have a single cloud.

  “Welcome home.” A voice came from behind me. One I hadn’t heard in a while. One I missed liked crazy.

  I turned around and ran to Matthias. “I’m so happy to see you.”

  “You don’t even know,” he said, kissing my forehead, my temple, my cheek …

  We held each other in a suffocating embrace, muttering how we missed each other and how happy we were to finally be together again.

  “We made it,” I said, then remembered his father and what had happened on the river. “Well, most of us made it.”

  Matthias took my hand. “Come on. Daniel made you breakfast. He’s been waiting to serve you latkes for days. You’ve been out.”

  I laughed. “I guess I needed to catch up on some sleep.”

  We stepped out into the hallway—the beautiful bright marble floor hallway—and headed down the grand staircase. This home was the most majestic place I’d ever seen, yet it felt like home. It was warm and inviting. Comfortable and cozy. Enough room to grow a family …

  “Is this our home?” I asked.

  He nodded. “There’s a lot you’ll need to catch up on. But first thing’s first. Food. Then your friends want to see you. Benjamin and CeeCee have been coming by. A lot.”

  As we walked down the stairs, I gazed through the giant skylight above us. High in the magnificent blue sky, the guiding star beamed down over Shteim'esrei. It really was the brightest city. The original city. And now it was where I belonged.

  Author’s Note

  First of all, thank you for reading my book! I truly appreciate your support and commitment. Writing is my favorite thing in the world and to be able to share this with people is a true gift. I write a lot, so if you’d like to be notified with exclusive updates on when my next novel will be released, sign up for my newsletter: http://www.subscribepage.com/h8q0b0

  Also, reviews are incredibly helpful, so if you enjoyed this book, I hope you’ll leave a review on Amazon and Goodreads. And please tell your friends about my books to help spread the word! God Bless!

  BY SIMONE POND

  Check simonepond.com or join the mailing list for updates on new releases.

  All books are available on Amazon: Simone Pond’s Author Page

  The Mysterium Chronicles

  Exodus of Magic Book 1

  River of Magic Book 2

  Wrath of Magic Book 3

  The Coastview Prophecies

  Hidden Sight Book 1

  Beyond Sight Book 2

  Armor of Magic Series

  Sacred Light Book 1

  Rising Light Book 2

  Edge of Light Book 3

  The New Agenda Series

  The City Center Book 1

  The Mainframe Book 2

  The Torrent Book 3

  The New Agenda Prequel

  Swarmed: A Dystopian Novel

  Voices of the Apocalypse: A Collection of Short Stories