“Not back to the city,” Olyva said with a mischievous grin. “To the bottom of the mountain.”
“What?” the captain said, aghast at the suggestion that he should take his ship down below the mists.
“Look,” Tiberius said. “I know you have a lot of questions. Let me answer one right now. Yes, I’m a wizard, but I’m a good one.”
The captain and Olyva’s sisters were so stunned they couldn’t speak.
“Let me see your shoulder,” Tiberius said to Rafe.
Rafe’s left shoulder was still bleeding. Tiberius ripped the shirtsleeve off.
“That was my last shirt,” Rafe said.
“I’ll get you a new one,” Tiberius said. “Grasilis Abscido.”
The wound knit itself back together, and the captain’s eyes grew wide.
“We came here looking for help,” Tiberius said. “This was Olyva’s home once. We thought we might have help getting to Sparlan Citadel.”
“The earl’s orders were to take you there,” the captain said.
“And that’s why we can’t go. There is some very powerful, very evil magic taking place in Sparlan Citadel.”
“I thought magic was illegal!” the captain snapped.
“It is, and I’m sorry to mix you and your crew up in this. But the earl was under the influence of a spell or something worse.”
“He was dead,” Olyva said sadly. “He was dead, and something was using his body like a puppet.”
“So what do we do now?” the captain asked.
“Your first duty should be to get the countess and her daughters to safety.”
“And where exactly would that be?” the captain demanded.
Tiberius looked at Rafe, who nodded encouragingly. The earls had all agreed on Leonosis becoming the new king, and now Tiberius knew why. The earls were all dead and being reanimated by some horrible dark magic. The only earl who hadn’t gone to the capital was Tiberius’ father, so Ti knew where they had to go.
“Avondale,” Tiberius said. “Take us to Avondale.”
Chapter 35
Lexi
The fire was burning low. Lexi could see the graypees pacing at the bottom of the hill. They were waiting for the fire to burn out, and Lexi had used all the wood she had. The horses were pacing nervously and neighing in terror whenever the graypees hissed or growled.
One had come close to the edge of the cleft, climbing easily up the steep slope, but the fire had kept it at bay. Seeing the creature up close, Lexi felt silly with her makeshift spear. It felt like a child’s toy, and her Wangorian dagger would not save her from the predators that were almost as big as her horses.
She picked up a burned-out chunk of wood and went to back wall of the cleft and wrote using the blackened wood.
Tiberius, I love you. I believe in you. I will always be with you. Remember me.
Then she turned to face her fate, but what she saw coming down out of the mists took her breath away. At first all she could see was the dark wood of the sky ship’s hull as it descended through the mists. It was easily a mile out from the little green valley where Tiberius had left her, and even further from her own location. Still, the sight of the massive vessel descending from the heavens made Lexi feel invincible. She snatched up the stick with the sharpened point, determined to survive until Tiberius could reach her.
The ship was moving toward her, and even though Lexi couldn’t see Dancer, she knew the little glider was making her way toward the ship to show Tiberius where Lexi was. It was difficult to keep an eye on the graypees who were climbing up toward her, slowly preparing to scramble over the edge of the cleft and pounce on their prey, when all she wanted to do was watch the sky ship descending. It was moving closer to the foothills, but if Tiberius and Rafe got off the ship too far away, they might not make it to Lexi in time.
The wood was mostly smoking embers, and Lexi kept peering over the edge to see how close the graypees were. They knew she was trapped and took their time, waiting for the fires to die. The last of the flames were winking out, so Lexi took a chance. She rushed forward and kicked the embers over the edge. The embers were still hot, some even glowing red as they fell. She shouted as she rushed down the length of the cleft, kicking the embers defiantly.
The graypees fell back from the hot embers but quickly regrouped. Lexi looked up, but the airship was still a mile away. She backed slowly away from the edge of the cleft. She could hear rocks tumbling down the hillside as the graypees crawled back up. She tightened her grip on the stick and glanced up at the airship. It was much closer and so large, but it still seemed impossibly slow and far away. Lexi didn’t know what she’d expected from the ship anyway. Tiberius couldn’t fly, and he probably didn’t have the weapons to fight off an entire pack of graypees.
Then a savage growl brought her total attention to the creature in front of her. One of the graypees was crawling over the edge of the cleft. It had a livid white scar on its snout and it opened its mouth to hiss at her. She could see the rows of pointed teeth and the bright pink flesh of the creature’s mouth. The graypee was on the far side of the cleft, and the horses were huddling behind Lexi. It moved forward with a slow and easy stride, the tail waving behind it.
Suddenly dirt and rocks from above them rained down into the edge of the cleft. Lexi didn’t think about the graypees attacking from above, but they had scaled the incredibly steep hillside so easily that it was certainly possible. Lexi tensed, waiting for a chance to strike at the hissing creature approaching her. Then Tiberius’s body swung down. He dropped into the cleft, stumbling and falling hard on the unforgiving stone as the graypee dove forward.
“Accendo!” Tiberius cried, and fire engulfed the graypee.
There was a roar, and the graypee flipped backward, rolling on the stone floor of the cleft, trying to escape. Lexi could smell the foul stench of the creature’s roasting flesh. Another scrambled up into the cleft, and Tiberius, on his knees now, sent another gout of flame shooting across the space toward the newcomer. It skittered to the side, then toppled off the cleft, falling down the hill with a howl of pain.
Tiberius got to his feet and stepped to the edge of the cleft. He let his magical fire pour down on the graypees, which fled from the fiery attack. Once the danger was past and the fire stopped, Lexi ran to Tiberius. He turned just as she jumped into his arms. Their kiss was fierce and passionate.
“You kids okay?” Rafe said, his head peeking down from the steep hillside above.
“We’ve got this,” Tiberius said.
“Yeah, I guess you do.”
Lexi laughed and held Tiberius so tight.
“I’m sorry I almost got here too late,” he said.
“You’re not too late,” she said happily. “You’re just in time.”
Epilogue
Leonosis
Draggah was furious. Leonosis had caught glimpses of Earl Marcus’ fight with Tiberius and Rafe. Draggah had left Leonosis during that time, as much as he ever left the young noble. Leonosis had then felt the intense pain that Draggah felt as the earl’s cadaver was destroyed in Hamill Keep.
The pain wasn’t shared, but Leonosis could tell the demon was hurting. Of course he then tortured Leonosis for absolutely no reason and then beat a servant to death with Leonosis’ bare fists. The entire ordeal had left the demon drained and angry. Leonosis lay on his bed, unsure what to do. He had control of his body for the moment, but he didn’t want to do anything to draw the demon’s attention back to him.
Queen Ariel had disposed of the servant’s body and spread word that the servant had been sent away. It was a flimsy lie, and Leonosis doubted that anyone believed it, but it would serve their purposes. She then returned to the opulent rooms they shared in the highest level of the castle. Ariel had sent her mother away and then replaced everything in the spacious rooms. They shared a massive bed that was covered in the softest furs. Leonosis lay on the bed when Ariel came crawling up the mattress toward him. She was alluring, and he
naturally desired to be with her, but Draggah wouldn’t allow it. Leonosis guessed that was why she constantly flirted with him, just to torture him a little more.
“What are you doing?” she said softly, curling up beside him on the bed.
“Resting,” Leonosis said. “And trying not to bother anyone.”
“Why? That sounds so boring.”
“You know that the earl in Hamill Keep was destroyed,” Leonosis whispered.
“Yes, but how does that have anything to do with us?”
“My brother was involved.”
“Tiberius?” Ariel said as if she were impressed.
“Yes.”
“Interesting. He must be growing stronger.”
“Obviously,” Leonosis said. “He also has something we want?”
“He does?” Ariel said, sitting up suddenly excited.
“Something called a Balestone.”
“I know what that is,” Ariel said, scrunching her forehead in thought as she dug through her memory.
“Before the cataclysm there were three jewels imbued with power. Some of the strongest wizards — well, alchemists really — found a way to store up magical power in certain objects. The Balestone was one, and the other two were called—”
“Do not speak of them!” shouted Draggah, suddenly taking control of Leonosis’ body.
He slapped her hard and then pounced on top of her lithe body, his face almost touching hers as she squirmed under his weight.
“You babble on about things you do not understand,” Draggah said. “You primp and flirt, even though you despise this body. But do not think that because I withhold his advances, I will not crush you if you try me.”
“I’m sorry,” Ariel cried.
“I need a pure vessel for the magic that lies ahead, but I do not need one with a tongue.”
He grabbed her face hard, forcing her mouth open.
“Keep wagging your tongue and I will rip it out.”
He slapped her hard, and Leonosis, helpless to stop the abuse, winced. Draggah stood up and stalked out of the room, leaving Ariel weeping on their wedding bed. The demon left the castle and went to the commander in charge of the king’s army.
“Summon your men,” Draggah said. “I will call on the war bands of the other cities.”
“What do you wish us to fight?” the commander asked dubiously.
“I do not wish you to fight,” Draggah said, emphasizing each word. “There is a wizard in Valana. He has slain the earl in Hamill Keep. We must find him.”
Leonosis’ consciousness quivered in the back of his mind and couldn’t help but think of Tiberius. His youngest brother, now a wizard, was also a fugitive, sought by an entire army.
Zompocalypse Preview
Chapter 1
He pushed her dead body over the side of the boat with one last heave, then fell to his knees and watched his wife sink down into the dark waters. She wasn’t really his wife, not in the traditional sense. No one had time for civil ceremonies once the plague struck, and religion had all but vanished after millions of unanswered prayers. Still, he had loved her and considered her his wife as they struggled to survive. They had been waiting for a cure, and when that didn’t happen, they decided to start a family and make a life for themselves. Then Helen lost the baby. Forty-eight hours later, Todd lost Helen. They didn’t know how to stop the bleeding and even though Todd had amassed an impressive pharmacy over the many months since civilization had ground to a halt, he had nothing that could save her. Instead he was forced to watch her slip away.
He had cleaned her up and sat with her for a few hours. There was no way to embalm her and in the tropical heat, her body deteriorated quickly. He wrapped her in a sheet, then struggled to carry her body out of their cabin and up the narrow stairwell that led to the deck. He had been proud of the fact that she had gained weight with the pregnancy. She’d been frustrated by cravings for food he couldn’t get her, but she had eaten well and the extra weight only made her more beautiful to Todd. Unfortunately, when they lost the baby and Helen was slowly dying, Todd hadn’t eaten. He was weak from hunger and grief, so carrying Helen exhausted him.
He slumped against the smooth fiberglass rail of the yacht panting for breath. He briefly considered throwing himself into the water. It would be a merciful end to his pain, but Helen had made him promise not to kill himself. He had agreed, but he wanted to die anyway. Still, there was a small part of him that kept fighting for survival. He staggered into the galley and opened a can of tamales. They were greasy and spicy. Todd thought they were delicious right out of the can, but they had given Helen indigestion so Todd had been saving them. He ate the entire can and then drank a bottle of water before falling asleep on the leather sofa in the yacht’s opulent living room.
Todd woke to the painful realization that Helen and the baby were gone. Tears spilled down his cheeks and his grief threatened to paralyze him. He wanted something, anything to numb the pain, but he couldn’t waste the precious medications he had collected. He decided instead to make for land and see what he could find that might help him cope.
He opened the tinted glass door that led to the deck. The sun was beating down in a merciless onslaught off the southern tip of Florida. Todd wasn’t sure of his exact location; the yacht had been adrift for nearly a week. He climbed the slightly curved staircase to the upper deck of the ship, where he kept the solar panels and battery compartments. The yacht had been brand new when Todd took possession of it. The billionaire who had built it wanted something small enough that he could pilot by himself.
Todd had worked as assistant harbormaster for over six years; he knew every ship that was kept in the massive complex of ships of the Atlantic City boat yard. When the riots started and it was clear that nothing could stop the plague from turning the world population into insatiable, flesh-eating zombies, Todd took Helen, who had only been his girlfriend for a month, to the boat yard. They filled the yacht with supplies and set sail.
Todd didn’t take them far, just a few miles off the coast. The yacht had excellent radio and satellite communication equipment. Todd and Helen had spent nearly two weeks listening as the world came to a screeching halt. One by one, the radio stations went off the air. Eventually the power grid around Atlantic City fell, and with it went Internet and cell phone service. Todd discovered with the yacht’s onboard equipment he could still receive signals from the GPS and weather satellites overhead. All they needed was power, which came from gasoline generators on the ship. Unfortunately, after two weeks, their fuel supply was running low, as was their ration of food and fresh water.
Todd and Helen had no trouble finding supplies; it was getting those supplies on board the yacht before the undead chased them back out to sea that was the problem. Occasionally they came upon other survivors, usually in small groups that were armed to the teeth. Newcomers were rarely welcomed, and Todd had no desire to stay on the land where he and Helen could be easily overrun by the herds of ravenous zombies. So they stayed at sea, monitoring the airwaves and dreaming of a time when things might return to normal.
Todd was devastated that Helen had died so young, never seeing their baby, never finding the relief from a world that had turned against them. Tears stung his eyes, but he refused to give in to the pain and grief that wanted to overwhelm him. Instead he checked the connections between the solar panels. He had installed them after discovering a warehouse full of green-energy products. The solar panels could keep the yacht’s appliances and communication gear running, as long that they didn’t use the air conditioner. Todd also had a locker full of wave generators, which looked like small buoys connected by a thick, waterproof cable. They generated electricity from the rocking action of the waves. They worked best when the yacht was close to shore, or when bad weather made the seas rough.
The small cockpit was filled with small view screens and video displays to help the pilot control the ship. There were the usual weather monitors, along with satellite feeds an
d sonic range finders that revealed what was beneath the ship. The yacht had a gas-powered engine and an electric secondary engine. Todd did his best not to use his supply of fuel, which meant that most of the power produced by the solar panels and wave generators went to the secondary engine. There were small water pumps all around the hull that gave Todd a full range of movement. Controlled by a thick joystick that was built into the tall captain’s chair, he could use the secondary engine to turn the ship on a dime and travel 20 nautical miles a day. From the cockpit, Todd could see out of the thick windows in every direction; with the monitors, he could see hundreds of miles around him and even under the ship.
He settled into the big chair, immediately feeling conflicting emotions. Piloting the yacht which had once cost millions of dollars, gave him a sense of control over his world, which had been cruelly hijacked by the plague. In that moment, he also realized that his Helen was truly gone. He had no idea where he’d dropped her body, and there was no way he could ever find her again. This time he didn’t try to stop the tears. Instead he let his grief pour out in racking sobs until he was exhausted. Then he sat back up in the captain’s chair and turned the yacht toward land.
Chapter 2
Miami was never an option. The once booming city was now filled with the living dead. Whenever Todd passed the metropolis that was once home to over five million people, he could see the reanimated bodies searching endlessly for food. He had no idea what caused the plague. The news had called it a bio weapon, a virus, and a judgment from God. No one really knew what caused the dead to rise up and attack the living, but a few things were clear—something in the brains of the zombies reactivated the neural pathways and called the dead muscles and tendons to action. Gaping holes in their flesh or missing limbs couldn’t stop them. The blood-thirsty monsters didn’t even notice the physical wounds unless it impacted their brains. A blow that damaged the brain was the only way to stop the zombies, and Todd’s guess was that it destroyed the nervous system that continued to function after the rest of the body died. Without that control system, the zombies were helpless. How the disease spread was a mystery, as was its origin.
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