Hex Breaker (The Fenearen Chronicles Book 1)

by Taryn Noelle Kloeden

  Gar huffed. I suppose that will do. There’s something else, isn’t there Bayne?

  It’s Rayna. Saying her name aloud spiked guilt through his core. Seperun says she may still live. If this is so, I must find her. I failed her once. I cannot fail her again.

  You believe the Priestess of Alvorn might find her.

  I do. Priestess Marielana has strange abilities. And there are things about Rayna, Gar, that are not widely known. This caught the True Wolf’s attention. His large, brown ears flicked. Perhaps those things will make her easier for the Priestess to see. I don’t know.

  Gar did not ask Bayne to elaborate. Rayna has been a true friend to me. If there is a way to help her, I will do my best. Go and fetch your message for General Pheros before I change my mind.

  Bayne ran to do as he was bidden. Turning, he dipped his head in thanks to the True Wolf Alpha. Gar mimicked the gesture, and Bayne turned away. In his mind, he saw past the trees, the river, the cities until his niece stood before him, safe, smiling, as he needed her to be.

  Chapter Twenty-Six

  Rayna’s eyes snapped open when her bloodied gloves pressed against something. She hit the sheer cliff face, swinging like a pendulum. Something gripped her hands, hauling her up and over the edge. She collapsed into the snow, panting. Mustering her energy, she lifted her head to see her rescuer.

  She recognized his eyes. They were green, emerald green. She had seen the same eyes reflected in lakes, rivers, and in a Maenoren mirror. He had her eyes. Or, she realized with a start, perhaps she had his eyes?

  He did not look as she'd imagined, but there was no doubt it was he. She tore off her leather eye protection to better see him. He had the long, wiry form she'd been told of, his hair was tousled and brown, his nose aquiline. His bottom lip was much fuller than the top, like hers.

  “I–I don’t understand,” Rayna stammered as he pulled her to her feet on the flat field of white crowning the mountain.

  “It is hard to explain.” His voice was smooth and soothing to her cold-numbed ears. “But it does not really matter, does it, keiri?”

  Rayna touched his shoulder. “You're real.” She grasped the leather of his shirt. She could even smell him. Oak trees and spring rain.

  “Of course.” He took her hands in his.

  “Aquillo! Father!” She flew into his arms. He laughed, and the sound was magical. Rayna forgot everything else. She forgot the cold, the hurt, her fear, her confusion. Nothing mattered except for her father's warm arms wrapped around her.

  “Rayna,” Aquillo whispered, kissing her forehead.

  “Is Mada all right?” Rayna asked when she pulled back.

  “Mya is as happy as possible, thanks to you. She could not be more proud, my dear.” His kind gaze fell on the wooden bracelet he had carved so long ago. It was chipped, scarred, and stained, but she wore it with pride.

  “Now listen Rayna, this cannot last forever. I am no longer of this plane. I am only allowed here because of the world's imbalance.”

  “Imbalance?”

  He took her hand, guiding her forward. A snow-covered henge, five tail-lengths tall and made of glimmering quartz, stood at the summit's center. Had it been there before?

  “Razorn’s creatures and his vile ideals sicken Osterna, love. This shift gives me just enough room to slip through the veil for a short time to help you.”

  “Lumae and Alvo said I would have a guide,” Rayna said, trying to understand. “But Father, I don't know what to do. I thought when I reached the top, something would just–happen.”

  “Something has already happened. I'm here, am I not?”

  Rayna looked down, abashed. “I know, but–”

  “But I am not Channon. I know, Rayna. I told you I could slip through the veil, and if we hurry, so can you.”

  “I can pass into the Mouth of Hell, to Channon?”

  “Yes. Your abilities as a seer are amplified this close to the other realms. Here, if you concentrate, not only can you see through the veil, but you can pass through it, as well.”

  Rayna nodded, resolute. “All right, let’s go.” She started toward the henge.

  Aquillo stopped her. “Keiri, I am not sure if you quite grasp this. You will enter Razorn’s realm. There is a chance, a strong chance, that you will not come back. If you die, your soul will be trapped there forever.”

  Rayna’s heart pounded a war beat in her chest. “I have to try.”

  He looked pained. Rayna could tell he hoped she'd reconsider, but sensed he could not interfere with her choices. They walked to the henge, but did not pass through. Rayna shuddered, her hairs standing on end.

  Aquillo grasped Rayna's hands in his. “Close your eyes.”

  “You will come with me?” Rayna asked as she obeyed.

  “As far as I can possibly go.”

  Aquillo squeezed her palms hard and then harder until she wanted to cry out. Then in the darkness behind her eyelids, she could see. She was no longer on the icy peak. A velvet smooth wall appeared in the blurred shadows where the henge had been. It swayed like folds of fabric in a breeze. The voices that had almost driven her mad grew louder, as if thousands were beyond this veil that shrouded all of time and space.

  “Find Channon, Rayna. Find his voice and focus on that alone, nothing else.”

  Find one voice in all this clamor? She could no more find a single snowflake in a blizzard. Nevertheless, she tried. At first she clung to any voice she recognized–her mother’s, Bayne’s, Mina’s, Coer’s–hoping they would lead her to Channon.

  “No, Rayna. Channon! Find Channon!”

  “I’m trying!” Channon. She thought of his voice, how his pitch went up when he was nervous, of the bright, clear way he laughed. She remembered how it had cracked when they had been younger before it had settled into the rich, playful tone she knew so well. She even thought of his scream when the Overlord’s hex had engulfed him, and she heard him. Channon was screaming now, too.

  “Good, Rayna! Go toward it!” Aquillo shouted over the tumult.

  He squeezed harder and she flew forward. She hit the velvety wall, and her body spasmed with twisting, merciless pain. Her own cries joined the cacophony, and then pain ceased, and all was silent.

  It was so still that time did not seem to pass at all. Rayna opened her eyes, finding herself standing on a black sand beach. Her father stood beside her, glowing against the swirling darkness raging around her. The tide splashed against the sand tail-lengths away, but instead of water, a twisting black energy ebbed. Rayna had seen it before, when Rhael had sent Channon to this horrid place.

  Someone whispered in her ear; rancid breath beat hot against her neck.

  “Mm.” The creature inhaled deeply. Rayna couldn't move. “The sweet, sweet smell of a mortal.” A bone dry finger slid across her shoulders.

  “You may not touch those from the higher worlds, Arrabus,” Aquillo growled. His light pulsed brighter, pushing the voice away.

  Freed, Rayna faced Hell's guardian. She tried to demand that it tell her where Channon was, but the words died in her throat. Arrabus wore a black, gold-trimmed robe. A hood shadowed its long face, but strange, opalescent eyes glimmered in the darkness. The creature was taller than any human, with skin gray as storm clouds. She thought of the Da' Gammorn; Arrabus exuded the same palpable, evil essence. But she recognized a much greater power in this demon than the hordes occupying the bodies of dead men.

  “Do not forget, man of light, that it is you and the middle-dweller crossing into my domain.” Arrabus's lips stretched in a poor imitation of a smile. “Your souls are forfeit to Lord Razorn. You shall be reaped in his name.”

  Rayna had no time to think, only react. Arrabus drew a curved blade and swept it across where, only a heartbeat before, her head had been. She rolled across the cutting black sand, rising onto her hands and knees, snarling. In the same moment, Aquillo’s aura flashed blindingly bright. The silver light folded into a wolf, and from the radiance, Aquillo drew his own
weapon, facing the demon with a gleaming silver-blue sword.

  “Did you think my creator would send me to these halls unarmed?”

  Arrabus swung its scythe at Aquillo’s throat. He dodged, his sword meeting Arrabus’ weapon with a singing hiss.

  “Hurry Rayna! To the water! I’ll hold Arrabus while you find Channon!”

  Rayna rose. It took all her strength to look away from the battle and turn to the water that was not really water. She broke into a run, gathering speed, nearing the eerie, black ocean only tail-lengths away.

  Something cold and slick closed around her ankle, and she tumbled to the ground. The jagged black sand cut her chin. She rolled over, groping for what held her. A hand, as dark as the sand, tightened its grasp on her ankle. Before she could comprehend what was happening, another hand burst from the ground, capturing her other ankle. They held her fast, like manacles. She doubled over, extended her claws, tearing at the impossible hands. She mangled the first, and it let go, but more came, yanking at her hair, seizing her hips, forcing her down. She tried to scream, but another appeared, slamming over her mouth and nose. She felt her nose break. Blood spread across her face.

  A growl rumbled in her chest, and her eyes thinned. She formed, and before the phantom hands holding her could compensate, she ripped into them with her teeth. She yanked them from the ground like she was uprooting strange, bloody trees. More exploded from the sand, but she launched into the air and sailed over the last few tail-lengths, landing in the waves with a splash.

  She expected to hit the ocean floor and scramble through the shallows. But the shelf fell off almost immediately. Rayna formed human, treading the twisting, black substance. She pivoted to the shore. Flashes of clashing light illuminated the beach as her father and the demon dueled. The hands she had torn from the sand lay in limp, bloody piles. Then the sand around the hands fell away, pouring in on itself as if something were rising out of it. She did not wait around to see what. Rayna took a deep breath, diving into the swirling sea. It did not feel like water, more like fatty oils she'd used to soften animal hides. The black liquid clung hungrily to her skin, and swimming took more effort than it should have. She was not blind to her surroundings, but once she focused on the dark mass below her, on the sandy floor deep beneath the surface of the black ocean, she almost wished she were.

  It looked like a massive coral reef. A few hundred tail-lengths off the southern Fenearen shore was a similar reef, and she and Channon had sometimes swum out to view its brilliant colors and abundant life. But this reef held neither brilliance nor life. It loomed beneath the shadowy sea, lending no color to the blackness beyond a sickly green glow. The glow lit the shapes chained to the reef. Humans. Hundreds of them coated the formation. As she dove, swimming closer, some reached out to her, their ghostly faces stuck in silent screams. Others floated lifelessly as corpses.

  She searched the unfortunate men, but could not find Channon among them. She fought to the surface for a gulp of sulfur-smelling air. Rayna did not stay above the black water long enough to see if her father were winning. Time was short; she had to find Channon.

  She dove back into the sea, kicking down. The horrible, body-encrusted reef passed beneath her as she scanned for other shadows in the deep. At first, there was nothing but suffocating blackness. Any moment Arrabus would fight past her father and pull her screaming from the waves. Or some fresh horror would grip her ankles and drag her to join the doomed men below. She swam on, determined to reach Channon. Taking another breath on the surface, she found herself dozens more tail-lengths from the shore. The darkness lessened, and she saw something on the horizon. A solid mass in the undulating waves. An island. Rayna pivoted toward it, breaking into a desperate breast stroke. She could not smell him, hear him, or see him. But Channon was there.

  Her arms tired quickly in the thick liquid. She kept on, trying not to panic over unseen creatures below, or worse yet, rising to meet her. She turned to memories instead while she labored toward the island on the horizon. She had never been afraid of water, not even after she had nearly drowned as a pup. Bayne had saved her, so what was there to be afraid of? Bayne was not here now, but he had raised her to be strong and brave. Not fearless–he had always been clear on that point–but brave in the face of fear. When Mina had fallen into the murky Drownman Swamp, Rayna had jumped in, saving her without hesitation. There had been shadows in that water, too, alligator gar and even alligators themselves, but Rayna had gone after Mina anyway. She told herself this was no different. The way was longer and the swimming more difficult, but Channon needed her. Her best friend who had stood bravely against Rhael Demetrian, against death itself, to protect her.

  The island drew closer. She could make out its rocky landscape, its greenish mist, the caves that mangled its shores. Tree-like growths coated its slopes. Spiky behemoths of deep purple, they twisted around one another into an impenetrable forest. Jagged black shapes–leaves, maybe–crowned their tops. Rayna could not see what lay beyond them. She thought–hoped–she would not find out. The caves dotting the island’s shores called to her. She swam on, despite the acidic taste building behind her tongue and the protests of her arms and legs. The island was much larger than it had appeared, and some of the caves' mouths yawned large enough to swallow fifty people standing abreast.

  Her eyes roved over the shoreline, trying to decide which cave she would enter. The black substance was choppier now that she was close to the island, and she bobbed up and down in the current. The crashing of the waves filled her ears, and at first she did not notice the rustling and screeching from the island’s forest. When she did, Rayna dragged her gaze to the top of the trees.

  What she had thought were leaves moved now. Squirming, climbing, and flapping, the first black mass took to the air, and a heartbeat later, hundreds more joined it. Their screeching grew louder as they rose. Rayna saw wings, long tails, and, most concerning of all, beaks as sharp and curved as Arrabus’s scythe. They fanned out, and for a moment, Rayna thought they'd pass over her.

  They didn't. They dove. Panicked, Rayna plunged beneath the surface. The bird-things slammed into the substance above her with a series of splashes like explosions. Rayna swam desperately toward the caves–there were more underwater–as the first of her attackers slammed into her back. Raptor-like talons tore at her shirt and skin. Rayna screamed. The muted sound only released bubbles. She twisted, and the creature spun with her, raising its beak to strike her chest. Cruel golden eyes glittered as it twitched its head from one side to the other, measuring the distance to her ribs. As it struck, Rayna slammed her extended claws into its long neck. The bones snapped, but as the first attacker floated away, more golden eyes sighted her. The beasts swam to the surface to dive again. Rayna swam as fast as she could, but already, she'd run out of air. One glance above told her she could not risk the surface. The black water frothed with frenzied creatures, waiting for her return so that they could tear out her eyes and stab her heart. She would rather drown, though she knew they would feast on her flesh either way.

  Some of the more aggressive, hungrier monsters dove, grasping at her talons-first. Three had judged the distance correctly and landed along her shoulders, hips, and knees. Their combined weight knocked her remaining breath from her. Talons scored her skin. She turned, but they clung to her. The one on her hips drilled into her thigh muscles with its curved, serrated beak. They would not release her. She twisted until her back faced the surface again, and kicked upward. Her attackers did not notice, immersing themselves in sending bits of flesh down their gullets. She rose to the top, but they breached the surface first. With a hideous chorus of shrieks, the other monsters tore into their brethren, trying to reach Rayna. It was too late. She was free. She inhaled deeply and dove, swimming for the closest cave. If it were flooded out, she would die. She had no more energy to try any of the others. More of the monsters dove on top of her, tearing her hair and scalp. Another two landed on her calves, but still she fought forward.


  She kicked one of her attackers into the sharp side of the cave as she passed through, but the other three held on. As soon as she had passed beneath the arched entrance, the ceiling rose sharply. She swam up, up, begging Wolnor, Alvo, Lumae, for a pocket of air. Just when she thought her lungs would force her to inhale the slick, oily substance, her head passed into the sulfur-smelling air. She inhaled, grabbing the bird-creature on the back of her neck first and hurling it squalling across the cave. It hit the wall with a crunch as the other two released her, taking to air. They wailed and shrieked just out of her reach. They attacked as one, beaks aimed at her eyes. She caught them by the necks, one in each hand, and squeezed before smashing them both against the wall as she did the other.

  Rayna’s arms shook as she swam to the cave’s ledge, dragging herself onto the shining black rock. Her clothing was shredded, and blood darkened her exposed skin. She touched her nose tenderly, feeling its stretched and swollen skin. Her scalp, nose, neck, back, and legs screamed fire and agony, and she could do nothing more than roll to her side, panting. Even if she found Channon, she would not survive another trip across that monstrous sea, let alone down the snow-covered mountain.

  She rose into a sitting position, her legs sprawled in a bloody heap. Her blood stained the cave floor, but she had to keep moving. Whatever else was here could likely smell the blood that signaled life. Rayna wanted to take her wolf form. She craved the stability of four legs. But Rayna could not muster the strength. Instead she rose, trembling, her right hand pressing the cave wall for support. She limped toward a corridor hung heavy with stalactites. She walked without any thoughts beyond remaining upright and moving forward. Her path wound upward, and she groaned with effort at the slight incline. Still she walked until the corridor opened into a larger cave. Green specks of mica glittered in the black walls, and stalagmites reached their stalactite partners, forming columns Rayna had to wind around. Once past the stone forest, she could see the other side of the cave. Rayna’s heart sank.