The Complete Pendomus Chronicles Trilogy: Books 1-3 of the Pendomus Chronicles Dystopian Scifi Boxed Set Series

by Carissa Andrews

  Runa

  BEING ABRUPTLY PULLED from the connection with everyone else is disorienting enough, but the knife buried in my hand sends tendrils of agony throughout my limb. An intense urge to vomit surfaces, and I struggle to hold it back.

  “You doing okay, there, Everblossom? You’re looking a bit green,” Videus says, chuckling slightly.

  I clench my teeth and make myself look into the space where his eyes should be.

  “I’m fine,” I say.

  “Wonderful,” he says nonchalantly. “Now, where was I? Oh, right—surprise.”

  Videus steps to the side, revealing the crumpled form of Traeton. His blue hair, matted to his head with blood. The side of his face is swollen and bruised.

  “Rise,” Videus commands.

  Trae doesn’t move, instead, he takes a deep breath and flashes his tongue across his lips.

  “I said rise,” Videus says, using his left hand to create a quick hand gesture.

  Whatever the gesture was, Trae’s hands fly to his head and he crumples over in agony.

  “Stop—stop! Why are you doing this?” I scream.

  “Well, for starters, because I can. Don’t ever forget that,” Videus says, turning his empty face toward me.

  Taking a few deep breaths to regain my calm, I say, “You don’t need to torture him. He’s not going anywhere.”

  “Hmmm,” Videus says. “You have that part right. The rest is just a perk.”

  He closes his fist, and Traeton cries out in pain.

  “Now then, I’m sure you know why I’ve returned. Well, beyond the obvious gift,” he laughs.

  “I’ve been cooperating with you. You promised me—you told me everyone would be let go if I cooperated. Just let Trae and the others go. You can have me,” I say.

  “Runa—no,” Trae says, his speech garbled and disjointed. He looks up through one good eye. The other is completely swollen shut. His nose bends at an awkward angle, clearly broken.

  Anger builds from the base of my spine, coursing through my veins. Everything in the room rumbles, as I focus on Videus and ending him.

  Trae’s hands fly out, seeking balance, despite being so close to the ground. Videus, merely laughs.

  “Ah, I knew you had more buried in there,” he says.

  Surprised, the anger dissipates as curiosity replaces it temporarily.

  Was that me? Did I actually do that?

  “See, I’ve been tracking people like you, Runa. People with special…abilities…to do things no one else can do. There’s something special about Pendomus. It’s done something special to humanity that we never anticipated,” Videus says.

  “If humanity is so special, why are you trying to cage and kill us all?” I spit.

  “No, no my dear. You misunderstand. Humanity isn’t special. No, humanity is incredibly unremarkable. I said Pendomus has done something special to humanity,” Videus annunciates the words slowly. “I merely need to harness it.”

  “Look around you, Videus. You already have. What more could you want?” I say, the anger beginning to mount again.

  Videus rushes forward, his blank, bloody face inches from mine. Caelum grips his shoulder tightly, and chirps in surprise at the sudden movement.

  “I want to end this all,” Videus says slowly.

  My pulse throbs behind my ears, and I try desperately not to take in the stench of his presence.

  “End this? I don’t understand,” I say.

  “Runa—don’t listen—” Trae starts, but Videus abruptly cuts him off with another hand gesture. Trae’s battered form drops to the ground completely.

  “Traeton—” I cry. “What have you done to him?”

  “Don’t get your wires in a twist. He’s alive,” Videus says, “for now.”

  “You’re sick. You need serious help, you know that? If anything needs to end—it’s you,” I spit.

  Videus begins to back away, perhaps out of anger with my words. But he returns, his face once again close to mine. He takes the hilt of the knife digging into my hand, and twists.

  I can’t hold back the scream erupting from my lips.

  “Don’t you think I’ve tried? You’re a fool. You’ve always been a fool,” Videus says. “This place, Pendomus, it’s like a maze. Only those who know the game can enter and leave. Some of us are stuck. Others, ripped from us. So you either play the game, or you become part of it.”

  “You’ve started the game,” I say, confused. “All of this—all the pain and suffering. This is all you. Don’t you understand that? You could hop off at any time, you could do whatever you wanted and no one would be the wiser. Why do you stay here? Why continue with this loop?”

  A deep, maniacal laugh bubbles from deep inside Videus’ chest.

  “Loop. There it is again. Such a fine word, and so fitting,” he says. “Which brings us back to you. Let’s stop playing coy, shall we?”

  I narrow my eyes, wishing I could look into his.

  “Where is the book?” he says, slowly.

  My heart skips a beat. I know exactly what book he’s referring to.

  “What book?” I say, innocently.

  Videus twists the knife again, sending blinding pain through my whole body, short circuiting all of my thoughts momentarily with the agony.

  “I’ll ask you one more time,” Videus says calmly, “Where’s the bloody book?”

  The calm demeanor he’s taken on is far more chilling than the absurd, angry man. It’s like his humanity slips from his grasp and something else takes over completely.

  What could he possibly gain from finding the Caudex? What secrets does it hold that he shouldn’t be privy to? For the life of me, I can’t think of any. However, the book still has pages yet to be revealed to me. There’s no knowing what could still be concealed. Adrian told me to keep it safe…

  “Times up,” Videus says, flicking his hand toward Trae.

  Instantly, Trae wakes up, a high-pitched scream escaping his lips.

  In reflex, my body tries to stand, despite the restraints.

  “Stop,” I beg, “please, just leave him alone. I’ll tell you how to find it, I promise.”

  “Good girl. I knew you could be persuaded,” Videus says, returning his empty gaze to me.

  Helping him find the Caudex would jeopardize more than the book. I know this. Adrian and my trials—they’ve drilled into me the importance of it not getting in Videus’ hands. But perhaps if I can lead him differently…maybe I can at least protect Trae from being further tortured.

  “The Caudex is near the Tree of Burden,” I say, slowly.

  It’s not a complete lie. Technically, the Archives is out that way. But if I steer him toward the Tree of Burden, at least I know he’ll need my help.

  “Release Trae and I’ll take you to it,” I say quickly.

  Maybe, just maybe I can lure Videus from here and save Trae.

  “The Tree of Burden is ash,” Videus says, his words slow and deliberate. He raises his hand again toward Trae, but it hovers there, waiting for more information.

  I rest my eyes on Trae—his broken and beaten body. Even after all the strangeness with him since my return, the bizarre outbursts and odd behaviors—the true him, the true man…he has my heart. I can’t get around it, and I need to find a way to protect him, so I can get him back.

  “It’s not in the Tree, only near it. Please, let me show you,” I say.

  If I can get Videus away from all of this, perhaps I have a chance at getting the upper hand somehow. Tethys is out there. And if Ammon was released, as promised, he should be on his way to alert Delaney and the rest of the team at the Lateral. Who knows, maybe they’ll—

  Videus laughs, but it’s not a convincing one. Instead, it’s more like a condescending chuckle meant to intimidate.

  “There’s nothing you could possibly do to get me near that tree again, dear Everblossom. Whether resurrected or not. No, we’ll just have to do this the hard way.”

  He stands near me, hi
s bloody face undulating. I can’t tell if he’s thinking, or frozen when there’s no eyes to gauge expressions.

  Then I feel the odd tingling sensation creep over the back of my skull. It starts at the base of my spine, spreading out over the top of my head, like tendrils. Goosebumps rise over my body as I wait. As quickly as it started, the sensation dissipates.

  “Then you’ll never get the book. You won’t be able to see the Tree to gauge where I hid it. It might look destroyed to you, but it doesn’t to me. My vision allows me to see it as it truly is. Perhaps it’s the Tree that once was—maybe it’s resurrected, I don’t know how it works. I just know it’s hidden from you for a reason. Just as it was before,” I say.

  “Then going out there would be futile for me, would it not?”

  “Not if you take me with you. I can bring you to the Tree,” I lie.

  I have no interest whatsoever in helping him open the Caudex. I’d die first. But if I can gain his trust—

  Videus springs to life again, “Tell me, what do you know about the planet, Everblossom? In all your adventures as the Daughter of Five, what have you uncovered. I’m truly intrigued. Tell me everything—”

  His change of subject is unnerving.

  “What difference would any of that make? It won’t bring back your brother—isn’t that what everything’s been about?” I say, trying to understand.

  How can everything be linked? The past, the future, the present? How can Videus be so heartless and cold? How could the planet be put in peril thanks to a man who didn’t exist when humanity first arrived on Pendomus? Instead, his time travel escapades have caused all of this.

  My mind can’t wrap around the technicalities and subtleties of what he’s done.

  It’s all so confusing.

  “It has everything to do with my brother—everything to do with bringing him back,” Videus says, his teeth grinding.

  Trae mumbles, grabbing hold of his side as he tries to sit up.

  Videus flattens his hand, and Trae drops to the floor like an empty vessel. His eyes closed, his breathing slow and unfettered.

  “The Caudex won’t bring him back, it’s not that kind of book—” I bite my lip.

  Instantly, Videus is millimeters from my face.

  “Don’t you dare tell me what it will or will not do. If it were under my control, I’d erase you and your friends before you were all born. Keep that in mind. My brother’s death is on your hands. If that book can’t help me, there’s no point in keeping any of you around. I simply don’t understand why I can’t—” he says, pulling the knife from my hand to hold it at my throat. Then he takes a deep breath, dropping the knife to his side and standing up straighter. “The Caudex is the key to making things right.”

  “His death is on my hands? Has it ever occurred to you it was simply your bother’s time to go? For whatever reason, the wheels set in motion, both future and past—demanded his sacrifice?” I say, through gritted teeth.

  Energy in my fingertips starts to bleed from my hands, rising up my arms. As if tapping into something beyond myself, I embrace the shift, allowing it to occur. My hand throbs, gently closing itself up before my eyes.

  “If it weren’t for you, he’d still be here,” Videus spews.

  “If it weren’t for you—there would have been no need for a Daughter of Five in the first place. I’d just be some girl living on Pendomus. Maybe everyone else would be normal, too. Your brother may even still be here, if it wasn’t for you,” I say, power rising with each word of truth uttered his direction.

  “Lies. I’ve tried thousands of ways to ensure his safety. Each time, I fail. I can’t keep doing it without the book—every time I reset time, I lose memories—making it much more difficult to try again,” he says. “I need a more direct path now.”

  I narrow my eyes, wondering if this really is what it’s all about. Just a man, trying to save his brother from death—and failing over and over. It’s driven him completely mad.

  “What I want to know is how you were able to affect change in the continuum when you were in the past. Don’t try to say you didn’t, I felt the ripples of time shift,” he says, clutching the knife tight.

  I blink at him. I honestly have no idea what he’s even referring to. What was I able to change?

  “Why wouldn’t you just ask for help dealing with your brother’s death? There had to have been people you could turn to,” I say, oddly empathetic. I know I shouldn’t be—but a piece of me can’t help it.

  “You don’t understand. You know nothing,” he says. “Just a child, playing at grown up games.”

  “Then help me to understand. I know this can’t really be you. This man you’ve become—you can’t make me believe deep down, you’re not still a man in there. I’m sure your brother would never have wanted—”

  Searing hot pain flashes across my left eye, as my scars burn. My head rocks to the side from the brunt force of his punch. The knife in his hand, is unforgiving in its resistance.

  “Enough. You have no right to assume you know what was in my brother’s mind,” Videus says, taking a calming inhalation. He adjusts his robes, and squares his shoulders.

  A Labot man with enormous muscles opens the glass door. He takes a wide stance and rests his arms behind his back. No words necessary.

  “Take him to lockup. I need some time alone with him. It’s pretty clear I won’t get the information I want from the Daughter of Five—at least, not yet. Let’s see what I can glean from her lover. Maybe then it will encourage her to be more cooperative.”

  With that, the Labot grabs hold of Trae’s limp body and removes him from the room.

  “What are you going to do with him?” I ask, panic seeping into my resolve.

  Would he kill Trae? Or does he have some kind of torture planned? Trae doesn’t know anything—at least, not enough to satiate Videus even if he did talk. He’s never seen me with the Caudex, let alone know how to find it—even though it’s right there with him in the Archives. At the time, I felt badly for not sharing that side of me. But he wasn’t himself and I knew it. Now—now, I don’t know whether to be relieved he knows nothing—or worried.

  “Please—please don’t hurt him,” I plead.

  Videus doesn’t even look back or answer me. He simply follows after the Labot and Trae.

  The door closes behind them, frosting over and sealing itself, with me still trapped inside.

  I need to find a way out of here. Now.

  Closing my eyes, I focus the energy I felt rising earlier and directing it at the restraints of the chair. I may not be able to dig into the inner workings of wiring, or coding—but perhaps I can overload the energetic hub.

  ~Are you still there?

  ~Will you help us?

  ~What has he done?

  The voices come flooding in as I tap into the bloodlines for help. It’s hard to tune them out—allowing my own energies to focus to the level of precision I need. The barrage of data intruding my brain is overwhelming.

  ~Everyone—everyone, please. You have to stop.

  I say in between comments.

  ~I can’t help anyone locked in this room. I need to focus—find a way to get out of this chair. Either give me your ideas, or stay silent for a few minutes so I can think. Please.

  After a moment, the voices settle down. Although I can still feel them all as they stand by.

  I try again, focusing my mind and energy on the chair, trying to break free from my restraints. As I do, the restraints tighten further—cutting off circulation to my wrists and ankles. Whatever Videus used to bind me, it’s worked like a charm to keep me as contained as possible.

  Damn. How am I going to get out of this before he comes back?

  ~I have a suggestion to try. I think it may be of help.

  One of the voices says. His voice and his mannerisms, even here in my mind are so familiar. It’s like I’ve talked to him before.

  ~Be my guest. I don’t think I can muster enough strength.<
br />
  ~I do not believe it is about strength. I have been here a while. If there is one thing I have learned, it is that the Ibis man wants compliance. That is all. Perhaps if you did not fight against them at all—they may release?

  ~It’s worth a try, I guess.

  Closing my eyes, I turn my focus to relaxing. Allowing non-confrontation to well up inside me, and letting go of as much inner struggle as I can muster. I’m able to hold onto the sensation for a fleeting second or two, but it’s so hard. Anger continues to bubble up unexpectedly. How do I relax and comply with everything I’ve been put here to fight against?

  It’s infuriating.

  In fact, the more it infuriates me, the more the restraints are fueled, burning brighter and more intact.

  ~You need to let go. Forget who you are. Forget where you come from and where you have been. Try to erase it all from your mind and just…be.

  ~How? How do I let go of all that I am?

  ~You simply do.

  His words of wisdom resonate with me on a core level. There’s more to his words than meet the eye and I’m not sure why.

  ~Who are you? What’s your name?

  ~I am no one.

  I nod to myself. It reminds me of the man who would come to me in my mind when I was going through the trials. Perhaps the same man? Or is he simply leading by example?

  ~Okay, no one. Let me try this again.

  I blow out a deep breath, feeling the air pass through my lips. Closing my eyes, I free my mind of everything. My path. The time loops. Videus. Fenton. Trae— I let it all go until all that’s left is darkness. I sit with it, allowing the darkness to simply be.

  I feel its weight, only I don’t recognize it as such. Instead, it feels more like floating. Or being in the birthing chamber with fluids supporting my body all around.

  I release all of my troubles. My birth right. The bloodlines.

  Suddenly, I feel my face flicker—like a large feather flitted over it. The sensation brings me quickly back to my body—but it was enough. The restraints are gone and I’m free within the confines of the glass cage.

  ~Thank you, no one. It worked. Now I just have to figure a way out of here.

  ~You better do it quickly. It’s almost time for the raining fire again. Now that you’re out, you’re fair game.