Welcome Home (Alternate Worlds Book 3)

by Leigh, Taylor

  The man jerked. He went still and then, very, very slowly, he pushed himself up. In his fist he clutched a scroll, which he began to unroll in trembling determination. Andrew tilted his head, curious to see what was scrawled there. It was more of that ancient text.

  Ramses began to read, tripping over his words, voice wobbling in near terror. By the wild look in his eyes as he shot glances up, he clearly expected something to be happening.

  ‘I…I…have summoned you from beyond…I have given you a host in this body…’ He panted and struggled to find another spot on the parchment. ‘For summoning you…I request to be granted the knowledge and power to—’

  Andrew took a step closer. Ramses actually thought he was gone! That he was possessed! Oh, it was amusing.

  ‘Go on,’ he growled.

  He was distantly, disappointingly, aware of the complaints his body was giving him. He’d pushed his body far past its physical limits, and—despite the high he was on—the pain was beginning to leak through. If it wasn’t for the dark stuff he would have long ago collapsed. What about when he did finally release it—assuming he could, or rather, would—did he die then?

  Andrew pushed those thoughts aside. He had to deal with the here and now; no point fretting over whatever came after till the time arrived.

  ‘Ah—’ Again, Ramses faltered. ‘To open new worlds to me…and…and assist me in attaining such power…’ The scroll slipped from his hand, tearing a bit as it went rolling towards Andrew.

  Andrew brought his foot down, watching the parchment crunch beneath his boot. ‘Hmm…’ he rumbled, ‘I am going to say no.’

  Ramses let out a little whimper and an off-colour spot began to spread along the crotch of his trousers as Andrew let a few more of those dark tendrils pluck at him.

  Then the man turned and ran, back to the labyrinthine protection of the tunnels.

  Taking up a torch, Andrew followed, going deeper into the bowels of the mountain. ‘Oh, come now, Ramses!’ His voice echoed back to him. ‘This is growing tiresome!’ He didn’t like the muffled quality to the air, as if something had stuffed itself into every crack of the passages. Something big and powerful lurking in the dark.

  He couldn’t quite pinpoint the moment he understood it was no longer obeying. It was waiting. He wasn’t in control of this situation any longer. He was walking into a trap. Perhaps the small amount of Dark he’d taken on had lured him. That was slightly worrisome. He wasn’t one to knowingly walk into situations he didn’t automatically have the upper hand in.

  How could he have been so stupid?

  I’m going to die…

  The idea he didn’t find that horrible, just sobering. It squared his shoulders as he marched into the yawning blackness. He had to run towards that entity pumping into the mountain, pumping from the stone, from the chair, threading through him, before he bolted and ran the other way. So he picked up his pace; one foot falling in front of the other, the only thing he concentrated on. His breathing came in tight gasps.

  Ahead, the eagerness of the darkness pressed in and he sprinted towards it. It was excited for him; it wanted him to come and pull more of it through. It yawned out to embrace him. His own streamers of black went flaring out behind him in tattered wings.

  Everything gave way save for his desire to meet this black fate head-on. To do what only he could—take as much of in to him. Pull as much of it into this Realm for his own use. The Darkness swirling off of him was energising; made him feel so very eager for this. Because this stuff wanted him too.

  He had no choice. He was alone. And this was more than likely his death.

  And then he heard a voice.

  ‘Hey, you!’

  Andrew skid to a stop and whirled round, bristling. The Darkness was making him wild, he was panting from it—that and the certainty that he was about to die. But even with the rush of adrenaline pounding through him, what he saw made him pause: It was a woman, glowing bright and gold and giving him an almost amused look.

  The Darkness flared up, roaring with aggressiveness towards this new spirit. Natural enemies, Andrew realised in distant interest. He cast a glance towards the great, yawning blackness ahead of him and then back to the woman. At the moment, she was by far more interesting.

  He strode towards her, trying to gather any clues. There wasn’t much to learn. She was not, he was sure, a ghost; she was much more alive than that. Her whole body shifted and glowed like the light and smoke of his torch.

  ‘You called?’ he asked, keeping several safe paces back. His cloud of darkness was twisting away, trying to be as far from her as possible.

  Though he couldn’t exactly see her face, he could have sworn she was entertained. ‘I was wondering what you were doing, mate!’

  Andrew found her question delightfully strange considering the circumstances. ‘I suppose you could say I was running to meet my enemy.’

  She swept her glowing eyes over him. ‘Looks like you already have.’

  Andrew caught one of the dark tendrils in his hand before it struggled free to flee the woman. ‘You did warn me about this, didn’t you? You were the blinking light; in that dark netherworld…’

  She grinned. ‘Guilty.’

  ‘What is it? You said it was an abomination.’

  ‘It’s the ultimate predator. The consumer of Realms. And it’s not supposed to be here.’

  Andrew shifted. ‘Well, it’s not harming me.’

  She gave him a quirky smile. ‘Yeah, well, you’re different, aren’t you?’ Sounded like something Tollin would say.

  ‘I can control it.’

  ‘You can contain it.’

  He nodded and glanced back towards the yawning darkness, where Ramses had gone. ‘And others can’t.’

  ‘Precisely.’

  ‘It makes me feel good,’ he admitted. ‘And it’s keeping me strong. It seems to me that this thing offers more of a symbiotic relationship than a parasitic one.’

  Her eyes roved over him, golden and knowing. ‘Some things are like that,’ she said after a moment, a bit contemplatively. ‘Make you believe one thing, when they really are another.’

  Andrew debated that. ‘You mean it’s deceiving me.’

  ‘It’s done a fair job of that already.’ Her eyes drifted up to the widening gloom.

  Andrew arched a brow. The darkness fluttered round him irritably. ‘Ah…’ He wasn’t sure how he felt about that. Not as disturbed as he figured he should have been. He was…strangely enough okay with it. ‘Even if that is the case,’ he spoke slowly, ‘I believe I’m willing to take my chances. I’ve been able to keep a handle on it so far. That stuff wants me. But it can’t have me. But I think I can have it.’

  She was smirking at him in a way so similar to the way he smirked at so many. Like he’d said something infantile. It was infuriating.

  ‘You don’t think that I can.’

  Her eyes sparkled. She was much too amused. ‘I think you’re overconfident in your abilities.’

  He laughed. Oh, that was rich. She was probably completely right. ‘Am I?’ Just to show off, he forcefully pulled the Darkness around him, and, mentally picturing what he wanted, sent it sweeping towards her in a fluttering wave.

  She didn’t even blink. Her body flared with bright sparks and as Andrew’s dark hit, it sizzled, crumbling away like ashes. The wounded fog went back shrieking in pained rage, to hide behind him. Andrew felt it. The pain, as if this entity had roots in him, buried invisible beneath his skin. He snarled and looked up at her in surprise.

  She grinned crookedly.

  To hide his discomfort he cleared his throat. ‘We seem to be opposites, you and I.’

  The blackness where Ramses had disappeared let out an almost impatient rumble. Andrew was running out of time.

  ‘You can’t defeat Darkness with Darkness,’ the golden woman said, hurried. ‘It doesn’t work that way. You can’t fight fire with fire.’

  Andrew nodded. He wasn’t so sure he wanted to.
‘I’m not going to defeat it. I’m going to capture it.’ It belonged on that dark beach and he supposed he had to shove it back there.

  She frowned, not liking to hear that.

  Andrew shuffled his feet, hesitant. ‘This is going to hurt me in the long run, isn’t it?’

  ‘Sounds like you’ve made up your mind already.’

  Nerves tightened his throat. ‘Perhaps someday. I am sorry. But I fear the heat of that fire.’

  He took several steps back from the glowing girl. She sighed. ‘A time may come when that is not an option, O’Neill.’

  He rolled his shoulders, feeling the taut dark relax as he placed distance between the two of them. ‘Then give me time to prepare.’

  He spun from her before he lost what nerve he had and faced the monster before him. The dark he carried tugged him forward in impatience and he once again fell into the easy stride towards the black.

  Towards what he was sure was his end.

  * * * * *

  Victoria pulled on her boots, keeping her eyes fixed on the windows, where all of the excitement was taking place. She hissed in pain as she straightened. Her back felt so stiff, so full of cracks. She felt unbendable. And yet she couldn’t stay, not if her friends were out, and would perhaps not come back.

  She hurried towards the window to look below. The dragon had made short work of the city. Fires burned amidst heaps of rubble. Nothing looked itself. Everything was completely…unrecognisable. It was frightening.

  A black shadow suddenly went tracing over the damage and Victoria craned her neck up to watch as a winged beast swept up and out of sight. Victoria felt her heart lurch. Another monster! Could a crossbow bring it down? The beast circled back to hover just beyond her balcony. In panic she dove for the weapon. The blasted thing probably wouldn’t work!

  She straightened in pain and hefted the weapon. It fired before she let herself take aim and to her despair the beast swerved out of the way.

  Much to her shock, it spoke. ‘Steady on! You’re alive! Well, that’s something!’

  Her fear of being burnt to a crisp was somewhat arrested by intrigue. ‘I’m sorry?’

  To her surprise, the dragon growled in frustration, struggling to stay aloft. ‘Oh, right. I guess I’m hardly myself. It’s me, Marus! Look, I’ll meet you at the top of the stairs. My wings are knackered!’

  He pulled upwards, blowing Victoria’s hair back and she froze as the tower trembled ever-so-slightly. Marus was a monster? At this point she wasn’t entirely sure she was surprised.

  With more than a little fright, Victoria spun from the window, grabbed her crossbow and went sprinting out her room and up the winding stairs, once or twice tripping over her long skirt in her haste.

  She stumbled out to the top of the watchtower, out of breath. ‘Marus!’

  It was a flat, smooth surface with a guardhouse at one end and a wall circling round. Perched on this wall was a hulking, bat-like creature, head dipped to watch the city below. Upon her calling his name, the long neck bent round and she was faced with the rather alarming snout of the dragon.

  ‘And what are you doing up?’ he demanded, almost in a chastising tone. It was a rather odd experience to be scolded by a beast such as this and she found herself taking a step back as the hot breath wafted into her face.

  Victoria straightened, trying not to show she was in pain. ‘I want to help!’

  Marus raised his scaly brows. ‘Not much for someone of your…condition to do.’

  ‘I cannot just sit by! Even your brother has come to help!’

  Marus puffed out a cloud of smoke. ‘Back chasing glory, as he always is.’

  ‘Marus, where’s Andrew?’ That was the most important thing.

  ‘Relax. He’s fine. But he didn’t look in much of a mood to be bothered.’

  She didn’t doubt that. ‘Well…what about Tollin?’ The wind was hot and it blew at Victoria’s dress. She clutched her shawl tighter. ‘Where is he now? I could help where he is, I know I can! Whatever he’s doing, I want to be with him. Have you seen him?’

  Marus stretched a wing and leg, reminding Victoria of a parrot she’d once had. ‘Been a bit busy.’

  Victoria stared out at the crumbling city. ‘Oh! He must still be at the temple! The time device!’

  Marus huffed smoke. ‘That’s a long way from here.’

  Victoria put a hand over his, forgetting herself, and was shocked by the smooth heat of his scaly skin. ‘And you can fly. Please, Marus. Please just take me there.’

  Marus looked back towards the desert, the only place virtually untouched by the dragon’s fire. He turned back to Victoria and nodded. ‘Oh…All right,’ he said grumpily.

  He helped Victoria onto his back and stretched his wings again.

  ‘Ready?’ he asked.

  Victoria wasn’t sure. ‘Ready.’

  Marus grinned.

  He dove off of the tower, streaking downwards like a hawk. Victoria’s gasp was lost in the rush. Marus spread his wings at the last moment, and went swooping back up on a current of air, drifting to a dizzying height above the city. Then he beat his wings and pushed off into the reddening sky.

  Victoria’s breath was taken away. She had been pulled from planet to planet—twice—and that had been an experience she thought could never be replicated. But this—this flying—like a bird, sweeping over the rocky desert, knowing exactly where she was going…if she had wings, she would never stop, she decided.

  The flight ended much too soon for her liking. Marus dipped and began to drift towards the earth with the smoothness of a bird of prey. He landed on all fours softly, spraying small fountains of sand from his big paws.

  Victoria slid off of his back once he was still, slightly out of breath. ‘That was incredible!’

  Marus smiled, all teeth, before folding his wings against his body.

  Victoria turned her attention to the entrance. ‘Did you land here recently?’ she asked slowly.

  Marus shook his head. ‘No. Why?’

  Victoria pointed to what she’d noticed with dread. Large tracks. Tracks that weren’t human. Like Marus’s now. And they morphed alarmingly fast into human prints.

  ‘Noel,’ Marus growled darkly. ‘His tracks are fresh. And those there are my brother’s.’

  Victoria felt a cold chill crawl through her. She hurried towards the entrance. Marus snaked along after her. She grabbed hold of one of his horns as he stopped beside her, peering into the dark.

  ‘Do you think it’s safe?’ she asked in a small voice, not wanting to hear his answer. ‘Do you think Tollin is alive?’

  Marus swallowed. His odd cat-like eyes locked with hers. ‘I don’t know.’

  Victoria blew out a breath and squared her shoulders. ‘Right. Well, let’s go. No good us just standing out here waiting for something to happen.’

  Marus glanced at the narrow entrance. Victoria figured he’d probably fit in dragon form. And who knew, some teeth and muscle might come in use. He took a reluctant step forward and Victoria followed, keeping a hand on him. She felt a bit better about the situation having a fire breathing monster to keep her company.

  They crept into the gloom, Marus’s sharp eyesight being the only thing to guide Victoria’s way. She knew the way well by now and they were growing close. Her spine went to tightening.

  Victoria suddenly stopped, feeling an idiot. ‘Marus! The door! I’m not sure we can get in! It’s some sort of technology.’ Her voice was a noisy whisper, and she winced.

  ‘Don’t think we have to worry about that, love.’

  Victoria stumbled and looked down. Rubble was strewn every which way, blasted out by some powerful force. Soon they were both tripping over the large, smouldering chunks of chiselled rock.

  When Victoria’s sight had finally adjusted, she broke into an uneven run. To her horror, a mountain of rock now spilled from the control room. Buried beneath huge chunks of smoking debris were more footprints, nearly erased in the sand.


  ‘Oh, gods…’

  Victoria reached out and touched one of the chipped chunks of stone. It wobbled from its perch and tumbled down the pile to rest at her feet.

  ‘Tollin?’ she cried. He couldn’t be crushed beneath that, he just couldn’t.

  Only silence met her. Marus let out an unhappy growl.

  ‘Tollin?’

  Her voice echoed in the cavernous space.

  Then came a muffled voice, distant through layers of rock. ‘Victoria?’

  It was Tollin!

  She looked at Marus and grinned. ‘Are you all right in there?’

  ‘Em,’ a pause, ‘overall, yes.’

  Victoria bit her lip. ‘I’ve got Marus here; we’re going to get you out!’

  ‘That would be much appreciated!’

  Without another thought Victoria wrapped her arms round a heavy stone and stumbled back to drop it to the floor. ‘Help me shift this!’

  Marus muttered under his breath a string of complaints but complied, hooking his big paws around a massive boulder and shoving it to the side.

  After half an hour of work, Victoria’s limbs were shaky and she was covered in sweat and grime. But they had made progress. Marus rolled an alarmingly large rock away and Victoria jumped back with a yelp. A mangled, bloody leg was beneath it. She put a hand to her mouth, afraid she’d be sick.

  ‘Um, I’m assuming that’s Noel,’ Marus said a bit awkwardly, giving her an apologetic look.

  Victoria shook her head, composing herself. ‘Well, at least we do not have to worry about him any longer.’

  Marus sheepishly shrugged and worked at pulling another stone free. It rolled away, crashing between the two of them and suddenly light from the other side was streaming through. Tollin gave a cheerful cry and peeked out, widely grinning.

  ‘Brilliant!’

  ‘Stand back,’ Marus grumbled.

  Tollin obediently darted out of the way; then Marus, like some stubborn bull, ploughed through. It came down in a reluctant crashing heap and Victoria feared he may bury himself alive. But he didn’t. Rocks bounced off of his wings and scales and as the dust lifted he was standing in a gaping hole, looking into the room beyond.

  Just as Marus backed out Victoria scrabbled in, to throw her arms around Tollin. He chuckled and, careful of her wounds, spun her around, only setting her back down as Marus dropped into the room, fully human. Tollin ran his fingers through his hair, and sand puffed around him in a cloud.