Worlds of the Never: A book with Dragons, Faeries and Elves, mixed with Science Fiction and Time Travel, for Young Adults and Teens. (Tales of the Neverwar 2)

by CJ Rutherford

  *

  Perri watched Katheryne toss and turn. Her own peculiar power allowed her to see what her friend was dreaming, and she smiled. All she had to do was keep Katheryne away long enough for someone she loved to get hurt. Then she could plant the seed of guilt.

  It would be Katheryne’s fault they died. She wasn’t good enough, not powerful enough to save anyone. Let someone else do it.

  ‘Someone like you?’ Perri asked the voice. But the voice didn’t answer. Perri got up from the bed where she had lain alongside her true love. For wasn’t Katheryne the one she had always loved, the one who always loved her back, unlike the other weak bitch?

  She closed her eyes and concentrated, but the voice never came. She knew something was wrong, even before her world exploded in blue flame.

  The wooden door burst inwards and hit the stone fireplace, splinters filling the air. Perri raised a palm outstretched to her right, only to feel a sliver pass straight through into the side of her head. A faint vision of a golden form flanked by two glowing candles of brilliance was the last thing she ever saw.

  Perri was dead.

  *

  Katheryne felt a weight lift off her. A wave of relief swept over her for the briefest moment before she realized the danger she was in. Her island, the haven she created to allow the Powers to communicate freely, was all but destroyed. As she watched, a tendril struck two of the Powers standing guard around the hollow, banishing them from her mind back to their own reality.

  She needed to act before all was lost.

  *

  Toshi leapt for cover as a writhing arm of darkness swept two of the Powers away. Behind him, one of the figures on the ground moaned and collapsed, before vanishing. The others struggled to expand their own mental shield to cover the gap, and Toshi steeled himself as a huge mass of the black thunderstorm flew straight at him. This was the end. He didn’t know if he’d wake up in bed back on Dranis, or simply cease to be.

  The mass picked up speed and he closed his eyes as it reached the trees, expecting it to engulf him at any second, but the end never came. He opened his eyes to see Katheryne standing with arms outstretched and hair blowing wildly in the storm, but the darkness couldn’t get near her. In fact as she stood beside him, Toshi felt the strength of her will as the storm abruptly faded. In less than a minute the Island was as he remembered it, trees, cobalt waters, even the township had returned. And the Powers were returning as he watched Jip reappear a short distance away.

  “Well you took your time,” said Toshi as Katheryne turned to face him. Any further admonishments were cut off by the expression of loss and grief on her face.

  “Katheryne? What’s wrong?” He walked over and took her in his arms, feeling her shake as she sobbed heavily.

  “She’s dead, Toshi. Perri is dead.” As she’d felt whatever had been holding her release, she’d seen the same thing Perri had, as if through Perri’s own eyes.

  Toshi almost let go of her in shock. ‘No, this was impossible. Perri was back on Earth. In Ireland. She can’t have been in any danger.’

  But then he remembered the curious absence of Katheryne, while the Island was being attacked. Something unknown to him must have happened.

  “I’ll return right away,” he said. “You’ll need people who love you to be there.”

  He felt a slight nod, but couldn’t think of anything more to say. Katheryne had now lost her mother, father and best friend in the space of a few short months. How was she ever going to recover from this?

  “I’m so sorry, Katheryne.”

  Both of them jumped at the voice.

  “Laren?” Katheryne held her arms out and the two friends embraced in shared grief, but Laren broke contact abruptly.

  “They’ll be putting me back under shortly, but before they do I have to tell you what I’ve found out.” She talked quickly, unsure of how long she had.

  “All the portals are sealed and Sanctuary is surrounded by whatever ships the leadership has managed to steal, borrow or corrupt. There are hundreds of them, all ready for battle. But that’s not the worst.”

  Toshi looked at Katheryne in concern but waved for Laren to go on.

  “They’ve figured out a way to instantly summon a Liberi when one of their own dies. It’ll be like fighting an unending tide of enemies. Sure, the newcomers won’t know what’s going on, but when they see us trying to kill them, they will fight back.” She looked into Toshi’s eyes as her expression softened.

  “Don’t come for me, Toshi.” Tears flowed down her cheeks. “I love you.”

  And then she was gone.

  Chapter Forty Three

  Hearts broken

  Katheryne awoke with a lead ball at her core. Her eyes focused in the dim light, revealing a pair of dark blue eyes staring into hers. Tears suddenly flooded out of her, and she grabbed Derren, pulling him down, and holding on for all she was worth. A hand gently stroked the side of her face, and she looked round to see Krista’s tear streaked face clearly fighting to keep control.

  “Where is she?” Katheryne raised herself gently up onto her elbows, and Derren helped her to sit up. He looked across to the corner, where a weeping, human-formed Chran cradled Perri’s head in his lap as he kneeled on the floor. As if sensing her gaze, he looked up, and the pain in his eyes forced a fresh wave of sobs to overcome her.

  Miraculously, her friend looked incredibly peaceful, and Katheryne got up, walking across to kneel beside her. She touched the still warm face, running her hand up through her curly red hair. She wondered why there was hardly any blood, except for the trickle at the side of her head, but then realized death must have been instantaneous. She was thankful for that.

  She leaned closer and kissed her friend’s cheek. “I’m sorry Perri. I’m sorry I got you involved in all this.” Her shoulders slumped, and she cried hard.

  Chran reached across, and she took his hand, squeezing it as Derren and Krista joined them on the floor. Tears were cried, and embraces were exchanged, but at the end of it all, Perri was still dead.

  “How did it happen?” asked Katheryne.

  Chran shrugged his shoulders, as he sniffed loudly. “It was my fault.” He lowered his head, unwilling, to look Katheryne in the eye. “I knew you were in here, and I knew you were under the influence of dragon magic. I’m afraid I was… overzealous… when I attacked the door.”

  He indicated the shattered heavy oak door. Krista took his hand in both of hers.

  “Chran, it was an accident, a freak occurrence which you could never have expected.” She smiled gently at him, but he shook his head.

  “I should have been more careful,” he replied, his voice thick with emotion. “I still, literally, don’t know my own strength. It’s my fault Perri’s dead.”

  “No it’s not.” The strength and stone cold fury in Katheryne’s voice surprised them all. “There is no one here to blame for any of this. Chran, you said you sensed dragon magic. Are you talking about the Beast that attacked me in the chapel?”

  Chran grew thoughtful. “Possibly; probably, in fact. I wasn’t there, and I only have second hand knowledge of what happened back then, but I can’t imagine there are many dragon kin in this universe who want you dead. Yes, it must be the same one.”

  Katheryne stood up and walked to the door, breathing in deeply. “So we’re talking about Tenybris again. All of this has been about getting to me. He obviously knows about the prophecy, so he’s decided to eliminate the threat at the source. Me!” She turned round to face them. “The Island was just attacked and almost destroyed.”

  The others reacted with a mixture of shock and denial, but Katheryne waved for their silence.

  “Tenybris, through his Beast, used Perri to cast that spell on me. It was similar to the one it used back at the chapel, to try and turn me against you all. Unfortunately, Perri had a lot more time to let it work its way into me.

  “I was convinced what I saw happening on the Island was a dream, and I was just about
to let everyone die; because, if they’d gotten to the core of the Island, I’d be dead right now, and the prophecy would be worthless. Tenybris would have won.” She turned to face Chran.

  “Don’t you see, Chran? You saved me. You saved all of us.”

  Chran nodded his gratitude. Katheryne knew it’d be a long time before he forgave himself, but she sensed her words give him some comfort, however small. He lifted Perri up onto the bed, laying her gently on top of the covers. He touched her forehead and uttered a short prayer from his home world, under his breath. None of them understood a word, but they felt the love and regret, as he bent down to kiss her forehead.

  “Goodbye, sweet child,” he whispered. “May your journey be swift through the Never to your next life. And although I wish you quieter times, I also wish you the same friendships you leave behind.”

  Each of them followed suit, uttering their own farewell, until it was Katheryne’s turn. She stood for what seemed an eternity, searching for the right words to say goodbye to her best friend. In the end it consisted of a single kiss on the lips. She couldn’t manage any more right now, because the anger had arisen, and was taking over.

  She stepped back from the bed, and turned to the others. Her face was a mask of calm, but no one who knew her had seen the murderous glint in those emerald eyes before.

  “I’m fed up to the back teeth of always dancing to Tenybris’s tune.” She stood with her fists clenched so tight her arms shook. “We can’t get at him though…yet. But we can get at this Beast. And let’s not forget my little sister is trapped in there too.”

  Derren came over to take her hands. She tried to snap them away, expecting an attempt to assuage her anger, but he held tight.

  “Katheryne.” He looked deep into her eyes, “Let’s go get this bastard.”

  Katheryne snorted at his choice of words. Krista came close, joining her hands to theirs, as did Chran.

  “For Perri,” she said in her musical, middle English accent. “It’s not like the thing doesn’t deserve to die, but let’s at least make Perri’s death mean something.”

  “For Perri,” echoed Chran.

  “For Perri,” chorused Derren and Katheryne, and she squeezed his hand in thanks.

  Katheryne looked at Chran. “Chran, can you track this thing?”

  Chran morphed back into his dragon form, and went outside, sniffing the air. They followed and waited for a moment while Chran turned back and forth. They felt the hairs on the back of their necks rise up, as he used the subtle intricacies of dragon magic to locate the enemy. Less than a minute later he straightened up.

  “I have its scent now, clear in my mind. Before it was just a whiff.” He turned to face Katheryne. “Yes, I can track it. Please, allow me.”

  An image entered their heads of a corridor with a door ajar at the end. Lights flashed in the shadows beyond, and Katheryne gasped as she saw two bodies lying, bleeding, on the floor.

  “I can take us there,” said Derren.

  Krista interrupted, “Shouldn’t we, you know prepare or something?”

  It was right this moment Katheryne realized something had been niggling at the back of her head, ever since she’d woken up. She looked straight at Krista, and saw the pain in her eyes. Pain at the death of a friend, and pity for Katheryne’s loss was apparent. But there was no pain for her own loss. The Krista she knew would be in pieces right now, after the double blow of losing her friend, and a love she’d only just discovered.

  This Krista slipped right back into her robot persona, and Katheryne began to panic. She didn’t know where she was, but what was certain was this wasn’t real. Incredibly close, definitely. Except for Krista, everyone acted exactly as she might have expected.

  Derren was Derren, loving and intense as always. Chran was noble and emotive. But Krista? She reminded her of the person Perri described to her. The cold, unfeeling bitch she’d apparently become over the last few weeks.

  A spark exploded in her brain, and she grasped her head. Stars swam before her eyes, and her brain felt as if it might burst, as she collapsed onto her knees. She looked up at Derren and the others, trying to make her mouth work and cry out for help, but they were already looking at her, sneering wickedly. Only Krista remained the same, cold and unfeeling, watching her as she toppled forward to the hard ground.

  Katheryne felt her face crunch into the dirt, tasted the dust on her tongue, and felt the grit invade her mouth, but the sight as she rolled onto her side caused her the most pain.

  Perri stood in the open doorway of the cabin, the side of her face still red with the blood from her wound. She wasn’t dead, and she crossed to stand over Katheryne.

  “Why didn’t you just go along with it, Kat? It would have been easier on everyone if you just decided you didn’t want to do this anymore.”

  A cold stab of pain passed though her, and Katheryne cried out, but she gritted her teeth and fought through it. She struggled to come to terms with what was going on.

  ‘Perri is alive’ she thought. Feigning nausea, she bent forward, giving herself precious moments to try and figure out what was going on. She remembered Perri in the dream, telling her to leave the island, that it was the dream. ‘Was it a dream?’ She needed to keep Perri talking.

  “So how is this supposed to make me give up?” Katheryne managed to get onto her hands and knees. The constructs of Derren, Chran and Krista were gone. “We were leaving to destroy your ‘Master’, Perri.” Katheryne was shocked at the look of rage on her friend’s face. “How were you going to spin that one, huh?”

  Perri lowered her face, and Katheryne sensed a feeling of regret for an instant, before the blank facade returned.

  “No spin, Kat. You just won’t wake up.”

  The realization hit her like a freight train. “I’m still asleep!” Katheryne’s head reeled. She hadn’t woken up when she left the Island. All this was a construct, fabricated by Perri, which was why Krista acted like she did. Perri was under the spell of the beast, had been for weeks, and it had sickened Perri’s love for Krista. She perceived Krista in a completely false way, as the hard uncaring person Katheryne had just seen.

  Perri laughed. “Did you think my Master didn’t know your friends might come for you? You’re an idiot Kat, and so are they. They walked straight into our trap.”

  Katheryne narrowed her eyes, and she shook her head in denial. This was her friend. How could she do this?

  Perri smiled wickedly. “What, you think it was just Master’s idea? No, you stupid little girl, it was my idea to bring you here, and it was my idea to leave the trail of breadcrumbs. Your friends are as dumb as you are, you know that?

  “If they’d only been a few minutes later, then you’d have been lying dead beside me when they burst in. Unfortunately their attack gave you the split second you needed to escape to the Island. I didn’t expect that, so I had to think on my feet. I guess it was Krista, wasn’t it? She gave the game away. I knew I didn’t make her snivel enough.” Perri’s lip curled in disgust. “They’re all pathetic.”

  Katheryne fought tears. “Perri, they’re your friends too. All we want to do is help you.”

  Perri laughed mirthlessly. “I don’t need help. Why would I? Jesus, Kat, you have no idea how good I feel right now.” Perri stretched her arms out and spun around. “I’m more alive than I’ve ever been. And Kat, no one can hurt me now. Not even you.”

  Katheryne struggled to her feet. She’d managed to block or deflect most of the pain, but just barely. She had, however, discovered where the attack came from, and it wasn’t Perri, at least not directly.

  The Beast fed the assault, along with the hatred Perri held for all of them. Katheryne saw its shadow hovering over her friend, but the most disturbing thing was the flow of energy feeding back to it. Perri was linked inextricably to it, and they fed off the hatred. She knew it was pointless to attempt to reason with her, so she tried another tack.

  “So where are the others? The ones you made were pre
tty convincing, except for Krista, obviously. She really loves you; you know that, don’t you?”

  Perri snarled her response. “She never loved me, Kat. She used me to heal, after Dwenn died.” She waved in the direction of the cabin.

  “They’re in there. They barged in just like I suspected, and the spell overcame them. Chran took a little convincing. Damn dragon has a tough hide, so he might be a little sore when he wakes up. They’ll be so sad when you die.”

  Perri came close, and Katheryne saw the flash of a blade in her hand. The shadow was all around her now, and her eyes were wide and feral in anticipation of the kill.

  Katheryne stood up to face her, as she finally shrugged the pain away. Uncertainty appeared behind the madness in Perri’s eyes.

  “You don’t have to do this, Perri. We can help you.”

  For a second, Perri faltered, lowering the knife. Her eyes unclouded, and the real Perri emerged. It was clear she struggled to keep from being swallowed again, but Katheryne saw tears well in her eyes.

  “You can’t help me Kat,” she cried. “There’s no time. They’re doing something in that underground place; something, which will free Tenybris and destroy the Veil.”

  Katheryne started to cry and shake her head. She could see the shadow around Perri grow agitated.

  “Kat, you have to go, and the only way to get free is through me. I’m the trap. I’m keeping you here, and I can’t stop myself. It’s too strong for me. You have to kill me Kat.” As the light in her eyes died, Perri whispered her final words.

  “You have to kill me to save everything. Kat, I love you.” She tossed the knife at Katheryne’s feet, just as a feral scream came from the being which had stolen her body.

  Katheryne crouched down and picked up the knife, holding it before her to ward off the attack, but the Beast was too quick, as Perri’s chest impaled itself onto the blade.

  “NOOOOO!!” Katheryne screamed, as Perri dropped to her knees. Already the shadow was dissipating, aware its puppet had failed, and Katheryne watched a smile ghost across her friend’s face.