It was a golden casket, sealed with an ancient Coran symbol. He laughed. Corans thought that it was their symbol that had kept the Magistrate’s Dagger sealed in the throne. But it was his. He was the one who had given it to Roth. That fool was nothing without him. Cor would be nothing without him. But he was going to make them pay for what they did. He would make every one of them bleed as he had bled, till their souls screamed for death.
He ran his finger over the casket. It clicked and opened. It had been difficult stealing it from the Keepers’ Realm, and he had only managed to steal part of it. But a part was more than enough.
It was an ancient weapon, one so sacred and powerful it had injured him greatly to retrieve it. It was brass, as hard as diamond. It could cut anything in this world but could not be cut itself. Its end was rounded, multiple engravings etched into its side. It was rather short, for this piece was one of four that together, formed an object that had the ability to destroy the Keepers’ Realm. Just two of them were powerful enough to break the barrier between this world and the human world.
He held it tightly for a moment before returning it to its container and sealing the casket. He was impatient. He wanted nothing more than to turn this weapon onto the wretched city at this very moment. But it would be pointless to do so now. He needed full certainty and the most opportune moment. If he just had one more piece in his possession, he could begin the second stage.
The man named Novus stepped out of the domed structure and back into the fog. His feet suddenly hit something hard. He looked down. It was a book. When he lifted it and dusted the dirt off its cover, he gasped. What was something like this doing here? It was a book about Coran legends, folktales and mythological stories. He knew of this book. Overcome with disgust, he crushed it in his hands until it was reduced to black powder and scattered the debris onto the forest floor.
A considerable distance away, a small boy began to feel an overwhelming sadness he could not explain. To his surprise, silent tears rolled down his cheeks as he sat, nestled safely on the floor of the dark, musty library.
THE END
Acknowledgments
A special thanks to all my awesome beta readers Becca Piercey, Tiffanie Marks, Julia Robinson, Amy Elizabeth, Kimberly Bonner, Cassie Holcombe and Kathy Itskova for your support and for helping to bring out the best in my story. To my editors Alissa McGowan, Carol Davis and Sally Bradley. Your patience and encouragement has kept me motivated.
To Christine Asis, Brandie Boyer and Taylor Sadler for listening to my rants and for being the coolest friends in the world. To Rita Fei, both for being an awesome friend and for your incredible talent as an illustrator.
Lots of hugs to my parents for supporting whatever I do, and to my brother, who has been reading my half-finished stories since I was thirteen.
Table of Contents
CHAPTER ONE
CHAPTER TWO
CHAPTER THREE
CHAPTER FOUR
CHAPTER FIVE
CHAPTER SIX
CHAPTER SEVEN
CHAPTER EIGHT
CHAPTER NINE
CHAPTER TEN
CHAPTER ELEVEN
CHAPTER TWELVE
CHAPTER THIRTEEN
CHAPTER FOURTEEN
CHAPTER FIFTEEN
CHAPTER SIXTEEN
CHAPTER SEVENTEEN
CHAPTER EIGHTEEN
CHAPTER NINETEEN
CHAPTER TWENTY
CHAPTER TWENTY-ONE
CHAPTER TWENTY-TWO
CHAPTER TWENTY-THREE
CHAPTER TWENTY-FOUR
EPILOGUE
Acknowledgments
The Regenerates Page 26