The Gilded Empire

by Ryan W. Mueller

  They continued through the stacks. After a couple of minutes, they found the door they were looking for. It stood at the back of the library, and it was locked.

  "Let me get it," Berig said. He took a lockpick from his pocket and began working on the door, muttering under his breath, growing more frustrated by the second.

  Rik glanced back in panic. "Come on, Berig. We don't have much time."

  "I'm working as fast as I can. It's a very complicated lock." He continued working at it. With every passing second, the Imperial Guards grew closer.

  Rik wasn't sure how much magic he had left. All his fire magic was gone, but he still had some of his other spells. Unfortunately, shields were a fire spell. He couldn't protect them.

  Imperial Guards rounded the nearest corner. Rik pointed his staff at them and launched shards of ice at their unprotected heads. They ducked out of the way, but at least he'd distracted them. While they were distracted, he sent bursts of lightning. Some of them fell and screamed. Others scrambled out of the way.

  Rik kept the lightning spells going. He had no idea how long they'd last, but it was the best he could do. Nothing else in his repertoire seemed as if it could do as much damage to their opponents.

  Then his lightning spell died, too.

  Damn. What was he going to do now?

  The Imperial Guards approached. Most of them carried swords, but a couple pointed fingers at the party, waiting to unleash fireballs. Rik reacted instinctively, sending a massive gust of wind toward the Imperial Guards. The wind was so strong it sent the men toppling backward. They grunted, but none of them seemed to be seriously injured.

  "I've got it!" Berig shouted, flinging the door open. They all rushed through, then slammed the door behind them. From this side, they relocked it. That would surely hold the Imperial Guards awhile.

  They raced through the room they'd entered, still following the map Marlon had given them. At the room's far end, they found another locked door.

  "Come on, Berig," Markus said. "Do your thing?"

  Berig went to work. In a few moments, he had the door open. They funneled through it, entering a darker chamber on the other side. The stairs in this chamber spiraled downward. Magical torches against the wall cast bluish light upon everything.

  Soon they reached the bottom of the stairs, finding themselves in a long corridor with many doors.

  Nadia consulted the map. "It should be the fifth door on the right."

  They raced along the corridor and stopped by the door she'd indicated. Berig went to work again, wiggling his lockpick in the lock. He muttered under his breath. Rik thought he heard shouts and steel-booted steps approaching.

  "We don't have much time," Rik said.

  Berig glared at him. "I'm doing the best I can. You've gotta be patient."

  "Imperial Guards are coming," Rik said. "It's kind of hard to be patient right now."

  Lara knelt next to Berig. "You're doing great. We all believe in you."

  Her praise seemed to embolden him. He worked at the lock even more feverishly. Soon there was a click, and the door swung open. They darted into the room beyond, a place lit by the same magical light. The room appeared to store all kinds of objects, but Rik was looking for one thing: the black stone that fit the description of what they needed.

  "I found it!" Eliza said, after only a few moments of searching.

  They all rushed to her side to see her holding a black stone that perfectly fit the description Marlon had given them.

  "It's glowing," she said. "I think we should all touch it."

  Everyone in the group placed their hands on the stone. As soon as Rik touched it, strange warmth coursed through him. The stone vibrated. Was this the right stone, or was it doing something terrible to them? There was no pain, but holding it was distinctly uncomfortable.

  Then the glow stopped, and the stone dissolved in their hands.

  "Did it work?" Lara asked.

  Nadia shook her head. "I have no idea."

  "Oh, it worked." The voice came from outside the room. Rik turned to see the last person he wanted to see.

  Krinir.

  "I just checked the Webs," he said. "I can't see you anymore." He stepped closer, grinning broadly. "Not that it really matters. You'll all die right now anyways. You've served your purpose. Now you're just getting annoying. I can't let you free Lionar."

  "But I'm your daughter," Eliza said.

  "All the more reason to kill you."

  Garet took advantage of the brief distraction Eliza had provided. He swung his sword with tremendous force. It sliced through Krinir's head in one clean stroke. His head fell from his shoulders and rolled on the stone floor.

  Krinir's decapitated head glared at them.

  "Let's get outta here," Garet said. "I only bought us some time."

  They raced out of the room. Rik delivered a strong kick to Krinir's head as they walked past. The head went flying, striking an Imperial Guard leading the contingent that had just entered the corridor. The guardsmen looked on in shock, then charged toward the party.

  At the end of the corridor was another set of stairs that led upward. The Imperial Guards were close behind. When Rik glanced back, his stomach twisted.

  Krinir was on his feet, his head back where it belonged.

  "You're going to regret that!" he shouted, giving chase. A massive wave of fire burst from his fingertips, flowing through the corridor. There was no way the party could escape it.

  "This door's open," Nadia shouted, pointing to their right. They raced through the door moments before the flames would have struck them. Some of the fire went through the door, but Krinir must have aimed his spell straight ahead.

  Still, how could they escape the god?

  Krinir entered the room. It was small, giving them nowhere to run.

  "I'm going to enjoy this," Krinir said, pointing a finger at Eliza.

  Rik had no idea what sheer recklessness had taken hold of him, but before he knew what he was doing, he was charging toward Krinir. Rik could not let Eliza die. Krinir's eyes widened, as if he hadn't expected anyone to charge him. Rik leapt atop the god, tackling him to the ground. Krinir's spell flew backward into the corridor instead of striking Eliza and the rest of the party.

  Imperial Guards screamed. Shouts of alarm came from behind the screaming men. The entire corridor lit up with brilliant yellow light. Energy crackled in the air.

  Rik lay atop Krinir, but the god was struggling beneath him. He wouldn't stay down much longer. Rik knew already that he was a dead man.

  The spell that struck him hurt for only a moment.

  Then he knew nothing more.

  * * * * *

  Markus should have stayed back, should have helped Rik. But he knew his friend was dead the moment he'd charged Krinir. Right now, all that mattered was survival. Rik had delayed Krinir, but that was all. Markus couldn't let Rik's sacrifice be in vain.

  Still, Markus felt lost in a fog as they raced up the stairs at the other end of the corridor. Soon they reached the main level of the library, where they unlocked a door, then emerged back in the stacks. To Markus's horror, the library was on fire. Flames towered from floor to ceiling, and the smoke was so thick he couldn't breathe.

  It felt like Crayden all over again.

  They raced through the burning stacks with no idea where to go or how close their pursuers were. Krinir had to be back there somewhere, waiting to strike again.

  The fire was so widespread Markus was sure they'd burn to death. Everywhere they went, the fire surged, blocking every escape route. The fire grew closer, hotter. The smoke became so thick Markus thought he'd pass out. Sweat poured down his face.

  "Well, it's been a fun adventure," Berig said.

  Nadia glanced from side to side. "We're not dead yet."

  "But you will be soon." Krinir had appeared right in front of them, staring at them with his chilling smile. There was no escaping him this time.

  The roof of the library groa
ned above them.

  Markus waved his arm, using his Earth magic to produce an earthquake. The trembling finished what the fire had started. A big chunk of the roof came crashing down, landing atop Krinir. Or at least Markus hoped it would.

  Instead, Krinir had conjured a powerful shield. The shield sent the ceiling on a different trajectory, right toward the party. Markus covered his head, knowing it would be no use. Chunks of ceiling came crashing down upon them. Each impact hurt.

  Markus had been foolish to try this.

  But at least he'd see Rik again.

  To his surprise, no more of the ceiling came down upon him. He pushed aside those chunks that had struck him, then staggered to his feet. Nadia, Berig, and Eliza remained standing, but Lara and Garet were nowhere to be seen, lost somewhere in the rubble.

  Markus felt as if someone had punched him in the gut. That wasn't what he'd intended.

  Krinir stood in the middle of the carnage, completely unscathed. He stepped toward them calmly, his gaze set on Eliza. "You, my daughter, are the biggest mistake I've ever made. It is against my nature to create, and yet I created you."

  He pointed a finger at her, almost lazily, and darkness blasted toward her. That darkness struck her a moment later, and Markus was sure she'd die, but instead the spell rebounded, striking Krinir. He screamed and fell backward, clutching at his chest where it had struck him.

  He lay upon the stone floor, unmoving, the flames growing closer.

  "He isn't dead," Eliza said. "It will take a lot more than this to kill him." Her expression faltered, and she staggered a few steps forward.

  "Are you all right?' Nadia asked.

  "I feel like I understand everything. He created me and tried to destroy me. Such a duality cannot exist, not within the role he fulfilled as a god. He is meant to destroy everything else, but never to destroy a piece of himself, and that is what I am. A piece of him. In a way, I am a god, and killing a god is not something you do lightly. Now I understand why."

  She staggered again. "When he tried to kill me just now, he acknowledged the fact that he created me, and in doing so, he gave me more than a piece of himself. I can feel it. I've taken on some of his powers, if only briefly." She faced Nadia, Markus and Berig. "I can send you away from here, just as he could send people out of the Shadowed Land."

  Another stagger. "But in the process, I will die, because I was never meant to be."

  Markus took a step closer. "I don't understand."

  "I don't either. Not really." She pointed toward them. "It's time to say goodbye."

  A moment later, the fire disappeared. Markus swam in a strange blackness like nothing he'd ever experienced. When the world came back into focus, he sat on the grassy ground, listening to the sound of waves crashing against the shore.

  "Where are we?" he asked. "What the hell just happened?"

  Nadia sat up gingerly. "I have no idea."

  Berig was gazing toward the south, where a city sat against the horizon. "I think that might be Seaside. We passed through it on our way to Luminia." At their looks of confusion, he added, "It's on the eastern side of the continent with the Empire on it."

  Markus felt unsteady on his feet. "But why would she have sent us here?"

  "I have no idea," Nadia said.

  Covered in soot, bruised and battered, they staggered toward the city. All the deaths had not yet sunk in. Maybe, if Markus ignored them, if he didn't think about anything at all, he could pretend Rik wasn't dead.

  But this cruel world would never allow that.

  Epilogue: A Land of Ruin

  Lionar stood in the room that had been his prison for so many years. If he hadn't been a god, the confinement would have driven him insane by now. The room was small, giving him barely enough room to live, if this could be called living at all.

  They did not bring him food or water. Hunger and thirst made him feel weak, but they would not kill him. The curse of being a god.

  He stared out the barred window, at the gray sky, at the snow blowing in the fierce wind. This was the world Krinir had created, a world of death and destruction. Lionar had to stop it, but he could do nothing. This cell negated his magic. He was less than the weakest channeler.

  He was nothing here.

  But he had hope. The only thing he could still do was look at the Webs of Fate. He'd been following the distant past for a long time, waiting for the people who could free him.

  Now they were on the path to doing so.

  Their stands had gone dark, and that was a good sign.

  But would they be strong enough to save him?

  Did it even matter?

  Author's Note

  Thank you for taking a chance on this series. I hope you enjoyed it. If you want to be the first to know about new releases, you can sign up for my mailing list at ryanwmueller.com.

  Or you can sign up directly by following this link from your e-book version: Ryan's Mailing List

  The next book in the series, The Winds of Time, should be published by the end of the summer of 2018.

  The first book in another epic fantasy series is available here: Sunweaver

  About the author:

  Ryan W. Mueller is an author of fantasy and science fiction for all ages. He enjoys talking about himself in the third person (who doesn't?). Currently, he has written all four books of the World in Chains series, with the final book projected to be released by the end of the summer of 2018. He has also written the first book of another trilogy, titled Sunweaver.

  He's a big fan of Brandon Sanderson, Brent Weeks, Jim Butcher, and many other fantasy authors. He first decided he wanted to be a writer at the age of 11 after he started reading Harry Potter. Between that and Super Nintendo RPGs, he was pretty much destined (or perhaps doomed) to become a fantasy writer, though he does like to branch out to science fiction occasionally. His fantasy is classic fantasy with modern twists. That is, you'll see a lot of familiar tropes, but he tries to put his own spin on them (hopefully with some success). For him, part of the joy of fantasy is the tropes, and as TVTropes would tell you, there is nothing wrong with tropes. It's all a matter of how you use them.

  He enjoys connecting with readers and other writers. You can find him on Facebook as Ryan W. Mueller, on Twitter as @RW_Mueller, and on various fantasy forums including Fantasy Faction, SFFWorld, and Best Fantasy Books.