Stolen Destiny (Broken Throne Book 4)

by Jamie Davis

  “I think the key is in finding ways to fuse our magic. I’m already stronger than I used to be, just from what Fiona and Jacob have showed me. My arthritis is almost gone and I haven’t had this much energy since I was Winnie’s age. We could all benefit from pooling our magic, and seeing what sorts of adaptations naturally occur.”

  “Any idea who should try first?” Winnie asked.

  “I was thinking Frannie. If we can meld enough power to create shields around Fort Brick, then Kane wouldn’t be able to get in for another attack”

  Winnie looked at Frannie. “Wanna try first? We can start with this room.”

  “I’m game.” Frannie grinned. “Just tell me what to do.”

  “We’ll all draw our magic. But instead of weaving the flows yourselves, direct the energy towards Frannie. Let her control it.”

  Bullock finally looked up from the floor. He almost smiled.

  Winnie nodded, opened herself, pulled in the magic around her.

  The room followed.

  With a flow coursing through her, Winnie nudged the magic, coaxing it towards Frannie. The others saw and tried to match her.

  Thick flows surrounded Frannie.

  She smiled, eyes closed, waving her arms around her head.

  Then she opened her eyes and burst out laughing.

  “I did it!” Frannie exclaimed. “Go try the door.”

  Winnie stood then crossed the room to the door.

  She reached out, only half-surprised but fully delighted to find resistance in the opening against her palm. It felt like she was pushing on a warm metal door or wall. No matter how hard she pushed, it wouldn’t budge.

  “That’s impressive, Frannie,” Winnie said, returning to her seat. “Could you expand it further, or was that as far as you could go?”

  “I think I could have pushed it to just outside the building,” Frannie said.

  “It’s better than I thought,” Elaine said. “The magic isn’t just willing to blend. It wants to.”

  “That would make sense based on what we’ve seen at the crater. And in my brief interactions with the Fae. Combining our power compounds our efforts.” Winnie turned to Frannie. “You can drop the shield. It’s time to try something different.”

  Elaine took over, having the twins display some of the skills they’d developed while living on the streets. The group was particularly impressed with their ability to fashion matter from magic. Fiona and Jacob made a pile of marbles on the floor, then the two of them played while everyone watched.

  Winnie pointed at the game. “We need to stop believing in constraints. Stop buying into what everyone else has told us is possible. We’ve proven that magic is only limited by our minds, so it’s time to push our minds harder.”

  Everyone shared until dinner. Getting faster, stronger, better.

  Their progress was incredible.

  Winnie was most pleased with her mother. Elaine’s energy and abilities had both blossomed since she’d been caring for the twins. She no longer needed her medicine. And with her arthritis in remission, she could fully explore her magic for the first time in years.

  They weren’t quite ready, but they were more prepared than they’d been so far. If the shield could be expanded, and with enough chanters pooling their magic, the tables could finally turn.

  CHAPTER 26

  Maria closed her door, desperate to collapse.

  She was exhausted down to the marrow.

  Ever since the demon attack, security forces and recruits had suffered an endless parade of drills. They practiced rapid deployment to different parts of the perimeter based on signals sent from the sentries. Teams practiced in small and large groups, in daylight and darkness. She and Garraldi had to keep the recruits going through the exercises until they could do them blindly.

  They wouldn’t be caught unprepared again.

  On top of the daily exercises, Maria also had to attend the nightly command dinners where she received updates from the other leaders. She gave her own reports and by the third day after the attack, Maria could say that most of the perimeter teams boasted satisfactory response times. But she had to keep working, had to keep training. The worst was surely yet to come.

  Winnie would either move forward with her plans to attack Kane, or, more likely, Kane was going to attack first. Both possibilities meant that Maria’s troops would be facing combat soon.

  She slipped off her twin shoulder holsters and stretched her arms up over her head. She began to unbutton her pants when someone cleared their throat behind her.

  Maria dove for her pistols and spun around to face her attacker.

  But there was no one there.

  Just a rectangular window lined with silver light. And in its center she saw Artos Merrilyn staring back, a wry grin on his weathered face.

  “Too bad these windows don’t ring. You really can catch someone with their pants down.” Artos chuckled. “You look like hell. Everything all right?”

  Maria lowered her pistol then shoved it back into the holster. “I’ve been pulling twenty hour shifts for four of the last seven days. Garraldi and I have had to do all the readiness training for all the forces we’ve gathered here. How do you want me to look?”

  “What about Victor, or Garraldi’s enforcers? Surely they could lend a hand.”

  Maria shook her head. “Victor’s focused on protecting Winnie. He’s never more than a room away. Garraldi has his guys helping, but you know how it is. If you want something done right, you do it yourself.”

  “A universal truth, I’m afraid,” he agreed. “How is Winnie doing with the chanters? Last we chatted, you said that she’d created a teleportation window.”

  Maria nodded. “She’s perfected it. Now most of the more powerful chanters can do it, too. She’s also created a force shield that covers the perimeter. It’s like a giant dome over the whole place. I saw a bird fly into it this morning. Fell to the ground on the far side. Either dead or unconscious.”

  “That’s impressive. Will it hold?”

  “I’ve fired a few rounds to test it and so far the shield has absorbed the bullets like wind. They all fall to the ground like the bird. I’m planning on testing some explosives tomorrow — grenades and mortar rounds. I want to know how much punishment it can take before it fails.”

  “Has Winnie been working with the sword?”

  Maria shook her head. “She usually leaves it in her room. I don’t think she knows what to do with it. She talks about the Fae telling her it still has a purpose, but I’m sure that she doesn’t know what that means.”

  “That’s a good thing, believe me. That sword could spell our salvation or deliver our doom. I pray that this conflict can be won without heading down that path.”

  “What aren’t you telling me? All of our lives are on the line. I deserve more than your usual need to know bullshit.”

  “Not this one, Maria. Not this time. This isn’t a secret you want to know.”

  “Secrets get people killed in my line of work, Artos.”

  “Regardless, this is one secret I’m keeping to myself. Right now two of us know and that’s more than enough.”

  “You and who else?”

  “Kane, of course. It’s why he’s obsessed with getting Excalibur back. Now that the sword is free of the stone, he wants it and its power all for himself. That can never happen. It must be kept from him at all costs. It’s why I hoped the Fae would take it back.”

  “Doesn’t that mean that the Fae think it will need to be used?”

  “Exactly what I’m afraid of,” Artos said. “They can see what we cannot. There is an escalation of power here. Kane attacks with the Garbarians and boasts his new allies and power. That prompts Winnie to search for a counter attack. I fear that they will volley themselves into the inevitable and bring about the end. Kane will throw everything he has at recovering that sword. She’ll resist. They’ll reach a standoff. And then it will happen: Nils will have no choice but to damn his soul and cal
l on Him.”

  Maria couldn’t fathom what Artos was talking about, but his eyes were wild. Maybe insane.

  “If Kane calls on Him, then we’ll have no choice. Winnie will have to use Excalibur to call on Them.”

  “Artos, you aren’t making sense. Who are the Him and Them you’re talking about?”

  “Don’t worry about all that, my dear,” he said, his smile sad. “It’s unlikely things will go that far. In the end, it will probably fall to you and your soldiers versus General Couch and his.”

  “That wasn’t what you just said, Artos. You talked like the end of the world was coming and there was nothing we could do.”

  “Don’t listen to the ravings of a frightened old man. I’m safe and sound here in my underground hideaway, just me and Mr. Gunderson. I don’t have all the friends and help that you do out there.”

  “Winnie could open up a portal,” Maria offered. “You could come here.”

  “That wouldn’t be a good idea. There is too much past between us. I would only stand in her way were I around.”

  “From what I’ve heard, she never listened to you anyway.”

  “Nevertheless, there’s too much good wine in my cellar here.”

  Artos smiled at Maria, she had no choice but to return it.

  “I do what I can here,” he said. “And I’ll update you soon. Until then, try to keep your charge safe.”

  The window closed and Maria was again standing alone in her room.

  “I’ll do my best, old man,” she muttered to herself.

  And It was true. She was doing her best, especially considering that her charge liked to risk life and limb at every opportunity. But keeping Winnie alive and well was essential to everything they’d taken a decade to achieve.

  Maria had been working with Artos to topple Kane since she was a teenager herself—she didn’t plan on giving up now. If Winnie was the key to the Director’s downfall, she would do everything possible to keep her alive.

  She finished undressing and got into bed.

  In four hours she would be back up for a spot check on the early morning sentries. She sighed, rolled over, and prayed for sleep.

  She could rest when this had ended.

  CHAPTER 27

  “I need more creatures like the Garbarians,” Nils said. “No, I take that back; I need creatures better than the Garbarians. They failed. You promised me power unlike any other. But the job isn’t finished. Durham still has Excalibur.”

  The visage in the dark orb smiled back.

  That angered Kane further.

  “What is there to smile about? You’re supposedly the Great and Powerful Fell. And yet things are getting worse.”

  “Sometimes things must progress a certain way before success can be realized,” the voice rumbled in his mind. “You must be patient. The Garbarians are the world’s best magical trackers. They did succeed. They found Winnie when you were otherwise unable. Now it is time to enlist the aid of others who can finish her off before she gets too strong.”

  “That’s exactly what I want!” Nils snapped, wondering what sort of hideous monsters the Fell had at his command.

  “But are you prepared to accept the risk? I can introduce you to what you cannot yet imagine, but you must impress upon the creatures I send that you are the leader they seek to bring pain to their enemies.”

  Nils wanted mercenaries, not followers.

  What was the Fell trying to say?

  The Fell continued.

  “Promise them a fight to the end. Swear that you will defeat all the Fae and every supporter still stupid enough to stand behind them. The minions I speak of were imprisoned by their Fae cousins eons ago. They have had millennia to craft their revenge.”

  “I will agree to their terms,” Nils said.

  “Excellent. Then come and meet your allies so that you may build your army.”

  Again Nils leaned forward and touched the ebony orb.

  He felt himself fall forward, as if being drawn inside.

  The plummeting ended and Kane’s feet touched the ground.

  He opened his eyes and scanned his surroundings.

  Kane was standing on a blasted landscape of scorched earth and stone. Twisted tree trunks jutted up from the charred ground. The air glowed, deep red, as if the horizon was on fire. The air was thick and smoky and the ground was hard-packed and still hot, as if cooling from centuries of scalding.

  Footsteps crunched the ground to his left.

  Kane turned as a black-robed figure approached.

  “Greetings, Nilrem Kane. Long have we awaited your arrival.”

  “Who are you?” Kane asked the gravelly voice.

  “I am Gorim. My people—some call us the Bringers—are followers of the Fell. Our goals are similar to yours. The Fell knows well how long we have waited to be rid of this place, to find a new home.”

  “This is your home now?” Nils asked.

  “This is the last place that we battled the Fae. We won the final conflict, but at a great cost to our species. We claimed victory, but the Fae have forbidden us access to your world ever since.”

  “It doesn’t look like much of a victory,” Nils gestured toward the scorched earth.

  “We are a powerful race. Our need for the energy of living things is strong. We may occupy a world for only a short while before we bleed its resources. Then we must find an ally to help us reach another.”

  “Why should I let you desolate my world and leave me with nothing?”

  “We are not charlatans wishing to trick you, Nilrem. We will show you how we draw unlimited power from any world. You will be a lord among my kind, invited to join our conquest.”

  Nils reached out with his mind to get a sense of Gorim’s power.

  He got only a glimpse before he fell back as if shoved by the wind.

  Gorim laughed—a dry coughing that clanged for too long. Then: “Always testing, Nilrem. The Fell said you were ambitious, seeking unlimited power for yourself. Did you find what you were looking for when probing my mind?”

  “I felt great power and boundless energy.”

  “This is what you seek, is it not?”

  “I seek powerful allies to aid in my quest to return what was stolen from me,” Nils spat. He hated Durham and her friends and craved their destruction, but he wanted Excalibur returned to its rightful owner most of all. “My family’s destiny was stolen from me. I want it back. Can you help?”

  “My kind can offer that and more. Come with me and I will let you select the magical beasts we’ve gathered throughout our travels. These creatures now serve us. Join our cause and you may control them, too.”

  “They’re like the Garbarians of my world? I must create them from the hearts and bodies of men?” Nils asked.

  “No, the Garbarians are creatures we and the Fell have made from the men and women of your world. We have been unable to travel there, so we loaned the power of their creation.”

  “If you cannot travel to my world, or send your minions there,” Nils said, “then you will not be of much use to me.”

  “Once you have selected your forces, we will assemble them here. The Fell will show you how to summon them by opening a gate between worlds. It is limited to travel only by those you allow through the portal.”

  “How do I know you won’t betray me?”

  “We serve the Fell as do you. Our purposes are aligned. We would no sooner betray you than we would betray ourselves. Soon you will be a peer in service to the Fell, with unlimited access to all the power you could ever desire. As long as you help us achieve our ends in your world.”

  “The defeat of the Fae,” Nils answered.

  “Exactly. It is the Fae who have enlisted Winnie in their quest to gain control of your world. She is their champion. So the question, Nilrem: Will you be ours?”

  Gorim and Nils walked in silence across the barren landscape.

  Nils had a choice to make, a step forward in his quest for power, and another tie to
the Fell. He wanted Excalibur and to utterly destroy the girl who stole it, but the weight of this decision had the heft of forever.

  But did he really have a choice?

  He craved the power he could almost taste.

  This was everything he’d wanted for all of his life.

  He turned to Gorim. “I’ll be your champion against the Fae. I will serve the Fell and help you exact your revenge.”

  Gorim smiled and gave Kane a dry, raspy chuckle. “The Fell has chosen well in you, Nilrem. We shall both succeed in our quests. Now come. Meet the creatures you now have at your disposal to supplement your army on Earth.”

  Nils followed Gorim to a stone stairway ahead, descending into a deep chasm. At the bottom, they took a broad passage into the chasm’s wall.

  Gorim raised his hand and a pale yellow light bloomed before Kane to show him the way, deep beneath the world.

  Kane looked up. The dim light of Gorim’s magical glow highlighted stalactites hanging from the roof far above. The cavern floor was rocky, so Kane had to pick his way carefully along behind his guide.

  They eventually reached the far wall, where a series of caves were carved into the stone. Most had thick iron bars blocking the entrances.

  “Here you will choose your army,” Gorim said. “These represent the strongest of our creatures. We saved them from extinction when we left the vanquished behind, because they were suited to serve us. Now they shall serve you.”

  Nils stepped forward, walked along the wall, peering into each of the caves and forcing himself not to flinch at every fresh nightmare.

  There were horned devils, fire-breathing demons, scaled and taloned hunters, and hairy beasts who could take the form of normal men for a time.

  At each opening, Gorim introduced the creature inside and described its abilities and limitations. Nils lost count. Some were sea monsters living in pools within their caves. But he couldn’t imagine their purpose in his upcoming battles. Others had wings and could probably fly, but surely they would be susceptible to modern weapons.