Approaching Storm (Alternate Worlds Book 2)

by Taylor Leigh

  ‘Right. We’ll be safe here for the night. Or whatever’s left of it…try and sleep, I’ll keep watch. No telling what tomorrow will bring, but for now, you’ll be safe.’

  She gazed at him for a moment from her horizontal position. She still found it difficult to believe she was here with him now. Sam wanted to reach out and touch him to reassure herself he was indeed before her.

  Gritty bits of sand ground against her cheek. Still, after her day, it felt like luxury. She sleepily muttered her thanks, not sure if it was intelligible or not. By the wry smile Tollin gave her that she saw through her blurring eyes, she figured probably not.

  As her eyes closed, Sam watched him turn on his heel and stride for the entrance of the cave. He leaned there, arms and ankles crossed, the picture of ease. His gaze was directed to the distant horizon. And that image of him was burnt to her eyelids long after they’d closed.

  Sam’s eyes popped open. She lay still for a moment, listening, wondering what had woken her. There wasn’t much to hear over the static noise of the waterfall, but she was certain she’d heard something.

  A voice.

  Her gaze drifted towards the entrance of her cave, where she’d seen Tollin reclining when she’d at last closed her eyes. He wasn’t there now, but she could see his shadow just beyond, cast long upon the sand.

  He was having a conversation.

  Alarm filled her. He couldn’t be betraying her, could he? Had he dragged her out here only to turn her in to someone else? Sam strained to listen. Judging by the sound, he was having an argument—or at least a tense discussion—with someone.

  ‘But what am I supposed to do? I didn’t expect things taking a turn like this. I’ve already failed by not getting to her father in time!’

  Sam pushed herself up slightly, frowning. He was talking about her.

  Whomever Tollin was talking to, Sam didn’t hear a reply. Perhaps he was talking on a mobile. Tollin paced back into view of the cave opening. He whirled around, gesturing to empty space.

  ‘I know! But this is different…you know that.’

  He was talking to no-one.

  Tollin walked back out of sight. She stared out at the entrance of the cave for a long time, even as his voice grew more distant. A warning crawl started over her skin. He must be completely mad. Sam was actually quite sure of this. After all she had seen him accomplish in the last few hours, he had to be. Disturbingly, she was actually okay with that.

  Tollin sighed heavily. ‘I just wish I had your certainty that this is going to work.’

  Tollin was returning back from the way he paced, and this time, along with his shadow, a golden glow was cast upon the sand. Sam thought he must have lit a torch, but the glow seemed too bright, too alive. She vaguely wondered why he would bother with a light, since all it would do was call unwanted attention.

  Tollin huffed his breath, once again stopping just beyond the mouth of the cave. ‘Well, you haven’t led me wrong before, even if I don’t always understand it.’

  It took Sam a second to realise Tollin wasn’t holding a light. It was coming from somewhere else. Her body tensed. Someone else was there. Had to be.

  Then the someone else stepped into view. And that someone else was most surprising of all, for the figure was not only responsible for the light, but was the light.

  Sam gaped, unable to move, as she watched a woman, completely shining with golden light, slowly step around him, fingertips almost brushing against his arm. Tollin’s gaze tracked her closely.

  The glowing creature stopped at the cave’s mouth and turned her way. Sam froze, fascinated by the golden stare that fixed on her. She was staggeringly beautiful; alien, yet, human. A ghost or spirit, as bright as the sun. Sam couldn’t make out the woman’s face, since her glow was so strong, but there was something there, a small, nostalgic smile, which bled through the glow.

  As the woman stared at Sam, she felt something, an understanding. They both shared something; some connection with Tollin Sam didn’t comprehend yet.

  The spirit turned back to Tollin, and Sam could finally hear its voice. ‘Trust me; you’re not going to regret this.’

  And then she was gone, slowly vanishing into thin air, leaving behind absolutely no trace, as if she had been nothing more than a dream.

  Tollin sighed, picked up a rock, and tossed it into the river.

  Sam knew then, there was more at work than she could ever have imagined.

  * * * * *

  Roth hurried down the dimly lit hallway, fighting down his anxiety. Amy had informed him that they would be arriving soon. It wasn’t what he considered good timing, since he had been busy looking over one of the strange devices he’d brought back from the cavern. He had been expecting a call from the base on Scottorr and wasn’t happy about postponing it. Big breakthroughs were happening. Breakthroughs he hadn’t thought possible. He needed to see it with his own eyes and Amy was dragging him away from it.

  The Myrmidon’s building was a nondescript black box on the surface, with a large, fenced car park. Beneath the tarmac, however, was a maze of laboratories and computer equipment that went sprawling every direction beneath the city.

  It was a cool night when Roth arrived up-top. Clouds had pulled in across the sky, blocking out the brilliant light of Scottorr, adding some aesthetic note to what they were doing. Roth scratched his boot across the sandy ground as he kept up a careful scan of the darkened streets. He was worried about tonight; there were too many loose ends.

  With one group chasing a getaway vehicle across the open desert and the other busy breaking into the house of a Scottorrian, who was now dead, it would be difficult to stay undercover.

  It wasn’t good.

  The city barriers had sensors in them to keep track of how many times something interfered with them, not to mention the hundreds of cameras set up. It went without saying that some of their exploits tonight were going to be recorded. That was unacceptable. The amount of data they’d have to erase from the system would be a monstrous job to say the least.

  He was glad he had lackeys to deal with it. Better them than him.

  Pushing his glasses up to his forehead, Roth pressed his fingers to his eyes to massage them. He tried to recall the last time he’d slept. Certainly wasn’t recent. Whenever the planets grew close he worked round the clock. He should be scheduling a shuttle flight to Scottorr, not hunting fugitives. For the first time in his life, something incredible was about to happen.

  His radio spat noise loudly in the darkness and Roth’s hand jumped to it.

  ‘Yes?’ he asked, scanning the darkness.

  ‘This is Tim. Just thought we’d report in. We’ve been chasing that vehicle all over the desert and it finally ran out of fuel.’ Tim’s voice was flat.

  ‘Well?’ Roth asked impatiently.

  ‘Well, there was nothing in it. Completely empty. Could have sworn at least two people got in: Samantha Turner and the stranger, but they’ve just disappeared.’

  Roth sighed. ‘So they are still on the loose and we have no idea where, and don’t know who Miss Turner’s companion is.’

  ‘It doesn’t make any sense to me. We didn’t find anything interesting in the vehicle,’ Tim said. ‘But I do have some good news!’ his voice brightened.

  ‘Well, go ahead and tell me then!’ Roth snapped. He wasn’t in the mood for guessing games. He once again found himself wishing he had more competent people to work with. Ones who would get straight to the point.

  Tim’s voice turned professional. ‘Vehicle isn’t registered, but we ran it through our private records. It looks like the owner is someone we’ve been looking for. Our interesting friend, Marus Smith.’

  ‘They took Marus’s car?’ Roth frowned. Marus was one of their high priority targets.

  ‘From what we can tell. A few of our men met him in the club Turner and her companion entered. It wasn’t a pleasant confrontation.’

  Roth frowned. ‘I see. Send the information back to my c
omputer and bring that vehicle here. Try not to let your men contaminate it. Do you understand me?’

  ‘Yes sir,’ Tim growled bitterly.

  Roth hooked his radio back on his belt and leaned against the stone wall of the building behind him. Things had indeed taken an interesting turn. One of their suspects thrown in the mix. He’d always had a feeling about that man, who flaunted himself so shamelessly on the social stage it was impossible to not notice him. And when one started looking back through history, there he appeared, scattered all throughout the pages, just as flamboyant as ever.

  Then there was Turner’s companion. Another mysterious figure who raised similar flags as well. Myths of a man who always turned up when things grew…strange.

  The quiet purr of an engine brought Roth out of his thoughts and he raised his eyes up to see a long black automobile pulling into the empty lot before him. Roth moved aside to give the driver plenty of room to pull inside. As the vehicle approached, it slowed. One of the side doors swung open and Amy dropped out. Once she was free the vehicle slid forward and into the darkness of the headquarters.

  ‘You’re going to like what we got, Avery,’ Amy said gruffly.

  Roth raised his eyebrows and glanced over at her. He started off at a quick pace as the back door of the building began to slide closed. Soon they were alone in the dark hall. ‘I wouldn’t get your hopes up. When have I ever appreciated anything you’ve had for me?’

  Amy chuckled deeply. ‘Look Roth, I’m well aware you like keeping up this whole charade of being completely unreadable, but I know you better than anyone here in this base.’ She leant in closer to him. ‘And I know you’re going to like this.’

  Roth mulled that over for a minute as they walked down the sloping drive. It grew cooler with each step. The Myrmidons hadn’t invested much in keeping their base comfortable and climate controlled, which was yet another complaint he added to his list. Some of the artefacts were as old as Scrabia itself and being stored in a damp cellar was hardly adequate. ‘So I hear you managed to let a vehicle get away from the scene.’

  Amy’s tone changed. ‘It was an unfortunate situation but we’ll have it under control soon enough.’

  ‘The group already found the vehicle,’ Roth informed her. ‘It was empty.’

  Amy cleared her throat. ‘I see. Who did you hear this from?’

  ‘Tim,’ Roth smiled inwardly, delighted at the idea most of the group preferred to report to him over her.

  ‘Well, they couldn’t have gotten far, and it won’t matter anyway, once you see what we’ve brought back.’

  ‘I do wish you would stop going on about it. Either tell me or don’t!’ Roth snapped.

  Amy huffed and pushed ahead of him. She reached the door to the research lab and shoved it open. ‘Well then, go and see for yourself.’

  Roth eyed her and strode inside, crossing his arms across his chest. He was not impressed with what he saw. ‘This is what you’re so excited about?’ he growled irritably.

  Amy leaned against the door and snorted. ‘Don’t be so quick to judge.’

  The back doors of the vehicle that had just entered were swung open. Two Myrmidon agents were struggling there. Each man held a long pole in one hand, which was jerking so violently they could barely keep hold of it. Clasped round the neck by the ends of the poles was an ugly creature. It struggled wildly, but Roth could still recognise it. The creature snapped, snarled and clawed at the Myrmidon lackeys, fierce for being half their size. It was a Denizen, the indigenous, non-human species of the planet. They weren’t often seen in the city, and never so wild as this.

  Another agent, upon seeing the two men struggling, jumped forward and lifted up a great dome of glass which was resting on the floor. It was one of their specimen jars, equipped with long twisting wires branching out of the top that ran up into the ceiling and a firm base made out of metal.

  Once the two men carrying the creature made it to the glass, they shoved it forward with a count of three. The Denizen hit the far side of the glass and whirled round with a snarl. Just as it dove for the two men, the glass dropped down. The creature smashed into the wall and started smacking around crazily on the inside.

  Everyone in the room stood still for a long moment, all uncomfortably aware that they’d imprisoned a sentient being like this. Then Roth broke the trance and stepped towards it. ‘Anyone care to explain to me why you captured this?’ As hated as Denizens were, they were still considered citizens. This more or less was kidnapping.

  ‘He was with Brock Turner’s body. We have reason to believe he’s responsible for his murder,’ Amy explained, a note of pride in her voice. ‘Injuries certainly fit the bill.’

  ‘We thought you’d want to talk to him,’ one of the men stammered. They were all keeping a safe distance from the giant jar.

  ‘How very thoughtful of you,’ Roth said flatly. ‘That’s exactly what I wanted, an insane Denizen careening round my office.’

  Now that the creature was trapped in the jar everyone could get a good look at it. The beast was small, about half Roth’s height, with wrinkled brown skin, a domed head and long tusks. It had a smashed up mouth and slit nostrils, which were flaring with rage.

  Roth slowly circled the glass, keeping his gaze fixed on the Denizen. The creature paused after beating into the glass again and slowly sank to the floor. There it sat, eying them all hatefully.

  Roth’s eyes caught sight of something glinting in the creature’s claws. He frowned at the randomness of it. It was a lamp. An old oil lamp, black and ornate, gripped tightly to the Denizen’s chest.

  ‘Did you give that to him?’ he asked Amy.

  She shook her head. ‘Nah, he had it with him. Wouldn’t give it up no matter what. Not that we really wanted to try that hard.’

  Roth scowled. Well, there was something intriguing about that. Worth a closer look.

  Finally, he stopped circling and ran his hand over his chin. He did not talk for a long moment. ‘Can you understand me?’

  Amy groaned in the background but he ignored her.

  The Denizen’s contorted face twisted up angrily at Roth. Its jaw bobbed up and down beneath a twitching eye. After a long moment the creature’s face lit up with an intelligent light and it smiled malevolently. ‘Yes,’ it croaked. ‘I understand you, human filth.’

  Roth smiled tightly. ‘Good. Do you have a name of some sort?’

  The Denizen lifted a knobby knuckle to its mouth and sucked on it for a moment. Its eyes never left Roth’s. ‘I’m known as Sickness,’ its voice came out in a gurgle.

  ‘Sickness, I see. Now, since I have your undivided attention, I was hoping to get a few answers from you.’

  Sickness studied Roth’s face absently.

  Roth pressed on, not waiting for an answer. ‘Did you kill Brock Turner?’

  Sickness spat black liquid on the ground. ‘The human male? Yes.’

  Roth nodded. ‘Why?’

  Sickness grinned widely. ‘I was commanded to,’ he hissed.

  Roth started circling the jar again. ‘By whom?’

  Sickness waddled after Roth on the inside of the jar on his big flat feet. ‘My master.’

  ‘And who is that?’

  The Denizen clutched tighter at the lamp, eyes glowing brightly. He smiled, then his eyes widened. ‘The creator of all. The maker of slaves.’

  Roth scowled, the creature wasn’t talking sense. ‘What is that lamp of yours?’

  Sickness pulled it closer to his chest. ‘I am its keeper! I am the last one left.’

  ‘Keeper of what?’

  ‘The creator of Daemons, the Darkness, one of the last strands of it surviving in this Realm.’ The Denizen stroked the lamp tenderly, a look of adoration in its tiny yellow eyes.

  Roth felt a tremble of excitement wrap around his belly. What had he stumbled upon? ‘Your master is living in your lamp?’ he could hardly get the words out.

  ‘It is the dark god, the seducer of worlds, it pulls ever
ything into it, and all goes to the Darkness in the end. It is incomplete, broken. It needs its other half. It needs to grow. It was trapped on this side of the Realm before the Great Portal was closed. It was so long ago, a thousand years…it has been weak, tired, till I came along and found it,’ Sickness purred.

  Roth swallowed. ‘Is your master a ghost?’

  Sickness chuckled darkly, ignoring him. ‘Even the Traveller did not realise what it was. He was afraid of it, did not understand, he sealed it away, had it buried, to be lost for ever. But I found it. It called me and I dug it up from the earth.’ He held up the lamp.

  Roth thought over Sickness’s words for a moment. He could tell from the corner of his eye that the Denizen was staring at him intently. It was odd. The creature could have been insane, simply raving, but…why would he be found at Brock Turner’s body if not looking for the artefact? He glanced to his left, to one of the energy monitors. Its readings had spiked and were still rising. There was something going on and he wasn’t about to pass up an opportunity.

  ‘That lamp is very interesting. Would you mind if I had a look at it?’

  Sickness shook his head wildly. ‘No!’

  Roth had always hated unintelligent creatures. Dealing with life forms that were not on his intellectual level was not something he had patience for. He could only think of one way to truly get through to them. All conversation without motivation would only bring him in circles.

  He strode across the lab to and grabbed a remote off the worktable. Walking back at a quick pace he again faced the jar and dropped down till he was level with the stupid creature on the inside. He held out the device in the palm of his hand for Sickness to see. ‘Are you afraid?’ he asked once he let the Denizen study it for a moment.

  Sickness shrugged. His face had gone slack, void of emotion. ‘Nope,’ he said crossly.

  Roth flattened his lips. ‘Ah, I see. You know what I think, Sickness?’

  ‘No.’

  Roth leaned in. ‘I think you’re going to hand that lamp over.’